davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
Coal Miners in Europe.

The German coal miner, whether be- longing to Prussia proper, Saxony or Austria preserves the distinctive traits of the German race. Less impulsive and more phlegmatic even than the Anglo Saxon miner, he has faithfully carried into coal mining the habits and disci- Germany, date from many centuries, and religious and jealous care. The earliest these mines, where they are regimented term, and form distinct class of the population. They constitute something more than a mere guild or corporation, and are a sort of caste, with peculiar costume, dress, and manners, as we'll as free-masonry, tradition, and even super stitions. Certain and particular forms are handed down from one generation to another, and when on the road or in the country you are saluted with gl,tck nw, (meaning happy going out, good journey to the mine and back again, ] you may be sure that you are addressed by miners
 The Italian coal miner, especially the the migratory miner of the Tuscan Ma remma, Ia district once fourishing and populous, but now at certain seasons of the year prey to fever and miasma,) is another type full of character. Old Niccolini, the mine agent, goes to hire them beforehand, and has to pay them their "earnest money" The exodus begins soon after the middle of October; some going on foot, while others ride, seeking places in the stage coaches. The opening operations are impeded at the outset by the last rains of autumn, the dilapidations which have happened dur ing the stoppage of the works are made good timbering has broken, the goaf has given way, the water has made nu- merous devastations at the surface as we'll as underground but all is promptly set on foot and the works reopened and carried on with vigor. The coal raised is sent to Leghorn, for the use of the local factories and the steamboats. It has also been taken to Rome, and the Vatican is lighted with gas made from this coal.
 Pierre L'hote, the bold man of Epi- mac, must not be forgotten he was at the siege of Constantine, and helped to take the city under Lamoriciere, and brings into his service all the steadiness of the soldier, and he doubtless became collier that he still might burn pow der. If the Engineer goes to visit a working place, he says to his men, "come, my lads, fall in :; here is Mon sieur the Engineer going by.' He is very near putting them in line at present arms the pick raised in his right hand, the left resting on the handle of the shovel. One day the miners at the bot tom of the workings threatened to strike, a dispute having arisen about the prices paid for work Wait for me here, my lads" said Pierre L'hote, ''while go and speak with the Engineer" On his return he says, listen, my lads, to Monsieur the Engineers answer Pierre L'hote, go and tell your men the day shift begins at six o'clock in the morning, with an hours rest at noon for dinner, and ends at four in the after. noon. There, my lads, that's what Mon sieur told me. He is our chief obey him you obey me ;, come, my lads, to work !" There was no more tai after that about striking. From Underground Lye, 6y Jules Sinsomim.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
Duped by Gypsies.

An old gentleman Tn Polk county, Missouri, of considerable wealth, was some tune since made the dupe of mis- placed confidence in the following man. ner as related by the Bolivar Free Press i: "A band of Gypsies appeared in the neighborbood, remaining several weeks. A woman belonging to the party made the acquaintance of the old gentleman, and communicated to him the startling intelligence that 8 large amount of treas ure was concealed on his place, and that by obeying her instructions he could secure it. This he agreed to do. She then informed him that he must deposit all his money in 8 certain place. After the lapse of few days the whereabouts of the treasure would be revealed to him. He accordingly deposited the sum of three thousand two hundred dollars in a hiding-place known only to himself and the Gypsy. When several days had passed, she again appeared unto him, stating that her incantations would not work, and assigning as @ reason that he failed to deposit all of his money in the hiding-place, as stipulated. He then added seventy. seven dollars more to the amount, but still the spell which was to lay bare the hidden wealth proved un- successful. He then agreed to let the Gypsy take the package of money into her keeping in order to facilitate her conjurations. She kept it several days, then returned with the entire amount, and they counted it over together. The Gypsy then informed him he must, to complete the charm, secrete the package once more, for period of ten days that he must not, in the meantime, look at or go near it. This was assented to, and the package once more carefully sealed up and committed to hls care. When ten days had expired he proceeded to go to the place of deposit, found the pack age as he had placed it, but upon open ing it was amazed to discover that il contained nothing but scraps of old newspapers. He sought the Gypsy wo' man at her usual haunts, but the entire party had 's folded their tents, like the Arabs, and silently stolen away"
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
Life and Time.

Life is so cheap and yet so dear
 We prize it, but we scorn it too, And plod our round from year to year
 With little or to hope or do; Each day brings fretful cares and coil,
 And sorrows come and joys depart, And we grow old with weary toll,
 Or else from listlessness of heart,- What matters which ? what matters how?
 Time heedeth not our fitful moods, But stamps it's sgnet on our brow
 In city life or soltudes; And we grow old; yet scarcely feel The incessant whirling of the wheel, Nor heed the traces that declare We are not now what once we were; The world has worn us to it's ways;
 ''Do this" it says, and we obey; There is no freedom in our praise , And little courage left to pray. At moments with sudden pain We gasp and cry for youth again, And wonder where the joy has gone, Which we were wont to feed upon; When Love with Life walked hand in hand, When twas boundless bliss to dare The mighty peaks that guard the land
 Where wisdom dwells serenely fair,- Dear Heaveni how strong and rich we were, ,- For joy breeds strength, and hope gives power And knowledge is the young mans dover, And youthful dreams are fair domains, And happy thoughts are golden gains. The dreams are gone, the rapture past, Each year moves calmly like the last, The sea that foamed with deaf ming roar Creeps laggard-like along the shore,- We tread the footsteps of our Ares With petty aims and mean desires, And idly act our little part
 Like puppets fashioned for a show ;-t.... Teach us, Lord how great Thou art,
 That we our greatness, too, may know.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
A Child Mangled by Dogs.

In the lanyard of Ernest Blersch, 13 dogs, some grown and some half-grown, have been harbored for some time past. Fed upon the offal, which is plentiful and foul in such place, these animals had become fercer than their breed-a cross between the powerful Newfound- land and the brutal bull"-would have made them, red-mouthed, gaunt, and horrible, it is wonder that such pack could have existed in the midst of civ ilized community so long as they did and not have been sooner heard. Willie Blersch, bright seven-year- son of the well-to-do owner of the lanyard, and criminally careless master of the hounds, left his grandtather's and started home ward, intending to call for his father en route. He entered the lanyard unmind- left 1t to the care of its night guardians, the center of the place, and had called for his father, when long, keen fangs were thrust into him from behind, and he was dragged by large dog literally into the loft of one of the sheds, other dogs coming to the assistance of their fellow. At the taste of blood the fierce ness of the huge mongrels caught fire. The boy was dragged again down the steps, and rolled in the filth of the yard until all semb1ance of humanity had left him. Black, bleeding, and dying, he still chung with his face downward to the earth with the energy of despair It was at this moment that the neighbor became aware of what was transpiring. A bold man sprang over the fence to the rescue, but was immediately driven out by the now maddened and terrible dogs. They went in with pitch-forks, and people driving on the avenue stopped and went to the rescue with knives and pistols. It was brief and bloody work. The dogs were slain to the last puppy, but not before a strong man had carried what was left of Willie to his grandfather's. Here he was received by his grand mother, who washed him to the likeness of boy. The flesh had been chawn from his scalp there were great, ugly gashes in his forehead, cheeks, and lips. Great pieces of skin and flesh hung from the back of his head. Ghastly holes, their edges lacerated with tooth-marks, were under his arms legs and other tender parts of his body bore wounds beyond description. And yet he lived. No vital part had been reached. He could even tell brokenly how the attack had begun.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
A Very Uncomfortable Place.

According to letter dated at the Camp of the Sixth United States Cav airy, near Fort Hays, the Kansas town called Hays City is an unattractive spot The writer says:
 Hays City is place inhabited by thieN es, murderers, adventurers and ad- venturesses. Why they named the place Hays City cannot imagine, unless 1t was on account of it being so near Fort Hays (only half mile), evidently for the purpose of giving it character abroad, for at home they seemed to be living in the Scriptural injunction, " Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-mor- row ye die," for they do eat, and they do drink, and if it can be called being merry (not marry, for they don't do that) for man to crawl out of bed very late in the morning with flushed face and eyes bleod-shot and protruding from their sockets, I say that if that can be called being merry, they are very merry.
 A casual observer passing through the town, seeing sign over nearly every door, would think there was variety of business carried on at the place, but if he should stop and read a few of the signs he would find that they were near ly all engaged iii the same line of busi- ness, or " entertainment, "-that's it, en- tertainment; that's what they call it. There's pecullarity about the signs that leads a person to think that ladies and gentlemen do not live together. for it is written on some, ''This is Jake's house, J "Joe's house," &c., while on others are "Ladies' Parlors," "Ladies' Depart ment," Sc. And to take 8 glimpse in side of one of these you would think that you had at last found the real place, where it is every fellow for himself, and the devil take the hindmost, for the walls glitter with guns, pistols and knives where frequently poor devil dies to- day instead of tomorrow.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
Facts and FancieS.

Crewel-Worsted work.
 A crack corps-The burglars.
 On the rise-A bakers stock
 Capital sport -Money-hunting,
 Flat falsehood-Lying on your back.
 Advice to doctors-Live and let live.
 A "dip in the briny'-Pickled Pork.
 The height of the season-Fah hronheit. Something tn chalk down-The price of milk.
 The King of Burmali has proclaimed internal free trade.
 There is a county in Iowa which does not contain sin gle tree.
 Dresden takes the lead of German cities as resort of Americans.
 A Southern lady has been poisoned by chewing green sewing silk.
 Cod-liver oil loses its disagreeable flavor by maceration with coffee. ,. ...
 Of the 33 Scotch countries, IA have a smaller population in 1871 than they had in 1861. .. .
 An Ohio girl committed suicide by taking strychnine because her mother boxed her ears.
 Why are rocks the most revolutionary birds Because they are always chat tering high treason.
 Some young ladies now wear small mirrors set in gold hung on their neck faces instead of lockets.
 High judicial authority has decided that the coolly trade is virtually the slave trade, and the vessels engaged in it are pirates in the eye of the law.
 To fiatter person adroitly, one mus know three things-what they are, what they think they are, and what they want other people to think they are. ...,. /.
 The 14,OOO heathen Chinese in San Francisco don't make much noise in the world, but they own $74,000 in real es tate and $1, 1S3, ,000 in personal prop erty.
 To be called '" flirt" is the best pro- lection for man and the most danger ous reputation for woman, as in either case nothing serious is expected from them. " ..-... a........
 A trunk factory out West was lately superseded by Q saloon. The old sign, it is reported, was retained by the new proprietor, who economically changed the T to D.
 A California genius has invented what he calls the Eureka boot-puller, which consists of a leather belt, having two hooks attached to it. He places the belt over his right shoulder, adjusts the hooks in his boot-straps, and then leans backward, and the tightest boot is con quered.
 Eli Davis, of Louisville, Ind, who had been Q paralytic for two years, was divorced from his second wife while on his death-bed, dying, in fact, six hours after the divorce was ordered. The suit was brought by parties in the inter est of the sons of his first wife, to obtain some of the money which would naturally fall to the second wife, and the deceased was wholly ignorantpof the proceeding.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
How THEY MAKE UP.-Somewhe

How THEY MAKE UP.-Somewhere near Louisville there lives husband who was soldier. Both man and wife have fiery tempers which break out about once month in war of words. Then, failing to reduce his wife to subjection in the unequal strife, the soldier shoul- ders his tent, takes frying-pan and provisions, goes to the woods and camps out. Not many days pass before loneli- ness compels the woman to go in search of her lord, who, although he may have been in the doleful dumps before he saw her coming, whistles and sings at her approach, and pretends that the green wood is the place for him, and in 1t he could live for ever. Then the wife bursts into tears and prays him to return. He remains obdurate for a while, but finally succumbs the two then rush into each others arms, then disentangle themselves and rush back home again, he bearing the tent and she the frying pan.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

THE CARAT.-The carat is nominal weight, that expresses the 6neness of gold, or the proportion of pure gold in a mass of metal i; thus a given weight or quality of gold is divided into "A parts or carats, and gold of 22 carats fine con sists of 22 parts of pure gold and parts of silver, copper. or others metal. The carat weight is usually considered to be the 24th parts, of the pound troy, or 240 grains troy, but it is not necessary to give it any fixed or absolute weight, as it is only used to determine the propor- tions of pure metal and alloy. The weight of 4 grains used by jewellers for weighing diamonds and precious stones is called diamond weight, and is equal to 1-5 grains troy diamond grains being only equal to grains troy, since the ounce troy contains 15O diamond carats. The term carat derives its name from bean, the fruit of an Abyssinian tree called kuara. This bean, from the time of its being gathered, varies very little in weight, and seems to have been, from very remote period, used as a weight for gold in Africa. In India also the bean is used as 8 weight for gems and pearls.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

WOMEN IN CALIFORNIA. Labor Exchange of San Francisco has been compelled, by erroneous reports circu- lated in the East, to make 8 statement of its powers and intentions, from which we quote these sentences " California wants 5000 girls to do general house. work-girls who will work in country towns. Thousands of Chinamen are doing the work of women in hotels and private houses, simply because white help cannot be procured. The women and girls who apply to the Labor Ex- change for work refuse to accept situa- tions in the interior of the country.
 The romantic notions about marriages will not hold water. Occasionally bach elors are captured, but these instances are becoming rare. California is not a wilderness. In some of the mining camps men predominate, but to quote an apropos expression, while there are as good fish in the sea as ever swan,
 they don't bite as well as they used to. "
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

A GRAVE AFFAIR.-A manufacturer of tombstones lately received call from a countryman who wanted stone to place over the grave of his mother. After look ing around for some time, and making sundry remarks about the taste of his deceased mother, he finally pitched up- on one which the stone-cutter had pre- pared for another person. "I like this one, said he. s'But," said the manu- facturer, (" that belongs to another man, and has Mrs. Perry's name cut on it it wouldn't do for your mother" "Oh, yes, it would," said the countryman !; ""she couldn't read :! And, besides" he continued, as he observed the wonder ment of the stone-cutter, "Perry was always 8 favorite name of hers, any how l"
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

WATER IN THE DESERT. has been found in the Moiave desert. A hersman observed place where the vege- tation indicated unusual moisture in the ground, and digginga few feet through a hard crust, he came to Q stratum of damp earth, which soon became soft enough to admit of probing with a rake handle, which, on being withdrawn was followed by a stream of water that drove him from the pit. The water rose to the surface and has continued flowing ever since The first flow was as red as blood says the account but the water soon became remarkably pure and cool.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

UGbY.--The Lucknow Times tells 8 story of an elephant which lately drowned a man because he leaped down. in front of him while he was making his ablutions in river in India. Being provoked by this impertinent interruption of his toilet, the gigantic brute seized the man and held him under water till he was drowned, ..-.1. t,
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

SUN STROKE. According to a late writer, sun-stroke is due to the action of light upon the brain exerted through the eye, and not, as generally believed, to an elevation of temperature and it is asserted that, if the eye be properly shaded from the glare of the sun, any unusual precaution in the way of pro tecting the head and back of the neck may be dispensed with. .; ...--
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25
The PhilOsOpher's Stone.

The eccentric but brilliant John Ran dolph once rose suddenly up in his seat in the House of Representatives, and screamed out, at the top of his shrill voice: "Mr. Speaker MT. Speaker !! have discoverd the philosophers stone. It is-Pay as you go !' John Randolph dropped many rich gems from his mouth, but never richer one than that. Pay as you go," and you need not dodge sheriffs and constables. Pay as you go," and you can walk the streets with an erect back and manly front, and have no fear of those you meet. You won't have to cross, the street to avoid dun, or look intently in a shop window, in order not to see @ creditor. FPay as you go," and you can snap your fingers at the world, and when you laugh, it will be hearty, honest one, and not like the laugh of the poor debtor, who looks around as though he was in doubt whether the laugh was not the property of his creditors, and not included in arti- cles |" exempted from attachment" s'Pay as you go," and you will meet smiling faces at home-happy, cherry-cheeked, cheerful hearth-stone. John Randolph was rlght. It IS the phlosopher stone. THE PERSIAN FAMINE. Accounts re- ceived in Bombay, from the agent oi the society for assisting the sufferers by the famine in Persia, fully confirm the reports previously received Thousands of people have already died of starvation, and in places where every other vestige of food has been consumed men have
 been driven to eat their own offspring
 Such scenes of misery have never beer witnessed elsewhere in modern times
 and to add to the accumulated horrors
 this years crop is exceedingly scanty being insufficient for the supply.
Connecticut western news., 1871-08-25

Schoenberger swears that he can drink one hundred and fifty glasses of lager at sitting. As each glass is pint nearly, and each pint weighs pound, the ques- tion arises, when the fellow goes home to his frau, which is Schoenberger and which is beer |?