THE GLOBES LESSON

Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1927, Page 21

THE GLOBES LESSON

What do you think Aunt Jane gave John for his birthday? A globe—the earth in miniature! I am sure you know exactly how John felt when he took it out of the big box in which it had travelled. But the poor old globe felt bitterly disappointed! You see, he was put on a shelf in John’s room, and no-one ever looked at him! One night he fell down with a bang. "What’s that!” exclaimed John. “Me,” replied the globe, disdaining Grammer, because he was Geography. "As I’m not the real earth, I fall. But I always fall down to earth.” “Well, you couldn’t fall up!” cried John. “But why should I fall down?” asked the globe. “Why don’t you fall right off the earth, John !” John was puzzled. Yes, everything fell to earth! In his mind’s eye, John saw the huge world floating in grey space and people walking all over it; strangely enough they did not fall off, although souie of them must be in very much t!;e same position as flies on the ceiling. And ships did not fall out of the sea either! “You don’t know!” laughed the globe. "Well, there is a wonderful thing called Gravity, and I want you to think oi it as an all-powerful Genie living in the centre of the earth. Right inside the world this strange spirit breathes, and attracts all things to himself. He never sleeps, and hie breath holds everything —the smallest animal and the mighty machine—as if he had them on invisible strings. Birds can fly in the air, but they can’t get away from him; and if you jumped off the highest mountain, John, you would only fall back to him, and not off the earth.”

“Now I understand that horrid word, gravity,” said John, “If one. looks at you properly, Globe,” he added grudgingly, "you are really quite interesting.”

"Someone has said,” remarked the presiding elder, “that a man is not wholy bad if his dog has cofidence in him.” “If that’s the case, I’m sure all right,” returned Gap Johnson, of Rumpus Ridge, Ark. “I’ve got nineteen dogs, and they all ’pear to think well of me.”