davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14

who is at all acquainted with English politics, exactly expresses England s dan ger. It is well known to all newspaper
 readers that Englands aversion to Russia
 arises from the real or fancied dangers to which Muscovite success inTurkey would expose British India. But its not known,
 except to those in possession of diplo- matic secrets, that on former occasion, when Russia contemplated an attack on Turkey, the government of the czar, in
 order to quiet the appreheDsions of the
 British cabinet, suggested that if Eng
 land felt any doubts as to Russia's sin
 cerity in declaring that she had no sin
 ister designs in India, the British could
 take possession of Egypt, thereby secur-
 ing to themselves the much coveted ab-
 solute control of the Suez canal. It
 need scarcely be said that if this arrange ment has not been carried into effect it has not been forgotten by British states men, and that they will not be slow to act upon it should occasion seem to jus tify them. Now that Russia does threaten British communication with India, and thus, as the English believe, imperil their interests, England cannot long remain an
 impassive spectator. It is, no doubt, this uncertainty as to the action of the latter power which prevents Germany acting at once against France. For, in order to preserve the balance of power in Europe, England and Austria could not consistently stand by and see France crushed by her mighty foe without strik- ing blew in her defense. And this action would not be entirely disinterested, for neither of them would be sure, France once hopelessly beaten, which of them would next feel the iron heel of the tremendous military power of this most despotic ruler of Europe. It is impossible to tell what turn events may take in the next few days. If, happily, the war can be confined to Russia and Turkey, the danger will be over, for the present. But once let Germany give the signal for another march on Paris and all Europe will be ablaze with conflict so mighty that empires must be obliterated before peace shall reign again the long expected European crisis has. arrived and the nations of the old world stand aghast at the spectacle in which they may so soon be called upon to play part for life or death.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14

have to fear, but their record, as they know better than anybody else can, is quite enough to make them anxious. Their power md authority, once go great and almost unquestioned, are gone. Assassination will not help them, while they are no longer, as they once were, defended by distance and great deserts from the weight of the governments s hand. It is hard to see what they can hope ultimately to accomplish by com. plete defiance of the federal power, or by resort to the madness of massacre. But there is an unreasonable because it is a fanatical element Tn the Mormon popu- latisn, which has y7ot been sufficiently taken iuto account. It is just possible that Young himself may have been made reckless by term 50 prolonged of ire sponsible authority. Greater men than he have lost their heads under difficulties comparatively loss.
 But whatever may be impending, we may be sure that the beginning of the end is near. If the Mormon leader, con- tenting himself with spiritual despot- ism, shall finally yield obedience to the laws, he may die quietly in his bed, and his sect may peacefully disappear after him. If he permits himself to be misled inte sanguinary acts which will be sheer madness, he will be summarily and sternly dealt with. His vanity may mis- lead him into an exaggerated estimate of his resources and of his local advantages; but to those who consider them with in- difference they do not seem great enough to be alarming. The United States wants neither the will nor the power to deal strictly and summarily with the Mormon strength, such AS it is; and we believe that it will do so.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
Interruption to Funeral Service.

On Wednesday, the 18th inst, heavy thunderstorm broke over Radcliffe, near Manchester, England. The lightning, which was very vivid, entered the parish church of All Saints, Stand, Whitefeld, Rudd, and the sexton, Mir. Astley, both of whom were about to conduct funeral service. They were carried distance of six yards, and were thrown insensible besides the lectern. They were both twisted round very violently, MT. Rudd, being raised of his feet, the fluid then passed through the east window of the church, struck the Church inn, and did great damage. It knocked down a great portion of the chimney-stack, completely destroying large back window, rent the ceiling of several of the rooms, wrenched the gas pipes from the walls, and destroyed the gas brackets; it also strewed the rooms with bricks, mortar, and 30 on in large quantities. Mrs. Bothwell, wife of the landlord of the Church inn, had narrow escape. She was standing within 8 foot of the looking glass, in the kitchen, when the light ming struck the glass and shivered it into atoms. She was thrown with much force into the opposite corner of the apartment, and was rendered insensible The gas-pipe in the wash house of the church inn was wrenched from the wall, and the gas set on fire, and, but for tho promptitude of a commercial traveller, who smothered the flames, the inn would have been burned down. Before he could proceed with the burial service, Mir. Rudd had to lie down in the church.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
A Land Full of Gold and Silver,

A correspondent of the London Times, writing from Alexandria, informs the public that Capt. Burton, the African traveller has made "find" of unusual interest. At the request of the khedive, he has visited the "Land of Midian,' the desolate region on the eastern side of the gulf of Akabab. the eastern most of the two long and narrow estu- aries in which the Red sea ends. Ac- companied by NJ. George Marie, a French engineer, Capt. Hurton landed in .Midian on April 2d. and in an expedi- tion of some weeks explored region full of ruined towns, built of solid masonry, with made roads, aqueducts five miles long, artificial lakes, and massive fert- resses, all marking a wealthy and power ful people. Their wealth was based on mining operations, and Capt. Burton re. ports the existence of gold, silver, tin, antimony, and turquoise mines. The auriferous region is extensive indeed, the discoverer believes he has opened up California, and the khedive proposes to have the country worked by European capitalists. It will be remembered that in the Bible Midian is always described as land full of metals, especially gold, silver. and lead. It is more than probable That Solomon's ophir was situated there, as the small ships in which he imported gold, ivory, and peacocks were launched at the head of the Red sea. Midian is Apart of the Egyptian vicereyalty
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
--=7------ ----------------------------- J. WILKES BOOTH.
The Absurd Story about his Remaina COutr0yerted-Partic of their
 Identification and Delivery


 Identification and Delivery
 to his Friends.
 A number of absured stories are going the rounds of the press as to the disposi- tion of the remains of J. Wilkes Booth. The latest is by Captain Oliver P. Leslie, of Pittsburg, who states that the body was sunk in lake seven miles below Alexandria, Virginia. The in controvertible facts are as follows: The remains were ordered to be delivered to the friends of Booth by President Andrew Johnson. John H. Weaver, the undertaken, of this city, was sent to Washington by his family to bring them home for interment. A box was taken up from the arsenal building and delivered to him. It was brought by him to Baltimore, and was examined by him and reporter of the Gazette at his room on West Fayette street, near Holiday. They found in it skeleton wrapped in an army blanket. When the blanket was taken of the skeleton was covered with powder having the ap- pearance of soap-stone, and on being rubbed between the fingers it disap- peared just as soap-stone will do. On the right foot was an army shoe, cut open at the top its entire length, as if to accommodate a swollen foot. The other was large cavalry boot. The reporter of the Gazette examined the bones in and above the shoe, and for some time could find no injury. Believing the remains to be those of Booth, the reporter made persistent examination, and at last dis covered the leg was fractured clean through just above the ankle. The frac- ture was clearly marked, and the DOT tion below the fracture being lifted out of the box, the ends of the bones were of pure whitness, leaving no doubt as to the fact that Booth in leaping from the box has fractured his right leg and not sprained it. Still, the identity of the remains were not satisfactorily estab- lished, especially as there was no portion of the spinal vertebra missing and no mark of any bullet upon them. A brother of Booth was sent for, who was told by Mir. Weaver as to the doubts as to the identity of his remains, and Mir. Weaver requested him to think of some peculiarity, if any existed, in the struc- ture of his brother that would forever remove any doubt. After thinking for brief while, the brother said that all he could remember was that his brother had his tooth plugged with gold in peculiar manner. He described the To- cation of the tooth, and drew with a pencil the shape of the plug, which was of unusual size. The teeth were taken out, and the tooth was found plugged just as described by the brother, and forever setting at rest any question of the identity of the remains. The re- mains were buried in Greenmount ceme- tery, in the same lot with his grand father, father, and other children of the family. .--- Bdh more Gazctte
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
A singular Fact.

A recent traveller in Mexico, who wis. ited the mines there during his journeys, says he was much astonished at seeing the men who carry the ore come out of the mine each with one eye shut. The foreman, seeing his surprise, explained the matter. He said the candles belong ing to the tayateros (who drill and blast) do not give suflicent light in the drifts, where it is consequently quite dark, but where, nevertheless. the t1rateros see we'll enough not to run their heads against the rocks. But on emerging into daylight they would be blinded did they not take precautionary measures. For this reason, as they approach the mouth of the shaft at the point where they catch the first glimpse of light, they drop the
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
The Eye of Man.

Science gives us interesting details about what the human eye has been and what it may become. The Vedas of India, which are the most ancient writ ten documents, attest that in time the most remote, but still recorded Tn his tory, only two colors were known, black and red. A very long time elapsed be- fore the eye arrived at the perception of the color yellow, and still longer time before green was distinguished and it is remarkable that in the most ancient languages the terms which designated yellow insensibly passed to the signifca- tion of green. The Greeks had, accor- ding to the received opinion now, the perception of colors very well developed: and yet authors of more recent data assures us that in the time of Alexander, Greek painters bad for fundamental colors only white, black, red and yellow. The words to designate blue and violet were wanting to the Greeks in the most ancient times of their. history; they called these colors gray and black. It is thus that the colors of the rainbow were only distinguished gradually, and the great Aristotle only knew four of them. It is we'll known fact that when the colors of the prism are photographed there remains outside the limit of the blue and violet in the spectrum dis tinct impression, which our eyes do not recognize az a color. According to phy' siologists, & time will come when the human eye will be perfect, so as to dis cern this color as well as the others.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
Dangers From the Dead.

That the dead should kill the living seems paradox; yet nothing is more true. Indeed, we venture to say that every year, in our land, corpses murder more people than assassins do. Not only have intramural intermerts poisoned whole blocks and quarters, not only has drinking water contaminated by grave yards yearly spread disease and death through country hamlets, but, before the process of decomposition commences, there is often a great and pressing dan ger from infectious disease. We quote a recent instance:
 "Dr. Goldie, the medical officer of heath for Leeds, England, in his report to the local authority, states that every one of thirty people who attended the wake of an Irish girl, who recently died in that town from typhus fever, were at tackled by the same disease, and no fewer than nine of the cases ended fatally"
 So strongly have the needless dangers of exposure at funerals impressed the medical mind, that the health board of New York have now issued circular recommending that no public or church funerals should be given to persons dying of either diphtheria, scarlet-fever, measles or whooping cough.
 In Chicago, also, where scarlet-fever and diphtheria have been severe this past winter, the recommendation of one hundred medical men in council was in these words:
 "There should be no public funerals of any patient who has died of any in. fectious or contagious disease. Remem- bcr that the separation of the sick person from the we'll is the most certain means of preventing the spread of the disease.
 A writer in the Baltimore Physician and Surgeon, last December, went 80 far as to advocate the passage of law sn the subject (the average American man looking upon Claw" as the cure-all on every occasion) He thought it should embody the following provisions:
 1. Whenever anyone dies of cODtagi- ous disease, the publication announcing the death should state the cause of the death.
 g. No person except the immediate family should be permitted to attend the funeral, and thel handling and burying the body should be intrusted to persons who devote themselves to that business.
 8. A sufficient number of carriages should be kept for the special purpose of attending these funerals, and the hiring them for other purposes should be pro- hibited under the severest penalties
 These arc good suggestions, but people should learn and obey them out of a natural sense of sanitary propriety, not out of obligation tO a statute. Medical and Surgical Reporter.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
FACTS AND RANCHES.
CoNyHRsATIoNAI,,

| CoNvERsATIoNAL.
 Flows your father 9'' came the whisper
 Bashful Ned the silence breaking; "Oh, hos nicely" Annie murmure0,
 6miingly the question taking. 1 Conversation Jagged moment;
 Hopeless, Ned essayed another; l. "Annie, I-1"-then a coughing, And the question, " How's your mother ? "Motherl Oh she's doing inelyp' Fleeting fast was all ferbearano., When in low, despairins accents,
 Came the climax. "How's your parentsf"
 STUDENTS of Russian history state that for several hundred years no quarter oi a century has passed without thesxnnex- ation of more or less territory te Russian dominions.
 THE Chicago Journal thinks it is this way in Turkey If he is a Jew the Christians kill him. If he is 8 Chris. tian, the Mohammedans slay him and fl he is Mohammedan, the Greek church people come over and chop him up into hash.
 A YOUNG lady on Embargo street re- gently received the following note, and ia heart-breken: You needn't 'spect me to yewr hous no more sunda mites girl wat leaves gum sticken on the parlor chares for feller to sit on ain't the girl for me. JIM"
 "OH, heavens, save my wife 1" shouted man whose wife had fallen overheard in the Hudson river recently. They succeeded in rescuing her, and her hus- band tenderly embraced her, saying My dear, if you'd been drowned, what should have done? I ain't going to let you carry the pocketbook again"
 TIL population of the Indian territory is about 77,000. The wild Indians by blood, called blanket" Indians, who do not cultivate the soil, are the Osages, Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, and Pawnees, and number 10000. Those mixed with the whites who are partly civilized'are the Cherokees, Greeks, Sem inoles, Choctaws and Chickasaws. A white man marrying squaw becomes "a white Indian, and a white woman marrying an Indian becomes "a white squaw." There are also lot of "black Indians" who are negroes, Altogether these number 55,0CO Besides these there are $500 "negro citizens ot the United States" formerly slaves of the Chickasaws. They do not rank as In dians. while "black Indian" does.
 THE English are somewhat alarmed at the danger which their great ironclads would run in time ofwar from torpedoes like the Whitehead torpedo. It is in- sisted that the British navy should pos. sess the newest and most varied means of launching torpedoes of every kind against the enemy. The Whitehead torpedo can be directed against an snemy's ship 1000 yards, and in partial darkness the vessel bearing it would be able to approach any large ship without danger. The simultaneous attack of three torpedo boats would thus imperil the safety of the most powerful iron clads. Purely defensive measures, such as enveloping the ship with a skirt of wire rets, must be of little avail. The best means of defense is to give each ironclad couple of satellites in the shape of fast steam torpedo beats, armed with light guns and carrying the White head torpedo.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
VOLUME III.
!. RvsPECTFULLY DECLINED.' .'i

The writer takes his busy thoughts. And weaves them inte rhyme; He says. "I'm sure this poem Is something quite sublime;" Then he waits with breathless waiting For the laurel wreath of fame That with its deathless circle Shall entwine poets name. But alas the post returning, Brings, to him, underlined, That short and pithy sentence:
 Respectfully declined" Or into some wild romance He wonders weaves untold, Of hair-bi eadth 'scapes and miracles, That makes his blood run sold. Alter days of expectation And the nights in vision passed of glorious immortality That shall come to him at last, He sees his castles in the air, With feelings und. fined, Fade before that pithy sentence:
 Respectfully declined" So authors and inventors, The wielders of the pen, From every way and walk of life, And all the paths of men, Before the power of the Press Bow low as to a King, And to the votive altar VIII still their offerings bring, Where few gain fame and fortune, But more their fiat find In that short and pithy sentence:
 Respectfully declined ' But ye who in fruition Have found your hopes all vain, And in bitter disappointment Have tasted dregs of pain, In the last great journey upward, Asye climb the golden stair, To deliver up the record Of your earthly lives, beware, Lest the deeds of life there written Will In the end be signed, By that short and pithy sentence.
 Respectfully declined.'
 -Eii.dbefh J Hereford
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14

DON'T Box YOUR CHILDREN's EARS. The drum of the ear is as thin as pa- per, and is stretched like curtain be- tween the air outside and that within !; and thus having nothing to support it, and being extremely delicate, slap with the hand on the side of the face, made with the force which sudden and violent anger gives it, has in multitudes of cases ruptured this delicate mem- brane, resulting in the affictiou of deaf ness for life. As the right hand is almost always used, it is the left ear which is striken; this aids in accounting for the act that the left ear is more frequently fffected with deafness than the right.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14

eyelid of one eye, and keep this down while discharging the ore, and until they have n-descended the shaft. When they are again in the dark, they open the eye hitherto kept in reserve, and at once they see everything distinctly; while the othez eye, previously open and blinded somewhat by the daylight, per ceives nothing at all.
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
MAN.
Thc Latest Census of All the Count, les or
 World.

Justes Perthes, Gotha, Germany, the well known map publisher of authority, publishes annually pamphlet entitled "Die Bevoelkerung der Erde." The population of the earthly A review of new surveys, changes of territories, cen sus, and estimates all over the earth. Edited by F.. Behm and H. Wagner.
 Behm and Wagner estimate the total number of all men l,423, ,9l9,O00. They are distributed over the five parts of the world as follows:
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14

TEE humblest can do something to- ward making the local paper interesting. Ii you cannot be defaultiDg bank clerk you can, at least, step on an orange peel and sprain your ear.-Ronae iSentinet
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14

TIE nest of humming-bird is thus described by Californian: "It is about as large at the top as half dollar, and is made of spider webs, downy ieatb- CTS, with fibers of bark and shreds of cotton, all interwoven. The eggs, two in number, were about the size of small white beans, and the young birds be- fore they were fedged, resembled bum- hle- bees"
The Russellville Democrat., 1877-06-14
Number of inhabitants per square

Average all over the earth, 2S.
 Reliable figures are especially exhib- tied for Europe, save Turkey. They show:
Arizona citizen., 1877-06-16
Beginning to Understand Mexico

Ex-President Lerdo Is beginning to make the American people understand that their interference in Mexican af- fairs is not wanted, and that a filiOus. tering movement would unite the Mex Ican people in opposing it under any Mexican President The San FrancIs
 co Bulletin and other journals now understand and give voice to the facts, and the sooner the American people trown upon all attempts 10 acquire more Mexican Territory the better it will be for all concerned. Speaking of Lerdo'S protest against our govern ment's authorization to our troops 10 cross into Mexico in the pursuit ot criminals, The Bulletin says:
 The ex-President expects to regain lis former place. but noi by selling invasion of It by foreign troops. Ter do Is a civilian, good lawyer and is conservative withal. He dislikeS rev ulution, and the usurpatiOnS of men backed by the military strength of the country. He believes Diaz's official days are nearly numbered. AS for hImself, he Is biding hls time. It is evident from hlS own letter that he cannot be induced to head any filibus- tering movement in the interest of border men But it is not certain at all that he can prevent movements of this kind. An invasion uf Mexico. now would do more to unite all theI factions ot that country than any other plan which could be devISed. The Washington Cabinet has authorized the pursuit of Mexican marauders in- 10 their own territory. Such an act. might bril 2 on conflict between the two countries. After the first battle ill would be a short step to the declara-' ton that "siate of war exists" Thel complications increase 1aily.