Various

“ If you will think how particularly hard it is to tie up a cat, you may guess that it is no joke to make a lion fast; he is just like a stupendous cat in his agility and slipperiness. The only way to render him helpless is to get his hind quarters tied up outside his cage, and his head bound fast within it; the next thing, for dental work, is to put a gag in his mouth; that is the easier because there is no trouble at all about getting him to open his mouth—he does it every time any one goes near him.
When they have these beasts of the jungle at the hospital their keepers have to stay with them ”

“ The strong man may be caught off his guard. While plays or downs should not be wasted against stone wall, the brutal policy of attacking one point at all time until it gives way should not be indulged in even on the ground of generalship. A team ought to make the best use of its own strong points. If a particular back is good at carrying the ball, give him enough to do, but do not kill him. If there is a back particularly good at kicking, kick, and kick frequently. If a tackle or guard is good at making holes or immensely superior to the man opposed to him, send the plays through that point. ”

“ It troubles me when I think of our outfit, for I dislike luggage, and I have learned that the less luggage a man has with him the better off he is; the fewer wants he has the better off he is; the fewer people he has round him the more independent he finds himself ”

“ The rushing game is divided into straight football and strategic. There are practically three schools of football: the simple straight football, the strategic, and the kicking. The right use of these different methods of advancing the ball, the proper proportion of each kind of plays, is the great problem of good generalship. Simple straight football should form the basis of the offensive game. This is more easily executed, and is less exhausting upon body and mind. A trick requires the doing of so many things by each individual at a given time that there is produced a great mental strain. ”

“ He was just like the other Wymps, except that he looked too lazy to turn somersaults, and he had no laughter wrinkles at all.
"Is that the King? He doesn't look much like a King," whispered Lady Daffany.
"He hasn't got to look like a King," said the Wymp. "We choose our Kings because they are harmless, and don't want to make jokes, and will keep out of the way. We once had a King who looked like a King—we used to live in the sun then—but he did so much mischief that the sun people turned us out, and we have had to live at the back of the sun ever since." ”

“ It may not be best in all cases to have the kicking game the dominating feature of the offence. That will depend largely upon whether the team is best at rushing or kicking. A judicious admixture of both is the desideratum. If a team has the wind in its favor, it should take advantage of it and kick often. If it has the wind against it, it will be forced to rush more or less. When a [Pg 1151] team is down in its own territory, if it is going to rush, the play should be one that is likely to make considerable ground if it succeeds, and an open play of some kind should be the one used. ”

“ There you were on a dark night peacefully pursuing your way home, when the screams of a dying man reached your ears, and without a moment's hesitation you rushed down to the deserted pier and plunged into the cold water at the risk of your life, and rescued a fellow-being. ”

“ Lady Daffany tried not to cry, and turned away.
"I suppose every one will dislike me now," she said, sorrowfully; "but of course that is better than their disliking the Prince."
"Nonsense," said the Wymp, as he led her to the back of the sun; "that would be too good a joke for the King to make. You wait and see. Good-by." ”

“ On reaching Mount Vernon, George was distressed to see his brother looking thinner and feebler than ever, and Mrs. Washington was plainly anxious about him. Both were delighted to have him back, as Laurence was quite unable to attend to the vast duties of such a place, and Mrs. Washington had no one but an overseer to rely on. The society of Lord Fairfax, who was peculiarly charming and comforting to persons of a grave temperament, did much for Laurence Washington's spirits. ”

“ The second calling is not necessary at all; besides, it slows up the game. Men feel that they have plenty of time after the first call, and loaf to their places. They are not particular about catching the first signal, since it must be given again.
The signal should be called by the quarter-back, as the play must be started by him, and he is in a better position to see the best opportunity for the next play, and he can be easily heard from either flank of the line. If the captain should change a play, he should not call the signal himself, but tell his quarter the play he wants. ”

“ How much kicking can be done depends on the direction of the wind more than upon anything else.
Do not wait until the third down to kick. Your opponent expects you to kick, because you must. Good judgment should be exercised in the placing of the kicks. A team should not kick from right under its own goal-posts, because of danger of the ball's striking an upright or the cross-bar. Change the territory by running a play out on the end, then kick.
Signals.—A signal is a sign of some kind given to indicate to the player the play to be used, and the time of its execution. ”

“ But when he has to buy the right of way in Africa, he cannot travel with little luggage, for he is obliged to get a lot of things and goods, not only to give to the Kings who send him forward, but also for the men who are to be his followers and carry his goods and outfit. He has to give presents to his hunters, who face dangers and sometimes death with him.
An explorer has also to take care of his followers, and to have a fellow-feeling for them when they are ill, so he must take quantities of medicine for his people and for himself. ”

“ When you travel you take with you, either to tote about, or hire some one to carry for you, a great amount of luggage. As for me, the hotel furnishes me a dressing-gown and a night-robe, and I buy a fresh tooth-brush each morning for a sen. No; say what you please, you western folk are inconvenient people. You do not follow the line of the least resistance. You make too much effort to live, and the cost is too great in nerves, brains, flesh, blood, and worry. ”

“ The field of the camera not being large, he cannot sweep the whole heavens. So it often happens that though he may have secured an assorted lot of meteors, the one particular and brilliant shooting star which he has seen with his eyes has escaped his camera. Meteors do not pose. That is not in their nature.
If the meteor is eccentric, what about the flash of lightning? You may have any number of storms during a summer, but they are not always accompanied with visible electrical phenomena. There may be plenty of lightning, however, but not in your horizon. ”

“ Offensive team-play in the game of football means every man in every play every time.
FIG. 1.
First, in logical order, is the start-off, or opening play. The eleven should line up on the 55-yard line—the centre of the field. The rules allow three men to start before the ball, but not more than five yards back. The three fastest men should be selected for the flying start, preferably the two ends and a half-back. The ends should be out in the wings of the line, and the half-back near the centre ”

“ Let the left tackle run twice, and on the second run give it to the end, who has the long field, and if he is speedy he should make a good run. There are also plays in which the ball is concealed, as in the famous play used by Stagg's team, in which the opponents were drawn out towards the flank, and a runner was sent through the centre.
Kicking is the easiest method of gaining ground, although it gives the ball to the opponents; but it is better to allow the opposing team to have the ball on its 25-yard line than to have it yourself on your own 25-yard line. ”

“ The road turns a couple of miles before Ottawa is reached southward, crosses the canal and railroad, and runs then into the city.
This trip is most of the way over capital road; there are few hills, and there is a good deal of diversity of scenery. Much of the interest of the trip is in the different points of historic interest along the way and in the vicinity of Ottawa. The distance from Joliet is about forty-five miles, but it can easily be done in a day by even inexperienced riders, owing to the level country and the good condition of the roads. ”

“ The explorer should also have a careful personal outfit, so that he may not be in want of clothing or shoes before he can return.
So, dear young folks, we have to think a good deal about what we need, and be very busy before we sail from New York for our destination, the west coast of Africa, and we are to land somewhere on the Gulf of Guinea by the equator. We must first buy our goods; money in gold and silver coins is of no value among the savage Africans. A rod of gold or copper or brass is the same in their eyes, except that they would prefer the brass rod to one of silver. ”

“ Where sequences are played without vocal signal, the quarter should have some sign for his back, although it is not absolutely necessary. Sequences should be short. The time to play them is at the opening of the game. They cannot be played continuously, as the contingencies of the game cannot easily be foreseen.
Generalship.—The generalship of the game devolves upon the captain. There must be one head on the field, and only one. A game may be largely planned before going upon the field. At the time the game is being mapped out is the occasion for consultation with coaches and players. ”

“ Therefore, supposing one of the tanks is at the highest point of one of the shafts, the other will naturally be at the lowest level of the other shaft. The upper tank is supported by compressed air resting on a body of water which fills the lower portion of the shaft—that is, the part sunken down into the earth. All that it is necessary to do now in order to bring the upper tank or elevator down to the level of the lower tank is to open a valve, and allow the compressed air to run out of one shaft into the other, which it will do at a velocity twenty-eight times that of water. ”

“ The ball should be kicked as far down the field as possible without kicking into touch or kicking over the goal-line. The object is to gain as much distance as possible by the kick.
The only way to retain possession of the ball after the start-off, is to kick it so that it will roll slowly enough to allow the rushers to follow it closely, and with force enough to carry it only the required distance. This was done by accident in one great match, and was thought a very good play. ”

“ The line should be continually opened and shut so as not to allow the opponents to concentrate at any given point.
The speed in playing is another feature in generalship. It is not the number of plays per minute that counts, but the speed in execution. Hasten, but do not hurry, is the rule here as everywhere else. Enthusiasm and not excitement is what is wanted. Too rapid a succession of plays results in a jumble merely, and a sort of feverish excitement instead of deadly execution. ”

“ In fact, one of the doctors says he put his own cat in this ward for a while, and when she came home she showed an entire change of heart about dogs; instead of the terror she had always felt of them, she was ready to be good friends with the canine members of her own family. There is a big tin roof railed in that makes an exercising-ground for the convalescent dogs, but the cats have to take the air in a big cage some six feet square that is built on the roof; they can climb too well to be trusted loose. ”

“ An open-water route from the Atlantic to Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee would make those great inland cities practically seaports, and therefore the people who live in those cities would be able to purchase all sorts of commodities more cheaply than they can now, because the charges of transportation by water directly from foreign countries would be much cheaper than it is now, when there has to be a transshipment of the goods on the coast, and transportation by rail, which is expensive. ”

“ It was eleven o'clock before we found the wagon. We could hear Jack snoring inside, and were surprised to find Snoozer on guard outside, wide awake. He seemed to feel his responsibility, and at first was not inclined to let us approach.
We unharnessed the horses, and Ollie crawled under the fence around one of the stacks of hay and pulled out a big armful for them.
"The poor things shall have all the hay they want, anyhow," he said. ”

“ The canal lock of to-day is a very slow working affair, as we all know, and is such a clumsy piece of mechanism that only ships of a limited tonnage can pass through it. When a canal-boat comes along it is let into the first lock, and if that is on the higher level the gates are closed, and the water is allowed to run out until the boat is floating on a level equal to that in the other portion of the lock. ”

“ It is the belief of those interested in the construction of this great canal that there is no economy in cheap construction. Good results may only be obtained by good work. The Suez Canal, for example, is cheaply constructed; it is only 72 feet wide at the bottom, and large ships may pass one another only when one goes into a sort of siding, where it usually runs aground. The expense of getting ships out of the sand, since the traffic was first opened through the canal, has far surpassed the sum for which the canal could have been constructed so as to avoid such delays and accidents. ”

“ But if chance enters for nine-tenths in the photography of lightning, there is the one single tenth which is constantly in your favor—that is, if you are adaptive, watchful, and always ready. You may look for lightning a whole summer and never catch a fine flash, through no fault of your own; and the very next summer, at a first essay, you may secure a magnificent print.
On the 13th of July of this year, at 9 p.m., I was watching a heavy storm in Brooklyn, New York ”

“ Valentine returned to Virginia in a few days. He felt sorry for Elizabeth, forced to remain forever in the stiff old house with those stiff old aunts, as he designated them.
"And she is not half bad," he said to himself, as he was being whirled rapidly homeward in the train; "she is really a good sort, though she does get herself into such mighty scrapes. She is a plucky one, though. You don't catch her shirking any of the blame. Well, neither would I with anybody but that dragon of an Aunt Caroline. Elizabeth is more used to her, I suppose." ”