davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
The Stockings of the Period.
TFrom the Home Journal


The Pari+shops are full of the most
fanciful designs in this one detail of
feminine attire. They are made in cream
color, lemon color, orange yellow, straw
color, pink, pale blue, pale green, lilac,
light brown, DARK brown, crimson, scar
let, purple-in short, in every shade of
every color But the precise tint is on
ly half the question; the designs worked
upon the stockings are by far the most
important part of it, as regards fashion,
and these are of the most varied descrip-
ton.
One pair of stockings which excited
much admiration from the pasSers of
certain well-known shop in Paris was in
lemon color, and the instep of each foot
was covered with punches of black cur
rants, with their twigs and leaves, most
delicately embroidered in the colored
silks.
Another example of ornamentation
lay close at hand, in the form of black
silk stocking, round the leg of which
garter of pink rose-buds and leaves
winding upward from the ankle was ex-
quistely embroidered. This last fashion
is very popular just now. Stockings so
embroidered are, of course, enormously
dear. Few women can afford to buy
many such expensive articles of dress as
these garlanded stockings; therefore it
becomes a matter of eager competition
among the leaders of fashion to secure
as many specimens of the latest rage as
their purses will allow. The mania is
instiIIed, and henceforth the woman OF
the world takes rank according to her
stockings Garlands of flowers do not
hold the field alone. it must be observed.
In some cases inscriptions and devices
are embroidered round the legs of the
modern stockings, and rows and patterns
} are worked in colored silk stars or spots
The ground, however, of all this work
must. on no account, be white.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
Home Made Wills.

John Jennings, of New York, recent
ly deceased, never learned to employ
lawyer TO draft his will, and, therefore,
now that he is dead, the grasses around
the edge of his newly-made grave bend
over and nod their sorrow that Johns
will is being contested. He made it
himself. In this manner he disposed of
his estate: "To me sister, Mrs. Carboy
$4,000; to me wife's brother, John
Kindregan, $700-if he dies before ne
can get the money his children can get
it themselves, Mick, James and Caty; to
Celia, Mrs. Lobin, $600-if she is dead
her children may get the money, equal
shares; to Bridget, Mrs Madden, EGO,
and if she is dead her son Patrick or
children may get it; to Bishop McClos-
key, for the 'nue cathedral S50," and
smaller sums to various charities The
codicil of the will, not signed or dated,
reads as follows: Margaret, if you get
81, 900 for the house, you give $500 To
Celia, $500 each to the Margarets." The
will has gone into the courts on a con-
test. Two judges have held that the
document ia valid, and two that it is alb
solutely void, and the whole ease now
rests in the Supreme Court. The most
intense haters of legal technicalities and
forms will not care 20 encourage anna
teur will-writing to such degree as tc
sacrifice explicitness to simplicity.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
Rearing Profitable Horses.

4 writer in one Of the reports of the
Agricultural Department states that
speed in a horse has now become essen
tial to the comfort and convenience of
the people, and it commands its money
value accordingly. The wants as well
as the habits and tastes of the communi-
ty have changed materially since rail-
road travelling has become SO universal.
Men accustomed to a speed of from
twenty to thirty miles an hour in the
cars cannot be expected to content them
selves with the common rate of five or
six miles an hour, and the majority of
the people now want a horse to go off
easily and even without over urging at
the rate of ten or even twelve miles an
hour, and the horses that do it are not
very common, whereas formerly they
were only exceptions to the general rate
of speed. Speed is, to be sure, only one
of the many qualities which are essen
tial to good roadster, and size, style,
action, temper, form, constitution and
enduring qualities are equally impor-
tant in making a general estimate of the
character of the horses of this or any
other period. The aggregate money
value has been greatly enhanced be
cause of the number of fast horses has
increased. and speed will demand its
price. The art of training the horse to
tie trot or to any other gate, and devel-
oping all his powers in it, is far better
understood now than it was forty or
even twenty years ago, and the increase
in speed has been to a great extent dne
to this source. Then it is a we'll ascer-
tained fact that the exercise and devel
opment of any particular qualities or
capacities in animals not only enables
them TO excel in such characteristics be-
come hereditary, or at least are much
more easily trained and developed in
their offspring. There is another thing
which has operated most hopefully on
the general improvement of our horses,
| especially in their speed, and that is the
high price which they have commanded
during the last few years. The profit
made in producing frst-class animals
have been great, and the stimulus it has
afforded to skill IN breeding has been of
itself sufficient to account for much of
the progress that has been made.-TN
| Y. Herald.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
How a Kentuckian Took the Bees.

From the Springfield Kentuckian.l
Enoch Royalty of Anderson county
discovered bee tree a few days ago,
large poplar. The bees had found hol-
low 107 feet from the root of the tree,
which they had taken possession of and
filed with honey. Enoch thought it
would be rich prize, so he adopted the
following mode of securing it: Com
mencing near the ground, he bored
large anger hole at a height he could
reach, in which he put strong pin; on
this he sat and bored another hole at
convenient distance above, in which he
drove another pin, and proceeded in this
way until he reached the height of 107
feet, where he deliberately cut of the
top of the tree. He then possessed of
the honey, rich IN quantity and quality,
secured the bees, and descended safely
to the ground. He proposes TO make
another similar and more adventurous
conquest in a short time. Above Ore
gon, on the Kentucky river, there ia a
cliff two hundred feet high, and at the
height of one hundred feet there is evi
IDENTIFY an immense bee home, where the
bees have been at work from time to
which the memory of man runneth not
back to the contrary. Enoch says that's
his meat, and before the season is over
he intends TO have it.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
The Great Bridge.

The first object that strikes the
stranger, at St. Louis, is the bridge
across the Mississippi. This is a
magnificent piece of work, a credit
to St. Louis and to the brains and
muscles of the men who could con-
ceive and execute it. To be appre-
ciated, as Barnum says Of his show,
it must be seen. 1t is a great work
so great that it will be more of a
financial success twenty years hence
than now. 1t is ahead of this day
and generation; a bigger thing than
the day and generation can pay
living interest upon. On the west
side the bridge shoots up above the
houses, then in among them, into
the ground and under it, the ground
gradually sloping down to the river,
and the bridge and the tunnel rum
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

THE CosT OF THE TRIAL.--It is no
easy matter to calculate the cost of the
trial of the cause of Tilton against
Beecher. 1t not generally known to any
newspaper man what fees counsel re-
ceive. The trial has cost the county of
Kings at least $4,000. The jurors have
received $1,000. The total jury expense
including panels of 1,5oo men, amounts
to $5,l94. The County Treasurer has
paid out $26, l54 as the county's share
of the expenses of the Tilton- Beecher
trial. This does not include the pay Of
the detailed policemen, which will foot
up large sum, neither does it embrace
the bill of Mr.. Parker for feeding the
jury.
Mr.. Beecher's trial expenses can hard
ly be less than $4,000. Mr.. Tilton Is
out of pocket some $4,000, which
amount he will easily earn as soon as
the lecture season begins. All told,
$l4o,oOo is moderate estimate of the
cost of the great suit.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
PiIloricd In The Press.

There was a time, SAYS the. Phila-
delphia Press, when the offenders
against the law we're exposed to
stocks and pillories. 10 the butleting
and jeers of the rabble; that time
has passed, we are accustomed to
say, with some satisfaction in the
superior humanity Of our own age.
But abuses of this nature, which are
grounded in the coarse and low in
stincts of the race, are only very
gradually refined away, and If We
look about for survivals of the pill
lory we shall find them, wo are sor-
nv to say, in n class of newspapers
which seek TO raise a laugh at the
expense of those most pitiable of all
men, those who have done what in
them lay to forfeit human sympathy.
A correspondent calls attention to
this inhuman and demoralizing
practice on the part Of certain jour
mails, and makes a forcible appeal
for its discontinuance. The last of
all subjects for the exercise Of the
divine gift Of humor, supposing po-
lice reporters in possession OF the
faculty, is afforded by the circum-
stances attending the administration
of the criminal law. None but q
thoroughly demoralized nature can
find matter for witticisms and
laughter in the distress Of fellow
men.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
Washington's MOrristOwn Headquar-
ters.

The chief event of Monday at Norris
town, New Jersey, was the public open
ing of the house which Washington used
as his headquarters, and which, In the
hands OF the association which now owns
it, has received such repairs as will
preserve it from decay without chang
ing its appearance The exercises CON
sisted Of speeches by Senator Randolph
and Ex-representatives Hill and Phelps
In his speech Senator Randolph said:
This house had its foundations laid
in 1872, and was ready for occupancy
and was occupied by Colonel Ford's
family in IVA. They builded well. The
oaken planks that make these outer
walls, cauIked like the frame of great
frigate, are as sound to-day as when
they sheltered Washington from the
storms of the terrible winter of 1880.
The carved work about these doors and
on these beautiful cornices are rare
specimens of elegance in woodwork. 1t
would be difficult to excel their chaste
design to- day.
"The same oaken doors open to yon
as they did to Washington; the mas
sive knocker his hand was wont to touch
vet waits obedient to your wish. The
floors he trod in anxious thought and
with wearied brain, you may tread.
The century has wrought no change in
rafler or beam or floor or sheltering oak
Is there no significance in the remarka-
BILE preservation Of this house?
"This dwelling was for many months
the home of Martha, the wife of George
Washington. Within these rooms, with
quiet dignity and grace, she received
her husbands guests. Under this roof
have been gathered more characters
known TO the military history of our
Revolution than under any other roof in
America. Here the elegant and bril-
liant Alexander Hamilton lived during
the long winter of 70, and here he met
and courted the lady he afterwards mar
ried-the daughter of General Schuyle
Here, too, was splendid fighting
Quaker as he was-and the great artill
cry officer Knox, the stern Steuben, the
polished Kosciusko, the brave Schuyler
gallant Light Horse Harry Lee, old
Israel Putnam, Mad Anthony Wayne,
and last to be named of all, that brave
soldier, but rank traitor-Benedict A
mold. Here, too, from time TO time
| gathered prominent members of the
Continental Congress.
"The furniture used by these soldiers
and statesmen is here in part to-day
The dressing bureau, chairs, tables and
stands have been preserved through al
these years and kept within these walls
The small stand or table upon which
Washington wrote his dispatches, and
upon which the ink stains he made still
remain, is ours to-day. The curious ole
secretary he used, with its hidden draw
ers and quaint workmanship, stand herr
now as it did then. The mirrors useC
by General and Lady Washington yot
may see your faces reflected in. The Ole
camp chest, heavy and solid, is yet good
for long campaign. The specie wagor
"a curious contrivance as you see-long
and deep and partitioned, swung betweeI
broad wheels, held all the specie, NJ
doubt, of that almost specie-less time.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
Run Your Pen Through the Blanks.

\ man drew note promising TO pay
one hundred dollars. lie used . print
ed form, and did not close mp the blank
devoted to dollars. and after passing a
negotiable p per, somebody inserted ''and
City" after the one hundred and before
the printed dollars. The note thus al
tered got into the hands of an innocent
party, who presented it to the drawer,
and the Supreme Court decided that the
maker OF the note was liable for it's face
because through negligence he did not
draw n line between the written word
hundred" and the printed word "dol.
lars" Any testimony that the drawer
might offer TO establish the fact that he
gave the note for one hundred dollars
must go for nothing. as there was moth
ing on the face of the note showing that
it had been altered. Evidence of alter
alton on the face of the note would have
changed the case Let this be lesson
to all drawers of promissory notes. No
one can be too careful in such matters.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

According to G. W. p Custis's recol-
lections, the grooming of Washington's
white horse was something surprising.
The night before the horses were ex-
pected TO be ridden they were covered
entirely over with paste, of which whit
ing was the principal component part;
then the animals were swathed in body
clothes, and left to sleep on clean straw.
In the morning the composition had be-
come hard, was well rubbed in, and cur
ried and brushed, which process gave 10
the coats beautiful glossy and satin-
like appearance. The hoofs were then
blnckened and polished, the mouths
washed, teeth picked and cleaned, and
the leopard-skin housing being proper
ly adjusted, the white chargers were led
out for service.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
A Ship With Wings and Paddles.

From the Gainesville (Ga.) Eagle.]
Mr. Micajah Dyer, of Union county,
has recently obtained a patent for an ap
paratus for navigating the air. The
machine is an ingenious one, containing
principles entirely new to aeronauts,
and which the patantee confidently be-
lieves have solved the knotty problem
of air navigation. The body of the
machine in shape resembles that of an
eagle, and is intended to be propelled by
different kinds of devices, wings and
paddle wheels, both to be simultaneous
ly operated through the instrumentality
of mechanism connected with the driv-
ing power. In operating the machinery,
the wings receive an upward and down
~ard motion, in the manner of the
wings of bird, their onter ends yield
ing as they are raised, but opening out,
and then remaining rigid while being
depressed. The wings, if desired, may
be set at angle so ss TO propel forward
as well as to raise the machine in the
air. The paddle wheels are intended to
be used for propelling the machine in
the same way that vessel is propelled
on water. An instrument answering to
a rudder is attached for guiding the Ma
chine. A balloon is to be used for ele-
waiting the "fying ship" after which it
is to be guided and controlled at the
pleasure of its occupants. Mr. Dyer
has been studying the subject of air nav
igation for thirty years, and has tried
various experiments during that time,
all of which failed until he adopted his
present plan. He took an eagle for his
model. and has constructed his machine
TO initiate his pattern as nearly as posi-
BILE. Whatever may be the fate of Mr..
Dyer's patent he himself has the most
mistaken faith in its snccess, and il
ready, as soon as the machine can be
constructed, to board the ship and COM
NIT himself to the wind.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

Washington had a headquarters in
Morristown n hundred years ago. George
seems to have had quite n genius for
creating headquarters. He spilled them
over the country pretty recklessly. The
Morristown headquarters is an old and
large farm house, which has been bought
by patriotic ladies, and will be kept as
q museum of Revolutionary relics and
other mementoes Of the old times.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

The Minneapolis Tribune relates some
of the pranks cut up by recent lorna
do near Mendoza, Minnesota. We are
told, among other things, that pine
stick two inches square was driven into
an elm tree with such force that it was
fairly bedded in the living wood. A
woman, Mrs. Patrick TulIy, was carried
distance of five rods, clear across one
ravine and deposited in another. The
lady is still suffering severely from the
injuries, having been badly cut and
bruised. A farmer named Edward Par
eau, living two miles south of Mendoza,
owned little flock OF fifteen sheep when
the storm struck his place, and of this
number eleven were missing. Subse-
qnently, eight Of them were found in the
trees tops, fully one mile from his house.
Two of them we're found pinned togeth-
er by board that had been driven
through the bodies of the poor animals
and then into the ground, fact which
will be considered as suggestive of a
new mode for "stringing" mutton. The
fencing on Mr.. Pareau's farm was
blown from the ground, posts and all
Mr.. George Gage, living ak miles south
west of Mendoza, had ten acres of heavy
oak timber on his place, and they were
swept clean by the wind, as if an army
of choppers had passed through the tract
on a tour of malicious destruction. Some
large trees, roots and all, were carried u
distance of one and half miles. John
Berke, farmer living four miles from
Mendoza, had his house lifted bodily
from its foundations and torn TO pieces
while whirling in the air, and crush.
ing against other debris Of the storm.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

nervous state about fire, | waited till he
was alone in the pilot-house, and then
set fire to little wad of cotton, stuffed
it into the speaking tube, and the smell
came right out under his nose. A little
sugar in it, pard."
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

The following remedy Is recommend
"a Tor the foot.rot in sheep. Mix car
bolie acid with some adherent and greasy
substance. thus forming a plaster which
will adhere 10 the foot Of the sheep for
two or three days, preventing contact
with air. and allowing time for the pro-
duction or the healing effect
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
Mother ShiptOn's Prophecy.
[From the Springfield Republican,

From the Springfield Kepu bl1can.I
Every now and then, for these four
hundred years and more, some one has
brought to light the prophecy and men,
ory of Mother Shipton. As event fol-
lows event in mechanical progress, her
doggerel verses fall in SO pat that they
must needs be quoted. One of the pre-
dictions thereof-"F Fire and water shall
wonders do'-has come to pass time and
again. and the latest fnlfillment is in the
Keely motor. This Mother Shipton was
one that would have taken high rank as
a medium in our day; in hers, the if-
teenth century, she was said to have
been begotten, like the wizard Merlin,
of the phantasm of Apollo, or some
aerial demon under that guise, and
beautiful orphan Yorkshire girl, named
Agatha. She had the weird, lonely
girlhood that the child of shame is apt
to have, avoided or prosecuted by those
who should have been her mates; she
was christened Ursula by the Abbot of
6AVF" NP ~ OSNChhAAO anu
unnaturally shrewd that by and by this
tradition, in those supersitiOus days,
grew about her birth. She prophesied
as she grew older, and even persons of
quality" consulted her. She told the
great Wolsey that he should never come
to York, and, indeed, when within eight
miles of it, he was arrested by Northum-
berland at King Henry's order, and
brought to Leicester, where he died.
Also she is said to have foretold the
great fire of London, the execution of
Charles /. and many notable events be-
sides of the Reformation of the reign of
Elizabeth and James. At the age of
seventy-three she foretcld her death,
AMI at the hour predicted she died. Her
name is popular tradition in Yorkshire
even to-day, ard the tradition is found
ed in part upon fact. Her famous
prophecy was said to have been publish
ed in her lifetime, and again two hun
dred years ago: it was certainly publish
ed forty yes RS ago, for we have seen il
in book of that time, where it was said
to be copied from an older book
Though most of the items are vague
enough, some show a marked coinci-
dence with remarkable events, such as
the invention of steam, railway loco.
motives and tur neIs, the telegraph
ironelads, and the admission of Jews
into Parliament lin 1859. Without
further preface, these are the elegant
lines:
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16

Carriages without horses shall go,
And accidents fill the world with woe;
Around the world thoughts shall fly
In the twinkling of an eye.
Water shall yet more wonders do
Now strange, but yet they shall be true;
The world upside down shall be
And gold be found at the root of a tree;
Through hills man shall ride
And horse nor ass be at his side;
Under water men shall walk,
Shall ride, shall sleep, shall talk;
In the air shall men be seen
In white, in black, in green;
Iron In the water shall hoat
As easy as a wooden boat;
Gold shall be found ard shown
In the land that's not now known;
Fire and water shall wonders do;
Englan nd shall at last admit q Jew,
The world 10 an end shall come
In eighteen hundred eighty-one,
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-07-16
Poisoning the Potato Bug.

A timely and instructive letter from
Prof. McMurtrie, of the National De-
par.ment of Agriculture at Washington,
on the subject of the potato beetle and
the remedy is published. This gentle
man is reputed to be the most thorough
~ and INFINITELY informed scientific man
in the country on this subject. In par
ticuiar, he has made constant expert
nIents with view to ascertain the effect
of mineral poisons, and especially those
containg arsenic, on the health of plants
This is a point of great interest, mas
much as it has been found that the po-
tato bug can be exterminated by posion,
and Paris green "a mixture of arsenite
and acetate of copper Is the cheapest
and most easily applied poision adapted
to THIS use. Fears, however, have been
raised that the poison which kills the
grubs of the beetle may enter into the
composition of the plant, making the
remedy worse than the evil. Upon this
point Prof McMurtrie's experiments
tend to dissipate all fears. In the plants
that were killed, in the plants that were
stunned. and in the plants which grew tc
full perfection, with the varying amounts
of Paris green mingled with the soil o.
his pots, the most rigorous chemical
analysis could detect no trace of arsenic
in the composition of the plant itself
As to the effect on the growth of crop,
he has found that the intermixture o
this poison with the soil in large guam
tiles destroys vegetable growth. but tha
in the small quantities requisite for de
stroying insects it does not interfere will
or impede it at all. As the potato beetl,
is threatening extensive damage, tn,
communication Of Prof McMurtrie il
of timely and general interest TIL,
substance of it will also appear in tn,
monthly report of the Department o
Agriculture.