davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
THE BOYS OF CONGRESS.
Something About the Duties of the Senat
and House Pages.

something ABOUT the duties OF the senate
and House Pages.
The pages of the Senate and House OF
Representatives are, as rule, bright
and lively boys. between the ages of ten
and fifteen, very few remaining in ser.
vice after the age of eighteen.
1t requires considerable influence now.
adays to get an appointment as page in
either the Senate or the House. as the
position is desirable one The pay is
s.. so per day for the season, including
Sundays, and in addition there are nu.
merous peIquisltes, which in many
cases double their pay. The average
page is a very stylish boy, and generally
carries cane (when off duty and wears
knee-breeches, an English top-coat and
q beaver hat
Pages are the legs" of Congress-
When a Congressman claps his hands, 1t
is the duty of the page to rush TO him,
receive and execute his commands-to
the document room for bill, to the H.
brary for book, or anywhere else with
in reasonable d stance.
In the House, each page has to file
the records of ten members and at the
end Of the session each member usually
gives to the page who tends to his file
from s. to $40, and every page can rea.
sonablE count on 500 as Christmas
money from these ten members.
The pages used to make regular bust
ness of selling autograph books. Every
morn ng the pages would GO around
from member to member and solicit
their signatures. A book contain ng
all the names was worth from IS to $40.
But this got to be a great nuisance
to members, who were frequently called
upon to sign their names thirty times in
one morn ng. So they refused to sign,
and an autograph book is now rarely
seen.
Another source Of revenue for the
boys is from the distribution of circu-
lars and pamphlets through the House.
Neariy every great project that is
brought to the attention of Congress
from the outs de is supported, and gem
orally opposed. too, by the circulation
among the members of pamphlets and
var Gus documents.
These are left with the doorkeeper to
be placed on the desks of the mellbers
1t IS the duty Of the pages to distribute
these papers, but experience has demon
strate that they are distributed much
better if liberal fee is left for the
pages
OF course the boys must have a head,
and strong one, too, as they are hard
to control. In the House, a one-armed
captain, assisted by two chief pages,
keeps the squad of thirty in order, while
Captain Bassett, in the Senate, looks
after his detachment, usually of very
small boys.
After or duating from pageship. the
boys usually become Governmental clerks,
although great many are never heard
of afterward. Some become politicians,
and several have afterwards made
mark in the world. Familiar examples
of success are those of Senator German.
eXRepresentati We Scott, # Erie, and
the late Representative Townshend, Of
Ill nOls who became eminent in pub
lie life. Golden Days.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
KING OF PiCkPOCKETS.
why He VIII Spend Considerable Time In
Retirement.

why ne WIN spend Considerable Time In
Retirement.
singular individual has lust been
arrested at the race course of Vincennes.
His name is Fred Flash, or Frederick
wheeler. He calls himself Count
Walden. He was frequenter of all the
fashionable restaurants, an inveterate
sportsman and an accomplished gam
pier. he moved only in good society;
mat IS to say, that society of Paris
winch has become somewhat mixed by
the invasion of rich foreigners He
never compromised himself by keeping
questionable company. He talked little
but was great observer. In stature he
was small and wore short whiskers
which chemistry kept dark, and in his
general makeup he managed to conceal
nve or SIX OF the years which belonged
to him, and which really amounted to
about forty. But for all that he was
quite polite and extremely obliging.
He always received with discretion the
little discreet salutes of the people
whom he had obliged.
1t was known to every body that he
was the king Of pickpockets and by no
means lazy or idle king, He kept un-
der his orders quite an active corps of
operators, who humbly bowed to his au-
thority A past master in his art, gifted
with an incompatible power of taking
In every thing at a glance he watched
the winning players and noted the care
less way in which they put away their
money, generally in accessible pockets
Then to his subjects he pointed out his
victims and the precise pockets
to be operated upon. By this
method the expeditions sent out by him
rarely failed. Whenever it happened
that documents or compromising letters
were taken by his men he always had
them returned, for he never permitted
blackmail. He regarded them as some
thing beneath the dignity of his pro-
fession.
One day party came to him on the
race course and told him that the valise
OF the ockey Storr was stolen.
well, what then?" asked King Fred
His cap is in it. and he can't run"
Eyes Storr will run, for in half an
hour he will have his valise," sa d Fred:
and he kept his word.
The reason why Fred lived in France
was because England, his native country.
had become too hot for him. Penal
servitude awaited him there: but Just
why he was not extradited and why the
police were SO indulgent with him re-
named always mystery.
VI late, however, his business became
dull He was too closely watched, and
his operatives were not sufficiently
skilful to get over their increased diff
culties. He determined to lend them a
hand himself, and, after some bold and
successful ventures, he was at last
caught in the act Of stealing bank
notes which an officer had placed in the
outside pocket of his dolman
His Majesty VII now, doubtless,
spend a considerable time in retirement
Courier des Etats Unis.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06

The largest ombstone in the world
monuments erected to distinguished
persons excepted) is, probably, that of
the late Henry Scarlett, of Epson Coun-
ty, Ga. Scarlett was very wealthy and
noted for his misan thropic tendencies.
lie led the life of a hermit. WHY, no
one knew, but it was limited that he
was victim of disappointed love.
Several years before his death, which
occurred in the spring of 1888, he select
ed a monster bowlder, a miniature
mountain of granite, 100x25O feet in
dimensions, for tom bstone, and had if
appropriately lettered by marble cut
ter. A cave fitted up as roomy tomb
was excavated under the huge bowlder,
Scarlet himself experimenting the
work. After his death, neighbors, rela-
tlves and friends carried the remains
and deposited them under the rock &C.
cording to antemortum directions, and
to-day the mortal parts of Henry Scar
lett repose under the most gigantic
tombstone in the world. st. Louis Re-
public.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
THE BERTllLON SYSTEM.
The Identification of Criminals BY the An.
thropometric Method.


Criminals do not scruple to inter
change names among themselves, though
by preference they assume those of
honest men. We have had cases where
men when rearrested have not hes ia ted
to assume the names of persons they
had at some previous time robbed, and
whose exact position they had learned
through the evidence given before the
courts by their victims themselves. In
ternational criminals arrested in foreign
countries or persons giving themselves
out to be foreigners have still greater
facilities for deceivng and have no need
to have recourse to these tricks. What
ever they may choose to adopt must OF
necessity be accepted as correct, as
there is no means whatever of proving
or disprovlng it's authenticity. There
can be but little doubt that in these
cases the international exchange Of ju-
dicial records would be step in the
right direction; but even that would be
inSuffic ent. What useful informa ton
would be obta ned from such records
with reference to habitual criminal
who had taken the precaution not to
give his own but some false name? We
do not allude to the usual description
which generally accompanies these pa
pers-"Chin round, face oval, eyes gray"
etc.-which have never led to the recog-
milton of criminals, save in the realms
of romance. A trained anthropologist
alone would be able to deal suitably
with these descriptions. Photographs
are certainly preferable to descr pt.ons
of any kind, but photography solves only
a part of our problem. The experiment
tried in Paris has clearly demonstrated
this.
In the course of ten years the police
had made collection of the photo
graphs of 100, 900 persons. Is it poss BILE
to search through these 100, 600 photo
graphs whenever an arrest is made?
Clearly not. The use of photography
therefore, has not rendered the serv .ces
antici pated, and the most guilty and
the most cunning of habitual criminals
continued to obtain the same privileges
and the same indulgence which the law
and prison regulations extend to
first offense. Inspectors of police and
superintendents of houses of correction
did, indeed, recognize certain number
of these men, on an average about
twenty per month in Paris alone, and
such recognitions were at once commu-
nicated by them to the proper authori-
ties. The adoption of the anthropo-
metrical system of descriptions has en-
tirely altered these figures. A great
number of criminals have given up
changing their names, because they
have found it useless as a means of con-
cealing their identity, and the wardens
of houses of correction do not now find
out more than two or three per month
The only criminals who now do it are
those who have been long absent from
Paris, or those who have some very
special reason for trying their chance OF
escaping detection. By the new system
about forty per month are recognized
The Identification of the Criminal
Classes by the Anthropometric Method,
by Alphonse Bertillon.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
SPANS PASSION PLAY.
Spectacle That Mo ed Its BehoIders to
Tears and L; hentations.

Spectacle That Mo ed Its BehoIders to
Tears and L; hentations.
The Passion play in which Sara
Bernhard wishes to appear continues
to be the subject of an interesting dis
cussion in some of the French papers.
Sara in the role of the Virgin Mary
seems to be too much, even for Paris
ians. But in Spain they take quite a
different view of it. In his interesting
book upon the Spanish Theater M.
Charles Habeneck says:
in 1857 l saw at Madrid, during Holy
Week, The Passion of Our Lord a
drama in five acts and I know not how
many tableaux. The piece was by no
means bad-far from it; and remarked
some beautiful lines and splendid
scenes. Among the latter was one in
which Jesus, before his entry into Je-
rusalem, where he knew that they would
put him to death, asked the permission
Of his mother to sacrifice himself for
humanity. The mother refused, and
Mary Magdalen joined her in en-
treating him to remain. In tears he
disobeyed. Then the scene changed,
and we saw Christ, surrounded by his
apostles, coming into Jerusalem. seated
upon white ass, followed by her little
one. The actor who played the part of
Christ did it with profound faith. He
seemed to be reciting prayer. AS for
Judas, he wore an immense blonde wig,
which made him look like Louis XIV.
When he appeared upon the scene, the
audience murmured, and, if he had not
committed suicide, believe they would
have killed him. The several scenes of
the pretorium were represented, includ-
ing the fagellation and the browning
with thornS, which were rendered with
fearful realism. Then commenced the
ascent to Calvary. never witnessed a
spectacle more moving, more heartrend-
ing. The actor never spared us sigh,
tear or cry. Jesus was slowly nailed
to the GROSS, and each stroke of the ham
mer echoed painfully in the hearts of
the spectators, who seemed terror
stricken. Finally the cross was raised.
Jesus tasted the sponge soaked in vine
gar, and spoke to the thieves. The sol
diers threw dice for his cloak, while the
holy women wept. Then, when Christ
cried out, 'Els! En-! lama sa6acthani.'
and let his head drop. all the lights
were almost completely extinguished;
strange flicker Illuminated the scene;
the dull rumbling of bass drums sound
ed like thunder; the tombs opened, and
all the spectators fell upon their knees,
striking their breasts and murmuring
.Jesusl Jesusl'"--N. Y. Sun.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
WOMEN AS DOCTORS.
A Profession to Which the Sex Seems to !
EspecIally Ada Dtesi.

A Profession to Which the Sex Seems to BE
Especially Adapted.
The Woman's Medical College of this
city graduated forty physicians last
week. Forty years ago there was no
opportunity for woman to graduate as
q physician in any institution of the
country; and even twenty years ago a
woman physician was next to freak in
her community and contemptuously
frowned upon by the profession. Now
forty women are graduated from one
institution in day, and there is a gen.
eral popular welcome of the softer sex
to the practice of medicine
There is not only no reason why
women should not be physicians, but
there are many and pressing reasons
why they should practice medicine.
While there are few things in the
practice that they might not be as we'll
adapted to as men, they are quite as
we'll adapted to even the exceptional
duties referred to as male physicians are
to many delicate duties they now per-
form for WON n without complaint. In
large majority of the ailments to which
humanity is subject women physicians,
with equal intelligence and skill, are
certainly the equal of men in profess
sional usefulness, and there are many
complaints of their own sex which
should especially command the services
Of women physicians.
The world has advanced with wonder
full rapidity during the last century in
the recognition of the rights and capa-
bilities of women. 1t is only forty-two
years since married women in Pennsyl-
vania had no right over even their own
property acquired by either inheritance
Or their own labor, and they were then
practically unknown as clerks and sales
women; were little known as teachers,
and the professions were regarded as
entirely beyond their reach. Now the
world has learned that woman is entitled
to Just an even chance in every calling
to which she is at all adapted, and in
medicine, law and science she is now
teacher and practitioner. The old preju-
dice against unsexing women by giving
them any opportunity outside OF the
kitchen, the laundry and the nursery,
was the creation of unmixed ignorance,
and to-day the only just complaint that
women can make is against the yet pre-
valent custom of paying women less
than men are paid for precisely the
same service. Women are quite as re-
fined now as they were when unknown
in the great battles of life, and the
whole tendency of the age is toward the
only manly theory of giving women fair
play all around.-Philadelp Times.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
THE GRACEFUL MINUET.
European Society Returning to the Ono
Popular Dance.

European Society Returning to the Once
Popular Dance.
The minuet which Strauss is about tc
Introduce to the partial exclusion of his
own waltz was the first ball dance which
had really worldwide popularity. II
is slow, dignified dance, an appro.
pirate product of the time and place of
its birth. 1t is very old. When Don
Juan dAustria went incognito from
Brussels to Paris nothing he saw
during his famous trip excited his ad.
mlration half SO much as the grace with
which the beautiful Margaret of Bur-
gundy danced the minuet. Other beaus
and titled dandies of the same period
also put in writing fattering illusions
to the beauties of this dance. Never.
theless, 1T is exceedingly doubtful that
the m1nuet of those times was the orig.
lnal model of the minuet of to-day.
The minuet, which very recently ha,
appeared in the Partisan salons. was in.
vented by the French ballet L, aster,
Gardel, or rather was evolved by him
from a much older dance for the cele.
pratlon OF the marriage of King Louis
AIV. "Minuet of the Qpeen" is the
title which the gallant Gardel gave
TO his new dance in honor OF
Marie Antoinette. The figures of
dance of the time of Louis XIV. were
utilized by Gardel as the basis of hi.
new minuet The old dance. with
which every court-ball of Louis XIV.
was opened, consisted mostly therein
that the gentleman and the LADY faced
each other, moved a few steps forward
and backward in time with Identified
ana sonorous music, bowed deeply, and
returned to their places. This danes
was called the 'Braule." 1t was suo.
ceeded by the gavotte, in which ..tbe
gentlemen kissed the bouquet of flow.
ers, and with deep bow handed it ts
MS partner" From this gavotte Garde]
derived the minuet The famous dane.
lng-master. Pecourt introduced an i'm.
portant innovation by changing the 8
ngure into the q figure, which is still
danced The minuet is the only dance
which preserves the courtly dignity Of
the old regime, and therefore has eve,
been regarded as the most aristocrat;e
OF dances. The most popular of minuet
music Is from the first finale of Mozart,s
Don Juan. This music is the model ri
All other music to which the minuet has
peen danced of late years.-Berliu
B0ersen- Courier
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
SHEDDING HIS ANTLERS.
How the Great Elk Stag Loses His Beau
ty i'll the Spring.

HOW the great Elk Stag Loses His Beau
ty in the Spring.
Come with me and / will show YOU
something curious" said Dan Neeson.
the keeper of the deer park at Golden
cate Park, to a reporter. "Our great
elk stag, the one we got few months
ago from Menlo Park, has shed his
horns and you would notrecognize him y
On reaching the fence that surrounded
the pen, the elk was found at the fodder
trough calmly eating his dinner OF
cracked barley, and apparently oblivi
Gus to the curious crowd that surround
ed him. He was hardly recognizable.
The magnificent antlers that had rem.
dered him the admiration of the visit
ors were missing, and nothing remained
but raw, bloodmarked hubs The elk
was as docile as cow, and submitted
without opposition to the caresses of the
crowd, and appeared to thoroughly enjoy
their stockings.
"He shed his horns on Saturday morn.
ing" continued the keeper ''Of late
he has been more than usually Zero
clous, in fact so much so that it was dan
gerous to my life to enter the pen to
feed the deer. On Friday he would not
allow me to enter the Enclosure at all.
On Saturday morning l failed to find
him in his usual place, and on nv way
to the deer-hOuse to hunt him I'D | came
across one Of his antlers in the gulley.
and within a short distance / found the
other. l then knew what was the mat
ter, and entering boldly into the house
L found him standing with the deer
COW, as quiet and docile as a child
Why, he then ate some food out of nv
hand. | took the antlers to the super.
intendent's office, where they now are. ~
At the office the antlers were seen.
and magnificent set they are, having
On the beam horn six protuberances,
one for each year of the stays age.
They weighed seventy pounds, and
when set in position measured seven
feet from tip to tip on the spread
New antlers will begin to grow on the
stag by the middle of March, and will
increase rapidly in length until teey at
tain full size.-San Francisco Examiner.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
The Postal service in 1900.

In the year 1853 Franklin organized
the postal system of the American colo
MES, making it self-supporting. The
record was preserved of the number of
letters then carried in proportion to the
population, but in 1900 the gross receipts
for postage were S32O.000 toward which
Pennsylvania contributed most largely
the sum of S55, coo. From letters the
Government received in gross $500, 900.
The lowest rate of letter postage was
then eightcents. The smallest charge for
letters carried more than a hundred
miles was 1917 cents. If on an average
ten letters were carried for dollar. the
whole number of letters was 1900, 600
about one year for every grown inhab-
tant-Boston Budget
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
WOMAN'S CHARM.
An Indefinabie Something That 1t Il
Hard to Anaiyze.


Beyond beauty, cleverness, wit, at
tainments, beyond any endowment
which can be given to q woman, is the
simple and indefinable attribute which
we call charm. 1t is impossible to ana
lyze its component parts, and equally sc
to write a prescription in avoirdupois OF
apOthecary's weight the resultant pre-
cipitate of which shall compose this best
of the Creators gifts to woman.
Eve had it, we fancy, and Miriam,
Ruth and the Queen of Sheba; and ii
belonged, too, no doubt, to Jezebel, the
Infamous but splendid and SURPRISINGLY
brave Princess, before whom even
Elijah's courage quailed. Sappho had
charm; SO had Cleopatra and Beatrice
and Rosalind. Mary of Scotland be-
witched mems hearts not less by he1
conquering charm than by her wonder
full loveliness and dauntless daring.
while Elizabeth of England - many
sided, strong and resolute, with mans
heart under her woman's cOrsage- had
the fatal defect of lacking charm.
There are women in every community,
in every church, who, with no apparent
effort, captivate all hearts and enjoy a
popularity which others vainly envy,
continuing to please till their latest
day, for age can not wither nor custom
stale the infinite variety of a really
charming woman. A rose is a rose, and
cabbage is cabbage, and each has its
place; but nobody claims charm for a
cabbage, though it take the prize at a
country fair; while the simplest rosebud
on the bush by the wayside challenges
the world of flowers with this royal
distinction.
What is it? A trick of manner, OF
speech, lifting of the eyebrow, a
dropping of the lip, an air of gentle
breeding, fine-grained courtesy? These
may be part of it,. but charm is some.
thing deeper. The pretty waitress al
your elbow may possess it, while it is
denied to her mistress, the daughte ter
perhaps, of hundred earls. Whatever
else it is, be assured it is pure woman
illness, and has belonged to the fair sex
since that far-off day when the sons O.
God beheld the daughters of men, an
beholding, loved them.-Harper's Bazar
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
An Ambassadors Happy Thought,

Count Otto Wilhelm Won Konigsmark
was sent to France in the year 1867 as
Swedish Ambassador of King Louis
XIV. Through the pomp of the cere-
monial reception and the presence of the
Kings cavaliers he became confused.
Suddenly he lost the thread of his we'll
studied address and was at loss how to
continue. But he quickly recovered
himself and with the most dignified
tone he recited the Lords prayer in
Swedish. Luckily for him none of
Louis attendants understood the Swed-
lsh language. So he was saved by his
presence of mind. Only his Swedish at
tendants had trouble during the strange
Biblical greeting of their chief to sup
press aughter.-Illustrirte Welt.
The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-06
A Suggestion from Russia.

One would hardly look to Russia for
new ideas in domestic or social prudence,
but an organization reported in one of
the cities has suggestion in it. A club
composed of 125 families has employed
capable physician by the year, each
family paying fifty cents month. The
loctor visits each family regularly, at
tends all their sick members, and gives
them advice as to health and occasional
lectures on hygiene and physiology.
The doctor wouldn't have much show to
ynt rich out of it. The notable point is
shat it is for the interest of the doctor
aot to have sickness in his list. He is
constant sanitary inspector for his
patrons st Paul Globe.