Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-12-27
cET1DREN's CORNER.
Curious Questions.

Since frost has come again, / am so
/ puzzled by his queer ways, that have
1 had little or no time left to study out
I the other puzzles which 1 find In the
/ Knapsack. Let me tell the curious
/ things about frost, that puzzle me.
| One morning in October, i found all
/ the tomato and pumpkin vines quite
used up and killed BY frost. But the
bean vines, the potatoes, and the cab
bages in my garden were in fine grow
ing order still. Three weeks afterWard,
frost came again, and not finding any
more tomatoes and pumpkins, he laid
hold on my pole beans and my pOta-
toes. They turned black and died. as
if strangled. An old farmer said that
this frost that killed the potatoes was a
''real black FROST"
''Ha 20 said I. "black FROST white
| frost do they ever miX2"
You watch and you'll see the differ
ence," said the old farmer.
And 1 began to watch. The cabbares
IN my garden are not killed vet. Tho
chickens have wonderfully good time
nlpplng of the thick edges Of the big
tough leaves. Well I watched to see
what the frost would do next. One
morning noticed that the bridges and
board walks were white as snow. but
the dirt roads, gravel walks, and stone
sidewalks, could not show a single deck
of frost. And I saw that there was no
frost on or near the spikes in the board
walk, but wet spots instead
Yet I remember, one winter dav
about noon, when things were thawing
r little, that the board walks all dried
off, leaving a spot of frost on every spike
and all the stone walks and dirt roads
were cold and hard as ever with snow
and ice Every fall the boards are
frosty, while the spikes and stones are
warm and wet. Every spring the
boards are warm and wet, while the
spikes and stones are frostyl Funny
frost
One day the good woman who cooks
for -us made some dOughnuts; some
folks cali sthem fried cakes, (they are
good, no matter what you call them,)
and when she had done frying them,
she set the hot lard out the door, along
side Of a basin of water, TO cool The
lard and the water both Of them frozs
solid that night, and the next morning
/ saw that the frost had made q hollow
in the lard, and hump on the water
Frozen water sWells Funny frost, how
do you act. And out in the barn on q
beam, had bottle with castor oil in ft,
to oil my carriage wheels, another with
meats loot oil, for my harness, and an
other bottle half full of water. They
all froze up solid, one cold night, and
the water bottle split. But Athe others
did not.
That old farmer said, eyes, Jess, So
frost heaTes mighty strong"
''Heaves 2' said I. "What do you
mean ?"
81 mean jess what say frost heaves
mighty strong. 1t heaved the posts ofa
fence of mine so that I had to build &c
all new last year ~
''Ve1, said I, ''my gate posts keep
coming up an inch or 90 every year,
but not till spring and thaws come. It
IS thawing, not freezing, that heaVes
them -
"P'raps So" said he "but hard
freezes viii freeze anything right out of
the ground. I've seen clover frOze, jest
as fine clover as ever you saw, all pull
led out by the roots and I've seen old
stumps, old dead stumps, histed high
er' n higher every winter, till by'n by
you can pull 'em over and not half
Try 20
lis that 80 7'' said I. ''WelI, well, I
must watch and see ~
I like ice cream and so, one day,
when our girl came in and said twas
getting too cold to keep milk up stairs
for, ''it's all frozen over this morn
ing SIR 5000 said /, y III havesone
ice cream-troZen cream" But when
I took the ice out OF the milzpan, It
wasn't frozen cream al all lt was not
even frozen skim-milz. 1t was real ice
almost as thin and clear as water ice
II wasn't worth eating asked the
old farmer about that, and he said,
"Why Of course, milk ice is kind Of
Watery like. Frost'll freezee the water
right out Of anything. There's cider
You just freeze ft ali you can, and what
Is left III make your head snap if YOU
drink It.; it's cider and no mistake"
Funny frost, so fond ofwater :" said
of the coast OfNova Scotia and New
sailors often meet iceberga
i hundred feet high, and and the books
Jay that there is nearly six times as
much ice under water as there is above.
And when went skating on our canal
he ice lay, all Of IL, on top of the wa
er, and none of that 4 saw under wa
er at all. And yet when break on q
)iece Of ice aud put &c in a pitcher Of
water, it floats just like an iceberg, six
lines as muck Inder water as above &c.
An Indian was found dead by the
one very cold morning, with
IN empty rum bottle beside him. He
vas frozen stiff. The wise Indians
anne and examined to find what
lad KILLED him. They decided there
.ad been 60 much water in his rum,
nd the water had frozen hard and KILL
q him. Rum never freeze, but men
With rum in them freeze more easily
han other men who drink cold water
My. Queer, funny frost, again.
These are only a few Of the curious
hings that frost has set me TO tbinlzinRa
{ any Of the Kna psack readers can eX-
lain all these curious things, they win
e wiser than some professors In our
olleges. But professors are the wis
SO people I know Oft
hos. x. BeecReg, igl tie Littlo Corporal.