davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
London Firms

Some very curious and interesting
statistics have been furnished on the
subject of mercantile and other firms
engaged in business in the city of Lon
don. 1t appears that in the beginning
of the present year there existed in the
city nO.fewer than ii ,440 firms engag-
ed in the wholesale business, exclusive
of stock exchange, publishing, retail,
and small industrial trades, etc. The
wholesale businesses include banking,
financial, insurance, and other firms,
Incredible as the statement may seem,
the date of the establishment of one of
the existing firms goes back to period
before 1000. The original principals of
this firm were contemporaries OF Shak-
speare and Bacon, and it is strange, in
deed, that though England has witness
sed two revolutions since the the foun-
dation of the firm, its stability and con-
tinuance have not been affected. The
firm in question is that of Martin & Co.,
established in l555, or upwards of 800
years ago. Two other firms-tnose of
Messrs. Child & Co., and Messrs. Cos
lings & Sharpe-were established be-
fore 1850. The Bank of England COM
menced business in 1854, having been
preceded by some years by Messrs.
Hoares, Thomson, Hankey & Co., and
the Hudson's Bay Company. OF mer-
chants, Messrs. Barring Bros. & Co.,
were founded in 1868, and of wine mer-
chants, the firm of Hedges & Butle was
established in 1867. The firms of ware
housemen appear to be of somewhat
later date, none being as yet quite 4
century old. In the publishing world
Messrs. Longmans have done business
continuously since 1720, while Mr..
Bentley's ancestors published works
upwards of 200 years ago. The eleven
years from 1866 to 1877 proved very dis
astrous to newly established firms in
the city. In the former year about COO
new firms established themselves, of
which in 1877 only 3I7 remained. OF
nearly $50 firms established in 1872,
about 400 have suspended, but since
that period greater stability has prevail
ed. The numbers of newly-established
firms have also largely increased. In
1873 these firms numbered 1853; in 1874
702; in 1875, SCI; while in 1876, no
fewer than l ,0i4 new firms were es-
tablished. 1t seems that by far the
greater part of the increase consists OF
small firms in the commission trade and
agents of manufacturers from the pro-
vinces and abroad. This increase i'll
the commission and agency business for
and European manufacture
ers is strongly borne out by British inn
ports. The total imports in 1871
to f33l ,000, 900, but in 1876
the total amount had risen to f376, ,0OO,-
600
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
Discovery OF Treasure.

In the month of December, 1880,
mutiny arose on board of the brig
Vineyard, then 10 miles Off the Long Is
land coast. The mutineers murdered
the Captain and mate, and scuttled the
ship. Part of the cargo consisted of
coin to the value Of about $4,000, the
property of Mr.. Stephen Girard, of
Philadelphia, TO whom the vessel was
consigned, and with this sum the crew
left the shipand started for the shore in
two boats. They made for Barren Is
land, the present depot for the dead an
finals of New York and Brooklyn, on
which, at the time, lived man named
johnson, the only inhabitant of the Is
land. The two boats contained the
mutineers and their plumber found the
surf too heavy, and were in danger of
being swamped, so to tighten one of
them, large chest in which part of the
treasure was contained was thrown
overheard. They then reached the
beach and buried the remains of the
treasure in the sand. Proceeding to
Mr.. Johnson's house, they spent the
night there, in the course of which one
of the party told johnson of the crime
they had committed, and of the money
buried on the shore. johnson imme-
diately informed the authorities, and
the mutineers were captured and tried
and two of them were condemned and
hanged on kennedy's (now Bedloe's)
Island.
Search has been made from time to
time for this buried treasure, and a large
amount Of it recovered. A son of
the johnson who resided on Barren Is
land at the time of the mutiny now lives
in Bridge Street, Brooklyn, and is en-
gagged in the fish business. A short
time ago he was fishing inside the is
land when it blew very hard, and he
lest his anchor in about three fathoms
of water. Soon after he returned with
a drag to recover the anchor, and was
occupied three days in the search.
Tired and disheartened, he was about
giving up the task as hopeless, when on
the fourth day, the iron grapple brought
up large square box so covered with
weeds and shell-fish as to be scarcely
recognizable. On examination it proved
to be sailors chest bound with iron,
but wanting lid. The loss Of this,
however, was supplied by solid layer
of sand about three inches thick, which
was removed with great difficulty.
Under this was a layer of black mold,
apparently the remains of clothes,
which was easily cleared away. John
son then saw before him a chest nearly
half filled with Mexican and Spanish
gold and silver dollars. The coins were
stuck together. and were black with the
action of the water-the silver pieces
especially being so closely attached that
hammer and ehisel had TO be used to
separate them. The gold was honey
combed and the surface rough and de-
faced, the principal coins being $40
pieces. The whole amount found was
q, 500,
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
African Witthcraft and Cannibalism.

Paul Du Chaillu, the well known
African explorer, tells the following
about witchcraft and cannibalism in
Africa: The great curse of that country
is its superstitions, and it is very hard
to get at the bottom facts about their re-
ligious belief. They have two names
which represent our idea of God and
Satan. The latter is the source of all
evil and witchcraft. When a person
is sick he is bewitched by some one,
and the sorcerer or sorceress has to be
killed. The doctors point them out,
and they haye to swallow poison to
prove their innocence. The poison is
the root of tree called bando, belonging
to the strvchnine order, but these doc
tors take it and do not die. Here, if a
man sees the new moon over his right
shoulder, or his left, it is lucky or un-
lucky; but there it is unlucky if he sees
the new moon at all, and on the day of
the new moon nobody dare go out of his
hut. The queen of witchcraft lives in
the moon, and the people of the world
are the insects upon which witchcraft
feeds. and when wItchcraft is very hun
cry she sends the plague and kills more
people. Those who have any connec-
ton with the spirit in the moon are wo-
men, and must be in a trance. The peo-
pie are honest in their beliefs, but OF
course there is jugglery among them.
Among many tribes cannabalism ex-
lists, but think it is sort of religious
feast, as they do not kill psople pur-
posely except prisoners of war. As
among the Indians, they have no mercy
on those taken in war. / made inqui-
ries about this cannabalism; 1 wanted
to know which were best eating, wo-
men or men. They allagreed that wo-
men were the best. Their war dance
is perfectly terrible. They cover them
selves all over with war paint and with
clay that had been saturated with the
decayed flesh and brains from the heads
of their dead warriors, which they al
ways keep in particular house in
every village. Then they have dance,
and when morning comes each man
cuts his hand in several places and lets
the blood flow into large wooden dish
and they rub themselves with that
IqoOd and then 60 to war.
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
OUR OWN.

II had known in the morning
how wearily al the day
The words unkind
Would tr uble nv mind.
SAID when went away,
/ had been N, re careful, darling,
Nor given you heedltss p in;
But we vex ''our own"
With look and tone
We nav never take bac L again.
For tho igh in the quiet evening
may gise You the kiss Of peace.
Yet it might be
That never for me
The pain at the heart should cease
how many so forth in the morning
That never ccme home at night,
And hearts have been broken
By har=h words spoken,
That sCrroM can ne'er set right
We have careful thought for the stranger,
AMI smiles for the sometime guest
tut oft for our owa"
The bitter tone,
Though We love our own tie best,
All lips. W tn curse inpatient
All, brow, with tEat look of scorn
TSere a cruel fate
Were the night too late
To undo the work Of the morn
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
Yankee Check.

1t is curious fact that the United
States was the first nation to force an
entrance through the closed straits of
the Dardanelles. In 1871 Commodore
cambridge, who had a secret message
to convey to the Sultan from the Dey
of Algiers, sailed from Algiers for
in the American irigate
George Washington. As he knew he
would not be allowed to proceed up
TO the capitol, he made show of
coming TO anchor oG the Castle of
the Dardanelles, in the meanwhile
firing heavy salute. As the wind
blew strong mp the channel, under
cover of the smoke of his own and the
reciprOcated salute, he spread all his
canvas to the breeze. Before the Turks
cou d discover his maneuvres he was
out of range of their cannon, and
speeding his way with such velocity
that it was impossible to overtake him.
When he cast anchor off the mouth of
the Golden Horn, and displayed the
stars and stripes great was the surprise
and CONSERVATION. He was supposed
to be a pirate, as the flag of the United
States, never having been before loated
in Turkish waters, was unknown.
Having no knowledge of America, the
Turkish authorities were informed the
vessel was from the New World. After
considerable delay, and threats of i'm
prisonment in the Seven Towers for
having passed through the Dardahelles
without previous permission, the
Commodore was admitted to an audience
at the palace, and eventually accom-
plished the objects of his mission.
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
shopping on the Sea.

People after a long sea-voyage are
naturally eager for fresh fruit. A lady
passenger on board one of the
Pacific mail steamships, informs us how
her desire was gratified while the YES
sci was at anchor five miles off the little
Mexican coast town of Mazatlan. The
natives came on in boats, bringing
tempting supplies of the produce of the
country.
Here were huge clusters of bananas
plucked freshly from the tall trees
which we could see quite plainly on
the and,-of the most exquisite flavor;
pineapples, such As can only be rip
ened under a warm, mellow, tropical
sun; lines of pleasant acidity, sugges-
tive of cool lemonade; oranges, too
large to hold comfortably in your hand,
unless it be large one. and cocoanuts,
melons and mangoes in abundance.
That is what the merchants offered
us. Now how did we buy them?
The distance between us was about
the same that it would be if we had
been standing at the upper window of
an ordinary two-storied house, and the
boatmen OH the ground, and there was
such a Glamour Of voices of men ard
women calling their wares and the
prices, that it was quite deafening at
first.
But when trade had fairly begun, it
was really quite easy and pleasant, and
certainly 1t was a novel way of going
shopping. Suppose we wish some ba-
nanas. We look about until we find
man who has fine ripe ones, attract his
attention, as you would that Of horse
car driver, and call out, Banana
here" and he answers in queer Mexi
can fashion:
''Ba-nan-a, yes"
"How much ~
"One bunch-fifteen cent"
"You send them up"
Then he puts his fruit in light
wicker basket, or twine bag, to the ham
die Of which a long rope is attached,
and throws one end of the rope to us.
If we are skilful enough we may catch
it the first time, but probably not, for
the distance is considerable, and it often
becomes quite exciting to watch the at
tempts of purchasers to get their goods.
One young lady of our party nearly
Iell overheard when reaching for the
rope. But when it is once secured, We
gently draw up the bag or basket, take
out the fruit and put in the money, and
toss it down in the boat quite carefully,
lest the money should be lost.
Now we may like some of tile curious
necklaces which the women have to
sell. If so, we shall do well to wait till
it is nearly time for the steamer to
leave, as prices diminish rapidly in pro-
portion to the time for making sales.
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06

How can help loving you, knowing as

How can l help loving you, knowing as
l do what you did to-day?"
"Oh, l couldn't help that"
"No, indeed, heroic action Is the
first impulse Of brave heart"
Knock! Knock!
''See who it is, George"
"And your answer is
81 love you"'
In a few moments George returned,
bearing in his hand letter addressed
to JAG.
"Read il to me, George" she said, as
she closed her eyes and set her teeth,
determined to endure the excruciating
pain without cry.
CITY, May 8, 1877.
Miss DUBoIs Enclosed | send YOU
my check for 81 ,0e0. This is but an in
stalment of what 1 intend you shall
have. My daughters life is dearer to
me than all my wealth. This you pre-
served by the sacrifice of all your future
prospects, and weeks and months of
pain. / will call soon and make your
acquaintance; but cannot hesitate an
instant in giving you a substantial
token of my obligation. My dear girl,
thankful father blesses you.
BYRON LAFLIN.
George, all this for me?" queried
the bewildered girl, cycling the check.
''I'll give 1t to father so he can pay off
the mortgage. George, am glad did
it,"
81 know you are, dear. Jac., We will
forget what said few moments ago."
"What for, George?" she asked pa
thetically.
"You will now be amply provided
fo-.'
No, George, not wholly provided
for unless have you to share it,"
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06
George Washington interviewed.

A spiritual reporter at a private
seance recently held an interview with
what purported TO be the spirit &C
George Washington, with the follow
ing result:
Interrieicer.- on must be very much
shocked at coming back and finding so
much corruption in politics and busi-
ness"
Washington.-''Nonsense. You are
no worse than we were.''
L-"Why, l thought yours was the
time of old-fashioned purity and
honesty"
W.-"Old-fashioned fiddlesticks Was
not Arnold traitor? Didn't the Con-
tinental lobbyists from the start try to
supplant me with General Artemus
Ward? Weren't one-fifth of the Yam
KEGS cowboys and skinners, robbing
friend and foe? Didn't deacons every
where trade in slaves, black and white
Didn't people drive sharp bargains
them"
I.-"But history"
W.-"Bother history! Half your his
tories are made to hide facts, or to give
them false coloring. They've made
me out a saint and demi-god. l was
neither. Only man with altogether
too much dignity for comfort"
I.-"But you were found praying
once at Valley Forge, and"
W.-"Well, lots of men viii pray
when things look dark and desperate.
Don't you recollect how l swore at
Light-Horse Lee few months after
ward 20
I.-"But isn't it better that we keep
up your reputation as very good and
proper man, and all that, just for an
example to our youth ?"
W.-"Where's the sense of exam
pies that never existed? That reminds
me that my friend Abe Lincoln says he
wants to be taken out of the Sunday
School books. He says he was no semi
saint, and that it is a fact that the
stories he used to tell in frontier bar
rooms, when on the Illinois circuit,
would disperse a convention of Sunday
Schools"
L-"But you'd like your character
for republican simplicity preserved?"
W.-"Hold there! | never was one of
your so-called republicans, Ididn't mix
freely with the people. / was aristo-
cratic and exclusive in my tastes, like
my people before me; drove my car
riage and six; hunted with the gentry;
had 4 family pew with the family arms
over it; would have one to-day were i
to live that life over again. 1 didn't
compose the document about the equal
ity of all men either"
L-"But, General, you must own to
some great qualities. Your refusal to
take advantages of your influence with
the army at the close of the war, and to
make yourself king?"
VAN that's gratuitous assump-
ton of lot of Fourth-of-July lawyers,
who got up adulatory orations about me
to pave their own way to Congress.
There was never the least show for me
to seize the reins of power. 1t was just
the last thing then that the States and
people would stand"
I.-"Now. did you ever tell a lie?"
W.-"Of course 1 did, you IDIOT
and paid for having them told, too
while we fit in the Revolution. Those
fibs are military necessities
I.-"What do you think of our age,
anyway"
Wits an improvement on 1776.
More Of bad and good dragged to light.
Lord you'd be astonished did you real
ize the general ignorance of one hum
dred years ago. Doctors prescribed
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06

About the earliest data that we have
concerning beds are of Egyptian origin,
and they are very slight. Sir Gardiner
Wilkinson thinks that the Egyptians
usually slept ON their day-couches,
which were long and straight, some
wing of the heads and feet of animals at
the ends, made Of bronze, of alabaster,
of gold and ivory, of inlaid wood and
richly cushioned. Where these were
not in use, mats replaced them, or low
pallets made of palm-boughs, with a
wooden pillow followed out for the
head. What Egypt had, Assyria and
the rest of the world had; and the
Greek, whenever he could, improved
upon other countries notions; and the
Greek couch, judging from the bas-re-
liefs on many vases, was of great ele-
gance. The Romans, although receiv-
ing SO many of their customs and SO
much of their art from Greece, had very
simple beds until after their eastern
conquests. Indeed beds which, with
their pillows, were merely hOllOws in
slab of stone, have been found among
Roman remains. But from the period
when their Asiatic dominion increased,
the Romans borrowed fashions from the
conquered, and they developed strong
taste for luxury, especially in the mat
ter of beds. Examples of the Roman
form of bed were still preserved in the
days of Charlemagne. In the mean
time, of course, in the barbaric life of
Northern and Western Europe, these
forms generally being lost, it was an
advance in civilization when the bench
became the bed, and people were fas-
tideous enough at last to feel above
sleeping on bundles Of straw or heaps
Of skin upon flags.
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06

nothing but calomel, and frequent
blood-letting. Every disease and acci-
dent was a dispensation of Divine
Providence; and nobody but the rich
could ever get one hundred miles from
home. You're an improvement, bad as
you are. Goodnight! must be off, as
I'm fighting now for the Independence
of Venus"
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06

With the advertisements, the Lon
don directory has now become massive
volume OF more than three thousand
pages.
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06

There are 6, ,O0O, 600 dairy COWS in
the United States.
Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-06

Jaaueline Dubois lies in the only bed
room on the first floor of her humble
home. The injured foot has been prop
erly cared for, but the physician gave
little encouragement to her ever walk
ing upon it again without the aid of Il
crutch.
By her side is the young and pleasant
faced carpenter, George Dunham. He
is holding her hand.
George, where is mother?"
"Gone to have your father come
home from his work"
.'It is too bad" she moaned. "Father
will lose a day, and you will lose day,
and Lob, can never walk again!'
"Never mind, dear, don't cry. If you
will only let George Dunham provide a
home for you, you will never want
while he has strength"
"Oh, George, are you in earnest-or
do you say this out of pity? The doctor
says am never to use my foot. What
would you do with one-legged wife ?"
and the poor, suffering girl essayed
laugh, which only ended in sob of
anguish.
"Yes, indeed, Jac., do want you.
The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1878-01-22
,.(NY. Herald, 14th inst,)
A Crisis In European Politics,


A highly significant announcement is
made from Constantinople to an English,
journal which, if true, indicates thata
crisis has arisen in the settlement of the
Eastern question 1t is to the effeetgthat
the German and Italian Ambassadors
have informed the Porte thatin the event
of British. fleet going to the Golden
Horn the German and Italian Govern
ments will also demand the right to be
represented by their fleets before the
Turkish capital This is the first direct
announcement that these neutral Powers
conceive that they have interests in the
East which require protection as we'll as
those Of Great Britain What If these
interests should clash with those Of
England2 In sending their armed ships
to Constantinople Germany and Italy
will prove that they are determined to
take prominent part in the settlement
Of the Eastern question.
The military situation south Of the
Balkans may be summed up in few
words. All the region lying westward
from the Jamboli Railroad, which leads
south ward from the base Of the noun
tains to Adrianople and connects with
the Constantinople and Philippopolis
Railroad, is now virtually in the hands
of the Russians. The Turkish troops
that are scattered over this region are in
small detachments and entirely cut off
from supports or supplies. Hence the
Turkish defence Is nov limited to the
covering of Constantinople. Adrian ople
is almost wholly defenseless, being a
large, open city. Any attempt at hold
ing it against the Russian arms would be
attended with consequences highly dis
astrous to Turkey,..as it would indefinite
! ly postpone successful effort IN the di
rection of peace. The Russian army,
now that the prize is within its grasp,
will not stay its hand, but will demand
that all the fruits Of its sacrifices and
victories shall be gathered.
The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1878-01-22
To the People of Monroe County,
0hl0.

The lease for 90 years of the Monroe
County Agricultural Society, has almost
expired, and various improvements will
have to be made, which will consist of
new fence and repairing Hall DC, which
will be a heavy expense to meet; and
more especially when the Society does
not own the Ground. The Society pays
.Sl0O yearly rent for the use Of the
Ground they now occupy, and in view
of the fact that the statistics show that
Counties which own the Ground on
which their Fairs are held are more
prosperous than those who lease as it is
The case with us, We suggest and would
urge upon the people Of this county. in
order 10 make oar Fair success, to
purchase Ground, so that any improve
ments made thereon would he perma.
nent, and the question the officers wish
submitted to the people, is whether the
Society shall lease for 20 years longer
or purchase ground and improve the
same. They woUd like to have an ex-
preston from tlse people throughout the
county, and any communication would
be thankfully received.
/ P. FARQUHAR,
GEO P. DoRR, Sec. President.