Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-07-08
AN EMPTY HOUSE ON THE SHELF.

AN EMPTY HOUSE ON THE SHELF.
| On a shelf in my room stands an empty
| house. 1t has no cards in the window
ann ouncing that it is for rent In fact it
has no window, and the door stands open
from morning to night, inviting any pass
er-by to go in. 1t is built of bricks, and
was made by the former owner for his own
use He lived III it all his life, and it was
an elegant residence in those days, for he
took the incest care of it, and kept it clean
and bright, though now it looks rather
dusty and neglected
1t is not large hOuse-not more than
an inch long, from front to back door, and
only little wider than the end of lead
pencil. 1t is rather an unusual shape,
too, something like bit of the pencil,
with the front end all open for door, and
the back end closed excepting a small
opening for back door.
| said it was built of bricks, and so it
is, but they're very small-of course-no
larger than fine grains of sand. And it is
more beautiful than any, house you ever
saw, for the tiny bricks are of different
colOrs, and are varied by minute bits of
shell, the whole making an elegant mo-
sale work, SO fine and exquisite that we
need the aid of a microscope to see it. The
mosaic work you have seen on ladies'
| ieWelry is coarse and rough compared
with it. 1t is as delicate and frail as it is
pretty, for the wall is not much thicker
than paper. ...
| This most wonderful house was built at
the bottom of the sea, for his own use, by
a creature even more marvellous and beau
| tiful than his residence A little fellow he
was, too, as you may guess if he found
plenty of room to live in a house the size
of a lead pencil.
| If you had found this dOmicile when the
owner was at home, you would not have
seen the door left open in this careless
| way. He was a modest and retiring per-
sonage, who usually kept his home tightly
closed and rarely showed his head outside
| His door was white, and shaped much
| like a cork 1t fitted the end of his tube
and down, or push it entirely out when he
had a fancy to look out. The cork shaped
door was in fact the little fellows head,
and on the top of it he wore one of the
most elegant ornaments you can imagine.
| 1t was nothing less than pair of wonder
full combs, each shaped exactly like a
ladys back comb, and Ofthe IN ost brilliant
gold color. The teeth of the combs
curved in as ours are made, and one might
easily suppose they were copies of those
to be found in our shops. They had not
only the color of gold, but they had its
luster, and reflected tie light as brilliant
| ly as the most highly-polished metal.
Though they looked so much like
ladies' combs, however, they had very
different use during the life of the owner
Perhaps you'll be Disguised to hear that
| he used them as shoyels, for he was as fond
of digging in sand as any of you young
sters. I'll tell you how he managed it.
You must know that, although he had a
| private sandstone residence he was so
| fond of solitude that he preferred to dig a
and bury himself-house and about of
sight Now the first thing to do when
one Of these little fellows takes fancy to
retire to private life is to get his golden
combs-or shovels, suppose we ought to
call them--in the right position for use,
for, although they stand up on top of his
head edge to edge, there's only one way
| to use them If he is not on the right
| side he turns himself in his house till he
brings his shovels to the proper position,
when he pushes them out and thrusts
| them into the sand. Then lifting them
up he brings out load of sand, which he
| throws over his head on to the edge of his
house! Again he plunges them into the
| sand and throws out another load, and so
he goes on till the hole is large enough to
suit him.
The next puzzle to you would be how
he could get in, but it is no puzzle to him.
Tie merely hangs his droll little body out
OF the door till its weight tips the whole
house over the edge of the hole Then
he goes on with his digging, going deeper
and deeper, and making his house stand
| stralghter and straighter, till it is entirely
covered with sand.
Another curious thing about him is the
way he eats. He can't eat fish, you know,
They're too big, nor does he care for sea-
mud, but he grows fat on tiny bits of
atoms IN the sea-water which are too small
Tor Us to see at all. All he has to do then
Is to Keep current Of water running into
MS mouth From this he takes his food
and the air he needs to breathe, and the
water runs out again.
This getting into cave is all the travel
ing the odd little fellow does; for he's a
contented creature, and any nice, quiet