davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
How a Cannon-BaH Sensates.

M. Courthouse, the French savant,
served in Napoleon's army and was
present at many engagements. At the
battle of Wagram, in 1909, he was in
the heat of the fray; the ranks around
him had been terribly thinned by shot,
and at sunset he was nearly isolated.
While reloading his musket he was shot
down by a cannon-ban. His impress
ion was that the ball had passed through
his legs below his knees, completely
severing them, for he suddenly sank
down, shortened as he believed, to the
extent of about foot in measurement.
The trunk of his body fell backward on
the ground, and the mans senses were
paralyzed by the shock. Thus he lay,
mOtiOnless, among the wounded and
dead all night, not daring to move,
when consciousness partially returned,
lest the loss of blood should be fatally
increased. That he felt no pain he at
tributed to the stunning effect of the
shock on his nervous system, and he
was still mentally too numbed to be
able to reason as to why he had not
bled to death.
At early dawn he was aroused by
Ouo VI GL6 uoulCdl SUdus VINO Cdluo
round to help the wounded. whats
the matter with you, my good feliow?"
said the surgeon. "Ah, touch me ten
derby, DOCTOR replied M. Courthouse;
''a cannon-ball has carried off my
legsr' The surgeon examined the
limbs referred to, and then giving him
a good shake, said, with loud laugh:
''Get up with you; there's nothing the
matter with your legs!" M. Bouti-
bouse sprang up in utter establishment,
and stood firmly on the legs which he
thought he had lost forever. II felt
more thankful, said he, ethan [ had
ever felt in the whole course of my life
before. [ had not a wound about me.
[ had indeed been shot down by an i'm
mense cannon-ball, but instead of
passing through my legs, as [ firmly
believed it had, the ball had passed
under my feet and had ploughed hole
in the earth beneath at least foot in
depth, into which my feet suddenly
sank, giving me the idea that l had
been thus shortened by the loss of my
legs. '-Loaad0aa Family Herald.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
just the Leg for an Arctic Climate.

All Smith Sound explorers have
something to say of the Esquimau with
the wooden leg. Everybody knows, of
course, that timber does not grow in
that part of the world, and the man
with the wooden leg must be quite a
curiosity to the Ellesanere Land Es-
quimau, who occasionally visit their
friends on the Greenland coast. His
name is Arrowtah. One day, when he
was quite boy, he was out on a hill
hunting birds, when a great stone roll
ed on his foot and crushed it. His
mother, to save his life, cut off his leg
about six inches below the knee with a
knife made of bone. Arrowtah surviv-
ed the rude surgery, and grew up a
stout young man, but was almost en-
6rely helpless to his tribe, because he
could only hop about on one leg. In
1849 the surgeon of the North Star,
one of the Franklin search vessels,
made him a wooden leg, which was re-
paired and renewed by DR.. Hayes
eleven years later. Twenty-four years
after he first put it on the Polaris party
found hin still stumping around on his
good, stout oaken leg, and he could
hunt auks with the best of his tribe,
though the difficulty of travelling over
the rough ice made him useless as a
walrus hunter. Arrowtah at last &C
counts was very anxious to cross over
to Ellesmere Land in search of wife.
He said none of the ladies in his own
tribe suited him. Brooklyn Eagle.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
PUBLIC OPINION,

When person has only learned hoa0
to read, and not a0hGt to read, he is in
great peril Charles Dudley Warner.
No man ever had better friend than
a good book, and no viper more deadly
ever came into family than a bad
book.-W. @. Boiling.
Reduce salaries everywhere, but in
crease them in schools. Now, not one
in twenty teaches school except as a
stepping-stone to something better by
and by; yet the teachers are of more
value than all the lawyers, doctors and
ministers rolled up together.-Beecher.
Pettalezzi was right. The first forces
must be moral forces, and these must be
started by the teacher. Confidence in
her, attachment to her, are the main
points to be attained at the beginning:
and sacredly guarded ever afterward
True teaching is founded on the simple
relations and affectionate feelings of
common life.-N Y. School Journal.
The teachers of the public schools
have ceased to antagonize those of the
private schools, and a desire to frater-
nize is apparent They are evidently
anxious for the advancement of general
educational work, and are beginning TO
feel the necessity of a freer exchange
of ideas.-S. ". Journal Of Education.
''Migwoutp' "Me getter rinkp''
''Mis k?''-This is the language oft
en- heard in the school-room. This
ought not to be. Teachers should not
allow it. When a pupil asks a ques-
ton in such a vulgar, ungrammatical
way, he should be taught to ask the
question properly before receiving any
grant or favor.-I01CG Normal Monthly.
The prime requisites in science teach
ing, as in any other, are ability and in
terest on the part of the teacher. The
beginning of the study of natural sci
ence should be qualitative rather than
quantitative. A more extended later
course should afford ample scope for
classifying and applying accurate meas
urements to all quantities considered.
for verifying. by experiment or demon.
stration principles which are too refined
for beginners, for charging upon prac-
teal applications, and for joining var.
ious branches. of science into one sym
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
BURNS AND SCALDS.
SIMPLE Cure Within the Reach of Every.
one.

There are very few homes whose in
mates have not at some time or other
suffered more or less severely from the
effects of burn; there are very few
persons who ever forget the pain that
succeeds bad burn, and vet there are
very lew who make any provision for
the proper treat ent of such wounds.
Inns neglect arises from indifference or
lrom ignorance, but chiefly the latter
A ourn treated in time does not take
nearly so long to heal. and generally
meals better than it otherwise would.
The object OF the present paper is to
make familiar few of the remedies
which are generally applied to burns
remedies so simple in themselves that
they can be applied by any person.
The best thing to apply to burned
or scalded part is Carron oil spread on
lint or linen. The main object in the
treatment of burn is to keep the af.
fected part out of contact with the air:
but the part of treatment to which our
attention should be first directed is
that which will lessen or remove the
pain. Ice or cold water is sometimes
used, and sometimes water moderately
warm, or gentle heat, gives relief.
Carron oil-So called from the famous
Carron ron-Works, where it is extern
slyel y used-not only lessons the pain,
but covers the part with a film which
etectually shuts out the air and pre-
vents the skin getting dry.
This Carron oil is prepared in a very
simple way. 1t consists of equal parts
of olive oil and lime water. Olive oil,
or salad, or Lucca oil, is the best suit
ed for the purpose; but, if not easily
obtained, linseed oil answers the pur-
pose very well. Lime water can be
easily made by any one, if it can not be
procured otherwise. About a teaspoon
full of the lime used by builders, if the
purer kind is not obtainable, added to
a pint of water and we'll shaken, is all
that is required. 1t is then allowed to
settle, and the water when required is
drawn off without disturbing the di-
ment at the bottom. Pour the oil on
the lime water, stir or shake well, and
the mixture is ready for use. 1t is
poured freely. between two folds of lint
or tn lint dipped in the mixture, the
lint applied to the wound and held in
position by bandage. The wound
may be dressed twice a dav, but in
dressing the wound should be exposed
to the air the shortest time possible. If
the lint adheres to the wound, it must
not be pulled off, but first moistened
thoroughly with oil, when it comes off
easily. In some cases it is not advisa-
bic to remove the lint. Under such
circumstances, the best way to proceed
is to lift up one fold of the lint, drop
the oil within the folds, replace the
fold as before, and secure the bandage.
Carron oil is one of those things that
no household should be at any time
without.
Considering the simplicity OF the
cure, how easily olive oil and lime wa
ter can be obtained, let us hope that
for the sake of relieving even a few
minutes pain no reader of this paper
will be in the future without a bottle
of Carron OIL Chambers Journal.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
In Time to Come.

The flowers are dead that made a summer
splendor
BY wayside hooks and on the sunny hill,
And with regret these hearts of ours grow
tender,
AS sometimes all hearts will.
We loved the blossoms, for they helped to
brighten
The lives so dark with wearying toll and
care,
As hopes and dreams forever help to tighten
The heavy loads we bear.
How like the flowers, whose transient life is
ended,
The hopes and dreams are, that for one brief
hour,
Makes the glad heart garden bright and
splendid
About loves latticed bower.
One little hour of almost perfect pleasure,
A foretaste of the happiness to come,
Then sudden frOst-the garden yields its treas
ure,
And stands in sorrow, dumb.
Oh, listen, heart! The flower may lose its
glory
Beneath the touch of frost, but does not
die.
In spring it will repeat the old, sweet story
Of Gods dear by and by.
In heaven, if never here, the hopes we cher
The flowers of human lives we count as
lost,
Will live again. Such beauty cannot perish !;
And heaven has no frost.
-Eben E. Rexford.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
metrical whole.-N Q. JOmrnat of Ed4.

metrical whole.-N Q. JOurnat of Edx.
| cation.
1t is the usual belief among teachers
that pupils forget much during vaca-
ton. They undoubtedly do forget
much that has been grasped only as q
matter of memory, and with some
| teachers this means nearly all that has
been acquired under their tuition. But
that which has been fully comprehend
ed and made a part OF the child's own
common sense does not pass from him
| during summers rest. What pu-
pill is able to do at the end of vacation
is much better test of the character
of his teaching than what he can do at
the end of the term. This gives you a
! hint Begin your work with your new
class in such way that at the end OF
| the next long vacation the teacher who
receives them shall not feelin regard to
them as you do Chicago I1ateZLi-
ge1ace.
Geography, relatively, is worth about
one-half as much as language or arith-
metic. Usually it is ranked equally
with the most important branches. In
stead of having children commit it to
memory, as is too frequently done, it
ought to be used chiefly as a supple
mentary reading-lesson. There are so
many details in it that the greater num-
Der of them pass out of mind as soon
as the book is laid aside. All the geo
graphical names would fill a volume
larger than We6Ster's Unabridged Die
tiO2Gry. The average pupil should
make bow to them, and pass ON.
N. Greenwood, Kansas City.
Not long time ago we, in common
with several other cities in our State,
abolished mid-session recesses. Our
schools have been conducted without
recesses, except one at noon of one and
One-fourth to one and One-half hours,
and one OF ten minutes each session in
the primary department. This plan
pleases the teachers, many of the pU-
pills, and their parents, and seems to
have the general approval of the Board
of Education. So far there appears to
be no harm to the health of the chill
dren in consequence of the adoption of
the nO-recess scheme. | am unable to
see any good cause for the change, and
am confirmed in the belief that there is
lurking danger in its practice. / can
discover no means by which it can be
defended, except it may make less trou-
bic for teachers and give them little
more time for out-of-school employ
ments. 1t is claimed by its advocates
to prevent quarrels and fights, and save
the pupils clothes; that it keeps them
from exposure on stormy days and
thereby preserves their health; all of
which, to my mind, is but a sorry ex-
cuse for the innovation, weak defense
of doubtful practice and its contin-
uance.- Chas. N. Ryoa, Satpt. Schools,
Kingston, N. 7.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
EDUCATIONAL,
The Demand for New and Early Disci-
pline in Education.
How to Organize Schools in Order to Teach
From Object Lessons in Nature
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN WORDS AND
THINGS.

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN WORDS AND
THINGS.
1t is claimed by nobody in this con-
troversy that words are unimportant
or that language-studies are not of great
value; but it is maintained that the
things represented are more important
than their signs, the Nature-studies of
higher value than lingual studies. and
the whole issue turns upon the recog-
milton of this fact. Historically. this
contrast has been proved to be pro-
found and momentous. In the pre-
scientific ages, words were not only
put in the place of things, but con-
founded with them so as to vitiate
whole systems of thought as shown in
the history of Greek speculation and
the scholasticism of the middle ages.
The investigation of truth was made to
consist in mere verbal manipulations.
The Baconian reform in philosophy
consisted in demanding that the human
mind shall no longer occupy itself in
the verbal sphere, but shall break
through the barriers of words and
study the things they represent. The
inductive philosopy began with facts
the observation and investigation of
things-and was a new method which
has revolutionized knowledge, created
the modern sciences, and revealed the
order of Nature. 1t is contrasted with
verbal and literary studies, which ac-
cept common notions-the loose, vague,
crude ideas of ordinary experience
and can not advance and perfect know
ledge because it refuses to make facts
first and to exercise the mind in their
close and careful stGdy. Is a contrast
so broad as this, between a fruitless
method which kept the mind stationary
as to give origin to a vast body of ac-
curate and productive truth, to be re-
garded as a pretense when it is claimed
to be fundamental in education? The
verbal system is historic, traditional,
popular, and all-prevalent in our sys-
TENS of mental cultivation. 1t is pro-
posed by the reformers not to destroy
it, but to reduce its exaggerated pro-
portions, and give greater prominence
to the systematic study of actual things.
The demand is that there shall be a
new discipline in education, begun
early and pursued thoroughly, by the
mastery of given branches of science
at first hand. The contrast between
words and things must be at any rate
held valid for the accomplishment of
this reasonable obiect.-Pr0f. b. L.
Yoa1a11a91s, IN Popular Science Monthly
for November.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
The Water Supply of the Orient.

In the principal Indian cities it is no
longer necessary to drink boiled water,
owing to the excellent supplies fur
nished by the public water works. In
Jaffa the water is intolerably brackish.
In Routschuck the muddy Danube is
filtered and sold to the native Bulgar-
ians. In Vienna the water works are
very extensive and the water the best
that know of, being nearly ice-cold on
the hottest day. In Alden the public
water supply is obtained by condensing
and distilling common sea water by
means of large engines. This unpal-
atable product is then sold for as high
as eight cents a gallon. Rains are too
rare to be depended upon. Filtered
rain water is used in Jerusalem, and if
you want enough for bath you must
pay for it extra. Whatever the resi-
dent Occidentals in the Orient may be
morally, they endeavor to be physically
clean. Usually a room in a hotel in
cludes a special bathroom adjoining,
and nearly every bedroom in a private
house is similarly equipped. A morn
ing bath is regarded as a matter OF
necessity, and an evening bath as a
barely dispensable comfort. Even the
frst-class railway coaches in India are
in many cases equipped with bath
rooms, with shower-baths, SO that you
may take your regular additions while
whirling along at full speed. Many of
the railway depots are also provided
with baths, SO that you may utilize ted
ious waits by cleansing yourself.
The japanese battle to excess, using
such hot water that fatal syncope is an
occasional consequence. With the Japs
the bath is a senuous luxury. They de-
light in relieving themselves of super
fuous clothing.
On the other hand, their neighbors,
the Chinese, get inside as much cloth
ing as possible, and are never seen in
the streams with which their country
abounds bathing or swimming. The Ma
lays and the natives of Alden, many of
them, are scarcely less than human
ducks. A bit of silver cannot reach
the bottom of the sea before they have
it. The Hindoos and Brahmins battle
especially in the Gauges as a relig-
ious exercise, smearing the body with
oil first if they can afford it.-Corres-
pondence Chicago Inter- Ocean.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
A Substitute for Matches {.

The Gr0cers' AdUocate has the follow
ing account of an ingenious contriv-
ance to take the place of matches, and
which it says is now used by the watch
men of Paris in all the magazines
where explosives and infammable ma
terials are kept. Take an oblong vial
of the whitest and clearest glass, and
put into it piece of phosphorus about
the size of a pea. Pour some olive oil
heated to the boiling point upon the
phosphorus, fill the vial about one-third
full and cork it tightly. To use the
novel light remove the cork, allow the
air to enter the vial and then recork it.
This empty space in the vial will be-
come luminous, and the light obtained
is equal to that of lamp. When the
light becomes dim its power can be in
creased by taking out the cork, and al
lowing a fresh supply of air to e1ster
the vial.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
Preventing Coal Smoke.

a London housekeeper writes: This
nuisance most destructive at all seasons
will shortly be increased by the addi-
ton of several millions of fires daily
during some months of cold weather.
The chances of smoke abatement being
carried out to any appreciate degree
in domestic life are indeed small, until
a plan is devised which shall be prac-
teal, simple, and economical with ex-
listing CRATES. Such plan / have eff
fectively carried out in my house. The
custom of putting cold coal on top of
hot with fire vertically under it hurries
the chemical changes set up, which en-
ables the heated vapors rapidly ascend
ing the chimney to convey with the I'M
consumed carbon-i. e., SCOT, which is
the chief cause of the SCOT nuisance. A
little time is required for complete COM
bustion. Feeding from below the fire
is not practicable, except with CRATES
especially constructed, which cost mon
ey. There is, however, a medium that
Is suitable and advantageous to both
comfort and pocket. It is as follows,
and [ can not too strongly urge its
adoption. With the shovel push the
cinders from the ends of the CRATE,
heaping them towards its middle, and
leaving holes about three inches broad,
and as deep as possible. Into these
holes drop either large or small coal;
never put coke into them, nor coal in
the middle of the fire. By this mode
Of firing the fresh coal comes into con-
tact laterally with hot embers, which
giYeS facilities for its decOmpoSition by
allowing more suitable time for the
chemical changes than does the vertical
system.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
MANY blunders occur in the transmits

Many plumbers occur in the transmits
sion of telegraph messages. The mis-
takes, as rule occur with the OPP rator
who receives the messages, and it is
generally on a busy wire, over which
200 or 800 messages are received daily.
The wires between this city and New
York do the heaviest work. Some of
the errors quoted at the main Office of
the Western Union Company yester-
day read as follows: '.William Gill &
Pie" for William Gillespie;" DO not
send the money" for do not send tes-
timony;" meet me with hearse and
carr age" which should have read,
''Meet me with horse and carriages"
'Dr. A. Wing, room car conductor, J"
instead of ''Drawing-room car conduct
or" Pancake, Belts & Co." for Han
cock. Beals & Co.. Reserve me a
room in the Astor House" read Re
serve me a room in store house. y
Philadelphia Times.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
oBJECT-LEssoNs FROM NATURE.

Organize your school into a general
class to ''see things" Teach them to
keep a record of the time plants send
forth their leaves; to note accurately the
time of blooming; the time the fruit
sets; the manner in which the flower
falls off or parts from. the fruit; the
particular part of the flower which be-
comes the fruit, etc. Teach them to
see how branch grows; how kernel
of corn or a grain of wheat sprouts.
Hang tumbler of water in the win
dow, cover the surface with a half-inch
of raw cotton, and bury in the cotton
next to the water twenty-five or thirty
grains of wheat or oats. In a short
time you will have a most beautiful OBJ
ject lesson. The long white roots fill
the tumbler below the cotton. The pro-
cess of growth may be watched day
after day. Fill box with earth; plant
in it corn, beans, pumpkin seeds, etc.
Every day or two take up one or two
to observe the progress of the plant.
If you live in, or near, the timber, ask
the class to discover when the oaks and
hickories are in bloom, to find out what
kind of flowers they have. You may
ask, Of what use will this be? [ do
not know to what it will grow, but it
will open your children's eyes to see a
thousand things they never dreamed
of. They will become observers. One
must be an observer before he is a
scientist. Moreover, you will acquire
more science yourself than you ever
read; and what you will see will appear
to be your own.-Ou4' Country and Vl-
Iage Schools.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18

A great many people in Switzerland
are engaged in raising snails. During
the summer children are engaged in
gathering the snails, which are taken
to a plot of ground surrounded by a
sort of hedge of sawdust, which pre-
vents them from getting away. They
are placed on bushes, which are also
surrounded with sawdust, and they
soon grow very fat by feeding on the
leaves. At the approach of cold
weather they drop down into the saw
dust and bury themselves. When
wanted they are raked out, packed in
two hundred weight baskets and sent
off to Italy, where as Burgundy
snails'' they command ready sale.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18

Has any one observed that rooms in
which geraniums and calceolarial grow
are free from flies? The Boston Her
aid has the following from a CORE
spondent: ''For three years [ have
lived in a town, and during that time
my sitting-room has been free from
flies, three only walking about my
breakfast-table, while all the neighbors'
rooms are crowded. | often congratu-
lated myself on my escape, but never
knew the reason of it until a few days
ago. L then had occasion to remove
my goods to another house, while re-
manned on for a few days longer.
Among other things were few boxes
OF geraniums and calceolarias, which
stood in my window, being open TO It's
full extent, top and bottom Inc ooxes
were not gone half an hour till my
room was as full of flies as those OF my
neighbors around me. This, to me,
was a new discovery.