A Private Soldier of High Rank

1895

Among the stories that are being told about the late M. Victor Duruy, the eminent historian of ancient times, is one which relates to the part he played during the siege of Paris by the Germans. At that period M. Duruy had volunteered for the national guard. One day M. Jules Simon, the minister of public instruction, was returning home to his official residence in the Rue de Grenelle when he saw in a sentry box a national guard on duty who wore upon his cloak the insignia of grand officer of The Legion of Honor, a very high distinction. M. Simon, recognizing him, went up and said, "Hello, Duruy, is that you?" "Yes," was the reply. "A private soldier?" asked Simon. "Yes," said Duruy. "What of it? We can't all be ministers." "At least," was the minister's polite rejoinder, "we can all set a good example." M. Duruy at that time was already over 60 years of age. — London News.


Ada Rehan's Antiques

Ada Rehan, the actress, has a penchant for antique and handsome furniture. Her house in New York is full of lovely things, and a piano, which is of gilded wood, on which are painted Watteauesque figures of wee maids in white wigs and slim cavaliers in blue and pink knee breeches and frilled coats, is said to be worth several thousand dollars.


Astoria

Astoria, Oregon, took its name from John Jacob Astor, the founder of the Pacific Fur company. It was at first a fort and trading station.


Maize

Japan has developed a variety of maize with leaves beautifully striped with white.

Mechanical Music

1895

The Wail of a Professor Who Declares That Learning Is a Lost Art.

"What for I look blue?" said the professor. "I will tell you. I look blue because my beezness is being — what you call him? — keeked out. No — ah, yes — knocked out by the maker of those stupid mechanique instruments of music. There is no longer any need to learn the piano, for, see, all you do now is bring in the telegraphique wires from the street, and the piano will play itself. Organ — no. Buy some rolls of papaire and put him in the organ and turn the crank, so, and out will come anything you wish from Strauss to Cherubini. Mandolin — no. For some much too clever Yankee has make another something which you shall button to the piano, and there, my faith, you have your mandolin. Zither — no. For there are the zithers now that you play with a steek. Chord of F, press this steek; cord of B, press that steek, and so on. There is no more need to learn anything.

"Mademoiselle say to me, 'Ah, professor, why should I practice any more when Mees So-and-so, who nevaire took the lesson in her life, has an electrique piano which can play everything as well as you do when she press a leedle button?' And I say, 'Why, indeed?' Then madame say to me, 'Ah, professor, I shall geeve up the mandolin, for I can put a leedle thing to the piano and make it play like the mandolin weeth two fingers.' And I say, `Ah, so?' Then monsieur say, 'Professor, I guess I give up the organ and buy one of those windyphones like Billee Sweetzer have, where all you have to do is to move the feet, and the music come out joost as good as you play,' and I say, 'Was that so?'

'And it ees so. The mechanique music have knocked me out. There is no heart any more to learn anything that take time and patience when you can have all the good music that you like by pressing the leedle button and moving the feet. It ees not the music of the soul, to be sure; maybe it ees not the music of the expression; maybe it ees not music at all. Bah! Who cares? All you want is the tune, just like the organ man and piano woman on the street. Arteest be dam. Vive la mechanique! I am going home to invent a violin electrique and an automatique flute that you shall play with your knees." — New York Sun.

Fine Manners

1895

At the court of Marie Antoinette all emotions and passions were veiled by a mask of politeness. Even the children were taught to speak with wit and tact and courtesy and to bear pain in silence. The little Duc d'Angouleme, 8 years old, when the old Sanbrun entered his presence unexpectedly, said, touching the book in his hand: "Ah, monsieur, I am in the company of Plutarch's men. You could not come at a moment more apropos!"

The Count de Pallance, beheaded in his tenth year, stood erect and calm in the cart until he reached the guillotine. The headsman lifted his long curls. "Merci, monsieur," said the boy, with a bow and a smile. The next moment his head rolled in dust.

The man or woman who showed any signs of pretention or self conceit was not received at court. Profound deference was shown to women and to the aged. Well bred men heard of their own ruin with a bonmot and went out to fight each other to the death with such grace and courtesy that the duel seemed a sacrament of friendship. — Family Magazine.


Her Father's Say

He — What do you think your father would say if we were to run away and get married?
She — Really I don't know, but I imagine he would say I was a bigger fool than he thought I was. — Detroit Free Press.

Wins French Bride in 13 Minutes

1920

Yank Voted Speed Demon of A. E. F.

SOMERSWORTH, N. H. — Paul J. St. Jean, wounded hero of this town, has returned with his French bride whom he met for fifteen minutes in Angouleme, France, while on his way to the front in 1918, wooed by mail and made a special trip to her home to marry.

Now the citizens of this ordinarily quiet village vote unanimously that Jean can claim the A. E. F. record for a speedy courtship. And Jean says nothing. His record speaks for itself.

Mrs. Paul J. St. Jean has settled down to learn the English language.

Private Paul J. St. Jean left Somersworth in 1917 with the Yankee Division for France. He went thru every battle from the engagement at Seicheprey to Chateau Thierry, where he was felled with a machine gun bullet in the first American push. Out of the fighting, he was invalided to Camp Hospital 5, near Bordeaux. For over two months he hovered between death and life, and on Sept. 29th left again for the front to join his division.

Could Speak Language.

Then Cupid got in his work. While serenely traveling by train at the rate of three knots an hour, the French Limited stopped at the town of Angouleme. On the platform watching the train pull in were three French mademoiselles. Jean had the advantage. He was the only doughboy on the limited that knew French without the aid of a "French Made Easy" book, so he engaged the young women in conversation.

Two of the girls talked. The other didn't. Thruout the fifteen minutes that the train waited, a quiet French maiden of 16 summers hung back, saying nothing but thinking a whole lot. That young lady is now Mrs. Jean.

Jean, like any enterprising Yank, took their addresses and corresponded from the front. The shy young miss, whose name was Gabrielle Deleichelle, and whose father was at the front during the war, made it known to Jean thru her sisters' letter that she wanted to write.

Kept Writing to Girl.

The soldier came home with his division and started on a course of vocational training in New York. Altho unable to visit his young friend on his way home, he kept up the correspondence, which grew more interesting with each succeeding letter. In June, 1919, the obvious happened. They became engaged with the aid of a 5-cent stamp and several pages of uncensored French.

The vocational training complete, on April 10th of this year, the Yankee hero sailed from New York, arrived at Angouleme, and on May 17th married the young lady who had kept the postmasters at Somersworth and Angouleme busy for nearly two years.

Mr. and Mrs. Jean then came home. They visited New York and spent three days in Boston. But the big cities displeased Mrs. Jean. She liked the quietude of country places like Somersworth, and So they arrived home on her eighteenth birthday.

Mrs. Jean admires her soldier husband, is amazed at the progressiveness of America, but says with a far-away look: "I will always love my old France and expect to go back some day," and Mr. Jean, who is of French descent himself, is quite willing to go, too.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 1.

London Summary

1916

London, Sept. 25. — A great attack today by the British and French infantry crushed in the whole German front for an average depth of a mile on the 14-mile line from Martinpuich to the River Somme.

The British captured the powerfully fortified villages of Morval and Les Boeufs, virtually cutting off communication with Combles, and took with a rush several lines of German trenches all the way to Martinpuich, along a six-mile front.

Northeast of Combles the French swept forward to the edge of Fregicourt, almost meeting the English advance on this stronghold from the northwest. Gen. Foch's troops captured the village of Rancourt, a hill near that village and systems of trenches nearly a mile in depth down to the river.

The Germans suffered heavy losses, including a large number of prisoners and much war material.

Gen. Russiloff has begun a fresh offensive on a large scale, according to semiofficial advices from Petrograd, with the purpose of piercing the Austro-German defense from Pripet marshes to the Hungarian border and meeting the challenge of Field Marshal von Hindenburg, who hopes to deal a decisive blow before Winter.

A Russian success in the Rumanian province of Dobrudja is reported in a semiofficial news agency dispatch from Odessa. The dispatch says the Russians took 2000 prisoners.

On another of her numerous battle fronts, in Western Macedonia, part of Russia's countless hosts have begun a violent offensive, along with French and Serbians, against the Austro-German-Bulgar forces north of Florina, where the Allies have captured a hill and a village and are crossing the frontier into Serbia, despite fierce opposition.

French and British troops last night took a village and trenches across the Struma River.

The Italians have carried by storm Garinal Mountain on the Northern Alpine battle line.

Gen. Haig's line now stands three miles from the edge of Bapaume and the nearest curve of the railroad that parallels the German positions and supplies their fighting front on a length of about 20 miles.

Bucharest claims the Rumanian advance in the Caliman Mountains continues, and there and near Hermannstadt prisoners and machine guns were captured. Since they began the invasion of Transylvania the Rumanians have taken 6884 prisoners, it is declared.

Vienna's account asserts: "Rumanian front, between Szurduk and Vulcan Passes, Rumanian advances were repulsed.

"Transylvanian Eastern front: There was lively fighting."

The Rumanian report announces further progress has been made against von Mackensen's army near the Black sea.

It is announced officially in Paris that the number of prisoners taken by the Anglo-French forces on the Somme from July 1 to Sept. 18, aggregated more than 55,800. Of these, 34,050 fell into the hand of the French.

Berlin reports no activity on the whole of the western front.

A Voice From The Tomb

1901

More of Marie Bashkirtseff's Interesting Confessions Printed.

Once more Marie Bashkirtseff and her "confessions" are leading topics of interest in the literary world. The last of the "confessions" have just been issued in book form, and they are attracting almost if not quite as much attention as those which preceded them several years ago.

Readers familiar with the literary ideas of 12 or 15 years ago scarcely need be told who Marie Bashkirtseff was. To younger readers the name of the brilliant, erratic young Russian artist, scholar and authoress is not, however, very well known. Although she left no permanent impress on the world of art or letters, her diary, which reveals with fidelity the workings of her heart and mind, will always possess an interest for the student of human nature.

Marie Bashkirtseff was born in Russia in 1860 and died in Paris on Oct. 31, 1884. She was well born and well educated, possessing a knowledge of Greek and Latin as well as of the more important modern tongues. She was a talented painter and in 1878 went to Paris to study. In 1880 she exhibited a picture at the Salon, and from then until her untimely death she worked eagerly at her art. One of her pictures was purchased by the French government.

During her brief career in Paris Marie Bashkirtseff mingled with the brilliant life of that period and numbered among her acquaintances many famous people. She frequently wrote anonymous letters to famous literary men, and the charm and brilliance of the epistles induced those to whom she wrote to sustain the correspondence. The letters which passed between her and Guy de Maupassant, the brilliant romancer, form the most interesting phase of the last "confessions."

Marie Bashkirtseff was a genius in many ways, a painter, a musician, a writer and, above all, a woman of the most intense emotion. It may well be held, as it is by some, that the world lost much by her premature death.

He's Willing Now

1920

But Champion Is a Late Late, Says Georgia Poet.

The following was received by the sporting editor of The Saturday Blade from Atlanta, Ga.:

Our Champion.

He's willing to fight in France, they say,
For half a million or so;
But he passed up a chance at a buck a day
When they called on us all to go.

I think I speak for a million chaps
Who went to France with a vim,
Ready for anything — death perhaps —
So —
Hope Georges whales hell out of him.

—Jack Converse.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

Note: This poem concerns Jack Dempsey, whose reputation was tainted when it was alleged he was a draft dodger during World War I. There's some details at this link. "Georges" was Georges Carpentier, a French war hero. Dempsey had a match against him in 1921, called the "Battle of the Century."


Canadian Boxer Challenges

1920

Brousseau Wants to Meet Carpentier In Montreal.

The Canadian Hockey Club has cabled a challenge to Georges Carpentier's manager in London for the French boxer to meet Eugene Brousseau, Dominion's middleweight champion, in a boxing exhibition in Montreal, July 1, Dominion day, at one of the race tracks.

Brousseau has recovered from a slight attack of paralysis, which followed his bout with Chip, in Portland.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

Sarah Bernhardt's Bath

1901

The youthfulness and vivacity of the famous French actress, Sarah Bernhardt, have been the wonder and admiration of the public for many years. There is probably no woman before the American public today who takes greater care of herself than Mme. Bernhardt.

Writing in The Ledger Monthly, Stella Stuart says that a sponge bath which affords exquisite refreshment to tired muscles and jaded spirits and is an excellent preparation for the evening toilet is used regularly by the talented French actress and is said to be a potent auxiliary in preserving her apparently perennial charm.

It consists of ½ pint of alcohol, 2 ounces spirits of camphor, 2 ounces spirits of ammonia, 2 ounces sea salt, and boiling water to make one quart. The directions called for agitating this mixture thoroughly and rubbing it into the skin with the bare hands. It was considered excellent for one to bathe the neck and shoulders before donning an evening dress.

Wouldn't Sell the House

1901

The house in which Joan of Arc was born is still faithfully preserved in pious veneration at Domremy, where it is looked upon almost in the light of a shrine. Passersby invariably cross themselves and utter a prayer for protection as they go by.

The story goes that a rich and eccentric Englishman tried hard to buy the place in 1837. It was at that time the property of a farmer named Girardin. The Englishmen offered to let him name his own price, but the old man held firm. "No, no, no," he cried. "I would not sell it even to a Frenchman, much less to a foreigner and especially an Englishman. People here would call me a traitor and a coward were I to part with the house from which Joan of Arc set out to serve France."

The Englishman convinced himself that further bargaining was useless and went his way.

Soon after an officer from the king's household arrived in the village and asked to speak with Girardin. Before the whole village, assembled in the street, he said: "Girardin, the king has learned that you have refused to sell your house to an Englishman. He desires to reward you, but not in coin. He knows that you no more want the money of the French than of the English, therefore has he commanded me to present you with the cross of the Legion of Honor."

Had Forty Homes

1901

Vollon, the painter, was a unique personage even among the old characters of Paris. While he was essentially a Bohemian there were times when even his patience was taxed to the utmost, and to obviate the necessity of meeting unwelcome people he conceived the idea of multiplying his lodging places.

At the time of his death he owned no less than 40 homes, all in apartment houses, situated in all the out of the way corners of Paris, plainly furnished and with just enough accommodation for himself. He changed from one to the another all the time, in order to escape importunate acquaintances and to take refuge from his friends. It was in order to throw them all off the scent that he engaged rooms all over the city.

He finally died in the Rue de Dunkerque, where he had as many as three different apartments, all within a stone's throw of one another.

Have Got Beyond Feeling

1902

The people of Martinique, or those who still cling to that unfortunate island, will probably not be alarmed by the scientific report that it is likely to sink out of sight, says the Chicago Inter Ocean. They are probably beyond the reach of alarm by this time.


Lucky Old Maids

Woman insure against being old maids in Denmark, says the New York Mail and Express. If they marry before they are 40 what they have paid goes to the less fortunate, and these last are pensioned for the remainder of their lives on a scale proportioned on what they paid in.


Starving in Galicia

In Galicia the wage of the farm laborer has been so reduced that he is starving to death on a pittance of from three to 16 cents a day.


Index of Cleanliness

The average French person uses six pounds of soap in a year; the average English person uses ten pounds.


Will Follow a Swiss Model

Swiss postal officials are to be employed to assist in the reorganization of the Japanese post office. The Swiss postal system is to be taken as a model.

Stage Signals

1901

There are a number of ways of giving the signal which warns the leader of the theater orchestra that the curtain is about to rise. The most common in American theaters is the illumination by electricity of a common incandescent bulb placed in front of the conductor. Many players, however, follow the English custom of having the ring of a bell as a signal. This has the advantage of giving notice alike to the players behind the curtain and the orchestra and the audience in front.

The French players employ the system, but not the bells. A stout club rapped loudly on the stage floor does duty instead. Two raps constitute the one minute signal and three as the final notice. The reason for the cumbersome method is that of precedent, for the call is that of the Theatre Francais. — Chicago Tribune.

As Dr. Johnson Said It

1910

George Augustus Sala's eloquent testimony to the superiority of English viands reminds us of Dr. Johnson's outburst after examining a French menu.

"Sir," said he to the faithful Boswell, "my brain is obfuscated with the perusal of this heterogeneous conglomeration of bastard English ill spelt and a foreign tongue. Bid the rascals bring me a dish of hog's puddings, a slice or two from the upper cut of a well roasted sirloin and two apple dumplings."


National Traits

It takes one hour to know a Frenchman, one month to know a German, almost a lifetime to know an Englishman — well.

Peculiar Possessions and Collections

1900

Many people make collections of articles more or less interesting, but possibly few go in for such bulky objects as those chosen by a gentleman of Pontefract, in the north of England. Old doors are the object of his desire and he has a most curious collection. His doors come from old houses, castles and abbeys that have some historical interest. Household Words is responsible for the statement that not long ago he offered as much as five thousand dollars for a door through which, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, Danton and Robespierre passed to the guillotine.

Not quite as interesting in a general sense, but in all probability of quite as much interest to the collector, was a curious collection of corks owned by a Frenchman who died a few years ago at Paris. A fairly good history of his life was to be read on these corks, for he saved every one drawn for the delectation of himself or his friends, and on each he inscribed the date and particular occasion upon which the bottle was opened.

Probably nobody of to-day has a strong desire to bring together a great variety of teas and snuffs. Lord Petersham, however, a noted dandy in his day, had a hobby for collecting various kinds of tea and snuff. All round his sitting-room were shelves, on the one side laden with canisters of Souchong, Bohea, Congou, Pekoe, Russian and other teas, and on the other bearing handsome jars containing every kind of snuff the collector could lay his hands on.

Queen Margherita of Italy is the owner of a curious collection, one that has in it the interest of association. It comprises the foot- and head-gear of royal and imperial personages of different periods. It is said to embrace a sandal worn by the tyrant Nero, a pair of white slippers which belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, shoes worn by Queen Anne and the Empress Josephine, and gloves that were once the property of Marie Antoinette. — Youth's Companion.

What "Decimated" Means

1915

The French communique described the attacking Germans east of Rheims as having been "decimated." Many persons wonder whether the word was used in its strict sense, or in the looser fashion now too common, as signifying very heavy loss.

"Decimated" is, in fact, a much weaker word than many who employ it realize. It means only the loss of one in ten. The original "decimation" was the Roman military punishment of a number of soldiers who had been guilty of some joint crime. One-tenth were chosen by lot to be punished with death or some other penalty, the rest getting off with the substitution of barley for wheat in their rations.

That the punishment was not common in early Rome is shown by the fact that the verb "decimare" is post-Augustan; but an instance of the practice occurs as early as 470 B. C.


Rabbits Adopted By a Motherly Cat

1905

Glen Mallory of Athens, New York state, has a handsome cat which has mothered eight baby rabbits. She had recently raised a number of kittens, having had them, in a comfortable box in the cellar of the house.

When they were weaned and given away the cat, which has long been a great favorite in the house, owing to its sagacity, was restless and ill at ease. A few days ago she disappeared and in a couple of days returned. When she was found there were in the nest eight little bunnies, apparently well contented with the great care which she bestowed upon them.

Where she got them is a mystery, and her owner is curious to know whether she stole them from the nest of some rabbit or whether their own mother was recently bagged by some enterprising hunter.

Easy Company

1900

Frenchmen are born diplomatists, yet in a free and unguarded moment even one of that tactful race will sometimes speak his mind without a tinge of flattery.

Such an ungarnished speech is recorded of a young Frenchman who, during a visit in London, was taken to see Madame Tussaud's famous waxworks.

"What do you think of them?" asked the friend who was acting as guide on that occasion. "Oh," said the young man, with a slight shrug, "they seem to me very like the people at an ordinary English party, only perhaps a little stiller."


Rewards of Fame

The Chicago Tribune intimates that, even if "republics are ungrateful," our great men are not forgotten.

"Still," said the old friend who had called to converse with the venerable sage, "in your advancing age it must be a comfort to know your fame is secure."

"Yes," replied the aged scientist, "I am told there is a new disease and a five-cent cigar named for me." — Youth's Companion.

The Lafayette Dollars

1900

Readers of The Companion have not forgotten the American monument to the Marquis de Lafayette, which is to be erected in the city of Paris by the aid of subscriptions raised by the school children of the United States. By an act of the last Congress, the United States mint was authorized to strike off fifty thousand silver dollars with a special design commemorating the setting up of this monument, and to turn the coins over to the association which has in charge the erection of the monument in Paris.

By this association the dollars will be sold for two dollars apiece. The sum of one hundred thousand dollars thus realized will be added to the fund for the monument.

On December 27, 1899, the director of the mint, Mr. Roberts, presented to President McKinley the first of these dollars which came from the mint, and Mr. McKinley announced his intention of presenting it in turn to the President of the French Republic, Monsieur Loubet. This, in fact, was done on the third of March.

On one side of the coin are the heads of Washington and Lafayette, and on the other is a reproduction of the proposed monument. Across the face of the monument is this inscription: "Erected in the Name of the School Children of the United States, Paris, 1900." — Youth's Companion.

He Offers Free Insanity Certificate

1900

A generous if not alluring offer was that made by an exasperated physician to the penurious father of an insane young man.

The old man wished to secure his son's admission to the insane asylum, but seemed unwilling to pay for the necessary certificate.

After hearing his plea of poverty — which the doctor knew to be false — and hearing him also tell of the many expenses to which he had been put by his ungrateful children, the physician waved his hand to end the recital.

"Now see here," he said, sharply, "you just pay me for this one, and I'll give you a certificate for yourself whenever you wish to use it, for nothing!"


An Effort To Explain

A gentleman who had engaged an intelligent French maid was at work in his library at one end of his house, when it struck him, from certain sounds, that something must be wrong in the drawing-room, at the other end of the house. So he rang his bell, and the maid came.

"What are those cries that I seem to hear in the direction of the drawing-room, Marie?" he asked.

"I do not precisely know, monsieur," she answered. "At one time I sink it is madame who sing, and at anozzer time I am sure it is ze cat and ze dog who fight, monsieur!" — Youth's Companion.

Dreyfus at Rennes

1899

Justice may be done at Rennes, but Dreyfus will never be a national hero. The world will probably pity him, and Frenchmen may reluctantly admit that he has been treacherously dealt with and cruelly used; but he lacks the qualities which his own nation admires in a public man.

He has a strong but not a handsome face. His figure is bent. He has quiet dignity but lacks a commanding presence. His manner is cold and reserved. His emotions are generally under the control of a strong will. His face and bearing repel rather than excite sympathy.

The French are an excitable people who like melodrama in their public life. Dreyfus is not a man capable of striking an attitude and posing before them as the victim of conspiracy and oppression who has baffled and triumphed gloriously over his enemies. He neither appeals to their imaginations nor excites their emotions. The pathos of his lot does not touch their hearts and induce hero-worship. Even when convinced of his innocence they will look upon him as an unfortunate Jew, who has been baited and nearly hounded to death.

Americans may judge of him differently, but Frenchmen are strangely and perversely indifferent to either English or American opinion. They can never make a popular idol of a scapegoat for the crimes of military intriguers. Their heroes must be men of action, with a vainglorious faith in their own destiny, with a theatrical air and with fascinations of personality. Dreyfus as he is seen at. Rennes is merely, in their eyes, a poor dupe who has suffered until the iron has entered into his soul.

At the time of writing this article Dreyfus's trial is not completed. Should he be acquitted his resignation from the army will probably follow, and years of exile in England. Evil passions have been excited by the prolonged excitement of the Dreyfus affair. The Jews in France will not benefit by his acquittal. They will be more vehemently disliked because he has been misjudged and cruelly wronged.

In any event Dreyfus will not have suffered in vain. Militarism will never again be the blind, unreasoning force which it has been in France. Justice and mercy, those grand Hebraic virtues of the ancient Scriptures, will have a deeper meaning throughout the world in consequence of the wrongs suffered by this patient, unhappy Alsatian Jew.

Fiddling For A Howling Mob

1896

Once Cherubini had to figure as a fiddler in spite of himself.

In the stormy days of 1792 it was a perilous experiment to walk the streets of Paris. During an occasion of more than ordinary excitement the composer fell into the hands of a band of sans-culottes who were roving about seeking musicians to conduct their chants. To them it was a special gratification to compel the talent that had formerly delighted royalty to minister now to their gratification.

On Cherubini firmly refusing to lead them, a low murmur was heard from the crowd, and the fatal word, "Royalist! Royalist!" went up. At this critical moment one of Cherubini's friends — also a kidnapped musician — seeing his imminent danger, thrust a violin into his unwilling hands and bade him head the mob. The whole day these two musicians accompanied the hoarse and overpowering yells of the revolutionary horde, and when at last a halt was made in a public square, where a banquet was served, Cherubini and his friend had to mount empty barrels and play until the feasting was over.


Used Many Quill Pens

In 1768, 27,000,000 quills were shipped from Russia and Poland to England, to say nothing of those which were sent to other countries.


The Penalty of Bachelorhood

In Corea every unmarried man is considered a boy, though he should live to be a hundred years old. No matter what his age, he ranks below the youngest of the unmarried men, despite the fact, perhaps, of having lived long enough to be his father.

It takes a bad man to be a good politician.