davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28
At tho Bars.

The ripened corn tossed in the air
It's looks of amber silks,
When Betty ,frim and rosy fair,
Brought home the pals of milki
And oh, how gayly did she sing
Unto the trembling stars
heard the silver echoes ring
Down at the meadow bars.
Barerooted was the little lass
As she came through the field;
To her small feet it seemed the grass
Caressingly must yield;
And oh, how sweetly rose the notes
Unto the trembling stars
Like music slipped from robins throats-
Iheard it at the bars.
Iwatched her as her way she went
Beneath the summer sky;
With every breeze was softly blent
"A-comin' through tho rye"
And oh, thought l, amid the grain'
Beneath the silent stars,
What bliss 'twould be to prove the strain,
Aud kiss her Mt the bars !
+. ID. Sherman in Outing
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28
Mission of the False Prophet.

The term "Mahdi" is approximately
translated messiah" The Mahdi's
heaven-imposed mission is neither ma
tional nor political, but religious. The
territory which he claims and the peo-
pie whose allegiance he demands are
limited solely by his geographical ig-
norance. Either he is the looked-for
spiritual head of the whole world, who
is to unite all nations under an Islam
purified of its existing abuses or he is
nothing. lie is either the Messiah
which was to come or an
imposter. Avoiding more exact
parallel, which might seem ir-
reverent. an attempt to ne
gotiate with such leader might be
compared to an offer made by the Mo
hammedan leader to Peter the Hermit
of the crown of Franks if he would re.
frain from prosecuting the Crusades
The Mahdi's aims repeated in innu-
merable proclamations are to drive
those who refuse to recognize his di-
vine mission into the sea, to be pro-
claimed in the holy city of Mecca, and
to destroy the false Caliphate at Stam-
boul. He is equally hostile to the Sc
noussi, the Sultan, Arab, and Mr.
Blunt. His only adherents are those
who will take the sword and kill al
who refuse his faith throughout tn
world. He is the successor of numer
Gus impostors who, not having the for
tune to be opposed by British states
men, have failed to achieve equal pres
tlge. Defeat alone can destroy tina
prestige.-LOndon Times.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

The process of canning fruits
vegetables and meats for future con
sumption is comparatively a modern
one says an exchange, but not sc
modern but that time has been giveL
for the invention of all sorts OF
frauds and shams in connection with
it. Tomatoes that are nothing but a
few seeds floating in a sea OF dis
colored water, and peas, corn and
succotash that are known to the IN
itiated under the name of soaks and
which are as nutritious and palatable
as 40 many wooden chips, find their
way to the tables of no end of people
who pay money enough to secure a
good article. Meat that has been kept
too long to be sound or that was dis
eased in the FIRST place also finds Its
way into cans, and with the art oi
fiaring labels and much persuasion on
the part of agents and retailers Is en-
abled to nauseate and. in som:
instances, poison human stomachs. Ii
is not to be wondered at that thu
public is asking for some protection
from the lying compounds which ar
vended under the general name oi
canned goods. In at least ten differ
ent states bills are being pressed be
fore the Legislatures relative to th'
process of putting up and labelling
these articles of daily consumption
At first, Gamers and dealers wer'
generally averse to such legislation
but the public demand for 1t has De
come too emphatic to be unheeded
and the reputable manufacturers an
dealers are generally advocating sue
legislation in order to compel the dis
honest establishments to either 6
out of business or change thel
| methOdS
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

A letter from Costa Rica. Central
America, says flowers are remarkably
abundant and luxuriant there. Tu-
beroses are as common as currant
bushes in New England garden,
camelias are as abundant as roses, and
the jessamine, both yellow and white.
grows as plentiful as the dandelion in
Northern pastures. The orchid, which
is regarded as the rarest of tropical
plants, clings to every tree, and the
great scarlet passion flower mods from
the hedges. The Espiritu Santos .
flower (the flower of the Holy Ghost)
so called from it's resemblance to a
white dove, is found in the swamps
and jungles. There is another, not SC
beautiful, but more remarkable, called
the "turnso" (turned by the sun
which is always as white as snow il
the morning, but turns blood red dur.
ing the day. At night it bleaches out
again. and so changes color with ever.
passing day.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

1.-THE most important commodity of
the American grocery trade is Coffee
remarks city paper. People, it Is
said, could better do without sugar
than without coffee. You may think
that strong statement, but it is indis-
putable. The Americans are nation
of coffee-drinkers. America consumes
over one-third of the entire product OF
the world. No breakfast table,
whether in the abode of the rich or
the poor, is considered complete with
out it. To many persons it is more
necessary in the morning than food
Coffee contains valuable medicinal
qualities; among others that of being
anti-soporifc. and, therefore, useful in
cases of narcotic poisoning. 1t ha'
been found to be one of the very bes
stimulants for administration to per
sons who are nearly dying from star
walton or cold. Alcoholic stimulant
often prove fatal when given unde
the same circumstances. 1t is inval
liable as disinfecting agent"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28
So LONDONDERRY, VT, THURSDAY, MAY %, 1885,

1884 tho number had increased 70
1l4,447,514; during the corresponding
five wears the New York Elevated
roads showed an increase from 46,o45,'
1Sl to 96,7O2,620. While London still
remains good distance ahead IN the
grand totals, as it does In population
the ratio of increase was largely in
favor Of the American metropolis; In
other words, while the Underground
showed an increase of 23,027,S36 in
FIVE years, the Elevated had expanded
its figures by 5o.657, 7,439, at which rate
it will not take New York long to
catch up with London.
A horrible case Of wholesale pol
soning at Leyden recently came
before the Criminal Court o'
The Hague. The prisoner is Q
woman of 46, named Van de Lin
den. She is married and has several
children. 1t appears that since 1869
she has attempted to poison no less
than 102 persons. and that she tried td
poison everybody who came in her
way. 1t is proved that she killed
twenty seven of her victims, and that
forty-fve others became dangerously
ill. Six times she endeavored to poison
one of her sisters-in-law. The pris.
oner, however, is indicted for murder.
ing three persons only. The Public
Prosecutor maintains that the motive
of the criminal was the obtaining oi
money which insurance societies woulc
have to pay in case of illness or death
The story Of "Chevalier" Alfret
Paraf, who died in Lima, Peru, Of
pneumonia not long ago, is romance
of adventures such as is seldom un
folded in real life, and to match which
in novel would require the imagina
ton of Dumas. Although scarcely
40 wears old Parat had successfully
swindled the people of two continents
and in little over 10 years he hat
souandered over 100000, which h
had drawn from the pockets OF nj
gullible victims. Unlike the ordnar
swindler, Paraf selected his dupe
from among the wealthiest and pre-
sumably the most intelligent citizen
: of all lands, and the manner in whic
}. his work was done showed him to /
a man of great natural genius. b
e means of which had he so chosen b
. might have raised himself to an enyi;
able position in any civilized countr.
, lie was a fascinating talker, and theI
u was an apparent frankness in h
face which captured everybody. A
IS an adventurer he was the most a
complished that ever stepped foot
IL these shores, and there are scores
= men in this country as well as
It. South America who remember vii
Il modification the fascinating graces
20 this king of swindlers. His swindl
'' were generally in the manufacture
new dyes. He first introduced ole
y. margarine in this country. When
~ was in funds he led most luxurio
~ life, spending money with the create
= freedom.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

Figures that are both big and inter
esting are found in comparing the
passenger traffic of the London Under
ground and the New York Elevated
railway systems. The amount OF
patronage bestowed, and the enormous
growth of this patronage, may be
fairly taken as the measure of public
appreciation. In 1879 a total OF
81, ,420178 persons made use of the
London Underground lines. while in
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

Liberia is on the west coast of Al
rica," says the Atlanta Constitution.
1T contains about 30,C00square miles.
The soil is productive and the climate
better than anywhere on the coast.
The government is Republican, and
owes its origin to the American Colo
oization Society. which in 1920 sent
over some negro colonists. In lS47
the declaration of independence was
made and a constitution adopted. The
President holds Office two years. The
republic has passed through nothing
but discord since it was established.
It borrowed $500,000 from England in
1871, and has paid no interest since
1874, the government being bankrupt
In 1880 the republic annexed the king
dom of Medina, a very rich country
The population is composed of about
$4,000 civilized and 100000 uncivilizet
negroes. The country is not pros
porous"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

There is nothing royal or impressive
about the preliminaries to presen-
tation to Queen Victoria. The attend
ance is, strange to say, not limited,
and the ladies have to encounter the
crush of an eager mob, which acts very
much as it would at the pit entrance
to a boxing-match. The struggles at
the barrier separating the waiting
rooms are appalling; the women, ap-
parently maddened by the probability
that before they reach the throne-room
the queen will have retired. press for
ward, rustling, painting, and chatter
ing, SO that hair gets disordered, skirts
and trains are torn, and ostrich feath
ers and jewels are lost.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Not many years have passed away
since roller skating was the fashion
able amusement of the hour in large
cities and watering places both in
England and Ireland. Kinks sprang
up here and there with mushroom
growth, and after short lapse faded
as rapidly away. Dublin affords ample
evidence of the fall Of this artificial
imitation of skating.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

In no other city in the world does
the practice Of giving the customers
something "to boot obtain to the ex-
tent that it does in Berlin. This tax
on merchants has grown heavier under
tho strife of competition, until now 1t
Is said to be almost cheaper to buy
than to go without. Confection houses
give Chinese shawls, hats and satchels;
grocers bribe cooks with gifts of soap;
butchers give extra slices of ham, and
dry goods dealers give dress patterns,
valuable according as the value of the
purchase is much or little. The prac-
tice is most general among booksellers,
who give toys, dolls, games, pencils
and the like, and recently in one OF
the Berlin schools the police had actu-
ally to be called in, the pupils having
got into a violent quarrel over some
fre-crackers obtained by one of them
as shoot" in bookstore purchase.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28
Che lcnSonocrrp Sitter.
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPER,
ISSUED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING
--FROM-
SITTER Cfflca, So Londonderry, Vt.

TERMS.-lHE LONDONDERRY, W., SITTER
will be furnished to all subscribers, everywhere,
Mt tho extremely low price of One Dollar per
annum, invariably in advance. Outside OF
Windham Co., in single wrappers, ,l6 year
! ADVERTISING RATES.-Fifty cents per
inch, first insertion, rs cents Tor each addi
tional insertion. Nothing inserted for less than
so cents.
Additional information furnished upon appli.
cation. Births, Marriages and Deaths, pub
lished free. Obituary Notices, Cards Of Thanks
etc, so cents to Sl.O0.
SITTER OFFICE, LONDONDERRY, VT.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-05-28

Horses an. Carriages at all hours. Persons
earned to all surrounding points upon arrival
oftrsins Special accommodations to excur-
stsn parties. Good teams and attentive dri-
veD. "
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
A Snecimen Spccnlatlon.

Within few days past a specimen
case of mining speculation has been
brought to light. n ruined Speculation
in this class Of securities presents his
schedule of assets and liabilities. He
gives as the nominal assets S65. .542, 900 {;
as the real assets, $4,000; liabilities,
SSl7 900. He need not be as particular
to inquire what has become Of the prop
erty in the concern as those will be
who bought stock. They will be in
terested to know some more about this
business. Somebody is short about
S7s7 900. This shortage is not nominal
dollars, but real ones. To the question
Where is our money!" echo Will an
swer" Where" 1t does seem as if a
confding public had a childlike faith in
stock brokers compared to which the
faith our religious friends ask us to ex-
ercise il very small. For an example
OF purest, greenest, most childlike trust
i'm the unseen we commend the moneyed
individual who bites so voraciously the
thinly baited hook Of the broker.
While Dakota soil at n price wonder
fully low in comparison to its real worth
can be held with perfect safety and sold
in few years at fiye hundred per cent
advance, we marvel at the extremely
simple faith in mining stocks.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

What a commentary is the whole af-
fair of the Soudan on the dangers Of
brilliant foreign policy. This business
in upper Egypt will, before it is done,
cost enough to extinguish poverty in
London and to give tens Of thousands
Of starving wretches chance to start
afresh under kindlier skies. Let us
say nothing of the burned towns and of
the slaughtered peasants abroad or of
the weeping widows and fatherless
children and desolated homes in Eng
land. Beaconiield's war i'm Afghan
istan cost enough to have bought out
every landlord in Ireland and honestly
and forever to have settled the Irish
question. War is not as prevalent a
pursuit as it was a hundred years ago
among the nations. 1t is not so bru-
tally carried on now as it was then. 1t
is less fitted to the manners and morals
Of Christian nations than to the habits
OF savages. WAR" said Gen. Sher-
man. is destruction. No wonder,
in view of the misers inflicted by this
brilliant foreign policy upon all other
nations. that England has some misery
at home.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
Stopped to Hear n Story.

From the Argosy.
Two strangers passing Rowland Hills
Church one day entered, walked up the
aisle, and, finding no seat, stood for
awhile and listened to the sermon.
Presently they turned to walk out.
Before they reached the door the
preacher said, but l will tell you
story" This, of course, arrested the
strangers, and they paused, turned
again and listened. "Once there was a
man, said the preacher, ''who said that
if he had all the axes i'm the world made
into one great axe, and all the trees in
the world made into one tree, and he
could WELD the axe and cut down the
tree, he would make it into one great
whip to thrash those ungodly men who
turn their backs on the gospel and stop
to hear story
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
popPlEs INSTEAD.
lJennie Maxwell Paine.1

tJsnnie Maxwell PANEL
You bring me pansies int wrought s6
With heiotroFe-
But life has grown TO full ior thong q.
Too sad for hope;
30 would you had brought me poppics
stead,
Deep, slumberous poppies, Haunting, flaming
red,
Large, languid poppies, whose petal seems
To suggest the color Of its dreams,
That bring forget ,une 8.
would you withheld the flowers of love
And tenderness,
That nought Of rcst and peace behoove
For those that bless
With petals Of fame that hold soft sleep,
To assuage the pain Of them who weep,
Whose love and thought are far too strong
For the leash of peace. who only long
For sweet forgetfulness
Since IL u given 70 all mon born
To sleep and eat
God strews His poppies through the corn
And 'mongst the wheat.
SO would you brought ms great armfuls Of
thess.
Instead Of the purple and gold hrartsease,
Great armfuls whereon l could rest and
lean,
And disown tho thoughts that crowd bs
tween,
And find forgetfullneea
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
Not So Singular.

Considerable discussion has arisen
over the present condition of Gen.
Grant. The decision of the best physi-
clans that this man, great in many
things, and great smoker, is suffering
from tobacco poison, is vigorously OPP
posed by many smokers. Yet the Gen
eral, who did not cease smoking till
Nov. 80 last, is said by his physicians to
have "sworn off" too late. We sim
cerely hope that he may recover. But
his case is not SD singular as some de-
clare. The whole country has a fresh
memory of the death OF Senator Hill.
a writer i'm the New York Advocate
three cases of nicotine poi
soning. The report of Paris hospital
declares eleven out Of nineteen cases
of cancerGus affection Of the tongue
to be due to nicotine. 1t does seem
that long continued smoking does some
times produce such effects as Grant is
now suffering
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

PATRICK HENRY, an attorney OF
Vicksburg, Frank Merigold, President
of the Mississippi Valley Timber Comp
any, and G.. +. Adams. Of New York,
have each filed suit against the Pull
man Palace Car Company for S25, 600 on
account of a conductor accusing them
OF being pickpocke's and ejccting them
from the cars. 1t is said that the con-
ductOr was drunk.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

DETECTIVES returned to Boston from
Detroit on the 18th ult., having in
custody Ex-Governor Moses, Of South
Carolina, wanted in Cambridge for
obtaining money under false pretenses
from Colonel Il. w. Iligginson. Moses
obtained thirty-four dollars from
Colonel IIigginson by representing
himself as a lawyer by the name Of
Byram, who had been robbed while re-
turning from Canada. The prisoner
was committed to Jail.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

THE Secretary OF the Navy has recon-
mended that in recognition of the SER
vices OF Russian officials in connection
with the rescue Of the Jeanette surviv.
ors, presents of swords of honor, gold
watches, silver medals and gratuities in
money he distributed among the officials
and natives Of Yakutsk and Irkutsk,
and the President recommends special
approximation for this purpose.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
Literature In Arkansaw.

An Arkansas literary society recently dis
cussed the question;
Resolved, That q circus b superior 70 Q
district school a. q civilizing agent"
The circus packed the convention from the
start Orly one orsSor got up 10 speak for
the district sohool He was the teacher, and
the president fined him twice and then made
him sit down the fines were for calling
Pompeyeye Pompayee, aud yinS there were
moro schools In Boston than I'm Little Rock,
and he was made to sit down for utteriug
atheistic ssntimsnts when he denied that
"Root hog or die" was 70 be found In the
Bible. To crown his Disgrace. she president,
In summing up, referred 10 his remarks ~
indicating TO what q low state Of knowledge
and morals the habit Of attending district
school would bring man He then decided
tho question In favor Of the circus, collecting
the fines from the unhappy psdagogue. and
the society went out and spent ths moosy
for bread.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

JUDGE WINGARD, Of Washington
Territory, is against female jurors, on
the ground that they cannot serve with
out neglecting household duties which
cannot be delegated to others. Some
have to be excused on account Of i'll
health, and others are made sick by the
late hours in the jury room.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

JUDGE Hudson at Fargo gave decis-
ion in the Trail county seat contest
case. lie refused to issue writ Of
peremptory mandamus for the removal
of the county seat from Caledonia to
TraiIl Center.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

A Chance for Honey Cultarista.
(Chicago HerAld.l

In the neighborhood Of Lompoc. Cal
about $50 tons Of honey viii bs stored by
bees this winter. yet not ons-twentisth Of ~
bee range there b utilised. Thsrs ars
thousands Of acres Of sage- brush land that
will never b cleared Of this peculiar hruSh,
hence agriculture b destinsd 10 tecoms mosp
one Of California's chief industries. and sos
in which men cf small capital en- snnhark.
There are lands On The 6Ason Htee ana
Puris;ma ranches foe aalN - n't 10 exceed
q per acre. which are csvsrsd with . heavy
growth Of sage and other towering shrubs
from which bvss extract honey,
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

Mrs. LAURA DE FORCE GoRDAN. OF
California, has been admitted to the bar
of the United States Supreme Court.
Mrs. Gordan is the second woman al
lowed To practice before this court, the
first being Mrs. Belva Lockwood, who
has argued only one case since her ad-
mission to the bar in March. 1879.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
Feeding tho CierkA
fExchange.l

London clerks who have their dinnsss pro-
vided for them on the premises Of their sm-
ployers seem to fare very WELL The insur-
ance clerks. for instance have their choice
Of several sorts OF meat and pudding for
7-pence, and are allowed an hour In which to
eat their meal Many an American girl who
earns her living by writing and copying
would think herself fortunate IL her salary
should be increased until she could have Q
daily dinner Of that description. much more
II she could have IL a. less than q q week.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21
'Mugwump" Net . New Word.
w A Cru<Yutl

No, Mr.. Dana did not invent the word
"mugwump" he merely adopted it-and
that, too years after II had been In use In
tho west A. early N 1880 ! was informed
by George r Wright. prominent citizen
and journalist Of Minnesota, and who wss
visiting me In Chicago. that I was mug
wump never haa hoard the word bsfors,
Lut thanked him and told him that hsd
always tried 70 Be. Then he told ms
that Il was . term of rsproach
of iocoss dsrisioa In this instancs-and
was applied 70 u,s because oe political
position Of minc which he deemed imprac-
ticable. He said 'mugwump" was . good
Indian word-not Sioux but Algonquin
Pequot or Mohawk, he thought I'VE need
IT," be said, with . laugh. 1ConAdsring
how many fools there are IN the country,
our language IL not rich enough in spithstsI"
I agreed that IL was good, wholesome. de-
liciosn little epithet. but requested him TO
be moro careful how he applied IL And now
to hear somebody set IL up for . new word.
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

THE foolish man foldeth his arms and
saith: There is no trade, why should
I advertiser" But the wise man
whoOpeth 'er up through the news
paper, and verify he draweth trade from
afar ofY.-Ex
The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-21

THE Hon. William Maxwell Evarts is
enough Of humorist to remark that he
will run for the presidency in 1888 on
the platform that "Christopber COlum-
bus discovered America