davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
Tom Sanders Trick.

Tom Sanders, of Buffalo, owns little
lazy, slow mare, that is the ridicule of his
friends. One recent evening he and some
of these friends were talking of horses,
when he astonished them by offering
to bet 800 that he could ride his mare
twenty miles in an hour. He counted out
the money in tantalizing way, remark
ing that his mare had been laughed at
long enough, and he had made up his
mind to show what she could do. 1t
seemed like robbing him, so they all said,
to take the bet; but he insisted, and the
stakes were put into trustworthy hands.
A day was chosen for the trial, and when
it came Tom led them to the Central
Railroad Depot, where the homely little
mare was found aboard baggage car.
Tom had ticketcd her for Rochester by
express, and when the train was ready to
start he got on her back, smiling triumph
antly. He said he reckOned that he
could ride that way twenty miles in an
hour, unless the timetable lied. Away
went the train, with the referee holding
the watch, and the three fellows who had
joined in the bet against the mare very
sorrowful of expression. About fifteen
miles had been run in about half an
hour, and Tom was grinning in anticipa-
ton of easy victory, when the car
bumped over something, and he was
thrown off the mare, by hastily applied
air brakes An axle had broken, and the
train was stopped for more than an hour.
And Tom was not so rueful over the loss
of the stakes and the failure of his trick,
as he was over his stupidity in not think
ing of taking the mare off the cars and
riding the rest of the twenty miles, as
there had been ample time to do within
the hour
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
The Sardine.

Many persons are in the habit of de-
spising the little sardine, and yet that
tOothsome and delicate fish is regarded
as a valuable article for consumption, the
oil which it so freely exudes being little
inferior to the best cod-liver oil. The
principal sardine fishery is i'm the Medi-
terranean, where large quantities are
caught, but the majority of sardines so
called are merely sprats. The trade in this
fish amounts to nearly f200,000 in value
per annum. The curing principle isquite
simple. After being carefully washed
and sailed, they are dried in the sun or
wind; they are then put into boiling
oil, after which they are placed in boxes,
the lids soldered on, and the whole affair
exposed to the action of steam. Great
quantities of the fish are taken off the
coasts of Devonshire ane Cornwall. DIR.
Gunther, the eminent naturalist of the
British Museum, has declared the pill
chard to belong to the same genus as the
original sardine of the Mediterranean.
This opinion has greatly increased the
value of the hitherto despised sprat, and
the business is likely to prove a more ex-
tpnsiye one than ever.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
Music Of the Rocking Chair.

A good rocking chair is almost an in
strumcnt of music. 1t has special
note for various functions. When grand
ma sits knitting and swaying with the
gentlest motion, the rockers keep up a
low contented purr, sort of drowsy
creak, that is given out by no other one.
When the old nervous gentleman gets in,
the chair tunes up with sharp, jerking
crack. as if series of small torpedoes
were going of. Then when Aunt Sally,
who is very fat and heavy, sits down,
long and melancholy whine issues
from the chair. But when only the
children are in it, the old rocking chair
goes whickety whack, in the most glee-
some manner.
These sociable chairs never come from
modern buildings. The moment cabi-
net maker has once touched a French
chair his usefulness is over. Comfort
forsakes his fingers. The old-fashioned
rocking chairs with strong joints, but
every one with a tongue in il, are these
not natures workmen? Do they not
keep up in their chairs the forest sounds +?
This very creak that is like the weary
swinging of bough pleading with the
wind to let IL alone and suffer it to fall
asleep. This sharp cracking is heard,
when the frosts have screwed up every
branch and twig 20 its utmost tension.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
A Sayant's Ill Luck.

The Paris correspondent of the Pal
Mall Gazette writes:
ain abiding to the transit of Venus,
Nj. Henri dc Parville relates the misad-
venture which befcll the French savant,
M. leGentll de la Galaisere, on the occa-
sion Of the late transit. lie Gentil set
out from Paris in March, 1760, in order
to observe the transit at Pondicherry,
and reached the Mauritius in July.
Having learned that war had broken
out between France and England, and
deeming it dangerous to try and reach
Pondicherry, he determined to go else
where, but a frigate being bound for the
coast of CorOmandel he sailed in March,
1861. When they had nearly arrived
they learned that Pondicherry had fallen
into the hands of the English, so the
frigate was obliged TO return TO the Isle
of France. The 9th of June, the day of
the transit, came the sky was clear, the
sun splendid, but how could the astrOno-
mer take observations with the vessel
rolling about? He had gone to India to
see the transit of Venus; there would be
another in eight years, and he made up
his mind TO stay. He managed to get
back to Pondicherry. where he built a
small observatory, and waited patiently,
but without communicating with any
one in France, for he was ashamed of his
first failure. At last the Sd of June,
1869, arrived, and the morning was
lovely, but just as the planet began to
touch the disk of the sun the sky became
overcast, and lie Gentil saw nothing.
For souna tima ba xvaa almost crozv h,If
at last he recovered strength enough to
return to France, where he found that
the person to whom he had intrusted his
property had run away, and that, consid-
cred dead, he had been replaced in the
Academy. He did not long survive
these misfortunes."
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
Hard and Soft Water.

There is a notion quite prevalent in
the minds of the people that the drink
ing of hard water is injurious to the
health, and most physicians have warned
people to as far as possible avoid the prac-
tice. But DR.. Letherby, an English
physician, who has devoted much time
to investigating the subject, finds, as the
result of his observation, that hard water
is not only clearer, colder, and more free
from air, and more agreeble to the taste
than soft, but that it Is less liable to the
absorption of organic matter and to the
sustenance of the life of zymotic organ
isms or to exert solvent properties upon
salts of iron or upon leaden conducting
pipes. And he claims that the lime-salts
exert a beneficial influence. IT. is asserted
that practical test Of the truth of this
new theory is to be had in the case of the
residents of mountainous districts, where
the water is almost invariably hard, and
where the inhabitants exhibit the best
physical development. He claims that
water containing six grains of carbonate
of lime to the gallon is suitable for use
in all household purposes, for such water
offers the necessary amount of carbonate
of lime for the support of life in the SIM
plest and most digestible form.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
American Manners From French
Point of View.

The Figaro, which has been unusally
quiet for some time respecting American
affairs, has suddenly blossomed out into
a collection of remarkable and striking
fibs about our manners and customs,
which are amusingly ingenious and i'm
probable. Here is a sample, being a de-
scription given of various American
methods of advertising. "In winter
evenings" says the Figaro, "when there
comes up one of those dense fogs which
are so common in America, it is no un-
usual thing TO meet in the streets man
carrying lantern, which resembles one
of our magic lanterns. He select fire.
quented spot, and when the crowd be-
comes dense around him he turns his
lantern toward the lowering clouds. At
that instant, as if by miracle, the by
ISLANDERS behold in the midst of the
heavens, which do duty for curtain, a
gigantic advertisement recommending
some dry goods establishment or clothing
store" [Query. If the fog is so dense,
how do people contrive to descry the
lantern-bearer?1 "The second example
is more simple, but not less ingenious.
One often passes on the street citizen
walking rapidly and treading with all
his weight on the sidewalk. You draw
near, and on the asphalte in the trace
left by the footprints of the parsonage
in question you read an advertisement
printed in clear and elegant characters.
The man was walking advertisement,
and he wore shoes with nailed letters on
their soles."
Which, considering that we have no
asphaltum sidewalks i'm America, is a
good description, to say the least of it.
The Figaro also commented on the free
and-easy manners of the audiences at our
fashionable theaters, and described an
impetuous youth descending from one of
the upper tiers by the simple method of
sliding down one of the pillars. Arriv-
ing at the bottom and finding good
seat, he called out to his lady companion:
Come down, Cat (short for Catherine,
suppose); here is a place for you, too"
And "Cat" came down by the same
road.
o dear! one must come abroad in Or
der to pick up such choice morsels of in
formation about the manners and Gus
toms of ones native laHd.-Paris Cores
DOadence PhiIddeIDhia Press
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
The Growth Of Man.

Observations regarding the rate OF
growth of man have determined the fol-
lowing interesting facts: The most
rapid growth takes place Immediately at
ter birth, the growth of an infant dur
ing the first year of its existence being
about eight inches. This ratio of increase
gradually decreases until the age of three
years, at which time the size attained
is half that which it is to become when
full grown. After five years the sue.
ceeding increase is very regular till the
sixteenth year, being at the rate for the
average man Of two inches year. Be-
yond sixteen the growth is feeble, being
for the following two years about six
tenths of an inch year; while from
eighteen to twenty the increase in height
is seldom over an inch. At the age of
twenty-five the growth ceases, save in a
few exceptional cases. 1t has further
more been observed that, in the human
race the mean size is little larger in
cities than in the country, fact that
will be received with doubt by many
who have come to regard the rustic as
the true model man.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
Election "Reminiscences.

A writer in an English paper gives the
following significant election reminis-
cence of the olden times. He says az
remember being in Newcastle at the time
of an election, and having occasion to
visit barber of the town, naturally got
into talk with the operator, a man of
some importance and not little conceit,
on the politics of the time. Finding him
a strong Tory, expressed my surprise
that one who might have been expected
to be a friend of progress, inasmuch rs he
was a Wesleyan and a man of intelli-
gence, should be on the opposite side.
FYou wonder he said, do you? Well,
it is natural for you, but for me, go
both to Howick Uord Grey's) and
Ravensworth (Lord Rayensworth's). At
the first / am 49, the barber, and i am
made to feel my place. At the other !
am Mr.. ------, walk in, Sir, take a little
lunch, Sir Everything is pleasant and
courteous, so always vote Tory 1t was
a miserable reason, but it gave a correct
notion of the spirit of the two houses, rs
we'll as of the slender influences which
helped to decide the fate Of parties"
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
A Singular Insect.

A gentleman of this city, says the Eu-
faula (Ala.) Times, brought to this Office
the other day the most singular spider
we ever saw. He found it in his garden
and brought its web, with several cap
tured flies, along with it. The body Of
the spider was glossy jet black, and
dotted with very small yellow specks. On
the back was hard, odd-shaped shell
like that of gopher, of an exceedingly
brilliant yellow, on which were eighteen
small black spots, in regular order and
in lines. Around the edge of the she'll
at regular intervals, were eight stout
black, thorny points, the eighth of an
inch in length. We call 1t the gopher
spider, but naturalists do not mention
such an insect.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
HOusehDld Helps.

CHILE SAUCE.-Take five large onions,
eight green peppers, chop fine, thirty
ripe tomatoes, cut up, five tablespoonfuls
sugar, three of salt, eight cups vinegar,
and boil altogether two and half hours,
and bottle for use.
TIPsE CAKE.-Place stale sponge-cake
in glass dish, and soak them thorough.
ly for an hour an half in mixture of
sherry with little brandy and dash of
lemon juice ornament with blanched
almonds and pour over pint OF rich
custard.
Cold SLAw.-Get anice cabbage, take
off the outside leaves, cut it in halves,
and, with q sharp knife, shave IL into
fine Sits. Beat up two eggs, add to IL
one gill of vinegar and water mixed !;
place it on the range; when il begins TO
thicken. stir in piece Of butter the size
OF small walnut, little salt and a tea
spoonful of sugar; when cold pourit over
the cabbage, and stir IL together; and
before sending TO table, sprinkle with a
little black pepper.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
The Road IN Health.

Cleanse the stomach, bowels and blood
from all the acrid, corrupt and offensive ac-
cumulations which produce functional de-
rangement, and you remove the cause of
and thus save large doctors bills. The most
eflectual and reliable remedy for this pur-
pose is found in DIR. Pierce's Pleasant Pur-
gative Pellets. No cheap wood or paper
boxes, but kept fresh and reliable in walls.
High livers, those indulging in ease and
pleasure, and those of sedentary habits, can
prevent Boils, Carbuncles Gout, Red Skin,
Eruptions, Pimples, Constipation, Piles,
Drowsiness, Biliousness, and other conditions
induced by such habits, by taking from foul
Pellets once week, or, better still, one OF
two each night. They are sold by dealers in
medicines.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28

A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.-The percep-
tive faculty of women is usually keener
than the same chronological organ in
men. Woman knows that beauty rather
than genius is worshiped by the sterner
sex. A man may talk with his lips of
the latter to his lady-love, but the keen
ness of the woman knows that he is
thinking of the former in his heart. All
women have an innate desire to please
their beaur. They are fond of admira-
ton, hence one of their longings is to be
beautiful. The grand secret of female
beauty is health-the secret of health is
the power to eat, digest and assimilatc a
proper quantity of wholesome food.
Take VINEGAR BITTERs. 1t will cleanse
the stomach, tone the vital organs, give
perfect digestion, purify the blood,
clear up the complexion and produce a
state of mental and physical electricity
which gives symmetry of form, bright
eyes, white skin, glossy hair and gen.
uine type of female lOveliness. which no
cosmetic can compare with. 10
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
Power OF Imagination.

A striking instance of the power of the
imagination over the human organism
has Just attracted some attention in Paris.
A poor matchmaker, Frederick Stieb-
mann, who lived in the Rue des Halles,
has been the prey of singular delusion
for the past few months. He imagined
that his soul had passed from his body
into peculiar watch which he had in
vented, and upon which he had worked
for twenty years. Con the day that my
watch stops" Stiebmann was wont to
say, at shall die. My life has become
subordinate to that OF the watch" A
few days ago the watch began to run ir-
regularly, at first too fast, then too slow:
"f am very ill.," said the old man, and
he took to his bed. Two days later the
watch stopped. Stiebmann noticed the
unmoving hand, rose to sitting position,
uttered cry, and fell back dead.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
Usefill information.

SCALD flannel before making, as it
shrinks in the first washing. This shrink
lug is usually caused by using too much
soap and washing them in too cold water.
Never use soda for flannels.
WHEN white marble is stained, apply
benzole to the stain and then carefully
rub it on with very clean, soft piece of
rag. Repeat until the stain disappears.
Soap and soda both injure white marble.
IT is said that drops prepared as follows
will cure the worst case of toothache ever
known; One ounce of alcohol, two drains
Cayenne pepper, one ounce kerosene
oil let it stand twenty-four hours after
mixing.
A LADY in the Christian Monitor says
that when it is necessary to break bot
tie, the quickest way is To soak string
in turpentine and tie it round the neck
of the bottle, then set fire to the string
and it will break in good shape.
To extract ink from cotton, silk and
WOODEN goods, saturate the spots with
spirits of turpentine, and let it remain
several hours; then rub it between the
hands. 1t will crumble away without
injuring either the color or texture of the
article.
WHEN perfectly dry, autumn leaves
can be worked up in great many pretty
devices. Wreaths may be made that can
only be told from paintings by the touch,
by FASTING them neatly upon white card
board with common mucilage or gum
Arabic. These pictures can be framed
in rustic work, and should always be
covered with glass to protect them from
injury. Mats can be made in the same
way, and wreaths to hang upon the
wall or to encircle a picture frame, as
well as bouquets for the mantel OF
bracket
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
A Colored BOYS Story of the Sen.

Charlie futile, colored boy, who ran
away from his home in Ellington, Conn.,,
three years ago, has returned, and has a
sailors yarn to spin to the wondering
countrymen. He has been rs a whaler,
and says his ship got blown from its
course, and food and water gave out.
After three days lots. were cast among
the crew in order that one should give
his life to sustain that of the others.
The blank was drawn by an old sailor,
and he being favorite, there was cry
from many that his life should be saved.
1t became evident that mutiny must pre-
vail. The captain and party and other
sailors formed sides and armed them
selves ready for bloody fight, but just
then there came a cry of ga sail" and
every sailor dropped his arms and good
feelings were restored.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
French Parties.

The Assembly is divided into seven
parties. All these, except one, derive
their titles from the side of the chamber
on which they sit. They are called re-
spectively, the extreme Right" the
Fright" the "Right Center" the " Left
Center" the Left" and the Extreme
Left" while the party which has no such
local name is the Bonapartists.
The parties may be otherwise divided
into Legitimists, Orleanists, Bonapartists,
Conservative Republicans, and Radical
The Extreme Right and Right are all
Legitimists. They are the adherents OF
Count of Chambord, the direct or
legitimate heir of the elder branch of the
House of Bourbon, he being son of the
Duke de Berri, who was the eldest son OF
Charles X, the last Bourbon King. The
Count styles himself Henry W." and
is SO acknowledged by his Legitimist
supporters.
The difference between the Extreme
Right and the Right is, that the former
insist on calling Chambord to the throne,
as his divine right" without exactine
any pledges of him as to his rule, while
the latter wish to pledge him to reign in
a constitutional manner, with freely
elected Parliament. The Extreme Right
numbers fifty-four deputies, and the
Right eighty-one.
The Right Center is composed, almost
exclusively of Orleanists. This party
desires constitutional and liberal
monarchy, with the Count of Paris, the
grandson of King Louis Philippe, at its
head; and it comprises many of the
wisest and best men in the Assembly
The number of the Right Center deputies
is not far from two hundred and ten.
The Left Center, Left and Extreme
Left is composed of Republicans, o
various shades. The first desires a moder
ate and orderly republic, which shall bt
like constitutional monarchy, only
with an elected president instead of {
hereditary king. The second wishes /,
more liberal system, n more positively
democratic regime; while the Extreme
Left would have very radical republic
such as the early revolutiOnists tried Il
set up. OF these three parties, the Lief
Center numbers about one hundred ant
forty-four, the Left one hunded ant
sixty, and the Extreme Left about forty
two deputies.
The Bonapartsts comprise thirty-tw,
deputies, who make up for their small
ness of numbers by their shrewdness ant
skill i'm the management of their cause
They are constantly working for tn,
restoration of the young Prince Loui
Napoleon, whom, they hope one day Il
! make NaDOleOn Nv.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28

THE Rev. DIR. Deems, of New York,
said In his sermon last Sunday, '"To my
mind the four sweetest things in the
world are: first, baby girls; second, baby
boys; third, ripe, good old men; fourth,
ripe, good ola ladies'" That is very
nearly our creed, but we rather think we
like healthy mother-in-law best. And
next, ripe, good old man, who sits
quietly in the corner and tells lies about
how far he used TO walk toschool through
the snow when he was boy, and how
he used TO come home and saw up cord
of wood before supper, instead OF sneak
ing in the back door for his skates, as
boys do now-a-days.-M. Sent.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Charge orths Gra..hopper brigade.


Half a league, half n league,
Half q league onward,
Right from the West they come,
More than six hundred
Out from forest and glade
"Charge for the corn!" they said,
Then for the fields they made
More than six hundred.
Field 10 the right OF them,
Fields TO the left OF them,
Fields 10 the front Of them,
Pillaged and plundcred;
None could their numbers tell
Down on the crops they fell,
Nor left stalk or she'll
More than six hundred.
Flashed all their red legs bare,
Flashed as they turned in air,
Robbing the farmers there,
Charging on Orchard, while
All the world wondered
Plunged In the smudge and smoke,
Right through the corn they broke,
Hopper and locust;
Peeled they the stalks all bare,
shattered and sundered;
Then they went onward--but
More than six hundred.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28

On the death of one of Englapd's most em-
inent physicians, all his effects were sold by
auction, and among other things was sealed
packet marked "Advice to Physicians"
which brought great price. The purchaser,
on opening the packet, read as follows:
"Keep the head cool, the bowels open, and
the feet warm" If physic is necessary, use
Parsons Purgatire Pills; they are the most
scientifically prepared pill that has appeared
in the last hundred years.
The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-01-28

The Lafayette Journal says that the
Benton county, Ind, beast which is said
to have been caught, is supposed to be a
tame wolf which followed party of
Charlottesville hunters into Benton
county about eighteen months ago. 1t
was caught while quite young, and do
mesticated, becoming 50 tame that 1t
would follow wagon like dog. While
passing farm near Earl Park, the wolf
Jumped over the fence, and wolf like,
commenced chasing the farmers chick.
ems. This 80 incensed the son of toll
that he got out his shotgun and gave the
beast full load Of bird-shot. Being at
this thoroughly frightened, the animal
took to the prairies, missing the wagon
he had followed, and has been roaming
ever since.
No Chinaman has ever vet become n