Oxford Democrat., 1921-07-19
Here and There.

"a
In the prayer below. It's mans prayer
and the sender evidently is ssnsible oi
the temptations under which the poor
creatures live. There is not much ques
ton bot what men ought to pray, and Il
they can be induced to do 80, 1t 10 prob
able no better prayer has been devised
since they graduated from "Now / Lay
Me-"
Teach me that 90 minutes make an hour, II
ounces one pound and 100 cents one dollar. Hell
me so 70 i've thst can lie down at night with
clear conscience. without gun under my pillow
and unhaun:e by the faces OF those TO wnom
have brought pain. Grant that I may earn my
meaL,icket on the square, and that In earning u
may do unto others a. would have them DC
money. "a and to the rustic Of unholy siiTss. Blind
me 10 the faults OF the other fellow, but reveal tC
me my own. Guide me 30 that each night wher
look kcross the dinner table at nv wife, WHO
has been blessing to me. viii have nothing g
conceal Keep me young enough to laugh with
little children, and sympathetic enough TO bS
confederate Of old age. So when comes the day
Of darkened shades, the smell OF nowers, the
tread Of son footsteps and the crunching Of
wheels In the yard-make the ceremony shor,
snd the epltaph simple-'Here Lies Man."
There was an auto accident In Port
Of little old man of eighty years, known
In the Forest City as "the little old man
with the VIOLIN" because he was rarely
seen without this musical instrument
under his arm. The popular ssng, "Fid
die and l." would apply to this man ell
right. His name was Ezra Smiley, and
he 10 Of interest 70 Oxford County pec.
pie because be was an uncle to Thomas
Smiley, former well known citizen OF
Norway. He was dwarf, although bis
twin sister Was said to be an unusually
large woman. he was graduate of the
Boston Conservatory of Music. making q
special study OF the organ and violin. He
was passionatsly fond Of music, and wss
an organist and yiolinist all bis life. BE
was quaint figure, always wearing q
full beard and Q stiff hat. Like mosl
musicians his whims were many and
odd. When at church organ he would
play and play, sncroaching on the time
Of the minister, not giving him time to
announce hymns. Notwithstanding his
oddities, he gave pleasure to many peo-
pie. who consider his death a. . real
loss.
One hundred years ago this month,
John Howard Payne, author Of "Home,
Sweet Home" was behind bars In the
old Fleet Prison In London. The reason
therefor was because he had tried to ele-
vsts the stage In the Sadlers Wells Thea
tire, and In 80 doing had depleted his
pocket book to such an extent that be
didn't need any pocket book. Paupers
are sent to poor houses; insolven,s 30
jail. The latter condition accounts for
Payps's Incarceration. Jails necessarily
produce idle minds, and the reader
knows what the devil does with such
vacuitiss. The long tailed gent pot hold
Of Payne, while behind bars, and be pro-
duced the opera "Therese"-as least, In
his day, the devil was thought to be the
power behind the brain which produced
operas, novels and such like. The devil
has done some pretty good jobs, how.
ever, with jail birds, especially In the
writing line, for the authors, constituting
Psyne's brothers behind the bars, In.
cluds such names as John Bunyap, Leigh
Hunt, Cervantes, Sir Walter Raleigh,
Tasso, Daniel Dsfos, and probably 9th
ers.
There 10 an old saying that history re-
peats ltself, and there are people who
think she (maybs that's the wrong gen.
der) 10 up TO her old tricks. After each
OF sur big wars piracy has broken out,
and there 10 some evidences of an out
break at the present time. A tiger may
be kitten until be tastes human blood,
then he becomes o man. eater. After a
man smells the blood OF battle it is 30
Intoxicating he 10 losth to settle down to
the prosaic ways OF peace, therefore riot
ous conduct 10 liable to show itself. /
Such outrages are quelled easier on land
than on sea, 20 the favorite form 10 pi-
rscy. The recent grounding of the Car.
roll o. Deering, and the disappsarance
of three other American steamships has
given rise 10 this thought. The sea Is
wide and there are many lands In 1t,
each OF which it 10 possible to convert |
into Treasure Island"
Among the birthday anniversaries OF |
July 10 that OF Captain Frederick Mar
ryat. His books Of the sea have ap
psalsd 20 every boy who had red blood |
In his veins, and In these can be- found |
the mystery and the superstition which |
the ocean Q century ago. Per |
haps the ons best known at the present |
time, and most likely to attain . hoary
old age, 10 "The Phantom Ship"
On Saturday, the 18th, occurred the
one hundrsdth anniversary OF the birth
OF Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, . woman with
vitality enough to found q religion In
prosaic, matsrialistic and sthelstic age.
Quite likely number Of religions come
INTO existence every decade, but most OF
hem die s-borning. Not 60 Mrs. Eddy's.
Hers proved vital, growing kind.
For sentimental reasons, quite an impe-
us has been given the growing OF the
fright red Flanders field poppies; but
{ is proving Q menace 10 agriculture.
Tot only VIII they grow between the
rossss Of . graveyard. bus spread oil
vsr any kind OF feld. Thsy are liable
0 form formidable rival to the white
aisy. l.
The biggest man IN the world 10 dead.
10 was Charles e. Jackson OF Brockton,
Iass. In 1919 he weighed $50 pounds,
ut he has been sick for the past 1--WE
DorsL and this illness has reduced bis y
sight 70 400 pounds. he was 81 years
DaEs old and was six feet tall. -