davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Biting The Finger Nails.

ga novel incident resulting from a
habit of very common prevalence among
nervous people was brought to my no
tice recently" said leading physician
of Philadelphia to reporter the other
day. ga young lady presented herself
at my Office and complained of con-
slant irritation in her throat. Two weeks
previously she had been taken with a
very severe attack of sore throat, which
was treated by the family physician.
Under his care, she said, the inflamma
tion quickly subsided, but there still re-
manned sensation of irritation. Ex-
animation revealed a small ileshy-loOk
ing object about the size of n kernel of
wheat a1herent to the tissues posteriOr
to the left tonsil by the one end. The
ether parts of the throat were normal.
The little mass could not be detached
by cotton-covered probe, but by the
use of forceps it was easily removed, and
on examination proved to be piece of
finger nail which had become embedded
in cheesy deposit. A broken piece or
the nail was also removed from undet
the mucous membrane at the same spot
by sharp pointed probe.
"The lady then confessed to the habit
of biting her finger-nails, and moreover
could remember that day or two pre-
vious to her throat trouble a piece of
nail she had bitten off had become lost
in her mouth, but after it had caused q
fit of coughing she had forgotten all
about it until reminded by the discov-
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Petroleum as a Wood PreserYer.

To soak green post with petroleum
and set it at once is wnste of time.
Posts should be thoroughly seasoned
before coated with oil OF any other pro-
tective, and never set until dried
through and through. A coating of pc
trOleum on shingles will add much to
their lasting quality if applied after they
are laid on the roof, but the proper way
is to dip the shingles in their whole
length before they are laid. This can
best be done by having the oil in
trough large enough to dip the ends of
the punches in up to the middle, and
when they are taken out lay them on a
slanting board that will save the drip
ping and carry it into the trough in
which the shingles are dipped Twenty
five cents worth of oil applied in this
way will make them last twice the
length of time they otherwise would. 1
roof unless they are already laid, in
which case nothing better can be done.
In employing petroleum or paint to
shingle roof already laid, you tnd your
self in Pats predicament. He said he
creased the wagon inside and out, but
couldn't getat the sticks the wheel hung
on. In applying oil to a shingle roof
after it is laid you can't get at tie spot
where it is most needed to make it effec-
tive. A barrel of crude oil and keg of
brown metallic paint will pay in the life
they add to the woodwork to which they
are applied and be worth ten times what
they cost in the neat, tidy appearance Of
the fences, gates and outbuildings. The
petroleum can be ordered from any
dealer in oils, and ouoht not to cost more
than eight cents, with the barrel includ-
ed, and in localities close to oil wells
it can often be bought for half the price.
The paint Will cost from three to five
quantity you purchase, outside figure
being for small lots. Never mix paint
in he petroleum that is applied = shin
giles, as it is only a waste of material.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Financial Methods of To-day.

It is fair to say that no young people
understand the difficulties in which the
Americans of the first half of the centu-
ry lived and worked from the variation
of currency in the different States. Very
often bill of an Illinois bank would not
circulate i'll New England. You had to
take it to broker, and pay perhaps ten
per cent. of its value in exchange for
bills which would circulate. This diff
Guilty was removed when, in the first
year of the civil war, Mr.. Chase, with
the authority of Congress, introduced
National bank system. Nobody cares
now whether his greenback is issued in
Illinois or in Oregon or in New York.
What young readers may not have no
ticed is that bank bills are much less
used than they were of necessity in those
days, and indeed that money as med
ium of trade is less handled than it was
then. The change comes from the tele-
graph. And the illustration, which
take from the experience of our own
States, applies precisely to the commerce
of the world.
If traveller went from Boston to Hi
nois in the year 1885, perhaps to buy
wool in Ohio, in Indiana or Illinois, he
would have taken, perhaps, belt con-
tanning silver dollars to the full amount
which he wanted to use. Perhaps he
would take New England bank bills.
The New England banks had invented
n system of mutual exchange which gave
their bills q somewhat national reputa-
tion. Ifhe could get them he would
take the bills of the United States Bank
in Philadelphia. But this bank and all
other banks in the country failed in the
year 1887. For some time, then, it was
a most difficult thing to remit money or
"value" from one part of the nation to
another. Indeed, that difficulty alone
showed that it was not yet ''nation."
You can imagine the anxiety, the real
danger and the difficulty connected with
carrying so much money, which could
be stolen at any time of day or night.
All of this is now changed. Let a
purchaser travel North, South, East or
West, if he takes fifty dollars with him
he is amply provided for a journey of
whatever length or for purchases how
ever large. He has simply to carry with
him some letters by which, in any large
town in the country, he may identify
himself. Suppose he arrives at Duluth
and makes purchase; he wishes to pay
at once; he goes to some banker in Du-
luth and gives his name, and shows q
letter of introduction from banker in
Boston; this letter has on it his own au-
tograph; if he is an entire stranger he
vcrifies himself by reproducing this au-
tograph for the Duluth banker. He
offers to the Duluth banker his own
check on Boston bank. The Duluth
man then asks the Boston bank if this
check is 'good"-that is, whether they
will honor it. They say that it is, and
the traveller has his money. If they say
it is not he is arrested for fraud and
sent to prison. What the telegraph
gives is the opportunity TO any man to
travel OF to do business with rs little
actual money as he needs for personal
purposes from day to day.-NeO Ior6
Graphic.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17

lion dollars, the bulk of it being in gov rnmen.
bonds and other frst-class securities. 1 shall
hope to see you very soon, and as | know
nothing of your pecuniary circumstances
enclose draft for a small amount, which
possibly may be useful, Very respectfully,
JOHN C. WILCOX.
P. S.-We have for nearly three years pub
lished periodically the advertisement whichvou
saw in all the cities and chief towns of the
United States. W.
But little more needs to be said and
this is the end of Wilford's narrative to
me.
One day last spring, as | was waiting
at the gang plank of q newly arrived
steamer from Europe for an expected
friend, l noticed q gentleman and lady
among It's first landing passengers. The
appearance of the gentleman was forci-
bly, impressed upon me, but [ was sur
prised as he reached the pier to find
him approaching me and then calling
ME by name.
Don't you remember me, Wilford,
once reporter on your paper ?"
Then [ recognized him, and at the
same instant he introduced me to his
wife-the lady on his arm.
His wife was a very different person
from the one to whom | had seen him
married. She was gentle, modest, low
able, and they were evidently devoted
to each other.
Well, he called on me the next day,
and detailed his history from the time
he received the letter enclosing the
draft from the Pennsylvania attorney.
And his wife7 Well, she was the
person who gave him the only kind
word that he received in nearly ten
years of his tramp life-the young wo-
man of the little toy store
No, they don't keep the toy store now,
but when last saw Wilford, only three
or four days ago, he was intently gazing
into the window of large toy store on
Fourteenth street. He said he was try
ing to think of something to buy for
old member of the Wilford
amily.-Neo York Graphic.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Believed Fire by Friction a Myth.

On Burrard Inlet, in British Columbia,
dwells logging camp boss, known far
and wide by the name of Lev. He is
hunter of some importance, and rifle
shot of more than ordinary skill. One
rainy day Lev took his gun and sailed
forth for a deer-hunt, but was over
taken by darkness while long way
from the camp and forced to remain in
the woods all night. On searching his
pockets he found he was without match
es. The logging crew blew horns, fired
guns, ETC., to guide him home, but
without avail. Morning returned, and
Lev made his way home just as the
crew were turning out for breakfast.
Hungry, wet and tired, he sat down in
front of the big campfire, rested his face
on his hands, his hands on his knees,
looked vacantly at the blaze, and for
about ten minutes appeared lost in con.
temptation. He then spoke; '' Boys,
did you ever hear of a person making a
fire by rubbing two sticks together!"
ooh, yes," replied several; "easy
enough to do. Common thing" etc.
Lev waited patiently till they all got
through, and then exclaimed: " 1t may
he easy enough to do, aud, perhaps,
has been done, but I'll be eaten alive il
anybody ever did it in one night. -
Argonout.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
A ShreWd Lads SaWing-Bee.

The admirers of Mark Twain's "Tom
Sawyer will appreciate story of Mr..
Heath, told by one OF his schoolboy
companions. "Tom, it will be remem-
bered, was ordered as a punishment to
whitewash the fence around his aunts
place He persuaded his playmates
that whitewashing was an art, and that
it was an especial privilege to tie per-
mitted to decorate a fence, with the re-
suit that he had the entire boy poDula-
tion offering him various substantial
bribes for an opportunity to do part of
his whitewashiug. Nineteen years ago
long before "Tom Sawyer" had an ex-
istence even in the imaginative mind of
Mark Twain-Perry Heath, then a boy
of -, maie contracts for saving wood
with sundry citizens of Muncie, Ind.
Then, as a novelty in Out-of-doOr sports,
he suggested sawing-hee by MOON
light, and through the hours of the
early evening every b Y i'll the little
town took turns saving cord oOd for
Perry Heath, while the little Napoleon
Of the wOodpile superiutended the work
In later years Mr. Heath has not eX-
ercised the same economy of labor, for
he is one of the most painstaking, in
dustrious men in the journalistic corps.
-IFthiHgtoH Post.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
DeXtcrOus Dancers in Siam.

Poised on tiptoe, bending their arms
ard limbs back as far as they will reach,
and picking up BITS of straw with their
eyelids, the dancing girls of Bangkok
are always exercising in the royal gym
nasium. The new volume in the Zig
gag series, Journeys in the Antipodes, !"
gives q very graphic description of the
wonderful physical training of these
girls, whose ages vary from five to twenty
years. The curious and subtle features
of picking up bit of straw with the
eyelids can be learned only by the
youngest of them, who are made to
practice it in order to render them fiex-
ible in every part of the body.
There are two long rows of benches,
one little higher than the other. On
the lower is a row of little girls, and on
the upper bench are laid fine polished
bits of straw. At the sound of the drum
the little girls all together bend back
the head and neck until they touch the
bits of straw, which, with wonderful
dexterity they secure between the cor
ners of the eyelids.
The cup dance is the most graceful
and poetic of their. daales. A row of
young women with tier of cups on
their head take their plac s in the centre
of the gymnasium. A burst of Joyous
music follows. On hearing this they
simultaneously, with military precision,
kneel down, fold their hands and bow
their heads until their foreheads almost
touch the polished marble floor, keeping
the cups steadily on their heads by some
marvellous JERK of the neck. Then sud
denly springing to their feet, they des-
cribe succession of rapid and intricate
circles, keeping time to the music with
their arms, head and feet.
Next follows a miracle of art such as
may be found oaly among people of the
highest physical training. The music
swells into q rapturous tumult. The
dancers raise their delicate feet, curve
their arms and fingers i'll seeming i'm
possible fexures, sway to and fro like
withes of willow, agitate all the muscles
of the body like the futter of leaves in q
soft evening breeze, but still keep the
tier of cups on their heads. At other
times cup full of some liquid is placed
on the floor i'll the centre OF the hall. A
girl will spring to her feet and dance
about it in round wild eddies, and, sud
denly laying herself down, keeping her
arms folded tight On her breast, will
take up the cup with her lips, and drain
the liquid without spilling drop.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
BEFORE PETERSBURG.
Remarkable Displays OF Personal
Courage in the Civil War.

The fight before Petersburg, writes
General Horatio G. King, brought
out several remarkable displays of per-
sonal courage. Two armies confront
Cd each other with sullen and deter
mined bravery. On Burnside's front
the Confederate lines were less than $50
yards distant. A stone might be thrown
from the Union parapet into the rebel
patriotic moles had been burrowing in
the ground, carrying out the earth in
cracker boxes, concealing it fron4 the
enemy's view with underbrush and
steadily undermining the fort of the un-
suspecting foe. Night and day the
work goes on, and all hearts are centered
on the project if successful will insure
the capture of Petersburg and, in ali
probability, the fall of Richmond. The
evening of July % is at hand, and under
lie with dradly destruction embodied in
its inert mass. The fuse is laid, and at
early morn on the Both of July the
match is to be applied. But daylight is
past, and the troops rest inpatient and
inquiring upon their arms. The sus-
pense is painful. Minutes seem hours,
and yet no unusual sound disturbs the
peace of that July morning. At last
two heroic spirits, commissioned and
O non commissioned officer of the Forty
eight Pennsylvania, volunteer to enter
the mine and learn the cause of the de-
lay or failure. It seemed almost certain
death for them to enter the tunnel. The
explosion is liable to occur at any mo-
ment and blow them to atoms, but they
went in.
The fuse was found defective, and was
speedily replaced, and ere the sun had
risen high over the old hills of Virginia,
the earth shook with the tremor of an
earthquake, and through the earth |
thrown high in air the exploding powder /
blazed like lightning, casting lurid
glare upon the confused mass of dis |
guns, shattered caissons, smok-
ing camp equipage and mangled human
bodies. simultaneously the order to
charge rang out, and the third division
of the Ninth Corps advanced to the
slaughter. The enemy, stunned, almost
paral yzed with fear and panic stricken,
scattered in all directions. The con-
centrated fire from half hundred guns
made a pandemoniun indescribable.
Into the vast crater into which the ex-
plosion had converted the fort the troops
were huddled. There was strange
and inexplicabIe delay, which gives the
enemy time to rally their flying forces.
The hostile, angry guns enfladed the
crater with fatal effect. The attempt to
advance is met with a courage born of .
despair. A general advance of the .
corps was ordered. The Fifty yfrst has .
reached the breastworks. In the fore /
front behold an intrepid spirit urging
his men forward. Waving his sword
and calling to his bravo boys to follow,
he reaches the enemy's intrenchments,
and gallantIy falls in hand hand
encounter with his face to the foe.
Such was the fate of the heroic Capt. /
Samuel H. Sims, of the Fifty-frst New
York Volunteers.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
A New Manure.

NJ. Dussau, an eminent French chem
ist, in an article in the JOurn"y FAgrj-
culture Prutjque, draws attention to n
new manure, fuoride of calcium. He
states that he has used it with great ad-
vantage for several years. For his last
crop of wheat he used the fuoride at
the rate of 264 pounds per acre, and OBJ
tanned thirty three bushels per acre, or
double the yield of his district under
favorable conditions. The best way to
use the substance, he says, is in conjunc-
tion with superphosphate of lime, but
it is important that the latter should be
sown separately and first, especially in
soils which are very slightly calcareous.
1t is possible, he explains, that if the
two manures are used together the free
acids of the superphosphate would set
at liberty hydrofuoric acid, which has
an injurious and possibly poisonous
effect upon termination. AT present
fuoride of calcium is sold at compara-
lively high price, NJ. Dussau adds, as it
is used only to small extent in manu-
factories, but if an extensive demand for
it should arise he expects that it will be
produced as cheaply as the natural
phosphates. More than year ago NJ.
Reboulet remarked upon the good re-
suits of using phosphate poor in phos
phoric acid, but rich in flour, and NJ.
Dussau's experiments confirm that an
nOuncement.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Statistics of the Blind.

There are eight well-known institu-
tious for the blind in New York city, and
a visit to any one of them is sure TO be
full of surprise and interest to the cal
Ter. For one thing, he will be shocked
to see how many blind children there
are. People who have studied the mat
ter say that about one in every thousand
of the country's population is afflicted
with blindness. In mining regions,
where accidents abound; in extreme
northern latitudes where the glare of
the sun, reflected from the ice and snow
dazzles the eyes; or in desert regions,
where the sand gives off a terrible re-
Election, the ratio is higher; but one to
one thousand is about the general aver
age The proportion of blind under ten
years old is per cent. of the whole
number of blind between the ages OF
ten and twenty-five, the ratio is about
IA per cent. and between twenty-five and
fifty about 30 per cent. The rest are
over fifty years old. Only small pro
portion are actually born blind. The
disease generally comes on slowly or ls
suddenly brought about by accident.
The work of educating the blind, it has
been found by experience in New York
institutions can be carried on most
profitably with the young.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
A Mild Western Winter in 16sS-9.

The balmy weather that Minnesotians
are enjoying this winter is provocative
of "reminiscences of other winters which
have been remarkable for their warmth.
A number of witnesses have risen to an
nounce that such thing, while remark
able, is by no means unprecedented.
r. J. Baldwin, in one of the volumes of
the Historical Society, has discovered
the account of Minnesota winter with
out any ice. 1t was the winter of 1889,
a date so remote that it sounds very
oddly in the ears of the Westerner, who
regards any event offifty years ago as be-
longing to ancient history. In the year
1858 the Baron La Houtan undertook
an expedition in the valley of the Mis-
sissippi. Ascending the river with
number of heavily-laden canoes he en-
tered the mouth of q river, which he
called Riviere Tongue, on the 3D. of
November, and ascended its course for
over 500 miles, being employed sixty
DAYS in the ascent He returned to the
Mississippi on the 2nd of March, 1859,
down which he proceeded to the Mis-
souri,. This he ascended as far as the
Usage. 1t is generally supposed that
the river on which this winter voyage
was made was the st. Peters or Mime
sofa. Nicollet supposes it was the Can
non, which ut that time was an outlet
of the Minnesota y. Times.
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Doctors and Dentists in Egypt.

The science of medicine was practiced
very successfully in ancient Egypt, ana
every part of the body was the object of
the study of special class of physicinus.
They had then anticipated the modern
plan of employing specialists. Dentists
were very skillful, and used gold to stop
cavities in the teeth, some of the mum
mics having been found with teeth ii led
with that metal. If the doctors rislSed
4ls~;,- Hr-,L:~-L' 49, ~ ------------A h.,
experiments or new and untried
methods of treatment they were liable
to punishment and perhaps even death.
The professors of me iicine were paid by
the government, but they were permit
ted to receive fees for special services or
attention. But the general opinion
was that sickness was the result
of excess in eating or drink
ing, and thus simple means of relieving
tho system were most commonly resort
ed to. Post-mortem examinations ere
conducted to find out the nature of tho
disease which caused death, and thus
Egyptian doctors acquired a skill in
medical matters which was known and
beyond the limits of their own
OF course, in those early days
some superstition was wrapped up in
their knowledge, for magic and charms
were employed by the credulous as
cures for disease. Francisco Chr0Ri-
cLe
News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-17
Rate PE YKAR.
ROSEL1ND

a land ofpurpiing dawns and twilight dews,
Ofradiant sunrise and of midnight gloom !:
Where fairest flowers, the rose and lily
bloom
And violets their faint perfumes diffuse.
Yet side by side with nightshadc's breath
where news
The eagle his sky-tempting strength, bat
vet
Where arrows feather; land of all regret,
Or sweetest joy that man may gain or lose.
land of hope and yet of dark despair.
Where dewy roSe-mist slowly melts away
In morning brightness to the perfect day;
Serene, unclouded. save by isles of white,
Or gather into folds of blackness all the air,
And brings the tempest and the starless
night.
H. 7. Sudduth, in ' Harper's Weekly"