The L'Anse sentinel., 1924-01-04
WITH THE
HIGH SCHOOL
CLASSICS
By MARGARET BOYD
slow through the suburbs pIod-
dsd the German farmer, with flow
ers and fruit for tho market"
-Evanqeline.


-Evangeline.
The descendants Of the German farm
ers who plodded through Philadelphia's
streets during Evangeline's day are
the Pennsylvania German or the Penn
sylvania Dutch of the present.
The land of the Pennsylvania Ger
man extends northward and westward
from Philadelphia a hundred miles or
so in each direction, and so far as
language and customs are concerned
Is foreign land. The country Is rich
farm land and the Pennsylvania Ger
man Is notable farmer.
His language Is not German, but
Pennsylvania German-a dialect that
savants say has not been spoken in any
part Of Germany for nearly century.
In order to conduct his market busi-
ness 1t has been necessary for the
farmer to learn some English, but 1t Is
not unusual to find stay-at-home men,
bers Of the family who can neither
speak nor understand English, al
though they and their parents and
thCiI WCiC OOAh AAA
America. The English they do speak
Is queer hybrid, Of the sort spoken
by the tired market woman who re-
marked that she was ''teetotally ausge-
spelled"
Most Of the Pennsylvania Germans
belong to the Mennonite, or the Dun
ker church, although there are other
sects among them, including one that
holds 1t sinful to cut the hair or to
wear buttons on the clothes. 1t Is
well worth trip through a city market
to see elders Of the latter sect, long
haired, much-bearded men, with their
clothing held in place by large hooks
and eyes.
The women all wear dresses with
tight-fitting waists and long, gathered
skirts. The dresses are usually brown
or black-never Of any bright color.
Their head covering is a little white net
cap and a little dark bonnet. The
young girls dress in the frivolous style
of the town until they join the church.
Then they turn plain" and don the
conventional white cap. From that time
forth they are required to keep their
heads covered. On very hot days the
matron at work In hot kitchen may
shove her cap far back on her head.
but she never altogether removes 1t.
!
"sieep that knlts up the ravelI'd sleeve
Of care,
The death Of each days life, sore la
| bor's bath,
Balm Of hurt minds, great natures SEQ
ond course,
Chief nourlsher In life's feast"
Macbeth.
Man can live longer without food
than without sleep. There are many re-
corded Instances where men have gone
for forty or more days without food
and have recovered from the expert
ence. do not know the maximum num-
Der of days that man can go without
sleep, but 1t is far short Of forty. The
expert workmen who line the great d.
gesters In paper mills must often work
| for sixty hours without more sleep
than they can snatch during the time
that new material Is being brought in
to them, never more than ten minutes
at time. Surgeons and doctors some
times work continuously for fifty or
sixty hours at time after great bat
ties. These men are always exhausted
after such periods OF work and sleep
excessively long periods in order to get
back to normal. 1t Is probable that a
man who was not working could go
without sleep for a longer period; but
It seems to be the general testimony Of
those who have been kept awake for
as much as sixty hours, by third de-
gree methods, that by that time they
are willing to confess to any crime or
do anything else to get sleep.
The virtues Of sleep as balm Of
hurt" minds is sung by Shakespeare In
the Tempest" as follows:
It seldom visits sorrow: when It doth
| 1t IL comforter.
Young expressed much the same
| thought In the lines:
Tired natures sweet restorer. balmy
He, like the world, his ready visit pays
Where fortune smiles-the wretched he
| forsakes.
While the ancients described Som
nus, the god Of sleep, as the gentlest
of the gods. ''the tranqullizer Of minds
and soother of care-worn hearts," Sir
Philip Sidney sang Of sleep as:
The batting place Of wit. the balm Of
The poor mans wealth. the prisoners
| release.
Mrs. Browning refers to the Psalm
lists exaltation Of sleep:
or all the thoughts Of God that are
| Borne Inward into souls afar,
| Along the Psalmists music Deep
| Now tell me II that any is.
| For gift of grace SURPRISING this
He giveth His beloved sleep.
Scientists try every now and then
to find some substitute for sleep, just
s, a thew search for the secret of eter-