davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
CAPTURE OF 4 nrANArRE.
a Twelvc-Hundred Ponnd Monster Caught
In the 81. Lnefc River.

A hunter named Kelly, with two or three
companions, recently started out on man.
atee hunt on the st. Lucie Bay Florida
writes correspondent. They had a large
marlin net and wooden tank for the per-
pose of keeping the animal alive should one
be caught. The spot selected was cove
formed by bend in the river, where the
water was twelve feet deep. The net, which
vas 800 feet long, was extended between
stakes set firmly in the bottom, and the
hunters retired to their huts in the adjacent
woods and patiently awaited results. Two
or three times day they went down and
inspected the nets, but nothing was to be
seen except an occasional alligator, who
beat hasty retreat through the large mesh.
es of the net as soon as he perceived the
danger he was in. small rowboat was
used in going to and from the net, which
was about quarter of mile from the
shore. After two weeks Of waiting they
were rewarded by seeing the floats bobbing
About in lively fashion. Excitedly, but
with sure movements the men took bun
die of inch rope, and set out for the cap.
tured prize, who was creating quite COM
motion in the water, aud tangling himself
up beautifully in the relentless meshes of
the marlin net The monster was soon
tugged into shallow water. combination
of ropes and pulleys was arranged, and he
was dragged ashore. With his l, 200 pounds
he was by no means easily managed. He
was then placed in the tank, which was six
by ten feet, and kept until q sloop arrived,
which conveyed the precious freight to Key
West. This was male, and not long ago
female was caught. do not know where
or to whom they were sold or at what price.
Some years ago P. T. Barnum paid 81 900
in gold for a manatee of small size, and
their extreme rarity at the present time
would cause them to be valued at perhaps
three times as much. The animal was kept
for fully week before the sloop arrived,
and l formed an intimate acquaintance
with the strange creature. For the first day
or two he was shy, but I commenced pat.
ting him on the head, and when he saw that
my intentions were good our acquaintance
ripened into something like friendship. He
opened his mouth and devoured bananas
cabbage leaves and delicate bits of vege
tables which / offered him. During thu
week the water in the tank was changed
twice--once with fresh and once with sail
water; one is as good as the other for the
manatee. In days long gone by the Semi
mole Indians, living in Whitewater Bay,
near Cape Sable, killed the manatee, jerked
the flesh and sold it to the Spaniards at a
good price. Ten years ago the meat could
be bought at fifty cents pound. There is
no doubt that the manatee is rapidly be-
coming an extinct animal Like the dodo
bird, which hourished in the Eost in the
middle ages, but is now extinct, the set
COW will pass out Of existence, and will be-
looked upon few centuries hence as
monstrosity. CiacianaG Enquirer.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
LETTER WRITING As A PROFESSION.
Inaillns Episties for People who nre TIM
able TO do So.


Letters written here for private parties"
reads pasteboard sign in the window Of o
little stationer's shop on South State street.
The owner of the place is an old school
teacher who followed his calling when Chi
cago was little more than frontier town
He is an odd character and the curious
traits In his disposition are mirrored in his
surroundings. They are full Of strange
contrasts The windows are thickly coated
with dust while the floor of the little shoI
is scrupulously clean. A number of old
books and pamphlets, musty and timo worn.
are ranged ON q row of shelves back Of the
counter. These books look as il years had
past since they had been taken from their
places last, while apparently the only OBJ
ject OF the old mans care, so far as was re-
vealed TO the eye, was a stack OF white
writing paper and goodly assortment of
pens and penholders that occupied place
on his desk
All these were kept in the best OF order
the writing paper was neatly piled up by
the side of huge inkstand which was fast
ened to the desk by means OF brass clamps.
Pencils, penholders, blotting-paper and
erasers we're within easy reach OF the old
gentleman as he bent over the desk inditing
n letter.
YES he said TO n reporter, II am
writing this letter for one Of my patrons.
call them patrons, for they come to me
pretty often when they want letters written.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
POETRY.
Folded Hands.

Folded meath the waving grasses, on the starlt,
westward hill,
Free from life and all its clamor, they are resting
white ana still;
Little hands that knew no lsbor, wrnkled hands
that knew no rest,
Ere they drifted from the river to the haven Of
the blest.
Dimpled hands, ike waxen lilies, folded with
baby grace,
Mid the blossoms that were scattered DER the
little form and face;
And, mayhap, for some lone mourner who their
gentle touch doth miss,
They are beckoning In their beauty to the portals
bright with bliss.
Fair white hands, like snowy daisies, folded DER
youthful heart,
Fairer far than sculptured marble on the fairest
dream OF art;
Oft within the peopled pathway toiled they with
gladness gold,
But the tong all is over and they rest In silence
cod.
Weary hands, like withered roses, folded DER ar
aged breast,
And the hands that long have labored have al
last found perfect rest;
Long they toiied with weary weaving while the
storms around them ragged,
TIN they wove the sily'ry colors woven only by
the aged.
AS | look from out my easement when the stars
are all alright
Ger the silent sleeping city with its spires so tall
and white,
Think Of the hands long folded in strange and
mystic spell,
And would that some bright angel might TO me
their story tell
psd they weave their web of living with gole
and silver thread
sill Christly light from Heaven DER the gar
ment bright was shed?
Or IN hues OF somber blackness did they sit in sli
apart
Weaving only from the fancy and the weakness
OF their hearth
Tell me, some white-winged angel II the story
thou dost know;
But no answer breaks the silence DER the weav
ing long ago.
So ponder, half forgetting that full soon all
white and still
Shall my hands, like theirs, be folded on the star
lit, westward hill.
Minnie A dele Ha,fsen
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24

II is probable, writes Washington cor
respondent, that the historic structure, the
Long Bridge, over which our troops
marched to conquest in the late unpleasant
ness, and over which, also, they reiterated
in good order (o after the first battle oil
Bull Run, will have to be taken down. II
and the Aqueduct Bridge, between George
town and Arlington, have been declared
distractions to navigation, and they will
probably have to be taken down and re-
bnilt. The Long Bridge was first built in
1903 by the Washington Bridge Company.
The United States acquired possession of 1t
IN 1881, and rebuilt portion OF it which
had been destroyed by freshet in 1881.
The government maintained 1t until 1870,
when the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
obtained control of 1t. They have retained
possession TO the present time, using half
of il rs railroad bridge. the other half be-
ing given to carriage and foot passengers
Owing to the narrowness OF the draw and
Of its short spans 1t constitutes quito On
obstruction TO the navigation of the river,
especially at high water, and the only way
OF removing 1t is to tear down the present
structure and build new one with longer
spans md wider draw. Its location will
probably be changed somewhat.
On the Aqueduct Bridge the Washington
and Alexandria Canal crosses the Potomac,
the carriage road being over the canal
There is no draw in the bridge, and the dis
lance from the bottom chords Of the trust
to the surface of the ri~sr is so small as tt
be practically a complete obstruction 10 the
passage Of any save the small5st stoam-
boats. As there is considerable nayigable
water above it this Is quite damage Ia
Georgetown.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
Cnals rro,n PomneIl.

A museum has been erected in fompeii,
n which are preserved plaster casts of some
Of the people who persisted in the eruption.
These people were covered up by the fine
ashes just where they fell, and in the posi-
tions In which they died. The ashes hard
ened, and although the bodies, with the ex-
ception OF few bones, entirely disappeared
In the course of age, the hollow places left
in the ashes we're exactly the shape Of the
forms and features of the persons who had
been there. An ingenious Italian conceived
the idea Of boring into these hollow molds
and filling them up with liquid plaster OF
Paris. When this became dry and hard,
the ashes were removed, and there were the
plaster images of the persons who had been
oyertaken and destroyed before they could
escape from that terrible storm OF hot ashes,
which came down in quantities sufficient to
cover whole city from sight. In some Of
these figures the features are very distinct,
and we can even distinguish the texture Of
the;. clothes and tho rings upon their fin
gers. There are eight Of these figures
men, women, and girls, besides the cast Of
large dog. To stand aud look upon the
exact representation of these poor creatures
who persisted here seems still more to short.
en- the time between the present and TIE
days when Ponpeii was lively busting
city" Personally Oondnctsd," By Franz
r. Stockton, in st. Nicholas.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
OUR BIG CROPS.
What American Farmers Raise for the
World to Feed Upon.


World to Feed Upon.
Most Americans have faint idea that
the United States beat all the countries in
the known world in the raising of big crops,
gate amount and value of any given crop.
The Department of Agriculture has sent
out its crop report for the year just closed
and the fguree are worth studying. The
cotton crop, it is claimed, will aggregate
six and one-half million bales, worth in the
million Of dollars. The wheat crop for the
year reaches 357, 112 900 bushels, worth at
the farmers granaries 1926. 800, 800. The
crop OF oats reached 629, 409, 900 bushels,
worth $179, 631 $3.50. The great American
crop, however, is corn, the production OF
which for 1885 reached the enormous total
of 1886, 176, 900 bushels, worth $685., 674.-
$50, or round fifty millions more than the
combined cotton and wheat crops. The
combined value Of the four crops above
mentioned aggregates about fourteen hun
dred millions OF dollars.
or the States that grow the big crops of
corn Illinois stands first, with a crop of
26s, $4,000 bushels Iowa stands second
IN the list, with 242, 496, 900 bushels Mis-
souri, third, with 1876, 1861 600; Kansas
fourth, with 15s, 90,000 Indiana fifth,
with 1Sl 1894, 900; Nebraska, sixth, with
1873, 426, 900, and Ohio seventh, with
Ill, 1866, 900. The big wheat States are
Minnesota, with 81, 2S5 900 bushels hichi-
gan, with, 81 1851 900, and Iowa, with 80,
332, 900. Dakota, which is not State but
would like to be two States, comes fourth
in the list of wheat. growing districts, with
27,913, 900 bushels; Indiana fifth, with &c.
600, 900; California sixth, with 26,592, 900,
and Ohio seventh, with 20, 500, 900 bushels.
The above order in production Is based
upon the crops of 1885 and cannot be re-
lied upon as the standard OF production for
term of years.
These figures show that in general 1885
was an exceedingly good crop year" Wheat
fell below the average for the last five years,
but the corn crop surely and the cotton and
oats crops probably were the biggest even
tered. The reports in regard to the
5sner crops, such MS rye, barley, buckwheai
aud potatoes, while not given in detail,
8 low an excellent average and indicate that
we have enough for home uses and good
surplus to spare to our foreign neighbors If
they want it. Unfortunately our foreign
neighbors seem to be little slow about Of
fering to take our surplus corn, wheat and
cotton this year. This is owing chiefly to
the competition of India, RUSSIA, Egypt,
and even Australia and South America.
The agricultural development of these
countries is making rapid strides and We
must open our eyes to the fact that they
are destined to become much more formid-
able competitors in the matter of furnish
ing Europe with agricultural products than
they have ever been in the past.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
ON THE RAILROAD IN SPAIN.
What the People You Meet ARE Likely
70 Do.

Cars of all grades in France are cushioned
as in America, but with Chauferestes, which
are heated and placed in the cars at certain
stations. 1t is MS cold or colder in the cen.
trail and northern parts of Spain, but no
such comfortable devices seem to have been
thought of. But your opportunities for
seeing all classes are good-the chattering
Andalusian, the gayly costumed Catalonian,
the coarse Castilian and the voluble female
traveller The Spanish woman of the lower
classes is extremely laxative. She has
opinions and never estates to express
Them loudly, no matter if she is the only
one OF her sex present and the car contains
thirty or forty men OF oil positions in life
She is usually accompanied by great many
bundles, or at least the one particular bum
die of wearing apparel tied up in handker-
chief. She is no more, as rule, unkind
than she is unsociable. She is supplied
with eatables, and she Is apt to offer you
bit of her dried sausage and a piece OF
bread, not forgetting at the same time to
offer you an extremely primitive knife to
cut ii with.
To wash down this somewhat dry por-
ton red wines are not lacking; They are
carried in pig skin bottles, some OF which
have cup arranged about the cork. You
remove the cork, tilt and press the skin and
.he cup fills. You empty it and hand it
back to the owner, who takes draught
himself. wipes the neck off with his hand
Or on his sleeve, and either restores it to its
basket or sends it on hospitable pilgrim.
age about the car whence it returns with
its quart or two, or three quarts, of con-
tents diminished and with fiabby sides. Oc-
casionally there is music, either with or
without guitar, which is often the Span
iard's travelling companion. The playing
is almost always fair, often excellent the
singing never. Irving was wonderfully
pleased with the musical efforts Of the An
ialusians, but they sing no better than the
,ther Spaniards. 1t is much the same from
the Pyrenees ON the Catalonian side Il
Malaga, and up through Central Spain to
Hendaya on the Bay of Biscay. Not one
really pleasing melody can be heard, In
going tie entire distance. Spanish nation
al music comprises a few strains of m in
describs,ble minor character, having the
same compass running through the same
variations, and ending with the same fan
tastic Cadence. The peasant in the railroad
car suddenly bursts ont with the full tide
Of 1t, no matter who are about him and not
thinking it possible that he can disturb any
one. No one seems to mindit. 1t is taken
as o matter of course. Perhaps others join
in, ana then there is a howl like chorus
of wild animals in o menagerie. In the
meantime the skin bottles have become full.
Everybody who is not singing is talking,
and as there is not musical speaking or
singing voice in Spain, the combination OF
sounds caDsot be described.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
A stree, Car Mt Sen.

There is lawyer in Boston who is in the
habit at times Of addressing individual jury
men when inattentive or restless, and some
times his argumentum ad hominem is effec.
tive. Some time ago he was trying case
against street railway company, and there
was an old sailor on the jury who seemed
to give no heed to what either counsel said.
The lawyer made his most eloquent appeals,
but oil in vain. Finally he stopped in front
Of the sailor and said; Mr.. Juryman, l
will tell you just how this happened. The
plaintiff was in command of the outward
bound open car, and stood in her starboard
,hannels Along came the inward-bound
close car, and just as their bows met she
jumped the truck, sheered to port, and
knocked the plaintiff of and ran over him. ,
The sailor was all attention after this yer.
sion of the affair, and joined in $5 600
verdict for the injured man.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24
Too Maay Women In England.

Are you aware, my dear, of the appalling
fact that there are 948,000 more women
than men in Great Britain? AT least, there
was this very awful disparity Of numbers at
the last census, and / don't suppose that
the disproportion hns decreased since then.
In fact, IL seems that IL is likely to become
greater and greater, for more girls are born
than boys, and men do not, as rule, live
30 long rs women.
This immense fact means. perhaps very
little to married women, unless they are
mothers of large and expensive family OF
daughters but to the unappropriated
among us it is fraught with the direct mean
ing. We are all taught from our nursery
days upward to look forward to the time
when we shall be married ''and live happy
ever after" Do not all the nursery stories
and fairy tales end with wedding bells /
And suppose that it is natural for woman
TO like to have home of her own, and q
husband and children. There are women
who would despise us for making such o
confession but do you not think with me
that an unshared life seems incomplete ?
Well, dear, in the face Of all this are those
dreadful six figures, the female over-plus On
94s,0 600.
1t is therefore quito apparent that several
hundred thousands of us must remain sin
| gle and we may as we'll look at the matter
straight in the face, and, while We hope for
the best prepare for the worst. Marriage
to the great majority of women means a
provision. Failing this they must provide
for themselves SO every girl should be
brought up to some occupation that would
bring her in sufficient for her maintenance.
Fathers ought to see that their daughters
are as carefully trained With Wow to self
airport as their sons are. Girls Gossip, in
London Truth.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24

One day last fall. after talking until his
throat was sore, a Detroit stove dealer sue
ceeded in selling widow coal stove, but
It was with the proyiso that If everything
didn't work satisfactorily he was to make
it; Two days after delivering the stove he
got his first call. A boy entered the store
and said
"Mrs. wants You to come up and
hx that stove. The house is full Of smoke. /"
A man was sent up, and he found the
trouble to be with the chimney. Only three
or four days had passed when the boy came
Ia again and said
"That stove is putting and blowing and
gearing the widow to death. She wants the
game man to come up again"
He was sent, and II was discovered that
,he didn't know how to arrange the dampera
and drafts. Everything seemed to run we'll
tor week, and then the boy walked in to
announce
'She sent me down to have you send
that man up again. The house is full OF
coal gas"
The man went up and applied the reme-
dy, but inside Of three days the stove got
to putting; two days after that the fre
wouldn't draw; then it drew too much
then gas escaped again. At length the
dealer went to the house and said
Madam, you gave me $50 for the stove;
how much will you take for it?n
81 wouldn't sell it,"
But can't be sending my man up here
every two or three days oil winter"
"You won't have to. I've concluded to
marry him in order to have some one here
In case of accident"
And three days ago they were quietly and
happily married.
The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-02-24


There are two roads to take If you wish
to become an electrical engineer.
Although this occupation of electrical en-
cheering is SO new, there are three colleges
in our country where the theoretical part of
the profession is taught, namely: The
Stevens Institute of Technology, at Ho-
boken, New Jersey; the University OF
Pennsylvania; and the Massachusetts In.
stitute of Technology. There are other
schools, but these are the best known. II
young man has gone through the theoret-
icsl and partially practical training to be
had in either of these institutions, he does
not require great deal of actual expert
ence in doing the work itself to fit him for
undertaking almost any task pertaining to
the calling
But some boys may not be able to spare
the time or pay the money for this collegiate
part of the training. In that case, they en-.
deavor to find employment in one of the
factories of the great companies have men
toned. To obtain admission however,
they must be bright, they must give good
promise in the taste they have for mechani-
cal pursuits as well as in their habits, that
they are suited for the profession they seek
TO enter. Having obtained an entrance,
they begin as ordinary employees, doing
the simplest kind of work or even drudg-
cry then they are transferred from one
department to another, learning little at
each step they take; until, finally, they
have good knowledge of the manufacture
ing branch Of the profession.
From there they should go to the labors-
tory, where they obtain the scientific knowl-
edge Of the business. To know how the
different parts are put together is not Of
itself sufficient they must be able to tell
why they are pnt together in that particular
way it is just that knowledge which makes
them electrical engineers.
Then they are sent cut as assistants to
the various electric-lighting stations or are
temporarily placed in charge of plants
which have Just been established, and which
some amateur engineer is learning how to
run. Finally they may be put in charge Of
lighting station, that is, building from
which the lighting power is furnished for
the lamps In the immediate neighborhood
and lastly, they may become members Of
the engineering corps, and put up the cleo
tric lights for people in the manner / have
described. Nicholas.