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Steady and slow,

But still they grow,

And words of fire they soon will glow;
Wonderful words, that without a sound
Traverse the earth to its utmost bound:
Words that shall make

The tyrant quake,

And the fetters of the oppress'd shall break;
Words that can crumble an army's might,
Or treble its strength in a righteous fight;
Yet the type they look but leaden and dumb,
As he puts them in place with finger and thumb.
But the printer smiles,

As his work beguiles

By chanting a song as the letters he piles,
With pick and click,

Like the world's chronometer, tick! tick! tick!

2. O, where is the man with such simple tools Can govern the world as I?

With a printing press, an iron stick,

And a little leaden die,

With paper of white, and ink of black,

I support the Right, and the Wrong attack.

3. Say, where is he, or who may he be,

That can rival the printer's power?

To no monarchs that live the wall doth he give,—
Their sway lasts only an hour;

While the printer still grows, and God only knows
When his might shall cease to tower!

case, tray with subdivisions containing the various types. stick, iron instrument into which

-J.C. Prince.

the types are set up. It is held in the left hand, and was originally made of wood.

THE FALL OF AN AVALANCHE.

1. The Wiggis, in the canton of Glarus, is one of those Swiss mountains which, when seen from a certain point of view, have a most imposing appearance, but at the same time they convey the impression that they are likely to be the scene of dangerous falls of snow. Viewed from the village of Netstall, about five minutes' walk from its base, it rises perpendicularly like a wall to the height of nearly 7000 feet above the bottom of the valley, and in winter it has repeatedly heaved from its giant back enormous masses of snow, which have threatened the village with destruction.

2. In the year 1839 and 1844 the village suffered severely from avalanches, but the damage done on these occasions was inconsiderable when compared with the frightful event which roused the inhabitants of Netstall from their slumbers on the morning of March 3rd, 1865. 3. At about four o'clock in the morning a dull, booming sound was heard from the Wiggis, and a mass of freshly fallen snow, covering about 8,000,000 square feet, detached itself from the steep mountain wall, and slid downwards with ever-increasing velocity towards the plain, partly rising into the air as it fell, and producing a concussion of the atmosphere difficult to conceive.

4. The avalanche of snow rushed with such violence through and over the village, and produced such a cracking, roaring, and thundering, that not a few persons thought it must be an earthquake. In a few moments the village seemed as if laid in ruins.

5. The avalanche overwhelmed it along its whole length, which amounts to 1500 or 2000 paces. Beech and maple trees, of two to three feet in diameter, were torn up by the roots, or broken across like so many reeds. More than a

thousand forest trees were thus uprooted and carried long distances, many of them into the village. The orchards

[graphic][subsumed]

also suffered very severely, as many as 300 fruit trees having been destroyed.

6. This catastrophe left the village a melancholy scene of ruin and destruction, the principal street in particular

being almost choked up with branches of trees, windowshutters, fragments of roofs, masses of hay, and even large stones, all intermingled in the wildest confusion.

7. Fortunately not a single life was lost, though two men who happened to be in the street when the fall took place were caught in the snow, and narrowly escaped suffocation.

canton, a province of Switzerland.

imposing, grand, impressing. impression, idea.

repeatedly, often. enormous, very large.

avalanche, an immense mass of moving snow which becomes detached and glides down the side of a mountain.

detached, separated.
velocity, speed.

concussion, shaking or agita

tion.

diameter, thickness.
catastrophe, calamity.
melancholy, sad.
fragments, pieces.

intermingled, mixed together.

Where is Mount Wiggis situated? What height does it rise above the valley? What is an avalanche? When did the event referred to take place? What area did the snow cover that formed the avalanche? Describe some of the damage. How many forest trees did it destroy? What happened to two persons who were in the street at the time of the fall?

[graphic]

THOSE WE LOVE.

1. We leave our own-our fatherland,
To lead the wanderer's chequered life—
On stormy seas or desert sand,

In pilgrim peace or busy strife.
But there's a hope to save and cheer
Through all of danger, toil, and pain;
It shines to dry the starting tear,
And lights the pathway back again
To those we love.

2. Let others give us gems and gold,
With gems and gold we'd lightly part;
We take them, but we do not hold
The treasures sacred in the heart.
Such costly boons may have the power
To win our thanks and wake our pride;
But dearer is the withered flower

That has been worn and thrown aside
By those we love.

3 We pine beneath the regal dome,
We prize not all that's rich and fair;
We cannot rest in princely home,

If those we cherish dwell not there.
But let the spirit choose its lot,

We'd rather take the rover's tent;
Or gladly share the peasant's cot,
And bless the flying moments spent
With those we love.

4. And when at last the hand of death

Has dimmed the glance and chilled the breast;

When trembling word and fleeting breath

Dwell on the name we like the best.

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