THE FAMILY CIRCLE

New Zealand Tablet, 11 March 1915, Page 61

THE FAMILY CIRCLE

THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS. Are you almost disgusted With life, little man ? - I will tell you a" wonderful trick, That will bring you contentment If anything can— Do something for somebody, quick; Do something for somebody, quick ! Are. you c awfully tired ’ With play, little girl? Weary, discouraged, and sick?

v I’ll tell you the loveliest Game in the world ' Do something for somebody, quick; ■ Do something for somebody, quick! Though it rains like the rain Of the flood, little man, And the clouds are forbidding and thick, You can make the sun shine In your soul, little man Do something for somebody, quick; Do something for somebody, quick ! Though the skies are like brass Overhead, little girl, And the walk like a well-heated brick. And all earthly affairs In a terrible whirl— Do something for somebody, quick; Do something for somebody, quick ! A WARNING TO PARSONS. To those members of the clergy who are uncertain as to the best line of conversational politeness to follow in pastoral visits, the following anecdote is recommended for their enlightenment by an English paper: A country parson, on first going to his parish, resolved to farm his glebe for himself. A neighboring farmer kindly offered the parson to plough one of his fields. The farmer said that he would send his man John with a plough and a pair of horses on a certain day. ‘ If ye’re goin’ aboot,’ said the farmer to the clergyman, ‘John will be unco weel pleased if you speak to him, and say it’s a fine day, or the like o’ that! but dinna,’ said the farmer, with much solemnity, ‘ dinna say onythin’ to him aboot ploughin’ and sowin’, for John,’ he added, is a stoopid body, but he’s been ploughin’ and sowin’ all his life, and he’ll see in a minute that ye ken naething aboot ploughin’ and sowin’. ‘ And then,’ said the sagacious old farmer, with extreme earnestness, 1 if he comes to think that ye ken naething aboot ploughin’ and sowin’, he’ll think that ye ken naething aboot onything.’ POLITENESS IN ATHENS. A long time ago, in Athens, the Spartan boys were guests of the Athenian boys at the theatre. They were sitting in the front row because they were the guests of honor. Just before the play began, an old man came into the crowded theatre and made his way down to the front. He stopped by the seats of the Athenian boys, and they commenced to make fun of him. He turned sadly away. As he was about to go away the Spartan boys all rose and motioned for the old man to come and sit with them. At first the Athenian boys were ashamed; then they began to cheer. All the people were attracted by this and looked to see the cause of it. When the cheering was over, the old man stood up and said : ‘ Athenian boys know what is right, but Spartan boys do what is right.’ THE DIFFERENCE. ‘ Pa!’ ‘ Well?’ * What’s the difference between wages and salary ?’ ‘lf a man is working for 12/- a day running a machine of some kind, or laying bricks, or doing something else that makes a white collar and cuffs uncomfortable, he gets wages. Do you understand?’ Yes, pa.’ . ‘ But if he sits at a desk and uses a pen and gets £2 a week and has soft hands, he receives a salary. Now do you see the difference

' / A PROBLEM. ; . Little eight-year-old Florence had a birthday recently and her mother gave her a party. During the afternoon the little girls had been comparing their ages. ‘ Mother,’ asked Florence, during the evening, in a perplexed manner, ‘ how does it come that all the other little girls of my age are nine or ten and I’m only eight V FAMILY FUN TRICKS, ILLUSIONS, AND INDOOR amusements. (Special to the N.Z. Tablet by Mahatma.) Electrified Puppets.—Cut a number of small paper figures, an inch or so high, out of thin white paper. Lay them on the table in a group, and place on either side of them a book an inch and a-quarter thick. A dry sheet of glass is laid on the books, over the figures, -"and rubbed briskly with a dry silk handkerchief. The static electricity generated causes the figures to jump up from the table, hit the glass, fall back, and leap up again, as long as the nibbing continues, and even for some time afterwards. For the success of the experiment it is necessary that the atmosphere in which the experiment is conducted be warm and dry. The Magic Tumbler. This trick is based on the fact that ammonia gas and the fumes of hydrochloric acid when mixed form a dense smoke-like vapor, known chemically as ammonium chloride. The requisites for the experiment are as follows: Some liquid ammonia, a few drops of hydrochloric acid, a tumbler, a saucer, a' plate, and a handkerchief. ‘ A little of the ammonia is poured into the tumbler, which is covered over with a saucer, so that the gas shall not escape and betray itself by its smell. In a plate on the table is a pad of cottonwool soaked in the acid. Having shown the audience that the glass is quite smokeless, remove the saucer, dab the bottom down on to the pad of cotton wool, squeezing out some of the acid, and replace it. This should be done as quickly as possible. Cover the saucer and tumbler with a handkerchief, which of course serves to prevent the spectators watching the formation of smoke. Make some passes over the handkerchief until you think it is time to remove the covering, disclosing the tumbler now filled with smoke. Or you may light a cigarette and, puffing the smoke towards the tumbler from the other side of the room, pretend that the smoke will pass mysteriously into the tumbler. This adds to the effect, if accompanied with suitable ‘ patter.’ Fortune-Telling With Cards. —Offer to tell a person’s fortune with cards, and ask him to arrange the whole pack in a circle on the floor, and then to stand inside it. Insist on the cards being laid out neatly, so as to give him a little trouble. You now announce; ‘ Past, you have laid the cards on the floor you are standing in the middle of them ; future, you will kindly collect them again and put them back in the case.’ Disgust of person experimented upon, and joy of spectators. With Chemicals. This trick depends for its effect entirely on the manner in which it is presented to the audience. It should be preceded by mixing blue and yellow paints, or blue and yellow dyes, and the emphasising of the fact that blue and yellow when mixed produce green. The method is as follows: In tumbler A have some weak solution of iodine (yellow') ; in tumbler B a weak solution of sulphate of indigo (blue), and in tumbler C a spoonful of concentrated solution of caustic soda (colorless). Pour A and B simultaneously into C and the color is bleached out of both. Result a colorless liquid.