davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22

small newspaper. She was only eighteen
years old when she started this work.
She says it is all the result of prayer,
but it is more probably the result OF
prayer and WORKS both. =
All the thirty-six candidates for the
diploma Of sehool-mistress have just been
rejected at FOX, in France, for inability
to solve the following problem: Two
persons employed in a shop have different
salaries, together amounting to 4,400f
per annum. The first spends two-thirds
of her salary, and the second three
fourths. Their joint savings amount to
1,3l0f. q year. What is the salary of
each?
A party of ten young ladies, with the
Rev. George R. Ferguson, wife and five
children, sailed a few days ago in the
steamship City of Berlin for Liverpool,
on their way to Wellington, Cape Colony,
South Africa. They will combine the
instruction of the natives in English
with missionary work, and also act as
teachers to the children OF English colo
nists. A sister of Mr.. Ferguson is prin-
cipal of the Huegenot seminary at We'll
lingto1, and the demand for teachers thu e
and throughout the colony at large is
rapidly increasing. Mr.. Ferguson and
family and eight of the ladies are from
New Haven.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
an EXPENSITE UNDERTAKING.

At the base of the peninsula which d.
vides Lake Superior into lobes, is beau
tiful lake with an outlet to the east.
The natural waterway stretches beyond
Houghton, with its copper mines on the
hillsides, and almost cuts a channel
through the north shore of that lake,
the neck of land being only two and a
half miles wide. AS early as 1864 a cor
poration was formed for the construction
OF a ship canal across this narrow isthmus.
Work was begun during the next
year, but progress was very slow. A cut
300 feet wide and fifteen feet deep was
to be made across a swamp, where a far
est OF heavy growth had once been up
turned by a great storm, and the surf on
the shore rendered necessary the con-
struction of a strong break-water. Work
went on; the capital stock was increased
again and again; immense land grants
were made by the state legislature and
by congress, and the property wa mort
gagged and remortgaged; and in 1872,
seven years after the construction of the
work was begun, the canal was still un-
finished, and the mortgages aggregated
$4,000 900 at 10 per cent. interest. Fore
closure, litigation and bankruptcy pro-
ceedings followed, and a sale was finally
ordered at Houghton, the highest bid
$500. As the liens amounted to
over $3,861, 900, the bondholders have
sunk about 49, OO,O 900 in this ditch. A
company, with a capital of 81, OOO,-
900, is now endeavoring to complete the
work.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
A BLACK HILLS CAVE.

About three miles above Crook City,
on the Whitewood creek, has been dis
covered a singular ave. 1t is situated
on the northwest side of the creek, about
three hundred feet above the bed of the
stream. It opens into a hill of lime
stone formation fifty feet high. The en-
trance to the cave is twenty feet wide by
ten feet high. The first chamber is about
seventy-fve feet in length, and extends
a little west of north. Then you enter
another chamber about two hundred feet
in length, running almest directly north
east. This second chamber is about
thirty feet wide and ten feet high. Next
you enter upon an incline floor extending
down through room six feet wide, forty
feet high and fifteen feet in length. AS
you leave this singular chamber you
tu9n into a small opening two and one
half by three feet, crawling on your
hands and knees until it gradually
enlarges to a ceiling fifteen feet high.
The atmosphere of the cav is not dis
agreeable. 1t is necessary to take a
faAbsau, as the cav is utterly dark.
The walls and ceiling are thickIy fes-
TONED with caIcareous spar, and the
coating of lime,S
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
rs THIS The WAY LIFE ON LAND
BEGAN?

This beach is noticeable for sea-weeds
and moses carried on land by the tide.
These creations of the deep are of the
most diverse forms and shapes. In the
deep, as under the eye of the sun, nature
exhausts her ingenuity in the produc-
ton of all shapes, forms and colors. One
of these sea-weeds is most remarkable
perhaps. 1t consists of interlaced roots
in a hollow bundle, four to six inches in
diameter, grasping together as its base
earth, shells and rock at the bottom of
the sea. From this bundle of roots a
number of round, hollow strings grow,
one-third of an inch in diameter, with
oval Wind-bags of the same texture at
intervals, so that they can swim in the
water. These w~ind-bags have fms like
fish, and from these fins new roots grow
to become parents plants in their turn.
The texture of the whole plant is of
wood ibers and brown gelatinous matter,
like broom indiasrubber. As the plant
dries in the sun, thousands of little in
sects grow out of it and populate the
sand, leaving the dried-up wooden fbers
to show the skeleton of the plant. Here
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
SOUTHERN NEWS.

S%ssaa ----- EH
THE crop Of dried peaches ii Georgia
year il estimated tobaWorth $780,.
BOD.
EVERY once Ii . while they think Of
Constructing water works in Knoxville,
Tenn.
PoIgT GouPEE PARISH, la, has an
immense product Of honey this year.
There are several hundred barrels of it
for export.
The grass on the mountains has been
on fire up in Bandera, Texas, for the past
week. and much of the range has been
destroyed. .
On account of low water in the river,
Richmond, Va, is on short water supply.
Consumers are counseled to be econom1-
cal in the use of watBr.
GEORGIA papers speak of the Atlanta
custom-house as a superauous concern.
1t will take two years more to finish it,
and the cost will be $500, 900.
THE Giles, Va, Gazette says Glayson
county is troubled with an extraordinary
cattle plague. The cattle are literally
covered with North Carolina blue ticks,
and the disease has been ascertained to
be tick fever. Several have died.
The negro man who called herself
Annie Williams, and was detected in
Chattanooga when his clothing was
stripped from him at the station-house to
give him a bath, turned out not to be so
very fat after all. He was made up with
pillows. II is supposed he had disguised
himself to escape from the conseq uences
of some crime.
IN a life insurance suit in New York
Mr.. P. W. Grubbs, a real estate agent in
Richmond, Va, testified that the assessed
value of real estate in Virginia often
exceeded the actual value the Ballard
House, for instance, of Franklin street,
in Richmond, which was valued by the
city assessors at $81, 900 and about rs
per cent. less by the state assessors, would
not bring, under the most favorable cir
cumstances, more than $4,000.
AN Intellectual attempt was made to
capture Jim Pearson, who is accused of
killing a man in southern Texas about a
year ago, by a detective from Texas,
assisted by a posse of citizens, near
Chattanooga last Monday. Pearson,
although the posse were within ten feet
of him, made good his escape, and now
the Texas detective will have to retrace
his steps without his man.
Nh. HEDGES, of Kaufman county.
Texas, has raised some of the pampas or
upland rice, which will yield about three
hundred bushels to the acre. It can be
served like rice for table use, or it will
make wholesome bread: 1t is considered
the very best for chickens. It is said
that a chicken fed upen this grain will
never have cholera. 1t is destined to be
a staple grain in Texas, and will be very
profitable to the producer.
RICHMOND, Va, State: The hands for
the Henry Clay statue ordered by the
general assembly to replace the mutilatCd
ones were received by Major Samuel H.
Roykin to-day from Florence, Italy.
They are made of the purest Italian
marble, and are of exquisite workman
The old man in his dusty clothes
and soiled linen will look odd with his
clean hands-but his hands were
clean.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22

is a beginning of animal life on earth
right before your eyes, although insects
only. Why do Darwin and Haeckel not
mention this? It is worth a naturalist's
time to- go TIC Santa Cruz and subject this
sea-weed to a careful analysis. I will
bring specimens of it to the Cincinnati
university. The plant has various
shapes and grows to different sizes. I
have a specimen which looks like a
leather whip. black, elastic, and interf-
bered,-Editoriat Cor. Of The american
Israelae.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
EYES.


Sweet baDy eyes,
| That look around with such a grave surprise,
What dc, you sec?
| A strange new world, where simplest things
Eagender wild imaginings
And fancies free.
4 resting-pIace that is not home,
Aparadise wherein to roam
For years, may be.
o placid, wondering baby eyes,
The mystery that in you lies
Oft puzzle me.
Clear boyish eyes,
Whose fearless glance uuconsciously defies
Trouble and care;
When babyhood is past and gone,
What is it that you gaze upon?
A land most fair;
A sunny shore with pleasure rife;
And that great, glorious gift of life
IT'S bliss to share.
Q happy, %trustful, boyish eyes,
Let sages envy, fools despise
The faith you wear.
The anxious eyes
Of manhood, slowly piercing earth's Disguise
Disceyer-what?
That life at last is quickly done,
That hopes fulfilled and wishes won
Are dearly got;
That shadows chased in headlong haste,
And golden fruit he strove to taste.
Delight him not.
O, restless, doubling, troubled eyes,
To learn in sorrow to be wise
Is manhoOd's lot
Dim, aged eyes,
Gazing across the wreck of bieKen ties,
What do they see2
Be~hind-dead leaves that withered fall
A fading wilderness, where all
Is vanity;
Before to gladden. weary sight,
A glimpse. a promise of the bright
Eternity.
O., dim and fearful aged eyes,
Ii waiting till that dawn shall rise,
Blessed are vel
And angel eyes. %
Who have their dwelling-place beyond the skies,
Vainly do we
Image the gloFies they must know,
Picture the peatly gates aglow-
The crystal sea.
For brightest visions mortals paint
Of that celestial country, faint
Must ever be.
pure and holy eyes,
We can but pray that what you prize
Our own may see. Leisure Hol
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
sshoOEana Church.

~
The university of South Carolina /,
10 bs reopened early next year on a
high 9 scale, 1t il promised, as ii eyer
enjoyed.
LII university of Georgia has grad.
uated SIX governors, twenty six United
States senators and congressman fnrfv.
nine Judges and several hundred l%egisla-
t0rs.
MISS Jenny Bancroft, recently grad.
uated by syracuse university has Is.
come Dean of the Woman's College con-
nected with Northwestern university.
AT The present moment 4 900. 900
HiDdoo and 100000 Mohamedanehildren
are attending schools in India. and so 600
to $4,000 of them-aFe receiving instruc-
tons up to the English universities
standard.
Mn George MULES, I'D a espon ID i
hearty invitation from several sc the
clergyrnen Of this country, will sail from
Liverpool the latter part Of this month
for d preaching tour lin North America
commencing at New York.
A great deal has been done ii England
during the past seven years ii the wav
OF increasing public school accommoda.
ticns. Statistics recently published ahow
that, while there were III 1870 IA
conmodations for I,878,854 children.
there are now accommodations for s..
426, 74B.
Is Young lady il Buffalo has d Sunday
school class of seventy five young men.
Thirteen Years ago she began with q class
nf screen Wild boys, She gave her class
weekly receptions ii her parlors. and
played the plano and led the singing for
them, Now her class oil seVenfy-fye
hare h naad Of music Nhose Instruments
cost seven hundred dollars, d boat club
and Y literary society which publishes 81
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
AnTIsEPrICS AND 0Is1NFEcrANrs

A committee appointed by the Rus.
sian government of the ST. Petersburg
medical academy to investigate various
proposed antiseptics and d~isinfectants
have arrived at the following conclu-
sions: 1. Carbolic acid is the most eff
Gent can against the development of
~ammoniaele gas, putrescence, and devel-
opment of lower organisms in organic
matter under decomposition, and it is
therefore the best antiseptic. 2. Wit
rioI, salts of zine, and charcoal are the
best means for dedorizing matter under
p~utrefaction. 8. The powders of Prof.
Kittary, besides the properties they
share in common with other carbolic dis
infectants, deserve attention because of
the isolated state of phenol in them, ana
their contents Of quicklime, which alb
serbs moisture-the principal condition
Of each kind of putrefaction-as also
some port of the gases. s. Chloride of
lime and permanganateo of potash quickly
destroy the lower organisms in liquids.
n. The d~isinfeetant certainly retard the
putrid processes in organic bodies, but
their influence is only temporary, and as
a means Of purifying air in dwellings
their influence is very small, if not to-
tally MI, because Of the very slight de-
gree Of concentration of their ingredi.
ents that can be used without injuring
the health Of inhabitants. 5. For unin-
habited buildings the best diainfectants
are nitrous acid and chlorine.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22

From the first of May to the 30th OF
June the average daily circulation of the
London Telegraph was 342,215 copies,
the largest that any daily newspaper has
| ever had.
Wagner is reported to be SO embar-
raised, pecuniarily, that unless he re.
ceives substantial help he will not be
likely to have much time in the future
for compositions. The great performances
at Beyreuth left a large deficit, and the
London concerts were a disastrous
financial failure.
The Patti-Cau scandal appears to be
settled as far as the courts of France
can accomplish it. The marquis is
legally adjudged the injured party, and
the fascinating but indiscreet diva has
the judicial seal set upon what has hith-
erto foated about upon the breath of
evil rumor, whose authority can always
be questioned.
The queens maids of honor are all
grandaughters of peers who are not below
the. rank of earl, that being a sine qua
non of eligibility for the position. They
receive $4,000 a year, and if they marry
the queen presents them with s 5000.
Each is on duty about two months in
the year. Since the Prince .Consort's
death they have had a dreadfully dull
time of it. Many of these ladies have
remained until past so.
The eldest daughter of the king of the
Belgians, the Princess Louise, has lett
her husband, the prince of SAKE oburg
Gotha, for the second time. Fer mar
riage was a love-match. Prince Phillip,
the husband, has gone to Paris, where
he visits all public places in company
with an actress. To all circumstances
ne replies that he behaves no worse than
his fath~er-in-law, and his wife is silly to
be more difficult than her royal and
imperial mother.
Paul de Cassagnac, the French deputy,
journalist, bully and duelist, received
his first instruction In fencing from q
woman. She was the daughter of a
Polish fugitive, by vocation a fencing
master. Sac came to ask assistance Tor
her sick father, and proved the truth of
her story by challenging a doubter to a
bout with the foils, and easily disarmed
him. Under the tuition of this woman
Cassagnac became one of The most expert
swordsmen of France. He has fought
10 duels, and never received q wound.
Ii ~ nF REafEh!srs likes to listen to
only n person-himself. Sardou n
this respect very much like him. He
talk for half an hour brilliantly, and
he has no anxiety to receive q reply.
The elder Dumas was another converse
tionalist of the same type. He would
talk like a well written book, but would
not listen. The younger Dumas, on the
contrary, is shy and reticent. Victor
Hugo speaks strikingly, much as he
writes; in antitheses using surprising
exaggerated epithets, and i'm
Illustrations. He was a favorite
Louis Philippe, who was himself an
excellent conVersati0nalist.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Personal and literary.

~AC
r. w. HIGHLANDER, the German nov
elist, is dead.
Mr.. Frederick Tennyson, a brother G
the poet, is a SpirituaIist, and he say
5p%iritualism is the only question of til
day.
The death is recorded of Mr.. J. Lang
ton Sanford, Of whom it is said eli
knowledge of English history was lik
other mems knowledge of their owl
lives"
1t is reported that Clara Louise Kel
logg will devote the profits of her coming
California engagement to founding
musical college for American young
ladies in New York city.
Mr.. Mark M. Pomeroy, proprietor o
Pomeroy's Democrat, has obtained a di
vorce from his second vile, Louise M
Pomeroy, and has married again. This il
MI. Pomeroy's second divorce. His
present wife was his proof-reader.
Fannie Davenport has returned from
England, where she did not appear pro
fessionally, in spite of inducements to dc
30. It is stated that Miss Davenport will
enact the heroine of Liz, or the Lass o.
Lowrie," when it is produced in this
country.
Mr. Charles G.. Leland {" Hans Brett
mann has presented to the British
museum a fac-simile of President Lin
coins proclamation of emancipation.
This facsimile bears the genuine sigma
ture of President Lincoln and Secretary
Seward, and is one of those issued during
the sanitary fair period.
John G. Whittier has announced him
self az author of the peem "The song OF
the Vermonters," which has frequently
been attributed to Eshen Allen and
Others. Mr.. Whittier says the ode was
written ill 1888 or "a, and that it was
an attempt at literary mystiication
hardly excusable even in a young writer.
The English people seem astonished at
the remarkable eruption into that coup-
try of so many female writers from
America, who are now regularly en-
ployed on the British press. Among
them are Kate Field, Louise Chandler
Moulton, and Olive Logan-all bright
ladies, with ready pens. Their yivacity
Is now noticeably lighting up the gloom
Of the heavy English bebdomadals; but
bide-bound Johnny Bull rolls up his
eyes in horror at the gay and festive way
In which they express themselves in re.
gard to men and things g~enerally.o
D. B2Sheahan, the Brooklyn sculptor,
has nearly finished a model for an eques-
trian statue of Gen. Lee to be erected at
Richmond, Va. The model represents
Gen. Lee seated on q Kentucky:thorough-
bred horse, and leaking toward a distant
part of the field, where the battle is sup
posed to be raging. The hair is thrown
back from the forehead, the coat is buis
toned nearly to the throat, the wind lifts
the horses name and tail from the BODY
and raises the generals coat. About
$4,000 has been appropriated for the
statue, and nearly two years will be re-
quired for the completion of The work.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
odds and Ends.

VtGtSS N1SN EfeUSs
Some idea OF the scarcity and high
price of horses in England during the
ear 1885 may be formed from the fact
that in that year Richard III. offered
his entire kingdom for one, and the ode,
was not accepted.-Comie journal.
OF all sad words Of tongue or pen .
lhe saddest arc, tit might have heen.p
3 = Whittier.
The saddest words we ever hear
Are those sad, sad words, "No cash, no beer.n
ST.. L0uts journal.
Harper's Bazaar says that you may eat
corn off the cob, but you must hold II
with only enc hand. liz the cob gets a
little the better of you, We suppose you
may hold one end of the cob down with
your loot aaokeye.
There is nothing like knowing how to
select cheerful subjects for dog-day
editorials. A religious exchange presents
a leading article with the captivating
title, "Infant damnation-No. 80 Which
recalls the memoranda in the diary of an
eminent ~theologian: "Aug. 18th-Took q
greet deal Of pleasure to-day in reading
DIR. Edwards able sermon on The JUS
tice of God n 1.-THE Damnation ofSinners.'o
The AAsoace.
a man stood on q street corner in Chi
cago one day this week, slowly and de-
liberately tearing to pieces a very fair
looking pocket-book--frst pulling out
the partitions, then drawing out the lin
ings, and finally ripping the leather
across and tossing the whole wreck into
the street. What'r you doing that
for exclaimed d friend, who came
along. " We'll, I'll tell you,' replied the
man. the fact is, I've got tired CARRYING
around something that's of no earthly use
to me whatever - Chicago Journal.
There was d coIored MAJ about the
streets Saturday, trying to sell d shirt,
he Wsnted the money to buy new rum
with which to battle his rheumatic wife.
lie said he had more shirts THAI he
needed, and the fact he hadn't n on |
gave some color, although dusky. n hi
statement. He finally found 4 GENTLE.
man ready to negotiate with him. The !
was warranted to be all sound and
kind, ~whereupon, unrolling It from ;ta
brown wrapper, it was found TO be fnIl ~
holes, some of them large enough fnr
procession b rabbits to passthrough with
erect. When asked TO count far
the meshes in this human net, MI. John
son exclaimed My goodness gracious,
thought il ? them i moths got
into dc house this very morning and %
for de ole mans miscellaneous shirt
Well, It's awful sticky any way. Good
morning, sab, and then he took up the
shirt carefully, IS would 4 wreath of
mess and walked n~ournfulIy away.-
Hartford Globe.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22
GRAVE AND GAY.
No Kiss 2

M KISS ?
"Kiss me, WILL" sang Marguerite,
To a pretty little tune,
Holding up her dainty mouth,
Sweet as roses born in June.
VIII was ten years old that day.
And he pulled her golden cuTls
Teasingly, and answer made:
"l'm too old don't kiss girls"
Ten years pass, and Marguerite
Smiles as Win kneels at her feet,
Gazing fondly in her eyes,
Praying, "Won't you kiss me, sweet?''
Rite is seventeen to-day;
With her birthday ring she toys
For a moment, then replies:
"I'm too old don't kiss beys!"
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22

The wickedest thing 4 woman can
DO e 70 hand out 8 $2o.bill to pay for d
paper of pins when she has S4.18 in her
pocketn small silyer-and then she viii
look 30 innocent al the while.
The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-22

The police jury Of Point Coupee
La, has passed a levee ordinance. They
divide the parish into six levee districts
corresponding with the police jury wards,
appoint n superintendent for each, he
to have the privilege to appoint two
assistants. All persons liable to road
service are compelled to work on the
levee when required, under penalty of
two dollars a day, or provide an able
bodied substitute. Persons are forbidden
employing directly or indirectly, any
person who ha9been notified TO work on
the levee until such work has been per-
formed under penalty of twenty dollars.
The treasury department has issued a
circular to all customs collectors relative
to frauds in coloring sugar, directing
them, after October 1st next, to seize and
prosecute for forfeiture all importations
Of that character.