davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24

The London World tells of a new
continuance for making ladies taller.
The woman who is to undergo this pro-
cess is encased in a very tight corset,
and her feet are placed in shoes weight
ed with fifty pounds of lead each She
is then placed in machine consisting
of ring, which eneircles her waist,
and suspended from the ceiling at such
height as TO prevent her feet from
touching the ground. The pressure
of the corset forces the upper part OF
the body upward, and the weight of the
shoes stretches her from the waist down
ward. 1t is estimated that the extreme
length to which the spine can be
stretched by the process as thus des-
cribed is two inches, and that the knee
and hip joints can be stretched an inch
and half more. Thus three inches
and half can be added to the height
of almost any woman who has the
courage to undergo the trouble and
pain necessarily connected with =
stretching process lasting. with briei
intervals, during five or six months.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
A Fall Over n Precipicc.

A thrilling misadyenture is reported
from the Royal Gorge. in which Mrs.
George N Udell, wife of the editor of
the Canon City Reporter, was the vic
tim. 1t was upon Sunday last that the
lady in company with number of
friends, started out for ramble among
the cliffs and crags of the mountains.
In some manner or another she be-
came separated from her companions
and in the wilderness alone she lost all
presence of her whereabouts. Wan
dering onward and shouting at the top
of her voice in an effort to secure re-
lief, she became suddenly entangled IN
a most critical predicament. She made
a desperate effort to extricate herself,
while, on the other hand, her friends,
alarmed at her absence, started in every
direction in an effort to rescue her.
All night long they searched the noun
tains, and worn out and tired at day S
dawn they were relieved by new par
ties. Their efforts were of no avail,
however, and it was late at night when,
footsore and weary, they were summon
ed back into Canon by telegram that
had been received, announcing the fact
that seriously mangled and unknown
lady had been picked up by the after
noon train from her position near the
track She was taken to Salida in an
unconscious condition, and upon in
structions from her husband at Canon
was returned to that place under the
care of a surgeon. Upon examination
il was found that she had fallen over q
steep and rugged precipice some forty
feet into the bed of the Arkansas and
that she had been horribly mangled
The adventure is certainly one of the
most thrilling of any of the mountains
and the escape from instant death wa:
simply marvellous -Lcadt1lle Ctroni.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
The Midget Sheen.

The very smallest of all the kinds OF
sheep is the tiny Breton sheep. 1t is
too small to be very profitable to raise;
for, OF course, it can not nave much
wool, and as for eating, why, hungry
man could almost eat whole one at a
meal. 1t is so small when full-grown
that it can hide behind a good sized
bucket. 1t takes it name from the
particular part of France where it is
most raised
But if not a profitable sheep, it is a
dear little creature for d pet, for it is
very gentle and loving, and, because it
is SO small. is not such nuisance about
the house as was the celebrated lamb
which belonged to little girl named
Mary. 1t would need to be very
large little grl-a giant girl, indeed
who could take an ordinary sheep in
her lap and cuddle it there; but any lit
tie girl could find room in her lap for a
Breton sheep quite as easily as for one
OF those very ugly little dogs called by
the ugly name of pug.
One of this little creatures peculiari-
ties is its extreme sympathy with the
feelings of its human friends, when it
has been brought up as pet in the
house, and has learned to distinguish
between happiness and unhappiness. II
any person whom it likes a great deal
is very much pleased about anything,
and shows it by laughing, the little
sheep will frisk about with every sign
of JOY; but if, on the contrary, the per-
SON sheds tears the sympathetic friend
will evince Its sorrow in an unmistak-
able way. A kind word and loving
caress will also fill it with happiness,
while cross word or harsh gesture
will cause it evident distress. John r.
CoryeH, IN 50. Nicholas.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
Mrs Arm Hears Rnhhers.

1t was after midnight About the
time when deep sleep falleth upon q
man, but not upon woman, for Mrs.
Arp's ears are always awake, it seems
to me. / felt gentle dig in my side
from an elbow and whispered voice
said: William. William, don't you
hear that?'' What is it?'' said l.
somebody is on the front piazza.
said she. Don't you hear him rock
ing in the rocking chair?" And sure
enough | did. The chair would rock
awhile and then stop and then rock
again. lis the gun loaded?" said she.
They are robbers, but don't shoot,
don't make noise; can't you peep out
of the window? Mercy on us. what dc
they want to rob us for? Maybe they
come to steal one of the children! Slip
in the little room and see if Carts in his
bed. Don't stumble over chair, may
be somebody is under her bed" The
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24

rocker took start and | had another
dig in my side. 1T is the Wind said
|. mo it is not,'' said she. There
is no wind. The window is up and the
curtain doesn't move. They are rob-
bers. | tell you. Hadn't you better give
them some some money and tell them to
go?n Il haven't got any money?''
said |. .It's all gone Lord have
mercy upon us, said she. William.
get your gun and be ready
gently slipped out of bed and tip
toed to the window and cautiously peep
ed out. and there was the pointer puppy
sitting straight up in my wife's rocking
chair, and ever and anon he would lean
forward and backwards and put it in
motion. | whispered to Mrs. Arp to
come and see her four-legged robber,
which she did, and in due time all was
calm and serene.
Last night there was another sansa-
ton in the back piazza. and it was sure
enough feet this time, for they made a
rae ket on the floor and moved around
lively and the elbow digs in my side
came thick and fast. 1t took me min
ute to get fairly awake, and after listen
ing awhile. exclaimed audible Ian
guage, ..Goats Carts goats, and !
gathered broom and mauled 'em down
the back steps Il told you, my
dear" said /, ''that those goats would
give us trouble, but / can stand it il
You can. '--AttantG Constitution.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
: -----------7--s7- -
The Rock Collector.

The craze of the book collector per-
vades New York society more extern
sively than most people know. 1 am
acquainted with several men whose
sole recreation is to collect rare books.
There is Brayton Ives, for instance,
who has a delightful museum of raritles.
He runs to old and scarce books rather
than to merely costly ones. lie has
many rare editions of early English
works-Caxtons, Wyken de Wordes,
and so onto say nothing of copies OF
early colonial American imprints. some
of them worth their weight in gold
Robert Hoe, Jr., on the other hand.
collects beautiful and curious books in
wonderful bindings. illuminated mlssais,
early examples of typographical art,
and wonders in book plates. Charles
T. Congdon. the well-known journal
ist. is a bibliomaniac. An unsophisti-
Gated friend, examining one of Cong
don's latest extravagances. an Elzevir.
said: II wonder how you ever find
time to read so many books as yon
buyP"
with disgust. ''D'ye suppose | read
themP" -,
IF not. what do you do with them?a
..Collect Them replied Congdon,
with an air of having settled the ques-
ton beyond any cayil.--Ne'o FORK
Times.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
Ten-St0ry Houses.

You would hardly have dreamed, ten
years ago, that the ragged rocks that
were forbidding wall on the south side
of Fifty-ninth street would ever give
place to any human habitation. But
where these lodges were there are cellars
now for nine-story and ten-story flats
upon which hundreds of thousands of
dollars have been spent. The pictur-
esque park invites everybody who can
afford window looking out over it, and
in buildings there, as in those at the bus
mess cent? es down town, owners can let
all the rooms they may make, even if
they climb to the sky. The steam ele-
vator has made the upper stories even
more desirable than the stories nearer
the ground. for the upper stories get
better light. and are above most of the
city's dust. These nine-story and ten
story structures, it may be observed,
are put up where they command a
charming vista, or where they are easy
of access from the busy marts The
| nine-story Milla building is vis-a-vis
with the Stock Exchange and Sub
Treasury; the eleven-story Washington
building looks across Broadway to the
new Produce Exchange, and near the
Exchange are several new buildings of
nine and ten stories respectively. The
eight-story Vanderbilt building, the
nine-story Kelly building, the ten-story
Morse building, and the eleven-story
Potter building. at the intersection Of
Beekman and Nassau streets, are not
only within a rifle shot of the City Hall,
but their own populousness will create a
new centre of trade. The nine-story
United Bank building, at the head of
Wall street, would not want tenants if
it were fifteen stories high. The nine
story Bryant building, at Liberty and
Nassau streets, has good tenants, and
the grand structure of the Mutual Life
Insurance Company, on the site of the
old Post Office, to be nine stories in
| height and to cost S1,000,000, will
| hardly want tenants, as it is within a
stones throw of the Sub-Treasury The
| block that Edward Clark chose for his
great eight-story hotel and apartment
! house more than rivals the ten-story
flats in Fifty-ninth street in point of
| sightliness, being opposite the most at
tractive gate of CentralsP ark-that at
Seventy-second street. The new eight
story hotel at Broadway and Thirty
eighth street looks down over Long
Acre square, and from its southwest
corner windows you look far down Sew
enth Avenue. The Livingston place
ten-story fiat oyerlooks Gramercy Park,
and William l.. SkidmOre's eight-story
| fiat, at Seventy-eighth street and Ninth
Avenue, will look out upon Manhattan
| Square and the Museum of Natural His
tory.-NeW York San.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
THE BUILDERS PARADISE.
Enormous Sums Expended In New Houses in
New York and Brooklyn.

They are still tearing down and re-
building in Broadway, as they have
been doing ever since the Dutch gables
zig-zagged northward from Bowling
Green, making the walls of the street
kind of chevron. They demolished
these Dutch gable dwellings to make
room for the plain, sober brick fronts
with which English builders made the
walls from Bowling Green northward
straight, and these dwellings in turn
were supplanted by what were, half a
century ago, deemed pretentious places
of business. Then the merchants orn-
ate stores, at that time viewed as costly
fell at the mandate of the architects,
who decreed yet more expensive edi-
ices; and thus every generation has
built more ambitiously than its fathers,
until to walk from Union square to the
Battery is to walk between two lofty
walls of deliberately sculptured marble
and freestone and iron. But this is not
news to you. Well, if you are told
that within the past five years inves-
tors have put $500, 000,0 into $4,000
new buildings in New York and Brook
Ign, will that be news to you? Most of
this vast aggregate of money has been
put INTO brick and mortar IN the BUSH
ness part of New York, and hundreds
of thousands have been spent on single
structures down town; but the army of
builders have chosen to invade the out
skirts OF the two cities, and to build on
land whose cost does not necessitate
story upon story, far up in the clouds.
as the only means of paying interest
and taxes. Rapid transit gave the
northern border of the compactly built
part of this city boom, and in two
seasons large city of handsome five
story freestone flats was erected in the
Nineteenth ward, and large city of
four-story brown-stone fronts was built
in the Twelfth ward; and now on the
line OF Third avenue the hiatus has been
filled, making continuous compact
city from the Battery to Harlem Bridge.
| The buildings in this new part of the
citY are mainly $4,000 homes. West
OF Third avenue the houses are mostly,
and yet more SO as you go westward
from Fourth avenue, until the cost cul-
inmates in the stately mansions in Fifth
avenue. opposite Central Park, whose
owners have spent on them from $780,
QUO to S300,000. Lenox Hill is the new
Murray Hill, and Madison and Fifth
avenues, from Sixtieth street to Eigh-
teth, are becoming the seat of fashion.
Ii not, then the realm of fashion does
not lnclnde the most sumptuous homes.
--Nese York Sun.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
The Dairy Business.

According to the New York Sun, there
are nearly $4,000, $50, 900 invested in the
dairy farming business. This sum is
sufficient to place this business in the
front rank of American industries, as it
is almost double the money invested in
banking and commercial industries. 1t
is estimated that i. requires 100000
cows to supply the demand for milk and
its products in the United States. To
feed these cows, 100000 acres of land
are under cultivation. The agricultural
and dairy machinery and implements in
use are worth over 5000, 000,0 900. The
men employed in the business number
200, 900, and the horses nearly 100000
The COWS and horses consume annually
$4,000, 200 tons of hay, nearly 9O,O0O,000
bushels of corn meal, about the same
amount of oat meal, 5000, 900 bushels
OF oats, 100000 bushels of bran, 80,
10000 bushels of corn, to say nothing
of the brewery grains and questionable
feed of various kinds that are used to q
great extent 1t costs $500, 100000 to
feed these cows and horses. The aver
age price to the laborers necessary in the
dairy business is probably $50 per
month. amounting to $l6S,000,000 a
year. The average COW Yields about
$50 gallons of milk year giving to-
tai product of 6,750,000. 100 gallons.
Twelve cents gallon is air price to
estimate the value of this milk, at to-
tai return TO the dairy farmer of $780,
100000. Fifty per cent. Of the milk is
made into cheese and butter. 1t takes
twenty-seven pounds of milk TO make
one pound of butter, and about ten
mounds of milk to make one pound OF
cheese. There is the same amount OF
nutrition in three and ononaH pounds
of milk than there is in one pound OF
beef. A fat steer furnishes fifty per
cent of homeless beef, but ii would re-
ouire $4,000, 600 steers weighing 1000
pounds each to produce the same
amount of nutrition as the annual milk
,rOdrct does
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
A CROWDED FAMILY.
The New York Central Park Geological
Garden.

The animals at the Arsenal in Central
Park presented this morning picture
of complete misery. The wolf sat
quietly in one corner of his cage; the
lions walked slowly across their limited
enclosures and occasionally gave loud
roar; the monkeys swung by their tails
and consumed no peanuts, for the
small boy was not there, and the sea
lions chased each other about in their
tanks. There has been considerable
discussion as to the ACCESSIBILITY of NOV
ing the entire geological collection to
the remote part OF the Park. This
place" said Superintendent Conklin,
lis not fit for geological garden. The
space is too small. The noise Of the
wolves and of the sea lions annoy many
people in the neighborhood. On a
clear, cold night. the sea lions are ac-
sharp bark, and sometimes the old bull
will keep it up half the night The
lions will set up loud roaring once in
while, but the building is closed dur
ing the night and then they can hardly
be heard at distance. The eagles make
as much noise as any of the animals by
their loud screaming. But there are no
disagreeable odors of other nuisances.
] think it will be greatly beneficial to
the animals if we can give them a
larger place and more freedom and it
viii afford the public a better oppor-
tunity of viewing them. Our garden
is free, while those in Philadelphia,
Cincinnati and in Europe, charge about
twenty-five cents admittance. On one
Sunday hundred Thousand people will
visit the animals, or as many as visit
other geological gardens in a year. If
you 60 to the park at any hour of
the day you will find more people look
ing at the animals than there are in any
other part of the park Many country
men visiting this city for the first time
make it a point TO visit the animals the
first thing they do. Upon arriving
here they invariably want to know
where they can see the live snakes
Country women particularly always
want to see the snakes the first thing
and when they approach the glass cases
containing the squirming creatures they
always turn their heads away in dis
gust
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
RAILROAD TIES.
An Important Item In Construction and Repairs
Pike County's Store


The railroads of this country said
an official of one of the trunk lines
running out of New York. '.pay nearly
S6.000,0 900 a year for cross-ties. The
timber used is oak and chestnut in the
East, and oak, cherry, locust, maple,
and ash in the West, and South. The
best ties are made of white oak. More
than 225, 900 acres of forest are needed
to supply these ties every year, and
consequently the necessities of railroads
in this one item alone form consider
able item in the destruction of our for
ests. The country along the line of
our road alone annually supplies us
with hundreds of thousands of oak and
chestnut ties, and thus far we have not
been compelled to go out of our own
district for our supply. One county in
Pennsylvania alone (Pike) furnishes a
large proportion of our ties, and has for
many years. There is not station in
that county that is not supplying de-
pot for ties. | have often wondered
where they all come from. for the con-
tractors who operate in that county,
after more than twenty-five years chop
ing and hewing in her forests, never
hesitate to contract for the delivery of
as many ties as are called for. They
are brought in as far as twelve miles
from the railroad. Besides the large
number that we annually receive, there
is a railroad on the other side of the
county which also depends on Pike
county for large share of its ties. For
more than twenty years also, up to the
time that we adopted coal instead of
wood as fuel, Pike county furnished the
road with many thousands of cord wood
every year-oak, chestnut, pine, beach,
birch, maple, and hickory Besides
these drafts on her woods, the county's
best young chestnut trees have been
cut for more than thirty years to help
us in renewing our telegraph poles.
RAILROAD ties need renewing every
three years. In building a new road
the estimate is 2,700 ties for the mile.
1t is safe to say that it will require 800
ties year to keep mile of road in re-
pair. From 12.000,000 to 100000
new ties are required by railroads every
year In building the great Western
railroads the contractors. in many cases,
purchase outright the timber along the
route, or as near to 1T as possible. In
that case they pay 500 to $25 an acre.
Otherwise they pay from 10 cents to II
cents apiece to the owner of the land
for the ties taken out. The average
price paid to the contractor is 35 cents
apiece, although we have paid 40 cents
and even so cents for the best oak ties
We prefer hewn ties to sawed ones, and
use no Others hut many railroad men
do not believe in the theory that they
are any better. 1t may be only super
stition that the former last longer than
the latter, but, it is so strong with us
that we insist on having hewn ties. OF
late years we have taken great many
hemlock ties, experiments proving that
they can be used to advantage in many
instances on sidings and on tracks
where the traffic does not require con-
slant repairs. "-NeW York Sun.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
HIRING OUT DIAMONDS.
How Costly Jewels are Obtained for Receptions
and Weddings


Ihatwas an expensive set of jewelry, !"
remarked reporter to the proprietor of
. large Washington street store. allud-
ing to set of diamonds young lady
had just taken away with her
1t is the most expensive set we have
in the store" was the reply, '.but she
has only hired them.''
us that common thing in Boston,
asked the newspaper man.
s'Most certainly. Many of our best
customers hire set of jewelry for an
evening, and for a comparatively small
price excite the envy and jealousy OF
their friends. wonder you have never
heard of it before We take our cost
Hest gems and reset them to please our
customers and then rent them. OF
people whom we know we never re-
quire any security. but a stranger
would. of course, have to deposit the
full value of the gems. There are two
OF our finest sets at Swampscott now,
where | understand they have been
much praised and their temporary pos
SCISSORS congratulated.
"a funny thing happened in connec-
ton with this branch of our business,
There was to be large german, and
young lady, well known in this city,
came to make arrangements about a
set of diamonds. | was not in the store
at the time and knew nothing of the
matter, SO when | came in | let the
same set to another young belle. In
the afternoon No. l came in and asked
significantly if her diamonds had been
cleaned. While she was talking 10 No.
2 put the same question to me- The
situation was very awkward, but | ex-
planned the matter. and all was finally
settled in favor OF No. l, the young
ladies pledging each other and me to
eternal secrecy.
81 wouldn't have it get out for the
world, you know" explained No. /.
another branch of our business is
to rent silver services" They were
very well paid for. Most of the designs
are antique, and some of them have
figured in many Boston homes as highly
treasured helrlooms. At weddings we
frequently furnish large collections of
bric-a-brac and other articles to swell
the number of gifts and make a fine
display.-B0Ston Globe.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
Shining away from Him.

In a Boston horse car a small boy was
observed to be suddenly agitated, but
regained his self-control after few
moments. Soon after the conductor
appeared and asked for fares. When
he stood before the small boy there was
a slight pause, and the passengers were
surprised to hear the following: ..Pleathe
charge it TO my papa; I've thawallowed
the money"
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
The Walls OF Qnehec.

The walls of Quebec, which cost the
scandalous sum of more than 500, 000,-
600 since the Duke of Wellington had
reconstructed them, were a continual
and costly burden and useless one to
Canada. The Dominion, | am sure.
would be glad il these walls could be
sunk in the sea or leveled 10 the ground.
The expense of keeping up this worth
less relic of barbarism is enormous
Cor. Providence Star.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-01-24
Hollow Things.

Hollow steel shafting. which has
come very generally into use in Europe.
even for such heavy work as steamship
propeller shafts. is found to very much
lessen the weight in proportion to the
decreased strength. 1t appears, fer
example, that ten-inch shaft with a
hole four inches in diameter, has It's
weight reduced 16 per cent. with loss
of only $50 per cent. of strength. This
rule doesn't apply to mans head,
though. Boston Post.