davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
A Snake rs a Teething Ring.

Mr.. Robert James, who arrived in this
city yesterday from Chicot county, tells
of horrify1ng incident which he stated
has just taken place in that county. A
farmer returning at noon from the field.
whils passing through the yard, discov-
cred his little boy, about q year old,
sitting near the fence with one end Of
what seemed to be leather strap in his
mouth, while with both hands he held
the strap near the middle. Approach
ing the father was Mortified to find that
that the child held snake, and the
snake squirmed, but the little fellow
pulled end closed his mouth as tightly
as though he were trying to bite off the
serpent's head. The father seized the
child and tore the snake from his hands
The snake was of the black species, and
though not poisonous, might have
wound its body around the boy and
choked him to death. This would seen
to settle the old dispute as to whether
or not human beings fear Of snake
is innate or the result of education. 1
may have been that the child was teeth
ing and wanted something to bite, AM
in the absence of rubber or painted
stick adopted the snake as substitute
Those who naturally feel an interest q
to the fate of the snake, may rest as
sured that it was killed. Memphi
T'enn) appeal.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
SuperstitiODs of Whale Fishers.

At the present day it is the common
est thing in the world for whale fishers
to burn an efiigy in order to ''bring
luck" If the ship has fallen in with
few whales the crew attribute their bad
fortune to their having some unlucky
individual on board, and by burning his
effigy they believe that his mahsn in
fuence is got rid Of.
The most unpopular man in the ship
is generally picked upon as the offend
ing party. Sometimes two or three
pictures are burned, one after anothe
il luck is very bad, and on an average
one is burned in each whale ship every
season.
The practice is very old one, and il
said to have taken rise from similar
custom which prevailed among the her
ring fishers of Banffshire, by whom i
was introduced on board the Peterheat
whalers. A century or two ago no
merely effigies, but living men an'
women were burned on suspicion @
casting a blight upon the herring fish
ery.-Ldnd and Water.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

Experiments by M. Pateur in vaccina-
tiou TOR splenic tever have proved en-
tirely successful. The new vaccine
matter can be cultivated at pleasure,
transported without injury, and pre-
serves the animals into which it is in
troduced from o mortal disease.
From the photographs Of the comet
which has recently disappeared in space,
DIR. Henry Draper infers that the hy-
pothesis of the presence of carbon in
the constitution of such bodies receives
corroboration, and he adds, with appar-
ent caution, that part of the spectrum
may be due to other elements.
Cyclones are observed to extend over
circle from 100 to 500 or, sometimes
1000 miles in diameter. In the West
Indies they are sometimes rs small as
100 miles in diameter, but dilate to 600
to 1000 miles on reaching the Atlantic.
They sometimes however, contract, in.
creasing greatly in violence during the
process.
Some interesting observations con.
cerning the comparative longevity of
men and women in Europe, have been
made by the director Of the Vienna
Statistical bureau. Out of 102,S31
individuals who have passed the age OF
ninety years, only AZ, 52S are men and
| 60.303 are women. He also finds that
there are but 141 male centenarisns tc
241 women who have reached a hundred
years of ge.
Some remarkable and suggestive
peculiarities are found in human jaw.
bono from Schipka cave of Moravia
Stone implements found with the bone
indicate that it belongs to the stone
age. In development the jaw is that O
d child, but it is of great size. Iti
shape indicates the absence of any chin
and has other peculiarties found il
greater or less degree in the higher
| apes.
1t may not, perhaps, be known that ,
man wearing dark clothes is more liable
to infection from contagious diseas,
than he who wears light-colored gar
ments, because particles which emanat,
from diseased or decaying bodies az,
much more readily absorbed by darl
than by light fabrics. This is easy o
proof. Expose a light and dark coat t.
the fumes Of tobacco for five minute
and it will be found that the darl
one smells stronger than the other Q
tobacco smoke, and it will retain tn
odor longer.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
A ModeI Farm In Dakota.

Twelve miles northwest of Fargo,
Oak, is a farm which is declared by
every ore who has seen it to be model
in equipment and management, and the
claim is made good by the splendid
crop which it has produced this year.
The owner is John b Raymond, United
States marshal for Dakota, who went
to the war when he was sixteen years
old, and served till it was over. The
farm is only two years old, and this is
the first crop. Mr.. Raymond was re-
Gently requested TO furnish few totals
from his account book, and the reckon
ing stands as follows; "Before we
receive a return from our crop we
shall havo invested $55, 200. That
includes the purchase of our land, the
erection OF five barns, a dwelling house,
an elevator capable of holding 1000
bushels of wheat and oats, all the stock
and machinery necessary to run the
farm, and all the cost of breaking the
land, planting and reapipg the crop and
delivering it at the market we have
1000 acres in wheat and enough oats to
keep our stock. We shall get about
! twenty. FIVE bushels to the acre, which
, will be $4,000 bushels from the entire
! place We shall save out our seed
wheat for next year, and can then sell
5 the crop for about $4,000" This Is q
r return Of about ninety per cent. upon
s the investment, OF dividend OF forty
y five per cent year, for the farm Ia.
8 idle the first twelve months after 1t
y purchase. To the question. "Do yo1
consider it an advantage to own you
own stock, and do your own work
1t Mr.. Raymond replies: "There are a
a. many wyas of farming as there are OF &c
it ing to heaven, and you will fad tbs
is every farmer likes his own method bes
to I consider it twenty-five per cen
s. cheaper to own my machinery an
a. stock, and believe it ia more economic
ar to borrow money to buy stock al
machinery than 10 hire the work done
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
The Washington Monument,

Some time sir 20 information was re-
ceived by the government authorities
that the king OF Siam was about sending
n stone as contribution to the Wash
inpton monument. The king has fol-
lowed out his good intention, and the
stone has arrived, The letter Gccompa-
nyipg it states that it was excavated by
his maiesty's orders from the quarries
in the Korat hills, distant about one
hundred miles from the city of Bangkok.
His majesty, during his youth, while
prince OF the realm, conceived pc
culiar fondness for America and her
liberal institutions, derived in great
rart from the instructions of our mis-
sionaries resident there, and assumed
| the title of George Washington" For
many years prior to his elevation to tho
throne he was familiarly addressed as
"Pripce George Washington and even
to-day enjoys q reference to that circum
stance. The king left it optional with
his agents to have the inscription on
the stone engraved in English or
Siameso. AS it was found difiicult te
correctly engrave the Siamese characters,
the English were adopted. The orig
inal of the inscription in Siamese Ian.
guage is, however, inclosed on slip OF
paper. The full name and title OF tho
royal doner is "His Majesty Krom Phra
Ratcha Wang Berwang. Satan Mopg-
kong, Second King of SIAM" The
stone is small, being about six inches
by twelve, and is of peculiar yellowish
rown color. The inscription saysbe
presented to the Washington Monu-
ment Association by His Majesty, the
Second King of Siam"
Mr.. Larkin G.. Meade, sculptor, who
is now in Florence, some years ago
made a proposition to embellish the
monument by four bronze panels on
, the sides of the shaft near the base,
t giving base relief representations oi
\ scenes marking epochs in Washington's
= life. Mr.. Meade has already made de
. signs in clay for two Of these panels
r The first represents the surrender o
a CORVALLIS. The second has just beel
!. completed and Mr. Meade has sen
II photograph OF the design to the Mon
/ ument Association. It represents tn
a inauguration of Washington on tn
!. portico of the old custom house in Ne'
"a York. The proposition to place thes
panels or the sides of the shaft ha
"a met with some favor, though no officio
ss action has been taEen. Work on tn
"a monument is progressing favorably
o. the shaft is now 227 feet high, sixt
ar feet having been added since the wor
p was resumed. It is expected that bt
n fore the first of next January at leas
m forty feet more will be added to il
70 height - WdShinqtOn Post.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
bachelor Quarters.

The New York correspondent OF the
Buffalo Courier writes: Bachelors as
we'll as Benedicts have to live, and
there is probably no place where they
con live more comfortably than in New
York. Up to few years ago they had
to make out with hotels and boarding
houses or accommodate to the fur.
nished room plan. Now they can do
better. Homes for bachelors are among
the institutions of to-day. The un-
married man need no longer wander
disconsolate about hotel or poke
himself away in musty room in a
boarding or lodging house. il his
purse affords it he can set up bachelor
quarters in good style in house es-
pecially designed for his class. -Four
or five handsome houses of this kind
have been built within few years,
and they seem to pay very we'll. They
are called apartment houses for bach
elors, and they are arranged much like
French flats, the chief difference being
that the number of rooms is less. In
some cases the bachelors apartment
consists of two rooms, in others OF
three, and in no case of more than four.
The cost of living in this way is consid.
erable, but the life itself is comfortable
and pleasant. The fact that there is q
demand for such houses is shown
pretty forcibly by the fact that among
the present building projects is bach
elors' apartment house that is intended
to cover four lots, and will cost about
S11O, 900. It's location is on Forty first
street, near Broadway. This house i:
by far the largest bachelors hall yet
proiected
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
HUMOR OF THE DAY

The sorrel nag is horse reddish.
What is that which no man wishes to
have, and no man wishes to losep A
bald head
What word is there of five letters,
from which, if you take away two, you
leave six? Sixty.
Watermelon choly scene," said the
small by when the farmers dog chased
him out Of the patch. .-Modern Argo.
It is grave offence to rob q soldier
when on duty. The other night, how.
ever, sentry was relieved of his watch.
Be careful about trusting secret TO
old father Time, for there is proverb,
You know, that Time will tell.--Some'-
pilie Journal
Some men when they go to church,
never think of studying the frescoing on
the ceiling until the collection plate is
being passed. around'-Norristo~a Her.
MD
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
Trunks.

One OF the porters of the Fifth
Avenue hotel, New York, has been talk
ing about trunks to a reporter. He says
the secret of handling trunk safely
lies in the knowledge of the fact that
the corners are always doyetailed and
strongly braced with iron. Let trunk
down on the corners and it's all right.
Big trunks are not what porters dread.
1t looks tremendous" said this prac-
tical philosopher, "to see man take
one of them and trot up to the top story,
but you want to remember this all
through life Whenever woman is
concerned, things are bound to be light
so when woman's truuk-and only
women have big trunks--comes along
porter picks it up easily. With {
man, though, it's different. Old travel
ers are apt to cary books, and book
are mighty heavy, while a drumme
will pack half the stock of dry good
store in his trunk, which is usual
small, and then make funny remark
when you nearly break your back lifi
ing it."
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
At Easter let your clothes be new,
Or else be re yon will il rue.

In Yorkshire, when q married woman's
apron falls off it is sign that some
{ 1ing is coming to vex her; when, how
ever the apron of an unmarried girl
drops down she is frequently the object
of laughter, as there is considered no
sureT sign than that she is thinking
about her sweetheart. Many auguries
are still gathered from the shoe. Thus
young girls on going to bed at night
place their shoes at right-angles TO one
another, in the form of the letter L, re.
peating this rhyme:
Hoping this night my true love 10 see,
place my shoes in tho form of T.
II is frequently found that even
strong minded persons are not exempt
from the prejudice against sitting down
to dinner when there are only thirteer
present. Many amusing anecdotes are
recorded of the devices resorted to TO
avoiding the consequences supposed t.
be incurred by the neglect of this Bll
perstition-the notion being that o-e o
tie thirteen, generally the youngest
will die within the next twelve months
To upset the salt. cellar indicates az
preaching trouble to drop knit
means that visitor is coming.
1t is the height OF ill-luck to see tn
new moon reflected in q looking .glas
or through window-pane and som
mothers studiously prevent their young
est child looking in one until yes
old. 1t is also associated with ma
riage and death. Thus, in the sout
of England it is regarded as bad ONE
for a bride on her wedding morning
take last peep in the glass when 81
is completely dressed in her bridi
attire before starting fer tho churcl
Hence very great care is generally t
ken to put on glove or some sligl
article OF adornment after the final Ii
gering and reluctant look has bee
; taken in the mirror. The idea is tn
any young lady who is too fond of Il
looking. glass will be unfortunate wh'
married.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
We Can Make Home Happy.

Though we may not change the cottage
For mansions tall and grand,
Or exchange the little grass-plot
For q bound'ess stretch of land & &
Yet there is something brighter, dearer,
Than the wealth we'd thus command.
Though we have no means TO purchase
Costly pictures rich and rare; ~
Though we have not silken hangings
For the walls 80 col and bare, "a.
We can hang them o'er with garlands,
For flowers bloom everywhere.
We can make home very cheerful,
1.-THE right course we begin;
We. can make its inmates happy,
And their truest blessings win;
II will make small room brighter
If we let the sunshine in.
We can gather round the fireside
When the evening hours are long;
We can blend our hearts and voices
In happy social song; '.. s-t
We can guide some erring brother
Lead him from the path of wrong.
We may fill our home with music,
And with sunshine brimming o'er,
If against all dark intruders
We will firmly close the door;
Yet should the evil shadow enter,
We must love each one the more.
There are treasures for the lowly
Which the grandest fail to find;
There's chain of sweet affection
Between friends of kindred mind;
We may reap the choicest blessings
From the poorest lot assigned.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15

A German statistician reckons that
the world contains Ass, 1926, 900 inhaba-
tants, or 16,776,0OO more than it did it
quarter OF century ago. He allots
S34, TOT, 600 to Asia, a15, ,929,000 to
Europe, 205, 5,679,000 to Africa, So, 405,-
600 to America, 4, 121, 900 to Australia
Polynesia, and $4,000 to the Polar
regions. 'r - =
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15

The Mexican government mas now is
sued orders that no soldier guarding q
powder magazine can smoke while on
duty, and some of the Mexican papers
support the arbitrary ruling.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
Some Co,amon Superstitions.

There is scarcely an article of dress,
scarcely an article OF furniture or scarce
ly an article of food about which do not
cluster numerous superstiions. Ac-
cording to well-known piece Of folk
lore most persons wear new clothes on
Easter day, mindful of the old admoni-
ton:
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15

Chains and linked rings are among
the new designs in satin and velvet bro
cades. They are prettier than the
spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds Of
last year. t..E
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15
Compensation.

For every leaf Of green,
A golden leaf;
For every fading flower,
A ripened sheaf .c..
For every parching beam,
A drop of ra;1;
For every sunny day,
The stars again.
For every warning wave,
A pretty shell i
For every sound of woe,
A joyous bell.
For every passing care,
A mothers kiss
And what could better be,
Dear child, than this ?
.. --GeorYe Cooper.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15

Adam is the patron saint of the West
ern pork raisers, because he had the
first spare rib.
The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-15

There is no thunder and lightning in
the Arctic circle.
The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1881-01-27

In the matter Of competition In transporta'
ton Wichita could desire nothing greater
| than the possession Of both the great trans
continental lines Of railway. Such thing
can only be possible TO very few towns.
The Santa Fe has been practically consolida-
ted with the Chicago 4 Quincy system OF
roads making most formidable combination
backed by the power and wealth OF the Bos-
ton and Chicago corporations. This combi-
nation will soon have and control asystem Of
roads to the Pacific and to Old Mexico, tray-
ersing regions Of untold mineral wealth.
An equally strong combination, backed BY
the Gould syndicate, seeing the vast inter-
ests that must quickly be developed in the
new field into which the Santa Fe Is pushing
have decided to reach out for q share. An
extension OF one Of the branches Of the Mis-
souri, Pacific has been determined upon as
being the shortest, best and most feasible.
One Of these proposed extensions runs
through Wichita. the other through the
line Of counties. The question Of
the hour ia, and IL comes to US with an UNI
force, can Wichita ignore such a
chance and still retain her place as the me-
tropolis of this Valley! This is q question
that comes home to every business man, to
every property owner, and to every man the
future value Of whose farm depends in any
degree upon Wichita as market or upon
low freights controlled by powerful Compel
ing corporations. For ourself we think there
d but one answer and that il Wichita must
'ecure this new through line. Within ten
Years, it may be within Eve, the markets for |
Ill the surplus Of this valley Of whatever |
will be found In the west among |
he mineral mountains Of Colorado. New |
Mexico and Arizona and two direct compel
ne lines Of railway TO these markets will be |
III in our favor as producing country. We
lave one line already. Let us not delay In
ecuiing the other.
The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1881-01-27

At the meeting Of Old Settlers held at Ea-
gle Hall last Saturday the following commit
tees were appointed to make arrangements
for the annual dinner to be held on the ed
Of February, 1881:
Committee Of Arrangements-J.T T. Holmes.
C. N. Garrison, w. II. Newton, II. J. Hills,
4. E. Lawrence, Mrs. Perry Wilkin, Mrs.
SsyIes, Mrs. ]. n. Steele, Mrs J. b. York,
Mrs. WIN. Matthewson, Mrs. DR.. Greenlee.
Committee on Reception Of Baskets-Dr.
E. B. Allen, Mrs. E. B. Allen, Mrs. J. B.Wil-
liams, Mrs. Geo. Williams, John Mccormick.
A. Z. Dodge, Mrs. A. E. Dodge, Mrs. J. 3.
Mead, Mrs. S. King, Mrs. j. Bissantz, Mrs.J.
c. Grantham.
Committee on Setting Tables-Mrs. J. T.
Holmes, Mrs. Meagher, Mrs. GreidTenstein.
Mrs. Garrison, John Martin. W. b. Williams,
Perry Wilkin. Mrs. w. II. Newton, George
Harris, S. W. Richmond, Mrs. A. A. Packer,
Mrs. Frank Jones, Mrs. S. s. King.
Committee on Preparing Tables-John Da-
wilson. j. X. Sawyer, II Bolte, George Will
liams. Chris. Kimmerle.
Committee on Dishcs--J NJ. Allen, j. p.
Allen, J. r. Mead, J. II. Black.
The following committees were appointed
to make the necessary arrangements in the
wards and townships:
First Ward-Mrs. VIM. Greiffenstein.
Second Ward-Mrs. c. NJ. Garrison.
Third Ward-Mrs. W. s. Corbett.
Fourth Ward-Mrs. II. J. Hills.
wichita-Harry Smith, A. j. Cook, Mrs.
Fitzgerald.
Gypsum-John Rick, J. b. Clifford, John
Obi.
Minneha-G. St. Dennis, Mrs. d. Fox, Miss
Belle Zody.
Rockford-A G. Burr, Henry Snyder, Mrs.
A. Law.
waco-G. l.. Blood, Mrs. W. Simpson, Mrs.
T. Owens.
Salem-J. A. Nelson, John Bush, Mrs.
Cutler.
Delano-S. Bailey, Mrs. S. King, Mrs. NJ.
Stanton.
Attica-G. S. Aldrich, John Kelly.
UniOn-Wm. Jones, ST., Horace Carpenter, |
Mrs. ID. L. Boone.
Ninnescah-Wm. Ross, C. c. Summers, |
Mrs. +. Tracy.
Illinois,. F. Nessly, NJ. A. Ralph, w.
Walton.
LincOln-O. Smith. b. F. Fox, Mrs. s.
Clark.
Grant-O. G. Jacobs, John T. Carpenter,
John McCaherty.
Kechi-J. C. Williams, Charles Sullivan,
Mrs. C. o. Lee.
Park-I. T. Ault, Mrs. X. Houston, Mrs.
L. Hudson.
Grand Rivera. A. Barlow, G. Moore.
Eagle-Myron Camp, NJ. NJ. Biggs, Mrs. b.
;. Smith.
Greeley-H. d. Heiserman, A. N. Durand,
Mrs. A. NJ. Durand.
Sherman-H. Rice, c. Dictmeyer, Mrs. T.
Sorthrup.
Payne-T. Covill, d. l.. Payne.
The members Of the different committees
re requested to meet the executive board at
he parlors of the fremont House, on Satur-
lay the 9Th Of February, at 1 o'clock p. m.
harp, to complete the arrangements for the
eunion. There will be ball in the even
ne after the reunion
The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1881-01-27
TIE EHeLrsa ELEVATOR BURNED.

just after night fall Friday evening last the
City Elevator whistle and the frs bell alarm
ed the city. The English elevator, standing
Immediately south Of the depot aud east OF
the City Mills, was discovered In fiames The
elevator had been busy all day handling grain
but the fire under the boiler had gone down.
The fire seems to have been discovered sic
simultaneously by some gentlemen in the Office
Of the City Mills and by some gentlemen
standing on the Avenue in front Of the Richcy
House. 1t seems that the fire originated from
hot box at the bottom Of an elevator spout
next 10 the ground beneath the lower floor,
for in an incredibly short time the flames shot
up through the spouts to the roof. Mr.. Todd
had been loading several cars with corn into
Santa Fe and Frisco cars which were left
standing along side OF the building and
which would also have been consumed but
for prompt action Of large force OF men
who showed them away. In the mean time,
the hose OF the City Mills had been pulled
across the street and the west aud north side
Of the building was kept so e1cctually wet as
to completely protect the nearest buildings.
The fire company was promptly on the
ground, as usual, but the blaze was too big
for their squirt guns. The elevator and con-
tents were a total loss. The elevator proper
was partially covered by an insurance Of
$1,000. and belonged to n. A. English. The
engine belonged to English and Butler and
was insured for $1,000. The grain in the
bins belonged to Mr.. J. II. Todd, who was
the elevator, and which was wholly
covered by insurance.