davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
Battling With an Octopus.

Hon. Edward Eddy is. according to
all reports, having grand time upon
bis Eastern trip. Last SUNDAY he
joined the immense crowd that was en-
route to Coney Island, and ere long it
became noised around that there was
in the party the champion swimmer of
Colorado. 1t was a proud moment for
Mr.. Eddy, but perhaps not proudar than
that in which. attired in his yellow bath
ing-suit, he Issued from the bath-house
and walked majestically down the peb-
bly, beach toward the raging surf. With
q wild snort, Mr.. Eddy plunged into the
seething pillows, and at once COM
menced series Of antics and pranks
that were absolutely bewildcring. He
was just about to execute that acrobatic
aria whereby his head and his heels
would change places, when he felt
something sharp and Shiny and cold
seize him by his left big toe and begin
pulling him out into deeper water. Mr..
Eddy gave a kick in the hope of shak-
ing off his unknown assailant, but the
biting and pulling continued-in fact,
the unknown assailant refused to be
shaken of. The awful truth then
flashed upon Mr.. Eddy that he had been
attacked by an octopus. The octopus
is the most ravenous and cruel of nat
ural monsters. 1t coils al out its prey,
brushes his bones, sucks the juices from
the mangled mass of pulp, and finally
leaves the dry and quivering corpse in
purple shreds for the fishes TO nibble at
and the tides to toss hither and thither
until no remnant remains. All this
horrifying truth passed through Mr..
Eddy's mind with the velocity of an
electric current. Mr.. Eddy is a strong
man, and when we say he struggled
| fiercely to regain the surface of the sea,
we would have the reader duly i'm
pressed with the magnitude of that
! struggle. The octopus pulled hard, but
with Mr.. Eddy it wala case of life and
death, and it was entirely to Mr.. Eddy's
credit that he pulled . triGe harder than
the octopus.
While thus battling Mr. Eddy was
again drawn under the water and he
then thought his last hour had come.
His past life passed like n momentary
panorama before his mind, but there
was nothing in it to occasion him re-
morse. Should he suffer himself 10 be
carried off and devoured by a dirty,
soulless octopus, an inappreciative.
plebian cuttlefish? No, he would die
rather than be slain by such an ignoble
reptile! Yet he fen he was growing
weaker and weaker, an awful chilliness
swept mp and down his veins and his
brain seemed TO reel. He made another
heroic attempt to rise to the surface.
The octopus chung to him like grim
death.
'.Helpl helpl helpi' shrieked Mr..
Eddy once more, and then he lapsed
into unconsciousness.
Mr.. Eddy was lying in life-boat
when he came TO his senses, and
strong men were chatting his benumbed
limbs and pouring brandy down hi.
throat.
Thank heaven, 1 am savedr' h
murmured. But where is the oc
topus?"
There" said the Captain of the life
boat. pointing to the insatiate monster
that writhed in the agonies of death neal
the hawser mainsail of the larboarC
watch.
Mr.. Eddy looked at the hideous Great
ure. 1t was soft-shell crab.-Denrei
Tribune.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
A Curious Canoe.

The gnat builds his egg boat. The
water moth, another little creature,
puts together real canoe. 1t is a very
curious thing, made of bits of straw and
reeds all matted together. 1t is just
the. shape of the caterpillar that lives in
it. The insect breathes with gills just
like fish, and yet can not swim.
So he fastens this straw and grass to-
gether, winding them all around with
his own silk. The body of the cater
pillar is soft and delicate, you know,
and might get hurt If it was left exl
ers it SO carefully, all but his head.
This funny sort of canoe is open al
both ends. 1t is so fixed that when the
grub is tired of sailing he can sink down
upon the sand. Reaching out of the
upper end are his six little feet, with
which he drags his small boat after
him whenever he wants to get his din
ner or put up for the night. After sew
eral days he not only creeps out of this
strange house, but out of his skin, at
the same time taking on moth wings.
Many people call these queer creatures
"laddis worms" If you hunt for them
with your young eyes, you can find these
little nests of stone, and gravel, and
leaves, made by the grubs, though they
are very small. They seem to have
great taste in fixing them. You should
see the houses they make of fresh leaves,
curiously put together. They hang
from their shoulders like so many wings.
They are even more like a bud just
ready to open.
These pretty cases of leaves are glned
together, leaving an opening at its top
just large enough for the little creatures
TO put out their head and shoulders when
they want to look about for food; others
of the same species cut pieces of reed
or wood into lengths or strips, and join
them together as they 60 on with their
work. They use certain kind of ce-
ment, which is better able to stand
water than any ever made by man. And
they often finish up the whole by put
ting broad piece, longer than all the
rest, overhead, to shade the doorway,
so that no one shall see them work.
Some of these funny grubs break of
bits of the stems of rushes, which, YOU
know, grow in the water, and weave
| them into sort of round ball. Then
they hang them together on the stem of
some other water plant, making little
| cell in the middle to live in. Some use
tiny shells even, with snails and other
animals alive in them. They keep these
poor things just as if they were in pris-
on, and drag them all about with them.
Our Little Ones.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
Disappearance Of Diseases.

We have all been surprised that ma.
larial fever, after having disappeared
from New England for nearly two CEN
turtles, should return again to it with its
old-time vigor. Formerly leprosy was
known to us mainly through the Bible:
now it is not stranger even to our own
land.
At the present day govt is common
disease only in England. 1t was once
common throughout Europe; and the
skeleton dug from the ashes of Pompeii
show that the Romans were familiar with
its torments. t
Few persons away from the larger
seaports ever saw case of typhus fe-
yer; but once its deadly ravages were
not by any means rare among us. Diph-
iberia seems to us a new disease; but
the most ancient medical writers de-
scribe it in terms exactly applicable to
II now.
Among the modern Turks there is q
deadly disease that begins with fever,
followed soon by "a profuse sweating and
complete prostration, often resulting in
death within few hours.
In the beginning of the sixteenth
century this same disease prevailed in
England five or six times, carrying of
over thirty thousand victims. Queen
Anne Boleyn was attacked by it, but re-
lowered to fall by the ak. Cardinal
Wolsey had four attacks of it. Henry
VIII. shifted his court from place to
place to escape it.
il was then largely limited to En-
gland, and was known abroad as "The
English Sweat" That there was a
rause for tits plain from the manner in
which Erasmus wrote to Wolsey.
Chambers built in such way as to
admit of no ventilation, floors laid with
white clay and covered with rushes, oc-
sasionally removed, but so imperfectly
that the bottom layer is left undis-
turbed, sometimes for twenty years,
harboring expectorations, vomitings.
ale-droppings, scraps of fish and
other denominations not fit to be men.
tioned.r
The Boston Medical and Surgical
Journal adds: 1.-THE narrow streets
were the receptacles for all garbage,
while the surface-sewers slowly rolled
their contents towards an already pol
luted river" Here were the sources of
this disease; but cleanliness and better
habits of living have caused its disap-
pearapce.- xoutfs Companion.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
HUMOROUS.

AN Oil City choir at rehearsal Sat-
urday night ran over the ''Hallelujab
Chorus" The music escaped unin-
jured.-Ou City Derrick.
"A railroad conductor is about the
only man in the world to whom is in.
trusted the privilege of making time.
Almost anybody can kill time.
-Digby has been working hard al
Italian all winter, and resolves to try q
little on newly-arrived immigrant:
Parlate Italiano, Signor? Immigrant:
Arrah! now, what are We givin' us?-
Life.
"A clergyman asked some children;
"Why do we say in the Lords Prayer,
who art in Heaven since God is ev-
erywhere?" A little drummer boy an
swered: because it's headquarters. y
n. Y Tribune.
"A plant has been found that cures
bashfulness. 1t should be promptly
tried on the man who leaves the hotel
by the back window because he is toe
diffident to say goodbye to the cashier
and clerk. = Chicago Tribune.
-"What do you suppose rlllook like
when | get out of thisP' Indignantly
inquired a fashionably-dress young
lady of conductor of fearfrIlly over
crowded tram-car the other day. "a
good deal like crushed sugar, Miss"
said the conductor. And the lady stood
up and rode four streets further with
the smile of an angel.
The next cyclone that passes over
the country will be the ''sweet girl
graduate" Its path will he as wide as
the continent. and its force will be such
that youthful hearts now whole will be
pulveriZed. The affair will appear as
funnel-shaped cloud of white muslin,
large end down and upper end banged.
Pittsburgh Telegraph.
Mr.. Utta S. Thete was wandering
through a wood the other day. He
stopped before fine cluster of huge
trees, and, striking sentimental atti-
tude, thus soliloquized: "How sooth-
fully soulful! how sublimefully utter!'
Suddenly Mrs. Shillinga Pound, a
butchers wife, whom he had not OBJ
served standing near, replied: cay,
what grand butchers blocks they'd
make" Utta S. Thete staid long
enough to utterly utter one soulful
throatful scream of horror, and then
vanished. Post.
To remove varnish from the piano.
legs, let the children play in the parlor.
Never clean your teeth with sand
paper, as the sand is apt to make the
gums sOre.-Never attempt to black
your boots with scrubbing-brush; il
has tendency to ruin the leather
Don't throw away your broomsticks. A
broomstick is splendid thing to train
sunfower ITO keep flies off a bald
head during sermon, the head should
be well saturated with kerosene before
going to church.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
PERSONAL AND LITERARY.

President Buchanan graduated from
college when he was only fifteen years
Did.
Thomas McElrath, who founded the
New York Tribune with Horace Gree
ley, lives in an humble way at Harlem.
William G. Rich, for ten years past
Secretary, and at times acting Gov
ernor, of New Mexico, has been
carpenter, an editor, soldier and a
lawyer.
Charles Sprague Pearce, the Bos-
ton artist who has received the medal
Of the Paris Exhibition, is less than
TWENTY-FIVE wears old, and is almost TN
invalid because of weak lungs-Boston
Post
Ernest Longfellow, the poets SON,
has made selection Of twenty OF his
fathers poems, which he will illustrate:
The subjects are mostly landscapes, and
the pictures will be made of the scenes
themselves.-M y Post.
Don Piatt is living quietly on his
farm at Mac-a-Check, Ohio. He suffers
greatly from an affection of the liver,
and as this prevents his participation in
big dinner occasionally, his life is any
thing but pleasant one Chicago
NeWS.
John A. Campbell, of New Orleans,
is regarded by many as the first Of
American lawyers. He is very old
man, and was on the bench of the United
States Supreme Court when the war
broke out, and he went with the Con.
federates. He lives very quietly, sur.
rounded by one of the finest law libra
ries in all languages in the world.-Chi
cdgo Journal.
Annie Louise Cary seems to be in
earnest when she says she loves her hus
band more dearly than she loves hel
art. She has refused to sing at the frs
Brooklyn Philharmonic concert, al
though in fine voice. The offer wa:
| 81, 000-a sum which she did not seen
to regard as any inducement whatever
She has sung at these concerts every sea
son but one for twenty years. Chicagt
Inter Ocean.
DR. Frederick H. Knapp, DENTS
who died in New Orleans recently, wa.
a native of Chenango, N. Y. He haC
certificates showing that he had at
tended professionally upon Henry Clay
Thomas II. Benton, Charles M. Conrad
Zachariah Taylor, Andrew Jackson
General Santa Anna, and many otheI
distinguished people He was prom
inent Mason, and took the thirty-thirt
degree twenty-eight years ago.-M Y
Times.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
woman. .'and I couldn't 60 back cause

woman, land I couldn't go back cause
the house got lost"
When the terrified mother had assured
herself that her darling was safe and
sound, when the little woman was
eagerly crowding her withered flowers
into her tin cup, the father looked ND
from his dinner to say:
Curious how / happened to drive by
the park to-day; haven't been that way
In week"
"'Tis His hand that leadeth me-"
sang the little woman over her flowers.
The father looked at the mother and
nodded
MAY be-" he said. thoughtfully.-
Emily Huntington Miller, in S. s.
Times.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
WITH FRESH YOUNG EYES.


How fair and sweet the earth appears
How blue and bright the skies,
How wide the scope.
How full OF hope
To fresh young eyesl
From them the roses hide their thorns,
For them the world herself adorns
Each year anew, new charms displays
To captivato their youthful gaze.
Tho homoly and familiar scenes
which we but notice 10 despiso
Always possess
some loveliness
To fresh young eyes.
They sec tho sunlight shining through
The shadows. and obtain View
or charming vistas, and delight
In what is common In our sight.
The world Of fancy. and OF fame
And fortune. 80 alluring. lies,
Mid splcndors gay,
Not far away
From fresh young eyes,
That look with smiling hope aud trust
beyond the valleys nlled with dust;
Nor nj the mountains are dismRycd
That ali the pathways barrioade.
The mist that wells the morning sun
before their sision swiftly flies,
And everywhero
The prospects fair
To fresh young eyes.
Undlmmed by trials and by tears,
Untouched by cares OF later years,
They look abroad on skies serene,
Nor see the clouds that intervene.
All. with what rnpturous delight
All. with what tender, sweet surprise
Earth'a Rlorice burst
Hesplendcnt first
ON fresh young eyesi
What though the false appeared tho trueI
what though the old appeared the new!
'Twore better than 90 be too wise,
And SOC no moro with fresh young eyes.
--.J0sophfns POuGrd, "a ". \. Ledger.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27
Our Young Readers.
TWO LITTLE GIRLS.

know O little girl t
(Youl oh. mob
Who, when she's asked to go to bed,
Docs just So
Sac brings dozen wrinkles out
And takes the dimples in;
She Fuckers up her pretty lips
And then she does begin:
"Oh dear me! don't see whyl
All the others sit up late.
And why can't II"
Another little girl know,
With curly pate,
Who says: when I'm great big girl
But mamma says twill make me grow
To be an early bird" -
So she and dolly trot away
without another word.
Oh, the sunny smile and the eye so blue
And-why, yes, now think of il,
She looks Ike poI.
-Yotitfs Companion.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27

The question of building a bridge
across the Mississippi River 1T Memphis
Is revived. IL Is believed such an outlet
would make Memphis leading city of
the South. II is claimed by its promot-
ers that a solid rock bottom in the river
has been found on which to build the
bridge. but how deep down has not
been stated. A bridge at Memphis
would be a very important thing for
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27

"A man named Schelling. in Tai
botsville. is suffering from trichin@,
from eating ham. Here is an excellent
opportunity to quote the old saying.
."Too much pork for q Schelling, but
there are limits. even in pumping
Norristotca HeraEd.
Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-27

nc lhNehJeu the enNelOpc, which he cut
with the aid Of metal plates made for
the purpose
The stocking loom was brought into
use by an accident. which Is commem-
GRATED in picture belonging 10 the
Framework Knitters' Company. Near
ly two hundred years ago William Lee.
n student of Cambridge University, was
expelled for marrying. contrary to the
college His wife was poor and helped
him by knitting stockings. Sitting
watching the motion of her fingers, the
idea struck him of some device to facili-
tate her work, and the ingenious stock
ing-frame was the result OF mis- thoughts.
In handwriting polished steel needles OF
wires are used TO link threads together in
a series Of loops closely resemblingthose
In tambourinQ. In framework knit
ting one person can manage a large
number of needles at once. Bill Lees
machine led 10 the circular rotary
hosiery machine. which is to-day such
q power In manufacture.
A girl combing her hair led 10 the
discovery Of n combing-machine for
long-staple cotton. Joshua Heilman
was \ cotton manufacturer at Mulhouse,
IN Alsace. and for a number Of years
he studied 70 invent q machine for card
ing long-staple cotton He spent a
great deal Of money in models and
making experiments, and at last was
one day watching his daughters comb
their hair. and noticed how they drew
the long tresses between their fingers
alternately without drawing the comb
through them. Why could he not
invent machine which combined
this two-fold action. so as 10 comb out
long fibers Of cotton and drive back the
shorter by reversing the action Of the
| oombe This new idea be at once SCI
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17
An Oriental Fable.

A prominent citizen of Bagdsd who
was a candidate for a certain political
Office, was badly beaten 1T the polls by
one whom we will designate as Brown.
The next day the defeated candidate
strolled into a saloon where he owed q
considerable bill, and with an air of
deep detection, called for tOddy. After
drinking il he remarked to the barkeeper,
Don't you feel sorry that / was defeat
ed Yesterday Not a blamed bit" re-
piled the vivacious saloon-keeper. "But,
don't you see, if had been elected /
could have paid you my bar bill, but now
you will have TO wait On me a spell.
'Yes, that's all right enough" said the
saloon-keeper, ''but If you had been
elected Brown would have been defeated,
and Brown owes me twice as big bar bill
as YOURS Great heavens! Can this
be true? Alas, too late have discovered
the secret of Browns popularity! He
probably owes all the saloons and every
body in town, and they were all anxious
to get their pay. Give me another tOddy.
I'll try and make up for lost time, and
when the next election comes off I'll be
neck and neck with him, if not little
ahead. d."-PerSidR Poet.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

OYSTER BUsINEss.-0ver at Shoalwater
Bay the oystering business, at which
little has been done during the past seven
years, is again assuming business-like
appearance. About seven or eight years
ago the oysters began dying, owing to the
fresh water being backed up too high.
Before thatthe oysters were splendid and
there were schooners plying between
ShOalwater Bay and San Francisco car
rying thousands of sacks of oysters In a
very short time, as they only were to be
tonged and sorted, sacked and shipped.
But for some time past they have been
taken from the natural beds, culled and
transplanted. After a little time they
fatten. and are tonged again, culled and
shipped. There is not as much profit IN
oysters now as when they could be taken
50 easily, but the business bids fair to re-
vive. The Miles has brought cger an
immense quantity this season, most of
which Were shipped to Portland and San
Francisco.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

SAN Francisco FREIGHTs.-To show
the anomalous condition of the wheat
export movement, il is only necessary TO
say that though we are in the midst of
an active season of the year, there have
been only two ship charters written for a
full week. These were wooden vessels
which accepted the equivalent of 32s Cd
direct TO Liverpool. Five iron ships have
come IN during the week that were char
tered months ago at 55.57s Cd and Cos,
three of them at the last named figure.
One of these was subsequently recharter-
ed before arrival at 40s, which is as
much as any vessel now in port could get
to-day. Many thousands of dollars
have been lost in the past four or FIVE
months on charters made prior to arrival.
OF the forty-five vessels now in port un-
der engagement for wheat, 16 were char
tered before arrival at from los to 2Os
more than they could get to-day. This
proportion of vessels engaged prior to ar
rival has been about the same all
through the season. One of the vessels
now in port has a charter of 62s Cd.
The bitter experience this year will re-
tract on the tonnage market next year.
Bulletin.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

ALL DIsTRIBUTED.-The. young carp
sent out by the fish commission have all
been distributed. A regular run on the
car was organized yesterday and so great
was the demand that Mr.. Moore was
obliged 10 reduce the number furnished
each applicant to twenty-five. This forms
an illustration of the benefits of the fish
commission, which, by furnishing young
fish free of cost, can stock every frog
pond in the country, whereas if the pub
lie were required to pay for the carp the
ponds might long continue to produce an
annual crop of tadpoles and mosquitoes.
-OregOHida 16.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

RETRENoHMENT.-Ladies are being em-
ployed in the railroad offices in place of
men who were recently discharged or re-
signed. A large number of clerks are
being let out all along the line. The
Vest Shore and Willamette Farmer are
also dropped as advertising mediums.
The spirit of retrenchment in the COM
pany is pretty lively.-Stdnddrd
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17
Notice 10 the Ladies'.

Switches made from cOmbings or cut
hair; new switches made to order from
the best imported hair, in any shade de
sired. Old switches repaired. All
work warranted. Rates reasonable.
Call or address
UHLENHART de SCHoENHE,
Occident hair dressing saloon, Astoria,
Oregon.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

No FATTED CALF TINS TnIE.-When G.
H. Bailey absconded sometime ago he
told his creditors and his employer whose
money he had stolen that he had $1,000
in Stockton, Cal. and that his father and
brother in San Francisco, would make
brother now say, each for himself, that
enough has been already done for the
young man. A requisitiOn for his arrest
was received from Salem last evening.
and the probabilities are that if all the
charges against him are true he viii tarry
in Oregon at the public expense.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

OREooS NExT.-"Wen," said lady on
reading in yesterday mornings Historian
the news that Washington Territory has
had the manliness to give women the
right to vote, ''it does seem to me that
that is what should have been done in
Oregon years ago." The time is coming,
and that soon, when Oregonians will not
be kept from voting because of sex.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17

He Was HEELED.-It is now asserted,
says the Standard. that the reason Chief
Watkinds did not arrest Besser the other
night for pocketing that Chapman mort
gage was that Besser had two navy revol-
vers on him and an Arkansas toothpick
down his back, and had also four United
States jurors in the room to see fair play.
The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-17
Notice.

Dinner at u EFF'S- CHOP HOUSE
every day at O'Clock. The beSt25 cent
meal in town: soup, fish, seven kinds Of
meats, vegetables, pie, pudding, etc. 4
glass Of 5. +. Beer, French Claret, tea q
coffee included. All who have tried
him say JEFF is { lac BOSS