davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
Mothers Boy.

EBERT CROPsEY is his mothers pet
He coaxes and scolds her as the whim
takes him. He disobeys her. says saucy
words to her. and, as she often says, vexes
her almost to death. Still she loves
him fondly and calls him "mother's
pet"
Edward Heck is the son of a poor
widow, who calls him mothers COM
fort" He tries his very best to make his
mother happy in spite of her poverty.
One day he went to market for her, and
as he staggered homeward under a very
heavy load of potatoes a gentleman said
to him:
My son, that basket is too heavy for
you to carry"
Edward looked in the gentleman's face
with good natured smile and replied;
{" 1t is heavy, sir, but would rather
carry it myself than my mother should
carry it,
Now, as you see, both these boys were
their mothers pets. Which of them,
think you, was the real mothers boy?
Surely Ebert, the selfish, was not The
love was al on the mothers side. But
the grateful Edward returned love for
love The noble fellow bore his mothers
burdens, and was the real, true mothers
boy. Don't you think so? If you do,
want you to show it by bearing your
mothers burdens. viii you ?-SchOoI,
Church and Home
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27

dragons engraved on them, and are sewed
on through eyes. The deep apron is
edged with brown silk fringe tied with
blue like that in the striped silk; large
pleated pocket of the silk is on one side.
Costumes of the soft AngOra wool stuttS
are trimmed with straight feather bands,
and with a new repped velvet, which is
laid in pleats The lower skirt has the
over-skirt sewed in with the belt; this
over-skirt forms deep apron front, and
has puffs behind.
1t is more particularly in the attention
paid to small details that the beauty of
French dresses consists Different mate
rials used in the same costume are nicely
matched in shade, and the trimming is of
the most appropriate kind. Among pretty
and new arrangements Of flo unces are
those with groups Of side pleats, three in
a cluster, fastened down two inches be-
low the top, then turned backward and
fastened again. This is done on straight
wooden fOunces, and the lower edge is
finished with narrow, side-pleated frill
Of silk. Another plan has first box
pleated fiounce at the foot, then a side
pleating, then a gathered bias founce
above. There is special fancy for a sim
gle box-pleated founce around the bot
tom of the skirt; in these box-pIeats are
made to stand out very fully, like ruche
Square trains of three straight breadths
are very popular when made of velvet,
while the front breadths of the skirt are of
silk. The train is scalloped on the sides
and across the bottom, or perhaps it is
finished by loops Of the silk cut out, lined
with another shade or contrasting color
and turned upward to the edge of the
skirt, so that the lining is seen. Other
trains have broad band of bias velvet on
theedge.
One large pocket is more stylish than
two on the over-skirt. There are various
designs for pockets. Some are deep,
slender pouches, drawn up like reticules
near the top, others have four or five
straight rows of side-pleating crossing
them, while still others are pleated from
top to bottom and trimmed with bow.
Cuffs cannot be Of too simple shape for
stylishness; in fact, the favorite fashion
dispenses with them altogether, and mere
ly has the sleeve cut to flare over the
wrist and remain open in the side seams.
Piping folds and pleating are the trim
mings for cuffs. Lady Washington
sleeves, with full ruffles at the elbow, are
worn with evening dresses. Transparent
sleeves of net or figured lace are also
worn with thick silk or velvet cuirasses.
Hampers B0zar.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
The Chinese Language.

THE Chinese language is one Of the
mOnosyllabic class of Asiatic languages Of
which each word uttered by single artic-
ulation of speech expresses in itself an
entire idea or thing All Chinese words
terminate either in a vowel, diphthOng,
or a nasal, and of such simple roots there
are about $50, although by the four or five
different ways in which they may be
spoken, thus producing a corresponding
variety Of significance, the number of
simple words or roots may be increased to
about 1900. Chinese words possess no
modification of form, since by having no
distinctive parts of speech, and no recOg-
nized principles of infection, the relations
Of words are only ascertained by their
position in a sentence; hence, Chinese
grammar is solely syntax The purest
Chinese is spoken at Nankin, but the
same idiom, called the language of the
Mandarins, is spoken by the educated in
all parts e the Empire.
In Chinese the written character, gener-
ally speaking, does not indicate the sound
of the word, but gives kind of hero
glyphic or pictorial representation of the
idea or thing to be expressed. Hence
there are required as many of these char
acters or symbols as there are ideas to be
represented. In writing and printing the
characters are arranged in perpendicular
columns, which follow one another frsm
right to left.-Star.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27

with deep scratches. How did you get
these?" she inquired. From the CATS
he exclaimed, "the four catsr' An i'll
locking man now advanced and claimed
the child; but at the same moment lock.
smith came forward and, rudely address
ing him, said: You have got a fine
piece of work out Of me, but you shall
make use OF it no longer" and an aIterca-
ton ensued, during which little knot of
interested persons, guided by the lock-
smith, made their way to the house
whence the little boy had escaped It
then appeared that the little child was be-
ing trained to act the part of dwarf in a
miniature circus, in which he was to imi-
tate Bidel, the lion-tamer, on very small
scale, by exercising his sway over a num-
Der OF cats, stained to resemble tigers. To
this end the unhappy little fellow was
daily shut into cage supplied by the
locksmith to his cruel guardian, with four
cats, whom he was directed to whip into
submission, but who, after the manner Of
their kind, when unable to escape, nearly
tore him to pieces between them. While
ali this was being explained to the spec
tators the inventor of the miniature circus
managed to disappear. -Lond011 Pail Mall
GHzette
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
French Costumes.

UNIQUE combinations Of color and some
contrasts are found in newly-imported
Partisan costumes. There is a fancy for
arranging brown End blue together. Thus,
a new French dress has a skirt of nut
brown velvet, with a long Over-dress of
pale blue cashmere. Another rich suit
has long apron and sleeves Of very dark
leaf brown cashmere, with a cuirass and
lower skirt of striped brown and blue
silk. The fronts of the cuirass have but
one dart, and are cut bias, with the stripes
meeting in the center. The long side
forms are of cashmere. The high En-
glish collar-at least two inches broad
is of silk lined with cashmere, and is
turned back in front to show the lining.
The fiat mother-of-pearl buttons have
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27

THE English Chemist and Druggist says
cloths is to dip them in a solution of sub
phate of alumina or alum cake, and after
ward in a warm solution Of white CASTLE
or curd soap Ordinary soap may an
swer for dark cloths, but white soap is
essential in the case Of white or light
cOIored goods. The cloths are then to be
rinsed in clear, cold water and allowed to
dry The chemical reaction is simple
enough in this case. Soaps are mainly
composed of stearate of soda, which, on
being rinsed with sulphate Of alumina,
forms sulphate of soda; that disappears in
the washing, and an insoluble stearate Of
alumina is formed, which remains on the
clothes and renders them waterproof
OUR native walnut wood is, according
to the Cabinet- Maker, one Of the best ma
terials in the world for furniture-when
oiled, approaching very near the color of
dark old oak, and finishing much finer. The
American walnut, however, requires the
grain to be we'll filed with a composition
to resist the action of the heat in most
dwellings, and to this effect mere oiling is
not adequate, as it leaves the pores Of the
wood so open that it absOrbs the heat;
thus, in room at temperature of some
seventy five degrees, the oiled walnut will
absorb the heat to within five degrees of
the heat of the room, while vanished oak
will reflect the heat and will not reach
over forty-fve to fifty degrees. On this
account the wood should be well seasoned
and the grain filled with shellac or other
material, to prevent the shrlnkage. Lin
seed oil hardens wood, and well-made
walnut work, finished with it and shellac,
will in few years acquire a polish al
most like bronze and, it may be added, as
beautiful in appearance.
A NEW process for preserving wood
from fire and decay has been invented.
It consists first in kiln-drying the wood,
which deprlves it of all moisture and
much of its volatile turpentine and other
infammable matters. 1t is then put into
suitable cylinders, in which lime and
water, with sulphurous acid gas, are
forced into the pores OF the wood under
considerable pressure. The wood is re-
moved, dried, and is then ready for use.
The chemistry of the process consists in
the formation of a soluble sulphate of
lime by means of the sulphurous acid
and the lime; this crystallizes as bisulph-
tie, which oxidizes and is converted into
the sulphate of lime or gypsum. As this
is an exceedingly insoluble salt, it is not
easily removed from the pores Of the
wood, and not only by its presence pro-
tects it as a non-conductor of heat, but
deoxidizes all matters which are likely to
prove Objectionable as ferments.-N. 7.
Tribune.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
Japanese Oddities.

THE japanese turkeys do not quite come
up to those of their kind in America
Their flesh does not become so succuIent
and tender upon diet of rice as upon
meal and corn. The japanese have an
odd name for this bird, signifying the
" seven-colored face from the changing
hues of the gobbler's gills. In the same
way their name for the crab, the animal
that walks seven ways" Speaking of
curious names reminds me of what the
Coolies say about chestnuts and sweet
potatoes. These poor fellows, who per
form the most toilsome and prolonged
tasks for mere pittance, who bear the
burden and the heat of the day. in the
fullest sense of the expression, have a
hearty appreciation of good food. Toll
ing as they do for daily wages that would
not purchase the food of child in our
country, cheap food is the necessity of
their lives Hence it is that they feed
largely upon sweet-potatoes, the cheapest
of all edibles in Japan Chestnuts, which
are known as "nine-mile nuts" while
not excessively dear, are generally beyond
the means of the Coolies. But they de-
light to fancy that sweet-potatoes are
almost as good as chestnuts, so they &C
cordlngly dub the potato 4" eight mile and
half good" which makes it only half a
mile short of the chestnut. A man who
lives on chestnuts can go nine japanese
miles (about twenty-five and one-half En-
glish miles, in a day, while he who eats
sweet-potatoes can go eight and one-half
miles (twenty-one and one-q quarter English
miles,, hence the names. Notwithstand-
ing what seems to us to be the weak and
insufficient diet of the japanese laboring
men their endurance and strength are
truly wonderful. 1 have ridden sixty
miles between sun and sun in jynrick-
fsha drawn by two Coolies, and the day
after that went about forty miles more
with the same two men. At the end Of
the first days journey they did not seem
to be very fatigued. Immediately after
| stopping at tea-house for the night they
! took a bath in water so hot that could
not have washed my hands in it, and after
comfortably parboillng themselves got out,
took heavy meal of rice and dried fish,
and then sat up almost all the night gam
! bling and drinking sakI. On the coolest
| days, and even when there is snow on the
| ground, you can see these fellows on the
street with no clothing save thin cotton
/ shirt, pair of pants of the same material
reaching to the knees, and straw sandals
Nor do they seem to be particularly cold,
although a foreigner would consider their
/ costume barely sufficient for a warm sum-
MGR day.-Yedd0 Cor. Cleveland Herald.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27

usually being found together, apparently
deprived of life and sensation. For the
purpose of securing greater warmth and
safety from danger, this little animal he
fore winter sets in, forms a cover or lid To
the mouth of its shell with its slime,
which stops it up entirely and protects the
animal from every outside danger"
Guilds door to its own house to keen
out the cold and all intruders? Well done.
Mr.. Snail, you have gotsome sense, ifyou
do creep along so slowly
'To be sure, it has good deal Of sense,
or instinct, Jamie. For it not only closes
up the way into its own house, but some
times, when this cover is formed too
thick, the snail breaks little air-hole in
ia window, as you might say to its
storm-house-ro counteract the closeness
which first proceeded from too great eau
ton. In this manner, sheltered in its
hole from the weather and every other
danger, it sleeps during the long winter
months
Without any food at all?" asked
Willie.
unues without food or motion, until the
genial sun of spring wakes it up and ex-
cites its activity
Not much activity about these chaps"
laughingIy replied jamie
Very true; for we often compare slow
ness to a snail However, it usually
comes forth in its own fashion on the first
warm days in April. Breaks open its
own door and sallies forth to seek nour-
ishment AT first it is not very particu-
lar in the choice of its food; almost any
vegetable that seems green is welcome;
but the succulent plants of the garden are
chiefly grateful; and the various kinds of
pulse, at some seasons, are almost wholly
destroyed by them if appearing in num-
bers.
"a wet season is generally favorable
to their production for this animal cannot
bear very dry seasons or dry places, as
they cause too great a consumption of
their slime, without plenty of which they
cannot subsist in health and vigor. One
thing more / must tell you about the
snail. It produces a great number of
small, round, white eggs, covered with a
sort of soft shell. By an imperceptible
slime they are stuck to each other like a
bunch of grapes, the whole about the size
of pea
Just as spiders have their eggs in q
sort of silky web ~ asked VIII.
Somewhat like it, VIII. But the snail
does not, like the spider, leave its eggs
exposed. With the greatest industry and
solicitude they are hid in the earth until
the warm spring sun WHITES them, when
the snails creep forth. l believe l have
now told you all I can remember about
the snail. You see, dear boys, our Heaven
ly Father erdows each animal with pecuI-
lar instincts of its own, and they prove
His watchful, loving care over all created
things"
Willie and jamie Stewart had listened
with much interest to their father while
giving his account of these little creatures
and after thanking him for it they ran off
to see if they could not find their snail
with its head sticking out of its curious
shell house.-J0sie Keen, an Ny. Observer.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
gnr nuntrg Readers.
Discomfort.

DOWN III field one day in June
The lowers all bloomed together,
Save one, who tried TO hide herself,
And dropped, that pleasant weather.
A robin who had scared too high,
And felt little lazy,
Was resting near buttercup
Who wished she were daisy.
For daisies grow so trig and tall;
She always had passion
For wearing frills about her neck
In just the daisies fashion.
And buttercups must always be
The same old tiresome color.
While daisies dress in gold and white,
Although their gold is duller.
Dear robin" said this sad young flower,
Perhaps you'd not mind trying
To find a nice white frlll for me,
Some day, when you are fying?"
You silly thingr' the robin said;
81 think you must be crazy
I'd rather be my honest self
Than any made-up daisy.
you're nicer in your own bright gown,
The little children love you;
Be the best buttercup you can,
And think no flower above you
Though swallows leave me out of sight,
We'd better keep our places;
Perhaps the world would all go wrong
With one too many daisies.
8 Look bravely up into the sky,
And be content with knowing
That God wished for buttercup
just here where you are growing"
Sarah o. JegCett, an st. Nicholas.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
The Miniature /" Tiger-king."

THE attempts made by adventures to
amuse and interest the public are often
more ingenious than agreeable, and it
would be we'll if all those depending upon
cruelty and oppression for success failed
as signally as the intended performance in
Paris of the miniature Tiger King. A
respectable workingwoman was returning
home one afternoon, says French jour-
nal, when a very little child, apparently
prey to the widest terror, clutched her
gown, crying . Take me away, take me
awayr' Looking at the little fellAwmore
closely she perceived that he was covered
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
Died of a Lawsuit.

A TATTERED memorandum book was
recently found on the steps of a very hum
bic dwelling "out West" Some of the
entries are as follows:
my fatherhad a slight misunderstood
ing with a neighbor about a division
fence, which he had inherited from my
grandfather. After several disputes he
consulted lawyer who had good many
children, but little practice. This was
fatal. A suit was commenced.
"Several years ago my lawyer said [
must get ready for the trial. I did so,
and went to court at every term. But it
was postponed upon every pretense which
human ingenuity could invent.
"1S70. March Term-Counsel for de-
PENDANT moved continuance, because he
was engaged in the Court of Common
Pleas. Court granted the motion, but in
timated, with great dignity, that such an
excuse would never avail with him again.
September Term-Counsel trying
case in an adjoining county. Judge hest
tated, but yielded.
December Term - Defendant i'll.
Proved by the certificate Of respectable
physician.
"1872. March Term - Counsel had
made an engagement to meet client from
New York, who could not conveniently
leave his business again. Continued, the
Judge suggesting that New York clients
mi ght find counsel nearer home.
"1873. September Term-Carried the
title deeds to my lawyer. Surveyor ex-
amined the premises, said the defendant
had encroached on me- But another sur
veyor (partner and pupil Of the first one)
said that my deed spoke of hackmatack
stump in the line of the fence, a foot in
diameter; whereas, the only tree any
where near the fence was pepperidge
tree, not more than seven inches and
half across; case postponed, to employ
other surveyors.
December Term-Counsel agreed that
Court might visit the premises in dispute.
Judge refused to go, but said the jury
might do so, provided that nobody went
with them to explain and confuse. Next
morning heavy snow fell and boundaries
were covered. Case continued.
"1874 September Term-Motion to
postpone on the ground that the defend
ants attorney wished to be absent, hunt
ing, for few days. Motion prevailed. I
demonstrated, but my counsel said the
lawyers were very accommodating gen.
tlemen, and the courtesies of the bar re-
quired it.
"1S75. March term-One Of the jurors
taken sick. Motion to 60 on with the
trial with eleven jurors. Defendants
counsel objected, with great strength of
voice, and demanded full jury trial,
pure and simple. | think he called 1t the
palladium of our liberties Case post
pOned.
September Term-Received bill for
retainers, term fees, clerks fees and ex-
penses. One item was for the amount OF
retainer which my lawyer had declined
from the defendant Offered him the farm,
provided gained the case. He said this
would not be deemed honorable practice,
but he would take it and give me credit as
far as it went.
Took the cars for the West, coming
mostly on freight trains and after night
fall.
Mem.-Don't forget inscription for
my tombstone: Here lies one e0ho died Of
Zao-sutt, bequeatted By his father. ''-,Hart-
ford Conn., C0urant.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27

Secretary Northop, of the Connecticut
State Board of Education, has made prep
arations for displaying at the Philadelphia
Exhibition evidences OF the educational
development of the Chinese students who
are now in this country under the charge
CT Mr.. Tung Wing.
The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1876-09-07

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The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1876-09-07

Notice Of Application Tor order
10 >s.s Heal ss,1fe.

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Attorneys ~ &ssr-a-Et Mal0uey. AaFu X.