davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
The Habit of Thrift

The habits of thrift are defined by the
London Globe as facts of self-denial for
the sake of some object IN the future,
and it Is Just such acts as these which
people in all cities find it extremely diff
cult TO practice. 1t Is q matter to a very
great extent depending on natural dis
position which varies Just as much in one
class as in another. There are some who
by nature are endowed with the accumu-
latiye propensity of the squirrel, the bee
and the ant They find a keen and alb
sorbing pleasure IN boarding what they
get; not, perhaps, for its own sake, but
as a measure of successful action, and as
n kind of reserve of power which they
have at command should they choose to
exert il. Others seem to have nothing
of this IN their composition. The power
that money gives seems to them dormant
and useless until 1t is put in action.
They are sanguine as to the future, rarely
fOresee trouble, and are gay and light.
hearted in the present; whereas the ac-
Quisitive individual will usually be found
apprehensive of the coming time, and
very apt to meet his troubles halfway.
These two types of character are as
marked and distinct as any two possibly
can be, and the extreme of each can
scarcely be considered amenable to mod
flying influences to any extent. More
over, they are confined not to one class
but are found in all Education is COM
monty regarded as the proper cure for
thriftless habits, and, to a certain extent,
no doubt, it is. But education cannot
eradicate the constituent traits of in
dividual character. The accumulative
and foreboding viii always remain more
or less so, and the saaguine and free
handed will always feel the passing day to
be the one reasy important point of time.
Moreover, aItl sugh education implies
self-restraint and thoughtfulness, it, of
course, has a tendency TO expand the
view and to create desires which may or
may not be of simple and inexpensive
kind. The habit of self-restraint is the
one point to which education must tend
if it Is to develop thrift; and looking
around on society generally 1t Is difficult
sometimes to discern the existence of
this control of individual proclivities in
one class more than another, though the
nature and direction of those prOclivities
may vary considerably.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Who First Discovered America.

Some years ago an eminent antigua
rian, Prof Rain, published book show
ing that the Northmen, or Scandinayians,
undoubtedly visited the shores of North
America about the year 1000, and that
they probably entered Narragansett Bay
This suggested to some American anti
quarians that the old tower at Newport
r. l., might have been erected by those
hardy adventurers. Considerable stress
was laid upon this. coupled with the fact
that about a thousand years ago these
NOrthmen settled Iceland and it Is
known that colony was sent from there
to Greenland, while glance at the map
will show that the distance from there to
the North American Coast is not so great
but it could have easily been reached by
these early rovers. 1t is also recorded
in the Morse traditions that the North
men in sailing West actually arrived at
some country beyond Greenland. The
Morse narratives describe mild cline in
the country they visited, and mention
having found wild grapes, which Is
thought to refer to Rhode Island, where
there are plenty of these grapes on the
islands in the harbor. or to Nova Scotia,
where the climate and fruits are similar
to those further South. There have also
been found an inscription on a rock, near
Dighton, Mass, which it was once be-
lieved revealed some words in the Morse
language; and the brass breast-plate,
which was dug mp at Fall River, Mass,
and it was thought this might be the re-
mains of a Morse Viking. LOngfellow
wrote his Skeleton in Armor" about
relic. The name of Vinland, or Vine
land, was given to the country visited.
Nearly all the historians mention these
earlier discoveries, and speak of the voy-
ages of Erie to Greenland, and the
traditions which remain of the first visits
of these explorers to the new world
Chicago Inter ocean.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
The Brooklyn Bridge and Its Builder.

Roebling was the greatest bridge
builder IN the world. He started the
making of wire cordage in America and
built suspension bridges to carry the
aqueducts of canals across rivers, and en-
gineered the Pennsylvania railroad
across the mountains.
The Brooklyn bridge, Between towers,
is 1,595 feet long. Behind the towers
there are $40 feet each side, back to the
anchorages. The whole length of the
bridge and approaches Is 5000 feet. 1t
is one of the widest bridges in the world,
eighty-five feet, with promenade thir-
teen feet wide, two railroad tracks and
four carriage and horse-car tracks. 1t Is
135 feet in the center above the water.
The rock ON which the towers rest Is
about ninety feet below the surface of
the water ON the New York side and half
that depth on the Brooklyn side, the
most stupendous thing about the struct-
ure. Each tower Is 134 feet long by
fifty-six wide, and at the top these
dimensions are reduced to 100 feet by
forty, or the size of a very large house.
Each tower is 26S feet above high water.
1t is l, 1886 feet from the beginning of the
causeway on Chatham street out to the
anchorage on the New York shore. The
architect of the bridge received his death
wound almost at its inception, standing
on the upper framework of Fulton ferry
slip as a boat came in and threw its
weight against the piles, which yielded
and crushed his foot. As if the spirit of
the old ferry, about to be supplanted,
had revenged itself an the innovator
They buried Roebling IN that summer of
1869 at Trenton, n. j., near the spot
where poor John Fitch, the watch
maker, eighty-two years before, had
started the steamboat. But Roebling's
true monument is the Brooklyn bridge
towers, and between them in the nerves
and tendons, trembling like weaver s
web, plies the shuttle of his soul. You
can hear his own words, if you are rever-
ent, calling to the ships and steamers
beneath ' 1t will be the greatest engi-
neering work of the continent, and the
greatest bridge in existence. Its towers
will be national monuments 1t will for
ever testify to the energy, enterprise and
wealth of the great communities 1t over
hangs p Upon the portal of the bridge
| they might also inscribe his motto: %
have no fear of honest difference OF opln-
ion, it is only cavillers that 1 dread. -
| NeIO York Tribune.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Exneriments With Potatoes.

G. L. Ingersol makes report of an ex-
pertinent with potatoes at Purdue Uni
versity. The weather was extremely
unfavorable for the growth of the crop;
no tests were made as to quality. The
following is the list of potatoes that did
the best, and the yield of each per acre.
The plats were small, but the crop was
carefully weighed and the result COM
puted as yield per acre IN order TO give
a better comparison. The season at this
point was rather peculiar in this, that
the rainfall from January l to July
was three-fo -fourths of all the rainfall for
eleven months, or until December /,
1880. The following is the table: Snow
fake, 227.S bushels per acre; Strawberry
Mercer, 1882; Michigan Prolific, 1888;
Burbank's Seeding, 141.9; Bliss Tri-
umph. 141.3; Trophy, 1881 Early
SNOWFALL, 1876; Lily No. 10, 1904;
Tioga, 1880; Early Ohio, 1900. The
varieties which most closely followed
these in the yield we're respectively the
Hubbardson Favorite, Climax, Red
Lion. Prolific, Washington, Ruby, and
Mammoth Pearl In the experiment
the seed was cut to two eyes as nearly
as possible on a piece, and two pieces
dropped iu hill The hills were six
teen inches apart in the rows, and the
rows three feet apart. They were cultl-
waited four times, once in row, and
hand-hoed twice. Paris green was ap-
piled twice and London purple once, TO
keep off the Colorado beetle. Paris
green gave the best salts action. The
poisons were mixed with water and ap-
piled with rose sprinkler.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29

ooain. He went again to the business.
In one month be had regained his
former position. had redeemed every
thing his wife had pledged and was liv-
inc as formerly. Three times in six
Years was this man saved in this man
ner by his wife. To-day he is one of
the most daring and successful of our
speculators. This is one story. Here is
another. A young man in Franklin
wished to marry. He was well to do,
aud had snug little sum In the bank.
but the speculative mania caught him.
He invested it all in oil. The market
that had been going up, up for four
days, turned the very day he bought
and in two short hours he saw his saw
ings for years disappear 1t maddened
him. He tsak to drink. became unfit
for busiHess, lcst his position. the love
and respect II bis wife, for he had mar
ried and s4du ally sank, step by step,
drunkard. h&4Ass have been ruined,
hearts broken lives destroyed, men
crazed by this exciting, insane passion
that never quits them till they have lost
all they possess, except In very few
cases where they had the hardihood to
fly while their pockets were fun. This
happens about as often as II does IN the
lives Of gamblers. These men, as a rule,
live fast lives, and it Is very seldom that
one with gray hairs is found among
them.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Waste and Abuse of Flowers.

Masses of flowers on a dinner cable
are an anomaly; there Is something al
most offensive in the mingled odor of
their perfume and the reek of the dishes
and lights At ball they are not out
of place and keeping for certain pur-
poses. Roses, lilies, carnations, ylolets
are natural adornments for a young
woman, and n bunch of them In her
hand or on her breast is an appropriate
ornament, and the complement OF her
evening dress; but where is the fitness,
the beauty. the sentiment, the common
sense, when she has SIX, a dozen, or
twenty? Are there twenty persons, or
twelve, or even six, at the same time to
send her flowers which mean more than
if they were of wax or tissue paper, or
which have any more intrinsic value to
her who carries them? Are they wit
nesses of love. or even of admiration?
How many are sent merely to crafty the
demands of vanity? At every ball rival
beauties carry bouquets sent to each by
the same men. Many are sent by mem
bers of the lady's family, which takes
half the significance from flowers sent
by the same kinsfolk ON birthdays, or IN
sickness, or at a time of special Joy or
sorrow. And what is to be said of the
bouquets sent as bribes to women Of
fashion by men who wish to obtain their
good offices? And what of those sent by
a man to a woman whom he admires,
not to give her pleasure, but prestige
to crafty her vanity and ref1exly his
ownl There is an instance, well known,
in one of our great cities, of one man
sending several bouquets for the same
ball, to console her for a social slight;
she appeared to be initiated as great
belle and he as the bellies favored cava.
lier. And what of the bouquets stacked
on the front cushion of a proscenium
box, in the blast of the foothghts anc
flung, half-faded, to prin1a donna, tc
whom they are already a drug, whC
perhaps is hurrying through her part t.
leave town by the next train?-Ati 1ntit
Monthly.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
A TUo-Sided SwindIe.

One day Mr.. William L. Dodge sat
down ia his private office, at No. 13 Cliff
street, and began to peruse his private
mail Among the first letters he opened
was one which would have attracted
more than ordinary attention on account
of the graceful penmanship and the re-
marlsable noatness Of epistle, even if it
had not set forth some very important
facts besides 1t told In manly,
straightforward way the story of the
writer. who was, SO he explained, a min
ister Of the gospel, suffering from an i'll
ness of his vocal organs, so that he could
no longer exercise his priestly functions.
He had been afflicted so long that he had
been forced, because of poverty, to seek
treatment and temporary home III the
City Hospital He felt that he ought to
be afoot on Gods work, but he was un
able to carry ont that wish and desire,
and until recently ne had no hope of be-
ing able to ever again labor in the vine
yard But he had just been assured 10y
some excellent physicians (naming them)
that if he would go South he would GER
tainly recover the use of his voice, and 1t
was IN the hope that Mr.. Dodge would
assist him with the loan, say of $50, that
this letter was written. In conclusion
the writer mentioned, as though casually,
that he knew very well certain clergy
men whom he named.
Mr.. Dodge knew the clergymen and
entertained the request so favorably that
1t was only necessary to read an inclos-
ure that came with the letter signed by a
physician to cause him to draw out his
check book, write IN $50 and send it to
the applicant The doctors letter writ
ten in a sharp, professional hand, set
forth that the clergyman was really in
need of the money, and the object was
so deserving that the kindness of Mr.
Dodges consideration would be well
placed, etc.
Presently Mr.. Dodge heard something
that led him to believe that he had been
victimized and thus he tells the story
Il had no sooner sent the check than
began to fear had made a mistake and
L instituted an inquiry. l discovered
that the preacher was a fraud and the
doctor was an inmate of the hospital be-
cause of alcoholism. [ supposed he was
one of the physicians of the institution
1t seems that the preacher didn't know
enough about business to get the check
cashed, and so he turned it over to the
doctor, who brought it to my office and
got the money Then he slipped away
and made no division with his confeder-
ate So, you see, the preacher became,
Ike myself, the victim of the swindle.-
NeiC York Herald
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Rodent EERummers," ["

Patrick Lynch is an Erie fagman at
a street crossing in city on the line of
the road, and he is the authority for a
queer story about some rats that he saw
near his Playhouse a short time ago A
tramp had left the remnants of his
dinner on the side of the bank and some
whisky had been spilled on the food
There are lots of rats around there that
come from the slaughter-houses and
travel about the whole neighborhood in
focks In broad daylight. Six of these
rats, on an excursion of this character,
came across the remains of the tramp's,
and immediately proceeded to hold a
banquet They ate to their surfeit of
everything. Pretty soon they began to
get drunk. They danced around and
rolled each other over, Rugged one an
other IN maudlin delirium, and acted for
al! the world as lot of drunken men
might do under the same circumstances.
FINALLY one after another keeled over
dead drunk, and then lay helpless, while
Mr.. Lynch, who had been watching the
whole proceeding, stepped out and
killed them. They make feeble effort
to get away when Mr. Lynch appeared
with club, but were to drunk to run
EtnllrG Free Press.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Curing Hams.

A recipe for pres erving hams floats up
from Tuscumbia, Ala, to the Elmira
IN. " Farmers Club. Hams prepared
by this method gained n good reputa-
ton in New Orleans, Nashville and
other Southern cities. The Re tcipe is as
follows: After the pork was cut out
and the hams nicely and closely trim
med, and well rubbed with salt,
pulverized saltpeter was sprinkled over
the flesh, a dessert spoonful to medium
ham, and best sugar molasses two or
three spoonfuls poured from the spoon
on the same, and salt .heaped on; the
meat was bulked, hams first, shoulders
next, and sides on top. 1t remained in
bulk according TO the weather four to
six weeks, and was then broken up and
the meat washed in the water The
hams were then held in kettles of diluted
I've kept briskly boiling and long enough
to swell out the meat some and close the
pores. Next, they were rolled in good
clean ashes, sacked, hung up to be
smoked, and then to remain until taken
down for sale or use. The lye was pre-
viously prepared from the ash of some
good wood.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Henry Clay Fond of Whist.

Henry Clay's favorite recreation for
many years was game of whist, to
which at one time he was passionately
addicted-not for the stakes, but for the
distraction and excitement of the game.
Mr.. Winthrop says that there is a tradi-
ton that while Clay was visiting Boston
in 1918, and lodging at the old Exchange
Coffee House in Congress street, a serv-
ant rushed into the parlor in which he
was at the whist table with few gentle
men of the old school, and announced
that the hotel was on fire.
"Oh, there will be time enough, 1
think" cried Mr.. Clay, to finish the
game" and finish it they did before the
hotel was burned to the ground.
A similar tradition was current in
Washington at a later period that, while
Mr.. Clay was Speaker, he and his friends
had passed whole night at cards, and
were still going on with their games
when the hour was close at hand for the
opening of the morning session of Con-
gress.
''Wait few minutes, gentlemen, -
said Mr.. Clay, "and 1 will wash my face
and hands, and run down to the House
and call John Taylor to the chair, and
then I will come back and we will have
another rubber.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
Hebrews in China.

A subject of interest to all and of
special interest to Israeites is revived
bv the publication of DR. Martins work,
1.-THE Chinese, their Education, Philoso-
phv and Letters" The volume is full of
instruction, but the point to which we
refer is his account of a visit to the
families of descendants of Abraham and
Jacob, who have for two thousand years
lived in the city Kai-fung-fu IN China
This colony of the old race was made
known to the Western world in the
seventeenth century by the Jesuit mis-
sionaries, who contributed so largely TO
historic and geographical knowledge in
those days. They were heard from
several times after that but for more
than a hundred years no one from the
Western world had visited them, when
Dr. Martin went there in 1866. Their
present condition is such as to excite
profound interest and commiseration.
The remarkable fact appears that after
preserving for twenty centuries the laws
and rites of tho Hebrew religion, they
are now presenting an instance unparal-
leled in the history of the Jews, OF
people falling away from the faith, and
rapidly becoming pagans or Moham-
medans. Three or four hundred OF them
remain. Their synagogue, however,
falling into decay, they themselves tore
it down, and made no effort to rebuild 1t.
After this was gone they dropped all
practice of Hebrew rites and ceremonies,
began TO intermarry with pagans, lost
all knowledge of Hebrew, retained IN
deed, and still possess, ancient rolls OF
the law IN strange form OF alphabet,
which neither they nor ordinary Hebrew
scholars can read, but have no knowledge
of the contents of the manuscripts, and
have almost lost the traditions OF their
religion.
DIR. Martin prophesies their total dis
appearance as separate race, unless
Western Hebrews shall send missionaries
to them and enable them to rebuild their
synagogue, of which now only remains
stone inscribed with the record Of its
erection about A. ID 11S3, and a sub
sequent re-erection. The last rabbi who
could read the Book of the Law died
some sixty years ago. Up to that time
this remarkable colony which had come
into China two hundred or three hundred
years before the Christian era had, with
all the characteristics of their race, pre-
served their pure blood and the faith
and ritual of their fathers.
These facts have been published be-
fore, and an appeal was once made TO the
Hebrews of New York by DIR. Martin on
behalf of their relatives in China He
SAYS the only result was the reception of
some letters in Hebrew, which he was
requested to transmit TO the people, to
whom they were, of course, unintelligi-
BILE, as none of them could read the mis-
sives. .-NCIU IOrEJOJJnatOf Commerce.
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
How Spring Crops Often Fail.

In spring, usually when plowed, the
soil is moist from winter rains and SHOWS,
and therefore Compacts more readily
than in the fall. But it is well known
that oats and barley rarely do well on
sod ground, especially if old and tough.
Why? There is strength enough in the
soil, but 1t is apt to become very dry
about the time the grain Is heading out.
often before. The sod Is too stiff to pack
solid, and the roots of grain encounter
places where there is a vacancy between
the PARTICLES of earth. In hoed crops we
remedy this by frequent cultivation. 1t
is this which makes the magical result
rectly under the hill no implement will
reach. Unless the soil has become thor
oughly cOmpacted before planting, it
will be hard work to do it afterwards
An intelligent farmer remarked the
other day that the coarse manure he
drew on his potato ground and plowed
under last April had absolutely dam
aged the crop. The sod was heavy, and
the coarse manure had lain underneath,
preventing either from rotting. In dig
ging into some of the poorest hills of
potatoes, he invariably found a hollow
space beneath the hill, and unrotted ma
nure or sod. On portion Of the field
he had used a pulverizer and roller, and
there the crop was much better and the
weakly hills very few. He would have
pulverized the entire field, but a heavy
rain came on when it was half-fnished,
and he relied on that to compact the
soil, but it had not done it effectually.-
COuufyU Gentleman
The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29

The Color of Lightning.

The color of lightning is altogether
due to the nature of the substance which
is made incandescent in its track. The
blue, red, purple and silver tints, which
are ordinarily much more brilliantly
marked in warm climates and inter-trop-
ical countries than they are ever in Eng
land, are due to the same circumstances
as the color which is designedly commu
nicated to the light of different kinds of
fireworks. 1t is result of the intrinsic
nature of the vaporized particles which
are made to shine. The vapor of iron
has one kind of sheen and the vapor of
sulphur another. Each different foreign
ingredient that floats in the air has it's
own proper hue, which it can communi-
cate to the lightning. The broad flashes
of light which appear in the clouds dur
ing thunderstorm, and that are distin-
guished as sheet-hghtning, are very
often merely the reflections from the
cloud mist of the discharges that pass
from one part TO another with each re-
distribution of the internal charge, as
the tension of the outer surface is
charged by an external flash.
The redistribution of the internal
charge is sometimes also marked by very
beautiful lines of coruscation playing
drifts away. There is table mountain
a few miles away from Petermaritzburg,
in Natal, over which this kind of display
is continually exhibited. The retreating
storm clouds hnger over the fiat top of
this mountain, where they can be seen
from the city in the advancing night.
In this dark canopy of the mountain
coruscations, accompanying each redis-
tribution of the electrical charge, can be
watched for hours at time--now as
Stunning the form of coronals of electric
fire, now running along in machiolated
horizontal lines just above the flat top of
the mountain, and now radiating out in
all directions from a central loop, like
the cracks Of starred glass. -iScience for
Al