Chapter 15

The constellation Pisces, the twelfth sign of the zodiac, is a phlegmatic, nocturnal, effeminate, watery sign, governing the feet. It is the last sign of the Water Triplicity, its companion being Cancer and Scorpio. Its higher attributes are emotion and silence.

Those born under this sign are thoughtful, industrious, sensible, and persevering. They are ambitious to gain knowledge on every subject, especially on scientific and mechanical matters, and have great mechanical ability. They are logical and positive in their opinions; and while affable and apparently submissive, are in reality very determined in the accomplishment of their plans, which are always the result of long and careful deliberation.

In the fulfilment of a duty or promise, they are equally determined and faithful. They exact a reason for everything, and can always give reasons for their own actions in any matter. They are skeptical, and thoroughly materialistic.

They have strong ideas of justice, and are conscientious, anxious to earn what they possess, and dread to be dependent upon others.

These people are fond of responsibility, and can usually be relied on to fill acceptably places of trust. They have generous and self-sacrificing impulses, and are active in works of charity. They do not willingly submit to a master.

They, love beautiful things in nature and in art, and among them are to be found artists and writers. There is an innate modesty in both old and young who are born under this sign.

Pisces people are usually full-faced, with placid, sleepy eyes. They are apt to be round-shouldered. The physical temperament will be lymphatic-bilious in southern climates, and lymphatic-nervous in northern latitudes.

They will find their most congenial friends among Virgo and Capricorn people. When a Pisces and either a Virgo or a Capricorn subject are united in marriage, the offspring are bright and intellectual. Domestic comfort and satisfaction will be found the general results of such marriages.

Many precocious little ones are born under this sign. Every possible care should be given to the development of the willpower of these children. They sometimes show a peculiar obstinacy, which should be broken. They should be led to act and to decide for themselves, by means of principles, which they will be exceedingly quick to understand.

A few of the famous people who have been born under this sign are Victor Hugo, Charles Darwin, Rachel, and Philip H. Sheridan. These are good examples of the persistency and conscientiousness typical of Pisces subjects.

March, the third month of our modern year, contains thirty-one days. There is an old saying, common to England and Scotland, that the last three of the thirty-one were borrowed by March from April; and they are still sometimes called the "borrowed days." In the Roman calendar, March--or, in Latin, Martius, the month of Mars--was the first month of the year. The Saxons called it Hlyd, the loud or stormy month. In England, it is often a month of excessive rains; hence the old proverb which says that "a bushel of March dust is worth an earl's ransom."

In astrology, Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio are termed the "fruitful signs," because of their watery character. This coincides with the ancient allegory of Creation, and the belief that all living things "rose out of the waters."

The fortunate day of the week for a Pisces subject is Thursday. May and June are the months in which he should start any business enterprise which he wishes to be successful.

The governing planets of March are Jupiter and Neptune. The gems of the month are chrysolite and bloodstone. The astral colors are white, pink, emerald green, and black. The flower is the daffodil.

The following are the zodiacal signs in their regular order, with proper dates, and the four triplicities.

| | | THE ZODIACAL SIGNS. | | | | 1. Aries The Ram. Reigns from March 21 to April 19. | | | | 2. Taurus The Bull. Reigns from April 20 to May 19. | | | | 3. Gemini The Twins. Reigns from May 20 to June 18. | | | | 4. Cancer The Crab. Reigns from June 19 to July 23. | | | | 5. Leo The Lion. Reigns from July 24 to August 23. | | | | 6. Virgo The Virgin. Reigns from August 24 to September 21. | | | | 7. Libra The Scales. Reigns from September 22 to October 21. | | | | 8. Scorpio The Scorpion. Reigns from October 22 to November 20. | | | | 9. Sagittarius The Archer. Reigns from November 21 to December 20. | | | | 10. Capricornus The Sea-Goat. Reigns from December 21 to January 19. | | | | 11. Aquarius The Water Bearer. Reigns from January 20 to February 18. | | | | 12. Pisces The Fishes. Reigns from February 19 to March 20. | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | THE FOUR TRIPLICITIES. | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | | | DOMAINS. HEAD. MIDDLE. NEGATIVE. | | | | Fire Aries Leo Sagittarius. | | | | Earth Taurus Virgo Capricornus. | | | | Air Gemini Libra Aquarius. | | | | Water Cancer Scorpio Pisces. | |---------------------------------------------------------------|

FATE.

BY SUSAN MARR SPALDING.

Two shall be born the whole wide world apart, And speak in different tongues, and have no thought Each of the other's being, and no heed: And these o'er unknown seas, to unknown lands, Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death; And all unconsciously shape every act And bend each wandering step to this one end-- That one day out of darkness they shall meet And read life's meaning in each other's eyes.

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And two shall walk some narrow way of life, So nearly side by side that should one turn Ever so little space to left or right, They needs must stand acknowledged face to face; And yet with wistful eyes that never meet, With groping hands that never clasp, and lips Calling in vain to ears that never hear, They seek each other all their weary days, And die unsatisfied. And this is Fate.

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Susan Marr Spalding was born in Maine, and though she has written comparatively little for the public, she has thousands of admirers among lovers of true poetry. Her beautiful poem "Fate," which is reprinted above, was first published in the New York _Graphic_ thirty years ago. Had it not been for the keepers of scrap books it doubtless would have disappeared a few years after it was written. Instead, however, it has found a place in recently published collections of verse, and is regarded as one of the most beautiful and expressive utterances in English.

FROM THE LIPS OF ANANIAS.

A Collection of Gems that Would Have Made the Late Baron Munchausen Get Up and Leave the Room in Despair.

A LION'S GRATITUDE.

John Burroughs, the naturalist, was laughing about the story, widely published not long since, of a wild duck that got a salt-water mussel caught on its tongue and had intelligence enough to fly from the salt to the fresh water, where it dipped the mussel, sickening it through osmosis, and thus causing it to loosen its firm grip.

"I believe that story of the duck that understood the theory of osmosis," said Mr. Burroughs. "I believe it as implicitly as I believe the story of the crippled lion and the young lieutenant.

"A young lieutenant, during an African campaign, came one day upon a badly crippled lion. The great brute limped over the tawny sand on three paws, holding its fourth paw in the air. And every now and then, with a kind of groan, it would pause and lick the injured paw piteously.

"When the lion saw the young lieutenant it came slowly toward him. He stood his ground, rifle in hand. But the beast meant no harm. It drew close to him; it rubbed against him with soft feline purrs; it extended its hurt paw.

"The lieutenant examined the paw and found that there was a large thorn in it. He extracted the thorn, the lion roaring with pain, and he bound up the wound with his handkerchief. Then, with every manifestation of relief and gratitude, the animal withdrew.

"But it remembered its benefactor. It was grateful. And in a practical way it rewarded the young man.

"This lion ran over the regiment's list of officers, and ate all who were the lieutenant's superiors in rank. Thus, in a few weeks the young man, thanks to the astute animal, became a colonel."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

THE KANSAS BRAND.

News comes from southern Kansas that a boy climbed a cornstalk to see how the sky and clouds looked and that now the stalk is growing faster than the boy can climb down.

The boy is clear out of sight.

Three men have taken a contract for cutting down the stalk with axes to save the boy a horrible death by starving, but the stalk grows so rapidly that they can't hit twice in the same place. The boy is living on green corn alone and has already thrown down over four bushels of cobs.

Even if the corn holds out there is still danger that the boy will reach a height where he will be frozen to death. There is some talk of attempting his rescue with a balloon.--_Topeka Capital._

A REMINISCENCE.

"It has been so wet for the last three or four years," remarked Truthful James, "that a good many people have forgot how dry it used to be.

"I remember one year when the Missouri River was dusty all the way down from Kansas City to the Mississippi. Of course the river was running all the while, but the water in it got so dry that it turned to dust and blew away. I took a boat down the river at that time, but it was so dusty on the boat that you couldn't see the hind end of it when you was standing on the front end. It was a little the worst I ever see. My mouth got so much grit and dust in it that I could strike a match on the roof of it any time.

"One day the boat got stuck in fifteen feet of Missouri River water. It was so dry and dusty that the wheel couldn't turn. What did we do? Well, sir, we went out and hired a farmer to haul fresh well water for fifteen miles to mix with the river water until it was thin enough to run the boat through."--_Kansas City Journal._

TO "FOOL" HIS COWS.

Frank Leidgen, who lives northeast of town, came in one day this week in search of green eye-glasses for his cattle. Of course our men who deal in glasses were forced to give it up as a hard proposition. When asked why he wanted his cattle to wear them, Leidgen replied:

"When in the pasture the green glasses will make the grass look green and the cattle will think it is spring and the pasture green."

It is true that it had not rained in this part of Oklahoma for some time, and the grass is very dry. We have patents on everything we can think of but patent eye-glasses for cows.

Can't some one accommodate the gentleman?--_Frederick (Oklahoma) Free Press._

SQUIRREL BECAME WOOD.

The following story is given us by a gentleman whose veracity we would not doubt:

About six years ago in the fall a hunter shot a squirrel, which lodged between two small twigs, the size of a lead pencil. This being near the man's house, he watched the squirrel each week.

The first spring the twigs grew, and the squirrel remained in the position it lodged.

The second year the twigs, which had grown to be the size of a man's fingers, died; so did the limb die.

The third year no change, but during the fourth year the tail of the squirrel dropped off, and the man noticed no change the fifth, but the sixth year he secured the limb and squirrel and found, to his surprise, that the squirrel had become a white oak bump.

Under the microscope could be seen the hairs in the wood. The places for the eyes and ears were perfect, and where the chin and forelegs had touched the twig it grew to them. The legs were intact, but the feet had disappeared. The body of the squirrel had grown to be about four inches in diameter.

What puzzled the gentleman who gave us this is, through what process could the dead animal become wood? As proof of the story, we can furnish the name of the man who has the "freak of nature" in his possession, and who watched it from the time it first lodged.--_Smith's Grove (Kentucky) Times._

THE REAL WASHINGTON.

By Max Adeler.

"You say," I remarked to the old negro who drove the hack, "that you were General Washington's body-servant?"

"Dat's so! Dat's jes so, mossa. I done waited on Washington sence he was so high--no bigger 'n a small chile."

"You know the story then about the cherry-tree and the hatchet?"

"Know it? Why, I was dar on de spot. I seen Mossa Gawge climbe de tree atter de cherries, and I seen him fling de hatchet at de boys who was a stonin' him. I done chase dem boys off de place meself."

"Do you remember his appearance as a man? What he looked like?"

"Yes, indeedy. He was a kinder short, chunky man; sorter fat and hearty-lookin'. He had chin whiskers and mustache and spectacles. Mos' generally he wore a high hat; but I'se seed him in a fur cap wid ear-warmers!"

"You were not with him, of course, when he crossed the Delaware--when he went across the Delaware River?"

"Wid him? Yes, sah; I was right dar. I was not more'n two feet off'n him as he druv across de bridge in his buggy! Dat's a fac'. I walked 'longside de off hind wheel ob dat buggy all de way."

"You saw him then when he fought the British at Trenton?"

"Sho's you're born I did! I held Mossa Gawge's coat an' hat while he fought the British at dat werry place. Mossa Gawge clinched him and den dey rassled and rassled, and at first he frew Mossa Gawge, and den Mossa Gawge flung him, and set on him and done hammered him till he cried 'nuff! Mossa Gawge won dat fight. I seed him wid me own eyes! An' I come home wid him in de kyars!"

"You weren't with him, though, when he shot the apple off the boy's head?"

"Who wa'n't wid him? I wa'n't? I was de only pusson dar 'ceptin' one white man. I loaded Mossa Gawge's revolver and han'ed it to him, and picked up de apple an' et it soon as he'd knocked it off. Nobody can't tell dish yer old niggah nuffin' 'bout dat circumstance."

"You knew all of the general's relations, too, I suppose? Martin Luther, and Peter the Hermit, and the rest?"

"Knowed um all. Many and many's de time I done waited on de table when Mossa Gawge had um to dinner. I remember dem two gemmen jes' 's well 's if I'd a seen um yesterday. Yes, sah; an' I druv 'em out often!"

"I've frequently seen pictures of Washington in which he is represented sitting upon a white horse. Did he really ride a white horse, or don't you recall the color of his horse?"

"Why, bress your soul; 'call de color ob de hoss--'call de color ob it? Do you see dish yer nigh hoss dat I'm a drivin' now, right yer? Well, dat's de werry hoss Mossa Gawge used to ride. He lef it to me in his will!"

Just then we reached the station, and I dismounted from the hack and paid Washington's body-servant for his service. No doubt a longer conversation with him would have revealed other new and startling facts relating to the Father of His Country.

LITTLE GEMS FROM WEBSTER.

Venerable men! You have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day. You are now where you stood fifty years ago this very hour, with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, in the strife of your country. Behold, how altered! The same heavens are indeed over your heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but all else, how changed! You hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see no mixed volumes of smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The ground strewn with the dead and the dying; the impetuous charge; the steady and successful repulse; the loud call to repeated assault; the summoning of all that is manly to repeated resistance a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may be in war and death--all these you have witnessed, but you witness them no more.... All is peace; and God has granted you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you slumber forever in the grave. He has allowed you to behold and to partake the reward of your patriotic toils; and He has allowed us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, in the name of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you!--From "_Oration on Laying the Corner-Stone of Bunker Hill Monument,_" _June 17, 1825._

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If anything be found in the national Constitution, either by original provision or subsequent interpretation, which ought not to be in it, the people know how to get rid of it. If any construction be established unacceptable to them, so as to become practically a part of the Constitution, they will amend it at their own sovereign pleasure. But while the people choose to maintain it as it is, while they are satisfied with it and refuse to change it, who has given or who can give to the State legislatures a right to alter it, either by interference, construction, or otherwise?--_From a Speech delivered in the United States Senate_, _January 26, 1830._

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America has furnished to the world the character of Washington. And if our American institutions had done nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind.--_From Speech on the Completion of Bunker Hill Monument_, _June 17, 1843._

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He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.--_Speech on Hamilton_, _March 10, 1831._

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When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization.--From "_Remarks on Agriculture,_" _January 13, 1840._

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Labor in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.--_Speech_, _April 1824._

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There is no refuge from confession but suicide; and suicide is confession.--_From Argument on the Murder of Captain White_, _April 6, 1830._

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Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote.--_Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson_, _August 2, 1826._

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God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.--_Speech_, _June 3, 1834._

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Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.--_From a Speech at Plymouth_, _December 22, 1820._

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One country, one constitution, one destiny.--_Speech_, _March 15, 1837._

VAGARIES OF MATHEMATICS.

"As dull as arithmetic" is a phrase that is familiar to almost every schoolboy, and is a figure of comparison that is frequently evoked by those sages who hold down empty cracker-boxes in rural general stores. The fact is, however, that arithmetic is not always half so dull as it looks. Like some of those persons who earn a livelihood by teaching it to the young, it has a dry humor and a few vagaries of its own.

One of these vagaries has to do with the figure 9, and it is thus described by William Walsh in his "Handy Book of Literary Curiosities":

It is a most romantic number, and a most persistent, self-willed, and obstinate one. You cannot multiply it away or get rid of it anyhow. Whatever you do, it is sure to turn up again, as did the body of Eugene Aram's victim.

A mathematician named Green, who died in 1794, is said to have first called attention to the fact that all through the multiplication table the product of nine comes to nine. Multiply by any figure you like, and the sum of the resultant digits will invariably add up as nine. Thus, twice 9 is 18; add the digits together, and 1 and 8 make 9. Three times 9 is 27; and 2 and 7 is 9. So it goes on up to 11 times 9, which gives 99. Very good. Add the digits together; 9 and 9 is 18, and 8 and 1 is 9.

Go on to any extent, and you will find it impossible to get away from the figure 9. Take an example at random: 9 times 339 is 3,051; add the digits together, and they make 9. Or again, 9 times 2,127 is 19,143; add the digits together, they make 18, and 8 and 1 is 9. Or still again, 9 times 5,071 is 45,639; the sum of these digits is 27, and 2 and 7 is 9.

This seems startling enough. Yet there are other queer examples of the same form of persistence. It was M. de Maivan who discovered that if you take any row of figures, and, reversing their order, make a subtraction sum of obverse and reverse, the final result of adding up the digits of the answer will always be 9 As, for example:

2941 Reverse, 1492 ---- 1449

Now. 1 + 4 + 4 + 9 = 18; and 1 + 8 = 9.

The same result is obtained if you raise the numbers so changed to their squares or cubes. Start anew, for example, with 62; reversing it, you get 26. Now, 62 - 26 = 36, and 3 + 6 = 9. The squares of 26 and 62 are, respectively, 676 and 3844. Subtract one from the other, and you get 3168 = 18, and 1 + 8 = 9.

So with the cubes of 26 and 62, which are 17,576 and 238,328. Subtracting, the result is 220,752 = 18, and 1 + 8 = 9.

Again, you are confronted with the same puzzling peculiarity in another form. Write down any number, as, for example, 7,549,132, subtract therefrom the sum of its digits, and, no matter what figures you start with, the digits of the product will always come to 9.

7549132, sum of digits = 31. 31 -------

7549101, sum of digits = 27, and 2 + 7 = 9.

Again, set the figure 9 down in multiplication, thus: