davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
OLD LAREDO.

The original Laredo, on the Mexican
side, says a correspondent of the Civil
Engineer, is a small town of some seven
hundred inhabitants, New Laredo, on
the Texas bank, having about five hun
dred. Old Laredo is built in the usual
Mexican style, of course. On the i'm
mediate bank of the river it is laid off
into very narrow streets, generally the
case with all Mexican towns, and in i'm
itation of the towns and cities of Spain.
The houses are mixture of stone and
adobe, and generally but one story high.
The Laredoans live in the usual style
of Mexicans, and subsist upon the ever
lasting tartilla, smoked beef and pepper,
the last mentioned being an indispensa-
BILE article for the table of every Mexi-
can, from Diaz down to the lowest peon
that works the coffee plantations of the
Valley of Orizaba. The wealthy citi-
zens of the towns initiate the American
fashions; some of the ladies of the Mex
lean bon ton, in fact, dress fully up to
New York or st. Louis fashion plates,
and what they lack of surprising their
st. Louis, Chicago, or New York sisters
in this respect, is the glorious and warm
brilliancy of their dark Spanish eyes
that fash under clouds of jet blacl
tresses. which are suffered to languidly
float over their fair foreheads. Ole
Laredo is destined, in very short tim,
to become the terminus of at least tive
lines of railway, cannecting it with tn,
vast railway system of the United
States. One of these is the Interna
tional and Great Northern Railway
already completed to Austin, the capita
of Texas. Both will connect Lared
with St. Louis direct, and as good
thing as the great capitalists of st. Loui
could do would be to at once invest i
Old Laredo lots and blocks, whic
neither Diaz nor the robbers of Coahuil
can put upon the backs of pack mule
and carry away.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

W9MAN's wit, in the opinion of Cap
tain Hoffman, played an important part
at times in the conflict, the rebels gain
ing many an advantage over the North
ern men by its influence. "In such
matters" he remarks, zone woman is
worth wilderness Of men. 1 recollect
one day we sent steamboat full of
rebel officers Exchanged prisoners)
into the Confederacy. They were gem
orally accompanied by their wives and
children. Our officers Ioticed the most
extraordinary number of dolls ON board
every child had a doll-but they had
no suspicious. A lady told me after
wards that every doll was filled with
quinine; the sawdust was taken out and
quinine substituted. Depend upon i,
that female wit devised the trick
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
Electric Time.keeping.

Prof. s. P. Langley writes in Harper $
Magazine for April: Imagine piece of
iron (called the "armature ~ suspended
in every telegraph station between a
plate of sonorous metal and a coil of
wire, the coil being continuation of
the telegraph wire outside, which con-
ducts the electric current into the build
ing through the coil, round an iron core,
out, and ON again to the next station.
While the current is passing through
the coil it exercises that very magnetic
virtue" the early speculator dreamed
of, the armature"- being attracted and
held as firmly to it as by common
magnet. If the wire on the telegraph
poles were cut, and the severed ends
separated by so much as the hundredth
of an inch, the current would cease
all along the line at once; at once every
"armature" would be set free, and,
falling back against the resonant metal
behind it, produce a sound distinctly
and simultaneously heard at every sta
ton. When the wires are joined, the
current leaps in a fraction of second
through thousands Of miles, the coils
regain their attractive power as sud
denly as they lost it, the armatures move
again, to fall back and sound once more
when the next interruption comes, and
so on, without end, so long as the cir
cult" is unbrokeh, and the distant bat
terry, which sends the impulse, is fed
with its zinc and acid fuel.
At a certain hour in every day, in
any one of the principal offices of the
railroad-at Jersey City or at Philadel-
phia, for instance--there is moments
pause in the fattls of the telegraphic
instruments, and then in ole Of them
we see and hear the armature moving
back and forth; not with the irregular
motion impressed upon it BY the opera
tors finger, but with a Uniform beat
every second. 1t sounds like a clock
ticking somewhere in the room; it is a
clock ticking, but the clock is many
hundreds of miles away, and it is mark
ing off minutes and seconds In this
manner, ct Sne and the same moment,
in hundreds of points, in distant cities,
or scattered along some thousands of
miles of main or branch roads.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
Advice to Sections.

Bishop Huntington, of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, has word to say to
sections from which they may profit:
"A great deal may be done for quiet
ness in churches by the sexton. The
most quiet sexton l ever saw was an
apostle of silence. His eye, and ear,
and hand were everywhere, and his
genius for forestalling and suppressing
confusion was wonderful. Before service
he always changed his boots for slippers.
He glided about the aisles as noiselesly
as a ghost. He made bookkeeping a
fine art Doors and windows were fixed
50 that they would never be heard. He
took care that no sound should come
from the furnace or gas fixtures after
the service began. The fact was that
this was not mere instinct of propriety
or crafty measure of success in his Of
fee; it was constant answer of his be-
lieving and humble heart to the solemn
sentence, The Lord is in His holy
temple What contrast to the clumsy,
fussy, .heavy-shod brother, in charge OF
the stoves in rural sanctuary 1 remem.
ber, who was sure to start up two OF
three times in the midst of prayers
sometimes when the preacher was doinl
his best to get or hold the attention o,
his hearers, march around from his sea
to the fire, swing open stridulous stow
door, punch the sticks with poker, ant
toss in an additional supply of fuel, Civ
ing US another shrill screech from tn
hinges as o finale"
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
How Bulgarian Traders Quarrel.

A dispute not unfrequently arises and
a crowd gathers about the irate traders;
but no blows are struck in the East. A
quarrel is accompanied by a series of
highly exasperated expectorations, re-
minding the observers of nocturnal
feline combat. One of the soi-distant
combatants spits upon the pavement in
what he conceives to be an intensely
malignant and daring way; his antago-
mist Immediately follows suit and spits
upon his side of the street in what he
imagines to be more desperate and
blood-curdling style, and if the contro-
versy is a very deadly one, the partiei-
pants keep up bombardment OF the
Unfortunate sidewalk until their lips
are so dry that they rattle in vain to at
tempt to expend more ammunition.
When this point is reached the dis
putants generally walk off in different
directions, turning back every two min
utes for the first two miles to shake
their fists in the direction they suppose
their antagonist to have taken.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
FOREIGN SUMMARY.

TURKISH atrocities in Thessaly are re-
ported.
A RUSSIAN agent is coming to New York
to inspect fast steamships suitable for trans.
port service.
TH1RTY-s1x persons, attending the fair,
at Brest, on the 14th, were drowned by
the capsizing of barge.
THE Ne,6 Free Press, of Vienna, states
that the Crown Prince OF Austria will
shortly visit the United States and Brazil.
RoUMANIA is disposed to an independent
attitude, and evinces determination not
to be governed by the peace preliminaries.
A ROME dispatch states that measures are
impending against certain persons of high
position at the Vatican, for instigating mu-
tiny among the Swiss Guards.
THE King of Greece visited and took
luncheon with General Grant at the Amer
can Legaa.on in Athens, on the 14th. The
General sailed the same evening for Naples.
TWELVE thousand Turks landed at Volo,
and it is expected that they will attack Mt.
Pelion. 1t is anticipated, if the Turks over
whelm the insurgents, it will be difficult to
restrain the Greek army from re-entering
Thessa1y.
DISTURBANCES among the Swiss Guard at
the Vatican are reported. Forty have been
dismissed. Some fanatics, inside and out
side the Vatican, are tampering with these
mercenaries for the purpose of creating
difficulties for the Pope.
THE london Times id a leading editorial,
contends that Russia must submit every
one of the peace conditions to the Congress,
not excepting the indemnity clause. "She
has not the right" says the article, " to be
dictator over Turkey. the gfeat Powers
did not invite her to make war, or give her
permission to replace the Government of
the Porte in any way she may think fit. )"
The Times a'so euiogizes the home Go*erhi
ment's action in bringing forward the Greek
elaiths. It says: aNo decision SO patri;
otic and far-seeing has been taken by the
Cabinet in many day as the step proposing
that Greece should be represented at the
Conferense. It recognizes that the old
state of things can not be restored, and that
the best materials for replacing it are to be
found in tie Hellenic race.''
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

The novel spectacle of selling negro
to the highest bidder was witnessed in
the streets Of Hickman, KY, recently.
The Courier says that Mr.. James Barks-
dale was the auctioneer, and as the ne
gro man stood on the block, and the
auctioneer's voice rose and fell, crying
the bids, it revived "reminiscences of old
and by-gone days. The colored people
crowded around in anxious expectancy,
and strange to say, every one seemed to
approve the sale. The negro sold was
one John Cooper, who had been pre-
viously tried and convicted as vagrant,
and the verdict Of the jury was that he
should be sold into servitude for six
months, as the law provides and directs
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A BELGIAN statistician has compiled
list showing that in 1877 there was
borrowed in the various countries of the
world $3.50, 900 against 1925, ,OOO,-
600 in 1876, and $3.50, 900, 900 in 1875.
OF this enormous amount 81, ,154 $50, 900
was borrowed by Governments, national,
State, and municipal, and the balance
by railway and industrial companies
and institutions of credit. The excess
Of the worlds borrowing last year over
that Of previous years was mainly due
TO the conversion loans of the United
States. The French loans have amounted
to 1876, ,00o, 900, over two-thirds of which
have been issued by railway and indus.
trial companies. The large loans Of
Russia were paid chiefly in the pape,
money which the Government itself had
issued.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

CHICAGO has had lawsuit between
Cinnamon. Sam Chi sued Tung Lee
for wages as washerman. The diff
Guilty of Interpretation was formidable,
there being no disinterested Chinaman
procurable who could speak English in
telligibly. The Judge, therefore, made
the defendant interpret the testimony
Of the plaintiffs witnesses, and the
plaintiff that of the defendants wit
nesses. This plan, if 1t did not insure
correctness, at least gave each side an
equal chance of lying. The plaintiffs
witnesses all testified that he worked in
the laundry two months. The defend.
ants witnesses swore as positively that
Sam Chi had not been there at all, anc
as they far outnumbered their oppo
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
nents, the verdict was for the defense.
The plaintiff declared that he would
hire more witnesses, and sue again.

JAPAN perpetually shames China. 1t
is announced, officially, from Yeddo that
"a, ,275 elementary schools are now in
operation among the japanese, within
an area of 114,000 square miles; that
the attendance of scholars averages
nearly 100000, of whom one-fourth
are girls; that A, 1000 teachers are en-
ployed; and that the income of the
public school fund last year was Sc, ,23S,-
900, of which sum $40, 600 were volun-
tary contributions, while the school
expenditures were only $4,210,OOO-
leaving a balance of $4,000, 900 on the
right side. An agricultural college was
opened at Toxic on the 24th of January,
and the Government has just introduced
the use of the telephone. Commodore
Perry did good thing when he broke
open the gates of Japan, twenty-five
years ago, and let in the light.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A CERTAIN gentleman of La Grange,
Ohio, whose residence is near his place
of business, to save the time and trouble
of going to the door, raised window
from the outside and requested his wife
to hand him $40 bill. While she was
gone after it he was called away Mean
time passing tramp saw something in
side of the window which he thoug int it
possible to take, raised the window, put
his hand cautiously in, and must have
been astonished to have bill thrust in
it. Of course, he accepted it and i'm
mediately left. Then the gentleman
returned. Tableau. Cleveland Herald,
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

ALTHOUGH the Danube Steam Navi-
cation Company is the largest under
taking of the kind in Europe, still the
waters of the great river are not yet
turned to full account. The Rhine is
navigable for steamboats, from Mann
helm to Rotterdam, distance of three
hundred and thirty English miles; the
Elbe is navigable from Nelnik to Ham
burg, distance of five hundred and
thirty miles. On the Danube and its
afluents two thousand seven hundred
and fifty English miles are navigable by
steam. The shipping of the Danube, in
proportion to that of the Rhine, is,
however, much less important. Fears
as to the future are also arising; it i,
uncertain what will become of the
mouths of the Sulina.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

Miss EvARTs has the pleasant custom
that Miss Edith Fish made so popular,
of presiding at the coffee urn in the
refreshment-room. She is lively girl,
with satin blonde hair, very pure COM
plexion, sea-shell tinted cheeks, and
enough Of the Evarts nose to give charac-
ter to her face. There is not q curl, not
a crimp, not sign of an abbreviated lock
about her, but the bands of her pale
luxuriant hair are brushed smoothly
back and done up in a Greek knot,
fastened with a tortoise shell comb.
She moves with willowy grace. and
looks and walks, the gentle, refined, un-
mistakable lady, the breath of peace
upon her lips, the shine of an 1ndis-
turbed quiet in her starry eyes. Wash
ington Letter.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

OVER 100000 worth of salmon was
shipped from England to Oregon last
year, and double that amount to San
Francisco and other ports. The num-
Der Of cases put up on the Columbia in
1875 was 231, 500; in 1876, 42S,730; in
1877, $4,000. The cases contain about
fifty pounds each, and are worth at
wholesale about six dollars per case.
The salmon exports last year, notwith-
standing the unfortunate season, were
about one-third of the value of the
wheat exports in the most favorable
season for that cereal ever known, the
two together aggregating in value about
$4,000, QUO.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
AFTER the nomination of Hayes and

AFTER the nomination of Hayes and
Wheeler, pictures of the candidates
were published. Mr.. Wheeler received
a day or two after his nomination let
ter enclosing a cut of him taken from
a Chicago paper. The writer said:
" William A. Wheeler, Esq.-Sir-I
don't know you, but if you look like
this picture, for Gods sake decline.
Yours truly" When Fremont was
nominated in 1856, the Tribune printed
a picture Of "the Pathfinder" which
looked like a pirate expecting to be
hung In ten minutes. He said that pic
ture cost him twenty thousand votes.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A SPURIOUS coin, in the shape of 3
Mexican silver dollar, made its appear
ance in Chicago few days ago, and is
supposed to be gaining rapid circula-
tion. The counterfeit is very clever
one and not easily detected. 1t is made
of sand and glass, which gives to the
piece a deceptive ring, and sufficient
nickel to give it almost the necessary
weight. The best plan suggested to de-
tect the piece is to rub it with the genu-
inc coin, and it will be found to chip
of at the edges. ALI the coins found
thus far bear the date of 1877.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A CURIOUS case affecting the legal
definition of cruelty to animals" has
Just been decided in the English Exche-
quer at the Sittings in Banco. The
Magistrates of Upper Geneur-Glynn, in
Cardigan, had decided that it was not
cruelty not to shoot mare which was
in foal, and kept for the sake of her ex-
pected suffering from hopeless
injury to the leg, which caused her
great torture whenever she moved
about, and this decision the Court of
Exchequer confirmed. But the Magis-
trates had not remitted for appeal the
point which both the Chief Baron and
Baron Cleasby regarded as the one
really at issue-namely, whether it was
not cruelty to place the poor animal in a
field where she could only feed herself
by inhicting great torture On herself
through constant motion, instead of
feeding her in stall, where she need
not have used the injured leg to any
thing like the same extent.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A SPANISH lady was brought into
Court in London the other day for re-
fusing to pay for blue silk night gown
she had ordered. She declared the gar
ment misft, and offered to prove the
fact by trying it on before jury of
matrons. There was not a jury of mat
rons. and the Judge finally decided that
she must pay the bill with costs. This
inflamed her Andalusian blood, and her
proud answer to the desrot and tyrant
was to hurl the garment in question at
the solicitors head, and afterwards to
tear it up to ribbons before the Judges
face. The remnants are now in possession
of one of the officers of the Court.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

In 1901, during the French occupa-
tion of Egypt, the English cut the
Alexander Canal dikes and let the
Mediterranean into Lake Mareotis, de-
stroying one hundred and fifty villages
on the shores of the lake, and turning
the plain into a morass. A Dutch COM
pany has obtained from the Khedive a
concession to drain and cultivate the
swamp. 1t is expected that seventy-fve
thousand acres Of land can be reclaimed,
which will he turned into vineyards,
where il will be sought to cultivate the
once famous Mareotis grapes.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

IT has shocked most people that the
Pope in his coronation speech made no
allusion TO the late Plus TX, although
Cardinal Dipetro, in addressing the
Pontif, had been eloquent in praise of
the deceased Pope. The omission could
not, therefore, be accidental, and has
been variously commented upon.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
If the Prince of Wales should die his

If the Prince of Wales should die his
eldest son would succeed Queen Victoria
1t is immaterial whether or not Wales
had mounted the throne, and had he
died before his son was born the right
of that son to the succession would not
be prejudiced. The English law of in
heritance is little peculiar, in that the
Oldest son of the monarch inherits to
the exclusion of elder daughters, but a
daughter will inherit against collateral
heirs Wales will take the crown at
his mothers death, although his sister,
the crown princess of Germany, is a
year older than he. The father of Queen
Victoria, the Duke of Kent, was never
on the throne. He died before his next
older brother, William " (who died
childless), and left only one child, the
present queen, but three or four younger
brothers survived him, none of whom
or their descendants could inherit the
throne while he had issue.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A YOUNG woman in Newburg, Wis,
severely thrashed her father because he
would not raise five hundred dollars to
give her as dowry, in order to marry a
man who wanted his wife to have that
sum,
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

PRINCE GoRTscHAKoFF, who at the
age Of seventy-nine is the master-spirit
of Russian diplomacy, is of middle size
and well-proportioned figure, with
quiet, courteous manner, and remark
ably smooth, well-preserved face, whose
only sign Of age lies in the spectacles
that hide his large, expressive eyes.
His industry is still as unfagging as
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

A TEXAS man got mad because a
waiter handed him a napkin the other
day. He said he reckoned he know'd
when to use n'kercher without
hayin' no hints thrown out"
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

If there is any thing we admire, it is
cleanliness. Mrs. Bezum puts brown
striped paper on her walls, and has
colored table-cloths, "because, you see,
they don't show dirt easy"
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

The new "silver dollar of the
daddies " so nearly resembles the trade
dollar as to be scarcely distinguishable
from it either in size or weight. The
diverse has the head of Liberty with
her cap, and on the reverse is the spread
aaola
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21
TOPICS OF THE DAY

The Pope in all his exhortations
avoids mention of the Virgin, with the
purpose Of discountenancing Mariolatry,
which his predecessor 50 long encour-
aoa1
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-03-21

QUEEN Victoria's farm at Windsor
furnishes butter for the London market.
Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-03-14

REPUBLICAN sentiment in Michigan on the
course of the Administration is somewhat
mixed. The Detroit News having sent to all
the leading Republicans in the State circu-
lar requesting their views on certain political
points, received in reply 300 approvals of the
Presidents Southern policy and 2S6 disap-
prevails 283 predictions of benef csal results
following that policy, and 2s0 predictions of
disaster; 595 answers favorable to the civil
service policy, and 176 answers unfavorable
to that policy; 2G0 Endorsements of the fnan-
cial policy of the Administration, and 305 dis
approvals; 332 expressions of confidence in
the President, and 24S repudiations of the
Administration. These answers came from
men who represent public sentiment all over
the State.
Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-03-14

The President of the temperance organiza-
tion in Springfield, Ohio, gives the following
summary of a years work: ''rhe Infrmary
Director reports $4,000 less spent for the year
1877, over the year 1876, and attributes the
great reduction to the success of the temper
ance movement; and the Ladies' Benevolent
Society reports an expenditure of charities of
only $500 for the year 1877, as against $4,000
for the year 1876. Several saloon keepers
have quit the basiness, several more have
signed the pledge and quit, another jumped
the town, leaving his sureties to foot the bills,
some three others effects are in the hands of
the Sheriff. Mr. Ludlow also reports great
decrease in the County Court costs, criminal
suits, ETC., and that the movement is saving
the taxpayers thousands Of dollars"