davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
A Splendid Description.

On certain occasion one Paul Den
ton, Methodist preacher in Texas, ad-
vertised barbecue, with better liquor
than is usually furnished. When the
people assembled, a desperate in the
crowd cried out: "Mr. Paul Denton,
you reverence has lied. You promised
not only a good barbecue, but better
liquor. Where's the liquor ?"
There % answered the missionary,
in tones of thunder, and pointing his
long, bony finger at the matchless double
spring, gushing up in two long columns
with sound like a shout Of Joy from
the bosom of the earth. "There = be
repeated, with look terrible as light
ming, while his enemy actually trembIed
at his feet there is the liquor which
God the eternal brews for all his chill
dren. Not in the simmering still, over
smoky fires choked with poisonous gas
es, aud surrounded with the stencil of
sickening odors' and corruption, doth
your Father in heaven prepare the pre-
cious essence of life-pure cold water
But in the glade and grassy dell, where
the deer wanders and the child loves to
play, there God brews it; and down,
away down in the deepest valleys, where
the fountain murmurs and the rills
sing; and high up on the mountain
tops, where the naked granite glitters
like gold in the sun, where the storm
clouds brood and the thunder-storms
crash; and out on the wild, wild sea,
where the hurricane howls music and
the big waves roar in chorus, sweeping
the march of God-there He brews it
the beverage of life, health-giving water.
And everywhere it is q thing of beauty
cleaning in the dew-drop, singing in
the summer rain, shining in the ice
gem, till they seem turned to living
jewels; spreading q golden veil over
the setting sun, or a white gauze around
the midnight moon sporting in the
cataract; sleeping in glacier dancing
in the hail shower folding its bright
curtains softly around the wintry world,
and weaving the many-colored iris, the
seraph's zone of the air, whose warp is
in the rain-drops of the earth, and whose
woof is in the sunbeams of heaven, all
checkered over with the celestial flow
ers of the mystic hand of refraction-
that blessed life-water. No poison bub-
bles on its brink its foam brings not
madness and murder; no blood stains
its liquid glass /; pale widows and starv-
ing children weep not burning tears in
its depths! Speak out, my friends
would you exchange it for the demons
drink, alcoholic"
A shout like the roar of the tempest
anewered-" NoW
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Robber Ants.

The American Naturalist publishes
the following interesting anecdote of
"robber-ants," communicated in let
ter to the Smithsonian institution, and
published by permission of Prof. Hen
ry: "Once upon a time there dwelt in
my yard fourishipg colony of the very
smallest species of black ant. The ser
wants about my cook-house had spilled
q quantity of syrup, which ran through
the floor. The little ants had found it,
and seemingly the entire population
: ere out and busy packing it away to
their home. The microscope showed
that they carried the syrup in their alb
domen. But, before they had secured
all the syrup, I observed that there was
great excitement along their road. The
larger, black, erratic ants had discovered
them while carrying home the syrup,
and were taking it away from them. 1t
was really painful to observe the ruth
less manner in which they slaughtered
and robbed The helpless little ants of
their distended sacks of sweetness.
They grabbed up the heavily-burdened
little fellows, doubled them, and, biting
open the abdomen, drew out the full
sack and seemed to swallow it; then,
casting the larcerated carcass aside, they
furiously sprang upon another of the
panic-stricken crowd, and repeated the
horrid operation. Millions of these
heartless butchers were at work and
soon, on account of their wealth, that
populous city was exterminated."
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Drinking and Drunkenness.

Elk Mayor Joseph Medill writes to
the Chicago Tribune from Germany as
follows "Drunkeness is so rare and
infrequent that it may be said not to
exist. I have travelled thousands of
miles through Germany in various di-
rections, visiting nearly all the chief
cities, and have made diligent inquiry
of American consulS and other well-in-
formed persons, and received but one
answer everywhere, viz: No drunk
enness among the Germans {; public
sentiment would not tolerate it; the
habits of the country are all against it. ,
The reason of this freedom from inebri-
alton is the total absence of whisky and
the substitution of the milder beer.
Whisky is the 'hog' that possesses the
spirit of the raging devil, and the Guilt
vation of whose intimate acquaintance
makes so many beasts and loafers of
men in the United States"
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Help in Western Virginia.

Dom Piatt, writing about the Virginia
mountaineer, says: It is impossible to
get house servants from among the ma
tives for love or money. A charming
little lady here, Mrs. Morgan, sister-in-
law to the famous John Morgan, gave
us a very amusing account of her trials
in this direction. Her first experience
was with tall, angular mountain maid.
One morning she announced visitor to
Mrs. Morgan.
"Who is he, Malvina ?"
'.Lord only knows, I don't; he's total
stranger to me-"
"Is he a gentleman ?"
"Well, he amt a niggah."
"Did he not give you his name %
"Not much. But didn't ask him. "
"But he gave you his card ?"
"You mean that bit of papah with the
printin' on it ?"
"Of course; what did you do with
it?"
"Why, jest put it whar seed the
others, on the pahlow table"
Chow vexatious! And what did you
say to him ?"
"I told him to hitch on to the door
knob till seed you"
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Cortez Chapel.

Says writer at Key West, Florida {:
On Couzmel island are yet to be seen
the walls of the first church ever built
on the continent of North America.
Cortez, before the conquest of Mexico
say about three hundred years ago
built his first place of worship on this
beautiful island. The foundation and
walls are yet partially preserved each
side has an elevation of some ten feet.
Tho altar is covered with an almost i'm
penetrable growth of chaparral, and all
about and even inside these ruins are
ancient and modern tombs, where pa
triarchs rest. The wild flowers bloom
over them in great profusion, and the
birds carol sweet songs morning and
evening. A paved walk extends several
hundred yards westward, but it is now
almost buried from sight in the sod.
Excavations are seen, where searchers
for hidden treasures have delved.
There is fine field there for the curl
GUS to explore. But the natives of the
locality allow it to rest so quietly that
the dense strawberries almost cover it.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Chinese Students.

Two Chinese students were admitted
Tuesday to the Yale college scientific
department. They passed the examin-
alton most credibly, and gave promise
of superior scholarship. There are now
sixty Chinese students supported by
their government in Connecticut and
Massachusetts. Thirty came two years
ago, thirty arrived q year since, and
thirty more are expected in about a
fortnight. So far their department has
been excellent and their progress quite
remarkable. The students are placed
at first in families, two in place, where
their first aim is the mastery of our Ian
guage. They are all under strict super
vision, and spend each from two to
four weeks a year at the "headquar-
ters" of the Chinese educational com
mission in Hartforl, where they are
carefully examined as to their habits
and progress. Scattered in some twen-
ty or thirty different towns, these boys
have everywhere been favorites. The
kindness with which they have been
treated has been gratifying to the COM
mission here and to the Chinese govern
ment at thome.-BOStOn Traveller.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
A New Shell.

An ingenious proiectiIe, invented by
Russian officer, is now claiming the
attention of military scientists. The
sczaroch, as it is called, is an elongated
shell, the head of which is completely
spherical round shell upon the end
of an iron cylinder. The two parts are
united by a comparatively slight thick
ness of metal. When fred, the sczar-
och leaves the gun like an ordinary
shell. but when it bursts the cylindrical
part alone flies to pieces, while the
sperical head continues its flight intact,
and may ricOchet for hundreds of yards
further. The advantage ofsuch a shell
against artillery, for example, is very
great. After bursting and scattering
its fragments amorg the guns of the
enemy, the head goes on to plunge into
the infantry still further back. 1t is to
be used in Russia, however, only for
cannon of moderate size.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
The World Without Sunday.

Think how the abstraction of Sunday
would enslave the working classes, with
whom we are identified. Think of labor
thus going on in one monotonous and
eternal rack, fingers forever straining,
the brow forever dropping, and the loins
forever aching, the restless mind for
ever scheming. Think Of the beauty it
would efface, the merry-heartedness it
would extinguish, the giant strength it
would tame, the resources of nature it
would crush, the sickness it would
bring, of the projects it would wreck,
the groans it would extort, the lives it
would immediate, and the cheerless
graves it would prematurely dig. See
them toiling and fretting, and grinding
and hewing, and weaving and spinning,
sowing and gathering, moving and
reaping, raising and building, digging
and planting, and striving and strug-
Cling, in the garden and in the field, in
the granary and in the barn, in the fac.
tory and in the mill, in the warehouse
and in the shop, in the mountain and
in the ditch, on the roadside and in the
country, out at sea and on shore, in the
day of brightness and of gloom What
picture this world would present il
we had no Sabbath
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Exhibition of Mind Read
ing.

The exhibition of mind-readipg y
by j. r. Brown at New Haven, the
other day, in the presence of ex-P -Presi-
dent Woolsey of Yale college and sever
al professors, was a striking illustration
of the mysterious connection of mind
with mind by means of physical contact
The first experiment was as follows :
Prof. Brewer passed from the philoso-
phical lecture-room, where the company
were assembled, through a hall in an-
other room, out of which opened five
doors and two stairways, aud, having
placed pocket tape measure on the
odolite, he returned to the leeture-room
another way. Mr.. Brown, being blind
folded, took Mr.. Brewers left hand in
his own right hand, and having momen-
tarily placed his other hand on Mr..
Brewers forehead and brought Mr..
Brewers hand to his own forehead, ap-
parent,y to establish mental connection,
he started of, leading Mr.. Brewer to
the tape measure without the slightest
hesitation as to which room to enter or
what object to seek, though nobody but
Mr.. Brewer knew where or what that
object was. DR.. Woolsey then hid a
coin under a pile of books, Mr.. Brown
having Withdrawn from the room, and
the mind-reader, having established
connection with Woolsey, went, blind
folded, to the vicinity of the coin, after
trying one or two other places, but
conld not put his hand on the exact
spot. He, however, took Prof. Whitney
for his companion and Immediately
found the coin. A pencil.case was
passed through the hands of three or
four persons, and as each one received
it he left the room, but the last one
concealed it and then took seat. The
others having returned to the room,
and Brown having been recalled, he went
to each of the persons who had had the
pencil case and finally to the pencil case
itself. An alphabet was written on
blackboard and then the word "hone"
was written on slip of paper by Prof.
Marsh and passed to another person,
and Mr.. Brown, taking Prof. Marsh's
hand, pointed to the letters on the board
that spell the word hone. In several Of
these cases Mr.. Brown hesitated some
VIII t, but in some of them, at least, the
person whose hand he held failed to
conform to the necessary condition of
keeping him mind intently on the OBJ
ject to be sought. There is consider
able difference in the persons with whom
he rlay operate. The celebrity with
which the performer, though blind
folded, moved about among the furni-
ture was surprising. After some of the
experiments he seemed considerably
exhausted
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Cost of the aerman.Franco War.

The war of 1870 cost France E37l,-
900, 600, to which e173, ,0O0, 900 may be
added as the value Of the ceded terri
tory. OF course the cost 10 tho North
German Confederation was much less,
as their troops operated in the enemy's
country and the commissariat was much
better managed than with the French.
The cost to Germany has been officially
stated as e47, 900, 900, but when peace
was concluded the treasury was empty,
and had it not been for the French in
demnity a new loan would have been
necessary. The G6,OO0,0O0 OF the Ger
man war chest and the eos, 1000, 900 OF
the war loan must, therefore, have been
exhausted. Compared with other mod
ern wars, the cost of the Franco-German
war, on the whole, was moderate, inaa-
much M private compensation is in
cluded-seven millions on the German
and twenty-four millions on the French
side.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Wheel Velocities.

The only limit to the number of revo-
lutions which wheel may be made to
make in given timeis the tensil strength
of the material of which the wheel is
made, and its consequent power to re-
sist the centrifugal forces which tend to
render it asunder. Savart. in his ex-
periments on sound, made wheels to re
volve from one thousand to two thou
sand times per minute but this has
been surpassed by Foucalt, who invented
an apparatus for measuring the velocity
of light, to which small wheel with a
mirror attached, which might have been
made to rcvolve six hundred, eight hun
dred, and one thousand times per sec
ond, or sixty thou and times per min
ute. At these velocities the ordinary
amalgam was completely stripped from
the glass to which it was attached, and
it was found necessary to use mirrors
either of glass coated with pure silver
or made entirely of metal. These are
the most rapid revolutions thus lar OBJ
tained, probably, but there is not the
slightest reas n why even this should
not be surpassed. 1t is evident that for
such great velocities cog wheels are out
of the question. Only bands or strings
can be used.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Daily Death.

The duration Of life in any Of it's par
ticulars is but short T; they die and their
places are occupied by others, and 10
continues a substitution which only
ends in death. After every meal an
amazing number OF white corpuscles
are added TO the blood breakfast dou-
bles their proportion 10 the colored cor
puscles in half an hour supper in
creases their proportion three times,
and dinner makes it four times as great.
They come from such solid glands AZ
the spleen. In the blood going 10 this
organ, their proportion is one TO two
thousand two hundred and sixty in
that returning from the spleen IL is AZ
one to sixty. Perhaps the most stnpen-
dous miracle Of organization is tho
steady maintenance Of but slightly vari'
able characters in the living and moving
blood, which is every moment undergo
ing changes OF different kinds as II cir
culates through each tissue and organ
in the body.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
An Eccentric Star.

The most singular fact connected with
the proper motions of the stars is that
one or two stars are flying through space
with such enormous rapidity that the
combined attraction of all the stars
visible with the telescope could never
stop them. This seems to be especially
the case with a small star, invisible to
the naked eye, designated in astronOmi-
cal literature as Groombridge, 1880, F"
from the name of the astronomer who
first recorded its position. The rate of
motion of this star is about seven Sec
onds per year-the greatest known. It
was hence concluded that it must be
very near us, and number of astrono-
mers have sought to determine its par
allax, but have found it to be only about
tenth of a second. Its apparent mo-
tion in a year being seventy times its
parallax, it moves at least seventy times
the distance from the earth to the sun
in year, or eighteen millions of miles
every day, and more than two hundred
miles every second. From what we
know of the distribution, masses, and
number of the stars, it seems probable
that the attraction of all the bodies in
the universe can never stop this head
long speed, nor bring this star into any
orbit, and that consequently it will pass
through our universe, and leave it en-
tirely in its passage through infinite
space. If we had accurate observations
of the stars position three or four
thousand years ago, we could speak
with more certainty of its destiny. We
may expect that our posterity of few
thousand years hence will, by the aid of
the observations and tables we shall
transmit to them, be able to come to a
definite conclusion respecting the age
and the structure of the universe. -
Prot. Simon NelUcOnlb, in Hara0er'S.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
THE CADrs sTRATAGEM.
By JOHN G. SAKE.

6ioas widows cottage chanced to stand
Hard by the Calif's palace; and he sought
Eor MS own use to buy her bit Of laud =
But all in vsin-the land could not be bought 7!
IL.
1t was my husbands home, = the woman said:
Who, dying, left it to his loving wife
Here viii dwell, in honor of the dead
Nor part with it until part with HfeIn
The naughty Calf ssanger knew no bound.
That matt thus the dame withstood him to his face
by force be raZed her cottage to the ground,
And built a grand pavilion in its place.
Straight to the Cadi then the woman goes
And asks for justice at his Honor's hand:
" Leave me awhile the Cadi said, and rose;
Allah Is great, and hears your just demand ! +"
Then, with an empty sack he took his way.
10 the pavilion where he CHANGED to meet
me cam at the door. " Great Sire, pray
little Of the earth beneath your feet.
" Enough TO fIl, - the Cadi said, '' this sack
..,., Ils granted said the Calf, laughing loud
- Now pleae to put the load upon my bach,
Most potent Prince" =" and reverently bowed
" Nay" said the'Calif, " I should surely fail
Should essay to lift load great;
For such a task my strength would not avail;
porter would be crushed beneath the weightl"
W.
% If this be even SO, how wilt thou fare
In the great day of final Judgment, when
The weight Of all this land thou hast to bear "
TX.
The Calf, stricken with remorse, 'exclsimed,
" Allah Is Allah Be his name adored!
For wit and wisdom thou art justly famed
This day shall see the widows land restored.
81 And for the wrong did the woman's land
In tearing down her house, thus atone;
This fine pavilion in its place shall stand
For with the soil the building is her own"
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30
Wise Francis Losenh.

The London correspondent of the
Boston Post writes "While the EN-.
press of Austria is enjoying one of Eng
lands pleasanter resorts, celebI ating her
daughters birthday, presenting silver
vases to champion racers, and taking a
keen interest in the organization of a
stag hunt, her imperial spouse has also
been absent from his gay capital on a
somewhat different errand. Amid the
general stagnation of affairs in Europe,
the visit of the Emperor Francis Joseph
to Prague has romantic as we'll as a
political interest. It is always pleasant
to hear of the Austrian sovereign, who
spected and liked crowned head in
Europe. His career has been so replete
with misfortune, his crown has sat so
uneasily on his head from the time of
accession when bAardless youth al
most till now, his character is SO amia-
bic, his mind so intelligent, his ideas 30
reasonable and liberal, his bearing so
gracious and engaging, that, personally,
no man is more popular, either with
his brother sovereigns or with the peo-
pie at large. He has shown himself, il
seems to me, the very wisest of all
reigning sovereigns. Think of it; he
was born and nourished Hapsburg,
the pet and hope of family as much
prouder than the Bourbons as the Bour-
bons are prouder than the Orleanses.
Divine right and Imperialism he may be
said TO have absorbed with his mothers
milk. He was taught that there was no
blood SO entirely royal as his. With
such birth and bringing up, he was
suddenly thrust upon one of the great
est thrones in Europe when he was yet
in his teens. and from that moment he
was beset by fatterers and courtiers, by
priests and diplomats. His naughty
mother, the Arch duchess Sophia, held
over him stern influence, which was
all used to confirm him as a despot and
as blind defender of the pope. There
seemed to be no crevice by which any
liberal idea could reach him. Misfor-
tune, however, undid his early educa-
ton and humbled Lis Hapsburg pride.
1t is to his praise that he was taught by
the calamities which overlook him.
He was able to learn lesson which the
Bourbons never learned the Bourbons
are all exiles, and Francis Joseph still
sits on the throne of Rudolph and Ma
ria Theresa. He has shown the very
rare wisdom to yield to the inevitable,
to frankly accept liberal principles, to
refuse to ruin himself by crusading for
the pope. and to exchange an absolute
crown, descended to him through cen
turies, for that of constitutional mon
arch ruling over constitutional state.
Austria is now as free as Prussia or
France, and this is more due to Francis
Joseph, who called Count Won Beust
from Saxony to take the helm in Aus
tria at the critical moment, though Won
Beust was not only a liberal but prot
estant and a foreigner.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30

"A London girl, who advertised re-
Gently for a husband, requested her
the pit at the Drury Lane theater, on
the following evening, dressed in blue
coat, white pantaloons, and scarlet coat,
the first act to stand upon the benches,
flourish a white handkerchief in one
hand, and apply glass to the right eye
with the other. When the curtain fell,
fifty men, from giddy youth to giddier
old age, stood mp in the prescribed uni
form, end began the eye glass and hand
kerchief performance, amid commissions
of laughter from large portion OF the
spectators, who were in the secret.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30

Pope Plus TX. has lately received
from Santa Cruz, Cal, through Cardi-
nal Franchi, prefect of the Propaganda
the photograph of an Indian still living,
who has reached the age of 122 years.
Beneath the picture are these words,
written in Spanish by the old man him
self: 81, Justiniano Roxas, 122 years
old, wish the most holy pope long years
of life. The parish register of Santa
Cruz shows that Roxas was baptized
March 4, 1892, being at that time about
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30

The great gun which has for several
months been making at the South Bos.
ton iron works is approaching compile
tion. 1t has been turned and is ready
now for the steel lining, which was cast
in England, as no foundry in this coun-
try would undertake IL. The peculiari-
ties OF this monster experimental gun
are its size, a new breech-loading ar
rangement and the steel lining for the
bore.
The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-10-30

A friend assured Mark Twain that
it was policy 10 feed cold and starve a
fever. He says " had both So l
thought it best to fill myself up for the
cold, and let the fever starve awhile.
In a case of this kind I seldom do
things by halves-I ate pretty heartily.
I conferred my custom upon a stranger,
who had just opened his restaurant on
Cortland street, near the hotel, that
morning, paying so much for a full
meal, He waited near me in respectful