Queer Prayers and Prayers in Old Sermons
A survey of comic misuses and earnest oddities in public prayer. Ministers overuse familiar phrases, while Father Taylor the Boston preacher delivers a direct prayer for a governor. Anecdotes show how prayer can become a vehicle for information or humorous mishap.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Father Taylor
Boston
Boyd
Clay
George N. Briggs
Benjamin Gregory
MccCosh
Princeton
College
United States
Congress
New Jersey
McCosh
Karge
He who hesitates much will accomplish little
A compact quotation attributed to Von Moltke emphasizes the cost of hesitation and inaction, framing delay as a barrier to progress and achievement.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
von Moltke
A Man of Action and the Missing Portrait
A husband famed for carrying his wife’s portrait on trips forgets it on one journey. He borrows a replacement photo, frames it for travel, and returns home to a tearful yet revealing confrontation. The tale ends with his wife realizing the deception and the husband’s plea about trust. The piece intertwines light domestic humor with a vignette on the Shetland pony’s value to coal miners.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Mail
The Eternal Feminine and a Remarkable Portrait
A photographer was summoned to photograph a seventy year old woman noted for agility. She spoke only after the procedure, revealing she had stuffed papers in her mouth to fill out her cheeks to avoid sagging. The anecdote appeared in Harper's Weekly describing the woman’s witty request and appearance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harper's Weekly
Simple Old Lady Notes Oddities in Daily Life
A streetcar sighting prompts a humorous remark from a naive old lady. She notices a man carrying a shotgun and a blanket roll and quips that he seems ready to spend the night somewhere. The exchange reflects a straightforward, gentle humor from Youth's Companion.
Elderly Bride Reflects On Fine Clothes In Mirror
A New York Press line portrays an aging bride admiring her orange blossom wreath ivory satin Valenciennes gown and string of pearls. She notes the paradox that fine clothes emphasize a tired face, uttering a weary quip about appearance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Press
His Proof Embellishes A Case Of Insanity By Habit
A courtroom exchange shows the judge denying insanity, while the attorney plans to present witnesses to prove the prisoner often argues politics with women, a pattern cited in a comic note by Puck.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Puck
Holding the Cello and Court Etiquette in Napoleonic Tale
A New York Sun excerpt recalls Napoleon's fondness for music and a comical cello episode at the Tuileries where Duport narrowly avoided injury as Josephine intervened. The tale sits beside a Breslau publication quoting Goupp on Charlemagne’s pious ascent and German imperial legacy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Napoleon
Josephine
Tuileries
Duport
New York
Shetland Ponies: Field Natives Suited to Open Pastures
Shetland ponies are described as hardy, sure-footed, and patient like terriers and mules. They thrive on natural grass, dislike indoor life, and live outdoors from foaling through to old age with seasonal coat shedding each spring.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bengie
Shetland
James’ Gazette
Cricket fighting in the Celestial Kingdom draws high betting
The article describes cricket fighting as a national sport in China with trained crickets, daily exercise and dieting, and matches pitting larger fighters against smaller opponents. Rings and wall barriers surround the arena as bells signal rounds, and top crickets sell for five to ten dollars while champions reach fifty.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Celestial Kingdom
New Orleans Times- Democrat
A Gentle Hint With Corn Cards Stopping Neighbors Fowls
A Bombay Times item tells how a woman troubled by a neighbor's chickens overruning her garden used corn tied with cards reading Please keep your chickens at home. The birds swallowed the corn and beadlike cards, unable to eject them. Twenty or thirty marauders returned home to report to their owner, who then restrained the fowls.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bombay Times
The Heart as a Book of Human Stories
The piece likens the heart to an encyclopedia of personal experiences and hidden sorrows. It suggests the heart carries deep stories beneath a smiling surface, like graves beneath the earth, quietly bearing centuries of humanity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Farre
Glacial Wonders of Greenland Unveiled by Ice Study
The article notes Disco Bay glaciers in Greenland with a thickness of 920 feet and a breadth of 18 400 feet moving at 47 feet per day. It states Greenland west coast holds about 120 000 square miles of territory feeding many icebergs.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Disco Bay
Greenland
Helland
Kink
A Difficult Position Captain Commands Squad
A young captain drills the awkward squad and orders halt by placing the grounded foot beside the airborne one, demanding remaining motionless. The line captures battlefield discipline and training rhetoric featured in Success Magazine.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Success Magazine
European Nobility Encounters Mentioned in Conversation
Miss Guebleigh asks about encounters with nobility in Europe as He replies with casual recollection. The exchange frames social class curiosity and travel reflection in a refined domestic scene.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Europe
Miss Guebleigh
Prize Fight Phrase Between Ear and Viscount Cited
The Chicago Record Herald notes a cryptic remark about a prize fight spoken between an ear and a viscount during one evening. The line hints at a humorous or metaphorical exchange without detailing the event.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago Record-Herald
Marriage banter cited by groom and Mr Hen peck
A brief quip from the bridegroom elect that marriage is good for single men, followed by Mr Hen peck remarking it applies to single men only, captured as a light exchange from the New York Times.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henpeck
New York Times
The Disappointment of Manhood and Youth Delusion
A brief quotation noting that the collapse of youthful illusion leads to a manhood disappointment. The line emphasizes disillusion as a rite of passage and reflects on grown manhood’s sober view compared to youthful fantasy.
It Would Have Been All the Same Today at Minstrels
The St Paul Pioneer Press notes a Minstrels performance featuring Mistah Bones and Mistah Tambo trading a conun drum joke about a red headed brake man and a laborer, followed by Squeekin de Throte delivering a dramatic ballad It Would Have Been All the Same Today if You Hadnt Done What You Did.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mistah
Mistah Tambo
Slinghele
Mistah Bones
Mr. Tambo
Squeekin de Throte
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Under Oath Reflections on Rowland the Johns Hopkins Physicist
A New York Globe yarn recounts Professor Henry Rowland of Johns Hopkins praised as the leading American scientist. It notes his work on the mechanical equivalent of heat, spectrum analysis gratings, and a machine cutting 40 000 lines per inch. He also devised the multi plex telegraph apparatus and once said I am under oath when pressed about his greatness.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rowland
Johns Hopkins University
Joseph Henry
Cataract Power Company
New York Globe
Starboard Light Mistaken Sailor Window Warning
In The Starboard Light a man recalls doubt about correcting strangers faults. He references an art store window with a ship picture showing a red side light on starboard. He contemplates asking the owner to change it or patch the red light to avoid a supposed collision.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Post
Protective Coloring of Insects Observed by Lankester
Sir BE. Ray Lankester describes watching a pale green mottled moth exploit camouflage to evade a pursuing bird. The insect zigzagged, dropped, and rested against a greenish lichen on a tree, remaining unseen as the bird missed its prey.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sir BE. Ray Lankester
London
Telegraph
Station Master Pressures Salary With Threat to Quit
A station master sought a salary raise and warned he would leave. The superintendent replied with a tale from his youth about asking a higher-up for more pay, being refused, and leaving, only to see the line continue operating.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Thackeray and the Jeames Reporter Tale
The “fashionable reporter” known as Jeames mocked Thackeray by omitting his name from lists. He once gained access to Prince Albert’s royal yacht off Cowes on the Isle of Wight, only to be found out and questioned about his presence.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Thackeray
Jeames
Mr. R. F
The
Post
Jeamnes
Prince Albert
Unwarrrantable intrusion leads to sea voyage ordeal
The account describes a man seized unreasonably then forced into a small boat attached to a yacht. With rough seas he was drenched quickly and, upon reaching Portsmouth at low tide, pulled from the boat and made to wade ashore through the mud.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Portsmouth
Jeames
London
Stray notice of red and white cow at Buck farm
A red and white cow with horns was taken up at Geo. Buck farm on Route Reality 1 south of Ames. The owner may reclaim upon proving property and paying costs. 43-3
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Geo. Buck Farm
Ames
Seventh District Osteopathic Association Meets in Ames
The Seventh District Osteopathic Association will hold a meeting in Ames on February 27. Documents show local physicians gathering to discuss regional osteopathic matters and upcoming events.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Osteopathic Association
Ames
Also Mentioned on This Page
Man
the Eternal Feminine
Cello
Dupert
Emperor Napoleon
Breslau
Robert Goupp
Charlies the Great
TIMES
E. L. Sylvester
Northwestern Optical College
Minneapolis
Nible & Weste
Main Street
Eves
Bill
H. L. Munn Lumber Co
A J. Munson
C. E. Dudgeon
Chas. Tucker
Boone
Imen Burger
Gladbrook
John H. Looby
Des Moines
Ganon, M. D
Iowa
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