davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
Cutting a Dash in the Country.

Washington girl paid visit a short
time since to a friend on the Eastern
shore of Maryland, and among her out
fit for the occasion had one of those
variegated suits now SO fashionable.
Upon her first visit to the rural church
she wore it, and was the observed of all
observers. She was highly gratified
with her impression until she happened
to hear two rustics whispering in the
seat behind her.
"Why, jes' look at her, Sail" said one
to the other; "she's putin on more
airs than if she had on half dozen
dresses all outen the same piece"
"Yes, indeed" replied Sal. "Guess
she thinks she's some, with that ar bed
quilt strung around her. Reckon there's
a piece of her mothers, her gran'mOth-
er's, and her great-gran mothers old
silk weddin' dresses in that" Look
at the gingerbread fixin's she's goi all
round her, toO," remarked the other.
Tell you what, maybe she's some poor,
crazy critter, out of her mind, an they
pampers her by fxin' her up that way. "
''Wonder if them yerrings an things
amt the kind what Jim was tellin' us
you could get whole bushel of 'em fer
half dollar"
The Washington girl could stand it
no longer. She plead sudden sickness,
left the church, and took the early train
home next morning Now she says,
sarcastically, that she "always thought
Maryland was civilized. "-WaShingtOn
Chrn11icLP
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
A Queer Story From Canada.

An extraordinary occurrence was
brought to light at an inquest held on
the body of man in South London. In
workroom, where many young girls
were at work, mouse suddenly made
its appearance on table, causing, of
course, considerable commOtion and
g neral stampede. The intruder was
seized, however, by young man who
happened TO be present, but the mouse
slipped out of his hand, and, running
up his sleeve, and coming out between
his waistcoat and shirt at the neck. The
unfortunate man had his mouth open,
and the mouse, on the lookout for some
convenient place of concealment, enter
ed the mans mouth, and he, in his
fright and surprise, swallowed it. That
mouse can live for a considerable
time without much air has long been a
popular belief, and was unfortunately
proved to be fact in the present in
Stance, for the mouse began to tear and
bite inside the mans throat, and chest,
and the result was that the fellow died
after a little time in horrible agony.
Several witnesses cOrroborated the
above facts, and medical testimony as
to the cause of death having been given,
a verdict of accidental death " was
returned.-Toronto Globe.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
What One Can Go Through.

ATaunton man of 46 has had check
cred career. He has been shipwrecked
once, narrowly escaped baking in rail-
road accident, has been run away with
times innumerable, was shot in the
neck at Gettysburg, had taste of the
horrors of Libby Prison, fell overheard
from whaler, and, before being pick
ed up, left two fingers in the mouth of
a shark, was drafted twice, had the
right arm broken in two places during
the New York riot, stood on barrel
with a halter around his neck, in an
Alabama town at the outbreak of the
rebellion, from sunrise to sunset; in 1868
was crushed under falling building
duringa California earthquake, and was
without food or drink nearly fifty
hours, and when homeward bound from
the mines of the White Pine region mar
rowly escaped lynching through mis-
take in person. Amid all, he preserves
his equanimity, and refuses to believe
that luck is against him.-WorceSter
Spy.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
English and American Railroad Acci-
dents.

Our reports for two years show that
% per centum of our train accidents
were collisions; 75 per centum were
collisions in Great Britain. Here 90 per
centum were derailments; there less
than 10 per centum. The causes are
evident. There the railroads are nearly
perfect in condition of track; here, on
the average, exceedingly imperfect.
Here most of the roads are very far from
crowded; there large proportion of
the lines are crowded with trains to an
extent known here only on three or four
of our busiest roads.
There is indeed a radical difference
between European and American roads.
1t was indispensable that the latter
should be cheap. In fact, with labor
and all materials higher than in any
European-higher than in almost any
other civilized-country, our railroads
have not cost half as much per mile as
the European roads. The economy has
been IN the construction of the roads.
They have more and shorter carveS,
often rGeaiS.Sted and generally poorly
ballasted roadbeds, and usually much
lighter rails, bridges, and similar struct-
ures, frequently no fences, and general
ly they cross highways and city streets
at no grade. All these imperfections
make it easier for trains to leave the
track, except that perhaps the lightness
of the rails is compensated by more fire.
quent ties. We might almost say that
European rOlling-stock could not run at
all on some American roads that we
count pretty good.
American ingenuity has been largely
devoted to the contrivance of rolling |
stock which willrun on imperfect tracks, |
and of apparatus to mitigate the effect |
of accidents. Our cars are made flexi- |
bic by trucks, which adjust themselves
readily to inequalities of tracks and |
our unequaled brakes and the |
rigid Miller platforms lessen the effect |
of the too numerous accidents, and the |
strength of the car bodies is made such |
that they often pass whole through |
shocks which would crush English |
g carriages " like egg-shells.
We have this in our favor, that if we |
have the means and the dis |
position to make our roads thoroughly |
good, like the European roads Gas a few
now are, so far as the tracks are con-
provide crossings above or be-
low the tracks, and keep the force need
ed for complete signal system, our
safety apparatus, developed to meet
which made frequent ac-
cidents inevitable, ought to give us an
advantage over the railroad systems of
all other countries. The improved roads |
should make accidents as rare as in !
Europe; the existing safety apparatus
should make their effects much less seri- |
OuS - RniIrO16 GnzfHe
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
A Cool Tramp.

The Dresden CTenn.) Democrat tells
this: Tramps are filing slowly by, and
going to the cities where they can ply
their avocation to more advantage than
they can in country villages, now that
the luscious muscadines, grapes and
persimmons have vanished from their
gaze and grasp They come with pitt
| ful story of lost trunks, valises, and say
they have worked two and three weeks
for this man and that man, and never
got q red for it,. Some deserve pity and
assistance, but the wretch we heard of
the other day deserves the county work
house. He no doubt had been on the
turf long time, from his flow OF Ian
guage and the amount of check he pos
sessed. lie stopped at a farmhouse a
few miles from Dresden and called for
dinner, it being about that time of day;
the good housewife, of course, could not
refuse, and dinner being over, she sat
before him plate of cold chicken, corn
bread, and, in fact, the remains of
very good meal, remarking that the
other members of the family had dined
and gone off on some business.
"Well," said the tramp, I'm sorry
| did not get in at the first table. No
doubt this was fine fowl, but it looks
as though it had been unfortunate, and
been struck by lightning or one of Pro-
fessor Tice's cyclones.
The lady's face colored, and she said,
more Indignantly than politely, "Sir,
you should be thankful for what | gave
you"
go, certainly, I'm very thankful;
but, If they had only known | was COM
ing and waited for me, or had left me
the extreme hind end of the fowl,
would have been more thankful
The hostess sat amazed and did not
speak, until she saw him look about the
table as though he had missed the sight
of some familiar dish.
"What will you have nOw?" she
asked
81 like chicken better when l have
cranberry tart or grape jelly, as kind
of salad, and thinking perhaps you had
forgotten, l would refresh your memo
ry. In the absence of these delicacies,
however, little Worcestershire would
not be amisS. ~ -@
81 have neither" was all the lady
could say 81
mo dessert-rice pudding or dried
apple pies, for iQstance?n
A shake of the head was al the reply
his appeal for dessert received.
"Any buttermilk? am used to tax
ing glass after dinner, as it is much
more healthy than water"
" No bdttermilk''-withd disgust.
81 also see you have no napkins on
the table; no doubt you have forgotten,
and as | am in the habit of using one, l
thought | would ask. No harm done, |
hope. .n-l-r-Ha
II only hope you viii wait till my
husband gets back. You will never en-
Joy another meal or need another nap
kin" 2. -- sa#
MADAM, I have tramped nigh onto
ten years, and l never struck such an
unacceptable shore. They neither have
tart, jelly, pudding nor buttermilk, and
when you ask for napkin your life is
I'm off to more genial
cline, where there is no grumbling and
where every thing is done to make the
life of the poor tramp comfortable.
He went, and left a void which we
hope will never be filed again.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
A Romantic Story.

Miss Ella w. Seal, heiress of the late
Squire JerolamOn, of Kearny, n j it
is stated,is to be married on the oath of
February, to Mr.. James Gillian, a young
Scotch Canadian. A few weeks ago
publicity was given to the unusual con-
ditiOns attached to her inheriting the
property. According to the terms of
his will she was to become his heiress,
provided she did not marry John Boyd,
Jr., of WOOdside. Several years ago,
Miss Seal, while visiting in Canada, met
Mr.. Gillian. The acquaintance ripened,
and they became engaged. On Miss
Seals return to Kearny, her mother as
certained the circumstances, and wrote
to the principal police officer where
Gillian resided as to his reputation. The
officer was an intimate friend of Mr..
Gillian, and showed him the letter,
whereupon Gillian became highly in
dignant, and wrote to his sweetheart,
breaking the engagement. After her
step-father died, a newspaper contain
ing an account of the disposition of the
property was sent to young Gillian. He
renewed his suit, and cards have been
sent out for the marriage.-Ne10ark Id
lpTfiSeT'
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
Costly Food for Turkeys.

The Paterson On. j. Press says the
story is Just told, and it is true in every
particular, containing nothing improb-
able, of the peculiar history of a valu-
able gold earring now worn daily by a
certain Paterson lady. Last summer
the lady was visiting some friends in
the country in one of the New England
States, and while walking in the yard
lost one of her eardrops-dropped it in
the grass, in fact, and thorough search
for it failed to disclose its resting place.
About a week previous to Thanksgiving
last the missing ring was received in a
package at this city, and letter ac-
companying explained its recovery to
have been due to the fact that one of
the old turkey gobblers had fallen vic
tim to the Thanksgiving harvest, and
in its gizzard the identical ring had
been found well preserved and not dam
aged in the least after its six months
singular burial. No better test of the
good quality of the metal could, per-
haps, have been obtained. Money would
not to-day induce the owner to part with
the curiosity.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
Pluck Of a Kentucky Woman.

Jailer Horsfall, of Newport, owns
wife who has several times proved her.
self heroine, and last night about 8
O'Clock she proved again that, although
she is woman, she is better than some
men for all that. Mr.. Horsfall was
away from home his wife heard Il pc
cular kind of noise in the jail. Suspi-
ciOning that something was going crook
ed she seized a revolver and went to the
front portion of the building, when she
discovered that prisoners were at work
on the inside of the wall, cutting hole
through the brick, for the purpose of eff
fecting an escape. 1t appears that there
were seven of the prisoners at work.
Marshal Locke and Lieutenant COtting-
ham had gone over to Cincinnati on
certain affair pertaining to their duty.
The brave woman dispatched a boy for
an officer, and then standing at the place
they were working at, she told the boys
inside she would blow the brains out of
the first one who would dare put his
head through the opening. The boys,
knowing that Mrs. Horsfall meant what
she said, ceased operations, and when
Deputy Marshal Jackson arrived they
both entered and drove the unruly crea-
lures back into their cells. Too much
praise cannot be awarded the brave wo-
man for the fearless part she took in the
affair Had it not been for her those
seven prisoners would doubtless all have
escaped d.-CinCinndt Times.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
Sliding a Thousand Feet "A Snow Slide
Carries a Man Over a Precipice.

Charles Ritchie lost his life on Demo-
crat Mountain last Tuesday. He was
coming home with Mr.. Thomas, with
whom he was boarding, and when just
over the brow of the mountain, 1000
feet above Church's mill, in crossing the
gulch they lost the trail, and went low
er down to cross. In doing so they had
to cross a field of snow. Mr.. Ritchie
sat down to slide, and the moment he
did so the snow started Mr.. Thomas
was only about three feet from him, and
the snow started above and under him,
but being on his feet, he succeeded in
reaching the edge, and saved himself.
Mr.. Ritchie, however, was carried down
the mountain side and over a precipi-
tOus ledge Of rock fifty feet high, land
ing him near the end of wood slide.
He was seen falling, and before Mr..
Thomas reached town for the purpose
of giving the alarm, his body had been
found by parties who fastened to the
scene of the disaster. When found life
was extinct, his skull and jaw being lit
orally smashed.
Mr. Ritchie was a comparative
stranger here. He was about twenty
four years of age, and came here from
Montgomery County, Kansas, where his
father is now residing.
The accident occurred at a place with
in quarter of mile of where James
Fallen was killed last year. The un-
fortunate man fell, and rolled and slid
a distance of nearly thousand feet.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
Quick Prescriptions.

Pref. Wilder, of Cornell University,
gives these short rules for action in case
of accident:
For dust in the eyes avoid rubbing (;
dash cold water in them; remove Gin
ders, etc., with the round point of lead
pencil.
Remove insects from the ear by te-
pid water; never put hard instrument
into the ear.
If an artery is cut compress it above
the wound; if vein is cut, compress
it Below.
If choked, go upon all-fours and
cough. -.
For slight burns, dip the part in cold
water; if the skin is destroyed cover
with varnish.
For apoplexy, raise the head and
body; for fainting, lay the person flat
-SyTacuse Standard.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS.

PIcK out the next bank to be cracked.
It's much safer to rob bank of half q
million than to grab q coat from in front
of a clothing store.-DetroH Free Press.
SCIENCE is a good piece of furniture
for man to have in an upper chamber,
provided he has common sense on the
ground hOor.-Dr. Holmes.
THEY tell this history of Maine
greenhOrn, who recently made a visit
to the Hub: Seeing hotel sign, he en-
tered and inquired the price of lodging.
'One dollar" said the obliging clerk,
handing him pen and pointing to the
register. "What am l to do with this
here pen?'' said the rustic. "Why, put
your name on the book, /" said the clerk,
sand / will assign you room at once"
"Not as you knows on, said the young
man from Maine, ''you don't catch me.
NV father signed his name Onct onto
book, sich as those ere patent-right
fellows carry rOund-nOt nigh so big as
that-and he had to pay $1,000. No,
sir, zee, I,ken pay my way, but L don't
sign no note, you bet!'
A YOUNG man who had looked on the
cocktail when it was red, and was max
ing a grapevine pattern on the siue-
walk Yesterday evening with his boot
heels on his winding way home, met a
very pretty young woman. Beng
smitten by her appearance, he eXecut-
ed very respectful wink at her by pull
ing down his left eyelid with his finger
and thumb, and had Just said "My-
hic-dear-" when he walked against
a -lamp-post, and in a second was knock
ed on his back and received free tick
ct to private exhibition of the occulta-
ton of the Pleiades and other astrO-
nomical phenomena. Throwing up his
hands, he remarked: 'Don't hit me
again-I hicpologize-didn't know she
wash Your your wife-thOush wash
shisr frien' o'mine-thash all RI" Thus
conscience doth make towards of US
Chicago Tribune.
He walked up Cass Avenue with his
pants crowded over his bOOt-tops and
his white overcoat Topping against his
heels at every step. Where Clifford
Street stops is a triangular square.
Where the square stops is an old shed,
and on this shed is a bigposter reading;
60 Frank MayO's Davy Crockett" He
saw the poster and he waded across the
street, read the words, and said: elf
it don't cost too much III see that ami
NAL" He walked around the shed two
or three times to find door, and failing
in this he applied his eye to crevice
and took long look. The shed was
empty. When he discovered this fact
he stepped back, gave the side of the
building heavy kick and exclaimed:
" There's more durn foOling around
and lying in this town than horse
could draw! !r-Detrot Free Press.
HOW PITTSBURGH GOT HER u.
An Englishman mounted his barb.
Then flew he away like the wynd;
And he dropped an II here,
And he dropped an II there,
AS wild shot his steed and awry blew his hair,
Till the road was with aspirates lined.
Pittsburger, horriled, stood
And looked at the Englishman go;
Then he hastily picked up an III
AS though 1t had been n ripe peach,
ITO have seen him you'd thought him aleechl,
And now we have Pittsburgh spelt so.
Louisville Courier Journal.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
A Long March.

The Cincinnati Light Guard, at their
last meeting, decided to march from
this city to Philadelphia, to attend the
Centennial Exposition. The route
adopted is by way of Dayton, Spring
field, Columbus, GAINESVILLE, and Cam
bridge, o.; Wheeling, WA; Waynes-
burg, Uniontown, Somerset, Bedford,
Chambersburg, Gettysburg, York, Ian
caster, and West Chester, Pa, making
the distance about 565 miles, and the
time consumed in going, camping, at
Philadelphia and returning, about two
months, leaving this city about the first
of May and returning about the 1st OF
July.
The company will take with it two
army wagons and teams, sufficient pro-
visions, two teamsters, two cooks, a
drum corps, and all the necessary camp
and garrison equipage. The men will
wear the fatigue uniform, the dress
uniform being carried in the wagons,
carry their guns, light knapsacks, pack
ed with one change of clothing, one
rubber and one wooden blanket, over
coat, ETC., each.-Cincinnati CONNER
cidl.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09

SOME curious and startling facts con-
cerning the people who live upon the
canals in England are given in Mr..
Smiths recent publication entitled "Our
Canal Population" 1t appears that on
the canals and rivers of England there
are not less than %, 400 men, as many
women, and $4,000 children; and that
$4,000 of these men and women are liv-
ing as husbands and wives in an unmar-
ried state, and have 10000 illegitimate
children. Mr.. Smith says of these boat
men and their families: "Ninety-fiye
per cent. cannot read and write, 80 per
cent. are drunkards, 60 per cent. are
unmarried but living as husbands and
wives. Many of the boaters and their
families have but one home, little more
than one bed, and one suit of clothes,
and these not much better than rags.
Their cabin home is scarcely the size of
an ash-box, but in this hole men and
women live together, children are born,
and families are educated into vice and
crime.n
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
0ueer Rats in Kentucky.

There is a married couple living near
here, in Larue County, who, during
their engagement, exchanged rings.
The bride-elect.took off her ring at one
time and was never able to find it after
ward. She came to the conclusion that
it must have been carried away by the
rats. After they had been married
about two years they decided. to clear
the place of the pests, and "a rat was
found with the identical gold ring
around its neck. Its head was as large
as a full grown rats, but its body was
very small 1t is supposed that an old
rat had taken the ring and carried it to
her nest to adorn the neck of her little
darling. Nelson County Ky J Record
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09

Col. J. W. BROOKS, while travelling
in Nevada, found some curious tracks,
of which he gives the following account:
ST found upon the top of table.
mountain, 5000 feet high, nine distinct
impressions of female bare foot. The
impressions, or tracks, following each
other as if the person were walking,
were undoubtedly made in fine sedi-
ment at a time when the composition
was mud. At present the rock is of the
most solid, hinty nature, and would re-
quire well-tempered steel instrument
to make the tracks. This table-topped
mountain is situated near the Colorado
River, in Southeastern Nevada. Is it
possible, with such facts before US, that
the world is but 5000 years old? What
time is needed to change mud into solid
rock, requiring well-tempered steel to
make an impression upon it?"
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
What British Columbia Sends.

We had the pleasure yesterday to view
some of the articles intended to be sent
from this province for exhibition at the
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.
We refer to sections and planks. of the
Douglas pine, cedar and hemlock. We
measured a slab of Douglas pine, which
gave the following dimensions: length,
IA feet; breadth, 9 feet; depth, II
inches. The board was perfectly sound ;
not a flaw was to be seen. The section
of another tree of the same species,
measured 21 feet from the ground, gave
9 feet in diameter, and at the base IA
feet. Trees of this class will tower up
175 feet without showing limb.-TIc-
torid Standard.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09
A sRrRs1, matron visited one of the

A RURAL matron visited one of the
dry-goods stores at Howard City, Kan
sas, the other day and made a careful
examination of some infants ward
robes, with the evident intention of pur-
chasing One of the clerks, in order to
assist her in the selection, asked her
whether the babe was boy or girl,
to which she innocently replied 81
can't tell for few days YETI The clerk
subsidized, while the old lady continued
to price the different articles.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09

RAIsIN PIE.-14 pounds of raisins,
picked, but not stoned; cover with cold
water and boil slowly till quite soft;
mix l tablespoonful each of flour and
vinegar, reduce it with water to thin
ness of gravy thickening and stir in
raisins while boiling; take off then and
put a small piece of butter in, and
sweeten to taste; add a little nutmeg
and make the same as minee pies.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-09

TAKING a donkey towards his ordina-
ry place of residence is very different
thing and feat much more easily ac-
complished than taking him from it.
1t requires good deal of foresight and
presence of mind in the one case to an
ticipate the numerous flights of his dis
cursive Imagination, whereas in the
other all you have to do is to hold on
and place blind confidence in the ami
NAL,