Puck — June 18, 1879 — page 5: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

PUCK. 229 VI. «“Dunper and blitzen!" said my Uncle Blun- derfog; “I forgot to take into consideration the time of year.” He had indeed. Every school-boy knows that at the North Pole there is a long season of continuous night. We had unfortunately se- lected that season for our investigation, and there we were at the North Pole in Cimmerian darkness, The Pole extended a little beyond the surface of the earth, and fortunately just fitted in the brass socket which, as I have de- scribed, was made in the centre of our tub, ‘The tub, being concave, fitted nicely over the land which surrounded the Pole. Of course we revolved on the Pole with a gentle, pleasant motion. Naturally you wonder how we could be certain that we were at the Pole. The an- swer is simple. Only one place on the globe has go north longitude, ‘The spot occupied by our tub had go° north longitude, “ Shall we stay here, uncle ?” I asked, “Trt is useless,” said my Uncle Blunderfog; “but I had not worked out the method of re- turn, I must think it out.” To me it was plain that we would revolve there on the North Pole of the earth till our provisions were exhausted, and then we would starve to death. ‘Ihen came to my mind the sage advice my mother had often given me: “Don't go near the water until you know how to swim;” and I could not help saying to my- self: One should not go to the North Pole until he knows how to get back, I tried to speak to my uncle, but he answered: ‘ Don’t, I'm try- ing to think.” Then I heard him muttering, and I knew that his thinking was not proceed- ing very well. I took my pipe out of my pocket and handed it to him. I heard a grunt of satis- faction as he put it in his mouth. In less than five minutes he shouted out his favorite word, “ Eureka,” and I knew that we were saved. IX. It was a fortunate thing for us that my Uncle Blunderfog was a many-sided man, He under- stood many things besides numismatics, and I felt that he had evolved some plan which would save us, He leaned over and took my hand. The darkness was too dense for us to see each other, “Listen, Rudolph,” said he, “and be par- ticular to understand. You will notice that our tub moves slowly around on the Pole from left to right. The force by which it moves in that direction is called the centripetal force. There is acting on our tub at the same time another force called the centrifugal force, which tends to throw us off of the Pole. Now, we must reverse the power of these forces, and make the centrifugal force exceed the centri- petal. As soon as that happens, we will fly off of the Pole.” “T understand,” said I. “Now,” said he, “to accomplish that we must run with all our might around on the flat piece in the bottom of our tub in a direction Opposite to that in which we are revolving. In that way we shall make a centrifugal force, which shall exceed the centripetal which now holds us here. Take hold of my coat-tails and hold them firmly, in order that our efforts may be made together.” I obeyed my_uncle’s instructions, Never would I have believed that my uncle’s thin legs had so much power in them. He sped along at a terrific pace and I at his heels. Soon we felt the tub’s motion grow slower; then it ceased for a second altogether, and then we had triumphed, for the tub commenced to re- Volve in an opposite direction, For perhaps a second we redoubled our efforts, and then, as The German Waiter in his Straggles with the Pronunciation of the Knglish TH. Sketches of a Heroic Struggle towards Lingual Perfection. To pronounce the diphthong 7H in the purest English style, the tongue should be induced to assume a spiral form, while the breath is emitted simultaneously through the mouth and the nose, with a gentle, yet persuasive impulse. PROFESSOR FERGUSON. [« Easy English for young Germans.) The 7H belongs to the head-heavinesses of the beau- tiful speech Albion’s. Man overwinds her however most, happily if man the point of the tongue on the upperer tooth-holders presses, the breath deep indraws, then a half-step backwards, and so-like again a half-step for- ward makes, and by this be-movement a sharp ss breathes, that itself like a soft d& on-hears, Proressor Kiick1a. [The Speech of the Englander.] In order the English 7/7 rightly to pronounce to be able, presses one the tongue on the gums fiat, draws the lips ‘something together, and a sound, that between ds and dh the middle holds, emits. This method exces- sively sure is, ProvEssor Levis. [+ Over the English Language, for German Readers particularly adapted." From a sanitary point of view it should be observed that Germans should be careful not to attempt the pro- nunciation of the English 7H, except under the tuition of an experienced master of languages, as the tongue is apt to acquire a Britannic malformation which may never be overcome in after years. Dr. Serrimus TeuvEispricku. [«* The Englishmen; their Words and Ways.”] the tub rose from the Pole and commenced) to move through the air, we both fell into the tub exhausted. Our journey was rapid and brief. In five minutes we landed at Ziz, right at our starting point, where our well-borer was still king his machinery; but our tub was shat- tered into a thousand pieces. x. My Uncle Blunderfog wrote a book about the North Pole containing one thousand pages. Some envious rivals in Gottingen said it did | not throw much light on the subject; but, un- der the circumstances, it was hardly to be ex- pected that it would. if}