AN EGG SELL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9642, 14 January 1899, Page 3

AN EGG SELL.

Some years ago an engineer waß superintending the construction of n new line in Suffolk. After supper one evening he strolled into the tap room of a country tavern, where come twenty men were seated round the fire, smoiring and chatting. A regular yokel was expounding tbe remarkable strength of the arch, its use and application in mechanics, and illustrating his remarks ' by handling a half-bushel measure.

' You haven't no idea, ' said he, how strong the arch be if ye set it right — if ye know how. Now there

is the egg, tbeie beant nothing ns has got a prettier arch than the egg, and if you know how to stick it up it is wonderful powerful. Look'ee here, I will bet drinks round I will set this on this floor in such a way as you can't, break it with this halfbushel measure. '

A general murmur of sneering disbelief ran round the room ; but the yokel was game. The engineer, who was a clever London man, thought he would take the yokel down a peg and expose the fallacy of such an arrogant and preposterous statement, so he quiety said : ' I will take the bet '

An egg was brought in from the kitchen and handed Jo the countryman. He took it and stood it upon the floor in tbe corner of the room where the measure could not reach it. The engineer did not even attempt to fill a square corner with a round measure, but paid for the drinks and retired, sadder and wiser.

This is what a minister has to say (in the Household) about habit, ely tnoiogically : ' Habit ' is hard to remove. If you iake away the first letter ' a bit ' is left. If you take off another letter you still have a ' bit '

left. While if you take off another the whole of ' it ' remains. If you

remove another it is not ' t ' totally used up. All of which goes to show that it you wish to get rid of a bad habit you must shake it off altogether.