160 
AMERICAN AQRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
THE YOUNG PERFORMERS. — Engraved for th€ American AgricuUurist. 
About Keeping' the Balance. 
The lad in Ihe picture is trying an experiment in Nat- 
ural Philosophy, though perhaps he is only thinking of 
playing. He is showing his younger brother and sisters 
now he canmake things stand up, as he saw a man do at an 
exhibition. His brother has just had a olow from the 
falling umbrella, not hard enough to hu' dim much, but 
it makes him scratch his head as thou , he had a new 
idea about science. The little sister as been training 
her doll to do the same thing, but she ,onld only make It 
sit up and hold the sun-shade, and now she is trying the 
experiment for herself.— It is easy to learn to balance 
things on the hand, or on the chin as this boy Is doing. 
The one thing necessary Is to keep the center of weight, 
usually called the center of gravity, directly over the 
base or part on which the balanced article rests. The 
umbrella is held upright more easily when open, because 
the wide-spread top is partly supported by the air. It is 
more difficult to learn to balance one's self, yet by piac- 
tice, men are finally able to walk on very narrow places, 
guch as the edge of a thin board or rope. Some of our 
young readers may remember the foolish performances of 
Blondin, who perilled his life by crossing Niagara on a 
rope. He carried with him a long heavy pole, which he 
moved from side to side as it became necessary to keep 
the center of gravity directly above his feet. 
The hardest task of all Is for a child or man to keep 
the character rightly balanced. Selfishness, pride, vanity, 
anger, or any other passion, if not kept in proper bounds, 
uill keep a man fiotn being upright. If a boy learns to 
walk fearlessly and safely upon a narrow footing, it may 
possibly be of service to him a veiy few times in life ; 
but almost every day there will come temptations to 
wrong-doing, the path will be very narrow, and unless 
one learns and practices walking straight ahead with a 
firm step, he will meet with many ruinous falls. 
I\eM' Vork City at Hfiglit. 
New York never sleeps. It is less noisy, and in most 
parts less busy at night than by daylight, but at no hour 
of the twenty four is there the quiet hush which In the 
country tells that man and beast are resting. All through 
the many miles of streets gas lamps are blinking, like 
eyes weary with watcliing, but which must not close, and 
there is light enough for those who will or who must 
work while others sleep. These lights, seen from some 
point where the eye can take in one or more long rows 
of them, are a fine display of fireworks. They appear 
very beautiful to a person sailing past Ihecity on the Hud- 
son, or the East River ; line after line of them seem to be 
mawhing and wheeling, like some vast army with torch- 
es, out on a night expedition. Viewed ft-om a hight like 
Trinity Church steeple. New York at night seems to be 
mapped out with boundaries and divisions of fire, or as a 
poetic friend says, like the Queen of America blazing 
with jewels.— Until near midnight, the streets having 
places of amusement are very lively. Carriages roll to 
and fro, or stop lo leave or take up their gay occupants. 
Often at the opening or near the close of some special 
enteitainment, hundreds of coaches extend for several 
blocks up and down the adjoining streets, the dnrers, 
joking, laughing, shouting and quarreling. Thousands 
of old and young seek pleasure at the numberless places 
opened for their gratification and their money. From 
eight to eleven o'clock, gaiety is at its hight. Begin- 
ning at Barnura's Museum, the great attraction In the 
lower part of the city, and walking up Broadway two 
miles, scarcely a block, but has some place for pleas 
ure seeking. Most of these are drinking saloons, some 
of them of the vilest kind. It is sad to see the throngs of 
young men here bartering away their characters and 
future prospects, for a few brief moments of hilarity. 
Toward midnight the pleasure seekers in the streets 
decrease, although hundreds yet linger around the sa- 
loons, many of which do not close until one or two 
o'clock in the morning. But these are not the only ones 
astir at the late hours of night. Bright lights stream from 
the upper windows where printers are busy preparing the 
morning papers ; gangs of sweepers are at work In the 
streets ; policemen and private watchmen are pacing 
back and forth to look out for fi.res, thieves, and dis- 
turbers of the peace ; cars on the street railroads are 
running, and thus all night long there ia moving life in 
the streets. Some are willing and many are compelled 
to turn night into day to get a living, but few can do so 
without shortening their lives. Night was made for rest, 
but " man made the town," and night and many other 
wise arrangements of Providence are set aside, and will 
be, while so many prefer the excitements of city life to 
the healthful quiet of the country. 
AlaUing: a Xall JVIan iShort* 
This very laughable performance was recently de- 
scribed in that entertaining Monthly, the Northern Maga- 
zine, from which the accompanying illustration is taken. 
The man or boy to be dwarfed leaves the room with two 
assistants. The trick requires two light poles about six 
feet long, two pillows, a sheet, and a pair of boots. The 
dwarf (to be.) first thrusts each arm into one of the boots, 
then one of the poles is laid on each of his shoulders and 
also on the shoulders of an assistant. A pillow is placed 
across the poles close behind the neck of the dwarf, who 
throws his head back upon It, and brings each arm witti 
the boots on, up over the poles, and resting on them, as 
shown in the engraving. Then a pillow Is placed on the 
poles between the two performers and near the chin of 
the dwarf; this is to form the body. Finally a sheet prop- 
erly folded Is thiownover the pillow to hide it and all 
but the feet of the boots, and brought well up under the 
chin of the dwarf, as shown below. The two then keej) 
step and walk in before the company. The third one 
may remain outside to convey the impression that he is 
one of the bearers of the dwarf, with his head under- 
neath the pillow. The effect will be better if the dwarf- 
i 
ing is done on some very tall person, and if the parties 
are dressed alike. In a similar way a boy or short man 
may be apparently stretched out, by having long poles, 
fastening the boots where the feet should come, and prop- 
erly building a body of pillows between them and the 
head resting on the pillow as before. Properly managed 
the illusion will be very complete and amusing. 
A Farmek last summer required a number of reapers. 
Several presented themselves and all were engaged with 
one exception. The poor man thus omitted said : "Mas- 
ter, won't you hire me !" " No,*' said the farmer. " Why 
not ?" " Because you are too little." " Too little !" ex- 
claimed the astonished Irishman i *'does yer honor reap 
your crop at the top?" What could the farmer do but 
laugh, and send the little man to join his comrades in the 
field? He proved to be one of the best worKinen. 
