The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1910-08-18
THE ALBATRoss.
The Largest See Bird Having the Pow.
Or Of flioht

The Largest Soa Bird Having the Pow.
Or Of Flight.
The albatross, that wunderer of the
seas 50 often referred 10 In prose and
poem. is nevertheless stranger to the
average person and by some Is even
considered myth. In Coleridge's
'"The Rhine Of the Ancient. Mariner
the albatross plays leading part. and
one sorrows for the poor bird. which,
after following the ship for weeks. is
pitilessiy shot down by mariner.
The albatross is the largest sea bird
having the power Of flight and Is
closely allied to the gull. petrol and
Mother Carey's chicken. II has a
tremendous stretch OF wing. averaging
from ten to twelve feet The wings
are. however. extremely narrow. being
about nine inches in breadth. The
body In about four feet in length. ana
the weight IL from fifteen to eighteen
pounds. comparatively light weight
when one considers the extreme length
Of wing. The albatross Is possessed
Of a peculiarly long. oddly shaped bill.
which gives It strange appearance.
The uostrils open from round. bort.
xontal tubea on each side of the bill.
but at Its base.
This great bird is generally met with
| in southern seas. although It Is occa-
| sionally seen on our Pacific coast. On
! the Atlantic side II is rarely tonnd as
, far north as Tampa bay
| Its food consists of cnttletish. jelly.
! Dish and scraps thrown from passing
: ships. II II greedy bird and ut
times gorges itself to such an extent
| that Il Ii unable to rise from the wa.
ter.
lts power Of night Is. however. the
most remarkable thing about the nj.
batross. It spends Its life. with the
exception Of few weeks given each
year to nesting. entirely nt sta and -
on the wing practically all the time.
Furthermore. It does not progress by
Camping its wings. as most birds do.
but seems to soar ut will. rarely II
ever giving q stroke Of the wing. seem.
ing to need no impetus. -St. Nicholas
| ~--
Fine AT Of Letter Opening.
In Russia one letter In every ten
passing through the post Is opened by
the authorities as a matter of cOurxe.
Indeed. the postal authorities Of every
country have experts who have raised
letter opening to line art. Some
kinds Of paper can be steamed open
without leaving any traces. and this
. simple operation is finished by re-
furnishing the Gap with tDne lnstrl'
i nent. In the case Of n seal u n,atrtx
Lbs taken by means Of new bread BE-
fore breaking the wax When other
methods fail the envelope is plassSi be-
tween pieces of wood with edge pro-
iecting one-twentieth Of an inch. The
edge Of the envelope Is tirst iattened.
, then roughened aud finally slit open
Later hair line Of stron. white gum
Is applied and the edges united under
pressure.-Lontlon Chronicle.
Charity and Prudence.
The contradictions of life are many
An observnnt man remarked recently
that he was pr0wling about certain
city square when he came upon d
. drinking fountain which bore two cor
, dieting inscriptions. #t
) One. the original inscription on thu
!. fountain. was from the Bible. "ADe
: wl,osoeyer will. let him take the wate'
!. OF life freely"
HI Above this hung placard. "ileas'
: do not waste the water" : YOUTH