davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
THE GRoWrH or CHILDREN.

The growth OF children has been made
the subject Of very ingenious and origin
al researches through some 10000 -meas-
urements of the children in the public
schools of this city, by Prof. Bowditch,
of the Harvard medical school, and pub
lished by the state board of health
Prof. Bowditch's figures and tables ap-
pear to be the most thorough going and
valuable as a basis for scientific deduc-
ton inexistence. His own summary of
the most important results hehas obtain
ed is as follows:
"The growth Of children takes place in
such way that until the age ofeleven or
twelve years boys are both taller and
heavier than girls Of the same age, but at
this period Of life girls begin to grow
very rapidly, and for the next two or three
years surpass boys Of the same age in
height and weight Boys then acquire
and retain a size superior tothat Of girls,
whohave now completed theirfull growth.
Children born Of Amcrican-born parents
are in Massachusetts, taller and heavier
than children of foreign-born parents,
superiority which seems 20 depend partly
upon difference ofrace or stock. Pupils
of American parentage at the public
Latin school and other higher schools are
apparently for the same reason) superb
or in height and weight to the general
ity Of boys Of American parentage in the
public schools, and to English boys Of
the non-lsboring class attending public
schools and universities, the superiority
in weight being az rule more marked
than that in height"
1t will be seen thatseveral popular de-
lusions of long standing are here dis
PEELED, and the regulation Of physical
and mental training so much the better
guided. The value and importance Of
the conclusion, however, are diminished
bv the very fact that they are unique,
and other communities have rs yet no
similar statistics. When such basis Of
comparison has been supplied the influ-
ence of geographical and climatic condi-
tions on growing children may be dis
covered. the number of generations
in which climatic changes are accom-
plished, the effect, if any, Of the season
of the year, the comparativeefiect ofcity
and country life" etc.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
TO HANNAH MAoAULAE.

My DEAR SISTER, am at home again
While at Leeds, about half my day was
spent in speaking and hearing other
people speak; in squeezing and being
squeezed. They fed me on roast beef
and Yorkshire pudding; at night they
put me into capital bedrooms; and the
only plague, they we're always begging
me to mention some article OF food or
comfort which they might procure.
travelled to town with family OF
children, who ate without intermission
from where they got into the coach TO
where they got out of it. They break
tasted as though they had tasted the
preceding day. They dined as II they
had never breakfasted. They ate one
large basket of sandwiches, another OF
fruit and a boiled fowl; beside, there
was not an orange-girl, or an old man
with cakes, or q boy with nuts, of whom
they did not buy something,
lam living with no society, except my
books. read play of "CalderonD beI
fore | breakfast; after breakfast, iool
over fae newspaper; frank letters; scraw
a line.br two to foolishgiIl in Leicester
shire, and walk TO my office, where
remain until five. When ] leave "
board walk Tor two hours; then oin1
and then end the day quietly over
basin Of tea and a novel.
Ever your',
T.B. MAc1lf
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
FURIOUS roRY.iDO.

A correspondent, describing the late
tornado at Pensaukee, Wis, by which
seves-I Fe.sons we're killed. says: The
fuYv of the wind cannot be described.
some instances viii serve to give a faint
idea Of its power The mills were de
molished ike houses of paper; COWS
were lifted bodily, and carried through
the air for rods, and left to die where
they fell; immense saw logs were lifted
out the river and thrown up high and
dry on land lumber piles were scattered
like straw. The river Is filled with lum-
Der and other debris, and the marsh
fairly bristlss with lumber and shattered
timbers. The steamer John Spry was
stripped and gutted. Houses were car
ried into the street or whirled completely
around. ! man and child We're blown
through the air, and dropped into the
river and drowned. A barn was blown
to pieces, and horse left standing in his
stall, uninjured i large lumber wagon
was carried over the three-story hotel.
But the most singular freaks occurred ia
and about the hotel Whole sides and
corners of brick walls were torn from the
structure, and parts of the building left
in tottering condition; articles Of fur
niture were whirled from apartments
thruogh narrow halls and through distant
rooms, demolished altogether. A cabi-
net organ which stood in the parlor left
no trace Of itself except a piece of the
cover. a large book of accounts was
blown from the company's store, situated
over two hundred yards distant, into one
Of the upper stories of the hotel. through
s six inch partition, and imbeded itself
in the wall A safe in Gardiner & Co.'S
store, weighing 1900 pound, was moved
distance Of eighteen feet. The tug
Pensaukee was just arriving from Ocon-
to. Mr.. Baptist, superintendent Of the
company's affairs, was in the pilot-house.
The boat seemed to escape the wind it.
sell, though a living cloud of timber set
tied upon the boat, infiicting serious
wounds upon Mr.. Baptist He de-
scribed the whirlwind as a spout of
murky blackness, tinged with red, COM
ing out of the skies, tapering toward the
earth When it touched the earth it
seemed to burst and spread, carrying de-
struction before it.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
rsE COLOR4Do BEETLE IN ENG
L&ND.

In the house of commons, on Thurs
dew June 28, Mr.. NJ Stewart asked the
vice-president of the council if the
attention had been called to a statement
in the Pail Mall Gazette announcing
that the Colorado beetle had made its
appearance in Germany, and if precau-
sNps would be taken to prevent its
- Ss..s latvtsss-Ils reply,
Lqd Landon said: ] am not surprised
that my honorable friend should have
addressed to me a question on this sub
jet, owing to the great interest felt in
it | have to inform him that since l
saw that announcement in the papers
have communicated with the foreign
ofice. They at once telegraphed to
certain ports, and klis afternoon, l am
sorry to say. they Save received a report
Confirming the statement. The telegram
says indications of these insects in the
shape OF numerous larvae were found in a
field near Nulheim. The field was fired
with sawdust and petroleum. One beetle
was seen on the wing. Laughter 1t
was very serious matter because it was
feared the beetles mightspread. Cheers. ]
Upon receiving this information, the
pnyy council at once wrote TO the
customs, requesting them to instruct the
officers at the various ports to keep a
lockout for the arrival of these destruc-
tive insects. The commissioners of
customs, may state, have long been
alive 10 this subject so Star back as
March, 1873, they issued a circular to
their officers 10 examine carefully into all
cMgoes of potatoes coming from America,
and destroy by fire all PARTICLES OF potato
stalks, As well as all loose soil. In
November, 1876, again the commissioners
of customs, issued an engraving of the
insect, and We have thought fit to repub-
lish and circulate throughout the country
a memorandum published last October
by the minister OF agriculture in Canada
describing the habits of the insect, and
showing the best means of getting rid of
it. If my honorable FREUD would like
copies OF these papers, 1 shall be glad
to lay them on the table" p" Hear,
ssbear. n7
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
pn1soxnns CONC 70 slnEaIA.

The hesaddest sight in Russia to a traveller
is the manner in which civil prisoners are
treated. 1t is a common spectacle to see
three or four hundred poor wretches on
their way to Siberia under a military
escort; for most of them are chained to-
gether in couples, while the women and
children who have elected TO share their
bread winners lot have also to submit to
be treated as criminals. Poorly clad, and
apparently half starved, the wonder is
that any of the party should ever survive
the dreadful journey. A Russian crimi-
nal condemned to exile is sent away with
very little ceremony but when one of
the officers of the army or otner person
of note has been sentenced to Punishment
for life, he is dressed in full uniform, and
led to a scafold in some public place. In
the presence of the crowd he is made to
kneel, while his epaulets and decorations
are torn from his coat, and his sword
broken over his head. He is declared
legally dead; his estates are confscated
and his wife can consider herself a widow
if she chooses. From the scaffold he
starts on his journey for Siberia. His
wife and children, sisters or mother, can
follow or accompany him if they choose,
but only on condition That they share his
exile. Mr. Arnold, in his book entitled
Through Persia by Caravan, relates how,
when passing through Russia, he saw a
party of prisoners embarked on board a
steamer on the river Volga. They were
positively Gagged amidships, so that every
part of the interior could be seen, just as
in the lion-houses of the geological gar
dens, with this diference-that in the
case of the prisoners there was no over
hanging roof to prevent rain or sunshine
from pouring in upon their wretched-
ness. At the back of the cage there was
a lair common to all. without distinction
of sex or age. And when all were Sc
cured, including the guiltless women and
children, fights occurred for the places
least exposed to the east wind This is
system which must surely fade away
beneath that public opinion which is fast
becoming too strong for even autocratic
monarehs to despise; for we are told that
the emancipation of the Russian serfs has
made!a vast legal, social and material
improvement in the lower orders oe, the
people; and it is to the people thag the
world will look for that much-needed
reform which will enable Russia, perhaps
at no distant day, to take an honorable
place among civilized nations.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
L NOBLE WOMAN.

The countess Ebersburg is doing
noble but unobtrusive work in London
&" Some two years ago, says Mr.. Con
way in letter to the Cincinnati Com
mercial, " the countess lost her two
babes, and she then consecrated her for
tune and life to the single work of saving
the lives Of children. As she began to
examine tho subject, she met with the
statement that in England 100000 chill
dren die annually under the age of five,
ofthese three per cent. die of prevent
able causes. She set herself to the task
of going around and visiting the poor
and conversing with mothers. In the
first place she instituted weekly mothers
meetings, which might be attended by
those who were able, at which sshe gave
them instructions in economizeing their
poor means, and in kinds of food most
nourishing, aud answered from the best
authorities the mothers questions as 10
treating their own and their children's
ailments. The countess next drew upon
her own means, and those of her
friends, to provide matted food extract
and similar things for ailing children,
and by spending about $1,000 year in
this way saved many lives. Nocry Of
mother or child has ever been unheeded.
Gradually she has extended her plans to
include a children's retreat in the conn
try for babies whose lives depend on
change of air, and a day nursery, where
women may leave their children in good
care while they are at work. Her work
is now arranged in districts amid the
poorest parts Of London, and she dis
tributes some 1900 pounds of baby food
per annum. The crusade of this gentle
countess against Hered, though it has
attracted no atteneion in royal circles
here, seems to have been heard of else
where, and the empress of Russia last
wear sent the countess a donation for her
work and a warm letter of sympathy.
The grand duchess of Baden has this
wear done the same"
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10

7oo ares of land near Port Rowan, where
she NV lives.
Hr.stime history affords no parallel to
tbis sauiring such physical effort, such
cTeorj alignment, adopting the only possi-
bIo r~sns to save those people, surround
od =. they were with such desperate
cirounstances, carrying out her plan,
WI, formed, with such unfinching
oor-.,e and devotion in that freezing
.o15 sxposure. f. p. DORR.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
GRAVE IND GAI.

The Iowa ran who invented grass
hopper soup as concocted a beautiful
sauce of cOckroaches and kerosene oil.
Don't eat 'em green and sliced II you
Would ike 10 stay around
Abstain if long you'd be Gu
Cumber Of the ground.
Instead of wine list Bangor hotel
prints on its bill of fare, eve would if
we cogld"
tramp he entered widows cot,
One dark, uucanny night
She felled him with big sluLg-sh0t;
such the widows might.
Young man, If you wake up suddenly
in the night and see a seven-foot man
standing over your bed, that's not the
jimjams. It's a burglar.
What's fellow to do, doctor,
when he's in company and has nothing
to say ?" He should say it quietly"
said the doctor.
The first step toward wealth used o
be considered the choice Of a good wife;
but nowadays wealth is the first step
toward the choice of a wife.
Some men can sit on a candle box
and lay out the European campaigns,
and tell almost everything that is to
occur in the future, except where their
next dinner is TO come Graphic.
The New York Ledger undertakes to
tell " how TO win a woman's love" The
most simple and effective way, if a man
can't afford diamonds, is TO take some
refreshments along and sit the other iel-
low out Boston Port.
Suppose we pass law" said
severe hiJner 10 his daughters /" that no
girl eighteen years old, who can't cook a
good meal shall get married until she
learns how to DO it?" Why, then,
we'd all get married at seventeen" re-
sponded the girls in sweet chorus
Why Is it that none of the cuts o
the magnificent dining cars" on the
great railway lines represent a man
pouring a cup of coffee down his shirt
front, while the lady opposite him pours
a pint of milk into her noighbor's lap
The artists appear to miss all the thrill
ling incidents.
Animals may think, bat sometimes
they do not think very fast. 4 COW got
into a James street garden, Friday. and
it took her half an hour to make up her
mind where to go out. A man and dog
were flooding her mind with information
all the time, too.-RoHe Sentinel.
Mr. Budd Morton, Of New Haven
had his pocket picked Of five thousand
dollars in a sleeping car on an Indiana
railroad, the other night. Sheer, mex
cusable carelessness on the part Of Mr..
Morton. We'd just like 70 see any man
pick our pocket of FIVE thousand dollars.
We'd take the pilfering scoundrel by the
throat and make him give Us half of it
if we had to kill him.
"Oh, dear" said she, sweeping away
with her broom What shall l do
Here it is 1 o'clock, and / haven't this
room swept, the beds are not made, and
the bro kiast dishes are yet to be washed.
Oh, dear, was ever woman so much
pressed for time as ! am =" Then she sud-
denly stopped, leaned on her broom, and
listened for half an hour trying to catch
the points of quarrel which was going
on between a married couple in the next
door house. The study Of feminine
! character is hard one.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
KING SOLOMON AND THE ANrs.
BY JOHN G. WHITTIER.


Out from Jerusalem
The King rode with his great
War chiefs and lords OF state,
And Sheba's Queen with them.
Proud in the Syrian sun
In gold and purple she
The dusky EthiOp Que
Smiled on King Solomon.
Wisest Of men, he knew
The languages of all
The creatures great or small
That trOd the earth or flew.
Across an anf-hill led
The Kings path, and he heard
lts small folk, and their word
He thus interpreted
-'Here cones the King men greet
IS wise and good and just,
To crush us in the dust,
Under his needless feet"
The great King bowed his mead
And saw the wide surprise
OF the Queen of Sheba's ewes,
As he told her what they said.
20 King she whispered sweet,
Zoo happy fate have they
Who perish in thy way
Beneath thy gracious feet :"
'Nay," solomon replied,
g he wi and strong should seek
The welfare Of the weak
And turned his horse aside.
HIS train. with quick alarm,
Curved with their leader round
The ant-hilPs peopled mound
And left il free from harm.
TRe jewelsi head bent low;
90 kingI' she said, " hencsforth
The secret OF thy worth
ARd wisdom well know.
Happy must be the state
" hose ruler heedeth more
The mDImUrs Of the poor
Than batteries Of the great
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
HBAYR MORTALITY AMONG THE
BLACKS.

The population of the city of Charles
ton is Sc 600 -24,0OO whites and $4,000
colored persons. As the colored persons
Outnumber the whites, of course the
mortality tables embrace a greater
number of the former than of the latter,
but the disproportion of deaths is strik-
ingly greater than the disproportion in
the population. Thus among the whites
there were Cos deaths, and among the
colored persons 1874 deaths in 1876-or
twice as many among the latter as
among the former, though the colored
population exceeds the white only one
third. In 1875 there were 624 deaths
among the whites, and 1910 among the
blacks-still about the same dispropor
tion. In 1876 there were q deaths in
the thousand among the whites, and ~
in the thousand aiming the. blacks.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10

yon can handle well, as they will only
embaTrass you, and give you plenty of
trouble with no gain. Stand fast by
your money Loan it if you can get
good security, otherwise invest it in
bonds and things of that description.
But whatever you do, do not spend it.
Do not give it a chance to slip through
your fingers and 60 off east again, there
to be massed in a few hands, and to make
the owner of it cry out against its undue
voiufne and cheapness, and TO take all
sorts Of measures to get its volume re-
duced--iS. Louis Republican.
HARMLESS m Tex sYAKEs.
oneof your correspondents writes of
the Killing of the rattlesnake by the com
nol black snake, as witnessed by him
This have not myself seen, bufin Flor
ida. where the rattlesnakes are numer-
eus md large, it is universally believed
ass they are killed and eaten by the
- I. - slack snake, called the pine-snake
or gopher-snake, from It's habit of occupy
ing the hole of the gopher or land tor
toise
We are told that from the mouth of
three witnesses every word shall be cstab-
lished, and ] have that number to es-
tablish this fact. One of them tells me
that he has twice seen gopher-snake
kill and swallowH large rattlesnake,
first, however, biting off the head, which
was rejected. Another time rattle
snake was seen to crawl through fence
into the yard, when it was killed and
and hung up on a tree. Soon after a gop
pber-snake came through the fence, trail
ing the other along the ground like a
hound, followed the trail to the tree, and
when it saw It's dead enemy hanging
there it departed. He tells me that he
always encourages these black-snakes 70
live about the house, as they are excel
lent vermin killers, driving away rats and
rabbits, which do much mischief in house
and garden. They themselves are harm.
less, except that sometimes they steal
eggs and poultry. and perhaps now and
thena kitten may be gobbled up. On
one occasion large black-snake (Which
grows to the length Of eight or nine feet
took a kitten, and finding it 10 his taste
came for another, when two house cats
attacked and killed him after severe
battle. 1t is not only the rattlesnake
which is killed by the black snake, but it
has the habit of killing and eating all
other serpents which it can overcome,
which it does by strangulation.-Forest
and Stream.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
IUPROVIDENCf or THE IgESTERH
IND SOUTHEN PEOPLE.

The business people of the west need
to learn some lessons in economy before
they can ever hope to become q substan-
tial people. The republican has often
pointed out the curious fact that although
there was only about sixteen dollars in
circulation per head Of the population of
the United States, the greater part of
the money of the country was in the
hand Of a few persons in the east. Yet
the real wealth of the country belongs
to the west.
The millions of bushels of wheat, corn,
oats, rye, barley, potatoes, fruit, etc; the
tons of butter, cheese, hay, hides, wool,
cotton, tobacco, etc; the thousands of
cattle, hogs, sheep, hOrsesfmules, etc,
which the west and south annually pour
from their great storehouses of wealth
into the eager lap of the east, is wonder
full to contemplate. For all these things
the west and south should get millions of
money, and 20 they do, because all the
things named are cash articles and bring
the money at once.
But what DO they do with this money :?
They do net keep it, that IS quite GER
tain, for it drifts back again to the east
and again masses up in the hands of the
shrewd traders.
They spend it. They buy guns ard
ammunition, pistols and knifes, tobacco
and cigars, whisky, branGA wine, etc;
extra fine clothes, nice carriages, nobby
horses, hunting dogs, etc. They go of
to fashionable resorts and go into fast
living and then take flyers on the call
board, and by some or many, or all OF
these several ways ofgetting rid of money,
they manage to spend what little they
have made.
Just so long as the western and south
ern people are thus improvident, just so
long viii they be poor and in the cruel
grip of the east. Raise as liberal crops
as you can, and when you get your
money hang on toit.
First of all, produce crops for your
| Selves, luSb dS M ulllSl pOOpiC O-NlSSSN1
and you are only figuring on enough to
carry you through the year on. Once
these crops are allowed for, then produce
something to sell-something which will
bring cash at full market value at sight.
In the north this is wool, or hogs, or cat
tie, or wheat, or many other things.
Come just as near ts being self-sustain-
ing as you possibly can, and almost be-
fore it can be fairly realized you viii
have snug balance to your credit in
the bank.
Do not get land greedy. and buy more
of the earth than you can properly till
Men of large means have frequently bank
rupted themselves through this raging
thirst for " more land"
! Do not buy any more live stock thar
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
THE rENNSFI Y4NT4 04o-WELLs.

Further particulars, which will be re-
garded as surprising, have been published
concerning the Pennsylvania oil-wells.
The Delameter well, sixteen hundred ieet
deep, sends forth gas at such a vehe-
ment pressure that plumet-line weighing
sixteen hundred pounds can be pulled
out of the bore-hole by hand. The as
cending speed of gas is seventeen hun
dred feet per second; the quantity
amounts to one million cubic feet per
hour, or more than fourteen hundred
tons a day; and the heating power is
twenty-five per 6 ut greater than that of
good bituminous coal. After this ex-
PLANTATION it is easy to understand that
the well, situated in valley surrounded
by mountains, furnishes heat and light
to the whole neighborhood. From one
of its pipes, three inches in diameter, a
fame rushes, 'the noise of which shakes
the hills, and is heard at a distance OF
fifteen miles. For a distance of fifty feet
around the earth is burnt; but farther o.
the vegetation is tropical, and enjoys a
perpetual summer"
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10

1t is no longer the fashion to send
around a slice OF wedding cake" They
send the recipe how to make It.
The Hickman courier., 1877-08-10
elA1l'--s2 we'll whats. Re use o=s-s'esss
e. asri aIlzooa.sssV : - : ..,sgofi ies-.sAsous
~ So;

religious Jest about dsylight! Bout the
time, also, that she-feyil Kate and her
hoss thief of a hupand pulled hair aRd
called each other hard names for the first
time. The stranger who was with the
family might have been a hoss-thief, a
preacher, or an angel, but [ guess our
boys didn't wait to ask many questions"
And old Bender himself?'
Il guess he didn't git away stranger
I guess there are men in Kansas who
could dig up what's left q him without
much trouble Law IS good enough
in some cases, but in other cases it is
bout as we'll to plant a family in sandy
sile and not have any foolng around!'
''And that's the reason the Benders
have not been discovered"
"Purty much the reasoo, l reckon.
though folks can keep on looking if they
want tonN -