Army Jokes With a Moral

1901

"During the civil war," said an ex-army officer, "the authorities for some reason were anxious to move troops up the Tombigbee river. Word was sent to the engineer in that district asking what it would cost to run up the Tombigbee. That official got gay and reported that the Tombigbee ran down and not up, a joke that promptly landed his head in the basket, as the matter was serious.

"At the bombardment of Charleston it was extremely desirable to bring to bear on the city an extra heavy gun called by the men the Swamp Angel. The gun took its name from the swamp in which it stood, and to move it through that boggy morass was an engineering feat of extreme difficulty. However, the commanding officers were determined to have the gun brought within range of Charleston and issued orders to that effect. At the same time they sent word to the engineer having the matter in charge of requisition without regard to trouble or expense for anything necessary to accomplish the desired object. His first requisition called for men 26 feet 6 inches in height. Another officer promptly took the matter in charge, from which it can readily be deduced that it is not a paying investment to make jokes in the army at the expense of your superiors." — New York Tribune.

In the Jungle

1905

William Astor Chanler was one of the guests as a dinner given in Washington by Count Cassini. During this dinner a young woman congratulated Mr. Chanler on his energetic and successful life. She praised ardently his two books, "Through Jungle and Desert" and "Travels in Eastern Africa." Finally she asked him to describe a real typical jungle for her.

Mr. Chanler smiled. "A real jungle, a typical jungle?" he said. "Well, I should describe a jungle of that sort as a forest of fishhooks, relieved by an occasional patch of penknives."


Intelligence of Dogs

It is well known that dogs of certain breeds especially, have a considerable amount of intelligence. As the constant companion of man through generations the brain of the dog has been developing, until at the present time it is probable that this animal can be more easily trained than any other.

For something like eighty years the monks of St. Bernard have trained and used dogs to rescue travelers lost in the snow. In Europe many of the armies, inspired by this idea, employ dogs to seek out the wounded on the field of battle and thus aid in the work of the ambulance corps. In Germany dogs are attached to the ambulance service in many regiments, and were employed in the Herrero expedition in Africa. In Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Russia and America dogs are utilized in ambulance work.

Throwing Old Shoes After a Bride

1878

The slipper or shoe is popularly supposed to be thrown for good luck, and in some parts of Europe the custom is to throw it after sailors about to go on a voyage, and after all who enter on perilous enterprises, such as marriage.

A writer in Notes and Queries traces it back to the Hebrews, where it had a different meaning, symbolizing a transfer of authority or dominion. References to this custom may be found in Psalm ix, Psalm cix, and in Deut. xxv. He supposes that the receiving of a shoe was an evidence and symbol of asserting or accepting dominion or ownership; the giving back a shoe the symbol of rejecting, or resigning it. He thinks that originally the throwing of the shoe after the bride was a symbol that the father or guardian renounced his authority over her, and the receipt of the shoe by the bridegroom, even if accidental, was an omen that that authority was transferred to him. There is no doubt that such was sometimes the meaning of the transfer of a shoe.

It is related by a Danish poet that a Norwegian king in the eleventh to twelfth century, having conquered a portion of Ireland and Scotland, sent to Ireland his dirty shoes and commanded the king, who lived there, "to wear them with honor on Christmas day in his royal state, and to own that he had his power and kingdom from the Lord of Norway and the Isles." If such was the original meaning of shoe-throwing, it has now lost its significance. Instead of one shoe, a dozen or more are thrown, and in some countries wheat, rice, etc., accompany or take the place of old shoes. The supposed meaning to-day is that the shoe thrown after a newly-married couple will give them good luck.