The San Francisco call., July 31, 1910, Page 2, Image 2

About The San Francisco call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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2
JUNIOR
EDITORIAL
CORNER
V Junior Call, Third\and Market streets, San Francisco, Cal., July 31,-1910.
Bow Wow, Juniors: , r , '• " ' \u25a0
I'm coming out of my kennel with another growl this week. I .awi. be
ginning to fecLthatil have undertaken too much of a job. In fact I know I
have. A^couple^of weeks ago I barked all through the editorial column over
the lack of open letters, and since then I must wag my tail to you. You
•have responded nobly./. ' ' : \u25a0 :/ *'..'" < .
But now I have another bone to gnaw. If you will notice, page 7 is
reserved for the younger juniors,v and each week there appears upon it
;; short stories written by Juniors. Now, we don't get enough of these stories.
There are only two or three of you who help out ;on that page, and we must,
have more. .••.-, ' .'\u25a0' . ' '\u25a0\u25a0 ' ' \u25a0.' T'\-H&
The Junior is published for. the Juniors, and while I can accomplish a
; great 'deal of work for a small dog, I can't begin to 'do if all. The : finest
"-thing, about the Junior is its staff. "That's you. I , want a number of short
stories written expressly for the little Juniors, and I want them right away.
-* Can-you do it? : ' .•:\u25a0.'.\u25a0; \u25a0. '\u25a0 \u25a0.'[\u25a0\u25a0.'."\u25a0''.: \ ; .v;. ; \u25a0 .\u25a0,.'.-'
..,' The - hardest thing in the world to j find is originality. ; Did you ever
stop ito think how 'easy. if. is to follow the-path laid out by the other fellow?
'It: takes a great deal less effort; to agree with what a; person says than to
disagree with- him and -then explain to hifn» the- whys and wherefores. Mother,
used' to* tell me a story— mother is one of the wisest dogs" that ever lived—
;. and : it went something * lilec this: :. *
. Once upon a time-^all the best stories start like that— there was a dog
who was what might be termed a gay dog. He had -among other things an
exceedingly fme.opinion of himself; One day with his master and' a number .
of other dogs he had: gone out on a hunting trip. Now, his master;. in
.climbing.overl.a big rock slipped^ and sprained, his ankle and lay helpless
with.only his dogs around him 'and night coming on fast. : .
Calling/the smart young dog. to.him hesaid:
h "Larry, you'll have to; go for assistance. .Don't take the road, but
{cut 'across! the field to the right/ and go through the forest. It 'will bring
'yqujto town a great deal quicker; than will the road." " ' >*
But Larry didn't want to cross the lumpy fields, and the long winding
v road with its big shade trees beckoned him' that way. Besides, he argued,
herdidn't know the way through/ the 'forest,, and might get lost. ; So.- he
started down the. road, while "one of the other dogs, loving his master,
; greatly;' struck off. across the bare, dry field ; with its \u25a0 hot blazing sunlight.
Right; at the edge of the forest in, a little' clearing he found a cottage and
.there besought aid for his wounded master, with "-.the result that. the master
•'... was at home .with his ankle bandaged by the time Dog Larry reached the
./distant town. And the. f moral, mother used to say, was this: :\u25a0; "Don't follow
the-beaten path. Buckle on your courage 'and never be afraid to attempt
* That 'will about all for ,this-week, I. guess, only put your imaginations
to work and send in some good short stories. ALONZO. ,
I SHORT BAEKS FROM "ALONZO
i The/c was an;old woman and what do > you think?
'; She 'lived all her days upon victuals and drink.
: One day • she • got tired and ate up a Call,
And found it^o' good she left nothing at all.
;. Humans haven't any idea of the difficulties we dogs experience with
; ;^their.|_language. ; I heard of a pup the other day whose mother read him a
Dutch lecture and wound up by saying:. "Never, never under any circum
stances must you carry a tale." That pup immediately went out in the
backward and chopped off his tail. Being a collie he has ruined his social
prospects.. Nobody wants a. bob tailed collie. % • -
'I met a friend of mme — a highly pedigreed English' bulldog — on the
street the other "day. He has recently returned from a trip abroad. A gold
mounted collar, heavily engraved, was clasped about his throat, and, the
weather being a bit severe, he, was. wearing a'handsome fur lined coat. The
minute he saw me he put on. a bored, supercilious air. "'Do, 'Lonzo?" he
said, with a languid wave of his tail. "How's the bally old town getting on?"
He then proceeded to tell me of his European tour and confided that his new
valet was a Frenchman, and utterly bored him to death, doncherknow. About
that" time his mistress emerged from a nearby store, when he was carefully
scooped up and into the 'waiting carriage. With a last effort he called, wearily,
." 'By, 'Lonzo. Tell the boys I'm leading a dog's life." Now, what d'ye think
of that? '
POINTED PARAGRAPHS
The ; season for heated arguments Is
now open.,
Inquisitive people acquire a lot of in
formation that Isn't so.
THE SA^FRANCISCO C^Lt; SUH^
Only those who have no worries can
afford to look worried,
A businessman's leisure is simply the
time lie doesn't know what to do with.
FLOWER LORE
KATHARINE BEALS
(Copyright, 1010, liv C. Miteinlllan. All Rlgbti
itcirrvcjn.
PEOKT— (BashfulneM)
"Krpot In nil hor prirnson pomp, you'll xoe
With busby loaves the graceful peony."
— Unpin.
AESCULAPIUS was the Bon of
Apollo, and while still an Infant
was Intrusted to the care of Chi
ron, the wisest and most just of nil the
Centaurs. Chiron ; bestowed upon the
youth much care and instructed him so
thoroughly In the art 'of healing that
when he was grown he was renowned
for his skill and knowledge, and wan
known as the Paeon, or helper, and was
the first physician '\u25a0'of the gods. One
day Hlppolytus was killed by a fall
from hla chariot and Paeon with his
knowledge and skill restored him to
life. This so alarmed Pluto, the king
of the infernal ; regions, "that he per
suaded* Jupiter to annihlate the phy
sician with one of his terrible thunder
bolts. Apollo was so grieved by the
death of his son that Jove took pity on
him and instead of 'giving the body of
Aesculapius Into the keeping of Pluto
he transformed it into a plant which
bears the name by which he was best
known 1 among the gods and which is,
said to be the first plant used for med
ical purposes. ..
As Homer tells the tale it differs
somewhat from other ancient versions.
According tahis story,. Pluto had been
severely wounded by Hercules, and
Paeon cured him by^ means of a plant
which he received 'from his grand
mother, the mother of Apollo. In grati
tude Pluto caused the plant to be called
Paeonia, to perpetuate the. memory "of
the physician of Olympus. -
Another account) of the origin of the
plant , is that Paeonfa was a beautiful
nymph, and one day Apollo, who was
not 1 - always, discreet, was indulging in
a mild* flirtation with her. Paeonia hap
pened, to turn her head and saw Venus
regarding her with great severity, and
she blushed so red. that the color never
left her face and when Venus' in her
anger changed . her into a flower she
still retained the samorosy hue.
FIGURES IX MANY SCPERSTITIO.VS
The Greeks held the.' peony in great
reverence as asacred flower. They;be
lieved that it was an emanation from
the moon and was under the especial
protection of that r planet, that the
flower was , illuminated during vthe
night, driving -away evil ' spiffts, and
protecting those who cultivated it.
A rsmair piece. of :the 'root worn as
an amulet around the nock was held
to: be a'sure protection .from evil en
chantments. The healing- properties of
the plant were , not so numerous as
those of some others, -but were said to
Guarding the Gold and Silver at the Mint
, The precautions taken at the United
States mints against waste of the pre
cious metals are of a most extraordi
nary character. No miser could guard
his -treasure^with" more sedulous care
. -than does your '\u25a0 Uncle Samilel. .•\u25a0- ,
\u25a0 Every evening the floor of. the melt
ing room "is, swept; cleaner than a good
housewife's kitchen. 'The dust is put
carefully aside, and about once in three
months' the soot scraped from every
flue is transferred to the same precious
dust heap.: This is then burned and
from its ashes the government derives
-a handsome income. . '
.The -earthenware crucibles used in
melting are " not employed more than
three times.' Then 'they ;\re crushed
under heavy rollers and in their porous
sides are found fine flake?.! of fine: sil
ver. I-ike AlailiUn with his lamp, Un
cle Sam .would not exchange old cruci
bles^ for new ones.
\u25a0 ln*the melting room when the casters
raise their ladles from tho melting pots
a shower of sparks, flies from the
molten surface of the metal. For the
most part thej» are bits of incandescent
carbon, but clinging to the, carbon is
often a minute particle of metal. Lest
such particles should' escape, the ashes
and clinkers below the furnaces are
gathered up at night. The debris is
Aground into powder by a steam cruslf
er and then la sold to a smelter, like
ordinary ore, at a 'price per ton war
ranted by the assuyer.
The ladles that stir the precious
metal, the big iron rods, the strainers
and the dippers ull are tested in a most
. curious fashion. After considerable
use they become covered with a thin
layer of oxidized silver, which looks
for all the world like brown rust. The
implements arethen" luid in baths of v
solution of sulphuric acid, which eata
away the Iron and uteel und leaves the
silver untouched,
. Gradually the ladle, or whatever the
implement in, will disappear, and in its
place remain! a hollow silver counter
part of the original, delicate a.s »pun
glass. These fragile caHts . reproduce
the ludle with perfect accuracy In all
its details, although their Biirfuces are
perforated with innumerable little
holes, Scarcely have they .been mold
ed, however, before they are cast into a
crucible, to become in time dollars,
quarters und dimes.
be unfailing.' The root boiled in
wine wns used for diseases of
tho stomach, and 15 black seeds
eaten before retiring were thought to
bo a preventivo of nightmare. As
late as the sixteenth century beads
were made from f the roots and worn
by children as a safeguard against
convulsions. One writer in the second
century assures us that extract of the
peony was efllcaclous In cases of In
sanity.
All early writers agree that roots
must be taken up with great care
after dark, as the plant Is carefully
guarded by Picus, the" wo««lpccker of
Mars, who would attack the eyes of
any ono whom he might discover at
tempting to disturb the plant.
THE CHINESE PEONY WONDKRFIII,
In China the mantanfa, or peony, Is
regarded with reverence and pride. It
is the queen flower of China and Is
\u25a0cultivated very carefully. The great
tree peony of China grows to a height
of eight feet and is a triumph of tho
flower world. Some of the flowers are
of enormous size, measuring nine
inches across, and on the bush peony
they are sometimes so large and heavy
as to require artificial support.
The Chinese name of the peony
means Flower of Prosperity. It is also
known as thoplant.of 20 days, because
it is said that the blossoms retain
their beauty and freshness for" that
length of time. The flower is .used ex
tensively in Chinese art decoration; in
connection with the peacock it is a fa
vorite ornament for temple and place
walls.
THE PEONY IX AMERICA
In America we have been used to
think of the peony as an old fashioned
flower, a survival of the "good old col
ony times," when no New England
front yard was complete without its
"piny bush." As it is a hardy peren
nial, there are still in some New Eng
land gardens peony, bushes that are al
most as old as the homesteads them
selves,: and- that have been known to
have a hundred blossoms at. one time.
" In poetry the peony has b^een strangely
neglected". Shakespeare in "The Tem
pest" makes Iris speak of the meadows
"with their peonied and lilied banks."
And one or two of the very early Eng
lish writers mention it, spelling the
name in various ways./ One writer in
the sixteenth century tells of a garden
"With Rllly-flowers all set round
\u25a0 \u25a0 And pyonys powdered ay between."
Of the later poets Jean.lngelow writes
of the leaves
• , "At the roots '.•_'•
Of the peony l.ushos in rose red heaps,
Or snowy, fallen blooms."
But It Is in stories of colonial life
that thepeony shines. Dr. Holmes calls
it "an aristocratic flower," and Mary E.
Wilkins has honored it by giving Its
name to one pf her. stories.
(Next Sunday, the Iris.)
There is a large tank in one corner
of the melting room and Into it newly
cast silver bars are dropped and left to
cool. Infinitesimal flakes of silver
scale off and rise to the surface of the
water, which acquires the metallic
luster, of a stagnant pool. Here Is sil
ver which must .not be lost, so beneath
the pipe through which the tank Is
emptied is banked a thick layer of
mud. As the water filters through it
the mud retains the. precious residuum.
Four times a year this mud Is re
moved and each experiment shows that
some $50 has been saved by this device.
Origin of the Handkerchief
"Aunt Jane, I'm much smarter than
Cousin Jim." ,
"In what respect, dear?" . .
"I can use my own handkerchief
already, and his nurse has to use his
for him."
Talking about handkerchiefs," It is
related that at the beginning of the
nineteenth century Mlle.'Duehesnois, .a
famous actress, dared to appear, with
a handkerchief in. .her hand. Having
to speak of it,, in the course of the
play, she could only summon courage
to refer to it as "a light tissue." A
translation of ' one of Shakespeare*!
plays by Alfred da Vigny was being
acted, and the subject, mentioned for
the. first time upon the stage, pro
voked a storm of indignant hisses from
all parts of the house. Handkerchiefs
were finally popularized in France by
the Empress Josephine, who had Im
perfect teeth, and used'a little square
of lace and muslin to conceal her
mouth.
Shopping
The leader says: "I went shopping
this morning and everything I bought
began with C (or any letter desired).
From the druggist I bought (pointy at
a child, who must Immediately respond
with some article bought of v druggist
beginning with the letter C — us co
logne); from the baker I bought (cook
ies or cak« may bo the answer) ; from
the grocer I bought . And so the
llata continue until some child falls to
answer at once, when he must take the
place of the leader and continue the
game, choosing any letter desired.