davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
The Devil at the Rink.

The physicians are no advocates of
the skating rink, because of the physi-
cal detriment which they hold is like
" to accrue from the use of the roll er
skate, but this, it seems, is but minor
consideration, when the moral, or
rather immoral tendencies of such
places are contemplated. We have
heard one statement which would APP
pear, Cd the surface. to be a recOmmen-
datiOn of the rink, but a second thought
only shows this one fact to render it
more pOlluting. A prominent gentle
man in a pOpulous city near by says
the saloon keepers complain bitterly
that the Kinks now absorb much of
their former patronage, the usual loaf
ers finding the Kinks more attractive
than even the bar. 1t might be feebly
urged that the Kinks are better resorts
than the bar-rOOms. Yes, for rOwdies;
but is this the kind of company to
which any respectable mother in the
land would wish her Young daughter,
or even her young son, to be intro
duced-these once habitues of the
drinking saloon
The safest rule for parents to adopt
is to accompany their children to re-
sorts of this kind, and judge for them
selves as to the propriety of allowing
the young members of the family to
frequent them, that is, if the young
people feel that they must go. There
is, probably, no nation on the earth
where the young are given more free
dom, and allowed to follow their own
inclnations to so great a degree, as
right here in civilized America, and the
tendency is increasing to slacken the
lines, and allow the children to drive
on as they will. The cheapness of the
tickets and skates, the music of the
band, the freedom and real grace of
movement, and the varied and gay
cOmpaniOnships all serve to make the
skating rink an attraction to these in
search of easily found pleasure but
the day is not far off when they will be
looked upon as decidedly second class
places, and will cease to be patronized
by those making pretentions to respec-
liability. 1t is true
that the world progresses, and we are
no croakers to declare that it progresses
in wrong direction chiefly; but in
our suburban cities and country towns
has not the cheap show superseded the
instructive panorama of former days,
and the skating rink proved far more
fascinating than the once time hon
Ored lyceum course Contrast the
departed sewing circle, apple bee and
quilting party-simple, wholesome,
harmless pleasures of the past, when
parents and children met for heal ty
sport and usefulness combined con
trast these past gatherings with the
skating rink, with it's motley crowd
and questionable pleasure. Is this
progress in the right direction ?
I Golden Rule.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
1t Beat the Faith Cure.

In reference to the Influence of the
the following story in the Chicago
Times
A big hulking fellow about 10 miles
from the town | was practicing in got
the idea that he was going to die at
just Ii o'clock in the forenoon of GER
tain day. About 9 o'clock a messen-
ger came for me. | hurried out
When l got there the crank had 10
minutes to live, according to his cal
culations. He did look like man on
the verge of eternity. His eyes were
dim and sunken, his face had that pc
culiar palior which heralds the near
approach of death, and his breathing
was very labored. The family were
gathered around and weeping as they
took final leave.
Something had to be done quickly.
There was a smart locking woman
there, and | called her aside. Point
ing to the clock on the mantle-piece,
which the patient was watching, L
said: "When l have his attention,
turn that ahead" Then | crowded
into the family group, hustled them
into the next room, sat down on the
edge of the bed and began telling that
fellow one of the most horrible murder
stories you ever heard. | located it
right in town where he knew every
body, named the woman killed, went
into blood-curdling details, and so
completely interested the man that he
forgot about his III o'clock appoint
ment. When l gave him chance to
look again it was 20 minutes to IL, and
he was actually mad for time, claim
ing that he had been tricked. He fl
nally got to laughing, and we all took
dinner together. The next day he
whipped two men for twitting him
about the programme of death that
miscarried.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
Platform Echoes.

"PlatfOrm Echoes, or Leaves from
My Note book of Forty Years." is the
title of John b. Coughs latest, and
we may add, his best book. 1t is &
volume of sterling merit, by a very
famous man whose early history and
wonderful career are so well known.
Ever since the beginning of his pub
lie career Mr.: Cough has kept a private
note book in which he has recorded
the most interesting facts and incidents
coming under his observation. This
note book now covers a period of forty
three years. 1t is an inexhaustible
stOrehouse of personal experiences
tales of tender pathOs, stories of the
keenest and drollest humor, and anec-
dstes and incidents without number :;
and in extent and variety of intensely
interesting matter it is probably not
approached by any other private rec
ord in existence.
Many of the most eminent men and
women of our time have repeatedly
urged Mr.. Cough to publish in book
form the most effective stories and
facts recorded in this note book, to-
gether with some of his most brilliant
efforts on the platform. He has also
received hundreds of letters from
grateful persons who have been bene-
fited-and in some instances saved-by
the power and influence of his words,
asking for a volume of this kind. These
expressions of heartfelt gratitude con-
WINGED Mr.. Cough that it was his duty
To yield to the wishes of the public,
and this volume is the result He has
spent the greater part of three years in
its preparation.
Rev. DIR. Lyman Abbott, whose fame
and scholarship are worldwide, wrote
the introduction to the book. In it he
gives most interesting, full and COM
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26

running a railroad train at a high
speed is vastly more than running the
same train at low rate, and the wear
and tear of locomotive, rail and road
bed are SO much greater, but we de not
remember to have seen any facts eX-
hibited as to the enhanced loss OF
nerve and vital power taken from the
men who control these material forces.
That does not, as far as we knew, ever
appear in any annual report of the di-
rectors of a railroad. Possibly it has
never been taken into the account OF
had thought.
The fast trains are a sort of con-
densed picture of our modern Anglo
Saxon life. 1t is a rush of almost aw
ful velocity, and waste of life, hour
by hour, because it is so swift. Men
are all the while falling and dying be-
fore their prime. They
Perish in advance
As if the sun should set ere noon is reached,
In eastern ocean drowned"
The engineer puts his train to an ac-
CELEBRATED speed, and dies as he urges
it onward. Men in every profession and
every business are driven to their ut
most capacity of mind and body. We
sometimes ask them why they make
life so toilsOme and so restless. Their
response uniformly is: eve cannot
help it. We must leave business en-
tirely or we must rush on as we do
There seems to be for the most of our
business men no time for the amenities
of life, no time for domestic quiet
or repOse. 1t is only one headlong
drive at 80 miles an hour. Would that
some kind hand could take these en-
gineers of trade off their express and
put them on some slow freight train
- Christian Union.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
Perhaps He Kept a Cow.

II suppose there is great deal OF
competition in your profession" re-
marked a stranger to an Austin milk
man with whom he had become ac-
quainted.
81 should say there was. The COM
petition has become SO intense, that
some milkmen resort to the most dis
graceful tricks to get ahead of each
other. 1t is perfectly disgusting.
What do you suppose one of my rivals
has been doing to make me unpopular
with my customers 81
81 can't imagine. Perhaps he has
attacked your moral character, or ac-
cused you of having voted for Butler"
''Worse than that. He has actually
descended so low as to sell real milk.
can't imagine where the fellow gets
1t, unless he keeps a cow Texas
Siftings.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
War Memories.

The following account of the Ander-
sonville prison, is told by Lieutenant
6. n. Guen of Iowa:
The stockade contained about ii
acres. The wall was of hewn timber
six feet under and IL feet above ground,
making a solid wall eight inches thick.
Near the top and outside were sentry
boxes, or platforms, covered, for the
guards. There was no shelter for the
prisOners-nOt even a friendly tree.
On the outside was another wall with
openings or embrasures, for cannon.
A sluggish stream or rivulet passed
through the stOckade, after draining
/ the rebol camp. In this way the gar
bage and offal of the rebel camp was
carried into the prison and lodged
against the lever wall, thus forming
within the stOckade IL putrid pend
about four feet deep, 40 feet wide and
IS yards long, composed of etfete and
deadly matter and distilling under the
| hot rays of a burning sun, disease, pes
| thence and death.
! In the month of August, 1864, when
eur boys arrived at the prison there
were $4,000 Union soldiers there con-
fined-16 to every square rod Before
entering the prison, our men We're
|
Every thing on their person was taken,
not even sparing OvercOatS, knives OF
| blankets. Wirz, on white horse with
a gang of sleuth- hounds and armed
with il slave-whip and brace of re-
volvers, was on hand to see the job
| well done. One poor fellow was I'M
able to remove his finger ring on ac-
count of swollen finger, and this fact
was reported to Wirz. "Cut it off,"
was the command, with an oath which
came Missing from his throat; and his
eyes were the eyes of a serpent.
In rags and destitute our boys pass
ed the portals of the prison, and hope
deserted them. Horror and despair
greeted them as they entered the vast
charnel house. What blotch on
American civilization Wagons haul
ing out the dead and bringing back
ratiOns An ocean of agony! The
flower of the North, the prop of age
and the promise of youth, who forsOok
home and friends at the call of liberty,
guilty of no crime except marching un
der our flag and stepping to the music
of the Union, crazed with hunger and
thirst, naked and exposed to the scOrch
ing rays of Southern sun, the earth
creeping with vermin, the air heavy
with disease and the stencil of dissolv- |
ing mortality, and myriads of green
flies swarming in the air and lowering
over the dying and dead.
The horrors of prison life in that
death pen in AndersOnville have never |
been painted. The hand is palsied !
and the lips are dumb. Ear has not
heard nor has it entered into the heart
of man to conceive such woe, such
misery, such torture.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
SQUIBS.

a fOunu uOZen-a dozen OF oranges.
"All the worlds IA rink and the men
and women in it are merely rollers, y
murmurs a rolling philosopher.
"Can you tell me-" asked a Sunday
school teacher of a little girl, "why
the Israelites made a golden calf?''
Because they hadn't gold enough to
make cow" was the reply.
The man who wrote to the state
board of agriculture to ascertain what
was best to plant in wet land, was IA
vOrably impressed by the answer. 1t
was "Leeks."
Whistler, the artist, sent to Edmund
Yates's dungeon cell a butterfly, as an
emblem of hope and joy. Other friends
sending grub.
A lady teacher in a public school
was amazed, the other day, by seeing
a perfect forest of juvenile hands fly
up in the air and shake and gesticulate
wildly. "What do you want 7" queried
the puzzled instructor. Chorus Eyer
hairs fallin' off"
"NOw, Johnnie" said the teacher,
eff your father borrOws 500 and
promises to pay $40 a week, how much
will he owe in seven weeks ~ zone
! hundred dollars" said Johnnie. "Fm
afraid you don't know your lesson
very WELL" remarked the teacher. az
may not know my lesson very well"
Johnnie frankly admitted, "but know
my > Times.
! The Postmaster at Lickskillet, Ark,
writes as follows Don't send your
paper any more to Oscar Hallum, fur
he's dead. He wuZ a mighty good
reader, he Wuz, and would sometimes
read one OF your jokes in such funny
way that folks would laugh. 'Twan't
what wuz in the artikle, but it wuz the
way he read it,"
There was cOurt-martial held on a
young officer who had gone on a spree
and had a fight III bar-rOom. The
bar proprietor was brought before the
court and put III the witness box. The
prisoner was placed i'll full view.
Witness, do you recognize the pris-
oner ?"
Eyes, your honor, and most of the
COURT San Francisco Chronicle.
A new story from Burlington says
that New York state fireman in the
Green Mountain state on Il visit was
TAKEN 10 EJUdn Alien 3 grave, anu
while standing there he remarked that
he never knew before where Ethan AL
len was buried, and after a pause,
astOuDded the company present by say
ing, "Well, / don't remember that [
ever seen Ethan Allen, but have seen
lots of his colts"
"What makes man feel as shaky
as chills and feverP' asks patent
medicine advertisement. Wen tell
you. When he is screwing his cOur-
age up to the point of asking the old
man for the hand of his daughter, and
lie Is aware her paternal hasn't a very
elevated opinion of him as sOn-in-
law. But that may not be the correct
answer NorristOwn Herald.
''Pa what is England sending more
troops to Egypt for Z" "To rescue
Wolseley, my SON" "What is Wolse-
lev there for ?" "To rescue Gordon"
"What for was Gordon sent there 2"
"To restore peace" ''Who WAS fight
ing n "Well, nobody was. The
Mahdi had an army raised, though"
'EPa, do the British own that country Z" |
"No, my SON." "rhen they are cam
paigning in the wrong ward, amt |
they ~ alt looks that way, johnnie. !
Now run along aud carry in that coal
for your mother. You're too inquisi-
tive."-(Chicago Herald. /
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
An Answer to go West. 1"

A correspondent of the Vermont
Chronicle says; 81 remained West long
enough to get partially charged with
that gas which characterizes nearly
every Western man to that extent that
no matter how poor his circumstances
are, he is always loud in his praises of
the particular section of country where
he resides. One of my neighbOrs has
two sons. One is in the West, and has
been for the last twelve OF fifteen
years, and is always ready to wax elO-
quent over the beauties and advan-
tages of his section over any in Yer
mont, and still he is so poor that he is
deprived of the comforts of life and his
father sends him money nearly every
year to keep him and his family from
suffering. The other SON is settled
with fine buildings, pleasantly located,
within half a mile of a tlOurishing viii
lage a good team. good farming tools
and nice stock of cattle. He is not
very much in debt, has everything as
comfortable and pleasant as heart could
wish, and yet don't know that any one
ever heard him say one word in favor
of Vermont as a farming country. Such
has been my observation. A person
may go into the most God forsaken
place in the great West, and every res
ident of the place will do his utmost to
give the stranger a favorable impress
sion of the place and, if possible, in
duce him to locate among them, espe
cially if he has means which can in
any way add to the business of the
place-and it is this which is doing so
much to build up the West" He adds
that if Vermonters would stand by
their state and homes in like manner,
they could find enough to truthfully
commend and the state would suffer
less by the emigration of its young
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
Glre Galedunian.
WHICH ONE p
BY JULIA H. MAI.

One Of us. dear
But one
VIII sit by bed with a naIneless tear
And clasp hand
Growing cold a. IL feels tor the spirit land.
Darling. which one
One Of us, dear
But one
VIII stand By the Others coffin bier
And look and weep,
While those marble lips strange silence keep;
Darling, which ones
One OF rs dear
But one
BY open grave Will drop a tear,
And hOmeward 20
The anguish of an unshared grief TO know;
Darling. which one
One Of Us dear.
But one
Shall speak glad words the other cannot hear;
And fully know
All We have dimly CROPPED for here below;
Darling, which one
One Of US. darling. il must be.
II may be YOU will clip from me;
Ny little life NAV first bee done;
m glad we do not know
Which one. Golden Rule
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26

State can offer, it is dangerous to take
children here, and if he can make a
living North he had better stay there"
Mosquitoes are now ripening, and with
other pests, will make things lively for
man and beast for the next ten msnths.
When the orange craze was men
toned to the above real estate man, he
gave a very bland and child-like smile,
and that was all he said. There is lit
tie doubt but that an apple tree plant
ed in Massachusetts and nurtured with
the same care an orange tree has to be
here, would prove by the far the better
investment, and if you want to raise
oranges go to the wharves of New
York aud Boston.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
A Worthy Tribute.
From Montpelier Waterman. March IL.

With the expiration of the forty
eighth congress closed the active pub
lie life of one of the ablest men, not of
Vermont only, but of the entire natien
also. Hon. Luke P. Poland's career
as Judge, United States senator and
representative in congress, extends
over a period of thirty-seven years.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
TESTING THE IRISH.

While it is impossible to determine
the exact reason for the Prince of
Wales proposed visit to Ireland, it is
probably intended in some way to test
the prudence, if not the loyalty, of the
Irish people. If, however, he should
be nsIlted, it wenld hardly be Il fair
construction of facts to say that the
Irish people were so lawless and dis
loyal as to require the enforcement of
more stringent cOercive measures.
President Garfield was shot at Wash
ingten, but that did not prove that the
United States was peopled by assas-
sins. If Jefferson Davis were to make
a widely advertised trip through the
northern states, it is possible that some
one might throw stones at him, but
this would not prove that the North
had an undying hatred for the South.
The feelings of a nation cannot be in
ferred from the acts of isolated indi
viduals, and if this qualification is suf
ficiently borne in mind, the visit of
the Prince of Wales is likely to be IL
satisfactory one Boston Herald.
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26

FOR SALE OR RENT. 100 acres Of arabic
u land fertile and well watered, situated a miles
from ST. Johnsbury. Would be willing 20 exchange
for village Propsrty. For particulars address C. 3
WARD, Lock Box 725, New Britain, Conn s6-9I-
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
PLAYING WITH DYNAMITE.

This is the case in a nutshell. Di-
vidends paid on watered stock which
has gone to add to the boards of mill
ionaires who are sailing in their float
ing palaces among the soft breezes of
the Antilles. Wages cut down to a
miserable pittaAce of 81 to SI.I6 day,
out of which the workman on the west
ern roads, if married man, must feed
and cIothe family. What wonder
there are Gaspards among them who
are ready to dip their fingers in the
dirt of the roads and scrawl on the
walls, not the one word "blOod"-fOr
there is nothing revolutionary in their
hearts but the one word dread. y
IN Y World
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
BLOCKED PAPER.

Letter and Bill-heads printed and blocked in the
most approved style at the CalsdOnian Office. Cali
and see samples. IT
St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-26
Public Opinion.

Sectionalism begets sectionalism. In
any form in which it may appear it is
bad for republic. The sectional cry is
raised against Mr.. Cleveland's cabinet
because it contains three s0utherners,
though one of them, Mr.. Bayard of
Delaware, is hardly more representa-
tive of southern institutions than he is
of northern. In this case it is the cry
and not the cabinet that is sectional
[Chicago Herald.
THE BEAR Is ONLY WAITING.
Russia seldom gives up the attempt
to realize a idea, and whatever be the
nature of the temporary settlement ar
rived at now between her and England
it may be safely assumed that she will
eventually get all she wants in Central
Asia. She will show herself us ready
to patch up an agreement as England,
knowing that she can reopen the At
CHAN sore at her pleasure, when events
in Europe may necessitate her bring
ing a pressure to bear upon England
in the final settlement of the eastern
question, which, but for the stopping
of the Soudan campaign, would, in all
probability, as our Vienna dispatches
have repeatedly limited, have been re-
opened in few months.-[N n. Y. Her
aid
Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1885-12-16
Making Books.

An old bookmaker, whose head shows
SO years of service, said: 1--WE are get
ting back to the old durability in bind
ing, when everything was done by hand
and conscience.
There is now demand for the best.
People not only want book, but they
want it in the best style that the book
binders art can put it.
"Of course, there is an immense
quantity of cheap work, and always
will be, but the good work is increasing
every year, aud especially so since the
perfection of the new processes for re-
production, which cheaper cost without
losing the beauty and completeness Of
the original.
''We have something over one hun
dred booksellers, of whom twenty-five
are publishers. Some forty-odd indi-
viduals and firms are engaged in bind
ing books, but most of them are man
ufacturers of blank-books, etc.
1.-The manufacturers even of paper
boards are making better stock than
three years ago, because of the pres
sure of competition. Our shops en-
gagged on bookbinders' materials are
quite busy. Out of seven visited only
two were working half force.
The engravers are pursuing the
tedious process of perfecting their art;
some very fine work is being done.
"Photo-engraving is growing and is
filing niche in the art structure that
but for it would remain untitled.
"Glue, in itself not very attractive
article in too close contact, is an inn
portant article in the bookmakers' list
of raw material. We have eight man
ufacturers and dealers in handling
million dollars worth of products, some
of which are known in markets far re-
moved from here. The larger manu-
facturers are quite busy.
"Gold and silver leaf is not unim-
portant item in bookmaking-gold es-
pecially. We have eleven leaf and foil
makers, one or two of whom have
national reputation. The use of gold
leaf on the top Of books, with the other
three sides rough, is more general. In
fact, this is the rule now in bookmak-
ing. The leaf is put on now about as it
used to be, but finer finish is impaired
through the more laborious effort and
greater skill of the workman"
evil not gold leaf, after while, if
gold becomes cheaper, cover all the
edges of our finer literatureP" I asked
bookbinder "No," he said, decided
ly, "never. Rough edges are in and
will stay in" "WhyP" Cant an
swer; taste is capricious, but impera-
tive. Tops only will go in gold. y
More care is taken by some binders
in the quality of leather used in bind
ing, and of late there is q tendency to
use variously stamped leather, which
has the effect in many cases of giving
the books an antiqueness that is at
tractive to the lovers of old things
american BOOknaaEer.