Evening star. [volume], September 01, 1912, Page 5, Image 49

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
PRETEND They Are Not
Blind?Courageous Rich
Without Sight?Want the
Poor Blind of Paris to Bluff
?Wonderful Feats of Dwell
ers in Darkness?Blind So
ciety Girl Dances?Poker in
Eternal Night.
Orrr?i**iwi?n<-* of Th?- fttr.
PARIS. August 10.
HB mo?t wonderful
blind girl in 1'srin
ts rich, younn.
(?eauiful and an
orphan. And she
pretends she is not
blind. Adorable
courage:
Six servants and
h lady companion
wait on her. She
has horses, auto
mobile. chauffeur,
opera box and palatial Paris apartment.
She wear* porcelain eyes of deep and
Hquld blue, to match her blonde beauty?
and fool the world.
With the lady companion she makes
and reriolvee calls. enjoys matinees, runs
the shops, takes tea at the big dress
makers', does her morning' constitutional
in the Boss. and sun? herself with the
fashionables
I*ast summer at l>auaanne, she stayed
at the Hotel Beau-Sejour. social center
for so man\ Americana Bvenlngs. after
dinner. ?h?? would enter the salon con
fidently: the tulle at her shoulders or
la<-c at her w rlsts barely brushed against
the ladv companion for guidance, and it
wa? suffl. lent.
None of the strangers knew that she
was blind. While the companion would
seat herself on a circular sofa the young
girl would stand a moment, pretending to
glance negligently around, erect, laugh
ing and careless. No one guessed that
her knee was seeking the edge of the
sofa while her elbow gained knowledge of
the exact position before she dared risk
sinking down with lazy grace Iwslde her
companion.
Once she whispered: "Oh. I should like
to dance' I dance nicely."' The lady to
whom she thus confided, pleaded with a
young gentleman "But I dare not take
a blind girl on the floor," he objected
"Try her." said the other. He consented,
was presented, and asked for the next
waltr. "With pleasure," smiled the
blind girl, looking up at-him with two of
the prettiest blue eyes in the world?you
would not dream that tbev were artificial.
When the waltz struck up a new couple
was ?*>er dancing wiUi a joyful swing?
th?? laughing blind girl and the kindly
young man. who forgot his fears from
moment to moment.
There are strong souls who refuse to go
flown under the blows of misfortune.
They know how little money can do for
a blind person in comparison with cour
age and self-reliance.
*
* *
In th*> library of the Rich Blind Men's
Club nf Paris was a fashionable young
fellow who had still much of his eyesight:
yet he took a feverish interest in the
titles of the volumes and their places on
the shelves.
"He Is going steadily blind from an
obscure trouble of the optic nerve." they
said. "Science cannot help him. A
year ago he saw with a. blur. Now he
bumps against people In the twilight. In
a few months daylight will seem evening
to him. Night gathers round him "
The unfortunate young fellow, in pre
paration for his coming blindness, had
already joined the club of the rich blind
men and was spending his time In fixing
all Its details in his memory for future
need.
These rich blind of Paris preach what
they practice.
They want their poor blind brethren to
bluff.
?Pretend you are not blind," they say,
"like us."
They antagonize the new enervating
nests of the French state. Themselves
rich, thev know the final misery of not
fightiiiK it out.
1'p to recently the French state en
couraged the poor blind to fight it out.
Of 2.*? graduating from the national
institution, 20 are deceased. ?"? have per
sonal fortunes, 13 ar?? still beginning the
individual life. 0 earn above 11,000 per
year. 1R earn from !?>0<t to >1,000. 11 earn
from $300 to $6fiO, 21 earn (rom $400 to
STiOO. 100 earn from V?'?0 to $-100 under
circumstances which render them com
pletely self-support ins. -0 need occasional
aid. 44 need habitual aid. 10 have "Inst
or ruined their situations."
*
* *
Now the French state proposes to park
together all the blind who are tired of
struggling, young, adult and aged, in
twelve regional institutions of the style
of the Braille School of St. Mande, where
an "illusion" of self-support is given by
means of artificially high wages, arti
ficially low board, clothing, etc., and a
deficit to the state of $'200 per year per
person.
The rich blind men of Paj-is advise their
working brethren not to accept it. Self
reliance withers under ill-disguised char
ity that "discourages the intelligent and
the strong by offering indiscriminately
to all. at the price of abdicating: their per-,
sonality, in a sort of levelling down, a
special nest, specially prepared, where all
can live in peace, their needs assured,
sheltered for their entire .existence from
the rigors of ordinary life."
They say that If the French state should
offer an equivalent of that two-hundred
dollars-a-vear deficit as a kind of trade
accident pension to courageous outside
workers more and more professional
schools would turn out more' and more
self-reliant blind, glad and able to lead
the individual life.
"Do not abdicate your personality in a
MAURICE I>E I.A M/.KRA>NK,
Ob* ?( tkf rich hllad of Part*, dlelatlag from kli point-picked notes, read with the fl altera of his right haad.
n illiRR THK lllCH BMM) MBN OK PARIS TEACH THK POOR BLIND TO KARK THEIR I.IVI^U A \I) LIVE
INDEPENDENTLY. A CLASS IN PIANO TUNING AT THE VALENTIN HANV ASSOCIATION.
nest," say the rich blind of Parts to the
poor.
?
* *
"Get your education, then go out and
fight?we'll help you!"
They rail themselves the elder brothers
and Bisters of the working blind. Thay
watch over them through the Association
Valentin Hauv?named after the inventor
of raiser! letters?a large rich and flour
ishing mixed employment bureau, print
ing office, library and club. It Issues two
"blind" newspapers, a magazine, sheet
music and editions of the classics.
Glance inside.
Who are these rapid, busy, laughinsr,
chatting, card-plaving, letter-writing,
newspaper-reading folks?
All blind!
Yes, they aire the working blind of
Paris. All have come a distance?many
without aid.
"Walking: in the crowded streets is the
hardest thing." said one who can still see
daylight, hut cannot distinguish objects.
"I'd gladly give up my useless Impression
of light and darkness for some magnetic
machine like a watch to help guide me
in the street?it ought to be invented!"
There are blind university professors
(Pierre Villev, master lecturer of the fac
ulty of Caen. Albert I>eon, docteur des
lettres, professor ?f philosophy of the
Lycee of Bayonne). There are blind law
yers <T>e Gost, advocat at Caen, and the
great Maurice de la Sizeranne of the
Farls bar>.
There are blind organists in quantity,
from Hornisch. who is a celebrity of Tau
sanne, down to fifty blind girl or
ganists eking out the salaries of small
parishes by giving piano lessons. Music,
indeed, has given the best results. Per
haps a third of the 1,300 piano tuners of
Paris are blind and make good wages, be
ing given a preference.
*
* ?
There are over a hundred blind type
writers working with graphophones; and
the "loaning" of pianos and these other
instruments of trades, constitute a help
to self-reliance on which the elder brothers
place dependence.
Medical maasage?not to be confounded
with the common, or garden kind?is the
newest well-paid profession. There are
already sixty such in France, averaging
$3 per day. Because of the forced discre
tion of the blind, their thoroughness, pa
tience and specialized sense of touch, the
demand is at present far greater than the
supply.
Acting as an invisible Providence, the
eld*r brothers and sisters spend
great sums in secretly following up,
watchinj? over and sustaining their more
self-reliant proteges.
If they ilemand courage, they give the
example; because, while the rich are sel
dom blind from birth, the catastrophe
coming by way of sudden accident or h
few dread optical maladies Is all the more
terrible.
They are proud of their working breth
ren, and the working brethren are gay.
They have fought and won out.
? it is astonishing how they get on with
out their sight.
"There are too many cards in this
deck!" said the librarian of the Valentin
Hauy Association, beginning a friendly
game with the organist of St. Peter's.
Neuilly. The cards come from the Rich
Blind Men's Club, and by accident there
were threo too many In the pack. They
are ordinary playing cards with em
bossed points added in the upper left-hand
and lower right-hand corners.
* *
And these tw<f consummate blind men
actually playad a game of ecarte with
unembossed cards. Their supersensitive,
delicate, slender fingers felt the forms of
ink prints on the faces. Any of the
players could distinguish the feel of a
picture card, and most could call off the
denominations of pip-cards, ace, deuce,
tray, four, five and so on. Peeling the
suits is more delicate, and calling the suit
ar.d the value of a picture card is the
height of this blind man's tour de force.
Regularly, they read the embossed
points of the corners before you or 1
would see them, because they read as
they pick the card up.
But you ought to see the rich blind men
play poker!
Few outsiders get a glimpse of their
private club, where they meet to watch
over the working brethren.
Among them are millionaires, men of
great families, bearing well-known titles,
heads of houses, lost to the world by
their blindness. Among them are blind
men who dress with meticulous coquetry,
faultlessly frock coated, in high hats
whose polish might serve pretty women
for a mirror. There are those who wear
the monocle, glance round as if taking
interest, and pat their paid guides gaily
on the shoulder?not to have the look of
being led.
There are others, powerful in family in
fiuence and riches. who go moroie. slouch
ing In neglected clothe*. Their onl> real
?ompanions, ftllow clubmen, cannot see
them.
?
* *
So, the six blind players handled their
ca>rds with smiles of satisfaction or
frowns of Impatience- They had no need
to train their faces They use their voices
for deception, or keep silence. One tall,
sallow plunger?the forgotten ncion of a
great Jewish family foremost in finances
received are high on the deal. That man
knew each card before I. at his elbow,
saw It. His light fingers read their corner
pointings with nonchalant deftness, that
would have battled the late Mr. Speedy
lie had been blind from boyhood, when
he rescued a small sister from a blazing
room.
1 watched his face light up with humor
ous purpose, as the others diew four, one
and three card* and two dropped oitt. In
monotone he raised francs, and asked
for two cards. Silently the three men sat.
intense, alert, to sense impressions be
yond ordinary human delicacy, waiting
for a clue.
The florid man with the blond beard
would not pay :Vn? francs to draw four
< ards; but. gently, the two others pushed
their Chips up. The athletic brother of
the second duke of Trance the lost his
sight by a gun explosion fifteen years
ago) amiled when lie filled his flush; but
the whlte-fa<ed invalid at his side never
relaxed the refined strain as he caught a
third ten-spot to his pair. The original
bluffer, holding his ace-high and two use
less card?, picked up his draw?two more
aces.
*
* *
Exultation and hesitancy struggled on
his unguarded face?he was no bluffer
now. for he had three aces. He spoke no
word. He seemed careful not to move a
muscle of his body.- He was hiding from
the other blind men.
The flush bet the smallest chip. The
pale invalid tame with Mm !n one word.
Wl.at would tiie astute Hebrew do with
his three aces" Hoist the one card and
three card draws as tliev deserved'.'
I think he must have waited half a min
ute. a*- they hid from him i'i the Ida etc
void; and he sought to feel pome Indica
tion from them Then, he Just finished up
the little chip that called? He seemed t ?
feel ttint there was a flush out against
him.
It was a stand-off. all-round for tho??
mind readers. And in the other hands I
saw played there was the same mingling
of surenese, with nerve and reserve that,
gives one the impression that these >iipr; .
men of the void have triumph- that we of
gross sight sensation know 1 ? -?t
"Were it not for their fae? V I said
later, to the librarian of the Valentin
Hauv Association. "I would hick tho**
men against any full si?ht piajers!'
*
? *
"They have l?eaten sieht pla>ers everv
time they have met. ' h? laughed ' t aids
and music are the.r strong pleasures.
They almost forget their blindnenv; or,
rather, blindness adds a lew test, dif
ferent. Every afternoon theie is a rapt
game of poker in the card r<K?tn of tli?*
rich blind men Onc< , a full-sight plaver
being cleaned out. almost su-oected th.it
the dealer's finger* incoiisciously. habit
ually. read the eards as they dealt them'"
"To suspect a Mind man of cheatlhg J on
is strong!" I laughed, half wondering
But. no. "1 notl< ed they deal ?Iu?mi
from the middle of the top card. I t-.?id
"Surely." answered the librarian. 1,1-t
a suspicion of ,i suspicion was etioug
Thenceforth tin \ refused to admit a-v*
full-sight party in the game, and very
seldom as a looker-on Among them
selves. they cannot see the dealer, but
they feel him."
"I have been blind onij five years," ha
concluded, "yet even I would notice t>'a
changed rhythm in a dealer's movements
should his fingers become occupied in
reading cards and his mind he charged
with remembering them."
STKRMXC llt-:iMG.
CARD GAME AMOMG THE WOHKING BLIND OF PAHlJt.
nowth
F1GI RK 1. THK ( 05im:LL4TI0.\.<l AT ? P.M.. *KPTKMBKK 1. (IFFAdM;
SOl'TH, HOI.D THK >1 %P I'PRKJHTi IK FA( I>? K*HT. IIOI.D "KA5T" BKLOWt
IV rAriNC WK*T. HOLD ??'E"?r RKMtAV: Ik KA(l\(i XtHTH, IIOI.D THK
WAP INVERTED).
night of September R the more rapidly
moving Venus pauses to the east of Mars
and the two planets may then be seen
near together in the western sky, Venus
being north of Mars and at a distance
away from it a iittie less than the ap
parent distance across the face of the
full moon.
*
* *
This Is the last month of the year when
the interesting Jupiter may still be well
studied. It is very low in the southwest,
just above the bright star Antares; when
the change of the seasons has again
brought this planet into our evening sky
we will see that it lias moved into Sagit
tarius. nearly across the Milky Way.
At about twenty minutes past ? o'clock
September 1 the observer may see the
beautiful Pleiades just rising in the north
east. and an hour later the group of the
Hyades will also emerge from the ground
The planet Saturn will at once attract
attention in this part of the sky, as it
shhies out half way between these two
groups with more than twice the -bright
ness of a first magnitude star. By the
end of the month the planet will be well
above the ground at 0 o'clock In the even
ing. and from this time on throughout the
winter will be a most interesting feature
of our evening sky.
As the planet I'ranus is now well out of
the Milky Way and in excellent position
for observation in a small telescopc. a
map is added to help in its location. It is
? asily visible, even In a small pair of
opera glasses, although it appears only as
a small, greenish, sixth magnitude star.
The reader may first And the triangle of
small atara marked A in Figure 2. a little
way to the right of which he will reauily
find the star marked B; the planet la five
minute* to the right and one and one
half degrees below this star. In a good
pair of opera glasses the two stars
PARTIAL Eclipse of the
Moon?Mercury Now a
Morning Star?The Sun
Croucfl the Celestial Equator
September 23.
By Prof. Eric Doolittlc of the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania
MERCURY is now a morning
star. September 7 it reaches
its greatest distance west of
the sun and may then be seen
rising In the northeast, about
one and one-half hours before sunrise.
Venus sets almost at the west point of
the horlson. about ?? minutes after sun
set September 1. which time is increased
to sbout 1 hour 12 minutes by the end of
the month. It Is steadily drawing east
ward from out the sun's rays, but, unfor
tunately. It Is also moving southward
over the sky. so that throughout the en
tire month it can only be detected for a
short while after sunset as It shines out
nesr the horizon In the sunset glow
When once found It is seen very easily,
however, aa it is three times brighter
thsn the planet Jupiter.
Msrs is rapidly approaching Its great
est distance from the esrth and Is hen^e
only as bright as a second magnitude
star. It may still be detected shining out
Mr the around, almost due west, for
about one hour after sunset. On the
marked C will also hp visible. These are
considerably fainter than the planet and
should not be mistaken for it.
v
* * '
Uranus is so very distinct from the sun
that it receives but one four-hundredth
part as much sunlight as we do. Day on
1'ranus is thus considerably brighter than
our brightest moonlit night, but far faint
er than the day with us. This world is
believed to be vaporous, hot and rapidly
turning, just as Jupiter and Saturn are.
Its system of four moons, which move
backward around their remarkably tilted
orbits, are beyond the power of all but
the largest telescopes*
On the morning of September 26 the full
moon will pass a very little way into the
earth's shadow and a part of its light will
be cut off.
As the summer draws to Its close we
again witness the gradual but steady
transformation of the face of the heav
ens into the autumn and early winter
sky. The characteristic summer group of
the Scorpion has half disappeared in the
southwest; the great constellation of the
Virgin has wholly gone, while the Bal
ances, the Serpent and the brilliant, gold
en A returns have sunk nearly to the
western horizon Meanwhile the beauti
ful groups of Andromeda and Pegasus
bwve already climbed half way to the ze
nith in the east, and again we welcome
the royal star, Fomalhaut, which this
month reappears to pursue its short
course across the southern heavens after
an absence of nearly a year.
>? A
If the observer will face toward the
north on any clear, moonless evening of
8epteml>ei lie will readily find the Great
Dipper, now lying in a nearly upright Thebes?the City of the Dragon. The re
position. slightly above the ground, while markable modern discovery of the aber
above this he may with somewhat more ration of light was made from observa
dlfflculty trace out the inverted and far tioos on this star.
fainter IJttle Dipper. Between the two On the opposite side of the pole fram
groups there lie the coils of the Dragon, the Drafog there Fill be seen the hrll
which entire figure can now be easily
traced out from the extreme tip of the
tail below the North Star to the striking
quadrangle of stars at M, figure 1, which
mark its head. All of its stars marked A
in figure 1 are easily seen double in a
small telescope, and some of tliem are
very beautiful objects. The highest star
?-?-?
I ' " m'
N
FIGURE a. THE PASSAGE OF THE
MOON THROUGH THE EARTH'S
SHADOW THE EARLY MORNING OF
SEPTEMBER M.
of all, at the upper end of the group
marking the head, is a celebrated star,
which 4,000 years ago was nearer the
pole of the heavens than any other.
Many early temples were dedicated to it.
and it was worshiped in the Boeotian
liant yellow solar star, Capella, which
now lies almost on the horizon. Above
this stands Perseus, the rescuer of An
dromeda, whose place Is marked by an
Irregular group of bright stars, one of
which is the wonderful demon star, Algol,
five-sixths of whose light is periodically
cut ofT by the passage of a darker star
between Algol and us. This star may be
seen to have reached its greatest falnt
ness this month September 15 at 1 hour 3
minutes a.m.; September 17 at 10 hours
20 minutes p.m. and September 20 at 7
Sours 9 minutes p.m. (Eastern Standard
me.)
*
* *
Above Perseus there is the well-known
Cassiopeia, between which and the Dra
gon there Is the rather faint but most in
teresting group known as Cepheus. At
this time of the year the observer will
have but little difficulty In tracing out
this constellation, which includes nearly
all of the stars along the Milky Way ly
ing between Cassiopeia and the Northern
Cross. With a small telescope he will
find that each of the stars marked A is
an interesting double, while at the point
R, nearly midway between the stars L.
and K, but a little above them, there is
a remarkable red and variable star. This
is sometimes of so deep a red as to be
the reddest bright star of the northern
heavens; at other times it is orange
merely. It* color is best studied by com
paring it with the nearby white *tar at K.
Its brightness also varies Irregularly, so
that sometimes it emits more than twice
as much light as at others.
It Is Interesting to note that were we
on the planet Mars the north pole of out
heavens would lie nearly midway be
tween the star K and the beautiful white
star of the Northern Cross at S. The
former of these will be our own pole star
when fifty-six centuries have passed
away.
The observer has doubtless noticed how
rapidly the very brilliant planet .luplter
has been sinking in the west. In a very
few weeks this beautiful 'world, which
has for so long a time poured out its
steady, golden radiance in the south, will
have left us for another year, although
it will not actually enter the morning sky
until next December. But just as Jupiter
leaves our evening sky the most interest
ing ringed planet Saturn will enter it. and
meanwhile the brilliant Venus is steadily
withdrawing from the sun's rays in the
west, so that throughout the entire win
ter we will have these two most Interest
ing objects with us.
ylnecdote* Concerning
Well-Known People.
Still in the Cradle.
WILLIAM DEAN HOWBLLS. the nov
elist, said at a dinner at York Har
bor. apropos of I. Townsend Burden, jr.'s,
declaration that Newport was no longer
sufRclently exclusive for the American
aristocrat:
"After all, the American aristocrat is
very young. isn't he? Only a generation
or so ago. he was peddling clocks or
hoeing corn, eh? The American aristo
crat makes me smile.
"He reminds me. rather, of the bottle of
burgundy at the half-dollar table d'hote.
"Two men. you know, were dining at
this table d'hote, and. to round out their
dinner, they ordered a bottle of burgundy.
It came, like all wines that throw off a
sediment, lying on its side in a wicker
basket, or cradle.
"The first man said, as the waiter care
fully filled their glasses:
" 'Why is this wine served in a cradle,
do you know?'
"The second man took a sip of the bur
gundy. shuddered slightly, and answered:
" Because it is so young.' "
Thought It a Fly.
HECTOR VON BAYER, architect of i he
bureau of fisheries, was telling fish
stories in Washington.
"I was once fishing for bass in Lake
Sunapee." he said. "Old Jakie was my
guide. Jake chose the fishing grounds,
an tithe also selected the flies.
'"skie fish rose well till after luncheon,
than they vanished. After an hour of
vain casting I said to Jake:
" *1 guess they're takitig a siesta now,
eh?'
" 'I gueas mebbe they are,' the old man
answered, from Ma armchair in the stern,
i "but any other fly with a bit 9i yaUer In
t it jtituia da Je*t u wfiiu*"
a
Well Meaning.
?!OV. JOHNSON of California was di?
cussing- in San Francisco an un
fortunate editorial.
"Well." he said, "the editor meant
well. To mean well, however, In this
highly specialized age. is not enough.
The Rev. Fifthly meant well, too.
"The Rev. Fifthly had among his pa
rishioners an elderly spinster who was
very rich. He desired to honor this
spinster by introducing her to the bishop.
He meant well In this introduction, but
he worded it thus:
" 'Bishop, permit me to present to you
one of my?er?one of my oldest sheep.' "
Obsolete Proverbs.
MISS JANE ADDAMS said the other
at Hull House:
"Woman is at last taking her right
place in the world. She is respected now.
No seer would any longer think of com
posing such epigrams about her as the
Persian one. 'Words are women, deeds are
men': or the French one. 'A man of straw
is worth a woman of gold'; or the Ger
man ones, 'Good men marry young, wise
men never', and 'A second marriage is the
triumph of hope over experience.' "
Table Talk.
THK American arietocracy was being
* discussed at a dinner at Newport.
"We are noi, alas, an aristocracy of in
tellect, like the French." said Joseph E.
Widener. "We model ourselves on the
horse-racing English, and all our tabla
talk "
He smiled to give point to his epigram:
*11 our table talk la stable
l?iK" _ .
Four-year-old Savant Who
Knows Zoology Backward
Special <'orrpspondi-ncc of The Stsr.
LONDON', August 21. 1#12.
*T^HbnB are mighty few ways in
I which this country beats the I'nlted
States, but when it comes to Juve
nile prodigies It really does begin to look
as If "hold Hengland" were In a class by
herself. A little while ago readers were
told about a seven-year-old English bully,
whose father waa forced by threats of a
thrashing to minister to his craving for
beer and clgaretteE, and since then public
attention in these islands has been
claimed by a little daughter of Charles
Maude, the actor, who, though not yet
ten, has dictated a book of fairy tales
which one of the most prominent I^ondon
publishers has Issued, and by Daphne Al
leq, who at thirteen Is the author of a
volume of symbolical drawings which
have aroused the enthusiasm of art crit
ics.
The newst English prodigy, however,
surely is the prize of the collection. This
is a youngster of four, who is an oxpert
zoologist, who has forgotten more about
the habits of prehistoric monsters like
the stegosaurus. the atlantosaurus and
the megalosaurus than most of us ever
knew, and who can tell offhand all about
any existing creature, particularly of the
finny tribe, that onr- cares :o mention.
Appropriately enougn. he rejolccs in an
impressive name of the three-pl.v order,
as Bill Nye nailed It, to wit, Scott Glad
stone Solomon, and just at present the
thing he Is most keenlv interested In Is
the giant dinosaur which is being un
earthed at the Jensen quarry, Arkansas.
' *
? *
Scott knows the dinosaur tribe l>ac?
ward, and a visitor learned for the first
time from the lips of this child of four
summers that the Arkansas specimen is
the largest ever discovered, being eighty
five feet In length. In case you hadn't
heard about it either.
"The child has a perfect mania for
classification," said his naturally proud
mother. "He will wake Te up early In
the morning to find ont jmplete list
of the Ibex family, for ?> The la?t
time I took him to t '?< pt me
there for seven and a .. He Is
absolutely in the sever;:.. nere."
It was at the age of on a :Jf. ac
cording to his mother, truii u..s Infant
encyclopedia, who lives In Hatnpstead.
began to show signs of being a marvel.
With only eighteen months to his credit,
he won the Royal Drawing Society's prise
for the beat sketch by a child under
seven, and everybody predicted that he
would be another Bejamln West, but six
months afterward he suddenly dropped
sketching altogether and went In hard
for natural history. His surprising knowl
edge has been conveyed to him entirely
by word of mouth and by the study *f
pictures, his mother not yet having
taught him to read and write, being afraid
that he might study too much if pos
sessed of these accomplishments
*
* *
A few days ago. Scott, who is a fair
sklnned. dark-haired little chap, aaid to
his mother that he thought It was time
that he wrote a beok on natural his
tory. 80 Mr*. Solomon Invested in a
notebook and took dawn verbatim what
the youthful follower of Darwin dictated.
nity of print, but it is really an ainszing
feat of essay-wrltlng to have been per
formed by ;* little boy of foui To show
that there was no deception, the infan
tile zoologist dictated a chapter on "Tlio
Pike" In the reporter's presence chatter
ing it off. as one might say. while ho
played with his to\s on Ihe floor. Ileie
is part of It, which shows that this jn
venile naturalist is no Dryasdust, but
has a keen sense of humor, which should
make his future works worth reading.
Other chapters of Scott's "book" are
headed. "Beetles." "Snakes."' "Common
Oold Fish" and "Frogg." His chapter
on "Tin TMplodoctis" begins:
"The diplndocus is a large animal about
as big as a house. He belongs to the
'saur' family."
"Scott never was interested in stories.'?
said his mother; "in fact, he won't listen
to them. 'Tell me something that teaches*
me something.' he always says Hut
in spite of all he has learned lie is not
at ail self-conscious, and is a thoroughly
game-loving, boyish boy."
Too Clever.
<<TPOO many advertisements try to bo
* clever. Now it is better for an
advertisement to be simple an<l ilirect
than clever. Cleverness confuses the is
sue "
The speaker was Heniy c. Milnes-fias
kcli. a London advertising ;igen:. w ho iias
come to New York to leain \meri' an
methods. He resumed:
"The would-be clever ail vert i-Mi:ent al
ways reminds me of the shop assistant.
" "Young man.' a lady asked him. 'will
this flannel shrink?'
"Desiring to be clever when his one We
sire should have been to sell good.<-, tha
shop assistant answered:
" 'Not as much as I would from telling
you it didn't, madam, if it did!' "
Apocryphal.
APROPOS of a certain rich man's pur
chase of a mine for $4*10,0110 that h*
sold for JW.4ino.nno, a Chicago broker told,
rather bitterly perhaps, an apocryphal
story about him.
"When he was a baby." the broker
said, "his mother used to sing him t??
sleep. 'Sing a song of sixpence,' was tha
lullaby she employed.
"As soon as he learned to talk, his first
logical remark was an interr uption to this
lullaby.
" 'Sing a son* of sixpence, crooned his
mother.
"And the baby, shaking its little head
and smiling In a wheedling way, said:
" 'Make it a quarter, ma. and I 11 g*
right off.* "
In Reed Bird Season.
WILSON J41ZNKR was contemplating
joyously the advent of the reed bir*
season.
"If only." he said, "reed birds were %
little larger! They are small everywhere,
but in Philadelphia they are particularly
small. One autumn evening a Philadel
phia waiter said to me. as he held &
match to my cigar:
" 'And how did you And your read birds,
?ir?"
" 'Only by tha aid of perseverance ui
a pooket microscope,' t answered 'for tn?
blessad ctaaf had gone and bidden '??
ua4? * JLe*t of creeo.''?_