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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1930)
The Page 3 AMERICAN LOOAL (F rom the Q uiver of S idney S mith ) It is only by the fresh feelings of the heart that mankind can be very powerfully affected. > — The true progress of refinement, we conceive, is to discard all the mountebank drapery of barbarian ages. An excellent and well-arranged dinner is a most pleasing occurrence, and a great triumph of civilized life. Practical wit discovers connection or regulation be tween actions, in which duller understandings discover none. Profound wits, though they are generally courted for the amusement they afford, are seldom respected for the qualities they possess. a—w — >■ It is always considered as a piece of impertinence in England, if a man of less than two or three thousand a year has opinions at all upon important subjects. There is an association in men’s minds between dullness and wisdom, amusement and folly, which has a powerful influence in decision upon character, and is not overcome without considerable difficulty. Man may direct his ways by plain reason, and sup port his life by tasteless food; but God has given us wit, and flavor, and brightness, and laughter, and perfumes, to enliven the days of man’s pilgrimage, and to “charm his pained steps over the burning marie.” I believe the fact to be, that wit is very seldom the only eminent quality which resides in the mind of any man; it is commonly accompanied by many other tal ents of every description, and ought to be considered as a strong evidence of a fertile and superior under standing. a a a a M» -- >- A witty man is a d ramatic performer: In the process of time, he can no more exist without applause than he can exist without air; if his audience be small, or if they are inattentive, or if a new’ wit defrauds him of any portion of his admiration, it is all over with him—he sickens and is extinguished. Rev. W. L. Van Nuys, Secretary of the Presby terian Board of Christian Education, and Mrs. Van Nuys were visitors on the campus on Sunday. Dr. Van Nuys at the Protestant church service, illustrat ing his lecture on the Holy Land with beautiful colored stereopticon views which he secured on his recent visit to Palestine. A new club of Girl Reserves was organized on Sun day, consisting entirely of girls from Hawley Hall. This club will meet on Sunday evening and follow the regular Girl Reserve program. Last Sunday after the election of officers and some club business, the members wrote letters to tw’o former members. Anna and Hilda Johnson, who are now living in Dillingham, Alaska. Almost at the last moment, faced by the task of se curing $40,000 by midnight of Tuesday, last week, to make complete Willamette University’s drive for a $1,000,000 additional endowment, a little group of ten men affixed their names to a note at a local bank, secured the money, assumed personal responsibility for the debt, and went home with the realization that “Old Willamette” would begin the following day with an endowment of $1,743,000. This should be a source of pride for all of the people of Salem and vi cinity and no doubt it will be. Willamette is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, universities of the Pacific Northw’est, and enjoys a reputation second to none, considering the number of prominent men she has turned out. ORIGIN OF THE THIMBLE The modern thimble dates from 1684, when the goldsmith Nicholas Renchoten of Amsterdam sent one as a birthday present to a lady, with the dedication: “To Mevrou Renslaer, I present this little object, which I have invented and executed as a protective covering for her industrious fingers.” The invention proved such a success that all who saw it tried to obtain similar ones and the goldsmith had enough to do to supply them. An Englishman named John Lotting took one specimen home with him and copied it by thousands. At first thimbles were rather costly and only well-to-do people could afford them, but afterward when made of pewter and other common metals by machinery they became very cheap. Their use was a great relief to all who had much sew ing to do, and blessings were invoked on the inventor. The Dutch “finger hat,” as it was called became in England the “thumb-bell,” from its bell-like shape. It was originally worn on the thumb to receive the thrust of the needle when forced through cloth, and not, as at present, to force it through. Some of the thimbles that are worn in the far East are very costly. Wealthy Chinese ladies have thimbles carved out of mother-of-pearl, and sometimes the top is formed of a single precious stone. Thimbles with an agate or onyx mounted in gold are often seen, as well as thim bles incrusted with rubies. The queen of Siam is pos sessed of a thimble in the form of a lotus bud, with her name exquisitely worked in tiny diamonds round the margin.
