Various

“ During this conversation the dinghy had been urged steadily across the channel, and was now run up to a bold bank, where the boys disembarked. After removing Alaric's bag and the several cans of provisions so thoughtfully furnished them by Captain Duff, Bonny gave the boat a push out into the channel, down which the ebbing tide bore her, with many a twist and turn, toward the more open waters of the sound.
"To be left in this way in an unknown wilderness makes me feel as Cortez must have felt when he burned his ships," reflected Alaric, as he watched the receding craft. ”

“ Eighteen years ago Stanley traced the Congo from central Africa over 1500 miles to the ocean. His great discovery made him famous, but other men who followed him, some of whose names are hardly known, except to geographers, have travelled far more widely in the Congo basin than Stanley was able to do. He led the way, and forty or fifty followers, scattering all over the Congo basin, which is half as large as the United States, have been revealing this land to us; and students of the ocean have been studying the sea-bed off its mouth. ”

“ All the men feel that they've got to dress like the Prince of Whales and if he came out in a bathing suit and a blue plush smoking-cap on his head, every man in England and New York that wanted to be fashionable would do the same thing, and if he dressed as magnificently as he knew how, in a diamond-studded dress-suit and gold trousers, it would ruin everybody to go and do likewise. So he wears clothes that are within the reach of all, which I think is very nice of him, though I wish I could see him on Sunday when he puts on his best. Pop says the way the men imitate him is very funny. ”

“ But is it really any more wonderful than that rays of light should go through glass or quartz or diamond or water? We are familiar with this last fact, because we can "see through" these substances. We know that glass does not shut out light, because we can see the space beyond it illuminated. But we have no sense that tells us of the presence of the Röntgen rays. We must resort to the photographic plate or the fluorescent screen (to be described further on) , to show their presence, and for all information as to their behavior. ”

“ Africa heads the list, for that continent, a fourth larger than our own, which was scarcely known a century ago, except in its outlines and along some of its rivers, has been thrown open to our gaze in nearly every corner; and the part of Africa where the greatest amount of work, the largest interest, and the most surprising discoveries have centred is the basin of the Congo, the second largest of the world's river systems. ”

“ But what are "rays"? When we stand in front of a fire of glowing coals we feel the warmth, and our eyes tell us of the light. Light and heat are said to radiate from the glowing coals, and both light and heat proceed in straight lines. These straight paths followed by radiations we have called rays. These rays are quivering motions in a medium which we call the ether, and which we believe extends through all space and pervades all bodies. They are waves, having the character of waves on the water, which we can see, and sound waves in air, which we know exist. ”

“ London beats 'em all for side-shows and go. When you think you've seen all there is to see you come across an entirely new lot of museums, and parks, and hysterical spots to be visited, and I'm just dizzy trying to remember what Pop told me not to forget. ”

“ Henry Hovey and his little brother George—who was not so little as he used to be—were walking along the ocean road. Often and often they had gone down to the old wooden pier, and sighed much because it no longer held their interesting friend, the Old Sailor. They had met other sailors, but none of them could tell tales of the sea; and, worse than that, none of them knew anything about the wonderful places the Old Sailor had seen. ”

“ A hard-wood board held between you and the tube is no protection. The streams pass through it unchecked. Sheets of metal even do not wholly stop them. The wonder of it all is that for nearly twenty years experimenters with the Crookes tube have been pierced through and through by these subtle streams and have never known it. Do they produce any effect as they pass through the body? Can they cause or cure disease?
It has been proved that they pass quite freely through the lungs, but if tubercules are present they stop the rays. ”

“ Almost immediately he again sprang to this feet, and thrusting his oar overboard, began to scull with one hand. "It won't do for us to be loafing here," he explained, "for I expect those fellows have been called back so that the whole crowd can chase us in the sloop."
"Oh, I hope not," said Alaric; "I'm tired of running away."
"So am I," laughed Bonny—"tired in more ways than one; but if fellows bigger than we are will insist on chasing us, I don't see that there is anything for us to do but run. There! ”

“ The teacher who does his duty is bound to be strict. A school is like an army. Orders must be carried out and no questions asked, and no tales told out of school. That was the law in my school-days, and it is a good law. From the very start you must believe that your teacher is your friend, and that he is doing his best. ”

“ It is curious that the part of the eye which is transparent to the light, and through which light passes to reach and affect the optic nerve, is nearly opaque to the Röntgen rays. Vision by means of these rays would therefore be impossible, even if the optic nerve were sensitive to them.
But suppose these rays could excite vision. What should we see? Holding a purse between the eye and a Röntgen ray source, we should see the coins within it. If a person stepped in the path of the ray we should see his bony skeleton. ”

“ So you belong to this craft, do you? Come aboard and get it, then."
"Don't you wish we would?" retorted Bonny, jeeringly, as he stopped sculling and allowed the dinghy to drift just beyond reach from the sloop. "I say, though, you might toss us a couple of hardtack."
"What? Feed you young pirates with rations that's just been seized by the government? Not much. I'm in the service, I am."
Just then a bright object flashed from one of the little round cabin windows and fell in the dinghy. It was a box of sardines. Tins of potted meat, mushrooms, and other delicacies followed in quick succession. ”

“ Before Stanley came whole tribes on one shore had never seen the people who lived across the river.
A little later in 1885 a steamboat was sent up the Congo to the mouth of the big river that enters it at Equatorville. No vessel could have a more pleasant mission, for this steamer was the bearer of loving letters from home and fresh supplies of European food for Wissman's party of explorers, who had been in the African wilderness for many months, and might be in sore need of succor. ”

“ In nearly every city of the Middle West high-school associations have been organized during the past year or so, and these associations have done much toward encouraging school sport, and toward making the contests among their members more systematic than they have been heretofore. In Wisconsin interscholastic football and baseball games have until recently been carried on in a haphazard fashion, without any special attempt toward the formation of a union that might properly recognize the claims to supremacy of the successful team. ”

“ On her way to school she had to pass the house of two very dear old ladies, who lived by themselves, and pottered about in a pretty old-fashioned garden. Miss Betsey and Miss Annie were fond of the bright girls who two or three times a day walked past their door on the way to and from their classrooms, and they had their favorites among them, often stopping Lily, for instance, and giving her a flower or two to fasten into her buttonhole. ”

“ When you stand in front of a Crookes tube in action these flying particles are streaming through your body, stopping not at all at your clothing, and hardly at all checked by the flesh, nor wholly stopped even by the bones. ”

“ I suggest that the New York and Brooklyn associations combine, because it seems to me that it would be more profitable, on account of the larger number of entries, the greater interest, and the greater attendance such a union would command. Should the bicycle event be stricken from the interscholastic card, an excellent substitute would be a relay race. Relay races, as I have frequently said within the past few weeks, are becoming more and more popular all over the country, and sooner or later the relay race will become a standard event on every track-athletic card. ”

“ In daylight objects become visible by means of the light which falls upon them and is reflected to the eye. This brings out the detail of the visible surface. But the Röntgen rays are scarcely at all reflected, and even if they produced vision, objects would become visible only as they intercepted the rays. They would not be illuminated as they are illuminated by rays of light, and only outlines, therefore, would be seen. ”

“ Many thousands of people live in huts reared high on piles out of reach of floods; and a few lakes are dotted with these habitations, thus placed beyond the easy reach of enemies.
The explorers discovered the widespread haunts of the Batwa dwarfs—the keen little hunters who had been seen when Stanley wrote his book, The Congo. Their researches proved that the Congo basin is the greatest hotbed of cannibalism the world ever saw. These and many other discoveries kept geographers on the alert. ”

“ The transparency of wood makes it possible to inspect the work of a carpenter, and determine whether the work hidden under the exterior finish has been honestly done. Hidden compartments in a desk or cabinet might be revealed. The contents of a packing-box might be ascertained without opening it. But to scientific men these rays have a very great interest. What are they? Are they vibrating movements transmitted in waves, like light? Are they particles shot off from the Crookes tube and flying with enormous velocity? ”

“ Grenfell forgot his missions for the time, became the zealous explorer, and kept on his course up the wide river until he was stopped by rapids, having left the Congo about 400 miles behind; and while he was threading the virgin stream Stanley was in England making his large map of the Congo, on which not a trace of its greatest tributary appeared. The distinguished explorer was the first victim of the swarm of discoveries which from that day for years made every new map of the Congo behind the times as soon as the next mails arrived from the river. ”

“ It is found that more water pours into the ocean through the Congo's mouth, which is six miles wide, than from all the other rivers in Africa put together. The soft, dark-colored mud brought down by the river has been distinctly traced on the ocean bottom for six hundred miles from the land. In no other part of any ocean do the influences of the land waters make themselves felt so far out to sea. ”

“ When children are thus "taken down" by their superiors in age and position we say, "It hurts, but it is good for them. But for such rubs they would be prigs; but for such pricks to vanity they would grow up cads. We all had to go through the small mill. In after-years we are the wiser for it."
Had Felicia Grigsby dropped from the bench in a dead swoon it would have been a merciful relief from what she endured, as, with eyes bent upon the page she could not see for the hot haze that swam between her and it, she sat perfectly still and let teacher and pupils think what they might of her. ”

“ The league is divided into four circuits, each embracing the cities located in a certain territory, and the team which carries off the honors in its own circuit contests for the State Championship with the leaders in the other circuits.
The constitution of the Wisconsin League, while placing many wise restrictions upon its members, leaves them free to arrange their own schedules of games and to manage their own affairs as may seem best and wisest to them. The league will open the season of 1896 with baseball and track athletics—the field day for the latter to be held in Madison on June 9th. ”