OCR Text |
Show -Our Boys ana dirts.. Edited by Aunt Busy. This department is conducted solely in the interests inter-ests of our girl and boy readers. Aunt Bury is glad to hear any time from the nieces and nephews -who read this page, and to give them aJI the advice and help in her power. Write on one side or the. paper only. Do not have letters too lone. Original stories and verses will be gladly received and carefully edited. The- manuscrips of contributions not accepted will be returned. Address all letters to Aunt Busy, Ir.termountala Catholic. Salt Lake City. LETTERS AND ANSWERS. Sin?, ho, for chill December, That jolly time o' year "When apples on the ember All radiate good cheer! . i .What boisterous winds arc blowing! How red the leaping flames! What joy for us in knowing 1 ' Good stories and good games'. What gladness in the ringing " Of skates upon the creeks! How keen the air that's stinging The blood to lips and cheeks! Sing, ho, for snow-men jolly, For snow-forts we must hold! v time for hate and folly, When days are short and cold! Sing, ho, for sleds n-eoastiir. Tor crisp 3nd crunch of snow, And then the joy of toasting Beside the ember-glow! Ward Anderson. Evanston, Wyo.. Dee. 5, 100.". Dear Aunt Busy I thought 1 would write you e few lines that I am well, and hope you are the. pome. I was on a farm in Uintah all summer, and I never had time to write. I was very glad to come hack to old Wyoming to breathe the fresh air. I will enclose a story of Columbus. From vour niece, MART KIEIIM, Evanston, Wyo. The dear little girl f rom ' Evanston U always welcome to Aunt Busy's department. Do not neglect neg-lect Aunt Busy for so long again, Mary. Your penmanship is very good, dear. Pueblo, Colo., Dee. 4. 1005. Dear Aunt Busy It is so long since I have written writ-ten to you that I really don't know how- long it has been. In saw in The Infcrmountairt Catholic that, voti wanted the little folks to write a composition on Christopher Columbus. I enclose one. I hope I will get one of the prizes. I go to St. Patrick's school and am in the sixth grade. I will close. Tour little niece, MART WOODS. Aunt Busy did not forget you, dear, although it 3? long indeed since, you wrote her. She wishes to compliment you on your neatly written essay. It was a pleasure to prepare it for the operators. Write soon again, Mary. "Evanston. Wyo., Nov. 23, 190."). Dear Aunt Busy After a long absence, I am writing you again. Hope you will forgive me. I am in the eighth grade and have seven different studies. stu-dies. We have three different teachers at different periods. I am sending you an essay on "Columbus," and hope- it will escape rhe waste, basket." ; We have delightful weather;' the days are warm and beautiful and the nights are visited bv Jack Frost. I think Evanstcu is the nicest place I have ever lived in. We -have a very nice priest; his name is Rev. Father Barrett. He takes such interest in the fhureh and children.. We had high mass a week ago Sunday, which was a treat. Xew 1 will close, hoping again you will forgive me. I remain your niece, ALICE. F. KOST, Evanston, Wyo. Aunt Busy did not forget you, dear, although it is long, indeed, since- you wrote her. Aunt Busy is very proud of her Eranston nieces, Mary Kiehm and Alice Kost. Tour penmanship is excellent, Alice. Aunt Busy would like to know Rev. Father Barrett, Bar-rett, because all the children seem to love him. Aunt Busy hopes to hear from you regularly for the future, dear little niece. AUNT BUSY'S PRIZE CONTEST. Christopher Columbus. Tn the year of 14M5 there wa? born in" Henna, Ttaly, a baby boy who was christened Christopher. From the time he was old enough to reason and luidr-rstand t lungs, he took a great fancy to geography, geog-raphy, and to the history of far-off countries lie took great delight in listening to the tales the old sailors told. And he would say to himself: '"When I am a man I am going to be a sailor.'.' Every evening after school was dismissed he would run down to the shore and watch the ships come in w.'lh their cargoes, and while wf-lehing, would dream of the time to come when he would be a sailor on one of the ships. Hi- father noticed the interest he took "iii 'geography 'geog-raphy and history, and one day said to the boy: "I have noticed the interest you take in geography and history, so I have decided to send you away to a r-ehool where geography and hirtory are taught with energy." Columbus was overjoyed at hearing this. He ran down to the shore to think it over. , The oanie year he went away, and did not return until the year of 144'. when about fourteen years of aye. After spending a few months with his parents, par-ents, lie went to sea. At this time it wa thought the earth' was x'piare, but now it was declared to be round. Spain was very anxious to find a water-way to India, because of the, gold and precious gems which India eontained and which at that time had to be brought to pain by long journeys on land. So Columbua decided to make a voyage and fry to find one. Fir-t he applied to the magistrates of Genoa, v.ho refused to grant him the money and ships for the voyage, but would grant hiih permission to go. Tie then applied to the King of Portugal, who likewise refused to grant them. Then he turned to Spain, which was at that time the wealthiest ar:d most powerful nation. After waiting with patience for many years, he finally aroused Queen Isabella's interest and she declared she would aid him in his great enterprise, if he had to pawn the crown jewels to do so She gave him three" ships, .namely: the Santa Maria, the Pintn, and the Nina. The Santa Maria was the only one with a deck and it was commanded by Columbus. On tho morning before their departure they went to confession and received holy communion, at the monastery of La Rabuda at Palos. They started on the morning of August 3. 1402. After sailing for sixty days and discovering no land the men becanie angry and threatened to ihrow Columbus overboard, but he told them they need not murmur, that he had resolved to' continue his voyage until, by God's-will, he should accomplish the enterprise he had undertaken. On the night of October 11 Columbus saw a light moving on shore, and at 2 o'clock on the morn-hig morn-hig of October 12 a sailor on the Piuta announced that he saw land. Columbus landed dressed in a suit of armor and bearing the. Spanish flag. He was accompanied accompan-ied by the officers and a part of the. crew The first thing he did was to fall on his knees and praise God. Then he took possesion of the new land in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for Ferdinand and Isabelle In .lanuary, 140", he started for Spain, taking with him nine of the natives He was received with respect and honor by Ferdinond and Isabelle at Barcelona. They arose .to receive him and ordered him .to be seated in their presence. When he had finished telling of his discovery the Te Deura was sung by the royal choir. The same year he set out upon another voyage, taking Dominican missionaries with him, to labor among the Indians. On his third voyage, in 14!)G, he discovered the. mainland of South America, and on his fourth and his!, that of Centnrl America, but it is thought that lie believed it was the shore- of Asia he had reached. When he rcturnedfhe was told of the death of his best friend. Queen Isabella. After bearing patiently the most ungrateful treatment from his countrymen and even from i Ferdinand, the worthy navigator died at Talladolid on Ascension day loOG. j MART WOODS, I 1219 Lake avenue. Age 12 years Columbus. Columbus was born iu Genoa, Italy, about 140."5, and was the son of a wool-comber, lie doubtless joined the sports with the other boys, going with them to see the many vessels that sailed in and out of that famous seaport, or listening for hours to the stories told by the sailors about other lands. His education was mainly fitted for the sea. He learned reading, writing, grammer and arithmetic, arith-metic, and was instructed in the Latin tongue. He was very skillful in drawing and designing. Very likely much of his life was spent on the sea, sailing on the Mediterranean sea and along the west coast of Africa. Columbus was tall and large, with a ruddy complexion com-plexion and piercing blue eyes. Whenhe was thirty thir-ty his hair had turned white and hung in wavy locks about his shoulders. In 1473 he married a Portuguese woman whose father had been one of the King of Portugal's famous fam-ous navigators and who had left behind' him at his death a number of charts. Meanwhile Columbus Colum-bus was fixing in his mind for a future voyage to the countries of the far cast. Genoa had become be-come rich in trading in silks, spices, and precious stones of the East .Indies. About 1484 Columbus laid his plan before King John of Portugal. The king did not promise to give him aid but borowed hints from Columbus' charts and sent some of his men out to see if they could reach land by sailing west, but the weather was so stormy that they turned toward home. When Columbus heard what the king had done he was very angry and decided to go to Spain. Hand in hand with his little son Diego he trudged wearily on his ourney. . When they arrived in Palos he left Diego in the care of his aunt and went to .find. Ferdinand and Isabella. - At first they thought he was crazy and when he "passed through the streets the boys tapped their foreheads as he passed and langhed at him. In 1491 Columbus maele up his mind to leave Spain and go to France.So taking his son Diego started out on foot once ruoi-e. When they came to the convent of St. Mary's he asked for some, bread and water for his son Diego. While Diego was eating Columbus was conversing with the prior of the convent. He. was greatly interested in Columbus' story and told a well known sea captain cap-tain named Martin Pinzou. The sea captain thought Columbus' plan very good and he promised not only to furnish money for an expedition but to go with Columbus. The queen felt now that she should help Colum- . bus, so she sent a swift courier and brought Columbus Colum-bus back.An agreement was soon reached and Columbus Col-umbus accented it with tears in of joy. He got the vessels, namely: tho Santa Maria, 1 the Pinta, and the Nina, but there were, no men that would go, so they had to release prisoners who were glad to be free. - Columbus started August C, 1492, with 120 men. The poor sailors sobbed like children, they were so overcome with fear. They sailed and sailed but no signs of land were sen. After many days all hearts were gladdened by seeing a flock of birds, that, indicated that land Avas near. On the night of October 11 Columbus saw a light moving in the distance, which was one of the natives going front hut to hut. Friday, Octo Iter 12, they set foot on dry land. Columbus threw himself on the ground and wept, and planted a cross in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella. He called the island San Salvador, which means Holy Savior, beeaue Octeber 12, the day on which it wa discovered was so called in the- Spanish calendar. cal-endar. ' At first the natives, whom Columbus called "Indians," fled into the woods in fear of the Spaniards, Span-iards, but returned and worshiped the crew. They thought the vessels were birds' from heaven and the crew were supernatural beings. Columbus soon became friends with the Indians and trade-eb red caps and trinkets for a few ornaments orna-ments of gold. Columbus sailed along the coast of Cuba and Hayti and landed here and there to sex; the peaple of the different islands. On Christmas morning when it was si ill dark Columbus was cruising along the shores of Hispan-iola Hispan-iola when the Santa Maria went aground on a shoal and the waves soon knocked it to pieces.. A number of men were left at Ilispaniola, which was the first Spanish settlement on this continent. January 4 the. Nina set sail for Spain a,s the Pinta had deserted. When Columbus arrived in Palos the king and ejueen received him with triumphal trium-phal honors. A great procession went through the streets of Barcelona, and leading the-paraele' were fix Indiana. ..- Columbus maele three other voyages, the third he landed on an ishnd which he named Trinidad. In 1."C2 he started on a fourth voyage anel saileel along the coast of Central America. At last he set out for Spain, arriving there only a short time before Queen Isabella, his only friend, died. Poor, sick and discouraged Columbus liveel a weary life for eighteen months longer, lie died of a broken heart in Spain May 20, 1316, but was ignorant ig-norant of the fact that he had discovered a great land ALICE KOST, Evanston, Wyoming. Christopher Colunbus. For many hundred years there had been more or less trade betwen the people of Europe and Asia. Silks, spices and precious stones had been brought by ships from China, India and Japan, anel from cities of southern Genoa and Venice-, until li'jo, when the Turks conquered Constantinople. This was thirty-nine years before Columbus discovered America. . .. At this time European vessels were no longer safe by the fierce and warlike people. Therefore Europe began to look for another and safer route to the Indies. In the meantime Christopher Columbus, in common com-mon with some learned men. decided that the ea&t- ern coast of Asia should be reached by sailing west. Columbus thought that Asia.--was no farther from Europe; he thought tbo East Indies were west from the Canary Islands. Men knew little of the new worlel outside of their own country. Sailors were afraid to venture upon the sea of darkness, as they ealled the Atlantic, where death was to meet them. Columbus fitted out an expedition. He, went with his plans to Genoa, and to Portugal and Spain. He sent his brother to England and France. Then he went to Spain. Here he was successful. Some thought he was an idle dreamer anel a madman; he never despaired; he believed in God. Finally, after seven years af anxiety, Columbus found success. Isabella, Queen of Spain, agreed in carrying out his plans. Still there were difficulties. difficul-ties. The sailors were unwilling to go on the voyage, voy-age, but they were compelled to by the mandate of the king. Three small vessels were fitted out, Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina. Aug. ?,, 14',)(). One hundred hun-dred and twenty men sailed for Port Palos. ft was a sad hour for the sailors. As soon as they elid not see laud they were overcome with fear and cried like children. At the end of a week the compass did not point to the North star. Three days later the vessel entered wide stretches of seaweed. It was then feared that the vessel might strike upon hidden rocks and be dashed to pieces. Soon afterward the sailors were gladdened by the sioht of birds; they thought land was near. It was an idle hope, for no land appeared. Again anel again the cry "Land" was shouted. It was by distant clouels. The poor sailors were; in despair. They wore now in the belt of trade winds, which were steadily blowing them farther and farther from home and friends. "We can never return to Spain," they said. ''What shall we eloi" 'They beggeel Columbus to turn buck. He refused. They became angry and talked of throwing him overboard. over-board. He- knew he was in danger and tried hard to quiet their fears, but this didn't do. He threatened threat-ened them by the- Spanish King. At last, after a voyage of ten weeks, land was discovered. Oct. 12, 14i2. He landed with tears and offered thanks to God. lie took possession of the land in the name of the King and Queen of Spain. He discovered the" Bahama Island and called it San Salvador. When Columbus returned to Spain with the news of his discovery .the people were surprised at the great news. He made a second voyage in 14'J:. Four voyages were made in all. They found no spices or precious stones. Spain also finding no return for the great expense, he spent his last days in disappointment, and heart-broken he soon died, ignorant of the greatness of his discovery. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, 1400. He was the eldest of four children. MART KIEHM. TEN LITTLE SMILES. One little smile ran off alone to play, Conquered a pout it found on the way. Two little smiles, instead of one. Overtook a second pout my, what fun! Three Ii tie smiles said, ''Come along with us," Meeting a wee frown in a needless fuss. Four little smiles at a merry pace Whisked off a bay frown from an anxious face. Five little smiles a' very jolly mix! " " ' Overtook another pout; smiles now sis. Six little smiles (oyer half eleven) Enticed away another frown; now ih.3 smiles are seven. . Seven little smiles what a lucky fate! 3ct a tir.y woe-begone little band of eight. Eight little smflesfTill in in a line. Surroundeel a pucker sec, the smile? are nine! Nine smiles now in all courageous little men Took a stray pout-prisoner, and swelled tho ranks to ten. . Isn't it t mazing (yet it's really true) What a single little smile all by itself can do! BEING A BOY. Somethimes to be a boy's no fun, For, if you notice, every one ' Expects a boy can get along Anel won't take nothin', ever, wrong! The other folks now ain't this true? Of course must be attended to Anel give their choice and asked polite. But boys "they get along all right!" When we go vis'tin' some place where They ain't got beds enough to spare, They fix the sofa up for mef "'Twill do him nicely!" ma says gee! Or when we've comp'ny. like as not I'm stuck off on a wobbly cot Jes' anywhere that's out of sight! But boys "they get along all right!" Or when we. drive I'm crowded in Till I'm all squoze out good and thin. "Tou don't need much room, elo you, Roy ?" And I say no, 'cause I'm a boy ! And at the tabic (jes' like bed), When things don't even up, plain bread And butter does my appetite! For bovs "thev get along all right." The boy, he draws thcliardest seat Or hops round elodgin' people's feet. Tou can't hurt him with lumpy springs Or olel cold cots or other things! He's built to fit in anywhere, And what he eats, why, he don't care, Jes' so it's fodder not a mite! for boys "they get along all right!" . . Lippincott's Magazine. . . |