davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
A Chinese Railway.

Herr Kiepert gives the following particu-
lars, in the GeographicaI RevieaU, pub
lished at Brunswick, of short line OF
railway in China, which did not share
the fate of the line between Shanghai
and Woosung. He says that the line in
question, which is only seven and half
miles long. and which was constructed
almost by stealth, is in the Province OF
Tcheli, and is used for conveying the
coal from the mines of Kaiping, situated
about seventy miles to the northeast OF
Tientsin and one hundred and five miles
TO the east of Pekin. The viceroy Lii
Hung Chang was anxious that this coal
should be used for the imperial navy,
for the arsenals in the Province of Tcheli
and for the vessels of the Chinese Mer-
chant Steam Navigation Company, in
stead of the Japan coal. The simplest
plan would, of course, have been to con-
Dect Tientsin and Kaiping by means of
a railway, but the Chinese would not al
low the English engineers who had been
called in to do this. and insisted upon
canal being cut. This canal, which has
indirectly been Of some service, as it has
had the effect of draining the very
marshy district through which it was
cut, could not be brought right up to the
mouth of the mine; so the English engi-
neers were allowed to make a railway
over the last few miles. But when the
line was made the authorities insisted
upon the trucks being drawn by mules,
for they would not hear of a locomotive,
which the engineers of the mine had
procured, being employed. This went
on for some tiInr, but they have now
given way, and two or three fresh en-
gines have been brought over from Eng
land. The Kaiping mine is worked upon
very scientific principles, being provided
with all the most approved safeguards.
The galleries are twenty miles in length,
and there are seven miles of tramway.
The supply of coal is practically mex
haustible, but the quality of it varies
very much, and the Tientsin steamers
have to get theirs from Japan. The mine
from which they might have got the coal
they wanted is only safe with patent
lamps, and as the Chinese will always
break the glass in order to light their
pipes, the workings have been aban-
doned. The cost of the coal at the pits
mouth is only nine shillings a ton, so
that several manufactures have been es-
tablished in the neighborhood. The
mine gives employment to one thousand
men, nine tenths of whom work under
ground, and, though not yet a success
financially, it seems likely to be very
beneficial to the district,
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
The CrOcOdiles' Friend.

In the case of the great saurian of the
Nile, all that Aristotle tells us is Dor
rowed from Herodotus, with the excep-
ton of the number of eggs it is said to
lay; and it is curious to notice that he
even tells the story of the little bird
(troch1t0S) which eats the leeches out
OF the crocodile's mouth-a story long
discredited, but which has been to a
great extent corroborated by nj. Geof-
troy -Salnt-H ilaire, the eminent French
naturalist, who long resided in Egypt
and had repeated occasions to ascertain
that the story of Herodotus was correct.
in substance at least. He found that o
little bird, the black headed plover,
(fIu0daaus oegyptiuS), flies necessarily
from place to place, searching every
where, even in the crocodile's mouth
for insects, such as gnats, which at
lacks the great saurian in innumerable
swarms, and entering his mouth, cover
the inner surface of the palate with q
brownlsh black crust. The little plover
comes and delivers him from his trouble
some enemies. That curious friendships
exist between animals widely different
from each other in form and habit is
well known to naturalists; we may in
stance the case of the rhinoceros and
hlppopotamus, which are often attended
by little birds known as rh1noceros
birds, which feed on the ticks and
other parasites that infest. these beasts,
and which serve as well to warn them
OF approaching danger; the great pachy'
derms fully understand the birds warm
ing, and doubtless appreciate its good
offces.-Ihe Edin6urg -RevieaO.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
Summer BOarders.
A COUPLE WHO GOT THEIR HOUSE FULL
BEFORE THE SEASONS CLOSE,

"No, can't say that I've had a pros
porous season" observed one passenger
to another. "Last spring me and nv
old woman thought we'd keep summer
boarders and make some money. We
have big house, able to accommodate
IS people besides our own folks. So we
writ to our SONS and darters in the CITY.
tellin' 'em what we had decided on and
askin' EN- to say a good word for us to
their friends.
"Well, we fixed the old house up in
fine shape and waited for our boarders.
Purity soon my darter Mary came down
from town with her three children, and
said she had spoken to all her friends
about us. In about week darter En-
came with her four children. She said
the same thing, an though they wasn't
profitable boarders we hoped for a new
kind, an felt much encouraged from
what they told us. The next arrival
was my wife's sister Sal and her two
nearly grown-up children. I was a
good deal discouraged then, but my old
woman braced me up by sayin' some
payin' boarders was comm, and we
could 'commodate six more, anyway.
"The next arrival was my other dar-
ter, Eunice, with her husband and two
children. They all settled down as if
they lowed to stay all summer, an I
was purity badly broke up about it. I
told my old woman things was getting
down to fine point an not much left of
the garden truck. She encouraged me
by sayin' we still had room for two
boarders, an we'd charge 'em enough to
run the whole house. Two days after
ward I saw a strange man stop and go
in, an I thought luck had turned at
last, and killed two chickens before
got to the house. When [ got there I
discovered he was my brother Jim, who
I hadn't seen for II years, come to spend
the summer with me. That settled me
on the summer boarder business,
though the old woman said we still had
room for one boarder, and by making
the hired man sleep in the barn we
could take in two, an that would run
the house.
"When come in from work the next
night my darter EN- met me on the
porch and said, smilingly: Father,
says she, we've got two new boarders.
They came this afternoon. Come up
stairs and see them wait till I dress
up bit, says I. So I washed, put on
clean collar, an, feeling a good deal
encouraged. went up stairs. There was
all the girls and my old woman. Pap,
says she, with tears in her eyes, the
house is full at last. Eunice has got
twins"
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
Cyprian Lepers.

= The London Globe says: The ancient
disease of leprosy has long prevailed in
the Island of Cyprus, but it affects as q
rule only the Christian population, only
one Mohamedan being known to suffer
at present from the disease. It exists in
three several forms, but several of the
victims have all three varieties at once,
and most of them have more than one.
The unfortunates now infected with the
malady do not seem to be regarded in
these latter days with as much fear and
adherence as was inspired by them al
an earlier epoch, when the western parts
of Asia were so terribly afflicted by the
scourge. There is, of course, a general
desire to seclude them and avoid their
society, but still some lepers are married
to healthy persons, who do not trouble
themselves to separate from them. En-
deavors are made, whenever an un-
doubted case of leprosy is discovered, to
induce the sufferer to become the inmate
of an asylum, which is called in rather
homely phrase the "Leper Farm" This
place has been enlarged during the year
preceding the last medical report from
the island, and then contained so in
mates, including several whose history
is extremely curious, and two children
not at present affected, but born of leper
parents resident in the ''tarm." The
disease is said to be more prevalent
among males, but their are several
female patients, and, until her death last
year, at the age of 80, there was an old
woman who might be regarded as the
patriarch or rather matriarch of the es-
Enlistment. She was the first patient
admitted to it, and has lived there over
so years. She protested to have
suffered from the disease for about
70 years, but without any great pain
or appearance OF weakness. The opin-
ion of the medical officer, who has
had good opportunities of studying the
disease at the farm, is that there is still
no certain knowledge whatever as to its
origin. The old-established idea that
it is capable of hereditary transmission
is, however, borne out by his experience;
and one notable example is quoted to
show that it can be contracted by con-
taoiOn
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
A Pacific Coast Curiosity.

The Redwood City (Cal.) Gazette
says:-George w. Fox was over on the
coast few days ago, and has brought
back quite a curiosity in the shape
of a fragment of an abalone shell with
an infants foot, shoe and all incased in
abalone in the interior of the shell. The
shape is perfect, end indicates very
young child. The sole of the shoe is
seen; the toe is worn, and particles of
the stocking may be picked out with a
pin or needle. The buttons are covered
with abalone and show, and tho button
hole where one of the buttons had been
pulled off is seen; also the little tassel
at the ankle. The body of drowned
infant must have been carried along by
the tide and the foot passed into the
open shell of the shell-ish, which was
closed down and the imprisoned foot
held until it was severed from the body
by decay; in the meantime the fish GOV.
cred the shoe with its secretions. The
ankle shows the decay and 'rotting off of
the member, and was not covered over
with the shell. 1t is reported that
woman and her child were drowned off
the coast about seven years ago, and it
is supposed that the foot is that of the
child.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
Diphtheria in Animals.

DR.. n. F. Formal, who investigated
diphtheria in connection with DIR. Hora-
ito Wood, once found that three of his
white laboratory rats were i'll, and on
careful examination saw that they were
suffering from diphtheria. So far as
known they had not for months been ex-
posed to any possible means of contagion.
The cases were apparently of spontane-
GUS origin, and an examination of the
surroundings EhoMed- abundant s0urces
for the germ causes of the malady, as
the floor ON which the rats were kept
was covered with bones, fragments of
spoiled meat, and other putrefyiDg ma
terial. Two of these rats died of diph-
liberia, as proved by post-mortem exam
nations. DIR. Formal also observed
spontaneous diphtheria In rabbits and
chickens at times when no diphtheria
had been present in human beings for
months or not at all, and when no pos
sible source of contagion could he dis
covered.
But diphtheria can be conveyed from
human beings to animals and vice versa.
In family living In rather isolated
place in Michigan, DIR. Formal says,
four children were attacked with diph-
liberia. The Stops of the sick room were
thrown out doors with the kitchen refuse
and eaten by the pigs, one of which
speedily sickened and died in a few days.
Post-mortem examinations showed very
thick diphtheric membranes in the gullet
and stomach, and all the microscopic APP
pearances of true diphtheria. The blood
of the pig was also full of diphtheritic
bacteria, as were the kidneys, spleen,
nj {hnr Enfo 1Tral1f HarI xuass
also produced in rabbits and other ami
mails by inoculating them with these ma
terials taken from the pig.
DIR. Compton reports the following:
Several persons in one family had malig-
nant diphtheria, cornmeal poultices were
applied to their Threats, and when new
ones were made, the old ones were
thrown out doors. Chickens and pigs
ate this cornmeal and died of diph-
liberia.
Drs. Kellogg and Avery, of the Mich
igan Committee on Diphtheria, report
case in which cat with diphtheria gave
this disease to five children, and also the
case of young lady who died on the
third day of her illness. A few days
previously she had been charitably en-
gagged in removing some distinctions
from the throat OF her pet cat; subse-
quent examinations showed that the OBJ
structions were diphtheritic membranes.
DIR. Hewitt, of Lake Superior, relates
another case in which diphtheria was
communicated by cat. For several
days pet cat had been suffering from
sore throat and swelled neck, and died
in the house. On the day of its death
a most'virulent form of diphtheria broke
out in the family, resulting in the death
of two of the children, while the doctor
barely escaped with his life. Other fam
lily cats were similarly affected, and the
disease soon spread among their owners.
MEDICUs-
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
THE ART OF CUTTING DIAMONDS.
Yankees Taking Hold of Business For.
merIy WouopOlized by the Dutch.

The art of cutting diamonds was moi
practiced in this country until 1858
when Henry d. Morse of Boston showed
what a Yankee could do at it. Since
then the business OF cutting diamonds
has spread largely from the efforts Of
workmen imported or taught by him,
and now there are many workshops IN
America, chiefly in the large cities,
where diamonds are cut to order. The
tariff has been adjusted so as to foatei
the diamond. cutting industry here. I'm
emf diamonds may be imported duty
free, but a heavy duty is imposed on the
cut stones.
The modern process of diamond cut
ting is much the same as that which has
been followed for centuries. The wages
paid the workiDgmen are about the same
| as those paid to tirst-class working
jewellers. Mr.. Morse has machine OF
his own invention which he uses, and
which he believes is an improvement on
the old method. He mounts two dla-
! monds in sort OF double lathe, using
one against the other. This is close
imitation of the old hand method, IN
which the diamonds are cemented each
at the end of stick or handle, and
rubbed together with strong pressure.
The diamond dust which results from
this process, and is used N cleaVing and
polishing diamonds, is called bort 1t
is also made by pulverizing smaller or
imperfect diamonds which are of little
value for cutting. The ingenuity of
jewellers has been taxed to find use for
the small diamond chips that come off
in cleaving. Some of these chips are
used for cluster diamond jewellery.
Many are used to represent the eyes of
birds or animals. The rage for solitaire
stones of late years has filled the market
with cheap clippings.
When Mr.. Morse cut the big Virginia
diamond in Boston, in 1859, most jewell
ers doubted the possibility of cutting
diamonds in this country. But gradually
the inevitable law of trade asserted it.
self, and so profitable business could
not longer be monopolized abroad.
There are about a hundred workmen
now employed in New York city alone
in cutting diamonds, and their wages
average about $25 a week. The expert
who decides how stone shall be cut
does not always perform the actual
labor of cutting, but simply directs the
lapidary how to cut so as to bring out
the utmost brilliancy of the stone. 1t
happens sometimes that the first cutting
produces comparatively dull stone, and
that a skillful cutter takes the same
stone, and, although reducing it in size,
increases its value by producing greater
brilliancy. Sometimes part of stone
may be so hard that it cannot be pol
ished. 1t is not always the hardest
stones that are most brilliant.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
The Obstinate Juror Conquered.

The Salt Lake, Utah, Herald says.
"This waiting for the verdict" said 9
gentleman in the Federal courtroom the
other evening, while the jury in the first
clse against Clawson was deliberating.
reminds me of a jury incident of sew
eral years ago. l think the case was
Whittemore against the city policemen
Tor damages growing out of an election
not. The jurymen were divided on the
verdict, and spent the better part Of two
lays and nights in futile attempts to
agree. M. b. Callahan, who used to be
in the hardware business here, was the
leader of the faction that favored the
award of damages to the plaintiff,
George Ottinger led the opposition. The
war was growing fierce and bitter. FL
Dally, at the end of heated discussion.
Callahan turned to the iuryman who op.
posed him, and said in very excited
manner: Il will never agree with Won,
1 tell you that right here, now. 1 will
wait till Tophet freezes over first.
well, rejoined the invincible Ottinger.
1'il wait till il thaws out again. The
verdict was for the defense"
THE B ,s!op girl ney1I sneezes. She
simply INDUCES in slernutation.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
Women Bull Fighters Routed.

A bull fight of a novel kind took place
at Tarragona on Sunday, the performers
being women clothed in the male torera
suit. The bulls were all young and full
of fire. The first one let into the arena
made straight for one of the toreras, and
sent her spinning in the sand several
yards off. A second torera rushed to the
rescue with her capa, which she waved
before the bull to draw off his attention
from her discounted colleague. The bull
accepted the challenge at once, and with
a rapid twist of the neck caught the
banderilla and sent her flying. She fell
on her face, and followed the previous
torera in her retirement, bleeding from
several scratches. The third torera
then advanced, but no sooner had the
bull caught sight of her than he bounded
toward her and tossed her. After this
the bull took quiet walk around the
arena, waiting for fresh sport. No fur
ther competitor entering the list, the
crowd began to show signs of impa-
tience, which grew at every moment,
until they finally began breaking up the
seats and throwing brickbats into the
arena, yelling anathemas at the coward
ice of the torera company. The stew
ards then announced that the money
would be returned. This was done par
TALLY, but the cashiers office suddenly
closed, that official having bolted with
the rest of the takings.
A scene of indescribable uproar oc-
Cured when the fact became known,
and the work of demolition was pursued
with increased fury. The gendarmes
wara called in to restore order hut onlv
succeeded in adding to the general con-
fusion, in which they were roughly
handled. The arrival of three companies
of infantry enabled the managers to
clear the amphitheatre. The most ex-
traordinary part of the affair is that,
undeterred by the fate of the first COM
pany of toreras aud their manager, who
were marched off to prison besides, the
workwomen of the tobacco factories of
Madrid are preparing to give an exhibit
ton of their prowess, and troupe is or
ganizing to do the round of the arenas
in all the principal towns in Spain.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
The Dukes Motto.

A story is told by the London Times
of o desire on the part of the Bruins
wickers to see their late ruler marry,
taking at last the form Of petition 10
this effect. which was presented to the
Duke by three reputable citizens. Inc
Dnke received the population very
graciousIy, and said that he would soon t'l
Give them an answer. Barely an hour,
therefore, had elapsed before large
posters were stuck all over the town,
announcing that on the same evening
the company at the Ducal Theatre
would. by special command, perform,
Topper's comedy, "Ich Bleibe Ledig.
(s'i shall remain single'O. And thus
the citizens promptly received the prom
ised answer to their petition.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
ODDS AND ENDS.

BosToN hes $4,000 female music
scholars.
The oak tree lives to an average age of
1900 years.
The most fashionable ladies now wear
scarcely any jewelry.
The Russian Government is building
ironclads for the B ack Sea.
ONE-THIRD of all the banking done in
che world is done in England.
THERE are 100 clubs in London which
meet in their own club houses.
THE Bank of England pays $50, 900 a
year in dinners to its employees.
ONE HALF of all the telegraph wires in
France are already underground.
EXTENSIVE deposits of copper are said
to have been discovered in Texas.
AMONG the last victims of cholera at
Naples was an old woman aged 1O3.
MORE than half the voting places in
Chicago were located in liquor saloons.
New YORK shopkeepers say that col
lections now do not pay for shoe
leather
BUENos AYREs is opposed to the ever
increasing arrival on its shores of italian
emigrants.
INFANT mortality in France is COM
puted at from 20 to % per cent. of the
population.
1T is said that there are only five per-
sons of foreign birth in the United
States Senate.
The Social Science Congress has rec
commended the abolition of all private
iunatic asylums.
A CONSERVATORY of music has been es-
tablished at Charleston, S. @. Its officers
are all Germans.
The late Senator Anthony's present of
5000 volumes to Brown University is
valued at S25, 600.
The mosquitoes, it is said, annually
drink 62, 900 gallons of human blood in
this country alone.
The city of Honolulu is now said to
be an imposing place, full of beautiful
and stately edifces.
Dies MONIES, Ia. has new park COW
ering sixty acres given to the city by an
enterprising citizen.
OAK pillars are now considered to be
safer in fire than iron ones. They do
not warp from the heat.
OVER three hundred in band of An
CORA goats were killed in a California
thunderstorm recently.
'IADY MEDIoALs" is the phrase en-
ployed by some OF the English journals
to describe women doctors.
E. P. WESTON, who was a celebrated
man fifteen years ago, is not dead yet.
He is giving exhibitions out West.
INDIA is said to have q, zoo, 900
widows, and not one of them, according
to Hindoo usage, may marry again.
LAST November tidal wave in Cooks
Inlet, Alaska, washed away a hundred
feet of bluff for distance of nearly ten
miles.
A MAN at White Lake, n. Y. was
stung by a hornet at the base of the
brain, and has since become blind and
helpless.
SINCE 1871 the consumption of horse
flesh for food has more than quadrupled
in Paris. Last year there were 5000, 600
pounds eaten.
THERE are over 1900 public one
horse carriages in Paris, and the price
for a single ride is 80 cents; by the
hour, 45 cents.
SMALLPOX in epidemic form is feared
by the residents of Denver, Col. They
are making strenuous efforts to clean the
city before the plague gains any head
way.
OVER 6OO,0O0,0 900 glasses of beer
were brewed and more than 500, 900 gal
Ions of liquor distilled in the first inter
nal revenue district of Pennsylvania last
year.