davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
Chinese Child Vendors.

We read in a Hong Kong letter to the
Cincinnati Enquirer that in Nankin and
Kai-fu children from six to twelve
years of age are sold by tens of thou
sands. Not hired out or transferred
but sold for small sum in cash, in con-
sideration of which the progenitor, by
tacit understanding, renounces all paren-
tai rights, even the right of inquiring
into the fate of his offspring. The pur-
chasing trader may be the middle man
of well-to-do childless couple, or the
agent of wholesale tea planter, or
coolie breeder, raising and training
slaves for foreign market. For the
equivalent of $15 any commission ped
dler will undertake to ''adopt' the same
number of young Mongols in the name
of any employer and at very short no.
tice. The authorities might object to
formal and public purchase, but the
meaning of the adopting transaction is
we'll understood and connived at. 1t is
n lesser evil, and few parents ask any
questions. Rather than see their chill
dren starve they will resign them to any
fate--with one exception. The orthodox
Buddhsts seem to have evinced occa-
sional scruples in delivering up their
youngsters TO the proselytiZing mission
aries, whom they suspect of all sorts of
practices. But even such scruples can
be readily outweighed by few extra
dollars.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
Man.Eating in Sumatra.

Marsden, in his account of Sumatra,
says that although he has heard reports
of the cannibal habits Of some of the
tribes, he had always discredited them
until the truth of the statement was
made entirely clear to him. He says that
the Battas, one of the peoples of Suma
ira, eat human flesh regularly, not to
satisfy the cravings of hunger, but as a
sort of ceremony to show their detesta-
tion of certain crimes by this most igno-
minions punishment, and as a savage dis
play of revenge and insult to their un-
fortunate enemies. People killed or
badly wounded by them in war are
eaten, and the captured sold as slaves.
These same Battas show certain amount
of culinary art in the preparation of this
food, for they broil the flesh over brisk
fire, and flavor it with silt, lemon and
red pepper.
A friend of the writer's, who for more
than forty years has been in the employ
ment of the Dutch government, bears
personal witness to the prevalence of the
custom in Sumatra up till recent times.
He was once making scientific investiga-
tions in the interior of that island, and
was being entertained in the most hos
pitable manner by the native rajah, or
chief, of the place he was then in. A
feast had been made to which he was
bidden, and to which he went, taking
his own native servant with him. The
banquet had proceeded for some time
without interruption, when at last, as
crown of the feast, beautiful brown
roast joint was brought from the back OF
the house to the open, airy place where
the repast was being held, This was cut
up without remark and handed round,
and the Dutch gentleman was on the
point of eating his portion, having raised
part CT it to his lips, when his servant
rushed forward and stopped him, saying,
"Master, master, do not eat; it is boy !"
Tie chief, on being questioned, admitted,
with no small pride at the extent of his
hospitality, that, hearing that the white
man would feast with him, he had or
dered young boy to be killed end
cooked in his honor, as the greatest del
icacy obtainable, and that the joint be-
fore them was the best part, the thigh.
Popular Science Nonthly.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
SELECT SIFTiNGS.


A photograph of lightning has been
made in New Orleans.
A city barber says that on an average
eighty-ive men out of every hundred
wear mustaches.
The trombone is the sackbut of the
ancients; and it was revived about 1890,
after amodel found in Pompeii.
The Welsh bards became so arrogant
in the twelfth century that it became
necessary to control them by law,
which restrained them from asking for
the princes horse, hawk, or greyhound.
A turnip grown near Marquette, Mich.
weighs eighteen pounds, measures thir-
ty-four inches in circumference and
twelve inches in diameter-believed to
be the largest vegetable Of the kind on
record.
In AMMAN though king dies early in
the year, his successor is not deemed to
commence his reign to the first day OF
the next year. All events occurring
during the unexpired months are as
cribed to the reign of the deceased.
Since 1871 the consumption of horse
flesh for food has more than quadrupled
in Paris. List year there were 8, 900, 900
pounds eaten. The meat OF mules and
donkeys is worth one quarter more than
that of horses, which only commands
twelve cents a pound
The following ages have, on the
authority of skilled arboriculturists, been
attained by trees: Yew, 5000 years
schubertia, 3, 900 cedar, 2, 600; oak, 800
spruce, 1, 200; lime, /, 100; Oriental plane,
1000; walnut, 900; olive and cypress,
500; orange, $50; maple, 500; elm, 800.
On February 20, 1904, the legislature
of New Jersey, by an almost unanimous
vote, passed an act to abolish slavery in
that State, by securing freedom to all
persons born there after the Fourth oi
July next ensuing; the children of slave
parents to become free-masculine a
twenty five years of age, feminine a
twenty-one.
Among the literary curiosities in th'
Southampton library, England, is al
old Bible known as the Bug Bible. l
was printed by John Daye in 1851, will
a prologue by Tyndall. Its name is de
rived from the peculiar rendering Of the
fifth verse of the ninety first Psalm
which reads $50 that thou shall no
need to be afraid of any bugs by night.
Chess is the oldest game now in use
1t was originally played in India, wher
tradition says it was invented 5000 year
ago. The Indian game, however, wa
much improved as it traversed othe
nations. 1t reached China, and thel
came through Persia to Europe. Befor
the sixteenth century there had beer
fifteen writers on chess, of whom sever
were Asiatics.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
Indian Women of Alaska.

In a Sitka (Alaska) letter correspond
ent of the New York Times says of the
Indian women of that region: The
women weave beautiful baskets from the
fine fiber that they split from the inner
bark and roots of the cedar, and with
dyed grasses ornament them with geo.
metrical designs and whorls of gay
colors. They keep the fiber damp while
at work, and the basket weaver has a
pan of water beside her and moistens
the strands also in her mouth. Civilized
interference can be seen in this little
branch of art, too, and magenta and ami
line dyes are taking the place of the
soft, pure colors that they obtained from
roots, sea weeds, and natural clays.
These baskets are waterproof, and in
ancient days they cooked their food in
them with hot stones, and used them
for a variety of purposes. They are
pretty souvenirs Tor the traveller, but the
round, gayly co!ored baskets, with the
mysterious rattle in their covers, have a
strong and abiding smell of smoke and
salmon that nothing can ever rid them
of. The women gather salmon berries in
the woods and bring them to market in
these native baskets and groups of berry
pickers are always lying and lounging
about the streets with their produce be-
fore them. They generally have their
faces blackened, and this strange custom
of the island tribes puzzles and interests
the stranger greatly. There are variety
of explanations for it, some saying that
it denotes sorrow, Others ascribing it to
JOY, or the fuliillment of a vow, or a
warning of dangerous state of mind,
or a means of preserving their complex
ions from the wind, the glare of the
water or snow, or rs protection from
mosquitoes. Men and women both smeay
their faces with SCOT and seal oil when
they start off on long canoe journeys,
and when they wash off the blacking
their skins come out very fair and
creamy.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
HOW 10 Get Eat.

To eat supper just before going to bed
is great aid toward getting feshy. The
food so taken goes all to fat. A nap
after each meal is also conducive to the
same end, but gentle exercise should be
taken between meals to promote appe-
tite Large doses of fresh air, avoid
ance of envious thought, entire con-
tentment with ones lot in life, ones
children, husband, relatives and friends
complete the same great cnd There is
one great advantage derived from the
craze on fat or no fat 1t is poor rule
that don't work both ways, and many of
the laws for gaining or losing flesh are the
same, and are great health promoters.
The formation of tennis, skating, swim
ming and walking clubs, and the patron
izing of them by both stout and thin
alike, is adding greatly to the health of
our women. n.-ISm Francisco Chronicle.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
THE OLD YEARS BLESSING.

THE OLD YEARS BLESSING.
am fading from you,
But one draweth near,
Called the Ansel-Gusriian
or the coming year.
If my gifts and graces
Coldly you forget,
Let the New Years angel
Bless and crown them yet.
If gave you sickness,
If Il brought you care,
Let him make one patience
And the other prayer.
If broke your idols,
Showed you they were dust
Let him turn the knowledge
Into heavenly trust.
If brought temptation,
Let sin die away
Into boundless pity
For all hearts that stray
May you hold this angel
Dearer than the last
So bless his future,
While he crowns my past.
a-Adetaide Proctor.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
WINTER DAYS.

The winter days are coming, John,
The skies around US lower
The summer birds have southwark hown,
The frost is on the flower;
And chilly winds blow loud, John,
Where late the joyous strain
Of feathered warblers charmed the esr,
By forest field and lane.
The winter days are coming, John,
And scanty is our store,
A blight is on the harvest fell,
The wolf is at the door; a.
Dur children cry for bread. John, '4
When there's no breai TO give
A course has come to poverSy,
That we may ne'er outiye.
rhe winter days are coming, John,
And you have labored l)ng-
Through weary weeks, with hopeful heart,
You've toiled the fiells among;
For all your hard work done, John.
And al the prayers I've said,
For all the joys we dreamed were ours,
There's wretchedness instead.
The winter days arc coming, john,
The tempests gather near-
rhe rich may smile beside his CRATE,
And fill his home with cheer;
But It's not SO with US, john,
| Crouche1 beneath the storm,
| With blessed babies dearly Lowell,
And naught to keep them warm.
rhe winter days are coming, John,
| The frost is on the pane
There's snow upon my aching Lreas5,
There's frenzy in my brain;
But, ah my love for you, John,
Grows tender, day by day,
The world that pliers rounl my heart,
Can ne'er steal that away
II NJ MdtthelUS
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
hard case-A watch s.

A hard case-A watch's.
Contempt of court-The fellow who
uas just been refused.
It takes pretty good tailor to patch
dogs pants.-NeW YORK Journal.
The latest returns-Husbands getting
home from the club. Georgia Cracker.
Marriage promotes longevity among
men, notwithstanding its tendency to
produce premature baldness.--BostoH
Courier.
A London physician says death has no
sting. Did he ever press his finger on
the fighting precinct of a dead hornet3--
Lo0etI Courier.
A hens heart beats $50 times min
ute. Perhaps that is the reason why its
body wabbles so much when a woman
"shoos" it.-Mew York Journal
A Stock Yards young lady at ball
the other evening referred to her gentle
man escort as an Indian, "for," said she,
"he's always on my trail. - Chicago San.
Dame Nature most unequally
BestowS her gifts 'tis said
Man combs his own but Nature, she
Combs every ROSTERS head.
Judge.
A man arrested in northern Texas for
counterfeiting had six different dies. If
he had been arrested for stealing horse
he would have had only one die.-SJt-
ings.
A scientific paper says that the ear OF
clam is at the base of the foot. 1t
must be funny to see cam walking
around listening for earthquakes.-Sa"
Francisco Post.
There is a glacier in Alaska moving
along at the rate of quarter OF mile
a year. 1t acts very much like the aver
age small boy on his way to school,
Burlington Free Press.
Sixty Harvard freshmen have dropped
their Latin, eighty their Greek and 100
their mathematics. None of them have
dropped their baseball or their boating,
however, and college culture is still safe.
-LopeN Courier.
A New York editor has been struck by
the fact that 80 many young men are
now wearing glasses, and asks: 'Are
Americans growing weak-eyedW If the
glasses are of the single barreled pattern,
It is more likely that they are growing
weak headed. d.-NoristoWn Herald.
HUSKING TINE.
Now the huskers are arrayed on
Many dusky barns wide floor,
Every swain beside his maiden
Round the heaped-up golden store
! With what blissful expectation
Do they watch the corn appear,
Till the sudden osculation
Loud proclaims the rare red ear.
Burlington Free Press.
A lady-a French lady-is showing a
visitor the family portraits in the picture
gallery. "That officer there in the uni
FORM" she says, "was my great great
grandfather. He was as brave as lion,
but one of the most unfortunate of men
he never fought a battle in which he
did not have an arm or leg carried awaya"
Then she adds proudly: "He took part
in twenty-four engagements. " Chicago
| HsrnM
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19

1t is probable that bicycle and tricycle.
will become in the future as much of a
staple article of manufacture as the com.
mon road wagon of to-day. In England
$15, 900, 900 are now invested in their
production, employment being given to
ten thousand persons.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19

The London Times was the first news
paper in the world to be printed by
steam power. The date was November
30, 1914, seventy years ago.
Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-12-19

There are said to exist few support
cfs of the view that cholera is merely an
aggravated form OF ague.
Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-06-07
Irrigatlug Orchards.

An experienced farmer claims that he
has derived more profit from irrigation
on bis orchards and grass lands than
from any other source of fertiliziDg.
Csncerning his success he says: Dur
inc high water in spring and fall, also
sben heavy rains prevail in summer, |
eap run water over nearly thirty acres.
Within the past eight years, | have, by
ir-iration, increased my hay crop at
least thirty tons each year, and by ap-
plyins the manure made from the hay
mixed with muck and mari, have, with.
in the same time, doubled my root and
grain crops. The running Of the water
over grass land leaves annually a ores
sing Of fertilizing materials which sup
plies the grass with every requisite fol
Is growth and maturity. The tender
grsss grown on irrigated pasture lands
Is sought for by all animals in preference
10 other grasses / have land that ha'
bad nc other dressing for thirty years
and Yields annually q heavy crop o
clover, timothy and blue grass. Tner'
are Hundreds offarms that can be mad
productive by utilizing streams that fioy
through them
Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-06-07
FARMERS COLUMN.
..,rRrsrING & INSTRUCTIVE READ
,<c FOR FARM AND rIsEsIDE. r.
Produce q Variety.

Sensible advice is given by the Rural
o.l;sornian on this point thus: "lt is bad
oolicy for farmer to cultiyate only one
srop If that fails he has lost his years
wo,t. hut if ne cultivates several crops
come Of them are always sure to succeed,
IA some will command remunerative
srS a.;ce A farmer about to commence
oots ever the fields, and finding that
hutter always commands a good price
S,,s a few cows, and then to prevent
slcns y from the dairy being wasted he
SrYs S some hogs. Poultry pays, and one
bundred hens and cocks are bought.
When he buys his horses he sees that
/. 4 better (instead of geldings that are
Seteriorating as they grow olderl to In
vest in fine, large mares that Will pro-
Suee him total worth, say as a year
ling 500 every year in addition to do
;nc the work on the farm. If the mares
are large they will easily do this. There
4 always a demand for large hcrses ano
mules for draught purposes, and they
sIl readily. Every farmer should try
N make everything pay profit axe
every edge cut
Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-06-07
Fence Posts.

The Indiana Farmer thinks 1t is pref
Is well settled now that the fence OF the
future must be made of wire in some
iorm, and the important question Will
he.in regard TO posts. Iron posts have
been proposed, but they are expensive
and the safe attachment of the wire to
them is difficulty that has not yet been
satisfactorily overcome. We suggest
planting some rapid growing and dura-
bIe.tree by the side of each temporary
post. ana by the time the post fails the
wires can at once be transferred to the
tree. For this purpose we propose the
catalpa (speciosa) or the black walnut
Ifthe latter is chosen, the nuts, in theil
frssh state should be planted. as the tree
bears transplanting badly. The cataipa
oftwo or three years growth in the nur
wry, may be planted any time this
month. and their growth will be quite
certain. They can be procured Of thu
size of several reliable nurserymen o
this State. If the shade should prove
Objectionable, the catalpa will bear cut
ting back severely, so ss to obviate thu
difficulty. In this manner a. perpetua
fence NAV be maintained very cheaply
Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-06-07

proudest triumphs of science, and shows
what persistent effort will accomplish in
the face of natural obstacles. By the aid
of all the sciences, in improving, simpli-
flying and cheapening its manufacture,
a product that, less than seventy years
ago, cost 80 cents per pound, is now made
SO cheaply that the best is to-day the
only successful rival of the sugar-cane
in producing sugar supply for the
world.
This success has been achieved only
by the aid of the fostering arm of the
various governments in whose territory
the production of beet sugar has become
an important industry. France for many
years spent per cent of the value of all
her sugar importations, even for q time
prohibited by decree the importation
of all sugar: while our Government has
never given in any year over one-seven'
thousandth part of l per cent. OF the
value of its sugar importation to aid In
the home production of sugar. What
the sorghum industry now needs is the
careful supervision of science, and wher
this shall be given as thoroughly as Ii
has been given to the making of bee
sugar, the beet must retire, and sorghum
take its place as a rival to the tropica
sugar-cane.
DR.. Collier makes a statement, th'
truth of which has been to evident u
many, that many agricultural writers
instead of fostering this infant industry
delight to write it down, and gives al
instance where one of much prominence
declared that the conversion of ambe
cane into merchantable sugar in payin
quantities at a fair profit was a matte
made impossible by the force of natura
laws, and yet within three months 9
that time, and within 300 miles of thi
writer's home 100 tons of excellent suga
was made at a very Satisfactory profit
mainly from this very variety.
Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-06-07
TERMS: 500 PER YEAR.
GREAT Is SCIENCE.
ow We Thrive and Grow LOpg-Lived on
the Poisons We Eat. Drink and Inhaie.

tOurd''
Butter has practically disappeared from
the earth. Grease, chemically treated.
dyed. bleached squeezed, acidulated and
otherwise improved, has driven il out
under that mysterious law of political
land domestic) economy by which an
inferior circulating medium drives out a
SUD erior. Even farm-made butter, We
are told, is only oleomargarine bought
in town, carried to the farm, and then
brought in again to the city. We should
like to know what becomes of the cream
nov adays; but that is only an incidental
| inquiry to the important question sug-
gested by this point and others to he
noticed.
Sugar and the other sweets, we are IN
| formed, are all glucose and other adui-
terants of an injurious nature. Flour,
we are told, is large part white clay,
ground chalk, etc. Tea is all dyestuf!s,
and no end of arsenic and other poisons
are part of it. Coffee now has establish
ed its claim to an inferiority at least
equal to that of tea. Meat, we are told,
is either diseased when it is killed at
the West, and then fnrther injured by
TRANSFORMATION after death, or else is in
iured by transportation East alive, and
not fit to eat when slaughtered here; and
besides that, it contains such varied
assortment OF passengers, from trichina
to tapeworm, that it isn't safe to eat un-
tiI it has been cooked so hard that the
best teeth you buv fail to chew it, and
the best digestion also gives it up.
: Butter and bread, tea, coffee and sugar,
meat and groceries generally, all come
. under the condemnation of modern
science, with its searching eye. Indeed
q our clothes contain traces of poison In
!, the DIVES, and our walls NAV be hung
i with arsenic instead of art. The drain
n oipes run to the general sewer. which,
: as has been recently explained, is less a
means for carving away filth than for
u supplying deadly gases and spreading
the worst diseases. Beer, wines, and
o even the strongest fluids, are described
!. as concoctions of poison, dangerous tC
; life itself. Tobacco is adulterated will
still more hurtful stuffs.
e Such is life in the nineteenth century
y We may as well look at it and decide
10 whether it is life in the nineteenth cen
4. tury or death instead. Naturally on
:. would say from the picture that it'll
IL death. When we eat we eat poison
is when we drink we drink poison; whel
N we breathe we breathe poison. Scienc
reveals it all, and great is science.
There is, however, one other sugge'
I'll tive fact that belongs to such collectio
n as this. Science also shows and boast
Sc of it, and we all rejoice fhereat, that th
no death rate is declining steadily: Peopl
eo are growing stronger, healthier, happie
W Life is heightened, and the crownin
X glory Of the nineteenth century l. in II
tn prolongation of human life.
,e What threw our crude and shortlive
:. ancestors into their early graves, al
a. a. parently, was the lack of our modern az
- vantages, the obstruction Of the brigi
~ light ofscience, and compulsory n
Of lance upon pure food and pure drink.
Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-06-07
Freaks of Plants.
Lowell Mail.

Speaking of the exploits of woodbines,
suggested by the paragraph in a recent
number Of the Mail, gentleman relates
that vine on his premises once entered
his house-frst gaining admittance by
ascending the wall, between the clap
boards and the laths-and then finding a
crack in the plastering, it pushed its way
into one of the rooms until several feet
in length. Its ambition was encouraged
by little training, and grew to perfec..
ton until the season of 1.-THE scar and
yellow leaf" checked its progress.
Another gentleman reports that he
had a nasturti.,n growing in flower bed
beside his hose, branch of which dis
appeared in the opening of conductor
Finding it could not be easily Withdrawn
he was led to investigate further, anG
discovered that it had grown the whole
length of the spout, and, issuing from
the upper end, was flourishing in th'
caves trough. The part hidden from
the light in the conductor rivalled tn
best bleached celery in whiteness, ant
the leaves were dwarfed in size ant
separated by long intervals.