davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
Durable Timber.

One of the properties conducive to
durability in timber is its odoriferous-
ness--woods which are so being chiefly
the most durable The close and COM
pact woods, which make the most char
coal, are more permanent than open
and porous qualities. The chestnut
has rather more carbonaceous matter
than oak, and therefore, by reason of
it, is more durable. The Building
Netos says experiment has. however,
shown the error of relying too much on
these broad theories. One writer al
ludes to an experiment made to deter
mine the comparative durability of
wood. Planks of trees one and one
half inches thick, of from thirty to
forty-five years. growth, were exposed
to the weather ten years. Cedar and
chestnut were perfectly sound, spruce
and fir sound, larch sound in heart,
silver fir in decay, Scotch fir decayed,
beech sound, walnut in decay, syca-
more much decayed, birch quite rotten.
We must accept even these facts with
caution. The question whether the
planks had been cut the same length of
time, how they had been dried or sea-
soned, and the position they had occu-
pied, are pertinent to the inquiry. The
same wood often shows varying de-
grees of durability, owing to the po-
sition of the tree. If grown in moist
and shady parts the wood is inferior to
that which grows in an exposed station
open to the sun and air. Some timber
is more durable in wet ground or i'm
mersed in water, such are elm, beech,
alder, while others, such as ash, oak,
and fir, are more durable in dry situa-
tions. The increase in strength due to
seasoning of different woods is given
as follows: White pine per cent;
elm, 1913 per cent; oak, 26.6 per cent;
ash, AT per cent beech, 6l.9 per
cent
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
The Beggar Boys of Rome,

The poor look always cold. They
are always ragged and dirty, in very
picturesque clothes, and on their poor
shoes lies the earth of the Lacustrine
period; and yet what a privilege it is
to be even beggar in Rome! thought
SO at st. Peters on Sunday, as heard
Cardinal Howard sing mass on St.
Peters day. Cardinal Howard is a
stately prince of the church, and most
admired by the English ladies here,
who, it is said, kiss the hem of his gar
ments.
On the occasion of this splendid cere-
mony, the choir of the Sistine chapel
answered antiphonally the choir of the
Cathedral. The famous tenors sang
their best, and SO did the sopranos OF
was ever heard in all the world outside
of Rome. In front of me stood the
little beggar brothers, no covering on
their curly heads. They were enrap-
tured with the music, rs they well
might be, and shamed my Protestant
GOODNESS by kneeling and crossing
themselves in the right places. They
were very much in my way, and they
smelt of poverty and garlic; but / en-
We'd them-for they can always see
Rome, while must leave it. I gave
them small copper tribute of respect,
and of gratitude that they had taught
nue. how rich a beggar might be. They
rewarded me with a smile Raphael
might have coveted, and Il compliment
in Italian far sweeter than anything
have ever heard in English.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
The Neighborly st. Louisians.

The other afternoon a gentleman on
returning to his home in North st.
Louis found that his family were out
calling and that the two servant girls
with the kitchen door barricaded were
in great state of trepidation. They
said that drunken man had rung the
bell and when they opened the door,
had staggered up the stairs and entered
the best bedroom. from which his snores
could even then be heard issuing with
appalling sonorousness. The gentle
man waited to hear no more, but
bounding up the stairs bounced upon
the intruder, whose breath was per-
tuning the rich tapestry and carpets OF
the elegantly furnished room. He was
surprised to see in the sleeper we'll
dressed man, and his curiosity excited
him to discover the mans identity be-
fore putting him out. After consider
able shaking and punching the stranger
was sufficiently aroused to grunt out
his name, which proved that he was a
prominent merchant. whose fine resi-
dence adorns street in the western
portion of the city.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
Folk Lore for sweethearts.

Perhaps your affections are still dis
engaged. but You wish to bestow them
on one who will return like for like.
In this case there are plenty of wish
ing chairs, wishing gates, etc. scatter
ed through the country. A wish breath
ed near them, and kept secret. will
sooner or later have its fulfillment.
But there is no need to travel to the
Lake country or to Finchale Priory. near
Durham (where is wishing chair if
you see piece of old iron or horse
shoe on your path take it up, spit on it,
and throw it over your left shoulder,
framing wish at the same time. Keep
this wish secret, and it will come to
pass in due time. If you meet pie
bald horse, nothing can be more lucky;
utter your wish, and, whatever it may
be. you will have it before the week be
out. In Cleveland the following
method of divining whether a girl viii
be married or not is resorted to- Take
tumbler of water from a stream
which runs southwark; borrow the
wedding-ring of some gude-wife aud
suspend it by hair of your head over
the glass of water, holding the hair be-
tween the finger and thumb. II the
ring hit against the side Of the glass,
the holder will die an old maid; if it
turn quickly around, she will be mar
ried once; if slowly. twice. Should
the ring strike the side of the glass
more than three times after the holder
has pronounced the name of her lover,
there will be lengthy courtship and
nothing more; .'she win be courted TO
dead, " as they say in Lincolnshire; if
less frequently, the affair will be brok-
en- off, and if there is no striking at all
it will never come on. Or if you look
ut the first new moon of the year
through silk handkerchief which has
never been washed, as many moons as
you see through it (the threads multi
plying the vision), so many years must
pass before your marriage. Would you
ascertain the color of your future hus-
bands hairg follow the practice of the
German girls. Between the hours of
IL and II at night on st. Andrews
Eve, maiden must stand at the house
door, take hold of the latch, and say
three times, "Gentle love, if thou lowest
me, show thysef. = She must then
open the door quickly and make a
rapid grasp through it into the dark
ness, when she will find in her hand a
lock of her future husbands hair
BetgraUia.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
Painting the Town Red.

VIM. Geoghegan writes thus to the
~ 7. Sun: Not long ago you printed
a letter asserting that the phrase.
painting the town red is of COM
paratively recent and cisatlantic orr
gin. | believe it is the paraphrase of
an expression that frequently occurs in
old Irish balladry. In looking over a
collection of old Irish war songs and
ballads descriptive of the sanguinary
conflicts between the Irish chieftains
and the Anglo-Norman invaders of Ire
land, | have frequently found phrases
closely akin to that of painting the
town red" For instance, when the
Irish Kerns under William MacGeoghe-
gan, Lord of Kenil Feacha, in the
County of Westmeath, overthrow the
English at the battle of Ardnocher, A.
ID. 1928, Staying $500 of the latter, the
bardic chronicler tells us that the mid
night skies were redeemed with ''tor-
rents of flame from the highlands east
and west" in honor of the victory.
The towns and hamlets, too, wherein
the kindred of the victors dwelt, blazed,
or were "painted red," with bontires,
and the inhabitants thereof naturally
gave loose reign to their mirthful pro-
pensities. The fires upon the highlands
were the primitive mode of telegraph
ing to distant kinsfolk and sympathi-
zers the glad tidings and the exuberant
exultation that followed.
In describing the effect of the battle
of Oulart Hill, which was the first be-
tween the Irish Insurgents and the
English army in the great Wexford Re-
bellion of 1898 in Ireland, in which the
patriots came off victorious, the local
balladist says:
The hills and skies were painted red
That night with beacon fires,
For Wexford's SONS had well avenged
Their SaXon-slaughtered sires.
could cite score of other quota
tons showing that an expression al
most exactly similar to that of paint
ing the town red was a favorite one
with the old Irish bards when depict
ing the exciting scenes that followed
military triumph on the part of their
countrymen.
1t is, then. unreasonable to infer that
the phrase painting the town red, =
or indulging in the wild antics of I'M
licensed hilarity, had its origin in the
way | allude to?
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
y Story CT winthrop.

a well-known habitue of the city hall
who recalls the memory of Washington
with more than latter day reverence
said to Post reporter yesterday: II
have just been reading that incompara-
bic Grafton of Hon. Robert G. Win
throp. | was well acquainted with the
grand old man, and on one occasion |
heard him relate one of his Washington
experiences When speaker of the
house, be said, Il sent my son to Fort
ress Monroe to make arrangements
for the entertainment of party of dis
tinguished gentlemen. My son intro
duced himself to the proprietor OF the
leading hotel there. and proceeded to
state the object of his visit. He men,
toned the names of several of the dis
tinguished party, but the hotel-keeper
knew them not. "Why, my father,
who sent me here, is Hon. Robert G.
Winthrop, speaker of the house OF
representatives Il don't know him,
replied the austere hotel man. Il can't
make arrangements for the entertain
ment OF a party of men | don't know.
must have gilt-edged references. It's
funny don know some of them. The
names you mention cant be very
prominent?" My son was dismayed,
and as he was about to go away he
said to the hotel man: swell. sir.
probably you know Washington Irving;
he is one of the party. 20, YES: o,
yes, said the hotel man; Irving is q
capital fellow; he's all right; he Keeps
the Irving house in New York. All
right, sir; all right; I'll do the best
can for you. This illustrates the
idea that the name or identity of but
few men stand out so prominently that
no similarity of name is liable to turn
the attention from the one sole figure
under contemplation, as was so etfec-
lively brought to mind in Winthrop
Grafton. vi Detroit Post.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
The Modern Dinner.

There is good deal in the newspa-
pers nowadays about elaborate dinners,
and from the description printed of the
flowers and the glass, the china and the
upholstery that furnish the banquet
boards it might be judged that the
feasts of Lucullus and the famous fes-
rivals of the ancients had no such
splendors as are in the modern dining
rooms of Philadelphia and Washing
ton.
Social entertainment is fine art. A
dinner may be made the occasion for a
display of the highest refinement. In
the arrangement of the table, the
! choice of the menu, and the selection
OF wines there is opportunity to exer-
else great taste, intellectual accomplish
ments, and a nice artistic sense. When
the aim is to minister solely to the sem
sual appetite and to crafty barbaric
desire for display, the dinner becomes
only an affair for the upholsterer, the
florist, and the caterer; the long purse
and the most vulgar taste will perhaps
give the biggest and best dinner. Too
many of the modern dinners are SIM
ply affairs of this land. The host pays
for them and that is all there is of him
about them; he might as well bestow
upon each guest the cost of his or her
share of it and let them spend it to
their liking.
For instance, bright table talk is
wanting. 1t is being ovcrshadowed by
the other features of ''the feed The
conversation runs solely to the excel
lence of the viands and the age of the
wines. They are not regarded as
simply incidental to the feast of reason
and flow of soul. The costliness of the
affair suppresses every sort of enthusi-
asm but that of admiration for the
wealth and liberality of Cresus.
The reaction will only come when
the sumptuousness and elaboration of
the present fashionable dinners give
way to palmer forms.
A young man sat down to dinner the
other day with a gentleman worth
S1,000,000, who had been in public life
for half a century, who had counseled
with presidents and dined with kings.
They had beefsteak, boiled potatoes,
milk and pie. The next day he was in
vited to dine with Solomon Shoddy,
who in his rise from the position of
scullion to one of opulence had learned
nothing. There were thirteen courses
and nine kinds of wine, the best that
money could buy.
And yet the little dinner was the best,
even for guest who knew not dyspep-
STA and had no dread of indigestion. =
Lancaster IRtetiigencer.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
Poor CarIotta's Curse.

The recent death of Colonel Vande-
yelde is great misfortune to the poor
distraught Empress Charlotte of Mexi-
CO, who has been under his care for
many years at the Chateau Rouchout.
The Empress was greatly attached to
Colonel Vandevelde, and his death has
not been announced TO her. She has
been told that he has taken a long
journey on business for her brother.
the King of the Belgians. She passes
much of her time at the piano and at her
easel. but since she began to notice the
ColonePs absence the Empress has
neither played note nor touched her
pencils. One of the characteristics OF
her malady, however, is lack of memo
ry. and it is therefore hoped that in q
short time she will have forgotten her
guardian, even as she seems to have
forgotten the whole of her past ex-
istence.
She never speaks of Macmillan or OF
Mexico, nor even of her father, Leo
pold l, whose favorite child she was.
Of late years she has become absolutely
Indifferent to dress, although in the
earlier years of her insanity she was
constantly occupied with her toilet.
and even while she was living at the
Chateau de Tervueren showed marked
tendency toward coquetry. Sometimes
she would arrange her smartest dresses
upon the chairs, seemingly imagining
that she was still the center of a court,
and would address the gowns alternate
ly in three or four different languages.
When a little while ago Macmillan s
yalet-who was with him to the last
himself became insane and was taken
to Miramar. she fretted about the poor
fellow for a few days and then COM
pletely forgot him. The afflicted lady
receives the kindest treatment from all
about her, and is frequently visited by
the King and Queen of the Belgians
and the Comte de Flandre. London
World,
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
How Fahrenheit Got His Zero.

Fahrenheit was mathematician and
knew that a circle was divided into 800
degrees. He found that steam and ice
were the most natural fixed points in
temperature, at opposite poles. He
therefore naturally divided the distance
on his glass tube between ice and steam
into the number of degrees in the diam
eter of circle, which is $50. He want
ed an instrument which could be cheap
ly made and which would measure
above steam and below ice, so far as
would be used in everyday life. He
found that artificial cold could be pro-
duced which would cause the mercury
to fall just thirty-two of the spaces he
had marked off on his glass between
ice and steam, and he there, sensibly or
not. placed his zero orpoint from which
he could count. III nee ice or freezing
is thirty-two degrees above, and steam
or boiling water is the diameter of his
circle or $50 degrees above ice, or 212
degrees above Zero Ohio State Jour
nal.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
A Man of Titles.


/ heard a funny story the other day
about a young nobleman, member of
the Diplomatic Corps at Washington.
1t seems that the young man had a
military title of considerable length.
beside having another title, and when
he got all his titles engraved on his
visiting cards. the bits of pastcboard
were well covered and looked most inn
posing. The cards greatly impressed
all the Washington girls. and the young
foreigner became great favorite. One
of his friends. however, in a joking
mood one day. told him that he must
add the word bachelor to his card,
as that was the custom here. So the
poor fellow had bachelor engraved
with the rest of his titles.-Americaa
Queen.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09
A Pair of Brown Eyes.

What is the hope with which you are shining,
Glad brown eyes in love with the light
Shining as stars shine out of the night,
kndled with glory for our divining2
What Of worship are you enshrining-
Visions of what unknown delight?
What is the hope with which You are shining.
Glad brown eyes in love with the light?
Youth and hope in your look combiningl
Ali be glad of them, Eyes Tonight
Glad, in youth-time, OF youtb's delight
Let us wonder, weary with pining,
What is the hope with which you are shininp2
Louise Chandler Moulton, in The indie pen
dent
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09

1t is remarked in London that in the
general lamentation for those who have
diets in Egypt very little is said for Col
Eyre, who worked his way up from the
ranks by personal merit, but had the
misfortune to be of plebeian birth.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09

The complete weight of the largest
steam hammer in the United States is
$40 tons. 1t is SO feet high, cost $50,
600. and was recently manufactured in
Philadelphia for Cleveland forge
rsorke
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09

''The descendants of the noble Spar
tans," says an exchange, ''are said to
be race of liars, beggars and thieves"
This would seem to take in the Ameri-
can Indian.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-09

The United States Government has
in its employ 400 John Smiths and 800
Joneses and Johnsons.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-12-05
nLSrnLnrrrNe rHE SpoILS.


This Is the appointed day for the meet
Ing of the Democratic congressional eau
Gus 70 select their Democratic candidates
for officers Of The next house. The men
chosen in that caucus will, upon the or
ganizatlon of the first branch OF congress
next Monday, be elected to the places for
which they will be nominated to-day.
For them, the real election occurs to-day,
though the formal aud official election
win be laid over until Monday.
Therc Is MARKED contrast between the
situation now and that preceding the
opening OF the Forty-elghth congress,
two years ago. Then everything was nm
certain, and speculation vas rife. Car
llslc, Randall, Springer and Cox we're en-
gagged In ii contest for the spcakership,
and rival candidates for the positions Of
clerk, sergeant-at-arms, door-kecper,
postmaster, and other places at the dis
posal OF the caucus, were hard at work
at their respective headquarters, button
holing congressman and making the
statesman's life a burden. This year
there Is nothing of the sort, and the rep
resentatives are not molosted. There Is
no contest for the spcakership. Mr.. Car
Ilisle has given such admirable satlslac-
ton that he is concededa reelection with
out opposition. Mr.. Randall IL entirely
out OF the way, and no other Democrat
is disposed to dispute for the honor.
John B. Clark, Jr., also appears to have
no oppositlon for the place Of clerk.
Postmaster Lycurgus Dalton expects to
continue mt the head Of the house post
office, and nobody stands in his way
This record OF reflections IL broken by
the death of Doorkeeper Winteismith,
who, were he living, would probably be
continued in his place, There are several
contestants for the honorOnd emoluments
Of the position, though 10y common con
sent samuel DOnclson Of Tennessee Is
put in the lead. The old scrgeant-at-
arms, Lecdom OF Quo, is a candidate
for reelection, but being opposed by "A
candidate from his own state, w. w.
Armstrong, his success is not assured.
All of these men whose election Is con
coded are from Southern states, Carlisle
is from Kentucky, Clark from Missouri,
Dalton from Georgia, Donclson from
Tennessee II is possible that the geo.
graphical argument viii have some effect
upon the fortunes of the minor officers
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-12-05

Bayard, the sccretary Of state, would be
a satisfactory heir apparent TO the presi.
dency. 1t is easily possible, as IN the
present condition Of affairs, TO defeat the
will Of the people by changing the politi-
cal complexion Of the administration upon
the death Of president and yicc-president'
Mr.. Clcyeland's death would place a Re
publican in his scat. A Democratic ma
iority OF the senate from 1877 TO 1881
would have put Democrat In the presi'
dental Office upon the demise Of Hayes
and Wheeler No instance Of this kind
has happened, but It easily may occur,
and would create dangerous feeling
among the people whose win should thus
be thwartcd. Mr.. Iloar's bill was a wise
and prudent proposition, and should be
revived and passed.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-12-05
Mark Twnin's Dimoulties in Becoming a
Confidence.


In his paper in the December Century,
"Fho Private History of Campaign that
Failed" Marx Twain says;
"Out West there was good deal Of
confusion in mems minds during the first
months of the great trouble---a good deal
OF unsettledness, OF leaning first this way,
then that, then the other way. 1t was
hard for us TO get our bearings. call to
mind an instance of this. | was plotting
on the Mississippi when the news came
that South Carolina had gone out OF the
Union on the Goth of December, 1860
My pilot.mate was New Yorker. He
was strong for the Union; so was /.
But he would not listen TO me
with any patience; my loyalty was
smirchcd to his eye, because my father
had owned slaves | said, In palliation Of
this dark fact, that had heard my father
say, some years before he died, that
slavery was great wrong, and that he
would free the solitary negro he then
owned II he could think It right TO give
away the property OF the family when he
was so Strengthened In means NV mate
retortCd that mere impulse was nothing
anybody could pretend to Il good im-
pulse; and went on dccrying my Union
lhlu "'lV iloNlHg my hnCtslIy' n Wonln
later the secession atmosphere had consid-
erably thickened on the Lower Mississippi,
and became a rebuli so did he. We
were together in New Orleans the 27th of
January, when Louisiana went out of the
Union. He did his fun share of the rebel
shouting, but was bitterly opposed to let
ting me do mine. He said that came of
bad stoCk--of fAther who had been
willing TO set slaves free. In the follow.
ing summer he was plotting a Federal
gun-b9at and shouting for the Union
f'agnirSsiRG was In the Confederate army
| held his note for some borrowed money
He was one of the most upright men l
ever knew; bat he repudiatcd that note
without hesitation, because was a rebe
and the son OF u man who owned
I slayes.n