davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
An ObjecI Lesson.


The first cause of the Conemaugh river
flood is reckless forest destruction, For
many years we have been cutting away
the lumber of our mountains and forests
as though the laws of nature had been re-
pealed for our material benefit. The pow
er of the soil to absorb and retain mois
ture like sponge has been diminished by
exposing it To drying and baking wind and
sun, and if this has not precipitated exces-
sive violence of storms at irregular inter
walls, by interfering with the normal meJe
geological routine, it has at least caused
rain to run off quickly instead of sinking
into the earth where it fell, aud TO swell
the mountain torrents with awful sudden
ness, so that the rapidity as we'll as the
dead weight Of the accumulation of water
becomes factor in the bursting of artili
cal restraints.
All the counties in the Conemaugh wa
tershrd are mining counties, and forest de
strurton in that and neighboring regions
has been proceeding with great Needless
ness for years The Cnnemaugh hooi
ought to wake up every state to the i'm
portance uf taking measures to encourage
forest renewal, of prohibiting the " aste o
timber and of investigating, more closely
than has vet been done, the relations o
forest areas and density 10 the steadinesi
of rainfall and the violence of storms. Oul
civilization is certainly in disgrace so lonl
as the conditions of sn terrible a calamity
MS this are practically ignored aud God
providence saddled with responsibility to
the consequences of mans greed and neg
lrrt
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
The LAWS AbsurdiIy,

The absurdity with which the law some
times fails "to make the punishment fit the
crime" is only equalled by the cruel hard
ship of its operation, Here is man ar
raigned in Boston this week for non-sup
port of his wife and child The lazy rep
rebate would, under reasonable state of
affairs, be set to work and compelled To dc
so. The law, on the contrary, comes in
and first fines him $50 and costs, which
probably, his industrious wife will pay, i
there is the usual infatuation that is seer
among hard working women for this clasi
of worthless scamps and then, to com
plete the exquisitely illogical character OF
the proceeding, the fellow is shut up in pris
on for six months, where, if he has all th'
disposition to amend in the world, he can
not possibly do anything for the support o.
his family. Great is the wisdom of thos'
who provide penalties for offences in thi
enlightened land
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
A Buried Oasis.

A discovery of much archaeological inter
est was recently made in the Algerian Sa-
hara NJ. larry, who has been carrying
on work in connection with the proposed
Trans Sahara railroad, having noticed a
mound of sand in the neighborhood of
Wargal, had the sand dug up, and discov-
cred the top of dome. This naturally
aroused his interest, and, getting his Arabs
to dig still deeper, he found underneath the
dome a square tower, then platform of
masonry, and finally complete mosque.
Continuing the excavations, NJ. larry soon
unearthed seven houses in perfect preserva-
ton, and came upon a subterranean water
course. At the last news nine houses had
been disinterred, and NJ. larry was getting
additional assistance to clear out the prec-
ious water course, which he describes as
sufficient to irrigate small forest of palms.
1t is well known that the Sahara was at one
time much more populated than it is now,
and its trade much more extensive but no
one seems to have supposed that cities had
been buried under its sands, at least so re-
Gently as since the introduction of Moham-
mechanism.
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14

An exchange remarks that it is a singu-
lar fact that the tunnel under the Hudson,
one of the largest enterprises of modern
times, is rarely mentioned in the newspa-
pers. 1t is also fact not generally recog
nized that the late Hon. Trenor w. Park of
Bennington was one of the orignators, an
original incorporation named in its charter
and an earnest promoter of this gigantic
enterprise. The tunnel is going quietly
forward. There has been expended on it
81 900, 900 and 81, 500, 900 is in hand to pro
ceed with. The distance is 5000 feet. One
of the two passages is completed a third OF
this length, and the other more than tenth
nf
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
The News Renche. New YorIl

From the New York sun
Four years ago William ii. Campbell, a
good old fashioned Democrat of Saxtons
River, Vt, was appointed postmaster His
wife, who has always been Republican,
has constantly assisted her husband during
these four years, and so well has the Office
been conducted that when he resigned
Democrats and Republicans united in ask
ing the government to make her her hus-
bands successor. She has just received
her commission from the Postmaster Gen
eral, and her husband is now her assistant,
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
Told Who She Was.

Mrs. Livermore humorously tells this
about herself She went to town in Maine
to deliver lecture. A young minister,
who felt greatly his Importance in having
to introduce so large light, announced her
in these words Ladies and gentlemen,
you have all heard of the illustrious man
man across the water, so beloved by his
people, and who is known by the sobriquet
of the grand old man. | have now the
pleasure of introducing to you lady be-
loved in Boston, and known there as the
grand old woman '"-Le,cistOn Journal.
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
MISCELLANY.
June.


O Junel delicious month Of June
when wind and birds all sing in tune;
When In the meadows swarm the bees
And hum their drowsy melodies
While pillaging the buttercup,
To store the golden honey up;
- June the month Of bluest skies
Dear to the pilgrim butterflies,
who seem gay colored leaves astray,
Blown down the tides Of amber day;
q June the month of merry song,
OF shadow brief, Of sunshine long;
All things ON earth love You the best,
The bird who carols near his nest;
The wind that wakes and, singing, blows
The spicy perfume Of the rose;
And bee, who sounds his mutiied horn
To celebrate the dewy morn;
And even all the stars above
At night are happier for love,
As IL the mellow notes Of mirth
Were waited to them from the earth.
o June! such music haunts your name;
with you the summers chorus came!
Frank Dempster Sherman iH 81. Nicholas
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14

What is the magic spell that makes camp
life attractive to so many men 1t is easy
to account for in youth but the boy who
has fallen in love with it, carries the pas
sion undated into maturer years and even
down into old age The rich and the poor,
those engrossed in business, in public life,
in professional lfe-men in all vocations-
long to steal away for few weeks holiday
and soiourn in the woods, by the broad
lakes and running streams to sleep in the
open bark shanty over fragrant hemlock
boughs, shifting the smoke of camp fires,
that delicious perfume which once enjoyed
is never forgotten. Is it a remnant of that
old wild nature not yet eradicated from the
blood by the enervating influences of civ
ilization, and testifying to some former
more intimate alliance between man and
the outer world than subsists today | do
not alude here to the love for fishing or
shooting these are kindred pleasures,
which, however, are not necessarily asso-
ciated with the liking for camp life, and
may exist apart from it, | have known
men who cared for neither of these, who
were yet passionate enthusiasts for the sim
pie pleasures of the camp.-ForeSt and
Sfrpuu
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14

sent the pipe shattering on the ground. In
another minute the knife had again disap
peared down the capacious collar, and the
limp figure had resumed its former verte
braeless condition, but the rest Of the
journey, said Mr.. Clay, 4 spent in wish
ing | was the little man in the great coat,
who was none other than Bowie, with his
famous knife ~
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
Henry Clay aud NIr. Bowie.
Told by Jefferson Davis to st. Louis Republic
correspondent


correspondent
Henry Clay once told me-" said Mr..
Davis, with smile, "of his first meeting
with Bowie. 1t was in the early days, and
Clay was travelling in a stage-coach, where
the only other passengers were pretty
girl big, rough-looking countryman, and
limp little figure in great coat. With
the consciousness of his own perfect
physique, Clay said he was congratulating
himself on not being the limp little figure
bundled up in the corner, when he became
conscious that the pretty girl was begging
the rough countryman not To smoke, as it
made her i'll. The fellow replied with a
savage oath, that he had paid his fare and
would smoke when he - pleased Mr..
Clay said he was just trying to screw his
courage up to the point of demonstrating
with the country giant, when the limp lit
tie figure undoubled itself like magic, and,
with a quick movement, reached down its
collar, brought out knife that in the ex
citement of the moment looked yard long
and with another cat-like movement seized
the fellow by the throat. Throw that pip'
out of the window, or by -, Pll-'
comprehensive sweep Of the murderous
! looking blade finished the sentence and
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14


The Italian government is making ex-
periments at re-foresting, and it promises
10 atone for the long continued waste of
mountain timber in that country. The
cultivation of forests is being conducted at
the Joint expense of the government, the
province and the community directly inter
ested Twenty two thousand acres have
already been re forested, while plans have
been prepared for covering an area of POI,
900 acres 1t is estimated that TO repair
the total damage it will be necessary tc
cover 800. 900 acres at a cost of $l2, 600, 600
The necessity for such an outlay ought Il
operate as warning against the further
depletion of our own forests, and the dam
age which will accrue to agriculture.
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
He was ExeusabIe.

The Sixth Auditors office had occasion
recently to stir up Western postmaster for
failure to make his quarterly returns to
that office He was written a sharp letter
on his neglect Today the letter was re-
turned, and on it was pinned the following
explanation, which Sixth Auditor Caldwell
considers satisfactory
"A boy arrived at our house the last day
of the quarter, consequently returned
late. - Washington Star, May ?L
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14
Chri.,inn Enden,or Cenren.ion.

The coming international convention of
Christian Endeavor societies in Philadel-
phia, July 8, 10 and IL, promises to be a
very important and inspiring gathering
The probability is, from the number who
have already indicated their intention Of
going, that at least 5000 or 1000 young peo
pie viii assemble from all parts of the Unit
ed States and Canada, The convention
will meet in the armory hall of the LIST
regiment on Broad street, where the prin-
cioal sessions will be held, though some of
the neighboring churches viii also be used,
and the sessions of one afternoon will be
held in Fairmount park The convention
sermon will be preached by Rev. G. II.
! Wells, ID. d., of Montreal.
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-14

A lumber pile made of boards, each 100
feet long and six feet in width, would be an
unprecedented sight in the East, but a gen
tleman recently returned from visit to
the coast of the North Pacific ocean says
that piles of timber such as that are com
mon at the mills on Puget Sound. Boards
100 feet long and six feet wide, without a
knot in them, he says, "are common cuts
from the gigantic fir trees of the Puget
Sound forests. These trees grow to the
enormous height of 2j0 feet aud the for
ests are so vast that although the saw mills
have been ripping 500, 900, 900 feet of lum-
Der out of them every year for ten years,
the spaces made by these tremendous in
roads seem no more than garden patches.
Puget Sound has 300 miles of shore line,
and along this line and extending thence
ON both sides miles and miles further than
the eye can see, is one vast and almost un-
broken forest of these enormous trees.
There is nothing like it anywhere on the
Pacific coast An official estimate places
the amount of standing timber in that area
at 800, 000, 900, 900 feet, or a thousand years
supply, even at the enormous rate the tim
ber is now being felled and sawed. The
timber belt covers 30, 600, 600 acres of Wash
ington territory, an area equal to the states
of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut
and New Hampshire. The markets for the
Puget Sound lumber are entirely foreign,
being South America, Australia, Central
America and the Pacific ocean islands.
-FhiiddeIphid Press
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22

highly, but is nevertheless free to express
his belief that the chief motive Of his ap-
pOintment was to administer q rebuff to
Judge Gresham.
This view, while purporting to come from
Republican source, is, it is only fair to
say, published in paper highly inimical
to the administration. 1t refers TO the
famous Wabash case, and an article con-
cernlng it in the North AnaericGn ReUierC,
which call but asserted that Judge Brewer
had been serving as tool in the hands of
professional railroad wreckers, but, al
though Judge Brewer never saw fit to make
reply, have never believed him capable of
doing a wrong act" On this point, while
it may be true that Judge Brewer was not
capable of willingly serving the railroad
wreckers, the facts showed him to have been
even more incapable of preventing his
court from being used to further their
schemes. The receiver of the Wabash road
under his appointment, continued the
wrecking policy which had been inaugur-
ated under the Gould management. The
difference between Brewer and Gresham
was that the former, either negligently or
willingly, permitted the policy to go on; the
latter detected, exposed and stopped it.
The statement goes on to say that the
President, after looking into the case, acted
from the motive of finding 'some new
means of humilisting Gresham. Whether
the allegation is correct or not, the public
can judge for itself; but, if it is true, it
warrants the inquiry whether the humili-
alton really rests on Judge Gresham. If
man earns enmity for honesty and energy in
thwaIting colossal schemes of thievishness,
does the exhibition of that enmity humiliate
him?
We think that whatever humiliation
there is in this business will have to be To-
Gated somewhere else other than on Judge
Gresham's head.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22
nL11nHs VERSUS MIND.

1t ought to be easy forthe Ohio Democracy
to select a United States Senator who is
above any suspicion of pecuniary influence
and whose reputation would show him to
have been selected for higher qualities than
his possession of a big fortune. But the
names that are prominent in the canvass in
dictate that the most vital qualification for a
Senator in the eyes of the ruling powers of
the Ohio Democracy is the possession of a
big barrel
Judge Thurman's age is generally sup
posed to be disqualification; but if it did
not bar him from campaign work last year
it ought not to shut him out from the easier
work of the Senate, which he has discharged
with such honor in the past Still, if
the Ohio Democracy prefers old men
for action and young men for
counsel, they have younger men
whose choice would relieve them from the
suspicious which must arise when none but
millionaires get place in the lists. Kline,
of Cleveland; General Mcmahon, Hunt, of
Cincinnati; Governor Campbell, Frank
Hurd and score Of others might be named
who are creditable opponents of Democratic
principle, and who, if chosen, would be Sc
lected for their mental and not their mone-
tary abilities.
1t would be easy for the Democrats to
choose a man from outside the ranks of
Doodle, but the legislative mind seems from
the lists to be turning unanimously to the
millionaires.-
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22
REDUcrIoN BY NoE.REpUcrIoN,

The proposition to reduce the surplus by
repeating the sugar duties, and thus relieve
the public from the excessive prices exacted
by the Sugar Trust, meets with the disap-
proval of the Chicago Times for the reason
that ''the tariff taxes on sugar-that is un-
refined sugar-sre nine-tenths for revenue
and only one-tenth for protection"
Beyond the fact that very large moiety
of the burden on sugar is represented by the
higi duty on refined, this exquisite argu-
msnt is worthy to be framed as choice
specimen of revenue reform logic. The
problem is to cut off revenue. The cause of
the movement as ststed by its authorized
head, in his message of two years ago, is
that the Government has tno much revenue
But when it comes to repeating a tariff tax
that supports trust, in staple of universal
consumption, the revenue reformers rise in
opposition to it because it would do exactly
what all parties concede to be necessary.
Hardly anything is more delicious in this
tariff muddle than the solemn declaration
of the tariff reformers, that the true revenue
reform way of reducing the revenue is not
to reduce it.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22
PEOPLE OF PROMINENCE.


BEN BurLERs law pracnce Is salo 70 Drlng
him IN SlOOVVO year.
BRowNINGis resting place in Westminster
Abbey will be near that Of Chaucer.
THE New Years reception at the White
House win be conducted according to the usual
programme. Mrs. Harrison viii not assist, ow-
ing to the recent death of her sister.
SIR CHARLES LEWIS. an ultra Tory. does
not mean to sit again in Parliament he was a
figure in the House and stuck to his opinions.
often when they we're in opposition to those OF
his party He had hard, vigorous style, which
commanded respect but opposed nome rule 1or
Ireland with all an Orangeman's bigotry.
IT is stated that Secretary Allen, Of the
Korean Legation, is one Of the leading appli-
cants for the position of American Minister to
Korea. The mission is now held by Mr.. Hugh
A. DiRsmore, q bright young lawyer Of Arkan-
sas, who was appointed at the instance Of ex-
Attorney General Garland. He is a close
friend of the King, and is an able man. The
Korean Minister'S salary is ".OOO gear. and
our Minister to Korea has a house furnished
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22
PITTsBURe. SUNDAY. DEC. q 1883.
CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES.

The agitation of the London Globe over
the relations with Canada is an interesting
evidence that the British Government is
getting quite uneasy. 1t also indicates
that the Tory view of the attitudeof the
United States toward Canada is not par
ticulsrly well-informed.
This is shown by the statement that the
United States will not grant Canada COM
mercial union without political union.
Exactly what the basis of that assertion is,
it is difficult to say. There never has been
any authoritative assertion from this coun-
try on that point, nor even q reliable indi-
cation of public opinion. There is reason to
believe that if commercial union were
offered on basis that would prevent Canada
from becoming an entrepot for British goods
on their way to the United States, it would
meet with as much favor here as the closer
union of government.
As to political union, the position of the
United States can be easily defined. When
the Canadians wish to become part of the
United States and to accept its system, the
United States will consent. Until then we
are not borrowing half as much trouble over
the matter as the British Government ap-
pears by this article to be.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22
RECLAIMIEG TIE DESERT.
How Western Capitalists Get Rich by Or
Eauizing Canal Companies.

How Western Capitalists Get Rich by Or
Eauizing Canal Companies.
From Scribner's for Januaryl
As the quick-witted Westerner stands by the
side Of one of the great rivers and looks over
thousands Of acres of desert land along its
banks, he sees fortune in the situation. Only
get capital enough together, organize great
company, dig an immense canal which will
'appropriate" all the water in the river, and you
command the whole valley. 1t is the position
of the Western railroads repeated. Instead of
waiting for settlers to come and dig little
bitches as they need them, an immense capital
digs one huge canal, watering thousands of
farms, and then draws settlers by advertise
ment and boom. So all over the West, through
out Colorado. in Central and Southern Cali
fornia, in Montana and Idaho, on the Salt and
Gila rivers in Southern Arizona, there are
great companies. with capital running into the
millions, putting this idea into effect
The canals they dig are 20, 30 or even so miles
long. The largest are 100 feet wide and 10 feet
deep, very rivers in themselves. They follow
the contour of the country, running back
farther and farther from the river as the latter
falls away. The main canal gives of lateral
branches at frequent intervals, and by an in
genious system Of gates, crossings and bitches
sends water to every foot OF arabic ground be-
tween it and the river. The land belongs to
the Government, and is taken up by indi-
vidual settlers. at merely nominal prices nm
der the desert Land Act" But the water be.
longs to the canal company, and it Is this water
that the settler really pays for.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22
DANGERS 10 BRAZIL.

A dispatch announcing that General Fon-
SEGA, the head of the new Brazilian Govern
ment, is dying, asserts that the filling of the
vacancy created by his death may lead to
''serions complications. 1t il difficult to
see how the complications could be serious,
if the Government is proceeding on the
lines of popular system.
General Fonseca occupies a provisional
position only. Ample time has passed for
calling constitutional convention and con-
structing frame work, at least, of per-
manent government. under which regularly
elected officials could take the place of the
provisional officials. The very essence of
constitutional popular government is to pro-
vide against complications arising from the
death Of single leader, and to insure that
a successor shall be peaceably and constitu-
tionaIly provided.
Another cable dispatch says, with regard
to the remarkable action taken concerning
the rubber trade at Para, ''there is great
danger that the enemies OF the Repub-
lie will be successful in their attempt to
array the commercial monarchies against
the infant Republic" But in this respect,
If any prejudice is created against the Gov
ernment of Brazil, it will be done, not by
the enemies of the Republic, but by the
act of the Government itself, and of mere
Provisional Government at that, in manipu-
lating taxation in favor of creating great
trade monopoly.
In other words, it is pertinent to note that
the dangers which threaten Brazil are not
those arising from constitutional Republic,
but such as would naturally grow out of an
irresponsible and arbitrary dictatorship.