The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1878-05-01
AunsEhnla &ntds.
THE p I'm TREE.


"Sure of what, Clara ?"
"Thst this is the warmest day one ever
felt; the only cool place is the psrlor.
"Let's go there till tea-time."
"There don't ask me to leave this dark
corner till shutdown. am glad there are
such things as palm trees; no other kind Of
fan would be of account to-day. Let's have
some sensible talk we won't feel the heat
so much"
{" But talk about something coOl-trees,
for instance. What do you know about
palm trees, Ella?"
"NOt much, though was born in South
America.
"Just imagine the poor, tired Israelites
coming in sight of that beautiful Elm, with
twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees
Don't you believe shout went up2 Jeri-
cho, too, always had pleasant sound-even
if the man did fall among thieves going to it
because it was called the city of palm
trees"
"And Tadmor in the wilderness, the gor-
geOus Palmyra"
eyes; only there was so much else in
that splendid city one doesn't give much
thought to its palm trees"
Z" If Harry we're here he would say, Tall,
straight, slender as palm tree = No branch
es, only beautiful crown of large leaves
Would you believe it, Clara have seen
some palm leaves thirty feet long, and from
four to FIVE broad. They don't fall off easily,
like the leaves of other trees. When We
were in India, we saw them spread over the
houses for roofs.
81 should feel satisfied if they were good
only for fans on such days" said Clara,
laughing. "Bus it's real treat to lie on
the sofa and hear you talking about palm
trees"
81 never see young Mr.. Reynolds going
down the street with that pretty little cane
without wondering if he thinks how it may
have been piece of some slender palm (fOr
the rattan is species of palm) shooting up
into the air hundred feet, or creeping in
the forest for two or three hundred feet, on
the island of CeylOn or at the foot of the
Himslaya Mountains. Uncle has often seen
them twisting the strips of the rattan palm
into ropes to bind wild elephants. The YES
sci in which he left Java had its cable of the
same material. They even make bridges from
these palms"
"While for breakfast, perhaps, they'll
have cup of cocoa. %
"FOr which we are indebted to another
part of the palm tree. :"
And to another species of the palm,
Ella ?"
"Yes; and then, too, dates are the fruit
of one kind Of palm, and cocOsnuts of another
kind. Palm oil is made from the fruit of
palm that grows in Liberia, and sage from
the pith of palm of Asia. Strong mating
is made from palm-bark, and so are ropes
tsine.
It's IKE trying to feel at home in a
labyrinth to think clearly of the different
kinds of palm"
"Imagine yourself trying to count the
uses of the palm The Arabs boast of more
than eight hundred ways in which they are
helped by it. They sing about it, of course. F"
$50 does Solomon; it is his symbol for
stately beauty. And DsVid's symbol for
prosperity; you know he says, The right
eOus shall flourish like the palm.tree. -
Solomon must have had fancy for it.
Don't you remember how he had pictures of
til palm put in the temple, all over the walls
of the most holy place"
"Girls, what are you talking about in the
dark ?" asked Charlie, cropping his way into
the psrlOr. 81 heard enough to make one
think of some conundrums, but won't tell
them yet."
"WhO would ike to see a letter written
with an iron style on palm.leaf?' asked a
laughing voice from far corner of the dark
paylOr.
"Why, uncle, are you here, too p asked
the girls.
Yes; away from the heat and the flies q
in India, too, one might fancy, from the talk.
Don't let me forget to show you the letter
after tea. In some parts of the East it is
quite usual to write on the palm-leaf. But,
Clara, you know something better still to
think of on warm day. In South America
they take strips of the unopened leaves and