davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

WHAT KILLED THE OYSTER Pick up
that oyster shell. DO you see little hole
in the hard roof of the oysters houseP
That explains why there is shell but no
oyster. A little creature called the whelk,
living in spiral shell, dropped one day on
the roof of the oysters house. "The little
innocents," some one has called the whelks.
"The little Williams" an oyster would call
them, for the whelk had an auger, and
bores and bores and bores until he reaches
the oyster itself, and the poor oyster finds
he is going up through his own roof. He
goes up, but he never comes down.
writer speaks of noticing on the shores
of Brittany the holes in the oyster bored by
its enemy, both burglar and murderer we
should call him.
"A little sin, a little SIM" cries boy
who may have been caught saying a pro-
fame word, or strollng with bad associate
or reading bad book,or slipping glass o.
beer. "Dont't make too much of i'll" he
says.
Young friend, that is the whelk on the
oysters back, You have given the tempt
er IA chance 10 use his augeT, and he will
bore and bore until he reaches the center
OF all moral worth in the soul, and draws
your very life away.-S. s. Advocats.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

In hardness and binding qualities the
ancient mortars surpass the modern; but
the superstition sometimes made that this
superiority is due to certain secrets of
manufacture or of manipulation, which
are now lost. is entirely groundless. The
rue explanation is, undoubtedly, that all
mortars improve with age, and retain
their maximum hardness and strength
only after very long time This ac-
counted for by the fact that chemical
union takes place between the lime and
the silica of the sand composing the mass,
and this is process requiring many years
to complete. Comparative exam nations
have shown that the ancient mortars con-
tained more slicate of lime than the
modern, and are consequently better in
quality.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

He OBEYED ORDERs.-It was just this
side of Detriot that IA man entered the car,
to ok seat and devoted his attention to the
morning paper. After time the conduct
or came along and touched him gently on
the shoulder, but without effect. Again he
tapped the passenger on the arm, but there
was no response, and the official had to
speak.
"rcket, Sir?"
The traveller looked wearily up from his
paper, and said:
Il havn't any ticket"
money, them" said the conductor.
81 havn't any money"
you must get off at the next station"
II WILL" was the submissive response,
and the conductor passed along. The
train stopped at the next station, started
again. and was bowling along at thirty
miles an hour, when the conductor again
came through, and saw the traveller on the
same seat as before.
II told you to get out of this car" he
said somewhat sternly.
You did,"
why didn't you do it ?"
II did"
"And then got on againp"
81 did,
"Now look here. my friend. don't want
any more of this nonsense. Get out of the
car at the next station, and stay out. You
hear met"
Again the train stopped and again it
started, and again, but in another car, the
conductor found the self-same traveller, as
calm as a June morning.
You here againP' he asked.
"Yes."
Didn't tell you to get off this train
and stay Off"
NO"
81 did,"
mo- you told me to get out of that car
and stay out, and did,"
Now. my friend" said the conductor.
listen to me, and mind you do just what
tell you. At the next station get off this
train and stay off. Do just what tell you
or you will get into trouble"
Agreed" said the traveller, and the
conductor passed on.
Again the train stopped and started, and
again the traveller turned up on the train.
The conductor was just reaching the bell
rope to stop the train and eject him sum-
marily, when the traveller stayed his hand.
II obeyed ORDERS" he said. you told
me TO do Just as you ordered. | got out,
and stayed out until you said, All aboard!
Then got aboard, for didn't want to get
into trouble you know"
The conductor gave him his hand, and
it was noticed that, later in the day. they
ate together in the dining car, and ate
heartily. - Boston transcript.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

SUPERsTITIoUs CUSToMs.-Among the
many strange customs of savage nations,
not the least curious are the ceremonious
observances offered to wild beasts which
they hunt and kill. The boldest native
hunters of British India would shudder at
the thought of leaving the corpse of a
tiger till they had singed off its whiskers
to the very roots, without which precau-
ton they believe the ghost of the dead
beast will haunt them into their grave.
In many parts of Russia the killing of a
wolf is not thought complete without
cutting off the head and right fore paw.
The Lapps and Fins whenever they kill a
bear, surround the body with loud lamen-
tations. One hunter then asks the dead
beast "who killed theeP" and answers,
"A Russian" when all the rest exclaim
in chorus, "A cruel deed; bloody
deed" hoping by this means to divert
the bears resentment from themselves to
the imaginary Russian. The tribes Of
northern Siberia never kill polar beal
without extracting its two largest teeth
which. in their belief, is the only safe
guard against its coming to life again.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

AS a general rule, give your children
something to do. A daily employment of
some sort will exercise their minds health
fully, and develop elements of usefulness
and self-reliance which may prove meal
culably valuable to their manhood and
womanhood. Miserable is the plea urged
by some that they "have not the time" to
look after their children. No such pre-.
text can divest them Of the grave res pom
sibilities which the having of children i'm
poses. The laws of God and of humanity
demand of parents the best care and train
ing for their children they can bring into
exercise. How many poor wretches there
are, taxing society with their maintenance
who owe their worthessness and sins to
the negligence of their parents in develop
ing and directing good natural endow :
ments for lives of industry and indepen-
dence
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT THUN-
DER.-Almost all the tribes in the United
States believed the thunder to be produced
by the wings of u great bird. and that the
lightning was the serpents that were inva-
riahly connected with the thunder bird
Among the ancient tribes of the Missis-
sippi valley the thunder. therefore, soon
became a thunder god, who could be pro-
pitiated with sacrifices. The Illinois In
dians offered up Il small dog when a child
happened to be sick upon day when
there was much thunder supposing the
latter to be the cause of the malady. Many
incidents, like conhagrations, were attri-
buted to this angry god, and some tribes
did bloody penance in Precipitation, often
burning to death their own children.
Statements that the Indians adored the
thunder, however, seems to be erroneous.
1t was the cause of the thunder that they
worshipped, and before which they burned
tobacco and buffalo meat, or cut off the
joints of their fingers or throw their child
rem into the fire when they were overcome
with fear. The Peruvians had as an idol
stone that had been split by the lightning
They offered it gold and silver. The ma
when it thundered. Other southern tribes
made no sacrifices on the approach of a
storm but abused themselves in the most
abject fear. The wild rice being aquatic
and looking like an arrow or spear, it is
also attributed to the thunder spirit as its
origin In Mexico great temples were
built upon the sacred spots where lightning
had struck A curious notion among Peru
vians was that the preserved bodies of
twin children who died in infancy should
be wol shipped surprising that one of them
was the son of the thunder, the origin of
this idea being the fact that the thunder
god of that people was one of the celestial
twins of Apocatequin and Piquerad. The
tradition was utilized by Pizarro's mis-
sionaries to teach the Indians the doctrines
of the Trinity.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

KEEP Your PRoMIsE.-One of the most
eminent of British statesmen is said to
have traced his own sense of the sacred
ness of promise to a curious lesson he
got from his father when he was boy.
When home for the holidays. and walking
with his father in the garden, his father
pointed to wall which he intended to
have pulled down. "Oh," said the boy,
IL should like to see wall pulled DOWN
well, my boy, you shall, +" said his father.
The thing. however, escaped his memory,
and during the boys absence number of
improvements were being made, and
among them this wall was torn down and
and new one was built up in its place.
When the doy came home and saw it he
said : " Oh father, you promised to let
me see that wall pulled down" Instantly
the father remembered his promise, and
was deeply panied to think that he had
seemed careless about his plghted word.
"My boy he said, "you are right, did
promise, and ought not to have forgot
ten it 1t is too late now to do Just what
said | would; but you wanted to see a
wall pulled down, and so you shall" And
he actually ordered the masons up and
made them pull down and rebuild the
new wall. that as nearly as possible his
promise might be made good. at cost
me twenty pounds" he said to friend
who was bantering him but he add
ed, " if it had cost hundred | should
have thought it cheap way of impressing
on my boys mind as long as he lives the
importance that man of honor should al
ways attach to his pIighted word"
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

Once in a while it happens that man
has the questionable pleasure of reading
his own obituary. An English statesman
of the present century, no longer living,
was once accused of PERMITTING false re-
port OF his own death to be circulated, in
order that he might see in print what his
contemporaries thought of him. But this
privilege of being present at the dissection
of ones character has been found to be
rather damaging to the self,esteem of the
subject, even in those rare cases where it
has been enjoyed. Along with such
praises as the eulogists always seek to at
tach to the name of any dead person, what
ever his character, there is pretty sure to
be present some plain and very unpalata-
BILE truths concerning his real aims and
achievements. If you should die tonight it
would not be your enemies only who would
have to speak candidly Of more faults and
failures than you had expected to bequeath
to their memories. II you have any of life
remaining, you may find it Il wholesome
exercise to Set before your own mind Just
what the people who best know you would
have to say about you if you were no
longer among them. In this way, by an
honest and searching self-examination,
aided by such criticisms us he may have
had or may obtain from his friends, every
man may, as it were, read his own
obituary to good advantage, - and he may
thereby be able to raise the character OF
that which shall be said Of him when he
really does die.-SWnd0Y School Times.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25
A Tramp in the Rockies.
BOULDER, Colorado, Aug, 1888

BOULDER, Colorado, Aug, 1880.
1t was one of those cloudless days, for
which the climate of Colorado, is so Justly
noted that |, with two companions, set out
on three days tramp in the Rocky Noun
tains. My companions were Mr.. Milo
Hartwell of Mass, and Mr.. Frank Will
liams, the latter acting rs guide. He was
six feet tall, stood erect with broad shoul.
ders, and was so familiar with the Rocky
Mountains, as Yankee school marm is
with the multiplication table. We made
the trip on foot, for our course took us
through section of country inaccessible
to horses.
Our outfit was Of the most simple kind,
and consisted of coffee. ham. salt, tin cup,
coffee pot, and few loaves of bread.
Williams, the guide, carried II breech-
loading rifle, and woe to the animal that
came within range of his unerring aim
The first few miles of our course was along
the base of the foot hills. There we saw
the Colorado potato beetle. in its primitive
state, before it exhibits that Independent
and lawless disposition, which is the result
of travel and high living. We entered the
mountains at bear canon pronounced can
yon). From here tolerable good wagon
road has been worked through the noun
lans to central city, which is one of the
Oldest mining camps in the state.
Bear canon received its name on account
of the large number of bears that were for
merly found here, but their numbers at the
present time are few. and they are seldom
seen in this part of the mountains; the
largest game that we saw was the jack
rabbit, an animal about twice the size o
the common rabbit of the east; they re
celve from the old miners the appetlzin&
name of marrow gauge mule
Two miles up this canon we came to
saw mill, owned by Ira T. McAllister. for
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

GIRLS K.-Conversation overheard
where party Of girls are trying to fsh
OII, L see one :.
"Wherep"
"Oh, my, so he is?"
Lets catch him!"
who's got the bait?"
You lazy thing, you're sitting on my
pole"
"Oh, something got my hook"
"Pull up, you little IDIOT"
"Oh, murder! take it away! Ugh, take
it away, the nasty thing!"
How will it ever get Off"
"Ain't it pretty?"
"Wonder if it amt dryP"
Poor little thing! let's put it back
again"
"IIow will it get the hook from it
mouth ?"-PhiladeLphia Bulletin.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

To fail to surround home with attrac-
tions which will make it lovable, more
pleasant than any other place, is sure
way to prevent the proper development of
children, even when it does not result in
com mitting them to vice. The means of
accomplishing this object are as numerous
and various as the dispositions and circum
stances of families. A fundamental condi-
ton is the prevalence of regularity and
system in the performance of home duties
These duties should be we'll defined, and
the faithful discharge of them vigorously
exacted. The best ordered households are
rs a rule, the most pleasant; the children
who are under the most constant even dis
cipline are the happiest.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

PoRCUPINE CHRISTIANS. Are there
any professors of religion who deserve
such name? A recent writer speaks of
"porcupine Christians" bristling all over
with the sharp quilts of prejudice, bigotry,
consciousness exclusiveness, and all man.
ner of unlovely things, and further says:
IL have personally come in contact with
more than one porcupine Christian" So
have we. Sometimes, even when making
the most friendly overtures, we have dis
covered bristling quills. Chronically "
combative. many people so habitually as
sumo the offensive, that their fellow Chris
tians soon come to dread association with
them, and their unamiable attitude excles
fears which repel advances, and make it
perlous to meet them. If approached, it
must be very warily, or up fly their quills,
and, to avoid harm, it is found prudent to
keep them ut a distance. They meet
every opinion and measure with a sharp
criticism, aud dissent from every view and
plan which they have not originated
While showing no disposition to affiliate
with others, they are continually com.
planning of the want of love in the Church,
and instead of showing any sympathy
with their brethren in Christian work,
they manage to onnborrose G,nd ODsJruUL
every benevolent enterprise with oblec-
tions to plans VI with their chronic carp
ing.
These "porcupne Christians are ospe-
cially annoying to their pastors. We
heard one, only recently, referring to a no.
uncommon experience among ministers,
who, upon making Il call, met with one of
this class. Instead of II cordial welcome.
such as spiritual shepherd might expect
from one of his fold, he came upon Il
"fretful porcupine," and, with the quilts
bristling up, he had to hear the sarcastic
remark, Il supposed you had forgotten
was a member of the Church" We were
not surprised that, with the impression
made by such a reception, this pastor was
led to say that he did not "hanker" to
make many OF lengthy visits to such
people. We have too many of these "por
cupine Christians in all our churches
Baptia Weekly.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

LOVE THAT GLORIFIES TIE HUMBLEST
MAN.-The New Orleans Times tells this
touching little story: There is nothing in
the world so sad as human nature, and the
tears come into my eyes as think of the
pitiful story Tom told me rs he smoked
his after supper pipe last night. The other
day, just before | came home, Tom had
occasion to 90 over the lake. On his way
back and when the train stopped ut the
Bay he noticed n man getting into the Car
in front of him with little baby lying in
his arms. The baby seemed young, and
the man hushed it in his arms with a gentle
rocking motion, bending over now and
then to kiss its little white face. After the
train got under wav the conductor come to
Tom and said: Come with me; want
to show you the saddest, strangest sight
you ever saw in all your life,' and he led
the way into the next car. "Do you see
that man over thereP' said he, and there
sat the man whom Tom had noticed with
the babe His precious little bundle lay
quiet on the seat in front of him, and as
these other two men watched, he leaned
over, looked long and earnestly in the
little flower face, and then kissed the frail
finger tips he held so gently in his hand
That baby's dead" said the conductor.
lit died this morning at the Bay. He
couldn't bear to put it in coi1in, because
then it would have to so without him in
the baggage car, and so he is just carrying
it home to New Orleans in his arms. )
And the car ratified on--the boy called the
stale slices of sponge cake and his cigars
through the train-the passengers laug ghed
and smoked, and fought the mosquitoes
and he, stricken to the hearts core, sat
there quiet and unheeding, watching over
his dead child, kissing the fingers that
would never again softly clasp his, looking
down upon the white lids that had closed
over the bright eyes rs the petals of IL SEN
sitive flower close at nighttime over its
delicate heart-and the world was nothing
to him.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

Sin is not in the appetites, but in the
abcence of II contrt Hing will There were
in Christ all the natural appetiles of mind
and body. Relaxation and friendship
were dear to Him; so were sunlight and
life. Hunger. pain, death, He could feel
them all, and shrank from them. He
suffered, being tempted, from the forces OF
desire. But there was obedience at the
expense of tortured natural feeling. Re-
member this; for the way in which some
speak OF the sinlessness of Christ DESTROYS
the reality of temptation, and converts
the whole IF Hi, history into fictitious
drama, in which scenes of trial were rep
resented, not felt W. Robertson.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

An English Clergyman has devised u
simple means of reducing the number of
deaths 10y drowning. In the portion of
the coat. waistcoat or dress of any person
a chemical preparation is inserted, which
on becoming wet, causes the garment to
become quickly inflated. This novel life
preserver does not alter the appearance of
the garment, so that it may be constantly
worn without Inconvenience. A thorough
test IS sad To have shown that 1t will Sus
tain person in the water AS long rs he
can possibly endure the exposure-say
forty-five or fifty hours,
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

WHO is BUDDHA?-Did you ever notice,
my son, that the man who tells you he
cannot believe the Bible is usually able to
believe almost anything else? You will
find men who turn with horror and utter
disbelief from the Bible and joyfully en-
brace the teachings of Buddha. 1t is quite
the thing, just now, my son, Tor civilized
enlightened man, brought up in II Chris
tian country and an age of wisdom, to be
a Buddhist. And if you ask six men who
profess Buddhism who Buddha was, one
of them will tell you he was an Egyptian
soothsayer who lived two hundred years
before Moses; another will tell you that
he brought letters from Phenicia and in
troduced them in Greece; a third will tell
you that she was Il beautiful woman of
Father India, bound by her vows to per-
petual chastity; fourth will, with little
hesitation, say he was a Brah,na of the
ninth degree and holy disciple of Con-
fucius; and of the other two. one will
frankly admit that he doesn't know, and
the other will say with some indecision
that he was either a dervish of the Nile
(whatever that is) or teto de Sc, he can't
be positive which. Before you propose TO
hhoW lHoio tutu SNciy bouy cloC, NY oOn,
be very certain that you are at least abreast
of two-thirds of your fellow-men. don't
want to suppress any inclination you may
have toward genuine free thought and
careful, honest investigation, my son. |
only want you to avoid the great fault of
atheism in this day and generation; don't
want to see you try to build six story
house on one story foundation.
Before you criticse, condemn and finally
revise the work of creation, my son, be
pretty confident that you know something
about it as it is, and don us a man who is
older in years and experience than your
self, don't, let me implore you, don't turn
this world upside down and sit on it, and
t1atten it entirely out until you have made
or secured another one for the rest of US tc
live in while you demolish the old one.-
Burlington Haa0keye.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

The two most prosperous nations of the
world at the present day are America and
France. Both have, in recent years, been
the theatre of the two most gigantic wars
of any age. Both have incurred enormous
war debts. France has already paid off
her liability and America is rapidly wiping
away hers. If not actually the richest
countries in the world, they are the two
countries where there is the greatest
amount of actual prosperity for the great
est number. Both are growing steadily
rich, and both are republics. England's
agriculture has been brought to dead
lock, less by foreign competition than by
monster land monopolies and feudal land
laws, and her commerce which must rest
more or less on the foundation of her
agriculture, suffers accordingly Germany
is honeycomed with socialism, and faint
beneath the burden of her monster army.
Russia is built upon a mine, to which it
would seem that nihilists may at any time
apply the slow match and annihilate the
head of the state and destroy all existing
forms of order or government. France
and America alone among the great ma
tions of the world are prosperous and free.
with no foes to dread abroad and none to
fear at home.-PariS Letter. in 81. Paul
(Minn.) Pioneer Press.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-08-25

They begged him to play little. He
seemed to feel bashful at first, but after
while began to play vigorously. What
pOweri' said listener to the owner of the
piano. Yes" exclaimed the latter in
alarm, che seems to have considerable
muscle; bu: he ought to know that this
isn't a gymnasium"