davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
plTH AND POINT.

Some one boldly asserts that the
American hen is not doing her duty.
You would have us believe that her son
is setting, would you?- Yonkers States.
man.
-"Rule of the office, sir, patients will
please pay before taking gas. !" .'Why
not afterP'' otis awkward collecting
in case of failure to restore respiration. "
PUCK.
This is very healthy place" oh.
served boarding mistress. "Yes-fol
Chickens" said a boarder. 81 have
been here for two years and haven't
seen dead one yet. J" She took tho hint.
Chicago Tribune.
The railway companies want to lay
their tracks with hardened sleepers.
One of the New Haven ministers says
his congregation has material enough
to set up a whole parallel road.-Nem
Rdven Net0s.
-"How long has Brown been mar
ried, Charley?" Didn't know he was
married at all. don't believe he is,
either" Eyes. he is; 1 noticed him
turn pale when the clock struck
eleven."-M Y. Sun.
According to the New York T1b-
t,ae, the band in passing the reviewing
stand where President Cleveland stood,
s.burst into Mendelssohn's Wedding
March," and the crowd "burst into
cheers" If somebody would only
'sburst into" these gushy dailies it
would be the burst thing yet Boston
Commercial Bulletin.
They tell Of boy in England who,
seeing q great tent in which 8
panorama of ..Bunyan's Pilgrim Prog.
RESI- was being exhibited, went to the
ticket taker and asked if Mr.. Bunyan
was in. Receiving a negative reply he
remarked that he was sorry, as Mr..
Bunyan was his father, and ended with
the query: 'Of course youth pass me
in freep"
Amateur Actor (who has taken the
part of Hamlet -.Well. Charlie. what
was the verdict in regard to our enter.
tainment last nightp" Charlie-'sTo be
frank with you, old man. l heard some
Of the audience say it was deuced stu
pid." Amateur Actor--.'Stupid! That
divine tragedy Why, Charlie, Shak-
speare never wrote stupid thing in hit
life. "-Hasper's Bazaar.
Got any eggs to-day, sMr. Cold.
cheeseP" Eyes. sir, plenty of them. y
..Are they fresL2" .sFresh, sir, as the
flowers that ahem!'' '.Then j don't
want any .'Don't want any?' mo,
sir. I'm going to a lecture tonight,
and / thought if I could run across
some stale eggs : "Stalc. sir!
There amt an egg in that barrel that
was laid this year. ~ Philadelphia Gail.
We do not believe that q hen
scratches for living. She scratches
for exercise. II you don't belieye il,
watch well-fed hen in her humble cage
ct the market. She will scratch on the
sheet-iron floor with all the vigor Of a
gold digger, and affect to find things to
eat with all the innocent assumption of
man who slips on the ice, breaks both
legs and his back. and tries to look as
though he hadn't fallen down. Bur.
dette.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
A DISCERNING TEACHER.
How She Developed . Boys Brain--A
Valuable Lesson to Instructors.

valuable Lesson TO instructors.
A teacher had charge of school in q
country town, early in her career, and
among her scholars was a boy about
fourteen years old, who cared very little
about study, and showed no interest,
apparently, in anything connected with
the school. Day after day he failed in
his lessons, and detentions after school
hours and notes to his widowed mother
had no effect. One day the teacher had
sent him to his seat, after vain effort
to get from him a correct answer to
questions in grammar, and feeling
somewhat nettled, she watched his con-
duct. Having taken his seat, he pushed
the book impatiently aside, and espying
fly, caught it with dexterous sweep
o. The hand, and then betook himself to
close inspection of the insect. For
fifteen minutes or more the boy was
thus occupied, needless of surroundings,
and the expression of his face told the
teacher that it was more than idle
curiosity that possessed his mind. A
thought struck her, which she put into
practice at the first opportunity that
day.
Boys" said she, s.what can you tell
me about flies?" And calling some of
the brightest by name she asked them if
they could tell her something of a fy's
constitution and habits They had very
little to say about the insect. They
often caught one, but only for sport,
and did not think it worth while to
study SO common an insect, Finally
she asked the Ounce, who had silently,
but with kindling eyes. listened to what
his schoolmates hesitatingly said. He
burst out with absorption of the head,
eyes, wings and feet Of the little Great
ure, so full and enthusiastic that the
teacher was astonished and the whole
school struck with wonder. He told
how it walked and how it ate, and
many things which were entirely new
to his teacher. So that when he had
finished she said:
''Thank YOU. You have given us a
real lesson in natural history, and you
have learned it all yourself. "
After the school closed that afternoon
she had long talk with the boy, and
found that he was fond of going into the
woods and meadows and collecting in
sects and watching birds, but that his
mother thought he was wasting his time.
The teacher, however. wisely encour-
aged him in this pursuit, and asked him
to bring beetles and butterflies ana cater
pillars to school, and tell what he knew
about them. The boy was delighted by
this unexpected turn of affairs, and in a
few days the listless Ounce was the
marked boy of that school. Books on
natural history were procured for him,
and world Of wonder opened to his APP
preciative eyes. He read and studied
and examined; he soon understood the
necessity of knowing something of math-
ematics, geography and grammar for
the successful carrying on of his favor
lite study, and he made rapid progress in
his classes. In short, twenty years later
he was eminent as naturalist, and
owed his success, as he never hesitated
to acknowledge, to that discerning teach
er.-Farnp and Fireside.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
FOREST DESTRUCTION.
Evils OF Deforestation ~ Seen ON the Once
Fertile Plains Of Spain.

Evils of Differentiation ~ Seen ON the Once
Fertile Plains of Spain.
The evils Of defOrestation have been
SO many times rehearsed that it is only
necessary to mention them briefly here.
Trees are necessary in the hills and
mountains to perfect the springs and in
sure steady supply Of water through
out the year. II all the trees about
sources of the springs are cut away the
springs flow but short time after the
winter rains cease. In early summer
they have disappeared entirely, and
with them the small brooks they have
fed, and which were wont to supply the
creeks and rivers now either greatly re.
duced in volume or vanished. Conse.
quently drought, poverty and suffering
from fine agricultural possibilities
ruined with soil deprived Of it's needed
moisture. There is another evil scarce
" less serious. This results from the
foundations which almost annually
devastate those parts Of Europe which
in the long course Of ages has been
gradually denuded Of their forest with
little or no effort at renewal. Spain
has in this respect been the worst suffer.
or. Except in certain favored local.
tiles, principally along or not far from
the southern base of the Pyrenees, or
along the Mediterranean, it may be
described as an absolutely tree
less country, its vast olive or.
chards affording here and there partial
exception. One may travel by train for
days here and there over the great CEN
trail plateau, which constitutes the
greater part of the peninsula, and
scarcely see tree, not even an olive,
on the plain, and not a grove on hill
or mountain side. Such desolation
seems appalling. As natural con-
sequence, the rains that fall, not being
detained by groups or forests Of trees,
/; run off at once into the valleys, where
| they swell the creeks and rivers to
enormous volume and cause those
| frightful inundations which two or three
times every year form the burden Of
! Spanish dispatches and deplete thu
purses of the benevolent in every parl
! Of the world. In Austria Hungary
and in different parts Of Germany, ther'
, are similar experiences, with meal
culable loss of property and loss of life
and to certain extent in France an,
Italy, though the two latter countrie
find aremedy in the universal dissemina
I ton of the olive and vine, one or TN
i other Of which clothes, and to grea
measure protects the most barren hill
/ - 4 - 4 Al -
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
THE PLOT EXPOSED.

Republican Scheme to Injure His De-
partment Thwarted by Postmaster-Gen-
eral Villas.
The conspiracy in the railway postal
jervice, which has just been exposed
and punished, was about what might
have been expected. For quarter of
century it was taught and by many
people believed in this country, that
only one party had the requisite intelli-
gence to administer the Government
and fill the offices. Propositions to
take by the heels some of the men who
had held place for a generation and
throw them out have been looked upon
as verging on treason, and it is not sur
prising, all things considered, that
among the office-holding class an inn
pudent contempt of authority should
have manifested itself. More especial
ly was this to be expected when, new
party coming into power, it proceeded
to return good for evil by continuing
the great majority of the subordinate
office-holders in their places. Had it
turned them out by the hundred
and thousand, as probably some
of them should have been
turned out, such of them as
were left would have been more inter-
ested in attending to the public bust
ness in such a way as to meet approval
than they would have been in any
scheme to embarrass their superiors.
Since the Inauguration of Mr.. Cleve-
land there have been frequent rumors
of characterization ON the part Of the
railway mail clerks. At one time they
have been threatening to strike in a
body, and at another they have been
organizing to resist any changes
which the Postmaster General, in his
discretion, might make. These con-
spiracies recently eliminated in a weA-
defined movement in the West to bring
about complete paralysis of the pos
tai service at any moment when the
.'union," taking exception to orders
from the Government, should proclaim
strike. In this performance the rail-
way clerks manifested that spirit OF
political intolerance which under Re
publican rule made the civil-service OF
the country great party machine and
denied to one-half Of the people repre-
sentation therein, as completely as il
they had been aliens. - Chicago Herald.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
Causing a Smile in Court.

The late Judge Des Barres, Of the su-
preme Court of Nova Scotia, was not
much given to joking.
He was a big man, Of slow and delib-
crate manner, and always on the bench
wore deep bass voice.
On one occasion, however, in the an
cient Town of Sydney, C.. B., he caused
a smile. The prothonotary was swear
ing in jury in case to 9 tried, and
there seemed to be hitch.
The Judge, who was ready to begin,
asked what was the matter.
Prothonotary-He won't be sworn,
my Lord.
Juryman-I'm no weel, ma Lard.
Judge What ais your.
Juryman-I've got ia eech, ma Lard.
Judge Gn very large tones)-Scratch
him of, Mr.. Prothonotary. Detroit
Free Press.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
IN NICARAGUA.
A Wonderland of Fertility, Natural Re-
sources and Prosperous People,

=
sources and Prosperous People.
The largest forest tree--the ceiba
tree, for instance grows to the height
of ninety or one hundred feet, straight
as an arrow and without a limb. At
that height from the ground it widens
out to vast parasol-shaped affair, lit
orally covered with heavy lunches Of
crimson, bell-shaped flowers. Out of
one of these trees can be made boat
which will carry forty or fifty men. All
boats are made Of one piece. saw
great many mahogany boats from thirty
to fifty feet in length, forty-six feet
beam. The bread fruit tree grows
everywhere. It is an immense tree, as
large as the largest living oak in Florida,
with green foliage. The bread fruit
looks like small water melons. It forms
the principal portion of the food of the
inhabitants, who usually split it open,
put piece Of salt pork or other salt
meat in it, and bake it, and then eat it.
One tree will supply whole neighbor-
hood with fruit. The tree that is
pronounced the most beautiful is the
MARCO tree. 1t grows to an immense
size, from twenty to fifty feet in cir
conference, and from seventy-five to
one hundred feet in height It is an
immense umbrella-shaped tree, with
feather-like foliage. One tree will
bear five thousand margoes. The fruit
is heart or kidney-shaped, and grows to
the weight of one or two pounds each.
at has skin like plum and its flavor
is that of all our best fruit combined
the plum, peach and grape and some
thing of the apple. It is delicious
fruit, and is universally used as a part
of food. The cacao tree, from which
cocoa and chocolate are made, grows
everywhere, and the fruit, which is
shaped like a musk melon, grows right
out of the body of the tree. There is
no stem to it at all. The samsop grows
in the same way, and has very deli
cious fruit. The cassara is substitute
for bread. The yam grows everywhere.
It grows solid and is very different from
that of this country. It is more like a
root. The root is fifteen 10 twenty feet
long. They break it up into pieces and
sell it in sections. The cocoanut palm
abounds everywhere. One tree drops a
nut every day in the year. It drops
three hundred and sixty-fve a year.
The banana produces a bunch a
month every month in the year.
It is perpetual in its growth. All they
have got to do to cultivate it is to chop
the brush and stick in the plant, and il
needs no cultivation. It is the same
with all their fruits. The sugar cane
grows from twenty to twenty-five feet
high. Twas told that by the officials,
and it produces eight thousand to ten
thousand pounds to the acre. It never
needs replacing, but grows just like
| clover. Cotton grows in the same
way, reproducing itself. It becomes !
great tree and bears great amount O
very fine fiber. Corn produces fv,
crops year. Coffee grows abundantly
and Nicaragua coffee is among the hes
in the world. No finer coffee is pro
vided anywhere. The country is pre-
eminentfy a country Of lazy people
One can live there as nearly withou
Y u
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
THE OLD FARMER,

Not much OF this worlds goods have l.
Still less Of classic lore.
envy not yOn rich mans wealth,
With all his gifded store.
NV acres yield me daily bread,
And toll brings appetite;
Iplow, SOW, l reap and NOW,
Then sweetiy sleep at night.
No carking care to break my rest,
Nor aspirations high;
Iplod along from day to day
With no regretful sigh.
fTis little that can bestow
Upon the suffering poor,
But none that ever asked for bread
Went hungry from my door.
And thus my days move on apace;
The end is drawing near;
With cheerful hope I'll say "good- bye"
To all that hold dear.
And when this body's mouldering-
As well know 1t must
Let no tall monument be reared
To mark my sleeping dust.
only want a marble plain,
For Dassers- by to scan,
And read all would have them know
"IIere lies an honest man."
allan Bane, IN Toledo Blade,
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21

Texas has a new industry. The Clear
Greek Crab Canning Company has been
organized in Galveston County, and is
doing big business in catching and
canning crabs The shells are removed
entire except the claws, ground in a
mill, and shipped to France, where
they are manufactured into dentifrice.
The oil that arises on the watts where
the crabs are boiled is used IN making
soap. and is said to be equal to cocoa-
nut oil for this purpose. The crabs
themselves are packed in flye-gallon
cans, and are reckoned good.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
A Neat Compliment.

Young Lady Ny dear professor, ]
want to thank you for your lecture.
You made it SO plain that / could I'm.
derstand every word.
Professor am truly glad you did
understand it. / have studied the SUBJ
ject for about thirteen years, and / fat
ter myself tina. can bring the subjsc,
within the comprehension Of the weak
est intellect 1sras Sif.ingA
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
TURKISH BRUTALITY.

An Incident Illustrative Of the MoaIem
Hate Of Christian Travellers.
While waiting to be presented to Ali
Bashaw, Belzoni managed to see the sun
rise from the top Of the Great Pyramid,
and to visit those of Saccara and Daiior,
and to meet the great traveller Burck.
hardt, meeting to which we owe
good many of our best Egyptian an
tiques. Riding up to the citadel with
NJ. Baghos to see Mehemet Ali, he ad-
mired ''the majestic appearance of the
Turkish soldiers" but soon found that
looks are not every thing. for one Of
these noble looking fellows, passing on
horseback, managed, out of pure spite,
to cut two inches Of flesh out Of his leg
with the sharp corner of his shovel-like
stirrup. The wound was so serious that
it kept him prisoner whole month, and
when cali Bashaw" noticed his limp
ana learned the cause he simply said:
'.Such accidents will happen when
troops are about = The soldiers
just then hated the very look Of
Frank, for Ali was trying to teach
them the European drill. There was Z
mutiny about this not long after, and
the attempt had to be given up, the
mutineers getting off scott free, though
Belzoni remarks that Just then there
came on an unaccountable mortality
among the high officers Of the army.
Ev and nv. after he had GOT into hiph
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
TALKING ABOUT HENS.
How . Decided Goodness SpranE Up BE.
tween Two Old Friends.

How . Decided Goodness Sprang Up BE.
tween Two Old Friends.
A Rochester man named Muggs has
been out in the town of Wheatland Wis
iting some friends who live on farm.
Mr.. Mugs is not only man of more
than average intelligence, but he is
also of an inquiring turn of mind; and
while he was visiting on the farm he
managed to pick up a good deal Of in.
formation by asking questions about
things. One Of the first things that ex.
cited his curiosity was hen that was
on nest under the end of lumber
pile.
''This must be a hen," said Mugs,
confidently.
''It is, said the farmer.
''She seems to be taking life prett,
easy" ventured Muggs.
''Quite the contrary said the
farmer. ''She is busy
Laying an egg, probably" suggested
Mugs.
probably not" said the farmer
"She is setting
Then Mugs made some patronizing
remark to the hen and reached down to
stroke the fur on her neck. The hen
was busy, but not too busy to keep an
eye on Mugs, and when his hand
came within reach she picked a small
piece of skin off from it. Mugs took
his hand away with wonderful quick
ness and put it into his pocket. Then
he stood and contemplated the hen in
silence for several minutes. At length
he said:
Il suppose hens seldom have hydro
phobia?"
Seldom" said the farmer.
..But when they do have it they
have it pretty bad, don't they?" In
quired Mugs, with considerable
anxiety.
"Oh, you needn't be alarmed" said
the farmer. 1.-THE hen is mad, but not
in that way. Her fangs are not poison.
ous.''
81 suppose, now" said Mugs, .'that
an industrious, persistent hen like that
will hatch out a chicken every day, and
not feel it.
r. There is q difference in hens" said
the farmer. ''Some hens set harder
than others and hatch chickens faster.
i have got one that Matched out a
brood Of chickens last summer in ten
days. She never stopped for Sundays
or legal HOLIDAYS. but lust kept right
at it. But it wasn't a very good
job. because it was rushed too
much. Nine of the chickens were fool
ish and the other four were not any too
bright. You see, they were not expect.
ing it, and they seemed to be sort Of
dazed couldn't understand how they
got here SO soon. They would stand
around in q half-witted kind of way and
try to figure it out, but they never
seemed to understand it at ALL ~ IS
II should think" said Muggs,
thoughtfully, .'that chicken Matched SO
fast as that would be apt to mature
quickly old while they are young,
as it were.
Exactly they do" said the farmer
You remember that I bought q
couple of spring chickens from you last
fall" said Mugs, still more thought
fully, as if an idea had occurred t
him.
Eyes, l remember" said the farmer
who was also beginning to have ar
idea. "What of it?''
20, nothing; only l thought perhaps
thew belonged to this brood that yor
have been speaking about. We broilet
them a couple of days and then CAV.
them to my boy to cut up into bean
shooters. y
A GOODNESS has since existed between
Mugs and the farmer. Rochester Her
aid.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21

work as anywhere else. The people
are very independent in spirit and worn
only when they feel like it. One
strange thing is that the English Ian
guage seems to be the coming language
of all America. Spanish and English
are spoken, but the whole business Of
the place is principally done in English.
Colonel Pat DOMAIN, in Chicago
Journal.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21

Secretary Bayard's position
throughout the fisheries controversy
has been consistent with his own dig
nifty and that of the country. The re-
suit is that England is ready to make
concessions and Canada is ready to
back down,-St Louis Republican.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
The task of defeating the ineeuv

The task Of defeating the ingenu-
ity of pension wolves is doubtless an
onerous one, but the President is COM
ing out of it with a reputation for
quiet humor that, when yoked to
strong common sense and honesty of
purpose, is thoroughly appreciated by
Ne American people. = Chicago News.
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21

The announcement that one of the
combatants in the recent priZe-fght
was almost killed will be received With
genuine regret. Detroit Free Press
The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21

THE Committee on Privileges
and Elections in the United States Sen
ate have passed upon the effort of the
Republican ringsters of Ohio to be-
smirch the fair fame Of Henry B.
Payne, member of that body. There
were upon that committee five Repub-
licans and four Democrats. Upon
both sides they were the men Of high
est repute in their respective parties,
the cream Of the cream, as to ability,
personalintegrity, party standing and
lifelong experience in public service.
OF these nine men, such as are above
described, seven declared upon their
solemn oaths that the charges against
Senator Payne were unworthy Of con.
sideration.- Cincinnati Enquirer.
the Presidcnt gives the Senate
and House a reminder nearly every
day that they are losing sight Of the
laws. This lesson which occasional
vetoes give must have q beneficial eff
feet upon legislation after awhile.
For the first time in years there is a
judicial mind in the White House
which calls halt to even Senator'S
who have prided themselves on their
legal knowledge while voting for nm
constitutional bills, Buffalo Times.