OCR Text |
Show The Mesmerized Ring. Attach a massive gold ring to a silk thread about twelve inches long and fasten the other end around the joint nearest the nail of your right forefinger. Allow the ring to hang about half an inch above the surface of the table, on which you rest your elbow to steady your hand. Hold your finger horizontally, with the thumb thrown back as far as possible from the rest of the hand. If there be nothing noth-ing on the table, the ring will soon become stationary. Place some silver sil-ver coin, three half dollars will do, immediately below the ring and it will begin to oscillate to and from you. Bring your thumb in contact with your forefinger and the oscillations will be- a motion as if throwing it away.tbut by a deft, unseen motion of your thumb you must slip it between the first and second fingers, where you can keep it concealed. Now take up the second pill and place it in your left hand, skilfully placing the other pill there at the same time by letting it slip from between be-tween your fingers. Close your left hand quickly, and then, after a few words, open your hand and show both pills in it. It will require only a little practice to make your performance of this trick so deceptive that no one can "catch" you. "i Conundrums. j What animal, has death no effect on? A pig; when killed he can be cured. When are you not yourself? When ' you are a little pale (pail). Why is a baker like a beggar? Because Be-cause he kneads bread. What is the difference between the north and south pole? All the difference differ-ence in the world. Why should soldiers be tired on April 1? Because they have just had a March of 31 days. Why should no man starve on the deserts of Arabia? Because of the sand-which is there. Why is a kiss like a scandal? It goes from mouth to mouth. What did the spider do when he came out of the ark? Took a fly and went home. What contains more feet in winter than summer? A skating rink. crown, and from it grow up the' bud. bearing stems in the spring. When a seed germinates it sends the light-loving light-loving stem upward and the dark-loving root downward. Saw off part of the tree trunk and you will find a series of rings from the center to the bark, each ring marking a year of growth. But these rings indicate also which of the seasons sea-sons through which the tree has lived were dry and which had plenty of rain. The rings are always of unequal un-equal width; the narrow ones represent repre-sent dry seasons and the wide ones seasons when the conditions of growth .were better by reason of plentiful rain. Every rose has its thorn, and the same may be said of such fruits as blackberries, raspberries, etc., only they ard not real thorns, but prickles, which strip off with the outer bark, while thorns will not strip off, being hardened, undeveloped branches. But why do bushes and vines have prickles? Many people wonder at it, for they see no good reason for such a growth. But there is a reason, as there is in everything in nature. The prickles are given to them as a protection pro-tection against plant-eating animals. The stems have a pleasant, aromatic taste, and cows and sheep would be sure to eat them in winter, when they crave something fresh, if it were not for the prickles. A Puzzle Cross. Get thirteen pennies and arrange them in the form of a cross, as shown Mesmerizing the Ring. come transverse to their former swing. This may also be effected by letting a girl take hold of your disengaged hand. When the transverse motion is fairly established, let a boy take hold of the girl's disengaged hand and the. ring will change back to its former course. t x.jff v v -- - I KSC 0'jF liimeau ui silver juu i-au suapeuu luc ring over your left forefinger with similar results. Simple but Effective Trick. Into a glass dish pour water until it is about an inch in depth. Now, if you stand a glass tumbler in the dish upside down, the water will rise in it almost as high as it is in the dish. It will not rise quite so high, because there is air in the tumbler, and that will prevent it. But there is a simple way to make it rise higher in the tumbler than it is in the dish. Get a flat, cork and put it in .the water; it will float, of course. Now, light a wad of paper, lay it on the cork and place the tumbler over' ; it. As the paper burns, the water will i, rise in the glass,, and will not fall ' , igain, il ycu le; vethe gla& la-i'- -it. ' . t The reason is that the burning of' the paper exhausts some of the air in' the glass, making a partial vacuum, or empty space, and as the air pressure pres-sure on the surface of the water in the dish is greater than the pressure on the inside of the glass, the water is forced up. It is on that principle that what the doctors call "cupping" is done. Into a glass cup made for the purpose they put a piece of burning paper, and at f. What is the difference between a good and bad governess? One teaches a miss and the other teaches amiss. Why is twice 10 like twice 11? Twice 10 is 20 and twice 11 is 22. What is most like a hen stealing? A cock robin (robbing) to be sure. Why is a pair of skates like an apple? ap-ple? Because they both are likely to be the fall of a man. This Family Is Incorporated. The Fairbanks Family of America (Incorporated) is one of the latest organizations or-ganizations asking for a. charter. The objects of the society are to collect and compile historical records of the iClan Fairbanks, to hold property, to i preserve pbjects of interest to the i family, and to promote education of "ta XQ. -X .Via subjects relating to ,'V.he family history. Y The first Fairbanks to. take up an, abode on this continent was Jonathan, but the tribe has been prolific, and about 4,000 American families have descended from him to refute the racial suicide hullabaloo. In August last a family reunion was held at the Fairbanks homestead in Dedham, Mass., and one of Its results was the incorporation recently asking for a charter. The idea of the society so-ciety Is to purchase the Dedham property prop-erty and provide for an annual income in-come sufficient to maintain it as a Fairbanks headquarters. His Name a Handicap. The king of Greece has an aid-decamp who rejoices in the name of Pap-padiamantopoulos. Pap-padiamantopoulos. In the ordinary course of things, th gallant colonel would accompany his Hellenic majesty ma-jesty on his travels abroad every summer, sum-mer, but his name was found to leave Placing the Pennies. I in the accompanying illustration", That is to say, you place nine of; the pennies in a straight line, one be-' low the otiier and two on each side of" the third pennv from the top. 1 Now, with the cross thus made you may count nine in three different ways: First, the stem counts nine; from top to bottom; second, count six from the bottom up to the cross-piece, cross-piece, and then three from the middle penny of the crosspiece to the right; third, count six from the bottom up to the crosspiece, and then three off to the left. The puzzle is to take away two. of the pennies and leave the cross so that it will count nine in three different differ-ent ways. Lay the paper down and try it Perhaps you may succeed, but if you do not, take away one penny from each side and remove the top penny to the bottom. Simple enough, isn't it when you find it out? Looking Glass Puzzle. Put this diagram up where you cam see it well. Then at the top of a sheet of blank paper lying on your desk put a looking glass, standing it a train of dislocated jaws in the royal wake; moreover, it was charged as two words in telegrams, and was mutilated by telegraphists beyond all recognition; so he is now left at home and a gentleman of the name of Thon takes his place in attendance on iving George on his annual visits to Aix-les-Bains and Paris. . , What Thorns Are For. Most persons think that the stem of a plant grows from the roots; on the contrary, the roots grow from the stem. In the case of a plant that dies down to the ground in autumn it is not the roots that send up a new stem in the spring, for a part of the true stem remains under ground on the root up so that when you put your pencil on the paper you can get a good view of it in the glass. Now look in the glass at the paper and pencil and draw a diagram like the one you have put up for copy. It sound awfully easy to do this; but try it. The Water in the Glass. once press the cup down on the flesh of the patient, which rises in a little mound inside the cup, because the outside out-side pressure of the air is greater than that inside. Do Not Forget. Do not forget as you go on your way Through this busy world, with its toil and strife. Often a kindly word to say To those you meet in the paths of life. Do not forget that a smile of cheer May comfort a heart that is sad and drear. And brighten a day that is hard and long. The burning words that for ever live It may not be yours to speak or give But there's heart and hope in a bit of a song. Do not forget that wherever you go Kindly deeds may be found to do. No one so poor but can bestow The help that will courage and faith renew! re-new! No one so weak who cannot give The hand that may help a soul, to live And rise again from the trodden clay! Splendid achievements may never be yours. But the deed that for love's sake is done endures. And will blossom for ever from day to day. Bread Pill Trick.. Make two bread pills, and say to the spectators that you are going to throw one of them away, and put the other in your left hand while the latter lat-ter is closed. Then the thrown-away pill will come into the left hand while the latter is closed. Here is the wa7 to do the trick: Hold one of the pills between the thumb and first finger of your right hand for everyone to see. Then make The objects in the above picture illustrate the names of two well-known games. What are they? |