The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-07-01

ton that one Balsover, having huug
himself to beam while standing OH
the bottom of pail or bucket kicked
the vessel away in order to pry in fu-
turity, and it was up with him from
that moment. There is story Of a
dairy maid, who, having upset pail
of milk, assailed by her rural beau
with, "There you've kick the bucket
To which her ready and clever reply
was: "No, I've only turned a little
pail (pale)."
"Better late than never" originated
in 1857 Cin the reign OF Phillip and
Nary with Thomas Trussen, who put
it into his Give Hundred Points of
Good Husbandry," but became among
the household sayings when put by
John Bunyan, the half-inspired tinker
into his immortal "Pilgrims Progress.
From Bunyan, too, comes the home~
ly, EVERY tub must stand on its own
bottom"
No great shakes" is a contemptu~
Gus expression when applied to any
one. 1t has been supposed that this
phrase might be traced to the custom
of shaking hands, the shake being es>
timated according to the value set up
on the person giving it, and hence Of
fered to the person. Lord Byron
writing to his publisher in September.
1920, said: 81 had my hands full and
my head too, just then" when he
wrote "MarinO Faliero" $50 it can be
no great shakes"
a curious piece of history is wrap
ped up in the word "poltroon," sup
posing it to be indeed, derived, as ma
ny etymologists have considered, from
the Latin "police truncus," one that
is deprived, or who has deprived him
self, of his thumb. We know that in
old times a self-mutilation of this di.
scription was not lnfrequent on the
part of some cowardIy, shirking fell
low, who wished to escape his share in
the defence of his country; he would
cut off his right thumb, and at once
became incapable Of drawing the bow,
and thus useless for wars. 1t is not
to be wondered at that the "police
truncus-the poltroon-first applied
to a coward of this sort should after>
ward become a name of scorn affixed
to every base and cowardly evader of
the duties and dangers of life.
The common phrase, "castles in the
air." was used by Robert Burron in
his Anatomy of Melancholy" over
two hundred and fifty years ago, and
has since been used by Dean Swift,
Henry Fielding, Phillip Sydney, Col
ley Cibber, Charles Churchill, Will
liam Shenstone and innumerable 9TH
ers until it has become a very common
expression.
"Out III the cold," an expression
frequently applied in the United
States and England to persons who
have been driven out of Office, orhave
not obtained the appointments they
had desired and solicited, is nearly
a century old, and was one of the say
ings of ?. H. iB. Wyndham, in 1884.
"Dead as a door nail" This proven
bal expression is taken from the door
nail; that is, the nail on which, in old
doors, the knOcker strike. 1t is,
therefore, used as a comparison to any
one irrecoverably dead, one who has
fallen Ias Virgil says)'Multo .Morte -
i.e., with abundant death, such as reit-
Grafton or strokes on the head natur-
ally produces.
Failstaff; What! Is the old King dead ?
Pistol: As nail in door.-IS Shakespeare,
GAS dead as a hearing" has a SIM
pie origin. That fish, which when
fat is called "bloater," dies immedi-
ately upon its removal from the sea.
1t wants air, and can only live in salt
water; whereas an eel lives long
time after leaving its native element.
Swimming SO near the surface as it
does, the herring requires much air,
and the gills when dry cannot perform
their function-that of breathing.
The familiar phrase, "The school
master is abroad" was first uttered by
Lord Broughton, about fifty years
ago. In a speech in the house of
lords, in reply to the duke of Yelling
ton, he said: "Let the soldier be
abroad if he will. He can do moth
ing in this age. There is another
person abroad-a person less imposing
in the eyes of some, perhaps, insig-
nifcant. The schoolmaster is abroad.