Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-04-10

to be done. Since the stories about
government poisoned alcohol have
been circulated cocktails are taboo
at our house, so we were deprived
Of the only effective tongue loosener
we could think of. we just sat around
and dreaded that dinner for a week,
and our minds were more bare than
ever of expedients for talk starting
when the guests arrived.
4 And then the surprise came.
Smith as soon as he took his
seat coughed to call the attention of
the table to himself and then OBJ
served quietly:
Il wonder if anybody here knows
what American admiral said, 1 have
! just begun to fight.
Perry" replied Robinson, promptly.
Right" said Smith, "but few people
over know. Most of them think it
was Farragut.'
"Farragut was known as the hero
of New Orleans" said Mrs. Smith.
After it was all over he said, We
thave met the enemy and they are
Eours.'"
! HAre you sure that wasn't Dewey?'
/ lHQuIE6u uFS. ILODlHSOIl. r IHAllh IAebI
was the answer in my book"
mo, it couldn't have been," cut
i'll Smith. Dewey was celebrated
! for saying that he would fight it
/ out on that line if it takes all
summer"
| Speaking of summer" remarked
Mrs. Robinson, isn't it funny that
so many people mistake the summer
solstice for the equinox, when they
do not resemble in the least"
Equinox" Smith metaphorically
Z laid his ears forward. 81 never could
! get around that course under 84.
It's the toughest one 1 ever played
I'll tell youn a little incident that
! occurred up there on the 14th last
SUMNER
! "We We're talking about an entirely
different kind of equinox" interrupted
second of February. 1t is the day
the ground heg comes out and sees
his shadow, or doesn't see it as the
ease may be- Nonsense" said Mrs.
Smith, ''that is st. Swithins day. If
7 it is cloudy then there will be six
weeks of frost"
J A little silence fell, and L began
to worry lest this unexpected burst
of talk was going to die away and
leave it incumbent on me to start
something when Robinson cleared his
/ throat and inquired:
| "I wonder if anybody here knows
who Lief Ericsson was"
'He invented the torpedo" said
Mrs. Smith brightly
mot quite right, although pretty
] close" replied Robinson. 'It was
the torpedo boat. 1 got 54 per cent
on the list that that one was on,
! and the high man only got 78."
II thought Ericsson was a Red"
4 said Mrs. Robinson. Don't you re-
member question about who was
the first Red, and the answer was
Ericsson the Red"
''That was Eric, or Herrick, or
some name like that said Mrs.
Smith "I remember 1 had that
wrong. l was surprised to find that
he came to this country in 1920.
thought the first Reds were dis
covered when our army invaded
! Russia.
! isn't it singular" inquired Smith,
''that Queen Elizabeth should have
had to pawn her jewels in order
to buy ships for Columbus, when
England was at that time the richest
country in the world
/ 'That was the queen of Italy"
said Robinson. Don't you know that
Columbus lived in Genoa, and that
Genoa is in italy"
4 II guess that's right admitted
| Smith, "and come to think of it
the queens name was something or
other de Midici'
Charlotte" said Mrs. Smith.
Queen Charlotte is kind of
Il temperance drink we used to have"
said Robinson, 'and no temperance
drink would be named after a queen
OF Italy. They're all wet over there" "
Speaking of wet and dry" said
Mrs Robinson, "does any one here
! know what an asteroid thermometer
lisp"
"You mean an aneroid thermometer
dear" said her husband. cit is a
machine that tells you the density
of water and liquids of all kinds.
EThey use them in rectifying spirits. .
Perhaps you're right" said Mrs.
Robinson, Il never could get that
one quite straight. But 1 do know
what a segment is.'
I $50 do all of us who have travelled,
i said Mrs. Smith. "It's the thing that
captains of ships look through to
find out how far they are from
port"
Mrs Robinson looked at her ad-
Imiringly you've certainly got that
list pat" she said. 81 thought
would be the only one here who
knew that one
We'll" said Robinson, after a pause
sit does a person good to keep up
with the times. Six months ago ]
was living in the dark ages
didn't even know who Pharoah was
and / thought Alexandria was down
somewhere near Washington. But
these question lists keep a fellow
right up to date, and they give him
something to talk about, beside"
Yes" l replied, with an inward
sigh of gratitude, "they certainly
give people something to talk about
| Dispatch Telephones 81 and 50.