Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/716



from the rest only in this, that it is the culmination! There can be no Parnassus without the steps that lead to it.—

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Stewardship—See.

STICKING TO IT

A friend, a former colleague of mine, told me that he was, many years ago, traveling up to London with an owner of race horses who was accompanied by his trainer. When they arrived at the station near the metropolis where the tickets are collected, the ticket-collector came, and my friend said, "My servant has my ticket in the next carriage." The ticket-collector retired and presently came back rather angry and said, "I can not find him." My friend said, "He is in the next carriage—or the next carriage but one; he is there." As soon as the ticket-collector retired for the second time the trainer leaned forward and said, "Stick to it, my lord, you will tire him out."—Lord .

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STIGMATA

Francis, Duke of Guise, bore the common name of Le Balafré, or "The Scarred." In a skirmish with the English invaders he received a wound the most severe from which any one ever recovered. A lance entered above the right eye, declining toward the nose, and piercing through on the other side, between the nape and the ear. The weapon was broken off, a part remaining in the dreadful wound. The surgeon took the pincers of a blacksmith and tore out the barbed iron, leaving a frightful scar which was shown as a signal badge of honor.

When Thomas tested the wounds of the risen Savior he cried, "My Lord and my God."

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Stimulus—See ;.

STIMULUS FROM RIVALRY

Social rivalry brings its rich compensations. It is so with the international rivalry. America and Australia at this moment are sending into this country (England) corn, meats, fruits, and our farmers declare that they are being ruined. But the fact is men have to be ruined that they may be made over again, and fashioned on a grander pattern. Our husbandmen will be compelled to put away all droning; they must go to school again, they must invent new methods, they must adopt new machines, sow choicer seeds, breed superior cattle; they must grub up the old canker-eaten, lichen-laden orchards, and plant fresh fruit-trees of the best varieties. The pressure of the times will lift the national husbandry to a higher plane. And this international rivalry will have the same stimulating effect on city life.—, "The Transfigured Sackcloth."

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Stomach Contraction—See.

Stones, Comparing—See.

Stored Energy—See.

STORY, THE POWER OF THE OLD

Do you remember the story of Paul Du Chaillu, the great African traveler, in the heart of the Dark Continent? On one occasion he told the "old, old story" to a poor slave woman; then he went on his way and forgot all about the incident. He came back a few months later to that town and the slave-traders had just made a raid on it. In the fight this woman was injured. She sent for him and he went to see her. As he knelt down beside her, she said, "Tell it again." "Tell what again?" he said. "Oh, tell me that story again." Then once more he told her the old, old story of Jesus and His love. As he finished it, she said to him, "Is it true?" "Yes," he replied, "it is true." "Do your people believe that?" "Yes, they believe that." "Oh," she said, "tell them to send us that story a little faster."—, "Student Volunteer Movement," 1906.

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STRAIGHT CHARACTER

"Is he straight?"

"Straight as a gun-barrel. You can depend upon him in every spot and place."

This was said of a boy who had asked for a place and had given as a reference the gentleman who made this firm reply.

How straight is a gun-barrel? In the factory where guns are made the metal is rolled and prest and ground and polished until the most practised eye can not detect the slightest curve in it anywhere. Not until it is so can it be permitted to go out of the factory. Over and over again it must be tested and tried until it is as perfect as men and machines can make it. If the gun-barrel were not straight, no one ever could hit