davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-07-18

ANENCELLENT NARSisH soR HARNESSES.
Procure half pound or pound Of gum
shellac. according TO the quantity desired; I;
break the scales fine, and put them in Il
iug or bottle; add good alcohol SHiticient
10 cover the gum cork tightly, and place
where 1t will be kept warm. In about two
days. if shaken frequently, the gum will
he dissolved and ready Tor use. II the
liquid appears as thick as thin molasses.
add more alcohol. To one quart ofvarnsh
add one ounce of good lampblack and an
ounce of gum camphor. Such varnish will
not render leather hard; but will keep the
harness from becoming soaked with water,
and the sur face clean and neat for long
time. \ coat of it will efiectually prevent
the oil in the leather from soiling ones
hands. Nothing is better to render "A farm
er's boots waterproof that an occasional
coat of this leather varnish.-f Home Jour
NJ
Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-07-18

Baltimore. July 10. The second ga, Of
the convention opens hotter than any oi il,
predecessors ih.- month. The mercury
stood AT - Ia the shade ~ hsii-pa,t 81 a.
Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-07-18

Nothing in Particular.

bear about by day and night
The most acute Of malsdie>;
To picture il in black and white
The object of this ballad il.
Permit me. gentle reader. please.
To breathe in your auricular-
| suffer from the fcll disease
Called nothing in particular.
To render IL the more intense.
And nearly uncomfortable.
Nv doctor say>. in confidence.
iis totally incurahle.
Ny mind has threatened ere TO-DAY
To lose it, perpendicular.
Aud fall melancholy prey
To nothing in particular
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
Swallowed Lives,

One of the saddest thoughts that
come to us in life is that in this bright,
beautiful, joy-giving world of ours, there
are so many shadowed lives.
If suffering came only with crime,
even then we might drop tear over one
whose errors had wrought their own
recompense. But it is not so; alas
then we should not have it to record
that the noblest and most gifted are of
ten among those who may count their
fate among shadowed lives. With one
it is the shadow of grave, long, deep,
and narrow, which falls over life, shut
ting out the gladness of the sunshine,
blighting the tender blossoms of hope.
With another, it is the wreck of a
great ambition. Ee has builded his
ship, and launched it on the sea of life,
freighted with the richest jewels of his
strength, his energies, his manhood. Be-
hold, it comes back wreck!
With others, disease throws its terrible
shadows over the portal, and shuts out
the brightness of the outside world from
the sufferer within. But this is the
lightest shadow of all for it teaches the
heart the priceless lesson of endurance
and faith, and through its darkness the
sufferer sees ever the star of promise
shining, leading to the great beyond
OF all shadowed lives, we find it in our
hearts to feel most for those that are
cursed by an unhappy marriage.
Unhappy marriage is the quintessence
of human bondage. 1t wounds daily
our fondest and sweetest impulses il
trifles with and buries our holiest and
dearest affections, and writes over the
tomb thereof" No hope" 1t embitters
the victim with the thought that lost
forever to her life is the glory of great
love; closed forever to her are the por-
tails of happy home-the fountain Of
freshness and delight, at which the sou
must needs drink to gather strength fol
the heat and burden of the worlds bat.
tie.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
A Journalists First Job.

According to the Tribune, Horace
Greeley arrived in New York on the 18th
of August, 1881, when the midsummer
heat was at its height. He had never
before seen a city of even twenty thou
sand inhabitants, nor gazed upon q sea-
going vessel. The spectacle of SO many
square miles of stately buildings, with
the furlongs of masts and yards, aroused
feeling of astonishment and wonder
akin to awe. He had completed his
twentieth year the February before.
Tall, slender, and ungainly, with ten
dollars in his pocket, and scanty store
of summer raiment, mostly on his back,
the pale-faced youth did not command
cheerful prospect of immediate success.
After searching in vain for suitable
boarding place, he at length found quar-
ters in an obscure hostelry near the
North River. His first business was to
find work at his trade. Early in the
morning he began to ransack the city in
search of employment. In the course of
two days he had visited more than half
the printing offices in New York, with
out the slightest CLEAN of success. His
youthful appearance and rustic ways
were not i'll his favor. When he called
at The Journal Of Commerce, its dis
tinguished editor, Mr.. David Hale,
frankly told him that he believed him to
be o runaway apprentice from some
country printing Office, q presumption
which, though erroneous, might, under
the circumstances, be deemed excusable.
Thoroughly wearied with his two days
disconsolate quest, he resolved to leave
New York while a little money still re-
mained in his pocket. He was frightened
by the prospect of the almshouse viii. h
stared him III the face, and wished to
make his escape while the chance was
yet left. In the evening, however, he
made the acquaintance of some young
Irishmen who had called at his landlords
in their stroll about town. Upon hear
ing that no was wandering printer in
pursuit of work, they at once took an
interest in his affairs, and directed him
to place where he could find employ
ment. This was the printing office of
Mr.. John T. West The work was SO
difficult that no printer acquainted in
the city could be Induced to accept it.
1t was the composition of miniature
New Testament, with numerous mar
ginal references, and in a curiously in
tricate style of photography. No other
compositor could be persuaded to work
on the book for more than two or three
days, and Mr.. Greeley, accordingly, had
it nearly all to himself By diligent
type-setting from twelve to fourteen
hours through the day he could earn at
most not over six dollars week.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
Too Poor to Marry.

There is a good deal more talk among
old bachelors this winter. says Eli Per-
kins, about not being able to get mar
ried, than ever before.
There is an cid bachelor at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel, whose income is $4,000
year, and still he says he can't afford
to get married. He's a proud blooded
fellow, and now, he says, as single
man, he can have the best horses, best
rooms, and the best box at the opera,
"but," he continued, if 1 should get
married, would have to scrimp myself
or overdraw my income"
"How is that z" asked.
"Well, now, come in the parlor and
I'll show you. You see ladies are so
extravagant nowadays. They dress SO
much more here than they do in Europe.
I mean, they don't wear rich damon Is
like the women of Florence and Milan,
but they wear such rich dresses, shawls,
laces, and furs. Now I'm proud, and 1
wouldn't want my wife to be outdressed,
so have to keep out of the marriage
business"
"Do you see that lady there ?" he said,
pointing to fashionable caller.
Eyes"
Well, she has on S400 panniered,
wattaued, polonaised brown gros grain
dress, and wear $50 coat. She wears
$1,000 camel's hair shawl, and a $500
set of sable, while wear SO overcoat.
She wears $40 bonnet, while wear an
SS hat. She wears 5000 worth of point
applique and point aguile, while 1 wear
Sc shirt. Her shoes cost SIS, and mine
cost s12. Her ordinary morning jewelry,
which is changed every year-not
counting diamonds-cost $40O; mine
cost $50.
"How does all this foot up?"
"Why, the clothes she has on cost
$2,2S5. and mine cost $2O6, and that is
only one of her dozen outfits, while l
only have-say three. The fact is," said
my friend, growing earnest, "I couldn't
begin to live in a brown stone front
with that woman and keep up appear
ance to match-carriages, church, din
ners, opera, and seaside, for $4,000. I'd
have to become a second-rate man, and
live in an eighteen foot house, or with
draw over to Second avenue, and that
I'll be id if I'll do p and he slung his
fist down slam into nice silk hat in the
excess of earnestness.
My friend was partially right. Our
ladies do dress expensively-far more
extensively than European ladies'
Why lady coming from Paris is con-
stantly surprised on Fifth avenue. She
looks with amazement on the expensive
toilets of our ladies. While in Europe
expensive toilets are left for full-dress
parties and for the drawing-room, here
the most expensive toilets are left for
the street, where dresses are soon worn
out and soiled. Yes, $40O dresses be-
como mere sidewalk wipes, and camel's
hair shawls are robes to shop in.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
Malleable Glass.

One of the lost arts, which skill and
science have for hundreds of years been
making efforts to rediscover, is the pro-
duction of malleable glass, 1t was men,
toned by many ancient writers, espe-
cially by Pliny, who speaks of its beng
indented when thrown on hard sub
stance, and then hammered into shape
again like brass. The world uses
vastly greater amount of glass now than
during the early ages, but has never
been able to overcome its brittleness.
That accomplished, and it would enter
into uses not even suspected now, and
probably dispute with iron itself for su-
premacy as an agent of civilization. A
glass spinner in Vienna has recently
made discovery that may lead to the
recovery Of the lost link in the chain of
early invention. He is manufacturing
a thread of this material finer than the
fibre of the silk worm, which is entering
largely into the manufacture of vari-
ETY. of new fabrics, such as cushions, car
pets, table cloths, shawls, neckties, fig
ures in broeaded velvet and silk, en-
broidery, tapestry, laces, and multitude
of other things. 1t is as soft as the finest
wool, stronger than silk thread, and is
not changed by heat, light, moisture or
acids, nor liable to fade. So important
is the matter deemed, that while the pro-
cess is kept profound secret, the Aus
trian Minister of Commerce has already
organized schools for glass spinning in
various places i'll Bohemia, and variety
of manufactured articles are now for
sale and will no doubt soon reach Amer
lea. If it shall end in the final rediscov-
cry of malleable glass, so that it can be
wrought or rolled into sheets, it will
revolutionize much OF the worlds indus
try. Indeed, no one could safely pre-
dict to what uses it might not be ap-
piled, as the material is plentiful in all
lands. Mankind have long waited for
it. Let us hope the time is near when
so great a boon will be vouchsafed to
them.-LondOn Times.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
Under the Locomotive.

Ayoung man named Josiah 7. Haight,
a native of and recent arrival in Kan
sas city from Wooster, Ohio, after fight
ing the tiger" found himself "broke,
without even so much as sufficient to
pay his hotel bill. After wandering
around the city he conceived the idea of
endeavoring to reach Topeka, Kansas, by
stealing ride upon the Kansas Pacific
went to the depot and crawled upon the
pilot of the icy locomotive, and crouched
down upon the trucks beneath the smoke
box.
The traiu moved on at rapid rate,
the old, bitter winters wind swept keen
ly and piercing through Haight's cloth
ing, chilling him to the marrow. He
soon discovered that he must inevitably
freeze to death in his present uncom-
Portable condition, but there was no es-
cape. The train rushed on through the
Kaw bottoms, never hating, never stop
ping. Haight found himself gradually
sinking, benumbed and without feeling,
down into the cross bars of the truck
frame. Gradually he dropped down un-
til he found himself jammed between
the warm smoke box and the axles.
The noise and clatter of the machinery
became deafening, the keen prairie winds
whistled and shrieked around the rush
ing locomotive. Haight knew he must
die if left in his perilous position little
longer. But there was no escape until
the train halted. He thought of drop
ping down upon the ties which glided
beneath HIN with lightning rapidity.
This he knew would be instant and GER
tain death. He would have done SO, but
he found himself unable to get through
the network OF iron bars, SO he gave him
self up to his fate. One by one the sta
tions glided past him in the bright,
frosty moonlight, when the train sud
denly "slacked up" and glided slowly
to the water tank at stranger creek.
Here Haight aroused himself with n
desperate energy and made determi-
ned effort to extricate himself from his
perilous condition. Cramped, benumb-
ed and half dead, he crawled out from
the trucks and out to the side of the
track. The train moved on, and young
Haight attempted to rise, but suffered
such acute agony from crampi that he
was obliged to call for assistance. He
will hereafter have q mortal aversion for
faro and free rides in winter.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
A Black Picture.

A black side of Philadelphia life is re-
vealed in the confession of Hugh Mara,
who was sentenced on Saturday to six
years and nine months imprisonment and
to pay fine of $1,000 for attempting to
kill Alderman McMullin of that city.
He states that there is an organized band
of thoroughly reckless men associated
together tor all forms of crime. His first
assertion is that he was instigated to the
attempted assassination of Detective
Brooks by this band, who agreed to paw
him 5000 for the fiendish work. He gives
names, places and particulars, showing
how the victim was dogged and finally
shot; declares the alibi which was fabri-
Gated for his defense to be an act of per-
jury, and that the only pay he ever re-
ceived was IS. The other charges in his
affidavit against this gang are that they
started the terrible coal oil fire of Feb.
s, 1865 at Ninth and Wharton streets /;
that they attempted the burning of the
Union League House, Sept. 6, 1866 that
they committed the murder of Peter
Mannox, October, 1868, and robbed the
Beneficial Saving Fund Society, April
4, 1869. Abiding to the revelation of
Mara, TIE Press says of the men whom
he has disclosed 1.-The only question
now is their determination, It can be
done by punishment. This gang should
be brought to trial. If they are not, we
may expect assassination to become one
of the leading Industries of the city.
Our authorities are surely not afraid to
prosecute these men,"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
The American Catbird,

The catbird is one of the most peculiar
and interesting of American birds. Be-
longing to the family of Thrushes, it ar
rives i'll New England about the first of
May, migrating to the South about the
middle of October. The prevailing color
is dark and leaden, more ashy beneath !;
top of the head and neck, dark sooty
brown; wings, dark brown, edged with
a lighter leaden hue; tail greenisk-
black.
The bird is occupied in building from
about the Goth of May to the first week
in June. The nest Is composed of close
~ interviewer strips of grapevine, bark
and fine leaves, twigs and straws. 1t is
deeply followed, and lined with fibrous
roots, hair, and fine grasses. The nest is
placed on bushes and shrubs, usually not
more than four or five feet from the
ground.
The bird is remarkable for its fondness
tor the society of man, seeming to pre-
fer home in the neighborhood of thick
ly settled districts, rather than wilder
one in the forest. 1t is very curious
bird, and will follow for miles any
strange object that attracts its atten-
ton.
Its cry when agitated is dry and
harsh, reminding one of the rafting of
sticks. Through the early part of the
summer the voice of the male is heard in
the woods, and its note, which, under
the influence of fear or anger is so harsh,
will then be remarkable for its softness
and purity. Male and female have also
plaintive cry, very much resembling
the mewing of cat, and it is from this
popularity that the bird derives its
name.
The catbird is one of the most affec-
tionate and sensitive of parents, and
those who may feel themselves disposed
to play upon their tender feelings can
drive them nearly frantic by initiating
the chirping of their young. 1t rushes
about with hanging wings and open
mouth, and, screaming in the most pitt
full manner, will even venture quite near
the intruder, apparently entreatirg him,
in the most pathetic manner, to deliver
to him his little ones, and if the sport is
kept up, will not cease to cry and i'm
plore until it falls exhausted.
1t is very courageous, and it will gen.
orally succeed in driving away any
snake or enemy that threatens to harm
its young.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
Cuban Cigar Makers.

One of the largest manufacturing firms
in New York inf.rm a reporter that the
workmen are paid according to the
number and quality of the ci gars they
roll. Makers of regalias receive $40 per
Thousand, of conchas $40, and of espa-
nolas SIS. An ordinary quick worker
will finish two hundred cigars per day,
and as many as four hundred are made
by the Oldest and most experienced
hands. The men are all Cubans and
some of their customs would doubtless
seem odd to an American workman.
They club together, contributing twenty
five cents week each, with which they
hire fellow exile to read aloud to them
during their work. The position is no
sinecure, for the reader is expected to
keep up an incessant flow of words from
I a. m. to 6 p. M, with the exception of
enc hours rest for refreshments. The
workmen thus become posted in the
news of the day, and in addition occa-
sionally listen to the perusal of Spanish
history, or some werk of fiction. There
is another tax which they impose upon
themselves, TO the payment of which
they religiously adhere, which is to Law
aside a certain sum every week from
their wages to be sent to their strug-
CLING compatriots in Cuba for arms and
supplies.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
Another Idea,

A writer in the american artisan pro-
poses novel device for making buildings
lire proef and wonders that no architect
ever thought of so obvious plan. He
would make up the partition of the walls
of buildings in manner analogous to
sectional steam boilers, and fill them
with water then no fire could be COM
municated from one building to another
till the water had all boiled away. The
water spaces need not be made more
than one inch in thickness, and might be
constructed of thin sheets of metal.
Nothing can burn until heated to the
temperature at which it combines with
oxygen, and the partitions could never
reach this temperature go long as they
were kept supplied with water, since
each atom of that fluid is swift vehicle
to seize and carry away the heat. No
solid material known to the arts is capa-
BILE of withstanding the heat generated
in such great fires as those of Boston
and Chicago. To fill the conditions so
long vainly sought in endeavoring to
render buildings absolutely fire proof,
something is required that heat will not
melt, or warp, or crack, and otherwise SO
impervious to air that fire cannot COM
municate with combustibles stored in
buildings; or means must be found by
which the force of the heat can be ex-
pended upon something we can afford tc
waste. That material is water, and the
writer in the artisan thinks he has
pointed out the right way to use it.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12

PATNTING,-Now is the time to do out
door painting, if not already done.
There is no dust to injure it nor hot
sun to drive the oil into the wood, and
leave poor coat to rub or scale off no.
flies to immediate themselves therein and
spoil its appearance; nor pressure of
work which causes haste, which makes
waste and whether in the dwelling
house, the barn, the stable, the tools or
the wagons, or sleds, now is the time to
paint them if they are TO be painted at
all, and that these should be painted as
matter of the most necessary economy
there is not the slightest question.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
An Ingenious Carpenter.

As the steamer Idaho was on her trip
from the Sandwich Islands to San Fran
cisco, her cylinder head was blown out
and the boat was completely disabled at
sea. The situation was hazardous one,
been sent by the American Consul at
Honolulu in arrest, came to the rescue.
On examining the injured cylinder, the
thought entered the carpenters mind
that stout cylinder head of tough, hard
wood might stand sufficient pressure of
steam to run the engine at moderate
speed. He stated this to the captain.
who, after some hesitation and as a lasc
resort, reluctantly gave him permission
to try the experiment. The carpenter
procured his tool-chest from the hold,
and after twenty-five hours hard work
finished ndinserted the wooden cylinder
head. 1t was made of three thicknesses
of hard teak board, rendered steam-proof
by being covered with paint and canvas,
and was calked tight and held i'll its
place by bol's, as in other cylinder heads,
and by piece of timber braced against
its ends. When the carpenter announced
that the engine was ready for use, and
desired the engineer 20 turn on steam,
there was a general scamper from the
cylinder, where numbers of the passen-
gers, sleepless and feverish, had anxiously
watched the finishing of the work.
Slowly the steam was turned on, the
piston-rod rose and fell, the propeller
churned the water quickly, the idaho
moved on at her accustomed speed, and
the wooden head was a success. The
cylinder-head, after being used for a
time, swelled and collapsed like the
lungs in respiration, but the invention
stood the test to the end, and earned for
the carpenter quite reputation. He is
now u very hero among sea-going men.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12

GREAT KHAN.-The Great Khan of
China, which is by Interpretation the
Great Lord of Lords" must have been
a big man in the olden time. With
eagles for falcons, and lynxes, leopards,
and lions for hunting-dogs, he could at
any time improvise an army OF 100000
men from his falconers, beaters, and
whippers-in. Polo, who had keen
relish for the "noble art" tells us that
when the Emperor went " Allowing" he
was carried upon four elephants in fine
chamber made of timber, lined inside
with plates Of beaten gold, and outside
with lions skins, attended with 10000
huntsmen and 10000 dogs, moving along
abreast of one another, so that the whole
line extended over full days journey,
and "no animal could escape them"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12

Coon TO KNow;-Keep tea in close
chest or canister. Keep coffee by itself,
as its odor affects other articles. Bread
and cake should be kept in tin box or
stone jar. Cranberries will keep all win
ter in a frkin of water in cellar
Oranges and lemons keep best wrapped
close in soft paper and laid in a drawer
Soft soap should be kept in dry place
in a cellar, and should not be used for
white; and that which is taken from a
hog ever year old is the best. To
select nutmegs, pick them with pin.
II they are good, the oil will instantly
spread around the puneture. When a
keg Of mollasses is bought, draw off &
few quarts, OF else the fermentation pro-
ducsd by moving it will burst the cask.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-12-12
POETR Y.
CHRISTINE.

l..
Between thy heart and mine, Christine,
Sweet, sweet the love that once has been:
And nothing sad or dark was there,
No shadow on the picture fair,
1. No storm-cloud mid the sunshine seen,
Between thy heart and mine, Christine.
II.
Betwe4n the then and no,o. Christine,
There frowns loveless barrier-screen;
One years long lonely road Is spread,
With cruel fslso words carpeted;
No hand stretched ont to hand is seen
Between the then and noie, Christine.
III.
Between thy heart and mine, Christine,
A sea is wide, and winds are keen,
And nasght but ghosts of long dead times,
And naught but echoes of old rhymes;
For love is dead that once has been
Between thy heart and mine, Christine.