Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:53

Excerpt #1, from The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing, by Joseph Triemens

…Main Landing Wheels–In an alighting gear, the wheels that take the chief shock in landing. Ornithopter–A dynamic flying machine of the heavier-than-air type, in which sustension is provided by the effect of reciprocating wing surfaces. Pylon–A tower to mark the course in aerial racing contests. Ribs–Supports for the fabric, made of ash or spruce and bent to the correct curves. Rudder–One or more steering planes are invariably fitted to practical machines to control the direction of flight. Superposed Planes–Arrangement of one plane over the other, as in the Wright, Voisin and Farman machines. Supplementary Planes (or surfaces)–Additional surfaces which are used for stabilization. Stabilizer–Any surface for automatically maintaining lateral or longitudinal balance. Struts–Fixtures used in biplane construction to maintain an equal distance between two planes. Skids–Long skates on which the machine can land in safety. Span–The distance from tip to tip of the main planes in a transverse direction to that of flight….

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Excerpt #2, from Astrology: How to Make and Read Your Own Horoscope, by Sepharial

…3 59 36| 2| 10| 12| 8 49| ♎| 27| 6 8 43| 2| 8| 8| 1 33| 26| 26 4 3 48| 3| 10| 13| 9 33| 1| 28| 6 13 5| 3| 9| 9| 2 19| 27| 27 4 8 0| 4| 11| 14|10 17| 2| 29| 6 17 26| 4| 10| 10| 3 5| 27| 28 ——–+—+—+—+——-+—+—|——–+—+—+—+——+—+— 4 12 13| 5| 12| 15|11 2| 2| ♏| 6 21 48| 5| 11| 10| 3 51| 28| 29 4 16 26| 6| 13| 16|11 46| 3| 1| 6 26 9| 6| 12| 11| 4 37| 29| ♐ 4 20 40| 7| 14| 17|12 30| 4| 2| 6 30 30| 7| 13| 12| 5 23| ♏| 1 4 24 55| 8| 15| 17|13 15| 5| 3| 6 34 51| 8| 14| 13| 6 9| 1| 2 4 29 10| 9| 16| 18|14 0| 6| 4| 6 39 11| 9| 15| 14| 6 55| 2| 3 ——–+—+—+—+——-+—+—|——–+—+—+—+——+—+— 4 33 26| 10| 17| 19|14 45| 7| 5| 6 43 31| 10| 16| 15| 7 40| 2| 4 4 37 42| 11| 18| 20|15 30| 8| 6| 6 47 51| 11| 16| 16| 8 26| 3| 4 4 41 59| 12| 19| 21|16 15| 8| 7| 6 52 11| 12| 17| 16| 9 12| 4| 5 4 46 16| 13| 20| 21|17 0| 9| 8| 6 56 31| 13| 18| 17| 9 58| 5| 6 4 50 34| 14| 21| 22|17 45| 10| 9| 7 0 50| 14| 19| 18|10 43| 6| 7 ——–+—+—+—+——-+—+—|——–+—+—+—+——+—+— 4 54 52| 15| 22| 23|18 30| 11| 10| 7 5 8| 15| 20| 19|11 28| 7| 8 4 59 10| 16| 23| 24|19 16| 12| 11| 7 9 26| 16| 21| 20|12 14| 8| 9 5 3 29| 17| 24| 25|20 3| 13| 12| 7 13 44| 17| 22| 21|12 59| 8| 10 5 7 49| 18| 25| 26|20 49| 14| 13| 7 18 1| 18| 23| 22|13 45| 9| 11 5 12 9| 19| 25| 27|21 35| 14| 14| 7 22 18| 19| 24| 23|14 30| 10| 12…

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Excerpt #3, from The Old East Indiamen, by E. Keble Chatterton

…for the passenger’s accommodation. The money was paid direct to the paymaster of seamen’s wages at his pay office in London, who handed these respective sums over to the commander or third mate. In the case of military officers who were in his Majesty’s service and not in the East India Company’s army, the charges were slightly different. Thus general officers were charged £235, colonels £185, lieutenant-colonels and majors £135, captains and surgeons £110, subalterns and assistant-surgeons £95, for the voyage out. For the homeward voyage the commanders of these East Indiamen were allowed to charge 2500 rupees from Bombay for lieutenant-colonels or majors, 2000 rupees for captains, and 1500 rupees for subalterns when returning to Europe, either on sick certificate or military duty, whether in his Majesty’s or the Company’s service. Regular East Indiamen were bound, if asked, to receive on board at least two of the above officers, and in this case the larboard third part of the captain’s great cabin, with the passage to the quarter-gallery, was to be apportioned off for their accommodation. In the case of an extra ship one such officer was bound to be carried if the commander were requested, and he was to be accommodated with a cabin on the starboard side, abaft the chief mate’s cabin, and abreast of the spirit-room. His cabin was to be not less than seven feet long and six feet wide. If the…

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Excerpt #4, from Nick Carter Stories No. 143, June 5, 1915: The sultan’s pearls; or, Nick

…general, and I don’t want to have a fight here. It isn’t necessary, and I always like to do my work in a quiet way–when I can.” “What shall I say he is wanted for?” asked Lawton, hesitating. “Tell him he has to sign a declaration for the customs department. Be sure you don’t give him a hint that there is anything wrong.” “I’m not afraid of him,” snapped the captain. “Of course you’re not. I don’t mean that he would hurt you–or me, either. But he might have a gun handy, and send a bullet through his own head. That’s all.” “I’ll be careful,” promised Lawton, as he went to the door of the stateroom and knocked. Sawyer was behind the sailcloth curtain that protected the saloon from the wind in bad weather, but he could see everything done from a narrow chink. The door of the stateroom was flung open, and Paul Clayton stood in the opening, his figure silhouetted against the light that streamed through the porthole behind him. “Custom officer on board, Mr. Miles,” announced the captain gruffly. “You’ll have to declare any baggage you have. They are particular here in San Juan.” “I don’t see why,” objected Clayton. “We have come from one American…

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Excerpt #5, from From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan, by H. P. Blavatsky

…With your husbands bring ghi and butter. Let the mothers go up to the womb first, Dressed in festive garments and costly adornments. The line before the last was misinterpreted by the Brahmans in the most skillful way. In Sanskrit it reads as follows: Arohantu janayo yonim agre….. Yonina agre literally means to the womb first. Having changed only one letter of the last word agre, “first,” in Sanskrit [script], the Brahmans wrote instead agneh, “fire’s,” in Sanskrit [script], and so acquired the right to send the wretched widows yonina agneh–to the womb of fire. It is difficult to find on the face of the world another such fiendish deception. The Vedas never permitted the burning of the widows, and there is a place in Taittiriya-Aranyaka, of the Yajur Veda, where the brother of the deceased, or his disciple, or even a trusted friend, is recommended to say to the widow, whilst the pyre is set on fire: “Arise, O woman! do not lie down any more beside the lifeless corpse; return to the world of the living, and become the wife of the one who holds you by the hand, and is willing to be your husband.” This verse shows that during the Vedic period the remarriage of widows was allowed. Besides, in several places in the ancient books, pointed out to us by Swami Dayanand, we…

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Excerpt #6, from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, by G. K. Chesterton

…yards, and left him flung flat upon the road far in front of his frightened horse. As the car took the corner of the street with a splendid curve, they could just see the other anarchists filling the street and raising their fallen leader. “I can’t understand why it has grown so dark,” said the Professor at last in a low voice. “Going to be a storm, I think,” said Dr. Bull. “I say, it’s a pity we haven’t got a light on this car, if only to see by.” “We have,” said the Colonel, and from the floor of the car he fished up a heavy, old-fashioned, carved iron lantern with a light inside it. It was obviously an antique, and it would seem as if its original use had been in some way semi-religious, for there was a rude moulding of a cross upon one of its sides. “Where on earth did you get that?” asked the Professor. “I got it where I got the car,” answered the Colonel, chuckling, “from my best friend. While our friend here was fighting with the steering wheel, I ran up the front steps of the house and spoke to Renard, who was standing in his own porch, you will remember. ‘I suppose,’ I said, ‘there’s no time to get a lamp.’ He looked up, blinking amiably at the beautiful arched ceiling of his own front hall. From this was suspended, by chains of exquisite ironwork, this lantern, one of the…

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Excerpt #7, from Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus

…temple, should be brought out of that temple. He also grew so haughty as to proceed to use them in the midst of his cups, drinking out of them, and blaspheming against God. In the mean time, he saw a hand proceed out of the wall, and writing upon the wall certain syllables; at which sight, being disturbed, he called the magicians and Chaldeans together, and all that sort of men that are among these barbarians, and were able to interpret signs and dreams, that they might explain the writing to him. But when the magicians said they could discover nothing, nor did understand it, the king was in great disorder of mind, and under great trouble at this surprising accident; so he caused it to be proclaimed through all the country, and promised, that to him who could explain the writing, and give the signification couched therein, he would give him a golden chain for his neck, and leave to wear a purple garment, as did the kings of Chaldea, and would bestow on him the third part of his own dominions. When this proclamation was made, the magicians ran together more earnestly, and were very ambitious to find out the importance of the writing, but still hesitated about it as much as before. Now when the king’s grandmother saw him cast down at this accident, 24 she began to encourage him, and to say, that there was a certain captive who came from Judea, a Jew by birth, but brought away thence by Nebuchadnezzar when he had destroyed Jerusalem, whose name was Daniel, a wise man, and…

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Excerpt #8, from The Valley of the Moon, by Jack London

…good; but the places they mentioned were always a long way off. One thing she did glean from them, and that was that the district she and Billy were passing through was “small-farmer” country in which labor was rarely hired, and that when it was it generally was Portuguese. The farmers themselves were unfriendly. They drove by Billy and Saxon, often with empty wagons, but never invited them to ride. When chance offered and Saxon did ask questions, they looked her over curiously, or suspiciously, and gave ambiguous and facetious answers. “They ain’t Americans, damn them,” Billy fretted. “Why, in the old days everybody was friendly to everybody.” But Saxon remembered her last talk with her brother. “It’s the spirit of the times, Billy. The spirit has changed. Besides, these people are too near. Wait till we get farther away from the cities, then we’ll find them more friendly.” “A measly lot these ones are,” he sneered. “Maybe they’ve a right to be,” she laughed. “For all you know, more than one of the scabs you’ve slugged were sons of theirs.” “If I could only hope so,” Billy said fervently. “But I don’t care if I owned ten thousand acres, any man hikin’ with his blankets might be just as good a man as me, an’ maybe better, for all I’d know. I’d give ’m the benefit of the doubt, anyway.”…

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Excerpt #9, from Latin Phrase Book, by Carl Meissner

…speciem alicuius rei praebere—to give the impression of…; have the outward aspect of… speciem prae se ferre[1]—to give the impression of…; have the outward aspect of… in speciem—apparently; to look at. specie (De Amic. 13. 47)—apparently; to look at. per speciem (alicuius rei)—apparently; to look at. per simulationem, simulatione alicuius rei—under pretext, pretence of… simulare morbum—to pretend to be ill. dissimulare[2] morbum—to pretend not to be ill. aliquis simulat aegrum or se esse aegrum—some one feigns illness. aliter sentire ac loqui (aliud sentire, aliud loqui)—to think one thing, say another; to conceal one’s opinions. per dolum (B. G. 4. 13)—by craft. dolis et fallaciis (Sall. Cat. 11. 2)—by the aid of fraud and lies. sine fuco ac fallaciis (Att. 1. 1. 1)—without any disguise, frankly. verba dare alicui (Att. 15. 16)—to deceive a person, throw dust in his eyes. mendacium dicere—to tell lies. falsa (pro veris) dicere—to tell lies….

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Excerpt #10, from The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

…=MATRIMONY= A game for women, in which the unmarried half are trying to find a husband and the married half trying not to be found out by one. Both halves are eminently successful. * * * * =MEAL= According to the Liquor Law, a minute bunch of crumbs entirely surrounded by booze. * * * =MEDIUM= A party with one ear in the grave but both hands on your wallet. “Hello, Central! Give me Heaven!” * * * =MELODEON= An alleged musical instrument, popular at home, but unpopular next door. From Eng. melody, and Latin, un, without. Warranted without melody. * * * =MENAGERIE= From Fr. melange, mixture, and Ger. riechen, to smell. A mixture of smells. * * * =MESSENGER BOY= From Eng. miss, to fail, and Lat. engeo, to arrive. One who fails to arrive. * * * * =METER= The gas man’s trysting place. “Meet her in the cellar!”…

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Excerpt #11, from Life And Letters Of John Gay (1685

…bash: -c: line 0: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `’’ bash: -c: line 1: syntax error: unexpected end of file

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Excerpt #12, from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

…everything should be known.’ “There was her statement, Watson, and to me, as you can imagine, it was like a light on a dark night. Everything which had been disconnected before began at once to assume its true place, and I had a shadowy presentiment of the whole sequence of events. My next step obviously was to find the man who had produced such a remarkable impression upon Mrs. Barclay. If he were still in Aldershot it should not be a very difficult matter. There are not such a very great number of civilians, and a deformed man was sure to have attracted attention. I spent a day in the search, and by evening—this very evening, Watson—I had run him down. The man’s name is Henry Wood, and he lives in lodgings in this same street in which the ladies met him. He has only been five days in the place. In the character of a registration-agent I had a most interesting gossip with his landlady. The man is by trade a conjurer and performer, going round the canteens after nightfall, and giving a little entertainment at each. He carries some creature about with him in that box; about which the landlady seemed to be in considerable trepidation, for she had never seen an animal like it. He uses it in some of his tricks according to her account. So much the woman was able to tell me, and also that…

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