The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 4, 1896, Page 25

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1896. 25 C OGTOBER Flower, hops, sentiment, joy | Joy moves the dazzling whee's that roll In the great timepiece of creation.—SCHILLER. October’s chiid is born for Woe, And life’s vicissitudes mast know; But place an opal on he: breast And hopa will lull those woes to rest. ““When I was a little boy going to school I used to—" Those were the words I heard the other day as I was hurrying down the street, and then a hearty laugh greeted my ears. Turning, spite of my rush, I saw two old gray-haired men earnestly engaged in conversation, How their eyes sparkled! How the sweet smiles chased all footprints of time d care from the faces of those *‘long-ago ol boys,”” as they, on a busy street of a great city, recalled many a prank and caper on some far-away village street in the days of “long ago.” Of course I commenced to think—of you? Certainly, and these were my thoughts: Hi you are, the boys and girls of to-day, all of you having sucha lovely time with so many grand opportun- ities; may you all when you, too, are old | and gray be able to recall with pleasure | the golden hours of this precious time. Of ull the changes of the year, Complete from birth to rest, This rosy, russet, golden change— October—is the best. glad, O man! for it is here, peful, * e is the year, and blest. Not a bit drear or melancholy are the days. No, our October is full of richness and ripeness, is laden with grains and fruits, and the air is filled with sunshine | and song of bird, with rustle of leaf and fall of nut. But may we in this lovely clime not for- get our brothers on the far away, storm- beaten Eastern shore, whose homes and many, many loved ones have been swept away by the terrible force of angry wind and wave during the last few daya. OctoBER is the tenth month of the year, but formerly was the eighth, hence its name. E NOBLE OPAL is very much valued as | an ornamental stone and is usually cut | with a convex surface. 1 Its beautiful rainbow tints vary with the | angle at which the light is incident. The opal has long been regardcd as the blem of *ill luck’ by the superstitious, of late yearsthis idea is dying away | d it is now extensively worn by the | overs of this brilliant of the mineral | GHE PRACCICAL JOKE OF IRR. W. | CAPRICORNROS By Orline Gates Golden Days. c t 1 CONCLUDED) A1l this while the footsteps outside grew bolder. Round the house and round again went that ceaseless tramp. The children struggled desperately to move the desk beyond the angle of the window. In sheer desperation they gave ne more shove, and it lurched forward ith @ barsh grind that waked Sara Lou nd sent them on their faces like praying dervishes, Sara Lou rolled her black eyes around nd discovered their prostrate attitude, What tricks you all up to?"” ske asked | in a hollow voice, her superstitious nature asserting itself, and turning her face | ashen. ! “fh-h-h!"” whispered Will, Loping Mike | had not heard. ‘‘Come here and help usl | One-legged Mike is trying to get in!” In another moment Will was able to get | out the pistol without fear of those basilisk eyes glittering in the tree. As soon as he felt the weapon in his fin- ers he sat down in & chair in the middle of the room and aimed toward the man in | the apple branches, as well as one coula | take aim in the dark. | “It won’t go off” said Ruth tremu- | lously. “Ithasn't any trigger!” ° “Well, he don’t know that!” replied ‘Will contemptoously, still pointing through the wiudow, and relieving his | {fatigue by shifting the pistol from one hand to the other. “He'll only think we've got the drop on him. Now, you just watch how quick those footsteps are going to halt out there!” At tkis very moment One-legged Mike seemed to stumble on the short steps lead- ing to the little porch in front of the schoolhouse. He climbed them painfully, hobble-dé- hoy fashion, and then paused, as if medi- ‘piing. F=e boldness of the burglar's move- “ents was mystifying. No fear of attack or alarm seemed to in- timidate him. There was a moment cf grewsome ex- ‘pectation, The children listened with wildly beat- ing hearts to hear what would follow the silence of this last move. Presently came a sort of sneeze, as it were at the very keyhole! Another silence. A restless shifting about of feet, as if cold or unsettled purpose made the man uncomfortable. They held their breath, and Will, in his distracted effort to aim firstat the window and_then at the door, finished by pointing straight at the furthest corner of the room. 4 Saga Lou noiselessly laid a log on the fire. Some time passed without another sound from the man outside. Ruth had frightful visions of drills and jimmies, and all the rest of the instru- ments that every well-regulated robber carries round in a leather bag! Momentarily she expected to sea the door fly open, as if by magic, and & burly one-legged man in a mask enter the room. But the quiet remained undisturbed. It became even more alarming than the tramp of the unsteady footsteps. As they waited in hushea expectation they were startled by a deep sigh, a sort of moan, and the burglar fell against the door and glid to the floor with a tremen- dous thump. The children’s eyes fixed in a fascinated stare on the thin panels. They creaked, but did not give. No further sound reached their ears. The rest of the night passed in intervals of dozing and startled awakening, but through it ail the prostrate figure on the other side of the door made no signs of life. The watohers shivered and longed for daylight. When the cheerful sunshine gave them courage to sally forth at last they found against the lintel his® gray beard, as long as & Druid priest’s, and his'legs stretched out to benefit by the heat of the morning sun—W. Capricornus! He blinked his eye knowingly as they crowded around him, and ‘maintained his attitude of beautiful composure and un- concern, “Iknowed dat Billy gwine do sump'n er ner, when Isee him lookin’ at we all when we wuz comin’ en dish kyar school- house las’ night. You good-fur-nothin’ old zoat! Igwine beat de life outen you ef I got de stren’k en my arm I’ cried Bara- Lou, advancing to the attack, brandishing a small log of wood. : The others followed her example, and fell upon him with rulers, Ind’an clubs and dumbbells, like an avalanche, until he betook himself to ignominious retreat | at once, undignified and out of keeping with his venerabie looks. The Thomsons were long forgetting that midnight experience, and cherished such a gruage against W. Capricornus for bis sinister joke, which they considered a willful piece of mischief, just in charac- ter with his reputation, that they publicly celebrated his death, some-months later, from an indigestion caused by Claude’s indiarubber football. S e e R PUZZLING QUESTION. Grandma says, though I don’t know why, That I am the apple of her eye; Brother calls me & dunce; Aunt Fan Saysshe thinks I'm a little man; Father says I'm a reg’lar boy, And mother calls me her pride 'n’ joy. Now, this is what I would like to know: How in the world can a fellow grow ‘Who ’s a pride 'n’ joy, an apple, a dunce, A reg’lar boy and a man at once ? — Youth’s Companion. ————— “You will kindly give us an example of the general law of averages, Mr. Peabody,”” said ‘the professor of mathematics, after his lecture on the doctrine of chances. “Um—why—there’s the speed of the telezraph and the lack of it in the messen- ger who delivers it,’”’ said Peabody,in a vague, hesitating way. Very few horses ea‘t corned beef, but we saw one standing the other day with & bit in his mouth. PSPPY CTALES NO. 2 By Olive Heyden. WHERE WE PUT PUPRY. You may remember that I told you our back yard was full of flowers. I liked Puppy very much, but I liked my flowers t0o, 50 I proposed to George that we geta long chain and tie the little fellow by the basement door. Then he could play a little way out in the yard and in part of the basement. 8o we did. We turned a barrel on its side to make a little house, with an old fur rug for a bed. He did look so cunning sitting up in his house looking out.. For three days he was quite content, as quiet as a mouse. Alice and I spoiled him. We would go down and pet snd cuddle him and very soon he began to cry when we left him alone. Then he made up his mind (hat a chain was a horrid thing, and how he did pull and strain and grow! at it. And how!l! Why the how! was bigger than the dog. George said to let him howl till he found it was no use., That was easy for George to say when he was away mostof the time, but 1t wasn’t very easy for us who had to listen to it all day long. " I bad set my wits at work'to find some way to let the dog loose and still save the flowérs, and finally hit oa a plan. There was a narrow strip of yard on the side where the back steps went down; I thought [’d fence that off, keep the back door of the basement shut, leave the side door open, and the puppy could run in the lit- tle yard and all through the basement. ‘We fixed it that way, and Mr. Puppy wasfree torun and be as happy a wee doggie as you ever saw. CHE . HAURGED GASTLE PARTL By I M. Robbins. A MERRY MORNING. One beautiful summer morning, as May and Bessie Harwood were lazily lounging upon the front piazza, glancing every now and then at the morning paper, and oc- casionally brushing away an ageressive flv, they were suddenly awakened from their drowsy state by the sound of laugh- ing voices close by. “Bessie,” exclaimed May, ‘'l wonder who’s coming! Do go and see; there's a dear!” Scarcely had the words left her mouth when tramp, tramp, tramp came the sound of feet upon the gravel walk. Such a noise and confusion ensued, and *‘Isn’t it a lovely day?” “The Haunted Castle!” “Now, do come; won't you?”’ were the exclamations uttered by the young people who gathered around the two girls, Utterly bewildered and with a despair- ing look at Bessie, who sat gazing at the intruders with wide-open eyes and a funny | expression on her face, May placed her | hands over her ears. After a hearty laugh at the consterna- tion their excitement had produced, May exclaimed: “Now, girls, what were you trying to tell us? Don’t all speak at once, please.” ;s “Well,” answered Dotty Gardiner, a cheery little body with bright golden curls, *‘we are going on an exploring ex- vedition to the Haunted Castle and wish warm day? But we have such a good lunch.” ‘With these words Miss Dotty dropped into a chair and began to fan herself quite furiously. At the mention of *‘lunch,” and a good one at that, Bessie visibly awoke. She shook herself, ran per fingers through i her hair and then emphatically declared: “We shall go, sure.”” “‘Too hot,” May ventured, but her re- mark was met by so many cool assurances that she finally gave in. At last all was ready and they started forth for a day of fun. Upover green hills, down through shady lanes, they took their way. Now crossing and recrossing bright little wandering streams, then pushing through fields of waving corn, until they arrived at the edge of the dark old forest. Why! how they did shudder at the sight of its shady devths! But they bravely marched onward and in a short time passed the last of the tall trees and reached the sunshiny valley beyond. At the further end of this valley arose a high hill. When they had climbed to the top they s#w before them the ruins of what was once a magnificent structure, but was now known as the Haunted Castle. (To be continued.) T What have we here? How very queer! A monkey can [t be? But such a monkey in my life I ne’er before did see. Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear, I sadly fear That something has gone wrong ; ’Tis Charlie fastened to a chain That’s stout, and strong, and long. MiLDRED PALFREY. Our Little Ones and the Nursery. ——————— Uncle Zeke (from Upcreek) — What's that long thing that looks like a ladder runnin’ clean up to the topof that tail buildin’? City Nephew—That's a fire-escape. Uncle Zeke— Gosh! Can’t it escape through the chimbley? The patient boy went to a neighbor’s for sour milk. “U haven’t any but sweet,” said the woman. “Then I'll wait till it sours,” said he, pulling out his marbles. Eye art—Winking. . “Ah,” said a father to his son William, “hearty breakfasts kill one-half of the world and tremendous suppers the other half.” “I suppose, then,” replied William, “that the true livers are only they who die of hunger.”’—Golden Days. ™~ Yout’s Companion. A Streng Hipt One fine afternoon Master Hipperty Hop Called on a young neighbor, Miss Flipperty Flop. They played all the games that they knew how to play, Hunted gaily for eggs and hid under the hay, Till Flipperty frankly remarked to her guest He’d better go home, for she wanted to rest. But Hipperty lingered. Why was she so blind To hopes that illumined his sociable mind? Quoth he, *“Is your mother quite well?” then a sigh. “Of course,” said Miss Flop. “So are papa and 1.” “Because,” his stern smile was pathetic to see, “‘Mine said, if yours asked, I could stay here to tea.” %3 CAROLINE EVANS. MORE G6BOLINKS you to go with us. Oh, dear, isn’t it a | By Rura McENERY STUART AND ALBERT Bicerow Parxe, 1v 8. NI1oHOLAS. THE BEARS AND THE HARLEQUINS. Gay harlequins dancing—beribboned ere they, And carry two poles in the air That rest on their heads in a curious way, And atop of each pole is & bear, 1declare, A wonderful, long-tailed besr. UNPLEASANT COMPANIONS, Here are two Wriggles from Wriggleumtown— Thelr legs are sky-blue and their bodies are brown, Their tailsare a wonderful changeable hue; 1don’t care to have them for playmates, do PREPARING FOR WINTER. ‘These squirrels have paused to consider The fact that 't is late in the fall. And time to lay nuts up for winter It they would have any at all. The red squirrel hoards like a miser; But, alas, the improvident gray, He’s only a pauper of winter ‘Who scampers the summer away. JUST LIKE OTHER CHILDREN. Two little Gobolinks one day ‘Were sent to do the dishes; Instead of which they ran away And fished for shadow-fishes. They fished and fished and fished and fished, And but a leaf they caught-o; And then they wished and wished and wished They’d done the thing they ought to. S0 by &nd by they homeward crept ‘With plumage drooping sadlys; - And there they bowed their heads and wept Because they felt so badly. THE MERRY WATER-WEEDLES. Within the caverns of the sea. Two water-weedles stay. Their hearts aré happy &s can be; ‘Within the caverns of the sea They sing and frolic in their glee Throughout the livelong day. Within the caverns of the sea Two water-weedles stay. OUR PET. The head of a Gobolink Tiger— ‘With smellers arranged as you see. He used to reside on the Nig But now he is living with me. é\etf , Baby, élecf. : Over the sea a lady came, Sleep, sleep, sweetly sleep; Night was the beautiful lady’s name, Sleep, sleep, sleep. Her eyes like two stars shone soft and bright, Her voice like the breeze’s murmur light, Kind and gentle and lovely night; Sleep, baby, sleep. How tender her love for each little one, Sleep, sleep; sweetly sleep; Bhe softly called when the day was done, “Sleep, sleep, sleep.” «Dearlittle children,” Iheard her say, “You must be tired now, stop your play, And come with me to dreamland away; Sleep, baby, sleep. “Shut your eyes if you want to go, Bleep, sleep, sweetly sleep; Safe in my arms I’ll carry you so, Sleep, sleep, sleep. Over the ocean flying fast Earth with its cloud and storm is past, Here is the beautiful land at last; Bleep, baby, sleep. #Such a wonderful happy lana, Bleep, sleep, sweetly sleep; Children laughing on every hand, Sleep, sleep, sleep. Flowers more gay than our beauties of spring, Music more full than our birds can sing, Sunshine and fairies and—every bright thing; Sleep, baby, sleep.” BABY'S FINNY CRICK. Oh, such a fat, roly-poly dumpling of a baby is the one about whom I'm going to tell you to-day. “ Now mamma has the darling all undressed but his little shirtie and his cunning socks,”” cried Polly to another wee girlie who had come over to see the wonderful three-months-old baby brother. “Hurry, mamma, pull off his little socks quick, and may be he’ll play with his tosies.” held it up. ““My! it doesn’t look Polly’s friend. So mamma quietly slipped off one tiny sock ard like a stocking at all,”” exclaimed “It’s all bulgy out at the wrong places!’”’ and, indeed, it was a very odd-looking stocking after having held baby’s pudgy leg and foot all day. Baby stuck' his thumb in his rosy mouth, and watched the group with a very merry twinkle in his eye, as much as to say, ‘‘Just wait!”’ Then, quick as a flash, he planted the little bare foot right against mamma’s lips. Of course she covered it with kisses, and that was just what the sly fellow intended she should do, for he then stuck it out at Polly, who kissed it until her lips refused to smack any more, and then at Mazy, who followed Polly’s example; while baby chuckled with glee. Mamma now uncovered the other foot, and the sly rogue insistzd on their going through the same performance over this set of pink toes. Wasn’t that fun ? and didn’t that baby get hugged and squeezed for being so cute? Why, mamma just had to drive the girlies away. She said she was afraid they’d eat her baby right up. ““ Oh, Mazy,” cried Polly, ‘“ baby thought one precious foot might be jealous of the other!” What funny little thought do you think baby had about it? M. W. R, GILROY, Sept. 25, 1896. Dear Editor: We have two puppies whom we call one Pepper and the other Ginger. We haye two rabbits and one bird. We live in the country on a large farm. It was an old stage station in early days, between Watsonville and San Jose. We have lots of cows and horses and chickens. Thisis my first letter to THE CaLL, and I hope to see it published. I am 9 years of age. Good-by. Yonr. little reader, RUTH BENTLEY. SouTH SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 1896. Dear Edijor: 1 am a little girl 7 years old. I g0 to the South San Francisco school and my teecher's name is Miss Schendel. We had & very nige time to-day, for alady came out and showed us some pretty pictures, among others one of Mary, Queen of Scots. We liked it very much. Please print this letter in Sun- day’s paper. From your little friend, EILEEN SPELLMAN. ALAMEDA, September 27. Dear Editor: This is my second letter to you. 1shall be nine next February, and have just been promoted to the third grade. My teach- er’s name now is Miss Crooks. To-merrow will be my first day in her grade. Iattend the Encinalschool. I have s large dog, whose name is Major Sport Panmzer. I hiten him up ina wagon and drive him like a horse; he understands everything I tell him todo. I have had him for five years. He can ‘‘speak” for his dinner. Ialso have & cute little black chicken whom I call Pete. 1 enjoy reading the Children’s Page of THE CALL, and mamma likes that paper best, t0o. 1am going to try to solve the puzale pretiy soon. Hoping to see my letter in print, Ire- main your little friend, CARLTON PANZER. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 1896, Dear Editor : I take pleasure in writing you this letter. We take THE CALL and enjoy reading “In Childhood’s Realm,” edited by Mary W. Richards. I go to St. Brendan’s sehool and like it very well. Ilike to try and find the puzzles, but sometimes I don’t suc- ceed. Iam in Sister Mary Lureto’s class and she is very nice. Ithink the-answer in this week's CaLL to No. 5 is “His equal,” and Iv| hope it is right. I remain your friend, Juura Dumy. SAN FrANCIsco, Cal., Sept. 24, 1896. Dear Editor: Every Sunday ITead the chil- dren’s page in your paper and enjoy it very much and thought I would write you a letter. Last vacation we went up to Goodyears Bar to visit my papa's cousin. One day our cousin May and my brother Ben went a-fishing in Woodruff Creek. They had a bent pin tied to a string ou a stick and they used a grasshop- per for bait and caugit gome trout. ‘We had great fun with Polly, the horse. Sometimes two or threeof us would pile on her back at one time. Iwish we had herin the City. I hove weshall have as good a time next year as we did this. I remain, yours truly. HazrL DUNCAN (eight years old). Dear Editor: Tam & little girl 8 years old, and this is the first time I have ever wfotea letter to THE CALL. My papaand mamma get THE CALL every Sunday, aud I read everything that is in the Children’s Page and enjoy it. Imust close now, hoping 1 shallsee my letter in pext Sunday’s CALL. Youre truly, MARION M. CHICK. PENNGROVE, Cal., September, 1896, Dear Editor: I have seen so many letters from here, so I thought I'd write one, too, I have a couple of pet pigeons. I have to walk a goed mile to school. I re- main, your little reader, JARRIE MILLS. SAN ¥RANCISCO, Sept. 24, 1896, Dear Editor: I go to the Cosmopolitan Gram- mar Sehool and I am in the fourth grade. My teacher’s name is Miss Brooks an o is teaching me German. Iam getting alongfine. Iam 9 years and 6 months old. a very nice pug dog named Topsy, and every day when I come from school she is very glad to see me. I take heroutand the boys have lots of fun with her. Ihopelshall see my little letter in THE SUN- DAY Carn. Iremain your little friend, DAVID GUTMAN. SAN FRANCISco, Sept. 23, 1896. JOSEPHINE B. PARBKMAN, Dear Editor: This is my first letter to TR CArL. Iam 11 yearsold and go to the Edison School. I wrote a story and I suppose it is in Sunday’s CALL. My teacher read the story and the children had to write it. Mine was the best in the schoolroom. I shall write again and hope my letter and my story will escape the wastebasket. I will say good-by now. Your little reader, AvnIcE McCorD, FUNNY THINGS *‘Will you name the bones of the head ?” said a professor to one of his class at a medical college. “I've got ’em all in my head, profes- sor,”” replied the pupil, “but I can’t give 'em.” “If you're a good boy— the parent began, But the young man interrupted: “Excuse me, but I know what you're going to say. I have a new proposition to offer. If you are real kind to me I'll let you take me to the circus, instead of Uncle Richard or Aunt Jane or the gentle- man who lives next door,” I—Venice. I1I—Hebrides. III—Potato, IV—A player. V—A superior. VI—-The letter “M.” VII—William Gladstone. VII— a)—Mount Everest. (b)—Amazon River. (c)-Mammoth Cave, (d)—~Chinese Hall. (e)—Bell of Moscow. (f)—Eiffel Tower. X—Drake, hake, rake, take, sndke, slske, brake, lake, make, fake, quake, XI—October. XII—Melon. 3 NEW PUZZLERS I Hidden name of a great orator. Spider webs terrify files. ALVA FISCHER. II. Names of prominent men: (1) Rib may win all (2) Men may lick. Iwill. M, BzLie. IIL From a “robber” take a pmell animal and leave an “article of food.” IV. From ‘‘plundered” take to “suffer psin” and leave a “seed case.” V. From “not wholly” take “science” and leave “to urge.” VI. Irove Poll, a city in England famous for its excellent harbor. VIL My range. An important country in Ei urope. VIIL. Pi Uretenv ginthon heav tonghin. A proverb. IX: I am & word of four letters. First I dis- tribute; transpose my letters and I “go be- fore” ; again, and I am between two hills; be« head me and I become a beverage. ‘ X. Infeltnotinsaw; In tooth not in cl In ache not in pain In hail notin rain; In tin not in gold; In warned not in told; 1In sing not in troll; A pleasing picture is my whole. Names of Pugzle Workers for SBeptember 27— FEila R. Hartnell, Minnie Lewis, Julis Derby, Alice Bell, Belle Hardesty, Max Selig, and one unsigned set of answers from Fruitvale. #