davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
The COWBOYS FayOrite Gun.

1 dropped into a large store on Ell Paso
street, which enjoys the reputation Of
selling more arms than any other house
in the city, writes correspondent Of the
St. Louis Globe Democrat. While in
specting the glittering array of pistols of
all kinds which filled half a dozen show
cases, q young fellow of about twenty
| three entered. He was dressed in ap.
proved frontier style, sombrero it would
take three days to walk around the rim
of, white handkerchief tied loosely round
the neck, blue shirt, pants stuck in his
boots, and large Mexican spurs upon his
heels, jingling as he walked. He wished
to buy a gun" In the expressiveness
and laconic tongue Of the frontier a
"gun" is a revolver; a rifle is called by
the name of the maker; and the weapon
of the sportsman, uncurtailed of its fair
proportions, is known as a shotgun.
Selecting from the case a handsomely
mounted Colts forty-fve calibre reyol-
yer, the clerk said: GLOW would you
like this2 1t is the newest thing out
a double action forty-five." "Ain't worth
a row of beans. No man 'cept he is a
tcnderfoot wants that kind of thing.
Give me old reliable all the time. You
sec q man that's used to the old style is
apt to get fooled-not pull her off in
time-and then he'll be laid out colder'n
a wedge"
He was handed q si%ngle-action Colts
of the same model, which, after carefully
examining, he proceeded to cock and
fire, twirling the pistol around his fore
finger and pressing the trigger the mo-
ment the butt came into palm of his
hand. After some little ''kick" about
the price the weapon was paid for and
the customer left the store.
"Therc are few men," observed the
clerk, as his customer left, that can DO
that trick. I have been ten years on the
Southwest frontier, among the worst
classes, and don't know more nor half a
dozen. Bill the Kid could do it; so
can Pat Carrot, former sheriff of Lin
coin county; so can Dan Tucker, deputy
sheriff of Dcming. Curly Bill could do
it best of the lot, and that's how he
killed Sheriff White at Tombstone.
GLOW was tllat?"
swell, you see Curly Bill was trying
to paint the town red, and White heard
of it, and going up to him, covered him
with his six-shooter, and told him he
had got to give up his gun. Bill handed
the gun out butt first, but kept his finger
inside the guard. and as the sheriff
reached for it he gave it that twist you've
seen, turned her loose, and the sheriff
PASSED in his checks"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
An Antique Town Still Unchanged.

Why, I saw houses in Nuremburg that
arc not q day more than a hundred and
fifty years oldl I was shocked by the
sight of a dozen, at least, plate glass
windows. There is gas in Nuremburg.
They have street cars there. Some of
the city wall has been torn down to let
in more of the nineteenth century.
But hardly q sight or sound within the
circuit of Rothenburg breaks in upon
your midigval dream. The narrow,
dingy streets are lighted so far as lighted
at all-by lanterne. Those arc hung on
wires stretched across the street, and are
drawn in by pulleys at n side to be re-
plenished. Strect-rail or gas-lamp there
are none. The town is Rugged COM
pletely around with turreted gates. And
the towers, as they throw their arms ten
derby about their charge, look back to
bid defiance to all modern institutions.
At some points, the very water in the
moat still sleeps in venerable stagnation.
AS your omnibus rattles under three or
four successive arches into the silent
streets, the lingering echoes OF
our new era die away behind,
and you drop four or five centuries from
human history. You wander through
the little city (of not more than $500
inhabitants) wherever your feet incline,
and pass hundreds of houses, any n OF
which, like q certain old domicile in
New London: Ct, or mi in Medford,
Mass, would be the chief 'lion' of IN
American town. Most of them were
standing before the Pilgrim fathers left
Holland-many Of them before America
was discovered. With their steep, tow
ering, red tiled roofs, their sculptured
gateways and corner turrets for defense,
and gloomy court-yards, they look down
in lordly compassion On your freshness
and your upstart nation beyond the sea.
Hour after hour I roam the streets. look
ing in vain for o modern house. Every
| street is paved throughout, with not q
sidewalk to be seen. The primitive sim
plicity and naturalness, too, of the Roth
enbergers, are charming. About every
man you meet recognizes you as o strang-
cr, and feeling that the town owes you a
courtesy, touches his hat with a cordial
smile. Not a bad example for some of
US Americans. 1t must be granted that
the odor of antiquity in some of the by
streets is slightly too strong for the most
romantic. But n can pardon that and
even overlook the torture chamber, under
the Rathhaus (of which the present gen
Grafton is %innocent) in consideration OF
all the wierd fascination of the quaint
old town.-Prwf. G. 5. Wlcor.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
A BUCKEYE JESSE JAMES
THE STORY OF A RoBBHR wow IN
JAIL.
RObber and Murderer, Then a Re-
spected Ohio Merchant, and AFTER
ward q RObber Again.

RObber and Murderer, Then a nee
spected Ohio Merchant, and After
ward a Robber Again.
In O letter from Hillsboro, Ohio, to the
New York Sun, the history of a notori-
Gus criminal is given as follows: Frank
| Messmer, q young man serving o ten
years term in the penitentiary for rob-
berry, has been p%ardoned. Messmer was
the pal of Bob McKimmie, the Jesse
James of Southern Ohio. Since Messmer
has been out of Jail he has made many
| disclosures, which, with the known his.
tory of McKimmie, make up a t lie equal
to those told of the Younger and James
criminals. McKimmie was born thirty
years ago near Rainsboro. He began
stealing when a schoolboy, and at four
teen Joined the regular army at Column
bus. He went to fight Indians, and de.
serted in two years. He became o road
agent in Utah, and with companions
robbed and murdered stage passengers
and express agents. He, with others,
was captured and sentenced to fifteen
years in the Mormon ~penitentiary. In
nine months he escaped with Jack Viii.
hanson, a fellow convict. The guard
was killed to effect the escape. From
Utah McKimmie went to the Black Hills.
In February, 1877, he robbed the Chey:
enne stage. He had organized a gang of
five cut-throats who robbed the mail. ex-
press and passengers. In March, the
gang attempted to rob another stage, and
McKimmie killed Johnny Slaughter, the
driver. The horses ran away, and the
eleven passengers escaped. Later, at the
Cheyenne crossing, the same gang robbed
three coaches. and soon had over $780,
600. A woman dressed in boys clothes
followed McKimmie in his dcpredations,
and overheard his comrades plotting to
kill and rob him. She warned him, and
McKimmie, with one companion, took
the entire booty and went to Texas.
From Texas, McKimmie came to
Hillsboro in September, 1877. He was
we'll dressed, had abundance of money,
and said he had been successful in cattle
herding in Texas. He became o peace
full citizen of Rainsboro, and married
Clara Ferguson, an orphan girl, against
her uncle's wish. McKimmie bought q
store and was soon q merchant IN good
standing. ,
A few months later, NJ. F. Leach, OF
Ogalla, NO., came here after a Union
| Pacific train-robber. He had suspected
McKimmie, but was mistaken, as the
latter had come here the month before
the robbery in question. Leach after
ward met Detective Bullock. OF, Dead
wood, and told him about McKimmie's
new start in life. Bullock knew the
robber from experience, and~hao been
trying to trace him for some time. He
came here at once and visited McKim-
mics store. Getting him outside he ar
rested McKimmie on charges of robbery
and murder. McKimmie's lawyers got
him out of Jail in an hour ~
immediatel- -earrested. >
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08

architect had gone off together in a hack,
with The Climax wailing in a basket on
the front seat.
But this did not break up the society,
for another good friend stood ready to
fill the vacancy, and stepped promptly
in. And did We not find the work too
hard? Well, sometimes it seemed a
bother, but, divided among four, it was
not oppressive; and if the larder got
empty, or other work pressed, we took
our dinners out for q day or two.
And we did not get tired Of it, but
after a three years trial of the plan, are
more and more satisfied, for it Is
home. We leave itin the morning with
regret, and return to it gladly at night,
feeling that it is ours. that we are not
there on sutfcrencc, but by right. AND
this sense of security and permanently en-
courage us to add comforts and ever
luxuries to our surroundings, and think
you might hunt up and down the city
and not find a more contented and com
Portable set of people than the members
of the Home Cooperative society. liar
,,er'S Rys1r.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
,.anu

lulu 1ON N
II ha nd arrange 90 bring De-
t, tive \ into a certain Chillicothe
saloon that he might see him for future
recognition. He saw the detective
through a knothole. He then went to
Virginia, met his wife in Richmond, and
lived with her in Raleigh, Charles.
ton, Savannah, and at Nassau, N.
P. There he became bankrupt and
was imprisoned forty-one days for a
board debt. He worked his way to
New York, leaving his wife at Nassau.
Coming to Ohio he failed to get money
from his lawyers, and plotted with Mess
mel to rob a farmer named Roads, liv-
ing near here. They got eighty dollars
from Roads. With this money the BAN
dit went back to his wife, and came
here again in October, and planned to rob
the Bainbridge bank with New York
Charley, another noted robber.
Meanwhile Messmer had been SEN
fenced to ten years imprisonment for
robbery. With other pals McKimmie re-
manned in the country, and robbed two
rich old maids in Pike county. Then he
went to New York, intending to 60 for
his wife at Nassau. He came back, as
the ship would not sail for some time,
ana lived inun old cubiu ut fainHhara-
It had been. abandoned for years, and
neighbors were surprised one morning
to SEQ a curl of blue smoke ascend from
the OLD stone chimney. The word was
given out that McKimmie was there, and
q posse of men found him there ready for
a fight. He resisted arrest until shot
twice. Efforts were made to lynch him,
but he was taken to the Hillsboro Jail,
chained and pinioned. The Wyoming
authorities attempted to get him, but he
was tried for robbery On several indict-
ments, and got a joint term of fifteen
years. His conduct in State prison has
been good, and he hopes to get out
through a pardon before his term ends:
If he does, the Wyoming detectives will
be on the watch and take him to Dead
wood to be tried for murder and robbery.
He has threatened to kill Bullock and
many other enemies If he ever gets out.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
SELECT SIFTINGS.

The bread eaten at table in Turin is
a yard long and On eighth of Oil inch in
diameter, Of a pipe stem form, very crisp,
and exceedingly palatable. 1t is called
'grissini," after the doctor who invented
it on h~ygienic. principles.
The business of monarchy promotes
longevity. Witness the ages of the fol-
lowing rulers: The emperor of Germany
is cighty-seven; the king of the Neither.
lands, sixty-seven; the king Of Denmark,
sixtv-six, and Queen Victoria, ~sixty-tive.
Church bells from q Baltimore foundry
are in demand in England. Already
China, West Africa, Nova Scotia, New
foundland, the West Indies and parts of
| South America have drawn upon the
same establishment for its silver.toncd
bells.
In 1860 we imported half the wooden
! goods consumed in cloth and in wool.
Now we produce about four-ifths of the
| consumption, and the small proportion
imported is largely carpet woods Of too
low a grade for civilized agriculture to
produce.
A great plague, called the "black
death" beginning on the plains of West
ern Asia, swept over Europe during the
years 134S-1351, destroying probably one
third of the whole population. This, by
diminishing the number Of people, dou-
bled the price of labor.
In Alabama is a China tree ten feet in
circumference. Its top was torn away
by a storm; but six feet up the trunk
two more trees have taken root and
grown up as high as the old tree is:
Half way up the trunk of the original
tree a peach tree stands out.
It is said that no watch will keep the
same time with two people. This is ow-
ing to the temperature of The wcarer,
and it is claimed that even the mere
physical difference in gait and move
ment between different people will affect
the time-ketping of a watch, which is
probably also affected in some degree by
the magnetism of the wearer.
The origin of the trade dollar is thus
explained. The Chinese are paid for their
tea mainly in silver. In 1873 the United
States coined 35. 900, 900 of the trade
dollars for use in India. Previously the
Mexican dollar had practically monopo-
lizcd the field. The American dollar
was heavier and possessed more intrinsic
value, but it was found that for some
mysterious reason the Chinese merchants
prcferred the Mexican to the American
coin, a fact probably due to their hcred-
;tary dislike of novelties, and now no
trade dollars are shipped to China. The
The Chinese heard some years ago, that
our government intended to redeem
these dollars at par, and being shrcwd
enough to see an opportunity for specu-
lation, they boarded the coins and sent
them to this country. At all events,
they are said to have disappeared i'll
China as we'll rs in this country.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

A plan for lessening the violence of
storms has been submitted to the French
Academy of Sciences by M. Minard, who
proposes to use q great number of light
ming rods elevated on telegraph posts
and connected with the iron tracks OF
railways.
Mineral wool is used for packing to
deaden the sound between floors in
buildings, and being incombustible it is
now pretty generally used between the
floors and ceilings in new houses. Min
eral wool is obtained from the Stag from
blast furnaces, and is produced by
throwing q jet of steam againstthe stream
of Stag as it flows from the furnace.
Experiments have been made ct mi of
the large collieries in England with COM
pressed lime for bringing down coal from
the lodges. Holes are bored into the
vein of coal, filled in with compressed
lime and rubbish and then water is
forced in. which causes the charge to ex-
pand and bring down great masses os
the fuel in solid Jumps. The expert
ments are said to have been highly salts.
factory.
The reign of Charles II. of England
was O great era in science. Sir Isaac
Newton discovered the wondrous law
that holds the sun and planets in their
orbits; HALEY commenced his learned in
vestigation of tides, comets, and the
earth's magnetism; Boyle improved The
air pump and studied by its aid the prop
critics of the atmosphere: Hobbies and
Locke %discourscd of the human mind, its
laws and relations to matter.
When pure platinum is as soft as silver,
but by the addition of iridium it becomes
the hardest of metals. The great diff
Guilty in manipulating platinum is its ex-
cessive resistance to heat. A tempera-
tere that will make steel run like water
and melt down fire clay has absolutely no
effect upon it. You may put a piece of
platinum wire not thicker than human
hair into o blast furnace where ingots OF
steel arc melting down all around it and
the bit of wire will come vi as absolute
ly unchanged as if it had been in an ice
box all the time.
1t is said that an electric hand lamp
has been invented, the illuminating prin-
ciplc of which is generated by some sim
pie chemicals that are redicuously
cheap and easily manipulated. A little
sliding drawer at the bottom of the lamp
holds the electric spark in the solution,
while, by simple touching a button, a
magnificent light is developed or ex.
tinguished, as the case may be. This
lamp does not specially differ IN appear
ance from the ordinary kerosene affair,
and can be used in the same way, but
with a complete absence of trouble, odor
or danger.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
"nken We. in London.

NIX. cTeTy public house Oh s4h
palace" and in every n you pass you
can see women drinking.
Sometimes there may be only a few,
and sometimes they form a large share
OF the crowd. You will often see re-
specially dressed women, apparently
well-to-do, walking openly into these
places, and evidently thinking nothing
of it. They may be going in merely for
a glass of beer, but their less prosperous
sisters are more likely to be taking gin.
Walking through Drury lane or some
other soualid street ut midnight ola Sat-
urday night you see q spectacle of
wretchedness and vice that is fairly dis.
heartening. The street swarms with
dirty, half.naked children and gossiping,
tipsy women. some of whom not even
gray hairs will keep from cursing, quarrel
ing and fighting. Whether the presence
of the bar-maid behind the counter en-
courages the women to come in and drink
or whether sheis putthere to encouraged the
men to come in, or simply because her
labor is cheaper than a mun's, is q prob
lem. She is there to stay, apparently,
and seems to be regarded as n of the
established institutions of the country.
1t is the custom to. speak of her as the
ssprctty barmaid." Perhaps this was
true of the first generation of barmaids,
but it is not easy t&snd the justification
for it now. The barmaid of the period
has o business.likc, resolutc look, rs If
she could exercise the functions OF an
American "bouncer" on occasion, but
those we happened to sec were certainly
not beautiful. The one making most
p%retentions to %prettiness was q modest
looking girl in the foyer of the handsome
new Empire theatre. She tried to open
q bottle of soda water for lis. The cork
was obstinate. When she put the hottie
between her knees and began to tug with
all her strength, I confess that my
American instincts ovcrcame. took
the bottle away from her and pulled the
cork myself. Probably this was q very
ridiculous thing to do. Sir Lepel Grit
fin says the degree of Difference paid to
women in America is absurd or some
thing of that sort. An American (from
wisconsin, told an Englishman, with
some Western intensity, that in America
the man who put a woman behind the
bar to sell his whisky would be lynched
by the men who drank it. The English
man seemed very much amused.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
FORTUNES WON AND LOST.
WHAT A NOTED GAMBLER SAYS
ABOUT PLAYING.
Gamblers Never Fitted for Anythinf
Else-Gambling Ends in Dissipa

Gamblers Never Fitted for Anything
Else-Gambling Ends in Dissipa.
ton.
Quite early yesterday morning q rather
voune-looking man of about t~hirty-five
entered the Hoffman honsc and greeted
those present with pleasant good-morn
ing. lie was dressed in o neat-fitting
suit of some light material, and appeared
as bright as a new gold dollar. He
chatted pleasantly a few moments with
those about him, and then went to break
fast.
This man was Billy Dcutsch, at one
time the manager Of Booths theatre,
and Mr.. and Mrs. W. J. Florence.
Billy Deutsch is quite a celebrated
man in his way. He was known, and is
vet, asa mighty gambler. He has gained
a certain kind of fame as a noted bacca-
rat bank breaker, and mentioned in Paris
as "Thc King of Baccarat." He is al
most six feet tall, and wears a black mus
tache. .
After breakfast Mr.. Deutsch INDUCED
in conversation. Of course, gambling
was mentioned. In his long experience
he had come to the conclusion that those
who touch cards or gamble alc almost
lost. However intelligent Il player was,
after he had won a few times he was un-
fitted for anything else but the life of a
gambler.
He stated that his favorite game was
baccarat, at which he had lost over $780,
900, which result all could expect if they
continued to follow the game. On one
occasion, being out $50, 900 on the game,
be bet $50, 900 on the turn of a card and
won.
The title "The King of Baccarat" was
bestowed on him in Paris. Some time
ago, for twenty-eight days in succession,
he won $40, 900. The smallest he won
during that time was 81, 600, and the
largest $50, 900 in one night. He had
often made bets of So, GOO, and other
large amounts. In playing he always re-
mains cool, and never loses his head.
Mr.. Deutsch played thirty games of
cards and won 81, 900 on Foxhall when
he won the Grand Prix dc Paris. MIR.
Dcutsch claims that he is not q profess
sional gambler, and only played for
pastime. $50.
His experience had taught him that a
man who wins money OF cards simply
~squanders and dissipates it.. He also
forms habits which unfit him for any le-
gitimate business. Gambling was the
cause of a majority of suicides.
Gambling in London was not allowed
as it was in Paris. In France every one
plays, from the highest to the lowest.
Gambling there is looked upon as a pas
time, and not as a vice.
Mr.. Deutsch stated in conclusion that
he had sworn never to touch cards again,
and would 60 into the brokerage or the
atrical business, probably the theatrical.
-New York Truth.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
How They Fall.

The woman who steps on a banana
peel will he down in a heap and up again
with a faint little shrek before anybody
knows anything about it. while the man
will fall the length of the whole block,
as usual, waving both hands in the mir,
kicking with both feet, plunging, throw
ing hat and umbrella into space, bowling
at every jump, until, breathless and ex-
hausted, he caroms on an ash barrel at
the end of the run and rings down the
curtain by rolling downstairs into a bar
Der shop.-Bb Burdette.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-10-08
The Jumping Beam.

Mr.. Fred. Frclinghuysen, son of Sec
rotary Frelinghuysen, possesses a num-
Der of Mexican jumping beans, which he
procured from the United States agri'
cultural department. According to Mr..
Frelinghuysen these acrobatic beans are
very rare. They are certainly considered
a great curiosity by all those who have
see them, and nc n yet has explained
what they are. Each pod contains three
kernels. Each segment is rounded on
one side and A shaped on the other,
greenish yellow in color, and in circum'
ference about the size of a silver three
cent piece. When placed on a table
they roll we and skip about, sometimes
jumping a couple of inches: When held
between the thumb and foreinger
they are felt to beat as strongly as the
throbbing of a strong mans pulse.