"Look at the Expense"

1895

An old couple fell ill of old age together. The husband died, but the wife had more vitality. On the day following her husband's death she was better, and the doctor was congratulating himself on the success of his treatment. But the woman's point of view was different. She complained bitterly, for, as she forcibly pointed out, "Ef ee'd lat me alone, one funeral 'ud a done for us two, an look what it'll cost now berrying two of us separately!" — Westminster Budget.


Wheat

The average yield of wheat in Russia is 500 pounds to each 100 pounds of seed; in Great Britain, Holland and the United States, 900; in Italy, 1,000.


A Little Dangerous.

He (designingly) — What a terrible thing it would be if some rascal should marry you for your money!
She (discouragingly) — It would be for him — if I found it out. — New York Weekly.


Rice

Rice is not mentioned in the Old Testament and only once or twice in the Talmud. It is not found in Egyptian tombs at a date prior to B. C. 500.

How to Cook Rice

1905

Physicians and others who have eaten rice cooked by a Hindoo, a Chinaman or a southern darky must have remarked the difference between the results obtained by these artists and those of the benighted cooks of the north. We learn from an authoritative source that the secret lies in the following recipe:

The rice should be carefully washed and placed in a kettle of boiling water, which should be set on the back of the range over a low fire, where the rice should simmer slowly until done. Stirring is not only useless, but harmful. If there is any water left, it should be drained off carefully and the rice should then stand in a hot place for some time.

Nothing should be added during the cooking, no salt, sugar, milk or butter. If the cooking has been done properly, each grain of rice will stand out by itself, plump, dry and beautiful. Served very hot at the table the rice should then be reverently treated with cayenne pepper and butter, after which, will be revealed to the consumer one of the secrets of the success of the Japanese army. — New York Medical Journal.

Truthful Children

1900

Children are naturally truthful. Nature does not lie. Let nothing be done to alter this happy disposition. Cultivate in them the love of truth, candor, and the confession of error.

It is lamentable to think what fearful falsehoods are uttered to deter children, to keep them quiet, or to make them obedient. Threats of being taken by old men, and black men, and other like terrors, are resorted to by ignorant and foolish servants to frighten them, and make them lie still in bed. It is ascertained that death, fits, idiocy, or insanity have been the consequences of such inhumanity.

But, setting aside the probable chance of such calamities, there are other certain results. If the child discovers the falsehoods practiced upon him, he becomes boldly indifferent to the threats, is more disobedient and willful than ever, disbelieves all that is said to him, and, finding no respect for truth in others, has no regard for it himself.

Firmness in adhering to promises, or any particular line of discipline in relation to children, is of first importance.


Japan Consumes Much Rice

Japan is the largest consumer of rice in the world, the average being 300 pounds a person a year. The Americans use but four pounds per capita. Belgium uses more tobacco in proportion, than any other country, about 110 ounces per capita yearly, while Italy uses only twenty-two ounces.

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.