davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
The Terrible Octopus.

The ferocitv Of the octopus is undeni
able; but doubt has hitherto been cast
on the old stories which represent this
unpleasant creature as being III the habi.
OF Selling and swapping boats. 1t is
admitted bv scientific naturalists that
the hideous thing, known to the ancient
world as the polypus, and to modern
boatmen as the cuttletsh or squid, at
tains TO portentious size and strength
in the warmer seas, and is very power
ful and even dangerous. Its yerocity
and the peculiar violence with which it
attacks and renas its prey are well
known to those persons who have seen
il, weakened by captivity, and rendered
less eagerly ravenous by the abundance
OF food ready to its thousand hands. To
speak bv the card, these number $50 in
all, and are rather 10 be called fingers
than hands But what fingers Each
is powerful sucker that expands and
contracts with rapid and everchangeful
motion, and there are 100 of them to
each OF the s long, writing, restless
arms With eyes fixed on its adversary
and with parrot-like beak advanced for
the encounter, this most unsightly of all
living things inspires awe by its loathli-
ness not less than 10y its actual power
to harm. That it will turn and fasten
upon human being, if angered or men,
aced with capture, Is well established
fact; and recent occurrence reported
from Adelaide goes far to revive the old
belief that polypus will venture on at
lacking the hull of a boat. A telegram
from Port Elliot, published in the South
Australian papers, states that on the
Goth of August last, trooper Bruce
and man named Edward we're out in
the bay near Lipson's island, examining
a piece of wreckage, when their boat
was encirc.ed by the ten;acles of a large
octopus aid pulled oyer till it was half
full of water, and in great danger Of be-
ing swamped The occupants escaped
with the utmost difficulty
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
What a Goat Can Do.

Maybe there is never any excitement
at the West End, bu. yeu can't make
the people who saw colored gentleman
try to lead goat through that district,
the o,her day, believe it. At first the
goat didn't want to go, and the colored
gentleman, who was about ten feet ahead
OF the animal, pulled vigorously on the
rope. He had Just got his whole strength
on it, when the got changed mis- mind
and started forw ard so suddenly tn at the
colored gentleman didn't have time to
recover his balance and went down, and
as the goat ran past him and kept run
ming, he was dragged along, clawing
wildly, until his head collided with a
lamp post and he brought the procession
to halt. On regaining his feet, the
colored gentlemen was very angry, and
ran for the goat to kick him, and the
goat took to flight, and they few at a
rapid pace down the street. About five
rods ahead, the goat observed a citizen
bending over to look down an open coal
hole, and reaching him the goat con-
trived to hit him just under the hip
pocket, and the citizen disappeared down
the coal hole like shot, just as the col
ored gentleman stumbled over the goat,
which had come to halt. A number
Of people had gathered about, and then
the goat took notion to'turn the other
way, and he got the rope SO entangled in
peoples feet that seven We're upset and
much blasphemy resulted. The man
down the coal hole then attempted to
climb out, and got his head and stoul-
ders above ground wher the goat made
another rush at him, and he had to
dodge down again. And then the goat
assaulted his owner, who went up lamp
post, and then the goat went for another
man, and, as the owner had tied the rope
t. his belt, he was yanked off that lamp
post quicker than powder. Fortunately
for him, his belt broke, and he sp,a ng to
his feet and took off toward Harvard
College, yelling fire, and the goat sud-
denly jumped into an open window,
scared woman into fainting fit, and
upset a table on which stood dish of
uOl WAFER. Ie gov Most VI tHe Wdter
upon himself, and, made more frantic by
pain, jumped out Of the window again,
butted a bulldog and stove in three of
the CANNES ribs, and then disappeared
down the street amid a cloud Of dust,
Just as policeman came around to shoot
him And the man down the coal hole
came up with awful expressions on his
face, and in his language offered $75 to
any one who would tell him whom to
sue for damages.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
Entertaining Company.

The whole philosophy of hospitality is
summed up by Emerson in the follow
ing. 81 pray you, o excellent wife, not
to cumber yourself and me to get rich
dinner for this man or this woman who
has alighted at our gate, nor bed cham
Der made ready at too great cost.
These things, if they are curious in, they
can get for dollar at the village. But
let this stranger see, if he will, in your
looks, in your accent and behaviour,
your heart and earnestness, your
thought and will, what he cannot buy at
any price, at any village or city, and
which he may well travel fifty miles
and dine sparingly and work hard, in
order to behold. Certainly let the
board be spread and the bed be dressed
for the traveller, but let not the emphasis
of hospitality be in these things. Honor
to the house where they are simple to
the verge of hardship, so that the intel
lect is awake and sees the laws Of the
universe, the seul worships truth and
:ove, honor and courtesy flow into al
deeds" One of the greatest comforts
of having a home should be tina. in it
we have a place for friends and even
tIangers-rooms, more than supply the
needs Of the family and extra leaves
to the extension table. The secret OF
true hospitality, as Emerson has stated,
is in its coming from the heait.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
How Chickens Get Out OF Shells

Take an egg GU. o. nest or which 6
hen has had hey full time. carefully
holding it to the ear; turning il around,
YOU will find the exact spo. which the
little fellow is picking on .he inside of
the shell, this he vii, DO until tie inside
shell is perforated, and then the shell is
forced outward as smal. scale. leaving
hole. Now, if you will take one OF
the eggs in this condition from under
the hen, remove j. 10 the house or other
suitable place, pu. !: II q box o. nest,
keeping it warm and moist, IS Dear the
temperature of the hen as possible.
(Which may be done by ,ayine i be
tween two bottles Of warm water upon
some cotton or woolA and lay glass
over the box or next, then you can SIT or
stand, as is most convenient, and witness
the true modus operandi. Now watch
the little fellow work his way into the
world, and you will be amused and in
structed as | have often been. After he
has got his opening, Ne commences a
nibbllng motion with the poin: of the
upper bill on the outside of the shell.
always working TO the right, if you
have the large end of the egg from you,
and the hole upward, until he has
worked his way almost around, say with
one-half of an inch in perfect circle;
he then forces the cap or butt end of
the shell off, and then has chance to
straghten his neck, thereby loosening
his legs somewhat, and so, by their help,
forcing the body from the shell.--Amer-
lean Farm journal
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
Another Discovery.

Professor Swift, astronomer of the
Warner Observatory, at Rochester, \.
Y, discovered another large comet on
the evening of Oct 10. The fact was
noted in the associated press dispatches,
but some important and interesting de-
tails which could not be telegraphed are
herewith given. The new celestial visi
tor is in the Constellation of Pegasus,
right ascension, u hours; so minutes,
declination north II degrees, 80 min
utes. Its rate of motion is quite slow,
being in northwesterly direction, so
that it is approaching the sun. It has
a very strong condensation on one side
of the center III addition to a star size,
we are warranted in prcsuming that it
will be very brilliant, and the additional
fact that it is coming almost directly to-
ward the earth, gives good premise that
it will be one of the most remarkable
comets of the present century, This is
the fifth comet which Professor Swift
has discovered; and the increased faciii-
ties which Mr.. II. II. Warner, the pop
ular and wealthy medicine man, has
given him, by erecting a magnificent OBJ
servatory for his benefit, promise mush
more for the future. There is a posi-
bility that further developments may
prove this to be the great comet of 1872,
which is being constantly expected, in
which event astronomers will have an
unusual opportunity to test the spectre
scope for the first time upon those &c
centric bodies and ascertain certainly
what they are.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
A Wonderful Log Jam.

A dispatch describes magnificent
spectacle to be seen at Grand Falls. f.
Connor's drive of fifteen million feet of
lumber that was hung up all Summer
above St. Lenard's has been let loose by
the recent rains, and now completely
fills the gorges below the falls for half
mile, to the apparent average depth of 200
feet, forming one of the grandest sights
possible to conceive.
The great wedge like mass of timber
has formed itself into pyramids, deep
gulches and every imaginable shape,
while the water, forced from its original
level, rushes through the chaos of logs
with a subdued roar, mingling with the
noise of the cataract. Never before in
the history of Grand Falls has the sight
been witnessed. On Friday night the
jam formed on Lookout Point, half
mile below the cataract. Since then
the drive has been in active operation,
and the gorge has been steadily filing
up by the run of logs till, at the time
your correspondent writes, it has filled
the whole gorge. and has reached the
main pitch, and is now steadily covering
up the falls themselves.
The din produced by the logs as they
arrive at the brink, pitch OVER and en-
counter the mass beneath can be heard
for long distance. Country people are
hocking far and near to behold the sight.
The chances are the drive will not move
out this Fall, unless great Use of
water takes place.-Bangor, Maine,
Wing, Oct. 10TH
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
The Intensity of Arctic Cold.

The chronicer of Lieutenant Schwat-
ka's recent expedition in search Of the
remains of Sir John Franklin records
some interesting facts regarding the
great cold If the Arctic regions. The
lowest temperature met with by the
company was l03 degrees below the
freezing point, or II degrees below zero
Fahrenheit, a degree of cold almost i'm
possible to imagine by the people of
more temperate climes. The effects of
such intense cold upon the human sys
TEN were not 80 markell in the case of
the Lieutenant and his companions as
might be supposed, and even during a
month in which the average tempera-
ture was 6j degrees below zero, the
health of the party remained unimpaired.
The men adapted themselves as much as
possible to the habits of the natives,
feeding largely upon blubber and fat
meat, by which the vital heat was sus-
tanned. Plenty of game was found by
the adventures, who were able to Sc
cure with their repeating rifles enough
reindeer at one line to last them for
several days The difficulty of APP
preaching these animals was often very
great, for in the still cold air the step of
a man upon the snow could be heard two
miles away, and the grating Of the
sledge runners resounded like the CLASH
ing of tempered steel.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
How to Eat.

The notion that appetite is low de-
gree Of hunger, and hunger an intensi-
fled form OF appetite, does not seem to
be borne out by facts. The two desires
or longings are different in their nature
Appetite is the craving of the apparatus
of taste, and sometimes OF the digestive
organs; while hunger is the demand of
organism as a whole or OF some of the
parts of food. Use the words appetite
and hunger bow you may, there are &C
tually two needs to De expressed, and
much mischief arises from confounding
them. The one cry for food which we
call appetite is an affair of habit or cap
rice, and may, for a time at least, be
stimulated by appealing to the sense of
taste, and promoted by certain cordials
and stimulants; but, looking az the mat
ter from physiological point of view,
it is difficult to see what we can gain by
exciting the organs of digestion to take
food unless the system is in condition
to receive it. The rational mode of pro-
cedure would seem 20 be TO wait the ex-
preston of need in the system-in
short, to look to hunger rather than ap-
petite as an incentive TO the act Of feed
ing Instead of exciting the palate and
sense organs to take food when we have
no organic reason TO suppose that there
is an inner need Of i.
There are certain evil consequences Of
the civilized mode of feeding by appetite
on the basis of habit, which il may be
useful to point out. First, separating
appetite from hunger, and developing il,
as an Independent. sense or function,
there naturally springs Up fashion of
life which may be described as Giving to
feed The purveyo- 0. food trades OF
the tastes and cultivated longings Of the
consumer. and the consideration what to
ca. and what to drink comes TO occupy
a place in the self-consciousnes which it
was probably not intended to ill, and in
so far as this is the case man IS more an
imal, and less spiritual and Intellectual,
than he ought to be; although it may be
conceded that the refined taste o: cult
waited nature is less offensive than the
simple voracity OF The savage. Theie
are some who contend .ha: man is the
gamer by the developments OF us appe,
lite. If this be so, the gain IS a good
not unmixed with evil. Another draw
back is that by sever;ng appetite from
hunger we lose the indication Of GUAM
tity which nature gives with Ter orders
for food The man who eats regulated
number of meals daily, with duly stin-
u,ated and organized habit, probably
eats much more in the - hours than his
system requires, or The organis as a
whole is constituted 20 deal vi From
the Lancet.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
Why the Romans Wish Each
Other a Good" August.

Even in the earliest days it was the
custom to wish "good" August and to
make presents and to give dinners and
entertainments. The reason-for there
is method in all the Roman madnesses
is, that August is the most unhealthy
month in the year in Rome. If you
escape the fevers until then, you can
rarely escape them i'll August, unless
unheard of precautions are taken, of
which YOU soon get tired. AS rest,
sleep and good wine are the surest pre-
ventives Of Roman fever, the August
gifts usually take the form Of poultry
and wine. If you can eat well, sleep
well and drink we'll, and never 90 into
the open air whilst there is ray of sun,
you may escape the fever, but cat irreg
ularly and drink poor wine and 60 out
during the hot Eours, and sooner or later
YOU will be seized with fever, and
Roman fever is no. easily forgotten. 1t
begins with shaking fit which shakes
the very room in which the patient lies,
nor can the heaping ON of elder down
quilts or pillows stop it. 1t sometimes
continues for hours. The teeth chatter,
and you feel as if suddenly cast upon an
iceberg. When the shlvering fit ceases
the fever commences, and after that
comes profuse perspiration. The more
you perspire the better, for il the patient
does not perspire, he is suffering FROM
the worst kind Of Roman fever, called
the "perniclosa,' the very name Of
which makes Romans quake with terror,
for it carries one of in couple Of hours.
Native Romans think nothing Of these
fevers they do no, even call in doc
tor i; all goes or well =; tina. is, if the
perspiration comes out all right. They
know exactly what to 10, and the levers
have no more effect on them than the
keeping Of them in bed during the actual
teverishness Between the spells, which
return very regularly, they eat, drink,
work. walk and 20 10 theatres, as if
nothing was the matter with them and
will sometimes continue thus for more
than ei .hteen months. They look as
yellow as the lemons, the Juice of which
they drink, but that is ali. With
Americans and English, however, the
case is different. In the first p,sce we
begin by being very frightened, and The
ouinine has not the effect OF Us that i
has OF the Romans. Our stomachs re
iect j: after a very few doses, much TO
the doctors dismay 4 couple OF fever.
ish attacks reduce Us TO a state OF utter
prostration We are unable 20 lift even
a handkerchief. Tie dreaded "perni-
ciosa" soon makes its appearance, unless
We can be removed 10 better al. when
the fever disappears as # tY enchant-
ment. Al the first sign OF a Roman
feve~, therefore, every American should
leave Rome immediately, If OILY COR
Frasca:i, Albano or any OF .he other
Summer resorts, which are az the gates
of Rome Doctors send away patients
in Their beds. IS they are TOO weak TO
be removed otherwise Letter from
Rome in the Hour.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

"Well, Father Brown, how did you
like the sermon Yesterday asked a
young preacher. aye see, parson," was
the reply, 81 haven't fair chance at
them sermons of yours. There's old
Miss Smi,hie, Wilder Taft, n Ryan's
darters, n Nabby Bnt, n all the rest
setting in front of me with their mouths
wide open a swallerin' down all the best
of the sermon, n what gets down to me
is putty poor stuff, parson, putty poor
stuff"
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

Not many miles from New Bedford a
small company of colored brethren de-
cided to take up collection" The
presiding officer offered to pass the hat
himself, and, in order to encourage the
others, he put in a ten-cent piece. After
the collection, during which every nand
had been in the hat, the president APP
preached the table, turned the hat up
side down, and not even his own con-
tribution dropped out. He opened his
eyes in astonishment, and exclaimed;
"Fo' goodness, but I'ze chen lost de ten
cents / started widr' The case called
for urgent action. The presiding officer
demanded the restoration of the ten-cent
piece. But nobody came forward At
ter an impressive pause, q brother re-
marked, solemnly: "Dar pears TO be a
greet moral lesson roun' hesh some
whar."
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
Sand in Sugar.

l had read that sugar refners used
bullocks blood to clarity the liquor, and
in my simplicity asked my friend where
was the bullocks blood. He laughed
very heartily at my ignorance, and told
me there had not been such thing
used in Greenock since he had known
anything about the trade, now over SO
years. What struck me most was the
sand and mud that my friend showed
me had been taken out of the raw ma
terial when l saw it filtered; and | tina.
day registered VOW that | would never
again be tempted to buy real raw
sugar for domestic use. l shudder as
think of the quantity of mud l must
have eaten in my time, and feel annoyed
at having been deluded into paying a
penny pound more for the real raw
sugar than could have bought the pure
refined article for. I told my friend
what was passing through my mind, at
which he again said: every one that
comes to see through the refinery says
the same thing. You sometimes hear
grocers charged with putting sand in
their sugar. They really do nothing of
the sort. 1t would not pay them to do
so even If they had mind. If the use
of raw sugar were given up by the pub
lie, we would never again hear of such
an accusation against the poor grocer. "
My friend, seeing the disgust ! had dis
played at the sand and mud took me to
the laboratory in connection with the
refinery, where be said he would show
me even worse than mud IN the raw
sugar. He took small glass vessel like
a tunbler, into which ne put about a
teaspoonful of 'real raw sugar, such as
is sold in the shops, and then poured
some water slightly heated over it. In
a short tine little specks appeared on
the surface, scarcely visible to the naked
eye, two or three which he placed under
a microscope and babe NE look through
it. To my amazemert l saw little in,
sects ike lice crawling about. ] asked
what they were. and was told that they
were the Acarus sacchari, or raw sugar
mite, and that they abound in raw SUI
gar, more especially in the better de-
scriptions. / asked if there were none
to be found in refined sugar, and my
friend said no; that they We're all re-
tanned in the fltering bags or killed dur
ing the boiling. l understand that a
celebrated chemist has estimated that
there will be as many as 100000 of
these creatures in a pound of raw sugar
| learned that there were about a dozen
. refneries al work in Creenock, turning
out about 100000 20 100000 tons OF
soft refined sugar per annum, being more
than a third of all the sugar consumed
in Great Britain. Greenock has great
natural advantages for the refining of
sugar, having excellent harbor accom-
mediation, where the largest vessels can
discharge the raw material, being near
to the Lanarkshire coal-felds, having an
unlimited supply of water at a very
cheap rate, and a plentiful supply Of
cheap labor Chambers Journal
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

The following notice was posted by
the president of the Wooster (Ohio)
University: mo fema,e student is ex-
pected to receive more than one male
visitor per week, and he must not stay
later than 9 o'clock" An Indignation
meeting was held by the girls. and re-
bellious resolutions passed.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

.Esthetic people afflicted by ugly
white cornices in their houses can i'm.
prove them 10y very simple and yet
effective process A lady who lives in
an old modern house at the west end
of Boston has covered the Objectionable
stucco work of her drawing-room with
ferns and Autumnal leaves, picked out
with tiny Japanese fans and peacock
feathers. The effect is said to be beau
tiful, es the walls are papered in dark
red, and the furniture is upholstered in
olive tints, relieved by red and gold.
The best part of this decoration" is
that it costs only four dollars and days
pleasant labor.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

A lady poet has written a poem of
which one line, "Clothe me in dreams"
is commented on freely by the news
papers. If the poet wears good, thick
undercothes, we do not see why being
in dreams wolld not be as comfortable
as one of those ball dresses, with the
colors at half mast. Still it depends a
good deal on the dream.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

It's Just about double the work to
spade up piece Of ground for garden
purposes that it ~ to dig over the same
space Of ground for worms to 90 fishing.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

Beware of the poet who asserts ~ an
too tired to smile" Don't oak him out
unless you have . plethorie pocketbook.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18

The more virsuous man Is the more
virtue does he zee in otheyA