davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
Hints for the Sick Room.

Somewhere lately read that in some country house where milk was in plenty. a pan of it was placed near meat in the larder to keep the latter fresh. I am sorry to be so lame in my story, but the principle to be carried out was that milk, being ready absorbent, the bad air that would otherwise have tainted the meat flew to the milk instead. My thoughts immediately reverted to the sick room, where milk is often left standing for the use of the invalid; and 1t occurred to mo that if this were the case would 1t not just as readily absorb the poisonous exhalations that arise there Why, or how, I am not chemist enough to explain, but-as most persons are aware-water is a rapid absorbent of the taint of paint; and in room freshly painted. pail of clean, cold water left standing there will quickly into the water which has been thus left all night, you will find it tastes strongly of the paint. Milk is too costly to be thus largely used, but 8 little-say a saucer-full-might be placed for eXperi- ment, and if it tastes of the paint you may reasonably conclude that it would taste just as much Certainly absorb just as readily) of whatever impurities that hang round sick bed when left stand iHH uCdI It.
 Let me impress upon invalids the importance of keeping their refresl- ments covered. Many delicate persons are not absolutely in need of night at tendance yet require a supply of night nutriment. I know of an invalid home where almost every patient is regularly supplied with a glass of milk at the bedside for night use. Then there are cooling drinks. jellies, blancmanges, and variety of liquids usually seen at the invalid's bedside, and all more or less absorbent. All should be kept cov- cred. I once visited an invalid who had her bedside table supplied with an array of glasses, cups, tumblers, etc., contents of not one of which could we see, all being covered with a most amusing variety of glass and porcelain lids. The invalid liked to forget the contents of each, and was amused to lift one or another of the tiny covers and select refreshment which pre- sented itself to her taste. And to keep invalids amused. and ready to relish what is provided for them, are impor- tant duties in nursing. Such slight at- ientions cost little trouble, while they prove to the sufferer that he or she is tenderly cared for.-Ld,sd and Water.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
Origin of Oil Springs.

The source of these vast supplies of oil has been much discussed, and there are still some points in their history which remain obscure. We trace their origin to great forests of antiquity whose shrubs were trees and whose trees were giants-we know their greatness by the cast of their huge leaves, which we find in our coal mines. Submerged and sub- jected to certain strange agencies, the vast rank forests turned slowly into coal. Such a change involves a separa- tion of carbon and hydrogen, sometimes as oil or both combined. Gravity would force the fluid to seek the lowest level it could find, through every crack and fis- sure, which accounts for its being found not only below but often remote from the coal deposits. Under such circum- stances the pressure of water from be- meath, or the volatile nature of gas which accompanies the oil, forces it up into the highest attainable level, thus bringing it into strata above the coal measures-on the floor of the coal beds. Just how, when, or why these wonder full transitions took place may never be definitely known-for, in the vast cruel ble beneath our feet, fierce fires are al- ways raging. such change is directed by the hand of the Almighty chemist, with fauItless wisdom and in ways past find- ing out.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
A WOman's Pets.

Mrs. Augustus Brooks, of East Eliot, Conn.,, has a cat thirteen years old, which will stand up when ordered, bow slowly or quick, as directed, walk around the room on her hind legs only, dance, turn somersaults, go through the motions of holding a jew's-harp to her mouth with one paw and playing on it with the other, new when ordered to speak, kiss her paw to visitors, hold a saucer of milk on her fore-legs and lap the milk, and stand on her hind feet and with her fore-paws catch bits of bread or meat thrown to her like base ball player. Her kitten, year old, will turn somersaults. The same lady has a hen which always wipes her feet on the mat on entering the house, and if asked. "How do you get your living, biddy?'' will scratch on the floor; look to see if she had scratched out anything, and then look at the questioner to see if the answer is correct. This hen despises the wooden, chalk and porcelain chalk cheats which some people palm off on hensAfor nest-eggs, and will not lay to" one of them, tumbling them out of her nest as often as they are put in. A rooster, also, will scratch the floor when asked how he gets his living, but cannot be made to wipe his feet.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
A Wealthy Couple.

"Gath" spins the following yarn in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Some time ago the president of the Louisville, Nash vile and Great Southern railroad said that there was woman owning stock ln that railroad who had $25,O00,0 GOO. thought over the whole range of women in this country, and failed to drop to any with that amount of money. inquired of other persons, and they thought the woman was myth. But have under stood, within day or two, that there is really woman with a fortune of that, or approximate, magnitude, though she is scarcely known to anybody in either financial or social circles.
 She is Mrs. Green, the wife of for mer American merchant in China, who is himself said to be worth $5, ,000, 900. This gentleman spends most of his time about the Union Club, New York, while his wife resides with an invalid son at Bellows Falls, Vermont. - She derives her fortune from a man known as "Blubber" Robinson, who owned the largest line of whale ships at New Bedford, Mass. New Bedford, you | will remember, is quite modern town | in New England. having been settled only ten years before the revolutionary | war. It took the name of Bedford be- cause the land was owned by MT. Rus 1 sell, who remembered that Russell was the family name of the Dukes of Bed ford. This town grew rich by the ad- dress of Quaker named Rotch, who persuaded the French and British gov ernments to let him ship them whale oil duty free. Then arose magnificent whaling business for New Bedford which, in 1888, l ad TO whale ships, em ploying 1000 sa lors, and which fieet brought in l60,0J0 barrels of whale oil g year.
 Mrs. Green is said to have ten thou sand shares of stock in the Louisville organization, and considerably mor' than that in the Houston and Texa
 Central railroad. If we will suppos
 that these ten thousand shares originall
 cost $40 sh1re, they have gone u
 about S1,000, 900 in the subsequent ris
 of the stock. l am not sure that 1 hay
 the figures correctly in my mind as |
 the number of shares possessed by thi
 woman. The husband, Mir. Green,
 said to have been originally man c
 fine general observation and respectabl
 scholarship, but his connection wit such well-husbanded fortune has ais made him something of a monomania on wealth.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
About tsaiato.

A New Yorkkper discoarses
 lea.nedly about thtato in the fol-
 lowing strain: Thmine prevalent
 in Ireland is largewing now, as in
 the past, to the f;e of the potato
 crop, on which thathaupy land has
 so uniformly depen for food. It is
 singular that oulpmm potato
 should be called Iriecause the bulk
 oi the Irish poor accustomed at
 home to use it as .chiet article of
 diet. While it is hSo decide where
 the potato is realhdigenous. and
 where it has spreatnce its cultiva-
 tion by man, it IS Ee of mountain ous districts of tropiand subtropical America, pro bably f Chili to Mex
 ico. 1t has been assd that the first
 vegetable of the kindown to civiliz-
 ation was discover in Patagonia;
 but the assertion haever been cor roborated. Humbol,oubted if it had ever been found trugild; but later travellers of high scieic reputation are satisfied on this 1t. The wild plant, except that theers are smaller, differs very little frethe cultivated plant. The potato hbeen raised on this continent and itspers eaten from times long precedingse discovery of the Western world. seems to have been first taken to Eue in the begin ming of the sixteentlentury, by the Spaniards, from the unity of Quito. It extended from Spaio the Neither lands, France and ltabut only as a curiosity, being confinto few gar dens. It long bore tBame name as the batata, or sweet hto, which is the tuber meant by bst old world writers down to the mile of the sev- enteenth century. It sears to have been carried to IrelanGom Virginia O566) by Hawkins, a sie- trader, and to England twenty veal later by Sil Francis Drake, withe attracting much attention, until twas 8 third time exported from this untry by the expedition sent out b Sir Walter Raleigh. Still, a long tip passed be fore the potato began to b widely cul tivated. It might be usdto advan tage, it was thought, for tFng cattl' and swine and very poor bple, ant was finally raised with viF to pre- vent famines, especially il Ireland where it was cultivated me exten sively than in any other part Europe Not before the end of the ghteentl century was it generally intr{uced int France and Germany. Dafin note the potato in the humid fonts of tn Chonos Archipelago, and hong tn Central Chilian mountains. here raj does not fall sometimes for si consecu tive months. It is closely elated t the mandrake and deadly nint-shade and from its stem and leava potter narcotic may be extracted. he eatin of potatoes was for awhile fobidden i Burgundy, as they were thaght to poisonous, and the commonpeople ( England long cherished a preiudiC against them. They are nos used a most universally, and they an corn al considered two of the gretest gif which this continent has funished t the old world. The. potats really and should be designated as tie Amer can potato.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
A Reptile Chicken Incubator.

The toughest snake and chicken story comes from Ocala, Florida. A setting hen, on returning from her dinner to her nest, found that snake had swal- lowed three of her eggs. She chased that snake about the woods end killed it, and returned to her nest. Several days afterward farm hand, while walking in the woods, heard the chirp of young chickens, and on looking round closely, he discovered three young chickens and lying near by large chicken snake with a hole pecked through him. The young chickens had matched out in the snake and pecked away until they were free from his skin, which wasn't as tough as the story
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
A Test of Indian Courage.

An Indian intertribal faif was held not long ago in Indian T,rritory. in order to show some of the results of ciyilizing sayaees. A numbr of tribes attended, and displayed artices of home manufacture, such as needleWork. em- broidery, lace work and blan cts. Many of the Indians had their pptographs taken and showed childish delight in looking at their faces. Oters, how ever, could not be persuaded;o go near the camera Yellow Bear, the Ara pahoes, was the first to pass trough the ordeal of sitting. He suffed himself to be properly seated, and thIcamera to be brought to bear upon him But when the prepared plate was plsed in the
 box and the cloth. lifted E leaped to his feet with a bound and atempted to
 leave the tent All attems to reason with him failed. At last aphotograph of a Cheyenne, taken som years ago,
 was shown him. He loked at it a
 moment, then went quiet back to his
 chair and sat there like statue while
 his negative was taken. He explained
 that no Cheyenne warriowas greater
 brave than he. The gitntic Osages, on the other hand, wouldaot approach
 the tent They said thGamera robs
 them of their good spirits The Kicka-
 poos gave the same rease, and pbo-
 tographer was peremptoriI ordered out of their country on that count. The Indian is profound besver in the i power of spirits for goodr evil, and I takes care never to offend tm.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
This Fish Story Takes the Belt.

The Forest and Stred7e gives the fol- lowing as told by 8 Boston core spondent: One pleasant summer after noon I was standing on the shore of pond on Long Island-way down where MT. Hallock has, trow, many times and oft cast line, watching the play of swallows as they skinned just over the surface of the water shortly before sunset. About a hundred yards out was bed of lily pads; and as the swallows skipped it, occasionally 2 good-sized ripple could be seen, and sometimes & break from the edges indi- cated fish there. This fastened my attention to the particular place. 1! had often seen cats play with swallows. sweeping at them. but the idea of fish doing the same was something new 10 me. Presently I saw clean breach, and a fine large pickerel showed his whole size and got swallow too, as he disappeared bepeath the water. This T saw repeated several times, and l called the attention of my companion to this novel sight. While we were watching we saw two large flsh break at the same swallow, the flsh comlng 2 1 from opposite directions and each head on to each. Both missed the swallow, but. singular to relate. only one fish
 was to be seen to fall into the water.
 and neither was seen to pass the other.
 My companion and myself looked w.ti
 wonder. There was as gteat commo
 ton in the water, with a continuous
 spattering. and boat heing handy we
 umped in and rowed 10 the spot and
 picked up the largest pond pickerel
 ever saw. When we had him in tht
 boat the mystery WIS solved; th'
 smaller of the fish had in his eagernes'
 for the swallow, jumled clear dowl the larger one's throst, and only tn tail, to the extent ol about an inch :, showed. The large fisl was completel. , rent asunler and killet by the catastro ' phe. Both together weighed twenty } two pounds.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
SHnStrOkea


 This affection occurs more particu- larly in the tropics, but is occasionally observed in hot weather, in the temper ate zone, in persons who are exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and who have at the same time to undergo exertion It is therefore chiefly seen in soldiers marching during the heat of the day, or in agricultural laborers who are at work in the fields; yet it has been known to come on at night, in persons sleeping in the pestilential atmosphere of overcrowded and badly-ventilated barracks or cabins, and in children shut up in a stifling bedroom after having been exposed to great heat during the day. It would therefore be more ap- propriate to speak of heatstrohe, for the disorder really consists of great and sudden rise in the temperature of the blood, which in this state acts as a poison on the. padalenI '73irr rsurur, isrre. as the evaporation of sweat on the sur face of the body is intended to produce cold, and thus to neutralize the effects of the external heat, the closure ot tnls safety-valve causes a further rise ot temperature, which paralyzes some or most of the centers in the medulla- The worst kind of heatstroke is that ln which the centers for respiration and the hearts action are affected, as total asphyxia or syncope is the result. A person who may be walking in the street or working in field is seen sud denly to drop down as if shot or struck by lightning, and dies in minute or two. A fatal issue is in such cases so rapid that there is no chance for any treatment to do good, more especially as the means which would be ot the first importance, viz, ice and plenty oi cold water, are usually not at once at | hand. The second kind of sunstroke is owing to paralysis of the center for the 1 blood-yessels in the medulla, whereby apoplexy is caused. In such instances the symptoms are not quite so sudden, and death may often be averted. The l illness begins with mental disturbance there are delusions and haHucinations, followed by mania, and the patient may commit suicide or homicide. This stage of excitement lasts for short time, and is succeeded by period of depression The patient becomes sleepy, insensible and may die in state of profound apo plexy. Life is, however, often saved bI drenching the body with cold water and applying ice to the head. The over heated blood is thereby cooled, and tn medulla reused from its torpid condl tion.-Dr. Julius AIthouse ia Nanetee1st Century. ...-.s
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
She Cured Him.

There is man up in the Seventh ward
 that hasn't spoken to his wife in over q
 week. He is so mad that he will not l go home to his meals, and the other day his wife went 10 his office to get S6 to 1 pay for some shoes, and he told the clerk
 to pay her off and let her go. He grates {! his teeth when he goes home nights. and comes out of the house every morning ] swearing. She came joke on him, that l was all. He has for years been telling her that he was sure he had got heart l disease, and that he should go off sud- 1 denly some time in the night. She had got sick of such talk, after hearing it thirteen years, when she knew he was
 as healthy as a yearling. Why, he | didn't even know where his heart was,
 and couldn't point out the location of any particular portion of his internal improvements. But he kept talking said she would break up that little game as soon as she could think of any way to do so. A spell ago she bought one of these
 lndia-rubber water-bags, for keeping
 hot water at the feet, instead of using
 bottles. It would hold about three quarts, and her husband didn't know
 anything about it. One night, after she
 had the water bag to her feeta couple of
 hours, until they were about as warm as piece of zinc. and her husband was snoring away by note, she thought what stomach and wake him up. She burst right out laughing. at midnight. think ing ot it. So she took up the rubber bag of hot water and placed it on his stomach. The bag was about as big as cows liver, and as warm as piece of shingle on boy. It hadn't been on his chest and other baggage over two min- utes before he slowly opened his eyes. She stuffed the upper works of her night gown in her mouth to keep from laugh ing. He raised up his head, and said:
 Harriet, my end has come" t4.
 Which end, Josiah?" said she, as she rolled over, "your head or your feetp" And then she put pillow in her mouth, and reached over to him and un- screwed the nozzle that holds the water in the bag.
 .'I am dying, Egypt, dying" said he, My heart is enlarged to three times it's natural size, and oh, am bleeding to death." She had opened the nozzle, and the three quarts of hot water was pour ing over him, saturating him from head to heels. She had not meant to let out more than half pint of water on him, but when it got to flowing she couldn't stop it, so she got out of bed and told Hill 1O ostFC AlnlSeh. 1e ttIteLupbtu SO stop the flow of blood, and she struck light and asked him if his life-preserver had not sprung a leak, and then he looked at the rubber bag, and went and run himself through clothes wringer and he slept on the lounge the rest of the nj ght, and he says his wife is the mean est woman that ever drawed the breath of life. She tells her friends that Josiah has been miraculously y cured of heart disease. e.-liIscaa1bee Sun.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
Wild Horses and Buffalo fin Colorado.

General D. B. Harper informs the Greeley Sun that the prairie fires on the Rickaree and Republican have driven the wild horse bands into the Platte country within twenty miles of South Platte, and that there are half-dozen bands, the largest containing tifty ami mnls, ranging the country. He witL others concealed themselves in the long grass, and after some time one company of horses grazed up to within 200 yards; There were a number of mules ana American mares in the crowd, which had been enticed away in the past from civilization, and are now apparently as wild as their associates. While thus watching, MT. Harper saw these horses satisfvine their thirst. In one place, oI Payton's creek Ca dry stream), he saw them paving with their hoofs in the sand, and afterward to''nd that the holes snots water can be found six inches or 2 foot below the surface, and their in stinct enables them to find 1t.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03
Thirty-FOur Years in .ail.

An official record, recentlybublished, of the leading incidents in tm nefarious career of one MT. Anthony Aatek, an Austrian thief of considerable renown in the Cisleithan provinces of the Dual Realm, is not uninstructive. This per severing but unfortunate pirerer has just attained the ripe age of si1tY-eight, thirty.four years and eight months of his existence having been spent in one or another imperial jail, while the monotony of his solitary confinement has been relieved at different times by his receiving l6,6OO stripes with rods and 370 blows with sticks. These latter castigations were imparted to him dur ing his term of army service. Military Fo his eionnRrmea Ra6t Of r5RsseREss 5seRheE sco6 sidered trifes in his comrades pocket and yengeful martinets, deaf to bis pl that 'scongenial eccentricity cevers a multitude of sins" decreed no fewer than six several times that he should run the gauntlet" The fact that he has survived those terrible ordeals bears convincing testimony to the vigor of his constitution. The value of the articles stolen by him is appraised in the official register of his adventures and mishaps as not amounting in all to 300 forins, or less than $l5O. His last sentence but one--eight ryears' imprisonment with hard labor, which he had worked out only few weeks ago-was Incurred for the annexation of the Austrian equiva- lent to eighty cents. No sooner was he free than he publicly relieved a ady of her purse, containing sixty cents. For this imprudent feat he has jus. been condemned to another six years d penal servitude, making up. a total ta e ,t forty years and eight months laborioH seclu- sion for the acquisition of an mount representing ;,n income for thai period of about S3.75 per annum! Thestrictest honesty could hardly have ,aid him worse.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03

We learn from Paris that Mile. Juli- cite Dodu, heroine who was last year decorated with the legion of honor for splendid conduct during the war, has just been appointed by M. Jules Ferry minister of public instruction, to the office of delegates general for the inspec- tion of the schools established for the reception of little children under six years of age.
The Newtown bee., 1880-03-03

When King Alfonso's second wife, who was riding with him in a carriage in Madrid, heard the report of the first pistol-shot fired by the man who re- gently tIied to kill her husband, she bent eagerly forward, uttered sharp cry and placed her arms around Alfonso