COGS’ CORNER

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 195, 20 August 1935, Page 4

COGS’ CORNER

WHY IS AUGUST CALLED “AUGUST?” July was called after that most renowned ancient Homan, Julius Caesar. August was called after his equally brilliant great-nephew, Caius Ootaviauus, later known as the Emperor Augustus. When Octavian lost his father at the age of four, Caesar adopted him and brought him up as his own son. fifteen years later, when conspirators murdered Caesar', Octavian determined to avenge his uncle’s death, and deliver the Roman Republic' from foes who threatened her within and without. The leading men of the day had given little thought to this boy of nineteen, but. young Octavian soon showed that ho was a force to be reckoned with, and he impressed the people so deeply bv his remarkable ability and personality that he wa.s elected Consul, that is, one of the leaders of the Government, the following year. This would have been a task to dismay a man twice ’ his age, but the young Consul was more than equal to his position. He dealt with the foreign enemies outside Rome, next with those within, and eventually, by defeating Afark Anthony, made himself master of the world at the age of thirty-two. Then he set out to make his kingdom flourishing aud happy after it had been torn by war and strife for years. He did all he could to help farming and other conditions of labouring, he encouraged art and literature, and he made numerous laws for the good of the people. His grateful subjects insisted that Octavian should be made Emperor, so bo was crowned under the new title of Augustus. His reign was a time of such happiness and prosperity that it is called the “Golden Age” of the Roman Empire. It is no wonder .the Romans decided that one of their months must bear the great Emperor’s title, and this is how August came to be named. This month, the eighth in our year, stood as the sixth iii theirs. The Romans originally called it Sextilis, which is Latin for sixth, but now in honour of the beloved Emperor they named at Augustus, whence it passed' to August.

THE WINNING MAN Think smiles, and smiles shall be; Think doubt, and hopes will flee; Think love, and love will grow; Think hate, and hate you’ll know. Think good, and good is there; Think vice, its jaws appear; Think joy, and joy ne’er ends: Think gloom, and dusk descends. Think faith, and faith’s at hand; Think ill, it stalks the land; Think peace, sublime and sweet, And you that peace will meet. “ Think fear, with brooding mind, Then failure’s close behind; Think this, “I’m going to win,” Think not of what has been; Think victory, think, “I can” Then you’re a winning man. (Author unknown.) —Sent by Mavis. JOKES Pilot; Good heavens, the engine has stopped, and the wing has come off. Passenger (on first flight): Thank heavens for that. We’ll be able to land right away now. <s> <s> <S> <S> Teacher (to new pupil); Do you know your alphabet? W’illie: Yes, miss. Teacher: What comes after A! W’illie: All the Test of them, teacher. <S> <B> <3> <S> “Did you know that the French drink their tea out of glasses? ” “Yes, and the Chinese drink theirs out of doors.” <s> <S> <®> <S> “I saw something last night I 11 never get over.” “What was it? ” ‘‘The moon! ” ■ —Copied by Tweedledum (1 point). When can rain be said to be very studious? —When it is pouring (poring) over a bookstall. <S> <B> To what question has it always been impossible to answer anything but "yes” ?—What does “y-e-s” spell? •<s> <s« <S> <s> Why are ‘‘A” and “E” the handsomest of vowels'? Because you cannot have beauty without them. —Copied by Peter Puzzlcm (1 point.)

PERFUME OF FLOWERS W’hen you have been working in your garden have you ever wondered where your roses and your violets and your carnations got their perfume from? That perfume comes from within the flower itself; from an oil which the plant makes itself just as it makes its own petals and loaves. It is from these oils that most of our scents and perfumes are made, but they were not given to the llowCrs for this reason; they were given not for men’s use, but for the use of the plant itself. In the plant world the smell of flowers is a part of the scheme whereby plants reproduce themselves. For the perfume rising into the air attracts the bee to the flower, and it is the bee, you know, who carries pollen from one flower to another, thus mixing the pollen from a male plant with the pollen of a female plant, so that the seed is produced. You will notice that it is the flower that grow nearest to the ground, like violets and hyacinths aud primroses, that generally have the strongest perfumes. This is Nature’s way of making sure that the bees will not overlook them.

And while we are talking about flowers, do you know what thorus are for? The thorus of a rose bush are no more of an accident than is the sweet perfume of the blooms. Nature gave thorus to certain plants so that they might fasten on to other stronger and bigger jilants, and so to help them to climb. Many thornsd plants have been left to grow iu places where they can use their thorns for climbing, but many others, like the rose (though we still have climbing roses, too, of course), have been cut down by the gardener to make the plants more shapely and ta induce thorn to produce more flowers and less branches. But they keep on growing their thorns just the same.

THE TELL-TALE LITTLE t.

Give your friend a pencil and a slip of paper, and ask him to write down a word containing a couple of t’s. But don’t tell him that you have developed into a first-class graphologist since you saw him fast, and now intend to find out his most secret, characteristics. A graphologist is, as you may know, an expert in hand-writing who is said to be able to read people’s characters from the way they write. Is your chum good-natured? Ambitious? Witty? You can read an answer to ail this in his small t’s, if you will consult the schedule given below. The result ought to bo right in most cases. Try yourself. T written in different ways and the characteristics each indicates:

1. Diffident. 2. Cheerful and lively. 3. Neat and tidy. 4. Opinionated. o. Quick to act. 6. Ambitious. 7. Persevering’. 8. Calm and sober-minded. 9. Extremely sensitive. 10. Easily discouraged. 11. Arrogant. 12. Resourceful. Table Flat, Apiti. Dear Hub,—Bulbs are coming out everywhere now, aren’t the} : I saw a little lamb the other day too, although wc have none on our farm yet. The days are lengthening out now, and it is not long to the holidays. I don’t have any r exams until November, as I am doing correspondence work. Love from Mountain Maid.

AY hat a “Hurrah!” there will be when holidays arrive! I’m glad to hear you fire still studying by correspondence; make the most of it, Mountain Maid, because education helps to make life more full and interesting.