“If you make no mistake in using the rule, it will give you the answer every time.”
“But it did not give the answer for April,” said Harry, who had been referring to an almanac. “April began on Friday.”
“To be sure, boy! This is Leap Year, is it not?” Leap year requires the addition of one day for the last ten months, to allow for the 29th of February. So All Fools’ Day came on Friday this year.
“I never knew anybody outside of my father’s family,” continued the old gentleman, “who knew this little lingo and how to use it. He taught it to his children, and I have tried to teach it to mine, but they seem to forget it, and I am afraid it will get lost. When father used to go to Presbytery, fifty years ago, it often happened that a question of dates and their relation to days would come up, and no almanac at hand; in fact, the question might be as to some day of the next year; but almanac or not, my father could always find the fact wanted with just the little key of the first day of the year.”
Leap Year.—Divide the year by 4. If nothing remains it is leap year. For instance 1876 / 4 = 469 so that 1876 is leap year. If 1, 2 or 3 remain these figures give the years after leap year. Remember, leap year lapses once a century.
Spiders and the Weather.—If the weather is likely to become rainy, windy, or anything but fine, spiders fix the terminating filaments, on which the whole web is suspended, unusually short. If these filaments are made unusually long we may expect a spell of fine weather. In proportion to their length is the fineness of the weather. Spiders are generally indolent in rainy weather. If they are active in rain the rain will not long continue.
A Barometer.—Put two drams of pure nitre and half a dram of chloride of ammonia, reduced to powder, into two ounces of spirits of wine, or pure alcohol, and place this mixture in a glass tube, ten inches long and about an inch in diameter, the upper extremity of which must be covered with a piece of skin or bladder, pierced with small holes. If the weather is to be fine, the solid matters remain at the bottom of the tube, and the alcohol is transparent. If rain is to fall in a short time, some of the solid particles rise and fall in the alcohol, which becomes somewhat thick. When a storm or even a squall is about to come on all the solid matters rise from the bottom of the tube and form a crust on the surface of the alcohol, which appears in a state of fermentation. These appearances take place twenty-four hours before the storm comes, and the point of the horizon from which it is to blow is indicated by the particles gathering most on the side of the tube opposite to that part whence the wind is to come.
Another Simple Barometer.—Take a common phial bottle, and cut off the rim and part of the neck. This may be done by means of a piece of string, or better still, whipcord, twisted round it, and pulled strongly in a sawing position by two persons, one of whom holds the bottle firmly in his left hand. Heated in a few minutes by the friction of the string, and then dipped suddenly into cold water, the bottle will be beheaded easily. Let the bottle be filled now with water, and applying the finger to its mouth, turn it quickly upside down. When you remove your finger it will be found that only a few drops will escape. Without cork or stopper of any kind, the water will be retained within the bottle by the pressure of the external air. Now let a bit of tape be tied round the middle of the bottle to which the two ends of a string may be attached so as to form a loop to hang on a nail. Let it be thus suspended in a perpendicular manner, with the mouth downwards. When the weather is fair, and inclined to remain fair, the water will be level with the section of the neck, or perhaps elevated above it, and forming a concave surface. When the weather is disposed to be wet a drop will appear at the mouth, which will enlarge till it falls, and then another drop so long as the humidity of the air continues.
How to go to Sea.—Decide first whether you will go by wind or steam, as steamboat seamen and sailing-ship sailors are distinct, the former having little to do with actual seamanship, the latter everything. Consequently, most parents are well advised to send their boys on sailing ships only. Parents generally are at their wits’ end to know what to do with boys with the sea “craze.” Therefore they are, as a general rule, “rushed” into paying exorbitant sums for apprenticing fees, only to find, after a voyage, their sons refuse to go again, having had enough to tire them of it. Now, the best and safest way to get boys comfortably berthed as apprentices is to see by the daily papers, or the Shipping Gazette, the names of the largest firms advertising Australian voyages, or voyages to the East Indies, and write them particulars briefly, enclosing a stamped envelope for reply.
The large firms keep a book or register, where boys’ names are entered, so that when an apprentice is required the first on the page has the preference. This is the simplest and safest way, for there are always plenty of sharpers advertising for boys in the London and Liverpool journals, offering midship berths and other “baits” at the moderate sum of from £10 to £50. This is by no means a high estimate, for by some of the gentry larger sums are asked, and these reap golden harvests. These sharpers act as intermediates between the office people and themselves, sharing the bounty. Now, few are aware that when apprenticing boys to the sea a trial voyage is necessary. A number of lads after one voyage prefer shore. Therefore, before any binding moneys are paid, be careful to see that the indentures are made out clearly, as often they are carefully worded, or “blinded,” as it is called at sea; so that if by chance money were paid down the difficulty would be to get it refunded, for if this is not stipulated, and a wish is afterwards expressed to cancel agreements, the purchase-money is forfeited.