davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06

The present senior class IN Yale college,
which numbers 100 men, has one among
the number whose gray locks are in strik-
ing contrast with the youthful appear
anee of his 1919 classmates. The veterans
name is Porter Sherman, aad his name
also appeared as a senior in the college
catalogue of 1864 5, issued just twenty.
one years ago. Sherman is about so
years old, and first entered Yale in the
fall of 1861, hailing from Hillsdale, Mich.
For three years he pursued his college
course, rooming at No. "a High street.
At the beginning of his senior year he
suddenly left college and subsequently
experienced a varied career, finally be-
coming superintendent of schools at Kan
sas City. While holding that position he
decided to complete his course at Yale,
and leaving his Office duties in the hands
of a substitute for a year, he entered the
class of 'S6. In looking for a lodging
place he found that his old room on High
street was ''for rent and so ~ensconced
himself for his final college year in the
same quarters occupied by him over
twenty years ago.-G Democrat.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
ammonia,

Ammonia is cheaper than soap, an
cleans everything it touches. A few
drops in a kettle that is hard to clean
makes grease and sickness fade away
and robs the work of all its terrors. Let
it stand ten minutes before attempting
to scrape off, and every corner will be
clean. 1t cleans the sink and penetrates
into the drain pipe. Spots, finger-marks
on paint, disappear under its magical in
fuence, and it is equally effective on floor
and oil cloth, though it must be used
with care on the latter, or it will injure
the polish, aud keeps clean longer THAI
anything else. If the silver be only
slightly furnished, put two tablespoon
fuls of ammonia in a quart of hot water,
brush the furnished article with it, and
dry with q chamois. If badly discolored
they need a little whitening previous to
the washing. An old nail brush goes
into the cracks to polish and brighten.
For fine muslin and delicate lace it is
invaluable, as it cleans, without rubbing,
the finest fabrics. Put a few drops into
your sponge bath in hot weather, and
you will be astonished at the result, as it
imparts GOODNESS to the skin. Use it to
clean hair brushes, and to wash any hair
or feathers to be used for beds or pillows.
When employed in anything that is not
especially soiled, use the waste water
afterward for the house plants that are
taken down from their natural position
and immersed in a tub of water. Am
monia is a fertilizer, and helps to keep
healthy the plants it nourishes. In
every way in fact, ammonia is the house
keepers friend. -Bapdst Weekly.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
4 R0on to TrGveIEers.

A new invention, now being put on
the market, is headrest for travellers.
It consists of a plush cushion hung upon
strong white wires, and SO made that it
fits over thu top of the seat back. Upon
this soft, shapely cushion the tired travel
Ter may rest his weary head without get
ting cramps in his bones and stopping
the circulation in his veins, as is invari-
ably the case when q man ~"scrooges''
down into the car seat in order to rest
the back Of his head upon the upholster-
ing. The continuance can be taken apart
in half q minute and packed away in a
grip or coat pocket. By its use every
traveller may carry his bed with him, and
that without paying two or three good
dollars to . sleeping car company for the
privilege Of breathing the bad air Of
their coaches and dreaming Of his
mothers feather pillows during q few I'M
happy hours Of the night. Micago
Herald.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
The Wonderful Soil of the West.

sSDo we have any cyclones out in our
country" echoed the passenger from the
West. "A few. Two or three times a
year one ONE along and makes things
howl. We have got used Dem, though,
and don't mind 'em anymore. The soil
is so fertile hat we are able to copper
the cyclones in great shape"
"But I can't see what the fertility of
the soil has got to do whit when lorna
does come along every once in a while
and carry Off your buildings"
ssOf course, you can't see it. Nobody
ever could see it until he went out West
and looked around a little with his own
eyes. We haln't got any trees in our
country to anchor things to, and they
wouldn't be Of any use, anyhow, in a
regular old cyclic. But, stranger,
the fertility of the soil comes to our as
s~istance. Every w~ell-regulated house,
barn, stable and granary in our neighbor-
hood is tied to a cornstalk, an the cy-
clones can't bulge 'em an inch. That's
the kind of a soil we have out our way"
Chicago Herald.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.

I Prof. Bakhuyzen, of the Leiden obser.
vatory, finds reason for believing that a
part of the planetary surface of Mars is
liquid.
The first a~rcheopteryx, the fossil re-
mains of the oldest known bird, which
seems to form the ~"connecting link" be-
tween birds and reptiles, was discovered
in the photographic slate of Solenhofen in
1861. Another specimen recently found
in the same locality, has been sold for
$4,000 to the Berlin Museum.
TidalDbservations on the eastern coast
of America have acquired a new impor-
lance since the coast survey has confirmed
by recent observations the older sugges-
ton that there are tidal fluxes in the Gulf
Stream, and variations of its velocity due
to half-monthly changes in the relative
sea levels of the Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico.
An electric spark in dusty atmosphere
causes the dust to settle, and if the air
be smoky clears it up. This is probably
one reason why the air seems so clear
when shifted after a thunder storm, even
though there has been but little rain.
DR.. E. Fleischer has conducted expert
ments on the action of sea mud on moor
lands and sands. In the first year there
was no appreciable result, but in the sec
ond and third years there was a benefi-
cial influence manifested, which, how
ever, declined again in the fourth year.
A Storms Journey.-The first storm
ever followed day by day from the Pacific
to Europe has been described to the
Royal Meteorological Society of London
by Mr.. Harry Harries. 1t originated as a
typhoon near the Philippine Islands on
September 81, passing over Japan and the
Aleutian Islands, and entering the Unit
ed States on October 10. Crossing the
Rocky Mountains, it proceeded through
the northern states and Canada to Labra-
dor and Davis Strait. Encountering two
other disturbances in its passage of the
Atlantic, it reached the French coast IN
October 81, causing extensive destruc-
ton, and on November 1, in the Baltic,
it quietly dispersed, after accomplishing
IS, 900 miles in 36 days.
In a paper on the history of the de-
velopment of coasts, a German geologist,
DR.. Fischer, reaches the conclusion that
where coasts have been formed by the
erosive action of waves and streams, ter
races and fiat surfaces are the prevailing
characteristics, with semi-circular bays of
small radius on terraced coasts and large
radius on fiat coasts. Where other fea-
lures exist, they are mainly attributable
to subterranean movements and COM
paratively recent changes in the level of
the land, some modifying effects having
of course been wrought by the sea.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
High and Lofty Chicken Sellers.

1t is quite an insult to ask a Malay if he
will sell anything, says a writer. Malays
from the up country used sometimes to
find their way to my door with their hands
full Of fowls, which they said they wished
to lay at my feet, They were the poorest
ryots possible, with nothing on but a
ragged and dirty sarong, yet they were
quite Mortified at my asking if they had
brought their fowls to sell. They care
fully explained that the fowls (perhaps
several dollars worthy were a present to
me, but In the same breath they suggest
ed that if out of my compassion for them
/ would give them a small trife to buy
rice, it would be very acceptable. It
seemed to me that the distinction be-
tween selling and this proposed proceed
ing was imaginary, so I used to force
them in a hard hearted way to mention a
price. I generally found that the more
delicaey and refinement of feeling they
had paraded the higher was the price
they wanted, and the less the fowls
would bear examination. The owner ap-
peared to think that the fowls would
taste better ON account of having be-
longed to a noble race that had never
soiled its scutcheon by commercial deal
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
The NeaO Member or Conqress,

To be one of 400; to be ignored by the
multitude, snubbed by hotel clerks and
insulted by cab drivers; to be set down
like a convict as mo. 1913, ".or 1916" to
be unknown by the very servants who
wait and found only by reference to the
House diagram; these are the Congress
sional honors which fall to many persons
who have suffered mentally, physically
and pe%cnniarily to get seat in the Capt.
tai. They fall inevitably to a large num-
Der of very good and very able men. By
the very nature of the case, the majority
of the members of the House of Represen-
tatives must be known onlyby the num-
Der of their seats, and heard only by their
'syea, yea" and may, nay" For men of
ambition and of sensitive natures this
must be very humiliating and aggravat-
ing. I have seen men chafe and fret IN
der the restraint of circumstances a good
many times. The mere ~demagogue can
find various ways of satisfying his con-
stituency of his personal Importance and
efficiency here; but the honest legislator
often finds it difficult to satisfy his own
conscience. The majority of members Of
the House of Representatives serve too
short q term to be of service to themselves
or their constituents. The men who have
made their mark in the legislation of the
country and left the impress of their per-
s~onality upon the laws Of the land have
been men who have been developed by long
service, and who have built reputation
and influence upon the foundation Of ex-
p~erience. Pick out the leaders of any
Congress and you will find them men Of
long service. II you want to learn the
sections Of country that have most profit
ed BY national legislation and become
most powerful in national affairs, pick
out the states and sections that have
had the ablest and most experienced rep
resentatives at the national capital
Pittsbu7y Dispatch.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
Turtle E0Q H1kntinQ.

Santa Rosa Island is a sand key of the
Gulf of Mexico, forty miles long and va
rying i'm breadth from q fifth of a mile to
over a mile across. 1t is the breakwater
of Pensacola harbor, and receives the
shock of the rolling seas of the gulf,
which often break against it in fury,
while the waters of the bay within are
still as a mill pond, and scarce a ripple
washes the beach of the city front, seven
miles away, though the water at the city
Is as salt as that in the centre of the gulf.
The sea beach of the island is a gently
sloping expanse of white sand, back and
forth on which the advancing and reced7
ing waves will glide for hundreds of feet.
You can stand where nc water is one mo-
ment, and the next be struggling waist
deep against a surging wave that is
climbing up the strand. This beach is
the incubator of the great turtles of the
gulf. It's gradual incline, the easily ex-
cavated sand beyond, and the warm
southern exposure adapt it to their ap-
proach, the making of nests, and hatch
ing of their eggs. So they resort to it
for this purpose, and in due time the
young turtles are Matched, unless the eggs
are captured by the various creatures,
biped and quadruped, who seek them in
the season. From Pensacola over to the
island IS about seven miles, and as the
land breeze of the night sets fair across
the bay it is a pleasant trip of moonlight
nights to run over on assailboat, land on
the, bay shore, walk across the island
which is not a third of a mile wide OPP
posite the city, and seek for ''turtle
crawls' on the gulf beach OF battle lux
~uriously in the surf. The "crawl" shows
on the sand where the under shell has
been dragged along and following this
up to a point above the wash of the high
est waves, the nest is found, usually
about two and a half feet below the SUI
face. A single nest will contain from
100 to 800 eggs. At Sabine Pass, on
Santa Rosa Island, alligators are found
by the ten thousand, and are killed in
large numbers by hunters who frequent
the place.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
Cumulative POwer of Money.

The cumulative power of money is a
fact very generally known, but not gen
orally appreciated. There are few men
living at the age of sixty-ive, hanging on
to existence by some slender employment,
or pensioners, it may be, o. the bounty
Of kindred or friends, but might, by ex-
ercising the smallest particle of thrift,
rigidly adhered to in the past, have set
aside a respectable sum which would ma
t~erially help them to maintain their indie
pendence in their old age. Let us take
the small and insignificant sum of five
cents, which we daily pay to have our
boots BACKED, to ride in a street car a
distance we are able to walk, or to pro-
cure a bad cigar we are better without,
and see what its value is in the course of
years. We will suppose a boy of fifteen,
by backing his own boots, or saving his
car fare, or going without his cherished
cigarette, puts by five cents day. In
one year he saves 1882 which being
banked, bears interest at the rate of S
per cent. per annum, compounded BIZ
yearly. On this basis, when our
thrifty youth reaches the age of sixty-fve,
having set his five cents per day relig-
iously aside during fifty years, the result
is surprising. He has accumulated no
less a sun than So, s93.17. A scrutiny
of the progress of this result is interest
ing. At The age of thirty, hero had
1896, at forty, 1877; at fifty, s. 1857; at
sixty, Sc, a62. After Is years saving his
annual interest more than equals his origi-
nal principal; in IS years it is more than
double; in 81 years it is four times as
much; in As years it is eight times a,
much, and the last years interest is $50,
or ten and a half times as much as the an
nual amount he puts by. The actual
cash amount saved in fifty years is $912-
80, the difference between that and the
grand total of So, 1913. II, viz, ST. 9s0.67,
is accumulated interest. What a mag
niicient premium for the minimum OF
thrift that can be well represented in
fgures.--B,noklyn Eagle.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
Biz

It is remarked in connection with the
Vanderbilt charitable requests, that
Stephen Glrard left the bulk of his ST.
500, 900 estate to charities in and around
Philadelphia, and for other good purpos-
es. The Astors gave to the Astor Libra
ry 81, 000, 600; John Hopkins gave 49,
600. 900 to found a great school; Leland
Stanford SO, ooo, 900 for a similar pur-
pose; Ezra Cornell 50, 500, 900 to Cornell
University; Asa Packer So, 900, 900 to
Lehigh University ]. G. Green 81, $780,
600 to Princeton College; James Lick
81, 900, 900 in the name of benevolence,
and james Roosevelt spent ST, 00o, 900 in
founding Roosevelt Hospital in New
York. The Peabody fund, the Slate.
fund and Peter Coopor's gifts arc wei
remembered.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
Eothtng veasurea, sot1ltng aa1sed.

RotJatsag Venearea, Nothing GaasseG
Mortal here SO idly sitting,
Waiting for a better day,
While SO fast the hours are fitting,
Fitting rapidly away
Know ye not 1t Is by labor
That all blessings are attaineda
Learn thou this, and teach thy neighbor:
"Nothing vcntured, nothing gained"
Better time than now ! as never,
Or viii never, to thee comet
Now's the time for grand endeavor-
Strike the nail, and drive it home!
Strike the blow whose echoes ringing
Shall be heard across the land
Blow by blow, that shall be bringing
Benefit from out thy hand!
Be deceived,not, If thy brother
Tell thee of to-morrow's cheer;
Do not heed him, for another
Day may come and thou not here.
Stepby step go on and upward,
Day by day new heights attained;
Unto him who dares is given
Nothing ventured, nothing gainedr,
By Helen A. ManriUc in Our Youth.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
.sa,.staru Precaatton on the Rau.

brakeman, " inquired the fat passen-
ger who rolled and lolled around over
two seats near the stove, why do you
keep this car so ALFRED hot2a
That's the orders, SIR replied the
brakeman, glancing at the crowded seats
across the aisle, that's orders. You see,
there's heap Of triekiny il the country,
now, an our orders il to cook the hogs 50
the company won't have no damages to
pay to passengers what catch 'em-Ghi-
cage Herald.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06

was an entertaining tale that summed up
the career of this young mana career at
sea, in western mines, and elsewhere.
tinged with adventurous experience.
Since he had been old enough to earn a
penny he had boarded it sacredly, he
said, to obey his mothers dying lnJunc-
ton to pay back what his father had
taken. Once he had almost completed
the sum required, when bad luck forced
its utter loss, but he had not failed to
| pluck up courage anew, and cent by
cent, dollar by dollar, he began a new &C
emulation, and now he was come to New
York finally to wipe out the "debt,"
principal and interest. Fo" some
years past he had been q railway en-
gineer on a Western road. A few months
ago a bit of bravery mere nothing, so
he averred-won him the gratitude of
passengers on his express train, who, but
for the risk he took upon himself, might
all have been killed; their appreciation
had been shown by a well-flled purse of
of money, and later by a handsome watch
with an inscription testifying to his
bravery and devotion. He had now com
East bringing the contents of that purse,
his OWE savings, and that watch to give
them all to Mr.. Sage, asking only that
the watch should be held for a little while
till further savings should be accumulated
to buy it back. The debt was paid now
in full. If mothers who are dead can
still know of the good that their children
do, there was exa!tation in one angels
heart that day. as the two men, ~soulless
millionaire and fathcrless engineer, sat
and talked by the window where the
early falling shadows yelled quickly the
harsh, begrimed stones Of old Trinity's
churchyard just beneath.
81 have a sweetheart, said the young
er man, ''but till l had paid you what
belonged to you I could never think Of
marrying" -
Couldn't you 2" said the other, half
musingly. "Boy, you had a good
mother; for her sake I want to make you
a little present" There was a tremor in
the voice of the man whom the world has
learned to call hard there was a fevor
almost boyish in the handclasp that he
gave the rougher hand of his visitor;
and then with an air that had resolution
in it the roll that a little while before had
been laid upon his desk he picked UP
and jammed down deep into the over
coat pocket of his old clerks son
damned it SO hard that the cheap and
well worn materials of that overcoat
seemed almost ready to give way into
tatters.
It does me good to write & story o.
of this sort of Russell Sage. The very
novelty of it is pleasing. His Wall
street training has net tended to develop
ovtrmu h generosity in his nature; men
have never arraigned him as a spend
thrift; but here once-spasmodically at
least-he has acted the part of a man
with a heart-Nep York Times.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
PoCer of an ocean Wave.

In a paper by the Rev Phillip Neale,
late British Chaplain at Batavia, in Leis-
ure Hour, speaking of the great inunda-
ton from the sea caused by the Krakatoa
earthquake, Java, he says: zone of the
most remarkable facts concerning the
inundation remains to be told. AS we
walked or scrambled along, we were
much surprised to find great masses of
white coral lying at the side of III path
in every direction. Some of these were
of immense size, and had been cast up
more than two or three miles from the
seashore. It was evident, as they were
of coral formation, that these immense
blocks of solid rock had been torn up
from their ocean bed in the midst of the
sunda Straits, borne inland by the gigan-
tic wave, and finally left on the land sew,
eral miles from the shore. Any n who
had not seen the sight would scarcely
credit the story. The feat seems almost
an impossible one. How these great
masses could have been carried SO far into
the interior is a mystery, and bears out
what I have said in previous papers as to
the height of this terrible wav Many
of these rocks were from twenty to thirty
tons in weight, and some of the largest
must have been nearly double. Lloyd's
agent, who was with me, agreed in think
ing that we could not be mistaken if we
put down the largest block of coral rock
that we passed as weighing not less than
ffty tons.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
"Had Badaes On,v

"Want your sidewalk cleared off," he
asked of a citizen of Woodward avenue.
Just gotta man.
'Haye any badges on2n'
Il believe he has five or SIX"
"Then let him keep the job. I'm a
tramp and hard-up, but them roller
skating champions has got to earn a liv-
ing somehow, and I'm not the man to.
stand in their way. They are entitled to
public sympathy and assistaace.-Detroit
Free Press.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06

Paper rails are made iis Russia. They
are longer than 81 Iinary rails, and sailte
havc 4 grcafcr adhcsivcrless III contact
with locomotive wheels,
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
Al Reward Of s5O..Fiftv Dollars

> by the Central st. L1niry Protective
Il Lave Stock ASS I%ciatoI. for evidea; e that will lead
TO ms apprehension and conviction Of any ps7sors
guilty OF stealing horses or cattle bslonsiag to any
member of said Association. A recor ! of the brands
OF members of the Association may be sect at the
house OF the Secretary. Jno. NJ. Ware. in Bellevue. Or
at the Clerks Office in Opalousas.
j. E. SHUrE. JNO. NJ. WARE, Secs.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-03-06
LOUIS PucHEu.

TAEALER in Groceries and Provisions, HlrdWars.
I Tlnwara. Glassware, Crocker;wIre, Graait=wss,
Fresh and Pre- served Fruits, Je!lies. ANS, ct; Paints
Oiis. heatlns Stoves. a Id tine cell 'br!tea Charter OAK
Refreshmens Saloon adj ,i8ilg, ~conplet IL stocked
With the best and purest of liquors. Also BEER on :
ICE. sS Highest mlrks: prizes paid fr HID IS, Hog,
Poultry, &c, ami all Country Produ &c.
Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-06-10

AN OYSTER WHIPS a DUCK.-A rough
and tumble combat between wild duck
and an oyster occurred here the other day.
The duck was large and full grown one
that had recently come down from the
North to enjoy our winter climate. It was
of the diving species, which inhabit the bays
till the spring, when they return North.
When tho oyster feeds it opens its she'll
wide till the full oyster is plainly visible. A
sight of such morsel was too much for the
duck. He made headlong plunge, and in
serting his bill between the oysters open
shell. Like fash and with the power of q
wise, the she'll closed on the ducks beak.
Then came the struggle for life. The oyster,
which was quite O large one, was dragged
from its bed. with three smaller ones cling
ing to it, the cluster being heavy enough to
keep the ducks head under water. In this
way the duck drowned. Its buoyancy was
sufficient to float with the oysters, and thus
drifted near the dock, where it was captur.
ed. When taken out of the water the ami
NAL heat had not left the duck. The oyster
still clung TO the ducks beak.-C0rpus
Christi (1er.) Caller.