davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
Inverted Soldiers,

A regiment quartered at certain town in Scotland had among them an expert gymnast, who taught his brother subalterns how to walk across the bar rack room on their hands. While en- gagged one evening the door opened and the colonel, stern disclplinarian, en- tered the room, looked attentively at the inverted company, shook his head gravely and departed without uttering word. An order to be on parade next morning was the least punishment ex- pected for this breach of discipline. Some days passed, however. and no notice being taken, it was thought an apology and explanation should be of- fered by the prime instlgator of these unsoldierly movements. A reference
 being made to the memorable night the colonel amazed the intended apologist by exclaiming: "Hush, sergeant, would not have anybody know it for the world! The fact is, I had been dining out with an old brother officer who had served with me in India, and 'pon my life I had no idea the wine could have had such an effect upon me,
 but when came to see if you were all right in your quarters 1 could have sworn that l saw you all upside down."
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
Ravages of Mice in Different Countries.

The mischief of the little field mice is done so quietly and adroitly that few are ever caught at it, and much of the blame is put on the moles, squirrels and Woodchucks that have enough sins of their own to answer for. The meadow mouse of Europe, which is very like our own, forty or fifty years ago came near causing a famine in parts of England, ruining the crops before they could get fairly started, and killing almost all the young trees in the orchards and woods. More than thirty thousand of the little rascals were trapped in one month in q single piece of forest, beside all those killed by animals. About year ago. too, similar disaster was threatened in Scotland, where millions of mice ap- peared, and gnawed off the young grass at the root just as it should have been ill prime condition for the sheep; and when that was all gone they attacked the garden vegetables. The people lost vast numbers of sheep and lambs from starvation and thousands of dollars worth of food, but, finally, by all together waging war against them, the pests were partially killed off. They did in neither case come suddenly, but had been increasing steadily for years previously, because the game keepers had killed so many of the "ver- min" Gas owls, hawks, weasels, snakes &c., are wrongly called), which keep their numbers down. Farmers are slow to learn that it doesn't pay to kill the birds or rob their nests: but the boys and girls ought to understand this truth and remember it.. In this coun- try the greatest mischief done by the field mice is the gnawing of bark from the trees, so that in some of the Vest ern States this is the most serious diff culty the orchardist has to contend with, Whole rows of young trees in nurseries are stripped of their bark, and of course die; and where apple seeds are planted the mice are sure to dig half of them up to eat the kernels. This mischief is mainly done in the winter when the trees are packed away from the
 
 cause then the mice can move about concealed under the snow and nibble all the bark away up to the surface. Rabbits get much of the credit for this naughty work, for they do good deal of it on their own account. The gar dener has the same trouble of often finding, when he uncovers a rare and costly plant ill the spring, that the mice have enjoyed good winter quarters in the straw covering and have been gnawing to death his choicest roses. Millions of dollars, perhaps, would not pay for all the damage these small creatures thus accomplish each year in the United States, and we fear they will become more and more of a plague if we continue to kill off the harmless hawks, owls, butcher birds and snakes, which are the policemen appointed by nature to look after the mice and protect us against them.-St. NichOldS.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
An Apology For likeness,

Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, kirk or market, is a symptom of deficient vitality; and faculty for idleness implies catholic appetite and strong sense of personal identity. There is a sort of dead-alive, hackneyed people about, who are scarcely con- scious of living except in the exercise of some conventional occupation. Bring these fellows into the country, or set them aboard ship, and you will see how they pine for their desk or their study. They have no curiosity; they cannot give themselves over to random provo cations; they do not take pleasure in the exercise of their faculties for it's own sake; and unless necessity lays about them with stick, they will even stand still. It is no good speaking to such folk, they cannot be idle, their na- ture is not generous enough; and they pass those hours in sort of coma which are not dedicated to furious moiling in the gold mill. Whene they do not re- quire to go to the office, when they are not hungry and have no mind to drink, the whole breathing world is blank to them. If they have to wait an hour or so for train, they fall into stupid trance with their eyes open. To see them, you would suppose there was nothing to look at and no one to speak with; you would imagine they were paralyzed or alienated; and yet very possibly they are hard workers in their own way, and have good eyesight for a flaw in deed or turn of the market, They have been to school and college, but all the time they had their eye on the medal; they have gone about in the world and mixed with clever people, but all the tune they were thinking of their own affairs. As if a mans soul were not too small to begin with, they have dwarfed and narrowed theirs by life of all work and no play; until here they are at forty, with listless atten- tion, mind vacant of all material of amusement, and not one thought to rub against another while they wait for the train. Before he was breeched, he might have clambered on the boxes: when he was twenty he would have stared at the girls; but now the pipe is smoked out, the snuff-b empty, and the gentleman sits bolt upright upon a bench, with lamentable eyes. This does not appeal to me as being success in life.-The Cormhil Moqaztne.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
The Speculator.

His wealth is imaginary and where. He contracts debts, and calculates on miracles to pay them. He trusts every body, and everybody trusts him, while the ball can be kept up; and when it falls to the ground, they all roll away and perish together. The idea of owing more than he can ever reasonably except to pay, does not rob him of a wink of sleep, or disturb his repose for a moment. "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die," in his maxim |; he lives as if the world were at his command; he despises the sordid maxim of cutting his coat according to his cloth, for the cloth belongs to others he goes the way of all flesh, and when his books are examined by the assignees, it is found that, though he has lived like a prince, and spent his hundreds of thousands, he never was worth farth- ing, when his debts were paid.-Old 4Mdddzine.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
A Genuine Indian Legend.

It seems that Moon mountain, in the southwestern part of the town of Mon- son, Mass, has veritable Indian legend attached to it, fantastic and romantic enough to suit the most fanciful. Of course, it's date is ages and ages ago, and most beautiful maiden is con- cerned with an unpronOlnceable name, but called, for short, ,Ke-wa-goosh-tunk kum-can-go-wock, which means some- thing about the top of mountain and the bottom of river, for she was born on the top of Moon mountain, and her mother, who died at the time, prophesied that in death her daughter should rest among the rocks at the bottom of Chi copee river. She grew to young womanhOod, and became her fathers darling and solace, to give him part ing caress when he went to the chase or to war, and to welcome him on his return. One day, when her father was gone, there came a terrible thunder storm, and at it's height there appeared at the door of the wigwam a young h. dian brave, who asked and was granted | shelter. The rain continued to pour and lightning, and the thunder that followed brought a coal black steed Just then heavy gust of wind blew away the wigwam, and the couple were left exposed to the elements. Then the white steed opened his mouth and said Maiden, your father is dying, and sent me to carry you to him;" and the black steed said, "Young brave, this maiden s father sent me to carry you as company for this maiden" So they mounted the horses and rode away with the speed of the lightning toward the west. When they came to the place where her father had been, he had been taken away, and they told her that spirit horse had taken him to his home. So they turned their faces toward the east again, and when they came to where their wigwam had stood they found an old man there, who said that her father had returned, but not finding her, he had driven his horse down to the river; so toward the Chicopee this Indian maiden and the brave made their way, and as
 
 father in an airy boat on the dark wa ters, being forced by an invisible power up the stream. He saw her and said: "Come not to me, oh my daughter; I am going to the happy hunting grounds. The Great Spirit has sent you pro- tector in the brave at your side. Fare well, will see youno morev' Then the airy boat disappeared and her father with it. Frantic with grief, the maiden urged her steed into the waters, and the brave followed. When they arrived at the spot where her father went down, the horses vanished from under them and they were left struggling in the waters. Then her father again appeared and said, My children, receive my blessing," and they all went down to- gether and were never seen again, not even through the mediums of the Spirit ualists. The moral of the story is ap- parent, as in most "big Injun" stories.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
A curious Calculation.

It is asserted by scientific writers, says an Irish newspaper, that the num- Der of persons who have existed on our globe since the beginning of time amounts to 65,237 ,O74, ,155. These fig ures divided by 3 3,095, ,0OO-the number of square leagues on the globe-leaves H. 320, ,989, ,732 square miles of land which being divided as before gives l ,424 ,626,- 075 persons to each square mile. If we reduce these square miles to rods, the number will be l 1853, lS4 ,6O0, ,000, which divided in like manner, will give ,373, inhabitants to each square rood, and these being reduced to ten feet will give about five persons to each square foot of terra firma. It will thus be perceived that our earth is vast cemetery. On each rood of it l ,2S3 human beings lie buried, each rood being barely suf1i- cient for ten graves, with each grave containing l2s persons. The whole surface of our globe, therefore, has been dug over l2s times to bury its dead.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
NO. 10.

even yield then. His last words were |: "DOn't give up the vessel. You will be able to beat them off The two parties were so near together that Mugford's mate seeing the flash of the officers pistol that killed his captain, transtiXcd that man (who proved to be the young nobleman in command, ) with his spear and tore open his body. The enemy retired at the end of half an hour leaving large number of killed and wounded. The scene, the next day, as the privateer sailed into Marblehead, was thrilling. The whole population, the news of Mugford's he- roism, having just reached the town, turned out to welcome him. No heart beat higher or more gladly than his wife's. She had secured him once from the enemy, and now he had captured the most valuable prize from the enemy since the war began. No news of the evening of the engagement had reached the people,, The flag at haif-mast was the only tidings ofevil. The town was profoundly moved when it heard of the death and received his dead body. His exploit reminds one of the capture of IiconderOga by Ethan Allen, Gin the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress" the year before. 1t was in some respects one of the most brilliant naval duels of the Revolution.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
X Scotch Rain.

Loeb and adjacent mountains were steeped in rain and mist; darkness brooded over the moor; the green slope or Ben Dig was changed to yellowish brown, and streaked with brawling tor rents; and the one rambling street of the little town sloppy and deserted, and overcast with that appalling dreariness Whlch IS to be found in it's very acme only in seaward town during rain- and-mist storm. 1 am patriotic! Not only so, but l can gaze hopefully at a Wh1rlwind of temper, while I loathe sullenness, or, as the Scotch used to call 1t, "strunts," in their own very incisive but now almost discarded language. Therefore give me merciless Vermont tempest, that descends at once in all it's might and fury and exultant ferocity only to be forthwith rent and hurled back into ErebEs at the peremptorv. reslstless beck of his solar majesty {; give me that, trebly enraged, before the mean, oozing, prevailing, silent, dlsheartening clamminess of embrace of a Highland rain-mist. Was there ever Scottish poet who left his own country to look on other skies, and, having returned to it, sang its soaking glories in the tender but knew-nothing- better strains of his youth? It is not the heavens that seem to rain in Vest ern Scotland; it is the earth itself that appears to be throwing up this sombre, pale exhalation of miasmatic vapor. When, oh when, did the Princess of Thule live, that she should have been so highly favored beyond other mortals of the damp-and-eerie-hating order?- Appletons' Journal.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14

What great misfortune it is that evils cannot be remedied by complaining If they could, what correct and happy world this would be! There would be no dust in summer, only just enough snow in winter, pleasant rain showers at proper intervals, no mosquitoes, flies, nor pinching bugs the whole year round. Perhaps the public clocks and the street lamps would be lighted on dark nights. Street inspectors and policemen would always do their duty. Little boys would never throw stones i'll the streets; young gentlemen would not stare at the ladies, at least not so rudely as to give them unpleasant sen- sations; and gentlemen of more ad- vanced years would be careful not to poke out the eyes of pedestrians with their umbrellas, Cows and pigs would be much scarcer on the highways, and some of the rubbish in the form of paper, tins, rags, etc., would be removed from the principal thoroughfares of the city. The street car drivers would not make it point to stop at the worst possible spot in muddy weather. Butcher carts and hack drivers would not be suffered to rush around the town as though bent upon breaking the bones Of everyone that crossed their path, and cats would not practice their horrible music at midnight. Boys would not raise 'false alarms" three CT four times day, on purpose to drag out the en- | zines, frighten timid women, and make an unrighteous noise about nothing and nobody would eat peanuts or wear creaky shoes. Provisions would never be guilty of such an enormity as ad- vancing in price, and children's boots would not wear out in less than a fort. night. Money would always be plenty everybody would subscribe for three journals, two dailies and one weekly and not a soul of them would neglect to pay his subscription. In short, the golden age would return, everything would go right, and the world be al dull as treatise on algebra to a young lady ''just engaged" or Fourth of Jul3 oration to everybody except the speaker I-Golden Words.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
HUSH.

I can scarcely hear" she murmured For my heart beats loud and fast, But surely in the far, far distance can hear 8 sound at last. It is only the reapers singing
 As they carry home their sheaves; And the evening breeze has risen,
 And ru stles the dying leaves" ''Lstenl there are voices talking;' Calmly still she strove to speak, Yet her voice grew faint and trembling And the red flushed in her cheek, 1t is only the children playing
 Below, now their work is done, And they laugh that their eyes are dazzled
 By the rays of the setting sum-" Fainter grew their voices, and weaker, AS with anxious eyes she cried, ''Down the avenue of chestnuts, can hear horseman ride." Ut was only the deer that were feeding
 In herd on the clover grass, They were startled and fled to the thicket, AS they saw the reapers pass" Now the night arose in silence, Birds lay in their leafy nest, And the deer crouched in the forest, And the children were at rest. There was only sound of weeping
 From watchers around bed ; But rest to weary spirit,
 Peace to the quiet dead
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14
How to be Somebody.

A great deal of talent is lost in the world for the want of little courage. Every day sends to the grave a number of obscure men who have only remained in obscurity because their timidity has prevented them from making a first eff fort, and who, if they could have been induced to begin, would in all proba- bility have gone great lengths in fame. The fact is, to do anything in the world worth doing. we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and the danger, but just jump in and scram- ble through as we'll as we can. It will not do to be perpetually calculating risks and adjusting nice chances. Itdid very well long before the flood, when a man could support his friend upon an in- tended publication for hunred and fifty years, and then live to see it's slc- cess afterward. But at present man waits and doubts, and hesitates and consults his brother, and his uncle, and his particular friends, until one day he finds he is sixty years of age; then he has lost so much time in consulting his first cousin and particular friends that he has no time to follow their advice.
Connecticut western news., 1877-09-14

hieing away to the fields in an irregu- lar and disorderly manner. A dozen examinations of the bushes in which these unruly conventions had been held failed, with single exception, to fur nish any intelligible cause, and in that one case there was found poor escaped and half frightened = to death canary bird. The hedge sparrow is destitute of the of the impudence of the house sparrow, and this is no doubt largely due to the enterprise of that European institution, the crow boy, whose duty it is to perambulate the grain fields to scare away the birds, especially the crows and sparrows, and whose earthly happiness appears to be measured by his capability to make unearthly wells, produced at the back of the throat and audible quarter of mile distant. Oc- casionally ''crow boy" will vary his | occupation by inventing an alarm note of his own, the whole sound, however, 1 rarely containing more than four notes.
 The English farmer resorts to numer- ous strategic expedients to rid himself of his superfiuous stock of sparrows, one of the most successful of which is to hold bird net close to a stack of hay or wheat in the winter nights, and placing lantern near the middle of the net, they beat the stack with sticks, whereupon the sparrows fly to the light and are caught, terminating their tan- gible existence in the sparrow pie which next day graces the farmers toble.
 Returning, however, to the sparrows in the country. They are nearly all house sparrows, and while sparrow with white feather or feathers is quite curiosity in England or France, they are quite common in and about New York city. They form at least five per cent. of the whole, while about ten per cent. of the female birds have their plumage interspersed with partly white feathers. In the City Hall Park may be seen at any time some sparrows with plumage lighter than others. At Bloomingdale some are seen unusually light. The European sparrow moves with clean and distinct hop, rising from the ground and making percep- tible pause between each hop; but the sparrows at Bloomingdale make a suc- cession of quick hops with very little rise, amounting to a short run, and stopping very short, resembling some- what the movement of the American robin. In fact, the result of ten years of observation is that the habits of the American sparrow are undergoing a steady change, and he appears to be entertaining somewhat of disdain for the insectivorousness to which he owes his importation, forgetful that in no other way can he pay his passage mOney.-Scientifc Anericdn,
The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1877-05-24

A STRANGER registered at one of the hotels in
this city the other day, and took room, A few
days after, q lady called and asked to be shown
to the same room. Some of the chambermaids,
seeing her 90 in, of course thought something
was wrong, and kept an eye open. The lady pass
ed out and in several times during the af ternoon
The last time the lady went into the room,
the more curious of the girls went into the
adjoining room, and after things became quiet,
two of them softly peeped over the transom, but
quickly lodged back. They had seen enough.
The proprietor was notified, and when the man
and woman came down to supper, they were ask
ed for their bills. They were surprised, and when
they asked the reason, the proprietor told them
what the girls had seen. ''Well," the stranger
replied, "that's all right, she's my wife," Paper
is now placed over that transom.
The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1877-05-24
ssPray ON MY Plate, Too,

A little bright-eyed three year-old was seated
in his high chair at the dinner table. Mamma
had arranged the little uneasy, while for the mo-
m ent his sprightliness and fun had made him the
observed Of the family. She had placed him
snugly up to the table, pinned on his bib, and
succeeded in getting the little mischievous hands
quiet and making him "hush, when father pro-
progress, our little chubby made discovery. 1t
was that all the plates on the table, except his
own little plate, were in pile at "papa's
place." and, as it seemed to him, were put there
to get the benefit of the solemn ceremony. So,
scarcely waiting for the "Amen," he held out his
own plate in both hands, saying, "Please, papa,
pray on my plate, too"
The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1877-05-24
He Wiuked.

Assistant Secretary Mccormick has an affec-
ton of the eye-lid, which causes him to wink
frequently. Yesterday two good-looking girls
applied for positions in the Treasury Depart
ment. The handsome governor treated them
with polteness, but gave neither any encourage
ment that they would be successful. When they
came out one, said to the other, "Well, it looks
pretty blue for us, don't IL" "Yes," was the re-
ply, ait may look blue for you but 1 think am
all right, for when he was discouraging you, he
Was winking at me, as much as to say, don't you
believe what am telling your friend"