davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Short Journeys by the Overland Route.

Strolling one day in what is cuphemis-
tically termed in equatorial latitudes,
"the cool Of the evening" along tan
gled tropical American ield-path, through
low region of lagoons and water-courscs,
my attention happened to be momen-
tarily attracted from the monotonous pur-
suit OF the nimblc mosquito by small
animal scuttlng along irrcgularly before
me, as if in hurry to get out of my way
before could turn him into an excellent
specimen. AT first sight l took the little
hopper, in the gray dusk, for one Of the
common, small green lizards, and wasn't
much disposed to pay it any distinguished
share either Of personal or scientific atten-
tion. But, as ! walked on little farther
through the dense underbrush, more and
more of these shulfling and scurrying Lit.
tie creatures kept crossing the path, hasti-
ly, all in one direction, and all, as it were,
in formed body or marching phalanx.
Looking closer, to my great surprise
found they were actually fish out of wa
ter going on a walking-tour, for change
of air, to new rcsidcncc-genuine fish, a
couple of inches long each, not eel-shaped
or serpentinc in outline, but closely re-
scmbling red mullct in miniature
though much more beautifully and deli
catcly colored, and with fins and tails Of
the most orthodox spiny and prickly de
scription. They were travelling across
country in a bee-line, thousands of them
together, not at all like the helpless fish
out of water of popular imagination, but
unconcemedly and naturally as if they
had been accustomed to the overland
route for their whole lifetimes, and were
walking now on the kings highway with
out let or hindrance. e.-Pop,slar Science
MONTHLY.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
PRICE THREE CENTS.
Drifting.


Inc waves may sparkle through tie livelong
day,
Decked in the folds of Heavens reflected
blue,
And sparkling over soft-voiced shoals may
play,
Or mirror in its surface-depths the view;
But the stream flows on, and we, upon lifes
river,
As leaves upon the current, drift forever.
Soft melodies may soothe us as we drift
Beneath the boughs of over-arching trees;
And perfumes float from every leafy rift,
Or from the neighboring lily-mantled leas:
But life expands into mighty river,
And we, upon its bosom, drift forever.
All, soonits sparkle dulls; its glitter dies; .
And all the song in life is left behind;
And only emptiness around US lies
AS love grows cold; until at last we find
Lifes perfume fled. Then we, upon ths
river
Yoan for a sweetness that is gone forever.
But often in our hearts fragrant air
Floats down the stream in sad, delicious
sighs:
And in, and round and near us everywhere
A thousand mellowed memories arise,
Like howery perfumes waited down tho
river
To soothe us as we drift along forever.
&C. H. Murphy in the Current
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

A Boston man, who has spent about
fourteen years on the cast and west coasts
of Africa, says that the language of the
natives of the Congo country is difficult
to acquire, and that he knows of only
one European who has mastered it
sufficiently to understand it, though he
can speak very little. 1t appears to be
composed of short words, which, in the
rapid manner Of speaking, seem to be run
together, and each sentence to consist of
longer or shorter composed word. 1t is
capable of strong emphasis, and is quite
expressive but the natives are not given
to gesticulation even when talking ex-
citedly, excepting always the feticharo or
fetch man when dealing out damnation
to transgressors. The trouble in acquir-
ing the language seems to be the general
unwillingness of the natives to teach it to
white men, 1t is said, however, that
some of the Portu cs who are born and
raised there have acquired the language,
and speak it as Euently as natives.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Pitt,burg at Night.

A great yellowish white speck low down
in the distant horizon ahead is the first
sight one sees of Pittsburg, That speck
is flame forty Or fifty feet long and half
as wide. 1t sthe advertisement of gen.
tleman's furnishing goods store on Smith
field street, the Broadway of Pittsburg.
The enterprsing brothers who keep the
store had Il figure of Liberty Enlighten-
ing the Worldn in the corner of their
great-ncw building, and when natural gas
invaded the city, they took the cumber-
some Bartholdian imitation of a tirebrand
in her hand, substituted twenty feet of
gas-pipe for it, tapped the main in the
middle of the street, and now they send
a man up ladder every night, and he
lights II match and raises it to the pipe
and bang a section of the city is lighted
asno electric light ever began to light any
part of outdoors. And then over the city
this great baloon-shaped blaze sways and
pulsates in the wind all night roaring
like giants furnace. Just 50 the river
side is illuminated by two great flames
that jut from ordinary little tubes stick
ing out of Du Quesne Heights. 1t is
wonderful to see the wind catch one of
these masses Of flame and wrestle with it
and bear it down and roll it over and bite
great yellow and white pieces from it and
fling it away, patches Of fire that look as
if they were going to float along and keep
their shape awhile as whiffs of steam DO
but instantly they are gone. This natu
raj gas carries no odor with it. You
cannot detect its presence even when the
air is laden with it. 1t leaks from the
mains into the Pittsburg streets, and,
finding vein of sand, penetrates to the
cellars of near houses. Several times it
has happened that a resident has gone
down in the cellar of his house to look
for something, has lighted match there,
and has seemed to become the centre of
a convulsion of nature which has wrecked
all the windows, cracked the walls, and
blown the doors off their hinges. In
some of the mills, and in the lot where the
new Jail is going up the gas jets burn
forever. There is at least one town or
city in this region wherein the street
lights are never put out, because it would
be a waste of money to hire a lamp
lighter after the original Lighting
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

The recent trial of French soldier for
insubordination brought to light some of
the cruelties that are still practiced in the
prisons of France. In the course Of the
defence, it was shown that in the prison
of Barreaux, where the accused had been
placed in solitary confinement for a period
of twenty-five days, a prisoner was al
lowed, in the way of food, but pound
and half of bread day and jug of
water. Twice week he had IA plate of
soup. The result of all this was that a
healthy, robust man was literally half
starved; and what with the pangs Of
hunger, the prohibition of any kind of
work, and the absence of daylight in his
cell, prisoners there frequently become
temporarily insane.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Produced the Body.

The Tifis Kacak0s reports singular
case which lately occurred in Georgian
village in the Caucasus. A Persian be-
came bail for fellow-countryman ac-
cused on criminal charge. When the
day of trial came the accused was not
forthcoming. The bailsman was informed
that he must produce his friend, or the
recognizances would be estreated. He
went to the accused, and having employed
in vain every possible argument, entreaty
and threat, he finally drew his dagger
and plunged it in the breast of the de-
faulter. He then bore the body to the
Judge, saying that he brought the corpse,
since he failed to produce the living man.
He was painfully surprised on being HIM
self arrested and lodged in Jail on =
charge of murder.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Ants as Pickles.

1t is curious what an appetite for some-
thing sour men have who eat great deal
of fat food. Generally in the numbering
region, large quantity of raspberries or
blueberries are picked and put down in
tubs to sour for winter use. But that
year had been poor berry year; scarcely
any had been gathered. ''Pickles!
Pickles. p' was the cry, morning, noon and
night. There were 26 choppers of the
camp, all calling for "pickles." SAN ef
yer can't git us roz-briz git ants" So
the cook sent AL Churchill and THE
youngest two members in the camp--of
into the woods after great ants-for pick
les. 1t may seem rather odd, to say the
least, that anybody could have the stom-
wh to eat so ugly an insect as a big,
Back ant. But it is not infrequently
done in the numbering camps of northern
Maine and Canada. did muster courage
TO chew one up once. 1t had fine, acid
favor, by no means unpleasant, if one
could keep his eyes shut. Rough fellows,
Ike the lumbermen, are not very fastidi-
Gus. The cook gave us a six quart tin
pail and cover to get the ants in. Al took
an old gun which was kept at the camp
to shoot partridges and other game; and
/ took an AK to cut open the old logs and
stumps with We set off for u tract
where the fire had run years before, and
where old pine trunks lay scattered i'll
decay on the ground as they fell. Many
of these had colonies of large ants living
in tunnels and galleries which they had
cut inside. In September it is easy to
find out which stumps, or logs, have the
nests of ants; for by rapping smartly on
the side, an army of black fellows will
pour out of their holes; and if you pre-
sent your hand they will attack it with
remarkable tierceness. But so late as
December the ants are too torpid from
the cold to sally forth. But we were
guided by the holes which they had cut
for gates, and the heaps of fresh chips,
like sawdust, which had been thrown out.
| A few strokes of the AK suliced to split,
Or knock to pieces, the old stumps, and
expose the long tunnels and network Of
cross passages inside. Many of these We
found packed with dormant ants, and
had only to scoop them into our pail. In
one log | remember that we scraped out
not less than quart; and quart of ants
must contain at least 10000, even of
these large ones.-Anerican Rurnl Home
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
MOOnShInerS.

The term moonshiner appears to have
originated about the year 1870 in the
mountain districts of the southern states.
In the opinion of General Green B.
Raum, formerly collector of internal rev.
enue, it arose spontaneously from the
fact that the illicit distiller was a moon
sinner, and his product moonshine whis-
key" General Raum mentions also a
curious term used in the south in con-
nection with the tax on tobacco. "The
dealers in illicit tobacco, who fourished
principally in North Carolina, were
called ''blockaders," and the illicit (un-
taxedD tobacco blockade tobacco. By
analogy the term blockade whiskey was
also used. "This evidently had its ori-
gin in the long blockade of the southern
ports during the war QSG1-1S65l, which
caused the common people to associate
blockade with anything at once illicit
or prohibited, as well as dangerous. "
Boston Beacon.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
A Queer Ancient Lock,

The general principles Of lock found
among the ruins of the great temple at
Karnack, and which was in use more than
forty centuries ago, has served for the
foundation for most of the inventions of
recent times. The locksmiths of China,
we are told, had, centuries before the
birth of Christ, perfected a lock out of
which sharp bamboo thorn would dart
and strike the hand of anyone wrongfully
tamperng with it. The end Of this bam-
boo thorn was stepped in poisonous de.
coction, and should the luckless thief es-
cape death he would be marked for life.
But this story is hardly entitled to full be-
lief, for the reason, as the Chinese them
selves claim, that as ,unpowder was man.
ufactured by them at TIC time Celestial
safe-blower could easily rend T the thorn
lock harmless by the aid of few grains of
nowder.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Mecca, the Holy Civ,

Mecca, the most celebrated city of
Arabia, the seat of the Mohammedan re-
ligion, stands in a narrow sandy valley
enclosed by hills, without trees or verdi
ure. In its centre is the Beatu Allah
House of GodD, or El Harem (thc invisi-
ble), the great mosque, enclosing the
Kooba, dividing the whole into the
northern and southern towns, these again
being sub-divided into 25 quarters, ex-
elusive of the suburbs, which stretch in
single lines of houses along the narrow
parts Of the valley. The streets are wider
than is usual in Eastern towns, the houses
of stone three stories high and usually
well lighted. The Shereet's house is
large enough for garrison of 1000 men,
and is said to be impregnable. The city
is annually filled at the time of tho
pilgrimage and thousands of the devout
camp in the suburbs. The inhabitants Of
this renowned city of the False Prophet,
with the exception of Hjaazi Bedouin,
are strangers by birth or parentage, being
mostly settlers or children attracted hith-
CT by gain.
The colleges of Mecca have fallen to
decay, and the libraries, once rich, have
totally disappeared. AS this wonderful
Asiatic city during the pilgrimage is visit
ed by from 100, 600 to 300, 900 strangers
it becomes for three or four months in
the year the greatest market in the East;
its merchants occasionally accumulating
large fortunes. On the other hand the
beggars Of the city are importunate as
we'll as numerous.
The Shereefs, Or direct descendants of
Mohammed, are now numerous and
widely spread body. These mobiles, as
they may be called, elect the Shereef of
Mecca, and their choice is confirmed by
the Ottoman Sultan. The stationary
population of Mecca is estimated at be.
tween %, 900 and 80, 900, including some
5000 or 1000 Abyssinian and negro
slaves. But two Europeans have ever
been permitted to enter the Holy City of
| Mohammed.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

Next Easter falls on the latest date on
which it can possibly occur, April 25,
under the rule of the Cl-ncil of Nice,
which DEGREES that Easter shall be
observed on the Sunday after the full
moon following March 21. Its earliest
possible date is March %. Easter has
not been so late as it will be this year for
152 years. 1t will not fall on that day
again until 1913. Ash Wednesday will
fall this year on March TO-
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

The waste of food in hotels and res.
taurants, says the Chicago Times, is some
thing enormous. In London this waste
is partially utilized by the Sisters of
Mercy, who keep some one constantly in
the kitchen to save all the scraps as well
as the articles that are returned from the
dining rooms. These are carefully sorted
and put in covered baskets. The soups,
chowdcrs, and gravies are placed in cans
or buckets. AT night covered wagon
comes and takes them away. Some of
the articles are taken to hospitals and
asylums, the others are distributed among
those of the sick and poor who arc deser-
wing,
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Sailors as Smugglers.

In talk with custom house officer
a Philadelphia Times reporter elected
the following "All the sailors smuggle.
They secrete goods all over the ship and
derive profitable trade by bringing in
dutiable goods without submitting them
to the appraiser. False lockers are made
in the cabins and thousand odd hooks
and corners on ship are Utilized to con
ceal smuggled goods. They do not at
tempt to remove these while the vessel is
discharging her cargo, because great
majority Of the inspectors are vigilant and
honest and the goods would be apt to be
confiscated. They wait until the cargo is
discharged, and after the inspector has
gone over the vessel and certified that no
dutiablc goods remain on her they bring
out their hidden treasures and carry them
ashore. All sorts of goods are smuggled,
and there are lots of common sailors who
are in league with professional smugglers
and bring in contraband goods on every
trip"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
How Glass Eyes Wear Out.

The mo- tpcrfcct are made in Thuringia,
Germany, and have a more natural ap-
pcarance than others. The iris is COW
cred with silver and the blood vessels with
gold, and when properly inserted, they
will move almost as readily as their
natural companion. OF course much de-
pcnds upon the condition of the socket
and the state Of the muscles as left by
the surgeon. The greatest trouble is the
matching of the eyes. Eyes wear out,
their life being about year or a little
over, though occasionally they last .
much longer time. The salt and alkaline
solutions of the tear ducts, however,
have quite an effect on the surface of the
glass. and in the course of time
roughen it, so that a new eye is abso-
lutely necessary.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Sweet and Tender.

The chief cook at the st. James hotel,
New York, tells an experience: II like
to try any new edible myself, sometimes.
A little while ago | had a nice young
dog. Some how or other the dog broke
his leg, and so | killed it. 1t was so nice
and fat thought l would see how it
tasted cooked, so prepared the dog like
any one would prepare a joint of pork,
roastad it and served it with the same
sort of dressing one would put with pork,
and to a stranger the joint had all the
appearance of pork, and it tasted deli
cious. 1t was very sweet and tender"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

A New Haven medical examiner makes
the somewhat startling statement that,
on an average, he has ten cases year of
babies starved to death. He had one re-
Gently of child dying suddenly, and in
vestigation showed that it had been fed
on some patent food, but had starved to
death. 1t is the ignorance of the parents
which is at the bottom of the trouble he
says, and, strangely enough, this particu-
lar kind of Ignorance prevails more
among the well-to-do than the poorer
classes.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
lie Need Not be Afraid.

''This," said Farmer Hayseed to his
city guest, as he pointed to large field,
sis where we keep our bull. "And we
are going in thereln asked the guest,
eyes, but you need not be afraid. He is
as gentle as lamb except when he sees
bright red If you will take this chalk
and chalk your nose we can pass through
in safety" And the farmer chuckled
softly to himself that night as he heard
his guest packing his grip.-Ramblsr.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

Exercise is a good thing, but is not in
dispensable. Leopold Won Ranke, the
great German historian, is past ninety,
and he has spent three quarters of a
century in his library. During all this
time he has devoted fifteen hours day
to study and writing, leaving the library
only to go to the dining-room or his
chamber. He is hale and hearty, and
has literary work mapped out for years
fo como
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28

A writer in an exchange is of this
opinion that while there is no reason or
sense in recommending the abandonment
of corn in the corn region, cotton in the
cotton belt, wheat where wheat is the
most profitable, or flax where it makes
the best and readiest available returns, an
addition of mixed crops would not only
add to the resources of the country, but
improve agricultural practices and en-
large agricultural ideas.
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
Retween.

Between the sea sand and the sea
The yellow foam flakes lightly lie,
A very dross of waves, till free,
Quick-kisSing breezes surge and sigh,
And all the laurels on the lea
Bend low to listen as bends the sky
Where spaces throb with melody.
Thus form is wrought to gold, and l,
Silent, find heaven surrounding me
In gilded fringe-in breezes sigh;
Between the sea sand and the sea
Where yellow foam flakes lightly lie;
Where spaces throb with melody
Between the skylark and the sky.
Between the sunset and the sun
Night slumbers on the sleeping bars,
And through its curtain, one by one
CLEAN tender glances of the stars
Between the sunset and the sun.
And 50 between my loves lips lies
An untold message meant for me;
Wi II twill bring ME sweet surprise,
Or dole, or doubt, or Paradise
Is known alone to destiny
Yet as | wait, dream of tears
Between her eyeids and her eyes
A mystery of miSt-appears,
That hints of hopes and Gatters fears,
And on her lips burst of sighs,
And on her lids red that dies
To slumherous shadows that fall and rise,
Till as seek some sign to sec,
Between her eyelids and her eyes
Lovelights his lamp and laughs at me.
Francis Hotuurd Williams IN tn
American
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
HUMOROUS.
A liberty pole-Kosciusko.
A moving scene-An earthquake.

A liberty pole-Kosciusko.
A moving scene-An earthquake.
ever kneeling at thy feet"-The boot
black.
Cool Debtor-"Do you take me for =
prophets"
People we must put up with-Hotel
keepers.
A friend in need-The real estate
agent.
Jonah was the first secretary Of the in
terror,
''The money makers"-Workers in the
mint.
Last but not least-Whst your boot
was made on.
Irate Creditor" -"Now when will this
bill be paid3"
What is pie-plant7 Why, the burial Of
a baker, of course.
mamma, why is papa baldl" 81 I'm
his fourth wife, darling"
"What is the nationality of that drink?"
he asked the man who was filling glass
from a syphon bottle. "Celt, SIR
A Western settlers cabin was recently
swept entirely away by a tornado. That
is what swe should call carrying house
by storm.
DR.. Tanner says that with the unaided
eve only about five thousand stars can be
seen. DR.. Tanner has evidently never
been on skates.
Buttons-Missus told me to come down
and tell you she was not at homo. Huff
cut-Go back and tell your mistress say
| haven't called.
An agricultural paper says: mo AMI
NAL can fight and eat at the same time.
Evidently never seen q traveller at teu-
minutcs-for lunch stand.
Dio Lewis says that hot water will
cure all complaints. In that case i'm
providcnt men ought to be extra healthy,
for they are always in it.
A poor young man and his poor young
wife get along very we'll with their
economy until the dry goods stores begin
/ to spread all over the newspapers. Then
there's a break.
No matter if woman hasn't but three
lines to write on page of letter paper,
she can't resist the temptation to write
two of them on the side margin and
then sign her name upside down over the
date.
An up-country schoolmaster, whose wife
was one of his pupils, had occasion to
. punish her ono day. The next day the
| school house door bore this inscription:
"SchOol closed for one week owing to the
illness of the schoolmastcr.
Down in the silent hallway
Scampers the dog about,
And whines, and barks, and scratches,
In order to get out
Once i'll the glittering starlight,
He straightway doth begin
To set up doleful bowling
In order to get in
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
A new law in Georgia enioins that poi

A new law in Georgia enjoins that poi
sons must be put up in scarlet wrappers,
and the bottles labeled with paper of the
same color, the printing to be in white
letters. ''Of all the hard papers to find
in this market" said wholesale drug
gist, scarlet is the most difficult, and
three printers to whom | have applied
say that they can not print in white upon
such a surface. Those lawmakers could
not hit upon more difficult problem iD
the way of packing for us to solve"
The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-01-28
4 Leading Question.

"And so NJ. Feathcrly will lead your
daughter TO the altar next month, Mrs.
Hendricksln said the minister, who was
making his weekly call,
"Ah, yesrn replied Mrs. Hendricks,
with sigh; 81 don't know what shall
do without Clara"
"Win Mr. Featherly lead Clara to the
altar the same as Aunt Jane says that ma
leads pai" inquired Bobby.
"How is that, Bobbyln asked the min
lister, pleasantly.
''By the nose. ~ Y. Times.