davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
A WONDERFUL MULE,
Though Made of Brass He Is Supposed
Cure Every Disease.

Though Made of Brass He Is Supposed to
Cure Every Disease.
A friend, recently returned from Pc
kin, tells us that he saw method of
cure which may be new to some of our
readers. In a temple outside one OF
the city gates is to be found a brass
mule of life size supposed to have
wonderful healing properties. Patients
suffering from every imaginable dis
ease seek this temple to obtain a cure.
The method pursued is as follows:
Supposing you suffer from sciatica,
you go with all speed to this famous
temple, and having discovered the par
ticular part of the brass mule corre-
spending to the painful region of your
own body, you first rub the animal a
certain number of times, and then with
the same hand shampoo your own dis
abled member, and then-well, then
the pain goes. The special feature of
this method of cure is its delightful
simplicity. Is your tooth aching?-
Just scrub the mules teeth and after
ward your own, and cola! the cure is
complete. Have you an ulcer of the
cornea? pass the tips of your fingers to
and fro over the particular eyeball of
the mule, and then, with well-regulated
pressure, rub repeatedly the afflicted
eye. But we are forgetting; the mule
has unhappily lost his sight during the
many years he has been engaged in his
benevolent work-the eyeballs, we are
told, having been gradually worn
away as the result of constant friction,
until now you have only the empty Or
bits to operate upon. Yet don't be dis
tressed, dear reader, the success is
guaranteed to be as real as it was for
merly. Is the cure always certain?
some would-be applicant may inquire.
Well, the temple is covered with laud-
atory tablets in honor of the mule.
Isn't this testimony enough? and If
you want more the animal is patched
in all directions with fresh pieces of
brass, put on to cover holes produced
by the constant friction of eager pa
tients; and new perfectly whole mule
stands ready at hand, awaiting the
day when his old colleague, having
fallen to piecies, shall give him an
opportunity of likewise benefitting
posterity. - China Medical Missionary
IourunI
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
RURAL MORTALITY.
Its Decrease Due to n Better Observance OF
the Laws of Health.

Its Decrease Due to Better Observance OF
the Laws of Health.
A Presbyterian clergyman who has
served in the ministry for nearly fifty
years furnishes some interesting statis-
tics and observations relating to the in
creasing longevity in the rural districts
of Central New York. He has attend
ed five hundred and seventy three
funerals altogether since 1910. The
average length of life of the first
hundred dead whose funerals were at
tended was twenty-six and One-half
years, seven of these having lived over
seventy wears; of the second hundred
the average was thirty-six years, and
thirteen over seventy years; OF the
third hundred, the average was thirty
seven, and twenty were over seventy
wears old; of the fourth hundred the
average was thirty seven, and twenty
eight were over seventy; of the fifth
hundred the average was thirty-seven
and one-half, and thirty-two were over
seventy; and of the remaining
seventy-three the average was
fifty-eight, and thirty-two were
over seventy, the oldest of the
seventy-three being the late Levi
Hanford. of Walton, who died at
ninety-six. These remarkable figures,
it should be noted, apply to an inferior
farming population, from which a large
number of the young folks ''go Vest
or to the big towns, and where the
quiet and wholesome environment of
rural existence promotes longevity to
an unusual degree. The venerable
clergyman's records also show that of
infants now born fewer die in child
hood in proportion to births than died
in years gone by. Not as many chill
dren are now born in proportion to
the population as were born twenty
five or fifty years ago. There are moro
deaths proportionately caused by
drunkenness and by lung complaints
in these days than ir former years,
and these fatalities serve to keep down
the comparative scale of longevity be-
low what it would otherwise reach.
The increasing length OF years at
tanned by the rural population is at
tributed to the exemption of the pres
ent generation from the severe tolls
and hardships encountered by their
progenitors in clearing up the wider
ness, and to the better understanding
and observance Of the laws OF health.
Medical Record.
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
LIVING ON ToADsTooLs.
They Are Excellent. Provided You Get the
Right Kind.


They Are Excellent. Provided You Get the
Right Kind.
The edible varieties are numerous.
The writer has eaten enjoyably of over
one hundred. and confidently expects
60 add many more to the list. The
late DIR. Curtis, of North Carolina, cata-
iogues 112 edible kinds found By him
In that State. Every day mycopha-
glsts are adding to their cuisine spe-
cles not heretofore tested to the safety
point In eating and even those which
have long borne bad reputation.
Ihe mycophagist selected from wood
or field a specimen of toadstool which
by its external appearance extends an
invitation to try it. Hard, dry, leath-
cry, fetid, Shiny or decomposing ones
are left rigidly alone-as they should
be. Carefully removing the fungus
from its habitations, and after noting
Its botanical characteristics. small
piece is tasted raw; if it is nauseous it
Is thrown away and branded as nom
edible; if it is hot. acrid or bitter, a
small piece is cooked without season.
ing; If it retains any disagreeable
qualities over the Goals it is branded in
like manner: if it loses them all, larger
pieces are cooked and eaten until the
kind either give signs of noxious quail
tiles or proves to be harmless. If the
specimen is mild and pleasant to the
taste "a small piece) both raw and
cooked, the same care is observed un-
til a full meal is eaten; and it is very
necessary that it should be; for in one
family of gill-bearing toadstools-the
amanita-no sign either cooled or raw
is given of its deadly properties. This
is the only family to which deaths have
been traced; and the botanical charac-
teristics of its members must be thor
oughly mastered. There is no other
method of testing that is safe. Charms
OF salt and silver are as useless as the
romances of the fortune-teller, and
even worse; for, if believed in, they
inspire confidence that leads directly
to serious results.
Many persons may experience un-
pleasant effects from eating toadstools
because of rich cooking or indigestion.
which are not caused by inherent
injurious properties in the toadstool.
''What is one mans meat is another
mans poison is a proverb as true of
toadstools as any thing else. There
are many varieties not friendly
to delicate stomachs. The effects of
these kinds are experienced almost i'm
mediately after eating and yield
promptly to simple treatment; but the
poison of the amanita does not manifest
itself for from eight to twelve hours
after Indigestion, and by this pecu-
liarity announces itself. In this event
send for a physician at once. One
eightieth to one-sixtieth of grain of
atropine administered at dose SUBJ
cutaneOusly until the poison is counter
acted is an antidote. - Lippincott's
Magazine. -.
Iron County register., 1888-07-26

between meals is heightened by those
who are anxious to do big days works.
| and those who have their teams afield
by sunrise in May and June and work
hard until the incoming hour, do not
stop to consider that the in
terval between breakfast and din
ner is extended from seven to
eight hours, against from five to six
hours earlier in the season. This is
done also when the work is more
| laborious than it was when this interval
| was shorter, and the temperature is
much more trying. The time from
dinner to supper is heightened in the
same way. and the long, hot days of
summer often bring actual suffering
for the teams. And in all probability
| the owners of these teams would resent
the accusation of being called cruel in
any way. Many farmers see their
horses grow thin and weak without ex-
actly understanding why they should,
knowing full well that they are feeding
| as much as at any other time, and per-
haps a little more. As has been stated
often in these clumns, and is generally
understood by those who care to know,
the stomach of the horse is smaller in
comparison with the size of his
body than that of any other
animal, and is not large enough
to carry food enough to sus-
tain the body when required to do hard
work under trying circumstances for as
long a time as is often required by un-
thinking farmers. In many trades and
professions eight hours is considered
days work, yet some of our tillers of
the soil require nearly that many hours
from their teams between refresh
ments. Those who do it must expect
the consequence, and the result is
thin, jaded horses with not enoughl life
in them to do the work that is re-
quired of them with any degree of
comfort or ease to themselves. The
result of such work is evident. Tho
crops may be cultivated with horses in
this condition, and the horses may live
through it and regain their flesh when
there is a cessation in the
work, but their lives will un-
dOubtedly be shortened and
their days OF usefulness curta1led
by such treatment. Under such con-
ditions horses are more liable to
diseases, and the digestive organs are
frequently injured for all time. 1t
would be hard to suggest remedy for
this cruelty that would be adopted by
every one. The one that most natur-
ally suggests itself is to have a very
early dinner, and then feed at or near
ly five o'clock in the afternoon. AS
most farmers have supper at this hour
it would be a matter of but little in
convenience to introduce this system
of feeding. If it were generally un-
derstood that the bad condition of
farm teams could so often be blamed
upon the extended intervals between
feeding in summer this matter would
certainly receive more attention than
it doeS.-Nati0ndI StOckMan,
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
Decay Of the Signal Service.

The meteorological work of the
signal Office began in 1870, when an
appropriation of $15, 900 was made for
it. Instead of $4,000 year. the
meteorological work of the signal
Office now costs 5000, 900. and has cost
as much as 100000 In eighteen
years. and with such liberal expendi-
lures of money, this service ought to
have increased, not only in the extent
of its operations, as it has done, enor-
mously, but in the character OF its
weather predictions. But such inn
provement has not been made, at least
not to the extent that it ought to have
been. The public have found this out.
and, being more critical than former
ly, as they have right to be, COM
plain when they suffer in health, COM
fort or pocket through failure of the
predictions to be verified. Why is 1t
that while the percentage of success
full indications in 1888 was 89.1 it was
in 1887 only 1873, or, allowing for the
fact that predictions are now made
thirty-two hours in advance, instead
of twenty-fonr as formerly, only 80. 919
Science.
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
PITH AND POINT.

Empty barrels give the most
sound.
The man with twins is deucedly
happy. N O. Fcayune.
Society is necessary to man, even
If it be only that of a dog.
"A boasting tongue is the manifest
sign of a cowardly heart.
You needn't pack up any worries
You can get them anywhere as you go
along.
AS we may safely depend upon the
word of truthful man, so we may
safely depend upon the doings of a
faithful man.
Beauty and sadness always go to-
gether. Nature thought beauty too
rich to go forth upon the earth without
a meet George Macdonald.
1t is hard to personate and act a
part long; for when truth is not at the
bottom, nature will always be endeav-
oring to return, and will pass out and
betray herself one time or other
IHlotson.
far as our moral agency is concerned,
on keeping the imagination free from
the secret contemplation of forbidden
objects. Keep the door of the imag-
ination barred against unlawful visit
ors. and the citadel of the soul is safe.
Weak minds make treaties with
the passions they can not overcome,
and try to purchase happiness at the
expense of principles; but the resolute
will of a strong man scorns such
means, and struggles nobly with his
foe to achieve great deeds.-Henry W.
Longfellov.
You can know something of the
inner nature of man by noting his
favorite amusements. An evil-hearted
person naturally turns now and then to
some sinful or questionable diversion
and the zest of his enjoyment will be-
tray him, no matter how correct his
ordinary, outward life may be-
Interior.
Don't judge man by the clothes
he wears. God made one and the
tailor the other. Don't judge him by
his family, for Cain belonged to a good
family. Don't judge a man by his
failure in life, for many a man fails be-
cause he is too honest to succeed.
Don't judge a man by the house he
lives in, for the lizard and the rat often
inhabit the grander structures.
Wharton (Ier.) independent.
Divorce yourself from fret, worry
and grumbling or talking about your
health. Never ask persons about their
health or stories of pet ailments; as all
scuh talk is a welcome to the COM
plants and call for them to come to
you and abide with you. Nine-tenths
of the ills that bother people come
from the fret and nquisitiveness-thus
absorbing the aches of action. Trust
your stomach and your brain as friends,
and they will escort you past hundreds
of funerals and to fun, frolic and USE
fulness. Advance Thought. ,er,
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
WASTED SUNBEAMS.

A Suggestive Article the Sunshine
Wasted on House-Tops.
The relation of sunshine and oxygen
10 health was not at all understood a
century and half ago. No one knew
that it was the oxygen of the air that
purified the venous blood of its effete
matter, and that the same element was
absorbed by the corpuscles and con-
veyed through every part of the sys-
tenn for use in its complex chemical
processes. No one knew the disin-
fecting power of oxygen out of the
body, nor, until quite recently, that
the sunshine itself was one OF the most
valuable disinfectants in nature.
Within late years we have learned
that contagious diseases are vastly
more durable and less liable to spread,
when treated in shelter-tents than in
our homes or hospitals; and we are
more and more caring for the ventila-
ton of our dwellings and school-houses
and churches, preferring the sunny
side of our houses for sleeping rooms.
We are building our cities with wider
streets and providing access to clear
sunshine and pure air in extensive
parks. We are. moreover, demanding
more scientific and faithful plumbing
and looking out better for the con-
dition of our cellars. But we have not
reached the limit of what is possible Or
desirable in this matter.
Can not architectural ingunity con-
trive some method of using the thou
sands of acres of house-tops, so that
roofs, now so useful in affording in
door protection, can be made addition
ally useful, at certain seasons, by
affording outdoor recreation and pro-
lection from invalidism? Can not the
same skill contrive new designs for the
upper and most salutary stories of our
dwellings, playing-rooms and summing
rooms, adapted for the winter season,
but so fashioned that too intense beams
can be excluded in summer?
In the more spacious dwellings, the
upper floors could be revolutionized;
ventilating shafts introduced: broad
windows made to run the width of the
house both front and rear; ready ac-
feasibility to the roof afforded; and at
least part of these floors made at
tractive to children and invalids. A
pleasure resort might ornament each
residence; neighborly consent could
widen the range, and turf and flowers
brighten the plain. For the higher
grade of tenement houses, such fresh
air facilities would probably be hailed
with delight by the inmates. Summer
moonlight evenings could have a new
aspect; and round family lantern
groups might gather, to read, sew or
engage in games, and thus home-felt
pleasure could quiet restless spirits,
craving questionable or illicit alnuse-
Youths Companion.
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
HINOOO SAVAGERY.
Barbaric Ignorance and Brutality Anon z
the Natives of India.

Rarbaric Ignorance and Brutality Anon e
the Natives of India.
The leading Bombay newspaper
draws attention to two recent revolt
ing incidents as conclusively proving
the imperious necessity for social re-
form and enlightenment in India before
it would be possible to concede
electoral privileges. In one case a
tenant farmer, in the presence of the
assembled villagers, amid the singing
of songs and beating of drums,
deliberately gouged out the eyes of his
young wife, who was pinioned for the
purpose by the neighbors, because he
had been told by a demon that they
would be replaced by gold eyes. This
supersti ton was shared by the whole
village and neighborhood, including
the police, VIII % alleged that the un-
fortunate woman had perished from
cholera. In the second case the scene
was temple midway between Chud-
dergaut and Secunderabad. Three
buffalos were hacked and hewn
into pieces, which were strewn
all over the road, and the peo-
pie in the immediate vicinity of
the lacerated animals were dabbling
and dancing about in their blood,
while others. holding the yet bleeding
legs and joints, were whirling them
round about their heads, and gesticu-
lating furiously. A fourth animal,
which was being cut up Or wounded.
was still alive, and added his painful
bellowings to the horrible din. A lit
tie further on some two or three men
with bodies naked and painted, held
goat by the legs, while from the still
living and quivering body they were
tearing away with their teeth, mouth
full by mouthful, the bleeding flesh,
squirting and sprfnkling it over the
adjacent crowd. Other goats and buf
faloes were close at hand. waiting z their
turn to supply the horrid sacrifice. To
complete these Bacchanalian rites, a
crowd of women, apparently intoxi-
Gated with drugs, with hair disheveled,
wild in mien, and besmeared with
blood, performed a kind of satanic
dance, accompanying each movement
with violent shrieks. The object of all
these loathsome orgies, which were
witnessed and participated in by hum
dreds of persons, was, we are told, to
appease the Hindoo goddess who holds
in her hand the scOurre of smallpox.
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
SINGULAR TENDERNESS.
How Mr. COrliss Protected a Robin ant
Her Helpless Brood.

Her Helpless Brood.
Mr.. Corliss (the famous engine
builder of Providence), not long before
his death. had occasion to build al
addition to his manufactory-a big
'L," for additional machinery. Tc
prepare the foundation for this l., il
was necessary to remove ledge OF
rock by blasting. The men to do the
work on the addition had been EN-.
ployed and put on the payroll; the
materials had been purchased and
brought to the building, and the work
of blasting had begun. The next
morning Mr.. Corliss passed by the
place where work was proceeding,
when the foreman in charge, knowing
his interest in pretty things, called
him.
.'See here, Mr. Corliss," said he,
''here's birds nest that we've found,
and tn t's got to go.'
He showed the manufacturer robin
sitting upon nest that had been built,
fast and snug. in a crevice of the rock,
among some bushes that grew there.
The bird flew off her nest as the men
came near. and showed five blue eggs
that looked as if they had just been
laid.
'sCan we move that nest somewhere
else?" asked Mr.. Corliss.
I'm afraid not, sir. Wed tear it
to pieces getting it out. and it isn't at
all likely that you could get the bird
to go to sitting again anywhere else.
We've got to GO on, so we may as well
rip it out and throw the eggs away"
NO. said Corliss, 'swe won't dis
turb her. Let her bring out her brood
right there"
s.But we'll have to stop the work on
the building"
''Let it stop, then"
And so orders were given that
operations on the addition should be
suspended. They were suspended
and the hands stood still, drawing theil
pay for doing nothing, or next to moth
ing, while the robin sat on her most
with her air of great consequence and
jealous attention to business, and had
her food brought by her mate, and al
last hatched her brood. And then
there were three weeks more to go by
at the least, before the young ones
could fly. Corliss visited the nest
frequently, not with any uneasiness OF
impatience to have the robin and the
young ones out of the way, but with q
genuine interest in their growth. The
old birds had all the time they wanted
and when at last they had sternly
helped the clumsy, reluctant young.
sters over the edge of the nest, and
they showed themselves able to ge,
about on their own hook, orders were
given to resume the building opera
tions; and the dull boom of the gun
powder tearing the rocks apart was
heard where the birds had peeped.-
Boston Transcript.
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
DESERT SAND STORM
Vivid Description of Terrible Natural
Phenomenon.

Vivid Description of a Terrible Natural
Phenomenon.
The following vivid description OF
one of the terribly destructive sand
storms of the deserts occurs in Fra
ser's Travels in the Khorassan:"
Morning still found me in wide and
trackless waste of sand. The wind,
which blew SO piercingly all night,
lulled. as it generally does towards
morning; but the hazy vapor, loaded
with light particles of sand, through
which the sun rose red as blood, gave
warning that the calm would not con-
tinue long; nor had / pursued my
course another hour before the roar of
the desert wind was heard, columns of
dust began to rise in the horizon. and
the air became gradually filled with
driving sand.
''As the wind increased, the whole
plain around me, which had been
heaped by former tempests into ridges,
got into motion; the sand blew from
off their crests, like spray from the
ocean, and covered myself and horse
with it's dense eddies; while, often un-
able to distinguish the true course, my
horse toiled over the ridges, sinking
up to the very girths in the deep,
battling substance.
81 continued for some hours to per-
severe, struggling against the fury of
the gale and the clouds of suffocating
sand. To my alarm my horse now be-
came terrified and restive. He snort
ed, reared and appeared unable, as
well as unwilling, to face the sharp
drifting of the still-increasing storm.
In vain | tried to sOOth and urge him
on; caresses and blows were alike in
etfectual.
ITO abandon my horse would have
been to give up hope; for could not
proceed a single mile on foot; yet to
remain stationary, as l was forced to
do by the animals terror, meant GER
tain destruction. Every thing that
offered resistance to the torrent of
sand, which some times poured along
the earth like a rapid stream of water,
was overwhelmed in an incredibly
short. time; even when my horse stood
still, but for few moments, the drift
mounted higher than his knees; and,
as if sensible of the danger, he made
furious efforts to eXtricate himself.
''Quite certain that my only hope
lay in constant motion, and in the
chance of gaining the leeward side of
some hillock or mass of rocks that
might afford a shelter till the storm
should blow over, gave up my true
course, turned my back to the wind,
and made all possible efforts to press
forward; and, at last, when man and
horse were exhausted, during a partial
lull, observed something like rock
looming through the dusky atmos-
phere. 1t proved to be but a bank of
drifting sand with hollow on the lee
side, but here my worn-out horse and
found a tolerably good shelter for
some hours till the storm lulled."
Iron County register., 1888-07-26
FOR OUR YOUNG FOLKS.
THE SLEEPY MAN.

'sNurse says the sleepy-man
Is coming-let us run
And watch him through the key-hole;
Twill be such glorious fun
81 wonder what he looks like,
For nurse has often told
That he's great-grandpa to Santa Claus,
Then he must be very old. !"
So they softly crept to the play-room,
Little Ted and blue eyed Nan,
And waited long and patiently
To see the sleepy man.
At last it came their bed time,
And nurse looked all around
For baby Nan and little Ted.
But neither could be found.
So then she sought the play-room,
And 10! behind the door
The sleepy man had caught them both.
And laid them on the floor.
Ella Starr, in Judges Young Folks.