The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 10 June 1915, Page 61

The Family Circle

~. RING TRUE. , Say boys! can you tell when a counterfeit coin is tossed on the counter to you ? Of course you can tell, for you know every time That it strikes it doesn't ring true. * And boys! do you know that counterfeit life That's a regular sham through and through Is as simply detected in every-day strife' As the coin for it doesn't ring true. Ah, boys ! if you want to be manly men, To be honored in all that you do, Just make up your mind that ten times out of ten You will always be found to ring true. And, boys, if you know how your country respects A genuine man, then you, too, Would endeavor to live a life that reflects God's imageand always ring true. Ring true in your contests and games on the field, In your homes, with a crowd or a few ; Though others may try .their shortcomings to shield, Yet, boys, just remember, ring true ! ANECDOTES OF SWEDISH ROYALTIES. Among the royal families, it is said, the Swedish sovereigns, descendants of Jean Bemadotte, most strongly insist upon the high duty which the king owes to his rank. -Noblesse oblige was taught to all the sons of Oscar I. by their father as the chief rule of their lives. One day (says a Swedish writer) the king was driving with his son Charles when a poor boy attracted the attention of the prince. ' Let me throw a franc to that fellow, father,' he pleaded. ' You may hand him a franc; you must not throw it to him. He, too, may he a prince some day.' Prince Charles was anxiously trained by his mother, the Princess Josephine, in the highest code of good manners. One , day she found him lolling at full length on the sofa. ' That is not a becoming way of taking your ease,' she said. The boy's eyes twinkled. ' But, mamma,' he said, ' I learned this attitude from Ilerr Bostroem' —his tutor. The princess was silenced for a moment. Then she said: ' When you are as learned and good a man as Herr Bostroem you may do as he does, but not before.' One day: the sentry on duty barred the way to the prince into a courtyard which was absolutely interdicted to the royal children. 'Do you know who I am?' he demanded, in a fury. ' You are Prince Charles, but I cannot let you pass,' said the man firmly. ' Then you make sure of your twenty-five, according to law !' And the boy ran to his father, demanding that the man should have twenty-five lashes, theusual punishment for insulting a member of the royal family. ' Here,' said the king, ' are as many riksclalers. Give them to him for doing his duty.' Prince Charles carried them to the sentry. ' Here are the twenty-five, as I promised you,' he said. The soldier bowed low, but there was a twinkle in" his eye and in that of the prince which showed that they both understood. Another writer contributes a new anecdote to the recollections of the late King Oscar of Sweden. It goes back more than fifty years, to a time when Oscar,

then Crown Prince, was travelling about seeing the ; i} world. '• '"."■• .;.''--■ -_' ~ - ; • *- | One* day he boarded a passenger steamer at Mar- \ seilles for a trip to North Africa. He was in civilian's .3 dress and unattended. The captain, who did not know who he was, accosted him. ■■ . 3 'lt seems to me I saw you at the naval review | yesterday,' he said. -^ ' Very likely you did,' said Prince Oscar. ' - ■ ' And it seems to me you were wearing an admiral's'"uniform.' ,•• ' I rather think I was.' - ' You must be a remarkable seaman to have reached that rank at your age; you can't be over twenty-five.' h ' Oh, a little older than that, but I'm no seaman -H at all. I wear an admiral's uniform in right of my ": name.' " - Sgl i Which is ' .-:■■; ' Bernadotte.' m ' Ah, some relation of the old Marshal ?' >: Merely his grandson. lam Prince Oscar of||| Sweden, brother of the king.' 'Then maybe your Highness would like to meet a cousin.' ' I shouldn't object. I know there are some, but I have never seen one yet.' • The captain stepped to the speaking tube and § shouted to the engine room: ' Send up Bernadotte.' In a minute or two a grimy stoker, naked to the waist, appeared. This is your cousin,' said the captain, who was an extreme republican, with a bow in which the irony was only latent. \ ' But if the captain hoped to embarrass or annoy the Prince, he was disappointed. Oscar put out his hand, j He asked him about the - relationship; about other I cousins near Pau, where the Marshal was born, and about his own life and work. Then he made the other % Bernadotte a present worthy of a prince and took his name and address with a view to future benefits. THE WISDOM OF THE BEE. ■A The latest observer of the bees credits them with ability to judge the time of day. His studies were involuntary at the outset. He lives in a villa not far from Paris, and in summer it is the habit of his family to take their meals outdoors on a terrace. ' At 7 o'clock in the morning the table was habitually set for the light French breakfast. A great dish of preserved fruit was always a feature of this meal." At noon came the ' grand dejeuner,' or luncheon, when there was no fruit. At 4 o'clock something like the English tea was served, and then again preserves made their appearance, remaining on the table for half to three-quarters of an hour. The bees had their colony about a hundred yards from the terrace, but until last June they never gave the slightest trouble. Then the cook put a basin of cherries preserved in syrup to cool in a window near the table. There were some flowers in the window. A bee visiting these discovered the cherries and soon came back with the whole swarm to enjoy them. When they came back later and found the cherries gone they went foraging, and presently discovered the preserves on. the breakfast table. - 'We are lost,' said the proprietor; 'we will have to give up eating here. At first the bees bussed over the terrace all day from dawn to dusk. Then they began to disappear in the middle of the clay. They made early breakfast and afternoon tea impossible, but they were totally absent at the dinner hour. About the middle of July the family gave up using the terrace for the bee infested meals, but by way of experiment"the table was set one morning as usual. Promptly at 7 a.m. the bees began to arrive, and at 10 o'clock, when the table was cleared as usual, they ceased coming. Not a trace of a bee was seen again until 4. The luncheon was eaten without the presence of a single one.

_ But at 4 they began to gather again. .They were plainly surprised at • finding no preserves—the table was not set—but in increasing numbers they kept up the search until about 5 o'clock, when they gradually took themselves off. This kept on for several days after the table ceased to be set. The bees came looking for it between 7 and 10 in the forenoon and 4 and 5 in the afternoon. In fact, however, they recognised the time, they observed it with clock-like regularity until in the course of a week or two they ceased their visits altogether, finding them unprofitable. THE OX AND THE MULE. A farmer had an ox and a mule that he hitched together to a plough. One night, after several days of continuous ploughing and after the ox and mule had been stabled and provenftered for the night, the ox said to the mule: 'We've been workin' pretty hard, let's play off sick to-morrow and lie here in the stalls all day.' You can if you want to,' returned the mule, ' but I believe I'll go to work.' So the next" morning when the farmer came out the ox played off sick. The farmer bedded him down with clean straw, gave him a bucket of oats and bran mixed, left him for the day and went forth alone with the mule to plough. All that day the ox lay in his stall, chewed his cud and nodded, slowly blinked his eyes and gently swished his tail. That night, when the mule came in, the ox asked him how they got along ploughing alone all day. ' Well,' said the mule, 'it was hard and we didn't get much done, and—' ' Did the old man have anything to say about me?' interrupted the ox. ' No,' replied the mule. ' Well, then,' went on the ox, ' I believe I'll play off again to-morrow; it was certainly fine lying here all day and resting.' ' That's up to you,' said the mule, ' but I'll go out and plough.' So the next day the ox played off again, was bedded down with clean straw, provendered with hay, bran, and oats, and lay all day nodding, blinking, chewing his cud and gently swishing his tail. When the mule came in at night the ox asked again how they got along without him. About the same as yesterday,' replied the mule coldly. ' Did the old man have anything to say about me?' again inquired the ox. ' No,' replied the mule, ' not to me, but he did have a long talk with the butcher on the way home.' WRITING TO MOTHER. When a daughter leaves home, one thing she should never neglect. One thing there is with which no duty or pleasure should interfere. It is the letter to Mother. It is not enough that she send a postal card : 'Very busy. Will write soon.'' Mother's letter should be a budget of daily happenings. It should be as far as possible a reflection of every thought and action in the new surroundings. Mother's box of letters! What a treasure-house of love! How she guards it! How she dreams over it -and cries over it! It is hard for a mother to let her daughter leave the home nest, so critical a moment it is in the latter life. The daughter should strive to make the wrench less cruel. There are hours at home after she has gone that are happy or dismal according to whether she is faithful or careless in mother-thought. Never delay writing the letter home. It is the call supreme. Do all that you can to please your beloved and devoted mother. None will ever be so appreciative, so sympathetic, so forgiving, so understanding. No heart will ever beat more true. WHAT HE WANTED. The following story is true; the incident occurred at a village upon the Aisne.

A section of British infantry entered a French village in the evening and were going to billet for the night, so many thought it a good chance to cook a hot supper. A private had foraged round and found everything to make a good Irish stew except the potatoes. Being unable to speak French, he asked his section commander what was the French for potatoes. The section commander, being a bit of a wit and scenting some fun, replied, 'Bon soir' Good evening'). .The private, in perfect good faith, went up to a house door and was answered by a Frenchwoman, who did not understand one word of English, and the following conversation occurred : * Private : ' Bon soir.' Frenchwoman: 'Bon soir, monsieur.' Private : ' Yes, bon soir.' Frenchwoman : ' Bon soir, monsieur.' Private: 'Yes, yes! Some bon soirs, please.' Thomas Atkins, seeing the look of amazement on the good Frenchwoman's face, and seeing a potato lying in the roadway, thought he had better adopt different tactics, so, picking up the potato and showing it to the woman, said: 'Here, missus, give us some of these blooming spuds !' THE CHAIRMAN'S PUN. The chairman at a dinner of a cyclists' club recently closed his reply to a vote of thanks with the following outrageous pun: ' Now, gentlemen, I will detain you no longer, since all of you will, I know, agree with me when I say that the longer the spoke the greater the tire.' SHE WAS ANNOYED. lie had attended his partner's wedding, and at the reception he stepped gallantly forward to pay his respects. ' I hardly feel like a stranger,' he said in his sweetest tones, addressing the bride. 'ln fact, I feel as though I ought to be well acquainted with my partner's wife, since he has so often done me the honor to read me extracts from his dear Susie's letters.' The faces of husband and the speaker were studies as the bride drew herself up and said, emphatically and distinctly, ' I beg your pardon, sir. My name is Helen.' THE DOG AND THE LAW. The justice of the land as it is meted out to lowa dogs leaves something to be desired—by the dogs. "In a suit for damages resulting from the bite of a dog, the judge's decision, as quoted in the Green Bag, was as follows: ' That the injured girl threw sticks at the dog several months before she was bitten admits no excuse. A dog has no right to brood over his wrongs and remember in malice. The only defence available to the dog's master is the doing of the unlawful act at the time of the attack by the person injured.' Of course, the dog who ' broods over his wrongs and remembers in malice ' does not reach the standard of human perfection, but the difference between the dog as he is and the dog as the lowa judge thinks he should be is nearly as great as that between the actual and the ideal man. Poke almost any dog with sticks, and he knows where to place a bite when the right time comes. A Norwegian, whose knowledge of dogs was not obscured by ex cathedra notions, was sued for shooting one which he had tormented. On the trial the plaintiff's attorney suggested that it would have been better and more humane when the big bulldog came at him with mouth open and teeth set to have used the butt end of the gun and thus scared him away. 'I would have done dat,' replied the Norwegian, ' but de bulldog he not come at me dat way, and so I tenk I better use de safe end of my gun on him.'