davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20

The most pitiable case that has yet
come under the notice of the lunacy
committee was discovered in Foun-
taIndale, Adams county, where Jacob
Miller, wealthy farmer, was found
living with his eight imbecile children.
The mother of this miserable family
had died several years ago insane, her
reason having given way under the
terrible strain to which she had been
subjected. Thepoor woman had given
birth to eleven children between 1860
and 1874, and not one of her numer-
Gus offspring was possessed ola sound
mind. Nine children are still living,
one daughter possessed of a limited
amount of intelligence having been
married. The remaining eight are
cared for by their father in his home,
which was in a most deplorable con-
dition when Secretary CURT and a
member of the committee visited the
place. Five OF the children are drivel-
ing idiots, past all hope of improve
ment, while the other three are some
what brighter. The Oldest child is the
worst of all, scarcely possessing the
instincts of an animal He sits at a
window all day long, and from the
constant swaying ofhis body has worn
a hole in the windowsill where his head
touches the woodwork. Mr.. Miller
expressed a deep affection for his I'M
fortunate children. Hesaid they were
fed well and seemed happy, thouIh he
was not able to keep them well clothed
on account of their filthy habits. 1t
was learned that Mr.. and Mrs. Miller
were blood cousins OF the first degree,
and to this fact alone the members OF
the committee attributed the imbecil-
ity oftheir offspring. Thefather, how.
ever, had no explanation for the mat
ter, and he looked upon the affiiction
as stroke OF providence.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
Sunilowers For Fuel.

grow one acre of them every year,
and have blt,nty of fuel for the stove
the whole year round and use some III
tine other stove beside. plant them
in hills the same as corn lonly three
seeds to the hill), and cultivate the
same as corn. / cut them when the
leader or top flower is ripe, letting
them lie on the ground two or three
days. In that time / cut of all the
seed-heads, which are put into an open
shed with floor in it, the same as a
corn crib.
The stalks are then hauled home
and packed in common shed with
good roof on it. When cut in the
right time the stalks, when dry, are
hard as oak, and make a good. hot
fire, while the seed-heads, with the
seed in, make better fire than the
best hard coal. The seed, being very
rich in oil, will burn better and longer,
bushel for bushel, than hard coal.
The sunfiower is very hard on land.
The piece of ground selected to plant
on should be highly enriched with ma
nure. In thegreat steppes tprairie re-
gion in the interior OF Russia and in
Tartary, where the winters are more
severe than in Dakota, the sunflowers
are and have been for centuries past
the only kind OF fuel used.-Cheyenne
Sun.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
Good, Sound Seed.

1t is not day too early for every
farmer who intends to plant corn this
season, to assure himself that he has
good, sound seed, that will be sure to
terminate. Many corn fields have, OF
late years been badly spotted with
vacancies, caused by the failure of a
portion of the seed. Seed should be
Immediately tested, by planting in
shallow boxes, with the earth and air
kept as nearly as possible to what it
will probably be for two or three
weeks after corn planting. Ii thirty
per cent. fail to terminate, other
samples had better be procured and
tested. The risks OF the crop are nu-
merous enough without planting seed,
large proportion of which has low
vitality or none at all.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
An Elephant Kills a Man.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.


A man named David Watkins has
been killed by an elephant at Aber-
dare. For the past two days Bostock
and Wombwells meuagerie has ex-
hibited in this town. April 6, the ele-
plant Madame Jumbo, only four inch
es less than the renowned Jumbo him.
self, was stabbed in an enclosure at
the back of the White Lion Inn.
Some boys managed to get into this
place, and proceeded to feed the ele-
plant with biscuits. Others, more
mischieyous, gave the animal a supply
of stones. This so angered it that
it attempted to wreck its vengeance on
its tormentors. The boys, however,
managed TO escape over wall. The
elephant then turned upon Watkins,
an old man of sixty-five, who had
been an amused spectotor of the
proceedings. He, unfortunately, was
unable to make his escape. and the
elephant seized him with its trunk,
dashed him violently to the ground,
and then pummelled him severely.
The cries OF the old man brought the
keeper to the spot, but he was in turn
compelled to seek safety in flight and
obtain assistance. Watkins was
eventually rescued, but he was found
to be terribly injured. and died.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
Born to Marry and Keep House.
From the Woman's Journal
The end of woman is tn marry, n

From the Woman's Journal.
The end of woman is to marry and
raise up family. Shestarts out in this
direction when she carries a doll in
childhood. Your girl who leaves
home and goes out for herself does so
because she has failed to find the man
she wants to marry. BY and by she
does find him, and when she does she
drops everything and goes with him,
She stops short in her music, her act
ing. her art, her literature, or What
ever it is, because after ali her instinct
tells her to marry, and she follows
her instinct instead of her reason.
A man can marry and 90 ahead in
tho particular pursuit or profession
he has chosen, but the woman stops
and subjects everything to the one
duty of wifehood. That is the reason
women do not succeed as well as men.
They fall short. Grant all this for
the sake of argument. Admit that it
is the general ..4ission of women to
marry and raise up q family. But l
am now writing about the exceptions.
There ale exceptions in all classes, all
rules, all theories and all PHILOSOPHERS.
Most women do marry young, and
that is right. That Is as far as most
of them want to 60, They are fitted
for this sort of life, and have no desire
or fitness for another.
But are you going to make one kind
of girl do this when it is u straight
Jacket and an abomination to her? In
other words, is she to marry simply
for the sake OF marrying, and "setth
down" simply for the sake of settling
down? Why not allow her to follow
her natural bent as well as the young
man? True, she may, as my objector
says, find some man while herself fol-
lowing successful career whom she
will love and whom she will marry,
thus cutting short work that might
otherwise have been rounded out and
madecomplete True, women are not
as completely successful as men in the
more independent pursuits OF life. But
the point ! wish to make clear and
emphaticis that society, and the wom-
an herself and the man she marries,
and all directly or remotely concerned,
are the better for her havingdone even
something for herself, however little.
Irepeat that the self-reliant woman
is civilizer. The busy world is inn
proved by her having been a partici-
pator therein. Her words are gentle
and kind, and her presence is a re-
straint to the headlong impetuosity OF
men. Even though she may not re-
main long with us single, let us be
thankful that she has come at all. Ii
she falls in love and marries, even at
the expense of an independent career,
her life after all is not in vain. Her
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20

Funny things mot down on the
bills" often happen to actors. Al.
surd occurrences, by some fatality, are
most common in tragedy, their ludi-
crous charter being made all the more
conspicuous thereby The Chicago
News tells this among other funny ex-
periences related by Manager McCon.
nell:
~ was with Barrett playing in DAY.
export, Iowa. The railroad hotel and
opera house are owned by one man
and are in the same building, while the
depot and railroad track are imme-
diately behind. The kitchen and
laundry OF the hotel are underneath
the stage, and there are waves OF hot
air rising over it all the time. The
weather was intensely hot, and all the
windows were open to admit the fresh
air. The heat on the stage was I'M
bearable, and as Barrett stood solilo-
quizing as Hamlet the sweat poured
in torrents from his face. His
soliloquy, with locomotive accom-
paniment, was something like this:
TO be, or not to be (toot-toot-toot-
tooty-to-toot), that is the (toot)
question. Whether It's nobler (whistle)
in the mind to suffer (ding-dong ding
dong the slings and arrows of voice
in depot: All aboard FIR Chicago an
Rock Islam railroa'-all aboardr)
outrageous fortune, or to take arms
against voice in depot: Twenty
minutes for refreshments terrible
combination of gong, whistles, bell
and 'choo-choo' of the locomotive).
You may easily imagine the effect all
this would have on the sensitive and
nervous Barrett. He left the stage
foaming at the mouth and sweating at
every pore. The roses which Ophelia
carried were made OF tissue paper, but
very life-like, and when she cast them
down, saying, Sweets to the sweet,
they were caught in a current of hot
air and sailed serenely up to tine cell.
ing, where they remained during the
rest of the performance, greatly to the
delight and astonishment of the
audianeep
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
Neglected Natives.

1t Is not the pretty native calves
We should select, but those born OF
good mothers. This is the definite
and about the only rule we can fol-
low, for our remissness as a people
has been such that on the sire's side
it is doubtful if pedigree can be
traced more than to the first or
second generation. The native bulls
are usually chosen because OF their
color or some notion. The rule ofthe
breeder of thoroughbreds that "the
sire is half OF the herd is never
thought of by the owner OF the COM
mon stock. have heard men, who
ought to have sense, say. Zone bull is
just as good as another" This doc
trine will never improve our diaries,
or beef. The bull should be selected
from the the best cows, and be ''cow-
like" not all neck and horns; such a
bull is good to get fighters and this is
what the heavy neck and horns are
for. The cow-like bull, with slim
neck and light head and horns, will
have thin skin, soft and mellow, and
good Development of milk veins,
teats and other COW marks. He will
be doeile and his get will be more hike
ly to make gentle COWS. The princi-
pie that ''like begets like" has built up
many noble breeds, and it might have
improved our native stock if care and
brains had been used.-F. ID. Curtis,
Kirby Homestead, n. Y.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20

soil should be rich to promote rapid
growth, and well prepared to facilitate
the termination of the seed. As this
plants of most varieties, when fully
developed, are foot or more If
diameter, it is obvious that the rows
should be rather more than foot
apart; eighteen to twenty inches is a
good distance. Sow the seed rather
thinly in the drills, and as soon as the
plants are sufficiently large for use,
commence thinning out the rows; at
first to about two inches apart. When
the bed is passed over in this way, go
over it again, thinning this time to
four or more inches apart. BY fol-
lowing this method, removing each
time every alternate plant. the re-
naming ones rapidly develop, and the
later ones will grow to an immense
size, often foot or more in diameter.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20

From the New England Farmer
Mr.. Charles Badger, who reported a
yield of potatoes from a single square
rod equal to 900 bushels per acre, and
who showed a full five bushels OF the
marketable potatoes at the recent
Franklin Farmers Club Fair, gives us
an account of the method of cultiva.
ton pursued. The land was in corn
last year, and was well MANFRED. The
character of the soil is a sandy loan.
1t lies in a valley, and though never
too wet, seldom suffers from drouth.
Last spring q good horse load of sta,
BILE manure, from barn where horses,
COWS and hogs are kept, was spread
and spaded III. the work being thor.
oughly done. On the 18th OF May it
was furrowed out as closely as the fur
rows could conveniently be made with
q spade, ten rows to the rod A half
bushel of seed was used, cut into from
two to three eyes or more, medium sized
potatoes being cut into two or more
pieces were dropped about a foot
apart, four or five inches below the
surface level. After covering lightly
with earth light mulch of saturated
litter from a hog sly was laid over the
rows and three common water pail
fuls of fertilizer spread over the whole.
At hoeing time dressing ofpulverized
hen manure was sprinkled along the
rows and worked in as the weeds were
cut out with the hand hoe. The yield
was five bushes oflarge and one bushel
fsmallpotatoes. The trial rod was q
part of field OF three-fourths OF an
acre planted to potatoes, with every
sixth row left for marrow squashes,
which were planted when the potatoes
were hoed. There were $50 bushels
of potatoes and tour tons of squashes
on the field. Fifty pounds of the
squashes grew upon the trial rod with
the six bushels of potatoes. The
square rod was planted to Beauty OF
Hebron potatoes, the three fourths
acre to Early Rose and Beauty OF
Hebron.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
Farm and Household
AFem Cooklnr itema

Hard Card Gingerbread. One cup OF
molasses, one cup OF sugar, one-half
cup OF sour milk one-hali cup of but
ter, one-half cup of lard, a little salt,
oneegg a scant teaspoonful of ginger,
and heaping teaspoon OF saleratus.
Mix quite hard Roll out. cut in cards
to suit your pan, and bake in a quick
oven.
Ham for summer use.---Fry it, not
quite as much as when it is taken di-
rectly to the table, pack it in stone
jar as fast as it is fried. When it is
all in the jar pat plate over it that
will fill the jar as closely as possible;
put a weight on the plate heavy
enough to pack the ham firmly and
let it remain on twenty-four hours.
Then remove the weight and put nice
melted lard around the edge of the
plate. Don't set 1t in place cold
enough TO have the lard shrink from
the jar. After taking ham from the
jar for use carefully replace the lard
around the edge OF the plate.
"Poor mans Indian bread" Take
the pieces OF dry cake, broken cookies,
dry fried cakes or even wheat bread;
soak and make fine in sour milk, add
sufficient saleratus to neutralize the
acidity OF the milk, and stir in sifted
Indian meal to make stiff batter.
Pour into creased baking dish and
steam one and one-hslt hours, and
bake twenty minutes. Where all
bread is used, hall q cup of molasses
should be added, and littlesalt. Tin
fruit cans that have had the tops re-
moved, make pretty and convenient
tins for baking this kind of bread. Fill
about two-thirds full, and the bread
will rise enough to fill the tins, and you
have roll ofnice bread at small cost. 4"
Delicate Molasses Gingerbread. Use
two cupfuls OF flour, measured after
sitting, one cupful of molasses, half
cupful of sour milk or cream, one tea
spoonful of soda, one of ginger, half
tea-spoonful of salt, one generous
tablespoonful of butter and one of
water. Put the molasses, milk, salt
and ginger in bowl. Dissolve the
soda in the cold water, and add it,
with the butter, melted, to the
mixture in the bowl. Now add the
flour, and beat quickly. Pour the
mixture into three deep tin plates
that have been well buttered, and
bake in a quick oven from 10 to 20
minutes. Serve while fresh; it vii be
especially nice then.
Cream of Asparagus.-Two quarts
of stock; about thirty stalks OF aspar-
agus; one half cupful OF good cream;
two tablespoonfuIs OF -four; butter the
size OF a pigeons egg. Boil the aspar-
agus in the stock; cut and save some
of the points to serve in the soup. The
remainder press through the sieve.
Put the butter into saucepan and,
when it bubbles, throw in the flour.
which cook a minute without coloring,
stirring it well with the egg whisk
Pour in the stock and the asparagus
pulp, gradually at first. Let it boil a
minute, then add the cream, which
heat, but do not let 1T boil, for fear OF
curdling. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. When the soup is in the tu-
reen ready to serve, sprinkle the aspar-
agus roots on top. This will make
two and one-third quarts of soup
Half or third of the quantity can be
made if desired. This is one of the
best of the cream soups.-"Diet for
the Sick"
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
The Boy Who Helped Others.

Baby was sick and fretfuI, the
weather was warm and mother was
busy Ned took all this into his
thoughts and began to consider how
he could better things. He was pull
ing peas in the garden, but he left his
work and came round to the kitchen
door where the baby was.
Ned was fond of baby Ben and baby
Ben loved Ned, for babies can tell very
quickly who loves them. He was al
ways stretching out his chubby arms
for Ned TO take him. To-day as soon
as the big brother appeared in sight,
there was cry of delight.
Benny have a rider" said Ned, and
the baby crowed again.
There was no baby carriage. How
often Ned wished they had one, so
that he could ride Benny into the gar
den and up and down the road. But
there was no money to buy baby car
rIageS.
"We'll have to make the old wheel
barrow do for a spell, said Ned, as
he lifted the little one gently. Ned
was always gentle with the baby.
Then the ride! How it pleased the
baby and pleased mother! She could
now attend to her work. And was
there third one to 5e pleased? Yes,
Ned himself; and this third one was
the happiest OF them all. Why? Be
cause he was doing kindness, and
there is reward which God gives for
every kindness done, if it is ever so
small.
How can Gods give us reward? Try
it and see. Do all the little kind acts
you can, to every pers"o you can,
whenever you can, and y If you are
not happy.
Ned is the happiest boy I know, be-
cause he is not always thinking about
how he can please himself He thinks
OF others, how he can help and please
them, and the happiness is all the
time bubbling up in his heart and
working out at his finger tips.-Phila-
delphia Call
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
To BE Touched Win Caut,on.

Special crops, as hemp, flax, broom.
corn, hops, etc, are to be touched
with caution. They are easily grown,
but the means of harvesting, securing
or preparing them for sale, is wholly
mechanical and technical, and needs
knowledge and skill. There are man
uals for the use of the inexperienced,
but even with these it is necessary to
go very slowly as into a labyrinth or
upon country crossroads with only a
map in the hand aud one learns most
through his inevitable mistakes. Many
become discouraged IN this way, and
give up just as success is within grasp.
The boom ofthe past season in broom
corn will lead many farmers to venture
into its culture, and cautlonary hint
will save some from disappointment
and loss.-F. Warner:
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
Speaking Through the Eyes.

Medical and Surgical Reporter.
Prof. Hugo Maguas recently deliver
ed in Berlin a lecture on "The Speech
OF the Eyes" First he showed how
various thoughts and emotions may
find their expression through the eyes,
how rage, Joy, sadness, sympathy, all
may be indicated by one look, and
how a question may be asked or be re-
piled to simply by one scarcely OBJ.
servable movement OF the eye. But
the most interesting part of his
lecture was a point with which many
a physician may not be acquainted,
not from ignorance, but simply be-
cause be has never given the subject
any thought, viz. the fact that all the
various expressions of which the eye
is capable are not at all made by the
eye itself, i. e., by the eyeball, but
by the movements OF neighboring
parts. The eye itself may be station
airy, not the least motion may be
observed i'll it, and yet the rising ofthe
lids expresses our surprise, halfclosing
them together with contraction OF the
brow indicates our dIspleasure, and a
lids, the orbicularis palpebrarum, and
the parts around the nose together
form what we are in the habit of call
ing "a merry twinkle" Many a one
who will read these lines will at once
acknowledge that such is thecase, and
that the facts are as stated, but at the
same time he will acknowledge that he
had never thought about 1T, and had
never imagined that as all the mani
fold expressions which we ascribe to
the eye--the mirror of the soul--the
eye itself has no share. When crimi-
nal has his character pictured in his
eyes, it is not they that tell us the NOR.
al depravity of the man, but the play
of the neighboring muscles, which, per-
haps for years, always obeying the inn
pulse of the brain, form together the
group we call physiognomy.
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
How to Cultivate Lettuce.
Our Country Home.

Our Country Home.
The secrets of successful lettuce cul-
ture, are early sowing, rich, well-pre-
pared soil, and giving the plants plenty
of room. The seed should be sown
early, because being small, it must be
planted shallow. and hence cannot en-
dure much droath. and also because
lettuce is a cool-weather plant, and
SO thrives b,siter in the moist and
mild weather of spring, than the dry
and hot weather of summer. The
Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-05-20
To Raise or Buy Cows
Philadelphia Press.

Philadelphia Press.
Shall the dairyman raise his COWS
or buy them ready made? To answer
this question intelligently we must
know something of his surroundings
Ii profitable cows can be bought under
$40 head at three years OF age, it is
very questionable if he can raise them
cheaper. The common argument in
favor of raising instead of buying
cows, is that the heller at two, or ever
three years of age will not have cost
as much as the first price of the ma
tured COW. There is, however, anoth,
er very serious point to take into
consideration, and that is, how many
heller calves must you raise to the
age OF three years before you get one
that is profitable? This matter is
varionsly estimated according to the
self-complaeency of the man making
the calculation. Some proud mortals
go SO far as to claim their ability to
pick out calves that will make
profitable COWS every time. My own
experience, compared with modest
and generally truthful breeders, seems
to point to the requirement OF a bunch
of five calves, as a rule, to make one
good, first-class, profitable COW. To
be sure, mems minds differ as to what
constitutes good COW; but let us call
her seven-pounds-of -butter-a-week
COW, andis there any breeder that will
take the contract to furnish more
than five of such cows out of twenty
five heifers raised to three years of a ge?
This looks as though it could be easily
done, but suppose you go through the
diaries in your neighborhood and find
what proportion of theeo will make
over 300 lbs. of butter, or 5000 lbs.
OF milk q year. Certainly not one in
five. Will the thoroughbreds of the
country do it? II they were weeded
out as faithfully as the native cows
ale, they would; but as it is a fact
that every female is raised, no matter
how inferior her dam, these weeds
keep the thoroughbreds in just about
as bad a condition as the natives, SO
far as thepercentage OF extra perform,
ers is concerned.