davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
Dead Before the Knife Fell.

At the execution of the murderer
Gagny, at Troyes, France, recently, an
incident took place the like of which had
never before been witnessed in France.
The condemned man, during his trial and
final imprisonment, did not evince the
least fear. When, on the morning Of the
fatal day, he was reused from sleep and
informed that his hour was come, he re-
ceived the intelligence quite calmly. He
arose, attended to his last religious
duties, ate a hearty breakfast, had his
''toilet" made, asked for good glass of
brandy, and said he was ready to 60.
He walked between his attendants with
a firm step and look of courage, almost
of defiance. But when he came in front
of the ghastly instrument of death and
glanced up at it, he was noticed to blanch
or turn almost white. At the same time
his body became inert. He was lifted on
the bascule, where he lay for twenty-five
awful seconds before the knife fell.
Meantime he did not stir. When the
head was separated from the body it was
noticed the blood did not squirt eight or
nine feet, as it does in such cases. When
the attending physicians were given
charge of the Eody. they found the heart
had filled with coagulated blood. This
they explained by the fact that when
Gagny looked at the machine and turned
suddenly white, his heart ceased action
and did not resume after. He was dead
before the knife touched him.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
The Grocer's New Boy.

A Michigan avenue grocer took on a
new boy the other day, and when it came
noon he catechised the lad as to the
price of butter, sugar, eggs, clothes-pins
and other articles which might be called
for and went home to dinner feeling that
the boy was all right. When he re-
turned, after an hour, he missed barrel
of -four and asked what had become of it.
'Sold it'll" was the proud reply.
"For cash9"
"No; the man said he had an account
here"
"The dead-beat! He took advantage
of you'll"
''Oh, no, he didn't. He said he
couldn't wait for US to deliver it, and he
rolled it out the back way and went after
wagon to take it off. Oh, no-he
didn't beat US any"
"But the flour is gone"
"Yes, but while this fellow was after q
wagon another man came along and stole
the barrel and got away with it! I'd like
to see anybody take advantage of me!"-
Free Press.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
Life Studies, by Lige Brown.

Be cheerful and you are bound to
be healthy. The despairing patient is
the one who dies.
Hope is a guideboard that is always
pointing to pleasant pathway through
grove and meadow.
Somebody has invented woman's hat
that shuts up, but the woman herself still
continues otherwise.
An exchange has department headed
"Woman's Talk" It crowds out good
share of the advertiser nts.
The man who thou sht that an editors
work was "nothing more than write" !"
found he was wrong when he tried it.
It has been observed by the men who
browse on the dry fodder of statistics,
that the English could sparrow few
more of their birds.
Alligator hides are worth seventy-fve
cents each in Louis lana. This significant
fact explains why tramps are seldom seen
so far south.
To certain extent we all profit by
each others misfortunes, but the man
who tells a woman that her babe is not
pretty is liable to 60 home with bleed
ing scalp.
Why it is that an ordinary woman has
more music in the neighbcrhood o. her
under jaw than a blacksmith has in both
arms, is one of the things that science
has never undertaken to explain.
Somebody who has been digging down
into the hard-pan of language, claims
that the original meaning of the word
editor was ito eat" but in the pinching
present it means ito starve" in good
many localities that blind horse might
stray into.
Every man who discovers previously
unknown fact is benefactor to his race,
and adds to the mental wealth of the
world, unless his discovery is the newt
able result of blowing into the muzzle of
shotgun to find out how much vacancy
it contains.
Bagdad is place of over 100, 900 in
habitants, and yet it has no place Of pub
lie amusement, and the women folk never
talk about each other. If human nature
is the same the world over, what god
send dog fight must be among the
Bag dadians. Chicago Ledger.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
He Talked Too Much.

"These building associations may be
good things" said a man loaing about
the station, "and they may teach man
to save his money, and enable him to get
something ahead, and to build a house
of his own, but 1 don't think need any
building association in mine. A year
ago last August I took my present posi-
tion. I hadn't a dollar to my name,
then. Now I have nice house and lot,
all paid for, and money in the bank, and
I haven't been very economical either"
"And what position do you hold2" in
quired solid-looking man.
"My position2 Oh, I'm conductor
on this road. You say you're in the rail-
road business too, eha Conductora"
"No."
''Engineer9'" ..s...5
"No."
"What Them"
ooh, I'm one of the directors of this
company. Your name, please. ."-Psck's
Sun.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
He'd Choose to be a Baby.

The following story was told at the
recent encampment of the grand army at
Mexico, Missouri. A group around one
of the numerous camp fires were relating
incidents of bravery and cowardice
shown in battle, and this is one of them ::
'It was at the battle of Gettysburg, !"
said the speaker, "when the bullets were
falling like hail, and the shells were q
shrieking and bursting over our heads in
q way to make the bravest heart tremble,
private dropped out of the ranks and
shulked back toward the rear. He. was
we'll under way, when, unfortunately for
him, he was met by General Slocum
coming to the front.
what are you doing here3 Get
back to your post the general shouted.
"The poor fellow stopped still and
trembled like leaf, but made no reply.
''Get back to your post, you miserable
coward; aren't you ashamed of yourself
to be skulking back here when you
should be in the front with your brave
comrades2"
''Still the man made no reply, but
commenced to cry like year-old infant:
"'You infamous, sneaking coward.
shouted the infuriated general,
get back to your post; I'll ride you
down like dog. Why, you are nothing
but baby 1.
"I-I-Tll t-t-t-tell you what, g-g.gener-
all said the blubbering fellow, I'D
g-g-g-give anything just n-n-now If l
was a b-b-baby, and i-i-f 1 had my
ch-ch-choice I'd r.r-rather be female
b-b-b- baby"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
The Stomach.

The walls of the stomach are thin and
elastic, and may be temporarily dilated
by overmuch food, or by gas generated
by the decomposition of food. A dilsted
stomach, crowding against a heart enfee-
bled by fatty degeneration, OF by any
other cause, may so far hinder the action
of the latter as to result in sudden
death.
But the stomach may become pernla-
nently dilated, and enormously so. In
the latter case, the two openings-the
entrance and the exit-may be so affected
as to make it difficult for it to eject food
into the intestines. xxx.
The muscular walls of dilated stom-
ach are weakened. This causes the
food to remain too long in it-sometimes
several days. The food thus retained
decomposes into number of irritating
acids and annoying gases. The worst
forms of dyspepsia result.
Such dilatation may be due to a dis
eased narrowing of the pylorus the
opening by which the food passes from
the stomach-or to its obstruction by
tumors of various kinds, thus hindering
the passage of the food through it. Or
the coats of the stomach may have be-
come weakened by disease; or the nerves
of the stomach, on which its peristaltic
action depends, may have lost their nor
NAL irrits5ility. .+x
Habitual oyereating also causes this
dilatation. All persons are liable to it
who overload their stomachs with either
food or liquids, especially with beer.
clearest evidence of dilatation is the ha
bitual retention of food in the stomach
over night. ~ .''
Tis dilataion is faequent in children,
especially among those fed artifcially.
But it Is not confined to them. Many
mothers nurse their children at night
almyst continuously. Such infants have
good appetites-for their food does not
duly nourish them-but they are badly
troubled with indigestion, colo, and
diarrhea. Their abdomens are distended.
The only relief is in more proper feed
ing.
It is the same with adults, though the
muscular tone of the stomach may be
strengthened by tonics. The worst cases
require the doctor.-YoutHs Companion.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
tive houses and almost beggar themselves
in entertaining their friends from q dis
tance.--New York HeraI.
Silk Culture,

Professor Riley, chief of the entomo-
logical division, department of agricul-
ture, hitherto supposed to have been en-
thusiastic in regard to the profits of silk
culture in the United States, in recent
issue of the Rural New Yorker says:
The experience of the experiment sta
tions, both at Philadelphia and New
Orleans, run under the auspicies of the
department of agriculture to test the
question of profit, has not been very en-
couraging the last year. The actual cost
at Philadelphia for producing pound of
silk has been $7.58, while the silk has
brought $40 per pound At New Or
leans there is better showing; 3, $50
pounds of dried cocoons have been OBJ
tanned, and have brought on an average
81 per pound; 2,710 pounds have already
heen reeled, and have produced GAL
pounds of reeled silk, which has
sold at $3.50 per pound. For labor
employed in making this reeled
silk the cost has been $1.75 per pound;
in other words, the silk reeled has cost
$6.07, and has brought but $3.50. There
has recently been decided rise in the
price of reeled silk, which would put
different showing on the above figures,
and it must be remembered that the gen.
cral expense in purely experimental work
is always heavy because under CONNER
cial circumstances there is some income
from silk waste which is not here in
cluded. I have rather discouraged than
encouraged this industry for the last
three years, because am thoroughly con-
vinced that the majority of those who
engage in 1t are doomed to disappoint-
ment
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
Her Royal Spouse's Beard.

The lovely Queen Margherita, of Italy,
is at present in painful trouble on account
of her royal spousc's beard. About a
year ago it began to turn gray. This
was to bad, as his majesty is only forty
wears old, and, in the eyes of her
majesty, the handsomest man in Italy.
She purchased bottle of patent hair re-
storer, and ordered his majesty to use it.
King Humbert demurred, but as the
Queen insisted, he first took the prccau-
tion to apply it to the ears of one OF his
hounds. When the queen asked next
morning if his majesty had used her
remedy, King Humbert begged her to
apply it to her pet parrot, and let him
know the result next day. Her majesty
took the bottle and left the room, but
has not mentioned the subject since.
The kings beard is now almost white.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
The BabY'S HOrOScODe.

Believers in astrology and fortune-tell.
ing of all kinds will find it little diff
cult to explain the cause of slight mis-
take made by Johannes Schooner, a
jealous astrologer of the Sixteenth
century. While on journey, Schooner
put up at the house of friend, where ne
saw the youngest child of the latter, aged
two years, lying asleep in its cradle.
Schooner Immediately sat down and drew
up the baby's horoscope. "He will be a
great man, gallant warrior, and, like
his father, will attain to high rank and
dignity" was the result of the astrolo-
gers profound meditation. The father
glanced at the paper, gave an embarrassed
little cough, and said, "Why-why, Jo-
hannes, the child is a girl!"-Youths
ConaDani0n
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.

The present alphabet, in the course Of
centuries, grew from the original twenty
two signs Of the Phenicians.
The finest screws used in watch have
$50 threads to the inch, but screws with
500 threads to the inch can be cut. It
takes IA, 900 watch screws to weigh a
pound. .........@ -.
The horses of the Numidians and soma
of the northern nations were in ancient
times so docile and we'll broken that they
could be managed by the voice, without
rein or bit. '... '1 ,.Fe"l III
Harry Brownlee, of Adair county,
Iowa, has eaten twenty three big cucum-
Der pickles in four minutes, and there
fore claims to be the champion pickle
eater Of the State. .. .''''"
Cathay was the name that Marco Polo
applied to China when he visited it in
the thirteenth century in the employ of
the khan of Tartary. Columbus expected
to find this land by sailing westward from
Spain. -. '.3 ~. ::.s, .].,S
An ordinary freight car holds ninety
barrels of -four; $40 bushels of wheat;
200 sacks of -four; 430 bushels Of pota-
toes; 5000 feet of lumber; and unless
you keep sharp lookout, from one to
half dozen tramps. ..% ,h,.:s. :.., j,
There was sort of prison and place
of correction attached to the farms and
villas of the Romans, in which those of
the slave family who were kept in fet-
ters were lodged and made to work in
irons; whereas the rest, who were not
chained, were provided with separate
accommodations in another part Of the es-
tablishment. ....,. -.., -. 80, 80, 8.
A microscopic slide in the possession
OF the Manchester Philosophical and Lit
erary society, in England, contains the
Lords prayer written within the 400,
000th part of an inch. The minute speck
can be found with powerful microscopes
only with great difficulty, as the focus
point of the lefs must be made to cover
the exact spot bearing the object. It was
engraved by Mr.. Webb some years ago
by the aid Of an instrument now held by
the society. ...st. .asr }:lj5i & s,5
On May 10, $780, remarkable dark.
ness overspread New England, varying In
intensity at different places. In some Sec
tions persons could not read common.
printed matter in the open air. Birds be-
came silent and went to rest: barnyardf
fowls went to roost, and cattle sought
their accustomed evening resorts. Houses
were lighted with candles, and nearly all
out-of-door work was suspended. sThe
obscuration began at 10 o'clock in the
morning and continued until night. The,
cause of the darkness has never been re-
vealed. The air was unclouded. q. ;g< s
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
Southern Forts.

At the outbreak of the war between
the South and the North there were
seventeen forts in the South belong
ing to the United States. The list be-
gins with the forts in Louisiana and fol-
lows the coast line in the order named
below:
Fort Jackson and Fort st. Philip-On the
Mississippi river, sevonty-6ve miles below
New Orleans.
Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines-The former
at Mobile Point, the entrance Of Mobile bay,
forty miles below Mobile; the latter on Dau-
phin Island, opposite Fort Morgan and three
miles distant. These two forts commanded
the entrance to Mobile bay.
Fort PickenS-Santa Rosa Island, entrance
to Pensacola harbor, one of the largest forts
Oh the Gulf of Mexico.
Fort McRae-On Posters Island, opposite
Fort Pickens, and one and q half miles
distant. A powerful casemated Water-bat-
terry.
Fort Barrancas- the navy yard at
Pensacola, facing the entrance to the harbor.
Intended also to cover the navy yard from
land attack.
Fort jefferson Intended to protect the
anchorage of the Tortugas as naval depot
and station: for guarding the commerce
which follows the channel of the gulf stream,
and for controlling the navigation of the
gulf. :,
Fort Taylor-Key West an important
work protecting the harbor Of Key West.
Fort Pulaski-On Cockspur island, few
miles below Savannah, protecting the en-
trance to the river and approach to Savan-
nah.
Forts Moultrie and Sumter-Protecting She
entrance to Charleston harbor. The former
on Sullivan island, three miles below Charles
ton, and the latter one mile from Fort Moul-
trie, and three-fourths Of mile from the
nearest land
Castle Pinckney-A small work on the ap-
proach to and near Charleston.
Forts Monroe and Calhoun-At the en-
trance to Hampton Roads, protecting. the
Roads and approach to Norfolk, James river,
etc. Fort Monroe was the largest work of the
kind in the United States in 1851.
Fort McHenry-An old work protecting
the entrance to Baltimore harbor.
Fort Carroll-A very important work
few miles below Baltimore
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
How the New Mexicans Capture Ants.

An automatic combination self-adjust-
ing ant trap and intoxicating machine
has been in use for years in New Mexico
and Arizona, which is worthy of careful
civilized attention. The chief blessing
of that arid section is held to be mescal,
fiery liquor distilled from species of
cactus and the principal curse is an i'm
mense black ant that considers himself
proprietor of any premises to which his
nest may belong. 1t is said that the ma
tives could not live without either the
muscal or the ants, for while it is orly
mescal that can make Mexican g life
endurablc with the ants, it is only the
ants that wake q Mexican from the pro-
found coma into which the mescal
plunges him.
The ancient Mexican method of trying
to get rid of an ants nest was to fill up
the main hatch with fine gunpowder and
touch it off, keep fire boiling over it
night and day for week, or drown it
out with boiling lye. The only result
was that the ants would stay down cellar
until the trouble was over, and then
cheerfully repair the damage done to their
dwelling, and clay for" the Mexican in
the silent watches of the night with a
vigor and alacrity that were truly awful.
One day desperate Mexican poured
quart of mescal down his throat and
buried the bottle in the centre of the,
principal ants nest in his yard, with the
intention of filling it with gunpowder
and blowing both himself and his enc
mics out of the territory. Having buried
the bottle to the neck, he went to the
traders to get the powder. When he
returned, he found that the bottle was
filled with ants, whom curiosity had
prompted to drop in, and who, unable to
climb out, were indulging in rough
and tumble free fight that did the Mexi-
cans heart no end of good. Another
bottle was quickly procured and filled,
and by sunset the Mexican found him
self proprietor of seven quarts OF ants in
various stages of mutilation and wrath.
To shake these into a bonfire was easy,
and thus in day the colony was broken
up forever.
The writer has seen two pounds of rifle
powder remmed into an ants nest and
prove ineffective in its destruction, while
by the bottle system the work was thor
oughly accomplished in less than week
by the capture of the last ant in the COM
munity. Scientific american.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
Discovery OF Daguerreotyping.

J. A. B., writing from San Rafael,
says: An interesting fact in the history
of sun printing which, in its beginning
was called daguerreotying, accidentally
came to my knowledge recently, which I
take the liberty to furnish for the CAron-
sce. My edition of Appleton's new cy-
clopadia says it is not known what led
Daguerre to discover the art called by his
name. Mr.. Louis, an intelligent French
gentleman, who has shop in San Rafael,
gave me, in substance, the following &C.
count of the beginning of this wonderful
discovery and invention, to which the
world of science and art is so deeply in
debted to-day: '1t was about the year
1884 year or two after the cholera
plague-I was an apprentice boy in the
first of the three silversmith establish
ments in Paris. Mr.. Daguerre, the ar
tist, had been polishing silver plate in
the fourth story of his house, where he
had skylights arranged to afford fuller
light for his purposes. One day, having
occasion to leave the room for time, on
returning he found some one had dis
arranged the room and stolen his money.
Looking down upon the table where he
had left the polished plate, to
his surprise he discovered the image OF
his gardener, who came once week to
arrange his grounds, whom he charged
with the theft, and recovered the emoney.
This accidental discovery led to expert
ments with the camera, which established
the art, and rendered Mr.. Daguerre a
wealthy man. 1 took him a polished
plate, sat for my picture, and obtained
nv likeness at cost of about one dol
lar" Such Is the statement of Mr.. Louis,
which suppose is substantially correct.
There seems, however, discrepancy in
dates, Mr.. Louis putting the date of dis
covery about the year 1884; whereas the
cyclopadia places the establishment of
the art in 1889. And I remember some
wears ago Mr.. Rulofson, of Bradley %
Rulofson, in San Francisco, told me that
he (Rulofson) worked in Boards gallery,
London, in 1889, which was about the
beginning of the art.-CAico (Cal)
Chronicle.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
How Senators Talk.

A Washington correspondent writes as
follows to the Utica Obsercer:: Dennis F.
Murphy is as we'll known to the great
men of the country as any man in Amer
lea. He has been reporting speeches
since 1860, and he has been connected
with the Senate for full generation. He
was the leading short hand man in the
trial of President Linco'n's assassins, and
he has reported all of the Senators from
Webster until now. "Daniel Webster
he says, "talked very slow. Henry Clay
averaged about $50 words minute, and
the fastest speakers we have to-day are
Senators Beck, Morgan, Hawley and
Plumb. The average of senatorial speak
ing to-day is about 15Q words minute,
though some Senators range as high as
200 and some at times 225."
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
Matrimonial Infelicity.

It is generally understood in Austin
that Colonel Yerger and Mrs. Yerger
fight like cats and dogs. They recently
gave reception, to which Tom AnJerry
and Bill Yard, two Texan university
students, were invited.
':Who is that little dude with an eye
glass to whom Colonel and Mrs. Yerger are
talking so pleasantly" asked Tom.
sHe is an artist from Boston who Is
going to paint them on one picture"
replied Bill. -,
isis he painter of battle pieces9"
sI don't know. l believe he is going
to paint them in OIL.
stPaint them in oil What foolish
nesss. He ought to paint them in vine
gar."-Sjtings.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
The Domestic COMPROMISE.

"Bromley, I'm having wretched time
with my wife. We wrangle fearfully: and
she's so wordy that she overwhelms me
every time"
"Well, Darringer, these little pleas
antries are not to be avoided, it seems.
My wife and I have reduced them
to science. She demands but two
words, and I good-naturedly let her
have them. It's small concession, you
see."
"I should think it was. I envy
you, Bromley, 'pon my soul'I do.
Oh, by the way, what are the two
words2" ..
'The first and last. ."-Pittsbury Isle-
graph.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-31
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
After Fashion-The Domestic Com.
promise-He Talked Too Much
Matrimonial Infelicity-The
Grocer's New Boy, Etc.

Johnny Grey-"say, Mr.. Black, did
you get the fashion2"
Mr.. Black-'Did I get what, Johnny7"
J.-'The fashion you wrote after"
MIR. B.-'T don't understand you,
really, haven't written after any fash
ion." .,
Miss Grey-(coloring) "Johnny, you
may leave the room. children should be
seen and not heard" 5.
il don't care, I amt done nothing.
You told ma, yourself that Mr.. Black
wrote for the papers after fashion. -
Ror6ury Advocate.