Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-02

state, which had hitherto been
noted for its healthfulness. The country
girl was eady with her solution OF the
mystery.
well, we never herd of nuthin' of the
kind until the Centennial" she sad.
AN thev do say as how them nasty
Chinese brought it here from Chiny in
their pigtails. They hadn't ought to have
let them dirty TURNER'S come here any
howl"
Argument was useless.
Twas throwing words away, for still
The little maid would have her Will,
and answered that the Chinese were the
criminals with a persistency and utter
impenetrability to reasoning that, rightly
directed, would have done credit to a
Christian martyr.
In such cases the better part of valOr is
discretion. and the old INJUNCTION against
casting pearls before swine may serve to
help one to withdraw into a dig nitied
silence. Otherwise sensible people viii
frequently have some pet belief which all
debate Will fail to shake. OF these there
was a chiid's nurse, well taught upon
many subjects and superior to most OF
her class in general Information, who
would yet occasionally electrity her en-
plOyer by the utter6nce of some opinion
that showed how "borne'' were her men,
semblance of Intelligence. Speaking to
her mistress at one time of new
| variety Of infants food which mad been
highly recommended tor the yOungling
! of the family, she remarked with the
air Of one stating an incontrovertible
! dogma:
! II don't know what you think Of them,
ma'am, but my idea Is that the basis OF
! all these different sorts OF foods for babies
! is noJhing but cracker crumbs. | never
! see any OF them that didn't taste and
! smell OF crackers. though the different
sorts are different favored, of course, by
! the folks that makes them. Blu it's all
crackers to begin with, I'm positiye!"
What to her would have been the an
! alysis OF the most erudte chemists and
! physicians of the day? All the eXplana-
lions of the component proportions of
| caseine nitrogen and prOteine substances
| would not only have been Greek to her,
but even if slmpiied to her comprehen-
sion would have produced no impression
! The cracker crumbs creed was her own
! especial bantling, and she would cherish
| it against whatever forces OF ratiocnatiOn
might be brought forward for its destruc-
/ ton. Nor was she less firm on other OF her
| doctrines.
poor little fe'loww she said, compass
| sionately, receiving the baby from his
/ lDOlutI , dl kltS tHS llOl ming dlGeI an uu-
/ usually restless night. 81 was afraid,
ma'am, when l saw you giving bin that
| medicine, bromide, | think you called it,
! to quiet MIN last night, that you'd be hav-
| ing trouble with him. For you know,
ma'am, that If you give him physic to
! make him sleep, and it doesn't do it, that
il all just turns the other way and makes
/ him twice as much excited as though you
hadn't given him anything. but just let
| him get over it by himself"
People of this class fall ready victims
| to quacks and impOstOrs OF every descrip-
| ton. These are they who make the for
! tune of the dealers and inventors of pat
| ent medicines, For, strange as it seems,
! the faith of the ignorant in doctor or
teacher is frequently in inverse ratio to
/ the depth OF his learning. Plausibilty
takes the place of everything else. An
! other peculiarly is that they will obey
quickly and blindly the regimen laid
down by those OF their own class or by
those who possess a smattering of knowl-
edge, but they seldom pin their beliefs to
| those who are really capable OF acting as
ludiciOus guides. The old parable of the
blind leading the blind IS repeated daily
before our eyes.
"Oh. ma'am, l couldn't take quinine."
! replied a maid, who was shaking with
| chllls and fever, to the suggestion of her
for ague. "Shure, l knew CURL as took
it an lost all her teeth from it. They list
dhropped out wan by wan. The d0cther
has given me somethn' jist as good,
/ with none of the nasty stuff in it at all,
/ It's Peruvian bark, it is, ma'am, an
never dhrop OF quinine is there
| about IT."
"But, Norah," said the amused lady,
/ "PeruVian back is quinine, under another
name"
"Oh, indade, ye're mistaken, ma'am.
| The docther knows l wouldn't touch a
taste of quinine, am SO he gave me this
instid.v
AS in the other cases mentioned, asser-
| tiOns and proofs to the contrary were
breath wasted. Peruvian bark and Out.
nine We're absolutely different. "Her
docther," clever fellow, who understood
! how to play upon the weaknesses OF his
ignorant patients to mis- own benefit, had
declared the contrary, and no one else had
| u chance OF Credence.
1t is from among such minds as these
that superstltlons gain their disciples.
70 them the bowling OF dog under the
window, the hooting OF an owl, the flying
OF wild bird into the room, the fOrma-
/ tlon OF a winding sheet" in the candle,
herald death or some dread calamity.
Like AddisOn's hostess, they see omens
In the most trivial events and are al
ways ready with Observation-Disclosures in
stances to prove the truth OF their prog
| nostlCations.
! These weaknesses are not always con-
| nned to the uneducated, although they
are more commonly found there than
among those who by association with
/ people moving in wider spheres acquire
broader views Of life and learn to accept
the thought that there may sometimes be
more than one, or even two sides to a
| question. The note OF provincialism, of
which Lowell speaks, Is frequently
sounded even by residents Of large cities.
while those who live in small towns are
rarely free from narrOwness and pettness
In some lines OF thought.
1t IS singular that this very narrowness
seems to beget Obstiuacy, aud that no
| persons are apt to be SO strong in their
own convictions Of right and wrong, or
| so d'llicult to move from any position they
have once assumed. AS the dwelIprs I'm