The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-05-18

grasp on the reins, in case the horse
should start just as you We're mount
ing. Do not haul yourself up with the
reins, but be prepared, mentally. to pull
up the horse if necessary. -Harper's
Young People. ~.sE..t
Something About Polar Bears
Small boys who object to going to bed
at O'Clock ought to be thankful that
they are not polar bears, for in that
case they would have to sleep several
months at a time. These big white fell
lows do most of their eating during the
short summer season, and are obliged
to 60 without food for most Of the win
ter, consequently they spend most Of
that time asleep. They build for them
selves snow houses so nearly like those
of the Esquimaux that one might have
been copied from the other Into the
Snow-bank the bear crawls, and re-
| mains there until the long arctic winter
night begins to give way to the long
summer day. Then he comes out to
| look for food. He is fat and sleek
when he first goes to sleep, says a re-
| cent account of him, but during his long
fast this fat is entirely consumed, so
that he energies as gaunt as wolf and
quite as hungry. He directs his foot
steps at once toward the coast, and
goes out upon the ice in search of a
sleeping seal for breakfast. If asleep,
the seal is easy prey, and so, too, if
in the water, for the bear is almost as
| nonat1 a hnr1n fhn1,o iS f1,n
Like all marine animals, being provided
| with lungs, the seal has to come to the
surface to breathe at intervals not ex-
| ceeding twenty minutes. Then he is
apt to find the bear floating around and
| looking just like a small cake of ice,
but, in reality, very much alive and Oh
the alert as soon as his prey comes
within reach. Though he may kill the
seal in the water, the bear finds it more
convenient to drag it out so as to take
his breakfast on the solid ice OF on the
shore. s'as. =
When the bear finds a seal summing
itself upon the ice he approaches it
with great caution until within striking
distance, when he springs nimbly upon
his victim, and dispatches it with Il sin
gle blow of his powerful paw. While
summing itself the seal takes little maps
of but a few minutes duration, and it
is at that time the bear makes his ap-
proach. The seal wakes with q start,
raises it's head, looks around for an
enemy, but seeing nothing suspicious, it
drops its head, at the same time emit
4 ting a prolonged snore, and is again
lost in sleep. While the seals head is
elevated the bear lies fiat upon his
belly, keeps perfectly still, and looks
for all the world like any of the hum
mocks of ice around it. The moment
the seals head drops the bear drags
himself cautiously forward, but is again
motionless and rigid when the head is
raised, and in this way arrives at last
within reach Of the foolish seal.
Where Gresnbacks Are Redeemed:
With pass from the treasurer we
may walk through the redemption di-
vision, as it is called, where the worn-
out bank-bills are received and can
celled and destroyed. You would be
amazed to see the skill with which frag-
ments of bills that have been soaked in
water nearly to pulp, scorched and
crisped by fire, or gnawed by rats, are
pieced together on paper the size of the
original bill, so that their value can be
found. When all is done, they are
placed under a glass which is the same
: size as the bill, and is divided into sec
; tons that will show very nearly the
precise fractional part of the bill which
is missing; so that if the tenth part OF
a one-dollar bill is gone, the bill is at
. once seen to be worth but 80 cents.
The women do this work with surpris-
ing accuracy and dexterity. 1t is not
r always pleasant work, for the money
is sometimes fearful stuff to handle
| when it comes in to be cOunted-reek.
ing with filth and having shocking
j odor. That which is to be destroyed or
replaced with new is put on a machine
run by turbine wheel, which punches
the packages in several spots 50 that
, it would be nearly impossible to use the
bills again, and then it is taken to a
peculiar furnace to be burned, where
the coloring matter, chemical and
metallic, of it's substance makes q
curious wildly tinted Stag.
What MIR. Frog Had to Tell
Frogs, as well as humans must ocs
casionally have peculiar experiences.
, One would like to know exactly how
they tell q story like the following, on
going home to Mrs. Frog and the chill
dren! Charlotte NJ. Yonge says:
One day, as snake was crossing
! our lawn, it was seen and pursued by
! some member of the family. It seemed
to be rather portly and incapable Of
fight, and finally, in order to be free
!, to move, it opened its jaws and emitted
a frog, after which it Wriggled rapidly
. away.
The frog lay pulled out at full length,
a CHASTITY spectacle. A great deal of
sympathy was expended over its In
! animate form, and just as it was about
!. to be removed from the spot, behold!
it drew in first one leg and then the
other, contracted itself into a respecta-
4 bic frog, and hoped off as if nothing
had been amiss! ss
My dear" it probably said to Mrs.
Frog, on reaching the pond, IT shall
never smile again. Such remarkable
experience as mine sobers one for life.