"Shooting the Moon"

1895

It is curious to remark how differently men of different races comport themselves in the presence of identical emergencies.

When an Irishman, for example, finds that he cannot pay his rent, he insists on remaining in his homestead all the same, and when an organized effort is made to turn him out he climbs up on to the roof of his domicile and throws hives of bees at the invaders.

When an Englishman finds himself in a similar predicament, he breaks the law by stealth — that is to say, he moves his furniture secretly, by midnight, to another lodging and leaves no address behind him.

And, as all the world knows, "shooting the moon" is the technical term for this nefarious performance. If one were asked by a stranger how the poor live in outcast London, one would have to answer that it is largely by "shooting the moon" that a great many of them are enabled to eke out a precarious subsistence. — London Graphic.


Fish We Have Learned to Eat

It is hard for the younger people to believe that so good a fish as the halibut was considered unfit for eating not very many years ago, yet many old fishermen yet live who remember when it was first offered in the market, selling then at 4 or 6 cents a pound. It was many years since that that the swordfish first found its way to the frying pan and the table, and a Rockland fisherman recalls the time when haddock were about as highly esteemed as sculpins are now. — Lewiston Journal.


Meaning of the Precious Stones

The meanings attached to the different precious stones are as follows: The garnet is constancy; the amethyst, sincerity; the bloodstone, courage; the sapphire, innocence; the emerald, success; the agate, long life; the carnelian, content; the pearl, tears; the diamond, purity; the opal, sorrow; the turquoise, happiness; the malachite, prosperity. — Ladies' Home Journal.