The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing Part 53

The goal erected for the human race, which few reach, being too heavily handicapped.

A wayside flower growing only by the path of duty.

A bright and beautiful b.u.t.terfly, which many chase but few can take.

The interest we receive from capital invested in good works.

The birthright of contentment.

A treasure which we search for far and wide, though oft-times it is lying at our feet.

The summer weather of the mind.

APPALLING DEPTHS OF s.p.a.cE.

Distances that Stun the Mind and Baffle Comprehension.

"The stars," though appearing small to us because of their immense distance, are in reality great and shining suns. If we were to escape from the earth into s.p.a.ce, the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and eventually the sun would become invisible. Mizar, the middle star in the tail of the Great Bear, is forty times as heavy as the sun. To the naked eye there are five or six thousand of these heavenly bodies visible.

Cygni is the nearest star to us in this part of the sky. Alpha Centauri, in the constellation of Centaur, in the Southern Hemisphere, is the nearest of all the stars. The sun is off 93,000,000 miles; multiply this by 200,000, and the result is, roughly speaking, 20,000,000,000,000; and this is the distance we are from Alpha Centauri. At the speed of an electric current, 180,000 miles per second, a message to be sent from a point on the earth's surface would go seven times around the earth in one second. Let it be supposed that messages were sent off to the different heavenly bodies. To reach the moon at this rate it would take about one second. In eight minutes a message would get to the sun, and allowing for a couple of minutes' delay, one could send a message to the sun and get an answer all within twenty minutes. But to reach Alpha Centauri it would take three years; and as this is the nearest of the stars, what time must it take to get to the others? If, when Wellington won the battle of Waterloo, in 1815, the news had been telegraphed off immediately, there are some stars so remote that it would not yet have reached them. To go a step further, if in 1066 the result of the Norman Conquest had been wired to some of these stars, the message would still be on its way.

SENATOR VEST'S EULOGY ON THE DOG.

"Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son and daughter that he has reared with loving care may become ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him when he may need it most. Man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are p.r.o.ne to fall on their knees and do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our head. The one absolutely unselfish friend a man may have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is the dog.

"Gentlemen of the jury, A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

"When all other friends desert, he remains, when riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the n.o.ble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

WOULD YOU BE BEAUTIFUL?

In womanly beauty the excellences expected and looked for are faultless symmetry of form and feature and a complexion varying in hue as the mind is affected by internal emotion, but with an expression of purity, gentleness, sensibility, refinement and intelligence.

Moore, the poet, has given expression to his ideal of beauty in the following lines:

"This was not the beauty--Oh, nothing like this, That to young Nourmahal gave such magic bliss; But that loveliness, ever in motion, which plays Like the light upon autumn's shadowy days.

"Now here and now there, giving warmth as it flies From the lips to the cheek, from the cheek to the eyes; Now melting in mist, and now breaking in gleams Like the glimpses a saint has of heavenly dreams."

Wordsworth expressed himself in the following lines:

"He was among the prime in worth, An object beauteous to behold; Well born, well bred; I sent him forth Ingenuous, innocent, and bold."

Perhaps you ask how you can attain beauty if you do not possess it; or, if you have some of its qualities, how you may get those you are lacking. If you will practice the following rules you will grow more and more beautiful in the eyes of others, even if age does bring gray hair and a wrinkled skin:

First.--Cleanliness is next to G.o.dliness. Practice it in every feature of your daily life.

Second.--Have some purpose to achieve and steadfastly work to attain it.

Third--Cultivate self-discipline; be master of your pa.s.sions, under all circ.u.mstances.

Fourth.--Study to know the laws of life that yield harmony and good health and obey them. Look on the bright side of life always.

Fifth.--Avoid intemperance in all things.

Sixth.--Cultivate every mental and bodily quality that will make you firm in goodness, strong and physically able to be useful to your kind, generous and broad-minded, self-sacrificing, and you will daily and hourly be lovely and grow into the beautiful.

CARE OF THE SCALP AND HAIR.

Beautiful hair, beautiful skin and a beautiful form are the three graces which are the birthright of every woman, but which, through lack of good judgment and common sense, or through thoughtlessness on the part of mothers of growing children, comparatively few possess.

Beautiful hair is one of nature's greatest gifts, and yet we never seem to appreciate it until there is danger of losing it, or until it becomes faded and l.u.s.terless because we have not used the right means for preserving it.

The beauty and continuance of the hair depend upon its proper nourishment, gained by the circulation of blood through the scalp, and this must be maintained to keep the hair in good condition.

The structure of the hair is very beautiful, and each hair is contained in a delicate sheath which fits into a slight depression in the skin called the follicle, and around the base of the hair nature has provided glands to secrete oily matter, the purpose of which is to keep the hair glossy.

In early maturity the hair reaches the state of greatest beauty, and at this time the greatest care should be given it, feeding and nourishing it as we would a plant--giving it plenty of air and sunlight, carefully shampooing at least once in ten days. Ma.s.sage the scalp to keep it loose and flexible. Use electricity, a good tonic, and occasionally singe the split ends.

If this process is commenced at the right time, the result will be fewer cases of baldness in men and thin, poor hair in women.

The hair should also be worn loosely, forming a soft frame for the face, which is always more becoming than tightly drawn hair. Many women drag their hair out by the roots by tying back too firmly.

CARE OF THE SKIN.

A beautiful skin is smooth, soft and clear; the color varies in different individuals. In perfect health it is moist and with the delicate shading of a flower--climate, hair and eyes, of course, determining the color, and the continued beauty of it depending upon pure blood, fresh air and sunlight, also perfect cleanliness and care.

The pores should always be kept free from obstruction and extremes of heat and cold avoided as much as possible. In health, the care of the skin is a simple matter, ma.s.sage being a great factor, a.s.sisted always by the use of pure creams. A good cleansing cream is a great necessity, as it enters the pores and frees them from dirt, leaving the skin soft and pliable, in which condition it is ready to absorb the skin food when the finger ma.s.sage is given, making it possible for the gentle electric current to force the ointment into the deeper layers of the skin, thus effecting the removal of moth patches, tan, freckles and other discolorations and imperfections. The vibratory ma.s.sage should follow, the purpose of which is to stimulate the tissues, throwing off worn-out particles and increasing the circulation of the blood by giving proper exercise to the facial muscles, thereby restoring and preserving the color and contour, making the skin beautiful, clear, eradicating and preventing wrinkles.

The use of a pure face powder is absolutely necessary. Best results are obtained by using a blended powder, as the skin tint is thus a.s.sured.

TO DEVELOP THE BUST.

A beautiful bust is the desire and admiration of every woman. If nature has not been kind in this respect, any woman can develop a beautiful bust by exercise, bathing and gentle ma.s.sage with a good bust ointment or skin food.