OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Richard H. Sylvester

​ RICHARD H. SYLVESTER was one of the pioneer journalists of Iowa. He was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and attended school at Exeter Academy, taking a course at Yale College and graduating at the Law School of Ann Arbor. In 1854 he came to Iowa and continued ​his law studies with Judge James Grant and John F. Dillon at Davenport. In 1855 he went to Iowa City and reported the proceedings of the General Assembly. Later he established the Iowa City State Reporter, a Democratic paper. He was chosen superintendent of schools in Johnson County and founded the Iowa State Press, after conducting it several years sold it to John P. Irish. During the Civil War he was a war correspondent of the New York World. In 1862 he was nominated by the Democratic party for Secretary of State but was not elected. He went south and was for some time editor of the Memphis Argus, and secretary of the Howard Association. He located in St. Louis where he was managing editor of the Daily Times. In 1880 he removed to Washington, D. C., where he was associated with Frank Hatton on the Washington Post as managing editor until he died in 1896. Mr. Sylvester was an able and graceful writer, spending nearly all of his mature life in journalism. His eulogy on Governor Kirkwood was one of the finest productions of the times. He was the originator of the Memorial Bridge project over the Potomac to commemorate the war and link the North with the South.
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Ralph P. Lowe

​ RALPH P. LOWE, fourth Governor of the State of Iowa, was born in Warren County, Ohio, on the 27th of November, 1805. His father owned a farm and kept a stage station and tavern. Ralph assisted his father, and when a boy his ambition was to some day become a stage driver. But as he grew older and listened to the talk of Henry Clay and other distinguished statesmen who stopped at his father's tavern, on their journeys by stage coach, he imbibed a higher ambition. He began to study and entered the Miami University where he graduated. He then began the study of law. In 1840 he came to Iowa, crossing the Mississippi River at Bloomington (now Muscatine) where he bought a farm. He improved the farm and began to practice law, taking an active part in public affairs. In 1844 he was elected to the First Constitutional Convention. In 1845 he ​was nominated by the Whigs for Delegate in Congress, but the Democrats had a clear majority in the Territory and he was defeated by General A. C. Dodge. In 1852 Mr. Lowe was chosen judge of the District Court, serving until 1857 when he resigned, having been nominated by the Republican State Convention for Governor. He was elected and was the first Governor under the new Constitution, serving but one term. In 1859 he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court and became Chief Justice in 1860. He was reëlected in 1861 and again became Chief Justice in 1866. He removed to Washington, D. C., in 1874 where he resumed the practice of law, and died in that city December 22, 1883.
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Richard P. Clarkson

​ RICHARD P. CLARKSON, eldest son of Coker F. Clarkson, was born at Brookfield, Indiana, in 1840. He learned the printing business in his father's office at that place and after the family removed to Iowa in 1855 Richard worked for many years on the prairie farm which his father improved in Grundy County. He secured a position as compositor in the office of the State Register at Des Moines in the spring of 1861 and in October enlisted as a private in the Twelfth Iowa Infantry. At the Battle of Shiloh he was captured with the regiment after a gallant fight and for seven months was a prisoner. After being exchanged he returned to his regiment serving until the close of the war. In 1870 the father and two sons, Richard P. and James S. purchased the Iowa State Register establishment and for many years worked together in their several departments, making it the most influential Republican paper in the State. Richard P. was the business manager and in 1889 became the sole owner of the establishment and from that time forward assumed editorial management of the paper. In June, 1902, after thirty-two years of service in the exacting field of daily journalism he sold the establishment and was appointed by President Roosevelt United States Pension Agent for Iowa and Nebraska.
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Phineas M. Casady

[P M Casady]
​ PHINEAS M. CASADY was born in Connersville in Indiana, December 3, 1818. He acquired a liberal education, studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1846 he came to the new State of Iowa, traveling westward over its wild prairies to Fort Des Moines then on the Indian frontier. He was appointed by President Polk the first postmaster of the future Capital of Iowa. He opened a law office and soon procured his share of the legal business of the vicinity. In 1847 he was elected school fund commissioner with custody of the school money. In 1848 he was nominated by the Democrats for State Senator in an immense district embracing the counties of Polk, Dallas, Jasper, Marion and all of the unorganized region north and west to the Missouri River. He was elected and took his seat in the Second General Assembly. In looking over the map of the State he observed that nearly one-half of its territory was unnamed. He at once determined to prepare a bill providing for its divisions into counties. The bill was referred to the committee on new counties of which he was a member. He gave much time to this bill as there was a wide difference of opinion as to names. The differences were finally harmonized and forty new counties were created and named. It was by far the most important act of the Second General Assembly and the name of Senator P. M. Casady became imperishably associated with one of the most interesting events of Iowa history. A paper of great value was prepared in 1894 by Judge Casady for the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association giving an account of the incidents which led to the naming of these counties. In 1854 Mr. Casady was elected Judge of the Fifth District. Soon after he was appointed Receiver of the United States Land Office by President Pierce. In 1872 he was elected one of the regents of the State University, serving four years. He was one of the founders of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association and has contributed many valuable historical articles for its publications. For nearly a quarter of a century he has been president of the Des Moines Saving Bank.
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Racine D. Kellogg

​ RACINE D. KELLOGG was born in Fayetteville, Onondaga County, New York, on the 9th of March, 1828. He removed to Iowa in 1854, locating at Garden Grove in Decatur County, where he engaged in farming and dealing in real estate. He was a Democrat in politics and an eloquent public speaker. In 1859 he was elected to the House of the Eighth General Assembly of which he was one of the youngest members. He soon formed an intimate friendship with Ex-Governor N. B. Baker who was a member from Clinton County. Mr. Kellogg acted with the Democratic party during the regular session but when the Rebellion began and his party divided upon the question of sustaining the National administration in crushing armed resistance to the enforcement of the laws, he did not hesitate to stand by the administration. At the extra session called by Governor Kirkwood in May, 1861, to organize the military forces of the State, Mr. Kellogg became one of the leaders of the “War Democrats” and with Governor Baker, Senator Bussey and others, declared for the preservation of the Union at all hazards. At the opening of the session he introduced resolutions (found in another place) pledging unqualified support to the Government, State and National, in suppressing the Rebellion. Governor Kirkwood recognized his patriotism by appointing him major of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Volunteers where he rendered good service in the Union army. He became a Republican during the war when his party passed under control of men not in sympathy with the war for the Union and has often been urged to become a candidate for some of the highest offices in the State but was unwilling to resort to modern methods to secure a nomination. He has long been an honored member of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association, before which he has delivered several interesting addresses.
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Robert B. Armstrong

​ ROBERT B. ARMSTRONG was born at Polk City, Iowa, August 19, 1873. He graduated at the local high school at the age of fourteen and two years later entered the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, relying largely upon his own resources in obtaining an education. Meeting with an almost fatal accident he was obliged to enter a printing office to procure money to continue his college course. In 1894 Mr. Armstrong secured a position on the Des Moines Leader and later became city editor of the Des Moines News. In 1895 he went to Chicago and soon obtained a position on the Daily Record, working in the local department. In 1896 he came to Iowa as the representative of the Chicago Record during the political campaign in which Leslie M. Shaw was first a candidate for Governor. So rapidly had Mr. Armstrong developed newspaper talent that in 1898 he was sent to New York to take charge of the eastern news and editorial matter for the Record. Attracting attention of leading journalists in New York by his marked newspaper ability, in 1901 he was employed by the New York Herald as chief of its Chicago bureau. After Governor Shaw became Secretary of the Treasury, in 1902, he selected Robert B. Armstrong as his private secretary, where he developed such unusual talent and practical business ability that Secretary Shaw secured his promotion to the responsible position of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in January, 1903.
# Forty Years On The Pacific/Classification-Tonnage

CAREFUL owners of ships submit their vessels to Lloyd's every four years for classification in order to obtain valuable recognition from the British Board of Trade, and with a view to intelligence.
"A-l at Lloyd's" is noticed in the classification of American, Canadian and British ships, and corresponds to the French rating in Bureau Veritas.
Great Britain, in describing her tonnage of mercantile marine, refers to gross tonnage of all the enclosed spaces on board the ship, which is the measurement inside the hull at one hundred cubic feet to the ton; that is, when loaded to the Plimsoll mark.
Registered tonnage is all the enclosed cargo spaces and it is on this tonnage that ships pay all claims, such as wharfage, pilotage, light and canal dues. But when describing the tonnage on her naval fleet, England measures displacement, that is, in terms the cubic feet of water the ship would displace.
American mercantile marine in giving tonnage, refers to the displacement which is equivalent to the cubic feet of water the ship displaces at the rate of one hundred cubic feet to the ton. The same method is observed by the American Naval Fleets.
Net tonnage means the dead weight of the ship at 2,000 pounds American, or 2,240 pounds British.
What surprises me most was the care taken in preserving the record of ships. I had heard something about the pedigree of stud books, English and American, which enabled the pedigrees of celebrated horses to be traced, but the marine world had them beaten.
On calling upon Captain Spinks, a Sydney marine adjuster, to obtain some information under this heading, Mr. Blacklock, a South Sea Island merchant, rang up to get the age of a wooden ship that was built many years ago in California, which he desired to purchase. Captain Spinks obtained a book from his library and in about three minutes told Mr. Blacklock where and when the ship was built, material of construction and classification.
Owing to the number of ships falling into her possession and the scarcity of American navigating officers, the United States Government in July, 1917, gave permission for qualified officers, subjects of any nation engaged in war against the Imperial German Government, to take charge of, and navigate, ships sailing under the American flag. Prior to this date the law prescribed that all watch officers should be citizens of the United States.
Shipbuilders on the Clyde are shrewd and surprise shipowners by their watchfulness, even after a ship leaves their yards. An instance came under my notice a few years ago of a big ship on the Pacific, which had a guarantee that she could travel seventeen knots—any repairs to be made good by the builders for a certain time. On one voyage, she broke one of her propellers, near Honolulu, and sent an account to the builders for repairs. The builders ignored the claim, pointing out that while the guarantee was for seventeen knots, the company had driven her nearly eighteen knots! This serves to show the watchfulness builders keep on their output.
# Forty Years On The Pacific/Explanation of Difference of Time

By An American Naval Officer
THE sketch below represents the view of the earth that would be obtained by an observer stationed in a balloon above the North Pole. The circle would be the equator. The rotation of the earth and the apparent movement of the sun are shown.
Now, suppose the sun is as shown over the meridian passing through Greenwich, England (0° longitude): it will be noon at that place. At A, the sun is not yet overhead, so it will be some time before noon. At B, the sun has passed and is to the west; therefore, it is afternoon. So it will be seen that west of Greenwich (west longitude) as at A, the time in England is earlier than at 0°, and east of Greenwich, the time is later.
The earth revolves once in twenty-four hours, so at 180° longitude, the difference in time is twelve hours. Let us suppose two points—one 179° 5959" west longitude; the other, 179° 5959" east longitude. At the first point, it will be practically twelve hours earlier than at Greenwich, and at the second, twelve hours later, so the total difference is twenty-four hours. For this reason, when crossing the 180th meridian to the westward, we lose a day, and in the opposite direction, we gain a day.
Since the circumference of the earth may be reckoned as twenty-four hours and is 360°, time changes one hour; for every fifteen degrees of longitude, which is equal to nine hundred nautical miles on the equator.
Longitude west, Greenwich time best, Longitude east, Greenwich time least.
On one trip I made between New Zealand and Australia, in the year of the San Francisco fire (April, 1906), one of the passengers of the Moana was the noted American comedian, Willie Collier. We were traveling west, which means that we had to add about half an hour to every twenty-four hours' run. In other words, passengers traveling west on a fifteen knot an hour steamer, can lie abed half an hour later daily; while, if one is traveling east, he must rise half an hour earlier.
We made up daily a Calcutta sweepstake on the run, and one young actor—I think it was Jack Barrymore—bid in the number of the ticket that won. Collier protested, holding that Barrymore had an advantage, because he was aware of the difference in time, having allowed twenty-five minutes over the twenty-four hours in his calculation when bidding. In fact, Collier wanted the winner to divide the sweepstake. Freddie Shipman settled the dispute, and thus bloodshed was avoided.
During this trip we saw a waterspout, five miles on our starboard, near Lord Howe Island.
# Forty Years On The Pacific/Bird Life of Hawaii

THE plantations in the Hawaiian Islands suffered from many pests, chiefly rats. Mynah birds were introduced from India into Hawaii and Tahiti. They became a great nuisance, and means were taken to drive them out of Hawaii. These were largely successful. In Tahiti they overran the island, where they will attack and rob pigeon nests. In time, the mongoose, which had been introduced to kill rats in Hawaii, became a menace, and now a parasitic insect has been introduced to destroy the mongoose.
Pheasants were introduced into Honolulu by Mr. S. M. Damon, but they increased very slowly owing to the ravages of the mongoose. Noting this, Mr. Damon imported some expert gamekeepers from Scotland who had done excellent service in exterminating the mongoose. The result was that two thousand of these animals were destroyed in one month in Moanalau Park, near Honolulu.
Bird life in the Hawaiian Islands is not plentiful to-day owing to the encroachments of man and the progress of civilization. On Hawaii, in the forests immediately surrounding the active Kilauea volcano, are found descendants of the birds of ancient times, from which were plucked the feathers used to fashion the wonderfully gorgeous cloaks worn by the native kings and chiefs. These are practically all that remains of the original bird life in the islands. The Mynah bird and English sparrow are the most numerous of the winged inhabitants. There are also a number of doves left.
There never have been any poisonous snakes in the islands, the governments having been always particularly rigid in preventing the introduction of reptiles. One may roam in the forests of the mountains, among grasses and underbrush, without fear of coming in contact with snakes. And while I think of it, so far as I can discover, there are no poisonous land-snakes to be found on any Pacific Islands with the exception of New Guinea (Papua).
# Forty Years On The Pacific/Dutch New Guinea

LITTLE as the average man knows of British New Guinea, he knows less still of Dutch New Guinea. This can be attributed partly to the fact that the Dutch have done practically nothing wifh their share of the island. Their idea is to discover what is in a country and the nature of its resources before attempting in any way to develop it. It boasts the highest mountains in New Guinea— some of them nearly 16,000 feet high—well above the line of perpetual snow. The chief town, if such it could be called, is Merauke, on the western coast.
The area under the Dutch flag is approximately 120,000 square miles, but apart from three or four posts—none of which is inland—the government has made little or no attempt to control it or extend its influence into the interior.
Cannibalism is still rife in many parts and occasionally tribes have been known to cross into Papua and wipe out some of the unfortunate people inhabiting the border. Chief among these marauding tribes were the Tugelas. Until protests were made by the Papuan Government to the Dutch, these warlike people carried out their raids practically unrestrained, and the Bensbach River district in the south witnessed many a bloody massacre, some of which occurred during the last five years.
In 1914 the Dutch Government sent a trusted official in the person of Monsieur Coenen to Papua to study the ways and methods of the administration, with a view of commencing serious work in their own portion. The result of that gentleman's visit has not yet been seen, for no real movement has apparently been made by his government to encourage the development of the resources of the country—whatever they might be—or bring about the civilization of the numerous tribes killing and eating one another in the interior.
It is high time the Dutch awoke to their responsibilities in New Guinea. They would do well if, instead of importing Javanese police, etc., they set about teaching the natives to understand and take an active part in the work of their country.
A New Guinea resident, who supplies this data, claims that it was the dream of Germany to obtain possession, by conquest or purchase, of all Dutch New Guinea.
# Forty Years On The Pacific/Alaska Telegraph Signal Corps

THE outside world hears but little about a band of heroes who lead a solitary life, but at times exciting existence in the trackless wastes of the Arctic. I refer to the United States Signal Corps, the eyes and ears of the Army. On the outposts of civilization their work consists of manning the wireless and telegraph stations erected at various points. They go to the aid of stricken "mushers," prospectors, etc., who stray from the cabins and become exhausted and frostbitten.
Many heroic deeds have been performed by this self-sacrificing body of men. One instance occurred in 1916, when a soldier was fifty miles from his post at Fairbanks and cold 60 degrees below zero. He knew that in the vicinity there was a cabin owned by a man, which he eventually found. On entering, he saw the poor fellow, named Monte, lying in his bunk, with his feet badly frostbitten. He had been in that helpless condition for forty-eight hours. The brave young signaler tapped the wires leading to Fairbanks, asking for immediate aid. Pending arrival of assistance, he put the man's feet in coal oil, to try and thaw them. Help appeared thirtysix hours after his call. They placed Monte on the dog-sledge, and walking alongside, started for Fairbanks. On arrival, they placed him in a hospital, where every attention was given him by the surgical staff and Sisters in charge, to save his feet, but their efforts were unavailing, and it was found necessary to amputate them.
# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Clarke

​ CLARKE COUNTY lies in the second tier north of the Missouri line, in the seventh west of the Mississippi River and contains twelve congressional townships embracing an area of four hundred thirty-two square miles. It was originally a part of Demoine County but in January, 1846, the new county was established and named for James Clarke who was then Governor of Iowa Territory. The boundaries formerly included the east half of Union County but did not then embrace the eastern tier of townships. In 1849 the boundaries were changed and the county assumed its present form. In 1846, when the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo took place, John and James Longley and John Conger, with their families, became separated from one of the trains and camped six miles south of where Osceola stands. Not being able to find the train they decided to remain where they were, open farms and make homes. The place was long known as “Lost Camp” and became the first settlement in Clarke county. ​In the spring they found other families of Mormons who had made homes but a few miles from them and all remained and became prosperous farmers. In 1850 Robert Jamison, A. Colier, Bernard and James G. Arnold, J. Ellis, John Shearer and William Overton settled in the southern part of the county. Soon after a colony from Van Buren County came and laid out the town of Hopeville near the west line of the county, settling in that vicinity.
In 1851 the county was organized by the election of the following officers: John A. Lindsley, judge; Alonzo R. Williams, clerk; G. W. Glenn, treasurer, and Ivison Ellis, sheriff. The commissioners chosen to locate the county-seat selected a farm entered by George W. Howe, which was purchased for one hundred dollars and the town of Osceola laid out upon it. George W. Howe built the first house in Osceola in 1851 in which he opened the first store in the county. At a sale of lots in October eighty-five were sold at an average price of twenty-two dollars each. The first term of court was held in 1853 by Judge J. S. Townsend. At the general election in August, 1852, but eighty-one votes were polled. The first newspaper was established in 1858 by G. S. Pike and T. R. Oldham and named the Osceola Courier. The Burlington and Missouri Railroad was built through the county and through the town of Osceola, and completed to the Missouri River in 1868.