Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-08-20
Ghildren's department.
LITTLE THINGS.

LITTLE THINGS.
"What great fuss about nothing" ex-
claimed Harry Vernon. "To hear sister talk,
anybody would think had committed ter
ribIe crime, just because | left the garden
gate open, while ran over to the store. |
knew should be back soon, and that nothing
would get in in that time"
"How could you kno'o that, my son ?" gent,
ly inquired Mrs. Vernon. "In fact, that mis-
chievous cow Of Mr.. Rawlins did get in, and
would, no doubt, have done much damage to
the flower beds and the choice young fruit
trees, which your father values so highly, had
not your sister discovered her entrance in
time to prevent harm. wish, my son, you
would try, in future, to remember what l
have told you before, that great consequences
sometimes follow little acts as we'll as words
and also that failure in performance Of little
duties sometimes is followed by terrible re-
suits. l have lately read in the newspapers
some remarkable illustrations Of this truth.
You remember reading about the loss of the
steamship Vile du Harre few months ago,
do you not?'
Oh k! yes, mother. She was run into by the
Loch Earne and sunk, and great many of
her passengers, who were in the cabins, and
did not know of the danger, went down in
her. Some of the passengers got on the Loch
| Earnc but she was atterward wrecked, and
SOME of them since died in consequence Of ex-
posure and injuries"
"Think of the valuable lives lost, of the
dear little children made orphans, of the wives
made widows, Of souls, perhaps unprepared,
hurried into eternity, and Of the great loss Of
property, too, and all occasoned by the neg
lect of one man to perform what, perhaps, he
would have called very "lttle" duty"
"Why, how it, mother?" Harry eagerly
asked.
"ro explain" replied Mrs. Vernon, 81 must
tell you that the ships hull was built in COM
partments, separated by movable partitions,
so that, in case of accident to any part Of the
hull, these partitions could be closed and the
water thus kept from the filling the ship. At
the time Of the accident, as soon as it was dis
covered that the vessel was filling from a
hole in one Of the compartments, an effort
was made to close the partition between it
and the next one, when it was found that, ow-
ing to the rust Of some iron screws, they could
not be moved The man, whose duty it was,
had not oiled the screws"
"Oh! how dreadful that was, mother" said
Harry. Cali that misery just from the want
of a little oil to keep the screws smooth
should think that man would feel that he had
murdered all those people,"
POSSIBLY if he had been reproved, before
the disaster, for his negligence, he might have
thought great fuss was made about moth
ing" said Mrs. Vernon.
Harry blushed as he recognized this quota,
tion from his own remark.
Sand another remarkable instance | have
read of within a few days." continued Mrs.
Vernon. "It seems that an act was passed
by Congress to admit into the United States,
free of duty, 'fruit-pants, tropical and semi
tropical, for the purpose of propagation"
"The person copying this act for publica-
tion in the books issued by the Government.
placed a comma after the word fruit, instead
of hyphen, so as to make it read fruit,
plants etc. The mistake was not noticed,
and it was thus incorrectly published as a
law. The act took effect in August, 1872,
and since that time fruits have been admitted
without duty and, the Government has lost a
million or more Of dollars"
"Why, mother! A pretty expensive COM
ma that was" said Harry.
"It was, indeed" replied his mother, "and
this fact also teaches the Importance Of what
we call little things"
"It seems to me" said Harry, "that we
ought not to call anything little after this. %
"If we always thought of the probable, or
even possible results of word or act, we
should not, my son nor should we thought
lessly leave small duties unperformed."
"Well, mean to be more careful in the
future One thing is certain-I'll not leave
the garden gate open again" said Harry.
HARRY's CHIcKENs-Sammy Brent "lived
way down South" and was just as full of mis-.
chief as boy of thirteen could be. One
evening he came home after rambe through
the woods and by the river, and asked his
brother Harry, who was eight years younger
than himself
Harry, wouldn't you like to have some
funny chickens?"
"I'm just sure would" answered Harry.
"Well, you take these three eggs and put
them in box Of sand and set it in the sun,
and after while you'll have three of the
funniest chickens you ever saw"
Harry followed his brothers directions,
and morning, noon and night he might be
seen watching for his brood to poke their
bills up out of the sand At last, one hot
day, just before noon, the sand began to move,
and the queercst kind of chicken came out.
1t had long, horny bill, long, flat body,
without feathers or wings, four feet, and a
tail nearly as long as its body. AS soon as
Harry's excited eyes could see clearly, he
exclaimed:
"Oh! oh it's alligator! it's alligator
come out Of an egg."
If Harry had been a little older he would
have known that the alligators bury their
eggs in the sand aud wait for the sun to
hatch them, and as soon as the young aliga-
tors appear, the mother conducts them to the
water.
A CAT WHIPPED BY RoBINs-An excl
ting contest was witnessed in the court house
yard (says the Genesee Republican, between
cat and some robins. "a robin had nest
under the north stoop of the court house, and
on Friday her brood Of young robins made
their first attempt to fly. AS one poor half
hedged bird was laboriously flying near the
ground, tigerish-looking cat spied it and
gave it chase. The bird fewps best it could,
but the cats swift, stealthy ste ps gained upon
it, and the fate of the bird seem sealed. But
its terrific cries brought relief, and just as the
cat pounced apon and seized it in her mouth,
half dozen old robins hit upon her back
with fury that was perfectly astonishing to
her catship, and dropping her prey, she in
continently turned tail and flew across the
yard the relentless robins pursuing her with