davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
Sword-F Fishing.

A CORRESPONDENT at New London,
Conn, tells something Of sword-fishing
He went out few days ago with party
which secured in twenty-four hours three
splendid fish. He says: "On reaching
the grounds, about twenty-five miles
southeast Of Block Island, we began to
sight the fish and prepare to fasten them.
Steady your helm is passed in whis-
pers; huff little;' now bear away
Just as she goes;' the man at the wheel
takes the wink and follows the graceful
movements of the noble fish. The next
instant the harpoon is seen to descend
with lightning speed, the fish is struck,
and quicker than thought dives into his
native element. Take care stand
aside and 'ovcr with the barrel, are Or
ders which were given from the Captain
in quick succession, and before the land
lubbers stop blinking their eyes, or have
recovered from their amazement, the
yacht and half-barrel attached to a
fifty-fathom line are sailing in directly
opposite directions. Attention is next
directed to another fish, and the same
process is followed until a half dozen or
more barrels are floating around. The
small boats are next manned, and nimble
Jack, armed with lance, chases bar
rel, ships it, and then hauls on the line.
The fish, pricked with the strain on the
iron, renews his speed, and away goes
the small boat trolled at high speed.
Slowly the line is hauled in and the mon
ster brought TO he top of the water
sometimes coming of his own accord
sword foremost; but the lance awaits
him, and by well-directed blow his
heart is pierced. The water for yards is
covered with blood; a rope is passed
around the tail and the fish secured.
After capturing three, weighing about
200 pounds each, we left the grounds and
sailed home loaded with our freight
While at sea we met school of black
fish, which our Captain did not dare at
tack, as our gear was too small to cap
ture a twenty-five or thirty foot mon
CT
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
mo More Ducks---No More lniun."

OVER at Washoe City, the other day,
some men stopping at the principal hotel
while viewing the surroundings of the
place saw large flock of ducks settle
down on the further side of Washoe Lake
A Washoe Indian also saw the ducks.
and told the men he would go after them
if they would get him gun. In the
hotel they found an old United States
musket. This they loaded nearly to the
muzzle and, giving it to the Indian,
started him to the lake. After he had
gone the wags who loaded the gun for
him went to the upper story of the
house, and with opera glasses watched
the progress Of the noble red man He
at last reached the spot where the ducks
had been seen to settle down among the
tules. Presently they saw the smoke
dart from the Indians gun, saw him fall
backward to the ground, and heard a
tremendous roar from over the lake-a
sound as though the gun had burst into
thousand pieces. Fearing that the gun
had indeed burst and killed the poor fell
low, the jokers began to feel very guilty.
They FASTENED from the house and struck
around the lake. When they had got
about half way around they met the
Indian coming toward them. There was
long cash across his right cheek bone
and his face was covered with blood,
but he had as many ducks as he could
hold in both hands. swell, JIM" said
they, "how did you make it," "Yes,"
said Jim, lone more shoot um-no more
ducks, no more Injun!"- Virginia City
(Nec) Enterprise.
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
The Grasshopper Army.

To THE thousands of our readers who
have for the past few years, and es-
pecially few months, heard and read of
the grasshopper, the mighty spoiler of
the husbandman's labors, but who have
never seen or heard described the appear
ance and nature of the pestiferous insect,
it may be that picture of the creature
and its doings would not be uninterest-
ing. When the grasshoppers originally
appeared in the Northwestern States
to any damaging degree, a number of
years since, they first attracted attention
by their numbers, appearing as they did
before the astonished farmer in countless
millions, not as the innocent and harm
less creatures which had hoped before
his sickle in the grass ever since he was
boy, but as a dangerous, ravenous and
devouring army of innumerable pigmy
enemies. They came in swarms, darken-
ing the heavens as far as the eye could
reach, aud alighting upon the green field
like black shroud, and only leaving it
when nothing verdant remained out of
their myriad stomachs They were not
near as large as were the domestic grass
hoppers, neither green in color, but
brownish-colored insect, of half the size
They hoped with all the power of the
old green specimens, but when it came to
using their wings the "old inhabitant"
grasshoppers were nowhere. The in
vaders (early named the "raiders'')
were very eagles in miniature, and would
on a still day soar from a ruined corn
field directly toward the sun and away
from human vision. People not expe-
rienced in the devastating propensities of
these pests can scarcely believe that so
small an insect, and one hitherto looked
upon so lightly as a powerless inhabitant
OF the farm, can do the harm which has
been ascribed to them. But they can do
mighty things on account of their num-
bers. 1t can hardly be credited that they
come in -darkening clouds and cover
the meadows, fields and roads to the
depth of from one to five inches of wrig-
Cling and hungry life, but they do 1t can
hardly be believed that they light upon
the fences and gnaw away at the boards
and posts with such assiduity that they
leave them looking haggled and SCARED,
but they do. 1t can hardly be understood
that they will stop team by driving
like hail-storm in the horses faces, that
they crush by hundreds under the feet
which step among them, and even stop
railroad trains with their grease when
run over on up-grades, but it is true.
Any farmer in the infested region who is
experienced in their ravages will affirm
these apparently extreme statements to
be only tame facts in the presence of the
actual "raiders'-the Egyptian plague of
Minnesota and the terror of the husband
men of the whole Northwest CAscaqo
Journal.
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
Early Harvesting.

THE cutting of grain should take place
eight, ten, or even twelve days before the
perfect maturity of the grain, as recon-
mended by the great master, De Dom
basle; when the straw has begun to
whiten and dry at the base, to lose its
green tint, and when the grain has ac-
quired more firmness than it presents to
the nail and fingers when in milky or
pastry state.
Grain harvested before complete ma
turity has smoother skin, is better for
cattle and yields more flour; millers and
bakers can discriminate by handling it
and will pay more for it; there is no shat
tering, the yield is greater since the
grains are better supplied and the crop
is less exposed to the dangers of the
weather. With strong heat, grain ripens
very rapidly; under these conditions the
grain is not properly nourished, 1t re-
mains delicate and small; when the stem
ripens too rapidly the ascent of the sap
is arrested and the grain dies as in a
stove.
Vegetation is not stopped simply by
the separation of the straw from the
roots; in the last period, cut or not, the
grain draws nothing from the earth,
but is nourished by the juices from
the straw, and for that reason it
is important that grain should not
be dried too quickly, as would hap
pen if it were exposed to hot suns, which
would remove without profit its nutri
tious properties; upon the other hand, if
it was heaped up into barns after being
tied into sheaves it would be exposed to
fermentation and rot; the sheaves should
be thoroughly cured in shocks before
stacking or housing
Numerous experiments have been made
and demonstrated that grain cut eight
or ten days before perfect maturity
gives the best results in quantity and
quality.
In addition it has been established by
NJ. Duchartre that the terminating prop
erly precedes maturity. M. Roiset has
further proved that the nutritive power
of grain not ripe is equal to that of ripe
grain. An early harvest, therefore, is
an advantage to both producer and con
sumer.
1t is, moreover, important to cut the
crop before it gets beaten down; in this
case the plant is nourished with difficult
ty; it cannot be acted upon by the winds,
|
hence dries up; the grain is not properly
supplied, and the return is small.-Nory-
land Farmer.
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23

the cause is in the individual stomach,
not in the milk, provided, of course, the
latter be fresh and sweet.-Scientifc
american.
Milk diluted with one-third lime water,
it is said, will not cause any one bilious
ness or headache, and, if taken regular
ly, will so strengthen the stomach as to
Danish these disorders. 1t may be taken
with acid of some kind when it does not
easily digest. The idea that milk must
not be eaten with pickles is not an intel
ligent one, as milk curdles in the stom-
ach nearly as soon as it is swallowed.
When milk is constipating, as it is fire.
quently found to be by persons who
drink freely of it in the country in sum
mer time, little salt sprinkled in each
glassful will prevent the difficulty. AS
milk is SO essential to the health of our
bodies, it is well to consider when to
take it, and how 1t is mistake to drink
milk between meals, or with food at the
table. In the former case it will destroy
the appetite, and in the latter it is never
proper to drink anything. After finish
ing each meal a goblet of pure milk should
be drank; and if any one wishes to grow
fleshy, pint taken before retiring at
night will soon cover the scrawniest
bones. In cases of fever and summer
complaint milk is now given with ex-
cellent results. The idea that milk is
feverish" has exploded, and it is now
the physicians great reliance in bringing
through typhoid patients, or those in too
low state to be nourished by solid food
". Y. Commercial A0reftiser
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
A Lucky Servant Girl.

THE following story of a lucky SER
want girl, which may seem stranger than
truth to many readers, is told by the
Bellefonte Pa) Republican: "Ten or
more years ago this girl-her name is
Alice Anderson-was brought from the
Orphans Home of Pittsburgh by the late
Judge Schaler She was domestic in
his house up to the time of his death,
when the family gave up housekeeping
and left Bellefonte. Since that time
some six years-she has been doing house
work in different families of the town
She had no knowledge Of her parents,
but remembered an older brother, who
came to see her when she was child in
the Home. She had not heard of him for
fifteen years, and gave up all hopes of
ever meeting him again. About month
ago she took notion that she could earn
more money in the city, and got friend
to write to an acquaintance of his in
Pittsburgh, asking him to secure her a
situation in family there. In short
time letter came informing her that a
situation had been secured, and
that she should come on imme-
diately. 1t took her a week or more
to make preparations for the final de-
parture, and in the meantime she re-
ceived another letter from her expected
employer asking about her history, which
her friend Immediately communicated
A few days more elapsed, and on the day
preceding her departure for Pittsburgh
she received letter from her brother,
Dennis Anderson This letter contained
some delightful information Dennis in
formed her that he had been trying to
find her for many years; that he was ac-
cidentally told her name and where
abouts by the gentleman who had en-
gagged her to come to Pittsburgh. That
her reply to his inquiries placed beyond
a doubt the fact that she was his long
lost and anxiously- searched-fo sister.
He would meet her at the Union Depot
and take her to his home. To make a
long story Short she found her brother.
He is a retired railway contractor, and
wealthy man. This is not all. Four
years ago her grandmother, Mrs. Ruth
Anderson, of Cincinnati, died, leaving a
fortune of $25O,0O0 to her grandchild,
Alice Anderson, if she were ever found
and if not, then Dennis should become
the heir. Alice is now the possessor of
that fortune. She is twenty-five years
OF age, is not uncomely in appearance,
but can scarcely read or write. She has
made arrangements to spend the next
two or three years at school,"
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
Milk as Diet and It's Effect on the System.

THERE is considerable difference of
opinion on the subject of milk diet. 1t
is surrounded with mass of whims. of
prejudices, and of mistaken ideas, which
are based more On individual fancies
than upon certain facts. To one a glass
of milk imbibed is believed to be sure
provocation Of bilious attack; to an.
other, disordered stomach; to q third,
drowsiness, and SO on through such
category of simple though disagreeable
ailments that we look aghast at the farm
er who drains cup after cup of the fresh
pure liquid, time and again during the
day, and wonder at the resisting powers
which his organization must possess.
The truth is, however, that milk is not
unwholesome. On the contrary, it con-
tains good substantial bone, muscle, flesh
and brain-producing substances, which,
assimilating quickly act rapidly in build
ing up the body. Naturally, we assert,
1t Is nourishing; that it does bring on
certain troubles il nevertheless true, but
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
Human Relics on the Ocean Bed.

THE dream that afflicted the wretched
Clarence, after due allowance is made
for poetic exaggcration, probably gives
a fair though somber representation of
what was till lately supposed to be the
condition of the ocean bed 1t were
easy to show by abundant quotations
that the bounding seas were supposed
to wash beneath their surface the
bones of unnumbered hapless mariners.
and that the highway of nations was
believed to be paved with the relics of
disaster To this picture there was
afterward added yet more weird feat
ure. The notion, derived from expcr-
iments on the compressibility of air,
gained acceptance that water at great
depths was rendered so dense by pres
sure that nothing could sink to the bot
tom in the ocean. According to this the
DRY, each substance would descend only
to a certain depth, determined in each
case by its specific gravity. Thus, while
the victims of a shipwreck might rest ut
few hundred feet below the surface,
the heavier articles of the cargo would
remain at various distances below them;
but, in the greatest depths, even the
anchor itself would never reach the ocean
floor. And thus the sea became maui
soleum more strangely occupied than
that in which Mohammcd's coffin hung
suspended, midwater being substituted
for mid-air
Each of these conceptions is exactly
the reverse of fact. Water is not com
pressible, and does not at any depth hold
heavy substances suspended in it, Relies
OF humanity OF any sort whatever are
among the very rarest curiosities OBJ
tanned in deep-sea dredging Prof.
+. s. Morse, in the course of discussion
on the evolution theory, has cited two
good illustrations in proof of the latter
statement. When the Lake of HARLEM
was drained, on whose surface the com
merce Of ten centuries had hoated and
several naval battles had taken place,
no trace Of man and his works was
found in the land redeemed from the
ocean. In the course of twelve years
dredging of the coast of New England,
right in the track where sailing vessels
constantly piled, one iron spike was the
sole evidence of man S existence brought
up from the bottom The writer Of this
article had however, the luck to be
present on the occasion of one of the
rare exceptions to this general rule In
dredging cruise of the Blue Light, last
summer, in Casco Bay, the trawl brought
up, along with anemones, star-fish, skates
and sculpins, shoe of modern manu-
facture. and only remarkable, if at all.
as to its size. What seems a still more
singular coincidence was that the next
haul of the trawl brought up the mate
Of this big shoe. The pair were in
very dilapidated condition as shoes, but
they rank high as curiosites The oc-
currence was SO unusual that it has been
suggested that there was some legerde
main about it-that it was neatly.con-
trived hoax. To this the only reply must
be that seeing is believing No one
that saw the shoe taken out of the midst Of
the mud of the trawl-pocket was troubled
with the doubt that harassed King
George about the pple-dumpling.-
Harper's for July
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
Music bv Telegraph.

Mr.. ELISHA GRAY, of Chicago, we'll
known in the electric telegraph world,
has succeeded almost beyond his own an
ticipations in perfecting an instrument
which will convey sound by electricity
over an unbroken current of extraordi-
nary length without the aid Of automatic
repeaters. In the ordinary transmission
Of messages over telegraph wires to
points at long distances a message is
generally repeated by notwithstanding
instruments about every 500 miles, in
order to renew the current of electricity.
Mr.. Gray has transmitted sounds which
are distinctly audible at the receiving
point, over an unbroken circuit of 2,40O
miles. 1t is one of the greatest discov-
cries made since the early days of Morse.
Such noted electricians as Mr.. George
Prescott say it goes to prove, what all
electricians have long agreed upon, that
we know little at present Of the POSSIBLE
tiles Of the future of electric science
The writer has heard music played on .
small melodeon, or piano key board, trans
mitted through m unbroken circuit of
400 miles, and reproduced on Z violin
attached to the receiving end Of the
wire. Mr.. Gray played HAL Colum-
bia, !" Tho Star 6pangled Banner"
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
An Extraordinary Summer in Europe.

From the other side of the Atlantic
there is increasing intelligence Of the
most abnormal weather, which will be
likely to mar the pleasure of American
tourists and to affect agricultural inter
ests seriously. When, within a week or
two Of the summer solstice, damaging
frosts afflict a country, as they have this
year afflicted Great Britain, the prospects
of the husbandman must be greatly jeop-
ardized An English contemporary states
that the temperature for the week end
ing June 90, as recorded at the Royal
Observatory Greenwich, fell 5.5 below
the mean for the last fifty years. The
Tweed, it is said, has not been so low
since 1926, when corn was so short in the
stalk it was pulled by the hand The
droughts have been SO extensive that the
hay harvest has been very short and the
cattle have suffered distressingly, while
the unreasonable dryness has been re-
lieved only by destructive hail-storms
The alarming feature of the season is de-
ficiency of the temperature requisite for
grain ripening, and this appears to ex-
tend beyond the British Isles. In the
north of Italy the frequency of tremen-
dous hail-storms is anomalous, and indi-
Gates an extremely low thermometer,
which is anything but suspicious for
health or harvest. Some of the old Ital-
ian churches and other magnificent pub
lie edifices have suffered severely in
these tempests, and we have reports of
the streets of Milan being covered with
and dead birds, finding no es-
cape from the icy elements. Indeed, it
would seem that the whole northern
including our own continent,
has so far, Notwithstanding occasional
outbursts of excessive heat, experienced
an extraordinary thermal depression dur
ing the summer.-N. Y. Herald.
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23
Bloody Freak Of a Steel Pen.

YESTERDAY afternoon Mr. J. w. Palmer,
the well-known lawyer of this city, met
with most extraordinary accident that
at one time threatened very serious con-
sequences. He had been using steel
pen of rather large dimensions and on
finishing his work had placed the pen be-
hind his ear, using that delicate organ as
a pen-rack. At length the pen, being in
such close proximity to the brain, evil
IDENTIFY became charged with the subtle
essence of thought and gave sudden
spring. To prevent it from falling ON
the floor Mr. Palmer brought his knees
together with quick, strong movement,
| and in SO doing drove the pen its whole
| length, about an inch and half, into the
| f1eshy part of the left thigh, piercing an
artery. 1t required all his strength to
draw out the steel, and when he did so
| the blood spurted clear across his office.
| The wound bled most profusely, but at
length by the assistance of friends the
| blood was stopped, and DR.. Mclean was
called, who dressed the wound No
real danger to the limb is apprehended
| but Mr.. Palmer is unable to walk this
morning though it is believed he will be
about again in a few days. Whether our
good-looking friend had been engaged
shortly before the accident in preparing
some very wicked law document which
excited the vengeful ire of his conscien-
tious pen, or whether the pen was actu-
ated by a savage thirst for blood, or sim
ply an unhealthy hankering for red ink
we cannot now determine 1t is said his
office is now being thronged by agents
offering for sale various kinds of new
patent en-racks.-Iroy (N. ~ Press
The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-07-23

other quarters. He IL the best Of scaven-
gers, for he preys upon that which man
wishes to be rid Of, whereas the fly eats
that which man wishes to eat How thor
ouehly expressive of everything foul and
disgusting is that word "fly-blown." And
how many good things are fy-blown in
the course of the summer. Flies must
cost US millions in the meat they render
unfit for food, the sugar, fruit and other
things they devour. Then think, too, Of
the weary they keep from rest, the cattle
which they worry to frenzy. The spider
does none Of these things, and yet it has
been the idiotic custom to destroy him
because he weaves threads of gossamer
which the finest looms Of India could not
approach in delicacy. The Divine
opinion Of flies was pretty clearly shown
by their being one of the plaques of
Egypt, and probably most people will be
Of opinion that they are admirably de-
signed to break the resolutions of the
most stubborn. Let every house, then,
abound with the machinery which deals
death to them, while at the same time the
spider is as zcalously protected as that
which became the pet and solace of the
renowned State prisoner.-N. Y. Times.