davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

Carpets come from the East, and
their manufacture dates far back into
antiquity. The Babylonians made them:
they formed anoted branch of manufact-
ure in Turkey and Persia before they
were known in England. They belonged
to that Oriental luXuriousness of taste
which was the exact opposite of the
Saxon. The Mohammedan who pros
trates himself many times day upon
the ground found it convenient to have
something on which to kneel and which
he could easily carry with him, while
like habit OF sitting crOsS-legged upon
the floor made the same material first
comfort, then an ornament to his house.
10 these uses we may probably trace
the custom in all Oriental countries,
copied largely by France, of having
carpets in one piece and then to only
partially cover the floor, or of the use
of rugs merely before the principal
pieces of furniture. 1t is only in the
United States, England and Germany
at the present day that carpets are uni
versally used covering the entire floor,
and where the plan of waxing floors, as
in France, is almost entirely unknown.
Those who have painfully walked
through some of the palaces of Europe,
shuffiing along in felt slippers, or en-
deavoring to stand upright without
them, realize the comforts of we'll
covered floor, as well as the great addi-
ton to the beauty of well-furnished
house.
1t is somewhat singular that the En-
glish should have been so late as they
were in discovering the utility of car
pets, for while they did not need them
for the act of worship, the climate
would naturally suggest such an addi-
ton to warmth. Yet we learn from his
tory that as late as the reigns of Queens
Mary and Elizabeth rushes were used,
even in the palaces, though carpets had
been imported to some extent from the
East. Shakespeare occasionly refers to
them, and Bacon, who was contempt
rary with him, describes a reception
thus: Against the wall, in the middle
of the half pace, is achair placed before
him with table and carpet before it;'
from which it will be seen that the first
carpets in use then were the same as we
find in the East now, mere squares or
rugs. At that day they were considered
as Injuries, and for common daily use
the English adhered as tenaciously to
their straw and rushes as they do now
to their roast beef and ale.
Not much is known of the earliest
Eastern fabrics, but as these nations
change but slowly it is safe to assume
that the first carpets were thin tapes
tries, made by hand, as they are made
at the present day. The process. of
fastening tufts of wooden into a warp
with the fingers was exceedingly slow
and tedious, but this is of small account
in countries where labor is of so little
value. The same process in France at
the present day makes the GObelins'
tapestries of immense value, so that
they rarely, if ever, come into the mar
ket, but are reserved for royalty. Many
years are sometimes occupied in pro-
duciAg some of the more ornate pieces.
Portraits and pictures of birds, animals
and flowers are accurately and beauti-
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

The offering of such a stupendous
reward for the remains of A T.
Stewart will tend to make grave-rob-
bing epidemic, and no rich man will be
sure that his body will be allowed to
remain in its grave unless his tomb is
protected by burglar-proof lock
whereof no man knoweth the combina-
ton.
Many Northern physicians are pre-
pairing to settle in the South, to take
the place of those whom the yellow
fever carried off. The volunteer physi-
clans who went down there have found
that the standard of medical education
in the South is very low, and the pro-
mise for thoroughly trained doctors
seems to be universally good.
Paradise, New, is not to politi-
cal candidates all that its name implies.
Two men who were running for office
went there and made speeches, after
which they lodged in the only hotel. In
the morning they found that all their
clothing, except the shirts they had
kept on their backs. had been loosely
taken by the miners and pawned for
whisky. Of course any show of resent
ment would have been injudicious.
Mr.. Bowman of Owasso, Mich,
was a henpecked husband. He bore
it as long as he could, and then took to
the woods, where he built hut under
the roots of fallen tree, ate nuts and
roots, and hid from his wife. He was
not discovered until two weeks after
his disappearance, and then Mrs. Bow
man, made repentant by sorrow at his
absence, induced him to return home
by promising to henpeck him no more.
The collectors of the fund for the
relief of those who were made orphans
by the Princess Alice disaster in the
Thames, after obtaining no less than
Sl5O, COO for that purpose, are at loss
what to do with it. They can find only
twelve persons thus bereaved, and,
though it is proposed to educate them
and give them a sum of money to start
in life, it is justly thought that S12, 800
apiece would be an excessive sum.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30
Torpedo Practice on Sharks.

Nor year, indeed, hardly a month,
passes but a shark spoils British ship
of one or more of her hands. While
the vessel is in the harbor or riding in
the otfing, man tumbles overheard,
or is capsized from boat, or attempts
to swim ashore, and is torn in pieces
by sharks within sight of help and
sound of human voice. The Alice Da-
vies, of Liverpool, has just returned to
the Mersey, and in her 'log' is duly
recorded terrible catastrophe of this
kind. She was anchored off small
river known as the Probolingo, on the
coast of Java, and one of her crew,
Welshman, of the name of Owen, went,
with four others, to battle 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 Ow-
ems 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 Java
neSe seas.
The shark is not so much the tiger as
the vulture of the sea. Like the vul-
ture, he hesitates to attack anything
with life in it; but, if hungry, becomes
for the time possessed with courage
not his own. We shall never extermi-
nate him, and his presence in tropical
waters must always remain a constant
source of danger. Meanwhile 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 fishing for a shark with a
hook the size of a pitchfork and huge
piece of pork by way of bait. Har-
pooning the creature is also an exciting
amusement, although seldom practiced.
Of late years, too, the shark has been
hunted in novel and scientific ways.
There is no better form of rifle practice
than to shoot at him from over the
stern with explosive bullets. If you
miss him he still follows on. If he is
hit a great hole is rent in him. He
rolls over on his back, displaying his
cruel, gaping jaws and vast expanse of
white underestimate, and his brother
sharks, coming up from around, quar-
rel and dispute fraternally over the
carcass. Best, however. of all modes
Of shark chase, because most scientific,
and consequently most amusing, is that
recently adopted in Her Majesty's navy
of combining torpedo drill with shark
fishery. A miniature torpedo is in
closed in bait of junk or pork, and
lowered with proper care. The battery
is duly charged, and at the moment
that the huge fish scizes, and, as pike
fisher would say, pouches" the tempt
ing morsel, the circuit is completed.
The effect is instantaneous. The head
and jaws of the monster are blown into
fragments, and bubbling circle in the
water marks the spot where, few sec
onds before, his dorsal fin was show
ing above the aves.-London Daily
NelCS.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

fully reproduced, and what is most wor-
derful is, that the artist does his work
with the back of the tapestry toward
him. He can only see what he has ac-
complished by going round to inspect it
when he stops for dinner or leaves at
night.
From this tapestry has sprung I'M
doubtedly. all our modern carpets.
When the manufacture was taken up in
England, devices were employed to
multiply the fabrics and to cheaper
them. This led to the hand-loom and,
subsequently to machinery and the use
of power. Good limitations of Turkish
carpets were made at Administer and
were called after the name of the town.
Few people have any idea of the process
of manufacture. 1t is one of the few re-
naming branches of Turkish industry.
The methods of work in the ancient
towns of Oushak, Honla and Ghoirdofs
are of the simplest and rudest descrip-
ton. A vertical frame supports two
horizontal rollers about five feet apart
The warp, of any required length, con-
sisting of an upper and lower thread, is
wound around the upper roller and the
ends are fastened to the lower one by
the girls, who sit cross-legged in a row
before the frame. Each workwoman
has certain width allotted to her, and
proceeds to knot the tufts which form
the pile in rows, using different colors
to form the pattern. The tying of the
tufts and the picking out of various
colored woods, which hang in balls over
the frame, is carried on with surprising
rapidity. The pattern being worked
solely from memory, yet with the aid of
the rude frame, a pair of shears and
comb, the workers contrive to produce
the most harmOniously-colored and GER
tainly the most durable carpets in the
trade. European taste has done much
to foster this manufacture, but has never
been able to improve it. A livelier class
of goods is produced to meet the Amer
lean demand than those used by trans
atlantic purchasers.
1t would be interesting to follow the
growth of this manufacture, and to de-
scribe the machinery by which it is pro-
duced, but that is impossible here. 1t
is only fair to say, however, that no
country has made more rapid strides
0h''i Iilo III UlIJo VI dIlCu VI
More has been accomplished in 100
years than in all the centuries preceding.
Public taste, united to desire to econ
omize, has led to an immense produc-
ton of ingrains, three-plys and Brussels,
and this demand has stimulated the in
ventive genius of the weavers and art
lists, until, in colors, designs and quality
of fabric, there is nothing left to desire.
ltisaperfect mystery how goods uniting
such qualities of beauty and of substan-
tial wear can be produced at such
prices. The ingrains can be had as low
as the homemade rag carpet, and
the Brussels as low as the ingrains were
formerly, while in the latter there is
hardly an end to the patterns that may
be produced.
The largest concern in America runs
700 looms, and employs thousands of
hands. There is different form or man
ner of mechanism employed for every
carpet, from the methOdical Eastlake
to the elaborate Queen Anne. Wonder
full effects are produced in tapestry
NeWarb Advertiser.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30
Natural History.
" Is this a pigP''
" Yes, this is a pig"
Whit Is q hOUpii

els this pigP"
Yes, this is pig"
"What is hog?"
GA hog splits all over the floor of a
street-car; he also wants the stamp
clerk at the postoffice to wait on him
first. That the way you can tell
hog from pig"
docs a pig root with his feet?"
"No-he roots with his A pig S
nose is called snout. A cheerful
minded pig will turn over more ground
in search of one small potato than the
average boy would digup in hunting for
a gold watch"
"What gait does the pig take?'
He likes an open gate the best"
els a pig as intelligent as a dog?'
more so about some things. A dog
most always jumps over a fence, strain
ing his muscles and running the risk of
breaking his back, while a pig dives
under it and runs no risk. A pig can
tell hill of potatoes from a hill of GU
cumbers, but dog can't. You lead q
dog, but the pig will lead you"
Can a pig see in the night?''
"He can see by night as well as by
day. In driving one out of the garden
he won't appear to see the hole he came
in at, but he does see it all the time. ="
"Why is it that two pigs eating at a
trough six feet long, will still crowd
each other?'
owe will answer that when YOU ex-
plain why it is that everyone in the
crowd around fallen horse wants to
boss the job Of getting the animal up"
DO pigs have eyebrows?'
Eyes, until old enough to root; then
they wear 'em off against fence-rails."
care there pigs of lead?"
Yes; but you can't find anyone who
ever led pig"
"What food do pigs PREFER"
"Wel, quail on toast is their first
choice, but when they can't get it they
will make up with grass, frozen pota-
toes, moldy-corn or apple-cOres. He
never goes hungry because the hired
girl happens to grind the pepper with
the coffee.
1.-The cackling of geese, you said,
once saved Rome. Did the granting of
pigs ever save anything?"
Not that we know of, but a pigs
heels have often saved his bacon"
edo pigs ever attack children?'
"Once in great while. If a pig
had gone into politics and got beaten,
and other pigs were showing him around
and calling him an idiot and so forth,
he might be tempted to bite a small
boy who was sticking kernels of corn
on a cast-iron cob to deceive him and
break off his teeth
"Can pigs climb?"
Yes. Let four or five dogs get after
one small pig and he'll climb for all
he 5 worth. He may not go up a tree,
but it will be because he hasn't time to
stop. "-DetrOU Free Press.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

Some scientific journals have been
giving lately the motions of the planets
each month, and now the Oil City Der
rick starts into the business with the fol-
lowing result
During the month Jupiter will remain
an evening star, He made application
some time ago to be appointed on the
morning force, where the pay is better,
but owing to the hard times it was
deemed best to make no changes. He
reaches the meridian about Z O'Clock
and goes offwatch at precisely y O clock
midnight.
Mercury's engagement as a morning
star terminates on the oath, when, it is
presumed, he will go into winter quar-
tiers, possibly renting himself out for a
circulating medium in a thermometer
tube.
Venus is chiefest among the mornino
stars, and altogether lovely. She rises
about half past 4, takes bath. walks
out for half an hour, and breakfasts on
ham and eggs. AS cold weather an
proaches she will not rise so early. and
towards the end of the month will not
be visible until nearly o'clock. Venus
is in good condition, trife thin in flesh.
perhaps, but with no accident it is
thought she will reduce her last wears
record. She is now travelling towards
the sun at the rate of several million
miles a minute.
Uranus positively refuses to be seen
IN October except on special business.
Office hours from a. m. to 4 a. m.
Pull the night bell.
Neptune is 400, 100000 miles from
the sun, but will probably be compelled
to move up closer on account of the
high price of coal. He is running a
tlshlng smack, and occasionally makes a
temperance speech, advocating salt wa
ter as beverage
Mars is numbered among the morn
ing stars, and gets down town about
half-past D, breakfasting two hours
later. He wears his hair cut close to
the scalp, carries brace of pistols and
several ugly knives, and is in favor of
declaring war against Mexico. The
slightest reference to Hayes peace pol
icy with the Indians throws HIM into a
paroXysm of rage. He is now drawing
a pension of 81 a month from the Gov
eminent. :.
Saturn during the month will be the
most interesting of all the planets. He
Is on duty all night and will be until af-
ter the November elections. He rises
about in the afternoon, takes a sun
bath, exercises ON the horizontal bar,
wrestles with health-lift, and reads
the papers. After light breakfast he
carries in the coal, drives up the cows,
and cracks the kindling for next morn
mo
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30
The Mediterranean Trade,

The import trade of the cities on the
shores of the Mediterranean Sea is es-
timated at 100000, 900 year. OF this
not more than one-tifth falls to the
share of the United States, the greater
part being monopolized by England.
For year or more efforts have been
making in Philadelphia to win a larger
share of this profitable trade, and al
ready the Record reports that nearly
thirty-fve agencies for the sale of Amer
lean goods have already been estab-
lished along the Mediterranean Many
of these agencies are in the hands of
influential mercantile houses who have
hitherto acted in the interests of the
English The wisdom of this method
of bringing American goods directly in
contact with those produced by our
English competitors is demonstrated on
the arrival of every foreign mail. Or
ders and inquiries are pouring in for
various kinds of American products
never before sent to Southern European
ports. A few weeks since came u COM
munication asking for estimates of the
cost for equipping hundred miles of
railway with Bessemer steel rails. At
the present moment negotiations are
in progress for the shipment of over
10000 feet of iron piping for Medit-
erranean entrepot which has hitherto
been supplied exclusively from Glas-
gov. A large order from Egypt has
been received for canned goods. In
quiries have been made for samples
and prices of our paper manufactures
for purposes of comparison with those
of English and German makes. All
kinds of agricultural implements and
machinery are in demand. feathers al
so are being called for, the foreign con-
sumers finding that American fine calf
skins and carriage feathers will hold
their own in competition with the
French product. Our oilcloths have
been pronounced as being cheaper,
more durable and less heavy than those
of English manufacture, which are
gradually being superseded. Boiler
rivets, an entirely new article of export,
have also grown into favor, and a pre-
liminary order for five tons was recent
ly shipped to Italy. American biscuits,
also, are making Roadway against the
British article in France and Cuba,
while as an outgrowth of the same
movement the importations of English
biscuits into the United States have
been almost entirely stopped through
the demand for the article of home
manufacture. -Scie0tjfc american.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30
A Marriage in Turkestan.

Among the Turkomans in Central
Asia, who may fifty be styled the Co.
manches of the east, the ancient and
much discussed usage of marriage by
capture takes the form of very singu-
lar game, which is universally popular
with the tribes of the Lower Oxus. 1t
is known by the curious appellation of
"kok-burr' (green wolff, name which
has never been satisfactorily accounted
for. The mode of playing is as follows:
When a Turkoman belle finds herself
embarrassed by a crowd of rival suitors,
her father settles the matter by assem-
bling them all in a convenient place on
the open steppe. He then brings out
his daughter, arrayed in the pomp of
Turkoman "full Dress" and setting
her upon a swift horse, places in her
hands the carcass of lamb or kid, well
creased from head to tail, with which
she instantly gallops away. Theyoung
gentlemen follow her at full speed, and
endeavor to snatch the prize from her
hands, any one who can succeed in do
ing so being thereby entitled to consider
himself /" the happy man." 1t some
times happens, of course, that when the
cavalier who is the object of the young
lady's secret preference comes within
arms length, she will hold the kid in
such way that he can easily wrest it
from her; but should less-favored
sutton overtake her, she grasps it with
all her strength, and the ill-starred
lover gets nothing but good roll in the
sand for his pains. When all is over,
the father regales the whole company
with sumptuous feast of rice and
mutton-suet, for which he afterwards
"sends in bill'' to his future son-in-
law, who is often anything but flattered
by this expensive compliment.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

has fifty barques employed on the bed,
has secured in a few days ten tons of
coral of the very finest quality.-London
NelUS.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

A NEW method of counterfeiting bills
is by means of photography.
Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-12-27
Jealous of a Oornse,

A scene of very disagreeable nature
is said to have occurred recently at q
funeral in Pittsburg 1t seems that u
young married lady who died had,
previous to her marriage, received the
attentions of a gentleman who after
ward married another lady. At the
funeral of the former lady the wife of
the gentleman, who is practicing his
profession in Pittsburg, repaired to the
house where the last sad rites were be-
ing performed, and when the minister
of the gospel had finished his eulogy of
the deceased, she approached the coffin
and began to address the assembled
friends and relatives in an excited man
ner. From what could be gathered
from her excited utterances, il would
seem that she was jealous of. the de-
ceased, and she announced that, should
her husband approach the coffin and
even so much as to look at the corpse,
she would tear out his eyes. The
woman became excited and violent in
her demonstration, and considerable
confusion resulted among the aston
ished persons present. She was finally
elected from the room, and for fear an
other scene should occur, a gentleman
was dispatched to the pavement out
side, where her husband was, and re-
quested him not to enter the house.
This unpleasant incident has occasiOned
a great deal of gossip since its occur
renee, especially as all the parties oc-
cupy high social positions.
Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-12-27
A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

The shepherds went their hasty way,
And found the lowly stable-shed
Where the Virgin Mother lay;
And now they checked their eager tread,
For 10 the Babe, that at her bosom clung,
A mothers song the Virgin-Mother sung.
They told her how glorious light,
Streaming from heavenly thronE
Around them shone, suspending night
While swceter than mOthera song
Blest angels heralded the Saviours birth,
Glory TO God on highl and Peace on Earth.
She listened TO the tale divine,
And closer still the Babe she pressed;
Aud while she cried, The Babe is minel
The milk rushed faster to her breast;
JOY rose within her like n summer morn;
Peace. peace on earth the Prince of Peace is
born.
Thou Mother of the Prince of Peace,
Poor simple, and of low estate!
That strife should Danish, battle cease,
o why should this thy soul elatel
Sweet music's loudest note the poet story
Didst thou never love to hear Of fame and goryp
And is not war youthful king,
A stately hero clad in mail?
Beneath his footsteps laurels spring.,
Him earth's majestic monarchs hail
Their friend, their playmate; and his bold bright
Compels the maiden love-confessing sigh.
Tell this in some more courtly scene,
To maids and youths in robes OF state
am woman poor and mean,
And therefore is my soul elate.
War is a ruiiian, all with guilt detiled,
That from the aged father tears his child.
A murderous fend by iends adored,
He kills the sire and starves the son;
The husband kills, and from her board
Steals all his widows toll had won;
Plumbers Gods world of beauty; rends away
All safety from the night, all comfort from the
day.
Then wisely is my soul elate
That strife should vanish, battle cease;
Tn poor and of n low estate,
The mother of the Prince of Peace.
JOY rises in me like n summers morn:
Peace, peace on earthl the Prince of Peace is
born
--Hdrpey'S Magazine for December.