Flower Time

1916

Everywhere we see flowers, for this is flower time. Don't you love them? Did you know that there was a symbolic flower for every month of the year? They are:

January — Snowdrop (consolation).
February — Primrose (early youth).
March — Violets (modesty).
April — Daisy (innocence).
May — Hawthorne (hope).
June — Wild Rose (simplicity).
July — Lily (modesty).
August — Poppy (sleep).
September — Morning Glory (contentment).
October — Hops (joy).
November — Chrysanthemum (cheerfulness).
December — Holly (foresight).

Flowers have a language of their own, or rather man has given to each flower a meaning. Here they are:

Apple Blossom — Preference.
Bridal Rose — Happy love.
Chrysanthemum — I love.
Camellia — Excellence.
Calla Lily — Modesty.
Corn Flower — Delicacy.
Carnation — Fascination.
Daisy — Innocence.
Daffodil — Unrequited love.
Red Rose — Bashful love.
Forget-me-Not — Remembrance.
Geranium — Gentility.
Golden Rod — Encouragement.
Heartsease — Contentment.
Heliotrope — Devotion.
Honeysuckle — Happiness.
Hyacinth — Constancy.
Ivy — Fidelity.
Jasmine — Only for thee.
Jonquil — Affection.
Lady's Slipper — Fickleness.
White Rosebud — Girlhood.
Lily of the Valley — Unconscious sweetness.
Marigold — Contempt.
Mignonette — Good qualities.
Nasturtium — Splendor.
Pansy — Thoughts of you.
Poppy — Consolation.
Snow Drop — Hope.
Violet — Faithfulness.
Wild Rose — Simplicity.

—The Edwardsville Intelligencer, Edwardsville, IL, Sept. 20, 1916, p. 2.

Narrow and Heartless

1899

There are two sisters whom everybody who will read their story here has met, in cities or farmhouses, at home or abroad. They have eyes and ears, the full complement of all the senses belonging to ordinary human beings, but they go through life blind and deaf.

Every morning, when they rise, God opens the world before them like a full book to tell of His power and love. The sunshine, the wind, every flower in the field, every insect in the grass, all the countless living things about them, have some word to speak of Him. They see and hear nothing of it all.

Around them, all through the days, press multitudes of men and women, each working out a little tragedy or comedy of life, each differing from the others, mean or noble, pure or vile, but all alike struggling along a path where help may be needed and life's burdens made less hard to bear.

These women have brains and hearts, but they never use them for the benefit of a single soul. They hold out no helping hand, they give no friendly thought to any fellow-traveller.

Why?

One of them is made blind by her sense of her own importance. The petty cause of her importance is known only to herself. There was a man of title among her forefathers; or she has a larger sum in the bank than her neighbors; or she numbers some fashionable woman among her acquaintances; or she has costly gowns. But she wraps herself in this remembrance as in a robe of state, and so struts proudly through life.

Her sister has a grievance; usually a different one each day; an aching limb; a small income; an idle servant. These cover her as his cloak covers the monk. She thinks, dreams, talks under their pressure. These women thus shut themselves in and are kept apart through life from the influence and help of nature, of their fellow-men, and of God.

It would be wise to ask ourselves, now and then, if we are in their case. Do we give out healthy, happy influences to people about us as we go through the world? If not, what cloak do we wear that shuts us in to our own littleness? — Youth's Companion.

Your Eyes and Others' Eyes

1900

Upturned eyes are typical of devotion.

Wide open eyes are indicative of rashness.

Small eyes are supposed to indicate cunning.

Side-glancing eyes are always to be distrusted.

Brown eyes are said by occulists to be the strongest.

The downcast eye has in all ages been typical of modesty.

People of melancholic temperament rarely have clear blue eyes.

The proper distance between the eyes is the width of one eye.

Eyes of which the whole iris is visible belong to erratic persons.

Eyes with long, sharp corners indicate great discernment and penetration.

The white of the eye showing beneath the iris is indicative of nobility of character.

Gray eyes turning green in anger or excitement are indicative of a choleric temperament.

An eye the upper lid of which passes horizontally across the pupil indicates mental ability.

When the upper lid cover half or more of the pupil the indication is of cool deliberation.

Unsteady eyes, rapidly jerking from side to side, are frequently indicative of an unsettled mind.

Eyes of any color with weak brows and long, concave lashes, are indicative of a weak constitution.

Eyes that are wide apart are said by physiognomists to indicate great intelligence and a tenacious memory.

Wide-open, staring eyes in weak countenances indicate jealousy, intemperance, and pertinacity, without firmness. — St. Louis Star.

Beauty – Calling a Woman "Pretty" is Merely Conventional

1877

Pretty women are spoken of as if they, of all others, were the elect; as if woman's sole claim to admiration rested on her possession of fine eyes or luxuriant hair. "Is she pretty?" is the first question asked concerning a new acquaintance, as though that embraced the whole subject.

If a man likes a woman he generally considers her "pretty," for the term is merely conventional. A pretty woman, in the private lexicon of masculinity, signifies a woman interesting from whatever cause. Who has not known women to be called pretty that could hardly boast of a single handsome feature? Who has not been acquainted with those enjoying a wide reputation for prettiness that had almost any other than a physical charm? She who has a distinctly graceful manner, or an elegant air, or fine tact, or a talent for conversation, or quick sympathies, or cordial ways, or a heart of listening well, albeit plain in face and of ordinary figure, is frequently styled pretty, and the adjective is repeated until it is fastened upon and constantly associated with her.

Merely pretty women do not rule society — never did and never will. When beauty is allied to pleasant manners, or accomplishments, tact, quick wit, then, indeed, it is all-powerful; otherwise a really plain woman who had conspicuous graces of mind and manner will prove more than a match for her beautiful, insipid sisters.



Jonah and the Whale

A naturalist walks boldly to the front and announces that the preservation of Jonah in the whale's belly was not a miracle. The throat of the whale is large, and is provided with a bag or intestine, so considerable in size that the whales frequently take into it two of their young ones when weak, and especially during a tempest. As this receptacle is furnished with two vents that serve for inspiration, it is claimed that Jonah could have lived there comfortably and, with reasonable amount of furniture, many years, provided he could obtain food and drink.



Emotions of a Mother's Heart

A mother may never find words in which to express the emotions which surge through her heart on finding her babe, just dressed in its Sunday best, stirring the contents of a bottle of ink into the coal ashes with the hair-brush but she will try to, and try with all her might.