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AN EMPEROR'S BIRTHDAY BLOSSOM.

"Have you heard of the Kaiser-blumen,

O little children sweet,

That grows in the fields of Germany, Light waving among the wheat?

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gather you one of those delicate cornflowers, with its azure coronet, that looks as though it had caught its colour from the sky. Our English youngsters call it blue cockle, hunt-sickle, blue bonnet, or anything rather than its real name of cyanus, - which it is said to owe to a priestess of Flora, who was wont to twine it into wreaths for the temple of the goddess of summer. Every German child could tell us this is the favourite flower of the grand old Kaiser Wilhelm, and that on his birthday-which falls on the 22nd of March-it is the custom for the members of his family to each present him with a bouquet composed specially of these blossoms, though at this time of year they cannot be obtained for love or money in Germany, and have to be sought and paid for in Italy and other warm countries. His private room is also decorated with these simple flowers, which, especially since the last attempt on His Majesty's life, have become quite a rage in Prussia, being worn in some form or other, as emblems of truth and loyalty and devotion, by his courtiers and subjects, on bonnets, hats, and dresses, in gentlemen's button-holes, stamped on note-paper or on metals, bearing on one side the effigy of the emperor, on the other a wreath of corn-flowers: everywhere the one blossom stands out—the emperor's favourite flower, as it was his mother's before him. The cyanus has a sweet and hopeful story. Listen, and I will repeat it even as I heard it not long since, and as I believe it to be true.

We need not drift back to the very old times for it-only to the year 1806, when this same Kaiser, then a very little child, was running in the gardens of Königsberg by his mother's side, playing with his tiny sister Charlotte, afterwards Empress of Russia, and, no doubt, all unmindful of the disturbed and troubled looks of their mother, Queen Louisa.

"The children love it dearly,

And with dancing feet they go To seek it with song and laughter,

As all the people know."

Little did the frolicsome young pair understand the weight of royalty-that her heart was heavy with doubt and anxiety, for there was a desperate European war raging, and her country and those she best loved were in great danger and tribulation. Suddenly the queen became aware of a poor little half-starved-looking girl, who had somehow penetrated into the gardens, and stood trembling before her, holding a big wreath of the wild blue corn-flowers, which she had herself gathered and twined, and now entreated the lady to buy. Her dear mother was so ill and so poor, and she was cold and trembling; and she had thought if she could get only a few pieces for the wreath it would comfort her mother; and then the girl fell to weeping. The gentle queen, instead of ordering her away for trespassing, or even passing on disdainfully, stayed to listen kindly to the pitiful tale, sent servants to make inquiries and take food and assist the poor woman, and giving the delighted child a good price for her wreath, sent her away rejoicing. Then the royal lady divided the woodland bouquet between her two children, bidding the little ones to remember them well, and never to let any troubles of their own hinder them from sympathising with those of humbler folk, and relieving them if possible. At that very time, it is thought, came news of a more cheery nature-news which relieved the queen's heart of many anxieties, even as she had relieved the heart of that little anxious beggar-maid; and from that day the queen very often chose to wear a bunch of blue corn-flowers, perhaps in token of gratitude and hopefulness; and as the two little ones grew to man and woman's estate, they too loved them so well that even now the old warrior and emperor of eighty-three thinks no blossoms sweeter than those such as his mother gave him.

There is another legend concerning this wild blossom; and some of the poets have also had something to say of this simple cyanus-which, oddly enough, is the emblem of gentility—and call it an omen flower, by reason of its beautiful blue colour becoming more or less intense-forgetting, I fancy, that the changeful heat of the sun affects the colour of all bright blossoms.

On his eightieth birthday Kaiser Wilhelm was presented with an embroidered anchor, about which were worked eighty full-blown corn-flowers-emblematic of his age-and many birds fluttering about them, no doubt suggestive of happy days to come.

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The Giant Squids.

The squid is a very near relation of our ugly acquaintance of the aquarium, the octopus, from which it differs in possessing ten instead of eight arms, and many of them grow to an enormous size, specimens sixty and seventy feet long having been captured. Their arms are of immense length, being capable of clutching objects 30 feet or more distant. That the squids are strong animals will be readily admitted from the following anecdote. A fisherman in Newfoundland saw one of these huge creatures floating on the surface of the sea, to all appearances lifeless. To make sure, however, he struck it with an oar, whereupon the squid ejected a column of ink and water from its curious funnel, and then threw its arms over the boat, nearly sinking it. One of the suckers seized the man's arm, inflicting a severe wound, but he fortunately was able to sever it with an axe, and in the long run he succeeded in slaying the horrid creature. The squid has been observed to make an ingenious use of its long arms. During a high wind one of them was cast in shore, and though a heavy sea was running at the time, it fastened the suckers to the rocks and outrode the storm, swinging to them in much the same fashion as a ship would do in like circumstances to its cable.

The World's Postal Business.

According to a German newspaper, the amount of correspondence by post and telegraph transacted in one year throughout the world is so vast that my young readers will find it difficult to grasp the real interest and value of the following figures. Taking the returns for 1877 as the latest approaching completeness, we find that, 4,000,000,000 letters were despatched during that twelvemonth, giving an average of 11,000,000 a day or 127 a second. To

that grand total Europe contributed 3,036,000,000 ; America nearly 700,000,000; Asia, 150,000,000; Africa, 25,000,000; and Australia, 50,000,000. Assuming the population of the globe to be between 1,300,000,000, and 1,400,000,000, the postal returns would give an average of three letters per head for the whole human race. In the same year, there were 38,000 telegraph stations in operation, and the number of messages sent through them was from 110,000,000, to 111,000,000, or an average of more than 305,000 a day, or 12,571 an hour, or 212 a minute. Astounding as these figures are-and they almost take one's breath away-it must be remembered that the world's business both by post and telegraph has largely increased since 1877, so that the returns for the present year would show results more extraordinary still.

A Large Raft.

An enormous quantity of timber is obtained from the forests of Canada. The logs are usually lashed together to form a raft, and then floated down the rivers to the nearest port. Recently a raft of huge size was conveyed in this way down the Hudson River. It was 900 feet long, and 34 wide, and contained 254 pine-logs, from 70 to 96 feet in length. They were cut during the winter, in Ontario, Canada, then floated down to Toronto, on Lake Ontario, from which place they were towed in three days and a half across to Oswego, where they were separated into three rafts for convenience in passing through the Erie Canal. The journey thus far occupied 31 days. Having cleared the canal the logs were again joined into one large raft and floated down the river, travelling only on the ebb tides. At Gavanus Bay, Brooklyn, the raft was increased by the addition of 113 logs, making it now 1,300 feet long, and 64 feet wide. It was then towed to Boston. The value of the raft was £5,000, and the expense of towage one-third less than it would have cost to send it by rail.

The Swimming Powers of Animals. A scientific journal narrates several instances of animals swimming long distances, though unable to rest by the way. The crew of a ship which foundered off the Cape of Good Hope all perished, but a dog which also belonged to the vessel succeeded in swimming ashore with a letter in its mouth. Another dog once swam thirty miles in order to join its master. On one occasion a ship was in P such distress during a storm

that, to lighten it, several loo

troop-horses that had been
taken in at Corunna were put
overboard. The poor crea-
tures, when they realised
their fate, faced round and
swam after the vessel for
miles. In a gale in the tem·
pestuous Bay of Biscay, a
mule and dog were washed
overboard, but managed to
reach the shore in safety. Finally,
a man on the Lincolnshire coast
has been enabled to save many
lives by swimming out to the dis-
tressed ships on horseback. He
usually rode an old grey mare, but
when she was not available he
took the first horse he could find.

The Shoeblack Plant.

Long Island Sound (near New York), which was patronised for years by a pair of fish-hawks. The top of this buoy is shaped like a grocer's basket, to which the industrious hawks carried enough straw to build a nest. The same birds occupied the spot for a considerable period, and brought up their families apparently without difficulty. On the approach of a vessel the female used to fly round the buoy in circles. During the winter storms the nest suffers severe damage, but the birds accept their fate with resignation, for they set to repairing their dwelling as soon as spring-time arrives.

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AN INDIAN CRADLE.

In New South Wales there grows a plant bearing showy scarlet flowers and the above popular name. It grows freely in any kind of soil, and is much cultivated for the sake of the flowers, which when dry are used as blacking. They contain a juice which, when evenly applied to a boot imparts a glossy, varnish-like appearance, having this advantage over ordinary blacking, that it is cleanly in use, and can be applied in a few moments. Four or five flowers are required for each boot, and a polishing-brush may be employed, if desired. Chinese ladies use the juice to dye their hair and eyebrows, while in Java it is commonly employed for blacking shoes.

A Bird's Nest in a Buoy.

Birds have been known to choose curious spots for building their homes, but perhaps the oddest place that could have been selected was a buoy in

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called-may perhaps be allowed to make up for his shortcomings. Her life, like that of most women among savage peoples, is very toilsome; but she is, as a rule, fond of her children. The illustration accompanying this note represents thecradle that is commonly used among

the Indian tribes of North America. It generally consists either of a hollowed piece of wood, or is made of cypress-bark, and is frequently ornamented with rude designs, or bright colours, for which all savages have a notorious liking. The mother either places the baby in the cradle and then covers it up securely, or fastens it in by lacing a cord from side to side of the woodwork, a small piece of wood covered with teased bark serving

for a pillow. Dr. Robert Brown, a well-known author, says that some cradles have bells attached to them, so that the tinkling sound has a pleasant effect when heard in the lonely wilds. When the mother is travelling she carries the cradle and its contents on her back in an upright position, the baby's head just appearing over her shoulder. While she is at work she will hang it to the branch of a tree, and when the wind blows no doubt the cradle will rock. Or, failing a tree, it will be suspended from a flexible pole stuck in the ground, and an occasional jog will keep it on the move. This is the usual method of "rocking" adopted by the dusky natives inside the Indian lodges, though doubtless there are other ways.

THE

UCH a swing! the carpenter came

and put it up in the nursery. He had put two great hooks into a beam in the ceiling, and to these hooks the ropes of the swing were made fast.

It was a safe swing, made of joints of wood that slipped up and down, and made a little chair that Dot and Cissy could sit and swing in all day long, without any fear of falling out. First Dot would have a swing, and when she went up she could see out of the window, and over the houses on the other side of the road, and she thought every moment she should touch the ceiling, for nurse swung her so high. Then Cissy's turn came.

After a time Dot and

SWING.

"Oh, no!" said Cissy; "the ceiling is in the way."

"I'm going to get out," said Dot, beginning to stand up in the swing.

"Oh, Miss Dot! Miss Dotty! what are you doing?" said nurse, lifting her out. "There, now; don't try to get in again, or Miss Cissy either, but play with your dolls quietly whilst I get tea | ready. Cook has made us a plum cake, and I will go and get it if you will be good children."

"THEY GOT INTO THE SWING TOGETHER."

Cissy grew bolder, and would try to swing in many ways that rather frightened nurse. They got into the swing together, and jerked it about till nurse thought they would tumble out of it.

"Now, nurse, give us a good swing," said Dot, "high up, high up! one, two, three, and away we go."

And nurse began to swing and to sing

"Now we go high, Now we go low ;

Now we go fast,

Now we go slow:

Like birds, we fly,

So high, so high,
That in time we shall reach
The beautiful sky."

So nurse went away, but the two little girls went to the swing again. "Dick and Harry can swing standing," said Dot.

" I wish we could," said Cissy.

So one climbed up on one side and one on the other side of the swing,

but they could not yet manage to stand upright, they could only kneel, and hold fast by the ropes, and move the swing gently backwards and forwards.

And as they were swinging in this manner the door opened, and nurse came in.

She was so much surprised at seeing the two little girls swinging in this position, and also so frightened, that she let the plum cake she was carrying fall, and it rolled off on to the floor. Cissy and Dot jumped down, and both ran to pick up the cake at once.

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