The age-herald., 1900-11-06
SKETCHES FROM
 EVERYDAY LIFE

A certain dry goods merchant had habit of advertising big reduction sales.' Then he would give a long list of articles. each of which would be marked Reduced to s2.99," whatever the price might be- Every article. however. bore the sign ''re- duced to- while a matter of fact the articles were sold at the same prices they were sold at on days that were not "re- duction" sales days One of his customers discovered this fact and took him to task about it.
 well matam," said the merchant. dat ist true. I really intend to mark dose goods down every reduction sale, but ven de time come to do it, has heart failure
 Mister, mister" exclaimed an excited colored youth rushing into the police head quarters, ''please come quick A man out here done said he gwine ter pull gun on pa
 The solitary policeman, who sat by the fire whistling the assembly and the break
 Numerous good women and perhaps some good men in Birmingham had unwholesome dreams last night and this morning have bad tastes in their mouths tenderly speak ing and a more or less il-defined wish that they hadn't gone to the theatre to witness a stage adaptation of Hall Gaines morbid unwholesomeness in fiction. It Is always astonishing that intelligent minds can become so morbid as to turn from the world of pure literature at hand to ths Hall Gaines and the Corellis whose sole purpose is to grind out dollars. Similar morbidness leads people to the morgue in Paris, the catacombs in Rome, and Tus- saud's horror-chamber in London. fast call, and dreaming of scenes in the Spanish war, through which he had safely passed, sprang to his feet, seized his club and went forth into the night.
 Not long after he returned with negro boy about sixteen who looked as limp as a rag
 He started to sit down on the table. Don't sit there," said the officer kindly, "there might be a tack on the table He had no gun," he continued, "but was just drunk"
 What is your name?" said the night wardon
 "Isac Pitts
 "Did you draw gun anyone?'
 'No sir"
 Ever steal anything?'
 ':No sir"
 SS game?"
 ''No sir"
 Never told lie?'
 "No sir"
 Well you're just the man we are looking for. So rare a specmen could not be turn ed loose. Just step inside"
 Did you ever think" said a gentleman of the old school, "how few people learn an entire song or poem. For instance among many cultivated people it is a very common occurrence to find one who does not know the words of such familiar songs Annie Laurie, My Life is Like a Summer Rose, or even Home Sweet Home. l have even heard story of someone being asked to say the Lords Prayer, beginning it, Now I lay me down to sleep People learn the the opening line of a poem and never seem to have time to learn it all. It was dif- ferent when 1 was a boy What little they knew was generally known thoroughly I remember when I first went to boarding school the teacher asked me if I knew the alphabet. I of course replied that I did Then say it backwards he said. I couldn't say it backwards, and told him I didn't believe he could, but to my sur prise he said it backwards as readily as forwards
 The teachers in some of the Brooklyn schools have been ordered by the school authorities to play with the pupils. They are obeyng the order and playing with as much mirth as would be shown by man with the toothache if ordered by the dentist to laugh. From the cruelty practieed on children in the days of Dickens to the studi- ous methods of pleasing them which are practiced now, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. Doubtless many Brooklyn father when he heard of this or- Ger wished that he was a boy again just to play one game of tag or knucks with the teachers.
 Teachers now will be kinder and ''nicer" than ever to the children, for just as the fear of being kept in after school has made many boy behave, so the fear of being 'it'' in the recess games will make many a teacher behave:
 It is said the order gives full instructions how to play the various games, and the Brooklyn school rooms present the remark able spectacle of scholars trying to learn what the teacher knows, and the teacher trying to learn what the school boy knows.
 
 A recent suicide in the city adds another name to the list of those who have been killed or ruined by morphine. This man was industrious and intelligent In a fit of despondency he took morphine. He had without question or difficulty bought enough morphine to kill dozen people. The sell CTS of this drug could they have seen him as he lay on a cot gasping for breath hour after hour womb have realizAd how care. full they should be in its sale.
 He lay dying in a room surrounded by strangers. By his side sat the doctor who had done everything possible to save him, but without effect. The drug had too firm a hold, and did not intend to let its victim go. Gradually his pulse grew weaker, and his gasping breaths fainter and further apart Towards the end his chest would