The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-03-20

| y lady writes to me and asks what is
| really meant by the needles eye" in the
| parable Of the rich man. | remember
| reading somewhere that it was the small
| est gate that gave entrance TO the walled
| city of Jerusalem, and that loaded
| camel had TO be stripped of its burden
| and bend its knees TO squeeze through
! And rich man had TO give up his
| riches and come to his knees before he
| could enter heaven. But | do not find
! that in any commentary. II was just one
| of the thousand proverbs that adorned
| the moral teachings of the Jews and
( the eastern nations The writings OF
| Job and Solomon and Confucius and Ma
| hOmet abound in them. In the Koran is
| found this prOverb: The mpious man
will find the gates of heaven shut and he
! can no more enter than camel can pass
| through a needles eye There is anoth-
er in the Koran which says You will
| never see palm tree of gold nor an ele-
phant pass through needles eye
| These proverbs simply meant that it was
| impossible. Strange to say the world has
| long since quit making proverbs All
proverbs have come down to us. even
such "a rolling stone gathers no
| moss. Poor Richard left us a few
| such as "A penny saved is two pence
| gained.
young man eager for knowledge
| writes to know why it is that when you
| reverse number and subtract the less
| from the greater the difference is al
ways nine or some multiple of nine, and
nine will divide it without a remainder.
He wants to know the reason why. This
| is rather complex, but the reason is
plain when you see it. By reversing Il
number you change the numerical value
| of every figure in it: units become tens
or hundreds or thousands, and vice YER
! sa; and hence, if you subtract a unit
| from a ten it leaves nine. Take ten, for
instance, and reverse it, and it is .01. 1t
| was ten before and it is l now, and the
difference is obliged to be nine. Take 81
and reverse it and you change tens to
8 units, and 1 unit to ten; gaining 81
| and losing 9,which makes -, multiple
of s.. Now if you add instead of subtract
| the sum will be 4 Or some multiple of II.
| 10 and OF II; Is and 81 make 44 16 and 81
| make ~: "A and AZ make Sc: all multipleS
| of II. The complexities and results of fl
| cures many and very wonderful. They
| train the mind and strain the mind. I
know they did mine when | struggling
through trigonometry and calculus. A
Latin and Greek with the help of transla-
tions, but he can't fool the professor on
| the blackboard
Another enquiring mind wishes to know
why it is that the first day of May and
| the following Christmas always come on
| the same day Of the week. Well, it can t
! help it, that's all, for there are thirty
four even weeks from one to the other.
| p,,t brI do bo fjrCt of "a
next May don't fit. February comes in
| and knocks the even into odd
| A Florida girl writes that her almanac
is all wrong. for it gives February only
| twenty eight days. Notwithstanding this
is leap year Yes, Miss. this is leap
year but it don't leap. The last year
| in every century has to be skipped as a
| leap year for old father time gains day
| in every hundred years, and the clock
has to be set back twenty four hours.
And here is a good humble, sensible let
| ter from a Louisiana negro who says he
has great respect for the white people,
and loves to lean upon them, for they
| know best and they have treated him
kindly all his life He wants to know
where the word negro comes from, and
what it means. He says: 4 read all
| your letters, and you give us some awful
blows. but you can't blow the monkey
out OF us. Well, the word negro is
Spanish and Portugee for black. The
French is nigre. The Latin is niger, and
| the English corrupted it into niger. The
Century dictionary says that niger is
more English than negro; and was used
without opprobrious intent; and can be
found in writings of Tom Hood and Praed
| and Trevelyn. The Irish call them nagers
But as the Latin is the founda tion of all
these languages l would say that niger
is really the origin and the most proper
name for the race.
| was on the train once when good old
Sanford Bell was very much perplexed
about miserable cadaverous- looking
foreigner who took seat in the negros
car; and a negro preacher made a fuss
about it. So Sandford asked him whether
he was negro or a white man. He
shrugged his shoulders and grinned as
he replied: Mine fader vas a Portugee
and mine mudder vas a nagur'' Sandford
looked at the preacher and said What
shall | do with him ?' Let him stay or
pitch him out the window" he replied.
Sandford said to me, Il think he is a cross
between babboon and esquimo'
| like such negroes the who
wrote me that respectful and sensible let
ter In fact | know of many negroes who
have not only my regard. but share of
my affections. How willing they to
oblige you. When | am afar from home
and want information about the trains
or the town or the time | always ask
negro, for he will tell me more willingly
than white man. Yes, more Willingly
than some depot officials | have met
4 good negro died here the other day
a negro whose conduct and industry and
politeness has been for years without
spot Ellis Patterson deserves monu-
ment for he did the very best he could.
He had no children. but adopted two
orphan girls and raised them. He was
manly in his department; always re-