Many of the names we bear, as well as names of many of the places we know and frequent, are derived from something done or some particular thing connected with the place. For example, there is a town about thirty-five miles from Paris by the name of Fontainebleu. It is said that when this town was originally founded, near the tenth century, that there was a beautiful fountain there, and from this it took the name of Fontainebleu, contracted from Fontaine Belle Eau (Fountain of beautiful water).
Many of the names we bear, as well as names of many of the places we know and frequent, are derived from something done or some particular thing connected with the place. For example, there is a town about thirty-five miles from Paris by the name of Fontainebleu. It is said that when this town was originally founded, near the tenth century, that there was a beautiful fountain there, and from this it took the name of Fontainebleu, contracted from Fontaine Belle Eau (Fountain of beautiful water).
(2150)
NAMES, ENDURING
The Pharos of Alexandria was built by Sostratus, a Greek architect, in the reign of Ptolmey Philadelphus. Ptolemy ordered that a marble tablet be built into the wall with his name conspicuously inscribed upon it as the builder of the famous edifice. Instead, Sostratus cut in Greek characters his own name deep upon the face of the tablet, then covered the whole with an artificial composition, made of lime, to imitate the natural surface of the stone, and cut a new inscription in which he inserted the name of the king. In due time the lime moldered away, name and all, leaving his own name to come out to view and to remain as long as the lighthouse stood.
The Pharos of Alexandria was built by Sostratus, a Greek architect, in the reign of Ptolmey Philadelphus. Ptolemy ordered that a marble tablet be built into the wall with his name conspicuously inscribed upon it as the builder of the famous edifice. Instead, Sostratus cut in Greek characters his own name deep upon the face of the tablet, then covered the whole with an artificial composition, made of lime, to imitate the natural surface of the stone, and cut a new inscription in which he inserted the name of the king. In due time the lime moldered away, name and all, leaving his own name to come out to view and to remain as long as the lighthouse stood.
There are names that wear away, while others are made to endure. (Text.)
(2151)
Names Handed Down—SeeDynastic Names.
Nations, Destiny of—SeeDestiny of Nations.
NATIVE CONVERTS
Bishop Taylor, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, used to tell the story of a wealthy Parsee in India whom he had persuaded to read the New Testament. Deeply imprest, the man declared that if he could find Christians who matched that Book he would join them. He sought among the white people for the life of the Book, but reported to Bishop Taylor that he had failed to find it to his satisfaction. The latter then sent him among the native converts, receiving his pledge that he would make as diligent search there as he had made among the Europeans. In a short time he returned with enthusiasm, to say that he had discovered men and women whose lives corresponded with the Book. He himself became a Christian and suffered the loss of wealth and friends for the sake of the Name, and when he died of violence in Bombay his last words were, “It is sweet to die for Jesus.” The story points to the tremendous truth that it is not in our conventialized Christendom that the New Testament experiences are being reproduced most closely, but in the communities of disciples who are freshly out of raw heathendom.—William T. Ellis, “Men and Missions.”
Bishop Taylor, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, used to tell the story of a wealthy Parsee in India whom he had persuaded to read the New Testament. Deeply imprest, the man declared that if he could find Christians who matched that Book he would join them. He sought among the white people for the life of the Book, but reported to Bishop Taylor that he had failed to find it to his satisfaction. The latter then sent him among the native converts, receiving his pledge that he would make as diligent search there as he had made among the Europeans. In a short time he returned with enthusiasm, to say that he had discovered men and women whose lives corresponded with the Book. He himself became a Christian and suffered the loss of wealth and friends for the sake of the Name, and when he died of violence in Bombay his last words were, “It is sweet to die for Jesus.” The story points to the tremendous truth that it is not in our conventialized Christendom that the New Testament experiences are being reproduced most closely, but in the communities of disciples who are freshly out of raw heathendom.—William T. Ellis, “Men and Missions.”
(2152)
NATURALIZATION
Citizenship in heaven is not nearly so difficult as that of getting out naturalization papers in America.
The National Liberal Immigration League has petitioned the Department of Commerce and Labor to establish a calendar in the naturalization bureaus, so that applicants for second, or final, papers may be notified and attended to in regular order, instead of by the present first-come-first-served method with its resultant confusion and delays. Such a calendar would simplify matters wonderfully for the coming citizen. A man getting his final papers is obliged to bring with him two citizens as witnesses, who will swear that they have known him to be a resident of the United States for at least five years, the last year a resident of the State in which he receives his papers, and that he is a person of good moral character, and qualified in every way to become a citizen. Imagine the degree of good-nature essential in the instances of these witnesses, who must get up long before daylight, night after night, to accompany the potential citizen and see himturned back over and over again. Indeed, more than good-nature is involved, for the witnesses are in most cases working men, who are making an actual sacrifice, in that they are losing the time that is money to them, and the sleep that is essential to their welfare.—Harper’s Weekly.
The National Liberal Immigration League has petitioned the Department of Commerce and Labor to establish a calendar in the naturalization bureaus, so that applicants for second, or final, papers may be notified and attended to in regular order, instead of by the present first-come-first-served method with its resultant confusion and delays. Such a calendar would simplify matters wonderfully for the coming citizen. A man getting his final papers is obliged to bring with him two citizens as witnesses, who will swear that they have known him to be a resident of the United States for at least five years, the last year a resident of the State in which he receives his papers, and that he is a person of good moral character, and qualified in every way to become a citizen. Imagine the degree of good-nature essential in the instances of these witnesses, who must get up long before daylight, night after night, to accompany the potential citizen and see himturned back over and over again. Indeed, more than good-nature is involved, for the witnesses are in most cases working men, who are making an actual sacrifice, in that they are losing the time that is money to them, and the sleep that is essential to their welfare.—Harper’s Weekly.
(2153)
Nature—SeeHandiwork of Nature.
NATURE AIDING SCIENCE
The cultivation of certain species of spiders solely for the fine threads which they weave has an important bearing upon the work of the astronomer.No substitute for the spider’s thread has yet been found for bisecting the screw of the micrometer used for determining the positions and motions of the stars; not only because of the remarkable fineness of the threads, but because of their durable qualities.The threads of certain spiders raised for astronomical purposes withstand changes in temperature, so that often in measuring sunspots they are uninjured when the heat is so great that the lenses of the micrometer eye-pieces are cracked. These spider lines are only one-fifth to one-seventh of a thousandth of an inch in diameter, compared with which the threads of the silk-worm are large and clumsy.—Harper’s Weekly.
The cultivation of certain species of spiders solely for the fine threads which they weave has an important bearing upon the work of the astronomer.
No substitute for the spider’s thread has yet been found for bisecting the screw of the micrometer used for determining the positions and motions of the stars; not only because of the remarkable fineness of the threads, but because of their durable qualities.
The threads of certain spiders raised for astronomical purposes withstand changes in temperature, so that often in measuring sunspots they are uninjured when the heat is so great that the lenses of the micrometer eye-pieces are cracked. These spider lines are only one-fifth to one-seventh of a thousandth of an inch in diameter, compared with which the threads of the silk-worm are large and clumsy.—Harper’s Weekly.
(2154)
Nature Altruistic—SeeAltruism in Nature.
Nature and Man—SeeStruggle.
Nature and Prayer—SeePrayer and the Body;Prayer Answered.
NATURE AS A CLUE TO SCIENCE
Man prides himself on his powers and attainments. Has he ever made a rose or produced a mechanism like the hand, or done a thousand things that Nature knows?
As an illustration of Nature’s superiority, the electric ray is cited.
The electric ray, or torpedo, has been provided with a battery which, while it closely resembles, yet in the beauty and compactness of its structure it greatly exceeds the batteries by which man has now learned to make the laws of electricity subservient to his will. In this battery there are no less than 940 hexagonal columns, like those of a bees’ comb, and each of these is subdivided by a series of horizontal plates, which appear to be analogous to the plates of the voltaic pile. The whole is supplied with an enormous amount of nervous matter, four great branches of which are as large as the animal’s spinal cord, and these spread out in a multitude of thread-like filaments round the prismatic columns, and finally pass into all the cells. A complete knowledge of all the mysteries which have been gradually unfolded from the days of Galvani to those of Faraday, and of many others which are still inscrutable to us, is exhibited in this structure.
The electric ray, or torpedo, has been provided with a battery which, while it closely resembles, yet in the beauty and compactness of its structure it greatly exceeds the batteries by which man has now learned to make the laws of electricity subservient to his will. In this battery there are no less than 940 hexagonal columns, like those of a bees’ comb, and each of these is subdivided by a series of horizontal plates, which appear to be analogous to the plates of the voltaic pile. The whole is supplied with an enormous amount of nervous matter, four great branches of which are as large as the animal’s spinal cord, and these spread out in a multitude of thread-like filaments round the prismatic columns, and finally pass into all the cells. A complete knowledge of all the mysteries which have been gradually unfolded from the days of Galvani to those of Faraday, and of many others which are still inscrutable to us, is exhibited in this structure.
(2155)
NATURE AS A MODEL
The voice of the singer travels forward more abundantly than backward, because he uses the roof, and, to some extent, the walls and floor of his mouth, as a sound reflector. The roof of his mouth being made of concave plates of bone with a thin velarium of integument stretched tightly over them, supplies a model sound-reflector. Every architect who has to build a concert- or lecture-room, or theater, should study the roof of his own mouth, and imitate it as nearly as he can in the roof of his building.
The voice of the singer travels forward more abundantly than backward, because he uses the roof, and, to some extent, the walls and floor of his mouth, as a sound reflector. The roof of his mouth being made of concave plates of bone with a thin velarium of integument stretched tightly over them, supplies a model sound-reflector. Every architect who has to build a concert- or lecture-room, or theater, should study the roof of his own mouth, and imitate it as nearly as he can in the roof of his building.
(2156)
The analogies which furnish means of expression to the art of building find their models in nature. That which we feel at the sight of an edifice, the artist has felt a hundred times in contemplating the shifting curves of a hill, the bold edge of a haughty peak, the immensity of an even plain, a ground hollow, or gently undulating sheet of water which loses itself in the mists of the horizon. All the effects produced by architecture are only an interpretation of natural ones. What is a pyramid? A hollow cavern in a mountain. What is a Greek temple with its porticoes and columns? A memory of the sacred woods where were drest the first altars. What do we feel in entering a Gothic cathedral? The shudder felt at the divine awfulness of the forests. And it is also from the natural world that architecture has taken its decorations. Columns and capitals, rosettes, flowers intertwinings, ovals, foliage medallions, all remind us of something seen in the fields and in the woods, in plants and animals.—Victor Cherbuliez,Revue des deux Mondes.
The analogies which furnish means of expression to the art of building find their models in nature. That which we feel at the sight of an edifice, the artist has felt a hundred times in contemplating the shifting curves of a hill, the bold edge of a haughty peak, the immensity of an even plain, a ground hollow, or gently undulating sheet of water which loses itself in the mists of the horizon. All the effects produced by architecture are only an interpretation of natural ones. What is a pyramid? A hollow cavern in a mountain. What is a Greek temple with its porticoes and columns? A memory of the sacred woods where were drest the first altars. What do we feel in entering a Gothic cathedral? The shudder felt at the divine awfulness of the forests. And it is also from the natural world that architecture has taken its decorations. Columns and capitals, rosettes, flowers intertwinings, ovals, foliage medallions, all remind us of something seen in the fields and in the woods, in plants and animals.—Victor Cherbuliez,Revue des deux Mondes.
(2157)
SeeInsect a Model.
NATURE DUAL IN MAN
Plato, in his “Phædrus,” pictures the two natures in man under the analogy of two horses, one black and raging, pulling him down; the other white and noble, with an upward look, and drawing him to pure and self-denying actions; both steeds harnessed to the same chariot while the man sits in the chariot driving. (Text.)
Plato, in his “Phædrus,” pictures the two natures in man under the analogy of two horses, one black and raging, pulling him down; the other white and noble, with an upward look, and drawing him to pure and self-denying actions; both steeds harnessed to the same chariot while the man sits in the chariot driving. (Text.)
(2158)
NATURE, ENJOYMENT OF
One of the most interesting passages in modern literary history is that in which Audubon, the naturalist, met the sudden destruction, by the voracity of rats, of the treasures he had accumulated in fifteen years of incessant exploration. At the shock of what seemed the irremediable disaster, he was thrown into a fever, which had well-nigh proved fatal. “A burning heat,” as he described it, “rushed through my brain; and my days were oblivion.” But as consciousness returned, and the rally of nature fought back the sudden incursion of disease, there sang again through his wakening thoughts the wild notes he had heard in the bayous of Louisiana, the everglades of Florida, the savannahs of the Carolinas, and the forests that fringe the sides of the Alleghanies. He saw again the Washington eagle, as it soared and screamed from its far rocky eery. He startled again, from her perch on the firs, the brown warbler of Labrador. He traced in thought the magic hues on crest and wing that so often had shone before the dip of his rifle. And the passion for new expeditions and discoveries, arising afresh, was more to him than medicine. In three years more, passed far from home, he had filled once more the despoiled portfolios; and at every step, as he told his biographer, “it was not the desire of fame that prompted him; it was his exceeding enjoyment of nature!”—Richard S. Storrs.
One of the most interesting passages in modern literary history is that in which Audubon, the naturalist, met the sudden destruction, by the voracity of rats, of the treasures he had accumulated in fifteen years of incessant exploration. At the shock of what seemed the irremediable disaster, he was thrown into a fever, which had well-nigh proved fatal. “A burning heat,” as he described it, “rushed through my brain; and my days were oblivion.” But as consciousness returned, and the rally of nature fought back the sudden incursion of disease, there sang again through his wakening thoughts the wild notes he had heard in the bayous of Louisiana, the everglades of Florida, the savannahs of the Carolinas, and the forests that fringe the sides of the Alleghanies. He saw again the Washington eagle, as it soared and screamed from its far rocky eery. He startled again, from her perch on the firs, the brown warbler of Labrador. He traced in thought the magic hues on crest and wing that so often had shone before the dip of his rifle. And the passion for new expeditions and discoveries, arising afresh, was more to him than medicine. In three years more, passed far from home, he had filled once more the despoiled portfolios; and at every step, as he told his biographer, “it was not the desire of fame that prompted him; it was his exceeding enjoyment of nature!”—Richard S. Storrs.
(2159)
Nature Malleable—SeeConquest by Man.
Nature Merciless—SeeGod, Not Nature.
NATURE’S AGGRESSIVENESS
Winthrop Packard, in “Wild Pastures,” describes the way in which nature’s wild growths obliterate the marks of human labor:
Let but vigilance relax for a year, a spring month even, and bramble and bayberry, sweet-fern and wild-rose, daring scouts that they are, will have a foothold that they will yield only with death. Close upon these will follow the birches, the light infantry which rushes to the advance line as soon as the scouts have found the foothold. These entrench and hold the field desperately until pine and hickory, maple and oak, sturdy men of the main line of battle, arrive, and almost before you know it the farm is reclaimed. The wilderness has regained its lost ground, and the cosmos of the wild has wiped out that curious chaos which we call civilization.
Let but vigilance relax for a year, a spring month even, and bramble and bayberry, sweet-fern and wild-rose, daring scouts that they are, will have a foothold that they will yield only with death. Close upon these will follow the birches, the light infantry which rushes to the advance line as soon as the scouts have found the foothold. These entrench and hold the field desperately until pine and hickory, maple and oak, sturdy men of the main line of battle, arrive, and almost before you know it the farm is reclaimed. The wilderness has regained its lost ground, and the cosmos of the wild has wiped out that curious chaos which we call civilization.
(2160)
NATURE’S ANTIDOTES
An army surgeon, discussing the nature of cholera and the sort of precautions to take against the plague, says:
Our greatest defense against this disease is, as usual, provided by Nature herself. These organisms can not live in an acid medium; they soon perish in the stomach, when exposed to the action of the gastric juice, because of its acidity.
Our greatest defense against this disease is, as usual, provided by Nature herself. These organisms can not live in an acid medium; they soon perish in the stomach, when exposed to the action of the gastric juice, because of its acidity.
Thus is nature kindly. Thus is the kindness to man of nature’s God.
(2161)
NATURE’S CUNNING WORKS
Excellent natural pottery is manufactured by nature in the case of a certain cactus. Woodpeckers are apt to excavate nests in the trunk and branches, and, in order that it may protect itself against these incursions, the plant exudes a sticky juice, which hardens, forming a woody lining to the hole made by the birds. Eventually the cactus dies and withers away, but the wooden bowl remains.As a weaver, nature is an exceedingly neat worker. Certain tree-barks and leaves furnish excellent cloth, such as, for instance, the famous tapa cloth used in the South Sea islands.Nature is also a glass-maker. By discharging lightning into beds of quartz sand she forms exquisite little pipes of glass.Nature does a bit in the rope-making line, too. These products of her handicraft maybe seen in the shape of various tropical vines and creepers; and her skill as a lace-maker may be seen in the case of the lace-tree of the West Indies.—Harper’s Weekly.
Excellent natural pottery is manufactured by nature in the case of a certain cactus. Woodpeckers are apt to excavate nests in the trunk and branches, and, in order that it may protect itself against these incursions, the plant exudes a sticky juice, which hardens, forming a woody lining to the hole made by the birds. Eventually the cactus dies and withers away, but the wooden bowl remains.
As a weaver, nature is an exceedingly neat worker. Certain tree-barks and leaves furnish excellent cloth, such as, for instance, the famous tapa cloth used in the South Sea islands.
Nature is also a glass-maker. By discharging lightning into beds of quartz sand she forms exquisite little pipes of glass.
Nature does a bit in the rope-making line, too. These products of her handicraft maybe seen in the shape of various tropical vines and creepers; and her skill as a lace-maker may be seen in the case of the lace-tree of the West Indies.—Harper’s Weekly.
(2162)
Nature’s Forgiveness—SeeRestoration in Nature.
NATURE’S PROTECTION
Fish are, we are told, very light sleepers, and frequently assume singular positions; but the most remarkable fact concerning them is the change of color many of them undergo while asleep.Usually their spots and stripes become darker and more distinct when they fall asleep. Occasionally the pattern of their coloration is entirely changed. The ordinary porgy, for instance, presents in the daytime beautiful iridescent hues playing over its silvery sides, but at night, on falling asleep, it takes on a dull bronze tint, and six conspicuous black bands make their appearance on its sides. If it is suddenly awakened by the turning up of lights in the aquarium it immediately resumes the silvery color that it shows by daylight. These changes have been ascribed to the principle of “protective coloration,” and it has been pointed out that the appearance of black bands and the deepening of the spots serve to conceal the fish from their enemies when lying amid eel-grass and seaweeds.—Harper’s Weekly.
Fish are, we are told, very light sleepers, and frequently assume singular positions; but the most remarkable fact concerning them is the change of color many of them undergo while asleep.
Usually their spots and stripes become darker and more distinct when they fall asleep. Occasionally the pattern of their coloration is entirely changed. The ordinary porgy, for instance, presents in the daytime beautiful iridescent hues playing over its silvery sides, but at night, on falling asleep, it takes on a dull bronze tint, and six conspicuous black bands make their appearance on its sides. If it is suddenly awakened by the turning up of lights in the aquarium it immediately resumes the silvery color that it shows by daylight. These changes have been ascribed to the principle of “protective coloration,” and it has been pointed out that the appearance of black bands and the deepening of the spots serve to conceal the fish from their enemies when lying amid eel-grass and seaweeds.—Harper’s Weekly.
(2163)
NATURE’S RECUPERATIVE POWERS
A unique opportunity to study Nature’s processes in restoring the vegetation of a land swept clean by a great disaster was afforded after the eruption of a volcano on the little island of Krakatoa in 1883. All living organisms were destroyed. In 1886 a number of plants had already established themselves on the devastated island, those in the interior being remarkably different from those on the coast, ferns especially preponderating. In 1897 further progress had been made, and in 1906 the forest trees had advanced so far as to make it evident that within a short time the island will again be densely forested. It is believed that the first plants to establish themselves on the blasted soil—such as ferns, algae, mosses, compositæ, and grasses—were borne thither by the winds, and that ocean currents were probably agents in the importation of seeds and fruit.—San FranciscoBulletin.
A unique opportunity to study Nature’s processes in restoring the vegetation of a land swept clean by a great disaster was afforded after the eruption of a volcano on the little island of Krakatoa in 1883. All living organisms were destroyed. In 1886 a number of plants had already established themselves on the devastated island, those in the interior being remarkably different from those on the coast, ferns especially preponderating. In 1897 further progress had been made, and in 1906 the forest trees had advanced so far as to make it evident that within a short time the island will again be densely forested. It is believed that the first plants to establish themselves on the blasted soil—such as ferns, algae, mosses, compositæ, and grasses—were borne thither by the winds, and that ocean currents were probably agents in the importation of seeds and fruit.—San FranciscoBulletin.
(2164)
Nature’s Renewing Qualities—SeeConversion.
Nature-teaching to Children—SeeReligious Education.
Nature Witnessing to God—SeeGod Revealed in Nature.
NATURE, WONDERS OF
The oak-galls are formed only where a gall-insect has pricked a live leaf or stem or twig with her sharp, sting-like little egg-layer, and has left an egg in the plant tissue. Nor does the gall begin to form even yet. It begins only after the young gall-insect is hatched from the egg, or at least begins to develop inside the egg. Then the gall grows rapidly. The tree sends an extra supply of sap to this spot, and the plant-cells multiply, and the house begins to form around the little white grub. Now this house or gall not only encloses and protects the insect, but it provides it with food in the form of plant-sap and a special mass or layer of soft, nutritious plant-tissue lying right around the grub. So the gall-insect not only lives in the house, but eats it!—Vernon L. Kellogg, “Insect Stories.”
The oak-galls are formed only where a gall-insect has pricked a live leaf or stem or twig with her sharp, sting-like little egg-layer, and has left an egg in the plant tissue. Nor does the gall begin to form even yet. It begins only after the young gall-insect is hatched from the egg, or at least begins to develop inside the egg. Then the gall grows rapidly. The tree sends an extra supply of sap to this spot, and the plant-cells multiply, and the house begins to form around the little white grub. Now this house or gall not only encloses and protects the insect, but it provides it with food in the form of plant-sap and a special mass or layer of soft, nutritious plant-tissue lying right around the grub. So the gall-insect not only lives in the house, but eats it!—Vernon L. Kellogg, “Insect Stories.”
(2165)
SeeRemains.
NATURE WORSHIP
Father Brebeuf, writing about the Hurons in 1636, tells of a certain rock which they passed on their way to Quebec, and to which they always offered tobacco, placing it in the cleft of the rock and addressing the demon who lived there with prayer for protection and success. When the Indian in crossing a lake finds himself in serious danger, he prays to the spirit of the lake, throwing an offering, perhaps a dog, into the water. When the sound of the thundering frightens him, he prays to the thunder-being for protection. When he needs rain, he directs his rites to the god of rain and thunder. Air and earth and water are alive with spirits, any one of which may be prayed to; but, as a matter of fact, certain ones are singled out for worship. Add to these the many animal deities which are invoked even more frequently than those of the elements in the sacred formulas of the Cherokees.
Father Brebeuf, writing about the Hurons in 1636, tells of a certain rock which they passed on their way to Quebec, and to which they always offered tobacco, placing it in the cleft of the rock and addressing the demon who lived there with prayer for protection and success. When the Indian in crossing a lake finds himself in serious danger, he prays to the spirit of the lake, throwing an offering, perhaps a dog, into the water. When the sound of the thundering frightens him, he prays to the thunder-being for protection. When he needs rain, he directs his rites to the god of rain and thunder. Air and earth and water are alive with spirits, any one of which may be prayed to; but, as a matter of fact, certain ones are singled out for worship. Add to these the many animal deities which are invoked even more frequently than those of the elements in the sacred formulas of the Cherokees.
(2166)
SeePlant Worship.
NAVAL POWERS AND ARMAMENTS
The following table shows the naval strength of the leading nations of the world:
The following table shows the naval strength of the leading nations of the world:
(2167)
NAVIES OF THE WORLD
The naval strength of the principal countries of the world is shown in the chart and table here given. The total number of ships credited to Russia includes a disproportionate number of small and obsolete vessels. The chart gives a forecast of naval strength reckoned from the known naval progress of the powers. A comparison of the naval strength of the United States with Japan in this forecast shows how baseless are the notes of alarm of a “yellow peril.”
The naval strength of the principal countries of the world is shown in the chart and table here given. The total number of ships credited to Russia includes a disproportionate number of small and obsolete vessels. The chart gives a forecast of naval strength reckoned from the known naval progress of the powers. A comparison of the naval strength of the United States with Japan in this forecast shows how baseless are the notes of alarm of a “yellow peril.”
(2168)
Nearness and Distance—SeeRetrospect.
NEARNESS DISTRACTING
A visitor to Amsterdam, wishing to hear the wonderful music of the chimes of St. Nicholas, went up into the tower of the church to hear it. There he found a man with wooden gloves on his hands, pounding on a keyboard. All he could hear was the clanging of the keys when struck by the wooden gloves, and the harsh, deafening noise of the bells close over his head. He wondered why the people talked of the marvelous chimes of St. Nicholas. To his ear there was no music in them, nothing but terrible clatter and clanging. Yet all the while there floated out over and beyond the city the most entrancing music. Men in the fields paused in their work to listen, and were made glad. People in their homes and travelers on the highways were thrilled by the marvelous bell tones which fell from the tower.
A visitor to Amsterdam, wishing to hear the wonderful music of the chimes of St. Nicholas, went up into the tower of the church to hear it. There he found a man with wooden gloves on his hands, pounding on a keyboard. All he could hear was the clanging of the keys when struck by the wooden gloves, and the harsh, deafening noise of the bells close over his head. He wondered why the people talked of the marvelous chimes of St. Nicholas. To his ear there was no music in them, nothing but terrible clatter and clanging. Yet all the while there floated out over and beyond the city the most entrancing music. Men in the fields paused in their work to listen, and were made glad. People in their homes and travelers on the highways were thrilled by the marvelous bell tones which fell from the tower.
There are many lives, which to those who dwell close beside them, seem to make no music; they pour out their strength in hard toil; they are shut up in narrow spheres; they dwell amid the noise and clatter of common task work; they think themselves that they are not of any use, that no blessing goes out from their life; they never dream that sweet music is made anywhere in the world by their noisy hammering. But out over the world, where the influence goes from their work and character, human lives are blest, and weary ones hear, with gladness, sweet, comforting music.
(2169)
NECESSITY AND PROGRESS
When God told Moses to speak to the children of Israel and bid them go forward there was another urgency to reenforce this injunction. The chariots of Egypt were behind them; they must go forward or die.
When God told Moses to speak to the children of Israel and bid them go forward there was another urgency to reenforce this injunction. The chariots of Egypt were behind them; they must go forward or die.
Has not the greater part of human progress been due to necessities urging from behind and below—hunger, necessity for shelter, climates, hardships, trials. By all these God has ever been driving men up out of their Egypt of sloth and slavery toward a higher destiny.
(2170)
Need of the World—SeeLove, the World’s Need.
NEED, REFUSED IN THE HOUR OF
One of the most pathetic things in life is seen sometimes in country towns in the mountain regions of these United States—may be in some farming regions, too.The scene is laid in a country store of a Saturday night. The busy salesmen were waiting on many customers—customers who buy vast quantities of calico and chewing-tobacco and Scotch snuff and plowgear, and always on credit.Pretty much everybody from all about is in town. The elders have brought the youngsters, and these sturdy infants stare with wide eyes at everything.But in this busy gathering, far back in the corner, a man from the country is talking earnestly to one of the partners. The partner wears a heavy gold chain across his vest, and is in his shirt sleeves. He shakes his head, whittling, meanwhile, a bit of box.This man’s credit has run out. He is trying to persuade the merchant to carry him a little longer—just a little longer, but the merchant doesn’t see it that way. He wants money.He goes to his book and calls the man from the country and shows him the things written there. Then he leans back and lights a fat cigar triumphantly.The would-be customer makes one more effort and turns sadly away. He takes two children with him, one by each hand, and slowly goes out.“Ain’t we goin’ to buy nothin’?” asks one of them. A spasm of pain shoots across the father’s face.“Not jest now, boy,” he says; “after a bit—just you wait. There’ll be lots of boots’ boy size left—lots of ’em.”—DallasNews.
One of the most pathetic things in life is seen sometimes in country towns in the mountain regions of these United States—may be in some farming regions, too.
The scene is laid in a country store of a Saturday night. The busy salesmen were waiting on many customers—customers who buy vast quantities of calico and chewing-tobacco and Scotch snuff and plowgear, and always on credit.
Pretty much everybody from all about is in town. The elders have brought the youngsters, and these sturdy infants stare with wide eyes at everything.
But in this busy gathering, far back in the corner, a man from the country is talking earnestly to one of the partners. The partner wears a heavy gold chain across his vest, and is in his shirt sleeves. He shakes his head, whittling, meanwhile, a bit of box.
This man’s credit has run out. He is trying to persuade the merchant to carry him a little longer—just a little longer, but the merchant doesn’t see it that way. He wants money.
He goes to his book and calls the man from the country and shows him the things written there. Then he leans back and lights a fat cigar triumphantly.
The would-be customer makes one more effort and turns sadly away. He takes two children with him, one by each hand, and slowly goes out.
“Ain’t we goin’ to buy nothin’?” asks one of them. A spasm of pain shoots across the father’s face.
“Not jest now, boy,” he says; “after a bit—just you wait. There’ll be lots of boots’ boy size left—lots of ’em.”—DallasNews.
(2171)
Need, The World’s—SeeManliness.
NEEDS, MEETING CHILDREN’S
There is no more exceptional educational institution in America than the Berry School for mountain whites, near Rome, Ga., and yet the whole work grew out of a little Sunday-school that Miss Martha Berry established in the mountains near Possum Trot, Ga., less than ten years ago. At that time Miss Berry was residing on an estate which was all that was left of the fortune of theSouthern family to which she belonged. In taking her walks she was imprest by the desolate condition of the mountain children. Their parents were too poor to supply them with anything more than the barest necessities of life, and they were growing up in utter indifference to everything pertaining to education. To remedy this to a small degree, she invited a number of them to meet her every Sunday at a little cabin she owned, and there undertook to teach them a few of the things they most needed to know. At the time Miss Berry had no thought of establishing a permanent school. Instead of being a temporary affair, however, the school soon made itself an institution, practically without any effort on her part. So far as the children of the “poor whites” were concerned, they not only crowded her cabin to more than its full capacity every Sunday, but they finally came to her with the request that a day-school be added. For a time it looked as if the movement had come to a point beyond which it could not go, but finally Miss Berry screwed up sufficient courage to make a trip to the North that she might tell some of the rich philanthropists about her “poor white” boys and her mountain school. It was an interesting story that she had to tell, and she told it so well that she went back to her pupils with funds sufficient not only to maintain the school, but to enlarge it. To-day the school has one thousand acres of land, much of it under cultivation, and several fine buildings, in which fifteen teachers are kept busy instructing the one hundred and fifty pupils, not only in the studies of the ordinary school, but in the useful trades as well.—Human Life.
There is no more exceptional educational institution in America than the Berry School for mountain whites, near Rome, Ga., and yet the whole work grew out of a little Sunday-school that Miss Martha Berry established in the mountains near Possum Trot, Ga., less than ten years ago. At that time Miss Berry was residing on an estate which was all that was left of the fortune of theSouthern family to which she belonged. In taking her walks she was imprest by the desolate condition of the mountain children. Their parents were too poor to supply them with anything more than the barest necessities of life, and they were growing up in utter indifference to everything pertaining to education. To remedy this to a small degree, she invited a number of them to meet her every Sunday at a little cabin she owned, and there undertook to teach them a few of the things they most needed to know. At the time Miss Berry had no thought of establishing a permanent school. Instead of being a temporary affair, however, the school soon made itself an institution, practically without any effort on her part. So far as the children of the “poor whites” were concerned, they not only crowded her cabin to more than its full capacity every Sunday, but they finally came to her with the request that a day-school be added. For a time it looked as if the movement had come to a point beyond which it could not go, but finally Miss Berry screwed up sufficient courage to make a trip to the North that she might tell some of the rich philanthropists about her “poor white” boys and her mountain school. It was an interesting story that she had to tell, and she told it so well that she went back to her pupils with funds sufficient not only to maintain the school, but to enlarge it. To-day the school has one thousand acres of land, much of it under cultivation, and several fine buildings, in which fifteen teachers are kept busy instructing the one hundred and fifty pupils, not only in the studies of the ordinary school, but in the useful trades as well.—Human Life.
(2172)
NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE CULTURE
The lesson of the following poem, by T. Berry Smith, is that if we cultivate the good diligently the evil will thereby be weeded out:
Two fields lay side by side. Only a hedgeWhich ran athwart the plain dissevered them.In one my title lay, and he who ownedThe other was my brother. Each alikeHad generous part of one ancestral lot,And each alike due diligence displayedOn that he called his own. At early springEach with a shining share upturned the soilAnd gave it to the sun, the wind, the shower.Thenceforth we rested not. Busily we wroughtAnd wiped our briny brows ’neath burning suns,Biding the time of one far-off event.At summer’s end we each one came at lastTo find our recompense. Each had his own,The end for which he’d toiled. Through all those daysMy only thought had been no weeds should grow,But he had plowed ’mid rows of waving cornAnd in so doing killed the cumbering weedsThat grew between. And now at summer’s closeBehold! my field was verdureless and bare,While his was clad in vestiture of gold.How vain my toil! His recompense how full,Who reaped so much, yet plowed no more than I!
Two fields lay side by side. Only a hedgeWhich ran athwart the plain dissevered them.In one my title lay, and he who ownedThe other was my brother. Each alikeHad generous part of one ancestral lot,And each alike due diligence displayedOn that he called his own. At early springEach with a shining share upturned the soilAnd gave it to the sun, the wind, the shower.Thenceforth we rested not. Busily we wroughtAnd wiped our briny brows ’neath burning suns,Biding the time of one far-off event.At summer’s end we each one came at lastTo find our recompense. Each had his own,The end for which he’d toiled. Through all those daysMy only thought had been no weeds should grow,But he had plowed ’mid rows of waving cornAnd in so doing killed the cumbering weedsThat grew between. And now at summer’s closeBehold! my field was verdureless and bare,While his was clad in vestiture of gold.How vain my toil! His recompense how full,Who reaped so much, yet plowed no more than I!
Two fields lay side by side. Only a hedgeWhich ran athwart the plain dissevered them.In one my title lay, and he who ownedThe other was my brother. Each alikeHad generous part of one ancestral lot,And each alike due diligence displayedOn that he called his own. At early springEach with a shining share upturned the soilAnd gave it to the sun, the wind, the shower.Thenceforth we rested not. Busily we wroughtAnd wiped our briny brows ’neath burning suns,Biding the time of one far-off event.
Two fields lay side by side. Only a hedge
Which ran athwart the plain dissevered them.
In one my title lay, and he who owned
The other was my brother. Each alike
Had generous part of one ancestral lot,
And each alike due diligence displayed
On that he called his own. At early spring
Each with a shining share upturned the soil
And gave it to the sun, the wind, the shower.
Thenceforth we rested not. Busily we wrought
And wiped our briny brows ’neath burning suns,
Biding the time of one far-off event.
At summer’s end we each one came at lastTo find our recompense. Each had his own,The end for which he’d toiled. Through all those daysMy only thought had been no weeds should grow,But he had plowed ’mid rows of waving cornAnd in so doing killed the cumbering weedsThat grew between. And now at summer’s closeBehold! my field was verdureless and bare,While his was clad in vestiture of gold.How vain my toil! His recompense how full,Who reaped so much, yet plowed no more than I!
At summer’s end we each one came at last
To find our recompense. Each had his own,
The end for which he’d toiled. Through all those days
My only thought had been no weeds should grow,
But he had plowed ’mid rows of waving corn
And in so doing killed the cumbering weeds
That grew between. And now at summer’s close
Behold! my field was verdureless and bare,
While his was clad in vestiture of gold.
How vain my toil! His recompense how full,
Who reaped so much, yet plowed no more than I!
(2173)
NEGATIVE DISCIPLINE
A little boy went to school, and the teacher asked, “What is your name?” He replied, “Johnny Dont.” He had never heard his mother call him anything else and supposed that was his real name. There are too many parents who bring up their children on “don’ts.”
A little boy went to school, and the teacher asked, “What is your name?” He replied, “Johnny Dont.” He had never heard his mother call him anything else and supposed that was his real name. There are too many parents who bring up their children on “don’ts.”
(2174)
NEGATIVE TEACHING
Professor Estabrook, the well-known educator, once told this story to teachers for the purpose of showing them the discouraging results that attend the negative form of command. A mother once sent her little boy to buy some eggs. “Take this basket,” she said, placing it in his small hand, “and don’t spill one or drop the basket. And don’t fall down.” As he was passing through the gate, she called after him, “Don’t be gone long and don’t break the eggs.” After the little fellow had his order filled and started home all he could think about was not breaking or spilling the eggs. A vivid picture of broken shells filled his mind. With a fearful looking into the basket as if afraid they would jump out of themselves, he did not notice the large stone in his path and naturally fell over it, spilling and breaking the contents of the basket.
Professor Estabrook, the well-known educator, once told this story to teachers for the purpose of showing them the discouraging results that attend the negative form of command. A mother once sent her little boy to buy some eggs. “Take this basket,” she said, placing it in his small hand, “and don’t spill one or drop the basket. And don’t fall down.” As he was passing through the gate, she called after him, “Don’t be gone long and don’t break the eggs.” After the little fellow had his order filled and started home all he could think about was not breaking or spilling the eggs. A vivid picture of broken shells filled his mind. With a fearful looking into the basket as if afraid they would jump out of themselves, he did not notice the large stone in his path and naturally fell over it, spilling and breaking the contents of the basket.
Our human tasks are done most safely and effectively not while we are concerned with the task, but while wekeep in mind the exemplary Way by whose guidance all tasks are made plain.
(2175)
The writer, some years ago, heard an educational worker at a teachers’ institute tell the story of the mother who, on going away from home for a while, called her children for a few final precautionary prohibitions. Her conference with the children ran as follows:“Children, you are not to go up-stairs while I am away. But if you do go up-stairs, you are not to go into the back room. But if you do go into the back room, you are not to play with the beans piled there. But if you should play with the beans, do not put any into your noses.”There is no need to finish the narrative for any persons who know child-life. The physician eventually succeeded in preventing the nasal cavities from becoming vegetable gardens.The story seemed to have been made to order. But it is not at all improbable. The writer knows of kittens having been put “into the Baltimore heater,” and of little pigs having been run through a windmill after thoughtful parents had enjoined upon their children not to do these things. Thus does the law operate, as any fireside will abundantly verify.—A. B. Bunn Van Ormer, “Studies in Religious Nurture.”
The writer, some years ago, heard an educational worker at a teachers’ institute tell the story of the mother who, on going away from home for a while, called her children for a few final precautionary prohibitions. Her conference with the children ran as follows:
“Children, you are not to go up-stairs while I am away. But if you do go up-stairs, you are not to go into the back room. But if you do go into the back room, you are not to play with the beans piled there. But if you should play with the beans, do not put any into your noses.”
There is no need to finish the narrative for any persons who know child-life. The physician eventually succeeded in preventing the nasal cavities from becoming vegetable gardens.
The story seemed to have been made to order. But it is not at all improbable. The writer knows of kittens having been put “into the Baltimore heater,” and of little pigs having been run through a windmill after thoughtful parents had enjoined upon their children not to do these things. Thus does the law operate, as any fireside will abundantly verify.—A. B. Bunn Van Ormer, “Studies in Religious Nurture.”
(2176)
NEGLECT
Men were once engaged in driving a railway tunnel under a large river. While they were pushing the shield of the tunnel on its submarine journey a defective steel plate broke. All escaped except one man, who stumbled and fell. Before he could regain his feet the water engulfed him. It was the defective plate that did it. Far away somewhere, the makers of that plate failed to do their duty, and through their failure this man’s life was lost.
Men were once engaged in driving a railway tunnel under a large river. While they were pushing the shield of the tunnel on its submarine journey a defective steel plate broke. All escaped except one man, who stumbled and fell. Before he could regain his feet the water engulfed him. It was the defective plate that did it. Far away somewhere, the makers of that plate failed to do their duty, and through their failure this man’s life was lost.
(2177)
SeeDecay;Indifference to the Good.
NEGLECT, CONSEQUENCES OF
The cause of an epidemic of typhoid fever among the 1,000 inhabitants of Three Oaks, Mich., was discovered when a member of the Board of Health climbed to the top of the waterworks’ stand-pipe and found the bodies of several thousand young sparrows covering the surface of the water. Immediately the mayor gave instructions to empty the stand-pipe, scrub and paint it.Hundreds of sparrow nests have been built on a ledge that runs around the summit of the stand-pipe and the young birds are supposed to have fallen in while trying to fly. The cover made for the stand-pipe when it was constructed was never put on. The result was twenty-one cases of typhoid in the town.
The cause of an epidemic of typhoid fever among the 1,000 inhabitants of Three Oaks, Mich., was discovered when a member of the Board of Health climbed to the top of the waterworks’ stand-pipe and found the bodies of several thousand young sparrows covering the surface of the water. Immediately the mayor gave instructions to empty the stand-pipe, scrub and paint it.
Hundreds of sparrow nests have been built on a ledge that runs around the summit of the stand-pipe and the young birds are supposed to have fallen in while trying to fly. The cover made for the stand-pipe when it was constructed was never put on. The result was twenty-one cases of typhoid in the town.
(2178)
Neglect in Church Attendance—SeeChurch Services.
NEGLECT OF DUTY
John D. Rockefeller had for some months an expert greenhouse superintendent named Potts, who knew a good deal about greenhouse management. A recent visitor at the Rockefeller house missed Potts, and inquired for him. Then, according toThe Saturday Evening Post, this conversation took place:
“Oh, Potts,” said Mr. Rockefeller. “Yes, he knew more about greenhouse plants than any man I ever saw.” “But where is he?” “Well, he’s gone. It was wonderful, his knowledge of plants.” “You must have hated to part with him.” “Yes, I did. But it had to be. You see, he kept coming later and later every day and going home earlier and earlier.” “Well, a man of his ability might have been worth retaining even on short hours.” “Perhaps, perhaps. First he came and stayed eight hours, then six, then four; then he got down to two.” “But two hours of such a man’s time was worth having.” “Yes, yes,” answered Mr. Rockefeller slowly. “Of course. I hope I appreciated Potts. I didn’t object to two hours’ service. But he got so he didn’t come at all—just sent his card; then I dispensed with him.”
“Oh, Potts,” said Mr. Rockefeller. “Yes, he knew more about greenhouse plants than any man I ever saw.” “But where is he?” “Well, he’s gone. It was wonderful, his knowledge of plants.” “You must have hated to part with him.” “Yes, I did. But it had to be. You see, he kept coming later and later every day and going home earlier and earlier.” “Well, a man of his ability might have been worth retaining even on short hours.” “Perhaps, perhaps. First he came and stayed eight hours, then six, then four; then he got down to two.” “But two hours of such a man’s time was worth having.” “Yes, yes,” answered Mr. Rockefeller slowly. “Of course. I hope I appreciated Potts. I didn’t object to two hours’ service. But he got so he didn’t come at all—just sent his card; then I dispensed with him.”
(2179)
NEGLECT OF GENIUS
W. J. Dawson tells us in “The Makers of English Poetry” that Burns was sick, poor and in debt. The last letter he ever wrote was a pathetic appeal to his cousin to lend him ten pounds, and save him from the terrors of a debtor’s dungeon. It would not have been much to expect from that brilliant society of wealth and culture in Edinburgh that some help might have been forthcoming to soothe the dying hours of the man it had once received with adulation.But no help came. There he lay, wasted by fever, his dark hair threaded with untimely gray; poor, penniless, overwhelmed with difficulties, but to the last writing songs, which won him no remuneration then, but which are now recognized as the choicest wealth of the nation which let him die uncomforted.
W. J. Dawson tells us in “The Makers of English Poetry” that Burns was sick, poor and in debt. The last letter he ever wrote was a pathetic appeal to his cousin to lend him ten pounds, and save him from the terrors of a debtor’s dungeon. It would not have been much to expect from that brilliant society of wealth and culture in Edinburgh that some help might have been forthcoming to soothe the dying hours of the man it had once received with adulation.But no help came. There he lay, wasted by fever, his dark hair threaded with untimely gray; poor, penniless, overwhelmed with difficulties, but to the last writing songs, which won him no remuneration then, but which are now recognized as the choicest wealth of the nation which let him die uncomforted.
(2180)
SeeUnrewarded Invention.
NEGLECT OF OPPORTUNITY
James Buckham is the author of the following:
The day is done.And I, alas! have wrought no good,Performed no worthy task of thought or deed.Albeit small my power, and great my need,I have not done the little that I could.With shame o’er forfeit hours I brood,—The day is done.I can not tell!What good I might have done this dayOf thought or deed that still, when I am gone,Had long, long years gone singing on and on,Like some sweet fountain by the dusty way,Perhaps some word that God would say—I can not tell! (Text.)
The day is done.And I, alas! have wrought no good,Performed no worthy task of thought or deed.Albeit small my power, and great my need,I have not done the little that I could.With shame o’er forfeit hours I brood,—The day is done.I can not tell!What good I might have done this dayOf thought or deed that still, when I am gone,Had long, long years gone singing on and on,Like some sweet fountain by the dusty way,Perhaps some word that God would say—I can not tell! (Text.)
The day is done.And I, alas! have wrought no good,Performed no worthy task of thought or deed.Albeit small my power, and great my need,I have not done the little that I could.With shame o’er forfeit hours I brood,—The day is done.
The day is done.
And I, alas! have wrought no good,
Performed no worthy task of thought or deed.
Albeit small my power, and great my need,
I have not done the little that I could.
With shame o’er forfeit hours I brood,—
The day is done.
I can not tell!What good I might have done this dayOf thought or deed that still, when I am gone,Had long, long years gone singing on and on,Like some sweet fountain by the dusty way,Perhaps some word that God would say—I can not tell! (Text.)
I can not tell!
What good I might have done this day
Of thought or deed that still, when I am gone,
Had long, long years gone singing on and on,
Like some sweet fountain by the dusty way,
Perhaps some word that God would say—
I can not tell! (Text.)
(2181)
NEGLECT OF THE LIVING
On the 13th of July, 1816, occurred the funeral of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Many noblemen were present to pay a tribute to his extraordinary talents.
What a strange contrast! For some weeks before his death he was nearly destitute of the means of subsistence. Executions for debt were in the house; he passed his last days in the custody of sheriff’s officers who abstained from conveying him to prison merely because they were assured that to remove him would cause his immediate death! And now, when dead, a crowd of persons, the first in rank and station and opulence, were eager to attend him to his grave.... His death had been rapidly accelerated by grief, disappointment, and a deep sense of the neglect he had experienced.
What a strange contrast! For some weeks before his death he was nearly destitute of the means of subsistence. Executions for debt were in the house; he passed his last days in the custody of sheriff’s officers who abstained from conveying him to prison merely because they were assured that to remove him would cause his immediate death! And now, when dead, a crowd of persons, the first in rank and station and opulence, were eager to attend him to his grave.... His death had been rapidly accelerated by grief, disappointment, and a deep sense of the neglect he had experienced.
(2182)
Neglect Overcome—SeeRank, Obsequiousness to.
NEGLECTED LIVES
What is sadder than a ruined house and a deserted farm? Last summer, in Maine, I looked upon such a one. The gate was broken down, the entrance was a mass of thorns. Weeds had ruined the roses, for ten years the apple trees had gone unpruned, the curb at the well had fallen in, the windows were out, the ceilings were wet, vermin crept under the floor. Decay was everywhere. Wild growths had sprung up in meadow and pasture and ruined the fields. Desolation was everywhere. At the gate one might have written this legend: “A place where man has ceased to work with God.” Sadder scene there is not than a ruined rose-garden and a deserted house, given over to mice and rats, where once there was laughter and the shouts of children, and good talk between brave men. One thing alone is sadder—the deserted spiritual life. Lift up your eyes and look around on men. You find the multitudes who are neglected harvest-fields. Selfishness in them is rank. Self-aggrandizement is an unpruned growth. Pleasures run rampant. Like the green bay-tree, they flourish. And yet, their prosperity is a sham, their happiness an illusion, their influence a bubble.—N. D. Hillis.
What is sadder than a ruined house and a deserted farm? Last summer, in Maine, I looked upon such a one. The gate was broken down, the entrance was a mass of thorns. Weeds had ruined the roses, for ten years the apple trees had gone unpruned, the curb at the well had fallen in, the windows were out, the ceilings were wet, vermin crept under the floor. Decay was everywhere. Wild growths had sprung up in meadow and pasture and ruined the fields. Desolation was everywhere. At the gate one might have written this legend: “A place where man has ceased to work with God.” Sadder scene there is not than a ruined rose-garden and a deserted house, given over to mice and rats, where once there was laughter and the shouts of children, and good talk between brave men. One thing alone is sadder—the deserted spiritual life. Lift up your eyes and look around on men. You find the multitudes who are neglected harvest-fields. Selfishness in them is rank. Self-aggrandizement is an unpruned growth. Pleasures run rampant. Like the green bay-tree, they flourish. And yet, their prosperity is a sham, their happiness an illusion, their influence a bubble.—N. D. Hillis.
(2183)
NEGLECTING THE HARVEST
It seems a very strange proceeding when a farmer plows and plants and cares for his crop through the summer and then lets it stand all winter in the fields, to be eaten by mice, pelted by storms, and go to waste; and yet he is quite as wise as the pastor who toils hard to persuade people to give their hearts to God and come into the Church, and then allows the converts to lapse into religious ruin through neglect.—Western Christian Advocate.
It seems a very strange proceeding when a farmer plows and plants and cares for his crop through the summer and then lets it stand all winter in the fields, to be eaten by mice, pelted by storms, and go to waste; and yet he is quite as wise as the pastor who toils hard to persuade people to give their hearts to God and come into the Church, and then allows the converts to lapse into religious ruin through neglect.—Western Christian Advocate.
(2184)
NEGRO EXCELLING
Estelle E. Gibbs, a negro girl, fourteen years old, living with her parents at No. 512 First Street, Hoboken, received to-day (Feb. 4, 1910), the first prize, a gold medal, at the graduating exercises of the Hoboken public school pupils, in the Gayety Theater. She had the highest average of any public-school scholar in the city—99⅓ per cent. in six subjects. The medal was presented by Mayor Gonzales.There are 10,000 white pupils in the schools and only 15 negroes. Only eleven negro families live in Hoboken. Estelle is the daughter of a Pullman car porter on theLackawanna Railroad. She is the only negro girl who has carried off such honors in Hoboken, and the only one to be graduated from the grammar school to the high school.In all but one of her studies the girl was rated at 100. In geography she made 96. The five branches in which she reached the maximum were history, civics, spellings, arithmetic and grammar.Eighteen questions were posted at the geography examinations, and the pupils had the privilege of selecting ten to answer. The teacher who conducted the examination says that Estelle picked out the ten hardest. The girl is rather small for her age, but can stand a lot of work.While she was standing the final examination Estelle was so absorbed that she did not go home to lunch, but spent all the time, from nine o’clock until three, working on the questions.
Estelle E. Gibbs, a negro girl, fourteen years old, living with her parents at No. 512 First Street, Hoboken, received to-day (Feb. 4, 1910), the first prize, a gold medal, at the graduating exercises of the Hoboken public school pupils, in the Gayety Theater. She had the highest average of any public-school scholar in the city—99⅓ per cent. in six subjects. The medal was presented by Mayor Gonzales.
There are 10,000 white pupils in the schools and only 15 negroes. Only eleven negro families live in Hoboken. Estelle is the daughter of a Pullman car porter on theLackawanna Railroad. She is the only negro girl who has carried off such honors in Hoboken, and the only one to be graduated from the grammar school to the high school.
In all but one of her studies the girl was rated at 100. In geography she made 96. The five branches in which she reached the maximum were history, civics, spellings, arithmetic and grammar.
Eighteen questions were posted at the geography examinations, and the pupils had the privilege of selecting ten to answer. The teacher who conducted the examination says that Estelle picked out the ten hardest. The girl is rather small for her age, but can stand a lot of work.
While she was standing the final examination Estelle was so absorbed that she did not go home to lunch, but spent all the time, from nine o’clock until three, working on the questions.
(2185)
NEGRO “MAMMY” REMEMBERED
The praises of the faithful black nurses of the South have long been sung, but it has remained for Texas to be the first State to formally recognize their worth. The citizens of Galveston have inaugurated a movement to erect and dedicate a monument to the old negro “mammy” of the South. It is planned to build a marble monument of appropriate design to cost $500,000, nearly half of which is already pledged. Resolutions concerning the plan pay this tribute: “Rapidly passing from the stage of events in the South are the few remaining representatives of one of the grandest characters which the history of the world records. Indeed, so high above all chronicles of pure, unselfish and unfaltering devotion, noble self-sacrificing and splendid heroism do they stand that they may be almost denominated a race in themselves.” This is all much to the credit of Galveston and Texas. But would it not be better to erect, not a monument of marble, but an equally enduring memorial in the form of some splendid philanthropic institution for the uplift of the black race? Or a great hospital to care for suffering blacks? The tribute would then be both beautiful and useful.—Christian Work.
The praises of the faithful black nurses of the South have long been sung, but it has remained for Texas to be the first State to formally recognize their worth. The citizens of Galveston have inaugurated a movement to erect and dedicate a monument to the old negro “mammy” of the South. It is planned to build a marble monument of appropriate design to cost $500,000, nearly half of which is already pledged. Resolutions concerning the plan pay this tribute: “Rapidly passing from the stage of events in the South are the few remaining representatives of one of the grandest characters which the history of the world records. Indeed, so high above all chronicles of pure, unselfish and unfaltering devotion, noble self-sacrificing and splendid heroism do they stand that they may be almost denominated a race in themselves.” This is all much to the credit of Galveston and Texas. But would it not be better to erect, not a monument of marble, but an equally enduring memorial in the form of some splendid philanthropic institution for the uplift of the black race? Or a great hospital to care for suffering blacks? The tribute would then be both beautiful and useful.—Christian Work.
(2186)
NEGRO PROGRESS
The Rev. Charles Edward Stowe, the son of Harriet Beecher Stowe, returning from a trip through the South, where he had been studying the industrial conditions, said: