davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
The DOG hIoBE.
An Iowa Humorist Relates Some OF the
characteristics of "a Wonderful Dog.

A., low, T1umorist Relates Some of the
characteristics of "a Wonderful Dog.
Well. sir, that dog-eh? That Gordi-
an settler | used to own. l was telling
Won about him, o know; we'll, he was
smart. Didn't take him long to catch
onto all a mans points, and he soon
found out all about my ramrod and
musket, summer vacation style OF shoot
ing. You know when you take your
gun out of its case how a good bird dog
goes wild with Joy, dances all arosrd
YOU, thrusts its tongue into your faos
and gives YOU a swab with it from chin
to eyebrow. and finally rushes out into
the ward and yelps and bowls and
chases the cat and the chickens up into
the trees from sheer excess of delight
and exuberance OF spirits. That's usu-
ally the way of the dog. Well, this Cor
dian setter of mine, he used to watch
me pretty close about the 10th, and
some day, when he'd see me unlocking
the gun case, he'd sneak i'll, sit down
| veSy solemnlv aad watch me with an
expression that said, palmer than
| words:
You amt going to take it out this
year, are you?"
But I'd go on and take the gun out
and rub it up a little, and he'd shake
his head and look doubtful and say:
81 wouldn't go out if | were you;
| what's the use?"
And when I'd sit down and oil the
locks, he knew it was settled. He
would heavc the most heart-breaking
sigh that cver drew on human sympa-
thy, get up and 90 out into the back
yard and sit down in the shade of the
wood-pile and shake his head
and cry, not loud, you know, but silent
ly. Most touching thing L ever looked
at. And then he wouldn't eat a bit of
supper. When it was brought out
to him he'd shake his head
and say it would choke him
if he tried to eat, and get up
and crawl under the house, and moan
and mutter nearly all night. He did
| hate to see me shoot. Sold him finally,
when l reformed and quit lying.
Couldn't do any shooting after that, of
course. Well, l sold the dog to a hunt
ing friend, who was a splendid shot,
and you talk about a dogs undying
fidelity and love for his old master!
Three days after l sold that dog l met
him in the street. Called him by name
and put out my hand to pat him. I'll
eat a wire cartridge if he didn't back
off a few steps, look at me steadily, as
though he never saw me before in all
his life, stuck his tail straight out,
raised his forcfoot and made a dead
point OF me, and then walked away to
the other side of the street. Cut me
dead. And he never spoke to me
Standardization H0echeYc.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
received . fresh extension whereof

received Q fresh extension whereof J
shall have more to say before long
the whole southeast of European ussis
is now being opened up in all direc.
tons. The prolongation of the Poti'
Ti1is Railroad to Baku and the e
petroleum fields has at last connected
the Black Sea with the isolated Caspi
an. Along the northern slope of tho
Caucasus, another line, running south
ward from the point where the Dor
pours into the Sea of Azof, is already
open as far as Vladkavkaz, at the fool
of the great central ridge, and working
its way slowly among the mighty pre-
cipices of the Darrell Pass and Mount
Kasbek to Join the trans-Cascasiaa
track at Tiflis, and link the border
provinces with the interior of Russia,
From the Poti-Titlis line a branch has
been IL out to Russia's new port,
Batoum, ceded by Turkey in 1878, and
q Caspian Coast Railroad" is now be,
ing projected, which is to run south
ward into Persia along the Western
shore of the grent lake, although Per-
| STA herself seems in no special haste to
accept the benefit.
1t is an ~unspcakable relief to find
ones self once more, after so many
days among the unintelligible dialects
of Hungary, Pennsylvania and Rou-
mania, in a country where one can un.
derstand every word that is said. When
l first heard Russian spoken a few days
ago at the frontier station of Umgheni,
it was like the first glimpse of the dis
liant minarets of Bagdad to a traveller
Nsthe endless plains of Mesopotamia.
But to any one who does not under
stand it, the grand old Slavonian tongue
must have a somewhat startling sound.
The Russian word for "Thank you" is
pronounced exactly like "Blackguard
are you," while the phrase for "Pass
me the salt, wiz: 'sDai mnye sol,''-
is, as any II will see who pronounces
it quickly, suggestive of a very unor.
thodox remark indeed. The formida-
Bile length of some of the words, too, re-
minds n of the King of Kamboja's
title, which required three mon and a
boy to recite it.
All that I have said respecting the
unprogressiveness of Odessa might as
justly be retorted by Odessa upon us,
for just at present our progress has
come to a %standstill. altogether. My
draft upon the Odessa Bank, for some
mysterious reason quite beyond the
comprehension of any benighted gen.
tile who has not graduated upon the
Stock Exchange, can not be cashed
without some further commercial ho-
cus-pocus, whichIhave Just t%elegraphed
to St. Petersburg to obtain. Meanwhile
we are stranded here, with the salts
faction of seeing the steamerthatshould
have carried us to Sebastopol going
quietly off without us. Nor is this ali.
Our total wealth in the currency of the,
realm being exactly twenty-five ko.
pecks, (about fifteen cents), we may
well feel like embodied frauds in one O.:
the best hotels in Odessa. Every dish,
that l order makes me feel as if 1 had
picked some ones pockets, and the
mere presence Of a waiter acts upon my
nerves very much as that of a detective
might act upon those of a suspected
burglar OF murderer.-Cor. N. Y.
Times.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
FOREIGN GOSSIP.
Tho DENTS. to the Court OF Italy

Tho dentist to the Court OF Italy Ia
II American.
An Esquimaux dog will draw a
sledge sixty miles in a day.
Lord Dufferin will get 1926, COO a
year as Viceroy of India. 1t is SAID
that his finances need repair.
The British Medical Journal reports
q well authenticated case of a canary
catching the scarlet fever and dying.'
One of the new English sports lis
tandem racing, a Jockey or owner rid
ing one horse or pony and driving the
other from the saddle.
The 4x-Emprcss Eugene now an
pears through much suffering to have
become almost insensible to pain. Her
face is pallid, her hair white, and the
light is gone from her eyes.
-Ratskin fur and ratskin slippers
are a late London freak. Only the skin
about the launches is used, the re-
maindcr being too thin. Four rats
are required for a slipper, and sixty for
a neck piece.
The rector of a London parish has
not been seen within the limits of his
parish within seven years. Hcreceives
a salary of nearly $4,000 q year, while
his duties are very acceptably per-
formed by a curate, to whom the rector
pays 500 a year.
81 am thankful to the Nihilists for
N thing" says the Czarina. "They
have made me love my husband dears
ly. Our home life has become SO diff
ferent since l began to look upon him
as though he were under sentence Of
death. You can't think how deeply
his menaced state attaches me to him"
AT Whitney, England, a young
man was recently found guilty Of man
slaughter because hearing his sisters
screaming murder he thought his
father must be cutting his mothers
throat, and therefore shot him. The
barrister who defended him said there
had been no case of the kind for 200
years.
An Irishman who was very near
lighted, about to fight a duel, insisted
}hat he should stand six PAGES nearer
his antagonist than he did TO him and
that they should both fire at the same
time. This beats Sheridan's telling a
TAT man who was going to fight a thin
n that the latter's slim figure ought
to be chalked on the others portly per-
son, and if the bullet hit hin. outside
the chalk mark it vas to go for moth
tng.-MaNchestcr Courier.
AT a recent meeting of a Berlin
medical society it was stated that the
percentage of short-sighted children
in the country and in towns was as
three to thirty. .Ehe excess in towns
was attributed in part to the wearing
of spectacles from vanity. An instance
supporting the opinion that medical
advice should be taken before giving
spectacles to a child was given at q
school in Berlin, where forty-seven
pupils out of a hundred were using
glasses of too high a power.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
A LIVELY LAND.
The Habitation of Tarantulas,.. Scorpions,
and Horned Toads.

The Habitation of ~Tarantulas,:. Scorpions,
and Horned Toads.
For fear your readers may think there
are no drawbacks to this earthly para
disc, let me mention another of the ma.
tive productions, which, though not
often found in the City of Angels, are
frequent enough all through the coun-
try around it. The Oldest inhabitant
is the tarantula, pronounced here tar
a%nchewla) spider. 1 have a live speci-
men in a glass jar before me as I write,
purchased from a small boy this morn
ing. He is a notwithstanding sub
iect, havinga body about two inches
long, and ten legs, each about one and
a half inches in length, with which he
can get over the ground faster than a
jack-rabbit. The bite from the taran-
tula is very poisonous and often fatal,
but unless greatly provoked they will
not bite. Whisky in unlimited
quantity is said to be the best
antidote. The nest of the %tarantula
is very curious, and they may be had
here for the moderate sum of two
''bits" twenty-five cents), the bit
being used all through California, and
worth a York shilling, twelve and a
half cents. The house of the tarantula
is made of clay; is about four inches
long and two inches in diameter,
round, and shaped much as a potato,
and while rough outside is completely
lined within with the softest material
Imaginable, white and silky, spun from
the SPIDERS own body. The most curl
GUS part of the house, however, is the
door, which is also made Of clay, and
hinged, and which, when closed, is al
most air-tight. I am told the tarantula.
when frightened or disturbed, will run
into it's nest, pull to the door and hold
on to it with a claw so that it is hard
to dislodge him. He evidently knows
the point of English law, that a taran.
tula's ''house is his CASTLE"
Other agreeable companions found
here are scorpions, also very poisonous,
and centipedes, a small creature with a
number of supertluous legs and a bite
which is fatal, unless antidoted in sea-
son But few of these creatures ever
enter dwelling-houses, and it is exceed
ingly rare that a death from such a
cause occurs, the %antidote, whisky, kill
ing many more in this region than the
poison. Horned toads are numerous
right here in town. While walking
through the parks and along the coun-
try roads in the evening, numbers of
them may be seen. They are curious
little animals, being about the same
size and having the general appearance
of the common garden toad found East,
but covered all over with an amor Of
spines, or sharp points, INT having, a
necklace and headdress OF the SAME,
about half an inch long, all around the
throat and head. They also have a
long, V-shaped tail, covered with IL,
same studded points. They are per-
fectly harmless, and may be handled
with impunity. When one sees the Pc
culiar appearance of the spiney head he
can understand where some of the odd
shaped armor Of the ancient Aztecs OF
Mexico was derived from.-Los angeles
Cor. brooklyn Eagle.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
PlcKPocKETs in THE TOLLS,

-Four Skilled Operators Arrested in St.
Louis and $1,000 Worth of Plumber Re-
covered.
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 1~5-Thulsday night E.
Is. Copes, alias "Benton," ]. II. Shurman,
alias Crosby" alias "Bonsetter," Nellie
McCabe- and Kitty Mclean were arrested at
q museum here. The four had been living
together. They were suspected of being a
gang of pickpockets and thieves. One o. the
girls was discharged, and as she left the
prison she was followed. She went to a
room occupied by the four on North Eighth
street. The police went to the room and
found her. Search revealed watches, rings,
pins, studs: money, clothing, and hundreds
OF valuable things. 1t is estimated that not
less than $4,000 worth of the stuff was I'M
carthed. They have been here only a few
days, coming from Chicago, and have evil
IDENTIFY been working together for some
months. Among the effects We're pawn
tickets and letters from New York, Bos-
ton, Chicago and Philadelphia. Some of
the jewelry was stolen in Boston, New York
and Chicago.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
p,rH N POINT.

Wealth has its cares as we'll a. nov.
erty-but they are more po%pular"
Pittsburgh Telegraph.
There is something funny in An
elopement that happens in the familyo o:
some one else.-M. I. Pcayune.
An eminent authority on the ..Ner.
vous Maladies of Pugs" announces that
"quinine is good for dogs" 1t is not
nearly az good as strychnine.-Norris.
toWm Herald.
Ills Life Worth LivingP" was the
interesting topic discussed IN one of our
churches recently, and the question re-
calls the witty but truthful answer.
ut depends on the liver."-Boston
transcript.
The old mans doll:
"Only n Pansy Blossom"
Only a bar of soap.
Lett on thS stairs by the hired girl.
And the old man glides with terrible whirl
Adown the jagged slope;
Odd you come down on the street
car this m%orning?" asked Jones of old
man Hunter. 1tNo, sir, I came down
on a darred innocent-looking banana
peel" was the reply as the old fellow
limpcd along.-Christian Advocate.
"A scientific exchange says that ga
drain to be a profitable investment
must be a permanent Improvement"
Men have gone into a permanent i'm
provement in the hope that it would be-
a profitable investment, and found it
nothing but a drain ever since.-LoweU
Citizen. ee=
An astronomer once confidently
announced that a big comet that was
approaching the earth would not
destroy it. GLOW do you know" he
was asked. 81 don't know" he re-
piled; ''but in either case l am safe. II
it does not knock the world to pieces, I
shall be considered a prophet. If it
does, they can't blow me up in the
newspapers. Y. Ledger.
-When a Virginia belle was once
surprised by her father in a parlor of a
hotel at the White Sulphur Springs sup
porting upon her shoulder the head of
a middle-aged admirer, she at once dis
armed the impending rebuke by ex-
claiming: ''Surcly, father, this is not
the first timeyou have seen an old head
on young shoulders?"
Old gcnt-"Stop! Stop! Do you
know what you are doing?" Seedy
stranger-''Yes, sir; but l cam help it,
sir. l was about to steal a loaf of
bread. l am starving, sir" ''No mat
ter. Don't You know that if you should
steal a loaf of bread you would be inn
prisoned?" Eyes, / know that; but
what can 1 do, sir? 1 must live"
"Well, if you will steal, take the whole
bakery, and then you can compromise
with the proprietor ."-Ph7adelphia
Gull.
The parasol question: Before mar
riage-''Excuse me, George. Did my
parasol hurt your" ooh, no! my
dear; it would be a pleasure if it did"
After marriagc-sGrcat heavens! there
was never a woman under the sun that
knew how to carry q parasol without
scratching a fellows eyes out;'' 'And
there never was a mar that knew
enough to walk on the right side of a
woman with a parasol." "There isn't
any right side to a woman with a para
sol.''-N. Y. Post.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
Arctic Fascination.

1t is announced that one of the re-
centlyrescued Arctic adventures wants
to go again. There seems to be a fas-
cination in this quest that almost
invariably draws men back to it who
have once attempted it. Their hard
ships and sufferings always evoke great
sympathy. The heart of the Nation is
wrung for them. But their desire to
plunge again into the perils out Of
which they have been rescued suggests
the possibility that there are personal
compensations in this venture which
render so much sympathy misplaced.
There must be some charm about the
free life in the Arctic regions which
greatly mitigates the personal expert
ence Of hardships. 1t used to be the
fashion to waste a good deal of sympa-
thy on missionaries from New England
to the East; and they got a great deal
of credit for their abandonment of
home and voluntary exile among tr-
eign races. But it was noticed that
whatever the hardships, and they were
many, of their foreign residence,
they in time liked the life and chung to
it. And when it was realized that the
escape from the New England climate
into II genial the year round, and in
to conditions where living was much
easier thar here, was some cOmpensa-
ton for missionary devotion, the sup
porters of missions could devote their
whole energies to forwarding the work
of evangelization without wasting so
much sympathy on the agents of it.
If people like to 90 into the Arctic
regions from love Of adventure and a
free life, there is no objection to their
going, if they can raise the means. To
get nearer the geographical pole than
anybody else IS as noble an ambition as
for a boy to 60 out farther on the limb
We all appreciate acts of daring. But
ness might as well be considered a per-
sonal matter, and not a case for so
much sympathy on the part of those
who are fond of it, and find it more fas-
cinating than a hum-drum, industrious
life at home. 1t does not appear that
t%hepeople'g generally are to gain anything
by it, or that it is the sort of adventure
that the Government ought to engage
in. The idea OF establishing a weather
bureau in the highest attainable lat'-
tudes seems to be abandoned as Ut no
practical value, and no commercial adj
vantages are possible in sending a yes
sci occasionally to get caught in the ice
and abandoned. That some men can
endure the rigor Of an Arctic winter,
and that the most can not has been
sufficiently demonstrated. We know
the whole dreary story. The incidents
of one Arctic expedition are much like
another-frost, darkness, dogs, Esqul-
maux, seals, blubber, canned meats,
freezing of limbs, hunger to the point
of starvation-the latest expeditions
add nc new incidents. The career may
be fascinating to some men, but the
public has ceased to think it remunera-
1--WE to anybody.-Hcrtford Couramt.
.sr{~
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
The Forthcoming Treasury Report.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15.-Secretary Nc
Culloch is busily engaged in the prepara-
ton of his annual report to Congress. 1t is
.intimated he will make some important
recommendations in regard to the revision
of the tariff, on which subject he is under
stood to have very decided views. In the
meantime Assistant Secretary Coon is act
ing Secretary OH all routine matters. The
Secretary has requested the Comptroller of
t.,e Currency and the Treasurer of the
United States to withhold their annual re-
ports from publication until after the meet
sAg Of Congress
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
Robert Bonner. w%ritino of +

Robert Bonner, writing of the
groom who takes care of Maud S. says:
'.He sleeps on a cot in her stall, and
one night recently, when the weather
was warm, but threatened TO turn cold
he purposcly went to bed with very lit
tie clothing on himself knowing that if
it turned cold during the night he
would wake up, when he could put adj
ditional clothing on the mare. If the
men who figure in divorce suits would
treat their wives half as kindly as this,
our courts would not have SO much to
do.n
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
One Weeks Failures.

New YORK, Nov. 15.-There were 1871
failures in the United States reported dur
ing the week, against 166 in the preceding
week, and 205, 167 and ZIG in the CORE
spending weeks of 1888, 1882 and 1881,
respectively. Classified by sections and
compared with last week, the result is as
follows:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
The Washington Monument.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13.-The Washing
ton monument yesterday reached a greater
height than that of any other structure in
the world, being five hundred and twenty
feet ten inches above the floor of the monu-
ment. The next highest structure is the
spirc Of the Cologne Cathedral, which COW.
ers five hundred and fifteen feet above the
floor of the building. 1t is estimated that
it will take but twenty-five working days to
complete the monument, so that there is no
9oubt of its. being finished in time for dedi-
cation on February %.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05

1t costs 100000 a week to run
New York; city government-M. r
Sun
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05

In Victoria, B. c., a fine of thirty
dollars is imposed upon Indians found
with Intoxicating liquors.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05

The Burlington Road has cut the ratx
Gom Chicago to st. Louis to three dollars.
Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1884-04-14

you" So when you pray to God.
say not just "Ram! Ram! Ram y
but tell God of your sins, and say,
ooh, help and comfort me-" And
the Brahman added with fearful eyes,
eyes Sahib, 1 shall never forget that
preacher. / do not know his name,
or where he came from, or where he
went; but should you ever find him,
tell him thank him, and that / now
never pray as l used to, just uttering,
without any thought, the name of my
God, but l tell my God of my sins,
and my needs, and my sorrows, and
/ ask for His pardon, His Help and
His blessing" Was not this man
among those who are ''not far from
the kingdom of heaven" and is
there not much of suggestion in his
story for teachers and preachers
among the heather? And is there
not rebuke in it for those among us
to whom religious exercises, by their
formal iteration, have become mere
sounds and ceremonies, little better
than the 'praying wheels of Mag
nolia?