The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-06-10
Quaint and Curions.

II has not occurred to many thai Cain,
the hrst born son into the world, was the
inventor of murder; also he invented or
originated the useful nrt which elevated
man above the savage and the nomad-he
found out the secret OF tllling the ground,
and was tho fret farmer; he also built the
iirstclty. His descendants invented the
harp and the organ, and with them we OBJ
ta!ned the science of music; also tue
making of metals.
Whatever else may be eaid OF Cain and
his sons no one can dispute but what they
possessed brains. and made good use of
them. Abel WAS nera herdSman, and
Seth and his descendants were only
graziers and cattle dealers, without any
liked hhbtatfon, roaming hither and
thlther. from pasture ground to pasture
ground, staying long enough TO consume
all Inc gras6, lust as their succe ssors the
Mesopotnmians. the Arabs and tho
Scythlanp did, aud as the Tartars OF the
present day.
In maritime language lt-is sald that O
well built vessel Is still called tight
craft. The sta phrase. to run ship" is
to direct the helfpsman how to steer-that
Is. to teach or irnpart knowledge to him.
In It's original SENSE cunning occurs many
times In the translation OF the Bible.
Craft, as In handicrafL, authorcraft or
oru1tsmen retains in popular use Its
better meaning. The contradiction ia
curious. 10 say of q man he Is Il good
craftsman is compliment. 10 call him
crafty would be cause for resentment.
'Sistern." for sisters, formerly heard
nom uneducated speakers In this country
is as old as Chaucer, who writes OF the
fates as the fatal sustren," "Brethernn
Is word quite as old. which was E-p. in
place. The ladies' Will not fail To assign
the reason, that Ia just like the men ITO
keep the Brethren" before the public.
while the 'Sistern" are relegated to OBJ.
scurlty.
Mary means 'Myrrh of tho sea- and 1t
is also translated bitter" The name Of
Mary is the most popular of all female
names In Christian countries. 1t was tho
name of the Mother OF Christ. There are
sevon different "Marys'' in the Bible.
The sister of Moses and Aaron, who led
the songs of the lsraelites when they saw
their enemies dead upon the sea shore;,
she was the first owner OF that name.
lAnd BY the way many believed that the
Bible says. that Pharoah was drowned oil.
SO with his host.
The Bible doesn't say SO. 1t has been
translated to mean 'stub0ornness' from
meri. and has atso been explained as
meaning "Myrrh OF tho Sea-" Lady of
the Sea-" or Star OF the Sea-" The de-
votion OF the Crusaders fret brought
Maria into Europe and thence arose the
French Marion. In England the transia-
tlon OF the Bible gave the English form
Mary" TO the French "Marie." Mary III
was the iirst Of the queens who dropped
the terminal "le."
This name may be found In sixteen DIFF
ieropt languages, the com monest forms
being Maria, Mary. Merton. Mol, Molly,
Polly, Muy, Marie. Marlelte. and Marietta.
The land of PalestiLe 1t Is said, is about
one fourth the size of New York.
Hindoostan is mere than q hundred
times larger than Palestine.
:. Greece Is about the Size Of the State Of
Vermont.
Great Britain and ireland are not as
large as New York. Pennsylvania and
Ohio.