davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
HOW WOODEN SPOOLS ARE MADE.

The birc,, erst sawed into sticks four
or five i-at iJng and seven-eigths of an
inch to three inches square, according to
the size of the spool to be produced.
These sticks aIe thoroughly seasoned.
They are sawed into short blocks and the
blocks are dried in hot air kiln. At the
time they are sawed a hole is bored
through them One whirl Of the little
block against sharp knives shaped by q
pattern, makes the spools at the rate of
one per second A small boy feeds the
spool machine, simply placing the blocks
in spout and throwing out the knotty or
defective stock. The machine is auto
matte, but cannot do the sorting. The
spools are revolved rapidly in drums and
polish themselves For some purposes
they are dyed yellow, red or black. They
are made in thousands of shapes and sizes
When one sees on a spool of thread 100
yards or 1900 yards these words do
not signify that the thread had been
measured, but the spooi has been gagged
and is supposed to contain so much thread
When silk or linen or cotton firm wants
spool made, it sends a pattern to the
spool-maker. This pattern gives the size
and shape of the barrel and the head and
bevel. These patterns determine the
amount of thread that the spool will hold.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
THE OLD MoDoc WARRIORS.

Travellers over tho Vinita branch Of tho
Frisco Railroad will doubtless remem.
Der the little village ofSenecn, nestled in
ugly ravines, about $40 miles soulhwe st
of st Louis, and lying Immediately on
The line dividing Missouri from the in.
dian Territory. Within four miles of ihe
depot now reside all that are loft of lhe
Modocs. They arrived at Camp Modoc
(as their reservation was named) ten years
ago, numbering al told 1856 souls. For
eight years there ms small annual de-
crease in their numbers until they fell
below 100, counting men, women and
children. Their present strength il 1O0.
The reservation consists of 4 900 acres,
surveyed into forty-acre lots Taken as
whole it is fine tract of land, ell. rae
ing prairie, timber, upland for farming,
low valley land for hay and pasturnge,
with an abundance of living water for
stock good well water wherever Welt
have been dug, and stone sufficient for
the necessities of the tribe. The timber
is also heavy enough for saving aud lum-
bering purposes. Game was formerly
plentiful, but is lattelly growing scarce
and wild. Princess Mary, sister to the
notorious Capt Jack, is the only living
blood relation he now has among the
Modocs. Allhis children are dead. One
of his wives is now here, an old, ill-fav-
ored squaw, childless without relatives
or the slightest tribal influence
Scarface Charley is a medium-sized
man of about fifty, quick and nervous in
manner. He was working at thesawmill,
rolling logs to the carriage and spring
ing about as lively as cricket, talking,
grinning end e biting fine flow of
animal spirit. 1 ia now chief of the
tribe and not "a lie proud of his pro-
motion. The Office exists mainly in name,
however. The young men no longer re-
spect the authority of chief, and Char
ley wisely attempts to exercise none He
is scrupulously honest in his dealings
with white men, has fair knowledge of
figures, and can compute the value of
load of corn or his purchases at a storo
readily and accurately.
Steamboat Frank is perhaps the most
notable man among the Modocs. He
lives in good two-roomed frame house
toward the north end of the reservation.
]. is well finished, painted and furnished.
Outside on block stood a clean, bright
tin wash basin and a piece of soap The
school has an enrolment of seventeen
scholars, these being all the children of
school age in the tribe Between thirty
and forty Modocs have embraced Christi
anity, and are doing as well as white peo-
pie could in their condition. The expert
ment of assisting the Modocs has proven
one of the most satisfactory in the history
OF the Indian Department
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
CAIRO by NIGHT.

At every fifty yards or SO blaze huge
bonfres of sulphur and tar, one instant
lighting up the street clear as day, as a
mass of fame shoots into the air, and
leaving it dark as pitch in the next, as
fresh fuel is thrown on and volumes oi
sulphurous smoke roll forth. The town
has deserted look, and few people are
seen about the streets. Here a couple OF
Arabs with their long falling robes move
silently along, there a patrol of English
police mounted OH their big English
horses, clank down the centre of the road.
At the door of Brasserie or cafe sits one
of the mattresses, exchanging few words
with some French or Italians.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
ANECDOTE OF DORE.

1t is said that Gustave Dore, many
years ago, while on a tour in Switzerland,
happened to lose his passport Arriving
at Lucerne, he asked to be allowed to
speak to the Mayor, to whom he gave his
name You say that you are M. Gus
tave Dore, replied the Mayor, "and l
believe you; but" he added, producing
a pencil and piece of paper, "you can
easily prove it, Dore looked around
him and saw some women selling pota-
toes in the street With few touches
he reproduced the scene, and putting his
name to the sketch, gave it to the Mayor.
"Your passport is perfectly in order, y
remarked that official, "but you must
allow me to keep it as souvenir and to
offer you in return one in the ordinary
form"
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
PERILOUS LEAPS.

Curious as it may seem, it is not gener-
ally known by theatre audiences that the
"perilous leaps" terrific scaling of
precipices, and other similar feats which
fall to the lot of the hero or heroine of the
play are in almost every case performed
by dummy. Thus, it is not the prima
donna, who, in LA Sonambula," walks
in her sleep across the bridge at the back
of the stage, nor in the Romance of n
Poor Young Man is it the leading man
who takes the flying leap from a tower,
but in each case carefully dressed dummy
whose bones are not particularly precious.
They tell this story of a "Mazeppa" per-
formance in the old days, which shows
how this theatrical trick sometimesresults.
A celebrated star was playing the piece,
and had a circus rider made up to look
like him to do the riding. OF course the
audience supposed the rider to be tho
star. In those days the runs up the
mountains were elaborately arranged, and
the fight of the wild horse was q startling
incident. One night the horse fell with
the rider, crashing from the flies to the
stage. The curtain was rung down, and
presently the star was led before it, stag
gering as though badly injured, and said
that, in spite of the fall, he would endeavor
to finish the play. And he did SO, amid
frantic applause The poor circus-rider
lay in the hospital four weeks.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
WINE FROM R.iIsINs.

The beverage made in France from
raisins and sold as the juice of the grape
has been SO harshly condemned as pois-
onous decoction that it is pleasant to bo
told by writer in the Republique Fran
caise, who seems to possess accurate
knowledge of the subject, that it is in
fact harmless and agreeable beverage.
The fruit comes directly from the Grecian
Archipelago or Asia Minor. 1t is placed
in wooden tubs with water heated by
steam. Fermentation begins almost i'm
mediately and lasts from eight to ten
days. AT this stage of the process the
liquid is of light color, like Moselle
wine and good deal of it is sent into
the French departments of the Muerthe
and the Vosges, where, after having
simply been filtered, it is sold as the wine
of the country. At the next stage of
manufacture it is passed through closely
woven cloth to free it from impurities,
and little alcohol is added 1t is then
colored with some harmless preparation,
the one most used being made from the
lees of fresh grapes. 1t can be sold
wholesale for about fifteen cents a gallon,
and is no doubt much better worth drink
ing than some of the decoctions forwhch
people are willing to pay much higher
price, ppo5ing them to be the pure
juice of the grape.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
Items of Interest.

Oscar Wilde tells the few people who
listen to his lectures on America that
San Francisco was built by the Chinese
Russia borrows money ut six per cent,
Greece at five per cent, while the United
States pays but three per cent. per an
mum.
Enormous quantities of oranges are
produced in Paraguay. They me sold at
fifty cents bushel aud fed to pigs and
cattle, and are used for distillotion,
Since the year 1850 sixteen barone!-
cies and thirty-four knighthoods have
been conferred upon the physcians and
surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.
Investigations of the statistics of sui
eide show that hanging is the method
most commonly chosen by self-murler-
ers, drowning next and shooting and stab
bing next.
The Great Pyramid contains $500, 600
stones, weighing on an average two and
half tons each. The granite beams of
the kings chamber weigh between fifty
and sixty tons.
Chewing gum is now made from wax
obtained from petroleum. Two hundred
pounds of wax, thirty pounds of sugar,
and some tlavoring will make about TO-
900 penny cakes.
AT Werden (Westphali,4 an aged pris-
oner was at his urgent request granted
permission to be taken to the railway
station in order to see locomotive aud
train for the first time.
The bread-fruit tree grows very slow Il.
The specimen at Kew is but n foot and
half high, although it is eighty years
old. Some of those found in the tropics
are forty feet high and thirty feet in di-
ametsr.
Aquatic birds outnumber the land
birds, because their food never fails, not
because they are more prolific. The full
mar-petrel lays but one egg, yet it is be-
lieved to be the most numerous bird in
the world.
In the whole Russian Empire of nearly
100, OOO 600 persons there are only 71G
journals and periodicals of all kinds.
Eighty-two of these are Government gaz-
cites and fortyfour are organs of the
official ecclesiastical authorities.
Lombard street, London, was named
for certain usureri who came to England
in 1899 to lend money to converts, COM
mnnities and private persons who Were
not able to pay their tenths, which were
collected very carefully that year.
During the last seven years man has
killed about 900 wild beasts in mdie,
and the wild beasts have killed 2s 900
men and l5, 900 cattle. AS the wild ami
mails increase much faster than men the
reference is unpleasantly obvious
1t has been found that cities are really
much warmer than the open country near
them, and that it is not altogether fash
ion nor the influence of imagination
which sends persons into the country in
the summer and calls them back to town
in the Autumn
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
EARLY RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.

To us many of the metaphysical points
connected with the Trinitarian controversy
and the nature Of God are uninteligible,
as they are untranslatable into English,
or even Latin. The endless disputes
about the meaning of the words "Father, "
"Son," "begotten, unbegotten, of a
like nature "Homoiousios," and of the
same nature Homoousios," ragged in
every little public house in Alexandria
Men were more eager about it than the,
are about Popory, or ritualism, or any
other ism of our day Gregory or Nyssa
records how, when you went to ask the
price of bread, the baker seemed quite off
his head, and would answer, "The Son
arose out of r7thing." Or, when you in,
quired if 'oll lath was ready, the bewil
dered slave would observe that the "Son
was subordinatetoth to the Father Mobswent
about the streeGs shouting for the HON
oiousion," and broke the heads OF the
mobs whom they met shouting for the
Homoousic- The Emperor's statues
were thrown down, and the peaceable in
habitants complained bitterly TO the con-
stabulary that breaches of the peace took
place, with implmity, and that quiet folk
onnld hardly 80 about unmolested
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
HABITS or sIBFRIANs.

Many of the habits and customs of these
people are very singular. Along with
much rudenoss and simplicity, they have
a high degree Of ingenuity. At night, for
instance, an Ostaik can tell the time very
accurately by Judging the position of the
Great Bear and as this constellation Is
constantly varying with the season, the
operation involves on the part of the
Ostaik q calculation of some magnitude.
In common with all barborous and semi
barbaric races, they manifest great dex-
terity in the use of weapons In shooting
small animals such as squirrels, hares,
etc, for the sake of their furs, care is
taken that the animal shall be struck on
the head only and in this the natives
seldom fail, even though their rifles are
very clumsy in construction. With the
bow and arrow, which is the weapon most
in use, they are equally dexterous
Their method of catching salmon, as de-
'cribed by a Cossack officer who witnessed
it, is peculiar, In marching through the
country at the head of detachment, he
encamped one evening on the banks of n
river and on the following morning be
observed one of the natives walk to a
pool near at hand, into which he waded
and then stood motionle5s rs statue,
his spear poised aloft and his keen eye
fixed on the water before him. Not q
movement indicated that life inhabited
the figure, until, with lightning rapidity,
the spear was launched forward and as
quickly withdrawn, fine salmon quiver-
ing on its barbed point. Three times in
twenty minutes was the operation per-
formed, and each time fish rewarded
the natives skill And yet their clever
ness is but slightly applied to the arts of
life. The Tungooses, for instance, use
bear and reindeer skins to form their
beds but as they have never discovered
the art of tanning, these articles when
not in use are buried beneath the snow,
by which means the hair is prevented
from falling off This same tribe, too,
are remarkably i,nprovidcnt they will
consume nearly a weeks provisi ons in
one night, and go hungry the remaining
six days. Over against this, however,
must be placed their detestation of rob
berry, which is regarded by them as an
ain
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
"A HOME.


Degpite the popular opinion to the con.
irary, families rarely join the Mutual Ad-
niration Society as TO one another. In
what Miss Bremen calls 80 beautifully
,ho lhuermost people are apt TO be any
hing butheroes and heroines Relatives
yrow accustomed to each Others charms
md talents, and we believe Sir Charles
tran1ison, the hero of novel write in
ne days of Franklins apprenticeship,
Is perhaps the only brother, even of
hat date. who constantly informed his
listers that "their charms were only
'qualled by their sensibility" Usually,
1t home, Apollo Belvidere would not be
considered particularly handsome, nor
solomon much wiser than anybody else
nd perhaps job might be spoken of as
.nying made quite enough fuss about
hose boils of his, and asked if he could
y to he more patient. In fact, if peo-
ui' wont to be admired they must exhibit
.ham selves to strangers "Our folks"
ne not the people TO flatter vanity to any
reat degree. Yet, after all, home is the
olly place whore love dwells, where poo
pie really care whether you live or die.
where you have help and sympathy il
real trials. Though the world should
ring with your name, the announcement
of your death would be read without
sigh, between two mouthfuls of toast, by
your most ardent admirers and those
who call you charming or delightful who
ore $50 happy" to see you, who are hon
ored or hattered by your notice should
You achieve some reputation, would per-
hips be chiefly interested in the fact that
through somebody's indiscretion they
had ac5ually found out your full age;
while those who never battered you would
lament you forever. There is, after ALL
10 place like home.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
HEATHEN CHINEE TELEGRAPH.

Owing to the peculiarity of the Chinese
each of which represents
word, not letter, as in our Western
tongues, the Danish Telegraph Company
(the Great Northern) working the new
Chinese lines have adopted the following
device There are from 5000 to 5000
characters or words in the ordinary Chi
nese language, and the company have
provided a wooden block or type for each
Of these. On one end OF this block the
character is cut or stamped out and on
the other end is number representing
the character. The clerk receives mes
age in numbers, and takes the block of
each number transmitted and stamps with
the opposite end the proper Chinese char
acter on the message form. Thus Chi
nese message sent in figures is translated
into Chinese characters again and for
warded to its destination. The sending
clerk, of course, requires to know the
numerical equivalent of the characters or
have them found for him.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
ANCIENT PRICE OF LABOR.

In the year 1852, 25th Edward Ill, the
wages paid to haymakers were penny a
day. A mower of meadows threepence a
day or fivepence an acre. Reapers OF
corn in the first week of August, two
pence in the second threepence day
and SO on till the end of August, without
meat, drink OF other allowance, finding
their own tools For threshing quarter
of wheat or rye, twopencc -halfpenny a
quarter of barley, beans, peas or oats,
three-halfpence. A master carpenter,
master mason, fourpence day; other
masons, threepence, and their servants
5hree-halfpence day. Tilers, threepence
and their "knaves" &. 9, laborers) three
halfpence. Thatchers, threepence day,
and their knaves three -halfpence. Plas-
terers and other workers of mud walls,
and their knaves, in like manner, with.
out meat or drink, and this from Easter
to Michaelmas and from that time less,
according to the direction Of the JUS
tees
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
One forgives everything to him who
forgives himself nothing.


Although the existence of kerosene oil
in several provinces of Japan is said to
have been known for 1900 years, the jap
anese did not know how to refine it until
about ten years ago, At present, how
ever, refining establishments are SPRING
ing up rapidly, and its manufacture is
becoming an important industry.
One of the novelties in London is the
literary bracelet 1t is made of twelve
tiny books (silver or gold, attached to
each other by double chain. Each lit
tie book bears the enamelled name of a
favorite poet or novelist There are also
musical bracelets of the same model, only
they of course have the names of operas
or composers.
L. r. Peek states that there are impor-
tant differences in the composition of hot
springs of Iceland and of New Zealand
The hot mud wells of Iceland contain so
II uch copper that several companies have
been formed to work them commercially,
while the New Zealand mud springs are
so full of infusoria that in times of fam
inc the natives sustain life on a d ct con-
sisting chiefly of mud.
In 1881 Mr.. Frank Berry, of Eaaloy,
S. c., picked and packed a bale of cost N
at his gin and placed a note inside The
bale, requesting the man who manufac-
tured the cotton to inform him what he
made of it, etc. Recently Mr. Berry ro-
ceiyed letter from France in which he
was informed that his note had been
found and that the cotton had been male
into twist. Inc manufacturer requesto
Mr., Berry to write and inform him how
much he received for the cotton hore,
and whether ii was of the first or second
picking.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
a POISONOUS PLANT.

"Toloachi, says Fannie b. Ward, in
letter from Mexico, grows everywhere
III Mexico, but more thriftily in the trop-
ical lDwltnds Of the terra caliente. It is
a ih.nle % looking plant much resemb-
ling northern milk-woad, and quite too
dangerously convenient III a land where
,,spicion rules aud jealousy amounts to
A4aJnass. 1t does not kill, but acts i'm
ma,hatnly upon che brain, producing
i.rat, violent III anity aud then hopeless
idVcy. 1t is whispered that poor Car
LISA had hardly landed at Vera Cruz, on
har sOrrowful mission to this country.
before some of it was administered to her,
and her deplorable fate is cited as one
among many instances. OF all tho dan
gers in Mexico this is one of the most
appalling. Any political enemy, or jeal-
GUS rivll, or offended servant, may thus
revenge himself in more fiendish man
her than with the stiletto, and without
fear of detection few drops of this
tasteless white fluid, mixed with milk or
other food does its diabolical work with
inexorable certainty, and can only be de-
tected by its gradual results"
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

From large number of exp~rn"a D
with the antenn@ OF insects, Mr u j. -.
Porter is led to conclude ~ that the an
tennm are not the organ of any one or of
any combination of what we call the five
senses-hearing, seeing smelling, touch
ing, and tasting % that the power of
direction does not io in the autennR,
and (3) that the anlenn 0e Ihe organ Oh
some sense not posseAse.. i as.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

Recent experiments in GermVn schools
lave shown that the difficulty of reading
black letters on Il white ground compared
70 that of reading white ON black ground
is rs l2i 10 40j and, therefore, the slate
aud the blackboard will probably fall into
disuse in tha empire
The Necobr ISLANDERS have such q
ra'sion for tai, White hats with black
bona that tnd3ts who visit with them
cr3 specimen ot this headgear instead
Of the .ri-k5ts Usually lear to the noble
aasa The pr.ca Of tall hat is from
: .Y-iya to sixty live cocoanuts.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

During the night Of Nov. II the snow
in the valley of Storelvdal, in Central
Norway, (between 81 and 60 degrees
north lattitude,) was covered with layer
of black and giay dust of probable vol
canic origin.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04
Scientific.

A London steam boiler company lights
up the interior of boilers in such way
that the little cascades, currents, and
whirlpools in the water in the course of
steam formation may be all observed.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

The Building Ne1os, speaking of the
results of the researches of Schliemann,
says that the Greek story of Lion accords
with the discoveries at Hissarik, and the
conclusion is inevitable that the Homeric
Troy could have been on no other site.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

DR.. c. H. Yelvington asserts that the
copperhead never bites when coiled up,
but will throw the middle of his body into
long, almost rectangular, curves, and
with his head and an inch or SO of the
neck slightly elevated above the ground
is ready to defend himself.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

The great moments Of life are but mo-
ments like the Others. Your doom is
spoken in word or two. A single look
from the eyes, a mere pressure of the
hand may decide it ; or of the lips, though
.aey cannot speak.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

AS an inducement to the greater utiliza-
ton of buttermilk in bread making, it is
stated that it contains four to five per cent
of milk sugar and ! per cent. of mineral
salts, and that after settling for cheese
making it also contains one per cent of
heterogeneous matter and nearly as much
OF butter fat.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-01-04

From the observations taken at Colon
by the engineers engaged on the Panama
Interoceanic Canal, NJ. de Lesseps finds,
according to his paper read before the
Academy of Sciences Paris, on Nov. 26,
that the great earthquake wave caused by
the recent disturbances at Java would
appear to have made its way across the
Indian and Atlantic Oceans, round the
Cape of Good Hope, to the east coast
of Central America in about 30 hours.