Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-02-01
A BOYS LECTURE ON KNIVES.

A BOYS LECTURE ON KNIVES. .
[Reported for the "Wfde Awake by Mrs. A.
NJ. Diaz.l 49,
The second of the John Spicer Course
of Lectures took place Yesterday after
noon in Barn Hall. and wits listened to
with attention, though there was some
disorder among the audien e as they
entered the hall. Fa superintendent Dick
informed the assemblage that Mr.. j ohm
Spicer was waiting to have q hole in his
trousers leg sewed up, and would be in
presently. At this moment MIR. John
Spicer appeared and was greeted by the
audience with that prolonged clapping
sometimes called applause. MIR. Spicer
bowed to the audience and began as fol-
lows. and was heard to the end with
quiet attention.:
Ladies and Gentlemen, My subject is
knives There are two kinds of knives.
/ will mention them: eating knives and
iackknives. You must not put eat ne
knives in your mouth. You can lack
knife, because then you do not have any
fork. l mean when you are eating raw
sweet potatoes or raw turnips, or any
raw things outdoors You can do nine
teen things with a jackknife. / will
mention them: white, sharpen pencils,
clip off finger nails and thumb ones,
play multipeg, cut knots, punch holes,
shock out CLAIMS and oysters. clean fish
es, cut your name on any thing, eat APP
pies and pumpkin seeds and other
things, make whistles. whet it on
MILESTONE, cut your fingers with it,
break it. swap it, lose it, find it. lend it.
give it away. Every fellow that borrows
a. nl- + ifa oI1rht RI riva rio ho oh
again. (Apptause.) I don't mean be-
fore he's done with it. (Applause.) A
jackknife is made of two parts. will
mention them The handle and the
blade. You can have knife with six
blades if anybody will give you one.
t.4pptause.) Your father and mother
hardly er give you BLADDER. They
do not think it is best. Some Little fell
lows have numb jackknives. Numb
jackknives are made not to cut. Numb
lackknives are good for. little fellows to
have. My little brothers got a numb
iackknife. Jackkniyes are very easy to
lose. A fellow most always loses his
knife. He, feels very sorry when he
first finds out he can't find his knife.
He does not believe that knife is lost.
He keeps feeling in his pocket, for he
believes it is there somewhere, under
his. ball. or his jewsharp, or his pocket
handkerchief, or 'mongst the crumbles.
Then he begins and he empte out all
shese things, and turns his pocket inside
out and shakes it, and stands up and
shakes his trousers leg, and looks down
on the floor, and puts them all in again.
and then he begins to hunt | know
some verses a out losing iackknife.
will mention one: 81. -.,.=s
When a boy gets a shining new knife, 4 30
On jublant boy is he!
Capering. shouting, prancing; chatter;ng,
laughing, dancing, 80
All so joyfuly. high diddledce!
When he loses that shining new knife,
Oh sorrowful boy is he!
Hunting. shifting, cropping; whining, signing,
All so dolefuly, oh dear me!
One day lost my knife somewhere
in the house. and hunted Tor it in
places. l will mention
them: In my mothers work-basket. in
her other work basket. in Ter darn |
stocking bag, in eight of her bureau
drawers, in six cracks of the floor up |
garnet, in the ashes pail, all over eight
floors (crawl;ng,. in the cookie pot, in |
my mothers pocket, in the baby's era
die, in the apple barrel, on four top
shelves, on seventeen other shelves, in
the spoon-holder, in ten of my fathers
pockets. in fourteen Of my big brothers. /
pockets. in two of my little brothers.
pockets, in four of my pockets. on six
in the waste basket, in
nv sisters dollhouse, in her bureau
mothers trunk. in four of my sisters |
pockets; and all the time my knife was
in my trousers leg, down at the foot of
the trousers leg, inside the outside part
Of the trousers leg, back of the lining
Of it. - rs. s.ss..s.
One time when I found my knife l
was sorry 1 found it. L will tell YOU
about that knife. One dav [ had a new
knife. 1 never had such pretty one.
1t had white handle. and twas a two
olader. 1t was as good as mans
knife. All the fellows wanted to see it,
and they thought twas a first-rate
knife. 1t had ~ 81 on the handle
was so careful of it that | wanted to
keep hold o. it when twas in my pocket;
andI kept sitting down and taking it
out to see it. My uncle who had been
gone five years brought it to me. When
I'd kept that knife not lutte two days,
here was little holeTin my pocket; a
title bit of a hole. 1t wasn't as big
'ound as the end of my little finger. I
mean the very tip end of my little finger
mot where it begins to be big any. It
yasn' t as big as a little white bean. I
lon't think It was as big as pea. /
link twas about as big as a quarter of
| pea. No fellow would think knife
Gould get through that hole. But kept
t away from that hole. Iput things in
'etween. and kept putting my hand