Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:49

Excerpt #1, from History for ready reference, Volume 1 (of 6), A

…Phoenician vessels were at Hydros, in the Isle of Cyprus, he immediately sailed thither and took or destroyed the whole of them. The victory on the Eurymedon may be regarded as the termination of the conflict between Greece and Persia. The year after it (Ol. 78,4) [B. C. 465], Xerxes was assassinated, and the usual confusion took place in the court of Susa." T. Keightley, History of Greece, part 1, chapter 13. ALSO IN W. W. Lloyd, The Age of Pericles, chapter 27 (volume 1). See also PERSIA: B. C. 486-405. {158} ATHENS: B. C. 466-454. Leadership in the Delian confederacy changed to sovereignty. Revolt and subjugation of Thasos. Help to Sparta and its ungracious requital. Fall and exile of Cimon. Rise of Pericles and the democratic anti-Spartan policy. Removal of the federal treasury from Delos. Building the Long Walls. "It was now evident to the whole body of the allies of Athens that by joining the league they had provided themselves with a…

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Excerpt #2, from James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography, by James Nasmyth

…I found that he had some exquisitely finished lathes completed and in hand for engraving the steel plates for printing bank notes. They were provided with the means of producing such intricate ornamental patterns as to defy the utmost skill of the forger. Perkins had done a good deal in the same way; but Drain’s exquisite mechanism enabled his engraving lathes to surpass anything that had before been attempted in the same line. I believe that Drain’s earnest attention to his work, in which he had little or no assistance, undermined his health, and arrested the career of one who, had he lived, would have attained the highest position in his profession. I shall never forget the rare treat which his fine mechanism afforded me. Its prominent quality was absolute truth and accuracy in every part. Having now had enough of the Black Country and of Birmingham workshops, I proceeded towards London. There were no more manufacturing districts to be visited. Everything now was to be green lanes, majestic trees, old mansions, venerable castles, and picturesque scenery. There is no way of seeing a country properly except on foot. By railway you whiz past and see nothing. Even by coach the best parts of the scenery are unseen. “Shank’s naig” is the best of all methods, provided you have time. I had still some days to spare before the conclusion of my holiday. I therefore desired to see some of the beautiful scenery and…

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Excerpt #3, from The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers

…Nevertheless she promptly began: “That’s it! Swear and act silly and ruin your brushes! You have been three weeks on that study, and now look! What’s the good of ripping the canvas? What creatures artists are!” I felt about as much ashamed as I usually did after such an outbreak, and I turned the ruined canvas to the wall. Tessie helped me clean my brushes, and then danced away to dress. From the screen she regaled me with bits of advice concerning whole or partial loss of temper, until, thinking, perhaps, I had been tormented sufficiently, she came out to implore me to button her waist where she could not reach it on the shoulder. “Everything went wrong from the time you came back from the window and talked about that horrid-looking man you saw in the churchyard,” she announced. “Yes, he probably bewitched the picture,” I said, yawning. I looked at my watch. “It’s after six, I know,” said Tessie, adjusting her hat before the mirror. “Yes,” I replied, “I didn’t mean to keep you so long.” I leaned out of the window but recoiled with disgust, for the young man with the pasty face stood below in the churchyard. Tessie saw my gesture of disapproval and leaned from the window….

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Excerpt #4, from The Great Boer War, by Arthur Conan Doyle

…upon. The storming party consisted of some hundreds of picked volunteers from the Heidelberg (Transvaal) and Harrismith (Free State) contingents, led by de Villiers. They were supported by several thousand riflemen, who might secure their success or cover their retreat. Eighteen heavy guns had been trained upon the long ridge, one end of which has been called Caesar’s Camp and the other Waggon Hill. This hill, three miles long, lay to the south of the town, and the Boers had early recognised it as being the most vulnerable point, for it was against it that their attack of November 9th had been directed. Now, after two months, they were about to renew the attempt with greater resolution against less robust opponents. At twelve o’clock our scouts heard the sounds of the chanting of hymns in the Boer camps. At two in the morning crowds of barefooted men were clustering round the base of the ridge, and threading their way, rifle in hand, among the mimosa-bushes and scattered boulders which cover the slope of the hill. Some working parties were moving guns into position, and the noise of their labour helped to drown the sound of the Boer advance. Both at Caesar’s Camp, the east end of the ridge, and at Waggon Hill, the west end (the points being, I repeat, three miles apart), the attack came as a complete surprise. The outposts were shot or driven in, and the stormers were on the ridge almost as soon as their presence was detected. The line of…

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Excerpt #5, from Remarks, by Bill Nye

…Hopkins wrote a fine Spencerian hand and wore a black and tan dog where-ever he went. The boys were willing to overlook his copper-plate hand, but they drew the line at the dog. He not only wrote in beautiful style, but he copied his manuscript, so that when it went in to the printer it was as pretty as a wedding invitation. [Illustration: HE THREW ME OUT.] Hopkins ran the city page nine days, and then he came into the city hall where I was trying a simple drunk and bade me adieu. I just say this to show how difficult it is for a fine penman to get ahead as a journalist. Of course good, readable writers like Knox and John Hancock may become great, but they have to be men of sterling ability to start with. I have some of the most bloodcurdling horrors preserved for the purpose of showing Hopkins’ wonderful and vivid style. I will throw them in. “A little son of our esteemed fellow townsman, J.H. Hayford, suffered greatly last evening with virulent colic, but this A.M., as we go to press, is sleeping easily.” Think of shaking the social foundations of a mountain mining and stock town with such grim, nervous prostrators as that! The next day he startled Southern Wyoming and Northern Colorado and Utah with the maddening statement that “our genial friend, Leopold Gussenhoven’s fine, yellow dog,…

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Excerpt #6, from Japanese Literature, by Epiphanius Wilson

…insisted on accompanying him. Koremitz, however, did not at all approve of this project; but his resistance gave way to the earnest desire of Genji, and he said, “If you think so much about it, I cannot help it.” “Let us hasten, then, and return before the night be far advanced.” “You shall have my horse to ride.” Genji rose, and dressed himself in the ordinary plain style he usually adopted for his private expeditions, and started away with one confidential servant, besides Koremitz. They crossed the river Kamo, the torches carried before them burning dimly. They passed the gloomy cemetery of Toribeno, and at last reached the convent. It was a rude wooden building, and adjoining was a small Buddha Hall, through whose walls votive tapers mysteriously twinkled. Within, nothing but the faint sound of a female’s voice repeating prayers was to be heard. Outside, and around, the evening services in the surrounding temples were all finished, and all Nature was in silent repose. In the direction of Kiyomidz alone some scattered lights studding the dark scene betrayed human habitations. They entered. Genji’s heart was beating fast with emotion. He saw Ukon reclining beside a screen, with her back to the lamp. He did not speak…

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Excerpt #7, from Great Britain and the American Civil War, by Ephraim Douglass Adams

…extent that he acknowledged “we ought not to move at present without Russia[795]….” Finally, October 22, Palmerston reached a decision for the immediate present, writing to Russell: “Your description of the state of things between the two parties is most comprehensive and just. I am, however, much inclined to agree with Lewis that at present we could take no step nor make any communication of a distinct proposition with any advantage.” * * * * * "All that we could possibly do without injury to our position would be to ask the two Parties not whether they would agree to an armistice but whether they might not turn their thoughts towards an arrangement between themselves. But the answer of each might be written by us beforehand. The Northerners would say that the only condition of arrangement would be the restoration of the Union; the South would say their only condition would be an acknowledgment by the North of Southern Independence–we should not be more advanced and should only have pledged each party more strongly to the object for which they are fighting. I am therefore inclined to change the opinion on which I wrote to you when the…

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Excerpt #8, from Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., area. Hearings, Part 3

…Mr. TAVENNER. Are you now aware that the American Friends of the Chinese People has been cited by this committee as a Communist-front organization? Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I am not aware of that even now. Mr. TAVENNER. It was so cited on March 29, 1944. Mr. O’CONNELL. I never got copies of the hearings or deliberations or decisions of the committee. Out there our press, unless it is specifically related to something out there, rarely carries any of this material. Mr. TAVENNER. The November 1948 issue of the Far East Spotlight reflects that you sent greetings to the Communist, Madame Sun Yat-Sen under auspices of the Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy. Do you recall having done that? Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I really don’t recall having done it, but I don’t deny that I did. I have tremendous respect for Madame Sun Yat-Sen. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee whether or not you were affiliated with the Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy? Mr. O’CONNELL. Affiliated with it? Mr. TAVENNER. In any way; yes. Mr. WILLIS. What is the name of that committee?…

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

…ut fit, ita ut fit, ut fere fit—as usually happens. ut solet, ut fieri solet—as usually happens. ita fert consuetudo—so custom, fashion prescribes. ex consuetudine mea (opp. praeter consuetudinem)—according to my custom. more institutoque maiorum (Mur. 1. 1)—according to the custom and tradition of my fathers. ex instituto (Liv. 6. 10. 6)—according to traditional usage. [1] Note assuescere, to accustom oneself to …. and assuefacere aliquem, to accustom some one else to… [TR1] Transcriber’s Note: The original text has retineri. But that is wrong as can be seen from the French edition using retinere. XIII. Commerce and Agriculture 1. Commerce in General—Purchase—Price negotiatores[1] (Verr. 2. 69. 168)—business-men. homines negotii (always in sing.) gerentes—business-men. negotii bene gerentes (Quint. 19. 62)—good men of business. negotium obire or exsequi—to be engaged upon a transaction, carry it out. negotium (rem) conficere, absolvere—to settle, finish a transaction. mercaturam facere—to be engaged in commerce, wholesale business….

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Excerpt #10, from Radio Active Substances, by Marie Curie

…chloride is only slightly soluble. Antimony and arsenic are found among the oxides only in the minutest quantity, their oxides having been dissolved by the soda. In order to obtain the very active sulphides, the following process was employed:—The solutions made strongly acid with hydrochloric acid were precipitated with sulphuretted hydrogen; the sulphides thus precipitated are very active, and are employed for the preparation of polonium; there remain in the solution substances not completely precipitated in presence of excess of hydrochloric acid (bismuth, lead, antimony). To complete the precipitation, the solution is diluted with water, and treated again with sulphuretted hydrogen, which gives a second precipitate of sulphides, much less active than the first, and which have generally been rejected. For the further purification of the sulphides, they are washed with ammonium sulphide, which removes the last remaining traces of antimony and arsenic. They are then washed with water and ammonium nitrate, and treated with dilute nitric acid. Complete solution never occurs; there is always an insoluble residue, more or less considerable, which can be treated afresh if it is judged expedient. The solution is reduced to a small volume and precipitated either by ammonia or by excess of water. In both cases the lead and the copper remain in solution; in the second case, a little bismuth, scarcely active at all, remains also in solution….

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Excerpt #11, from The Golden Wheel Dream

…SAUSAGES. To dream of eating fried sausages, foretells that you will come in contact with some person who is very poor, and will be disagreeable to you: a girl who dreams this, will be very sure to get a shiftless and needy lover, and perhaps marry him if she is in much of a hurry to get married. 38, 16. SAWING. To dream of sawing wood, or boards, foretells that you will do something that you will afterwards regret: if a young fellow dreams this, he will probably offer some indignity to his sweetheart, which he will find it hard work to get overlooked. 3, 17, 55. SCAFFOLD. To dream of going upon a high scaffold, shows that you will rise in the world: if, in your dream, you imagine that you fall from a scaffold, or from any high place, it shadows forth a misfortune that will make you poorer: a girl who dreams of climbing upon a scaffold, will positively marry a rich man, or one of distinction, who is far above her in position. 33, 7. SCALDED. To dream of being scalded with hot water, is usually a sign of injuries by the elements; it may foretell losses by floods, by fire, or by winds, or by thunder-storms: if you dream of scalding your tongue with hot tea, it is a sign that you will scandalize a neighbor with some ill-natured remark. 3, 12, 36. SCALES. To dream you are weighing any article, is a good omen, and…

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Excerpt #12, from The Pursuit of the House Boat, by John Kendrick Bangs

…my earliest youth, when I used surreptitiously to remove the unsmoked ends of my father’s cigars and break them up, and, in hiding, smoke them in an old clay pipe which I had presented to me by an ancient sea-captain of my acquaintance, I have been interested in tobacco in all forms, even including these self-same despised unsmoked ends; for they convey to my mind messages, sentiments, farces, comedies, and tragedies which to your minds would never become manifest through their agency.” The company drew closer together and formed themselves in a more compact mass about the speaker. It was evident that they were beginning to feel an unusual interest in this extraordinary person, who had come among them unheralded and unknown. Even Shylock stopped calculating percentages for an instant to listen. “Do you mean to tell us,” demanded Shakespeare, “that the unsmoked stub of a cigar will suggest the story of him who smoked it to your mind?” “I do,” replied the stranger, with a confident smile. “Take this one, for instance, that I have picked up here upon the wharf; it tells me the whole story of the intentions of Captain Kidd at the moment when, in utter disregard of your rights, he stepped aboard your House-boat, and, in his usual piratical fashion, made off with it into unknown seas.” “But how do you know he smoked it?” asked Solomon, who deemed it the part of wisdom to be suspicious of the stranger….

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