davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
THE EARTH'Sl'DURATIoN.
Instructive Speculations on a Theme 70
Never-Ceasing Interest.

Instructive Speculations on a Theme "a
Never-Ceasing Interest.
The present age of the eartn mas
been placed by Sir William Ihomson
at 100, 600, 900 years, while the specnla'
tions of others have given much larger
figures. M. Adolphe d Assler' WIN
believes such estimates to be greauy
exaggerated, considers the lie OF sne
earth in three periods, which ne Terms
the igneous or nebufo-stellar STADIUM,
the stadium of solar illumination 0"
organic life, and the stadium OF aaiA
ness, cold and death. The hfs',
which began with ne detachmen'"
the terrestrial nebula from the sola''
and ended in the formation o. NJ
crystalline crust of the globe-ne 'al
culates from physical laws to n nav
been 500, 900 years in duration in0
second-comprising the present epooI'
and to close with extinction OF tine sun,
embracing the entire cycle Of geologlca,
formations-is found by geological anu
physical evidence as likely to na''s
total length of 100000 years NV |"
which more that half has passed. Luz
third misunderstanding from the eau
of collar illumination, and closing
the terrible and inevitable catasHopAs
of the fall of the earth to the sum- @.s
momentarily frightened by the
candescence of the earth as the hoo -
crashes into it-will have a iehs@
that can not be calculated untl
precise rate of acceleration OF tne ~
ton of the earth around the censo,r
attraction is known. but will prop 40
be, at the lowest estimate, loV'ooo'ySa
years or more. Upon the whole 'ho
present age of the earth appears ="
about Is, GOO, 900 years. This Is ousr
small part of it's existence anu e -
thing leads to the belief that ls :,
evolution through the immehsiss
space will exceed q million ceh'A
-Arkansaw Traveller.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
--@ b-
EDlSON'S FIRST CHECK.
The Wizards Difficulty In Getting
rasI,ad at the Rank.

The Wizards Difficulty In Getting 1t
Cashed at the Bank.
.sWizard'' Edison came I'VE from
Menlo Park the other day on some bus
mess connected with some of his nu-
merous enterprises, and. during the
afternoon spent several hours with one
of the officials of the big electric-light
company.
During lunch the great electrician
became chatty and told, in his quaint
way, the story of his first acquaintance
with any large sum of money.
1t was in the days when he was
stsdggling along with his earlier in
ventions, and didn't have big capital
lists to back him. I9e fact, he didn't
have any bank account himself, and
hardly knew what one was. Bank
checks were things he had never had
occasion to use, and had about as much
idea of their value as the man in the
moon.
Edison had finally sold his patent
on the gold and stock indicator to the
Western Union Telegraph Company
for $40, OO0, and was coming over to
New York to get his money.
He had heard of Wall street and its
bulls and bears, and had been told that
it was full of sharks" who would
fleece a man very quick. So he made
up his mind that Wall street was a
very dangerous place, and that if he
ever had occasion to go there he would
be lucky if he got away without losing
his overooat and umbrella.
At that time General Lefferts was
president of the Western Union. One
morning Edison came into the COM
pany's general Offices to close up the
sale of his patent. After a few pre-
liminaries he was given a check for
$40, 600.
He looked at it curiously for a mo-
ment or two, and appeared to be puz-
zled what to do with it. He knew
| that he had sold a patent to the West
+ iern U.ion Company for $4,000, but he
| didn't see any money. observing his
| perplexity, General I.efferts told him
that if he would go down to the Bank
| of America, in Wall street, he could
| get the check cashed.
so I started out" said Edison,
eafter carefully folding up the check,
and went toward Wall street. so un-
certain was I in regard to that way of
| doing business that / thought while on
the way that if any man should come
up to me and offer me two crisp thou
sand-dollar bills for that piece of paper
should give him UP the check very
quick"
On arriving at the Bank of America
he hesitated about entering, fearing
still that something might be wrong.
At last, however. he mustered up eour.
age and determined to try it. He knew
that General Lefferts had told him he
would get his money here, so he braced
ahead and half tremblingly showed his
check oct to the cashier. The latter
scrutinized it closely, gave Edison
piercing glance and said something
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
GRETNA GREEN'S ROMANCE.
Crossing III scotch Border in Haste tc
Legalize Elopements.

- 1T
Crossing the Scotch Border in Haste to
Lega1ize Elopements.
Gretna Green was said to be "killed"
by the act of 1856, and as a place
where Opponents were legalized no
doubt it's glories have departed. The
legality of Scotch marriages, however,
survives. ANY person residing in
Scotland three weeks can get married
after the informal Scotch manner, and
the marriage will hold good. In fact,
opponents might still be conducted in
q ~circuitus fashion. The gentleman
could go first, reside at Gretna Green
for three weeks, then be joined by his
bride, and marry her on the spot
Other things, however, have put an
end to shis form of romantic marriage.
In the days of posting the clipping low
ers had every advantage. The young
gentlemen could arrange before hand
for relays of horses; the pursuing sire
could not do so, not knowing
the date of the preparations for fight.
Then it was said that the ~in-keepers
and post-boys always favored the fugi-
tives. If the fathers generally over
took the runaways, it would have been
| bad for trade; therefore the old gentle
man diu not always secure the freshest
or best steeds, and it was surprising
how often his post boys found a Inch
pin loose. Again and again was the
rattle of the pursuer's coach heard
when the knot vas securely tied, but
not until then. Nowadays there are
no coaches, but express trains and the
telegraph wires could anticipate the
lovers, and possibly secure delay. If
not detention. Also marriages in En-
| gland have been made so easy that
there are Gretna Greens at your very
doors. Three weeks natice to a reg
istrar and a quarter of an honr's. alb
sence from home will bring about a
marriage without any one being the
wiser-above all, no1 the man and
woman who are weo In London
and large cities also the calling
of banns at a parish church is very in.
sufficient publicity when SO many fam
lilies attend favorite preachers else
where, and may never hear that their
Mary Or Ethel or Constance is about tC
marry in three weeks ''that" i'm
peeunious young Brown. Thus Gretns
Green still virtually fingers with us
Magnetic attraction Or something else
forces young girls, otherwise intel
ligent, attractive and ever intellectual,
to fix all the love of their young hearts
on the wrong man. Fathers threaten
mothers weep, brothers call him, OF
prove him to be, every thing that il
unsuitable or even bad; she will no
listen Or refuses to believe. One day
the street door is open, and she leaves
her fathers house to fix her own
destiny-perhaps to love him always
in spite of all his faults or even vices
or to repent once-and that for life
So Gretna Green, Or what it once
signifed. lives forever in human
heartS.-London Globe.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15

"Come down." he yelled through
his speaking trumpet "Climb up the
aft mast and clew the binnaJe there"
There were ominous murmurs
among the crew at this brutal COM
mand, for in all their experience they
had never known the same man to be
asked to clew more than n pinnacle
at a time. The Mate paid no attention
to the growls other than casting a
menacing look at the e
The storm was now at its height.
The ship rolled so that the tips of the
yard-arms touched the seething waters
on either side. It was such a storm as
is quite common on the lakes, but it is
never seer in the tropics or in the
ocean anywhere.
"Aye, aye, sir"! shouted back In
gram, and watching his chance, he
slipped off the end of the yard-arm In
to the smothering surf. A cry OF
horror arose from the men.
HE prefers death to staying on
board this ship" said n Of the men.
ITO be continued right away.)
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
CHAPTER FIFTH.


AS the two officers appeared on
deck, MIR. Ingram moved respectfully
forward to meet them, the rest of the
crew staying in the background.
'.Mr. Ingram" began the Captain,
81 presume that you are aware of the
fact that on shipboard the Captains
word is lawp'
II will admit that for the sake of
argument, but wishout preiudiceF"
Very well. then,'' the Captain says,
ssor, in other words, the law is, that this
is a mutiny. It will, therefore, be my
painful duty to hang you and the other
five gentlemen who compose the crew
unless you at once cease your mutinous
conduct
J. Marston Ingram bowed low and
answered:
II will present your decision to my
com-ad@ and inform you Of their re-
ply
After short conference, Mr.. Ingram
turned to the Captain and said:
Il beg to state respectfully that the
men refuse to acceptyourd decision, and
also refuse to be hanged"
"Refnse!!n cried the Captain. sOh,
this is mutiny. I thought SO before.
but now I am sure Of it However,
am willing to make any reasonable
concession. If.they prefer 70 walk the
plank 10 being hanged, I will accom-
modate Them
THE impression I gathered from
tneir conversation was that it was moi
50 much the method they objected tt
. as to the result. However, ] shall be
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
pleased to submit your alternative tc

pleased to submit your alternative tc
them"
He again turned to the men, and the
discussion this time was a longer one.
Finally he came back and addressed
the Captain:
LAS I thought. the men refuse, also,
the alternative. They are, however,
willing to admit that this is a mutiny
on one condition"
What is that?" asked the Captain.
"That is that they carry it out as q
mutiny. They leave it for you to de-
eide whether it is a mutiny Or simple
strike. If you decide that 1t is a strike.
things will go on as they are until one
side or the other comes to terms. If
YOU decide that it is a mutiny, then
they will act as if it acre a mutiny.
They viii proceed at once to tire both
yourself and the Mate up in a hard
knot, and the-ill then drop you
overheard. SIC will withdraw for a
few moments to await your decision.
They did not have long to wait. The
Captain came forward and said:
Il have carefully considered the
question in all it's bearings and takea
note of several points that before es9
capped my attention. / now decide that
| this is a strike"
A rousing, hearty, honest nautical
| cheer went up as this judgment was
| rendered.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
Drainage About Farm Houses.

The house is generally placed upon
a slight elevation to afford drainage,
but a great mistake every way is made
If the natural means for carrying off
surplus water are not supplemented by
underdrains to carry it off beneath the
surface. There should always be a
drain through which to throw out
Stops, and it will be easy to run into
this side branches to drain land on
either side. The idea that a shop drain
must be made tight to prevent the
inlet of other water or its own absorb
ton by the soil is a common mistake
II the joints are not closely sealed, as
in the city sewers the drain will be as
effective, and probably last logger
Christian at Work.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
BEFORE SHE CAME.

Before you came, my sweet colleen,
We knew not what this life was worth;
But lived in fancied happiness
In our small paradise on earths
y Where Love held both in sweet duresss
Nor dreamed that greater Joy had been
Before you came.
Before you came-a child most fair
There was no sunshine such as now
To light our way; nor such sweet fow'rs
To stud the park, and 1t endow
With beauty new to eyes like ours,
That sought these beauties everywhere
Before you came.
, Before you came, sweet babe Of mine,
We dreamed Of you (yet knew you not),
Still wondering II. out OF space.
Some unborn ray, by Love begot,
Would shine and show thy chaiab face
70 us-so watched we for the sign
Before you came.
Before you camel Ahl was it thusf
Were you not always with US, dears
Methinks tit may have been q dreamy
That you were never far from here,
But found us out, like some star-glearas
In years gone by, to gladden. US
Before you came.
Franklin w. Lee.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
CHAPTER SIXTH.

II am glad" said Mr.. Ingram, "that
so wise and just a decision was made.
1t will relieve you Of the disagreeable
duty Of hanging US and you will also
escape the trouble of arranging any
technical difficulties that are almost
sure to arise when two men attempt to
execute six. Now I suppose, as this is
a simple strike, and / believe it is the
first that has ever arisen on board a
ship, you will have no objection to SUBJ
nit the matter to arbitration"
'.None in the least" replied the Cap
tain.
"As you are SO good as to agree to
this it becomes US to make like con
cessions. We will give you every adj
vantage. / will act for the crew and
the Mate will act for you. l presume
that is satisfactory to you."
Perfectly. But who is to be the
third man?n
THAT we concede entirely to you.
You shall choose him. That, you see,
throws the majority Of the arbitration
committee on your side. Choose any
body but yourself, Captain"
Mr.. Ingram said this with a frank
air that was very charming. The
Captain frowned. and scratched his
head. The proposition certainly looked
magnanimous, butdeS there was no one
for him to- choose but one of the crew
he looked obviously at the Mate, who
was So %bewildered that he seemed able
to make no suggestion.
Lock here" said the Captain.
'Come into the cabin for a few mo-
ments. Perhaps we can adjust this
difficulty without appointing a third
man."
Mr.. Ingram bowed gravely and fol-
lowed the Captain down the companion
way, the Mate remaining outside by
the direction Of his chief.
..Now," began the Captain, ''who are
you any how? You are not a common
sailor
s'No," said Ingram, II am a lawyer.
I am rather an expert yachtsman and
am merely here on a vacatlen."
"Ah, ! see. The crew hap retained
YOU" ! y
Exactly"
"Then you are quite willing to
chuck up their sRsa and take a re-
tainer from me providing it is a big
ger one than the one you are receiv-
inge"
.sThat is what we are here for,
Cap"
Then consider it settled. Now
what can you do for mep"
81 will at once show the men that 1t
is really a mutiny. You see, they
| signed articles. A man must keep his
contract"
"But if it is a mutiny, TIE mon will
drop me overheard"
s.Oh, we won't decide it to be- a
autiny. You pick out the other arbi-
traitor, and the mate and l will settle
| the matter"
"All &gEt," said the Captain.
Here's your fee"
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
LONDON'S DISABLED HORSES
Many of Them Eaten by Hungry Street
Gamins in Sandwiches,

Many OF Ihem Eaten by hungry Street
Gamins in Sandwiches.
Mr.. w. II. Ross, secretary to Harri-
son & Barber, horse slaughterers, told
to a reporter the other day that they
have seven slaughter-houses in the
metropolitan area, the largest being
that in the York road, Camden Town.
They slaughtered $4,000 horses year.
When a horse broke a limb or sus-
tanned other irremediable injury On
the street the police at once COM
municated with the nearest depot,
The company had frequently been
charged with cruelty in allowing
MANNED homes to lie about for hours
before sending men to end their suff er.
ings. The truth was they were very
particular in this respect and if such
delays occurred it was through no
fault of theirs. Was horse-heshmuch
used for food? Yes, to a considerable
extent, he should say. Their charter
did not allow of their selling horse
flesh for food purposes, but there sere
such establishments in the city. He
had himself eaten horse-meat in
France, and at the company's annual
dinner it was served to the guests,
some of whsm declared they would
not have known it from beef, had they
not been told. Fine fat horses we're
slaughtered every week, horses that
were perfectly sound, except for some
accidental injury, and he saw no rea.
son why this flesh should not be eaten.
He had often seen street gamins buy a
slice of dried horse-fesh, place it be.
tween two bits of bread and eat it as a
sandwich! Of course, most of the pre-.
pared hors.,-hesh passed under the
name of cats-meat, but it seemed in.
credible that the cats could consume il
all.
Every part Of the horse we put to
some use-hesh, hide, hair, hoofs and
bones. Now that (and Mr.. Ross held
up a small vial. of beautifully trans.
J parent oily was norse oil. One would
scarcely think such oil as that could be
got from the horse. Those other bot.
ties contained oils of inferior quality.
They were used for lubricating pur.
poses and for soap-making. Most soaps
nowaday contained horse-grease.
Armed with a cigar and ar order
from he secretary of the COZ lpany,
| our reporter made his way to the
I premises in York road. The obliging
manager said that they had had only
four horses in to-day. But about l.
800 were slaughtered here annually.
Most of the animals were cab, bus
or tram horses. The establishment
turned out about twenty tons of horse
flesh every week. They had f~orty-six
dead and twenty-one live horses in
now. They contracted with the vari-
Gus cab, bus and tram companies for
injured horses at thirty shillings each
alive or dead. Most of the live horses
they got in were injured internally by
overwork or falling. A few were gone
with congestion of the lungs. Inc
work of slaughtering went on day and
night, there being two gangs OF men
for that purpose. Horses aere killed
at night by three "k~nackers." Fifteen
horses were considered a good nights
work. The sufferings OF the poor
brutes were soon at an end, as tney'
were rendered insensible by a blow
from a heavy axe. p all Mall Gazette.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

y A0 CIVWu Vi LAG lCO 4Ass 2du 1A
1860, is the oldest existing in England.
The monastery of Melk, in Austria.
lately celebrated the eight-hu!ldreth
anniversary of it's foundation.
Some of the handsomest shops in
Paris are now devoted to the sale of
| Japanese wares, and r wholly con-
Quoted by Japs.
Holland reclaims an average of
| eight acres per day from the sea, and
| the salt water is nc sooner crowded
out than cabbage is crowded in.
Queen Victoria objects to the gem
eral use of electric lights at Windsor
| Castle, because it is too strong for her
| ewes, and it is therefore restricted to
a few localities.
Including policemen, post-office
| officials, marketmen and women. care
takers, hospital nurses, and newspa-
| per writer's and printers, it is estimat-
ed that fully one hundred thousand of
| the inhabitants of Londonoare night
workers.
The Eifel Tower is now declared,
even by those who feared that it would
be u%nsightly, to have a eight and
dfaceful appearance in spite of its
| gigantic size, N9nd to be an imposing
monument, worthy of Paris"
"A curious animal peculiar Tas
mania is the Tasmania devil. 1t is
equal in size to the short-legged
terrier. Its skin Is nearly of equal
thickness of that of a pig, and it is
covered with course, jet-black hair. 1t
is of the bear species and possesses a
power of jaw scarcely inferior to that
of the bulldog. = a
-Ex-King Milan of Servia was 20
afraid OF assassination during his reign
that he slept in a room with double
doors cased in steel. A powerful
mastiff lay at the foot of his bed, and
he always kept a loaded revolver on a
table by his bedside. When eating
alone the King would not use any
made dishes, and satisfied his appetite
with toast and boiled eggs.
The trumpeter who congratulated
| the German Emperor early on the
morning of his majesty's birthday an
niversary by a joyous blast from his
instrument, has been fined three marks
''for giving a signal which was not re-
quired," but his imperial master has
put balm into the wounds which the
fine inflicted on the patriotic trumpeter
by expressing to him, in a personal
audience, his pleasure at the birthday
s~alutation, and presenting him with a
IS note.
Over the grave where Matthew
Arnold lies with his four children, in
Laleham church-yard, there has been
placed a plain maidstone of white
marble, containing beneath the raised
cross the inscription: Matthew AF-
mold, eldest son of the late Thomas
Arnold, D. D., head master of Rugby
School. Born Dec. "a. 1922. DIED
April Is, 1883. There has sprung uI
q light for the righteous, a joyful glad
ness for such as are true-hearted."
"A bridge on ore of the upper
courses of the Ya4.-Tse river, de
scribed by an Amer an missionary tt
China, presents verJ}sEunusual features
in the way of ornaments. The bridge
is of stone, and has buttresses up ant
down stream at each of the piers raised
about five feet above the water. These
buttresses are used to support stand
ing or reclining figures Of animals
Those up stream r water monsters
down stream are land animals, such al
the buffalo and bear.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
CHAPTER THIRD.

At this moment J.. Marston Ingram
did something that is never done on
ship-board or off except in thrilling
novels like this one.
When the ship made her second dip
on that side he nimbly caught the end
of the yard-arm and vas carried aloft
amidst the rousing cheers Of his COM
rades. He clewed up the pinnacle and
slid down on deck along the main jib
boom taut sheet.
The Mate muttered to himself:
''Foilednn foiled" Crashing his teeth,
he took a fresh chew of tobacco, an
unsailor-like vice to which he was ad-
dicted, and went into the cabin.
The Opelousas courier., 1889-06-15
An Editorial Victim.

"How do you make such beautiful
verses, Herbert" she asked, as she
gazed admiringly into his face.
sOh. it's easy enough after you oIce
get started" said Herbert, modestly.
1T must be delightful to be able to
express your poetic thoughts. Isome-
times have them, but / car not put
them into words. There is poetry
everywhere if you only know whore to
lock for it"
Yes; it's surprising how much there
u.s. said Herbert, who had called on
an editor that day. II know where
there's q whole basket full Of it right
now. Merchant Traveller.