Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/607

 PROSPERITY, PERIL OF

The following extract points a needed caution to those who are blest with prosperity:

Some time ago we saw a tree that had been struck by lightning and actually rent asunder. It had been blown open as perfectly as if the pith of the tree had been lined with gunpowder and touched off. The reason for this is easily explained. The tree had been struck by lightning before it had been wet by the storm. Consequently the lightning bolt followed the line of least resistance, which was the damp wood under the bark. The electric current heated the sap, and, converting it so quickly into steam, the explosion was the result.

How very like that tree are a great many people! Prosperity is the electric current. Coming upon them so suddenly, as is so often the case, they are unable to bear the pressure of elevation and honor and distinction, and are rent asunder with a crash. They "go down" with a thud.

As the forest tree that has been struck by the killing bolt drops only to rot, so does the man who has been overelated by prosperity.

(2565)

PROTECTION

One of the artizan class of Manchester was the owner of a very pretty black spaniel dog. The little thing followed him and nestled to his side as a child might, and by many endearing ways evinced the winsomeness of its disposition. It happened that the man was worse for drink, became irritated by the affectionate attentions of his dog and vowed he would throw her into the lion's den in Manchester; went there for the purpose, and reaching out, took up the little fawning thing and flung her through the bars of the cage. The spectators expected that the lion with one muscular movement of its paw would stun and kill it, but the dog fawned up to the lion and the lion turned and licked her. They became good friends, and when presently the lion's food was brought, the dog even snarled at her new protector and began to partake first, keeping the lord of creation waiting. So it went on for some weeks. The papers were full of it; crowds came to see. The news came to the man; he repented of his rash act; he went to the gardens and said to the keeper, "I want my dog." The keeper said, "I don't dare to attempt to bring your dog out of the den." "Oh," the man said, "of course I must have it." "Well," said the keeper, "if you want it, you must get it yourself." But when he called to the dog, the dog slunk closer to her new protector, and when presently he tried to exert force, the lion gave such an ominous growl that the man shrank back. From that moment the lion and the dog lived together, and any attempt made to extricate the dog was met instantly by the low growl of the lion.

You have been too long the slave of lusts, of passion, of pride, of sin. I want you to get under the covert of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and then if your old enemy shall endeavor to induce you and get you back, remember that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is going to interpose between you and your old master.—

(2566)

There are ways of escaping evil influences, just as there are of protecting oneself from sunstroke:

Attention is called in the New York Medical Journal to the fact that sunstroke is due to the chemical, and not to the heat rays, as generally supposed. The writer's argument is based on "the fact that no one ever gets heat-stroke from exposure to a dark source of heat, and when there is an absence of chemical rays. The actinic rays are the dangerous ones. They will pass through anything except an interposed color filter. It is therefore necessary, in order to ward off sunstroke, to treat the body as a photographer treats his plates, and surround it with red or yellow. He mentions the case of an Egyptian army officer, who had had several sunstrokes, and avoided further difficulty of the kind during five years' exposure by lining his helmet and coat with yellow. (Text.)

(2567)

The queer Chinese change pigeons into song-birds by fastening whistles to their breasts. The wind of their flight then causes a weird and plaintive music that is seldom silenced in the pigeon-haunted cities of Peking and Canton. The Belgians, great pigeon-fliers, fasten whistles beneath the wings of valuable racing carriers, claiming that the shrill noise is a sure protection against hawks and other birds of prey. As a similar