davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
The Confessions of " Medium"

c. L. Jennings, whose pretended
spiritualistic seances have attracted
much attention in Rochester, Elmira,
and elsewhere, has made a full confess
sion of the manner in which he deceived
the public. He has made the following
statements under oath, which appear in
the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
The cabinet which l used was parti-
toned by a wire screen, having the
aperture in the vacant end or side in
which | did not sit. | saw that | could
not stand this test at all, and that some
thing must be done. l decided to get
an accomplice, that we might consult
together about what was to be done.
Often at the midnight hour we have
gone to my room to plan what we
should do, and see if any alterations
could be made in the cabinet. We de-
cided to remove small strip running
across the top of the door and formin g
a part of the casing. Our idea was to
hollow out space which would extend
up into the cornice of the cabi-
net, large enough to hide
some false faces and boards, and have
the piece we removed fixed to work Sc
curely with a spring. So we followed
out small space. We then replaced
the piece, fixing it firm enough to hold
in case of investigation. had my ac.
complice paint me a couple of faces,
one of man and the other of woman,
l then got a small piece of wire, which
twisted up to put in my pocket, and
| told them | would shut the wire door,
as Mr.. Cutter, the control, said he
I thought / was strong enough to ma
| terialize through the screen. / entered
the cabinet, and the singing and music
commenced. / Strengthened out the
wire, attached one of the faces to it
then rolled the face up, poked it through
the screen, and then unrolled it by
turning the wire. also had piece O
thick, dark worsted cloth, which | useC
as beard for myself. On this nigh
two faces appeared at once, one at eacl
aperture, which almost threw the
audience into ecstacies.
My accomplice was concealed in ;
closet opening off the cabinet. At th'
end of the closet was simply the scant
/ ling and sideboard. Leaving just spac,
enough for my accomplice to stand, W,
placed a false end in the closet, whicl
swung on hinges. From the closet i
was impossible to dectect deception
A committee appointed marched in witt
sealing wax and candle, and sealed NJ
the closet door and the window. Thi
disconnected me, and so the condition
were pronounced bad, and no manifes
tations were given; but, instead, l CAV
them a short lecture on Spiritualism
and stated that the next night, proba
bly,, every thing would be all right
! The question was how to get my accom-
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
The Flow Of Speech.

Though we all employ speech, says
the PopatLar Science Monthly, yet we dill
fer in ease and agreeableness of utter
ance. The voice is weak or powerful,
as determined by the mode of action OF
the respiratory organs. The tlmDre Is
sharp, harsh, sweet or harmonious;
this is determined by the conformation
of the resonant cavities. Whatever
quality of voice we happen to have
naturally, is to be preserved, though 1t
NAV be improved by constant attention
to the ear, by steady observation, final
ly by training. Speech does not flow
from its source with the same ease in
all cases; here the mind is master, and
mental qualities differ from one anoth-
er to far greater extent than physical
aptitudes. Some persons express them
selves without difficulty or hesitation
their thinking faculty acts as a contln-
uous force; others seem to grasp word
or a phrase here and there-thelr think
inc faculty is fascinating, confused, un-
decided. A certain feeling OF constralnt
produces suffering, stammerlng. 1t
used to be supposed that suffering IS
the result of grave defects of the vocal
organs, but such is not the case at all {;
this infrmity has its seat in the mind,
and it may be cured or mitigated by
systematic effort 1t is shown by sta
tistics that Provence, Languedoc, and
Guiene contain greater portion OF
stammerers in their population than
any other portions of France. This
statement, when first L saw it, was
surprise to me; it has ALWAYS been
thought that no one could possiJ-y tal-
ter in his speech who was born near
the Garonne.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
About a KrOnkikOlOgy.

You have doubtless heard about "the
Bosom of destruction. Well, Mr.. Be-
som, of Third Avenue, is not that kind
of man. He wouldn't destroy grass
hopper if he could walk around or climb
over the insect. His object is to slide
through life without hurting any ones
feelings or stepping on any ones toes.
They got new hired girl at his house
the other day. She had pensive eyes,
a very quiet way, and seemed quietly
religious. Bosom said she was just the
kind of a girl he liked to see around the
kitchen, and he fiattered Mrs. Bosom for
her perception in reading human ma
ture.
The first evening the new girl caught
Bosom in the pantry. He was on tip
toe, and had Just reached down bottle
from the top shelf. He started to put
it back, hesitated, and finally said:
''I wanted to warn you about this
bottle. 1t contains fluid known as
kronkikology. have to take a sip now
and then for my liver, but it is death
to a well person. Don't never touch
this bottle, Augusta don't even smell
of the cork"
The girl soon discovered that it was
bad case of liver complaint. Atleast
Mr.. Bosom entered the pantry regularly
three times per day, and after taking
his " kronkikology" he always uttered
hearty GA! uni"
The family didn't hear the breakfast
bell yesterday morning at the usual
time, and after waiting a while Mrs.
Bosom entered the kitchen to see what
had occurred to delay the meal. She
found the pensive hired girl lying on
the floor, no fire in the stove and no
meal under way.
Krow-kronki-krow-" muttered
the girl.
"The girl has fit-the hired girl is
dyingi" exclaimed Mrs. Bosom as she
rushed through the house.
Bosom ran back to the kitchen with
her, and as he shifted the air in that
room and looked down upon the pen
sive girl he called out:
"She's been drinking gin!"
"Youze liar!" shouted the girl, Sc
curing hold on the stove-leg to help
| her to her feet.
"Get right out of here, you great
big hired girl drunkard!" cried Mrs.
Bosom.
"Yes, and tread up mighty smart!'
added Mr.. Bosom.
"Krow -krOnk-kronkikolo juz az
nicez shugari" stammered the girl.
"Howz liver complaiz, Mizzer Besom!"
"Put her out!" shrieked the wife.
"Puz who ouz? All rize-I'll go rize
ouze-oh! yez!"
She got hold of Mr.. BesOm's shirt
collar and Mrs. BesOm's hair, and the
carpenters at work on new house in
the next lot heard so much direful noise
that they felt called upon to 60 over tc
Besom's. They found the three in q
corner, engaged in an earnest contest,
and it took some time to tell which was
who. The pensive hired girl was car
ried outside the gate, more sober thar
when the unpleasantness began, and as
the crowd stood on the doorstep auc
shook their fists at her and threatened
her she held fast to shade tree anc
called back:
"Whaz THAI you called it, MizzeI
Bosom knonki- knonkikolog? Dii
you fink / was fool, Mizzer Bosom
Be careful of your liver, Mizzer Bosom
Bezzer 90 in fore you catch kron-
kronk-kold!'' !''-Detroa Free Press.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

plice out of the closet. After all had
gone l retnned, and, heating knife,
unsealed the door. BY this means no
one could see that it had been done.
We consulted together as TO what we
could do, and he struck upon q plan
which we adapted and worked success
fully. We sealed all the screws and
sides tight, but from the inside we cut
through the matched door in such 3
way that from the inside of the closet
one-half of it could be opened.
/ didn't make much money, as l had
to divide with my accomplice, who had
me in his power. He used false hair,
wigs, boards, ETC., and put flour on his
hands, to give a ghostly appearance.
We practiced in the daytime, with my
self as audience and he as the spirit.
Many people came and recognized In
the seances faces of deceased friends.
One evening L attended temperance
meeting in Riley Hall, and heard Gen.
Riley tell about Adonijah Green, wao
forty years before kept hotel where the
Whitcomb House now is. In my next
seance he appeared, and no one knew
him. But on inquiry they found such a
man had lived here at that time, and
kept hotel. went up to Mount Hope,
and from tombstones obtained names
to use. got the names of Lieut.. Kline
and Gen. Stevens. For baby faces we
used piece of black velveteen, cutting
out small round hole for the face.
This, placed over face, looked like the
small features of babe.
Bouquets, rings, etc, were taken from
the hands of the spectators and returned
while my hands were in the stocks. A
Mr.. TubbS one evening proposed addi-
tional seals to the closet door. l OBJ
iected on the ground that the control
said too many alterations had already
been made. Mr.. Tubbs finally asked
me to allow him to enter the closet and
seal it in his own way. The control re-
fused, but said at the next sitting q
manifestation would be given which
would satisfy ala form would walk
out of the cabinet in their midst; but
Mr.. Tubbs said he would not be salts
fed until his demand was complied
with, and, furthermore, no more Sc.
ances could be given until it was done
said was greatly incensed at the
control, because he would not consent
to this, but had no alternative but tC
stop. This was two weeks ago. Mr.
Tubbs was determined, and L saw the
game was up. knew that the Rev
Mr.. Stratton was acquainted with some
of my relatives, and so l went to hin
for advice. He advised me to make 6
| clean breast of it.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

nevertheless, abounded in the midst of
misery, and wit and humor were pour
ed forth from the very bowels of suffer-
ing.
There was Spanish-American lady
on board, with her dog, her bird and
her golden wig. paused at her win
dow and condoled with her as she lay
PROSTATE.
"I am veree bad" said she. "My
stomach-it feels like butterfly"
"Like butterfly PSI
"Si. So light. Dios. 1 jump into
the seal"
A pretty bride occupied another state.
room. She reclined in her berth, hrac-
ING herself with one hand and holding
in the other slice of toast. On the
sofa near the window lay her husband,
pale as paper.
"How goes the honeymoon" l in
quired with sea-sick impertinence.
"Alas!" exclaimed the little lady,
touching her chest and then motioning
toward the disconsolate groom: How
happy could l be with either, were
t'other dear charmer away"
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
a TRAPPER'S STORY.


/" Twas a moonlight night the trapper began
As we lay 10y the bright camp fire
come, MI mp your pipes, and pile on th
And draw little higher
"'rwas a moonlight night, when Bet and l.
Bet-shss the old mare, you know
Started for camp on our lonely route
Ger the dreary waste Of snow.
al had been to the clearing that afternoon,
For powder and bali, and whisky, too,
For game was plenty, furs in demand,
nd plenty OF hunting and trapping % do.
81 mad no fear Of the danger that lurked
In the region through which my journey lay,
Till Bet OF a sudden pricked up her ears,
And snincd the air in a curious way.
81 knew at once what the danger was,
And Bet struck out at forty gait;
Twas life or death for the mare and me,
And all 1 could do was to trust to fate.
Evolves on oar track, ten miles from homel
pleasant prospect that, eh, boys:
j could see them skuikng among the trees,
And the woods rc-echood their hideous noise.
" At last, as their number began To swell
They bol Ter grew and pressed us close;
So 'Old Pin Driver brought 10 bear,
And gave the leader leaden dose.
"Now you must know, If you draw the blood
On one Of the sneaking, ravenous crew,
The rest viii turn on the double quick,
And eat him up without more ado.
"This gave me a chance to load my gun.
With just chance to breathe and rest,
When on they camel a-gaiRng fast,
Though Bet was doing her level best.
81 began to think it was getting hot;
PIN Driver, saws !, this VIII never do;
Talk TO em againl You bet she did,
And right in his tracks lay number two.
"Wel, boys, to make a long story short,
/ picked them of till but one was left;
But he was a whOpper, you'd better believe
A reglar mammoth in size and heft.
"Yes, he was the last of the savage pack,
For, as they had followed the natral law,
They had eaten each other as fast as they fell,
TIL all were condensed in his spacious nav. ..
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
Sea Sick.

Jerome B. Stillson, of the New York
World, on the way to Victoria with Lord
Dufferin, writes as follows of a bit OF
sea experience: There never was worse
weather. This l have the permission
of two sea captains to aver. A tero-
cious gale burst into the North Pacific,
and we received the height, the decline
and the after effects of it, off rock
bound coast. Our ship, lightly laden,
rolled so as not only to disarrange her
own and the weaker passengers intes-
tines, but so violently as to empty the
throats of the few sturdy folks who as
sembled at dinner soon after they be-
gan their hazardous repast. Truly, the
Ship rolled hideously, so that there was
no appetite, nor sleep, nor rest at any
moment; and, therefore, one might
expect little good nature. Good nature,
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
pUNGENT PARAGRAPHS.


THESE new styles of paniers do away
with newspaper bustles, and Journal
must run on its merits alones-free
Press. -
RECTOR (sorrowfuIlyt to g Habitual")
-"Drunk again" Habituai (eneer
fully to rector)-" New mind som
l." -.
Or one of his female clients, Rufus
Choat said: "She is q sinner-no, not
a sinner, for she is our client; but she
is very disagreeable saint!i"
MEREDITH READ, our Minister to
Greece, has done much to restore the
shattered reputation of the American
name abroad, by introducing new
style of turn-down shirt-eollar IN
Brooklyn argus.
A NEWPORT girl had afall last week,
and Injured herself so severely that sne
was carried home insensible. Upon
recovering. her first words, addressed
to her sister, were: "Mary, did L nave
on my striped stockings?"
THEY were sitting around the table
talking earnestly, as men will do aiter
dinner, and the subject of races was un-
der discussion, when the host asked a
little fellow, who didn't seem to De
much interested, if he enjoyed ethnol-
ogy. He said he did, but his doctor
wouldn't let him eat any thing for des-
sert but watermelon.
SUMNER has faded into the irretrieva-
BILE past, floated out of the gates that
never will open for its return, gone
with its memories of blossom and bird,
and fragrant hedge and swaying vfnes'
the clink of the scythe down in the
meadow and the whirr of the reaping
machine eating up farm hand, but the
scent of pennyroyal and the red lump
that marks where the last mosquito
stopped for refreshments, still hnger
round the scene.-HG'ok-eye.
A FEW days ago stranger at one OF
our hotels asked for napkin at dinner.
The landlord refused to give him one.
"But," said the guest, 'that man at
the other table has one." That man
is a regular boarder, and has just got
back from the Centennial, and L have
to pander to him for a day or so, but 1t
won't be long before he will be wiping
his mouth on the table cloth and clean
ING his nails with fork, like the rest
of the gentlemen. No, stranger, we
don't allow any style here as a regular
thing, but we can't help ourselves
sometimes. San ArstoHto Herald.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
ChOate'S Defense.

A ship captain charged with starving
his sailors was defended in Court by
Rufus Choate. In summing up Mr..
Choate put the facts to the Jury in this
way: ave stand charged here with
having underfed these men, gentlemen,
when it appears upon the testimony of
these mutinuous ingrates themselves
that upon Monday they had the tooth
some and wholesome duff, upon Tues
day the nutritious and delicious dundy
funk, and upon Wednesday the captain
dealt out to them with his own hand
aye, gentlemen, with his own paternal
hand-squashes; not the cold and shriv-
eled vegetable of our Northern cline,
but the gorgeous, the luXuriant, the eX-
uberant squash of the tropics"
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

The price of cotton cloth is now lower
in England than 1t has been for 20 years,
while the raw material is lower than 1t
has been for 16 years, and the manu-
facturers complain that they are now
selling their manufactured goods at less
than the cost prices. This fact Is pre-
sumably attributable to the increased
cost of production. The wages OF SPIN
ners and weavers have been steadily
advancing from 60 to IS per cent. dur
ing the past u or - years, while rents,
fuel, machinery, ETC., have also increas-
ed in costs. Throughout the country
manufacturers are reducing wages and
scheming to bring down the cost OF
production.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
Price of Cows for the Last Forty Years.

William Sheldon, of Upper Provi-
dence, well known as one OF the most
extensive dealers in Montgomery Coun-
ty, Pa, has furnished the Media Demo-
crat some valuable information on the
subject of the price of COWS for the last
FORTY wears. Mr. Sheldon is a careful,
methodical man, and his statement may
therefore be relied on. He says that
previous to 1885 and during that year
good cows could be bought from Slo to
S24. From 1885 to 1886 the average
price was $40. During the years 1887
and 1888, S23. In 1889 the average was
$50 per head; in 1910, average $50.
With dull trade during 1871 the aver
age price went down to Sl9, at winch
price the market stood the two follow
inc wears of 1871 and 1912. In 1S43
there was a Slight rise, the average go
inc up to S22; in the next year there
was a rise of about 81, the price being
S2S per head; in 1916, -S24 per head; IN
1S47 and 1S4S, S22 to S25; in 1919, 1850,
1851, and 1852 the market averaged
S26; in 1858 the average was the same,
but the market not so strong; IN
1854 the average was S2S; the highest
price was $40 and the lowest S22 and
S23. In 1855 and 1856 the average was
$50. In the spring of 1857 the market
was excitable, and the average for the
year reached S34, but prices went down
yerv low at the end of the season. In
1858 and 1859 the market was low and
hard, averaging S29. in 1860 and 1861
good lots brought S35 per head. Dur
ING the next three years good prices
we're obtained, the average being about
s65 per head; some good lots averaged
over 800. Since then the markets
have been high and drovers have done
well. Just now there is a downward
tendency, and the prospect is that
prices will continue to decline for some
time. Mr.. Sheldon says that the best
COW he ever sold was from the noun
tains, and she made IS pounds OF but
ter per week. She was muley of the
common stock.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
ACROSS THE FIELD OF BARLEY.

To-m morrow, ma, I'm sweet sixteen,
And Billy Grimes. the drover,
Has popp'd the question 10 me, ma,
And wants 10 be my lover;
To morrow morn, he says, mamma,
He's coming here quite early,
To take pleasant walk with me
Across the field Of barley"
You must not go, my gentle dear,
There's no uee now a-talking;
You shall not 90 across the field
With Billy Grimes a-walking.
To think Of his presumption, tool
The dirty, ugly drover.
wonder where your pride has gone,
To think Of such loveri"
"Old Grimes is dead, you know, mamma,
And Billy is 50 lonely;
Besides, they say, 20 Grimes estate.
That Billy is the only
Surviving heir to all that's left;
And that, they say, Is nearly
n good ten thousand pounds mamma
And quite six hundred yearly"
II did not hear. my daughter dear.
You last remark quite clearly,
But Billy is a clever lad,
And no doubt loves you dearly;
Remember then, to- morrow morn,
To be up bright and early.
To take pleasant walk with him
Across the field Of barley i"-Old Song.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

To such an extent is the practice of
overwhelming textile fabrics at present
carried on by English manufacturers,
that poor sorts of cotton are thus made
to assume the necessary tenacity of
twist, and warps are now at times ac-
tually loaded with size to the extent of
40 per cent. But, in addition to this
operation of sizing, new development
has taken place or form in the hands OF
the dealer, after the receipt of the cloth
from the factory. This consists in
''6nishing'' it-according to the term
employed-in its manufactured state.
For this purpose certain cloths are Sc
lected, and 6-pound shirting, 12xl2,
is, by the new process, made to weigh
pounds; 7-pOund shirting, 14xl4, to
weigA pounds; and 73-pound shirt
ing, 16xl6, to weigh 81 or 81 pounds.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

A POOR woman in York County pur-
chased pound of fresh butter, in which
was found large potato when cut in
two. The woman, believing the COW
swallowed the potato whole, thinks it
strange the esculent was not discovered
and thrown out by the person who
MIXED the animal.-NOrriStolC Herald.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

RAILROAD investment in the United
States is not peculiarly profitable in
vestment just now. OF the sos roads IN
the country only 166 pay dividend to
the stockholders. No less than 525
roads, representing capital OF 81, f5O,-
773 3,449, do not pay dividend.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

A NUMBER of Turks from Jerusalem,
in Syria, who are now engaged in busi-
ness on the Centennial grounds, have
declared in court their intention Of be-
coming American citizens.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28
I [From the Brooklyn Eagle

Love laughs at prison bars, and love
laughed in this instance at stern parents.
The Foster family were almost par
alyzed with fear for the safety of their
daughter. They would not believe that
she condescended to an elopement with
one so low in the social scale, but as he
was missing there could be no informa-
ton obtained, and opinion was divid-
ed between an abduction and an elope-
ment.
On Thursday the happy husband re-
turned to his post at the Water-works.
Then followed a stormy scene between
him and his father-in-law, but the young
husband had the best of it. He says ne
is abundantly able to take care of Ida,
and he don't ask any favors. She is with
his parents in Jersey City.
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

THESE new styles of paniers do away
with newspaper eusties, and Journal
must run on its merits alones-fTee
The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-28

RECTOR (sorrowfully to " Habitnal'0
=" Drunk again" Habituai (eneer
fully to rector)-" New mind som
The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1876-08-17
The -Anti-AGOnOp0list.

to steady the action of the sickle, and its
motion is so violent as to be continually
breaking. Also that the latter half Of
this week the grain has ripened so sud-
denly that il is almost impossible to
work during the day time-the straw
being too brittle to admit of binding ):
hence they are working early in the
morning, and in the evening away into
the nj ght.
There is large crop of wheat in Cali
tornia this year, but it it can be disposed
OF ut living rates is a question that now
seriously agitates the producer; and as
one half the farmers of the state are in
debt to large extent, sand are compell-
ed to realize Within the next so days, it
is very serious question.-Erchauqe
INDIANA.-F armers are almost dis
couraged there is such poor prospect
TOR corn, It commenced raining abont
the middle Of June during barley har-
vest, and kept raining SO long and the
corn was covered with water until in
many places it is scalded and cannot do
much good. Clover was put up in very
bad condition. Some farmers lost their
Glove. crop entirely.