davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31
The Danger of Moderate Drinking.

The following from Texas paper
makes out q strong case:
1.-The veriest drunkard on earth, in
his lucid moments, will freely confess
that drunkenness is brutalizing, debas-
ing and ruinous to both body and mind.
All sots commenced as moderate and
occasional drinkers, and hooted at the
forebodings of their friends that they
would wind up as drunkards. They
would meet the warnings of sincere
friends with the remark that they had
resolution sufficient to control them
selves and that they could Stop at any
moment. All feel this degree of conf
dence in the strength of their own reso-
buttons at the outset. The. occasional
drinker may gradually become the reg
ular drinker, the moderate may insensi-
bly, drift into the immoderate drinker.
The appetite as Shakespeare saws,
grows by what it feeds upon the
craving for stimulants increases; habit
ripens into second nature, it takes an
increased quantity to keep off depress-
ion, and the end of is is that the moder-
ate drinker often becomes the absolute
and helpless slave to alcoholism and
neglects his business as well as brutal
ICES his nature and intellect. He may
90 so far as to lose his self-respect and
feel no shame IN being drunk in public.
Moderate drinkers should be careful.
They may, before they are aware of it,
90 too far.
-. sit is said there are in the United
States 100000 incorrigible drunkards,
and that 10000 drunkards die annually,
mere wrecks, bodily and mentally. Al
coholism helps fill our poor-houses,
jails, penitentaries and asylums as well
as our graveyards. 1t also transmits to
posterity various diseases, physical and
mental. 7!H
There is hardly a town that is with
out half dozen miserable wrecks, the
victims of alcoholism, who were once
worthy and promising men. 1t is a mel
ancholy and deplorable state of things,
yet drunkenness is upon the increase.
Temperance societies are palliatives
Drunkards can only be cured by medical
skill, by relieving the abnormal morbity
of the stomach, superinduced by alcohol.
This the best scientific skill of the world
is now agreed upon" lr |l
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31
4 Celestial Banquet.

Our friends are introduced to a room
full of elegantly dressed people (all men
of course, who shake their own Hands,
clasped together in front, and bow
themselves to the ground The host
presents his. son, arrayed like himself
in richest satin and silk brOcade. The
bov has been politely trained and pros
trates at the feet of the fathers guests,
striking his forehead on the floor three
times. The music now strikes up
perfect din and all are invited out to
great dining hall, where there are num-
bers of square tables inlaid with pearl,
around which the guests seat them
selves. The host, with the most honor
able guests, is at the head of the room,
and the rank gradually recedes away
from him. Now the fun begins in
earnest The 1.-TWO foreigners, for
tunately or otherwise, are placed at the
posts of honor, and, out of courtesy,
are compelled to at least taste of every
dish placed on the table. Imagine par
taking of such delicacies as shark fins,
and eggs which have been mellowing
for year. The Chinese regard these
last in the same manner that we do our
sherry and port. Although the dishes
are brought on and removed by serv-
ants, it is considered the polite thing
for the host himself to serve the guests
at his table, who in turn serve him and
each other. This is done in an odd
fashion: The server arises, takes his
ivory chop sticks in hand, and, fishing
out the Gaintiest part of some dish be
fore him, hands it with care in the deep
saucer or bowl before each guest. The
most ludicrous part of this is that the
person thus honored is expected to rise
each time, murmur ''Zia zia" (thank
you), and subside again. When this is
repeated six or eight times in five min
utes it becomes very funny, then rather
monotOnous, and at last exceedingly
trying to the spinal column. The doc
tor, being fond of joke, takes particu-
lar pains to be excessively polite to his
companion. and the wavelike motion
he keeps him constantly describing is
most affecting. There are seventeen
courses, in exactly the reversed order
to which we are accustOmed-sw
meats, nuts and cakes coming first.
A pudding, which ranks in their esti-
nation as q plum pudding to us, comes
next, composed of water-lily nuts, blue
rice and Chinese fruit called lichee.
Soon after this appears vanished duck
"a dish not many foreigners would
relish. The fowl is first dried, smoked
and then vanished over, this process
making it good (?) for any length of
time. Birds nest and alligator soups
make their appearance toward the close
of the feast, and our suffering friend, as
he attempts to choke them down, de-
cides they are as novel in their COM
position as in the cognomen. The
Finger bowls and doylies brought on
when all have finished, are quite unique,
consisting of steaming hot bowls of
water, out of which long linen cloths
are wrung and passed at each table for
the convenience of the guests. ,Sha7ag-
| kai Cor So. LouiS Globe Democrat.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31
THE HUlHORISTS WIFE.

It's nice to be a humorist,
And have a little wife,
Who, when your brain with grand idee''
And tuneful rhyme is rife.
Doth "break you up" and drive the point
Completely from your head,
By yelling in staccato tones;
"Oi 'front.' you come to bed"
It's joy to every "funnyman"
When wrestling with joke,
And brushing up his rambling thoughts,
By giving his hair poke,
To have, when inspirations goal
AT last he doth acquire,
A little wife to cry: Look outl
The baby's near the fret
It's bliss when you come home at night
To court the bounding Muse
To find your little wife on deck
And tinctured with the blues;
Then when you fam would sling yourself
In realms of witty verse,
To have her talk "spring bonnets" and
Distract you bout your purse"
Still, all you boys who brightly shine
With "Faber" and with pen,
And in the columns of the press
Are much admired by men
In seriousness | know that you
Would give up all in life,
Before you'd part with her you love
The darling little wife!
JET J0slyn, in Hdtchet,
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31
A Cure for Drunkenness.

There is prescription in use in En-.
gland for the cure of drunkenness by
which thousands are said to have been
enabled TO recover themselves. The
recipe came into notoriety by the efforts
of Mr.. John Vine Hall, commander of
the Great Eastern steamship. He had
fallen into such habitual drunkenness
that his most earnest efforts to reclaim
himself proved unavailing. At last he
sought the advice of an eminent physi-
clan, which he followed faithfully for
several months, that at the end of that
time he had lost all desire for liquor,
although he had been for many years
ied captive by most debasing appe-
lite. The recipe which he afterwards
published, and by which so many other
drunkards have been assisted to reform,
is as follows Sulphate of iron, twenty
grains; magnesia, forty grains pepper
mint, forty-four drains; spirits of nut
meg, four drains. Dose, one table
spoonful twice a day. Toledo Globe,
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31

A GREAT preacher in London was
defending his wine-drinking to me. 1
said: Suppose j. b. Cough were a
poor inebriate in London, and were to
be converted, which church would it be
taste would be recalled and he placed
in danger or Mr.. Surgeons, where
you find total abstainerS at the COM
munion table?' That argument touched
him, although he was invulnerable to
every other That is the argument we
are to apply to every man or woman
who would belong to the rescue section
OF religious society. Joseph Cook.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31

THOMAS +. DURANT, once most
prosperous business man of New York,
has been sent to an asylum Us q COM
mon drunkard.
The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31

Charles Neeman, Cleveland
saloon keeper, committed suicide be-
cause he was unable to pay his license.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03
TattO0ing Among Indians,

Among the many arts for the innic-
ton of pain, tattooing is at once the
most useless and revolving. The Yu-
kona Indians, of Alaska, follow this
method: Instead of pricking the stuff
in with sharpened bones or needles
they make a paste out of charcoal and
grease, soak thread in it, punch q
needle through the flesh SO that it
comes out at u different hJle from the
one where it entered, and then draw
the thread through under the skin,
The operation is painful, for the flesh
swells up and looks very much in
famed. Men tattoo only their hands
and wrists with pictures Of the ncbler
animals or fish, but the women tattoo
their faces also. These latter begin
the process when they are quite young,
making birds, turtl, or some other in
significant things on their hands and
wrists, while they draw lines Of differ.
ent kinds on their chins and the lower
part of their cheeks. AS a rule this
tattooing is done entirely in blue, but
now and then there Is an Indian who
has dotted red spots through the blue.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03
WHAT STRUCK HIM?
Tho Mystery Of n Deadly Attack Solved
by II Newspaper Paragraph,
Boston HERALD
tIJnw apn A,nn,,oo,,a l,l,a1 L., n..lo, 4


GLOW are Americans liked In England2"
And Mr. b. Il, Larrabee, of AZ Chester Square,
M'dlrector of the New York 4 Roston Despatch
Express Company, who has recently returned
from considerable residence in London an.
swered; "lf they have good recommendations
and behave themselves they are well treated
but they will like the English people, any way,
when acquaintance ripGns into confidence"
How do the English compare with Amer
icans2"
The finest looking men in tho world can DO
seen on pleasant days Of the London season.
promcnajing PiccOdiy. The English laoics
however, are neither so neat in appearance nor
80 graceful of form and movement as the Amer
leans, but they seem to enjoy more robust
health"
"Arc English people longer lived than our
pcoploY"
~ don't know have not fully investigated
But remember once hearing read Il newspaper
paragraph entitled Why do Enslshmen Live
Longer than AmericansP That paragraph,
by the way once solved II grea. mystery for
me-"
"Ah, indeed, another 'trlbltc to the power
OF the prCss2 sugge ted the reporter,
"lcs, II you 30 please 10 cal it. In 1879,
when | was ro'iding at the Commonwca til
Hotel in this city had occasion to do me
business in Washington street. Whom got to
the corner of Fanklip, | seemed to fecla blow
in the breast and fqll'to the piyome like a
dead man. When l recovered consciousness
was ken to my hotel. / first thought per-
haps some enemy had struck me, bnt my
| ply sicians assured me that such coul not be
the case and advised strictost quiet. For Blk
| long weeks | was unable to liz down. | was
violently i'll, and my physicians said won
probab Y never walk the streets of Boston
again. did not want to die, but whJ can ex.
pect to live when all doctors say he cannot 2"
And Mr. Lar abee smiled, sarcastcally, and
expressed himself very freely concerning the
numb,r OF common disorders which are con.
trolled by remedies which physicians will not
employ.
"But how about that paragrJph?'
eyes, yes. When | was obliged to sit up In
bed day and night for fear OF suHocatiOn, and
hourly expected death, my nurse begged the
privilege Of reading that paragraph to me- |
refused Him at first but he persis ed. 1t de-
scribed my condition 80 exactly, that for the
first time began to L, ali1e what had Frustrated
me. was filled with stgang' hop. at once
dismiss ed my physicians and immediately began
Warmers safe cure. In few months was
restored to perfect Ii alth, Notwithstanding
mine was one OF the worst osible cases
of Brights disease Of the. kidneys, which ali my
physicianH--and had the best specialists in
Boston-said was incurable. l tell you when
man gets into the d srcrate condition was
in, he doesn't forget what roscues him."
'Bnt were the effect permanently
THAT was five years ago" said Mr.. LARA
bee, 'and for thirty years have not been 70
well as during the past five years. II had
known what | do now, woul have checked
the matter long ago, for 1t was in my system
1 r.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03
(sarIlets.


Garnets have not heretofore held
very high rank as jewelry except in
the eyes of those who own exception
ally fine specimens, or ladies to whom
their rich, half-hidden color is cs-
pecially becoming. But they have
certainly of late acquired new inter-
est. Their possibilities are beginning
TO be better understood, and their
pecuniary value has been greatly en-
HANGED simply by new and artistic
treatment. The old style of setting
garnets robbed them Of half their
beauty. The stones were set on one
side only, and set with solid back
ground, which rendered them durable
but ineffective The new styles show
the stones cut on both sides and set
clear SO that the refractory power is
doubled, while the contrasts effected
by the use of stones of different sizes,
the alienation Of grains of gold with
grains of garnet, in the execution of
fine work, and in the "effects" pro-
duced by surface and twO-sided cut
tings placed in artistic juXtaposition,
are as novel as they are striking. The
bands for the throat, formed OF several
rows Of garnets of the same size, cut
on both sides, and mounted clear with
out visible setting, are extremely
beautiful, and can be readily taken
apart and made to serve as bracelets.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03

Tie London Telegraph, in a iong
and interesting article upon the neces-
sity of rest for the human frame, re-
marks that nature, while she specially
built the human form habitually erect,
has specially decreel that men and
women should occasionally rest them
selves by assuming sedentary posi-
tions.
Almost every medical authority on
the deformities of the human body has
drawn attention to the fact that
standing too long operates in vicious
direction, which, by elongating certain
muscles, weakens them; that from the
necessity of changing position in Or
der to rest the muscles it occurs that
when people are standing they alter
nately balance themselves lrst on one
leo and then on the other, but most
frequently on the left; and that a girl
with weak spine, after standing up
right for some time, generally does not
keep her feet in the same line, but
places one above TIE other. Curya.
turc of the spine, albeit temporary, is
the result.
The habit of standing on one leg--a
habit unavoidable in standing too
long induces the shoulders to lose
their horizontal level. The one oppo-
site to the projecting hip becomes
higher than the other, and the spine
becomes deformed latterly at this part.
To deny seats to female shop assistants
is downright cruelty.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03

This national holiday was originally
attended by the Puritan colonists, under
Governor Bradford, to express publicly
their gratitude for the seasons harvest.
1t was eleven months since the littlc
hand had arrived in Plymouth Bay. The
"Mayflower" had returned that spring;
they were alone in the great continent,
where Indian tribes were powerful and
unfriendly. The next two years are re-
corded in history as unusually disastrous
disease, death, and privations working
serious disaster in the little band. In
stead of annual Thanksgiving, a day o.
fasting and prayer was vastly more a2-
propriate. In 1922 the abundant harvest
was spoken OF by contemporary colonists
as a heaven sent deliverance from the
dread of famine. We are also told OF
the day of fasting and prayer appointed
for the drought, and the joyful welcome
of the rain during the service, changing
the fast to thanksgiving. The custom
thus founded was continued through the
colonial days, and after the Revolution
the governors of the several New Eng
land States continued to appoint an an
nual Thanksgiving Day.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03
A Mothers Influence.

In railway car man about sixty
years old came to sit beside me. lie
had heard me lecture the evening be-
fore on temperance. 81 am master of
ship" said he, Sailing out Of New
York, and have just returned from
my iftieth voyage across the Atlantic.
About thirty years ago l was a sot,
shipped while dead drunk, and was
carried on board like log, When l
came to, the captain asked me, DO
you remember your mother?' l told
him she died before | could remember.
WELL said he, 4 am Vermont man.
When was young was crazy to GO
to sea- At last my mother consented
should seek my fortune. My boy
she said, 4 don't know anything
about towns, and never saw the sea-
but they tell me they make thousands
of drunkards. Now, promise me
you'll never drink drop of liquor.
he said. 4 laid my hands in hers and
promised, as l looked into her eyes for
he last time. She died soon after.
I've been on every sea, seen the worst
kinds of life and men-they laughed
at me as milksop and wanted to
know if / was a coward. But when
they offered me liquor l saw my
mothers pleading face, and never
drank drop. 1t has been my sheet.
anchor; owe all to that. Would you
like to take that pledge?' said he. "
My companion took it, and he added
at has saved me. have fine ship
wife and children at home, and have
helped Others"
That earnest mother saved two mer
10 virtue and usefulness; how many
more He who sees all can alone tell
WendeH PhH}ips.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03
tago through the paint-room, where

stage, through the paint-room, where
an actor is making himself as ugly as
vermillon and lumber can well do 1t;
then, by means Of a narrow stairway
down to the dressing-room, rich in its
very confusion, and strewn around
with costly brocades and satins
wherever the convenience Of the last
actor had left them. It Is not long
before you find yourself standing on
the stage, so near the actors, too, that
the Emperor's robes touch you as he
sweeps superbly by Then you are
hurried back to your box again, where
it is explained TO you that the fighting
is still going on and that so-and-so has
killed so-and-so and Is off on horseback.
You leave the theatre of the Oldest
people in the world with II con-
fused idea of the plot, burlesqued by
your interpreter and still more highly
colored by your heated Imagination,
with the blare Of the trumpet and the
strident wall Of the fiddle in your ears,
with the smell of all Chinatown in
your nostrils, with headache, per-
haps, but with little added to your
stock of Misunderstanding.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03

GLOW do We detect bad piccesl Well,
! can't tell you. It's instinct, l guess"
said an old expert at the sub-treasury
building in New York in answer to
HeraH reporters question.
Cant you generally tell by the weight
or size"
ooh, pshaw, no! A composition of
lead and platinum is made that weighs
and rings exactly like gold. Look here;
there is piece that almost any man in
New York would as soon have as any
that was ever coined.n lie tossed in
front of the reporter twenty dollar gold
piece that looked, weighed and rang like
gold.
"Well. what's the matter with it2"
cts only worth $40. 1t has been cut
into, followed out, filled with compost
ton and stuck together again. rather
think my eyes are the best aids in de-
tccting, though / can pick out bad
coin when handling pile blndrold ed"
"Are many spurious coins bought
here"
"Oh, quantities. Most of them are so
bungingly done that it is easy to spot
them. Once when aninvestgaiing com.
mittec was here was asked to pick
very ccvcrly 'doctorcd' piece from a
bagful. They were all coined at the
same time and exactly alike. picked
it cut for them all right, and then the
committee pretended to be so interested
that they wanted to see it done again.
The second time they quietly changed
bad piece for good one, and were sure
of catching me. They got left, though,
as the boys say. Counterfeits can always
be detected by the milling. No one has
vet succeeded in reaching the perfection
with which the government employees do
it,
"What is done with the counterfeits
that are presented!'
"Wc are not allowed to destroy them,
but we put on mark so that is is impOs
sible to pass them afterward. This big
pair of shears il used to cut spurious
dimes in two."
GLOW about mutilated coinsl'
"They are simply returned. The gov.
eminent won't buy them, and we have
no more right to mark them than any one
else."
(Which are counterfcited most, bills
Or coins2'
"Bills, by a large majority; nationa,
bank notes generally. They are branded
and returned. The latest dodge is lit.
tie scheme we dropped on short time
,go. A sharper will take, say five good
bills cut them up into small pieces and
shorten them so that he can present the
fragments as those of six different bills.
The law requires that thrcciifths of
bill be presented to get good one in re-
turn. All sorts of touching and amusing
incidents occur every day in this branch.
This morning a poor woman came to the
window, with big tears in her eyes and
two burned one dollar bills in her hand.
She said the baby had thrown them into
the fire. The corners Of her mouth went
up like fash when she was given new
money in return. There is another little
trick | must tell you-that is, to burn a
counterfeit note to a crisp and bring it
here for redemption; but, strange as it
must seem, they can DO detected even
when reduced to ashes
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03
LADIES' DEPARTMENT.
A london Brides wedding Dress.


At Il late fashionable wedding in
Lond2a the bride wore white and satin
duchesse over petticoat of pearl EN-
broidery trimmed with lace, small
wreath Of orange blossom and white
tulle veil spotted with pearls her Or
naments were a pearl and diamond
brooch and gold bracelet and n pearl
diamond bracelet; she carried large
bouquet of encharis lilies and orange
blossom. The bridesmaids, six in
number, were dressed in white spotted
muslin trimmed with lace, two with
pale pink surah directoire bolces, two
pale blue, the two youngest in white
with pale pink sashes; they wore large
RubenS hats, with white and colOred
feathers to match their costumes; each
wore an elegant crescent brooch of
pearl and pink coral. The brides
travelling dress was q costume Of
checkered surah silk, waistcoat and
ribbons CT pale blue, dark green vel
vet hat with pale blue aigrette.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-12-03

The Chinese theatre is perhaps seen
at its best in the evening. What
pushing and chattering ard quarreling
there is, to be sure, as you make your
way through the Celestials who throng
the boX-ofice. The box office, too,
with its pigeon-holes, seems rather
small for the purpose, but, as the Chi
nese always bring the exact sum, no
change is necessary, and everything
moves with admirable dispatch. You
have probably entered a box, or
"room," as the Chinese call it, and as
your name has been posted up con-
spicuously upon it there is no chance
for mistake.
The stage is ablaze with brilliant
costumes of red and gold. The lights
from the iron chandeliers flare heavily
in the draft. Professions of armies,
emperors, statesmen. and generals
enter in rapid succession through a
rel-curtalned door on one side and
pass out through a red-curtained door
on tho other. Now the emperor is
holding an audience. The next mo-
mnnt his troops are engaged in bitter
combat with the retainers Of some I'M
rnly va3sal. Every species of crime,
every form Of human passion, is
crowded into the brief moment Of the
leeting scene. A messenger from
Heaven, standing on a chair, deliver
ing high summons to fairy fish, is
next presented to your confused imag
nation. Then, whirling in angry
passion, a painted-face king, pulling
his feathers nercely and loudly threat
,ning all manner of dreadful things
The orchestra keeps up its internal din
| IN shriIl lalSetto the characters sing
through u sort of higll-pitched recita
1--WE.
! Presently you pass down behind tht