davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-03-03

me to cut off the sleeve of my shirt and
tie it up at one end, and in this little
sack [ collected about gallon Of pitch.
After taking observations for altitude,
wandered back on the rocks for all hour
or two, when, suddenly, [ noticed that
storm was coming from the south. [
sought a shelter in the rocks, but when
the storm burst, it came down as a flood
from the heavens, hot with gentle
drops at first. slowly increasing in guam
tity, but as if suddenly poured from an
immense basin. I was thoroughly
drenched and almost washed away 1t
lasted not more than half an hour, when
the clouds swept by to the noA tn, and [
was in the sunshine again.
In the meantime, [ discovered d bet
ter way of getting down, and started
for camp, making the greatest haste
possible. On reaching the bottom of
the side canon I saw thousand streams
rolling down the cliffs Oh every side,
carrying with them red sand, and these
all united in the canon below in one
great stream Of red mud. Travelling as
fast as Icouldrun, soon reached the foot
of the stream, for the rain did not reach
the lower end of the canon, and the wa
ter was runningdo a dry bed Of sand;
and although it come in waves several
feet high and fifteen or twenty feet in
width, the sand soaked it up and it was
lost. Wave followed wave, and rolled
along and was swallowed up, and still
the floods came from above. / found 7
could travel faster than the stream, so
FASTENED on tn the camD and told
the men there was a river coming down
the canon. We carried our camp equip
age from the bank to where we thought
it would be above the water, and then
stood by to see the river roll on to join
the Colorado. -Maj. H. " Po,OeW;'
iScriOner.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
The Work of Females.

The annual report of the Massachu-
sets labor bureau refers to the subject,
" How certain forms of employment
affect female health" The influences
that affect the proper establishment and
normal cause of the peculiar functions of
female operatives are first considered,
and four causative errors in the manage
ment of labor are enumerated as the
chief sources of the disturbance peculiar
to women of this class. The first is the
age at which young girls are permitted
to leave life of animal growth and to
become n part of an occupation or ma.
chine the second, the employment by
manufacturers and corporations of the
plastic and undeveloped forms and pow
ers OF those girls of tender years with
incomplete vital functions; the third,
their employment in occupations which
cannot be undertaken without injury,
except by those of confirmed strength
and capacity and, fourth, that they are
summoned to long day of labor which
requires their unremitting attention un.
der circumstances and conditions radical.
ly unfavorable to healthy condition.
These four combined bring about de.
rangements of the female organism
which too often unfit their victims for
the more important functions of woman
hood.
Each branch of labor in which women
are generally employed is next taken up,
and the results of thorough system of
inquiry into the effects produced are
given. 1t was found that the most iniu-
rious work was that performed by mill
operatives, badly ventilated and over
heated rooms and constant application of
the mind and body being the most
prominent evils. Type-setting is next
considered, and the conclusions reached
are that women cannot stand at the
case and be healthy, as it produces
back and headaches, weakness of the
lower Limbs, and dragging pressure on
the hips. Telegraphy is not as injurious
to female health or development as the
two classes of labor just mentioned The
inquiries among sewing machine opera
tors did not evoke very satisfactory an
swers. Replies were received from
nearly two hundred correspondents, and
considerable difference of experience was
narrated, a large majority stating that
they suffered somewhat by their work,
and others affirming that no serious dis
orders were created. The diseases fos-
tered by this branch of labor are chiefly
indigestion, muscular pains affecting the
lower limbs and trunk, and general de-
bility.
After reviewing other forms of
work and their evil effects on the female
system, the report gives as the grave
mistakes of our labor system that we en-
ploy those whose years absolutely pro-
hibit them being employed at all, and
that we sadly neglect the measures that
can alone insure correct sanitary condi-
tion of our female operatives during
their labor. Girls under fifteen years of |
age should not be employed at ali girls
of any age, and women generally, should |
not be employed at work unsuited to
their sex, and, in the performance of Ia
Dor to which they can with propriety be
permitted, periodical leave of absence
should be granted them, so that the |
functions and nervous systems have
chance to recuperate.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
A Peculiar HumOr.

Among other traits of character which
are common to man and beast, says q
writer, is the sense of humor.
This is developed in various ways.
Mostly it assumes the form of teasing or
annoying others, and deriving amuse-
ments from their discomfort. This is the
lowest form of humor, and is popularity
known among ourselves as practical
joking. Sometimes, both with man and
beast, it takes the form of bodily torture,
the struggles of the victim being highly
amusing to the torturer. Civilized man
has now learned to consider the infiction
of pain upon another as anything but an
amusement, and would sooner suffer The
agony than infiict it upon fellow-crea,
ture. But to the savage there is no
entertainment so fascinating as the tor
turing of human being.
Take, for example, the North American
Indian tribes, among whom the torture is
a solemn usage of war, which every
warrior expects for himself if captured,
and is certain to inhict upon any prisoner
whom he may happen to take. The in
genuity with which the savage wrings
every nerve of the human frame, and
kills his victim by sheer pain, is alb
solutely fiendish; and yet the whole tribe
assemble round the stake, and gloat
upon the agonies which are being en-
dured by a fellow-creature. Similarly
the African savage tortures either man
or women who is accused of witchcraft,
employing means which are to horrible
to be mentioned.
Yet even in these cases the cruelty
seems to be in a great degree owing to
obtuseness of perception; and the savage
who ties his prisoner to stake, and per-
forates all the sensitive parts of his body
with burning pine-splinters, acts very
much like a child who amuses itself by
catching flies, pulling off their wings
and legs, and watching their unavailing
efforts to escape. L did not know
whether it is the case now or not, but
some twenty years ago saw cock chafers
publicly sold in Paris for children to
torture to death; the amusement being
to run hooked pin through their tail,
tie thread to it, and see the poor insect
spin in the air. After it was too en-
feebled to spread its wings, it was slowly
dismembered, the child being greatly
amused at its endeavors to crawl, as leg
after leg was pulled off. Irescued many
VI tilSSC vi tL1coc WICtClCu liiSSClo
the thoughtlessly cruel children, and re-
leased them from their sufferings by
instantaneous death.
In Italy a similar custom prevails,
though in more cruel form, the crea-
lures which are tortured by way of sport
being more capable of suffering pain
than are insects. Birds are employed
for the amusement of children, just as
are the cock-chafers in France. A string
is tied to the leg, and the unfortunate
bird, after its powers of flight are ex-
hausted, is generally plucked alive and
dismembered.
1t is not done from any idea of cruelty,
but from sheer incapacity to understand
that bird or beast can be fellow
creature. The Italians are notorious for
their cruel treatment of animals; and if
remonstrance be made, they are quite
astonished, and reply, "Non Z CriStiano"
ct is not Christian).
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
Thoughts for Saturday Night.
Sin is ashamed of sin.
To stem aside is human

Sin is ashamed of sin.
To step aside is human.
Pleasure and sorrow are twins.
Above all things reverence yourself.
Honest men are the gentlemen of ma,
ture.
Memory always obeys the commands
of the heart.
Man is the weeping animal born to
govern all the rest.
There is even happiness that makes
the heart afraid.
A wise man will make more opportuni-
ties than he finds.
The thought of eternity consoles for
the shortness of life.
Sad is his lot who, once at least in his
life, has not been poet.
Solid love, whose root is virtue, can
no more die than virtue itself.
Cultivate not only the cornfelds of
yourmind, but the pleasure grounds also.
Nurture your mind with great thoughts
10 believe in the heroic makes heroes.
AS turning the logs will make dull
hire burn, so change of studies a dull
brain.
A good discourse is that from which
one can take nothing without taking the
life.
When man can look upon the simple
wild rose and feel no pleasure, his taste
has been corrupted.
L should say sincerity, deep, great,
genuine sincerity, is the first Characteristic
of all men in any way heroic.
If you wish success in life, make per-
severance your bosom friend, experience
your wise counselor, caution your elder
brother, and hope your guardian genius.
A man ought to carry himself in the
world as an orange tree would if it could
walk up and down the garden-swinging
perfume from every little censer it holds
up to the air.
1t is said that jealousy is love, but
deny it; for though jealousy be procured
by love, as ashes are by fire, yet jealousy
extinguishes love as ashes smother fame.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
Death of Punnie,

Punnie, the Esquimau child, or as she
was called by her new friends, Silvie,
died at Groton, Conn. Silvie was the
adopted child of 10 and Hanna, the two
Esquimaux who were so devotedto Capt.
Hall. Those who may have read the ac-
count of Capt. Halls perilous journey
may remember many interesting traits OF
this Esquimau child, and how she was
purchased of her'parents for an old sled
and jack-knife. Little Punnie was
one OF the party of ten whites, two Es-
quimaux, two women, and five children,
who, under the command of Capt. Tyson.
were separ ted from the Polaris and left
in the dreary Arctic seas almost to the
mercy of the waves. From the 10Th of
October, 1872, to April 80, 1873, this
child fioated on the ice-foe. After hav-
ing drifted some 1000 miles, the party
was finally rescued by the Tigress, in
latitude tifty-three degrees and thirty
five minutes north. The little Esquimau
was receiving her education at Groton,
and showed great sweetness of disposi-
tion and capacity. Physically, Punnie
was very diminutive, and her health not
very good. 1t seems sad to think that
this poor waif, after passing through
such untold perils, should have finally
succumbed, though tended by the kind
est of friends.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
R1DGwAY, ELK COUNTY, PA, THURSDAY APRIL g. 1875.

will After all, is it a dignifed busi-
ness for the press to minister to this
low and unhealthy greedG Is the world
SO barren of great topics that the press,
perforce, must transform itself into q
neighborhood tattle and public gossip9 2
Are valuable opinions and intelligence
so scarce that it must send its prying in
terviewers out among the ranks of private
men, to worm out their secrets, on pain
of misrepresentation and abuse, and
spread them before a curious public 2
The American press of the future will
not do it, unless civilization shall retro
grade, and our nation remain a nation of
children.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
The Potatoes.

Some of the household recipes given
in the papers are calculated to do more
harm than good. Mrs. Hopson's servant
girl recently read in the paper that "po-
tatoes should be of uniform size TO cook
evenly" 1t was more than two days be-
fore she found the meaning of the word
uniform, and then she went to work
on half bushel of potatoes. As she
couldn't make the smallest the size of
the largest, she pared down the large
ones until they were as small as the
smallest, and as the latter was about the
size of a walnut, she had a weak lot OF
potatoes by the time she had made them
of uniform size, and a quart measure
would have held themall. The potatoes
were "short for dinner that day, and,
as an explanation and some very sharp
words followed, Mrs. Hopson's servant
girl now cooks potatoes of all sizes in one
not.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
Frost Bitten.

We were riding home from the Carols ball.
Nelly Sansargent and 1, you know;
The white flakes futtered about our lamps,
AMI our wheels rolled silently through the
snow.
We'd danced together the evening through,
For Bornsteins viols had "played thei
best :"
Her fair head dropped, her lids we're low.
And her dreamy eyes were full Of rest
Her white arms nestled along her lap,
Her hands half holding, with weary grace,
Her fading violets; passing sweet
Was the far-of look on her fair young face
1 watched her, speaking never word,
For L would not waken those dreaming ewes
But the breath of the vlolets filed the air,
And my thoughts were many and far from
wise.
At last, l said to her, bending near,
All, Nelly Sansargent, sweet 'twould be
10 ride together our whole lives long,
Alone with the violets, you and me-
Her fair face flushed, and her sweet eyes fell
Low as the murmur of meadow rills
iler answer came to me- Yes, perhaps;
But who would settle our carriage bills pn
Tho delicate blossoms breathed their last:
Our wheels rolled hard on the stones lust
then,
Where the snow had drifted the subject
dropped
And has never been taken mp again.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
Too Much to Believe.

One day, Farmer Robson's old hen
came scratching about in my meadow,
says st. Nicholas, and Just then the
pretty schoolma' am tripped by with two
of her children. She was talking to
them about the fish called the stur-
geon.
Yes, my dears," she was saying,
g 1 read it this very morning in the
Popular Science Monthly Nine hun
dred and twenty-one thousand six hun
dred eggs have been found in a single
sturgeon !"
"My what a lot" exclaimed one
OF the children "and if every egg
gets to be sturgeon, and every one of
the new surgeons lays Just as many,
Just think what heaps and heaps of
grandchildren sturgeon must have"
The teacher laughed. They walked
on I; and suddenly 1 heard sort of
gulp.
1t was the old hen. 1 never in my
life saw any living creature in such
state. She was so mad she could hard
ly keep inside of her feathers.
"Nine hundred thousand eggs I" she
exclaimed (you would have thought she
was only trying to cluck her head off,
but we understood every word), "nine
hundred thousand eg- -gug- gug-gegs
Don't believe word of it Never was
such thing since the world began
sturgeon, indeed Never even heard
of such bird. What'l schoolteachers
say next, wonder3 Nine hundred
thousand egg-gug- indeed!"
The last 1 saw of that hen, she was
strutting off Indignantly toward the
barnyard to tell the other hens about it.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
White Lead as a Poison,

About eighteen months ago, says
Scri6ner's, an article appeared in O
Brooklyn newspaper describing white
lead factory at Williamsburgh, the opera
tlves OF which were said to be constant
ly suffering from metallic poisoning.
The proprietors of the factory sharply
controverted the statements made, but
several of the workmen came to the
writer's support with accounts of nu-
merous well-authenticated cases. In a
few months the subject was forgotten,
and the factory now finds no scarcity
OF men to fill it. Nevertheless, the dis
astrous effects of the lead industry are
proved on the best medical authority.
The manufacture of white lead is
the most dangerous branch. The pro-
cess is as follows A number of earth
ern vessels are prepared, into each of
which few ounces of crude vinegar
are poured. Sheets of lead are then
introduced in such a manner that they
neither touch the vinegar nor project
above the top of the jars. The vessels
are arranged in rows in large build
ing and inclosed between boards cover
ed with tan, one row being placed on
top of another until a stack is formed.
The building is next closed, and spon-
taneous process takes place, the exact
nature of which is not understood. But
when the building is opened after a
lapse of several weeks and the stack
is taken to pieces, the greater portion
OF the metal is found to have been con-
verted into carbonate. This, wash
ed and ground while wet, is white
lead, and when it is packed in casks it
is ready for the market.
The poison affects the work people
partly through inhalation and partly
through the agency of the skin. The
inhalation is the most fertile source of
evil, however, and the commonest symp-
tom is collie, which is easily cured.
There are other and more serious symp-
toms, which develop into paralysis un-
less work is discontinued; but as the
wages paid by the manufacturers are
high, and rs many of the operatives
have large families to support, medical
prohibitions against the continuance of
work are often disregarded.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
PATRONS IN BUSINESS ENTER
PRISES.
A Hint to the Grangcrs---Whnt the Loca I
Business Houses VIII Do.


The Patrons Helper, of Iowa. u
Grange paper, says in a recent issue:
A word of caution is due with regard
to these cooperative enterprises. Store
keeping is trade rs much as farming;
grain selling is trade; cattle and hog
selling is q trade; insurance is a trade.
No man can master either of them in %
day or year. 1t may happen that the
active managers of these enterprises are
well informed and well prepared for
their duties, and then success is likely to
follow; but it may happen, again, that
inefficient or incompetent men get into
those places, and then failure is pretty
sure to follow. And, worse than the
other, it may happen that an acute
swindler will work himself into one of
these positions of trust, and then disaster
and disgrace are certain. Let the direc-
tory look sharply to the character and
qualifications of their business agent;
let them see that he is honest; let them
see that he is of sound judgment and
well adapted to the work in hand; let
them see that he has the needed expert
ence and energy; and then let them pay
him literally and not hamper him with
petty restrictions.
Suluc us lulpOIJtllJ uS securing U0t
best practical management for grange
enterprises, says the New York World,
it is to engage in no enterprises that
cannot be defended on other grounds
than those of absolute necessity. There
have been successes in keeping grange
stores, but where one dollar has been
saved through their agency ten have
been saved by purchasing through an
agent, and twenty by cultivating AMIGA
BILE and just relations with local business
firms. There is not in the United States
one country merchant who, on being as
sured of the custom of all the farmers of
his vicinity, will not, for cash, give them
rates which will represent first cost, plus
the lowest and unavoidable charges for
rent, interest, handling, freight, tare and
tret, depreciation, etc. This attained,
it is undesirable to go further and risk Il
great deal to win, possibly, a very little.
There is this to be said against grange
enterprises: Their failure or partial
success will inevitably be magniied to
the disadvantage of the order generally
by its enemies, who are on the alert al
ways, and never SO we'll satisfied as when
they see Patrons engaging in enterprises
of doubtful utility or problematic profit.
This is what every Patron should cherish
at heart-the reflection that he is mem
ber of the order, and that unjust but by
no means Intellectual criticism will lay to
the account of the order the imperfec-
tions of its members.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
Monster Religions Meetings.

Moody and Sankey, the American re-
vivalists in London, continue to draw
large audiences. These meetings are at
tended by as many as $4,000 to 90 900
people. At the same time an English
man, Rev. Mr.. Varley, is holding mon
ster revival meetings in the Hippodrome
in New York, fully 10000 people attend
ing, and the vast building being crowd
ed every Sunday night.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08
He Did.

The following story is told about a
Dunkirk man: On st. Valentines day
he bought ten of the ugliest valentines
he could find, each one caricaturing some
well known fault or foible of his wife,
and sent them to her. While the poor
woman was crying over them and
wondering if there really were ten peo-
pie in the community who thought so
meanly of her, the boy of the family
said: Pa, are those the pictures you
bought at the store where you got my
whistler"
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08

There are only five States in the Union
where the governor receives salary of
but 81, 900. These are Michigan, Ne
braska. New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
and Vermont. Louisiana and Indiana
pay Sc, 900, and Pennsylvania $4,000.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08

They are raising a great outcry on the
continent because the Germans are
making cheap champagne from good
grapes. Over here We manufacture a
costly champagne from turnip juice, rot
ten apples, sulphuric acid and old boots,
and some people rather like it.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08

At last here is new fancy in the pres
tidigitation line. He borrowed bonnet
from lady in the audience, and as he
was about to return it it caught fire in
the gas, and he had to stamp ON it with
both feet to extinguish the flame. Misery
of the lady 1t was her best bonnet.
Then he fired pistol, and bonnet just
like it fell from the chandelier in the
middle of the theater.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-04-08

Order is heavens first law, and it has
never been repealed.
Connecticut western news., 1875-12-10
Welcome Christmas Gifts.

The usual practice in choosing Christ mas gifts, says Scri6me,, is to start out with a full portemonnaie and come home with it empty, having secured dozen book ahd print and curio shops meantime, to "fnd enough pretty things to go round." The gift sent to one friend might have been offered with equal propriety to 8 hundred others. Now everybody (worth remembering at all on Christmas day) has fancy, or recall and gratify. Now that we have so little money, let us set our brains to work to remember these whims or hob- and, to our word for it, we will startle our friends with more real pleasure than if we had sent them the costliest unmeaning gift. There must be nice discrimination, too, in asserting these trifes. Thore are certain folks whom we know to be sorely in need of articles for the wardrobe. and to whom we must therefore give utterly useless folies, be- cause they know that we know it and there are better folks in like con- dition, who will receive collar or pair of gloves with as hearty and sincere feeling as though the offering were a strain of Christmas music. There IS one cousin whose gift must smell of the shops and dollars paid for it, and another who, if we sent her our worn copy of George Herbert, or tue little broken vase which has stood for years on the study table, would receive them with wet eyes, and find them fragrant with old memories.