davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

One of the latest inventions enables a
person to light gas. jets by an electric
battery contained in u small portable
tube.
An English naturalist asserts that tn"
hedgehog mo be poisoned, neither
strvchnine, arsenic nor prussic acid having
any effect upon it.. 1t eats addcrs, re-
CARELESS of their cnomo fangs.
The cottonwood is beng largely
planted on the ~trcclcss ranges of the far
West. Its wood is of but little value,
bat the growth is rapid and furnishes
protection to trees of greater value. 1t
is much used as a shelter to timber.
Or. Luigi Volpe estimates that there arc
in Italy at present 1000, 600 COWS, which
annually produce 3S4, 900, 600 gallons OF
milk, of which onc-third is employed as
food for calves, one-third is consumed III
the natural condition, while the remain
ing 12G. 600, 900 are devoted to the manu-
facturc of butter and cheese, and for this
purpose have a value of S24. 400, 600.
A rccnt writer on the emotions Of in.
! IiulS SAYS Cul IOSilN Silo"S llSCll IN III
ute Il child begins to take interest in
other things beside its food; and when,
though it still carries everything to its
mouth, it does so merely because the
tongue is the finest as we'll rs the most
exercised organ of touch. At this stage
the child handles things, looks at them
closely, pulls them to pieces, and SO in
playing instructs himself.
What cannot be made out Of paper is
something which cannot yet be safely de-
cidcd. \ Hartford Conn., man has
lately taken out patents for devices by
which very beautiful and substantial
carpets can be made of paper at prices
much lower than the cost Of common
cotton mating. This new fabric even
seems to have qualities entirely superior
to ordinary carpets. 1t can be doctorcd
50 as to resist water, fire and insects
without losing any Of the soft elegance
which is common to fine wooden carpets.
! So saycth the inventor and his friends.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
Boiled md Raw Milk.

W. Matticu Williams says in l1p"hI
.Scicn.ce MonthIy: The cookery Of milk is
very simple, but by no means unimpor-
tant. That there is an apprcciablc differ
ence between raw and boiled milk may
be proved by taking equal quantities of
each thc boiled sample having been al
lowed to cool DOWN, adding them to
equal quantities of the same infusion of
coffee. then critically tasting the mix
lures. The difference is sufficient to have
long since established the practice among
all skillful cooks of s%crupulously using
boiled milk for making cafe au lalt.
have tried a similar experiment on tea
and find that in this case the cold milk IS
preferable. Why this should be, why
boiled milk should be better for coffee
and raw milk for tea, | can not tell. II
any of my readers have not done so al
ready, let them try similar experiments
with condensed milk, and l have no doubt
that the verdict of the majority will be
that it is passablc with coffee, but very
Objectionable in tea. This is milk that
has been very much cooked.
The chief dctinablc alteration effected
by the boiling of milk is the coagulation
of the small quantity of albumen which
it contains. This rises rs it becomes
solidiicd, and forms a skin-like on
the surface, which may be lifted with 4
spoon and eaten, as it IS perfectly whole
some and very nutritious.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
His Evil Eve.

The Due d'Aosta, brother of King Hum
bert, is declared to be q jcttatore, OF pos
SCISSOR of the evil eye. When he first
wished to marry the Duchesse de Ia Cis-
tcrna his negotiations were unsuccessful,
and NJ. Cassinis, president of the cham
Der, who acted for him, blew out his
brains With pistol. Some time after the
Due again tried his luck with the lady
and her family, and, being accepted, he
rode beside her carriage or a public occa-
sion, when his stccd threw him and so
much alarmed her horses that they
plunged and reared and Il catastrophe
was with difficulty averted. When the
due subsequently was on his way to Stu
piniggi, a royal hunting lodge near Turin,
where the marriage was to take place, the
Conte de Castiglionc, one of his suite, fell
dead from his horse, struck down by ap-
poplexy. And when the .princely pair set
out on their wedding journey a balcony
filled with spectators fell, and several
persons were seriously injured. while, to
crown all, at the moment when they set
foot on q steamboat, the boiler burst and
killed a majority of the passengers. The
eye must be rather an inconvenience to
him, to say the cast.-San Francisco Ar-
uoDuuf
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
A LeaD.Year Episode.

The Washington correspondent of the
Philadelphia CaN says: Society, as a sort
OF jest, has dccrccd that any young man
who refuses a leap.year proposal from Il
lady is in honor bound to present her
with Il new silk dress. There are q num-
Der of "old maids in town who have
already accumulated enough silk dresses
to stock Il dry goods warehouse. But
that is not what l desired to say. One
day last week IL young man in society
here paid a visit to a young lady friend.
They were not engaged, but he had
given ample evidence that he would like
to be if he could only muster up sufficient
confidence.
He had been fooling along on the out
side edges Of an engagement for six
months or more, and the lady began to
grow anxious. 1t was one of those cases
where both parties tloundcrcd around in
the sweet mcshcs of love, without ever
coming to an open understanding. On
the evening in question the lady, half in
jest and wholly in earnest, proposed to
him. He said that silks were unusually
high priced, and that if she would be
married at once he would accept. Much
to his surprise, she did accept, and the
couple visited the parsonage OF n neigh
boring clergyman, where the bride pro-
duced the license, showing that her de-
termination wa not a sudden freak of
fancy, and the pair were made man and
wife.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
Ten Million Car Wheels.

"There are more than 10, 900, 600 iron
car wheels in use on American railroads., "
said the master mechanic of II of the
trunk lines, ''and it requires about 52j
ponds of pig iron to make one wheel.
About 1850, 600 wheels arc worn out
every year, and the same number Of new
ones must be made TO take their places.
The iron men are called upon for only a
small proportion Of the 3l2, 500 tons Of
material required for these new wheels,
however, for nearly 200, 900 tons are sup
piled BY the WORKOUT wheels themselves.
Formerly the life of a car wheel was csti-
mated at eight years, but the reduction
of the railroads generally to the standard
gauge, and the improvements in loading
and unloading facilities, have materially
decreased the length of service that a
wheel may be depended on to perform.
The uniformity in guagc keeps cars in
more continuous use, while the decrease
in time of loading and unloading enables
them to be put to more active service
even where they arc run only on short To-
Cal routes.
"Thesc figures do not include the
wheels on palace coaches and the better
class of passenger coaches. The wheels
ON that grade of rolling stock are now
made almost exclusively Of paper. They
are as scrviccablc rs iron, and combine
lightncss with strength, Il great desidera-
tun where speed and economy in motive
power are now of paramount Importance"
Nan J[r]. SuD
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
THE HOME OF THE SOUL
BY q AUTHOR OF THE STAR sPANGLED
RANNpR

BY q AUTHOR OF THE al sPANGLED
BANNER
THE correspondent sending the following
poem to the New York Observer, remarks:
II have never seen 1t in print, but obtained
it through a manuscript copy OF O friend OF
the author, Mr.. Francis 8. Key, and feel sure
I can vouch for its authenticity"
Oh, where can che soul find relief from its
woes,
A refuge Of safety, a home Of reposea
Can earth's highest summit or deepest hid
vale
Give a refuge no sorrow or sin can assailf
No, no, there's no home!
There's no home on earth, the soul has no
Can it leave the low earth, and soar to the
sky,
And seek for a home in the mansions on high
In the bright realms Of bliss q home shall be
And the soul find q rest in its Home Of tho
Heaven.
Yes, yes, there's a home!
There's O home in high heaven, the soul has
Oh. holy and happy its home shall be there,
Free forever from sorrow, from sin and fron
care,
And the loud hallelujahs Of angels shall ris'
To welcome the soul to it's home Of the skies
Home, home, home Of the soul!
The bosom of God is the home Of the soul!
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
His Last Dance.

"Carp" says in one of his Washington
letters to the Cleveland Leader: At the
Ohio reception last week I was standing
beside Col. Dudley, the pension commits
sioncr, when n lady, noticing that he
looked at the hundred couples who were
whirling about in the mazes of Strauss
waltzes with a wistful eye, asked, "Do
you not dance, Colonel ~ "No," was
the reply, with a smile, 81 danced my last
dance just before the battle of Gettys-
burg. A lot of us out on picket duty
and skirmishing about came to an old
Dutch over beside which we found three
buxom German girls baking bread. We
man appearing with a fiddle VIC impro.
vised a dance then and there: 1t was
great fun, and we went into the battle
next day all the better forit. Before the
fight was finished, however, a shot car
ricd off my leg and stopped my dancing
)foreyer.n
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
BenutifuI HarDOr.

One grand picture gallery Sydney pos
scsscs and sufficiently cnjoys-its harbor,
Let none who values his place in any
Australian heart murmcr that he never
heard of Sydney harbor, or hint that ii
has any equal in the world. When | first
sailed on it a gentleman gravely assured
me that, with all its sinuositics, this
harbor, had Il waterfront of 1900 miles.
Deduct about two thousand and you will
be nearer the fact. Deduct a proportions
ute amount of enthusiasm and YOU still
have the sober truth that this harbor,
with its green ~promontorics and %islcts,
its BAYS and hooks and beaches, studded
with shining villas, is of a beauty that
never wcarics the eye. AS, during many
months of the year, fair weather may be
counted on, there are many picnlcs on
the wooded shores and so much room
that none need jostlc each other. On
Sundays there are many excurslonlsts,
but little bathing, the sharks being a
sufficient police force to keep all bathing
inside the palings and hoses provided Mt
various spots, with scrupulous separation
of sexes. M. u. C0nuay.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23

Mr.. Isaac c.. Chapman, druggist, Newburgi
N. Y, writes us: " 1have for the past ten
years sold several gross Of Dr.. VIM. Halls
Balsam for the Lungs. / can say of it what
l cannot say of any other medicine. have
never heard a customer speak Of it but to
praise its virtues in the highest manner. I
have recommended it ina great many cases
of whooping cough, with the happiest effects.
have used it in my own family for many
years; in fact, always have a bottle in the
medicine closet"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
Saved by an AlbatrOss.

The Sidney (Australia) Telegraph says:
A singular story has been relatedto us by
the master of the bark Gladstone, which
arrived there from London. While the
vessel was in latitude forty-two degrees
south and longitude ninety degrees east,
q seaman fell overheard from the star
board gangway. The bark was scudding
along with a rough sea and moderate
wind, but on the alarm of oman over
board :" being given, she was rounded to
and.thc starboard lifeboat was lowered,
manned by the chief officer and four
men. A search for the unfortunate man
was made, but owing to the %roughness of
the sea he could not be discovered; but
the boat stccred to the spot where he was
last seen. Here they found him floating
but exhausted, clinging for dear life to
the legs and wings of a huge albatross.
The bird had swooped down on the man
while the latter was struggling with the
waves and attempted to peck him with
its powerful beak. Twice the bird at.
tackled its prey unsuccessfully, being
beaten off by the desperate sailor battling
with two encmies-the water and the al
ba%tross-both greedy and Unsuitable.
For the third time the huge white form
of the bird lowered over the seaman, pre-
paratory to q final swoop. The bird, eager
for its meal, famed it's victim with its
widespread wings.
Suddenly q thought occurred to him
that the huge form so close to his face
might become his involuntary rescuer.
Quick as thought he reached up and
seized the bird. which he proceeded to
stranglc with all his might. The huge
creature struggled with wings and pad
dies to free itself. In the contest the
sailor was beaten black and blue and
cruelty laceratcd, but he held his own,
and slowly the bird quivered and died.
The carcass tloated lightly on the waves,
its feathers forming a comfortable sup
port for the exhausted man, who had so
narrowly escaped q lingering death. But
another danger awaited him. He was
not much of q swimmer, and the excite
mcnt of the extraordinary conflict began
to tell upon him. He was faint and grew
giddy. But with one arm around the
albatross' body, under the wing, and one
hand clutching the birds feet, the sailor
awaited his chance Of rescue. Presently
he heard his comrades shout from the
boat, and ina few minutes more was safe
on board the bark. though II good deal
shaken and exhausted.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
Slams FlOatfng CAPITAL.

In many points Bankok is more
Venetian than Venice itself, writes Il
traveller. In the queen of the Adriatic-
despite those ''bright strcamlet veins"
about which modern poets make such n
stir-onc can walk through fully two
thirds of the town without being indebted
to the traditional gondola at all. In the
Siamcse Venice it is far otherwise. The
main street is the river, and there are no
side streets at all. Your opposite neigh
Dor lives upon the other bank, and be-
fore calling on him you have to call a
boat. The native children play III the
water as they would play on land else
where, and many of the houses, moored
to posts by short cables Of rattan, rise
and fall with the tide like anchored YES
sells. Indeed, with the exception of II
long struggling road running parallel
with the river along its left bank, the
land might just as well not be there at
all. The approach to this singular place
is as picturesque as itself. Far ont at
sea you dcscry along the eastern horizon
a dim procession of purple shadows,
which, as YOU ncar them, resolve them
selves into bold rocky islets, with green
clumps Of wooding scattered broadcast
over the dark red sternness of their
gloomy cliffs and craggy ridge. One by
one they arc left behind, and 10Y there
begins to rise out of the
smooth sea, far away in front Of
us, something that looks at first
sight like an endless line of soldiers in
battle array. These arc the trees of the
Siamcsc coast. Soon the watera all around
US turns thick and soup-likc, wearing a
deep dive of vcllowish brown, which an
nounccs more plainly than words that we
are approaching the mouth of the ''bcau-
tiful, the pea-soup colorcd river" that
flows by the town of Bankok. All in a
moment the foul beer-colorcd stream and
the low mud banks on either side, and
the long, dark, leathery mangrove leaves,
which culver like snakes tongues in the
rank, white fcvcr-mist that curls up
through them from the rotting depths
below arc transformed into a fairy land.
The broad, smooth river, now bright with
the silver sheen of the moonlight, now
fading INTO Sh0Stly slladow, lorinSa Dach-
ground worthy Of Dante. Here and there
amid the black masses Of forests wrinkles
Il solitary point of fire, showing where
some Siamcsc fisherman has built his lit
tic nest of bamboo and dried grass amid
this strange wilderness, which is neither
land nor water, but q weird chaos of
both. But these lights, and the shadowy
boats that fit past like phantoms ever
and anon, arc the sole tokens of human
life in the depths of this grand and lonely
stiffness, unbroken save by the hollow
rush of the swift, dark current speeding
onward to the sea. BY day this mighty
Jungle would be simply a foul and un-
Wholesome swamp; but by night it is
transformed into Il scene of cnchantment
through the magic of that friendly dark
ness which, like charity or a lawyers wig,
covers Il multitude Of sins.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
HUMOR OF II DAY.
Under o cloud-An umbrella.

Under q ClOuu-hu uIlluTCllu.
One good thing may be said of the
pawnbrokcr-he sticks to his Pledges
EomerciM Journal.
1t doesn't speak much of the size Of q
mans mind when it takes him only q min.
ute to make it up.-New York Graphic.
An English paper says that Americans
are good listeners. Our invention OF the
telephone proves it.-Ne~ York Journal
1t seems strange that q man should
hurt himself when he drops on a side
walk. Down is so soft, you know
Sytings.
Every afliction has it's blessing. The
man with a wooden leg never knows what
it is to have rheumatism in that ankle
CHicago Sun.
A fashion item declares that the long
train is going out of fashion. Let 'em
90 This is the kind of departing train
that no one will care if they do miss
Statesman.
When a young man lays siege to a
young lady, and insists upon her con-
s%cnting to become his wife, she cannot
but confess that he is ga man after her
own heart however heartless she may
appear hicago Sun.
An iceberg 10 miles long was seen by
the steamer Norseman on her way from
Liverpool to New York, and perhaps the
Arctic regions and the north pole, in order
to avoid giving us any further trouble,
are coming down here. Chicago Times.
"My dear" said Mr.. Muckleham to
his wife, "thosc hams l bought the other
day are so badly spoiled they cannot be
eaten" "What q pity" his wife re-
piled. "Guess we'd better send them
out to the charity hospital. "-ArAumsa0
Iinrele'.
As somewhat of an inducement to ANA.
teurs we take this method of announcing
that everyone sending us a poem on
"Spring" this year will receive a pound
of dynamite done up in a beautiful sheet
of colored tissue paper. Now is the time
to get up clubs. = Chicago News.
"Ifyoud don't marry me, he exclaimed,
"Ill take myself out of this hated world
and I'll haunt you as long as you live!'
Said she: cit will he more respectable
than your present haunts. Please stand a
little further off. I never could bear the
smell of alcohol S o soon after tea.-Bos.
ton transcript.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
Fishing for SpOnges.

The sponge trade, according to the re.
port of our consul at Nassau, gives en-
ployment to several thousand persons and
some hundreds of vessels. The sponges
are divided into coarse and fine, of which
the former bring in about five dollars
per hundred weight, and the latter double
that sum. The principal varieties, in
the order of their value, are known as
shccp-wool, white reef, abaco velvet,
dark reef, boat, hard-head, grass, yellow
and glove; and of some of these varieties
there are several grades, designated by
numbers, all being used for mechanical,
Surgical and bathing purposes. Bahama
and Florida spongcs are about equal in
texture and value, but both are inferior
to those of the Mediterranean. Tho YES
sells employed in sponging are small,
with crews of from six to twelve men.
About six weeks provisions arc taken
on board, and they then coast along the
banks and reefs, where the water is
shallow, and generally so clear that the
spongcs are readily seen, and are brought
to the surface by hooked poles, or some
times by diving. When first brought up
they are covered with II soft gleatinous
substance, as black as tar, and full of
organic life, the sponge, as we know it,
being only the skeleton of the organism.
The days catch is spread out on the
deck, 50 as to kill the mass of animal
life, which in dying cmits Il most I'M
pleasant smell. Then the spongcrs 90
ashore and build Il pen, or "crawl," Of
stakes close to the waters edge, SO that
the action of thc'tide may wash away the
black covering. in which it is aided by
pounding the spongcs with sticks. When
this operation is completed the spongcs
are strung upon small palmetto strips:
three or four to Il strip, which is called
ga Bead when they are taken to
Nassau, to be sold in the sponge market
under certain conditions and regulations,
nobody being allowed to sell his cargo
otherwise than through this sponge ex-
change. On the conclusion Of the sale
the spongcs are taken to the packing
yard, where they are sorted. clipped,
soaked in limc-w&ter, and spread out to
dry in the sun. RI are then pressed
by machinery into bales containing one
hundred pounds, and in this state are
shipped to England or the United States.
- MrpY'S Basur.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-23
The Man ut the Window.

You would have said as you looked
MIN over that he was Il man OF fiery tenn
per, and that it would take over two
sass words" to make HIM peel off his
coat and sail in for victory or death, but
you would have been sadly mistaken. lie
wa writing away in his ledger when a
man came in, showed his gas, bill into
the window, and said:
SIS this where they knock Il man down
and rob him."
The man ut the window smiled.
because. it's no more o less than
highway robbery to send ne u bill like
that. Twelve dollars for gas for Janu-
AIRY, and the mcancst kind of gas at
that"
The smile continued.
"Why people will stand such outrag.
cous treatment is Il puzzle to me-" con-
tinued the man, as he flung his money! in
after the bill. 81 never burned six dol
lars worth Of gas last month, and I'll
swear to it"
The rebate was deducted, change
made, and tn" man ut the window passed
it out with Il thank you.
EYES, its robbery" muttcred the
other, land III be hanged if l can't lick
any three gas-mcn in Dctroitw
lie expected Il reply, but none was
given. The smile faded out to some cx-
tent, but perhaps that was because the
pen made Il blot on the ledger.
The next conner was Il short, fat woman
with an eve full of birthstone, and YOU
could see that she was aching for Il riot.
''Can | have my pocket picked in
hcrc!'
lie smiled.
"And robbed of the bread which my
fathcrlcSS children arc crying for?'
He nodded.
".And swindlrd out of money that
have had to work for like y slavc:'
'IcS'm.'
"Oh! thought 50! Here is my gas
bill. 1t is Orcr six dollars.'
lie nodded.
"Do YOU hear Uncover six dollars"
lie heard.
".And | didn't have but one burner
going, and that was shut off for four
straight nights. And can bring twenty
witnesses to yea that the gas was so
po0r that | couldn't read the accounts of
the flood in my newspaper"
lie brushed up his hair and glanced
out of the window.
"rll never pay it! Every one of my
ncighbors has advised me to stand law
suit first"
He drummcd on the desk with his
fingers.
"But I will pay it this n time, as
my sister is sick and l don't want the
lawyers kicking in the doors and climb
ing through the windows"
He held out his hand.
But another time l1l law YOU'LL
law you from Halifax to Itaverstraw be-
fore I'll pay. There's the money"
He made change, whistling softly to
himself, and as she put the bill in her
pocket she snapped out:
Even a grave robbcr ought to have a
little conscience"
But he didn't hear her. lie was figur-
ing at the ledger again.-Detroh Free
Piece