crowd. And this was only one of more than a score of examples of illiteracy.
How many a life is thus handicapped.
It is not a commendation of parenthood
that the child should thus be distinguished
against in this age of widespread
learning. On the other hand, all
honor is to be given to the man who
through diligent application in after life
is able to surmount the difficulty of
scanty knowledge.
(1498)
IGNORANCE IS BLISS
It is sometimes best not to alarm persons in peril by revealing the danger, as is illustrated by the Rev. Asa Bullard in the following incident:
On our way down the Ohio River one
day, in a thunder-shower, my brother requested
me to remind him on reaching Cincinnati
to reveal a secret to me. That secret
was, as I learned on reaching the city, that
we were then sitting directly over several
casks, not of whisky, but of gunpowder! He
was acquainted with some of the officials of
the steamer, and tho it was unlawful to
carry that article on the boat, they had told
him of the fact. When asked why he had
seated himself in such a dangerous place,
his reply was that "if the boat should be
struck by lightning, or if for any cause the
powder should be exploded, we were probably
as safe there as we should be in any
part of the steamer."—"Incidents in a Busy
Life."
(1499)
Ignorance Mystified—See Enlightenment.
Ignorance of Money—See Money, Ignorance
of.
IGNORANCE OF ORIGIN AND DESTINY
We know no more of our beginning and
end, of what preceded the one and will
round off the other, than King Alfred did.
"Our life," said he to his nobles one evening,
as they were sitting beside the great
fireplace, "is something that is bounded by
impenetrable obscurity. A little bird flies
from the darkness of the outside night into
the brightness of this room, flutters a minute
or two in the warmth and light, and then
flies through the opposite window into the
night once more." Nearly two thousand
years have gone by since Alfred delivered
himself of this fable, but the centuries have
brought us no new wisdom.—San Francisco
Chronicle.
(1500)
See Unknown Realities.
IGNORANCE, PALLIATIONS OF
In "Gloria Christi," we read the following:
The change in methods inaugurated by
modern medicine in Syria is shown by an
anecdote. It is said that once when Dr.
Jesup was visiting Beirut, a native doctor
asked him for an American newspaper. He
secured it, and some days after came back
for another. "What do you do with them?"
asked Mr. Jesup. "Oh," he said, "I tear
them in pieces, soak them in water, and feed
them in oil to my patients. It cures them
all right!"
The palliatives of ignorance everywhere
abound. As they are in medicine,
so they are in morals.
(1501)
IGNORANCE, THE COST OF
The tree-butcher ruined many valuable
shade-trees last fall (1909) and it is hoped
that he will find steady employment at some
other kind of work before spring arrives.
Shade-trees are usually pruned by some one
temporarily out of employment. His only
qualification is the possession of an ax and
saw. He needs work, so he finds some property
owner who has some nice shade-trees
and importunes him to have them cut back.
The owner consents. The axman is to receive
so much for the job and the wood the limbs
make. The workingman at once sees that it is
to his advantage to cut the limbs off close
to the trunk of the tree, because he can complete
the job quicker with no dangerous
climbing, and by so doing he gets more wood.
Consequently, the tree is ruined. Shade-trees
should be trimmed up when young, so
the top will be at least twelve feet above
the walk. After this all that is necessary is
to cut out the dead and superfluous branches.—Charles
C. Deam, Secretary Board of
Forestry.
(1502)
ILLITERACY
While a policeman was covering his beat
near Delaware Avenue and Dickinson Street,
says the Philadelphia Times, he came across
a dead dog.
