Newspaper Page Text
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.