davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
It Rivals AIaddin's Cave.

Ephraim Baker, one of the Oldest resi-
derts of Kansas, and for quarter of a
century a citizen Of Topeka, reports a
discovery which surpasses the fables of
ancient and stories of modern wealth.
He lives in a comfortable home here in
Topeka during the winter, and as soon
as spring breaks dons rough suit and
with a prospector's outfit moves out
across the plains toward the sunset, to be
seen no more until the snow flies.
Tuesday Mr.. Baker displayed to a few
friends bottle filed with pearls of vari-
Gus colors, shapes and sizes. Some are
pure white, others a delicate shade of
green, some have a tint of blue and 9TH
ers are of the rarest variety of all-black.
The forms are perfectly round, oblong,
elliptical, etc. They vary from the size
of pinhead TO that of hazel nut. The
most astonishing part OF Mr.. Bakers
story, however, relates to the quantity of
these gems, which almost surpasses be-
lief. He says he found them on the
western slopes of what was one a great
river or sea rolling over the plains Of
Kansas.
As thefoothills of the Rocky Mountains
extend down to Ellsworth and Belleville
in Kansas, a rough guess at the location
of these ancient pearl fisheries would be
just beyond the Smoky Hill and the Ar
kansas valleys. Somewhere in that tree
less region Mr.. Baker says there is 100
miles OF river bed whose sands are liter
ally filed with pearls. Turn up a
spadeful of soil where you will, and
there rolls from it a stream of tiny
globules which would enrich the collec-
ton of the Shah of Persia. Whether
Mr.. Baker viii ever conclude to reveal
the site of the ''valley of pearls" he does
not now know, but he will visit it again
this spring. Chicago Tribune.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09


As the train stopped at a station about
thirty miles west of indianapolis we
noticed an unusually large crowd on the
depot platform. and it was evident that
speechmaking had been INDUCED in and
that somebody of note was taking his de-
parture. We soon discovered that this
person was a certain Colonel Blank, who
came into the car with a package under
his arm, and whose cheeks were wet with
farewell tears. He called "GOod-byw
a score of times from the window, and as
the train finally rolled on he blew his
nose. wiped his eyes and turned to Us
with,
"Gentlemen, it touches the heart
strings to part with old friends and neigh
bors."
"You are saying farewell, thenl"
eyes. am going up to indianapolis
to reside. The field here is too limited,
as have discovered after ten years resi-
idence.'
.sWen, it is certainly pleasant to part
from friends the way you have. D."
sIndeed, it is Over two hundred of
the best people in town came down to see
me off, and the President of the bank
made beautiful speech, wished me every
success. and oil that- and-then handed
-rIre rnfs as a token of respect --.,t e.
teen. "
'sAhl Made you a present, chi Evi-
IDENTIFY something nice?"
Bound to be, " replied the Colonel,
as he took package from the seat.
''Perhaps you don't want to reveal the
contents herel"
"Oh, have no objections. Well
undo it and see what they have given
me"
He carefully united the string and re-
moved the several papers which wrapped
the precious memento, and lol there was
exposed to our gaze a-spongel Yes,sir;
great big bath sponge, which never
cost less than q dollar! We pressed for
ward to see it, and the Colonel turned
red and white by turns, bit his lips, and
bobbed about on the seat, and as we
held our breaths he burst out with:
"Gentlemen, heartstrings be blowedl
The onery, thieving, loafng, lying
crowd have gone and heaped deadly
insult upon ne, and the next two hun.
dred and fifty years Of my life shall be
devoted to wading in human blood cleal
up to the top vest button "-Neg YorE
Sun.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

Admiral shufeldt, of the United States
Navy, tells how the Russians are flching
territory from the Chinese on the bound
airy between Siberia and China. The
means of communication are so poor in
China and the avenues of news are SO
few that it is impossible for the Chinese
TO keep track of the goings on in their
provinces. The Russians send a regi-
tent of Cossacks, with their families,
bout ten or fifteen miles into China.
The regiment will settle down, take up
the land and cultivate 1t. They take up
the boundary stones as they settle down.
and put them at the edge of their settle
ments, and the next year another regi-
ment comes along, takes up the land be-
low and moves the boundary stones
further on toward Pekin. These en-
croachments have been going on for
years, and the Chinese cannot understand
the perpetual shrinkage of their north
ern frontier.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

The eventful fall of the British House
of Lords is again foreshadowed in the an
nouncemcnt that the Government con-
template introducing once more at the
next session of Parliament the black
sheep bill, the object of which is to keep
out of the upper House those peers who
are a discredit to their order. The bill
viii differ from others, in that it will in
vest a committee of the House. consisting
of Judicial peers and certain lay peers,
with the power Of penal discipline over
the House of Lords. The action of the
committee viii be subject to confirmation
or rejection by the House itself, but if
the bill is literally construed upon the
lines designated the membership of the
House of Lords viii be materially de-
creased.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
niscinIine in the Army.

Not long since an old soldier in q
Western garrison of regular troops was
ordered by a sergeant to take load of
wood to the quarters Of a private who for
months had been on the list of non
availables because an officer had need of
his services rs ii servant. The veteran
demurred and declared that the private
was able to cart his own wood Threat
ened with the guardhouse, he obeyed
the order and subsequently sent a letter
of complaint to department headquar-
tiers.
Generals in command would rather
handle porcupine ungloved than case
Of this kind. They know that the COM
plants are strongly intrenched in the
right, but if given the entering wedge Of
official sanction in a single case the men
would not rest until servitude for officers
were a thing of the past.
The result is an evasion, a shame on
the part of those who should speak
plainly and Enthusiastically as becomes
soldier. In the case of the veteran
quoted above the Brigadier Generals
answer was: 'Obey the order as promul-
gated by the commanding officer of your
post
This was indeed pitiable, for all the
circles within the army know that no COM
handing officer would take upon himself
the onus of issuing orders of which his
superiors fight shy.
you were ordered to do it and it was
your duty to obey" no line of demarka-
ton drawn between legal and illegal
commands, and nothing given him as
standard for future action-this is the
satisfaction" soldier gets.
To disobey an order, even if certain of
Illegally, would make him defendant
before court martial instead of plain
tiff at headquarters s. Chicago Tribune.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

The report that the Scandinavians in
Utah are ranidly leavincr- tha-aIa-----
-vTIurcn IS probably not exaggerated.
These people, observes the San Francisco
ChreRiele, as naturally as moral as they
arc industrious, and they are secured by
the Mormon elders as colonists simply
because they hope to get homes of their
own. When the enormity of Mormon
ism is fully presented to them they are
pretty sure to abandon the doctrines of
the Saints. Such a revival as Is now
being carried on in various parts of Utah
will be mathematical by the Mormons,
but, in the opinion of that paper, the
general public will rejoice over it, as it
means the addition of number of good
citizens to the Territory.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
CURIOUS FACTS.

There are 275O languages spoken in
the world.
\ crank at Mount Washington, Penn,
who thinks he has a mission to kill stray
dogs, Is said to have removed" a hun
bred of them within six months.
The smallest prayer book ever issued is
the Finger Prayer Book" printed in
London. 1t measures Ski inches and
weighs three-quarters ofan ounce.
A laboring man was digging a ditch in
G street, San Bernardino, Cal, when he
unearthed an oyster can full of money.
He kept his find secret and left town
next morning.
A curious fact about cigarette smoking
is that nearly double as many cigarettes
are smoked during July, August and
September as during any other three
months of the year.
Henry Schumacher, a farmer at Low
hill, Penn, attempted to shoot q wild
turkey, when the cap missed fire, but he
exploded the fowling piece with match
and killed the bird.
While sinking a well at his new saw
mill near Seymour, Ind, Jesse Cox came
across some large chestnut trees thirty
five feet below the surface in a perfect
state of preservation.
Truly there is nothing new under the sun.
It now turns out that massage was a fine
art with the Chinese about the time that
Moses was maturing his plans for the
exodus from Egypt.
Cigarettes for ladies' smoking" are
sold in London, provided with specially
prepared mouthpieces. They are per
-rumed with musk and violet, and they
are having a very extensive sale.
Mrs. Halter, of Port Townsend, Wash,
dreamed that her husband stood before
her without coat or vest and drenched
with water from head to foot. The next
She heard Of him he was found drowned.
4 Michigan farmer claims to have
saved his large flock of sheep from the
dogs by putting bells on each one.
When the sheep get frightened and run,
the bells play a grand march and the dogs
scamper of.
Miss Kennedy, San Francisco school
ma am who was dismissed by the school
committee in 1887 without any assigned
cause, has been reinstated by a decision
of the Supreme Court, with $4,000 for
pay in the interval.
Eugene G. Blackford, at Fulton
Market, New York, has received some
curious Chinese gold fish. They are
known as King Hi-Ho, and have three
tails They are produced by the inter
breeding of deformed species.
Peter Laing, Scotland's remarkable
centenarian, has entered upon his Tooth
year, but has yet no notion of dy-
ing. He recently, on leasing house for
some years, remarked to the tenant that,
''after the seven years Is deem I'm gaun
to live in it myself. "
At Castua, small town in Austria, all
the couples who become engaged during
the year are united in the bonds of we'd
lock by one and the same marriage cere-
mony. In virtue of this ancient cere-
mony thirty young women were the other
day led to the altar.
To give an idea of the dairy produce
IN France, it has been computed that the
milk sold in the country would, if col
lected, form a stream three feet four
inches in width and one foot one inch in
depth, flowing night and day all the
year, with mean velocity of yard per
second.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
Distractions in the Eye.

When you get a cinder or speck of dust
or other offensive particle in your eye,
don't rub it. Don't touch 1t Don't
pull down the lid. Don't put your hand
near it. Let it alone. This is very
hard advice to follow, and in nine cases
out of ten you viii find yourself rubbing
your eye before you knowit. But if you
can refrain from touching your eye at
all, the action of that organ will itself
cast out the offending mote in much
quicker time and with far less irritation,
while your efforts would only hinder it
and perhaps fasten the intruder so that
it viii stay a long time. OF course, if it
is a particle Of metal you will consult a
surgeon OF oculist at once; but ordinary
substances are best treated as above in
Dictated. Some people say; Grub the
other eye" but this is of no use Wash
iH1t0a lStar.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
WORDS OF WISDOM

The higher the fight the greater the
fall.
The man who dares is the man who
wins.
No thoroughly occupied man vas ever
yet very miserable.
Our greatest good and whsss.Ee can
least spare is hope. .nr-
After all, the Joy of success does not
equal that which attends thasf atient
worker.
If thou art wise thou knoTest thine
own ignorance, and thou art ignorant II
thou knowest not myself.
Instruction ends in the school-room,
but educations ends only in life. A child
is given to the universe to educate.
Schiller says: Labor is the poos
mans pride; success by toll alonsis won.
Kings glory in their possessions wide;
we glory in our work well done"
What a new face courage puts on
everythingl A determined man, by his
very attitude and tone of his voice, puts
a stop to defeat and begins to conquer.
Music touches every key of memory
and stirs all the hidden springs of sor-
row and of Joy. We love it for what It
makes US forget, and for what it makes
rs remember.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

There are very few people who make
their wills while in the enjoyment of
good health. There seems to be a feel
ing that a will should not be made until
death IS very probable, or at least likely.
A man don't ike to sit down cold blood
edly and parcel out his household goods
and realty as if he were penning a
message from the grave. When a man
makes his will he has to have the old
scythe swinger rather too conspicuously
in his minds eye to draw the document
in any comfort. Besides there is always
the feeling that lots of things may happen
before death comes to change the dis
position Of ones goods, and the trouble
OF writing new wills and codlcils deters
people from drawing up their Tesla
ments. 1t IS safe to say that not one
man IN a thousand thinks of dying any
other way than in his bed after sick
ness. He thinks of having time to pre-
pare the will when Its preparation Is
necessary. This delay in the drawing
of these documents not only causes much
confusion through the unexpected 'om-
ing of death to prevent making Will
but it Is the cause of many wills Icing
drawn hastily, incorrectly and nco-
herently. Every man should sa'e the
people he leaves behind him ID the
trouble possible, and he could do MS oy
having his viii made while he's per-
fectly cool and calm.-Star-S Iy'g''
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
Details come from France of the A

Details come from France Of the Afri
can journey of Captain Trivier, ths
French explorer. The gallant Captain
stayed for FIVE days with Tippu lib, the
famous African chief. He says he found
Tippu to be the real master of Central
Africa, having far more power than the
Sultan of Zanzibar. Tippu declared that
he did not like the English, and that he
preferred the French. This statement,
however, the New York Sun thinks may
have been mere politeness on his part, as
one of Tippu's characteristics is always
to be particularly charmed with the ma
tionaIity of the European who happens
10 be in his company. Trivier says he
found that the districts he traYersed were
superb in all natural features. and that
the natives were the only bad point. On
the east coast of Africa, the Captain be
leves. the French have no chance of adj
vancing their interests, as the Germans
have firmly established themselves there
after numberless difficulties. The British,
he says, are losing ground. The Captain
has not made public anything as yet con-
corning the scientific work he has &c
complished. His journey was intended
10 solve several disputed points about the
geography Of the Dark Continent.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
Mistakes of Burglars.

An enterprising burglar went a burglar
ing the other day, got his ''swag," bun
died it up, and then breaking into the
pantry ate hearty meal and went to
sleep, in which condition he was dis
covered and captured. People would
laugh at such a thing if put in a comic
opera or play, but it creates little COM
ment when it actually occurs in real life.
Some years ago an accident very like this
occurred. A safe blower broke into a
store and went to work on ''the box. :"
It was in back room, and he worked
very leisurely. Finally he forgot him
self and began whistling right merry
tune in so loud a strain that policeman
heard him and, walking in, captured him
at work. There is another story that old
fly cops tell of a burglar breaking into
house, opening book, and getting so inl
terested in a story that he was captured,
with his jimmy lying on the table.-St.
Louis Star Sayings.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
TWO WAYS.

Oh, how does the rain come DOWN.
With rattle and riot and rush.
With hutter and sputter,
And gurgle and mutter,
And clatter and spatter and gush!
With man outbursting and roaring.
With fixing and splashing and pouring,
And noise to deafen a town,
The turbulent rain comes down
But after tits over an hour or more,
The world looks much as it did before.
And there's nothing to show for the fuss and
roar
The rain made coming down.
But how does the snow come down.
With touch like a soft wings brush.
With glancing and gliding,
And stealing and sliding.
With whiteness and Iightness and hushl
With airy floating and swimming,
With fairy boating and sLimming!
And no one in all the town
Would know when the snow comes down
If he looked not out on the changed white
day,
And the cushioned earth that seems to say
How much can be done in quiet way,
The way the snow comes down.
Mrs. Cora ". Bronson, in Independent.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
PITH AND POINT.
A fat position-King Of Greece.

A fat position-King of Greece.
A back number-The spinal column
Washington Star.
The man whose wits 90 wool-gather-
ing is lucky if he doesn't get heeced.-
Brooklyn MagaziHe.
The stovepipe has no trouble in elbow
ing its way through a crowded house
Kearney Enterprise.
1t must be painful to a girl, especially
when she means to say ''Yes, " to hear a
suffering man propose.
Perhaps one reason why fish are so de-
ceptive as to weight is that they carry
their own scales with them.-.HerclaHt
Trcosler.
"Nothing was made in vain, says the
proverb. But that's not so for you can
find a maiden vain in five minutes any
day.-DansVille Breeze.
A creature now and then We find
Who losses and regains his mind;
But when a fish is once in seine
It's seldom he gets out again.
-Chicdgo Herald
Whipper-"Our young friend Scadds
seems to have a great desire to shine in
society" SnappeE-'My idea is that
his ambition is 60 shin into society"
Puck.
''Do you think marriage is a failure,
Mrs. Choker" asked Mrs. Simeral of the
minister's wife. ssNo, indeed ~ was the
reply. ''Ar. Choker gives me his fees
for pin-money. Bear.
The girls, since first the world began,
Have always sought tn ideal man,
But when they captured their ideal
They found him more ideal than real.
Puck
A steamboat has reached the town Of
Timbuctoo in Africa, but in view of the
fact that it required six weeks to 90
eight hundred miles it is not probable
that stock in the Timbuctoo Navigation
Company will 90 much above one hun
bred in the shade Washington star.
Watchman Cbreathlessly)-"The boys
dormitory is on fire, and if they find it
out they'll stop to save their footballs,
bats, and things, and perish" Board
ing School Principal (quickly)-''Notify
the boys that all who are not down stairs
in two minutes won't get any pie. n-Nelo
York Weekly.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

Captain Jasman, who owed bill in a
neighboring town, was drawn on through
the bank.
"What's this7" he asked the collector
"It's draft for fifty dollars"
"The first one 1 ever saw. Now,
they get 'em up in good shape, don't
theyl Well, sir, there has been a big
improvement in such things since could
first remember. When I was a boy
circus bills were mere daubs of red ink,
but now look at EN-"
''Are you going to pay this draft"
sob, don't want it. Tell that Teller
that l am much obliged for the kind at
tention he has shown me, but that l can
not afford to pay so large price for
such small piece of paper. Good-day. p"
-Arkansdip Trayeler.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

1t 9hs at one of the big, fashionable
churc5 es. The naughty usher looked
rathes disdainfully at the shabby-appear-
ing little man who stepped toward him,
and without bestowing a second glance,
raised an imperious finger, motioned for
ward and started pompously toward the
amen corner.
The whole congregation noticed the
pOmpous usher as he strobe down the
aisle, and number thought his action
rather strange. When he reached poor,
undesirable seat, almost around a corner,
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
A Honse of Historic Sorrow.

Superstition Is not a POPULAR topic
with this material age, but ere are
still plenty of people who b 70 its
edicts, and there probably will ae wor-
shippers at its shrine for many bars to
come, in spite of the doctors of II en25Is
6ansSnee and his pfognostil sksF Of
doom. The house with a fa6sd history
is Stunned in many parts of the world.
When Mr.. Blaine leased the mansion
he now occupies on Lafayette place, in
Washington, many of the old timers
shook their heads. The old residence
has figured in many of the saddest trag-
edies at the capital. Originally built by
Commodore Rogers years ago, it was re.
garded as a splendid and roomy edifice
of the old style 1t has had many and
varying fortunes in its day, but the
gloomy predominant. When Barton
Key was shot by Sickles on the adjoining
corner he was removed to the Rogers
mansion, where he died. It was in this
same old house that desperate attempt
on the life of Secretary Seward was
made by the assassin Payne, who was
hanged. During the Seward occupancy
it was also visited by fire, from which
the family and several guests narrowly
escaped with their lives.
BY a singular coincidence another
Secretary of State, after a lapse of TWEEN
ty-five years, has been called upon to face
a terrible visitation of woe in that same
old Rogers residence. Mr.. Blalne's IA
vorite son, the staff on which he leaned.
the prop of his declining years, passed
away but recently under Its fatal roof,
and the family soon after was again
called to mourn beside the bier of favor
lite daughter.
Superstition should have feeble lodg
ment in strong minds, but some weird
and sorrowful pail hangs over that Rog-
ers mansion.-Nel7 York Press.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

Wife-"Oh, my dear! don't goin that
boat. You risk your lifel"
Husband-"No, darling, don't be
afraid"
"Heavens! how wretched 1 ami If
you should drownl You are so awk-
wardl"
"Let me alone, Helen. I know the sea
and it knows me-"
every well, dear. At least leave me
your watch and chain. y Wasp.
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09
Good Health of Glass. Blowers.

Glass blowers have hard lives, you
thinkl Doubtless you would say they
burn out in a few years, and such cruel
employment ought to be prohibited by
law. The fact is that glass-blowers live
as long as the average of mankind and,
instead of being burned out, develop
larger lungs than anybody else. Most
any glass blower can expand his chest
five or six inches, and there is one man
who can expand tEelve,-Atlantq Con-
stitusio1,
The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-09

''Tea dust for sale" is the sign that at
tracts attention upon the door of down
town wholesale house, and it causes con
siderable comment when read by passers-
by. The dust is what remains in the
boxes after the tea has been sifted out to
purchasers in large quantities, and in the
average box the dust will weigh several
pounds. 1t is sold to storekeepers in the
poorer districts at fifteen cents a pound,
and likewise to the cheaper restaurants.
In the case of doctored tea, great deal
of the doctoring material is settled IN the
dust, and the dust is therefore pure
poison. Tea made from this dust Is
about as palatable as dish water would be,
and ore pities the poor who have to drink
the decoction, or do without the cup
that cheers, but doesn't inebriate, st.
Louis Star-SGgjngs.