davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11

vails it Is colder In texas Lnan N dogs
nose il Jinewerry," to borrow one Of Opie
Reads colored aphorisms.
Colonel Percy Yerger was seated near the
Are nursing his lower limbs, which, owing
n an attack Of rheumatism, abounded il
almost as many curves as pretzel. He
was ID q bad humor. Mrs. YergGr was sit
ting near the window sewing. She was in q
somewhat sentimental mood. Johnny, their
eldest son, student at the University OF
Texas, and very promising youth, was en-.
gagged in the manufacture Of a composition
On anew Years Day"
Mrs Yerger sighed heavily.
MWhat's the matters" growled Colonel
Yerger, shave you got the rheumatism.
tooin
mo, was just thinking that new year
Is soon to dawn upon this earth"
1T is, eha Well, am glad to hear that it
ba new year that is going to dawn. II ]
thought the same old year we have been
having was going to dawn, I'd take to the
WOOdsn
The idea Of Colonel Yerger taking to the
woods with his legs in their present in
famed condition caused Johnny to smoker.
"Ithink you have a great deal to be CRATE
full for replied Mrs. Yerger, pensively.
"Yes, suppose I ought to be grateful
for the bolls had last spring"
You managed to pull through. / noticed
they didn't affect your appetite"
YES, pulled through until summer,
when your mother paid US that three months
visit lsurvived that, and now I've got the
rheumatism. But am glad I've got your
word for it that nelC year is going to dawn,
for If it was the old one, I'd want to
taVeln
Once more Johnny snickered at the idea
dthe old man travelling
What are you grinning about2 What
ne you doing, anyhow!" snarled Colonel
ferger, who was in one of his most irritable
moods.
Writing composition on New Years."
replied Johnny.
Let's hear what you have got written"
Johnny (resding) -"The celebration of the
nrst Gay Of the year dates back from the
ngnest antiquity. The ancient Israelites
Ceeprsted the first day Of the year with
splendid festivities, regarding it as the
0fsnOay ct Adam, the father Of the whole
human racen
humph, ! sneered Colonel Yerger, "you
llHls add that Adam was the only man who
sVer lad bis wife made to order''
Johnny. iu pV0u
- aOui amendment is adopted, Johnny.
49, Il" u, ae nrst one, but not the last one,
NJ" n.y. naO hls wife order him about"
Lo. lOu poor men, replied Mrs. Yerger.
lsv va,uE V IiOmhersewlng, you are always
m.l 49, eno Diane for all the miseries Of the
tar ,,S se1 % Eve. 1t was Adam who was
R sIp'e 3 Dy Eve but if my reading Of the
. D'Os : correct, it was Satan who first
~ s' SUs I'VE, and Satan was male; 50 ali |
aftsr ra ~ lbs originated with the male sex
,opjr9 nsDe 20" replied Colonel Yerger,
iFva y little at this home thrust, shut |
tn y 80 only inherited half the dissimula~
have a = m,a some Of her daughters she would |
sSi I'M maze p an iguominious ass Of bis snake |
~. mead On, Johnny.n
eomn y ought to say something in vour
sO0S soa Johnny, about men making |
eayes '0S W and turning over new
the ,im LOU might say, Johnny, that now
II 'ime that leaves begin to turn hut
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11

we md That we have done manv tbin0s -.
should not have done''- "e
tommy" interrupted Mrs. veroa.
GU had better stop reading vour CON-
sition, it disturbs your pa, upO-
I" SARAH" said Colonel Yerger. "hara &
the twenty-five dollars you wanted - h,,-.
JOu UnaC WINTER hat you were TALKING ahont
only don't say any thing more about Oood
resolutions" "Oou' soOo
1nls ended the joint discussion in the
1erger FAMILY about New YEARS
Inc Two prominent features of tho oo,o
DraClon or New Years Dav Ia. oire, 49,
1easUng out OF the question, are swear;r,S
| vi ana making calls. The New Year,s
Soo0 resolution, although it is broken often
80 o"rty' mas something of mans better
1aclo ABOUT IL. Even the mere ATTEMPT to
sSo uP Dad habit is step forward and
oa'n1u Inc good resolution, like the
dGS child In the theater, should be
80 UuV' Dut very frequently this is not
-" Is great variety of small
p~oro "nIon men vow to commit no more.
1ro1anlty IS one of them, but the resnIt 10
usually described by an unidentified Not
as follows: ALEU- poet'
NOW men will swear they will not swear
Tnelr habits wearing off:
40 "Lno wears on, they still swear on
ana Then swear of on swearing or
1eXaS editor made solemn VOW IN
new Years Day not to touch intoxicating
nuluS uurIng the year, but he also made q
oulCaneous VOW that the rules might be
0uSp1nueo under certain contingencies.
1. When complimentary bottles Of vino
ETC., were sent to the Office.
q When laboring under a sense ~ die
cOuragement. OA0-
:. When new name is added to the onh
Scription list. 0OD
4 When he felt that he actually needed
something -0"
8. On any special occasion.
however, 70 Offset this apparent relaxa.
uon OF the rules, he also made a vow not
CasUe a drop under any circumstances
WnaCeVer during the year that has lust
gone, or during any previous year since
Adam was created.
1ne naOlt OF promiScuous calling while in
9 partially inebriated condition. which has |
1auen into neglect in most of the large
CLUES, sui prevails in an epidemic form in |
nany towns The objections to this forced |
are very numerous During |
Cne iatter part OF the day, although there is |
no uanclng on the programme, the enter |
Cainment often ends with a reel by the |
cAuer' IL Is much better to have basket /
hung Wnere the young men can deposit
their ballots and then go about their bnsi.
ness.
Inc average young man can stand a good
zeal, but when ten or fifteen pounds Of
soggy fruit cake, moistened with forty dtf-
[erent chemical denominations, masouerad-
ing as French Cognac, Genuine Sherry. Old
Fort and other thinly disguised aliases;
say, when all these begin to penetrate his
system, he is liable to fade away before
another New Years Day dawns.
Still another peril threatens the Young
nan who calls, that is, if he pulls through
Jurlng the afternoon he is liable to propose
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11
CONCEDED.
Audrlen's Love How the Bells
Told It.

HE WORLD slept.
Hearts, confident OF
the morrow's dawn
the dawning of a
new We r-g We
themselves to the
placid repose of
S lu mber, uncaring
that the friend who
had given them Of
his best and utmost
should draw his last
weary breath while
they, ungrateful and
ungrieving, dreamed
through h i s dying
throes.
The purple CLEAN of
d o w NY, moonless
SSr1,A
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11

HE scene is in Aus
tin, Tex, and in the
sltting-roon Of the
mansion of Colonel
Percy Yerger. An
impression prevails
in the Northern
States that the eli
mate in Texas is al
most tropical. So it
is, in hot weather;
but in the fall Of the
year, when the Texas
norther, a 70 ung
brother of the Kan
sas blizzard, pre-
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11

AA ADAM WAS THE nNI.v
Ina MAN.
oas can can u : few weeks secondhand s,vso,.
io-for-- 3 bought at the nearest saloon saloon
hra schooNOaloo nel Yerger, what do Won t nav
With sslsa Of beer?n said Mrs V W. pny
asa n needn't try 70 get h.onv -.
sen who star, !. ar mil.ion
~ January a. u,arie> ne first or
We Ro.e Ole Of them running Oh !. sc = Sus
fsrgerIs = your diary coming NJ s On Mrs
-FOUR m aoaI play out as soon as the ,resco
y MIN mind. % y soon wearing ing Of Sn N sUer
!. bats aa aSa this New years.. Suns new
-ade lat va sne matter with the Old at -,
shs1I ssf q. They are about as good Uoo yo 4.
glance u td ~ Taking retrospect
year that Is past and gone
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11
EIGHTEEN EiGHTY-NINE.

nown. down through the years we glide
4 spite Of wind and weather,
NINE moves along and will not stay,
81 on we 60 together.
We can not stop to chat with you,
Although you seem so near,
mt AZ We hasten on our way
We wish you all Happy Year.
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11
About Swearing on.

A great deal of sport is now made OF
New Years Day as a swearing of tiue. 1"
1t Is not uncommon TO hear the question mt
IN sarcastic way: We'll. have Won
swore off yets' The witty fellows on the
newspapers take 1t up and grind out in
Vulnerable jokes about weak minded men
who turn over a new leaf on New
Year, and turn back TO it again in less than
a fortnight But, with all this fun and
ridlcule, the fact remains that the begin
ming OF new year is a most fitting time to
leave of bad habits, TO resolve To profit by.
mistakes and follies Of the past, and to 90
through the new year better than YOU didt
the old one.
so pay no attention 10 the current gibes
and leers at the custom OF swearing OF on
the New Year and If you see mistakes
and follies that you desire 10 abandon and!
to leave forever behind. now i the time 70
do It. The fact is, you should have dOre!
so long ago. One can begin a reform IN hns
own habits at any time, and should never
wait until any particular dav for making
that start: bat, having put il of until now,
don't delay longer. Begin and end the New
Year right.
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11
NEW YEARS DAY.

\ Scene from Colonel Percy Yergcr's
Charming Domestic C1rcle-The Season
y SWEARING or and Making Calls.
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11

new Year, with joy we welcome you!
For US smile the future wears,
ror you can make our dreams come true,
can bring an answer to our prayers,
can errors OF the past undo
heclasp the hands Of friendships riven,
MAKE nrmer bonds of loving true,
ana give on earth foretaste of Heaven.
we welcome new friend tonight;
Inc New Year will make all things right.
GEORGE BIRDSEYE.
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11


S"ae Home Soap wild all der er'rs phh de
scdo drive
Etc HE.
Like Mr.: OTooe many people wonder greatly hou,
we are able to give away so many valuables The
cdUSe Why is simply this, we employ no travelling
sa1esmen and no wholesale dealer nor retail proceI
makes Proht on our soap before it reaches YOU We
snip orect from the factory to consumer and for I
teo time Will give our entire profits in presents "a
those who order "Sweet Home" Soap
soap IS SO pleasing in its
clOhes SO white, does the Won ,r,
ooA YOU Will surely order will thus secure
steady customer. " ~ 1is =
IA proVouS issues OF this paper large advertisement
appeared giving full description soar
long st or Presents in each
eVeteo l9ht at your door, all freight CHARGES paid Iook
up ana reao the same carefully
I'D remit In advance, risks nor take anv
oe9 we merely ask permission q
'nese goods, and if trial YOU are nIv con
tnat the Soap is all claim, extras all we
you can then the bill
ne" IN every way charge will be have
Ust How can do
e your Name and Address plainly Postal mentioning this OaOs man
- ~" ana case " these goods viii 30 %
@ ~ 4ARK1N & CO., BUFFALO, Ny.
~-~-5S9 66I, 663 66S
The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-01-11

ACCORDING 10 the eternal fitness OF things.
the young man who has just pawned his
ticker for the wherewith 10 buy his sweet
heart the usual New Years present viii
receive handsomely worked watch case.
Twas ever thus.
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27
WHAT is THE MATTER WITH THE
"HERALO?"

When the workingmen get through
with their stupidity they will do some
thing Until then corporations can
Cypress them as much as they please
and they will remain as helpless as
they are now. They are like
Jumbo-a huge, unwieldy creature,
who doesn't know his own strength.
Poor Jumbo was maltreated by his
keeper, who drove the prod into him
until he roared. But it all ended in a
roar. If he had sense enough he could
have knocked his keeper over the ropes.
Being nothing but an elephant, how
ever, he let the fellow prod him as
much as he pleased.
Workingmen may bemoan their lot,
but so long as they have the remedy in
their own hands and fail to use it SYM
pathy is misplaced. Acrid speeches
won't save them; harangues against
monopolies are simply the bellowings of
fog horn.
When they know how to act together
they will accomplish something-not
till then. Their ranks are full
Of demagogues and jobbers. Petty fac
tional jealousies are the blood poison in
the body Of Knights which weakens
and destroys their influence. They roar
like Jumbo when the monopoist prods
them, but nothing more. The
ballot box is the enginery of revolution,
and until the wage earners of the coun-
try recognize that fact and govern
themselves accordingly they will ac-
complish no results whatever.
We should Hke(?) to see a compact
and powerful workingman's party. 1t
could do good deal of good. But
there is no such thing now, and will not
be until laborers get sense enough to
use the right means to accomplish a
really great purpose. -Ne1c York Her.
dld
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27

and other mines, and also Agricultural
land" should belong to the social col.
lectivity represented by the State, "but
by the State regenerdted,"
Finally, in 1869, the international
claims as collective property all the in
struments of labor, natural and artif-
cial, and discusses only the means
through which this end can best be
achieved.
Then came the FrancO-German war,
the Paris Commune, its fall and the
repressive measures against Socialism
throughout Europe. But the truth had
been found, the new social science had
been constituted, and its final triumph
was only a question of time; that is, a
question of agitation, education and
organization. In reasserting the great
principles of Socialism, the Paris Con.
gress will give an additional impetus to
the labor movement on both sides of the
Atlantic, and we make bold to predict
that on this side its influence will soon
be felt in reorganization of the labor
forces upon Socialistic basis.
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27

labor movement grow and prosper, an d
they will help it along by uniting, for
the present, at least, on general lines.
This action will prove unpopular with
the greedy capitalists, who see in it an
etfectual barrier to their crafty designs;
but to the working people it will be re-
garded as bright omen of future pros
perity. "ln union is strength" is as
true in industrial matters as it was
when applied to the efforts Of loyal men
to keep intact and indissoluble the
States of this great commonwealth.
If we must have leaders in the indus
strial army, they should at least be
made to sacrifice their personal ami
mosities to the good and welfare of the
movement that is destined to precede
the glorious emancipation of labor
Union Printer.
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27
LAND AND MACHINERY.
SECOND LECTURE BY LUCIEN sANIAL.


Concluded from last eceek)
Coincident with this lowering of man
hood and increase of helplessness among
the masses of the people, have already
noted the rapid contraction of the CAPT.
talist class, formerly widespread and
numerous, into small, compact and
all-powerful plutocracy.
From 1870 to 1880 the so-called ma
tional' wealth increased at the average
rate of 1,400 million dollars year, but
the actual number of those among
whom it was distributed went on de-
creasing. Since 1880 wealth has in
creased at the average rate Of 2,700
million dollars year, but the number
of those who possess it is smaller than it
ever was, Less than 500.0 persons own
three quarters of all the values of this
country. Before long, through the
agency of trusts and syndicates, their
number will be reduced to one-tenth of
what it now is, but their power will be
ten-fold.
Production, as conducted by them,
may be divided into three parts-one as
small as possible, and now tending to
become constantly smaller, consists of
such necessaries as the wage working
population must have in order to sub
slst and reproduce itself; another, as
large as possible and constantly larger.
consists of such luXuries as the plutoc-
racy cares to indulge in; the third,
greatly limited by the contracted pur-
chasing power of the masses of the
people, consists of additions to the
things called capital, employed in pro-
ducing. Under those conditions, with
every improvement in machinery, the
number of wage-workers required for
the production of neCessaries becomes
less, and the number available for the
production of luxuries becomes greater.
The toll of those who can get work is
not lessened, but the number of those
who cannot get work is increased, and
the condition of all is worse. OF course
it is absurd to contend, as some do, that
the reduced cost of luxuries places
them within reach of the workers, since
every such reduction is accompanied by
corresponding reduction of wages.
Thus is constantly larger number of
laborers becoming dependent for en-
ployment upon the whims and caprices
Of the plutocracy. Thus are the posi-.
hilities of increased leisure. higher com
fort, additional knowledge and manlier
independence turned into instruments
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27
WHAT OTHERS SAY.
UNITY OF LABOR.

1t is pleasing to note that considerable
progress has been made of late toward a
general unifcation of labor's forces.
The representatives of the great organi-
cations have very wisely come to the
conclusion that the results to be at
tanned are of so general a character
that it is worth their while to agree to
something like mutual understanding.
While differing as to methods they
seem imbued with a desire to see the
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27
THE TWO SYSTEMS.
masters.

From compulsory labor in slavery we
have come to compulsory idleness in
wage competition. In olden times every
man was employed, and the price of his
labor was fixed by his master In mod.
crn times if every man was employed
wages would rise to such an extent that
the profits Of the capitalist class would
be largely Curtailed. The laboring class
would then begin to share in the luxu-
ries which heretofore had been the priv
iIege of their employers. In other
words, the laborers would produce less
for the capitalists and more for them,
selves. Such is the case when for some
reason labor is in great demand. But
as the capitalist system perfects itself
such cases are becoming less frequent.
At any rate, as soon as the tendency is
in that direction, the capitalist perceives
that ''it does not pay" to employ labor
Compulsory idleness then reduces wages
and increases profits. Thus il is by con-
stantly keeping vast numbers of people
out of work that The rate of profit is main
tanned, and by that process the same
end is reached under so-caled system
of free labor as under a system of
slavery. The difference, if any, is
against the wage-worker; for the slave
was sustained in compulsory labor,
whereas the free man is starved in COM
pulsory idleness.
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27
July q, 1889.
LOOKING BACKWARD.

The great International Labor Con
gress now being held. in Paris suggests
a retrospective glance; for it is in the
light of the past that the tendencies of
the present can best be observed and
it is well that the new generation, upon
which the world is depending for fur
ther progress, be thoroughly informed
as to the work of its predecessor.
Until the year 1862, the wage-workers
of different nationalites had frequently
met on battle-tields for the purpose of
mutual slaughter at the command of
ambitious despots. In that year, how
ever, the French plutocracy, anxious to
increase it's wealth by stimulating the
skill and invention of its mechanics, sent
to the London Exhibition a number of
its ablest wageslaves, There they met
the wage-slaves of England; that is, for
the first time the true England and the
true France viewed each other AZ they
truly were, and in the fraternal embrace
that followed repudiated eight centuries
Of luminosity and war. They did more
To the amazement of their respective
masters, they repudiated the Moloch of
competition, abjured the dogmas of its
economic priesthood and swore to
stand shoulder to shoulder against all
unholy sacrifices of human beings upon
its altar
Thus was founded the International
Workingmen' Association. With the
appearance of this celebrated society in
the economic and political field ends the
theoretical dealstic and more or less
chaotic adolescence of the labor move.
ment. It's purpose becomes more def
mite, and its action shows from day to
day increasing virility.
The successive congresses of the Inter
national at London in 1864, Geneva in
66, Lausanne in 81 Brussels in IS, and
Basic in 50, reflect like a mirror this
rapid development of the perceptions
in the labor organism throughout
Europe. Having laid down as fun
damental principle that the emancipa-
ton of the workingmen must be accom-
plished by the worGingmen themselves,
the natural inference was that they must
be their own teachers, their own econo-
mists, their own philosophers, their
own statesmen, their own generals, if
need be; in a word. their own instruc-
tors and leaders in every field of human
activity. To the shouts of derision with
which this declaration was greeted by
the pedantic oracles of the plutocracy.
the men of muscle answered by setting
to work in dead earnest. In the first
months of 1866 the General Council of
London addressed to all the sections a
programme of the questions which their
delegates would he invited to consider
at the Congress of Geneva. Here is a
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27
SHORT LESSONS IN ECON
OMY. 81


Asked one day by John Swinton to
tell him something about the "horse-
power" and its relation to capitalistic
deviltry, the writer of these "Short
Lessons" made a statement 'substanti-
ally as follows:
Hod-carriers-God bless them!-as-
cend ladders with a load of 90 pounds
at the rate of one foot per second,
equivalent to $500 pounds one foot per
minute.
Temporary or constant, imaginary or
real, this lifting capacity of a most ro-
bust laborer was taken as a unit in me-
chanical science to represent the mus
Cular power of man. And as horse
power in steam engines can raise 80, 900
pounds one foot per minute, one steam
horse was and is still said to be equal to
! seven men.
Practically. however, in the work of
lifting or pulling load, or of kee ping
in motion any kind of machinery for
eight or ten consecutive hours every
| day the year round, the steam-horse
will Guido fourteen laborers gifted with
! the muscles of a Sullivan, send them
early to bed or to the grave, whistle III
derision and feel as fresh as ever. But.
with an extreme regard for moderation,
| shall take it for granted that one ma
chine horse is equal to ten men only.
The facts and figures here submitted,
even on that low basis of calculation.
are sufficiently startling.
In 1880 the horse power used in man
ufactures and mining throughout the
United States was, in round figures,
$500, 600, against 100000 in 1870,
showing an increase of about - per
cent Think of it, The total popula-
ton of this country between the ages
of Is and A was, by the last census,
1921 900; and in ten years our manu-
featuring and mining capitalists added
to their means of making money a
power equal to the strength of 13,000,-
600 thirteen million) slaves, In the
meanwhile the number of men employed
10y them increased only 100000.
Since that time the horse power in
manufactures has increased TO more
than 5000 900; so the: the mechanical
force at the command Of the capitalists
who own the enginery of manufacture
in this country is fully equal to the
muscular strength OF NIFTY million
slaves.
Is it such a wonder, after all. that
chattel slavery was abolished? Who
cares to pay 1900 for negro when a
machine horse, worth ten strong men.
and costing only eight cents per day to
feed, can he had for $50.
But this 5000 600 horsepower, seven.
eighths of which is owned by less than
10000 neutrality-suspicious. as it
may seem when multiplied 10y 10 to ex-
press it in units of human strength
gives but a faint idea of the mechanical
forces in the hands Of those few men.
See behind it the fifteen million spin.
dies, the half million power looms, and
Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-07-27

the trip hammers, and the world of
labor saving machinery which it sets in
motion at mad rate Of speed or brings
to a dead stop at the command of its
masters.