davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
A LUCKY OPPORTUNITY.

A recent cable dispatch says that in trial
the day before of a new hundred-ton gun for
the Italian navy, a charge Of 500 pounds of
powder sent a corresponding ball through
twenty inches of solid steel and broke some
inches more of iron behind it. Armor is
proving more and more hopelessly idle
against the growing and practically illimitable
power of artillery. Blessings come in dis
guise sometimes. It may prove that our
feeble little navy, after all the fun that has
been made Of il, is in the best possible condi-
ton for the times. We have not much use
for a navy, and we have not much navy to
use. A striking fitness Of fact and phrase.
We are ready to lay hold of any improve
ment in naval architecture, gunnery or power
that has been developedby the skill and money
of other maritime powers without costing us a
cent. They have spent years and millions in
the construction of a practical illustration of
the great mechanical conundrum, "What
will be the effect of a collision be-
tween an irresistible body and an
impenetrable body" They have made ships
with armor of steel nearly two feet thick, and
guns weighing a hundred tons and using FIVE
hundred pounds of powder for a load. First,
the improved guns were too much for any ar
NOR; then improved armor resisted the guns;
then enlarged guns overmatched armor again,
o,J =, +-,,,, ,roua o1rou,o4aIoJ ~ ho4foa IN
NOR. They were getting close upon the con-
ditions of the great conundrum; but now, it
seems, the limit of armor, with any chance
of speed enough to make a vessel of any more
use than a floating fort, has been reached,
while guns can be made still larger and more
resistless. In this state of things, our navy
can be reconstructed i~ntelligently. We need
not spend millions on armor that will shackle
a vessels power without making it any safer
vessels of Trafalgar or Lake Erie.
They would be less safe, because a shot would
cut a clean hole through a wooden ship, while
it would shatter and tear an armor-plate and
the timbers under 1T fatally. In the sea-tights
of the early part of this century, carpenters
were always ready with plugs to stop shot
holes below the water-line. We have a vast
deal of valuable experience in the develop
ment of naval architecture to begin our new
navy with, and we nave got it, luckily, by do
ing as little for our old navy as we possibly
could. We have made no experiments or i'm
provements of any considerable cost. A long
headed sailor has just the state of things he
could most wish for to build at once the
cheapest, s~wiftest, most effective navy that
ever belonged to any nation since the Tyrians
first event down to the sea in ships, or Solo
mon made a navy of ships in Ebion-Ge
on the shore of the Red sea-"
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
A SHATTERED D 0

"A DaAA4hIhO 1OOAt
The awful discovery has been made by a
housing literary person that Edgar Fawcett,
the novelist, is a base impostor. He has writ
ten a number of novels which delineate New
York Society in a manner so entirely salts
factory to society itself that his books have
received the stamp of approval, and are to be
found in the drawing-rooms of all who wish to
be known as patrons of home talent. Not
only this, but he is a frequent and welcome
contributor to certain exclusive periodicals,
notably the Atlantic Monthly, whose editors
pride themselves upon their unerring insight
in choosing for their patrons only the highest
order of literature. To the less highly cul-
tured mind of the reader, who is neither
editor of a literary magazine nor the
daughter of a merchant prince" the
novels of Mr.. Fawcett have seemed dull
and heavy, and his poems to bear the impress
of a machine. However, this popularity has
not been treasured up as a personal grievance
against the author, but, rather, held to be the
fault of the elegant but possible w~oodeny Cir
Giles which appeared to be his inspiration.
Society ought to recognize its own likeness,
and if it was pleased who else should COM
plain7 At all events, Mr.. Fawcett was well
coined, not only through his books but in per-
son., into the innermost sanctuaries of litera-
ture and high art. He is a member of the
Union Club, lives in good style, has plenty of
money, and is supposed by his admirers to
have accumulated his comfortable property
through the writing of his ia shionable novels
and contributions to the leading periodicals.
Alas, such is not the case. In narrating
the romances of the wealthy and in writing
his perfunctory verses on the throbbings Of the
inner life as observed in Fifth avenue, Mr..
Fawcett was laboring for glory alone. The
p~ecuniary rewards Of such work were not suf-
fcient to support him in comfort, to say moth
ing of the luxury which he not unreasonably
desired. To secure wealth he must tap a
freer literary fountain, and this he found in
the sensational weekly story papers, several
of which, published in New York, are familiar
to every owner of a door-yard the country
over. To these papers he has contributed vo-
LUMINOSITY, but over an assumed name, and
has realized a neat and satisfactory income as
the result.
Numerous and wonderful are the tales
which appear in the story papers, and, libel
Gus to his critical literary admirers though it
be to say, they bear a strong family resem-
blance to the stories to which his name is at
tached. There is a difference, of course, but
it is more in the variation of minor details to
his audience than any change in general style.
Whether he writes a novel for the delectation
of his Murray Hill constituents, and, on sec
ond thought, adapts it to the Bowery,
or whether he modifes a sensa-
tional romance for the pages of
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

be for practical, intelligent men. Not for
men who can analyze Shakespeare, or talk
learnedly on Descartes, so much as for men
who can take hold of the things of to-day.
The schools cannot make such ~men-they
can only give them a start, and having given
them that, it is enough. Popular opinion
favors fewer hours or fewer days of service in
the ~schoolroom. A half day is ample, giving
the other half to muscular development and
to the study-it may be unconscious study in
many respects-of the things about us.
Education consists of all we know; and often
he is best educated who intelligently under
stands the practical things of life; who knows
more of agriculture and manufacture and the
phenomena of nature than he does Of the
philosophy of Kant. A little less System
and a deal more Of sense is what the schools
need; a little less "scientific' teaching and a
great deal more of that popular education
that comes with the development of common
sense and the upbuilding of sturdy constitu-
lions. The ak of public opinion will yet lop
off the branches that are not needed. The
useless frippery out Of the way, pupils will
be fully as we'll taught in half the time now
taken, while the remainder may be employed
in getting acquainted with the world and
learning from the big book of nature and
bneiness
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
The Same Old Mugby.

London Letter in New Orleans Times-Democrat.
1t is worth noting that at Rugby-the cele-
brated Mugby Junction satirized by Dickens,
which l have twice seen this summer-the rail
way refreshments are as bad as ever they could
have been. l had a friend once who, after firt-
ing with the bar-maid of a station, wrote his
name ag,s win cate on T Inc nd OF a Pork PIE ia KIND nind
that way, he saw his autograph still there on
the same refreshment. At these places the cur
rant bun attains enormous dimensions, only
rivaled by its toughness, fibre and awful taste.
l never ate a large live toad, uncooked, but
fancy one must taste like a Midland bun.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

New York Commercial Advertiser.
About 40, 900 individuals are employed in
Switzerland in the watch and clock trade, the
canton of Neufchatel having Is, 700, who turn out
annually l, 900, 900 watches, of the value of go
600, 900 francs. In the Vaudois there are ZOO,
some Of whom are occupied in musical boxes;
in Berne there are 1.300, producing to the
amount of 80, 900, 900 francs. The total annual
production of watches in Switzerland averages
l600, 900 of the value of 88, 900, 900 francs. The
export of 1882 vas to the amount of IS4, 900 kilo-
grammes of watches, 25, 300 in excess of the pre-
vious year. The import was 65, 400 kilogrammes,
consisting of watches in the rough brought into
the country to be finished.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
An Archeologist,s Homo.
Boston Journal.

7-TV-T WITT TTTF
DR.. Schliemann's house at Athens is said to be
the most costly in the city, though he calls it a
cottage. 1t is an imposing square mansion, of
the best Pentelic marble, crowned with marble
statues of the whole Olympic host, in groups of
two or three, The front has a deep portico set
unto each story, while the plain molding be-
tween the two stories contains in large Greek
interior consists of lofty, spacious rooms with
marble floors, and ceilings frescoed richly with
illustrations from Grecian mythology. Part
Of the collection of antiquities dug up at Troy
is within this marble cottage" the remainder
being in Germany.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

bUbIOh AUNtTIIser,
The attempt to account for the milk in the
cocoanut may be postponed for a season, in view
of a threatened danger to the cocoanut itself. 1t
which first appeared five years ago in the west
ern part of the island of Cuba, is again doing
frightful damage to the trees. Thousands of CO.
coanut trees have been destroyed, and the bug is
slowly but steadily advancing east. Several in
gradients have been pointed out by naturalists
as effective in checking their devastation, but
little heed has been taken of the indications,
and it is feared by many that the bug will event
tually reach Baracoa. the consequence of which
to the product is looked upon with alarm.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
A Mysterious Monk.

In the Greek monastery at Mount Athos there
lived an old monk known as the mysterious
monk. He entered the monastery at the age Of
twenty, and had been there ifty-seven years
when his death occurred, a few weeks ago. He
retained it until his death. His name was never
known. He was learned, and spoke English,
Greek, Russian, German, French, Belgian,
Italian and Servian. He possessed great powers
of intellect, and knew how to keep his secret.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

NEW IOfk MaI aHu IApIt5s.
Young women captured half of the eight
scholarships awarded by the Cornell University,
and yet men who think themselves wise are
skeptical as to the capacity of the feminine mind
for a university education. Cornell has the
largest freshman class in America, with perhaps
one exception, and yet it is said by some that the
best young men will not attend institutions in
which CO education is established.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
An Odd Epitaph Up in the Granite Hills.

Washington Capital.
Here is an epitaph which I transcribed from a
tombstone in a New Hampshire graveyard a few
weeks ago. There was no lack of candor in that
part of the Granite State, evidently:
Here lies old Caleb Ham,
By trade a bum.
When Caleb dyed the Devil eryed:
Come, Caleb, come"
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
Fashions in Weddings.

Pittsburg Dispatch.
Fashion authorities declare that the smallest
bridesmaids possible will be the correct style
this year. If the brides family cannot furnish
something juvenile for that purpose they will
have to borrow from the neighbors. What the
fashion in bridegrooms will be is not stated. If
short men are wanted for that purpose it wip
create IL draft on bank officers,
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
A Forlorn Hope.


DVGVVH -
If a Christian minister who palliates, defends
aud absolves a candidate for a high Office
charged with a crime which the candidate adj
only forlorn, but abandoned without debate by
every teacher of the gospel, we cannot conceive
what in%ducement there can be for our young
men to lead honest and chaste lives, or what
definition would cover a hope so forlorn as this
which Mr.. Clarke is now leading.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
The Business of the Novelist.

Maurice Thompson, in the Independent.
1t would be a much wholsomer sign of the
times if our fiction writer's were discussing how
to make novels pleasingly harmless, or grandly
helpful, or charmingly instructive, instead of
warning over what a novel is. OF course, there
is a difference between ambrosia and baby tea.
Fiction may be wholesomely virile without be-
ing in the least degree rank and vicious; so it
may be tender and sweet without being insipid
in any of its elements.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

A FASHION writer says ''an all-white bonnet
is the most trying thing in nature" Then why
in the world don't the dear creatures who wear
them resort to art and improve upon naturel
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
Their Reputation.
National Republican.

National Republican.
'EMr. -: Please send me the World, Flesh,
and the Devil, and charge to my account.
This note was signed by a noted divine of this
city, and was received last Wednesday by a
Washington newsdealer who, not remembering
that a pamphlet with that peculiar title had re-
Gently been published, sent to the preacher in
perfect good faith the New York World, Herald,
aud Snn
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
Mans a Fool.

As a rule, mans a fool.
When it's hot he wants it cool;
When it's cool he wants it hot
Always wanting what it's not;
Never liking what he's got.
l maintain, as a rule,
Mans a fool.
Every Other Saturday.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
Fashion in China.

Chicago Tribune
fashion journal says that plain white French
china is coming into vCgue again. This will be
welcome news to husbands. Inc dazzling enecE
OF decorated ware makes it the EaoSt dlD1cuIt OF
all kinds TO dodge. ~
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

verse for Shakespeare in that style of which he
is master, the fact, when made known, may aid
in securing contributions from the readers of
the Ledger.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

THERE are no Independents in Ohio.-Inde-
pendent, but melancholy, Boston Advertiser.
The loud winds dwindle to a whisper low
And chuckle softly as they whisper mo,
No indeedy, not a one"
old poem with variations.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
EDITION.

The Sunday Journal has the largest and
best circulation of any Sunday paper in In
diana. Price three cents.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

THE good women of the country who contrib
uted more or less literally of their substance to-
wards decorating the White House with a por-
trait of Mrs. Lucy Hayes, together with an elab-
crate and ornate frame therefor, will be grieved
to learn that their money and efforts were in
some degree wasted. The portrait is permitted
to hang upon the walls of the Green Room, but is
shorn of much of its magnifcence by being
placed in a gilt frame similar to those surround
ing the faces of other but less distinguished
Presidents wives in the same room. The origi-
nal frame, on which were carved by Ohio ladies
representations of the flowers, fruits and vege-
tables of their native State, until the whole re-
sembled a petrified section of an agricultural
fair-this gorgeous frame has been found to be
inharmonious with its surroundings; besides it
gathered dust, which the housewifely soul of Mr..
Arthurs steward couldn't bear. No one of the
White House servants could give his entire time
to keeping the dust brushed from that collection
of wooden fruit, and hence the frame has been
banished to the attic. Unless il is 70 be lost to
fame the donors should rescue it and present it
to Belva Lockwood.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

A FOREIGN item says that the original plan of
Westminster Abbey is to be completed by the
addition of a tower and spire in the center,
something in the fashion of Notre Dame, in
Paris, probably, which has a central small spire,
but no tower except the two in front. 1t is to
be hoped that the contemplated improvement
will include the clearing away of the DETACHMENT
of the front. where a wretched old structure, as
handsome and suitable to the situation as a pig
pen, covers a part of the southwest corner. 1t
belongs to the c~loisters, and is kept because it is
so very old. In any country but England it
would have been torn down ages ago, in
stead of being left to mar one of the finest
facades in the world. 1t is strange that so many
magnificent cathedrals in Europe were left in
complete by their founders or promoters The
principal spire of the "Grand Tuomo," of Milan,
has been completed, mainly at the cost of the
King of Prussia-he was then, now Emperor
within a dozen years, even if it be now entirely
and absolutely finished. Work was going on
upon it in '66, during the war that ended with
Sadowa. TIL spire of the Cologne Cathedral
was left unfinished hundreds of years ago, to be
taken in hand and completed in pretty nearly
parallel progress with the Milan spire. There
are a number of other noted churches left more
or less incomplete by their builders which re-
main 50 to this day, but those named are the
best known.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

A DISPATCH from London announces that Mr..
George Washington Chllds, of Philadelphia, will
assist in raising a fundin America for the restor-
alton of the church in which Shakespeare lies
buried. If Mr.. Childs can be induced to ilumi-
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

OUR special report gives the details of the
magnificent reception with which Mr.. Blame was
yesterday greeted by the people of South Bend.
The beautiful little city of the north did itself
the greatest credit, and it will necessitate the ut
most effort on the part of the people of Indi-
annapolis to even equal the heartiness and the
beauty of the South Bend demonstration. The
capital city of the State should lead in its enthu-
siastic welcome Of the States distinguished Wis
itor. TO accomplish this, the various committees
must proceed earnestly with their duties, while
every citizen must feel that upon him devolves a
large share of responsibility. The time is short
and much is to be done.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

THE New York Society of Medical Jurispru-
dence has been discussing the best methods of
executing criminals, with a view to recommend
ing the adoption of that which should be thought
most speedy and least painful. No conclusion
was arrived at. The public at large would prob
ably take more interest in a convention of MUIR
derers which should agree upon some less pain
full and bungling fashions of removing their vic
Tins than those now in vogue. The sufferings
of the murdered seem to have attracted less at
tention from philanthropists than the lack of
pleasure to the hanged.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19

A FRENCH scientist has discovered that alco-
hol is Frequently generated in the human sys-
TEN by the normal processes of animal economy.
With this fact in mind there is no reason why a
very hilarious citizen should get into trouble at
home as he has been accustomed to do in excit-
ing election times like the present. Just let
him explain scientifically to his wife that his late
hours and suspicious conduct are due to spon-
taneous intoxication, an affair which she will
readily understand is entirely beyond his
control.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
THE SUNDAY JoURNAL.
THE INDIANA STATE JOURNAL.

Fer
One year, by mail.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
MORNING TABLE CHAT.

MGR. CAPEL traces the frequency of suicides in this
country to two causes-too much mental forcing Of
the young and too little moral training.
ACCORDING to the Drugman potatoes do not absorb
the arsenical preparations used for destroying the
Colorado beetle, but the productiveness of the soil is
impaired by the use of arsenic.
A BALTIMORE contemporary complains that clergy.
men are not well paid in the State of Maryland. The
editor mentions one case where "a bright young
preacher" got $40 a month from a wellto-do congre-
CATION.
LORD DUFFERIN is a man of much tact and address;
the speeches which be composes are in grace and feGc-
lty worthy of the pains which he bestows upon them;
ne has inherited a true touch of Sheridan's genius;
his social popularity is universal, and in the art of
fattery he is unrivaled.
CHLORIDE of lime should be used with care. A
young lady recently put a large quantity in a clothes
press where there was a musty smell. The bad odor
was entirely destroyed by the chemical, but a silk
dress of a pale blue color was bleached to q dirty gray
hue and rendered almost useless.
AN old reporter writes: when L was much younger
than l am now l was sent to ask questions of the late
Commodore Vanderbilt, and l remarked apologeticallY
to him: I'm afraid I am prying too much into your
private business Never you mind my half of this
job, young man, the blunt old veteran replied, L am
not going to say anything to you that 1 don't want
to-"
THE will of Sir John Dunty, a baronet of long de-
scent and large property, has cut off his immediate
relatives because they sought fifty years ago to prove
him ilegitimate, as being a son of his fathers deceased
wife's sister. Meantime an Anglican Bishop has been
declaring that the legitimation of such marriages
would be a greater national calamity than the landing
of 300 600 Frencbmen at Dover
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
MINOR MENTION.

PHILADELPHIA has a Sunday-breakfast asso-
citation, which has been in operation for several
years, and has for it's object the feeding of
tramps and other nomadic persons on Sunday
morning. The breakfasts are supplemented by
religious exercises. The organized charities" of
the city are now attacking the society on the
ground that its work, so far from being product
tive of good, encourages tramps and beggars
and interferes with the work of determination
conducted systematically by themselves. "Or-
ganized charity is undoubtedly a power for
good, but some of its ways ara peculiar, and at
this distance the objections to Sunday break
fasts seem a trife unreasonable. The tramp
who can be encouraged to persist in his wicked
ways by the chance of one free meal a week is a
being whom it is useless for any benevolent So
ciety to hope to exterminate. If, on the other
hand, the work of charity Is interfered with by
reason of the weekly breakfast being sufficient
for the seven days, then the associated charity"
has nothing to do with the case and should turn
its attention elsewhere. 1t cannot be that the
Generalization complained Of is due to the dys-
are of this injurious character then will the
work of determination be thereby hastened. On
the whole, there appears to be no good reason
why the Philadelphia tramp should not have his
Sunday breakfast, though associated charities"
should be dissolved in consequence.
The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-19
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