davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
WHY 1T STRUCK.
A Young Stranger Proves the Fallacy OF
an American superstitiOn.

An American superstition.
Eyes. SIR said the stranger; II have
seen lightning strike twice in the same
place
"YOu have? Tell us about il"
chorused the crowd around the office
stove.
Il was travelling through Chenango
County, and met with an obstinate old
farmer who wouldn't have lightning
rods on his barn. He would have
nothing to do with any such nonsense
that's what he called it. One day
thunderstorm came up and bolt
struck his barn. 1t knocked the build
ing into little pieces, burnt up three
houses, a patent reaper, a subsoil pillow,
a harrow, four sets of harness. six horse
blankets, sixty tons of hay and the
farmers daughters baby. Well, the
old man had another barn built, but
he didn't put any advantageous on.
He said that lightning never struck
twice in the same place. Itdid, though.
Knocked the new barn endwise and
burned up four horses, two reapers. two
plows, two harrows, eight sets of har-
ness, a dozen blankets, hun
dred tons of hay and the farmers
daughters brand-new twins
There was a general silence for a few
moments, and then one of the crowd
said:
whats your trade, young feller?'
I'm lightning-rod agent
'.Ohr'- Puck's annual.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
AROUND THE HOUSE.
Usefal Hints for the Tidy and Careful
HOusekeeper.

Usef.l Hints for the Tidy and Careful
HOusekeeper.
Wash black stockings thoroughly in
strong salt and water; wash again in a
weaker solution, and finish by a thor
ough rinsing in clear water. Stockings
thus washed will not crack.
To relieve hoarseness and tickling in
the throat: Make a gargle of the white
of an egg beaten to a froth, adding a
half-glass of sweetened, lukewarm
water.
Discolorcd tea and coffee pots may be
cleaned by filling them with water in
which two or three tablespoonfuls of
wOod-ashes have been placed, and let
ting it boil up, then wash thoroughly
with hot soapsuds, and rinse.
Mustard water will cleanse the hands
after handling odorous substances.
A mixture of rain water, cologne
and glycerine should be kept by those
who are troubled with roughness of
the skin. Apply to the face and hands
after washing. Bean water is also
good for rough skin. Put a handful in
a bag and dip it in warm water and
wash with it.
To remove the dust from carpets,
pin wet cloth over the broom. Also
to make the broom wear as long as
two, draw stocking leg over the
brush, and with needle and Irvine sew
through, and dampen the broom every
day.
Lime powder well sprinkled where
cockrOaches abound will drive them
away PHILADELPHIA Press.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
MAN RALLIED.
A Lady Who Succeeded in Holding the
Fort and a Goose.

A Lady Who Succeeded in Holdin; tho
Fort and a Goose.
"R-r-r-rH' went the telephone in tn
Gratiot avenue station the other day,
and when the captain called 'Hello"' q
voice inquired:
care you the police9"
Eyes; who are you:?"
"a boy. There's a big row up here. -
"Where?"
"On St. Aubin. I'll tell if it's neccs-
sary TO send the wagon
Things were quiet for moment, and
then the telephone rang again.
We'll, how is it," asked the captain.
"Purty serious, but I'll telephone you
again"
There was an interval of three min
ates before the captain was rung up
:gain.
"Well?"
"You needn't send the wagon. There
were three of 'em. They had lost a
goose. They said we had it. Nam
called 'em liars. They sailed in. They
got mann in between the wood-shed and
the goose-pen and made the hair fly.
but mann found a club and rallied, and
YOU orter see them women climb! Nam
holds the fort and the goose. Good
bye!'-Detroit Free Press.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
SILVER SPOONS.


But Little Machinery Used in Their Manu-
facture.
Probably there is no article of table
or of other household use in the pro-
duction of which so little of machine
working is employed. Almost all the
work on solid silver spoons is hand
work; the exceptions are the rolling
of the ingot into plates. and the pro-
duction of spoons with ofnamentation
in relief, which is produced by recessed
patterns on the rolls.
The material for spoons is coin silver
obtained from the Government minis
in ingots, or from trade for old silver,
or from the use of current coin. This
is melted over charcoal fire in plum
bago crucibleS TO a certain heat, known
to the adept by the appearance OF the
surface of the molten metal; it is
poured into cast-iron molds, forming
bars of about seventy ounces each.
These bars are heated over a forge
fire of charcoal and worked on the
anvil by hammer and sledge, precisely
as iron or steel is worked, or are rolled
into plates or ribbons. Occasional an
nealings are necessary to prevent
cracking.
The ribbon for the ordinary teaspoon
is four and half inches long by three
eighths of an inch wide When rolled.
Il blank of two and a quarter inches is
heightened to four and half inches,
TO thin it down to spoon thickness. Be-
fore rolling Or hammeriag, silver is
very nearly as soft as lead; but with
these mechanical processes it can be
made hard and rigid. Good springs can
be made of silver hammered or rolled.
To form the bowl of the teaspoon,
the bar, of three-eighths of an inch
wide and less than three thirty-sec-
ondths Of an inch thick, is hammered
fiat on an anvil with browning face
until the workman has spread i. into
an oval, which is much thinner in the
middle than at the edges. rs the edges
are to receive the bulk of the wear.
The handles are formed also by the
hammer.
The curvature of the bowl is pro-
duced by repeated "coaxing" blows by
a steel punch and a die of cast compO-
VI lCsil iii. 1No
is employed on the faces of the spoon;
only the edges are file-dressed to form.
From the anvil and the die the spoons
come to hand-smoothing with Scotch
gray stones and polishing by stiff
brushes, generally revolving brushes
charged with '.grits" and oil. Burnish-
ing is the finish of spoons as of all
all bright silver goods.-Pansy.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
FOR DUB YOUNG READERS.
GONE TO SCHOOL.

Where is our merry hearted baby?
How strange the silence seems!
Where is helm the land of mischief,
Or in the land of dreamS!
Tying the reins of patient ROverf
CoaXing puSs with spool!
All, me! how slowly We remember:
Baby has gone to school.
Here at home he began his letters,
Finished with X, w,
And conquered the multiplication table
AS far as the three times three.
Then papa laughed. and suggested shyly:
Mamma forgets one rule.
Babies must learn to be more than babies.
And so they must go to school"
Well we recall the September morning.
When our sturdy, little lnaa
Kissed us goodbye, in the pleasant sun
shine
And the growing-up began.
Looking back, he cheerily shouted.
As we watched from the doorway cool:
~Good-bye folkses. I'll come and see you
By'm'by, after school"
Many tale he finds to tell US,
Mingled in smiles and tears.
Bravely his heart goes out to the future
Untouched by doubts aud fears
Yet we know life holds harder lessons
Than those from book or tool.
All, time! deal gently with US and baby,
Til we all are home from school.
Leslie H,dtc, in Chicago Advance.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

active and agile as he really is. That
he can outrun fleet horse seems in
credible enough, but it is even more
wonderful that he can vie in quickness
of movement with the muscular tiger.
One of a party of hunters in India
left camp one evening, intending to
shoot one of the peacocks which were
heard screaming in their discordant
way not very far from camp. He knew
from experience that he might find q
tiger in the neighborhOod, though up
to that time no traces of that animal
had been seen. But the tiger is so fond
of peacock that experienced hunters
always 90 cautiously to shoot the birds.
In this case the caution was wise, for
when near the spot where the birds
were the hunter just saved himself from
stumbling on large tiger, which fort
unately was so much taken up with
stealing upon the birds that it did
not notice the man. The latter
anticipating some interesting sport,
watched the tiger move stealthily
through the underbrush and come
upon the noisy birds. Whoever
has seen an ordinary cat crouch and
spring can comprehend what the hum
ter saw. The spring was.hnsuccessful.
however; and, as is its custom, the
tiger, as if ashamed of its failure, was
Sinking away, when there came the
noise of crashing underbrush. and the
graceful creature crouched closely to
the ground.
The noise, as the hunter had at once
suspected, was caused by the approach
of herd of elephants. Again he wait
ed silently for further developments.
The huge creatures made their way
straight toward the clearing where the
peacocks had been feeding on the grain
which grew there. At the head of the
herd gamboled baby elephant. Tn
conscious of the presence of the tiger,
the little creature was almost upon it,
when the great cat. as if unable to re-
slst the temptation, darted toward it.
Like magic the whole herd responded
to the shrill cry of the mother, and the
leader of the herd charged to the res
cue.
The tiger seemed willing to retreat,
but that the leader would not permit;
and then began fierce combat. in
which the tiger with all its agility
strove to take the elephant anywhere
but in front. To avoid this, the ele-
plant moved about with astonishing
celebrity. and finally with quick plunge
caught the tiger under its ponderOus
foot, and with one terrible thrust
pierced it with its tusks. Is not the
elephant. the real king?-Johm Il. Cor
WeN, IN st. Nicholas.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
TRICKS IN TRADE.
The Patience-Trying Dickering Of the
Alaska Indians.


Alaska Indians.
Indian No. l puts in an appearance
with miserable lot of furs, and more
miserable story ofpoverty-the badness OF
the river for trapping, the scarcity OF
animals and the inferiority of the pelts,
his large family in need of support. his
honesty with the company in the past.
and score of other pleas, the upshot
of which was request that he might be
supplied with clothing and ammunition
for another year in return for the pelts
at his feet. The trader replies, setting
a definite price in trading material for
the amount of skins before him. and tho
''dickering" begins. After half an hour
or an hours talk of the most tiresome
description, the discussion ends in the
Indian accepting the exact amount the
trader originally offered. or about one
tenth of his own demands. Indian No.
2, who has heard every word of the con-
versation, then comes forward with the
same quality of furs and exactly the
same story, the trade lasting exactly the
same time, and with exactly the same
result; and so on with all the others in
turn. Even No. II of the dozen present
does not vary the stereotyped proceed
ings, any more than an actor S inter-
probation of a part varies on the twelfth
night of a piece. Then Indian No. l
comes forward again with a package of
furs of better quality than the first he
displayed, and solemnly affirms that
these are the only ones he has left, and
that if the trader will not give him
enough clothing for himself and family,
and enough ammunition TO last through
the winter, in return for them. they
must all 60 naked. and perhaps starve
for the want of the means of procuring
food. This story. with its continuation,
lasts about half as long as the first, but
ends in the same way, as the Indians
elOquence has about as much effect on
the trader as it would on the proverbial
row of stumps. The farce is repeated
by all the Indians in turn, and is yet
again repeated at least once before the
entire transaction is over. during all of
which time the white trader sits COM
pOsedly on his stool, and gives a pa
tent and unvarying answer to each in
his turn, under provOcatiOn that would
have put Job in frenzy before the first
circle was completed Lieutenant
Schwatka's "Along Alaska's Great
Rirer''
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
A DARKY'S WOOiNG.
A White Mans Love-Making and a Col
Ored Initiation.

ored Initiation.
Years ago planter was counting a
certain young lady in the sunny South.
One day he ordered his negro coach
man to drive to the residence Of his in
amOrata.
The next morning Cuffee observed
his master and the young lady proceed
ing arm in arm to a summer house
around which vines had overspread,
making it cool retreat from the sultry
heat.
Be it known that Cuffee. on his ar
rival, had fallen desperately in love
with the ebony cook in the kitchen, but
he was dumbfounded in the presence
of this sable woman, the art of love-
making being to him an almost I'M
fathomable mystery. Cuffee, however,
was bound to learn, and he silently fol-
lowed the pair to the shady bower.
Parting the vines with his hands, he
very cautiously peeped within. There
on a bench sat the young lady, and
kneeling on the ground was his master,
VINO was hOiulnS Her nanu III HIS. Sul-
fee heard these words:
20, your eyes are like doves eyes!
Your alabaster neck sets me on fire.
o, Cupid"'
AS quick as possible Cufiee disap-
pearcd from the scene. He returned
to the kitchen, turned a kettle bottom
side up, seized the bewildered Dinah
and seated her on the kettle. Then
getting down on his knees, he took
both her hands in his, and with up
lifted eyes, exclaimed:
''Oh, your eyes are like dogs eyes!
Your yaller blasted neck sets me on lire.
Oh. blue pot!'
The last seen of that unfortunate
darby he was fleeing from the wrath to
come, followed by sundry stove sticks
propelled by the irate and very indig-
nant Dinah. Sytings.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
THE REAL KING.
Tho Elephant Justly Entitled to This
Proud Distinction.

Tho Elephant Justly Entitled to This
Proud Distinction.
The lion is called the king of beasts;
but after all. he is rather a sneaking
sort of fellow, and not what we have a
right to expect a monarch to be. He
is very strong. and when he must fight,
does so fiercely; but as he is not any
more powerful than the tiger, and is
not even rs good a fighter. he ought to
take rank next to that first cousin of
his.
But even the tiger is not entitled to
the first place, for he is not by any
means the master of the brute creation.
If any animal can be said to hold that
place, it is certainly the elephant.
Only, the elephant, not being flesh
eater, very seldom has trouble with his
comrades of the forests. and conSe-
quently has no reputation as fighter.
And Yet he can fight, even in captivity.
As was seen only a few weeks ago,
when in the winter quarters of men,
agerie at Philadelphia according to the
newspapers enraged lion. escaping
from his broken cage. dashed madly
upon a great elephant, only to be
crushed to death by the powerful beast
which he had dared to attack
All animals, indeed. Iespect the ele-
plant and give him wide birth. Once
IN while, Il rhinoceros will lose his
wits and 90 tearing through the jungle,
regardless OF consequences, and he
might then attack even an elephant.
As rule, the result is very disastrous
30 the rhinoceros, which is quite likely
to discover that his horn is no match for
the two shining white tusks of the ele-
phant.
When used by man for hunting the
tiger. the elephant will frequently dis
play the most abject fear. should the
tiger suddenly spring up in his path
and this fact has led to the belief that
the elephant has a natural fear of the
tiger. The truth is, the tanned elephant
has been taught TO SO bend his will to
his human masters that he has lost his
ability to act upon his own impulse,
and, moreover, is SO hampered by his
crowded howdah, and his other trap
pings, that he has not full liberty of
action.
Stories without number are told by
hunters of combats witnessed in the
jungle between elephants and other
animals, and all go to show the pro-
digious strength and activity of the
huge creatures. Strength. of course,
the elephant would be expected to have,
but it is hard to comprehend how SO
Unsain!y-iooking creature can be so
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
Ahead Of All Competition.

A Cleveland speculator sent his son
to Wisconsin to buy hops. telling him
to keep his eyes open for any other
speculation. After few days a dis
patch came saying:
IA widow has got a corner on the
hop market of this State. Shall
marry herr"
Certainly" was the reply sent over
the wires.
Twelve hours later the son an
nounced:
'.Got the hops, the widow and seven
step-children, and shall 60 to Chicago
Tomorrow to see about a divorce. y
Wal; Street NeUS.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
MAPS AND DRAWINGS,
Transmitted and Reproduced BY Letters
of the Alphabet.

Transmitted and Reproduced by Letters
of the Alphabet.
In these days most people have some
conception of the principle of the
Morse alphabet" They know, or
have known and forgotten. that by
that system of telegraphy letters of the
alphabet are communicated by certain
arrangements of dots and clashes, p"
whether seen or heard. They may
also know that this is the system at
present adopted for the purpose of mil
itary signaling by flag, lamp and hello
graph; and that in the use of it for that
purpose no attempt is made to
send any symbol, or combination of
dots and dashes, except those which
represent the twenty-six letters, and
one or two other combinations used for
special purposes. Even the latter are
letters run together. There is no
set of symbols to represent figures or
groups of figures, or any other of the
written signs of which men avail them
selves for communicating upon paper
This practice has been settled for good
reasons, the principal one being that
simplicity is the alpha and omega of
military signaling. This being so, it
would perhaps at first sight appear i'm
possible with such material to succeed
in transmitting. save by way of de-
scription, any such thing as a map or
drawing, however rude. As a matter
of fact, however. means have been
found by which both maps and draw
ings of considerable completely. can
be briefly communicated and repro
duced with almost absolute accuracy,
although nothing but letters of the
alphabet are employed. = Longman's
Magazine.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

"A little squad of printers in New
Haven were photographed some
months ago. and since then some of
them have been sick constantly. The
incessant illness led some of the party
" attribute it to the picture, which it
was found contained just thirteen pict-
ures. As soon as it became known that
the party contained that fateful num-
Der the increase of illness was marked,
and to-day four or five of the party are
off duty, while the remainder are going
about kicking themselves and shaking
with fear over what may happen
NeO Haren Register.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
At the Table.

''Maria, what is Augustus muttering
about?'
''Why, he won't cat his soup. dear"
''Won't eat his soup-what do you
mean, sir?''
Il don't like it,
Don't like it, eh-why, when l was
boy l was glad enough to have dry
bread and meat for my dinner. just
bread and meat SIR"
"Well, it's good thing you married
in our family, then. paH'-7He Ram
bier.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

"A Jersey bull, near GAINESVILLE.
Ga. became med and killed six hundred
dollars worth of mules and horses be-
fore he was killed. He terr0rized over
the country twelve miles and several
persons came near being killed by him
--Kentucky Form JoHrD0&
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

Shares and notes, the former most.
ly in mining companies, and which
had cost their purchaser eleven thou
sand dollars. were sold recently as part
of decedent's estate in Port Jersis,
N. Y, for one dollar.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

-Cleanliness is important with
plants. An occasional washing of the
leaves with a sponge filled with clean
water OF about the same temperature
as the room is beneficial. Sprinkling
the leaves once or twice a week is 3
desirable practice.-M. 7. Telegram
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18
Baked Custards-One an,

Baked Custards-One quart OF milk,
four eggs. five tablespoonfuls of sugar
beaten with the eggs. nutmeg and two
tablespoonful flayoring extract. Scald
the milk. pour upon the other ingredi-
ents. stir together well, flavor and pour
into stone-china cups. Set these in q
pan OF hot water. CRATE nutmeg upon
each and bake until firm. Eat cold from
the cups.-IHe CatereT.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

IL believe in woman suffrage, of
course / do" said Mrs. Shuttle, as she
threw down the evening paper. '.Now.
there's Queen Victoria; she makes just
Is good speech as any King. "-CAs-
cQ0O Tribune.
Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-03-18

charging cent an ounce for them
when gent to any place in this country,
and only cent for every two ounces
when cent abroad; that is to say, it
cost two cents to send two ounces of
photographs, unsealed to the West side
of the city. and one cent to send the
same package to Turkey, India and
Arab;a. Now, however, photographs
are ruled by the department to be
printed matter. and they go, when un-
sealed, all over the civilized world,
nearly, at the rate of two ounces, or q
fraction thereof, for two cents"
"What else has been changed?"
"Some changes have been made in
the rulings concerning unavailable mat
ter. The rule has been. for long
time. that candy and cake could not be
sent by mail unless inclosed in a tin Or
wooden box. These articles are very
troublesome in the mail. If candy can
90. any kind of candy can 90, and
candies are sent that melt and IN, and
defile and glue together all the other
mail matter in the same pouch with it.
Cake is worse still, and. strange as it
may seem, gives the department more
trouble than any other kind of mail
matter. 1t is always wedding-cake,
and ve-y rich. 1t not only breaks up,
gets scattered through the pouch and
leaves great grease spots on all the
other Matchmaker. but attracts the rats,
SO that they eat through the pouches
and through the other Matchmaker to
get to it Experience has proved, now.
that e,an inclosing cake and candy in
The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1886-08-28
GENERAL NEWS.
What People are Saying and
Doing in Idaho.
FROM OUR EXCHANGES.

lewiston Teller.
Good mines are discovered and looat-
cd in Cold Springs district, about five
miles b,low the Payotte Lakes in Long
Valley.
Mr. Ward. from the Potlatch, reports
to us that Mrs. Lopgfellow's field OF
wheat has Just been threshed and tho
yield was an average OF forty-eight
bushels per acre.
Alexander Shearor, superintendent of
construction on the N. p, was drowned
in Snake river at Ainswortb. n week
ago last Tuesday. Ho was suporintend-
ing the raising of tho drowned engine
A correspondent to the Democrat
from Caldwell says tho nows reached
there that tho o. Il. & N. Company's S
lease to the u F. has besn signed. IL
has not been delivered and probably
never Will be.