Bassetts Scrap Book, Vol 4, No 11
Articles in this issue
- p. 2
A comic countdown poem in which ten New Year's resolutions are eliminated one by one by a poker game, a pretty woman, a horse race, a keyhole that cannot be found at night, and a wife's inquiry, until only one remains — which itself evaporates before the month is out.
- p. 2
A January miscellany on square pegs, holiday tranquillity, the first temperance order of 1600 which permitted members to drink fourteen glasses of wine per day, and the observation that 200 oysters a day would be needed to sustain one person.
- p. 3
A mock-serious report on the apocalyptic prophecy of one Spangler, who foresees earthquakes, tidal waves, disappearing islands, the assassination of great rulers, and the complete destruction of New York City and the world by the close of 1908.
- p. 4
Astrologer Frank T. Allen's prediction that the conjunction of Mars and Uranus in May 1907 — aligned with both the Declaration of Independence and President Roosevelt's Moon position — will unleash the most eventful period in modern history.
- p. 5
A satirical poem about a small toad who, on the day he emerges from his burrow, hears bands, cannon fire, thunder, and lightning — all of which he takes as a personal celebration of his own magnificent arrival.
- p. 5
A meditative poem by George William Curtis in which a man walks beside the sea and is told alternately by the waves to dream no more and then to dream again, before his own heartbeat repeats the same contradictory counsel from within his own breast.
- p. 9
A short essay arguing that there is no bond stronger between two people than shared interest, and that a husband and wife who can spend an evening in animated discussion of any subject they both care about will never be dull or bored with each other.