davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
To Pack a Trunk.

A great convenience for packing is 3
shoewrap. One should have as many
of them as there are pairs of boots and
slippers to go. 1t is simply square
of brown holland or stout gray silesia,
half yard each way. A narrow hem
is made all round and feather-stitched
with darker or lighter color. At one
corner is firmly sewn on to the outside
yard of braid or tape in such a way
that when stretched out one end goes
beyond the diagonally opposite corner
of the square. The shoes are then laid
together, soles out. near the diagonal
corner and then rolled tightly, the
other two corners being turned in; the
one where the tape is sewn remains
outside and the tape may then be
wound round and round and firmly
tied. The shoes never come out and
they take up half the room in packing
that they would wrapped in paper or
put in loosely.
There are good packers and bad
packers and those who throw every
thing in helter-skelter, who cannot be
called packers at all. The good ones
are doubtless born so, yet much may
be learned from experience.
The hardest packing is the leaving
home when the many things needed
are scattered all over the house. II
the traveller has several days for prep
aration it is well to take one corner of
the room where the trunks stand and
there to accumulate the clothing and
otter things that are to be carried.
Everything being ready the work be-
gins. First lay at the bottom of the
trunk a cloth or towel, and then put
In first shoes, books and other hard
and heavy articles. Try to keep an
even layer, filling up cracks and COR
ners with stockings, wooden under
vests and other small objects that may
be rolled up tight without injury.
Dress skirts should be folded the length
of the trunk, and that they may not
appear crumpled when taken out
should have roll of newspaper laid
in the folds. Hats and bonnets 90 of
course in the tray or box. They may
have laces, neck frills, gloves and
worsted hoods laid inside and around
them, but no heavy thing should come
near them.
After the trunks comes the hand
VI HCIC let me WdEH
the inexperienced traveller to leave
only the necessaries for this; enough
articles will probably be found after
the trunks are locked and there is no
time to open them, to fill up the bag
A dressng-bag is a great conven-
ience. The simpler the better 1t
may be made of coarse, brown holland
or kitchen toweling, and be as pretty
as one could wish, with light braid,
Misunderstanding and cross-stitched
initials. 1t should have pockets for
comb, brushes, hair-pins, little leaf
of flannel sewed on for needles and
pins, and should contain sleeve and
glove buttons, thimble, thread, a boot
buttoner and pair of scissors. besides
such other things as would readily oc-
cur to any one on looking at ner dress
ing table. 1t is easiest to roll it to-
gether lengthwise and tie with tapes
sewed on TO the back. 1t is an excel
lent plan to put everything in its place
In the dressing-bag some days before
leaving home and to use it as if al
ready travelling, then anything needed
can be easily supplied.-Marte Coz
zatdt IN Good Housekeeping.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Worth Its Weight in Gold.

The Provincetown, Mass, whalemen
have been unusually successful in their
voyages within the last 15 or 20 years,
not only IN the amount of oil obtained
but in that of ambergris. Ambergris
is a peculiar secretion found in a dis
eased whale, and is worth its weight
in gold. 1t is not buoyant article,
and is only obtained by killing the
whale, OF the whales dying and drift
ing ashore, when the lump of amber
girls washes upon the beach after the
carcass is decomposed. The amber
girls Cor sick) whales are usually found
near the land, and when the stuff is
pick up on shore the carcass of a
dead whale is usually somewhere in
the vicinity. When an apparently
healthy whale is killed, and on exam
ination appears to have very little oil,
search for ambergris is made. In
appearance it is dark gray. sticky
substance, and very vile smelling. 1t
is principally used in making per-
fumes, to "set'' the odor, and as re-
finer.
1t is related that one afternoon,
years ago, the schooner Gage Phillips,
of ProvincetOwn, was drifting on the
whaling grounds, when the man on
lookout reporter that small, pecul-
iar-looking substance was floating off
the port quarter. 1t was taken on
deck and pronounced to be some Pc
culiar kind of West Indian gum.
After being kicked around the deck
for some days, it was thrown careless
ly into the steamboat. The Phillips
fell in with another whaler, and the
crews exchanged visits. The visiting
captain noticed the 'gum," declared
its was ambergris, and revealed its
value. 1t was taken care of, and
when the vessel arrived home the sale
of that lump of '.gum" added So, 900 to
the general stock of the voyage.
Another captain of merchant yes
sci, lying at anchor off one of the ISL
ands in the West Indies, discovered a
lump as large as his two fists in the
possession of negro, who sold it to
the captain for one flannel shirt and
an old pair of pantaloons. 1t was sold
in the States for $500. A whaling
crew having secured and killed a
whale, cut it in two and found dark
gray mass about the size of half
barrel. In the effort to get it on deck
the lead-like mass shot downward into
tie fathomless sea, and at least $5O,-
900 slipped neatly away, leaving mad
captain and a mad crew. There are
living in Provincetown many retired
whalers who have made fortunes in
the find of ambergris, and seldom a
season passes without some of her cap
tains returning wealthy men.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Grew a Beard After Death.

About thirteen years ago Hal Clay
ton, one of the best known gamblers
on the coast, died here of a fever. He
was rich, and his remains were placed
in a costly metallic casket with a glass
case and consigned to a handsome
tomb. His wife, who was frantic with
grief, placed her diamonds on his
shirt-front. The stones were valued
at $500. Fearful lest the gems would
be taken from the vault she placed q
watch at the tomb, and it was main
tanned for many weeks. Clayton was
a Southerner, and the body was dis.
posed of after the Southern fashion,
above ground.
A few days ago George Dobbs, who
has the care OF the cemetery, was pos
sessed with a curiosity to visit Hal
, Clayton's tomb, and, securing the keys
OF the vault, took q look at the re-
mains. He was astonished to find that
Clayton's beard and moustache had
grown under the glass case to such an
extent that they reached below his
knees. The beard was rich brown
color, extending in wavy masses over
the body and having perfectly
oPPSthi ahSC, IL IdN Z
had on a living man. The beard had
been growing in this way for thirteen
years.
Clayton had a romantic life. He was
engaged to handsome young girl in
the South and left her to seek his for
tune. She became tired of his absence
and, setting out to find him, drifted
homeless and friendioss from one min.
ing came to another. After years of
this life she met her former lover, but
was so changed by her wandering life
that he refused to marry her. After
his reputation of his old sweetheart
he became sick, and when lying at
deaths door she came to his bedside
and nursed him back to health. Filled
with gratitude at her devotion, he re.
newed the affection of his youth and
married her. She proved devoted
wife, and when he died she built at
large expense the vault where his re-
mains now lie, and in which his beard
has been growing all these years.
Whether the diamonds are on his shirt
front is not known, as the beard hides
the body from the knees up.-Carson
(NeU.) Special.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Chinese Torture by Famine.

Yesterday we visited the Che-hsien's
yamen in the city for the purpose of
inquiring into the truth of the state
ment that criminal was exposed in
cage and was being therein starved
and tortured to death. Such an event
is of rare occurrence in Shanghai City
of recent years, and its revival by the
new district magistrate is somewhat
surprising. The unfortunate creature
stood upright in bamboo cage, about
five feet high, which his neck through
cangue, by with he would have
been almost suspended-or, at least,
the tip of his toes would barely have
touched the bottom of the cage-had
it not been that some person had placed
large stone under the mans feet
BY this his sufferings were greatly
relieved and his chances of death by
strangulation reduced. He did not
look particularly distressed in his
position amid the raillery and the jeers
of the spectators, who displayed an al
most tiendish delight in mocking his
state, to which he seemed not loath to
reply with interest, and a perfect fire
of abuse was kept up between the cruel
people and the wretched prisoner.
We learned that in the morning a
friend OF his gave him some rice
and also prepared pipe of opium
with which to soothe his sufferings.
If this humane friend however, were
detected in his merciful ministrations
by the authorities there is no doubt
that he would be punished severely,
perhaps even clapped into a similar
cage.
1t would seem that the yamen people
make no provision for providing the
prisoner while in the cage with any
kind of food, and that they also
direct dire threats against any one
who might give him any. The
man is described as desperate thief
and has been in prison ten years. His
last otfense was stripping prisoners
of their clothes and stealing every
thing else of the little that these
wretched beings possessed. His legs
are weighed down with heavy chains,
and, altogether, his torture in the hor-
rible contrivance gave a strong con-
tradiction to the belief that the Chi
nese are becoming more humane in
their judicial system. In no other
country in the world boasting of any
sort of civilization would such a thing
be tolerated, and the worst feature of
it is that the people generally applaud
the cruelty of the Che-hsien and have
no sympathy with the unfortunate
man. Our impression was that they
were much disappointed that the stone
was given to him, although they made
no attempt to remove it while we were
there, and they also denounced the
humanity of the man who fed him
North China NeWs.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Will the Canal be Finished.

No exact estimate of the time and
money required to finish the canal can
be made. as much of the data needed
is unknown. NJ. Charles de Lesseps
said to me: 'In two years the canal
will be finished from Colon to kilo
metre forty-four, and from La Boca to
Paraiso. As to the Culebra, l leave
you to form your own conclusions. 1t
is great and difficult work"
1t is evident that the rate of eXca-
vation in work of such magnitude
must be small until the plant is COM
plete; it is equally true that more work
can be done in a given time with a
complete installation than with one OF
less size. Hence it is false reasoning
to conclude that if 80 100000 cubic
metres are eXcavated in five years, it
will require twelve years to extract the
remaining 73.000,00O. That such
reasoning is absurd is shown by the
cube of last year, which was II, ,727,-
600 cubic metres. At this rate it
would require about seven years to
complete the canal 1t is not proba-
able that this rate will be exceeded
materially for year or more.
NNSPihS, III LLiC sum eau GA
pended. and the purposes to which it
was applied, 1t is unreasonable to pre-
sumo that the final cost of the canal
will be less than 1000, ,000,0 900 francs,
or about $4,000, 900. These figures
are now acknowledged by the COM
pany; but owing to the great sacrifice
at which the loans are obtained, the
Liabilities of the company will be nearly
double this amount.
Any views concerning the compile
ton of the canal by the present COM
pany must be conjectural; but if the
present loan be expended with
economy, the results will enhance the
prospects of success.
At Colon there were residents and
foreigners not interested in the canal.
The most bitter opponents of the enter
prise were Americans and Englishmen
or former employees of the company who
had been disc arged or had a similar
grievance. But from all sources there
was a free admission that the company
has both brains and energy, that the
canal presents no insuperable obsta.
cles, and that its completion is a
question OF time and money! Charles
&. Rogers in Popular Science Monthig.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
RAILROAD MEMS SUPERsTrrICSs.

RAILROAD MEMS SUPERsTrTICNs, -
Talk about superstitions! Railroad men
are as superstitious as they make them, -
remarked an old engineer as he was oil.
ing his engine. 81 have as much faith
IN my machine as have in human
being, as she acts as crankily sometimes.
On, yes, she nas her spells. Sometimes
she will make steam like a daisy. AT
other times she won't steam at all. [
can't account for it. There's lots of
superstitions among the boys, and you
can bet they believe in them strongly
lake that which gives three accidents
following one another, everybody believes
that.
9TH tell you peculiar circumstance,
though. On the Erie they had an old
engine years ago known as the 222. She
had the reputation of being the worst
man killer on the road, and hardly a
week passed that she didn't have an ac-
cident to her record The men became
so much afraid of her thst they refused
to work on her, and the officials were in
quandary. At last In despair they sent
her to the Susquehanna shops, rebuilt
her, changed her number and turned her
loose on the eastern end of the road She
kept up the same capers until she got as
bad reputation as she had before.
Men refused to work with her, and one
dav it leaked ont that she was the old
222. That settled it, nobody cared for
place on her. A short time afterwards
she was ditched and injured so badly
that she was almost in pieces. No effort
was made to put her together again, an
she was consigned to the heap. Her brass
es, ETC., were gradually used up until the
mere she'll was left when she was sold as
old iron.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Abbreviated Names.

One thing that always surprises for
eias3ers is that, with our beautiful and
original geographical names, we have
so little taste as to disguise them in
authorizations. | heard a foreigner
once say that he had brother living
in st. Paul, .'Minn.," and he said
''Minn." and not Minnesota, with evil
IDENTIFY no idea whatever that "Minn. F"
was a cheap and vulgar abbreviation
of musical and romantic word. That
we Americans write to our European
friends, or even our American ones, as
from Me-, Miss, Mo-, NJ, Mon, and
Min, is no credit whatever to our
aesthetic sense, and that we disguise in
our public journals our lovely Colo
RADIO, California, Connecticut, Mon
tana, Iowa, Idaho, and Wyoming, as
Col, Cal, Conn, Ia, To-, and Wy,
shows that we have no national sense
of poetry and music. English people
shortened their county names, but
their county names are tame prose
compared with the breezy picturesque
ness of our state and territory names.
Besides, the English abbreviation is
usually in the mere suppression of the
word ''shire," common to all their
counties. The French are never too
much in haste to treat their geograph-
ical names with respect, although the
majority of these names are much
longer than ours. The average Amer.
lean would consider it a sheer waste
of time and ink to write Meurtheet-
Moselle or Seine-Inferieure or Pyre-
ness-Orientales, but what Frenchman
would date his letter from M. -et-M. S., g.,
Inf, or POP it would take much OF
the tinkle and trill, the sweet lutte
notes, and echoes of pipe and tabor,
from out our memories of Europe if it
was thus Americanized. An anony-
nous letter in Europe was once traced
to an American because the word Yer
mont was written VT, as no one but
one to the commonplace manner born
would have written it. On the other
hand, letter was once returned to its
writer, who had just returned from a
long residence abroad, by the post
master of remote western hamlet be.
cause he could not make out its des-
tination. 1t was directed in full: New.
buryport, Massachusetts. "Oh, YOU
mean Mass" said the postmaster,
when the matter was explained. Your
writin' amt very plain, and | thought
p'raps twas some furrin mistake of
yourn." This is an actual fact, in
credible as it seems.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Nothing to Say.

Some thirty years ago there were
living in small town, near each 9TH
er, two wealthy farmers whom we will
call Williams and Hall, between whom
had grown up bitter feud. 1t hap
pened that these two men were sum-
moned as witnesses on the same side
Of a lawsuit, the principal object of
their testimony being to impeach the
character for truth and veracity of an
other resident of the place. Mr.. Hall
was sworn first, and having testified
that Mr.. - was not to be believed,
and passed his cross-examlnation cred
tably, was dismissed. Mr.. Williams
was then placed upon the stand, and
being duly sworn, speedily demol-
ished every rag of reputation Mr.. -
had left. Then the cross-examination
began:
You say that Mr.. IS reputation
Tor truth and veracity is bad?"
Yes. very bad; greatest liar ever
knew"
"Well, now, Mr.. Williams, how does
his character in this respect compare
with Mr. Halrs?"
Mr.. Williams turned away, and with
outstretched hands, cried out, s'Oh,
My dear sir, you've got me now."--
Harper's Magazine
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
THE BooMERANa's Curious F11ap7

IHE BooMERANG's CURIOUS FLIGHT.
Some German scientists, seeking to
discover the secret of the boomerang's
curious fight, caused party of Austral-
ian natives to give an exhibition of boom
erang throwing at Munster. The instru-
ments used We're of two sizes, the larger
being slender crescent about two feet
long, two and quarter inches wide and
a quarter of an inch thick, made of an
extraordinary heavy Australian iron wood.
The boomerang was jerked up into the
air about 100 yards, when it flew straight
away, then turned to the left and return
ed in curved line back 10 the thrower,
whlrling around constantly and whizzing
unpleasantly. One badly directed pro-
Jectile fell through spectators hat with
a cut as clean as that of a razor, A Wie-
mar manufacturer, who has made some
ll,O0O toy boomerangs, believes that the
mystery of shape lies in the sharper cur-
vature in the middle. with unequal
length of the two arms, which must bs
made of equal weight by Unequal thick
ness. The peculiarity Of motion is due
to the difference in the length Of the
arms, which diverges the curve of rota-
ton from the circular.-New Orleans
Picayune.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
Finding Gold by Accident.

Gold as rule, is the last thing you
will see in gold bearing soil. You
may have it under your feet at the rate
of 800 to the bucketful of dirt, and
not grain will you see, unless that
soil happens to be furrowed by re-
cent rain. Then if stream of water
has cut it away, washing it clean to
the ledge, you may see lying thereon
the dull yellow bits, and you may take
them for bits, and you may take them
for bits of brass filing. Gold in its
native state is not snowy metal, not
near as snowy as the glittering yellow
ish pyrites of iron which so often by
the inexperienced has been mistaken
for the genuine ore.
A man long out of luck, strolled one
morning in an aimiess mood of mind
out of the town of Columbia, Tuolumne
county. He sat down under a tree
and with his stick commenced poking
and prying at rusty looking boulder
in the soil before him. As he con-
tinued to poke and pry a dull yellowish
bit of color appeared beneath the
coating of reddish rust with which the
lump was covered-rust accumulated
permeated soil. He examined more
closely, and found himself in posses
sion of nugget, nearly all gold, and
worth about $4,000.
The strikes which came under nv
observation were all the result of
similar accidents-as at Chambers
Bar on the Tuolume, where the SEEM
ing misfortune of breaking reservoir
led to a rush of water over ground
Where no gold was supposed to be,
and in the deep furrow cut by the
water, there on the ledge lay course
gold; as on the Mariposa trail. where
one day luckless man, packing grub
and blankets, sat on a bit of white,
jagged rock to eat his dinner, and
after eating and while smoking he
idly pried with his jack knife bits from
the rotten ledge and found one of the
richest quartz veins in the state; as at
the Rawhide Ranch claim in Tuolumne,
where the long continued winter rains
of 1872 (fifty-nine consecutive days
Of drizzle and hard showers, all the
level country under water, landslips
everywhere, communication cut off
with Stockton, and flour at 500 per
barreD-well this caused a cave of
dirt in bank claim supposed to be
worked out, and revealed thousands
and thousands of dollars in course,
ragged Jumps, just as it had fallen out
of the rotted quartz matrix. A famous
professor came few months after
ward, made a survey of some ground
adjoining, pronounced it rich, pocketed
his 81 800 fee, and on that ground and
on the strength of that survey certain
capitalists built expensive mining
works, and when 1 passed by them
years afterward the squirrels and
woodpeckers only held possession, for
the professor could not see under
ground any better than anyone else.-
Jacksonville (Fla.) Nea0s-Herald
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
There is a cave on Gran Bethuram' s

There is a cave on Gran Bethuram s
place, seven miles from Mount Vernon,
which nearly equals the celebrated Nam
moth cave in proportions and in curl
osities. In it are several lakes or ponds,
in which fish without eyes are found in
abundance. 1t is q mass of caverns,
some of which are from seventy five to
100 feet high. A party of ladies and
gentlemen recently got lost in the laby-
rinths of the caverns, and several hours
elapsed before they found their way out.
A party from this place are preparing to
to fully explore the cave, and if arrange
ments can pc completed they will pro-
bably start soon, prepared to make their
explorations complete.-Louisville Cour-
ier Journal.
The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-02-23
ABE LINCOLN'S FIRST FIGHT

There does not live IN the Uuitcd States
To-Day ore who was so actively associated
with the martyred Lincoln as John White.
Who lives down the Bishop branch. Down
CT f!roqua. While in The Censor office
the other day Mr.. White related many
amusing incidents of bis boyhood days in
lHlhoIs, when he and Lincoln were fast
friends, split rails, did surveying and
went to husklDg bees together Lincoln
was his senior ny a number of years, and
ior that reason the every act of the la.
mented president remains fresh In the
memory of Mr.. White. 81 remember
well, said he, "when the bully of
Sangamon county, induced by some good
natnred wag, came to the spot where we
were chopping rails aud challenged Abe
to prize fght. The great brawny.
awkward boy laughed and drawled out,
Il reckon, stranger, you're arter the
life"
But the bully made for Abe and the
hfst fall Lincoln came down on top of
TIE heap. The champion was bruising
and causing blood to flow down Lincolu's
face when happy mode of warfare en-
tered his original brain. He quickly
thrust his hands into convenient bunch
OF smart weed and rubbed the same in
the eyes OF his opponent, who almost in
stantly begged for mercy. He was re-
leased, but his sight for the time being
was extinct. No member of the trio pos
sessed pocket handkerchief, so Lincoln,
with usual originality, tore from bis own
shirt front the iurplus cloth, washed and
bandage the fellows optics aud sent him
home. L was also present at the first
lawsuit he ever conducted in Justice
court. Here served him we'll the mex
haustible supply of original ideas and
ways which characterized bis past and
future life. In boyhood days he was as
true to his friends as his great career
proved him to be to his country. ."-Vir.
oqua (Wis.) Censor.