Miscellaneous.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2079, 10 June 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Miscellaneous.

Book Laming.

Book lamin' is ft bully thing for the chap what's got the brains An’ the common sense to know if, but it isn’t worth the pains. An’ chink an’ lime it takes to gej. it, if a man don’t know the way To keep it its proper place, an’ use it where it’ll pay. My brother had a youngster as wuz alius coin' to school; He went clean through the college an’ come out a regular fool. He could reel oil' furin’ languages, and talk uv lands and law ; But when it come to wurkin’ he wuzent worth a straw. He got an idy in his head that work was a big disgrace; The law, he said, was his porfesb, so he ups and gets a place In a city lawyer’s olfico, an’ began his legal course, Tut landed him in jest one year within his father's doors, He's Bring with his father now, an' the time an’ money spent For to git his education hasn't panned oat worth a cent. It was castin’ on the waters broad that’s never yet returned, For there’s nary a single blessin’ come from all that stud ho learned. But not a speck of lamin’ had his younger brother, Bill, 'Copt a term or so one winter at thn schoolhouse on the hill; An’he's worth about a dozen uv his worthless brother’s make, Fev bo's just chock full nv common sense, an’ that's what takes the cake. Now of Bill had had the lamin’ as wuz in iris brother’s pate He’d been a man uv power—maybe Guvnor nv the State. But in spite uv all his ignorance he made a good success, An’ ire’s got the finest farm in all the county, too, 1 guess. My idy is that ef a boy hain't got no common seuse, An’ only 'mid git up about him fer to set round on the fence, It ain’t no ucc to send him off to take a college course, Fer it jest can’t make him better, an’ it’s bound to make him worse.

The Teacher’s Vocation— When we leave our child in tbo bauds of the teacher we feel that all which it is possible for the school to accomplish for it depends on the last analysis on his personality ; on the purity of his character ; ou the power of his insight; on the extent and quality of his preparation for his calling and interest in it; on his perfect mastery over what he is and what he knows ; on the depth and power of Ids human sympathy ; in a word, on his fitness to be a teacher. Wc ought to be able to take for granted that he does not pursue his calling as a mere vulgar handicraft; as a means to some end entirely foreign to it; ’as the stepping stone to something else, or as a convenient substitute for something else. The school is not a charitable foundation for the assistance of indigent talent that is preparing for other fields of usefulness ; it is not a matrimonial bazaar for marriageble young ladies ; nor yet an almshouse for the poor or an infirmary for the imbecile. If there over is “a divine call” to do anything, there should be one to teach.

Viewed in this light there is no vocation that is more elevating, more ennobling than that of a teacher. It offers as grand a field fdr the highest endeavor as any occupation ou earth. It is by its very nature removed from all low modes of thought, all vulgar temptations ami all sordid and unworthy aims. Of all public vocations none offers greater or purer rowards(providcd they bo not estimated in money or money's worth) and none that is possessed of so large an influence over the fu( are. Theodore Parker once said to a young man who was taking counsel of him : “In the future of America I think the teacher will have quite as largo an opportunity for moulding the people to noble ends as the preacher.” And in fact there is no estimating the power placed in the bauds of the teacher. The very greatness and nobility of his office ought to (ill him with inspiration.

Ancient Bridal Wreaths —The Roman bridal wreath was of verbena, plucked by the bride herself. Holly wreaths wore sent as congratulations, .and wreaths of parsley and rue were given under a belief that they were effectual preservatives against evil spirits. The hawthorn was the (lower which formed the wreaths of Athenian brides. At the present day the bridal wreath is almost entirely composed of orange blossoms, on a background of maidenhair fern, a sprig here and there of stephanotis blending its exquisite fragrance. Much uncertainty exists as to why this blossom has been so much worn by brides, but the general opinion seems to be that it was adopted as an emblem of fruitfulness. According to a correspondent of ■■ Notes and Queries,” the practice has been derived from the Saracens amongst whom the orange blossom was regarded as a symbol of a prosperous marriage, a circumstance whicli is partly to be accounted for by the fact that, in the East, the orange tree bears ripe fruit-and blossoms at the same time. It has also been suggested that this flower was introduced into onr wedding customs bv French Milliners, having been selected for its beauty rather than any other symbolical reason.

Ichthyological Puzzle.—ln the shadow of the hi'ltop, oat under the trees, sat a pretty mis'*. Hark, pray to the word of description : Her hat was like a coal scuttle perched on her head, her rings of gold, her dress pongee. She wore a seer-sucker apron, tied with a blue ribbon. At, her feet were her cat and dog. She read aloud a psalm on mercy. The words melted slowly away, when a boy’s terrible shout startled her. lie was floundering in a swamp over his heels, but at last hoelambercd out. and went into a barn, a clean-looking building imt far a wav. Find in the above the names of lis.li and other water animals, to the number of twenty-two.

Look through it carefully. You will find the names sometimes all in one wm-d, sometimes partly in one and partly in another. The letters ocean- just as they do in the names—-the thing is to find them. Wc may say that one of the kinds of fish is “herrings,” found in Die expression “ her rings of gold.” The other twenty-one you may discover for yourselves..

The Oldest Old Maid-— The oldest old maid in the world, a woman named llenoite, has been discovered at Audi, in France. She is 1011-years old, born the year before the American Devolution. She was grown up when Napoleon passed through her native village, and the Hundred Days seem only a little while ago to her. The oldest colored woman in America died not long ago in Chicago, aged 115 years. To a whits woman who visited and aided her she said not long before her death ; “ Oh, honey, iso a gwinc to glory, an’ when I git dar, I’m a gwine to see Massa Lincoln ; yes, honey,” and nil the adoration of the American blacks for the man who freed them shone, in her eyes as she said it; “ Yes, honey, jes’as soon as I’ve had a chance to say how dy do to do good Lord, I’m a gwinc to hunt up Massa Lincoln an’ shake hands with him.

Tin Tun-Ling, the famousLihincie adventurer, who died a few weeks ago, was in I ’aria during the siege. One day, as be was passing along the street, two heroes whose military costume consisted of a dingy red stripe down their black trousers, said in his hearing : “ Hah 1 that Chinese would bo doing better if be were in IVkin jusi now.” “And yon. go nil emeu, ill y.-u w- re in Hcrlin,” be refilled, simply, and pa c s I ->a