184 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
The Editor with his Young Readers. 
About tlie Picture. 
Every body in this country is talking and think¬ 
ing about war. The boys are as full of it as their 
fathers, and are ready to shoulder their wooden 
guns and wave their flags, and show what they would 
do if they were only men. War is a terrible evil, 
but in the present condition of the world it seems 
sometimes to be necessary. When bad men unite 
their forces to do wrong, it is the duty of good men 
to unite and sustain the right. But we do not in¬ 
tend here to write about the troubles in this coun¬ 
try ; there is enough printed in the daily and week¬ 
ly newspapers to fully inform you of the important 
events of the time. Read them carefully, for we 
are now making history. We want to call attention 
to just one point in the pleasing picture above, 
which represents a little company of school boys 
playing soldier, and engaged in drilling. Notice the 
boy who carries the flag. He is better dressed than 
the others, and has the post of honor in the line. 
But see how much trouble he makes the captain. 
His toes are two inches over the line. He is a good- 
natured looking boy, but he has a careless appear¬ 
ance, as though he felt, “ what’s the use of being so 
strict; suppose I am not on the line, what differ¬ 
ence will it make ?” Now look at the boy with the 
cap on. -He stands up straight as a soldier, with his 
toes to the mark, and his eyes on his captain, ready 
for orders. Why do you admire him more than the 
first ? “ Because he tries to do his best,” is the 
ready answer. That determination will make a man 
of him. For if he is so careful while at play, he will 
be the same when at work—that is his habit, and 
that habit will grow into his character. He is the 
boy the farmer will want for head workman, the 
merchant will choose him for confidential clerk, 
people will seek him for their representative in the 
legislature. Wherever he goes he will win respect 
and confidence, and he will be almost certain of 
prosperity. 
But the first boy, though he may have been moth¬ 
er’s pet at home, and a clever fellow among his 
playmates, is likely to grow up a careless, shiftless 
man, always behind time,' always in debt and 
trouble, of use to nobody, and when he dies few will 
miss him. Which of these boys will you take for your 
pattern ? Which are you now nearest like ? There 
is time for most of you to correct habits of careless¬ 
ness ; begin at once and “ toe the mark,” whether 
at work or play. 
A Noble SIoy< 
Not long since a neatly dressed little boy not more 
than ten years old was standing on the sidewalk of 
a crowded street,watching the people as they passed. 
Presently a little girl, several years younger than 
himself, iu attempting to cross the muddy street, 
fell, and soiled her dress and hurt herself consider¬ 
ably. In a moment the little fellow ran to her, 
helped her up, spoke to her in the kindest tones, 
inquired where she lived, and led her away towards 
her home. She was not a pretty child, neither was 
she handsomely dressed; on the contrary she look¬ 
ed very poor, but the noble little fellow did not 
stop to think of that. He saw that she needed as¬ 
sistance, and that was enough. His heart was full 
of kindness, which only waited for an opportunity 
to show itself. One could easily tell that boy’s for¬ 
tune. He has agoo 1 mother, and he listens to her 
instructions. He will grow up beloved and happy. 
He will never be poor, for he already possesses the 
choicest treasure, a kind heart. Try and be like him. 
About Names—Bays of tlie 'Week.. 
It is an interesting fact that nearly all proper 
names signify something. The name of the first 
man, Adam, means red earth; Eve signifies mother; 
and it was the custom for a long time to give 
names descriptive of the person or thing design¬ 
ated. Now-a-days, proper names are so plenty, 
that a new one is seldom invented, and thus we have 
thousands of Johns, Williams, Marys, Susans, etc. 
The English names of the days of the week, were 
given by our Saxon ancestors, who, as you have 
read, settled in England many hundred years ago. 
They were idolaters, and they named the days in 
honor of their principal deities. 
Sun-day , as you readily perceive, means, the day 
of the sun. On that day they worshipped an idol 
representing that luminary, which is described as 
being like the bust of a man, set upon a pillar, with 
outstretched arms holding a burning wheel before 
his breast. Monday means Moon-day. The moon 
was worshipped under the form of a woman with 
long ears, dressed in a short coat and a hood. She 
held in her hand a representa* 
tion of the moon. Tuesday 
was named from Tuisco, the 
Saxon god of war. He is rep¬ 
resented as a warrior clad in 
armor, with a huge sword up¬ 
lifted. Wednesday comes from 
Wodin or Odin, the supreme 
divinity of the Northern Eu¬ 
ropean nations. He was rep¬ 
resented as a venerable old 
sage, clothed in the skin of an 
animal, holding a scepter in 
his right hand. Thursday was 
dedicated to Thor, reputed to 
be the oldest and bravest son 
of Wodin. He was shown 
seated on a throne, with a 
crown of gold on his head, 
adorned with a circle in front, 
in which were set twelve 
golden stars ; he held a scep¬ 
ter iu his right hand. Friga, 
or Frea, was the wife of Wodin, 
and Friday was derived from 
her name. She was represent¬ 
ed with a drawn sword in her 
right hand and a bow in Her 
left. Saturday commemorated 
Seeter, another name for Sa¬ 
turn. He was set up on a 
perch like a bird. He had 
lean sharp features, and was 
bare-headed. In his left hand 
was a wheel, and in his right 
a pail containing flowers and 
fruit. His dress consisted of 
a long coat girded with linen. These representa¬ 
tions were all, of course, fanciful and absurd, but 
they go to prove that men in the most ignorant 
condition feel that there is a superior being to whom 
worship should be given. Their superstition was 
indeed pitiable, but was not their blind devotion 
preferable to the thoughtlessness and neglect of to,c 
many who have been taught the existence of the 
true Deity ? If we have more light than they, 
surely we should profit by it. 
Type Setting—Amusing Mistakes. 
Have you ever been in a printing office ? Thera 
are many curious things to be seen there. Perhaps 
we may describe some of them more particularly 
hereafter. You would be much interested to watch 
the compositors. They are the men who arrange the 
types. Each letter, and each punctuation mark is 
cast on a separate piece of metal, about an inch long, 
and these are distributed in small boxes arranged 
in a frame called a case. One box is for the A’s, 
another for B’s, another for commas, and so on. 
The compositor holds in his left hand a small iron 
apparatus looking something like an open box with 
one side out, in which he sets the types, one by one, 
placing them in proper order to print the words of 
the written “ copy ” before him. It requires long 
practice for a man to set types quickly, and with¬ 
out making mistakes. Sometimes the changing of 
a single letter will alter the meaning of a whole 
sentence. Such errors are usually corrected before 
the paper is printed, but occasionally an amusing 
blunder is left. For instance, in printing the Bible 
once, the compositor in setting up the passage 
“ All that a man hath will he give for his life,” made 
it read “ All that a man hath will he give for his 
wife." The “ proof-reader,” whose work it is to look 
for and poiut out mistakes, fouud the error, and 
marked it, but the compositor overlooked it again. 
The proof-reader seeing the mistake a second time, 
wrote with his pencil on the margin of the paper, 
opposite the sentence, “ That depends upon cir¬ 
cumstances,” after which the right letter was in¬ 
serted. Not long since, a Hartford newspaper, no 
'ticing the death of an editor, said “ He was a high- 
winded gentleman of course it should have read 
high -minded. Another paper says, “ the people of 
India live chiefly on mice," instead of rice. Shortly 
after an election, a newspaper of the defeated party 
