davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
Remarkable Tree.

There is a most remarkable fir tree
in the forest Of Alliaz, canton of Vaud.
1t is near the baths of Alliaz, at hight
of about 1900 feet above the hotel, and
4500 feet above the sea, surrounded by
q forest of frs, which it overtops by
more than thirty fest. The trunk is a
little more than thirty feet in circum-
ference at the base. At about yard
from the ground it puts out, on the
south side, seven offshoots, which have
grown into trunks as strong and vigor-
Gus as those of the other trees in the
forest. Bent and gnarled at the bot
tom, these side trunks soon straighten
and rise perpendicuhrly and parallel
to the main stem. This feature is not,
perhaps. wholly unparalleled, but an
other curious fact is that the two
largest of the side trunks are connected
with the principal stem by subquadran-
gular braces resembling girders. The
space between the rough flooring
formed by the growing together of the
offshoots, at their point of departure,
and the girder limbs, is large enough
to admit of building comfortable
hermit's hut within it.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
Knife Handles.

An ivory-hafted knife to the ordina-
ry diner-out, says a London paper, is
simply piece of table cutlery, useful
at meals, but devoid of all romance.
He wonders not at the ingenuity that
made the steel and fashioned the blade
with its keenly-cutting edge. In his
eyes it is only knife-handle and he
does not allow its antecedents to inter-
fere with his appetite. But through
what an experience this bit of ivory,
so smooth and shining, has passed. 1t
once formed part of an elephants tusk
and was probably dug out of the
desert or found in some dense African
forest, while the jackals or the vultures
were feeding on the animals carcass.
1t was most likely carried hundreds of
miles over a trackless country and
territory peopled by hostile tribes
ready to shed blood for its possession.
Like fame, ivory is frequently very
difficult to get, and when, by the exer-
else of strength, endurance, watchful
ness and cunning, the dusky natives
have brought it to the shore, they
deserve substantial price for the
precious load that has fatigued their
limbs and made their shoulders ache.
A tusk sold one week at Liverpool
weighed not less than 140 pounds, and
it can scarcely be said that the Afri-
cans yoke is easy and his burden
light when he has to toll along, in
tropical heat, with an elephants tooth
in his grasp.
But the obstacles to be overcome in
getting the ivory to.a civilized region
are not entirely Responsible for the
present high prices in the English
market. The elephant is defunct in
Egypt, and tusks are only obtainable
there by dredging in the sand; but the
leviathan of the woods is by no means
extinct in Africa and India, and would
possibly yield an abundance of ivory If
the demand only grew as slowly as his
teeth.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
Southern Houses.

The Atlanta correspondent of the
Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle writes: The
style of architecture has changed ma
terially in the last five or ten years
Right after the war we had an inunda-
ton of Northern architects, who
planned houses suited to cold Northern
climates and wholly untitled for our
warm atmosphere They made close
houses, with small rooms, narrow
stairways, without halls. and with only
scraps of veranda and porch. The
little cuddles of rooms and labyrinthine
arrangement of interior were the very
elimination of discomfort for our hot
climate The philosophy of a true
Southern dwelling is roominess and a
chance for a breeze. We need wide
halls, some porches, and large rooms
The new and improved system of
Atlanta architecture recognizes these
climatic necessities.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
The End,

7 Tie rish mnn a morning loo kcd over his lands,
All bright in thu r'l ii their harvest pride:
lie counted tie pci ty that came to his han Is,
But he saw MT the a,sel who stood at his
tilel
For deaih waits no Though riches increase:
And the 81 rdid may nust In treasures that
cease,
But their boast must nd in moul ming.
Quoth ne, "1he wealth OF my fair fields teem-
ing,
will hoard, and cat while the years roll on
And I'll build broader bar s"-but a voice
br,ke his dreaming.
And his flush'd check with terror turned
haggarl and wan.
For death waits not, though riches increase,
And the hope that futters miser's peace
Is the hope that ends in molrnng.
That night, still and cold, in the silence dim
Ofhis-statcly chamber the rich man lay;
And his burns, and his harvests, what arc they
TO him?
And whose was his wealth when his soul
fed away?
For death waits not, though riches more ase,
Nor the gold of the miser can buy him rele Use,
When the day of his doom comes In mourning
Theron Bro,Dn,
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
About Authors.

Baxter was one of the most volumi.
nous writer's in the English language.
He wrote no fewer than 16S separate
works.
DR.. Owen published seven volumes
in folio, twenty in quarto, and about
thirty in octave. He wrote SO care
lessly that Robert Hall said of him.
s'Ile is Dutchman floundering in a
continent of mud"
Samuel Clarke was an indefatigable
worker. His edition of Caesars Com
mentaries," his seventeen sermons, his
twelve books of the Iliad, ETC., prove
the fact
Otway performed an immense
amount of literary labor before he had
attained his thirty-fourth year.
Doctor Lardner was voluminOua
writer. His "Credibility of the Gospel
History" alone comprised fifteen vol
umes.
William Cobbett wrote more than
one hundred volumes.
Thomas Miller author of "Fair Rosa
mond," "Lady Jane Grey" ETC., wrote
one hundred volumes in twenty years
Theodore Hook produced thirty
eight books in sixteen years, and as he
was during that time editor of paper
and contributor to the magazines, ht
may well have been considered great
worker.
Jacob Abbott. author Of the "Rollt
Books wrote more than one hundred
volumes for his juvenile series.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31

Mr.. Leonidas Lilburne, stalking un-
easily about his sick-room, and anathe-
matizing the sluggish current of the
hours, was secretly making up his
mind to get married.
"After a man has once been sick in
a clearinghouse" he said to himself,
''he's fool if he don't look around for
home of his own. / am forty next
month. It's high time | was thinking
of settling in life Eh, who's there?"
"It's me, sir, pleased" said Mrs.
Pugsley--"with some ginger-snaps."
"Pshaw" said Mr. Lilburne. filing
'em out Of the wiEdowl Give EN- to
the dogsl / don't want any more of
your city humbugsF'
'But please, sir, these are quite diff
ferentl' Mrs. Pugsley coaxed-"m made
by young woman from the country,
as works in Mr.. Biggs' bakery. And
l was to ask, would you be SO very
good as only to taste emp
"Oh, yes, I'll taste them~ said Mr..
Lilburne, sarcastically. Its no trou-
BILE to poison myself, just to oblige
peopleI'
And Mrs. Pugsley, entering with an
apprehensive air, put the plate of
round, golden cakelets on the table.
II really think, sir" said she, "if you
would only taste them"
"Hum hap' said Mr.. Lilburne.
"These are quite different articlel
These are the kind my old mother used
to turn out f! They're ambrosia =
they're food for the gods! Who made
them, 1 say?'
I'll don't know, sir, Pm sure" said
Mrs. Pugsley, rather discounted by
this direct address. "Some young per-
son in Mr.. Biggs' bakery"
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
Habits Of Seals.

The inhabitants of Iceland relate
many anecdotes of the seals, Or sea-
dogs, particularly that species called
the land-selur. They say that these
animals are very observant; when they
perceive any reTF7 object upon the
shore they approach toward (which
has suggested to the inhabitants the
idea of catching them in two ways.
They spread nets in the straits and
bays through which the seals pass,
and then on dark evening they make
a fire on the coast with shavings, horn,
and other combustible substances, that
eXhale a strong smell; the seal, at
tracted by the scent, swims toward
the fire. ,.and is taken in the nets. They
are easily tanned, and the people put
them, when young, into ponds, and
feed them daily, by which they become
as tractable as common dog; run
about the yard, and follow the master
of the house, or anybody else who may
call them by name In some years the
seal is almost starved. When for in
stance, the winter is severe, fish and
insects are scarce, and the seaweed by
which they arc nourished is carried off
by the ice and breakers; then they are
so lean and weak that it is impossible
for them to escape, and they are easily
taken; their fat is consequently wasted,
and nothing is found in their stomachs
but marine plants and stones.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.

Photographic plates have proved
that light penetrates clear water to the
depth of 800 feet, and it is thought
that rays powerful enough to exert an
influence on the lower forms of life
may reach to greater depths.
Diamonds, A. B. Griffith consid-
ers, hal been formed by the action Of
highly-heated water or water-gas,
aided by great pressure on the carbon
aceous matter of fossils in the sed.-
mentary rocks. followed by cooling
and consequent deposition of carbon
in the crystalline condition.
The German military engineers have
succeeded in adapting and perfecting
the electro-rhotograph apparatus to he
placed in balloon for Observing the
enemy's camp, etc twill take per-
| feet photograph of the country below
in the fraction of second when the
balloon is ut an elevation of 1000 feet.
One of the largest brains on record
is that of an illiterate not very intel
ligent mulatto of Columbus, O., who
recently died at the age of 45 years,
and whose case is reported by Dr. Hal
deman in the Cincinnati Lancet. His
brain weighed sixty-eight and three
quarters ounces, OF nearly i've ounces
more than the famous brain of Cuvier.
The case was mentioned few months
ago of a bricklayer who could neither
read CT write, whose brain weighed
s!xty-seven ounces.
An English inventor has devised q
huge listening trumpet, by which q
sound at sea is caught up and rem
dered audible to an officer on ship
board. Such an apparatus has been
put up on the North Sunderland pier,
and it has been found that if ship is
hailed from this pier, the person hail
ing can hear quite distinctly, through
the opening in the vibrating funnel,
the reply sent. Experiments are yet
wanting to test the efficacy Of this
simple apparatus in fogs at sea.
Mexico is making study of the
culture of the rubber-plant. The
hardness of the plant is said to be
such that its culture is exceedingly
simple and inexpensive where the
climate and soil are suitable. In much
OF the Mexican coast region almost
the only expense is the wedding re-
| quired when the plants are young. tc
give them a chance to grow and
strengthen. In fact, it is certain that
properly set out, the plants will grow
and mature in spite of the weeds, but
are so retarded that it pays well to
give them careful attention. Cotton
can be cultivated simultaneously
between the rows, and the culture Of
the cotton is sufficient to care for the
rubber-trees also.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
An Ancient Nation.

At the departure of the children OF
Israel from Egypt, China was seven
hundred years old; and when Isaiah
prophesied of her she had existed
fifteen centuries. She has seen the
rise and decline of all the great nations
of antiquity. Assyria, Babylon,
Persia, Greece and Rome have long
since followed each other to the dust;
but China still remains solitary and
wonderful monument of patriarchal
times. Then look at the population of
the country, roughly estimated at four
hundred millions, ten times the popula-
tion of the United States, more than
ten times the population of Great
Britain and Ireland. Every third per-
son that lives and breathes upon this
earth is a Chinaman; and every third
grave that is dug is for Chinese.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
PEARLS OF THOUGHT.
"hen thing is once begun, it is
almost half finished.

"-hen thing is once begun, it is
almost half finished.
Peoples intentions ca1 only be de-
cided by their conduct
Happiness is like an echo; it answers
to your call, but does net come.
Cities force growth, and make men
talkative and entertaining, but they
also make them artificial.
Friendship is the medicine for all
misfortunes, but ingratitude dries up
the fountain Of all goodness.
Make no more vows to perform this
or that; it shows no great strength,
and makes thee ride behind thyself.
We judge ourselves by what we feel
capable of doing, while others judge
us by what we have already done.
A great secret of education is to make
the exercises of the body and these of
the mind serve always as recreation
to each other.
Observation and experience combine
to teach us how small a part of the in
eidents which chequer life can be fore
told. Therefore it becomes the wise
to enjoy with equanimity or to suffer
with fortitude whatever happens.
1t is an argument of a candid, in
genius mind to delight in the good
name and concentrations of others; to
pass by their defects and take notice
of their virtues; and to speak or hear
willingly of the latter, for in this
indeed you may be little less guilty
than the evil speaker, in taking
pleasure in evil, though you speak it
not.
Think not you are the only one who
has to endure, and who breads the
hardships of life. Ease and comfort
are the natural desires of the human
heart, and there are thorDs, real or i'm.
aginary, in every ones pathway. But
sitting down and brooding will never
bring power to overcome them-rather
be up and doing, thankful fer the
blessings yet remaining.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31

The Engineer at q Concert.

II was loafing around the streets
last night" said jim Nelson, one of
the Oldest locomotive engineers run
ming into New Orleans, "and as l had
nothing to do l dropped into concert
and heard a slck-looking Frenchman
play piano in a way that made me
feel ali over in spots. AS soon as he
sat down on the stool / knew by the
way he handled himself that he under
stood the machine he was running.
He tapped the keys away up one end
just as if they were gauges, and want
ed to see if he had water enough.
Then he looked up as if he wanted to
know how much steam he was carry.
ing, and the next moment he pulled
open the throttle and sailed out on the
main line, just as if he was half an
hour late. You could hear her thun-
der over culverts and bridges, and get
ing faster and faster until the fel-
low rocked about in his seat like era
die. Somehow 1 thought it was old
'36' pulling passenger train and get
ting out of the way of special The
fellow worked the keys on the middle
division like lightning, and then he
flew along the north end of the line
until the drivers went around like a
buzz-saw, and I got excited. About
the time 1 was fixing to tell him to cut
her off little, he kicked the dampers
under the machine wide open, pulled
the throttle away back in the tender,
and, Jerusalem, jumpers! how he did
run. 1 couldn't stand it any longer,
and yelled to him that she was pound
ing on the left side, and if he wasn't
careful he'd drop his ash-pan. But he
didn't hear. No one heard me. Every
thing was flying and whizzing. Tele-
graph poles on the side of the track
looked like a row of corn stalks, the
trees appeared to be mud bank, and
all the time the exhaust of the old ma
chine sounded like the hum of a bum
blebee. tried to yell out, but my
tongue wouldn't move. He went
around curveL like q bullet, slipped an
eccentric, blew out his soft plug, went
down grades fifty feet to the mile, and
not a brake set. She went by the
meeting-point at a mile and half a
minute, and calling for more steam
My hair stood up like cats tail, be-
cause l knew the game was up. Sure
enough, dead ahead of us was thu
headlight of the special In daze-l
heard the crash as they struck, and
saw the cars shivered into atoms, peo-
pie mashed and mangled and bleeding
and gasping for water. I heard
another crash as the French professor
struck the deep keys away down on
the lower end of the southern division,
and then 1 came to my senses. There
he was at dead standstill, with the
door of the firebox of the machine
open, wiping the perspiration off his
face and bowing at the people before
him. If I live to be thousand years
old Ill never forget the ride that
Frenchman gave me on piano"
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
"He's queer old fishl' said the ba-
ker, meditatively.

hCt, HicuItdOlFoly.
''But he's rich,' said Mrs. Biggs.
"Well, then, let's ask him to supper,
and leave him and Edelgitha alone to-
gether afterward2'' suggested Mr..
Biggs. "That is, if she likes him."
"Biggs, don't be goosep' said the
lady, irritably. "You haven't soul
above one of your own flour-barrels
no, nor you won't never have"
So Mr.. Biggs retired, and gave his
whole attention to the checking off of
a load of st. Louis flour, which was
being delivered at the alley-door.
Mary Biggs had come up into the
store to whisper one of her uncle's
messages to the stylish young woman
behind the counter, when a servant
girl hurried in and emptied about a
peck Of little, fiat, brown cakes on the
glass top of the showcase.
"Mr. Lilburne's compliments, miss"
said she; "and they're trashr'
"Whatl" said the shopwoman.
"NIr. Lilburne's compliments; and
they're trashp' repeated the maid. "He
said they wasn't ginger-snaps at all;
they was only lard anu molasses. He
wanted the kind his mother used to
bake, of Saturday mornings. The very
first one he tasted he threw on the
floor"
"Well," remarked the shopwoman,
tossing her head, eff our ginger-snaps
don't suit the gentleman, then it's i'm
possible to suit him. That's allp'
"He's been sick, you know" said the
maid-servant, apologetically. "And
he's just getting better, and his appe-
tite's dreadful uncertain, and Mrs.
Pugsley-my missus-she thought she
was sure to tempt him with these ere.
'Ginger-snapsP said he. Just what I've
been a-longin' for. My mother used
to bake 'em for me, when was child.
Yes. Mrs. Pugsley,' said he. you may
order 'em for me- But" with a mild
sigh, "missus might ha' known they
wouldn't suit. Nothin' suits when
gen'leman's just off sick bed"
SIS it Mr.. Lilburne2" said Mary.
"Oh. I remember him. lie came here
once, and went to sleep while Edelgitha
was singing, 'Oh, Summer Nightr /
liked him. He talked to me about
the country. He knew all about
calves and chickens, and cranberry
swamps and robins'-nests. Does he
like ginger-snaps? I'll make some for
him. know an old-fashioned receipt
that is always good. Come here to-
morrow, my good girl" to the maid,
"and I'll have some ready for you.
Poor Mr.. Lilburne =! I'm sorry he's
sickr'
The smart shopwoman stared as
superciliously as List or Chopin might
have done if a village bugler had vol
unteered to them the first principles of
music.
A country-girl, like that, expect to
compete with "Biggss Celebrated Bak-
ery!" Well, really, the shopwoman
did't know what the world was COM
ing to.
But little Polly hurried down stairs
again to where Mr.. Biggs, all powdered
with -four, was laying down the law
to some Of his satellites.
"Ginger, my dear ?" said he. "And
-four? What you like-what you like!
AS I was telling you, Johnson, barrel
Of prime flour has to be humored.
You can't drive it. Flour is flour,
and must be handled accordingly"
<
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
"Order carriagei' said Mr.. Lilburne

-"and bring me my sable-trimmed
overcoat at once! I'll go and see that
young woman. l don't believe there
is another persol on the American
continent that can make ginger-snaps
like these, now that my poor old moth.
er is buriedl". '
Mary Biggs came, laughing, up from
the subterranean dceps of Biggs' bak-
cry.
"Oh, yes, Mr.. Lilburne," said she, 81
made the snapsl Don't you remember
me--Edelgitha's cousin? ?"
"But what are you doing down
here?" demanded Mr.. Lilburne, in some
amazement.
Earning my own living" Polly
promptly answered. "And they told
me you didn't like the store snaps, so
l baked some after my grandmother's
old receipt"
Mr.. Lilburne looked at Polly with
the respect due to a maker of incom.
parable ginger-snaps, mingled with
chivalrous pity for desolate maiden.
"Miss Polly" said he--"that was
what they called you, wasn't it?"
eyes" said Polly, "that's my name."
Perhaps 1 ought to warn you that
I'm going to be little abrupt" said
he; "but--I should like to marry you"
''Oh, dearw said Polly, starting back
in amazement; II couldn't think of
such thingr
eyes, you can," said MIR. Lilburne.
"Think of it, that's all. Think of it
for week, and then let me know your
final decision. I'm not exactly what
the world calls gay young lover, but
l can give you good home and an
honest, loving heart. Your uncle can
tell you all about Leonidas Lilburne.
There, won't tease you any longer.
Just take my proposal into considera-
tion, that's all"
So he went away, and Mary, in her
perplexity, went in among the flour
barrels, and took counsel with Uncle
Biggs.
"Uncle," said she, "what am 1 to
do?"
"My DEAR" said the good man, strok-
ing her head with floury, yet not un-
kindly, hands, "what do you think +?
Could you learn to like him ?"
II think SO" confessed Mary, with
downcast eyes. "He spoke so pleasant
ly to me, and he has honest brown
eyes,"
"Then recommend you to say yes,"
said Uncle Biggs. "Lilburne is a good,
warm-hearted fellow, if little eccen-
trio, and his wife will be lucky
woman"
And he thought of Edelgitha and
sighed.
A week subsequently, Mr.. Lilburne
gave his landlady warning.
II hope haven't failed to suit you,
sir" said she, plaintively.
at isn't that, NIrs.sPugsley," said
he. "But I'm going to be married"
"I'm sure, sir, l congratulate you,"
said Mrs. Pugsley, family.
"You may well do SO, ma'am," said
Mr.. Lilburne. "She's as lovely as
Venus, as domestic as Dorcas, and
she makes ginger-snaps such as my
poor mother once didl Yes, Mrs. Pugs-
ley, feel that l have gained a prize" :"
So Polly Biggs' ginger-snaps won
the treasure which Miss Edelgitha's
frills and French conversation had
been powerless to reach.
II really can't see what Mr.. Lilburne
saw to fancy in my Cousin Pollyy' said
she, with spiteful tears.
And Mrs. Biggs could not enlighten
her daughter.--Hegen Forrest Graoea.
Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-03-31
VOL. II---NO. 81.
Echo Song.

! call across the rolling plain,
40 mountains from your sleep awake,
o stupid rocks your slumber break,
Hear and give back my words again!"
And bark! the Echo doth rebound
In accents made the soul of sound,
Replying TO my laughing voice,
"Rejoicer'
There loitereth by a flock OF sheep,
ABOVE whose clamorous bleating swells
The tinkling of their hundred bells.
In sympathy with me, the steep
Takes up the wild pel-mcll of sound,
Makes jsrgon human in rebound,
Compels uproar to flow along
In song.
Where curves the lnkes green crescent coast,
The fishers flock with net and boat
With song and shout ashore, aAoat:
Yet all the babble of their host
Melts into music in rebound,
Confusion into tuneful sound,
One heart of overHowing cheek
hear.
Behind me is the murmurous sigh
And rustling of the forest trees
While loud or low rs flows the Orceze
Comes song of birds afar and nigh,
And, sheaved into the one rebound,
One note on Echo's lips is found
AS if from one poetic brain,
The strain.
And thus from all the race ascends
Earth's myriad sigh and song and prayer
Ofhope, Of anguish, praise, despairi
But gathered into one descends
Divine-not Echo, not rebound
One answer from the blue above,
"Tis love! From the French.