davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

thick with the most beautiful and interest
ing double, triple, multiple and nebulous
stars. 1t is a mine of wonders that he will
never tire OF working.
The third magnitude star in the Chants
right leg, below the sword, is called Saiph.
II the observer will follow out with his
eve toward the southeast the line indicated
by the three STARE in Orion's belt he will see
the brightest star in the heavens, Sirius, or
the Dog Star, belonging to the constella-
ton OF the Great Dog; which is represented
in our second picture. Astronomers have
found evidence that Sirius has been 81
storied star in every land. The ancients
ascribed the great heats of midsummer to
the influence OF the DogStar, which at that
season rose at the same time as the sun.
So Virgil wrote:
Punched was the grass, and bljghted was
the corn.
Nor 'scape the beasts; for Sirius from on high
With pestilential heat infects the sky"
And Aratus, describing the Great Dog,
says:
"-In his fell jaw
Flames a star above all others with soaring
beams
Fiercely burning. called Ivy mortals
Sirius. Him rising with the eastern sun E:
No plants deceive with false luxuriance.
with sure discrimination fierce he PUSHES
through their ranks.
And, strengthening these, blasts those with
all their foliage.
For the Egyptians the rising OF Sirius
foretold the rising of the Nile, and the ours
of Rome had reason to dread their blazing
namesake in the sky, for the Romans year
ly sacrificed a dog to propitiate the great
star. There is some reason to think thata
remarkable change OF color has taken place
in Sirius, for whereas it is now as white as
the purest diamond, it is said to have been
red in ancient times. Sirius is also a double
star, but it takes a very powerful telescope
to show the faint companion of the Dog
Star. This companion is one OF the most
mysterious objects in the heavens, because,
although it possesses q mass equal to one.
third that OF Sirius, yet it's light is SO dim
that it makes only a minute speck beside
the great star. 1t has been suggested that
this may be a tremendous PLAN
ct revolving around Sirius, and
family rejecting his light to us. Its more
likely, however, to be a body which has not
stage of it's existence-a dying sun, which
ages hence will become the Jupiter OF the
Sirian system. 1t takes this mysterious
star about forty-nine years to complete a
revolution around Sirius. The second mag
nitude star in the fore-foot of the Dog is
called Miriam. Tho star situated in the
Dogs right ear is named Muliphen, and has
undergone singular changes. In the seven
tcenth century it is said to AVE disap-
peared for twenty years. In the Dogs
back is q star Il little below the second
magnitude called Wesen, and in the hip is
another, OF nearly equal brightness, called
Adara. Tho two hinder feet are markedly
the stars Naos and Lambda. But in this
case Sirius is the constellation. The Dog
Star SO completely outshines all it's neigh
bors that they possess little interest in
comparison with it.-N. Y. Sun.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
A SURE GUIDE.
Better Than a Trail Upon TIE Pralriea
in a Binding Snowstorm.

Better Thar a Trail Upon TIE Prairles
in a Binding Snowstorm.
Two travellers we're lost on a far
western prairie during a driving snow
storm. Night was coming on, the trail
was obscured by the swift-fallingg flakes
and it seemed as if they were defined
20 perish far away from homo and
friends. But suddenly n of them
turned his face to the north, whence
the ice-laden wind came in cutting
blasts, and bidding his comrade follow,
walked with swiftness and confidence
against the storm. Miles onward they
pressed, the one who had first faced the
storm leading always, with a step that
was strong and steady and an express
sion that told of hope in his heart.
Darkness came down upon the tree
less plain and the storm increased in
fury. Directly a light twinkled in the
distance, and, quickening their pace,
the travellers were soon receiving the
hearty welcome of an old settler and
his kindly wife. When his guests were
enjoying their pipes before the roaring
blaze in the big fireplace the old settler
said:
The trail you were following runs
full five miles to the south of us. What
good piece of fortune brought you
through this terrible storm to our
cabin door,"
SIT must have been the hand of Prov
idence.n said the old settlers good
wife, who was removing the remains
of the supper.
"Well, very likely it was" answered
the traveller who had led the way
through the snow and darkness to the
rude but cheerful prairie home. every
likely it WAS the hand of Providence,
but you, good madam, were the instru-
ment which that hand used to bring us
numbed and weary wanderers to your
hospitable door. You were boiling
cabbage, you know, and we were lee
ward, and once l got your bearings
with my nose, which l think a very re-
liable one, l had no difficulty in reach
ing the human habitation J. knew to be
somewhere in the dark and mysterious
beyond."-Iolcdo Blade.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
AN ODD VIEW.
What Dumas Would Have Done With the
Ducats of the Dead Vanderbilt.

NJ = va
Ducats of the Dead Vanderbilt.
Hard it is, indeed. to see how Mr..
Vanderbilt was the better for his
money. Perhaps he had 49, 100000
pounds, there or whereabouts. What
can a man do with forty millions? He
can do nothing, unless he has the i'm
agination of a Dumas or the tastes OF a
Beckford. Mr.. Beckford collected a
truly delightful and marvellous library
of books. Mr.. Vanderbilt did nothing
of the sort. He had no particular cray
ing for rare editions, and the master
pieces of Duseuil and LIE Gascon. Du-
mas, again, would have run through
the money like a man. He would have
presented Italy to the Italians and
Rome to Victor Emmanuel. Perhaps
he would have annexed India; very
probably, at least, he would have made
the attempt, He would have carried
Duchesses captive, and his dramas
would have been magnificently per-
formed in Timbucto. He would have
cut a canal through the Isthmus of
Corinth; he would have carved Mount
Athos into a statue of Athos, Comte de
la Fere. He would have seen to it that
flying became a practical art, and
Frances navies would have bounced
from the central blue on Birmingham
and carried OF the Liberal Seven to
chains and slavery. Dumas would
have released convicts and imprisoned
Princes. He would have fitted up in
palatial style as many as Shelley
ever dreamed Of, and would have filed
them with the most magnificent and
most magnanimous brigands. many of
them cardinals in disguise. o, great
and glorious Alexander, exclaims the
dazzled fancy, why hadst not thou the
forty millions, While the tame Wander
bilt starved on a p~ittance of a few
yearly MISUNDERSTANDING Revieau.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

star modestly peeping out through the
dazzling rays OF it's great brother d d.
The three stars in the Giants BELT are
OF the second magnitude, and the lower one
is also a celebrated double, the companion
star, which can only be well seen with a
powerful telescope, possessing such a sim
gular color that the Russian astronomer
Strive felt compelled to invent a word to
describe it. He called it "olivaceasubru-
bicunda." Hanging from the belt is the
sword marked. by three luminous points,
the middle of which is the Great Nebula of
Orion, although the naked eye doen not
distinguish it from Il star. It is hardly pos
sible that the most uninlpressionable per-
son could see this marvellous phenomenon
with a good telescope without a feeling of
awe. 1t is a vast mass Of greenish haze,
millions OF millions of miles in actual ex-
tent, embracing a number OF stars, and
containing streams and riffs and black
gaps OF the most singular form, suggesting
the operation Of world and sun shaping
forces on the nest stupendous scale
imaginable. It has been shown that many
changes in the appearance OF this nebula
have taken place in the last two centuries.
The telescopist will find that the whole
~ne'yahorhood OF the Great Nebula is strewn
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
SEAMEN AS
Necessity Compelling Them to Display
Their Genius In This Direction.

Necessity Compelling Them to Display
Their Genius in This Direction.
.There may not be many seamen
among the m of inventors at the
Patent Office said a vessel captain the
other day to q reporter. ''but there are
few Yankees that have half the invent
i've genius that many sailors show.
'If a vessel loses a rudder, or gets
into any of the scrapes that so often
happen, the Captain doesn't have a
chance to run to some ship-carpenter
to have the matter remedied. He has
to pitch in and fix it himself. This
necessity is surely the mother OF in
vention, and you will seldom see a
sailor ut a loss for an idea in q critical
moment.
81 remember a year or two ago a
lumber-ladcn schooner capsized up
here on the west shore. A wrecking-
tug was sent out to bring her into port,
but when the tug arrived on the scene
the vessel was found to be in a perfectly
manageable condition. She had
gone over on her side with al sail set.
and there she was i.yyhg with masts and
canvas under water. 1t was almost
! impossible to handle her in that con-
| dition, and the Captain of the wreck
ing-tug decided to right her just where
she was. /
"a passing schooner in tow OF a
small harbor tug was hailed and towed
| up alongside the wreck. Blocks were
made fast to the top of her fore and
main masts, and lines run through
I them and made fast to the tops of the
| same masts of the capsized schooner.
| The other ends of the lines were taken
by the large tug and the small II
fastened to tneedeck of the capsized
vessel. The tugs steamed in opposite
directions, and in five minutes the
schooner was right side up, and, with
the exception of the loss Of part of her
deck-load, as good as ever.
Last fall the schooner Mary l.. Hig-
gle was sent to Lake Superior for a
load of stone, and on her return trip
was frozen in at Sault Ste. Marie. In
the spring her owner sent Captain
Hatch with Il crew to bring her home.
"The Captain fitted her out and
started for Chicago. but he had got but
II SllOlG NlothtlCC 1lOul Viz 9CO "1lcll
the vessel sprang Il leak and could only
be kept free from water by keeping the
pumps working steadily. The mem
couldn't work night and day, and he
had no extra hands. What was hel
going to do? Run into the nearestl
port and telegraph for a wrecking-tug1
at an expense of Il couple of hundred
dollars "a day? This would knock thel
profits all off the trip, and Captain2
Hatch wasn't sailing for fun, so he SET
his brains to work and rugged up q
windmill in the fore-rigging attached
to the pump, and sailed for home witt
q two-inch stream of water coming upA1
from below night and day, and hi
men doing no more work than usual.
II could talk all night about inven
tons made by sailors. One old Cap
tain has invented Il mammoth planetaa
rum, showing the movements of all
the planets around the sun; he hal
been working years on it.. and will
bring it out next spring. Then there'4
Captain Baker. who has a scheme thai
will revolutionize steam navigation
And a host of others l can't think d
just Chicago NeOs.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
HOW TO AVOID SCARS.

A Physician Shows How n Little Care
Will Effect Their Removal.
Scars are always unsightly, and are
often painful or inconvenient on &C.
count of their propensity to contract as
they become older. DR.. Ward, of New
York, asserts that they may be removed
by manipulation, which he directs to
be employed as follows: Place the ends
OF two or three fingers on a scar if it be
a small one, and on the margin if it be
large, and vibrate the surface on the
tissues beneath. The surface itself is
not to be subjected to any friction; all
the motion must be between the integu-
ment and the deeper parts. The loca-
ton OF the vibratile motion should be
changed every ten OF fifteen seconds
until the whole scar has been treated,
if it be OF moderate size. If the scar be
the result of a large scald or burn, the
margin only should be treated at first:
the advances toward the center should
be deferred until the nutrition of the
margins has been decidedly improved.
only a little treatment should be ap-
piled to any II spot at the same time,
but the vibrations should be repeated
as many as twenty times a day, but
never with sufficient frequency or Sc
verify to cause pain. If the scar be-
comes irritable suspend treatment until
1t subsidies. In the course or two or
three weeks of faithful treatment the
surface OF the sears Of moderate size
becomes more movable and will begin
to form wrinkles like new skin when
pressed from side to side. All these
changes are due to improved nutrition,
consequent on better blood circulation
the Development OF entirely new sets
OF blood in the electrical tissue
Springfield (Mass.l Republican.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

But how. thought 1. could such an,
one grow up under such circumstances
and with such surroundings How?
Why, in the same way the most beauti-
full flower can grow and shed its fra
GRANGE under the cold droppings of the
glacier.
The Divine goodness is so prodigal-
no, not prodigal, but profuse-in the
bestowal of its gifts that, as there is no
place in nature without its beauty, SO
there is none so morally waste and
desolate that it does not produce some
flower of Paradise; there is no thick
mantling pool of depravity so stag
mating chat its waters are not some-
times stirred by the rustling of an an
gels wings.-Henry T. Niles, IN Toledo
RlHde.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

hold two dainty little feet
Clasped in my warm and loving hand:
So soft and pink they sure must be
Two rose leaves blown from fairy lana.
I hold a wee and helpless form
Pressed closely to my happy heart
Why, baby!-mine by right divine.
The right Of pain-a mothers part.
Oh! beauteOus life! so fair and new,
That yesterday was blent with mine!
Oh! wondrous soul! so lately sprung
A sparklet from the Source Divine!
Gods priceless gifts. you come to me
Embodied in this little form;
Ny soul accepts its happiness
AS flowers the sunshine, soft and warm
My brow seems decked by coronet
The fairest earth has ever seen
The diadem of motherhood
'Tis Natures hand that OWL me queen
What realms are opened to my sight!
thread the regions of the blest:
And all because this little form
Lies fair n helpless on my breast.
A tiny bud, whose flower complete
May bloom to bless my waning year,,
OH! motherhood! you hold a bliss
That best may be expressed in tears.
Carrie Stevens Wdttcr. IN the hlglesids.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

orb OF day. The consultations, too, al
though the practical astronomer does not
think much OF them, possess %eXtraordi-
nary interest, because they are among the
most ancient and the most enduring crea-
lions OF the human imagination. AS
DIR. Seiss says: "Heathen. Moham-
medans and Christians, the oldest
with the latest, disagreeing in SO many
things, yet agree in adopting and honoring
these primitive notations Of the stars"
More than one learnedinvestigator, includ-
ing the late DR.. Seyffarth, has come to the
conclusion that many, at least, OF the con-
stellations known to us were familiarto the
inhabitants OF the earth before the flood.
Yet most OF the considerations are SO fanci-
full that only q vivid imagination is able to
picture the figures among the stars which
men for ages past, and in all countries,
have agreed to recognize there.
Modern Investigations have also made
the stars more interesting by showing the
existence of many differences between them.
Thu spectroscope finds evidence that some,
like Capella and Arcturus, closely resemble
our sun in composition and age, while
Others, like Sirius n Vega. are probably
much younger than the sun; and some, like
Betelgeuse and Antares, are older than the
sun, and slowly approaching the age OF ex-
tinction. From all quarters of the heav-
ems the stars fash to us III their light the
information that they contain iron, cal
CUM, nickel, lead and many other metals
and substances that we find upon the earth,
and that blaze in the photosphere OF the
sun.
To know the stars, then, is to enjoy
the glory OF many suns instead OF one
alone.
Anybody who goes out about ten O'Clock
On one of these clear winter nights to some
open place where there are no electric lights
to dazzle the eyes and obliterate the won
ders OF the sky, and faces the south, will
see half way between the horizon and
the zenith, and a little to the east OF the
meridian, the splendid constellation of
Orion, which is represented by the first
picture in this olu,nn. There is no con-
stellation in the whole armament equal to
this, not even the famous Southern Cross.
As Aratus wrote, more than two centuries
before Christ:
!" Eastward beyond the region of the Bull
Stands great Orion; whose kens not him in
cloudless night
Cleaning aloft, shall cast his eyes IN vain
10 find a brighter sign in all the heavens"
The antiquity OF this constellation is in
Dictated by Job: 'Canst thou loose the
bands Of Orion?" The first magnitude
star near the right shoulder of the giant
hunter is Bctelgeuse, an orange or topaz
colored sun, which is exceedingly beautiful
when seen through q good telescope. In
the opposites shoulders a star OF the second
magnitude, named Bellatrix. In the up
lifted foot is another first magnitude star
called Rigel, whose brilliant white rays
contrast beautifully with the rich golden
hue OF its rival, Betelgeuse. Rigel is q
famous double star, and if our observer is
armed with a irst-rate three-inch telescope
he can see the little deep-blue companion
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
The Wonderful Design.

Mrs. Q~uickenalth's husband had given
her a fine dress Of a new material and new
design and she had it on at q swell reccp-
ton.
"That's a magnificent dress your wife
wears, remarked q friend.
"Well yes, thought So" he responded.
pridefully.
"New design, too"
eyes, the latest"
"What is the figure on it," continued the
friend, putting on his eyeglasses for better
examination.
"Twelve hundred dollars" replied the
pleased husband, and the conversation
stopped.-Merrhant Ira Weller.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
No Wonder.

Merryboy is a young gentleman who
holds down a chair and draws a salary in
one OF the departments. He is given to
late hours and jovial times with the gang
the gang being a band OF choice spirits,
with q weakness for the same. The other
day Merryboy showed up with hat indie.
scribable look a fellow has when he's had a
Jolly time the night before. Settling down
to work, he presently exclaimed:
''By Jove, my legs asleep"
His fellow-clerks lookedu up sympathizing.
ingly, when one OF them remarked, dryly:
"No wonder your legs asleep in the day.
time-you keep it out so late of nights
Washington Hatchet.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
His Courage Betrayed Him.

Dsnley had been out with a party OF
friends, and they were assisting each other
in getting him home.
Aren't you afraid to meet your wife, old
MANI" asked ore.
"'Fraid!" said pumley, ~valiantly, "whosh
'fraid? 'Fraid (kic) nuthin'. " Jess wait
an (hic) see whosh boss, m wife II l."
They inclined him gently againstthe doc,
and rang the bell. Then they waited to SEE
who was boss.
Dumley suddenly disappeared, the doc,
slammed shut, and as they moved away
they said:
"She's boss."-N. Y. Times.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS.
The Great Results Produced by Secmingl
Trifling Causes.

A singular point of current histor1
has just been brought to light in En-
gland which shows that the late Bul
mese war may be referred to the veal
ing of a pair of earrings. The borin|
of the ears of a royal Princess in But
NAH is regarded as an evento of as mucl
Importance us her comingo Of age wouQ
be were she the heir to the Englisl
throne. 1t is the occasion when sh
first assume the rank and state due u
to her. King Theebaw, it is stated
when the time approached for this ce1
emony in the case of his eldest daugA
ter, conceived the idea of inviting Al
the crowned heads of Europe to vii
ness it, and was eager to entertail
them with becoming magnificencd
Hence, he made an enormous deman]
for duty payments in advance on til
Bombay-Burmah Trading Companj
an English corporation. The compall
refused to submit to this extortion AM
the result is a matter of history.
A woman's vanity and the wearin1
of u jewel have been at the foundatid
Of more important events in ~civilizd
countries than the Burmese war. Al
readers are familiar with the part Wild
Marie Antoionette's famous diamon
necklace played in the French Revol,
ton.
The report that Marie de Medicis, II
mother of Queen Henrietta Maria, wi
of Charles the First, had obtained fro
her daughter some of the crown iewd
of England, gave a strong impetus
the movement which cost Charles
head.
When the Gar Peter visited Englaj
in disguise, to study the art of sh1
building, he was treated with bare ciy
ity by King William until, being one d
at dinner with the Queen, he s'took
of his waistcoat pocket a little packa
wrapped in a piece of dirty brown
per and gave it to her." 1t contain
q ruby Of fabulous value. After TIL
he received the cordial cooperation
the King and Queen in his plans. I'll
sent home with him over four hundd
skilled workmen, shipbuilders and
tains, carpenters, masons, gunna
surgeons and scientific men. The
feet of these men upon the civilizat
of Russia it would be difficult to e
mate. The priceless ruby was
suredly wisely invested, and yielded
lncalculable interest.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
Equestrian Note

Colonel Witherspoon used to be very
rich, but Of late he has met with financial
reverses. He has ever been compelled to
sell his riding horse. His old servant re.
mains faithful. The Colonel uses {, bicycle,
when ne returns home on his bicycle, the
faithful ervant walks it up and down in
the yard for ten or fifteen minutes to cool
it oil, before putting it in the stable
Texas Siftings.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

Ralph Waldo Emerson's stud.
the pleasant old Concord residenc
Kept just as the sage and poet left
Over the low mantel hangs a fine G.
OF Michael Angeles Gates TN
is a curious old Egyptian idol, cht
engravlngs on the walls, and busts
celebrated men here and there az
the room. On either side of the
place two doors open into the SUI
south parlor. In the center OF
room is a large table. 1t is piled \
books. On one side lies the little Y
ting pad with sheets of paper, and \
pen and an ink bottle. This is ai|
paraphernalia of Emerson's wrI1
materials. -Boston Journal.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
ORION AND THE GREAT DOG.
Som of the Numerous Wonders of the
Heavens.

Heavens.
"Why did not somebody teach me the
consultations and make me at home i'll the
starry heavens, which are always over
head, and which I do not half know to this
day." regretfully exclaimed Thomas Car
lyle.
There are many persons who, like Car
lyle, regret chat they have not learned, or
had the means OF learning, the geography
of ~theheavens. The advances of astronomy
in u day have been SO rapid, and the
stars have made to the telescope and the
spectroscope SO many strange and wonder
full revelations, that nobody should be ig-
norant OF the names and places Of these
great suns blazing in the depths OF space,
and many of which are far larger and
more splendid than our w magnificent