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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1904)
Jal Jilt . . Talk of the Tor. UK Japanese doll got up very early one morning and har nessed his wooden cow to the cart that he might go to town. Ho traveled nnl traveled along the mjLntel shelf a great way. The wooden cow did not go very fast, bo the Japanese doll saw all the sights along the way. Suddenly he heard someone calling, 'Ji'py. Jsppy, Jnppy. atop!" And the Japanese doll said, "Bo Bossy! Bo Bossy 1" to the cow, and the cow topped. Then the dolt aaw who It wan that had called to him; It waa a paper nun. She wan standing now In front ot the wooden cow, with a great earthen Jar In her arms an big a a tub. "Your cow looked no hot and thirsty," Said the paper nun, "that I thought I Would bring her something to drink." "You are very kind," Bald the dull, aa the nun net the Jar down In the road way. The row an 1 (Tod It and then drank It all up, for It waa full of milk Instead of water. A little Maltese kitten had followed the nun, and while the cow waa busy drink ing the milk the kitten crept from behind the nun's skirts to lap up some spatters of milk around the bottom of the Jar. Just then a loud and very peculiar noise from away down the road I mean the mantel shelf made the kitten scamper off for safety. The nun and the Japanese doll looked down the road In the direction from which the sound came. Even the wooden cow turned her head and the kitten peeped around from the shelter of the nun's Mack skirt. What they saw waa a yellow china chlckrn coming with a hand organ. When It rams up to them the chicken stopped, and It played such a merry tune that the kitten cam out In the road where It could bear better. The nun chipped her hands, for she was good natured and liked a bit of muslo row and then; while the Japanese doll leaned over the rati of his cart and said to the- chicken, "That Is a very pretty tune, sir." Tho doll had Just finished speaking when tho HDD rone. Its bright rays shone In at the window and clear across the room. That made the mantel shelf folk all stop JiiRt where they were; they never move about by daylight. And when little girl Margaret came down stairs there she saw the Japanese doll and the wooden cow and the pnper nun and the kitten and the chlckon with ths hand organ. St. Nicho las. . Wy of Mr. Owl. In the Nineteenth Century and After, R. TkiBworth Smith defends the owl from the landers to which his solemn face often gives rise. He gives a number of anec dotes from his personal experience with this Interesting creature. "Owls." he says, "ulways pair for life, and their affection for one another ts as marked as that for their young. Some years sgo I was tapping an rim tree with my climbing stlrk, hoping to see a Jackdaw cuttle out of Its hlitlng place. Instead of that, a brown owl slowly poked Its solemn looking head out of the hole, and remained there, looking down upon uio with Its big, mournful, dreamy eyes. "I climbed the tree. The owl did not stir an Inch. I lifted It gently out. Owls, as I have said, are alwnys thin, not much else th .n feathers; but tills one. from Its weight, seemed to be feathers, nnd noth ing el at all. Its eyes Hlowly gluscd; It turned over on Its side, and died In my hand. I blew Its fluffy feathers apart to see If I could unravel the mystery of its death. There was one tiny shothole In Its skull, and on Inquiry I found that some few weeks before a boy, anxious, like oth ers of his kind, to 'kill something,' had fired at a big brown owl which had come lumbering out of an ivy tree. Its winter resting place. The bird had quivered as he struck it, but had not fallen to the ground, and, escaping for the time, had evidently been dying by Inches ever since In the hollow In which I had found it; while her mate, faithful unto death, had kept her supplied with mice and rats, several of which, quite recently killed, I found in the nest or stored In the hedge below. "WMlo the female brown owl Is sitting the male bird usually keeps wntch on nai adjoining tree, ready to do battle for her and hers against all comers. Many years ago. In the parish of Stafford, I was swarm ing up an elm tree toward a large hole which seemed likely to contain some treas ure. When I was a few feet up I felt a heavy blow In the middle of my bock, as if my companion had thrown a clod of hard earth at me. Turning round I saw a brown owl fly back to his post In an ad Joining tree, whence he had mado his de scent upon me. I continued my climb, and the samo attack was delivered with even greater force second and a third time. In the hollow, which at last I reached. I found the wife sitting In undisturbed re pose above her young, and the husband, having, I suppose, sufficiently delivered his soul by his three charges, and thinking that thero was nothing further to be done, and that no harm was meant, now looked on as calmly as his wife." Wtial Kermlt Thought of the Snakr. rresJdent Roosevelt's son, Kermlt, has a face of the gravest solemnity, which, when he was a little chap, gave a humorous turn to everything he said. One day the chil dren came running into Mr. Roosevelt's den In the greatest excitement over a snake they had seen. Teddy, Jr., was so worked up over the glitter of the reptile's eyes, as It swayed Its head, hissed and darted out Its fiery tongue, that all he could get breath to say was: "Oh, papa, It had a head such a head I wish you could have seen the thing's head." "Well," said Mr. Roosevelt, "and didn't It have a tall 7" Kermlt, standing wide-eyed beside his brother, looked Into his father's face and aid, solemnly: at was all tall." An "Awful" Story. There was once an awful little girl who had an awful way of saying "awful" to everything. She lived in an awful house. In an awful street, In an awful village, which was an awful distance from every other awful place. She went to an awful school where she had an awful teacher, who gave her lessons out of an awful book. Kvery day she wus so awful hungry that does not get over saying "awful" about she looked awful healthy. Her hat wus awful small and her feet were awful largo. She went to an awful church, and her min ister was an awful preacher. When she took an awful walk she climbed awful hills and when she got awful tired she sat down under an awful tree to rest herself. In summer she found the weather awful hot, nnd In winter awful cold. When It didn't rain there was an awful drouth, and when an awful drouth was over there waa an awful rain. So that this awful girl was all the time In an awful state, and if she she ate an awful amount of foot, so that everything she will, by and by, come to an awful end. And this awful little girl lives In this awful city. Grandma's Advice. Help yourself, help yourself, little boy, do; Don t wait for others to wait upon you; Orandtna was holding her afternoon chat, Knitting and rocalng away as she sat. "Iiook at the birds, how they build their own nests. Watch the brown bees, always tolling their best. Put your own hands to the plow If you'd thrive; Don't waste your moments in wishing, but strive." TTp In Ikt face looked a mischievous elf. "Don't forget, darling," said uhe, "help yourself." Afternoon shadows grew drowsy and deep; Grandma was trnnquilly folded In sleep; Nothing was heard but the old farmhouse clock, Plodding along with Its warning tick, tock. Out from the pantry there came a loud crash ; Pussv Jumped up from the hearth like a (lash; Hack tu her chair strode this practical boy, Steeped to the ears In Jam, custard and Joy. Grinning, he cried, "Please, I've upset the shelf; Grandma, I minded; I did help myself." George Cooper. Whistled tor the Other Boy. The small boy was comtng home at a much later hour than be was wont to be out alone. It was growing quite dark, and. as he came through the grove he could be heard whistling vigorously, if not very tunefully, long before he reached the house. The elders exchanged amused glances. "What made you whistle so loudly, Wil lie?" asked one of them as the little fellow entered. "Well, you see," answered Willie, sob erly, "it was pretty dark out there, and I thought If some boy some little boy should be coming along he might be afraid, and It would be less lonesome for him if he heard me whistle." Whistling to keep up the courage of some other boy, says Forward, had brought tho young traveler bravely home. No one knows how much the cheery note In the darkness may help someone else, and al ways it makes one's own step firmer. Crows Murk Line. George Wreake, of Sibley township, near lie Sueur, Minn., has a pet crow. Hob, which has been with him four years and which he claims Is the most Intelligent and useful bird living. There Is In the Wreake home an old heirloom, a beautiful cuckoo clock, brought from Switzerland, In pioneer days; one of the kind that have a little door at the top In front, out of which springs a little bird every sixty minutes and calls the hours with a "cuckoo" for every unit of the hour. After the crow had been In the family about two years ho began to mock the clock cuckoo nnd this finally grew to be a pasplon with him, so that he hardly ever failed to give a melodious "caw" when the clock cuckoo was calling the hour. Some six months ago, by reason of an accident to the shelf on which It was standing, the clock fell and the striking or cuckoo part was completely broken, so the door never opens and the bird never comes out. This appeared to be a groat puzzle to Bob, for he watched the clock for several days and seemed to be study ing deeply. At last, however, he came to a conclusion and greatly startled the fam ily by taking up the duty the cuckoo had previously performed, and counting out the hours perfectly, at the exact moment, with a clear call of "caw" for every hour the clock ought to have struck, one for 1 o'clock, five for 6 o'clock and so on around the circle. Ho has kept his work up to the present time and calls every hour when he can see the face of the clock as regularly and perfectly as an or dinary timepiece with ita hammer and bell. If a lamp be set at night where the light falls on the face of the clock, the crow, though he will doze between times on his perch, will waken and call every hour nil night long. More than this, If a lamp bo kept lighted and a pin be thrust Into the wooden face of the clock bo that the minute hand will pass over It, but the hour hand will catch on it and stop the clock at any hour of the morning between 4 and 7 o'clock. Bob will notice It as soon as the clock stops, and raise a shrill caw ing that Is as good as an alarm clock, and keep It up till some one gets up and comes and removes the pin. Only Kntnral. "Speaking of animals, in my opinion the elephant is the cleverest of them all," said the old circus man. "I remember once, many years ago, when Jacko, who was then in my charge, showed me one day that he could read." "Oh, come now!" said a listener. "111 prove It to you in about two min utes. Well, as 1 was saying, the old fellow got Into a scrape with the royal Bengal tiger, and before we could got them separated he had his trunk pretty badly damaged. After the scrimmage was over, Jacko broke loose and started down the street fast. 'He's goln' wild,' somebody shouted. "Don't you believe It,' said I. Now, where do you suppose that elephant went to?" "Went to the surgeon's, I suppose. Can't you get a better yarn " "No; he didn't go to tha surge in s, el her. He went straight to a little shop where a sign read: 'Trunks repaired while you wait.' Of course, he had made a mistake, but' what do you expect of a poor dumb brute?" Too Dnay to Make a IVoUc. A Kansas City teacher of a kindergarten was incapacitated from work one day last week by the following incident. The sub ject of the lecture and object Us-on was animals, birds and then more animals. "Now, children," said the teacher, "I want each of you to think of fame ai lmal or bird and try for a moment to be like the particular one you are thinking ab .ut, and make the same kind of nelscs they are in the habit of making." Here was the command. Here the finale: Instantly the schoolroom became a me nagerie. I. Ions rearing, dogs barking, ll.ds Kinging and twittering, cows lowing, cilvej bleating, cats meowing, etc., all in an up roar and excitement all, with one slnjjlo exception. Off in a remotp corner a little feilow wna sitting perfectly still, appatently In different and unmindful of all the rest. The teacher, observing him, approached and aid: "Waldo, why are you not taking part with the other children?" Waving her off with a deprecating hand and wide, rebuking eyes, he fervently whispered: "h sh sh, teacher sh! I'm a 'ooster, a. I'm a-layln' a ulg!" Kansas City Star.