davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

The Shanghai Sin Pao publishes an
account of the cruel treatment to which
the coolies are subjected who are en-
ployed in the Dutch Islands in the
Straits to clear land and plant tobacco.
Every man on his arrival is tattooed on
the cheek. Once arrived, they are
never released. No letters are allowed
to be transmitted. If any one tenders
his RANSOM, it is not accepted. When
sick they have no medical attendance.
For dress they have only cocoanut bark.
for food one pound of rice in the husk
and three cash to buy salt fish daily.
When a man dies his body is cut in four,
and is buried under a banana tree to
manure it. On account of the heat and
unhealthiness of the climate, nearly
half die the.6rst year. Many are killed
by the cruelty of the overseers, and
some are driven to suicide. The total
number of cases of death since the trade
was begun is more than ten thousand.
No one has ever been known to escape.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

through the window of his Office, at the east.
ern end of the State-house. The assassin's
shot was evidently fred from position COW
cred by one of the heavy columns of the
portico, few psces from the window where
Mr.. Bell had been sitting moment before.
The ball passed through a quarter-inch
thick pane of plate glass, scat
tering fine particles of glass across the
room, but beyond this no trace of the mis-
sile could be found. Mr.. G. B. Lyons, a
Vice President of the State Mutual Aid AS
sociation, was arrested on a warrant sworn
out by Commissioner Bell, charging Lyons
with shooting with intent to kill. In e1-
PLANTATION of the theory of the shooting on
which this arrest was made, rumor says that
after bitter alteration between Bell and
Lyons, the evening previous, over matters
connected with the management of the Aid
Association, Lyons was heard to make
threats against his antagonist.
GEORGE c. HARDING, editor of the
indianapolis Herald, entered the Office of
Calvin A. Light, of the Democrat, a few DAYS
since, and with a revolver fred several
shots at Mr.. Light, who had attacked him
severely in his paper. As Mr.. Harding
presented himself at the door of the print
ing Office, Light was standing at the impos-
ing stone, and two young men, Gerhard
Lizius andi Richard Walters, were at work
at their cases. Harding Immediately began
firing. At the sound of the first shot,
DIR. J. NJ. Yourst rushed out of an
adjoining Office and saw him leaning
against the side of the door and steadying
himself as he shot. He appeared very ner-
vous, bringing up the weapon to an aim
with trembling hand. But before it could
be stayed, several shots had been fired, one
of them taking effect in the side of Lizius,
and another in the leg of Walters. Light
lodged very nimbly behind table, and
Walters jumped from the window to the
ground, a distance of twenty feet. Mr..
Harding was arrested. .a..E.
A FEW minutes before 10 o'clock, in the
morning, recently, the whole town of STRAIT
ford, Ontario, was shaken as if by an earth
quake. Windows were blown in, and side
walks so moved that pedestrians were
thrown down. The cause was car laden
with dynamite exploding at the Grand
Trunk Freight Yard. The wreck beggars
description. Underneath the dynamite car
a hole several feet deep was scooped out.
The end Of the brick freight shed and a
portion of the roof were blown down.
Several frame buildings were ieveled to the
ground, and long strings of freight
cars in the yard were utterly
destroyed. The business part of the
town ia nearly mile from the scene of the
explosion, but 1t shared in the disaster.
| Valuable plate glass windows we're broken,
and many others were blown in, frames and
all. The damage done to property is esti
mated at many thousand dollars. Two rail
way employees, Frank Lemoine, of Montreal
and Thomas Dolan, of Stratford, were blown
into fragments. The foot of one was found
two hundred yards off. Other persons were
| injured.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
The United Kingdom in the Year 1873.

In the year 1873 there were /, ,152 ,525
births registered in the United King
dom, being at the rate of "a per 1000
of the estimated population, which was
1881 1866 in the middle of that year.
The deaths registered in the United
Kingdom in 1878 were ZIG, ,165, or 21.1
per 1000 population. The natural in
crease of population by excess Of births
over deaths was 436, $50, or 49,242 less
than the excess in 1877. The actual
increase of population in 1878 cannot
be ascertained, owing to there being no
complete records showing the balance
between emigration and immigration.
The Board of Trade report the emigra-
ton from the United Kingdom in 1878
of 113, ,439 persons of British origin, be-
ing an increase of 25 per cent. over the
unusually small emigration of 1877.
The increase in 1873 was % per cent.
in English, "a in Scotch, and 27 in Irish
emigrants. OF the 113, ,439 British emf
grants of 1878 there were LOGS who
left for the United States, 36,057 for
the Australian colonies, and 10,677 for
British North America, each of these
numbers showing a marked increase
over the preceding year. The mean
temperature of 1878, as shown at Green
wich Observatory, exceeded the aver
age in every one of the first ten months
of the year, but there was marked de-
ficiency in November and December
the mean for the year was 49.7 deg, OF
IL deg. above the last thirty-seven
years average. The rainfall at Green
wich in 1878 amounted to 29.2 inches
measured on 166 days; this rainfall ex.
ceeded the average by nearly foul
inches. The number of hours of bright
sunshine registered at Greenwich OBJ
servatory in 1878 was 1880, or % pc,
cent. of its possible duration, the SUI
being above the horizon for A, ,454 hours
London Times.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
Bananas.

Few people who see bananas hanging
in the shops of fruit dealers think of
them as more than tropical luxury.
The fact is, they are staple article OF
food in some parts of the Grid; and,
according to Humboldt, an acr e Of ba-
nanas will produce as much food for
man as twenty-five aires of wheat. 1t
is the ease with which bananas are
grown that is the great obstacle to civ
ilization in some tropical countries. 1t
is SO easy to obtain a living without
work that no effort will ever be made,
and the men become lazy and shiftless.
ALI that is needed is to stick sucker
into the ground, and it will at once
sprout and grow, and ripen its fruit in
twelve or thirteen months without
further care, each plant having from
seventy-fve to 125 bananas; and, when
that dies down after fruiting, new
suckers spring up to take its place. In
regions where no foot ever reaches,
bananas are found in all stages of
growth, ripening their fruit every day
and every month in the year.-ScientiSc
american.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

studio in gallery behind the cashiers.
Hii.l.n behind some heavy curtain the
camera stood ready for work, and at a
signal from any of the cashiers the pho
tographers secured the likeness of any
suspected customer. 1t is also reported
that in the principal banking establish
ment in Paris several frauds have lately
been detected by the camera, which, un-
der some circumstances, exercises a
sharper vision thar the human eye.
Where an erasure has been made, for
instance, the camera detects it at once,
let the spot be ever so smoothly rubbed
over, while word or figure, that to the
eye has been perfectly scratched out, is
clearly reproduced! in a photograph of
the document.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

Mr.. STEWARDS remains can hardly
have a more checkered career than
those of a very different celebrity
Voltaire. When he died at Paris in
May, 177S, the Church there refused
sepulture to its arch-enemy, and his
body was inferred at Scellieres, in
Champagne. During the revolution
the National Assembly decreed that
Voitaire's remains should be brought to
Paris, and they were accordingly de-
posted in the Pantheon with great
pomp, in 1871. Thither, too, presently
came the body of Rousseau. One dark
night in May, 1914, when the Bourbons
we're enjoying their own again, some Of
the faithful, indignant that the bones
of such enemies to religion should rest
in consecrated ground, threw them pell
NELL into a sack, and carried them to a
point in the suburbs near Bercy, where
there was a large vacant lot belonging
to the city. Here hole had already
been dug, and the contents of the sack
were shaken into it and covered with
quick lime. The hole was then filled in
and the conspirators trampled down the
earth. Voltaire's heart had been saved
by friend, in whose family it remained
until 1864. On its then being offered tc
the Government, Napoleon III decided
that it should be placed with the body
On consulting the Archbishop of Paris
that functionary suggested the ex
pediency of verifying the actual pres
ence of Voltaire's remains. An investi
CATION followed, and the truth CAM
out. The heart was then placed in the
National Library, and portion Of thu
brain appropriated by the surgeons a
the autopsy was publicly sold. Its pres
ent whereabouts is unknown.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
A Leg Worth More than a Man.

A widow, whose husband, q mechanic,
has been killed in q railway accident,
obtains Judgment of 5000 damages
against the railroad company. The
same court gives a verdict for $4,000
to a man who lost his leg in the same
smash-up. The widow Of the mechanic
thereupon goes to the Judge, and pro-
tests against the injustice Of his de-
cisiou. els u ieg,' she asks, worth
three times as much as whole man?"
And the Judge responds: "The de-
cision is perfectly equitable. A man
who has lost a leg cannot replace it with
another as good, even for $4,000. But
widow with $4,000 can easily get a new
husband, and a much better one, prob
ably, than the one she has lost"
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
Expensive POliteness.

It is O critical moment in the life and
clothing of man when he gets down on
his knees to look under the sofa for
ball of zephyr that lady friend has
dropped. It is possible that he may be
able to accomplish this and recover his
perpendicular with nothing more seri-
GUS than very red face and general
sense of having done something for
which he should be sent from the room.
But in nine cases out of ten he never
fully RECEIVERS the good opinion of him
self that he possessed before he under
took the recovery of that ball. It is al
ways Just beyond his reach, and in a
moment of weakness he drops on his
vest and commences to work himself
under the sofa by series of acrobatic
feats that would have won him an en-
core on the stage. He is SO intent up
on the recovery of the ball that he quite
forgets his appearance until he is re-
minded by suppressed litter from one
of the ladies. Then he realizes the sit
uation and commences to back out. OF
course his coat is worked up over his
head, and as he feels cold streak creep
up his back he pronounces benedic
ton on the man who invented an open
back shirt. He is also painfully con-
scious that about two inches of red FAN
mel drawers are visible between the
tops of his boots and the bottoms
of his trousers. This has the effect of
producing more internal profanity and
still more violent struggles to back out,
during which one suspender breaks and
his collar-button comes out. When he
finally delivers himself and stands up in
the middle Of the room, you would not
recognize in that red-faced, wild-eyed
man, standing there holding his clothes
together with one hand and trying to
smooth down his hair with the other.
the smiling, genteel ladies' man who
stopped down to pick up that ball of
zephyr a moment before.-Peck's Sam.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
A Natural Curiosity.

Capt. William Jones, who has been
over to Caribou, brought back with
him remarkable natural curiosity. 1t
is q section of stove wood, sawed from
a tree about nine inches in diameter.
In splitting it Capt Jones disclosed a
pine cone, imbedded in the wood,
which by pressure of the annual growth
of the wood is as hard as adamant, and
which retains its natural purple color.
1t was evidently one of the most top
most cones when the tree was very
yaung. The stem of the cone was
caught by about the sixth annual
growth, and the rings of the wood show
that it gradually enveloped, and had
been finally hidden for over six years
before the ax of the woodman gave it a
chance for resurrection Georgetown
(COl) Miner.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

IT is generally known, says the vi
emma correspondent Of the London Globe,
that the Gar is haunted by a perpetual
fear, almost amounting to morbid ap-
prehension Of being one day assassinated
Every time some person of eminence
falls a victim TO the Nihilists there is an
aggravstion of these forebodings and
anxieties. The terrible doings of the
Nihilists of late, and the general rest
lessness of the people, are known to have
very much disturbed his Majesty's mind
and made him anxious to leave Russia
for a time.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

TIE Spanish courts have adopted a
law, 40 it is said, which regulates liter
ary property with other countries, and
some Of its principles, to form the basis
OF treaties, add an interesting feature to
the international copyright question. 1t
Is proposed that complete reciprocity
shall exist between the two contracting
Powers, and that every author or repre-
sentative of an author who shall enjoy
literary property in one country, shall
also enjoy it in the other, and the full
hllment of no forma,iiy shall be neces.
sary 10 secure IL.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15


of the Government. The British Gov
ernment had given him and his Indians
a home and protection for over two years,
and was quite as much responsible for
his conduct as for the conduct of any
Indian on Canadian soil. The United
States had sent commission to Sitting
Bulls camp, with the advice and consent
of the Canadian Government, asking
them to return to our soil, but they re-
fused to do SO, and were upheld in that
refusal by the Canadian authorities, who
should then have compelled Sitting Bull
to leave, if they did not want to assume
the responsibility for his acts. In case
Sitting Bulls tribe returns to the Uni
ted States, the question of the RESPONSE
bility of the British Government will be
considered. "My orders to General
Sherman" continued the Secretary,
are that whenever any Indian from
Sitting Bulls camp makes his appear
ance on this side of the border, no mat
ter whether his intentions be hostile or
peaceful, he shall be either driven back
over the border or captured, and held
as prisoner of war for future orders.
If they came over with hostile intent, it
would be in my judgment an invasion
of United States territory by armed
enemies, for which the British Govern
ment might be held responsible. The
matter will be difficult to decide, if they
came peaceably, as it would be emigra-
tion then, and not invasion, but if they
came with hostile intent they would be
treated just as white persons would be
treated under the same circumstances.
Then it would become necessary to no.
tify Great Britain that we considered
Sitting Bull and his men British sub
iocfa
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
Only One Leg.

An exchange speaks of Wade Hamp-
toms beautiful daughter, and adds:
"Boys, the old man has got only one
leg" We trust no young man win %
misled by that incendiary item. a man
with a wooden leg is very dangerous
man to go out of the gate ahead OF.
There is something about the springs
in wooden leg that seems to telescope
ones spine, and make him see comets
and things.-P Peck'S Sun.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

The gas wells of East Liverpool,
Ohio, furnish a continual supply of
light and heat to the town, and, as the
gas costs nothing, the street lamps are
never extinguished. It is used almost
exclusively for fuel, being conducted in
to the CRATES and stoves by pipes. For
twenty years this has been going on,
and there are no indications that the
supply of gas is giving out.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

WITH alum in his bread, coloring
matter in his butter, sand in his sugar,
and poison in his liquor, the average
man has hard work in getting food and
drink that will not make him a skeleton
nor kill him. Now comes the adultera-
ton of coffee with date stones, which
has been discovered in England. Sew
eral tons of "melilotine coffee" COM
pound of coffee ,chiccory and date stones,
were seized in Manchester recently,
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
drunkenness.

Or Judge Boggs, who died recently at
Kittanning, Penn, and who was one of
the most powerful jury lawyers in that
part Of the State, Pittsburg paper re-
lates the following: "Une hot day,
while driving load of hay, he remem-
bered that he had case in court, and
thither he wended his way with his
breeches tucked in his boots. his breast
exposed, and his hair plentifully be-
sprinkled with hay seed. He proceeded
with his argument and won the case"
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

CASHMERE shawls, after being so long
out OF fashion, are once more TO be
worn; but, of course, they are apt to be
put on in a new manner. The square
shawl is To be arranged as high scarf
on the shoulders, and is to be fastened
with double agrafe of either precious
stones or old silver, and this is sewn on
30 that it will be always in the same
place, exactly as though the shawl were
a mantle. The cashmere, when draped
on the figure, shows straight line where
1t terminates, the point falling at the
back like cape. The Queen will
shortly publish an illustration of this
new manner Of wearing an Indian cash
mere, as it is difficult to describe clearly
in words. 1t can only be worn with a
trained skirt; therefore, we shall only
see it en- grande toilette.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

ONE hundred and sixty-two authentic
cases of living burial are put on record
BY the eminent French physician, DR..
Josat. The period of unconsciouness
before burial in these cases lasted from
two hours TO forty-two. The causes of
apparent death were these: Syncops,
hysteria, apoplexy, narcotism, concus.
sion of brain, anesthesia, lightning and
drunkenness.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

MISS KELLOGG has signed q contract
with Mr.. Maurice Strakosch to appear
in the principal cities of Europe. She
will be released from her engagement
to Mr.. Max Strakosch after the 7th o
April and will sail for Europe during
the latter part of that month. She
will probably be absent two or three
years.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

MANY wealthy Japanese have for Q
considerable period furnished their
houses largely in the European style, and
have imported furniture from abroad.
The japanese have now decided to make
all furniture at home, after improved
models, but will still be indebted to
foreign countries for the various woods,
as well as for carpetings, paperings, and
tapestries.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
A CHICAGO paper cheerfully remarks

A CHICAGO paper cheerfuliy remarks'
"I.et us eat and drink for tomorrow
that is to say, in A. d. IL ,o0l ,s1o-we
die. The sun, according to Professor
Dubois Raymond, can continue to shine
only for II 900, 900 years, by which time
the surface of the earth will have been
gradually covered by glaciers, and moth
ing will survive of this generation save
a few circus jokes and Susan b. An
thony."
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

LONDON is spread over about 1000
square miles. There is one death there
every six minutes, and one birth every
four. The growth of the population is
at the rate of 10000 year, or 205 each
day. The total length of streets in Lon
don is about 1000 miles; there are built
every year about 1000 new houses, by
which the length of the streets is in
creased by twenty-eight miles. In the
Jails there is an average of $4,000 pris-
oners. The foreign born residents of
London number about 100000; but
thirty-seven per cent. of the whole
population were born out of the city.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

"DoEs he know anythingP" asked
one friend of another, referring to a
seemingly stupid man. Ono any
thing" replied the other-"I should
say he did. He Nos SO much that it
is an absolute luxury to hear him say
sYaa,n
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

A FRENCH chemist last year exposed
a quantity of -four to hydraulic pres
sure Of three hundred tons, which re-
duced it to fourth of its original bulk,
without impairing the quality. He
packed portion of it in tin boxes and
sealed them up, doing the same with un-
pressed -four. When opened in three
months, the former was in better pres
ervation than the latter. When baked
into bread, the pressed article was de-
cidedly superior. After the lapse of a
year other cans were opened, and the
impressed -four had become spoiled,
while the pressed remained sweet, and
was excellent when baked.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

THERE wouldn't have been any milk
in the cocoanut if some of our dairy
men had had the original construction
of it.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

The London NeaOs reports that the
Bank of France has for some time past
employed a Photographic detective to
examine suspicious documents, and
more recently has placed an invisible
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15
Commercial Failures.

BeloH is statement of the number
offniy J in England and the United
States Ia IA wear since 1872: s-s. t.s
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

GIRLS, if YOU want to be boss of the
establishment and live happily, don't
marry man that-winks.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

SOME interesting experiments have
been made at the United States Arsenal,
at Watertown, Mass, TO determine
whether the velocity of sonorus waves is
or is not affected by variations in inten-
sity and pitch. A six-pound brass field
piece was placed in the midst of large,
level field and behind it, ranging at a
distance of ten up TO one hundred and
ten feet, we're placed series OF MEM
branes electrically connected with a
chronograph which would thus give the
instant at which the sound wave from
the gun met each membrane in success
sion. IL was found that Immediately in
the range Of the cannon the velocity of
sound was less than at a distance, but
that going further and further from the
cannon the velocity rose to a maximum
considerably above the ordinary velocity
and then fell gradually to about the or
dinary. The heaviest charges OF pow
der caused the greatest deviations from
the ordinary velocity.
The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-05-15

Two young men went into the woods
near Aurora, ILL.,, to play a game of
cards. As they were rival lovers, and
had not previously spoken to each other
for months, it is conjectured that the
girl in dispute was the stake they played
for. The winner, however, was not per-
mitted to gain the prize, for his opponent
instantly shot him through the heart.
An effort to settle rivalry by chance had
a not less sad result in Texas. The two
suitors were convinced that the young
woman would accept either if the other
would let her alone, and they agreed to
throw dice to decide which should give
her up. The loser honestly endeavored
to keep the compact, but the woman re-
fused to be disposed of in that way, and
wrote to him that she would marry no
one else, and would not even see the
winner. The latter would not believe
that his competitor had tried to retire
from the contest, and so murdered him.