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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1880)
April, 1880. THE WEST SHORE. 1 1 1 ALICE GARY'S SWEETEST POEM. Of all the beautiful pictures That hang on niomory's wall, ll one of a dim old forest, That seenictll boat uf all; Not for 1U marled oaks olden, Not for the violeta golden That sprinkle tho vale below; Not for tho milk-white lllieo That loan from the fragrant hedge Coquetting all day with tho sunbeams, And stealing their golden edge; Not for the viuee on the upland Whero the bright red borrloe rest; Not the ptnki, nor the pale sweet cowslip, It seoniclli to me the beet. I oncn had a little brother, With eyei that were dark and deep In the lap of that olden foroit He lietli in peace asleep; Light as the down of the thistle, Free as the winds that blow, We roved thero the beautiful summers, The summers of long ago; But his feet on the hills grow weary, And one of the autumn eves I made for my little brother A bod of the yellow leavoa Sweetly bis pale arms folded My neck in a meek embrace, At the light of immortal beauty Bileiitly covered bis face; And when the arrows of sunset Lodged In the tree tops bright, He fell, in his saint-like beauty, Asleep by the gates o( light. Therefore, of all the pictures That hang on memory's wall, The one of the dim old foroat Hoomoth best of all. HOW MEG CHANGED HER MIND, Little Meg lay on tho sofa in her mother pleasant sitting room, with a very discontented expression on her plump, round face. Everybody knows that a sprainotl ankle can- not be oured without perfect rost. Meg hail not been allowed to put her foot to the ground for a week. Her father carried hor into the sitting room every morning, and Mamma read aloud, and played g&mcB ami devoted herself to Meg's pleasure; but on this afternoon, Mamma was obliged to go out lor an hour or two, ami it had just oecurod to Meg that she wai very tired ly ing still, and moreover, that this was the day Edith Perkins was having a party, and she im agined what fun they must be enjoying, while she was left at home with Jano, the maul. Shi had plenty of books to read and a largo family of dolls of all kinds, from wax to paper, besides Snow ball, the lat, white kitten, who was al ways ready to play, but she was out of humor and did not wish to amuse herself willi any of these things; besides, her ankle ached. And so it happened that when Aunt Mary at nveil to sihiuiI the allot noon Willi In r pet, alio was greeted with a burst of tears and sobs, mm sled with olt-ropoated lamentations of "Oh! how horrid everything is! 1 want to go to Ed ith's party! There never was anybody in tlx world so unfortunate as 1 am!" Poor Aunt Mary tried smithing and pettingin vain, till at last she laid, "Meg, dear, I waut to tell you about some little sick children I saw in London. Wouldn't you like to hear? I can't bakin till you atop crying." One ol Aunt Mary s L union atones was not to be drsnised. and presently Men said, in ituiU an altered tone, "Dotelluie, Aunty, 1 won't cry now. "Well, then, in the mighty city of London there are many iieople to dreadfully poor that they suffer from hunger and cold and dirt everv daw of their lives. Now, this is fearful enough for the strong ones, but fancy wbat illnuaa must be in a crowded room, on a hard bed, with bo clean linen; no cooling things U drink, or nice, nourishing food to give strength; without any doctor, very likely, and in short, with mora misery of every kind than you and 1 could even imasine. "Knowing all this, good people have built hospitals where these unfortunate ones oau havo every thing done to them to soothe their suffer ings and help them to get well. Some of these are especially for ehildreu, because it is thought that they can bo better taken care of in au hos pital suited exactly to their wants, than where tiiutu aiu aioh. people 01 au ages, in oho mat 1 wont to see, there wore about tifty little pa. tients, divided among four large, airy, cheerful rooms, with pictures on tho walla, and llowor- iilants in tlto wiuiliiws. haoh child had a neat ittlo iron bedstead, with a white countorirano. and aorota each bod a sort of shelf-table was lixed upon whioh thoir play-things wore ar ranged. Very nuoer play-things thoy were, generally old shabby toya that had been dis carded by more furtunatu children; but al though most of the dolls woro more or less for lorn, and the horses didn t look as if thoy could run very fast, they were highly valuod by those little people, some of whom probably had never had a toy of any kiutl before. In 0110 of the rooms, the littlo patients wore too ill to play, but as they lay back on their pillows they oozed fondly at their small possessions; and the dolls who sat on the little tables, with their legs hanging over the odgo, vacantly staring at their poor owners, I dare say did them as much good as did somo of tho doctors' medicines. In the other rooms the children were able to have a good deal of fun, if one could judge Ironi llio merry laughter ono Hoard at the littlo jokes that wont about from 0110 bed to another, and yot, do you know, Meg, it often was sad. dost of all to seo tho children who soomod most comfortable, because one know that while somo of the few who wero violently ill might get quite well again with thu good care they were having, many 01 these would never walk or run. or bo rosy, healthy buys and girls any more in tins world. One little boy uamed Arthur, I was told, waa a great favorite with all the reat, anil I did not wouder at it when I spoke to him, and hoard his sweet voice and saw the bright smile that lit up his pain, little fane. I In told me with do light that his mother and father and the baby came to see him overy Sunday, upon whioh u littlo girl in tho next bod, said sadly, 'I've no mother to come and see mo, for sho is dead,' but she added, brightly, ' Father comes, though, once a month THE HOY IN LOVE. In mail's life falling in love is a'. revolution. It ia, in faot, the one thing that makee him a man. Tho world of boyhood Is striotlv a world of uoys; sisters, cousins, aunts ami mothers are mix ed up in the general crowd of barbarians that stands without the playground. There are (ew warmer or more poetic alfoctiont than the ohiv- alroua friendship of schoolfellows; there is 110 truer or more gonuiue worship than a boy's wor ship of tho hero of scrimmage or playground. It is a tine world in itaelf, but it is a wonder fully narrow and reatrioted world, Not a girl may'peep over the paling, (lirls can't jump, or fag out, or swarm up a tree; they have noth ing to talk about as boys talk; thoy never hoard of that glorious swipe of old lirown's; they are awful milksops; they ury and "tell mamma;" they are afraid of a governess, anil of a oow. It is impossible to eonoeivn a oreature mure utterly uonteinptiblo in a luvy'a eyes than a girl of his own age generally ia. Then in some fatal moment comes the revolution. Tho barrier of contempt goes down with a crash. The laiy worltl disappears, llrowu, that god of tho play ground, ia oast to the owls ami tho bats. There is a sudden uuolness in the friendship that was to last from school to the grave. l'aKr chases and the auuual mutch with the old "follows," cease to lie tho highest objoot of human interest, Thor is loo oiultamenl than there waa last year whou a great cheer web comes tho news that Mugby has won tho prise. Tho boy's life haa beoomo muddled and con fused The oht existence is sheering off, and the news eomos slyly, lltfully. It is only by a sort of . 0111pulMo.il that he will own that be ia making all this "diss" about a girl. Kor a mo ment he rnliela against tho spell of that m lit tlo faoe, tho witchery of that one littlo hand. Ho lingers on the Ixirder of this new country from whence there ia no return to the old play ing Holds. He is shy- Strang to this world of woman ami womau's talk and woman's waya. 1 no surest, steadiest loot on the playground turned away to hido tho tears that would 1 stumbles over footstools ami tangles itself in get into my eyes. Of course, 1 knew that the kind doctors ami nurses at the hospital did all thoy possibly ild for tho happiness of the poor little things, but it seemed to me so very, very hard, that they could not have their moth. era, just when they wero ill, and needed them so much! "One thing that brightened all, waa their swoet behavior to each other. Not one bit of jealousy or selllshnoss did I ten, and thero waa a real courtesy in the way that eaoh one aeeined to care that tho others should be noticed too. I could not help contrasting it with the rude, self-seeking of many children I have known who ought to doliettorand not Worse than they. "And how shall I tell you how patient they were? There waa no crying nor complaining, though some wero suffering dreadful pain; ami the only noise I hoard waa a slight moan wrung from tho white lips of a little lorn, who had been brought in the day before, dreadfully in jured by a fall. There waa a kind, strong angel in that hospital, whoso sweet presence, though unseen, wsa felt Yes," whispered Aunt Mary, as she bent to kisa Meg's upturned, questioning faoe, "it waa the angel of patience, darling, and lored wools. Tho sturdiest arm that vr wielded bat tremble at the touch of a tiuy lin ger. Tho voice that rang out like a trumpet among the tumult of football hushes, tram hies ami falters in saying half a doan common lilac words. The obi sense of mastery I gone; lie knows that every obit in tho nursery ha found out his secret, anil Is laughing ovr it. II blushes ami a boy's blush is a hot, painful blush when the sisterly heads bend togolher and be hears them whisieriug what a fool he ia. Yea, he is a fool; that is one thing that he fouls quit certain about. There ia only one other Hung ho feels evoii inorit certain about: that he is ill love, and that love haa mad. him a man. Ilnnu Jnurnal. Mi 1 mi n lion in Show. . Observations ol snow collected on mountain tope, anil within the Arutio clrclo, far beyond tho Influsoo of faotorte and smoke, confirm the supposition that miunt particle of iron float In that atmos phere, and in lime fall to th aarth. Ily some 11111 ol science those Hosting particle of iron are bllevd to laser some relation to th phe nomena of the aurora. Ilronomann, of lot tin- he will always come to everybody who longs for ! gen, for Instaiio, bold that streams ol the par him, and tries faithfully to keep him when bote ; Uolaa revolve around the sun, and that, when here." pavaasing th earth, they are attracted to the Th story waa flniahml, anil Meg lay quite ' unlaw, thonoe stretching forth as long llbunenta atill for aome minutes, ll. inking, with her hand Into spa at; but, aa they travel with plaiwtai r faat clasped in Aunt Mary's. Then she said, vslooily, thry become ignited in th earth a aoftly, "I'm very sorry I was so naughty, I atmosphere, and in tins way produo th well don't really think I am mors unfortunate than known luminous apiiearanoa characterising anybody elae, and I'll never say a again." auroral phenomena Prof. Nrdenakold, who Slag did not forget her promise, and all ! xamied snow in the far north, beyond Hpita through tho remaining week. A her confinement bergen, eays that h found In it exceedingly to the sola, the angel of th hnepital staid close minut particle of metallic iron, phosphorus try bar side. - KUaaUtk LaurtMA. ami cobalt.