davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
Political Honors in China.

In order to secure even the first fruits
of political emolument, q mode of pro-
cedure Numerically opposite to that
which obtains in most nations. and es-
pecially in the United States, is required.
Instead of money or its equivalent in
'%'backers'' and "heelers," brain is there
required, and an exceedingly we'll
balanced and disciplined brain at that.
In 10 other nation upon the earth are
political honors based upon scientific
attainments in all branches of study as
they are in China, wherein are illustrat-
ed the true principles by which talent
and wisdom are honored and rewarded,
literature, science, morals and philosophy
encouraged, and a nations happiness
and prosperity secured.
The venue to station and power are
open alike to all. There are no dis
tinctions save those of education; none
relative to nationality, color or previous
condition of servitude. All are alike
free to seek, and, if competent, to OBJ
tain, positions of honor, from that of
petty magistrate of a village to Grand
Imperial Secretary-an Office second
only to that of Emperor.
Few there are, it is true, who possess
the fortitude to undergo the necessary
educational training consequent to, and
upon which depends, his sole hope of
success. Of his studies there is no end.
To diligence he must add patience, and
to patience continuity, else will he fail
to secure The coveted prize.-Won Chin
FOO, IN HaTper's Magazine.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
Find Out for Yourselves.

Boys should never go through life
satisfied to be always borrowing other
peoples brains. There are some things
they should find out for themselves.
There is always something waiting to
be found out. Every boy should think
some thought that shall live after him.
A farmers boy should discover for him
self what timber will bear the most
weight, which is the most elastic, what
will last longest in the water, what out
of water, what is the best time to cut
down trees for fire-wood? How many
kinds of oak grow in your region, and
what is each specially good for? How
does a bird fly without moving a wing
or a feather? How does a snake climb
a tree or a brick wall? Is there any
difference between a deer's track and a
hogs track? What is it? How often
does a deer shed his horns, and what be-
comes of them? In building a chimney,
which should be the largest, the throat
or the funnel? should it be wider at the
top, or drawn IMP The boys see white
horses. Did they yer see a white colt?
Do they know how old the twig must
be to bear peaches, and how old the
vine is when grapes first hang upon it?
There is a bird in the forest which never
builds a nest, but lays it's eggs in the
nests of other birds. Can the boys tell
what that bird is? Do they know that
a hop-vine always winds with the sun,
but a bean-vine always winds the other
way? Do they know that when q horse
crops grass he eats back toward him;
but a cow eats outward from her, be-
cause she has no teeth upon her upper
jaw, and has to gum itp-ChaMerbou.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
Our Young Folks.
STEALING DIMPLES.

-
1 was going to kiss the dimples from out the
little cheeks,
Where they ripple and they dance every time
she laughs or speaks.
she said 1 shouldn't do 1t; but / held her fast
and tight,
all my might.
And then a pair of eyes twinkled very gravely
out, ,
And a pair of little lips gathered up a dolefal
pout,
With little dropping corners-no wonder, you
will say,
To see such bonny, bonny dimples stolen all
away.
thought I should have kept them for just a
little while;
little teeth we've soon peeping through a
little smile,
And then a laugh like sunshine was over all
her face,
And every dimple I had stolen was back again
in place.
Sidney Dapre, tn N. 2. Independent.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
Beginning Charity ut Home.

To some young girls who wrote fol
counsel to the Wise Blackbird of Wade
Awake, respecting the preparation Of
fancy work to be sent to distant city
hospitals, that parsonage addresses the
following excellent advice:
"But why, let me ask, undertake
work that must 60 so far from home to
reach its object? Have you no sick
your attentions and help would be n
grateful surprise? How is the poor
house furnished in your township
Would not the decorations and flowers
in. eason be a thousand times moro
welcome to those who are overlooked
by all, and who have forgotten to hope
for any notice or pleasurep Hundreds
of generous homes near by may send
their offerings to the city hospitals while
the same charities exist in every county
to be aided and encouraged, but how
few think of the crushed and hopeless
within an hours drive of their honest
Have you a village or even a county
hospital, OF if there is one, is it a good
one? II not, why not turn your talents
to starting one. where accidents may be
treated with the best appliances, and
the sick with chronic diseases find such
quiet and care as would be difficult to
secure at home. l would suggest max
ing the notices and other pretty things
for home decoration, and having a pleas
ant little saleto raise money orcouches,
invalids' chairs, water beds, spinal cor
sets, and appliances for distorted limbs,
to be lent in the neighborhood to per-
sons needing them who could i'll afford
to buy such things. This would be a
noble work, and worth your Efforts
nay, it is n so close to you that it
comes within the line of sacred, inspir-
ing duty, and any aid or suggestion I
can give in such undertakings you may
call for.''-Wade AWake.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
Sensations Of a Minerin a Burning Shaft.

Superintendent Hall met with a thrill
ing adventure at the burning of the ore
house up i'll the Ophir district the
other day. He thus relates his expert
nee: II was at work down about 29O
feet from the mouth of the incline, and
when I first heard the noise 1 thought
it was some visitors coming down, so
l took my candle to. show them light.
When l got out in the incline, to my
amazement I saw the ore house was on
fire, the mouth of the incline then
having the appearance of being a solid
wall of fire. My first impulse was to
rush through, but I found this impossi-
BILE, and as the smoke began rushing
down the shaft 1 was compelled to re-
treat to the lower part of the mine, and
awaited the fate I thought was surely
mine. It was a peculiar sensation,
underground 200 feet, a building and
about forty bushels of charcoal, ore
sacks, blacksmith outfit, etc., burning
overhead. l came to the conclusion
that my chances for escape were not
very fattering, and I was feeling very
nervous. so [ CROPPED my way up to-
ward the mouth of the shaft and was
just in time to see a small piece of
giant powder burn. 1t gave out q
bright yellow glare, and that, inter-
mixed with the deep red flame was
beautiful to look at, but under the cir
cumstances it struck me with terror.
CATER the first excitement was over
| began to plan and watch for a chance
of escape. But 1 was again compelled
to retreat down the shaft earnestly
wishing the roof would quickly cave in,
as it would give more circulation, and
my chance for getting out of my fire.
guarded prison would be more favor
able. I did not have long to wait, for
soon it fell in with a crash, and then l
could see sunlight once more. 1 then
began vigorously tanning the smoke
with a sack and calling out to see if
any one had yet come, but got no
answer. I began to feel faint, as the
heat was intense, so l returned to the
lower part of the mine, almost ex-
hausted.
"a sleepy sensation came over me. I
knew what this indicated, so I aroused
myself, and determined to make a bold
dash for life. I procured an ore sack.
and luckily l had a gallon can of water.
] made an opening in the sack large
enough to see through, soaked it with
water, pulled it Owe my head, and
made the final rush. I was successful,
but it was rather a warm Journey.
When [ came in contact with the fresh
air l fell down completely exhausted
Salt Lake Tribune.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
his act, o would any Of his ASSOCIATE.
oynnco him ~sc9

his act, nor would any Of his ASSOCIATE.
expose him.
The case troubled the teacher. The nov.
day q gentleman called to See IN tha
school, an acquaintance of the teachaN
who knew how to talk to childrea
After telling him Of the breaking Of tho
glass and her inability to ascertain WIZ
Of the boys had broken it, she askaS
him to make some remarks to the sehoo1
and to speak of the wrong the bows wesa
doing in not acknowledging tho act.
The address to the school, therefor.
was upon the conduct of boys in tho
streets and at their sports. He told
them in simple words that honestv
t%ruthfulness and Kindness should goveyn
their conduct everywhere, even when
they were alone and no one but them
selves and God knew what thew waro
doing. The scholars seemed inter
ested and somewhat impressed BY the
remarks of the speaker.
A short time after he left the schoo,
a little boy arose in his seat and said:
miss Lane, l batted the ball that
broke Mr.. Dash's window. Another
boy threw the ball, but 1 batted it, and
it struck the window. I am willing to
pay for it"
There was a death-like stiffness in III.
room as the little fellow was speaking.
and it continued for a full minute after
he sat down.
81 don't think it would be right for
Charley Drake to pay the whole for the
glass;" said another boy, rising in his
seat. "All of us who played ball then
should pay something, because we were
all playing the same as he was. I'll pay
my part"
"And l."
"And l."
A thrill of pleasure seemed to run
through the whole school at this display
of honesty and of right feeling by the
boys. The money was brought the
next day, and the lesson will not be
forgotten either by teacher or pupils
ErchCn0e.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

There are 5000 Americans living in
Paris.
-Victoria has been a Queen one year
longer than Elizabeth reigned.
Mrs. Craycroft, the sister of Sir
John Franklin, died recently at Dorking
at the age of ninety years. She spent
nearly all of her ample fortune in fit
ting out expeditions to search for her
brother.
A Partisan artisan, lately on q spree,
damaged his hat so much that he bought
another at asecond-han store when half
drunk. Next morning he found under
its lining five notes for 1000 francs.
Unable to recollect where he bought the
hat he advertised the find.
"A Scotchman employed to build in
London used steam cranes to hoist the
bricks up to the required height, and,
as the English workmen refused to have
anything to do with a Job where steam
supplanted men, workmen had to be
brought from Edinburgh to finish the
hotel.
The people and authorities of the
Tyrol are actively engaged in planting
forests, building dykes, etc., so as to
prevent any possible recurrence of the
foundations which devastated the coun-
try so recently. Plans for carrying off
the surplus water from the mountains
are also being discussed by the Govern
ment.
The death is announced of King
Omoru, n of the petty sovereigns Of
the African coast. This monarch was,
as the saying is, very much married.
He had FOG wives and ninety-five chill
dren, seventy-seven of the latter being
still alive. His eldest son and successor
is as polygamous as his father was, hav-
ing already 412 wives.
The official returns of the marriages
so]emnized in France during last year
show a total of 279, $50 for the twelve
months. The greatest number in one
month took place in February, when
there were "a, 157. Next come Novem-
Der with 1904, May with 2s,273, Jan
uary with 1885, June with 1926, Oc-
tober with 26,7S2, July with 22,626,
September with 1888, April with H.
O34, August with 16, 1852, March with
1921, and last of all December 49,
e37.
"A society of persons are about to
petition the Brussels authorities for per-
mission to mummify their dead. They
point out that one advantage is that
their plan permits people to contem-
plate their ancestors and thus perpetu-
ate tilial piety and sentiment de race.
They are down on cremation, which,
they allege, does not destroy the body,
but only reduces it to ashes. producing
deadly miasmas, and aver that
wherever, as in India, it has been prac-
ticed on a large scale, it has been the
cause of fatal epidemics.
When the smallpox threatened to
bring the life of Prince William of
Orange to an end, nothing, the doctor
said, could a v the patient unless some
healthy young mar became his bedfel-
low, and by EMBEDDING him closely in his
arms, should impart sufficient heat to
his body to force the obstinate disease to
break out. Williams page, Bentinck,
volunteered for the dangerous office.
The experiment succeeded, and the
faithful youth escaped unframed, to
share his masters rising fortunes, be-
came Prime Minister of England, and
founded q Ducal house in the land of
his adoption.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

The latest discovery is coal-tar
sugar. Its advantage is said to lie in
its superior sweetness.
An electric light about the size of a
small bean has been constructed and
used successfully in illuminating interi-
or portions of the human body.-Ueve-
land Herald.
"A citizen of I.aurens County, South
Carolina, has sixty specimens of wood
grown on his plantation at that place.
The blocks are round and show the
girth of the trees with the bark on them.
What n single industry is capa-
BILE Of doing by way Of consuming what
may be called raw-material may be
learned from the following: 1t is only,
comparatively speaking, a few years
ago that photographers began to use
what they call albumen paper. Now
in the United States alone three facto-
ries consume about 1000, 900 eggs q
yearin making that kind of paper
Exchange.
There has been an unusual awaken.
ing in scientific circles in Cincinnati;
during the past few months; aPolytech-
mic School has been organized; a State
Forest Association formed, with its
headquarters in Cincinnati; and courses
of popular lectures on chemistry.
zoology, botany and history have been
given at the afternoon school in D
lar science and history.-Scientifc
american.
Bromide of ethyl is the new substi-
tute for chloroform. 1t is a powerful
agent, and a t%easpoonful, when inhaled,
will put any one to sleep in thirty sec
onds, and keep him utterly oblivious to
what is being done. The unconscious
ness lasts only from three to four min
utes, when the patient awakes as from
a natural sleep without headache
or other disturbances of any kind
Chicago Times.
The average distance at which
thunder can be distinguished is declared
to be ven miles, while the lightning of
an ordinary thunderstorm, at midnight,
may be seen forty miles. Perhaps light
ming sometimes cur at too great an
elevation for the thunder to reach the
earth's surface, particularly in the trop-
les, where the thunderstorms are at
great heights. In rare instances, in
Europe, lightning is observed in the
zenith, followed at an interval of twen-
ty seconds by faint rolling thunder i'm
mediately overhead. A Slight increase
of altitude would doubtless render the
thunder inaudible.-N. Y. San.
The bee has long been a type of the
industrious worker, but there are few
people who know how much labor the
sweet hoard of the hive represents.
Each head of clover contains about six
ty distinct flower tubes, each of which
contains a portion of sugar not exceed.
ing the tive-hundredth part of a grain.
Some patient apiarian enthusiast, who
has watched their movements, concludes
that the proboscis of the bee must.
therefore, be inserted into 500 clover
tubes before one grain of sugar can be
obtained. There are 1000 grains in a
pound, and as honey contains three
fourths Of its weight of dry sugar, each
pound of honey represents 100000
clover tubes sucked BY bees.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
Torture in the East.

A cable dispatch gives the frightful
intelligence that Captain Riviege, the
commander of the French forces occu-
plying Fort Hanoi, in Cochin China, be-
ing captured in a skirmish with the
Annamites, with fifteen of his men, was
executed on the following day with the
rest of the prisoners. The Paris Gau-
lois claims that the unfortunate men
suffered death from implement, a
mode Of death so cruel and revolving
that in case the report of the Gaulois
should be confirmed, this outrage would
doubtless call down on its Infamous
perpetrators the Indignation ofthe whole
civilized world. The impaling of per-
sons sentenced to death for great crimes
has been practiced in the East for many
centuries. In Turkey, where this pun
ishment was most frequently inflicted,
assassins, whose crimes were of an ag-
gravated character, were always con-
demned to die on the pole; and the tray
eler who penetrates into the interior of
Asia Minor will o and then, ever in
II times, ride past slender posts
erected along the roadside, on which the
skeletons of the unfortunates are hang
ing who have been put to death in this
horrible manner.
Saint Edine, in his Dictionnaire de la
Penaltie, describes the manner in which
this punishment is inflicted as follows:
'The unfortunate man who is to
suffer death by implement is laid flat
on the ground, face downward. His
hands are tied on his back, and one of
the eXecutioner's assistants sits down on
his back, SO that the victim cannot
move. A second assistant holds the
culprit's head firmly to the ground,
and a third assistant SEXES his legs,
(which he holds so that he can not move
them. The eXecutioner now approaches
with the instrument of death, a long
stake or pole, which he pushes into the
body from behind. The pole tapers
ALMOST to a point, but is rounded off
somewhat at the end. so that it will not
penetrate the entrails all at once. The
eXecutioner pushes the pole into the
flesh as far as he can with his hands,
whe1 e upon a fourth assistant drives it
in still further with a mallet. Now the
pole, which has penetrated deeply into
the body of the doomed man, is set up
right into the ground, and the victim is
left to die upon it. The weight of the
body presses it further down upon the
stake every moment, and the point
finally protrudes from the breast or
side of the culprit. Some of those
upon whom this horrible punishment
has been inflicted died quickly, and
their suffering was over, but others
are said to have suffered untold agony
for hours and even days before death
put an end to their torments."
Implement, horrible as it is, is not
'he cruelest punishment inflicted in
i countries. Particularly the
i've inhabitants of AMMAN,
Siam seem to have
wers of invention
| insufferable tor
n persons who had
+ the rulers Of those
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
pITH AND POINT.

The donkey never suffers from
softening of the brayin'.
Tight pants and tight dresses have
both gone out of style, but it seems a.
If tight men never will Chicago TrIb.
xne.
"A grabbed old bachelor says:
when rain falls, if she gets the big
ger half of the umbrella they are lovers;
Il he takes the bigger half they are mar.
RED"
The latest freak of fashion in New
York is to have the feet photographed.
It was tried in Chicago but given up b.
cause it was impossible to get a whols
foot into focus.-Philadelphia Mews.
"A French lady at Nice went to her
room, put on a white satin dress and
blew out her brains. 1t ruined her dress
maker, as ladies considered she was
driven to the deed by the badness of the
ft.-Boston Post.
Two white tramps have been sent
to the chain-gang for throwing kisses at
the young ladies of q Georgia seminary.
The privileges of the American citizen
seem to be getting very limited indeed.
IN. Y. Commercial advertiser.
The average age of different men Is
put down thus: Merchants, So; physi-
clans and lawyers, So; farmers, 81;
clergymen, Ga; and great geniuses, IS.
1t will be observed from the above that
the journalistic profession tends to
longevity. &
-Edith-The fact that you do not
know what crock salt" is shows that you
have never kept house. Rock salt comes
in little bags labeled ''best family table
salt" 1t has to be pounded with a fiat
iron before you can get any out.-PAA-
adelphsa News.
There is one good thing shout this
two-cent postage. The swarm of spring
poets won't be compelled to face the
dreadful fact that the stamp on the n
velope is worth three times as much as
the poem inside. 1t will only be worth
twice as much.-Chscago 1ymIs.
Little George, age four, saw and
heard a violin for the first time. He
thought it very funny, and this is the
way he described it: "Why, mamma, 1
couldn't help laughing. The man had
the funniest little piano you ever saw,
and he held it up to his neck and pulled
the music out with a sticky. 7.
Tribune.
"A correspondent of the Atlanta
Constitution, after giving an account of
the attempted suicide of a woman who
choked herself with one of her stock
ings, adds: 81 am informed that the
stocking was a red and blue striped"
Accuracy in details is an important arti-
Gle in the stock in trade of a newspaper
man.-Chtc0go Inter- Ocean.
"A bashful young man went three
times to ask a beautiful young lady il
he might be the partner of her joys and
sorrows and other household furniture,
but each time his heart failed him and
he took the question away unpopped.
She saw the anguish of his soul and had
compassion on him. So the next time
he came she asked him if he thought to
bring a screw-driver with him. He
blushed and wanted to know what for.
And she, in the fullness OF her heart,
said she didn't know but he'd want to
screw up his courage before he left. He
took the hint and the girl.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
According to the Milziuo w

According to the Milling World,
sackcloth or canvas can be made as i'm
pervious to moisture as leather, by
sleeping it in a decoction of one pound
OF oak bark with fourteen pounds OF
boiling water. This quantity is sufficient
for eight yards of stuff. The cloth has
to soak twenty-four hours, when it Is
taken out, passed through running
water, and hung up to dry. The flax
and hemp fbers, in absorbing the tannln'
are at the same time better fitted to re-
sist wear.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-21
A Pleasant Incident.

A very pleasant incident occurred in
one OF our public schools not long since.
1t seems that the boys attending the
SCHOOL, most OF whom are at the age of
lrom seven to eight, had, in their Iplay
OF bat n ball, broken one of the win,
DOW panes in a neighboring house. No
cue could be obtained to the boy who
had broken il, as he would not confess