davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
French " Frugality."

A Paris correspondent says: "I have
heard very odd, yet apparently cor
rect, reason given for the non-success OF
soda-water as q beverage in this city.
One of the leading English druggists
here was recently asked why he did not
establish a soda-water fountain in his
store. TT would not take with the Pa
risians,' was his answer IF French
man spends ten cents for n drink he
wants a seat, little table and a sight of
the daily papers with it, and he passes
two hours in 81 ping it. A beverage,
therefore, which must be quaffed at
once will not suit their habits or their
tastes they would consider themselves
robbed if they paid half franc for the
drink alone Another amusing exem-
plifcltion of the peculiarly thrifty hab-
its of the French was also made known
to me recently. An American came out
here some years ago and established an
American bar near the Grand Hotel,
connecting with it that decidedly Amer
ican institution, free lunch. He was
soon obliged to do away with that por-
tion of the programme, however, for
finding that there was place where
good food could be had for nothing,
large numbers of Frenchmen of the bet
ter classes, including many of the men,
bers of the fashionable jockey club,
came there to enjoy the eatables, but
never ordered one sous worth of drink
Herewith. They considered it perfectly
the thing to take the proprietor's lunch
without compens ting him in any man
ner, direct or indirect"
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Thoughts for Saturday Night.
The soul knows no prison.
Raya ia mental imbecilitY.

The soul knows no prison.
Rage is mental imbecility.
To revenge is no valor, but to bear.
Remorse is the echo of lost mother.
Mans the circled oak; woman the
ivy.
Incidence and stupidity are first
cousins.
There is music in all things if men
had ears.
Magnificent promises are always to be
suspected.
Virtue is the beauty, and vice the de-
formity of the soul.
An acre of performance is worth
whole world of promise.
There is frightful interval between
the seed and the timber.
There is not string attuned to mirth
but has its chord of melancholy.
If man empties his purse into his
head, no one can take it away from him.
Purposes, like eggs, unless they are
hatched into action, will run into rot
tenness.
Measure not men by Sundays, with
out regarding what they do all the week
after.
All the rarest hues of human life take
raQ1aQC6 anu are I8lubOWou OuG III tCdISs
The worth of state, in the long run,
is the worth of the individuals compos'
ing it.
/ am sorry to see how small a piece of
religion will make a cloak Sir. Wa
liam Waller.
The chains of habit are generally too
small to be felt till they are too strong
to be broken.
While the world lasts, the sun will
gild the mountain-tops before it shines
upon the plain.
Pitch lucky man into the Nile, says
the Arabian proverb, and be will come
up with fish in his mouth.
As riches and favor forsake man, we
discover him to be fool but nobody
could find it out in his prosperity.
True religion is the poetry of the
heart it has enchantments useful to
our manner it gives us both happi-
ness and virtue.
If man is not rising upwards TO be
an angel, depend upon it he is sinking
downward to the devil. He cannot stop
at the beast.
The habit of virtue cannot be formed
in closet. Habits are formed by acts
of reason in a persevering struggle
through temptation.
I hate in ratitude in man more than
lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness,
or taint of vice whose strong corrup-
ton inhabits our frail blood.-Mak-
s31enrP
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Is the South a Good Fruit Country

If the question is intended to meau a
country abounding in good fruits, we
must sadly answer, no. Nothing as
tonishes the stranger more when travel
ing in the south, or on first settling
here, than the scarcity of good fruits ;
and the impression produced by the cir
cumstances, that the south is not goc d
country for fruit, is confirmed by our
people themselves, and especially by
the farmers, who, with few exceptions,
of course, will tell him that beyond
seeding peaches, Chickasaw plums and
scuppernong grapes, fruits don't do
we'll here. The few who have under
standingly tried the experiment of rails
ing other and superior fruits, however,
know better.
We have shown again and again in
these pages and elsewhere, and demon
strated it in the field, that the south is
one of the best of all fruit countries,
and others have done the same. Will
not our readers all make up their minds
to plant at least few fruit trees and
grape vines this fall-and to take care
of them after they shall have been
planted? Do you, vino are Patrons,
bear in mind, as you should, the in
functions of the ritual of your order in
reference to planting fruits and flowers?
Rural.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Sunset in The North,

Major Butler, in his "Wild North
Land" gives the following picture of
sunset in the north land "He who
rides for months through the vast sol
itudes sees during the hours of his
daily travel an unbroken panorama Of
distance. The seasons come and go /;
grass grows and flowers die the fire
leaps with tiger bounds along the earth;
the snow lies still and quiet over hill
and lake; the rivers rise and fall but
the rigid features of the wilderness rest
unchanged. Lonely, silent and impas-
sive ; needless of man, season or time,
the might of the Infinite seems to brood
over it, and only in the hours of day
and night a moment comes when this
impressive veil is drawn from its feat
ures, and the eye of the wanderer catch
es 8 glimpse of the sunken soul of the
wilderness it is the moment which fol-
lows the sunset. Then a deep stiffness
steals over the earth cOlors of wond-
rous hue rise and spread along the west
ern horizon. In a deep sea of emerald
and q range of fifty shades, mingled
and interviewer together, rose-cOiOrFd
isles float, anchored to great golden
threads, while far away, seemingly
above and beyond all. one broad flash
of crimson light, the parting suns last
gift, reddens upwards to the zenith
A story is tJld of a San Francisco
woman who was in the habit of receiv-
ing frequent castigations at the hands
of her husband, and who one day read
the bible story of Samson and Delilah.
When next her consort was prone in
sleep she sheared him SO comnIeteIv
that every spear of hair disappeared
from his face and head. Rousing from
his slumber like a giant refreshed, he
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Origin of italian Opera.

About the year 1494 three young men,
natives of Florence, who were exceed
ingly intimate and who possessed many
artistic tastes in common, conceived the
idea of restoring the ancient Grecian
lyric style of defamation. They per-
suaded the celebrated poet Rinucci TO
compose the words of a drama the SUBJ
ject of which was the story of Daphne,
and this was set to music by Pesi, the
most celebrated composer of the If
teenth. century. Count Corsi, an adj
mirable musician, aided him in the I'M
dertaking, and the first performance Of
the first opera was played in the palace
of this gentleman. The actors and sing
ers were friends of the author, and he
himself took one Of the parts. The or
chestra of this first opera was composed
of four violins, a cythra, a harp, and q
violincello. There we're no airs in this
composition, and it consisted entirely
of recitatives accompanied by fine har-
monies, which were, however, judged
by the great critic Ruccellai to be very
monotonous and tedious.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
The Open Polar Sea,

DR.. Hays, in letter on the Austrian
Polar expedition, says: The highway
to the Pole was, I believe, open to
Capt. Hall, and had he lived believe
he would have reached it. I believe
the same thing could have been done
by my old commander, DIR. Kane, in
August, 1853, and by myself in 1860,
had either of us been blessed with
steam; and I believe, as have re-
peatedly asserted publicly, that the
Sound can be navigated with steam
power any year; and in proof of this
we may cite the fact that Capt. Hall
experienced no difficulty whatever in
the Polaris, which, as if it were but a
pleasure voyage, steamed in six days
from Upernavik to the highest point
ever reached by any vessel and even
the land he sighted beyond must, I
think, have been something further
north than S3 deg, which seems to have
been the northern most point-Cape
Vienna-seen by the gallant officers of
the Tegetthoff. For in 1861 / traced
the outline of the land, which I named
Cape Union, on the west side Gmper-
fectly traced, it is true, owing to the
great difficulties of the situation), to
lat 50 deg, 45 seconds, and Capt. Hall
must have seen land beyond this. DR..
Hays adds: As for myself, my going
back to the scene of my old contests
has been, as those interested in Arctic
exploration we'll know, merely q ques-
tion of money. That forthcoming, I
shall lose no time in once more lead
ing an expedition into Smith Sound.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
A Costume to Keen AfIoat.

A Paris correspondent says can in-
genious philanthropist of this city has
just invented a new apparatus for as
sisting shipWrecked persons in main
tanning themselves above water. The
public trial of this apparatus took place
few days ago, and proved entirely sue
cessful. Two river steamboats, were
provided by the smiling, enthusiastic,
white-headed philanthropist, and con-
veyed numerous company of friends,
people connected with the press, the
clubs, the army and navy, and a sprink-
ling of members of the Legislative as
sembly, to the Billancourt Basin, Just
beyond Asineres. The new apparatus
consists of a costume, called by it's in
ventor the 'Natator : it goes from the
neck to the knees, fitting close to the
body, but susceptible of being worn
over other clothing, if time be wanting
for divesting oneself of ones ordinary
apparel. From the armpits to the hips
the thing is double, forming the case of
an india-rubber tube that winds round
and round the body. The upper end of
this tube has brass stopcock, through
which the wearer blows in air with his
lips, the process requiring only few
seconds, and the volume of air thus in
troduced amply suficing to prevent the
heaviest people from sinking. If it be
desired to dive, the wearer lets out tht
air by merely opening the stopcock.
The 'Natator' will thus serve to keep the
shipwrecked from sinking, and enable
the heroic preservers of human life to
reach those who, though kept afoat by
it, are unable to swim. The wearers of
the 'Natator,' some of whom wore it
under their clothes, some over them,
while others had undressed and wore
nothing else, foated about the steamers
for an hour, now seeming to stand erect.
in the water, now lying upon it, some
smoking cigar, others reading news
paper or eating biscuits and sandwiches
from little waterproof bag attached
to the costume, laughing, talking, and
apparently enjoying their novel position.
A shower happening to come, one of the
swimmers opened and hoisted an UNI
brella, under which he continued his
watery promenade, to the great amuse-
ment of the sOectatOrs "
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
The Working People of Paris.

Some interesting details about the
ent of the London Era, are furnished
by the indefatigable explorer, NJ Max
ime Du Camp. It appears, then, that
than 816 600 working people; one-halt
of these are women-a fact that proves
that the fair sex of Paris are not lazy.
The rag picking profession has fallen
off since the commune, and now num-
bers only 5000. There are seven large
houses whose commerce consists entire
ly in the purchase and sale of old pos
tage stamps. We have also 81 dealers
in false hair, and 1, 153 BARRIERS and hair
dressers, who in 1872 sold no less than
102, 900 Kilograms or chignons-a kilo-
gram is equal to two pounds. "This
article of modern toilette" says the
writer, " is becoming SO difficult to find
that agents have been sent out to China
to buy up the tails of the poor" OF
flower makers there are 5000, and ow-
ing to the imperial rage for violets, the
number of that political emblem sold
last year rose to six million. The en-
ployers or patrons figure ct $4,000, and
some idea o. their honorability may be
gathered from the fact that there were
only 1852 bankruptcies and insolvencies
last year. Among the so-called liberal
professions are 1873 learned and liter
ary men 9,420 sculptors, painters, and
ackors-of the latter 2,06S are ladies.
A touching fact among the sea of figures
is that. whereas the literary gentlemen
have only 800 domestics, they support
by the work of their brain no less than
2. 1913 persons, chiefly parents. OF doc
tors We have ], ,726, which is about one
to every thousand inhabitants. Behind
this medical army some 100 somnambu-
lists, SCI midwives, 528 herborists, and
737 apothecaries. Next, Paris COM
prises 16, ,226 landlords and 53,872 re-
tired tradesmen whose fortune, in the
majority of cases, is the result of early
perseverance, privation, and economy.
M. Maxine Du Camp contends that
there is not city in the world where
the people work more than in Paris, in
spite of the 800, 900 idlers an the boule-
wards, the 180 concert cafes, the 238
public balls, the 600 wine shops and
the 1926 billiard boards. The workmen
here are paid once fortnight, on the
Saturday. The week that follows is in
variably dull one in the shops, since
the majority of the men pay their devo-
tions to "St. Lundi" until their pock-
cts become empty, and they are forced
to return to the bench to replenish
them. This is fact which should be
borne in mind by those who indulge in
inviduous comparisons between the
French ouVrier and the English work
men.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Out Of Herculaneum.

An interesting discovery Of a life.size
female bust in pure silver has lat ly
teen made at Herculaneur1. The work,
according 10 an account given in the
Patrie, is in a state of excellent preser'
walton, and is the only sp cimen Of its
kind which has been found during the
course of the excavations. At FIRST tho
material was thought 20 be only bronze,
the action of the sulphur having some
what altered the appearance Of the sur
face, and the sulphate of silver which
has formed upon the metal yielding a
black color like that found in the COM
monest sort of material. The bust was
removed 10 the museum, when one OF
the keepers, struck with the unusual
tone of the bronze, scraped away n part
of the surface, and Rt once came upon
the silver beneath. A discuss on has
arisen whether the work was originally
cast or chiselled, but there seems now
little doubt that the former hypothesis
is correct. Tho head is that OF young
and beautiful woman, but as yet the
features have not been identified with
those Of any other e1tant head,
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Anatomy of the Porpoise.

Mr.. Frank Buckland, having dissected
a porpoise, gives some interesting infor
nation on the structure of that animal.
In the matter of bowels it is well pro-
vided for, the specimen examined hav-
ing 62 feet inches of intestine. The
stomach was so complicated that it
could not be made out by ordinary dis
section. To get round the difficulty,
Mr.. Buckland hung it up by the Dso-
phagus, and filed it with plaster of par
is, of which nearly pailful was re-
quired before the organ was fully dis
tended. It was then found that the por-
poise has two stomachs-one in which
the prey is kept, and the other in which
it is digested A careful section Of the
head showed the blow-hole to be most
complicated mechanism. The pOrpoise,
being q pure mammal, has q four.cavl-
tied heart, and a rair of lungs. Now,
nature has ordained that he shall live in
the sea the problem is, how to
keep water out of the lungs. In the
first place, his nose is guarded by o
valve placed on the top of his head, and
when the porpoise breathes he comes to
the surface, and takes a deep inspira-
tion. Not drop of water ever gets In.
But how does he work his valve, and
keep the water out of his lungs, when
he is asleep? The answer to this ques-
ton cannot be given yet. Mr.. Buck
land intends to study the subject when
next he has live porpoise at the Brigh-
ten aquarium.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Sherman On the Army.

The Army and Navy Journal contains
an article By Gen. Sherman on "The
Military Lessons of the War" Al,
though printed separately, it is really
the final chapter Of a history of the war
which will be publish after the authors
death.
Gen. Mcclellan wishes to remodel our
army after that of Germany. Gen.
Sherman, on the contrary, sees some
things to shun in the German system.
Thus he dislikes their large companies
and their mounted captains. He would
still retain the present standard of 100
men to the company, but would place
twelve companies in each infantry regi-
ment, an so mako the numerical
strength of a regiment in the infantry,
artillery, or cavelry the same. Three
such regiments would compose a brig
ade, three brigades division, and three
divisions corps. The corps is the mil
itary unit for grand campaigns nd bat
ties. An infantry corps should have
attached to it brigade of cavalry and
six batteries of artillery. It would then
contain an effective force of thirty thou
sand men.
After laying down this simple plan of
organization by threes, Gen. Sherman
discusses the great difficulty of the civil
war, which will, he thinks, be the great
difficulty hereafter. It is the supply of
soldiers. Re rejects the bounty system
as utterly bad. It would be much bet
ter, he thinks, to pay men $50 or $50 a
month to serve than to pay them 5000
or 81 900 to consent to serve. All our
eXpedients failed. The writes says :
" The German method of recruitment
is simply perfect, and there is no rea-
son why we should not follow it sub
stantially." Public opinion will scarcely
indorse this sweeping statement. The
German system is simply the impress
ment of every poor and illiterate man
for three years, and of every educated
and wealthy man for one year of active
service. Both classes are afterwards
liable to serve in event of war for seven
years more. No such system can be
forced upon Americans. TTi5.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Right and Sperm Whales.

The sperm whale is an habitue of the
deep water, seldom found on sound
ings, and feeding on creatures of great
size in the profoundest depths of the
ocean. The right while frequents the
bays and shoal waters of the coasts. It
feeds on minute shrimps and mollusks
which float upon the surface of the sea
or at moderate depths. In the sperm
whale the male is much larger than the
female; in the right whale the female
attains the greatest bulk. In the sperm
whale the upper jaw, case and junk
form the great portion of the head, the
under jaw being furnished with ivory
teeth. In the right whale the lower
Jaw, with its great lips and tongue, is
greatly -disproportioned to the slender
upper Jaw, which is furnished with the
elastic slabs of whalebone. In the
sperm whale the great respiratory canal
is elongated, and terminates in single
spout-hole little to one side on the
extreme end of the head. In the right
whale this canal branches into two
channels, which terminate in two spout
holes about eighteen feet back from the
nose.
The sperm whale is dangerous at
either end, but the motions of its hukes
are limited as compared with the right
whale. Its blows are delivered verti-
cally, and when it strikes right or left
the blow is performed by rolling of
the body. To compensate for this
rigidity of the fukes, it is possessed of
admirable skill in fencing with the jaw.
The most fatal accidents in boats arise
from this weapon. The motion of the
jaw is quick, and its sweep tremendous.
In large whale rolling, with the jaw
distended, the sweep may include
circle of forty feet, aud woe be to the
boat whose bottom receives the upward
cut, while certain death follows the re-
ception of the downward blow Thus
it is possible for two boats placed forty
feet apart to be broken by the same
blow from the jaw of a rolling sperm
whale. The right whale, on the con
trary, is comparatively harmless with
the head; but is possessed of great lat
eral reach with the hukes, sweeping, as
whalemen express it, from eye to eye.
To Judge from external evidence, the
sperm whale is much the more COM
bative of thetwo. No large bull whale of
this species is taken whose great square
head is not SCARED and furrowed with
marks of the teeth of rival bulls, and
often the shattered teeth and broken
or distorted jaws attest the fierceness of
their combats. The right whale, how
ever, is incapable of more than severely
padding its enemy with its tail. The
sperm whale, of the two, is more
regular and much longer in it's periods
of spouting and of remaining under
water. 1t will spout sixty or seventy
times and remain under water an hour
or more, even when not pursued. The
right whale spouts twelve or fifteen
times, perhaps, and then descends for
& short period. Both turn fukes, or
lift the tail perpendicularly in the air,
when they go down. The oil of the
one is rich in spermaceti; the other
furnishes the lower priced train oil.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-23
Success.

To succeed is not so much to do many
things well as to do nothing i'll. One
ridiculous failure will cast suspicion
on all we claim to be able to accomplish.
The very calm still waiting and watch
ing, and ever refusing to display ones
self at disadvantage, is itself not the
least impressive of qualities. The op-
ponent who cannot be tempted to lunge,
until by careful and progressive expert
ment he has felt that his grounds sure,
that arm, sword, and volition go well
together, has inspired dread by the
very deliberation and method of his at
tack that goes far to make it successful.
Not at all that enterprise is to be con-
temned-let US go forward but going,
try step by step, cast aside every weight,
ware every stumbling-blcck. It is so
easy to stumble, so easy to disappear in
the mud of some ditch-which, not to
speak of the danger, is so very ridicu-
lous thiDg-that it pays to look out.
We shall find that, even doing our
best, we shall have but little to boast
of in the shape of success while care
lessness or rashness is almost certain
ruin. To know "no such word as fail !"
is to fail. Let us know it, never lose
sight of it it is tireless foe; it has
slain it's thousands-men greater and
prouder than we it is a Brutus who
has stabbed many Caesars on the very
throne-foot of their triumph. Beware
the ides of March! And as we all
have our ides, though we know not
when they come, let us so live as if
they were always present.--OUerta2ad
HTo3fbiu