Sven Hedin has furnished additional evidence of the Chinese invention of paper. On his recent journeys he found Chinese paper that dates back to the second half of the third century after Christ. This lay buried in the sand of the Gobi desert, near the former northern shore of the Lop Nor Sea, where, in the ruins of a city and in the remnants of one of the oldest houses, he discovered a goodly lot of manuscripts, many of paper, covered with Chinese script, preserved for some 1,650 years. The date is Dr. Himly's conclusion. According to Chinese sources, paper was manufactured as early as the second millennium before the Christian era. The character of the Gobi desert find makes it probable that the making of paper out of vegetable fibers was already an old art in the third Christian century.—The Scientific American.
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See Pedigree.
ANXIETY, COST OF
An English auctioneer tells the following story:
I had eight acres of land to sell, and there
was one landowner in the district, whom I
will call Mr. Robinson, who was very anxious
to secure this particular piece of land because
it adjoined his own estate. He had
already attempted to acquire it by private
arrangement, but the negotiations had fallen
through.
Being engaged at the funeral of a relative on the day of the sale, he left very definite instructions with his butler, who had only entered his service a day or two before, to attend the sale and buy the land at any price. The butler duly came to the sale and took up his station in the old chimney-corner, out of sight of every one excepting myself. It so happened, however, that Mr. Robinson was back from the funeral earlier than he expected, and, going to the sale and failing to observe his butler, began the bidding with an offer of $2,500. Up and up went the price, the landowner and the butler bidding against one another like Trojans, until at last the field was knocked down to the latter at $7,500. The feelings of Mr. Robinson and the amusement of the company may be easily imagined when the purchaser remarked in a quiet voice, "For Mr. Robinson. Here's his check for you to fill in for the deposit."
Fortunately, Mr. Robinson was anything but a poor man, and he had benefited to the tune of $200,000 in the loss of his relative, so the few extra thousands he paid did not hurt him.
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ANYHOW, THE LAND OF
Beyond the Isle of What's-the-Use,
Where Slipshod Point is now,
There used to be, when I was young,
The Land of Anyhow.
Don't Care was king of all this realm—
A cruel king was he!
For those who served him with good heart
He treated shamefully!
When boys and girls their tasks would slight
And cloud poor mother's brow,
He'd say, "Don't care! It's good enough!
Just do it anyhow."
But when in after life they longed
To make proud fortune bow,
He let them find that fate ne'er smiles
On work done anyhow.
For he who would the harvest reap
Must learn to use the plow,
And pitch his tent a long, long way
From the Land of Anyhow!
—Canadian Presbyterian.
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APOLOGY APPRECIATED
The Hon. W. P. Fessenden unintentionally
made a remark against Seward, which was
considered to be highly insulting. When
Fessenden was informed of the construction
placed upon it, he went frankly to Seward,
and said, "Mr. Seward, I have insulted you,
but I did not mean it." Mr. Seward was so
delighted with the frank apology that he exclaimed,
"God bless you, Fessenden! I wish
you would insult me again."—James T.
White, "Character Lessons."
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APPAREL
The late Mark Twain, in The North American Review, gave a striking "Sartor Resartus" sketch of what might be the Czar's morning meditations, from which we quote the following paragraph:
"After the Czar's morning bath it is his
habit to meditate an hour before dressing
himself."—London Times Correspondence.
(Viewing himself in the pier-glass.) Naked, what am I? A lank, skinny, spider-
