davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
The Island of DesOlatiOl.

Kerguelen's Land, or Island of Desola-
ton, was discovered in 1772 by the French
navigator, Tres Joseph de Kerguelen
Trcmorec. 1t is situated in the Antarctic
Ocean, in the Eastern Hemisphere, and
has an area of about 100 miles in length
by 30 in breadth. The surface of the island
is varied with hill and dale; its soil is re-
markablV fertile; it is irrigated by numer-
Gus natural streams; and its latitude cor
responds with that of Normandy, In
France, somewhere about 500 S.-yet, on
account of the inclemency of its climate,
it seems to be hOpelessly uninhabitable.
1t is not that the cold is so severe. Dur
ing Capt. ROss's visit TO the island, which
extended over the two mid-winter months
from the 18th of May TO the 10th of July,
the thermometer rarely fell below the
freezing point, and the snow never re-
manned longer than two or three days on
the lower grounds. A later party, who
STAYED from the 9TH to the 3lst of January
on the island, reports that the average
maximum temperature was 49, Fahr.. and
the minimum 40.5 Fahr.; and this was the
midsummer month, when summer should
have been at its height. There is lack of
heat and sunshine and an excess of mist
and moisture at seed-time, which effectu-
render the land barren-as its name de-
clares, an "Island of DesOlatiOn."
The flora of the island comprises eight
cen different towering plants; but tn ere
is not tree or a shrub among them. All
are herbaceous in character. Spitzbergen,
lying between the parallels of 760 and SO'
N, has three times this number of
Towering plants and Campbell Island, 20
farther south, but with nearly the
same summer-temperature as kerguelen,
has five times the number. The Ker-
guelen's lard cabbage (PriHgJsR d1stiscor-
butical. which has been considered pecu-
liar to this Island, is now found to be an
inhabitant of Marion and Young Islands,
in the Head group, and probably also OF
the CroZets. Ii is, however, confined to
the islands in the immediate vicinity OF
Kerguelen. This plant is greatly priced
! by sailors in southern seas, fori its antiscor-
| butte qualities. Its leaves grow in close
| head, like the common garden-cabbage,
and have the pungent flavor of cress and
mustard while the root stocks taste like
horse-radish. By fortunate provision OF
Nature, xhe plant abOunds on this ario
| island, furnishing food and medicine tC
the crews who touch at its coasts. The
only plant that still remains special tC
Kerguelen is the LyGLLia. A little hedg'
of the widespread Antarctic genus UneiniG
and chickweed (C1zGStiaen), are reckoneC
in its scaDty flora.
1t is singular that an island of such Iarg
extent, lying in the path of the west winds
visited by multitudes of sea-birds that fee
upon ripe seeds and grain when accessible
and the resort for many years of whalinI
vessels, shouldnot bear more varied vegt
tation,
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
Memory or Instinct.

Many years ago | was on a mail coach,
and as soon as we came to public house,
the cOachman pulled up for a fraction of a
second. He did so when we came to n
second public house, and then asked him
the reason. He pointed to the ofl-hand
wheeler, and said that she had long been
completely blind. and sh. would stop at
every place on the road at which she had
before stopped. He had found by expert
ence that less time was wasted by pulling
up his team than by trying to drive her
past the place, for she was cOntented with
moRentary stop. After this | watched
her, and it was evident that she knew eX-
actly, before the coachman began to pull
up the other horses, every public house
on the road, for she had at some time
stopped at all. think there can be but
little doubt that this mare recognized all
the houses by her sense of smell. With
respect to cats, so many cases have been
recorded of their returning for consider
able distance to their homes, after having
been carried away shut up i'll baskets. that
can hardly disbelieve them, though these
stories are disbelleved by some persons.
Now. as far as | have observed, cats do
not possess a very acute sense OF smell,
and they seem to discover their prey by
eye-sight-and by hearing. This leads me
to mention another trifling fact. | sent
riding horse by railway from Kent via
Yarmouth to Freshwater Bay. in the Isle
of Wight. On the first day that | rode
eastward, my horse, when l turned to
90 home, was very unwilling to return to
wards his stable, and he several times
turned round. This led me to make re-
peated trials, and every time that i slack
ened the reins he turned sharply round,
and began to trot to the eastward by a little
north, which was nearly IN the direction of
his home in Kent. | had ridden this horse
daily for several years, and he had never
before behaved in this manner. My inl-
preston was that he somehow knew the
direction whence he had been brought. /
should state that the last stage from 1ar-
mouth to Freshwater is almost due south,
and along this road ne had been ridden by
my groom; but he had never once shown
any wish to return in this direction. /
had purchased this horse several years be-
fore from a gentleman in my own neigh
borhoOd, who had possessed him for
considerable time. Nevertheless, tits pos
sible, though far from probable, that the
horse may have been born in the Isle of
Wight. Even if we grant to animals a
sense of the points of the compass, OF
which there is no evidence, how can we
account, for instance, for the turtles
which formerly congregated in great null
titudes, only at one season Of the year, on
the shores OF the Isle of AscensiOn-tind-
ing their way to that speck of land in the
middle of the great Atlantic.-DaTtciH.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
Mild Pills.

| would not say any thing to lower the
tone of your professional or personal mo-
rails, but | fancy there is a certain kind Of
deception which ia not sin. | was sitting
at dinner once with an esteemed country
medical friend, and noticed him rolling in
his fingers pills from the bread at his side.
| asked his purpose, and he replied that
with that simple remedy he had worked
cure in the case of a lady who had con-
suited, in vain. some of the most celebra-
ted ply sicians in the State; that she had
slight relapse, and had sent to him for
some of the same pills which he had given
before. He did not seem to think he was
doing a very wicked thing, nor did it
strike me that he was. | suppose he
would have been little flustered if his
patient had asked him to write out the
prescription. This he knew she would
not do. She had faith in him, and in no
one else, ard would have trusted no one
else to make up the pills. Whether this
deceptiOn-a professional white lie-was
censurable according to professional eth
les, | cannot say. The standard of morals
even among the faculty is, am sorry
to say, not always the same. Recently L
saw report of a suit at law between two
physicians. 1t was a SANDER suit. The
trial involved, among other things, in
quiry into the use of homeopathic medi-
cines by an allopathic physician. and the
professional propriety of so doing. One
witness, of hign professional standing in
his own neighborhood, testified, in sub
stance, that if an allopathic doctor admin
istered homeopathic remedies without let
ting his patient know the fact, it was quite
right and regular; but if he told the
patient that they were homeopathic medi--
cines, then he was altogether wrong and
irregular. In other words, regularity lay
in the concealment of the truth. i, an
unprofessiOnal man, do not mean to ex-
press any opinion upon that point; but
do think my friend with the bread pills
was regular.-Fron1 Coz. Hofmaa's Ad-
dress to the Albany { ~ ~ Medical College.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
Petting a Leopard.

The accidents that have frequently hap
pened and the warnings that newspapers
give constantly seem never to impress
some people with the fact that leopards
and their kind have claws, and under GER
tain circumstances are apt to use them. 1t
was not long ago that the Herald an
nOunced the terrible tearing of the hand OF
a young man at the Central Park menage-
rie, while pettiDg a lion, against the adj
vice of one Of the keepers, and yesterday
another accident, similar, except that the
animal that inflicted the injury was
black Java leopard, instead of a lion, is to
be recorded. At Barnum's Hippodrome,
and near the entrance, going in from
Madison Avenue, stands the cage that
holds the performing animals, consisting
of lion and lioness, Brazilian tiger, a
spotted leopard. and the black Java leop-
ard mentioned above. The collection is
fine one, and greatly admired by those
who attend the place. Yesterday after
noon young man who had been intently
watching the man who takes care OF the
animals patting the black leopard, con-
cluded that he would undertake the same
pleasant duties. Waiting until the keeper
had turned his back, he crept under the
iron bar and thrust his hand in the cage.
1t came out, however, quicker than it
went in, and in the NEST deplOrable con-
diiiOn, being nearly torn off by the claws
of the infuriated brute. This little feat,
however, did not satisfy the animal. She
began to storm up and down the cage. and
terribly excited the rest of the animals that
were confined with her, and finally, in one
of her desperate efforts, she severed some
of the wire laciDgs that are put against the
bars to cOnfine her more securely; and in
the next moment she stood free in the
promenade. Her long, black, 1.-the body,
gliding around with as little noise as a SER
pent would make, was soon noticed by the
other animals, and then the opera CON-
menced. Dan and Pomp, the two great
African lions, opened first their bass
voices, and were soon followed i'll concert
by the howl of the hyena, and the below
ing of the sacred bull and water buffalo.
Every animal in the p ace, it seemed, took
hand in the frolic, and finally hand in
was taken by the keeper of the leopard.
She, however, did not seem so tractable as
usual, and showed fight, and might have
made it rather ugly for the keeper. had
not an unexpected appearance been put in
at that moment by Master Jack, the bull
terrier dog, whose cOuntenance is familiar
to all who visit the Hippodrome. The dog
at once made dash for the leopard and
seized him by the throat, and though the
struggle was fearful one, Jack managed
to retain his hold until the animal was Sc
cured. The keeper was cut about the
hands in the struggle, but not badly in
jured, and it is lucky thing, perhaps,
that no performance was going Oh at the
time.-Rss1 York Herald.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
BOOker's WOOing.

Booker, of Plymouth County, Iowa,
was widower of 40, and is a plOdding,
independent farmer. Booker is a man of
business. He used to live in Sioux City.
While there he fell into an excavation,
and recovered S400 damages for slight in
juri received, when he moved to Ply
mouth County, where there were fewer
dead-falls. Gut his wife died, and left him
in bad fix. He must have hOusekeeper,
and he had no time to fool away. He
wanted cheap article. too. so he resolved
to marry one and have her for good or
bad, as she might turn out. He went to
Sioux City and called on an old friend, to
whom he stated his desperate case. The
friend told him where there was large
room full of sewing-girls, and thought he
might take his pick out of the lot The
idea pleased Booker. He went straight to
the millinery establishment and told the
conductresS his pressing business. She
was amused, and said: There they are,
take your pick" Booker went round
among the beauties with a palpitating
heart. He casually dropped, in answer to
their inquiring glances, that he was look
ing for hOusekeeper. One Ortwo slgnl-
fled their willingness to do housework,
and asked: What wages?" Booker then
llldJ IlC w iOOklIlO lOi wiz.
That altered the case, and the girls red
dened and warmed up to their work.
Booker picked ont the reddest one, and
asked her if she would give him mo-
ment's conversation in private. She blush
ingly consented, and the two retired to
little back room. Only few min
utes elapsed when the couple came out
with a confused sort of air, for they
knew the whole shop was looking
at them. The young girl started OF
in furry and hurry. Booker said she
had consented to become his wife, pro-
vided she could get the consent OF her
parents, and she had gone after it. He
had also referred her to several OF the
leading business men of the city. respect
ing his points of character and ability to
entertain wife and rear family. Booker
went to his hotel to await further develop
Eents, The next day physician OF Sioua
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS.
WORD in season-winter.

A WORD In season-Winter.
DOMESTIC " sauce" is kept in family
Jars.
NEARLY every body knows that nearly
every body lies, and yet nearly every body
says: 4" What every body says must be
So"
ONE who has felt the sharp frosts OF
Irritation, remarks that most young ladies'
have first an eager and then nipping air.
We have heard of a pumpkin that
weighed l9S pounds, but what pigmy In
size compared with pebble in a mans
shoe.
JOHN BULL is so Jealous of our reception
of the King of Hawaii, that the Sultan of
Zanzibar is to be cleaned up and clothed
for visit TO England.
A LECTURER aptly demonstrated the
theory that heat generates motion by
pointing to boy who accidentally sat
down on piece of lighted punk.
"WHAr you been a-dOin - asked boy
of his playmate, whom he saw coming
out of the house with tears in his eyes.
1--we been a-chasin' a birch rod round
my father" was the snarling reply.
"WHAT makes you look so glum,
Tom ?'' "Oh, had to endure sad trial
to nv feelings" "What on earth was It =
" Mny. naO 10 Tic on pretty SLiA JUL
net with her mother looking on"
SP1IKINs and a friend went out duck
hunting the other day, and came back
with a story that the two of them together
had killed sixty-four in half day. Upon
being pressed as to how many each killed,
he confessed that the other Nimrod shot
sixty-three, and he-all the rest.
A LADY and her eight-year old daugh-
ter were among the passengers on De-
troit street car, recently, and presently the
little miss observed a man take out his
handkerchief, flourish it around, and then
wipe his nose. The child leaned over to
her mother and whispered. mamma,
that gentleman is trying to 1lirt with me,
but 1 shall give him the handkerchief sig
nal that | distrust his motives"
AMONG the dozen women who crowded
into the office of the Director of the Poor
yesterday morning was little female with
sad eyes and an anxious look. Well,
what do you want?" asked the Director,
as he came to her case. I'D like some
money" she whispered. "HOw much ?"
"Weil, can't say exactly" she replied
I" how much do you generally give out to
them when they want TO buy bead belt?'
She didn't get any relief.--Detroit Free
Press
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
WELL AGAIN.
pYEL1zARErn AKERs,ALLEN.


THE child Law sick on her tiresome bed;
Her face was whiened and drawn with pain
And her mother sOrrowed, and sadly said,
While tears fell fast on the golden head (:
''Ah, me, viii she ever be well again."
The bird outside on the window-sill
Sung loud a joyfulan merry strain:
He pecked at the glass with his yellow bill
He danced and warbled with glad good Will
"Come out Of doors and be well againla
The bee plunged in at the open door,
And bumped his forehead against the name
Bright were the golden rings he wore
lie buzzed on the ceiling, the wall tie floor
And said, Come outand be well again."
The breeze came in at the lifted sash.
full of the strength Of the sweet salt main:
IL told OF the brooks soft purl and plash,
W new nedged birds in the roadside ash
ana whispered, Come and be well aganl"
The flowers leaned from their crystal vase,
Ihey were brought by her mates from dell and
They kissed and fondled her fevered face
They beckoBed and nodded with wooing grace,
And said. ''Arise. and be web againi"
The rain came out ofits cloud and beat
With dripping fingers against the pane;
And Gomez" il gurgled, the air is sweet
Come out Of doors and be well again."
She writhed and moaned in her fever-toss.
And mocking visions beset her brain;
she dreamed Of showers, and-eool moist moss
OF clear waves, foaming the ledge across,
To turn the mill wheel with might and main.
Give me your bloom, o flowers :" said she;
Give meyour fresh, sweet breath, o rain;
Give me your vigor, o tireless bee:
Give me your life, owind of the sea-
That may be strong and well again"
And long ere the forest nuts were brown,
When the fields were rich with the rustling
grain,
And early apples grew red and round,
Out with the rcapers, alert and sound,
The little maiden was well againi
Portland Transcript.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
Gas Explosion in Birmingham, Eng.

A tremendous and destructive gas ex-
plosion occurred shortly before o'clock
last evening, in Great Lister Street, Bir-
mingham. So far as can be ascertained,
there has been leakage from the water
mains in the street for some time past and
this caused subsidenee of the soil Of the
roadway, forming a cavity beneath the
surface. 1t is believed that the sinking of
the earth tore away a seryice-pipe from
tie main of the Birmingham and Stat
fordshire Gas Company, AID thus large
escape of gas took place. The gas which
had accumulated in this cavity and in the
sewer adjacent, it is believed, was fired by
a person throwing a lighted iuse into a
hole which had formed in the roadway.
Instantaneously terrible explosion took
place, followed by two other explosions at
other parts of the street, right and left.
At he scene of the central explosion the
earth was torn up, and shortly a chasm %
feet in diameter and feet in depth was
formed. The other explosions took place
at manholes connected with the sewer,
the covers of which were blown away and
the pavement torn up. Many Of the
houses and shops in the neighbOrhoOd
have been severely damaged, aud four or
five persons have sustained injuries more
or less seYere.-LiverpooL Post, Dec. 10
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
San Francisco In 1S49.

There is a sort of amazement in ones
mind whenever il reverts TO the probabll-
ity of Macaulay's immortal New Zealander
sitting on broken arch of London Bridge
sketching the ruins of st. Paul's. Surely
the actual reality of finding one of the
fairest cities in the world, bOasting l50,0 900
souls, well housed, public and private
buildings Ofgreat pretensions, streets that
in beauty vie with those of the finest
cities, wharfs measured by miles; in short
a great city, that would be marvel in
Europe, all sprung up within twenty-five
years, is by far, or ought to be, more as
founding than the ruin and downfall of
London after thousands of years, or Lord
Macaulay wisely did not predict the pc
riod of the New Zealander's sketching trip.
Truly the Biblical curse, " Ye shall build
houses and others shall live in them,r was
the lot of early California adventurers.
How few, indeed, of those early schemers
and workers are now the owners of the
immense wealth of the city, which is esti-
mated at $200, 100000! How few OF their
descendants, even, can lay claim to any
sharei
The busy bees carry the honey 10 the
hive, and the cunning farmer gathers the
honey-combs.
In May. 1919, there were less than 80
wooden houses built, including all shan
ties scattered over the seven hills for San
Francisco had at that time seven hills.
Thousands of tents were everywhere
erected, and in these people dwelt. The
Plaza, or public square, had at one time
one decent wooden house, called the
Parker House, which, of course. was a
gambling house; while the more preten-
tiOus tents were one and all gambling
shops.
The busiest man in that city at that
time was one Sam Brannan, retired or
reformed Mormon, perhaps still alive.
The nominal ruler of the city was MIR.
Smith, styled 1.-The Alcalde." They
were one and all ex-sOldiers in the Mexi-
can war, robbers, cut-thrOats, and cow
ards; yet the floating mass of Inhabitants,
numbering no less than fifty thousand,
were actually tyranniZed over, robbed by,
and afraid of, these twenty thieves. 1t
may seem strange that such state of af
fairs could possibly exist for single day,
vet it is nevertheless true that it did exist
for months.
There were hotels. One man, whose
name was Merritt, had a large wooden
house toward the north beach, where his
lodgers herded. They slept everywhere,
on the tables, under the tables, in every
available space; bedding, if the blOated
and luxurious guest wanted such thing,
had to be provided by himself. Itis, how
ever, but fair to relate that Merritt always
exacted s. a night for lodgings from any
body that sheltered in the house. As for
the living, it was almost too ridiculous to
be related. A French restaurant, for in
stance, furnished the best bottle of port
wine for s. a bOttle-sOme thousand dozen
sent from the London Docks and sold for
the freight in San Francisco, as no owner
turned up. The Frenchman charged the
following prices for breakfast:
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14
City received letter, of which the follow
ing is true printed copy:

SIOUX CITY, Dec. II, lS14.
DocTER -: Adres you a few lines TO Asks
the caracter and standing of one Harthaway j.
Bookes of lamars who has give me you for A
reliance as he says you are well Acquainted with
him pleas tell me his prinantial afares as well as
his privet characte is he Abel to support fam
LEY in comfort would he make a good husban
pleas answer thoes few lines Amadiienty for
expect to leave town Will look for Aanswer 4
Monday. a Dres MARY.
Sioux City bx 4S2.
The responses were all favorable to
Booker as a suitor. The next day ne mar
ried Mary with the full consent of her
parents, 70 his own great joy and her hap
pness. And Booker took her to his farm
in Plymouth County, and lost only two
days. time in securing life of welded
bliss. Happiness is cheap if men only
knew that it generally lies right before
them, ready to be seized. But many look
over the heads of the nearest and dearest
objects, and trampling them under foot
stand alone in misery at the end of LIES
journey. So does not Booker.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-14

The Eagle and Phenix Mills of Co
lumbus, Ga. ,,have received sixty woOlen
looms 10 place in the new mill which has
Just been completed. This will give that
immense and splendidly-ordered institu-
ton 25,0O0 spindles and 700 looms, sixty
of which are wooden. Larger wheels, now
prepared, will be put in to furnish more
power. When this is done, the mills of
Columbus will be running 81, 600 spindles,
sixty wooden and $40 cotton looms-all
built with Southern money, in less than
seven years, by city and section that had
burned for them 60,000 bales of cotton.
worth at that time $4,000, 600, besides mil
lions Of other properly.