davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Torpedo Practice on Sharks.
[London Daily News.

London Daily News
Not a year, indeed, hardly month,
passes but shark spoils British ship
of one or more of her hands. While the
vessel is in the harbor or riding in the
offing, man tumbles overheard, or is
capcised from a boat, or attempts to
swim ashore, and is torn in pieces by
sharks within sight of help and sound
of human voice. The Alice Davies, of
Liverpool, has Just returned to the
Mersey, and in her clog" is duly re-
corded a terrible catastrophe of this
kind. She was anchored off a small
river known as the Probolingo, on the
coast of Java, and one of her crew, a
Welshman of the name of Owen, went,
with four others, to bathe. They were
all good swimmers, and Owen, who was
the most skillful, had ventured some
little distance from the vessel, when he
was suddenly heard to utter a piercing
shrek. A large shark, rising suddenly
from the bottom, had bitten him imme-
diately below the fifth rib, and literally
tore him to pieces. A rope was thrown
to him, but his injuries were so terrible
that he Immediately sank. His COM
panions escaped uninjured, but of
Owens body no trace was recovered.
The shark which attacked him was, we
are told, judged to be some fifteen feet
in length. Such dimensions, although
large, are yet not unusual in the ia
vanese seas.
The shark is not so much the tiger as
the vulture of the sea. Like the vulture,
he hesitatesto attack any thing with life
in it; but, if hungry, becomes for the
time possessed with a courage not his
own. We shall never exterminate him,
and his presence in tropical waters must
always remain constant source of dan
ger. Meantime he has at least this
merit, that wherever he may be found
he affords certain rough species of
sport. There is no better fun than fish
ing for a shark with hook the size of
a pitchfork, and huge piece of pork
by way of bait. Harpooning the Great
ure is also an exciting amusement, al
though seldom practiced. Oflate years,
too, the shark. has been hunted in novel
and scientific ways. There is no better
form of rifle practice than to shoot at
ulH 1IOuu OYcI buc SIcru WIbu 6ApIOSlN6
bullets. If you miss him, he follows on.
If he is hit, great hole is rent in him.
He rolls over on his back, displaying
his cruel, gaping jaws and vast expanse
of white under-surface; and his brother
sharks, coming up from around, quar-.
rel and dispute fraternally over.the car.
cass. Best, however, of all modes Of
shark chase, because most scientific
and, consequently, most amusing, il
that recently adopted in Her Maiesty's
navy, of combining torpedo drill with
shark fishery. A miniature torpedo il
inclosed in bait of junk or pork, and
lowered with proper care. The battery
is duly charged, and at the moment thai
the huge fish seizes, and, as a pike
fisher would say, pouches" the tempt
ing morsel, the circuit is completed
The effect is instantaneous. The heat
and jaws of the monster are blown int
fragments, and bubbling circle in tn,
water marks the spot where, a few sec
onds before, his dorsal fin was Showing
above the waves.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28

west side of the river. The country
was all full of marshes, bayous and mo-
rasses, so that the natural advantages
for the execution of the plot were good.
The plan was for Joe Lee and his five
trusty followers to dress up in the Fed
eral uniform, ride on horseback to Mil
liken's Bend, go direct to the house
where Grant was stopping, rush in and
secure his person, put him on spare
horse, and then escape to the swamps,
which were near by. On one Saturday
evening late the party set out from
Dickson's house, near Delhi, and rode
toward the Mississippi.
There was not soul on earth besides
themselves and Governor Allen that
knew of their desperate mission. 1t
was something over twenty-five miles
they had to 90, and the night was a
dark one, but long before day they were
at the edge of the woods that bordered
on the plantation on which Grant was
quartered. There was no enemy to at
tack from the west side, and there was
no particular precaution about guards.
The pickets were passed before sun-up,
and, while the general was yet asleep,
the guerillas rode boldly up through
the open field toward the house. There
they were-six men-seven horses; the
empty saddle for the commander of the
hundred thousand men who were camped
about in every direction. They ap-
preached to almost stones throw of
the house, when they met negro.
They were discovered. 1t was an old
man whom these very men had run
away from Delhi not ten days before.
He knew them all and Immediately gave
the alarm. In a moment there was a
great tumult, and the six guerillas had
nothing to do but save their lives. They
broke through the field and in the
twinkling Of an eye were back in the
woods, but not until hundred shots
had been fired after them. Before the
sun went down they were safe at their
favorite rendezvous. Thus was frus-
trated one of the most daring plots of
the war. 1t is not probable that Cen
eral Grant took any particular notice
of the affair, and it is not at all prob
able that he has revealed the valuable
service of the old colored man. What
Interpretation the officers of the army
put upon the presence of the strange
and hostile men at such time and
place is not known, but if there were
any doubts as to their mission this bit
of history may serve to remove them.
Most Of these guerillas remained in
Carroll Parish till the close of the war,
many Of them lived there for some years
after the war, and some of them are
there to-day.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Enormous Marine Losses.
boston Advertiser.l

The list of marine disasters for the
month of October is extremely large
compared with other months. The total
number of vessels belonging to, or bound
to or from, ports in the United States,
reported totally lost or missing during
the past month is eighty-five. Of this
number fifty-four were wrecked, seven
teen abandoned, two burned, one sunk
by collision, one capsized, eight foun-
dered, and three are missing; divided
as follows: Three steamers, three ships,
fourteen barks, seven brigs, and fifty
eight schooners. The total value of the
above craft, exclusive of their cargoes,
is estimated at 81, 10000.
In addition to the above list, the
British steamship John Bramhall lies
stranded on the coast of Little Gull
Island, in Long Island Sound; hopes
are entertained that the vessel may yet
be saved. This steamer has insurance
effected upon her for upwards of 81 ,0OO,,
900; but as vessel and cargo are princi-
pally insured in foreign Offices, her loss
would not be felt among our own lnsur.
ance companies. Every exertion posi-
BILE has been made to save this valuable
vessel and her cargo, and we hope they
will be successful.
There were also a large number OF
oyster vessels and other bay craft driven
ashore and wrecked during the recent
great gales upon our coast, the latter
principally in the Chesapeake and Della
ware Bays. The losses must necessarily
fall heavily upon our local marine in
surance companies, whose profits, OF
account of the depression in shipping
have been limited the past few seasons
Some of the vessels lost were not ont
year old at the time they met disaster
1t is gratifying to know that, afte
the list had been made up, one fine bark
whose long passage had caused her t.
be counted among the missing, has ar
rived safe at her port of destination.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Anecdotes of Bishop Asbury.

Francis Asbury, a pioneer bishop of
the Methodist Episcopal church of
America, was lifelong bachelor, and
gave some quaint reasons for his en-
forced celibacy, some of which were
his call to preach when he was sixteen
years old, commencing to itinerate at
twenty-one, migration to America at
tMentysix.the Revolutionary war. his
being made bishop at forty-nine-an
Office which called him to travel thous-
ands of miles every year. 81 could
hardly expect to find a woman with
grace enough to enable her to live with
her husband but one week out of
fifty-two. His salary was but sixty
four dollars year, and he supported
his aged mother in England till he was
ffty-seven. He often impoverished him.
self to relieve his pioneer preachers,
draining his purse-and even pawning his
cloak, watch and shirtP' In the early
days of the itineracy, celibacy was ne
cessity. Asbury writes, We have lost
the itinerant labors of two hundred oi
the best men in America by marriage
and consequent location" On one cir
cult of Virginia the girls picked off the
preachers SO fast that he tried the dodge
of sending to the circuit " two de
crepid old men in the.belief that nobody
would try to allure them into the bonds
of wedlock, but, to his surprise, they
were both married during the year. y
Asbury threw up the sponge, exclaim.
ing, " ] am afraid the women and the
demon will get all my preachers. In 1S0'
Asbury staid all night at a log taverl
in Kentucky. In the morning the land
lord came to him with bottle and
glass and asked him to take littl
whisky. Nay" said the biship, ".
make no use of the demons tea
Another anecdote of the bishop: Il
1900, ferryman in Ohio used to Sc
him over the river, ferriage free, saying
Z" never charge ministers and babies
for if they do no good, they do n
harm"
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Absent-Minded People.
bradford Breeze.


Boys who forget the circus day. Men
who forget their mothers-in-law's names.
Women who forget that shirt buttons
are essential to mems happiness. Peo-
pie who forget what kind of an umbrella
they left in the vestibule, and take a
better one. People who forget to clean
their teeth before breakfast. People who
give three dollars change for two dol
lar bill. Young girls in love. People
who can forget that they have corns.
Ministers who put a deck of cards in
their pockets with their handkerchiefs
Women who forget to lift their dress
when crossing muddy street-that is
if they have neat ankles. Men who
lift their hats to cigar sign. Womer
who pass a glass without looking in
People who put postage stamps on posta
nords
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28

NEVER slip the ring on her finger,
boys, till you slip around early some
morning and see how nature triumphs
over art when you give nature fair
chance, and her best fellow aim t around.
You wouldn't recognize her without an
introduction, and from the looks of her
wardrobe you'd take her for the hired
girl, or a yellow fever sufferer. But just
let the bell ring, or a vision of pair of
coat tails flop around the corner, and the
way she PAGES off the distance interven-
ing between the buttery door and a
brush and comb, would make carrier
pigeon smart with envy.-Etmird
Gazette.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
BIZ MARY AISeE DEvERE.


His eyes were brown, his cheeks were bright,
His hat hung backward from his eurls,
used to think his teeth were pearls.
/ watched him with such dear delight,
Ny little sweetheart, Willie
Across the school-room's din and noise
He sent me friendly smiles and looks:
He loved to carry home my books,
And guard mefrom the ruder boys,
Ny kind, brave-hear.ed Willie.
He gave me once-I have 1t yet
Pressed in my dictionary leaves,
The old, old perfume round it cleaves-
An early April violet,
My thoughtful, gentle Willie.
One morn crossei the shaded lane
Where Willie used to wait for me;
He was not there, and wonderingly
/ waited long, but long in vain,
For my dear playmate, Willie.
That day, how dull the lessons seemed
watched the clocks slow, measured beat,
While DER his empty desk and seat
The smiling vacant sunlight streamed;
missed my boy, my Willie.
And 30, the long, long week went by,
Till some one came and spoke word,
The saddest ever said or heard;
could not sob, coul 1 not cry.
Ny heart seemed dead with Willie.
1 saw him once again. The place
Was dark and huRhed. He lay at rest
With white flowers smiling on his breast.
] stopped aud kissed his sweet, dead face,
And said goodbye to Willie.
All mel All mel How many years
Have come and gonei Ny own boys fret
And fill my heart; but even ye;
My eyes have room for tender tears
Whene'er think of Willie.
= Youths Companion.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
: And xhen ho. saw n pills -akAAaa------
In twain it seemed as riven-
He shook his head AID gently sighed:
sFor mans delusion given"


"I LOVE men," says the queen of
Sweden, "not because they are men,
but because they are not women" We
love women, not because they are
women, but because they can sew on
shirt button or put a patch on the most
important part of pair OF pantaloons
better than man can.-Boston Post.
A TEACHER asked one of her class
what was the first line of the piece of
poetry which described Daniels feelings
on being cast into the lions den. The
youngster was posed. The teacher said,
"Ceme! Gomez sharply. Thereat the
boy exclaimed hurriedly, 81 know, miss;
it was Goodbye, sweetheart, good
bye"
has been ostensibly duck shooting at San
Mateo all the day and night previous,
" did the Office boy bring you those
ducks. / shot, as / told him p :" No,
sir; heSdid not, )" replied Mrs. s., in an
icy and appalling manner; but the
butchers boy has been here to say that,
as he cannot fill your order for wild
ducks to day, he sends you half-dozen
tame ones instead" Tableau.-San:
Francisco Ne,ps Letter.
EVERY day we have evidence that the
small boy has no soul. The other day
crowd gathered around a farmer whose
wagon load of butter and eggs was fast
| in mud hole, and while some suggested
that he pull his horse gee, and others
that he pull him haw the ever-present
small boy yelled, It's no use, mister.
Yer old horse amt stout enough. Take
him out an hitch in roll of yer but
ter."-Ol City Derrick.
A CLERGYMAN who had been fishing,
and came home without any spoils OF
the fnny tribe, told his wife that he
had seen but one fish, and that was a
pike, which looked at his bait and
seemed weighing the chances between
catching it and being caught himself.
The wife responded, I" And of course ne
was able to weigh the matter correctly,
because he had so many scales " That
finishes me-" exclaimed the clergy
man, as he dropped in chair.
1T took three men, two boys and a
brindle dog an hour and half to drive
a sandy pig a distance of two blocks
down to the ferryboat yesterday alter
noon. When the wearisome drive wal
ended, the dog was bit in three places
the boy had sprained his ankle, broker
two windows by throwing stones at ths
pig, one of the men was tired to death
and the other two were drunk, and the
Dig was two miles back from the river
going west, and sarcastically asking
people it met if they could tell it whers
the Burlington ferry crossed the Missis
sippi.-Bmlington Hasckcys.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28

THE Esquimaux of the Mackenzie
River wage the vendetta, but do not con-
slider it manly to kill relatives MUIR
derer in fair fight. The avenger steals
upon him at night, when he is asleep,
and having slain his victim draws two
or three lines of tattooing across his face,
and is thereafter recognized as hero.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28

IF the two mosquitoes in the Ark had
become impertinent and bloodthirsty,
and lit ON Noah's nose fifteen times a
minute, the probabilities are that about
the second night out he would have
jumped out of bed, lit the gas, got a
towel, and frescoed the ceiling of the
boat with their gore. P. Swish he
had.-NorristoaD Herald.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
EVERYDAY sPICERIEs.

THE man whose goose was cooked for :.
him on election day has no thanksgiv.
ing in his house.-Ne,o Orleans Picdyune.
IT was Prof. Huxley who said that
early risers are . conceited all the fore
noon and stupid all the afternoon. Cat
skill Record.
The greatest business of man is TO
improve his mind, govern his manners,
and awake his wife every morning to
build the fire. Os,oego Record.
LAZARUS didn't go to heaven because
be was poor, nor the rich man to hell
because he was rich. Let every corner
loafer paste this in his hat Camden
Post. ss-
Our Western exchanges come to us
with thrilling tale of A Boys Ride
with Panther" We haven't read it
yet, but presume the boy was an inside
passenger most of the ride.- Albany
Journal.
"NoT yet" is the title of poem by
Lillia N. Cushman, of Connecticut.
Well, there is only one thing about it,
Lillia, we are getting somewhat along in
years, and we can't wait much longer
Gowanda Enterprise
LITTLE JOHNNY: One time lion
met elephant, and the elephant sed:
You better go and git your hair cnt.p
But the lion it sed: BAIL shan't re-
sent fellers insults wich has got his
nose tween his own teeths."
YESTERDAY as an oyer-crowded street
car was making its way ur West Phila-
delphia hill, both horses suddenly fell
dead from fright They saw fat man
weighing three hundred and fifty
pounds hailing the driver Psiladel-
phia Chronicle Herqd.
AT political meeting the other night,
when an orator with an unusually large
stomach arose to speak, the chairman,
who was rather near-sighted, shouted
out three times, "Here, take that base
drum off the stage" before he discovered
his mistake.-P Philadelphia Chronicle
Herald.
In speaking of sin the average preacher
| might saw it is as black as coal" or
sblack as night;" but he will be better
understood if he says 'black as the ace
of spades" Comparisons should be
made by things most familiar to the,
human mind.-New Orleans Picayunc.
AMATEUR gardener (who has care
fully indicated his choice plants with
wooden labels s)-"Oh, you've done weed
ing that border, have you? Now, hope
YOU minded what told you, and took
great care of the talliesT Biddy "Sure
4 an did that same. Niver one av
'em but I've here, sorr, safe in me
| EnJL
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Professional Vanity Sacrificing Life.


New York Correspondence of the Cincinnati Ga
Zette.l
There was a considerable attendance
of doctors, surgeons and students at the
Blank Hospital one day. DR., a
celebrated surgeon, was to amputate a
boys leg, and a brilliant operation was
looked for. 1t was brilliant but in the
midst of it one of the spectators saw a
spurt-spurt of blood that his practiced
eye told him ought to be stopped at once.
He looked anxiously at the operator, but
though his eye saw it too, his pride was
blind to it. To stop and bind it would
spoil the symmetry of the performance.
He went on, and finished to the admira-
ton of the whole throng-"a splendid
operation!'
The next morning our observing friend
went to the hospital. As the door was
opened for him he said to the ianitor
"Little is dead" The man stared
at him in aEtonishment. "Why, how
do you know that, sir?" "I knew he
would die when l saw the operation" J"
Said the man, eyes sir, he died this
morning" That same morning some
one found the brilliant surgeon standing
by the sheeted bed, with face that told
its own story. He said he would give all
he had in the world if he could bring that
boy back to life, for he knew that his
vanity had killed him.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
TIE sonsAnnuIIsr1c nDrro..

knew fellow years sgone
Upon magazine.
Ee was its editor, and on
Its cover could be seen
The name Of him OF whom Sing,
Whose mania was such 49,
He edited each blessed thing,
he edited 1t much.
Because, when was young" raid he.
Ny editors would alter me,
And SO do the same, you see.
With conscientious touch"
80 greatly would he exercise
His privileges right,
That from his couch he'd often rise
And do 1t in the night.
And when the hours were getting smal1,
Devoid of any clothes at all,
He, In his slumbers, used to crawl,
And edit all his might.
While In this energetic trance,
With strict impartial will.
Full often he himself would chance
To suffer from his quill.
Fulfilled his sleeping task, and when
He back to bed had got,
He couldn't tell his efforts then
From efforts which were not.
And SO I'm very much afraid
That other men were often paid
For verses he himself had made
And altered such q lot.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Reconciliation.

The following table gives the political
division of the House compared with the
present Congress:
z5rH CONGRESS. 10TH CONGRESS.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28

SOME folks can't tell whether Beecher
weaves an occasional joke into his SER
mons, or an occasional sermon into his
iokes.-Free Press.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-11-28
Old Annie JOhn.N

On recent Saturday night, in New
York, an old man known as "Apple
John" died in a miserable cellar, all
alone. He was an inventor, and thought
he had discovered perpetual motion
and he had worked at it steadily for
thirty years. He kept an apple stand in
his cellar, and all that he made by the
business he spent in perfecting his in
yention.
He had an idea, purpose. He slept
ON pile of straw in his solitary cellar.
in a squalid neighborhood, and spent
days and nights of toll over his machine !;
stinted himself in food, clothing, and all
the pleasures of life, and when at last
he died, there was no one to comfort his
death struggle, no one to close his eyes.
But did cold Apple John" live alone ?
Oh no; there lived in his cellar the
most beautiful presence that ever glad
dened the wretchedness of his life, a
presence that was near him all the time
and kept him company; spirit that had
fled perhaps from the halls and bowers
of wealth and luxury to nestle in the
cellar of old Apple John-it was Hope.
With her for his companion old John
was happy; he sang at his work and
laughed at his self-imposed hardships, at
the wretchedness of his surroundings
and of the jeers of his acquaintance
He looked forward to the time when
Hope should be his, when she should be
realized, his bride. On the night before
his death she had been very caressing tc
him. He called boy and sent him to
get some refreshments, saying that his in
vention was complete. He was gay and
confident. On the next day his shop die
not open. When they went in they
found the old man dead with a smile OIL
his face. Around him were his decaying
fruits and cakes, and the complicated
wheels and springs and puileys of his in
vention. Hope had gone, but she hac
left in the smile on his face the impress
of her parting kiss.
Do not pity this old man. He hat
been far happier than many rich MAJ
on Fifth avenue had ever dreamed of
Squalor does not always bring misery
nor does wealth bring joy. Gods bless
ings are more evenly distributed than w
imagine; and no man is unhappy Will
Hope nestles in his bosom.