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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1880)
86 THE WEST SHORE. March, 1880. A NONSENSE STORY. Do you think all your youngitcrs know about a game called "Telling a Htory?" One person bogini a atory and goes on until the company are interested, and then auddenly atopa at an exciting point, and the ono aittiug next muat til. il .... . ., ,1 n T !u a int.it il rramp fnr WU) lb up auti go on, ii 1 mjn-ai uuo. ,w long evenings. Mere is one that grow up in our sitting-room the other night. We were sitting around the fire, between daylight and oandlelight, young folks and kit tens, when someliody said: "Let ua tell a nonaense story." "All right," said papa, "and mamma ahall begin." Ho mamma began. "Mi there waa a cobbler who had hia shop in the market place of Bagdad. It waa a very amall ahop, and over the door waa thia sign: Old shoes made aa good as new.' A great many old shoes went m the .shop door, and if they diil not come out ijuite aa good as new the owners never made any complaints, for the cob bler alwaya did hia best, and never refused to undertake a job, no matter how bad it was. One day a stranger came into the market place and walked alowlv about, looking in at all the ahop windowa. He was a very small man, with a little shrivelled face, and keen black eyes like a weaael. His hair was long aud gray, and he had hands like claws. Ho waa wraptied from tip to toe iu a long black cloak, aud hia shoes had high heela, and narrow, Hiinted toes, like no other shoes that hail ever been seen in Bag dad. When the oohhler aaw him looking in at Ilia window he felt the very lleah creeping on his bones, and when the stranger walked in at the shop door the cobbler was so startled that he swallowed all thu iv he had in his nimith The stranger only uoitdod, and drew from under his cloak a very ragged shoe. In fact you could hardly call it a ahoe, but a lot of holea held to gether by strings of leather. " '1 have read your aigu,' said the stranger, 'and 1 want you to ineud thia shoe.' " I In' cobbler looked at it, aud his teeth chat tered. " 'It ia very old,' he aaid. " 'Mend it, said the stranger. '1 will wait for it.' And ho sat down right between the cobbler mid the door. "The iKHir man went to work, and wonderful to tell, tlio patches grew into place aa fast as he Utted them on, an that iu half au hour thuru was aa line a ahoe aa ever came from tho last " 'Here is the money,' said tho stranger, oiler- lug mm a curious silver com. " 'You are quite weloome,' said the cobbler, puttiug his hand under hia leather apron, for he saiil to himself, 'I'll not take the liend'a inonoy.' But while hia hands were still under his apron he felt the money slip into his ixieket. " 'Mood day,' said the atranger. 'So long as you apetid tly ahilliug wisely it will always come back iuto your pocket, but when you put It to a lad use you will never see it again. "He stepped out of the doorway, and though the eobbler ran to the window he waa nowhere in sight. It aeemod as if he must have aunk right dowu through the pavement The oobblor said -" Mamma atopd suddenly, and papa, who aat next, was oliligwl to (hush the sentence ami go ou with the story. " 'Rejalicra, but the ould chap must have had pressin business to lie alter laving in such haate Wherever he would lie gofle I don' know,' and ha shut up his shop ami started to timl tli atrauuer. Ho sailed five times around the world and, at last, he waa shipwrecked on a deaert island a mile and a half east of the north isdo. The people war very glad to see him, because the Inst ahoemaker hail nut ir.v-n to death and they made him king. One day he went to a Sunday School pionio on the top of one of tha highest mountains, and while ho waa looking lor a vend place to make me enowdur, ne aaw email door in a ledge of rook with a sign over 1 which road " 'No admittance except on buaiueee,' " began Harry, instantly taking up the story. "So the man went in, and found himself at the en trance of a long vaulted chamber. The walls were covered with strange inscriptions, and on a table at one end waa a feast of all manner of daintiea spread for one person. He sat down and ate until ho was satisfied and then turned to go out, but the door was closed and he could not And the smallest: nnnnlnff in the rnrfc So he took up his lantern and went down a long flight of stairs, and then through a narrow pas sage until he came out into an immense court. Mn the stones in one corner a man waa lying, who appeared to be dead. He went up to him nil found it was his brother. In Ms pocket he hod a card saying: " 'Moon for oue drink ot old ryo whisky, said Prod. 1 'The cobbler called the police, and in half an hour, they rushing up and arrested him for assault and battery. The judge asked him if he owned any real estate in Patagonia, nd he paid the old clothes man in barrel staves and jujube paste. And no ono had ever heard of the old woman, so they spoke it in three lan guages, and had fried eels for dinner. And, af terwards, the cobbler went back to Bagdad and wrote the history of his life in sevon volumes, and every one who read it said: " A'omerue I added mamma, and that was the ond of the story. If you don t think this is funny, just try it some night when everybody is glum and silent and ueeda a good rousing laugh. Uhrmum U ninn. DOLL FURNITURE, Some ingenious methods of making dolls and ill furnituru out of the simplest materials are thiiB described by an hnglish writer : Very prettv toy ottomans are made of common spools, tho scat of oardlHiard, ami stuffed, and single scats by simply puttiug each spool in a chintz bug, Willi a nit ie wanning on ine top, ana a piece f ribbon tied 111 tho center. A cigar box, set on ud, varnished, and fitted in with shelves, iB transformed into a wardrobe, and without shulves, merely with largish dress hooks, fastened round with small tacks, it makes a tanning wardrobe. A sardine box, cut in half and In-ut into shape, makes a doll's fender. Toy tambourines, to attach to dolls (trussed as gyp- sits, are mndu out of the lids of pill boxes, the cardlsiard being replaced by parchment and small gilt spangle let into the edge at intervals, a tuft )l colored nl'l'ons 011 either side. A pill box cut lown a little, and a brim of black paper added, makes a sailor hat, or, with a silk bag inside, serves to contain sweetmeats. The "wish-hones" of fowls may be dressed aa suitors, or nurses. The head ia made of wool and sealing-wax covered with white calico which should lie slicht Iv tiainted for the face The two liones make the legs, the upper portion being stinted tor the bodies. And the shell of lobster can be turned to verv rood account. especially if converted into the semblance of Oxford and Cambridge lions. I wo ot the lob star's legs make the man 'a legs, and muat be fastened to a square piece of wood for a stand the outer shell of the body must be placed up right and stuffed, tho stutling covered in the front with black velvet made to look aa much like a waistooat aa can be, with a row of steel heads down the front for buttons. Two more legs make arms, and a piece of newspaper placed 111 tnein keeps up mo delusion, the piucer ends of the claws, with tiny spectacles across them, and a oolloge cap poised on the top, form the head-piece. Sometimes, however, a piece ol colored can. lie 11 molded into a capital face, with beads for eyea, and fuzzy bits for whiskers hair and niuitaches. An academio robe de (Hilda from where the shoulders should lie. Bound strawberry baaketa can lie covered either with chintz or with mualiu over pink or blue calico, and Utted up as a complete doll wardrobe, amall china dolls, dressed as babies, occupying tha center, and white frocka and iin.ier linen, nooo, cloak, sponge (in sponge bag), aud all tho details ol baby toilette, the several pockets. One of the common mus tard boxes, set on end, with two shelves at equal distances, makes a good doll's house, the nursery at the top, the drawing-room below, and the kitchen under that. Paper the walls, carpet the floors, and then proceed to fnrnish. Soidlitz powder boxes are easily converted into beds; the depth of the box is cut down to half, lilu ilu IS bu.i.i i.uaiinAj iu (.lie up, ikUM widened a little for the overhanging portion, and then tne whole is covered with chintz, and furnished with bed, pillows, sheets and blankets. ANOTHER VIEW OF WOMAN'S MISSION. We boast of the kindness and loyalty of American husbands, but who in the family best teach and exemplify the laws which make our homes happy and our land a refuge and pattern for the world ? The respectable husband and father in America does not strike his wife or severely chastise his children, but with sorrow we say many of them might learn lessons of tem perance, industry and virtue from their wives at home; and although they may Bcoft at the idea of woman as a law-maker, and ridicule the idea of her even possessing the judgment to know w hat laws she should prefer to be governed by, they recognize her judgment while they ask her advice concerning their business affairs; but of course he would say that is another thing. The husband who leaves hia sons in their mothers charge without an hour's uneasiness while he ia months from home, does not know the judgment and tact which iB often necessary to secure peace and justice between growing boys. Yes, more thought and judgment is often expended in gov erning and directing one hot-headed boy than lias ever been expended by one man on the yet unsolved problem of the best manner of conduci ng the allairs of the Indian Bureau. As much thought has often been expended in keeping amicable relations between the father and hia sons as is employed by any ono man to keep peace between two nations, and the minister in this family court is oftenest the mother. To whom are the deaf, the blind, the deformed children unhesitatingly assigned ? Who spends sleepless nights studying how she may teach the unfortunate chili! the habits aud pursuits which may make him happy and useful when the home can shield him no longer from the ridicule of the thoughtless and unfeeling ? Is it not the mother? Does it require a new set of faculties to deter mine the bust method of teaching the unfortunate in asylums ? How many children owe the per petuity of their health, their life, and their reason to the judgment and care of the watchful mother ? And the same might be said of many a husband. Now, while men will give woman the credit due for such service, they will declare her incapable of judging concerning the influ ences, which should bo exerted over sons and laughters in companies aud in the nation. In this are they entirely honest? But all thia ground haa been gone over again and again, till 11 sometimes seems mat we 01 me present gen eration may live and die without being able to bequeath to our daughters the means of Belt protection. Yet, when we look over the past, we can see that progress has been made, and the pathway ia smoother over whioh onr mothers, with bleeding feet, have so long walked, search ing, perhaps, for straying aona or husbands, with no means of protecting or restraining thoae who havo lost power to control themselves. A Point on Button Holes. A mother writes to an exchange as follows: All mothers know how hard it ia to keep buttons on and buttons holes from tearing out of the clothea of children who turn somersaults, climb fences, or treoa, etc A good way to strengthen button holes ia to aew a long stitch or two from one end of the button hole to the other and several across tho enda before working it. I would be glad to learn aomo way that would serve aa well to keep buttons in their proper place. When our ten-year-old boy came home from school laat night he had just one suspender button left.