PAG E
T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
W H E R E DO A COW’S EA R S GROW?
Of course everyone except a few b en ig h ted city
dw ellers is perfectly fam iliar w ith cows. M any farm
e rs ’ sons and d au g h ters have alm ost been b ro u g h t up
w ith th e cows, know w hat it is to feed and care for
them and to m ilk them m orning and e v e n in g , fail
w eather and foul in the sw eltering heat of sum m er and
in th e chilling blasts of w in ter.
Y et, we have a h u n ch th at about 99 1-2 out of every
100 persons would be unable to give a correct answ er,
offhand, to the question: “ Do a cow ’s ears grow in
front of her horns or behind them ?’ Can you tell and,
w ith o u t going out to have a look at old Bossy, be
positive th a t your answ er is correct? A sk your friends
and see w hat a su rp risin g ly large n um ber will answ er
incorrectly or be obliged to confess th a t th ey d o n ’t
know .
U n fo rtu n a tely a g reat m any people have never learn
ed to observe closely; they have eyes b u t th ey see
n o t - a s th ey sh o u ld . A good observer q uickly and
w ithout conscious effort tak es in a m u ltitu d e of details
of ev ery th in g he sees or hears an d is able to recall
them all later if he desires to for any reason.
H e may see some new operation perform ed b u t once
an d , th o u g h it may be com plicated and difficult, be
able to duplicate it. H e m ay enter a stran g e room
and rem ain for only a m in u te or two b u t on com ing out
lie able to tell correctly th e n u m b er and location of
doors, w indow , etc., to nam e the articles of fu rn itu re ,
e tc ., in the room s and tell ju st w here each is placed.
H e may travel over a stran g e road once and be able to
recall all th e tu rn s, to describe the houses and other
b u ild in g s and recall the location of trees, bridges, etc.
As a ru le, women are b etter observers th a n m en,
perhaps because they are m ore alert, also a bit m ore
cu rio u s and in q u irin g by n atu re and because they are
m ore attracted by th in g s th a t in terest them or that
appeal to them as beautiful.
T h e power of observation is a m atter of train in g
and cu ltiv atio n . All one need do to acquire th e habit
of observing closely is to really keep his eyes and ears
open. Of course he need not be u n d u ly in q u isitiv e or
“ snoopy” but he should system atically train his m ind
to take note of ev ery th in g th a t im presses it or should
im press it and to do this in a flash.
HOW THE IN D IA N S RECKONED TIM E
T h e A m erican In d ian s of early days reckoned tim e
by w hat they called “ sleeps” and “ m o o n s.” A ltho
m any m odern In d ian s have adopted all the progressive
u p -to -d ate ideas of the w hite man and aie as m uch
civilized as anyone, a few are still clin g in g to the
p rim itiv e w ays of th eir ancestors, in calcu latin g tim e
as in v ario u s o th er m atters.
T h e I n d ia n ’s “ sleeps” referred to a su n -to -su n day
of 24 h o u rs and his “ m oons” to w hat th e w hite
man ro u g h ly and im properly calls a m onth. T h e I n
dians indicated the noon hour by pointing vertically
u p w ard . T o indicate the m iddle of th e first half of d a y
lig h t period— n ine o ’clock he pointed upw ard m id
way betw een the horizon and the zenith and to in d i
cate m id -afternoon— th ree o ’clock he pointed tow ard
the opposite q u a rte r. H e spoke of the eastern horizon
as “ su n rise ” and of the w estern horizon as sunset.
Jo u rn ey s and distances betw een different points were
m easured in “ sle e p s.”
Thus when he undertook to
tell how far he h ad traveled or to tell how far one
point was from an o th er the old-tim e Indian would say
a certain num ber of sleeps.
O rd in arily a sleep
in this sense corresponded to som eth in g like 35
miles— the d istan ce a m an could cover in a day, tra v e l
ing at an o rd in ary pace on foot. H ow ever, it was not
u n u su al for men carry in g im portant m essages to m ake
tw ice 35 miles or m ore in a single 24-hour period.
A RELIC OF M ARY’S LAMB
Probably most people who have ever th o u g h t about
the m atter at all suppose th a t “ M ary ’s little la m b ”
about w hich the w ell-know n jin g le centers was a
purely im aginary anim al. T here really w as such a
lam b, how ever. I t belonged to a little girl nam ed
M ary and it actually followed its m istress to school one
day, as n arrated in th e poem.
Some tim e ago a bit of the wool th at grew on th is
la m b ’s back was conveyed by will to the historical
society of Som erville, Mass. T he wool is in a p ie c e o f
stocking th at M ary’s m other k n itted from yarn spun
from the la m b ’s fleece som ething like a century ago
at S terlin g , M ass., w here the little girl and her pet
lived. F rom M ary Saw yer T yler, the heroine of th e
poem , the bit of stock in g passed to the above m en tio n
ed testator in 1880.
Ira te F a th e r— “ W h y did you keep my son after
school w hen he did noth in g ?”
T e a c h e r—“ I detained him because he w o u ld n ’t tell
me w here the M issouri R iver is. H e ju st stood and
looked at me.
F a th e r— “ H e was dum bfounded at your ig n o ra n c e .’
T o en ter an exposition at S anta B arbaia, C alif., a
horse was carried in a specially equipped airplane from
Los Angeles. T h e flight was m ade w ithout m ishap.
One d a y 's delay was caused by th e H um an e society
w hose officers had to be assured th a t the horse w ould
suffer no cru elty .
A m ong old records at C larksburg, W . V a
w as
recently found a copy of an indictm ent returned July 5,
1856, against H orace G reeley, publisher of th e N ew
Y ork T rib u n e. D istrib u tin g copies of the T rib u n e co n
stitu te d th e “ felo n y ” charged. T h e paper was alleged
to contain articles the purpose of w hich w as to advise
and incite negroes in th e state to rebel and m ake i n
s u rre c tio n .” T h e tow n was then in V irginia.