davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
Benny and the Watermelon.

Many years ago, in the Old Colony
town of P, a good old lady known
far and near as Mother Simpson Law
sick of fever. She was very i'll. In
those days the doctors did not dare to
give water to fever patients, but let
them parch and burn under the on
thought to be fatal.
But be that as it may, Mother Simp-
son was a very sick woman-there was
no doubt about it whatever.
Suddenly she stopped in the midst of
her feeble rawlings for drink. and said.
with all her old energy-she was a very
energetic woman and liked to have her
way" Gimme a piece of watermelon"
"Why, bless my stars exclaimed
Aunt Sarah, who was nursing her
''nussing" they used tocall til never
heerd OF such a thing. It's now nigh
almost the middle of winter-it is
months an months ago sense anybody's
seer a watermelon
a don't care,'' said the sick woma
sharply: 81 want some watermelon.n
''Where on earth am | goin' to ret
you any, Id like to know?:' said the
nurse.
"Why, up in the back lot, next to the
woods replied the invalid.
In short. the good lady was so persist
ent in her request that they determined
that little Benny, a chubby chap of a
dozen years old. should make the hunt.
"laint no use at a}l.' said the
youngster; there aintnOne lett, and if
there was, 'twouldn't be good for moth
ing"
However, Benny took the shovel and
hoe and trudged up through the fields of
snow toward the back lot. 1t wa near
dusk OF a bleak winters day. He took
his implements and prodded here and
scrapcd there, his fingers getting colder
every minute, but found nothing.
Il might have knowed 'twould be
so,' he said to himself. IN Il tone of I'M
disguised disgust. Then picking up his
tools he was about to return home,
when me remembered that he hadn't
looked along by the fence neal the edye
OF the wood. I'm 90 the whole tigger,
now I'm about it," he said. The snow
at this spot was 4 little more drittea.
He explored at one place. another. and
presently came upon a hard substance
q the DRIFT. Removing first Il laver
OF snow and then a layer of leaves,
what was his establishment 10 find a
plump, ripe watermelon. Had he dis
covered an actual pot of gold he
couldn't have been moro surprised. il.
bore the trophy in triumph fack to the
Old farm house to the a-tonishment o.
everybody except Mother Simpson.
The melon when cut was found 10 hp
n OF the ripe>l and sweetest and rel.
dest and %iuicieSt that cver grew. 1t
acted Ike a cordial on the sick lady.
the crisis in the fever turned ut cn.r'
and she grew We'll with amaz;no
rapldity, and lived many wears after,
thanks 10 the Wul4rMel IL, ~-H2s;c1
G,o5e
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
hem in the social scale. This class y

hem IN the social scale. ms class -
composed of Government clerks and ct
people in comfortable circumstances.
There are a good many colorcd men in
Government employ as clerks. These
form the basis of the society of the SEQ
ond rank. Many of them " comfort
able homes, and one of the finest streets
in the city is occupied by them. This
is Sixteenth street, between the Scott
statue and the White House. 1t is .
splendid avenue, broad. well-paved and
in the heart of the most fashionable
part of the city. Nearly all of these
colored residents own their houses, and
refuse to sell. The property is very
valuable and must ultimately pass out
of their possession. These people are
very fond of social life, but they do not
find it in entertaining, but rather in So
cables, balls, picnics and esp scially in
their churches. They are well dressed,
seem to prosper, and are happy. For
the great bulk of the colored popula-
tion-the servants, laborerS and the
~poor-they have sympathy, butno
| have social relations with them than a
white family would. These latter in
the main are thriftless, living from hand
to mouth; happy if they do nothing,
happy if they get a Job. Their social in
stincts are gra1itied by the organization
and maintenance of societies OF all sorts,
benevolent, patriotic, social and eco
nomic. There are nearly n hundred
Of these organizations. supported al
most entirely by the laboring colored
people, Washington Post.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
Malta and the Maltese.

The Maltese Islands are four in num-
Der: Malta, Gosso, Comino and COMM
itto-Malta being the largest of the
group. The axis of the group-twenty-
nine miles in length-runs from south
east to northwest in the same direction
as the Apprentices. Malta is tifty-ive
miles from the most s%outherly point of
Sicily, and 125 miles from Mt. Etna.
During the last great eruption of this
1O,OCO-feet high mountain the glare of
its fires was distinctly seer from here.
About POO miles southwest of us Cape
Bon points its finger out into the sea.
and the northeast end of Africa begins
at the tinger-nail. Thus situated then,
midway between the continents of Eu-
rope and Africa. and directly in the
middle of the great water highway con-
meeting American and European mar
kets with Egypt, Asia and the Indies,
Malta possesses an Importance easily
realized. She has been possessed by all
the countries bordering on the Mediter-
ranean in turn, and has been a bone of
contention whenever the dogs of war
were let loose.
Malta and its officially styled .de-
Tendencies" though only tly-spccks on
the broad map of the world, now geo.
graphically form part of Europe, though
as to climate and productions they have
much in common with neighboring
Africa The island of Malta itself IS
seventeen miles long by nine miles
broad. 4 boat sailing round it would
traverse about fifty miles. Its principal
ports are the Great and Quarantine
harbors at Valletta, which are separated
by the hog's-back tongu. of land called
Mount Sceberras, on which the city is
built. Among other bays on the north
ern shore is that Of st. Paul, in which,
1900 years ago, the Christian orator
was driven ashore. With the perspi-
cacity that you would naturally sup
pose him possessed of, st. Paul lighted
on his feet when he struck Malta. for
he not only chose the most beautiful of
all the bays in the island to be wrecked
in. but the people received him kindly,
and, being ripe for it, were easily con-
verified to Christianity. Prior to St.
Paul's advent the inhabitants of Malta
worshipped neurological gods. Only
yesterday l saw a statue of the goddess
Juno, before which the ancient Maltese
have bowed down and sacrificed. 1t
c+o,1c ,,p1oro orohu-ov in % r.oba cf
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
Theater. Going in Paris.

A great many Americans who have
never been in Paris imagine that, as it
is the home and center OF dramatic art,
the theaters themselves and everything
connected with them are perfect. This
is n of the popular illusions that need
to be dispelled. All the theaters, except
the Eden, are stuffy and uncomfortable,
and getting your ticket and going
through the necessary formalities be-
fore you reach your seat are sufficient
to deter many people from ever attend
ing a performance. 10 begin at the
beginning, when you go to buy your
ticket You find yourself not before a
good-sized window where you can con-
verse intelligeptly with the ticket-seller,
on the contrary, most of the ticket
offices are cramped-up little places, and
the window, or rather the opening
across which you must make Your wants
known, is a little aperture often not
more than ten inches square. If this
so-called window were on a level with
your elbows you might get on passably
well, but it is usually on q line with
your stomach, and to carry on your
conversation it is necessary to bend over
painfully low.
The ticket-seller is usually a woman
the bnraliste. as she is called-and, as
a rule, she is no longer at an age that
inspires any tender passion. On the
contrary most of these buralistes have
beer so long in Office hat they believe
themselves to be the veritable manager
of the theater. Directors, actors and
authors fear them much more than they
fear the public. The 6ura1isto's reply
to Your questions is generally very
short. and not always sweet. and I
sometimes think that the little windows
We're made expressly to keep the ticket
seller at q safe distance from her pur-
chaser.
If you succeed in getting a ticket you
will receive not the convenient little bit
Of pasteboard so familiar to America,
with the date and hour of performance,
number OF seat, ETC., printed. but a
large square piece of paper with your
name, number of seat. and, if the play
is given every night, number of the per-
Torrance written thereon. Thus, if YOU
purchase q seat Tor the fifteenth repre-
asentat;on of a piece YOU must keep a
look out to see when that fifteenth per-
ormance takes place. At many of the
Eheaters you get no check attached to
sour ticket; the number is simply writ
en- on. and when you arrive at the the
ater your ticket is taken up and you are
placed by an usher. To finish with the
s%ickct, if it costs more than ten francs it
5nust have a Government stamp, for
Switch you pay two cents. = Boston
Gourter.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
Reducing the Blemislles.

A sallow c~onplexioned old lady, ac-
companied by a remarkably unprepos-
sessing daughter, recently walked into
a Photographic gallery.
"Be you the PHOTOGRAPH man?' she
inquired, wlping her s%pect4cles. and
carefully adjusting them to the various
spurs, dips, angles and sinuosities of her
Corinthian nose.
Eyes, ma'am,' replied the artist in
plate glass and chemicals, scan | do
anything for yoV?'
"No, I'm too far over the bay to
waste any mechanical genius on me.
It's my daughter, Partheny, here, that
l wants tux
IAN right, madam, will you -"
"Can't yer soften down her COM
p,exion a little, an tone up her nose
what was broke fallin' out of a win
der:?'
II think so," replied the artist.
can kin yer wipe off them freckles?"
go yes"
"I'veseen photographs of our relations.
an I've alters noticed that the picters
tiattered 'em clean out Of sight. I
know enough about the biz to recognize
that you've got the whole thing in your
own hands, an kin turn out a perfes-
sional beauty Of the first water, Just as
yer please. Do you think you kin re-
duce those ears a trifle-jest a leetle. 1
know Partheny has got big ears, but
still she amt no rabbit. Partheny is a
generous girl, as yer kin see by her
ears"
I think there will be no difficulty
GLOW about that air squirt in the left
optic? Do yer think yer can manage
that"
80 yes, I can touch it up with India
ink"
''What particular pose do yer think
Partheny would take best in, full face
or a side show?"
you mean quarter view or a pro-
tile?:"
Il guess I do. Yer see the PHOTOGRAPH
is go;n' to a young Teller what put an
advertisement into a newspaper for cor
respondents, an Partheny's writin' to
him. Now yer see how necessary it is
for the picter to kinder favor her little
blemishes. You'll do the fair thing by
Partheny, won't yer:9"
not + C. TT ,5 =; what size' madam cabi'
(Which is the biggest?"
cabinet"
"Guess, then, we'd better try her on
a cabinet. Eff. the photographer does''a
good job, the bigger the better. What's
yer iggers?'
Twelve shil2ings dozen for cabi-
nets"
.How much for one?:"
"Same price. 1t is the negative that
costs, not the number"
"Well, all right. You just 90 ahead
an square them shoulders back a little,
an bring the nose down fine, an wipe
OF, the freckles an straighten the eye.
an reduce the ears, an whiten the
compleXion-an' the hair! 1t won't be
red in the picter, will it?'
80 no. There will no color be shown
but black
''Ihat's a comfort. Gracious! Par
theny, what would he think eff yer sent
him an oil paintin' taken from life!
Kin I stay IN the room?"
80 yes.'
"All right. Strike an attitood, Par
theny, an We'll rope in that young man
as sure as yer a foot highly. Y.
Star.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
Restricted Babies. /,

Some of the police regulations in Ger
many seem absurd to an American, on
account Of their minute restrictions and
their abundance of cred tape" An
American gentleman living in Berlin
with his family, writing to a friend in
this country. gives an account OF an an
noying. as well as amusing, experience
with the police of that city. His sense
of humor may have led him to eXagger-
ate the minor details, but the main fact,
which concerns the baby and the park,
is true. He says:
.Ihave lately been brought in con
tact with the inexorably law-enforcing
machine, the German police. You
know nv wife has been an invalid since
our residence here. Forthis reason the
care of the children has come upon
Mary, u Irish servant, who has fol-
lowed our fortunes so long as to be
almost one Of our own family. A more
faithful Girl never lived, and busily oc-
cupied as | am with my writing, l have
left the children almost entirely to her
charge.
.'1he day after we came here, l sent
her out with the baby for u stroll in the
park that adjoins the house. After see
ing her wheel the carriage out of sight,
under the lindens, l sat down to my
desk. In a few moments she burst into
my ROOM, much exited exclaiming:
cam if you PLACE. sorr, what sort Of
a country is this? The nan says l
must have a ticket to thrundle the baby
out there in the park
"'What man. l asked.
"'What man? Who but the man that
calls himself the guarjeen Of this park:?'
"'Well, but what is that you say?' 1
asked again, a little confused. "A
ticket to trundle the baby in the park?'
"sYes, sorr. AS if we hadn't q
right TO breathe out doors widout payin'
for it,
Il looked out of the window and
saw the 'guarjeen' of the park pacing
so!emnly down the avenue. Selling
my hat. ] flushed out doors, and ap-
preached HIM. He was very polite,
and when l spoke to him in German,
he answered me in broken English.
Perhaps he didn't understand my Ger
man!
ale gave me to understand that
%trundling a baby in the park was lille
gal without a permit from police head
quarters! So l meekly followed him to
his chiefs station, and underwent the
following examination in German:
Your full name" l gave it to
him.
".Married?'
"'Ies, sir
"'You want a permit to take your
baby out in a carriage in the Schoelen-
fel City Park?
so do. sir
How old is this baby?'
Gone year, tour months and twenty
seven days
"'Nla}e or female?'
'1ts name is John
"'Does it speak German:g
"'Wcll-not tiuently.'
Gas he seemed to pause for want of
more questions, | ventured to remark
that the carriage was of French manu-
f%acture. and the servant girl of Irish
extraction.
after consulting with his colleagues
in his Office, he gave me- large yellow,
stamped permit, which entitled my
servant girl to take my baby out il a
carriage in Schoclenfel Park. l de-
parted with q new sense of the duties
and dignity of European police
YouNs' Companion.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
FOREIGN GOSSIP.
Petroleum has been discovered in
the Punjab. Hindostan.

petroleum has been discovered in
the Punjab. Hindostan.
! Oh mas navy consists of nearly
seventy vesse 5 of all sizes and on
structed almost entirely under native
supervision.
4 Lord Ripon, the Viceroy of India,
is immensely popular among the ma
tives, and the Calcutta native papers
We're printed in golden ink IN honor OF
his recent visit.
An iron-worker named Stokes, of
Manchester, Eng, found a harein q trap.
and AS it was suffering greatly be killed
it. The act being committed on Sun
day, q bench of magistrates fined him
twenty s%hillings.
Frederick William. the Crown
Prince OF Germany, and heir apparent
to the throne, who has been visiting
Spain and Italy lately, is tifty-two years
of age. At home he is known as I'm
ser Fritz" which, being translated,
means ''Gur Fred
The Revenue and Agricultural De-
partment of the India Government have
been trying to introduce improved agri-
cultural implements among the natives.
The Indan farmers received eighty
three different kinds. From official re-
ports received from various districts it
appears that out of the whole number
distributed twelve only of the imple-
ments found favor in the eyes of the
native agriculturist. Among the ac-
ceptable new tools is an American corn
shelter.
According to DR.. Sach. of Buenos
Ayres, there is no danger of an exhaus-
ton of the q%uinine supply. Theexperi-
mental plantations in Java and the
Island OF Reunion have been very sue
c%essful; and. besides these nurseries,
the trees have been %cultivatedin Bolivia
by the million for ten years. At three
places in the last-named country, taken
as they come, the number of trees grow
ing is given, severally, at 10000, 20O,-
900 and $500, DOC.
Here is a a description Of a Russian
erison, written by Prof. Thun, of Leip-
sic: The prison at Kara, near Irkutsk,
Is said to be one Of the worst. 1t is an
ordinary farmhouse, surrounded by a
high fence. There are no tables or
chairs, only platforms, on which the
prisoners lie packed like sardines. The
food consists merely of bread and soup,
with a very little grit. There is no hos
Pital or other care for the sick. All
those condemned to hard labor are COM
PEELED to wear chains, whether at work
or in prison, and all correspondence is
forbidden"
1t is only Just about one hundred
years since the brutal punishment of
pressing to death was abolished by law
in Great Britain. 1t was supposed to be
the penalty for felony, but any criminal
who refused to plead either guilty or
not guilty was condemned to it. The
criminal condemned to be pressed was
laid naked upon his back, and had iron
laid upon him, as much as he could
bear ard more and more, being mean
time fed upon bad bread and stagnant
water until he either died or pleaded. In
1925 a man ac used of murderin a small
English town refused to plead and was
pressed for an hour and ~three-quarters
with nearly 400 pounds of iron, after
which he pleaded not guilty, but was
convicted and hanged.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08
PITH AND POINT.

Some people drop tears at the sight
of distress; others, dimes.-N. I. Com
mercial Adrertiscr.
A mole on the nose indicate. that a
man will be a great traveller probably
to get out of the way of people who
make personal remarks.-LoWcN Citi-
zen.
A piper in a Northumbrian town
was once asked il he could play with
in a Mile O Edinboro' Toon.' ''Nithin
a mile!' he exclaimed; "wey, maun, I
cud play within ten yards o't.'
"A young lady refused to wed a man
Of fifty, saying that he was neither one
thing >or another. He was too old for
a husband and too young to hold out
hope OF immediate widowhood.-Chiea-
go Tribune.
"A visionary f%inancier who had a
thousand ways to make q fortune and
not a single one to make a living, is de-
scribed by a friend as "a man SO SAN
guine that the mere getting hold of a
shoc-string makes him think that he is
already the owner Of q tannerv."-Bos-
ton Post.
Allow me to compliment you ON
the last issue Of Your paper,n said q
gentleman to an editor. II think it is
the best number that YOU have ever IS
sued. "Iour kind words are toolate,"
the editor replied. '.for with the last is
sue l suspended the publication of the
Horn:' Yes, know rejoined the
friend, ''and that's why l thought the
last issue was the best. '-Erchunge.
Young Spoonful: "Ah. my dear
est Miss Shillinworth, if | may.I have
long wished for this sweet opportunity:
but hardly dare trust myself now to
speak the deep emotion. But, N
short, l love you. and-your smile
would shed-would shed-would-"
Miss s.: ''Oh, ne' er mind the wood
shed! How's tour aunt's money in
vested? And where are the securities
deposited?'-N. y. lnGepenaent.
A misunderstanding: ..How's yer
gal comm on. Aunt Malviny?' She's
ODER to san Antonio, and dat ar Gabe
S~nodgrass, what's jes' come from dar,
uone ole me dat he'sgot stage-struck."
SIS dat 500" ..Yes, Mr.. Johnsing Il
am a fac ''When am she ewine to
play:?' Not for a right smart while
yet. l reckon, kase de wheel oh anudcr
vehicle break two of her ribs when de
stage struck her. Il m:scomprchend
20, Aunt Malviny, at fust. Good eben-
ln.'-7eras Syiings.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08

DR.. Mutchmore, editor of the Pres
og1eT'an, tells Of a good colored man
VINO was engaged in blasting a rock
that INSTRUCTED the progress of some
Well-dlggerS very near his residence in
hentucky. After q fierce explosion that
shook the house the Doctor went onr to
demonstrate against such earth-shaking
charges, and said to the colored man:
WHAT are you about: At this rate
YOU VIII blow us all into the air."
"Nell, bosS,n said he, II rammed down
on that powder a piece of the Pyestu.
!tri'n. wanted to show folks aronnd
yer what Calvinism could dc. n-Souu.
veESeuniaN. .
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08

Fight hundred dollars in green
backs were found tucked away in the
corner Of a sleigh owned by a firm in
Portland. Me-. when it was brought out
for use after the late fall of snow. The
money is supposed TO belong to a tramp
who slept in the stable for a while and
was sent to jail for three months for
vagrancy.-B0St0n yronseript.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-08

INCONSISTENCIES mOre IIke CHEESE tnan
granite. The atmosphere of Citta
Vccchia is hazy with legend and sacred
with the localities connected with St.
Paul's stay in the island. and the Cath
olics, whose religion now prevails here,
have made the most of them.
The highest point OF Malta is $50 feet
above sen Level. There are not many
trees visible excepting in the walled-in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-05-03
Venus and the Earth.

From the Providence journal.
Venus will be the lOveliest star in the Heay.
ems through the month of May as after elonga-
tion she turns her steps westward, moving rap
idly toward us, and fastening on to her period
of greatest brilliancy. She will form delight
full planetary study for the naked eye and also
fOr telescope observation. Seen through the
telescope at elOngation or few days after, she
takes on the aspect of the moon at her last
quarter, half her disk being iHumined. Then
like the moon, she becomes a waning crescent,
less and less Of her enlightened surface being
turned toward, but increasing in size as she ap-
prOaches us, more than enough to counter
balance the lessened light. At the end of the
month she has nearly reached her eliminating
point, while her high northern declination adds
to the length of her stay above the horizon and
the favorable conditions for observation. The
beautiful Ihanet is specially Interesting on &C.
count of the striking resemblance she bears to
the earth. In SIZE in density, in position in the
system. in the length of her revolution, In the
time OF her rotation, in the possession of an
atmosphere, i'm the form of her orbit. and in the
amount Of light and heat she receives from the
sun, she Is more like the earth than any other
member Of the solar system. She Is our near
est planetary neighbor and, If a moon were
following in her track to complete the analogy.
Venus and the earth would be the twin sisters
of the solar family. Indeed, the planets seem
to be In. pairs, Jupiter and Saturn are the giants
of the family. Neptune and Uranus follow NEXT
to the giants, and Mars and Mercury complete
the list.