davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
The Disadvantage of a Large Family.

"How many children have you, Ike?"
asked an Arkansaw gentleman of a negro
acquaintance.
''BOss, I declar' | dOan' know"
Chow long have YOU been married ?"
"De almanac says twenty year, but
dinged eff it doan' seem like hundred
to me-"
"And you don't know how man
children you have?"
"No, sab, case I neber was much on
geography. But ter gin yer a idee OBJ de
number, I'll tell yer what's a fack. Two
lost chillun come ter my house some time
ago, and dinged if da want dar six weeks
for dislivered dat dar was any strays
in dc house. [ wouldn't hab fOun' it
out den but for de sharpness oh my wife.
She was talkin' Z de chillm one day
when, suddenly loolin' at boy, about
de oncrcst lOokin' chile [ eber seed she
said: Dan, does yer want to go to
heaben when yer dies p My name amt
Dan, said de cni.e. What is yor
name, dcn?' aXcd my wife. Jasen, re
piled de boy. Den my wife she sorter
scratched her head an studied awhile,
an trrnin' ter me axed ef We had eber
named a boy Jasen. 'Dinged eff 1
knows, says l. 'Yersef keeps de books
ob dis establishment. Wall, sab, de
circumstance aroused suspicionment an
we begun ter search aroum, finally tindin'
dat two oh my chillun belonged ter a
neighbor. My wife declars dat she doan'
know when da jumped ober de fence an
got inter de house, an blamed eff I
! does. "-Lihlc Rock Gazette.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
A Remarkable Sand Dune.

The Reno, New, Gazette describes a
remarkable hill of moving sand i'll the
eastern part of Churchill County, New,
about sixty miles from Land Springs
Station. It is about four miles long and
about mile wide.
In the whole dune, which is from 100
to 400 feet in height, and contains mil
lions of tons of sand, it is impossible to
find particle larger than pin head.
1t is so fine that if an ordinary barley
sack be filled and placed in moving
wagon, the jolting of the vehicle would
empty the sack, and yet 1t has no form
of dust in it, and is as clean as any sea
beach sand. The mountain is so solid
as to give it a musical sound when trod
upon, and oftentimes a bird lighting on
it, OF large lizard running across the
bottom, will start a large quantity OF
the sand to sliding, which makes a noise
resembling the vibration of telegraph
wires with a hard wind blowing, but so
much louder that it is often heard at a
distance of six or seven miles, and it is
deafening to person standing within a
short distance of the sliding sand.
A peculiar feature of the dune is that
it is not stationary, but rells slowly east
ward, the wind gathering it up on the
west end and carrying it along the ridge
until it is again deposited at the eastern
end. Mr.. Monroe, the well known sur
veyor, having heard of the rambling
habits of this mammoth sand heap, quite
number of years ago took careful
bearing of it while sectioning government
lands in that vicinity. Several years
later he visited the place, and found that
the dune had moved something over
milo
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
Objectionable Tenants.

The Toronto (Canada) Globe says
The burning question at Montreal is
whether q boarding-house keeper has a
right to smoke out an undesirable
boarder who refuses to go. A landlord
had tried every means of getting rid of
two of his boarders. He had endeavored
to freeze them out-at which the
other boarders mutinied; he attempted
to eject them by letting on the steam till
the house was at fever heat but the de-
tenders held the fort with windows open.
Then starvation was tried, but the enemy
had meals sent up from a neighborlng
hotel. Next the furniture was taken
away. Even that did not subdue the
refractory boarders, for they promptly
brought in furniture of their own. AS a
last resort the landlord resolved to drive
them out by suftocation. Taking Cayenne
pepper and asafmtida, he burned the
articles in the room below and sent
the fumes into the debatable territory
through hot-air funnel. One of the
boarders was nearly sTIf1Ocated before
the source of the trouble was found, and
the other, running down stairs, found his
prosecutors dancing in high glee around
the stove. 1t was now the bOarders
turn. They filed an information against
the other parties for conspiracy to com
nit unlawful acts and the courts of the
country are to decide whether it is law
full to titilate to an undue extent the
olfactory nerves of boarder who refuses
to vacate when desired.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
"Please, Sir, l ChaWed it."

A short time ago a well-lnOwn lady of
Chicago was shopping i'll one Of the
largest dry goods stores in the city and
left her cloak for a few moments III the
cloak department of the store. When
she returned a SO bill was missing from
the purse. which was in one of the pock-
cts. The loss was reported, and suspl-
cion was at once directed to a cash-bOy,
whose duty lay in that department.. The
little fellow was taken to the office and
accused of the theft. He was very IN
dignant at the accusation, and stOutly
protested his innocence. A further in
vestigation disclosed the fact that it was
almost impossible for any one else to
have taken the money, and the proprie-
tor of the store besought the boy to con-
fess. The boy, however, refused to ac-
knowledge the theft, and was told that
he must remain in the office till he did.
His mother was sent for, and was like
wise very indignant, but finally joined IN
beseeching her son to confess if he were
guilty. The boy remained obdurate,
and the mother went away. Toward
evening, however, he burst into tears,
and confessed that he had taken the bill.
What have you done with it?" asked
the head of the house. Please, slr, L
chawed it." answered the boy. And
sure enough, the little fellow, fearing
detection, as soon as he was suspected,
had chewed the bill and swallowed 1t.
Nothing was done to the boy beyond
dismissal. as the firm decided that his
experience had already been ga bitter
enough dose to swallow. - Chicago
T'.jHjJljg
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
Mrs. Melville on the Stand.

There was an impressive scene in the
court room in Media, Pa, at the hearing
of the Melville habeas corpus case.
Fashionable ladies occupied the seats,
and waited until the court adjourned,
rather than go out and break the still
ness that prevailed. Mrs. Melville told
her story in low voice, almost a whisper.
She had not gone far before every lady
in the room was in tears. Even the
LAWYERS cried, and the Judge was forced
+o hide his emotion behind his handker-
chief Mrs. Melville denied every
assertion made by her husband. She
told how she had waited patiently for
months for his return; how she would
start ND in her sleep at night dreaming
of the Jeanette in an icy sea; how the
news of his return Overpowered her with
iov: how she prepared to welcome him
ON his return. and was only greeted with
rcproaches and curses; how he would
not even kiss his children, the children
he now sought to take from her. And
if Won want to know how | have brought
up nv children" she said, "just note
their behavior in this court, pointing to
the little girls who sat beside her. She
told how Melville tore her from her
children and sent her to an insane
asylum, where she could hear only the
sbrieks of the crazed inmates. She
described a weeks experience there, and
told how she bathed her face, not in the
trough in which the lunatics bathed, but
in the tears from her own eyes. She told
this story. which occupied four hours in
it's recital, in such plaintive, pleading
way as to carry the entire court room
with her,
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
The Emptiness of Human Ambition.

The first time ] saw Van Buren, writes
the Hermit, was in the spring after his
dcrcru in tllu I-rcoiucntitel otulNuoo. AU
had felt the crushing nature of what was
his first great disappointment i'll his
whole history, and he had seen the tri-
umphant Harrison inducted to an office
from which he himself had been excluded
by the voice OF an indignant nation. He
was, in fact, the worst beaten of all Presi-
dental candidates up to that day. Inthe
midst of this disappointment came the
naws of the death Of Harrison after only
one month of official service. The City
of New York honOred the occasion by
funeral procession of imposing character,
but its most impressive feature was the
defeated candidate. I was then merely
a bov, but as [ gazed on the long ranks
of the military marching i'll solemn step
to the wall of dirges, and saw all the
deep expressions Of public bereavemente
[ felt the most touching lesson was found
in Martin Van Buren. He occupied a
barouche, dressed with the American
and British colors bOrdered with Grape,
and by his side was the British Consul.
[ thought then, and have often thought
since, of the emptiness of human ambi-
ton as illustrated by the appearance OF
Van Buren, at HarrisOn's funeral. The
latter had crushed the former, and then
so suddenly yielded to the all-conquering
power of death.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
How GOV. Andrew Did 1t,

Late one afternoon, after a busy day,
when the executive Office people were
getting ready to go home, poor old
Irish woman was announced, the mes
senpcr rcmarking: cts only an old
woman, Governor who wants you to get
her husband pardoned out of the house
of correction. I'll get rid of her for
vou." "No, you won't" said Andrew;
ssTm here to see Just such people, and
the poorer they are the more necessary
it is that they should see me. 1t Is
also said that here the Governor used Il
mildly profane word. The discomtited
official of the ante-chamber Ushered the
old woman into Andrews presence. She
told her story quickly, inspired by the
sympathy of the Governor. Her hus-
band had been injured on the railway,
and, to support himself i'll his disabled
condition, had begun selling a little
rum in his shanty out at Revere. lie
had been arrested and sentenced to the
house of correction. When Andrew had
heard Bridget through, ne Salti' i'oii
worry, my good woman; I'll pardon
vour husband tomorrow. She left the
room, showcring blessings on the Coy
ernor's head. When she had gone
down stairs, Andrew said: "II pardon
out every such case as long as I'm Gov
ernor of this State, and they continue tC
imprison poor men for doing what ricl
hotel keepers do every day unmolested
| There shall not be one sort of Justice fo
the poor and another for the rich.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
Rather a Bad Bargain.

A western paper has been reviving the
old story of Satan and the newspaper.
A very impecunious fellow was ap-
proached.by the Evil One with the prop
osition that he would supply the !. +.
with all the money that he could spend
for five years if at the end of that time
!. f. would turn over his soul. The bar
oain was closed and l. f. went at it. He
built railroads and hotels and kept fast
horses. He cornered wheat and stock,
but Satan honored his drafts every time.
The time for the final delivery drew
near. and i. f. was in trouble. Satan
had fulfilled every part of his contract
to the letter.
Finally it occurred to the j. f. that he
would settle matters. To that end he
drew on his sulphTous banker for
money and established a daily newspa-
per: in three weeks he drew again, and
found it necessary to kip drawing.
Then Satan, with Il very long face,
dropped into his sanctum one day and
said ''Look here, have a proposal tc
make you. [ can stand horses, yachts,
diamonds and political campaigns, hEt
[ can't stand this newspaper racket.
Now [ am disposed to do the fair thing.
I'll give you a receipt i'll full for all you
have had; will give you back your soul
if YOU VII let me off from my bargain.
So the i. f. saved his soul only to lost
it by running morning paper.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
National Support to Common Schools.

In the United States Senate Mr.. Blair
called up the special order-thG bill to
aid in the establishment and temporary
support of common schools. No action
on the measure was taken. A number
of memorials from collegiate institutions
in support of the object of the bill were
laid before the Senate in the morning
most Of them taking the ground that the
republic is in danger from the illitcracy
of a vast number of the voting popula-
ton. The Blair bill, which is of great
length, provides that:
For ten years next after the passage
of this act there shall beeannualIy appro-
priated from the money in the Treasury
the following sum, to wit The first
year the sum of 100000 the second
wear, STA, 900, 600; the third year $13,-
600, 900. and thereafter sum diminished
| 81 .OOO. 900 Il year from the sum last APP,
| propriated until ten annual appropria-
tions shall have been made, when all
| aDpropriations under this act shall
cease; which sums shall be expended tc
secure the benefits of common schOo
education to all the children living III the
United States.
The remaining sections prescribe the
course of study and the manner i'll whicl
the appropriations shall de divided anF
expended,
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
Spelling the Thunder.

An amusing story is told OF u. L.
Cooke, the actor, explaining how he
once spoiled the thunder. He was llV-
ing with his mother in Berwlck-on-
Tweed, when the players announced
"Macbeth. " Although he had no money,
the little fellow was determined to see
the play. Hanging about the stage
door, he slipped past its proper guar
dian, and finding his way to the stage
concealed himself in Il barrel which was
placed on the top of some SloplhS
planks near the wings, thinking that ny
peeping out he could see and hear the
actors on the board. In the barfel
he found loosely chained to the SIDE f"
couple of cannon balls, and while he
was wondering what they were Tor, the
promptcr's bell rang, the curtain as
cendcd, and his mental question was an
swered with ''thumder and lightning,
and little Cooke was in the barrel, when,
when set in motion. joined its rumollh&
to the shaking Of the sheet-iron IN lmlta-
| ton of heavens artillery. The traSedh'L
was wont in after life, when telling this
story, to say that the pounding he re-
ceived before the barrel reached the bot
tom of the slope would never be erased
from his memory, and in after life he sci
dom went on in the first scene OF MAC
! beth" without remembering it.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
FORGET.

Forget the sad wrecks that are drifting behind,
The storm and the clouds, and the treacherous
wind.
The frosts that have blighted the sweetest Of
flowers,
The shadows that darkened the sunniest hours
The river that flows through the far reaching
plain,
Flows onward forever in sunshine and rain,
And billows upheaved from oceans dark breast
At morning or evening are never at rest.
So onward forever will move the great throng,
Some burdened with troubles, some happy with
song,
Like butterflies many fresh phantoms will chase,
While others for honors are swift in the race.
But shadow and sun show the courage of men,
Their worth in the contest with sword or with
pen,
Their zeal in the work that their hands find
to do,
Their skill to detect the false from the true.
Chicago Htte5'- ocean.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
DEATH OF DIR. MUDD.
Sentenced to Life imprisonment for
HnrbOring ). Wilkes Booth.


Dr.. Samuel A. Mudd. who served a
term III the Dry Tortugas for harborin
John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of
President Lincoln, and assisting him to
escape, died on Wednesday at his resi-
dence near Bryanstown, Charles County,
South Carolina Dr. Mudd came Of an
old family Of prominence and influence
in southern Maryland. After the
assassination Booth and Harold rode to
DIR. Mudd's home, and he dressed Booths
injuries. He found that Booths right
leg was fractured, the bone being broken
clear through just above the ankle. HE
leg was much swollen, and DIR. Mudd
insisted on Booth remaining at his house
all day and part of the next night He
gave Booth the necessary surgical at
tendance, but the pursuit of the assassin
being fierce at midnight, Booth was
guided from the house to the Potomac,
and he rOwed across in a boat to the
place where he met his death, and where
Harold was captured. DR.. Mudd was at
once arrested. He was defended by Mr.
Robert j: Brent of Baltimore.
Polk Gardner testified to seeing two
horsemen riding very fast on the road be-
tween Washington and Bryanstown on
the night of April A. 1865. He and a
party were out in pursuit Of the assassin,
and on their way to Surrattsville they
came to DR.. Mudd's house. In reply to
their inquiries the doctor told them that
on Saturday morning, April Is, at day
break, two strangers came to his place,
one of whom came to the door and the
other sat on his horse. He went down
stairs and opened the door, and both
came in. One of them had a broken
leg, which he set. He did not know
who the man was, aud both went away
in a short time.
The conversation between Dr. Mudd
and Gardner was held on Tuesday, April
Is, and Dr. NTudd said that he had heard
of the Presidents assassination at
church on Sunday. He told Gardner
that the oldero the two men had shaved
his mOustache and whiskers off and left
| the house on crutches, the other man
leading his crippled companions horse.
Gardner further testified that on April
q he again went to Mudd's house, and
this time for the, purpose of arrestlng
him. When DR.. Mudd found that they
were going to search the house he whis-
pered to his wife, and she went up stairs
and brought down a cavalry boot sll
down the leg, on the inside of which was
written in ink 81 Wilkes" Although
at the time Dr. Mudd still asserted that
both men were strangers to him, later II
the day he acknowledged that one o
them was Booth.
DE-. Mudd was sentenced by the COur
to be confined for life at hard labor, anC
President Johnson ordered him an(
othc,rs, to 1,e sent l., IT,, A11.,,r,S, P''it'r'
tiary. He was subsequently sent to tn
Dry Tortugas, whore, during yelloy
fever epidemic, he rendered such valu
able services that, after few years con
frement, he was pardoned by Presiden
johnson. About year ago he brough
a claim for these services before Con
grcss, but it was not allowed.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
A LESSON OF THE FIRE.
Will it be Considered or Will il Pass as such
Lessons doc

The story that comes to us from this
Western town, says the New York H0al',
is heartrending. The hotel which burned,
it seems, was what is in the popular
phrase of the day so suggestively called
h-trap." Hundreds of people
were imprisoned within its tinder-bOX
walls and corridors and rooms, which as
soon as the flames touched them became
sheets of fire. Means of exit there were
none. The picture painted by even the
prosaic pens Of the Milwaukee reporters
is simply terrible in its awful realism.
First of all we have a driving, binding
snowstorm. The hour is between four
and five III the morning. A thin column
of smoke goes up from the ill-fated build
ing, and in an instant this human cara
vansary is a sheet of devOuring fire.
In almost every window the awful spec
tacle is presented of men and women and
children vainIy appealing for help, and
leaping from certain death behind them
to an even more certain death before
them. Sixty unfortunate girls, away up
on the top stories, rend the morning air
with their shrieks and then disappear
forever in the ocean of fire that sur
rounded them. The fire department was,
of course, inefficient. Whoever heard
of fire department in Western or a
Southern town coming up to public ex-
pectations in an extreme crisis of this
kind?
There is, of course, a lesson in this
awful calamity. The newspapers will
point it out the pulpits will preach
about it; it will probably be mentioned
in State Legislatures and in boards of
aldermen. We shall have resolutions
and, we suppose, enactments in regard
to fire-escapes and precautions to be
adopted to guard against similar calami-
ties in the future. The victims will be
buried and then all recollection of the
dread occurrence will gradually die
away, except from the memories of those
who have been made widows and or
phans by the cOnfagratiOn. Possibly
! there will be a movement to compel the
telegraph companies to put their wires
underground - those wires which the
merchants of Milwaukee have just de-
clared to have been a serious impedi-
ment to the fremen in their efforts to
save this ill-fated hotel. But that will
be all. Weshall go onin the old-fashioned
way until another of the thousand or the
| ten thousand Newhall Houses that
are scattered all over the country shall
have become the fiery tomb of its in
mates. The men who build, the men
who license and the men who lure the
public into these "death- traps" should
all be sent to the penitentiary.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01

A Georgia paper says: Last summer
we saw a boy between fourteen and fif-
teen years of age who weighed one nun
dred and eighty pounds. The boy had
on cotton pants, homespm shirt, wool
hat and no shoes. He walked into a
store and bought some tools, as Joe
Brown would say, with Judgment. He
ran his hand down i'll his pants pocket,
pulled out twenty-dolIar gold piece,
paid the bill, politely bade us good morn
ing and left Soon after the boy left the
store, another about the same age, a
healthy, stout boy, who never did a day S
work in his life, and whose daddy is a
poor man, came III. He had on a gold
collar button, fine suit Of store clothe
and six-dollr shoes. His standing col
lar was so stiff it looked like it might cut
his ears off, apd the points were SHARP
enough to pick ms teeth. In ten years
from now we expect to see the first boy
one of the prominent men of the county
and the other in the penitentiary.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-02-01
GrucIs for the Sick-ROOm.

inlet Corson, says: The gruels us
uolIv emploved in the sick-rOOm are
mad de of flour, oatmeal, Indian meal, and
orrowroot. They are here named III
+bair order as nutrients; their special
,,ronerties are indicated III the directions
oiven below for making them. Gruels
made from flour and the farina of wheat
rank first because wheat is the most
valuable of all grains on account OF the
olntnn if contains. Oatmeal, or the ia
rino Of oats. is very nutritious, and
SLIGHTLY laxative III its effect on the
bowels. The objection that its eXces-
sive Use tends to o2erheat the system
may be met by alternating it with vege-
table foods: in combination with milk 1t
forms a perfect nutrient. Groats, or
coarsely ground oatmeals, are nutritious
and digestible, and made into por-
ridge with milk 81. an excellent food
in conditions of general debility.
Indian meal is both nutritious and
heating, because of the excess of oil
its effect is laxative; but its excess Of oil
makes it a more valuable food i'll cold
weather and in the cooler climates. The
fact is also to be noted that the cOarser
preparations of Graham meal or flour
are apt to produce excessive intestinal
irritation. and thus hasten the elimina-
ton of some Of the purely nutritious
portions of the food before all their nu-
triment has been impaired to the system.
Arrowroot and its kindred starchy prep
arations of sago and tapioca possess
comparatively slight nutritive properties,
but are excellent palliative foods, which
allay the sensation of hunger, and tide
the system over that period of illness
when relaxation follows tension, and
when rest and a certain sense of reple
ton are required more than actual stim
uIation and nutrition. Jellies and gela-
tinous soups are admirable adjuncts dur