davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
Electrical Water Power.

If the project relating to new canal
at Rheinfelden, Germany, be carried out
an enormous stimulus will be given to
electrical engineering, since the power
rendered available through the construc-
ton of this canal will amount to not less
than II 900 horse power, and will have
to be transmitted electrically TO Basel,
Sackinger and other distant places. The
plans are ready, the capital is available,
but the concession has not yet been OBJ
tanned. If it is obtained in time work
will begin in the coming autumn, and
the whole undertaking will be completed
in 1891. The length of the canal is II
miles; its width, 1876 feet and there will
be erected turbine house containing
twenty-three turbines, each of 750 horse
power. Each turbine will drive its own
generator. The pressure adopted will be
sufficiently high to enable the distribu-
| tion of power to be effected economically
within a distance Of fifteen miles. The
| power of the turbines being II, 600 horse
power, total of II 900 horse power will
| be available to the consumers. - Ex-
| change
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
A New Article of Commerce.

A few weeks ago Mr. Ilderton, of this
city, left for visit among relatives in
England. Mr.. Campion, the real estate
man, gave him a horned toad to present
with his compliments toa brother of Mr..
Sellers, his partner. A letter just received
from Mr.. Ilderton says that he has not only
had jolly good time, but thinks he has
discovered new source of revenue for
San Diego county, and especially for his
friend Campion. He found Mr. Sellers
brother at Nottingham and presented
him with the horned toad, which was a
great curiosity in that country, To pos
sess the handsome "varmint" became the
desire of several Of Sellers friends, and
lively bidding ensued, and the result
was that Sellers disposed of it for the
snug sum of Gl0-$50-and writes for
more toads. Campion says that until
real estate picks up he will go into the
toad business, and he has about 800 Of
the product stuffed, and expects to start
large shipment Of English gold toward
San Diego in the near future.-San Diego
| Call Union.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

Printing presses are usually run in this
country by steam power, by water pow
er, electric motors, and by main strength
and awkwardness; but the machine
that grinds out The Plain City Dealer
is run by dog power. A large wheel about
ten feet in diameter and about two feet
in width Is connected with the drive
wheel of the press by means of belt
Cleats are placed about foot apart on
the inside of the wheel, where "Joe," "
the journalistic dog, walks his weary
round and thus causes the wheel to re-
volve. Joe has run the press for about
five years, and has faithfully earned his
hash every week. 1t is now about time
for him to die and go where good dogs
always go, and the proprietor of The
Dealer is casting around for another ca
nine. Part of Joe is shepherd and the
rest is common, every day dog.-Colum-
bus Evening Post.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

last week purchased some water
melons from countryman and sent
them home. After had eaten all the
melons but one, and having an appetite
that demanded more, placed this one
on the table and cut 1t. Imagine my
surprise, if you can, when found that
there was no heart 10 the melon, but it
had a smooth opening on each side. BY
placing the two halves together ! could
see that the space was made by some
thing round. began TO look around to
try TO discover what could have made
the place, when right under my nose,
on the table, lay small snake. OF what
species was it5 don't know. 1t was of
light green color, about sixteen inches
long, and had horned head. I never
saw or heard of one like it before"
"How can you account for it getting
into the melon" was asked.
"Can't do it. The rind of the melon
was perfect, and it could not have
crawled through it. The nearest can
guess at 1t is this: 1t must have been n
very small snake when the melon was in
bloom, and when it developed into a
SMALL usbon the snaks went ipto H.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
WHAT THE GOOSE BONE SAYS.
II VIII BE an Open Winter, " There's Any
Truth I'm the Bones Story.

Henry Stillman, of Woodstock, is the
goose bone prophet of eastern Connecti-
cut. He gets his bone from goose that
is hatched in May, and when Henry
Stillman is bending over his goose bone
to read the future each fall all Windham
county is hushed, and it hearkens to the
prophecy. Virgins and De Voc, and
even Uncle Daboll, of Groton, who has
been getting out "almanacks" yearly for
the past III years, may do very well
fumbling with the weather during the
rest of the year, but when the first fall
wind comes piping over the hills, and
the "frost is on the punkin," then Henry
Stillman sits down with the goose bone,
and something happens that is "tolerabP
sartin."
Mr.. Stillman consulted the bone last
week, and his prediction has been pub
lished orally all over the eastern end of
the state. Prediction is weak, narrow
word to apply to the proclamation, for
Mr.. Stillman doesn't predict; he deter
mines. 1t is going to be an open winter,
he says, and "that settles it," says Wind
ham county.
The magic bone, hanging by the side
of Mr.. Stillman's kitchen chimney, and
by which he ciphers out the season,
shows row of dots around its shank,
and those dots announce what the tenn
perature is going to be. The darker the
spots the colder the weather is the read
ing of the bone. Then there are circular
marks which divide the bone into the
three winter months, December occupy
ing the space between the first partitions,
January the next apartment and Febru-
ary the remaining one. Mild, regular
weather will prevail in all the months,
and it will be milder than even that of
last winter. There will be few days on
which running water will freeze. The
coolest weather will be in the latter half
| of January, when there will be some
| frosts of considerable severity.
"Near the point Of the BONE" says the
seer, sis a marked discoloration, indi-
eating that the first day of winter will
give decided intimation Of the seasons
change" Christmas will be green one,
but it will be wet and cold. January
will step in warm and sunny, but soon
it will turn cold, though not very cold.
The coldest day will be Jan. 81. There
is going to be "regler old time JIM
wary thaw," and February will have a
"thawy SPELL" too. October will be a
cold, disagreeable month, with heavy
rains and SHOWS. There will be an early
spring, but February will melt into
March in a disastrous thaw, in which the
features will be swollen mountain
streams and terrible floods.
al l.. ~ =. I. - i
in this part of the state, and each year
many farmers are wont to take one from
the May goose, and it is dried and hung
in the front hall or against the chimney
in the kitchen. There it bangles until
spring in the next year. The best bone
is taken from a goose that has trace of
wild blood in its veins. But not every
one can read a goose bone as Henry
Stillman is able to do it.-Willimantio
Comm Letter.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

The protection Of theatres from injury
by fire has taxed the ingenuity of in
ventors ever since playhouses were first
constructed, and all kinds of devices
have been tried to provide for the safety
of audiences, with more or less success.
Last night an exhibition was given in
Mason street of an apparatus invented
by District Engineer ]. w. Reagan,
whose headquarters are at the house of
Engine 26, which promises far to excel
anything of the kind ever adapted to the
uses of the stage. 1t is very simple in
its construction, being what might be
termed brass nozzle, formed like the
burner of an ordinary kerosene lamp,
with three apertures two and one-half
inches across.
Through these apertures (Which in a
lamp would contain the wick fan shape
streams of water can be elected to a
height of about seventy feet and of a
width nearly as great. This contrivance
will be first placed in the fremont thea
tire. One will be placed Immediately
under the proscenium arch, and that
alone will be sufficient to throw a spray
of water SO dense as to prevent the fiercest
fire from passing through it, as it will
completely cover the whole space occu-
pied by the front of the stage. For
more perfect protection there will be
one placed on each side Of the proscen-
ium arch, about half way from the floor
of the stage to the top of the proscenium.
With three great bodies of water thrown
in as many different directions across
the stage it is believed that it will be
matter Of impossibility for fire to leap
across it.-Boston Herald.
The Old Love Was Best.
John Keel, who lives on the edge Of
Tennessee, not far from Hopkinsville,
KY, courted pretty Lucy Walker, a
neighbor's daughter, and married her in
| 1916
The couple lived together for thirty
years and raised family of four chill
dren. All the children married and
moved away. The old couple became
lonely, and they got a young lady named
Jane Hunter to come and live with
| them.
Miss Hunter was about 90, bright and
attractive. 1t was soon evident that Mr..
| Walker was much attached to young
Miss Hunter. His wife grew jealous and
accused him of falling in love with the
girl. He frankly admitted it and said he
would marry her if he did not have q
wife already.
Mrs. Walker left her husband and soor
afterward obtained divorce The ole
man and the young woman were ther
married and came over the line into thii
country to live.
They bought farm about three mile,
from here, says Hopkinsville special
and lived together apparently very happ,
for twelve years. At the end of tina
time they disagreed and separated, tn,
second Mrs. Keel, like the first, obtaining
divorce. The old man went back t,
Tennessee, where the wife of his you'll
had remained faithful and alone.
His heart turned again toward he
when they met, and he proposed tina
they be remarked, She agreed. Las
Wednesday the wedding occurred, an
they began life where they were frs
married, forty-three years ago.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

The czar has been cutting down family
expenses at great rate lately. The
grand dukes and grand duchesses who
have lost a third of their incomes under
the new dispensation are in an awful
fake about it. Poverty stares them in
the face. They will be forced to keep
less establishments, to drop less fortunes
at cards, and to forego the joy of strew-
ing emeralds and diamonds at the feet
of favorite ballet dancers and prima
donnas. 1t is going to be very hard
winter in Russia's toploftiest social cir.
cles, but the czar had to economize in
state expenses in order to keep the army
of Nihilists at bay. II is expensive work
preventing Observation-Disclosures Her,
aid.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
A SLAVE BOYS STORY.


strange NtctaetuOet fnbt hc0 hiith tFVth
Central Africa Down the Congo.
A letter from the Congo tells the story
Of slave boy from Central Africa who,
by series of strange vicissitudes, has
recently come into the possession of Mr..
Holman Bentley, the well known mis-
sionary, and is now living on the river
near the west coast. The boys name is
Kayembe, and he lived near the Congo,
about 1 900 miles from its mouth. A
while ago large party Of Arabs from
Nyangwe and their Manyema slaves at
tackled the village adjoining that in which
Kayembe lived. They heard the shoot
ing and saw the marauders seizing wo-
men and children. Then they fled into
the Jungle, and the Arabs, coming over
to the deserted town, burned it TO the
ground
1t was three days before the villagers
ventured to return TO their ruined
homes. All was quiet then, and they
spent the days tilling their fields around
the place where they had lived. At
night they slept in the jungle, as they
feared a night attack. They were not
without fear for moment, but they
still fingered around their fields because
their food came from them.
One day, after they had led this
wretched life for about three months, a
gang of slave hunters suddenly rushed
upon the village, beating their drums
and firing guns. Kayembe's father
threw spear at one of the slavers,
wounding him in the shoulder. The
wounded man then shot the father dead
ar1 ,,,t ny h;o hap1 no trpYbv Kov-
| embe dashed into the jungle with sew
eral men after him. They caught him,
and he was dragged away with other
| prisoners to neighboring villages, where
| the slavers killed the men and captured
many women. The little children whom
| many of the women carried in their
arms were snatched away from them
| and thrown into the bushes, there to
| perish miserably. Some of them, how
ever, were struck dead or were stunned
| by blow from stick. Others who
attempted TO follow their mothers were
struck with switches and driven back.
In about ten days the slavers, with
their captives, reached Nyangwe, and
the poor people were soon scattered far
and wide, their owners taking them in
| di uiiCSbiOho' may bOOh
him 300 miles down the Congo, where he
sold him to Zanzibari. Soon after the
boy had an attack of dysentery, and his
new master, thinking he would die, sold
him for song to Housoa soldier in the
service of the Congo state. The soldier
took him 900 miles further down the
river, to Leopoldville, where Sir Francis
de Winton set the boy free and put him
in charge of the Baptist mission.
He has learned the language of the
lower Congo, and Mr. Bentley writes
that he is bright and interesting boy.
But the tragic events in his old home
are craven in his memory. He wants to
return to his own country when it is safe
to do so, and the missionaries have prom
ised him that when they are able TO
start a station far up the Congo, where
he came from, he shall go there with
them.-London Telegram.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

An invention which promises to revo-
lutionize the present method Of railroad
construction was put to practical test
recently by George Roberts, the inven-
tor, In the presence Of about three hun
dred railroad experts. The machine
worked beyond the expectations OF the
inventor, the men laying at the rate Of
two and one-half miles Of track per day,
and twelve men doing the work Of seven
ty-fiye by the old way, II handled ties
and rails Of the heaviest kind-used in
constructing mountain roads-with the
greatest ease, placing them rapidly and
accurately In position. The machine Is
30 constructed that II can be used on any
ordinary fiat car All construction ma
terial is moved on rollers from the rear
to the front, where the machine takes
up the rails and ties, laying them very
rapidly on q steep and difficult grade.
Its great success has caused the Northern
Pacific to secure the refusal Of the first
machine, and the inventor Is now ar
ranging for building two more machines
10 cost @1 200, and the inventor receives
. royalty u go Bss aiss.-Asw YOsk
Euxs-uxsxz
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
Natural Gas,

Natural gas as fuel has been in use
about fifteen years. There are now en-
ployed in its transmission for fuel pur-
poses 27,350 miles Of pipe mains. In
Pittsburg alone there are 500 miles, and
the consumption of gas there represents
an annual consumption of 10000 tons
of coal. The head of Pittsburg gas and
oil firm said recently, during a discus
sion of this question: Eastern people
are still afraid that natural gas will play
out. So far there Is no indication of it,
though when we first commenced to use
it in Pittsburg four or five years ago
that is, using it generally-there were
many people who did not look for it to
last more than six months or a year.
Now that it has been in general use for
several years and the supply keeps right
up, there is not much apprehension at
home, but l meet it everywhere outside.
The science of natural gas is not fully
understood yet, and no one can tell how
long it will last. t."-Exchange.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
A Magnetic Well.

The artesian well in Cordele, Ia, is a
wonder. After going down into the
earth for about 450 feet, the contractors
struck what was seemingly strata rock
of quicksand. Leaving the pipes all
in the well over night, they found the
next morning that all the piping was
heavily charged with magnetism. A
small nail laid on the side of the pipe
will not fall off. The needle on sur
veyor's compass is attracted by this cur
rent at least ten feet from the mouth of
the well. The magnetic current is SO
strong that the power of the engine, to,
gether with all the prizes they have been
able to put on the piping, will not draw
it from the well.-Chicago Herald.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

The recent order of the British admi-
rally directing that all the subsidized
merchant steamers intended for use in
time of war shall strip themselves of
yards has been complied with by all the
subsidized vessels sailing out Of New
York. Not only the British vessels, but
those of other nations, are accepting the
new order of things, and all appearances
point TO the doing away with spars of all
descriptions aboard the great liners. The
vessels entering the port Of New York
coming under the recent order of the
British admiralty belong to the White
Star, Cunard and Inman lines.-Phila-
delphia Times.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

Judge Burr performed a marriage GER
emony of rather remarkable charac-
ter. The groom was Horace Warner,
aged 81 years, and the bride Mrs. Annie
Brown, a widow Of 55. The bride has
been living with her daughter and som
in-law, John Gibbons, on farm in Dako-
ia county, and the groom has been en-
ployed by Gibbons as a farm hand. Glib
bons and his motherin-law, to whom
the farm belonged. were wont to quar-
rel often and violently, and the widow
reasoned that If she could get married
again. it would be an easy matter to run
the farm without Gibbons, and she could
get rid of him.
She cast her eye about her in search of
the proper man for u future husband. 1t
rested on the young and healthy Horace
Warner. She proposed to him secretly
and he accepted. He was delegated to
inform Gibbons of the match, for the
widow, who had known his wrath,
feared to speak. While hitching up a
team of horses to go to the timber land
for wood at daylight, young Mr.. Warner
plucked up courage enough to tell his
employer all about it.
Gibbons flew into rage and threat
ened to shoot Warner if he did not give
up the idea of marriage with the widow.
The whole conversation was overheard
by Mrs. Brown, and when Gibbons had
done swearing vengeance and gone away,
she slipped up to the side of her intended
and suggested that Warner, instead of
driving to the woods, should drive to the
city and she would come with him.
Mounted on a farm wagon rugged for
hauling wood, he in his overalls and she
in gingham gown, they eloped. They
had no trouble in getting license, and
were man and wife thirty minutes after
their arrival A few hours of shopping
and gazing at the city sights sufficed for
their honeymoon, and they went back tc
the farm prepared to face the wrath OF
the son-in-law and his wife.-St. Paul
| Cor. st. Louis Republic.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
Tombs Found at Mines.

An important discovery has been made
in the enyirons Of Mines. Some work
men engaged on excavations for the con-
struction of an aqueduct have lit upon a
couple of Gallo-Roman tombs, which are
to be removed 10 the local museum.
Meanwhile il has been decided that the
surrounding ground shall be carefully
searched, it being thought that it may
contain other antiquities of a rare and
interesting character.-Paris Cor. Lou
don Telegraph.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
smsllest Baby IN Conneot,cut.

Christopher c. Andel is the father of
the smallest mite of humanity in New
Haven, and, in all probability, in the
state. His only child is baby boy that
is II days old, and weighs two pounds
and five ounces. The boy is about eleven
inches long, but very thin. His arm is
about twice as thick as the stem of
clay pipe, and his fingers are so slender
that it is difficult to institute compari-
son. At birth the babe weighed only
one pound and twelve ounces. Mr., An
del is a contractor at Mallory, Wheeler
& Co.'s lock shop, and is good sized
man. His wife is below the average
size, but is strong and hearty woman.
Hartford Times,
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
just Like Human Beings,

A Canadian farmer named Woodtree
went into the stall the other day to feed
his old horse, and was SO bitten that his
life is despaired of, He had owned the
horse nineteen years, and had never
known him to even show his teeth be-
fore. Horses are just like human be-
ings in many respects. You may get
along with a man all right for twenty
years, and then get knocked down for
joking him about the color of his nose. -
Detroit Free Press.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
Child, wife, Mother and Widow

About year ago Joseph Bloedel, a
17-year-old boy, of Huntington, w. Va,
ran away with Agnes Jarvis, aged II,
the daughter of well-to-do South Caro-
lima farmer. Agnes, being unusually
large for girl Of her age, and seeming
older, consequently, than she really was,
had no difficulty in prevailing upon a
minister to unite her in marriage to her
boy lover. Since then they have lived
together happily until last Friday, when
Joseph died very unexpectedly of ty-
phoid fever, just as his child wife was
giving birth to girl baby. And 80, be-
fore she is quite l2 years of age, Agnes
Bloedel is wife, mother and widow, all
three. A remarkable occurrence, sure
ly.-EXchange,
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

Ayoung woman who has been visiting
Saratoga for the past three years, and
who has, it is said, an income of $1,000,
has left that town, leaving about 81 900
worth of debts, SO goes the story, and
one broken heart in the breast of young
man who "clerked it" in Broadway
shop during the past season, 1t is re-
ported that the cause of her sudden de-
parture was the fact that he failed to
agree with her regarding the color of her
hair, which is said to have been bleached.
Albany Express.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18

Miss Rebecca Fairbanks, the last Of a
family that came over in 1885, is said to
be still living In house, in Dedham,
Mass, that was brought over in the year
mentioned and located ON its present site
at that time The Fairbanks scale men
came OF this family.
The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-10-18
Tn. Smiths Mt n Wedding.

wedding in which all the actors were
Smiths occurred at New Martinsburg,
this county, yesterday. Mr.. Alvin
Smith, of Iowa, arrived yesterday, and
in the evening was united in marriage to
Miss Orpha Smith, Rev. David Smith, of
this city, officiating, young lady named
Smith acting as bridemaid. The young
lady's mothers maiden name was Smith,
and her father is blacksmith.--W
ington (o.) Cor, Cincinnati Enquirer.