Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-01-07
Youths Column.
The SCARLET -TUFTED WoopPEcKER.- :

The SCARLET TUFTED WoopPEcKER.-
Tap, tap, tapl
What a busy little creature, th'
brown birdie with scarlet crown Sc,
her running up the trunk of the larg,
elm by our door, striking the rough
bark with her long beak-tap, tap, tap
stopping moment, her pretty head
held sideways as if listening, then hop
ping so fast half around the tree, and
tapping again, with now and then 6
blithe chirp. Pretty, useful little wood.
peckerl While she gets her daily food
she is keeping, tiny as she is the great
elm sound and fair. Well may we love
the brides, one and all, for their beauty
and song and the many sweet lessons
they bring US, as they wing their way
from bough to bough, seek their daily
bread and nurse their tiny broods in
wind-rocked cradles--lessons of love
and kindness and industry and trust in
Fathers care.
There is a northern legend of the
woodpecker that, though it is hardly
fair toward the bird, is get a pretty
story. 1t runs in this way:
Long ago, when st. Peter was trav-
cling about and teaching the people, he
was poor, and often went hungry. One
morning at sunrise he came to a cottage
where a woman in a brown dress and
scarletcape was making cakes. He asked
her for a single one, and at first she
said yes, and rolled out a small cake.
She put it down to bake, but kept look
ing at it, and soon concluded it was
more than she wanted to give. So she
kneaded out another, a smaller one !;
but when it was baking, that, too,
seemed large to her. All this time
Peter was waiting quietly, patiently,
though faint with hunger. She took
the tiny bits of dough, put them to-
gether and rolled out tiny cake, thin
as wafer but when it was baked, she
wanted even that.
my cakes seem small when 1 eat
them myself" said she, ''but they are
too large to give away, for all that.
So she put even the wafer-like cake on
the shelf.
Then Peter made indignant answer !:
Thou art far too selfish, too mean,
to wear a human form, to have a home
to shelter thee, clothes end food and
fire. Thou shalt live hereafter as the
birds do, build in the trees, and get thy
living by constant labor, boring, boring,
all day in hard, dry wood"
Then up through the chimney went
she without word. Out from the top
flew a woodpecker. The little scarlet
cap was still on he- head, and her dress,
changed to feathers. was covered with
SCOT. And from that day to this-so
runs the legend-she has been in the
wood tapping trees for a scanty living,
and every child knows her sooty dress
and scarlet hood.
Now, though it is only legend, and
the woodpecker is as good as she is
pretty, it Will be worth something to
us, when we see her, to remember the
story, if it lead US to shun every form
of selfshness, and pity and help the
needy as far as in our power
You may Lot be changed to a bird,
though You live as seltishly as you can,
but you will be changed to a smaller
thing, a mean and selfish man.-Chii-
dren'S Hour.
MAGICAL Box.-A magician has lately
been giving a series of performance,
some of which are as surprising as they
are entertaining and amusing. One OF
them is as follows: A common empty
packing box. with lid hung by iron
hinges, is placed upon the stage, and a
committee from the audience asked to
examine it. They report that it is a
firmly made packing box. After a
thorough examination, outside and in
side, they take a rope and tie it up,
passing twice around the ends and
sides, passing it through the staples
for the two padlocks, and then tie the
ends firmly, and seal them with sealing
wax. They then envelop the box in
canvas, which covers all six sides, when
another rope is added, tied and sealed.
Surely the box is safe from any attempt
to get into or out of it without removing
the ropes
The assistant then comes forward
with canvas sack, open at one end.
This is examined by the committee and
by the audience. 1t is then placed over
the head of the assistant, and tied be-
low his feet and the knots sealed. He
is then laid on the box, and the box
surrounded by screen. In two and
hall minutes the sack is thrown over
the screen, the knot and seals un-
touched. The screen is instantly re-
moved, and the committee, after exam
lining the seals and finding them un-
broken, commence untying the ropes
and removing the canvas. The box is
opened and the man found insidel