Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-05-22
ANOTHER JACK AND JILL.

I! ANOTHER JACK AND JILL.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
! To fetch a pail of milk;
Jack was dressed in his Sunday best.
And Jill was all in silk
They tied the pail to Brindle's tail,
And chambered on her back,
Which made her jump and sadly bump
Miss Jill and Master Jack.
She leaped SO high, they knocked the
sky.
And dashed into star;
1t blinked its eye in mild surprise
And said, How rude you are."
The milk upset, they all got wet,
The clouds indeed were soaking;
The sky blue ground was nearly
! drowned.
And gurgled, Most provoking."
The stars all rushed and banged ana
brushed.
| And secured for half a day:
The planets rubbed, the comets
scrubbed
To clear the Milky way.
The COW. meanwhile, had ceased to
smile.
She was too much incensed;
When turning round, she duly found.
The milk was not condensed.
With crumpled tail she tossed the
pail,
The moon man screamed with
laughter,
For Jack fell down and broke his
And Jill came tumbling after
- - -
THE HORN BOOK.
The idea that children of past ages
had so few of the pleasures and ad-
vantages enjoyed by children of today
is mistake; but it is true that educa-
ton has made great strides so that
the first steps our children are to take
on the road to knowledge are certain
ly pleasanter and easier than the
thorny path of the horn book and the
primer.
The horn book was the first attempt
to teach the alphabet; but it was not
book at all, but an oblong tablet,
usually of wood, with handle. On
this tablet was pasted piece OF paper
containing the alphobet numerals and
so forth, and this was protected by
a thin sheet of translucent horn,
which gave the continuance it's name.
The old-time school boy or girl u.s.
ually carried his horn book slung on
belt at the waist, together with a
sponge, pencil and other necessities.
1t is impossible to tell the age of
this horn book; it was in active use
at least two or three centuries ago,
but when printed books became more
common children began to despise the
poor horn books, and took so little
care of them that all signs of them
gradually disappeared. There are so
few specimens left in America that it
is doubtful if more than a handful of
people have ever seen a real horn
book; the nearest approach to it is
the transparent slate in which children
take such delight. A certain enthus-
iastic collector of horn books has dis
covered one hundred and fifty speci-
mems, many of them very costly, being
of silver, ivory or hard wood
- - y
IN BIRDLAND.
In the field in early May one is al
most sure to find the meadow lark
The meadow larks are great walkers.
and spend much of their time on the
ground or perched on low trees. They
are very shy indeed. The song is
most wonderfully sweet, being high
and clear. When singing they usual
ly choose the topmost branches of a
tree in an exposed position. They are
very beautifully dressed in bright yel-
low, brown and black and measure
about ten and a half inches long.
The meadow lark's nest is placed On
the ground in the punches of grass
arranged to form sort of roof over
it. The little eggs, four to six in num-
Der, are laid early in May and ara
pure white or spotted with reddish
brown.
You are to paint the meadow lark
black, brown and yellow. Paint the
top of his head, neck, back, wings
and tail brown; use a light brown
and shade with dark. Paint the COL
| lar black; the throat a bright yellow,
the under part of the breast bright
yellow, growing lighter until almost
| white at the wings; the little spots
! are to be brown. The little spot above
| the eye is to be yellow also. Paint
| the eye black with yellow center; the
tail brown with white lines; the legs
| brown; bill brown; grass green;
trees or logs greenish gray and brown;
| sky blue.
To make a very pretty book Of
these bird pictures, paste them each
week in scrap book or home made
book of brown paper, together with
the accompanying description.
! = - -
| WHAT'S YOUR NAME.
When boy, the great French