Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-04-11
AS YOU LIKE r..
Some Stray Leaves from Reporters
Note Book.

exhibition OF freaks On bdHh slIcct
and the spelling on some OF his pla-
cards would make an photographic
say things under his breath. There
is a statement there supposed TO
have been signed by the president
OF Johns Hopkins university; the lib
erty taken in the spelling OF a few
of the words would put to shade
some of the changes as recommend
ed in phonetic spelling.
At the beginning of the year 1906
the total length of the standard
gauge railroads in Germany aggre-
gated 34,124 English miles, an in
crease of 21.3 per cent over the
mileage length OF 10 years ago. The
area OF the German empire is 20S.-
$50 square miles, and IL contains a
population of 62,l25,0OO. For every
100000 inhabitants this would give
6.1 miles length of trackage. The
receipts from passenger traffic for
the year 1906 amounted to $685.
1880, exceeding by 63.4 per cent
those of the year 1895. The pas
senger and baggage traffic contrib
uted 26.19 per cent to the total re-
ceipts.
Soon the shouts of the fans as the
players bingle the ball with the will
low will be heard at Reidville and
other baseball fields in this state,
and the national game will be on.
The season of 1908 promises to be
one of the most successful in the
history of the game. Even though
the attendance may not be the equal
of other years, there are many
hundred that can afford to be fans
and who in all probability will be
in their accustomed seats daily.
There is something about that word
fan" which has an attraction. No
one seems to know where 1T orig
mated but it is here to stay. The
preliminary games augur well for a
season of clean playing as rowdyism
has been very conspicuous by its alb
sence.
Speaking Of the habits of flowers
one writer says that the wayside
tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) indeed
has leaves so sensitive that not only
do they close in darkness, but when
ever exposed to too powerful a light.
The common day flower (Commelina
Virginica) has most curious habit
of sleeping itself away. Early in
the morning its bright blue flowers
may be seen lively and awake.
About noon, however, after its spe-
cial insects have made their rounds,
it closes its petals tightly, which
melt away before shutdown into a
mucilaginous substance resembling
jelly. The pretty little wood sor-
rel (Oxalis Acelisolla) is abundantly
grown in pots as a house plant
through the winter. At nightfall its
peculiarly sensitive leaves sleep by
dropping their three leaflets until
touching back to back, in which
position they are far from likely to
be chilled during the night. At
sunrise, however, these leaflets again
regain their horizontal position.
The following incident in New
York court makes the AS You Like
Man think of one day In the
local city court when a prisoner gave
as an excuse for stealing an UNI
brella that he was on the verge Of
sunstroke and took the umbrella to
protect him from the heat. David
Douglas pleaded guilty to stealing
500 worth of umbrellas from a
Broadway department store. They
tell me that you are a sport in hard
Ir"'- said Judge Foster, prelimin-
airy to passing sentence. why did
you steal these umbrellas Want
ed to put by something for rainy
day, Judge" replied Douglas with a
grin. Judge Foster said: Six
months in the penitentiary. 1t won't
rain on you there" The same day
William Devine, railroad watch
man, made an affidavit in the West
Side court in regard to James Dyer,
who had slept the previous night in
a New York Central freight car. The
affidavit follows: James Dyer was
at North River and Vest Eighty
third street, and did annoy the off,
Gals of the New York Central rail-
road by sleeping in an empty freight
car" Ibid he snore?" asked Magis-
trate Wahle. What did he do to
disturb Mr. Vanderbilt and Mr. De-
pew" Nothing but sleep" re-
piled Devine. "One dollar for a
nights lodging" said the court.
The following definitions OF
What Is a Friend" were given in
answer to this question, propounded
by an exchange: The sunshine Of
calamity. The essence OF
pure devotion. The ripe fruit Of
acquaintanceship. One who under
stands our silence. Friendship, one
soul In two bodies. A star of hope
in the cloud of adversely. A volume
of sympathy bound In cloth. A dia-
mond in the ring of acquaintance.
A safe in which one can trust any
thing. Friendship is the personifi-
cation of love and help. The jewel
which shines brightest in the dark
ness. One who considers my needs
before my deseryings. The link in
life's long chain which bears the
greatest strain. The first person
who comes in when the whole world
has gone out. One who loves the
truth and you, and will tell the
truth in spite Of you. The triple al
lance of the three great powers
love. sympathy and help. A jewel
whose luster the strong acids Of
poverty and disaster can not dim.
One who, having gained the top of
tha Ladder unn'f fnrpPf vOu ~ y0u