davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
A DANCING PROCESSION.
Strange Perpctuntion of 81. vitus' Dance
i'm Germany.

Strange Perpetuntion of 81. vitus' Dance
in Germany.
A Berlin letter describes curious
spectacle as follows: Not far from these
places of rendezvous for all nations oil
the civilized world a spectacle has been
attracting the curiosity of thousands
which leads us back to the depths OF
the middle ages, although it is repeated
year by year. 1 am speaking of the
village of Echternach and its far-famed
dancing procession.
From $4,000 to 10000 pilgrims
could not obtain more accurate informa-
tion about the numbers-assembl on
some meadows within the Prussian ter.
ritory, but close to the confines of the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The in
habitants of different villages-men and
women apart-collect behind their
clergymen, and band of music is
placed in the front. AS the clock strikes
five on Tuesday morning in Whitsun-
tide, a priest walks up the steps of a
rude wooden pulpit and thence ad-
dresses the multitude, then already
swollen to an incredible extent by sight
seers, who come by special trains and
every imaginable vehicle to be present
at the performances.
The community which happens to be
nearest the road stands forth, preceded
by their priest, who, however, does not
dance. Two men or two women hon
away first two steps in advance, and
then one backward, the band playing a
most monotonous tune. "Abraham had
seven sons, seven sons seven sons had
Abraham" are the words to this terrible
melody. which each successive set, as
they join the procession, take up with
increasing vigor. Hour after hour passes
away before the last people have started
on their miles of way to the foot of the
Church of st. Willerod, whence they
go up fifty steps. Nothing can exceed
the excitement and exhaustion among
the dancers, old and young Great are
the numbers of those who, in spite of
an occasional draught of water offered
by charitable bystanders, sink down on
for grass or on the dusty road not to rise
the hours. The question is naturally
asked: What does all this mean? The
answer is: 1t is intended to perpetuate
the remembrance of q frightful epidemic
OF st. Vitus' Dance, which carried off
hundreds of victims in the neighbor-
hood referred to some time during the
fifteenth century; to offer up prayers
and VOWS to the patron saint; to recog-
nize miraculous cessation of the cpl
demic, and it is fulfllment of VOWS
then that, in gratitude, there should be
yearly dances performed-two hops for
ward,and one backward, as closely resem-
bling the visitation from which heaven
had delivered them as rhythm and good
taste would allow.
During the French occupation in
1898 the procession was forbidden, but
the easy-going Dutch government of
Luxembourg have allowed it to be re-
vived. To judge from what could be
seen this year of the drunkenness and
debauchery in the numberless public
houses frequented by the pilgrims after
their long fasting and exertion, I am
inclined to think it would have been
better to have continued the prohibition.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
An Epidemic of Suicide.

A wave of suicide seems to be sweep
ing over the whole country. In all
parts of the republic men and women
are blowing out the little brains they
possess and cutting their worthless
throats in the most reckless manner.
The compensating circumstance about
it is that it rids the world of a number
of people who, if they did not kill them
selves, would probably kill somebody
else, and that they make business lively
for the undertakers and the coroners.
1t is almost impossible to account for
this destructive tendency that occurs
every once and awhile. The specula-
tive writers and philosophers endeavor
to account for it in various ways, and
they talk learnedly and eloquently
about crime cycles and more or less
other sentimental rubbish, all of which
is very good as theory. The fact of
the matter is there are a great many
more crazy people in the world, or, as
they call them in Washington, "cranks," ("
than the world imagines. When a
great popular excitement that stirs the
whole country comes these weak-mind-
ed creatures Jump off the first wharf, tie
themselves to the first rope they see. or
point to their heads the first old rusty
pistol they run across. The majority
of them are of far more use below
ground than above it.-NeD York Her.
aid.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
Sounds from a Rainbow.

One of the most wonderful discover
les in science that has been made within
the last year or two is the fact that a
beam of light produces sound. A beam
OF sunlight is thrown through lens on
glass vessel that contains lampblack,
colored silk or worsted, or other sub
stances. A disk having slits or open
ings cut in it is made to revolve swiftly
in this beam of light, so as to cut it up,
thus making alternate flashes of light
and shadow. On putting the ear to
the glass vessel strange sounds are
heard so long as the flashing beam is
falling ON the vessel.
Recently more wonderful discovery
has been made. The beam of sunlight
is made to pass through prism so as
to produce what is called the solar
spectrum, or rainbow. The disk is
turned and the colored light of the rain,
bow is made to break through it. Now,
place the ear to the vessel containing
the silk, wool or other material. As the
colored lights of the spectrum fall upon
it sounds will be given by different
parts OF the spectrum, and there will
be silence in other parts. For instance
if the vessel contains red worsted, ant
the green light flashes upon it, lout
sounds will be given. Only feebl,
sounds will be heard when the red ant
blue parts of the rainbow fall upon tn,
vessel, and other colors make no sounC
at all. Green silk gives sound best il
red light. Every kind of material give
more or less sound in different colors
and utters no sound in others. Th
discovery is strange one, and it
thought more wonderful things wi
| come from it.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
The HrasshOpper.


Grasshopper, grasshopper, dressed all in green,
And scarlet, and copper, and ultramarine,
You're the gayest grasshopper that ever I've
Where are you going to9 Where have you
been2
Did the hot sun from Il dewdrop create you?
Is there a brillianter being to mate your
Is nature pledged with her last sou to fete you2
Does all the joy in the world await you
Oh king of creation Small bridegroom Of
June
Oh, white spark thrown off from the white at
of noon
Musician who fndest the whole world in tune
Dry drinker good fellow, pray grant me boon
Tell me, if 1 in the fields were to live, now,
To leap over leaves and 'mopg lilies to dive,
now
To revel, and take some gay girl to wive, now
Aud give up all thought how to study and
strive, now,
But lie in the grass, on the brink of the river,
Singing would such fine life last forever?
Would summer neer go2 Would neer have
to shiver
In the winters cold blasts for my lack of
endeavor2
What? You say that the summer is not ye
a-going-
That you do not feel winters breath yet
ALLOWING;
That roses can only be slipped while they're
growing;
That, in harvest, 'ts better be reaping than
sowing.
-Roqe1' Riordd1, in ScribneT,
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
The Richest Chinaman in New York.

Tom Lee is short, slender man of
modest manner and an extremely re-
firing disposition. He wears a stiff
pokes his queue. This causes the hair
on the back of his head to stand ont
like the quilts of an angry porcupine or
the hair on cats back rubbed the
wrong way. He has a tiny black mus
tache, and a sparse growth o. wiry black
hair on his chin. He wears a diamon
pin ia an old-fashioned scarf, and an
elegant eight-ounce gold watch-chain
bangles from the third button of his
waistcoat.
He is well-to-do; owns three tea farms
in China, and is worth a few thousand,
perhaps. He is very influential man
among Cinnamon. He is a Christian. a
citizen, a deputy sheriff, and is married
to girl who was born downtown some
where in that neighborhood. She has
borne him a lovely little daughter, of
whom Tom Lee is Justly very proud. He
talks pigeon English, but he dresses as
you and do, except that he wears his
queue. Very many among the 5000
Chinese in New York retain their pig
tails, not because they cannot go back
to China without them, or because of
any heather notion about them. but
because a good many Cinnamon who
were cigarette or cigar makers in Cuba
have come here from Cuba without
their queues. They were rid of those
appendages in Cuban prisons, where
they were sent for wrongdoing, and it is
considered best by respectable China
men not to cut off the queue, so as to
obviate the necessity of explaining
where and how it disappeared.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
Oil UpOn the Troubled Waters.

William Porter, who was wrecked
early this year in the steamship Dia-
mond, of Dundee, bears testimony, in a
letter published in Chambers Journal,
to the extraordinary efficacy of oil in
calming waves: 81 first heard of its
good effects in the case of a whaler in
the South Seas She was on the point
of laundering. The men were unable,
owing to heavy seas, to remain at the
pumps, when some of the oil casks
broke adrift in the hold and smashed.
The oil was then pumped out with the
water, and the sea, though still as high,
did not break on board" At the wreck
of the Diamond he considers that they
owed their life to the oil thrown out.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
Black Sheep Turned White.

A letter in the Colorado Springs Ga
zette says: Gas most of ourreaders proba-
bly, know black wool brings from five to
ten cents pound less than the CORE
spending grade of white wool. In order
to secure the separation of the inferior
product, as our shearing operations pro-
gressed, We placed the black sheep in a
pen by themselves. There were thus
on last Tuesday night sixty-three black
sheep and some lambs alone in one of
the corrals. During the night coyote
entered and killed a eve and two lambs,
and we were greatly surprised to find in
the morning that the wool ON the re-
naming sixty-two sheep had turned
perfectly white from terror. Happily
this increase in the value of the wool
more than balanced the loss of the
sheep that were killed." The author of
this story is church member in good
standing and would scorn to exaggerate
anything.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
A Smart Weasel.

The remarkable sagacity of the weasel
was well illustrated the other day by an
incident which actually occurred in the
suburbs of Santa Barbara. A gentle
mans barn was infested with rats, and
he was greatly annoyed by their depre-
dations. They have been gradually dis
appearing, however, during the past
few weeks. The gentleman finally dis
covered the cause of their probable dis
appearance in very wide-awake weasel,
which was engaged at the time in vig-
orous combat with an unusually large
sized rat. The latter proved too much
for his adversary, and finally chased
his weaselship out of the barn. A
few mornings later the gentleman again
sound the same animals engaged in
similar battle. The weasel at last ran
away as before, and the rat followed in
hot pursuit. This time, however, the
weasel ran into hole it had burrowed
through pile of hardened compost.
This hole was quite large at the en-
trance, but the outlet was scarcely large
enough to admit the passage of the
weasels body. The weasel darted into
the hole with the rat at his heels. A
lnolnenb laIer Ine Wehsel emelS Seu
from the other side, ran quickly
around the compost pile and
again entered the hole, this time
in the enemy's rear. The gentleman,
interested in the proceedings, watched
the place some time, and found that
only the weasel came out. Digging into
the compost he found the rat quite
dead, and partly eaten. The wease,
had arranged his trap so that the ra
could enter, but becoming closely
wedged in the narrow portion of the hole
could be attacked at disadvantage and
easily killed.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
The Well.

Dark and cool the water lies
In the old time-honored well;
Deep, down deep the bucket flies,
And how often, who can tell?
For the schoolboy, hot with play,
For the laborer tired with toll.
For the traveller on his way,
Doth the tireless rope uncoil.
And how often, who can tell?
Or, who first the gracious draught
Drew up from the bounteous we'll?
Or. who sunk the ancient shaft2
They are dust, who slabed their thirst
At the little silver fount
In the wild woods, where it first
Called the huntsman to dismount.
They are dust, the pioneers,
Who the strong-arm forest broke,
Where the old well now appears,
Where now curls the village smoke.
So shall we within the vale
With our children's children dwell;
But the waters ne'er shall fail
In the old time-honored well.
r. Robert Balling 81. Louis Post Dispatch.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04

Russia leather is made from the hides
of two or three-year-old calves. The
tanning material employed is willow
bark, sometimes also pine and pear
bark, used either in vats or in the form
of extract. The operation last five or
six weeks. When this is completed the
leather is we'll rubbed on the flesh side
with birch oil and oil from sea calves,
to which it owes its peculiar odor, and
then it passes through rollers that i'm
press upon it a peculiar figure and
roughness.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04

No woman ever realizes the utter
helplessness of her sex so much as when
she reaches steamboat wharf three
minutes too late for the excursion. In
Milwaukee they give one last, lingel :
look around them and lav down and die.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1881-06-15
NOTICE.

THE BUILDING OF A WHARF AT
4 the Upper Town Landing, win be let
out to the lowest and best bidder. Plan
and specifications to be seen at my Office.
Privilege reserved to reject any and all
bids. jas ANDREWS IR
June j. Mavor
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1881-06-15

Green requests that the matter be de-
ferred until the next meeting of the
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1881-06-15
NOTICE.


WE, TEE UNDERSIGNED CoRPO.
w ration, of the Alexandria and South
Arkansas Railroad Company. chartered
by an Actsof tile Legislature Of 1877, APP
proved March 22d, 1877. give notice that
in accordance with Section of said char
ter, that there will be meeting of the
corporators to assemble in Alexandria; the
domicii Of the company, on tuesday,,
the I'd day of AUGUST, 1881, for the pur-
pose OF organizing in accordance with the
Charter. This done and signed this the
s y day OF June, a. D. 1881. at Alexandria,
La. xS u C.3WISE,
CIV BOLTON,
JAMES, JEFFRIES.
J. c. FRENCH,
+. SEIP,
June Is: JIG. WHITE.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1881-06-15

Green requests that the matter be de-
ferred until the next meeting of the
Jury.
Z. On motion of Mr.. Williams,
Resolved, That hereafter no bill will
be paid by this Jury, contracted by any
one, unless authorized by this Jury or
its President. -
On molten of Mr.. Heyman, az
Resolved, That the commissioners APP
pointed to have the hedges cut so as not
to obstruct the public road, are hereby
instructed to have the hedge cut entire
ly away on each side of the New Or
leans and Pacific Railroad, where it
crosses the Bayou Robert road, to such
a distance as will make it safe for the
public to travel, and to have a post and
wire fence put up in its place, and to be
paid for by the Parish. y ~ B !,
On motion the Jury then @ad journed
until 2 O'Clock, to enable the Finance
Committee to complete its work.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1881-06-15
toFFICIALl
PROCEEDINGS OF POLICE JURY.

coNTTNUED FROM OUR SECOND PAGE. I
able the Finance Committee to COM
plete their labors.
7''5@ Lie. SANFORD,
Clerk P. ).
ALEXANDRIA, la, I
June IL, 1884,
The Police Jury met pursuant to adj
Journment, with same members present
as yesterday.
The minutes of the previous day were
read and approved.
MIR. Long, appointed to wait upon
Major Green in reference to railroad
flies on Hagon Robert, reports that Mai.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-02-10
The Height Of ~Sublimity.

[ kan sell for 81, S39, a.pallas, a sweet
and pensive retirement, lokated on the
virgin banks ov the Hudson, containing
S5 acres. The land is luxuriously divid--
ed, by the hand of natur and art, into
pastor and tillage, into plain and dekly-
ity, into stern arbuptness and the DALI
anse on moss-tufted medder; streams of
sparkling gladness ,(thick with trout
danse through this wilderness ov buty,
tow the low musk ov the kricket and
grasshopper. The evergreen signs az
the evening zephyr fits through its shad-
owy buzzum, and the aspen trembles
like the love-smitten harte of a damsell.
Fruits of the tropicks, in golden buty,
melt on the bows, and the bees go heavy
and sweet from the fields to their gam
ering hives. The stables are worthy of
the steeds ov Nimrod, or the studs of
Akilles, and its hennery was biltexpress-
ly for the birds of paradice; while SOM
Der in the distance, like the cave of
hermit, glimses are caught ov the dorg-
house. Here poets have cum and war;
bled their laze; here sculptors have cut ;
here painters have robbed the scene ov
dreamy landscapes; and here the phil
losopher discovered the stun which made
him the alkimist, ov natur. Az the
young moon hangs like a curting oy sill
yer from the blu breast of the ski, an
angel may be seen dansing with golden
tip-toes each mite on the grass. IN. B.
The angel goes with the place. Josh
Billings.
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-02-10
An Honest Ticket Agent.

A reformed ticket agent, now engaged
IN q mercantile pursuit, and who looks
a with profound melancholy and re-
morse to his wicked career, as he sailed
IN as a ticket agent, told me that once,
IN his sinful days, he was employed at
Chicago on a through line from that in
corporated Boreas on the lake to New
York city, which, made up of a new
combination, was bucking" against
Vanderbilt. To extend its custom the
combination had at Chicago a corps of
able-bodied runners, to seize wayfarers
by the throat and fetch them up to the
ticket agent, where the innocent trav-
eler was to be talked into a ticket over
the combination.
One day an able-bodied rufian came,
leading up a rough-looking customer,
who wished to purchase a ticket to New
York by the way of Cleveland. The
combination did not touch Cleveland.
But evidently the old white-hatted,
loose-trousered, coarse-booted country
man, with his white head and goggling
look, did not know what he wanted. It
was for the ticket agent to care for him /;
and SO he ratified on, ticket in hand,
Until the miserable, goggle-eyed old
nufie-toes had extracted from a fat wal
let the price and shambled awkwardly
away. -.7e
Say, old fellow" asked a friend who
happened to be in the Office, edo you
know who you sold a ticket to then ?"
"Some old fool of a corn-cracker."
Not a bit of it-that was Horace
Greeley" asz.h-. - s- - rs
/" Gee whillicans and he wanted to go
to Cleveland p"
eyes, he's billed to lecture there, and
the Tribune will give your combination
the devil for the swindle." .4a
"That's SO. Put your cheek to this
hole till / find him."
Away ran the ticket agent. It was
not difficult to find the hotel at which
the venerable philosopher lodged. The
ticket agent found him in the reading
room, porting over a stale issue of the
Tribune. He tapped Horace on the
shoulder, and the philosopher looked up
with the child-like expressionof his that
seemed to come out from open eyes and
mouth.
81 beg your pardon" said the agent,
"but I sold you a ticket to New York
a while since, and I made a mistake"
"In the money, . I suppose" replied
Horace, dryly. ~ 1s = #
"No, sir; In the route. I remem-
bered after you left you said Cleveland.
Now the ticket gave you will not take
you to Cleveland" 5fs
"The hell it don'tI' cried Greeley,
starting up. "WelI, young man, I can
tell you that would be a great disap-
pointment to Cleveland"
81 don't know anything about that
but I did not want any man to miss his
way through any fault of mine. So
I've been in every hotelm Chicago after
you"
"The devil you have !"
81 have. There is the right ticket.
It's over a rival line. But my honor,
sir, rises above trick. I bought the
right ticket for you, and if you will
give me the old one we will be even.
"Young man." said Horace, fishing
from his capacious pocket the ticket o.
the combination, "'you are very good
too good, come to think of il, for a ticket
agent. Leave that, good young man,
before your innocent nature is corrupt
ed, or your patent-screw pod-anger line
is burstedu up. Go West, young man /; &c
West. Washington Capital
The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-02-10
The MARKETS.

CINCINNATI 1oUR-Family, 81 1891 %,
fancy, s. 7og57 IS; spring family sSgS So 90; 81 eh sS@
and So 25@2 so per 100 10: sacks. GkAIN.wheat
n red, siS sal al o. i Corn No. 3 mixed sheied, li15c.;
sshe. Gsit : 90 2 T 1Sel73 ssass s% : Eye@Ne:s =
. ysfi b sa + = 7os ss S.. 1 Hos.s sesaa 1sS, 81 as Sos 81 10;
fair to choice light and medium weights, IS 25@5 65i
s essay a' s 7sss = s. t9s ssoi e; !, Bs sSsI, p pa'5 to 6 ESQ 50
and re. for dressed. PRovIsIoSs.Mess Port, So 50
rib sides, loose, 7.9oc. Sugar-cured hams. s1a9ioe;
sHasNc Cotton Good ~mfddling, 11Nc.
western and State, 81 s5s4 g.; good Ohio extIa
family, 81 45a6 rs. Grain Wheat-Ungraded
winter red, 81 l2H@1 10; No. 2 winter red, 81 15ss
81 e4@f Is. Corn-Ungraded, 54q5519c; new No.
2, 55c.. Western, 42a4SHc.; white
Western, 4s@4E4c. Groceries-Cofee-Rio, in car
goes, 11@14Hc. Sugar Fair to good refining. 7A@
fAc. MolaSses New Orleans, s5@52c. Eggs
Western fresh, 4o94ic Mess PORK, SIS 259l5 s7z5c.
lands, Ii 11-l6c. middling Orleans, II 15-1sc.
BALTIMQRE-Wheat-N No 2 Western winter
red, 81 13491 IA. Corn-Western mixed SEQ
53c. 0ats-White Western, q s43c.; mixed 4S9
S13 rs, and new, SIS. Hams-Sugar-cured, 1910
llAc. Lard Refined, in tierces, 1oc.
ST. LoUIS.-Wheat-No. 2 red fall, 81 0lI
Barley, s6e.@si. Lard, $500.
PHILADELPHIA.- Flour Minnesota extra
family, s5@6; Ohio extra family, choice, So 70; Ohio
patent process, Sc 70 Rye -four, S5. Wheat-Re-
jected, 81 c.; No. 2 ' winter red, 81 14A. Corn Re
jected, on track, sic. Oats-No. l white, 44Hc.
Mess pork, old, S13 so; new, SIS so. Lard-Prime
steam, 9TG10.
LOUISVGLL -Cotton-The market is quiet at
11Ac. Flour-Extra family, 50 1904 rs; A No. 1,
s5@5 %; choice fancy, S. 1896 IS. Corn-No.
white, 45z3c. No. 2 mixed, 42c, Oats-No. 2 white,
.S7Ac.: No. 2 mixed. 36c, Rye-No. 2, CSC. Mes
pork, SIS. Live hogs, s. 3095 As.
strong; No 2 red, new, 81 OF. Corn-Is steady at So
@SSNc. oata-Weak; new white, S3H@35c. for
January.
LIVE STOCK.
CINCINNATI BEEF CATTLE Quotations are
as follows: Common, 81 5093; fair to medium, So %
"a; common 10 fair shippers, s. 9094 so; good to
choice heifers, 81 1894 65; good to choice oxen, SAG
475. HoGs-Fair to good packers. 81 AGA 70; light
pigs and shoats, S5@5 40; common, 81 5O95 20
stock hogs, So S5@4 Is. SHEEP-Common to fair,
s394 rs. and good to choice, 81 5o95 so.
E YORK Beef C~attle-Extra Western steer,
were sod at $40. up to 12c general sales were 9L2s
1915 pr ID: Sheep Extra sheep, S. 37ag6 62L2c
per 100 lbs. fair to prime, Sc .5@7 so. Hoss-Live
S. s7149s 25.
EAST LIBERTY, PA.-Cattle Best shipping
grades cattle, S. 2505 rs per leo lbs; good butcher
stock, 81 1905 10; common 10 fair cattle, S4g4 80
| Hogs -Philadelphias, Sc 25@6 IS; Yorkers, IS JOG
5 90. Sleeps 5o95 81.
INDIANAPoLIS.-Hogs - Best packing grades
IS 65G5 so per 10l lbs; light and mixed packing
SIS 4595 65. Catile-Shipping cattle, 81 50@5 30
butchers, $394 so; stockers and feeders, " 2594
' sheep-Ths market 10 strong at e40s rs,