OUR Young Folks

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3519, 9 May 1905, Page 4

OUR Young Folks

A HOUSE GAME.

••lift Urosße,” u Ni'i*:’ T v« of “Hunt tli« Slipper,” but f.t . :oisterou3i It is pleasant to spend a winter evening amusing and being amused, but bow are We to set about it? Wo want to play, but Wo want to know what to play at. There Is a lively game, not so noisy perhaps as “hunt-the slipper,” but nearly related to

pi.Avr.ra at la brosse. It, which French and German youngsters delight in at their parties. In “La Brosse,” as it is called, the players form a circle, each holding by ono hand, the left, to a cord. The other hand is kept behind the back, and ono player holds in his or her freehand a small stiff haired clothesbrush. At first all the circle dance round and round “the searcher” (the player stationed Inside the ring) humming “ brosse, brosse. ” If some ono plays a few notes on the piano, it helps the fun. The minute the music stops the one who holds the brush must suddenly brush his neighbor’s dress, so as to bo wc-11 heard, and then pass the brush on before the searcher can determine Where the sound comes from or on whom to pounce. If the brush has passed some distance around, a daring player may oven brush the searcher’s own back and send the brush safely onward again. One hand must remain always on the cord, though it may be changed if necessary, and the brush may even ho thrown to any other player on tho watch for it. But this must bo dpna only in case of deadly peril, as the watcher has tho chance of catching it as it flies or of seeing who docs get it just after it has brushed somebody.

When the panto is properly played—-and there are many players round the ringthat one in whoso possession the brush is found becomes searcher, and the last searcher goes out of the game, the cord bein'- s hortened each time by tying a knot In it, taking up about the same space as that occupied by one player, so lessoning the ring gradually until at last it is the searcher himself who gets most of the sharp brushing, ami the fun gets fast and furious if the players arc active. Usually the game stops when there remain only four in the ring, but that is as tho players choose. It is always time to stop any game when those engaged in it get too tired to enjoy its fun, for always remember to Play with a good will or don’t play at all. Wlint Jack Overheard lu the Pantry. “Please shut the door,” the pepper cried. “It’s chilly in this pot.” "Now, that is strange to come from you, Who always are too hot.” "The broad told me a piece of news. ’Twas such a funny tale." •'Thou don’t repeat it,” said the cake, “For she is always stale.” “Dear mo!” the potted ham exclaimed, "The knife looks bad enough.” “Yes, ” said the oil, “he's cut the meat Because it was so tough.” "How noble Mr. Lobster looks!” Tho little pancake cried. “Why, ho was once rigid in the‘swim,’” Tho pumpkin pie replied. “Well, " said the clam between his shells, With a resounding whoop, “That’s butter than tho oyster, For he’s always in ‘the soup.’ " Just then tho heavy pantry doors Were shut to with a slam, For Jack heard mamma coming, And ho was in tho jam. —New Orleans Timcs-Democrat A Wonderful Trio. Never was seen suclva wonderful three As stood on the shores of the Sandalwood sea. While -mauds that would make a deaf man stare Hose and fell on tho erinkleaomo air. Twaa the tJryvubug Gryg of the fanlike ear And the spidery legs so llink and grear; 'Twaa the Winnyitcg Wix, with his smile so bland. And the Spotted Galloon from thoTumtam land.

They sat on the shore of the Sandalwood sea, The quunklest trio that e’er could he; And they yowled avid yowled with a keen dalight Prom eight in tho morning until eight at night Why did they do it? Ah, who’s to say? Oddities net in their own quaint way, And if you inquire if they still aro there, Well, I neither know, and 1 neither carol Were I the Sun. I’d always shine on holidays, Were I the sun. On sleepy heads I’d never gaze, But focus all my morning rays On busy folks of bustling ways, Were I tho sun. I would not melt a sledding snow, Were I tho sun, Nor spoil tho ice where skaters go, Nor help those useless weeds to grow, But hurry melons on, you know, Wore I tho sun. j I’d warm tho swimming pool Just right, Were 1 tho aim. On school days I would hide my light, , The Fourth I’d always give you bright, Nor set so soon on Christmas night, | Wore I the sun. 1 1 would not heed ouch paltry toys, j Were I the sun— Such work as grownup man employs; But 1 would favor solid joys— j In short, I’d rua tho world for boys, j Were I the sun I —St. Nicholas.

tyatphtriain * Cabkti PREVENT BBIOHINOt

ABOUT INDIAN MONKEYS.

The Method They Employ When Robbing a Cornfield. It is still an article of faith, not only in India, but .in all lands where monkeys go in packs, that they have a king, laws and language of course. Saving the first item and duly limiting the others, the belief is sound no doubt. But Ibn Batuta tells us, on the authority of “pious persons” he met in India, that the king lives in state. Four noblemen Ihvays attend him with rods in their hands and cooks serve him on their knees. The king has a train of “armed followers.” When a subject is caught, he contrives to send a message to the sovereign, who forthwith dispatches an army, and when they come to the town they pull down the houses and beat the people, and their armies, it is said, are many. This is not quite so ridiculous as it looks, for the sacred apes that frequent an Indian village will readily gather to avenge an injury, aud it is a common practice with them to destroy the huts when angered. They have a great many children, and when a child is unlike its father and mother it is thrown out on the high road. Then they are taken by the Hindoos, who teach tliem every sort of handicraft, or sell them at night, that they may not find their way home. At Shabar, which appears to have been somewhere near Madras, people dare not travel by night in the woods, for fear of monkeys, which is certainly not exact, since these creatures never move after sundown, but if there be a foundation of truth in the legend it is curious. We are not aware that any Indian apes at this day will attack a passerby unless gravely provoked. But there are plenty elsewhere that will. It is a well known fact that in proceeding to raid the cornfields in certain parts of Africa apes have a combined plan of action. The old males go first—some of them scout on either flank, and climb every eminence uef,r the line of march, to assure themselves that the route is safe. After recounoiteriug, they give orders in such different tones of voice that each must have a special meaning. The elders are silent when advancing, but. the main body, females and young, keep up an incessant chatter, playing and feeding as they go, unless brought to an instantaneous halt by signal. Behind follows the rear guard of males, who drive loiterers sharply on. On reaching the cornfields the scouts take post all round, while all the rest fall to plundering with the utmost expedition, filling their cheek pouches as full as they will hold, aud thou tucking the heads of corn under their armpits. —Boston Traveller.

THE ORGAN.

Its Peculiar .Fitness For the Form of Composition Known as the Fugue. The organ as it existed in Bach’s day, and as in most essentials it exists now, is an instrument peculiarly suggestive in regard to the realization of the finest and most complete effects of harmony t of modulation and of that simultaneous progression of melodies in polyphonic combination which is most completely illustrated in the form of composition known as the fugue. It is so for two or three reasons. In the first place it is the only instrument in which the sounds are sustained with the same intensity for any required length of time after they arc first emitted. However long a note may have to be sustained, its full value is there till the moment the finger quits the key, a quality which is invaluable when wo are dealing with long suspensions and chains of sound. Secondly, the opportunity of playing the bass with the feet on the pedals, leaving the left hand free for the inner parts, puts within the grasp of a single player a full and extended harmony and a freedom in manipulation such as no other instrument affords. Thirdly, and in the ca.se especially of fugue compositions, the immense volume and power of the pedal notes impart a grandeur to the entry of the bass part in the composition such as no other medium for producing music can give us. Ta the time of Bach this splendid source of musical effect was confined to the great organs of Germany. The English .organs of the day had in general no pedal board, and it is probably owing to this fact more than to anything else that Handel’s published organ music is so light, and even ephemeral in stylo as compared with Bach’s; that ho treated the organ, as Spitta truly observes, merely like a larger and more powerful harpsichord. Without the aid of the pedal it would be rather difficult to do otherwise, and the English organ of the day was in every respect ft much lighter and thinner affair than the “huge house of the sounds, ” the thunder of which was stored in the organ gallery of many a Lutheran chnrch.— Fortnightly Review. A Substitute For Gold. A French technical paper, The Journal do I’Horlogerie, declares that a new amalgam lias been discovered which is a wonderful substitute for gold. It consists of 94 parts of copper to six parts of antimony. The copper is melted and the antimony is thou added. Once the two metals are sufficiently fused together a little magnesium and carbonate of lime are added to increase the density of the material. The product can be drawn, wrought and soldered just like gold, which it almost exactly resembles on being polished. Even when exposed to the action of ammouiacal salts of nitrons vapors it preserves its color. The cost of making it is about a shilling a pound avoirdupois. English Olco. The oleomargarine factory of the Earl of Jersey, near Loudon, turns out 5,000 pounds of oleomargarine every week. It was the London Saturday Review which once called oleomargarine “that American crime against humanity and the cow,” but it would probably regard “Jersey” oleomargarine as the proper thing. -