THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
AUG. 48 
pairing for t|e gflimg, 
TOMMY’S PRAYER. 
Beak J>o< 1. pwoase to Iiwchh my mamma. 
Because Bln; V »o pretty and dood, 
Bho never slops loving me all the day long, 
Though BomcthnoM I'm naiiKhty and wude, 
But Bod, if you 'II dive mo. a new little heart, 
I'll begin all ugfiin—I 'U lake a fwfish start. 
1’wease don’t let my papa fordet 
The wagon he promised to bwlng. 
And I ’ll kiss him, and be JUHt as dood a« I can. 
And let Nelly have the flrst swing. 
And I ’ll twy very hard to bwees cousin Ned, 
Though he hurt l»e «o awful Just here on my head. 
And bwcBx lay dear Carlo, who hoops 
The naughty had men all away, 
And Kitty, and all of the dear little chicks 
That ate through (heir egg-shells to-day. 
And Ned—but. I'm ’fwatd, I 'm not dood enough yet, 
To bwosB him—O Dod, it’s bo hard to fordet. 
And pwoase let the angels eend down 
Pretty dweama all through the long night. 
I don’t Uke to dweam of ugly black wolves, 
But of flower* and birdies and light; 
And I think that whenever my own mamma dear 
Comes to kiss me, the angelH arc then very near. 
And Dod, will you make my pinks gwow 
A little bit faster than Lute's? 
I'm not so iiad now, but she bwagged so, that once 
I pulled hors all up by the wools. 
And bwoss— but dear Dod, I'm so sleepy, my head 
Does ache—and to morrow 1 'll pway for poor Ned. 
[Char-lotto, in Transcript. 
POPULAR ERRORS. 
In a very clever little book published not long 
since, Mr. Tarnier, Inspector of primary Instruc¬ 
tion In Paris, called the attention of French 
teachers to an extraordinary number of mistakes 
lio had discovered In popular educational works, 
as well as In examination papers and lu the 
language used by examiners, lie Is considerate 
enough to mention no names, a circumstance at. 
Which one Is perhaps the less Inclined to wonder 
when the monstrous character of some of the 
blunders exposed Is considered, if French chil¬ 
dren are often taught that salamanders are In¬ 
combustible and that they have the property of 
putting out Ores, that the tongue ot a viper darts 
out poison, that the pelican feeds Its youug with 
its own tlosh, that dying swans sing, that earwigs 
penetrate through people's ears Into their heads, 
and that a man’s stomach Is situated in his chest 
—why, the subject, ot primary Instruction In 
Franco clearly demands the urgent attention of 
Statesmen. In respect, of the nrst Indicated or 
these mistakes, M. Tarnier shows a happy uncon¬ 
sciousness or i.he existence or societies for the 
total suppression of vivisection, etc.; for lie 
recommends any body who believes salamanders 
Incombustible to set, one on a burning brazier, 
and watch t he result. Some other errors Instanced 
by M. Tarnier are probably very widely spread; 
c. p. many persons, otherwise well-educated, 
speak of a bat as a bird and ot a whale as a lish, 
whoreas, ot course, both bats and whales are 
mammals. The goose and the ass are again held 
up as examples Of stupidity by people who ought 
to know better. M. Tardier thus takes up the 
defence ot the goose: “ 4 He Is as silly as a goose.’ 
T regret that want of space does not permit me to 
demonstrate the falsity of this saying by exam¬ 
ples chosen from domestic life, and In spite of the 
objection with which 1 may be met, that the goose 
allows ltaclt to be plucked alive Without uttering 
aery. How would its cries help it? its silence 
does honor to Its philosophy. . . . But tt will 
be said the goose looks silly. Agreed; but how 
many men look fools and arc not! And again, 
how many do not look tools, and are worse than 
fools! bet. us beware of repeating even In Just 
such false maxims; for, whatever people may 
say, proverbs are not always the quintessence of 
the wisdom of nations.” 
So mueli for errors in zoology. Turning to 
botany, what mistake Is more common than to 
speak of the potato as a “ root ” ? As a mat-tor of 
fact, It is a branch growing under the earth. In 
the language ot science the potato is a tubercle. 
In chemistry a popular error Is to say that mer¬ 
cury Is quicksilver. Mercury has no quicksilver 
at all In its composition. Who docs not know the 
beautiful ’’Bllver paper," as children call It, 
which Is wrapped round cakes of chocolate, and 
other good things? It Is popularly supposed to 
be of lead, and is really of t in. “ How heavy tho 
air Is!” we occasionally say lu these northern 
latitudes, especially when we “enjoy " the sum¬ 
mer described by Horace Walpole of “three hot 
days and a thunderstorm,’’ Tho expression is 
exactly tho contrary of that which we should 
use. We say that the air Is heavy when the 
pressure exercised by the atmosphere has dimin¬ 
ished ; when, as a consequence, the air is lighter. 
An amusing chapter is given by M. Tarnier to 
“ Young Ladles’ Arithmetic," which Is indeed 
often a fearful and wondrous thing. One error 
ho points out,, however, is shared by some mem¬ 
bers of the other sox. Thus you are told that you 
cannot add together three apples and two pears, 
whereas you can perfectly well, the result being 
five fruits, so four while-heart cherries + four 
black cherries - eight cherries. Two gold watches 
added to two pigs make four tangible entitles. 
Some more errors may bo picked at rundom 
from this instructive little work. Thus one has 
seen at the beginning or more than one grammar 
this statement; “ Grammar la tho art of speaking 
and writing correctly.” ltathcr one should say, 
“Grammar la the science of language," The 
word “art” la clearly insufficient. Another. 
It is popularly said that Jacob served Laban 
seven years for Leah, and then served another 
seven years before be obtained KacheL Any one 
may find out for himself by a reference to Genesis 
xxix, ‘Ai—so, that Jacob served seven years for 
Rachel juid was then given Leah ; at the end of 
seven days more he was given Rachel, and served 
a second seven years for her after the marriage. 
It would appear, by the way, according to M. 
Tarnier, that Jacob must have been eighty-four 
at the time or tits two marriages; also that Joseph 
was prime minister to the king of Egypt for a 
period of eighty years; a thought which may 
well make a Frenchman of the Third Ropublic 
sigh, the average duration Of a premiership under 
the Marshal promising to bo about five months. 
---♦-» 4- 
A DOG AIDING IN SMUGGLING. 
A Family of lacemakers In Belgium, finding 
that they could not sell the produce of their in¬ 
dustry to so great an advantage as In France, 
became anxious to dispose of It there, and to ac¬ 
quire, by tbaL means, a more rapid fortune than 
by simply retailing It at home. They had a 
young and Intelligent, poodle dog which they 
trained to have a thorough detestation or custom¬ 
house officials, such as are encountered on the 
frontiers. They aroused up some one In that uni¬ 
form. who, always beating and kicking the dog 
whenever he entered t he house, and til-treating 
him In every way, incurred, very naturally, poor 
Menton's animosity. Their object was. of course, 
to nourish such Ill-feeling and repugnance lu the 
dog against any one wearing the French riouankr 
uniform, Licit he would be certain to avoid them. 
Having succeeded in Inspiring the hatred they 
wished In the poor, Innocent, and unoflendlng 
Monton’s breast, they next prepared a larger 
poodle-skin than the one he owned, and after 
winding several metros of valuable lace round 
Ills body, sewed the poodlo-skbi neatly and clever¬ 
ly over It all, A way went the master and Ids dog, 
and succeeded In passing tho French frontier; 
the man, It Is true, was examined ; t he dog ran 
off from the people in uniform as soon as ho es¬ 
pied them, decamping as fast as his legs uould 
carry him. Regaining Ids master, they reached 
a French town where the lace was not, only sold 
at a good profit, but, an order was given for a 
larger supply. 
These hazardous Journeys were often undertak¬ 
en, and notmug could exceed their good fortune 
and their lucky escapes; but, tbetr success was 
not destined to be ot long duration. Upon one 
occasion, oneot the Junior custom-house empfof/i’s 
noticed tho dog and advanced to play with him, 
lint Instead of responding to the proffered caress, 
Mon ton showed ins teem and slunk away, where¬ 
upon the youth revenged himself by throwing » 
large stone, which lamed him, and then another 
and another, until he killed the poor animal. 
Munion's master, not wishing to appear too anx¬ 
ious about him, had walked on, not doubting but 
that ms raitmui companion was following him, 
but missing him at last he returned to the frontier 
Just In time to witness the official's profound as¬ 
tonishment at t he sight a rent In poor Monton’s 
false hide had revealed to him. HI nee then, cus¬ 
tom-house officials on the frontier looked sharply 
after contraband dogs. 
-♦♦♦-- 
TIN, AND WHERE ITS ORES ARE FOUND. 
Tin Is one of the earliest metals known, which 
Is contrary to what, not many years ago, was the 
general opinion ol selontlfic men. The researches, 
however, which within the last twenty years have 
been Instituted with regard tu the earliest races 
inhabiting Europe, have conclusively shown that 
weapons and Implements or bronze (an alloy of 
tin and copper) were probably tho metallic arti¬ 
cles earliest In uae, after those composed of cop¬ 
per alono, and before the introduction of iron. 
In the curious “lake dwellings,” discovered In 
Switzerland, not. only bronze lmjilcuienis, but bars 
of pure tin have been discovered. The proportion 
of tin varies from four to twenty per cunt.., about 
ten per cent, being the most common. 
The principal present sources of tin are first, 
Cornwall, where it is now almost exclusively ob¬ 
tained from mines, Instead or washing or “ stream 
works;” second, saxony or Bohemia, In small 
quantities, and exclusively from mines; third, 
Bauoa and other Islands of the Malay Archipela¬ 
go, the Malay Peninsula, as well as parts of Hln- 
dostan and Burmah; all tho productions from 
these (now furnishing the greater part of tin 
commerce) known generally as “Straits tin,” be¬ 
ing derived from stream works; fourth, New 
South Wales, Queensland, and other parts of A us- 
tralia, together with Tasmania, Spain, Bolivar 
and Mexico, also furnish (or have lately done so) 
some portion of the tin of commerce. Greenland, 
Japan, Finland, Siberia, Iceland and Madagascar, 
and some other localities, have also yielded tin In 
greater or less quantities .—Mining Record. 
-» ♦ ♦- 
WINDOW GLASS. 
There are seventy establishments In the United 
States devoted to the production of window glass. 
Twenty-seven ot these are in New Jersey; the 
others are scattered through New England, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and else¬ 
where In Lite West. The capital Invested In the 
industry Is about, $(1,000,000 In New Jersey alone, 
while the annual production of that Slate Is be¬ 
tween 2,000,1X10 and a, 000,000 boxes of the various 
qutilities and sizes of glass. Tho window-glass 
manufacturing interest is now ono of the princi¬ 
pal Industries of this country, and is destined to 
check the importation of gluss to America; in 
fact, many of the American manufacturers are 
now exporting large quantities of glass and glass¬ 
ware. It. is believed that fully three-fourths ot 
tho factories are now stopped—some few In Pitts¬ 
burg being In operation. Somewhere near V5,(>or> 
men and boys are now striking, and It Is not Im¬ 
probable that that number will be increased. 
The plate glass for the Ban Francisco Stock Ex¬ 
change Is 180 inches long and 120 Inches wide, 
and It Is said to be tho largest glass ever Im¬ 
ported. 
-♦-» ♦- 
ROMANCE OF A BATTLE-FIELD. 
In one of the terrible battles In Virginia a Union 
officer fell wounded in front or the Confederate 
breastworks, and while he was lying on the 
ground and crying piteously for water, James 
Moore, ot Burke county, N. C., a Confederate sol¬ 
dier, leapt over tho fortifications, canteeu lu 
hand aud crawling up to the poor fellow, gave him 
a drink. The wounded* man took out Ids gold 
watch and offered It to Ills benefactor, but It was 
refused. He then asked ror the Confederate sol¬ 
diers name, and the two men parted. Moore sub¬ 
sequently lost a limb In one of the Virginia bat¬ 
tles and returned a cripple to his home. The 
Raletgh News now tells the sequel to this strange 
adventure, A few days ago Moore received from 
the Union soldier to whom ho had given tho cup 
of water, a letter announcing that the sum of ten 
thousand dollars would be paid to him In four 
annual Installments. 
kilibatj) pairing, 
HIDDEN DRUGS. 
1. From Agnes I am estranged. 
2 . Jump OR tlmt ear, boys. 
3. Take that car away and put tt, out of sight. 
>1. General Cass, 1 am sure, was a Senator. 
ft. Klee, am pa never corning home? 
fi. Felix lrrl La ted his brother. 
7. The foolish virgins engaged oil too late. 
8. Did you ask me If 1 sing, lassie. 
i». The victims of the holoca ust l concealed. 
10 . CaL a muak rat. Jumped at mo. 
11. Philip llt’psorn sails his eggs. 
12. A colt’s root, is very tender. 
13. lie, cost Oro (ill as he was) down stairs. 
14. By au Indian turnips are despised, 
it. She can, Tlmon, you may be sure. 
10 . in eating a nut, gallant Claude choked. 
lir Answer In two weeks. Little One. 
-«♦* 
CROSS-WORD ENIGMA. 
Mv first, Is in Parana but, not. in Orinoco, 
My second Is In Volga but not lu Douro; 
My third Is In Tagus but not In Oder, 
My fourth Is In Dwlna but not tn Dnelster; 
My fifth Is In Rophlan but not In Tar, 
My sixth Is In Moselle but not In Var; 
My seventh Is lu Potomac but not In Patuxent, 
My eighth is In Avon but not In Derwent. 
My whole Is a river of Maryland. 
tr Answer In two weeks. Dr. 
■ »♦«- 
DROP-LETTER PUZZLE. 
L - - n-t -p f-r —rs-lv-s tr- -s-r-s -p-n - -rth, 
wh-r- rn-th -nd r-st d-tli c-rr-pt, -nd wh-r- th - -v-s 
br- -k thr- -gh -nd st- -1; b-t 1- - -p f-r —rs-lv-s 
tr- -s-r-s -n h- -v-n, wh-r- n- -tli-r m-th n-r r-st 
d-th c-rr-pt-nd wh-r- th- -v-a d- n-t br- -k thr- -gh 
n-r st- -1. Fill with vowels, aud find a text In the 
“Sermon on the Mount.” 
ttr Answer In two weeks. Md. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
l. A errr of South America. 2. A small num¬ 
ber. 3. A division of Africa. 4. A stream of Lou¬ 
isiana. 5. A town of Alabama. 6. A British 
province. I’rlmals and finals form two cities of 
Canada. 
n tr Answer in two weeks. l. o. 
PYRAMID PUZZLE. 
1. A consonant. 2. A swauip, 3. A good book. 
4. A new soldier. 5. Computation. 6. A number. 
Centrals form a novel by Sir Walter Scott. 
tr Answer In Uvo weeks. D. B. 
--- 
CIRCULAR PUZZLE. 
l. A consonant. 2. A conj unction and a vowel. 
3. A lady’s name. 4. A city of Europe. 5. A con¬ 
sonant. outside letters form a table article. 
iw~ Answer In two weeks. b. 
- 1 ■ ♦♦♦- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Aug. 4. 
Cross-word Enigma.— fciatbush. 
Double Acrostic. — Prtmals, New Brunswick; 
finals, Newfoundland. 
Anagrams of Fishes.— 1. Smelt; 2, Sprat; 3, 
Shark; 1. Wfcalc; ft. Barnacle; fi, Oyster; 7, Stur¬ 
geon; 8, Sardine; y, Trout; HI, Perch ; 11, Pike; 12, 
Shad; 13. Dolphin; 14, Anchovy; 15. Shrimp; 16, 
Lobster; 17, Salmon; 18, Herring; 111, Halibut. 
Diagonal puzzle.— 
l 
y k 
owe 
NEED 
SILAS 
Name Puzzle. —Josephine, Annette, Nina, Eu- 
dora; initials form Jane. 
WoiiD-squAKK Enigma.— 
UTAH 
TUBE 
ABEL 
HELM 
THE CHRIST. 
“ Carry me scrims !” 
The Syrian heard, rose up, and braced 
His hugs limbs to the accustomed toil; 
“ My cbUd, see how the waters boil! 
The night-black bc.uvcna look angry-faced— 
” But life is little loss.” 
“ I’ll carry thee with joy. 
If need be, safe as nestling dove; 
For o’er this stream I pilgrims bring 
In service to one Christ, a king, 
Whom I have never seen, yet love.’* 
" I thank thee," said the boy. 
Cheerful, Arprobus took 
The burden on his shonldcrs great. 
And stepped into tho waves once more; 
When, lo! they leaping rise aud roar, 
And 'neath the llttlo child’s light, weight 
The tottering giant shook. 
“ Who art thou ?" cried he wild, 
Struggling in midiUe of the ford ;— 
“ Boy a* thou look'st, it seems to me 
The whole world's load I bear tn thee ?” 
“ Vet—for the sake of Christ, thy Lord,— 
Carry me 1" said the child. 
No more Arprobus swerved. 
But gained tho further bank—and then 
A voice said . '* Clirtstopheros be! 
For as a child thou carrted’st me. 
The King of angels and of men. 
The Christ whom thou hast Berved !’’ 
And in tho moonlight blue 
The saint saw—not the wandering boy— 
But him who walked upon the Bea 
And o’er the plain* of Galilee, 
Till, filled with mystic, awful Joy, 
His dear Lord Christ he knew. 
Oh, little is all loss, 
And brief the space 'twlxt shore and shore. 
If thou, Lord Jesus on us lay. 
Through the deep waters of our way, 
The burden that Christopheros bore— 
To carry Tlioe across! 
- » *» — 
MUSINGS. 
“ Speech Is silver, silence gold.” says the prov¬ 
erb, and wo believe that It Is true. From the 
golden moments of meditation, the author gleans 
his richest gems, and pours them forth In streams 
of silvery eloquence. These ministers of God 
who reflect, upon his Word, his mighty truths and 
manifold promises, go forth with the greatest 
power, and reap the richest harvests. It was thus 
that Christ Instructed his disciples, giving them 
the promise and command,— 44 Enter Into thy 
closet and when thou hast shut the door, pray to 
thy Father who seeth In secret and he shall 
reward thee openly." 
We can Judge from peoples’ actions whether 
their thoughts are pure or Impure. Solitude and 
solitary musings are asouree of good If not car¬ 
ried to an extreme,—In tills as In all things else, 
wo should observe the “ golden mean." 
Idlo musings on little nothings and petty scan¬ 
dals, are a prolific source or evil. People should 
have their minds stored with reading from good, 
books so that they will always have something 
useful and ennobling to engage tnelr thoughts. 
As the Psalmist says, 44 Let the words of my 
mouth and the meditations ot my heart be ac¬ 
ceptable in thy sight, Oh God." Merry May. 
SELECTIONS FROM THE TALMUD. 
Messrs. Frederick Warnk & CO. of London 
have recently published, as a part of their cheap 
series of the " Chandos classics,” selections from 
The Talmud, translated by 11. Polano, a book that 
Is rull of curious and valuable Information. 
Among tho contents Is a collection of the “ Pro¬ 
verbs and Sayings" of tho Rabbis, from which 
the following have been selected: 
Many a colt’s skin Is fashioned to the saddle 
which Its mother bears. 
Truth Is heavy, therefore few care to carry It. 
Say little and do much. 
He who multlpltcth words will likely come to 
sin. 
Sacrifice thy will for others, that they may be 
disposed to sacrifice their wills for thee. 
Study to-day, delay not. 
Look not upon thy prayers as on a task; let thy 
supplications be sincere. 
He who is loved by man Is loved by God. 
Honor the sous of the poor; they give to science 
its splendor. 
Do not live near a pious fool. 
A small coin In a largo Jar makes a great noise. 
Use thy noble vase to-day; to-morrow It may 
break. 
The cat and the rat make peace over a carcass. 
He who walks each day over his estate finds a 
coin dally. 
The dog follows thee for the crumbs In thy 
pocket. 
The soldiers fight, and the kings are heroes. 
When the ox Is down many are the butchers. 
Descend a step In choosing thy wife; ascend a 
step In choosing thy friend. 
-♦ ♦♦- 
It was a good saying of one, “Wilt thou be 
great? Bogin from below!” As the roots of the 
tree descend, so the branches ascend. The lower 
any man Is In this sense, the higher shall that 
man be raised. The lowest valleys have the 
blessing of fruitfulness, while the high mountains 
are barren. 
Surely they do not truly love Christ who love 
anything more than Christ. 
% 
