davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Convfcts Whinss,

f'The boys adopt various methods for
passing away the time, remarked q state
prison officer. "Chicken WEIGH, who
with three other prisoners, escaped from
the institution last summer by scaling
the roof of tho south wing, but was cap
tured, has hit upon an idea which ap.
parently interests him greatly. He is
initiating Harry Jennings and is raising
rats. He has got about half a dozen at
present. It is amusing to see him as he
passes to and from his cell t o the shop
where the men stay during the day. His
rodent companions, which are quite
large, put their heads out of his pockets
and if there is no one very near they will
run up on his shoulder, and even on top
of his head. They are very tame and
seem to afectionately regard tho con.
Wet, who is certainly proud of his pets.
He is learning them to perform several
interesting feats.
when Harry Jennings was a resi-
dent of the institution, under Warden
Haynes, he bred mice, and had at on
time in the cellar, under the clerks
Office, about 400 of these little creatures,
some of which were white, some black.
some brown and some a mixture of these
colors. Descendants Of Jennings mice
are quite numerous in the prison, not q
few of the convicts having one or two
specimens. The men enjoy the com
partnership of these vermin and prize
them highly. The prisoners, however,
who are the fortunate possessors Of
canary birds do not take kindly to the
mice.-Rosf0n Gl0Be
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS

4 number of European botanists have
had reason to belive that the seeds OF
many New Zealand plants will not ger
inmate readily until after they have
been frozen. The same curious obser-
walton has been made in relation to
Himalayan seeds.
Bees are said to have such a antipathy
to dark-colored objects that black
chickens have been stung TO death while
the white ones Of the same brood arc I'M
touched, and a man in a black plug hat
is rarely stung on account of the atten-
zion the bees give to the hat.
A deposit Of mineral paint at Clifton,
| Tenn, is thought to be the largest in
the world. 1t is said to be oily, OF a
| Venetian red color, AMI that it is better
| for iron or tin roofs than lcac, as 1T
| sticks better. 1t is believed that several
million tons can be mined at a cost of 80
cents per ton.
Thunder showers arc believed to be
fruitful sources of fertility, and serve to
hasten the growth of vegetation with
wonderful rapidity. This is doubtless
due to the nitric acid produced by the
currents of electricity passing through
the air. The explosions are thought to
cause a chemical combination of the
oxygen and nitrogen of the air, which
results in nitric acid.
Magnesium, which has more than once
been abandoned as a S URGE of light, ar-
pears likely to be employed again, a pro-
cess having been discovered for producing
pure magnesium by electrolysis, and at a
price much less than that at which it
was formerly obtainable. At the works
in Bremen, where the manufacture of
magnesium is carried on, prizes are offer
ed for the construction of the best a
nesium lamps having clockwork move
ment.
In order to learn why there is so much
sulphur in stone coal, and so little free
alkaline carbonates in the ashes, M.
Dieu!efait has Analysed the surviving
species of the families OF coal plants,
particularly the E~quisetacee, and has
found in them an unusually large pro-
portion of sulphuric acid. He concludes,
therefore, that the coal plants were more
highly charged with sulphur than most
existing plants, and that for that reason
their alkaline constituents assumed the
forms of sulphates instead of carbonates.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Resources of the Frontier Editor.

az was showed in once at Bristol, q
little station ON the Northern Pacific"
said a man from Cincinnati to q st.
Louis Globe reporter. SIT was in the
winter of 1886. We were there about
five days. We had plenty to eat, as if
was, but were all anxious to get some.
thing to read. The large majority oil
passengers on the train were men, and
We all wanted a late daily paper, but we
could not get it for love or money.
There was a little weekly paper pub
lished at Bristol, and it tried to fill the
want. The first day of the snow block
ade the weekly paper was issued, and
nearly every on the train took one.
suppose the paper had a larger circula-
ton at that time than it has had since
or ever had before. The editor, pro-
prietor, reporter, all in one, was a wide
awake fellow. He saw hat there was a
demand for a daily paper, s. he got one
out every day during our stay. He
came down and got our names and resi-.
dences aud published them. This of
course, made the paper sell. The next
day he got something of our histories
and wrote them up. The next day ha
wrote up how we passed the time. By
this time he had exhausted all his white
paper. He didn't give up. Not much.
You don't find a newspaper in the north.
west that will give up for such little
tri1es as that. He went out and got
some brown paper used in tying up bun
dies at the grocery store, and printed his
edition on that. He got all the brown
paper and wrapping paper in town, and
went for the wall paper and printed his
last edition on that. We bought the
paper every day, more as little souvenirs
of the snow blockade than for anything
else, although | think Tread everything
that was printed, from a recipe of cook
les to the legal notices about presumption
of certain tracts of land. When VIC got
out of town he resumed his weekly
ISSUE"
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Sometime.

6OhVOSIHVCs
Wei, ssther you or ],
After whatever is to say is said,
Must see the other die
Or hear through distance Of the other
dead
Sometime.
And you or I must hide
Poor empty eyes, and faces wan and wet,
With life's great grief, beside
The others coffin, sealed with silence, yet
Sometime.
And you or I must look
Into the others grave, or far or near,
And read, as in q book
Writ in the dust, words we made bitter
here
Sometime.
Oh! fast, fast friend of mine!
Lift up the voice / love so much, and warn;
To wiring faint hands and pine,
Tell me I may be left f~orlorn, forlorn,
Sometime.
Say yo1 may think with pain
OF some slight grace, some timid wish to
please,
Some eager look, half vain.
Into your heart some broken sobs like
these,
Sometime.
IS. M B. Piatt.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Lincoln

"Halstin" says in the New York Times,
An autograph letter that / would like tt
W was shown lie a few days ago. "A.
Lincoln was boldly signed at tho enc o.
it, and this wisdom was there. para.
graphed in this wise:
'Do not worry.
Eat three square meals a day.
Say your prayers.
"Think of your wife.
BE courteous to your creditors.
keep your digestion good.
'sSteer clear of the b~iliousness.
Exercise.
go slow and go easy.
Maybe there are other things tina,
'jour especial case requires to make you
happy, but, my friend, these, / reckon,
will give you a good lift.n
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
The Streets of Canton.

Writing about Canton, China, W. T.
Hornaday says in the Cosmopolitan: The
city is all on the groEnd, OF at the very
most, it will not average more than .
story and a half in height. Where the
shops are thickest, each square is an n
broken succession of wide doorways;
for of every shop the whole end next to
the street takes out bodily. From one
| street corner to the next, there is only a
succession, of open-ended rooms and par
! tition walls, with dark, narrow passages
| thrown in here and there. There Is no
| architecture visible, for the houses are so
iammed together that it is impossible to
single out any one in particular without
| climbing on the roof to see how much it
covers.
If this is not a street in Wonderland it
might as well be. 1t is only about eight
feet wide, and many are less. The caves
of the houses on each side project a quar-
ter or a third of the way across the street,
and the remaining third in the middle is
very often loosely covered over with
boards placed crosswise. When the sun
is shining the streets are light enough,
but in rainy or cloudy weather they are
very dark and gloomy, and the peculiar
twilight effect only adds another element
of strangeness to the scene. Thank
goodness, the streets are well paved with
smooth, granite fagstones, one foot by
three, and being kept very clean, there is
no mud to plod through, even when it
rains. Pedestrianism is the order of the
day. There are ne carriages, carts,
drays, big freight wagons, %omnibuses, or
street cars to run over you, if you fail to
get out of the way; for all tie freight is
carried by coolies.
Now and then, however, your wool
gathering is disturbed by o stir and loud
shouting a little way down the street,
and you see the crowd parting to right
and left. Then you know there is a sedan
chair coming and you take shelter be-
hind q sign board, or in a friendly door
way, or fattcn yourself against a wall
until the peripatetic nuisance has gone
by. But the streets are so narrow that
chairs are not very often used. They
may move too slowly it takes too much
shouting to clear the way, and when
two meet in a narrow thoroughfare one
has to be side-tracked before the other
can get by. The use of the chair, there
fore, is confined to lazy merchants and
| officers, weak women and swell Euro
peans. For my part, I would not do
| Canton in a sedan chair if / could have
a whole set for nothing.
But there is one drawback to pedes-
trianism. As you pass along you are
| obliged to be on the alert to keep from
coming into collision with half-naked
coolies, carrying all sorts of loads. All
loads are carried in the same way; every
~schoolboy knows it, so I will not stop to
describe it. No matter where you go,
you can be certain that every few minutes
one of these coolies will come putting
and shutting along at a dog trot, shout
ing every few steps to those in front of
him to "clear the track, " his load spring
ing up and down, and his bamboo lattice
creaking rhythmically at every step.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Oat2. Grent Attenuation.

Ponsonby-Whatl no fishing or boat
ing.
Proprietor Of Humpback house-Nary.
mo bathing, Of couse9'
Certainly not. !
guess 4 won't stay. You haven't
single attraction.
ssYes, I have. There's i girl stopping
here who's worth half . million. She
II all alone and-
Give Ine ! roonlon h bird Aoor.
laahiIade pAia eaN.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13

would give you more than s dirne, 7
saida kindly old gentleman 40 i tramp,
but Ihave nothing smaller than j fye
dollar bEll. Have you any little cnes,
ny friendfn
air + hare 4 tow httla one and
tvo doIlar bills. III break ths fve 81
you. -lFsm Fri san.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
A 1s.ife Sensitive.

Aigy-Do you think, my love, your
father will consent to u marriagei
Angely-of course papa viii be yer,
sorry to lose me, darling.
Algy-But | will say to him that in
stead of losing a daughter he viii gain :
son.
Angelyl wouldn't do that, love, i
y'on really wan me. Papa has three
such sons boarding hcro now and he's 1
little touchy on the pt.nt.-Iid-Bhs.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Scottish Bair,.,s goodnight Prayer.

Scottish Bairp,'s Goodnight Prayer
Mrs. Donald Collyer writes from Abcr.
aecn to tell how the children of Scot
land repeat their Nov lay ms'-
This night, when I lie down to sleep,
gle my soul to 1hrist to keep,
wake a'noo, 1 wake a. never,
gl'emY soul TO CHI st forever.
Brooklyn Magaxine.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
Not a Heaau Wesobt

Bill Collector-You told me TO call
to-day, sir
Man of the House-stohi yes, yes, GER
tainly;; quite forgot about it. Wonder
what did with my pocket book Dick,
I laid my pocket-book down on this
table . few minutes ago. Did you see
it2''
Little Dick-aYes, pop; 1t blew out
OF the window. Omaha World.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
AReward Of s5O..Flfty Dollars

rs by the Central st. Landry Protective
Il Live Stock Association, for evidence that will lead
to the apprehension and conviction of any persons
guilty of cutting wire fences or stealing horses or cat
tie belonging to any member of said Association. A
record of the brands of members of the Association
may be seen at the house of the Secretary. Jno. M.
Ware. in Bellevue, or at the Clerks oficeia Opelousas.
L. Z. SHUTE, JNO. M. WARE, Sec'y.
prosst o1Iz
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
ST. MARY'S ACADEMY,

OPELOUSAS, LA.
The course of instruction in this Institution embraces
English. French. Latin, Greek, Arithmetic. Algebra.
1ieemetry. Bookkeeping, Natural Sciences. HigtorJ,
Geography, PenmanshiD, and great care is bestowed
on Christian Instruction.
TERMs;-Board and tuition per month Sl5; Day
Scholars per month, 50. S3 or S4, according to class.
Glasses are resumed on Wednesday. September 18th.
1886. REV. =. RA9MoND, ". d.,
HENRY e.. LEWIS,
Aug. 90. 1885. a. BLANC DUQUEsNAY.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
OPElOvsAs FEMALE INSTITUTE.

O~peIousas st. Landry Parish, La.
HyHIS Institution will resume duties Monday, Sep
TEMPER 6th, 1886, under the immediate supervision
Of Mrs. M. NJ. Hayes and Mrs. NJ. A. Davis, wNh
competent assistants. The scholastic year consists Of
forty weeks.
TERMS OF TUITION:
Preparatory Department, per month. ......-...sa.a
Academic .-........ 800
Music. with use of piano ........., 500
Boarding, including washing. light and fuel. -. Is %
Embroidery. wax flowers, %paintiog, drawing, "a
each, '-.t lusa
DISCIPLINE: $40
The government of this school is strict but parental:
no hard tasks or restrictions are imposed, but ever
student must comply with the rules, and must prepare
mn to he measure of her ability, the lessons assigned.
Our course of study and mode of instruction are 10
train the mind to habits of correct think ing and tho.
o1eh investigation. No student will be allowed to en-
tar higher classes without thorough preparation. Pa
rents and guardians may rest assured that the manners,
heaIth and morals of the children and wards shall re.
eeive due attention.
ed Illness, The location of ths town is heaithful and
easy of access. The boarding department is under the
immediate charge of Mrs. Hayes. Boarders will pro-
vide themselves with blankets and towels. For par.
ticulars address yrs
iuly 1888 nov 27'79. Principal.
The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13

a shower Of frogs fell recently 1T Big
Flat, Gal,
The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-01-07
HEALTH AND DRESS,
some Wholesome Hints In Regard to the
Healthful Adjustment of Garments.

Some Wholesome Hints In Regard to the
Healthful Adjustment of Garments.
As every properly constructed build
ing must have a good foundation, SC
should the superstructure of woman's
dress be erected upon well-fitting under.
garments. To attain this, the time
honored ''chemise' must hS abolished,
and its place supplied with garments
that fit closely, but easily, the figure.
They should be all supported from the
shoulders, either by being made in
combination suit" as vest and drawers
all in one garment are called; or, if the
drawers are separate, they should be
supported by strap fastened to the
wastband in front, and about four
inches above the band be divided into
two straps passing over each shoulder
and buttOning to the waistband In the
back. Over this should be worn gar
ment, for which no adequate name has
yet been invented, although some call it
"chcmiloon," 1t is a muslin bodice,
made by the wearer's basque pattern, to
insure good fit. About four inches be-
low the waist is sewed on a short, mar
row skirt, and the joining of these is
covered by narrow bias fold, in which
seven or eight buttons are sewed at reg
ular distances apart in which to button
all the petticoats, which must be regu-
lated in length, and put on to narrow
yoke. The basque may extend an inch
or two below the bias fold, under the
skirt, making a space on which buttors
may be sewed, on which to button tire
muslin drawers, unless a second waist 10
preferred for this special purpose. This
chemiloon may have very short, we'll
fitting sleeves, and be cut square in the
neck and made as pretty as its owner
pleases. BY its use, those who desire
may dispense with corsets. The stock
.ngs should be suspended also from this
waist by carriers that button on to it with
clasps to hold up the stockings Every
iress skirt, too, with its heavy drapings
and plaitings, should be supported by
The shoulders, by means of suspenders.
Other general rules for beauty in
1ress are now, we think, so generally
understood as hardly to need repetition.
lark, close-titting dresses, with flai
Il llliIlIliSS WulAc Il very SlcuucE uSuIe
,an wear pulled or gathered plastrons,
and bouffant drapery; and that a tall
person should not wear perpendicular
trimmings, nor short person horizontal
ones.
True economy demands that good
materials should be used, especially for
outdoor wear, and it is best, also, to
buy as few dresses as possible each sea-
son, as they soon grow old-fashioned,
and it will involve expense and trouble
to have them remodeled. Those who
have but few dresses are wise when they
have these few inconspicuous in color
or make, so that they will not be re-
membcred. A black silk will pass un.
recognized as an old friend, oftener than
any other, and since they are now lower
priced than ever before within the mem.
DRY of women, they are within the reach
of those even of moderate means. Hand.
some petticoats may be made out of old
silk or cloth dresses that have served
their term of usefulness as dresses
Philadelphia Press.
The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-01-07
HOME AND FARM.


--"wigglers" and other vermin In
cisterns may be destroyed BY keeping
minnows therein.
Experience, says Q writer in Hons
AMI Farm, might convince every self
observer that few other luxuries can be
cnioved with as much impunity as fresh
ripe fruit.
Beef Tea: Cut lean beef into small
pieces, and put into a jar, covering
closely. Set the jar in kettle of cold
water, bring gradually to a boil, and
continue until all the juice is extracted
from the meat This will require sew
eral hours. Season to taste.-C0Hdgs
Hearth.
This "cake will keep for a week II
not eaten" One pound of powdered
sugar. half pound of butter creamed
with it, ten ounces of flour mixed with
the butter and sugar, one grated nut
meg or the grated rind of lemon; then
add eight eggs, the yolks and whites
beaten separately. Bake in a moderate
oven one hour and hall. Cleveland
Ledder.
Try this old recipe for apple fritters.
One quart of milk, three well-beateD
eggs and enough flour to make batter.
Core and pare twelve large apples,
mince finely and mix with the batter.
Have pan of boiling lard and drop the
batter into the lard with tablespoon,
frying in the same manner as dough.
nuts. Serve hot, and eat with any acid
sauce. -IndidndpoliS Sentinel.
The farmer who has any desire to
economic should never forget that COM
mercial fertilizers are to be reSorted to
only when the home supply fails to fur
niSh enough; and also that because he is
able ut all times to get in the market
whatever amount of fertilizers he may
desire, it does not justify him in permit
ting anything to be wasted on the farm
that can be made to take the place Of
the fertilizers he can buy.-N Il. Farm
e..
Among the new inventions for
kitchen use is cake cooler, wire mat
which is lifted up on several small feet,
and which allows the air to pass all
around the cake and keep it from grow
ing "soggy' while cooling. A sink
cleaner is blade of rubber set in a
handle, and serves most usefully to
scrape out the sides of the sink. A
small, hard brush for scrubbing vegeta-
bles that are to be boiled in their skins
is useful. Boston Globe.
The following is said to be the
method followed by hatters in smooth.
ing silk hats which have been roughened
by rain. Sponge the hat all over, or in
parts, as it may need, with a nice, rath.
or fine, medium-sized sponge, wrung
out of cold or warm water, following
the nap, of course. Leave it in an ordi-
nary temperature out Of dust for twelve
hours to dry. Then brush as ordinarily
with nice hat brush, and wipe round
with an old silk handkerchief, and the
sorricst-looking old hat (not dented)
will come out again as fresh as new
N. Y. Mail.
The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-01-07
AN HISTORICAL CLOCK.
Once Owned by John Knox, the Great
Scotch Reformer.
Huntington tpa.l speclal.1

Huntington (Pa) Special
Not alone on account of its intrinsic
worth. but owing to its historical value
W. II. Woods, of this city, has in his pos
session a clock that would command per-
haps as high figure as any other time
piece in the country. 1t was built at Pals
ley, Scotland, by Evan. Skeoch in 1860, and
was owned by John Knox, the great Scot.
fish reformer. from whom Mr.. Woods de-
sends lineally. John Knox died in 1872.
His big eight-day clock was handed down
to his family for nearly hundred and fifty
years, when it finally came into the hands
OF John Witherspoon, father of one of the
sgnars of the Declaration of Independence.
When John Witherspoon, the son, left
Scotland in 11GS to take charge
of Princeton College, he brought the old
heirloom with him, and when he was elect
ed to the Continental Congress the old
timepiece was ticking in his parlor and
indicated the hour of his departure
in time to transact his patriotic du-
ties. DR., Witherspoon priced the clock
very highly. He cleaned it himself at
regular intervals, and took pleasure in
showing it to his friends and the men,
bers of Congress.
When he died he requested that it should
remain in his family and descend to
the first born of succeeding generations.
At the death of Dr.. Witherspoon, which
occurred in 1874, tho clock came into the
possession of his daughter, Marion, who
subsequently married the Rev. DR.. Jas.
S. Woods, of Lewistown, this State, who
died in 1862. At the death of Mrs. Woods,
shortly after, the clock came into the pos
session of the present owner, w. H.
Woods, in whose parlor it now stands.
The clock is still a good timekeeper,
eight feet high, built of rosewood, with
works of brass. Mr.. Woods was urged to
| place the clock on exhibition at the Cen
tennial, but refused to let it be taken from
! the house.
The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-01-07
A Wise Statute.

The Board of Trustees of Cornell
University have passed university
statute whereby every professor who
shall have served seven years at the in
stitution may have a years vacation
ON half-pay, This action can not fail
to result in great good to the cause of
education. 1t is a declaration of body
of business men that the efficient teacher
is not only worthy of his hire, but that
he must not be worn out in the tread
mill of the lecture-room; that he is, in
short, worth preserving. 1t is recog-
milton of the teachers dignity and inn
portancc that can not fail to have its eff
feet upon the profession generally
Current.