The Crockett Courier (Crockett, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 2, 1914 Page: 6 of 8
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A LIVE COAL TRICK.
It Teaches Natural Law, Yet Has AH
the Appearance of Magic.
No one would suppose that it is
possible to hold a glowing coal on
a piece of linen or cotton without
burning the cloth, but that such
can be done is easy for any one to
prove, and at the same time the ex-
periment teaches an important nat-
ural law.
Every child knows that the tele-
phone and telegraph wires are made
of copper because that metal is a
good conductor of heat and elec-
tricity, which is only another form
of heat. If a poker is heated in the
fire you pick up a cloth to hold the
outer end, although it has not been
in the fire, because experience has
taught you that the heat is con-
nected through the metal from the
fire to the outer end.
This experiment with the flam-
ing coal is based upon this princi-
ple and the additional one that lin-
en and cotton are poor conductors
of heat. Take a globe of copper
and draw a piece of cloth tightly
over it so that there is not a wrin
kle at the top. If the linen or cot-
ton is closely woven the trick is all
the more ccrtain. Then, holding
the cloth tightly in place, you can
safely put a glowing coal on top of
the cloth, and, while it burns fierce-
ly, the cloth will not even be
scorched.
The reason is that the great con-
ductivity of the copper draws the
heat of the coal before it can burn
the cloth. Do not make this ex-
periment with a good handkerchief
first, for if the cloth is not tightly
drawn it may burn, but take some
worthless piece of linen or muslin,
and after you are certain of your
experience you can astonish your
friends who do not know the se-
cret.—Washington Pos't.
Proved the Wrong Theory.
A patient in an insane asylum
imagined that he was dead. Nothing
could drive the delusion out of his
brain. One day an attending phy-
sician had a happy thought and said
to this nut:
"Did you ever 6ee a dead man
,
"No, of course not," was the re-
piy-
"Did you ever hear of a dead
man bleeding?" continuad the doc-
tor.
"Sure I never did," answered the
patient. , .
"Well, then, let me stick this
knife into your arm. Aha! You
are bleeding, aren't you? Well,
then! Doesn't that prove to you
that you are not dead?"
"Naw," said the patient. "You
ain't much of a scientist. What
ou've proved is that dead men do
"eed."
In 8pite of the Proof.
An American lady, living fa <Chiaa,
and beeu teaching a class young
Chinamen. One day n native prince
called on tier in his üae robes and
talked to tier with some embarrass-
ment.
"Madam," be said, "I came to you to
tee yog about a matter that Is very
near to" me. You have been teaching
that the world is round."
"Yes," replied the instructor, "and L
have beeu offering the proof."
"I know," said he, "but that is not
what I came to see you about. It is all
very good what you say, but, madam.
I have always been taught that It is
flat. I want to know if you would fee!
bad if I continued to think it flat?"
"Oh," replied the teacher, "it is not a
matter of how I feel, but a matter of
evidence. I demonstrate that it Is
round; I offer the proof; if you accept
the evidence you think it round; if you
reject it you think it flat."
Our intelligent friend was still un-
moved, still more concerned about the
object of his visit. "I understand," he
said, "that all you say, madam, is good
and reasonable. But would you mind
if I still thought It flat?"—The Masses.
Ready With a Reason.
Some time ago a man from the city
spent a few days in a country town,
and while there a real estate dealer
tried to interest him in suburban scen-
ery. Returning to his hotel that night
the city' man saw the agent in the
lobby.
"Look here, old fellow," remarked
the city man, "I thought you told me
that you didn't have any malaria down
in this section?"
"That's just what I told you," was
the prompt declaration of the agent,
"and I told you right."
"Maybe you did," doubtfully return-
ed the city man, "but just the same I
saw a man down the road a few min-
utes ago with chills and fever."
"Oh, I see now," smiled the real es-
tate man, with a look of enlighten-
ment. "That was Smith. He was shud-
dering and shaking to think what his
wife' would say to bim when he got
home."—Exchange.
Wonders of Plant Lifo.
We are told by Darwin in his "Ori-
gin of Species" that in the month of
February of a certain year he took
three tablespoonfuls of mud from three
different places beneath the surface of
the water of a small pond, which mud
weighed only six and three-quarter
ounces and was all contained in a
breakfast cup. He kept it covered up
in his study for six months and during
this period obtained from it the as-
tonishing number of 537 plants.
On Nov. 15, 1911. a Scotsman con-
tributor planted a dozen acorns in a
patch of soil taken from a hedge root
of about twenty-eight inches in length
by about eleven inches in width and
about two and a half inches deep, and
he resolved to take a note of the num-
ber of plants which should grow from
seed naturally contained in it. By Nov.
15, 1912, be had removed from time to
time, as they showed themselves, 155
plants, and by Nov. 15, 1913, fifty-six
more, or for the two years 211 plants
in all.
H
Pet Animal Cemetery.
Paris has a pet animal cemetery
where thousands .of dogs, cats, par-
rots and other animals are buried.
Many of the inscriptions on the
monuments are affecting in the ex-
treme. "0 Sappho!" is recorded
above the grave of a toy terrier.
"If my soul cannot join yours, dear
and noble friend, I do not wish for
salvation without thee! I Bhall
wish, like thee, to slumber forever
in the sleep that knows no awak-
ing/'
Over the resting place of a King
Charles spaniel one reads: "I shall
regret thee eternally, dear little
one. How empty henceforth shall
my life be without thee, dear little
bowwow!"
What Korea Was.
Few are aware that Korea pre-
ceded Europe in inventing three
things which have had a vast influ-
ence upon the world. Printing with
movable types originated in Korea
in 1324, 126 years before the in-
vention of the art in Europe. The
two other inventions in which the
Koreans seem to have anticipated
Europe were the mortar and the
ironclad, both used with considera-
ble effect during the Japanese-Ko-
rean war of 1592-8.—Japan Chron-
icle. '
Tho Humming Bird.
• The humming bird in Australia,
no less than a man, protects its
habitation with a lightning rod.
The humming bird before a devas-
tating thunderstorm bursts pru-
dently covers the outside of its lit-
tle nest with cobweb. Silk is a non-
conductor of electricity, and since
cobweb is silk the humming bird's
nest is thereby rendered lightning
proof.—Exchange.
A School For Spies.
In St. Petersburg there exists to all
intends and purposes a real university
of the science and art of espionage. It
consists of some six independent but
harmonized faculties or departments,
training and controlling the immense
army of spies and "agents provoca-
teurs" all over the empire and its in
«¿.atora all over the world
The art of opening letters, ae«pnennBi
various codes and forging various
handwritings; the histrionic art of per-
sonal disguises and of shadowing sus
pected persons and the science of man-
ufacturing explosives and bombs for
the supply of "agents provocateurs" in
order to better entice would be revolu-
tionists or simply for the sake of "dis-
covering" imaginary dangerous con-
spiracies—these are the main subjects
taught in this unique university.—
Anglo-Russian.
Not Necessary to Speak.
No one has ever succeeded in com-
mitting John Barrett, chief of the pan-
American bureau, as to whether suf-
frage is right or wrong, but he tells
this story apropos of nothing and ev-
erything:
Two men were late at the club.
"It's awfully late, Brown. What'il
you say to your, wife?"
"Not much, old man; just 'Good
morning, dear.' She'll say the rest."—
New York Tribune.
Works Both Ways.
"They bore one, these society calls,
don't you know," declared the young
lady. "They bore one."
"Sometimes they bore two," respond-
ed the young man, taking the hint and
likewise his departure.—Louisville Cou-
rier-Journal.
A Culinary Experiment.
The friends of a certain distinguish-
ed professor frequently dropped into
his laboratory for a chat in the even-
ing, says the Boston Herald. General-
ly, they found him busily engrossed in
some experiment.
One evening, when two friends call-
ed, they found the professor bending
anxiously over a spirit lamp, on which
a small pot was bubbling.
"Well." said one of the callers, "what
is it tonight?"
"Guess," murmured the professor.
"Micrococci?" asked one.
"No."
"Pneumococci?" asked the other.
"No."
"Spirochaetae?"
"No." ■
The callers ran the scale of micro-
organisms as far as they knew it. Then
one of them said:
"Well, we give it up! What is it?"
The professor smiled blandly. "Sau-
sages!"
Davy and His Lamp.
Jan. 9, 1816, saw in the deeps of an
English coal mine near Newcastle a
little drama in which there were but
two actors—the one a clergyman, the
other a miner. The latter was busily
picking out the coal by the light of a
"steel mill" when he saw approaching
him a light. The miner knew the gas-
sy nature of the pit and shouted, "Put
out the light!" but no notice was taken
even when prayers took the place of
oaths. The newcomer was the Rev.
John UOQgSon, Tector ox amww,
he had in his hand the first Davy safe-
ty lamp, now safely housed in the Mu-
seum of Practical Geology in Jermyn
street, London. Sir Humphry Davy
when urged to patent it replied: "It
might undoubtedly enable me to put
four horses in my carriage. But what
could it avail me to have it said that
Sir Humphrey drives his carriage and
four bought at the expense of miners'
lives?"
Tennyson's Terror.
At the time when rumors of the
probable marriage of the Marquis of
Lorne and Princess Louise were float-
ing about London Tennyson had one
day a number of guests at luncheon,
among whom was the Marquis of
Lorne. In the course of talk the mar-
quis told Tennyson, then poet laureate,
that the queen liked his new volume.
"I am glad to hear it," Tennyson said
in his sonorous, slow, musical bass
voice. "I have given a good account of
her in that volume, but the newspa-
pers didn't like my rimes—say they
are bad. I live in terror," he contin-
ued, "of any of the queen's family
marrying and of hearing from her that
she hopes I will write something. I
have no news of that kind yet, but I
live in terror of it."
This with a solemnly sly wink.
Queering a Prediction.
"When you are as old as I am, my
son, you will know more and talk less
than you do now."
"But. dad, everybody says 1 take
after mother."—Chicago Record-Herald.
Naturally.
"Are there .any grounds for the real
estate boom in that particular neigh-
borhood?"
"Certainly. Don't they want to sell
'cm?"—Baltimore American.
Politeness and civility are the best
capital ever invested in business.—P.
T. Barnum.
That's the Answer.
"Why is your husband so irritable at
home?" inquired the amazed visitor.
"Because he knows it's safe to be,"
nnswered the long suffering wife.—St.
Louis Republic.
Better Days.
Wife—I wonder if Mr. Van Dusen
hasn't seen better days? Husband-
Ob, yes, Van Dusen wasn't always
married* 1 don't think!—Chicago Rec-
ord-Herald.
The cheerful live longest in years and
afterward In our regards.—Bovee.
A Bolsterer.
"How does Hamlet Fatt manage to
keep in vaudeville?"
"He has a certain value. He's a bol-
sterer."
"What's a bolsterer?"
"He's so rotten that he makes the
rest of any bill look good."—Louisville
Courier-Journal.
^Overdoing it a Little.
"Speaking of economy," says a char-
acter in one of Life's stories, "Gillett
says that he is saving up for a rainy
day."
"H'm!" came the response. "His
wife thinks he must be saving up for
another flood."
Questions Free.
Caller—But you said you wouldn't
charge me anything for the little legal
question 1 asked you. Lawyer—I
haven't. What I've charged you for is
the answer.—Boston Transcript.
Not One Sided.
The Parson—Lottie, don't you know
it is wrong to worry your mother so?
Little Lottie—Huh, you don't know
mamma! She worries me more than I
worry her.-Chicago News.
Convinced Both English and Arabs.
Lieutenant Waghorn found it difficult
to conviuce the British postofiice oi
the value of the isthmus of Suez as a
means of shortening the letter route to
India. He guaranteed to transmit a
bag of letters to India and return with
others to England In the same time it
took the letters to go. He was granted
permission to make the attempt and
difficulties at once cropped up. Coal at
Port Said was $30 a ton, at Suez $100.
so he loaded camels with coal and took
them across the isthmus. When he
reached Suez with the letters the
steamer which he iad arranged to
meet him was not there. This diffi-
culty be surmounted by chartering an
open Arab boat and forcing the crew
at the pistol point to take him the GOO
miles down the Red sea to Jeddah.
where he found a steamer to take him
to Bombay and the return journey
he completed well within the time.
Thenceforward the isthmus route be-
came the overland route, for Waghorn
was able to convince the Arabs that
the protection of the mails was better
than looting them. English gold being
his strongest argument.
How to Live to Be a Hundred.
Eight hours' sleep every night.
Sleep on your right side.
Keep your bedroom window open.
Have a mat at your bedroom door.
Keep your bed away Irom the wall.
No cold bath in the morning, but a
bath at the temperature of the body.
Exercise before breakfast.
Eat little meat and be sure that it is
well cooked.
Drink no milk. (This applies to
adults only.)
Eat plenty of fat to feed the cells
which destroy disease germs.
Avoid intoxicants, which destroy the
cells that combat disease.
Allow no pet animals in your living
rooms, for they carry disease germs.
Live in the country if you can.
Watch the three D's—drinking water,
damp and drains.
Have change of occupation.
Take frequent and short holidays.
Limit your ambition.
Keep your temper.—Maxims of Sir
James Sawyer, English Physician.
While Doubt stands still, Confidence
can make a fortune.
Historic Sense of Americans.
The good American does not feel a
stranger over here and we regard him
as one of our own family. But why
does he come? Not altogether because
the call of a common heritage impels
him, not entirely drawn by the attrac-
tions, commercial, artistic, social and
natural, of London and England. He
comes chiefly, perhaps, in obedience to
t.i ® Historic sense which is innate in
good Americans. Wherever the his-
toric sense may best be satisfied—in
Rome, Athens, Paris, Madrid or Con-
stantinople—there the American is
found. He may win his satisfaction in
a frenzied flurry with guidebooks and
binoculars, only half digesting the
glories that he scamps. That is the
defect of his quality, the consequences
of the habits of life which America
has thrust upon its sons. But the his-
toric sense is there and, even uncon-
sciously, your good American is its
obedient slave.—London Express.
Power of Water.
The power of water is enormous. A
tiny jet of water descending 3,GOO feet
traveling at the rate of 100 yards a
second cannot be cut into with an ax
or a sword. It will fracture the best
blades of Toledo steel. It will burl au
ax through an oak plank. It is quite
impossible for a man to cut this stream
through. To compute the power of fall-
ing water it is necessary to multiply
the volume of flowing water in cubic
feet per minute by its weight, 62.5
pounds, and this product by the ver-
tical height of the fall in feet and'di-
vide by 33,000, the number of foot
pounds representing one horsepower
for one minute. A stream of water
when flowing over a weir five feet in
length by one foot in depth at the rate
of one foot a second and having a fall
of twenty feet develops eleven horse-
power.
A Lively Corpse.
Joseph G. Grow, a member of the
United States diplomatic corps, tells a
story of Bunsen, the German scientist,
who was often mistaken for his cousin,
Chevalier Bunsen.
"When he was traveling in England
he met a lady who asked him, 'Have
you finished your book, "Bible Work,"
yet?'
" 'No, madame,' he said. 'I regret
that my untimely death has prevented
my doing so.' "—Detroit Free Press.
Social Caste In Berlin.
German royalty is rigid in its exclu-
sive etiquette. The Prussian nobility
form a caste entirely apart from the
rest' of society, and Berlin, socially
speaking, is composed of many differ-
ent worlds, none of which mingles with
the other.—London M. A. P.
Any Old Excuse.
Big Sister (who wants to be left
alone a moment with her sweetheart)—
Fritz, the bouse feels so stuffy, go into
the next room and open the window,
will you? Fritz—The window is open.
Big Sister—Oh, well, shut It again, will
you?—Fllegende Blatter.
¡ When the Worm Turned.
' Recently a man omitted to band his
tailor a few chunks of silver in ex-
change for good togs, and after wait-
ing a reasonable length of time the
tailor party sued for the amount of
the bill.
Thus It was that he found himself
1 on the witness stand one day with the
Insistent lawyer for defendant trying
I to establish the point that his client
had three months in which to pay for
the goods and that that time had
scarcely elapsed.
"Now, sir, Mr. Tailor Man," merci-
lessly continued the lawyer, "had I
bought those clothes instead of my
client, would you have summoned me
into court at this early stage?"
"No, sir," was the prompt rejoinder
of the witness.
"Good!" smiled the lawyer, with a
satisfied air. "And why not, please?"
"Because," came the answer of the
tailor, "in your case it would have been
a cash transaction."—Philadelphia Tel-
egraph.
Persia's Sorrowful Tree.
There is a tree in Persia to which
the name "the sorrowful tree" is given,
perhaps because it blossoms only in
the evening. When the first star ap-
pears in the heavens the first bud of
the sorrowful tree opens and as the
shades of night advance and the stars
thickly stud the sky the buds continue
gradually opening until the whole tree
looks like one immense white flower.
On the approach of dawn, when the
brilliancy of the stars gradually fades'
in the light of, day, the sorrowful tree
closes its flowers and ere the sun is
fully risen not a single blossom is vis-
ible. A sheet of flower dust as white
as snow covers the ground around the
foot of the tree, which seems blighted
and withered during the day. while,
however, it is actively preparing for
the next nocturnal festival. The fra-
grance of the blossoms is like that of
the evening primrose.
Two Pictures.
One man walks solemnly, with puck-
ered brow and eyes cast down, think-
ing of a thousand frets, dreading to-
morrow and regretting yesterday. An-
other laughs and whistles, careless in
every step and gesture, looking at the
trees and the flowers and the white
clouds and the blue sky—looking, above
all, at human faces, and making them
smile back at him. Which of these
men do you think is the wiser? Which
is more like you?—Youth's Companion.
Testing Silk.
The best way to test silk is to cut off
a small piece and burn it. If it burns
out quickly, leaving a clear, crisp, gray
ash, the silk is pure, but if it smolders
and leaves a heavy reddish brown ash
it has been treated with chemicals and
will not wear well.—Exchange.
m
For Husbands.
A clergyman took down a small vol-
ume.
"This is called," he said, "the 'In-
structions of Ptah-ho-Tep.' It is one
of the very oldest papyrus writings
known. It gives, among other things,
advice to husbands, and that advice Is
as good today as it ever was. Listen."
And he read:
" 'If thou be wise furnish thy house
well.
" 'Woo thy wife ever and never quar-
rel with her.
" 'Nourish her daintily.
" 'Deck her out, for fine dress is her
greatest delight.
" 'Feed her upon sweets.
" 'Perfume her.
" 'Make her glad with praise.
" 'Adorn her with jewels, feathers
and the skins of beasts as sumptuously
as thy purse will suffer.' "
* *.
Bh
Exploiting the Antique.
A gang of swindlers in Toulouse had
for stock in trade a beautiful antique
cabinet and a considerable stock of au-
dacity. With these they took for a
short lease a historic chateau near
Toulouse, installing a venerable old
lady to play the part of owner. Then
they found a collector of antiques, per-
suaded him to visit the chateau and
sold him the really valuable cabinet at
a good round price. After the bargain
was concluded they invited the victim
to lunch, and while he was eating the
meal the real cabinet was replaced by
a perfect imitation, which the victim
carried off with him. The swindlers
before their arrest succeeded in selling
their cabinet thirty-three times at
prices varying from $500 to $3,000.
Didn't Like the Method.
Jean longed for a kitten with all her
heart, but her mother was not fond of
cats, so she was not allowed to have
one in spite of ber eager pleadings. At
length it became necessary for Jean to
go to the hospital for an operation. "I
will make a bargain with you, Jean,"
said her mother. "If you will be a
brave little girl about having your op-
eration you shall have the very nicest
kitten I can find."
Jean climbed upon the operating ta-
ble and took the ether without a strug-
gle. As she came out from under the
influence of the anaesthetic and began
to realize how sick and wretched she
felt the nurse leaned over to catch her
first spoken word, "What a bum way
to get a cat!"—Delineator.
• !•
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Aiken, W. W. The Crockett Courier (Crockett, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 2, 1914, newspaper, July 2, 1914; Crockett, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth177749/m1/6/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.