davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17
The Prime of Life.

Between the ages of forty-fve and sixty
a man who has properly regulated him
self may be considered in the prime Of
life. His matured strength of constitu-
ton renders him almost impervious to an
attack of disease, and experience has given
soundness to his judgment. His mind is
resolute, firm and equal; all his functions
are in the highest order; he assumes mas
terry over his business; builds up a
competence on the foundation he has
laid in early manhood. and passes through
a period Of lie attended by many grauh-
cations. Having gone over year or two
over sixty he arrives at standStil. Bat
athwa,t ih is the yiaduct called the turn
OF lifc, which, il crossed in safety, leads
to the ALLEY of "old age round
which the river winds, and then
beyond, without boa. Or causeway, 10 Ell
feet his passage. The bridge is, however.
constructed of fragile material, and it
depends how it is trodden whether it
bend or break. Govt and apoplexy are
also in the vicinity to wayIay the traveller,
and trust him from the pass; but let him
grid up his loins and provide himself
with filter staff, and he may trudge on
in safety and perfect composure. To
quit metaphor 1.-The turn Of life, is a
turn either into a prolonged walk or into
the grave. The system and powers hav-
ing reached the utmost expansion, now
begin either to close like flower at SUM-
set or break down at once. One judicious
stimulant, a single fatal excitement, may
force it beyond its strength. whilst care
full supply Of props and the withdrawal OF
all that tends to force plant will sustain
it in beauty and vigor until night has en-
tirely set in.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17
Milk Diet-wife Fattening in
Africa.

Spoke remained in Kara~e for a month.
but Grant was detained there by serious
illness until the Spring of 1862, when he
rejoined his comrade at Uganda. Dur
ing their stay at Bumanika neither of the
explorers saw fit to change the first opin-
ion they had formed Of that chiettain's
personal character, but more intimate in
tercourse with him showed that he held
many strange and superstitious beliefs,
and INDUCED in practices the reverse Of
civilized. One of the latter. which seems
to have struck Spoke most unpleasaa.ly,
was the fattening Of the women of the
court to such an extent that they could
not stand upright. Scarcely able to credi:
the reports he heard Of this peculiarly in
the royal females, the English leader OBJ
tanned an interview with the Kings eldest
brother and his wife. On entering the
hut, he found the old man and his chief
wife sitting side BY side on bench Of
earth strewed over with grass, and par
titioned like stalls for sleeping apartments.
The wife could not rise, and so large
were her arms that between the joints the
flesh hung down like large loose stuffed
buildings. The result, the husband tri-
umphantly informed his guests. had been
obtained BY milk, and milk alone. From
early youth upwards" he said, pointing
to two rows of milk bowls on the ground,
1--WE keep these pots to our women's
mouths. Heroes of South African Dis
coverv
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17
Road Making.

Under the subject of roads, there is no
more important item than how it should
be done, except the vital part, viz: their
projection.
We find by observation that many Of
our ,urnpikes are built by the slow and
tedious, as well as expensive, plan OF
shoveling dirt into wagons and hauling it
to the place wanted. This should never
be resorted to except in filling in across
marsh or log.
All locations or quality Of soil COM
posing road beds are benefited b. raising
the center Of the road at least TWO feet.
On level land, this can be almost COM
plcted with the plow, beginning in the
center and back furrowihg continually
until high enough, and then narrowing
and rolling
Road scrapers are we'll enough known
to be used more persstently than they
are. In cutting through hills and in fill
ing in their base, plows and scrapers are
the only means Of transportation in need.
One man and team with good scraper
will take from hill as much earth, and
move it twenty rods, as three men can
move the same distance with team, wagon
and shovels.
Grading down hills, as a rule, is not
carried out. Remember, if four feet is
taken from the top Of hill and deposited
at the bottom, you decrease the grade
eight feet on perhaps a short drive OF ten
rods, or make difference 10 the grade
Of 29s feet to the mile. Teams able to
haul given weight on level road must
lift it bodily in going up steep hill, add
ing at least one>haf 70 the labor required
to move it. Newly made roads are usu-
ally left too rough by the worker. The
harrow should be used continually during
the grading of road, as it not only
serves to level it, but compac,s the soil
and furnishes solid bed from the be-
ginning.
In building roads across marshes.
bitches must first be cut on each side, to
drain the space between, in which case,
not more than one-half the earth will be
required to make a road that would be
needed if dumped upon the undrained
land.
Road making over timber land pre-
sents many obstacles. The land has first
to be grubbed and broken, and then if
long roads are to be quilt with a small
appropriation, as is generally the case, it
is best to harrow down thoroughly i'm
mediataly after breaking, and let it
answer for year, when the sod will be
rotted and the pillow and scraper can
do economical! work, and the same
method will apply to roads over tough
prairie roads.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17
Getting Even With a Snob.

A clever little passage at the expense
Of member Of the Belgian Legation is
current in Washington. A young attache
recently reached there fresh from Lon.
con, his last station. and vas greatly
vexed over what he was pleased to call
his exile. "At all events" he was in the
habit Of saying, and the remark came 10
be widely quoted. IL shall speak no En-.
gIish in Washington. learned it in
London, and | don't intend 10 spoil my
accent" Time passed. The attache was
al a reception. Some friend OF his asked
bright YOUNG American woman to per.
nit him to present the attache to 10 her.
,Oh. dear. DON'T" was the reply. and it
travelled all over Washington. Il couldn't
hink Of such thing. learned my
French in Paris. and it would ruin my
accent to talk with Pelgian."
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17

A pitiful incident Of the late great
fires on the Iowa prairies was the death
Of Fred Aiken, boy in Grant town
ship. He stayed in a bayfield, trying to
save stack until it was too late to cs-
cape the fire by running. He wet a
horse blanket in creek, wrapped him.
self in it, and took the desperate chances
Of dash through the flames. The eff
fort proved fruitless. The flames licked
off the blanket as though it had been
paper, and burned the boy 40 badly that
he died within few hours
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17
Ladies Should Read.

1t is a great mistake in female cduca-
ton to keep young lady's time and at
ten,ion devoted only to the fashionable
literature OF the day. If you would
qualify her for conversation, you must
give her something to talk about, give
her education in the actual world and its
transpirIng events. Urge her to read the
newspapers and become familiar with the
present character and Improvements Of
our race. History is of some importance.
but tine past world is dead. we have MOTH
ing to do with it. Let her have an intel>
ligent opinion, and be able to sustain
conversation according TO the mental,
moral and religious improvement of our
times. Let the gilded annals and poems
on the centre table he kept part OF the
time covered with weekly and daily jour-
mails. Let the whole family, men. women
and children read newspapers.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17

"Oysters unwholesome," said he, with
contemptuous sniff: II amt got any
patience with these new tangled ideas.
Oysters can't hurt nobody. Why, l
give 'em to my grandfather, old man Of
ninety, sir, l give him dozen raw-not
particularly fresh either-give um to
him half an hour before he died-'n
they didn't do him no harm Oysters
sir, is wholesome"
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17

A wise man who evidently speaks
from experience, says nobody can tell
how many disputes for the front aide Of
the bed have been settled BY moving the
hedstead to the center q the room
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17

MY son. would you like to steal one
Of those melons = "Yes, sir" was the
prompt reply. you would, eh! l am
sorry to hear that. II you would steal
one Of those melons. my boy. do you
know what the result might be-" The
boy searched his head. surveyed The pile
again and answered: IL 'spect The
plausy thing would be green oil the way
throagh."
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17

1t was the opinion Of the late Prof
Agassiz that, a, former period. enor>
nous masses OF ice covered the great and
beautiful valley Of Switzerland. altogether
with the whole chain Of the Jura, the
sides Of which, facing the Alps. are also
polished and interspersed with angular
and cratic rocks, resembling the boulders
in the mountains, yet so far different that
the masses Of ice, not being there con-
fined between two sides OF valley, their
movements were in some respects differ.
ent-the boulders not being connected in
continuous ridges, but dispersed singly
over the Jura at different levels. But the
most striking theory. perhaps. advocated
by this great scientist. was this, namely
that, at a certain epoch, all the north Of
Europe, and also the moth Of Asia and
America, were covered with 4 mas OF
ice, in which the elephants and other
mammalia found 10 the frozen mud and
gravel Of the arctic regions, were imbed-
ded at the time Of their destruction; and,
therefore, when this immense mass OF
ice began quickly to melt, the currents Of
water thus resulting. transported and de-
posted the masses Of irresularly rounded
boulders and gravel which fill the bottom
Of the valleys - innumerable boulders
having at the same time been transported,
together with mud and gravel. upon the
masses Of the glaciers then set ahoat.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-04-17

u IKE grim Oealn.
"The Trskene stations that l intro.
duce day and night came from Emperor
Williams stables IN Prussia. l broke
them myself, and as they had never
known halter or stables, Of course they
were pretty bad specimens. They were
broken in 1874, and have performed in
Germany, France, England and Italy.
They are more intelligent than any other
horses ever saw. simply because they
are better bred. They have more blood
than other animals / claim that Marine
duke aud Pasha. The Hungarian horses.
are unexcelled for this reason. A horse
breeder, fresh from Paris. stopped in here
last evening He said he had failed to
fnd in La Belle France animals so hu-
man in intelligence.
~ could tell you something interest
Ing in the matter Of training Trick horses,
bat it is with US. - with doctors. what we
know is our iurtune. Kindness, find.
accomplishes moro than the whip, al
theugh horse must have q wholesome
dread Of tho latter. You might think
that the mos, difficult thing is to make
horses stand on their hind legs and walk
arouud the ring. It's really one Of the
easiest. can make any horse Of good
shape do j. in Two days. But ] usually
teach il last. When horse does it first
he wants 10 do il all the time-hc likes
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13
A Hint for Rora.

Some time ago there lived ! o.,,,.
OF indolent habits in SUSSEX 49, ~
1t a business in the winters
visit his friends extensively n
wearing out his welcome IN Il. =. =
diate vicinity, he though M v = !
an old Quaker friend, some tvs,.r n !. I
away, who had been an Old seho ail \
OF his. On his arrival lie wss' ~
received by the Quaker, be thisas s
visitor had taken much palm 4 -.
far to see him. He treated "a u
with great attention and politene :
several days and as be did not Z.
signs of his leaving, he became ~
but he bore it with patience IN N ,
morning OF the eighth day. x6a II
" My friend, I'm afraid thee "a, !,
visit me again"
I" Oh, yes, l shall," said the ,;.,
81 have enjoyed my visit yery ma s.,
shall certainly come agsin. ., - e.
" Nay" said the, Quaker. u Il
thee will never visit me again. y
=" What makes you think IIx;ll J.
come again?' asked the visiter.
eff thee does never leave . a
Quaker, +" how canst thee come -,
The visitor left.-Enqltsh Pdoe
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13
The Small Boy elias Some Fun"

He was naturally cruel, and he told
an acquaintance one day that he had q
new trick to play on the public-some.
thing entirely new. He had long
string and brass key tied to the end Of
it, which he said was the instrument OF
torture. Over the front sidewalk ma
pie tree sent some pretty strong branch
es, making seat hidden by leaves.
Into this, after dark, the boys climbed.
Now watt" said the principal, "till
the first victim comes, and don't make
noise''
Pretty soon an ordinarily dressed wom-
an came along, and just as she had
passed he let drop the key on the hard
sidewalk, Immediately pulling it up
again. Both now watched develop
ments. The woman came to a sudden
stop, began fqmbling in her pocket, and
wondered what she could have dropped.
She started OF, but had not gone far be-
fore she eameAback, impelled by curios-
ity, and began a careful search of the
walk. Meanwhile the boys in the tree
had stuffed their fists in their mouths to
keep from soaring the game, and dared
hardly look below for fear of laughing
out. A sympathetic sister came along,
ana together they picked up stones and
turned over all the chips on the walk.
No money, no key, nothing did they
find; and so went ON to their homes,
perhaps to worry all night; or per-
haps a giggle in the tree turned their
looks OF disappointment into a cheap
smile, and laugh from the same place
made them have awful wicked thoughts
about boys.
One victim found piece of tin, and
laying the cause of the noise to that,
was saved great deal of worry. But
when she picked it up and threw it
down several times to test the sound the
boys nearly fell out of the tree. A man.
when caught, would slap all of his pock-
cts and glance arounda little, but it was
seldom that he was brought to a hard
pan search. When any one saw the
trick after searching half an hour and
saying all kinds of little things for the
amusement of the boys, he simply went
away hurriedly. There was no remark
to make, no name to call. To get out
Of sight as soon as possible seemed to
be most desirable. The trick is harms
less-no one breaks a leg or loses an
eye in its process. 1t might be recon-
mended to constitutionally tired bows
as good way to sweep the walk. The
victims will throw all chips and stones
into the street by curiosity power, as it
Express.
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13
American Girl Diplon:.

r, - w
ar5tri is q singular fact that a.
ladies connected with ths 6 a'lssa
mat1c corps at Wsshinrtorrssslio
can girls whose beasifye ma !.
captured distinguished a alps,l
among the number are u; aalss|
French, Italian, Guatema,.sssss
ish ministers and NAM ~ aud
rank, including MIS-. 'Yeura.s q q
the Chinese Legation, who w
Bartlett, OF Connections. In ~. 8. Z!
matte Corps Of Europe Dr. = e q y
several American ladies' s sss, Wi
wife OF the Italian Minister s ese.ss
and others. Whether Amer
have apeenliaf pend hntaor -,
or diplomatists for them. /. penI
question to decide. AZ N : 90
plomacy is a career for s es'aa
women seem to- BE adSara,aw,. aea
They have also broken down rs NJ
siveness of hereditary aristoe s,s 8
some of them are connactsS 4
Oldest noble families Of Eras.a,
the Continent. Proyerba =
beauty, their natural grace M
OF manner aud their inte]l;cssnsss.'l
less Phsladelphia ! prss. !
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13
The Excess of Beeks.

The excess of books IS nearly N
barrassing to che men 81 tho iiiiisle =
century as the defieiency.wss sodku
of the ninth. The mass is over-madu
ing. The very number Of the volunI
puts it ont of eur power tos raedjI
We are driven to select. a few sam
from the best are positively all " i
able to open and examine; md Aui
this selection we are able to msh'
careful study Of only . part Tia n
OF q great library would BE- a6sJIl
disheartenfng did we not also knowtll
the mass Of that knowledge. il upn
rized In Few small Volumes 4
such collection there are nlany -
and husks the seedscorn is found 3
few golden, ears. Turn over the hul
to the cattle preserve the ripe earl
Zi0n's Herald. eag $50
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13
4 Fable y for s: 1s gultsIs s. j

There was once a good little bov !,
was sent by his mother to the bsls,,,
a Sunday morning for the weekls .
of beans. The Sidewalk WasF M ~
the bean-pot was slippery, and 4 h
good little boy wore nothing but 4
pers on his feet, it is not at ali surv3
ing that he fell down, broks The "
pot, and anointed the sidewalk Win
mothers breakfast While he was ~
ing over his misforthne, i bad littls 3
whose mother had also sent Alm{s
bakery for her weekly pot Of bs,n
coming along, laughed and mockae
ceedingly at the poor boys su1gI
Now, while he was yet thus mockinrr
laughings . man aruanin9 fora Ia
knocked the bean pot from tie bsd1
tie boys hands, breaking itinto1i1
and spreading its sayory oontenii a
the Sidewalk, whereupon his iahf
was changed to weeping, and b q
up his voice and mourned y0eilereulI
Moral: Never pork fun at the inf
tunate, for you never know how M
you may bean trouble yourselL-lb1I
f0St. A EHKHn w=zwsz /.
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13

HE Detroit Free Press, speaking of
the necessity of funeral reform in that
city, says: cat funeral at private
residence in the northern part of the
city, the drivers of the dozen hacks en-
gagged ran up and down the walk.
wrestled, boxed, pitched pennies, and
behaved in such shameful manner as
TO seriously interrupt the services inside.
Then, in returning from Woodmere,
those hacks containing the mourners
were halted in front of lager beer
saloon, and kept there ten minutes.
while the shameless drivers were in the
saloon shaking dice and drinking beer. !,
The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-02-13
The Fear. of Death.

- fH
WEAKNESS of mere existence is a heavy
and probably very common secret
burden-one which makes the thought
OF humiliation more attractive to some
of US than any celestial visions. Those
who suffer from it would not welcome
the brightest prospects of heaven unless
they could hope first for "long and
dreamless sleep" in which to wash of
the travel-stains of the past. This is a
feeling which is probably most common
in youth or old age, when the ties to life
are fewer than they are in it's prime, and
when the past or the future may well
look almost intolerably long to the wea-
ried Imagination.
1t may be that in the miserable expe-
rience of some sufferers this deep weari-
ness of life may not exclude the fear of
death; but SO terrible combination
can scarcely be either common or last.
ing. Probably the normal state of
things is that in which some degree of
fear, or at least of reluctance, exists as
a pure instinct; rising and falling with
physical causes, ready to give force to
the terrors OF conscience and the crav-
ings of affection, but held in check by
various considerations, and controlled
by the will, if not utterly subdued by
trustful hope.
In people of active, energetic temper
ament, with keen susceptibility to SEN
suous impressions, one may sometimes
observe that no amount either of reli-
gious hope for another life or of pain
full experience of this will overcome the
constitutional shrinking from the antic.
ipated rending asunder of body and
soul. They carry the same feeling,
through sympathy, into their thoughts
of the death of others, which appears
to be almost physically shocking to
them. however obviously acceptable to
the person chiefly concerned.
Such state of feeling is to those who
do not share it as unaccountable as it is
evident. Looking at death calmly, as
one of the very few circumstances of
quite universal experience, any vehe-
ment disinclination to it would seem to
be inappropriate as well as futile. But
Discrimination to some of its accidental
circumstances is but too easily intelligi-
BILE. This is probably another reason
why shrinkage from it often seems to
increase as youth is left behind. The
very young can not know how terrible
a thing sickness is; those who have
watched many deathbeds can scarcely
forget the awful possibilities of physi-
cal suffering.
And yet it seems probable that many
OF the worst appearances are more or
less delusive. A very moderate expert
ence of sick-rooms suffices to show that
actual suffering bears no exact proper
ton to its outward manifestations. Be
this as it may, physical suffering is clear
y no necessary accompaniment of
death; and the dread of pain which
makes us shrink from the prospects of
mortal illness is quite different thing
from the real instructive dread of death;
it should, indeed, and often does, act
powerfully in reconciling us to the pros
pect of death.-ECchdaage