davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
"The Tail of Roberto"

Speaking of that stereotyped answer
of the bookseller, I'VE haven't the
book in now, but will send and get it, y
the Listener" recalls story. In GER
tain family every member wrote out q
list of the Christmas presents that he
or she would like to get, and hung it up
on the chimney-p piece, for the guidance
of those who We're going to make gifts.
1t was rather convenient and nice all
around. But a young man of the fam
lily conceived the idea of throwing a lit
tie humor into the list of things that he
wanted, and among the other articles
that he put down as desirable Christ
mas present for himself he included
"The tail of Roberto" Now Roberto
was the name of cat that lived in the
house, and the young man could not
possibly have the cats tail for a pres
ent, because it was bob-tailed. 1t was
fairly good joke, but it happened that
member of the family, who wasn't
very good at photography, took this
entry for the name of book, and, hay
ing a partiality for the young man,
started off on tour through the book
stores in search of it.
"Have you The Tale of Roberto p
she asked at a very large and entirely
frst-class store.
The bookseller scratched his head q
and made answer:
No, we haven't it in stock just now,
but we can send and get it for you"
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

much more intelligent than the majority,
energetic as negroes go, and withal brave
and somewhat rash-an almost unac-
countable feature with the tar-heel darky
One afternoon we approached branch
of Waccamucca River at the edge of q
big swamp, A darky ferryman lay on the
sand of the beach in the broiling sun,
with his mouth wide open, sound asleep.
His scow, a hat-bottomed boat perhaps
twenty feet long, was tied to the shore
awaiting doubtless the arrival of some
travellers like ourselves. Beyond on the
opposite side of the stream the country
stretched away in broad savanna with
fields of cotton and corn, with here and
there the typical log cabin of some negro
tenant or laborer, while at a distance be-
low of half mile or more the white
walls and ivy covered verandas of some
planters residences brought the first
pleasant relief to our eyes and senses for
over a week past
The old Virginia and North Carolina
darky is as full of anything that partakes
of fun as an egg is full of meat, and
Caleb was no exception. Begging us not
to interrupt the slumbers of our prospec-
tive Sharon, he dismounted, took an i'm
mense pinch of snuff, and, quietly slip
ping up to the darky, dropped the whole
mass fairly down his wide-stretched nos
trils. The next few seconds were rife
with display of facial contortions it
would be folly to undertake to describe.
The old darky drew in his nostrils until
his flat nose looked ready to disappear
altogether. His immense mouth, which
a moment before had gaped open wide
enough TO frighten n rhlnoceros, closed
like tiy-trap, while his upper lip flew
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
Here Is n Genuine Touch of PathOs.

A lady living on Sixth street, who
has window full of flowers all in
bloom, answered a ring at her door bell
the other day to find little girl shiver-
ing on the doorstep.
her shy, beautiful eyes to the face above
her, will you give me hower?"
The request was such an unusual one
that the lady hesitated in surprise.
"Just one little flower" pleaded the
child, looking as if she were about to
Cry.
"Why, of course, you shall have a
flower, child; come in. You shall have
a pretty red rose" and the good woman
looked for her scissors and stepped to
the window where the flowers grew.
Before she had cut one light touch
fell on her arm.
"Not that one, please-not red one !;
that white one. Oh, won't it be just
bootul," and the little girl pointed to a
candidum unfolding its lily petals.
"That!" the mistress of the house
shook her head IL cannot cut that
one, child. Why must you have a white
one? Why won't any flower do?"
"Oh, because-because because, it's
for poor mamma" and the child burst
into a violent fit of weeping. Mamma
is dead and ruined away to get her
some flowers"
The next moment she was sobbing
on the bosom of new friend, and when
she went away she was comforted, and
she carried the precious lily with other
flowers to the home were death had
been.-Derou Free Press.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

safe in walking under the noses of the
horses; the nervous pedestrian who ad-
vances, turns back, and then stands
still has only himself to thank if he is run
over.
1t is n busy scene, this interior of
glass factory in full blast. About 100
hands, men and boys in nearly equal pro-
portions, are employed. First the oper-
ator sticks the end of long iron tube
into glowing white hole and draws the
instrument forth with glistening gelatin
looking mass at the end. lie rolls
this mass actively for few moments on
n flnt slab called "marver," from a cor
ruption of the French word marbre, mean
ing marble, that substance being former
ly employed in making the slabs. The
marver is placed in a slightly inclined po-
sition on wooden slab, and the rolling
of the glass on the surface, easy as it
looks, is quite an art.
While the glass is still in the SOFT
pasty condition the operator blows it
slightly and guides the lump into the in
terror of a mold closed by treadle,
blowing it all the time. he transfor-
nation is almost instantaneous, and when
the pressure on the treadle is released
the tube is Withdrawn with n "full-blown"
bottle at the end of it. AS already re-
marked, THIS Dottle-molu Is an Amerlcau
invention, and the saving in the case of
cheap goods is very great The bottles
are annealed-a process of reheating and
gradual cooling---and finished off at the
necks, ETC., by manipulation at the glory
holes" of smaller furnaces.
In another part of the factory the Wis
itor witnesses the making of carboys, or
the huge jars employed to hold acids and
liquids in bulk; the final shape in this
instance also being given by pressure in a
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

WR al nrsJ prosperous one The
gcsd ship sped on, through bright days
and starry nights, until we were near
my New York; then a fierce storm
drove us out of our course, and for a
week most Of our passengers were too
sick to care whether we ever reached
our destination or not. Then the gale
abated, and We resumed our occupa-
tions.
Mr.. and Mrs Tracy did not appear,
however and [ was shocked and star
tied to learn that the lady had died
during the storm, supposedly from
heart disease, aggravated by sea sick
ness, and her body had been consigned
to the watery deep. The funeral had
been hurried in compliance with the
demands Of superstitious sailors, who
in some way learned of Mrs. 1racv's
death, and insisted that a corpse on
board would sink the shin.
OF course the eXplauatiO of the
lady's sudden death seemed reasonable
enough to everybody except myself.
Grave suspicious haunted me that the
poor sad-faced little wife had been
foully murdered, without hand hay
ing been raised either to help or
avenge her.
But | kept my own counsel. for if n
crime had been committed all evil
dences Of it had been swallowed ND
by the sea, and bringing the guilt
home would be a hopeless undertaking.
SO l tried 10 dismiss the affair from
my mind; but at night, in my state.
room, pair OF soft, dark eyes seemed
to haunt me. pleading for help. | had
no opportunity to see the widower, for
he remained constantly alone in his
state-rooLn, evidently in TOO deep affIic.
tion to come among us.
We arrived in New York two woke
behind time, and / found a great deal
of business waiting for me at the I'm
reau. My attention was occ,lpied hva
hundred new cases, still [ was often
haunted by Mrs. Tracy's sad eyes, and
the old suspicious would arise as to the
causes that led to her mysterious death
at sea.
This was case in which | had men
tally volunteered my services, vet so
far could sec mo thoroughfare" to
the end desired And now, strangely
enough, ! frequently encountered Mr..
!racy' lhe WldoWer, In my wander
lngs, and occasionally devoted some
OF my leisure time to shadowing him.
so that / became pretty well acH1oint'
ed with his mode of life, which was NOT
at all that Of q stricken man
it was, in fact decidedly CAV caroeI
in which he was indulging.
Time rolled on, until it was nearly \
year since my returnfrom Europe and
with all my experience not ghost OF
aplan for bringing the gay widower to
justice had one presented itself 10 my
mind. In this emergency l one even
ing confided the story to my sister
Rose, whose quick intuition had often
thrown light upon some obscure point
in cases was studying.
She was interested at once, and after
little reflection said:
"If you will contrive some way to
bring that man here few times in q
social way. think L will find out some
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

up over his nose For an instant the
entire black face writhed and contorted
with the most surprising facility. Then
his eyelids flew open and a volcano tore
loose. No such sneeze was ever heard in
that peaceful locality, and the noise star
tied the tlamingos along the beach.
Just as the old darky gave vent to that
tremendous sneeze Caleb let 90 couple
of shots from an old duck-gun over his
head. That finished the old fellow. With
q yell of mortal terror he went heels over
head into the river. Fortunately tho
water was shallow and he ran no risk of
drowning, but it was with some difficulty
that we persuaded him that we were not
devils and induced him to come ashore.
Fore God, gemmen, dis niggah
'spected ole Gabel'd footed his hawn.
What foh you white folks want scare yoh
ole Uncle Joe to def foh?"
When the old fellow found that there
was no danger of getting hurt, he began
to get mad, and the end would probably
have been fight with Caleb but for the
That settled it, and we were soon making
our way at snails pace across the river.
When about halfway over faint yell
was heard, coming apparently from up
the narrow stream which emptied into
the river Just al owe, coming from the
depths of the swamp.
Old Joe began to get excited, and went
TO work with vim, pulling on the rope
which spanned the stream.
What does that noise mean?" asked
Denton, as another yell, louder than be-
fore, came floating down to us.
Dat? Wy dat ies means dat dem mig
gas cot gator, an big one at dat!"
AN alligator? You don't mean that
there are any alligators in that swamp"
Dat L dus, honey. Dey's lots gators
bout here. an dev's def on pigs and dogs
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
He Made n Mistake.

An underground train, in which was
an inebriated old gentleman, stopped
just as he awol1e opposite signal box.
Catching sight of the brilliantly illumi-
mated place, within which three men in
their shirt sleeves could be seen franti-
cally rushing around and pulling at
the row of levers in front of them, he
craned his head, put half his body out
of the window, and shouted:
81 consider this mosh kind, conshider-
ate on part ov tn Cumpny, to look after
tn comfort ov th' passhengersh, an I'll
have half ov bitter with iush dash ov
g g gin in it, if you'll shend the pot
boy down wish it. London Pick
M Tin
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

Ity IHtiItT tHUu COm-
plex theories carried out to practical con-
clusions. Glass blowing 10 perhaps the
most striking illustration of diversity of
forms obtainable with the minimum of
tools, of the emancipation of the strug-
Cling operative from costly machinery
and long apprenticeship in many
branches. Three hundred years of steady
development in the technical arts have
added little or nothing to the resources
of the glass bower, and the tools retain
the primitive simplicity of the days OF
Queen Elizabeth and the Venetian artists
in inimitable glass work, The only i'm
portant labor saving invention, that of
bottle molding. is an American device
Withal, glass blowing as an art has re-
ceded rather than advanced within the
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

hall and entered the room, which was
illuminated by the silyery light of the
full moon that shone through the long
windows.
We were not alone. The phantom.
like figure of a woman stood by win
dow, apparently gazing out into the
radiant night She slowly turned al
our approach, and we stood face tc
face with the ghost of the murdered
wife. For It time / could never tell
hov long dead silence reigned. Their
these words were pronounced in o
chilling tone that seemed like an echo
from the tomb
"Ihe sea glUe$ up its Dead"
My companion sank upon his knees
in pitiful, abject terror. "Oh, Gene
yieyo, forgive, forgive mel" he cried
"My God, / have suffered how | have
suffered Pity and forgive mel"
The attitude and the Cry of uumis,
taxable Anguish were, to my mind, suf.
ticient eyidence of Tracy's guilt.
While we were both completely
dazed, the apparition vanished. When
the villain had somewhat recovered,
and become aware of all that he had
i'N'- - GU ne urea IN q confused way
to account for his exclamation, but |
was not disposed to lose the advantage
so gained, and so affected to possess
absolute proof of his crime.
Finding denial useless, he confessed
all and pleaded eloquentlv for his life.
His evident remorse affected me.
called in Rose, and the result of our
consultation was thatwe agreed to keen
to ourselves all knowledge of Tracy's
cllmc, upon these conditions: The
criminal was to devote $4,000 -
out of his annual income of $4,000
to the sick and destitute of the power
tystricken portions of New York, and
he was to live an upright, regular life,
He was to personally superintend,
each year, the distribution of this
money, and at the least deviation from
tho terms of these conditions we were
at liberty to denounce him to the au-
ClioIl'les' 10 make everything secure,
we had eXacted written confession
from hlm, to be used as evidence in
case he violated the terms of our con-
tract.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
an to force tull confession from

plan to force tull confession from
him."
l smiled little doubtfully at this,
as / answered: Il hope you will, sis
ter mine, yet remember, we have not
a particle of evidence against him.
Even the ships surgeon was i'll at tho
time of Mrs, Tracy's death and una
BILE to attend her."
"Ies. L know all thai" answered
Rose, "but you bring him here and !
think We will force o full confession
from him before many weeks roll BY"
The result of this conversation was
that Mr.. Tracy soon became quite
frequent guest at our little home, yet
nothing of any interest occurred. He
was genial, polite, and apparently very
frank, without care upon his mind.
l confess that l almost grew to like
the man, and began TO be ashamed of
my suspicious. | remarked something
like this to my sister one day, and then
begged her to tell me what was her
plan to extort a confession. She only
shook her pretty head to all my plead
ings, but refused to join me in my new
feelings Of regard for Mr.. Tracy.
A few weeks later / was deputed to
invite Our Murderer" AZ Rose and
called him, to an evening entertain
ment at our house. There was to be
music and tableaux. My part of the
performance, Rose said, was merely TO
sit next to Mr.. Tracy in the audience
and prevent him from leaving the
house in any event, for, as Rose sig
niticantly observed Something might
happen that would frighten him"
Upon the evening of the entertain
ment the company assembled at about
9 o'clock, Mr.. Tracy and myself being
assigned seats in the rear of the others.
The tableouX, interspersed with music,
went on successfully for an hour, then
the programme changed and the stage
manager made this announcements
Ladies' ard gentlemen, we are ia
vored tonight by having in our midst
the great materallZlng medium, DIR.
Slayton, recently from London, where
he suffered considerable persecution
for the sake of his supernatural pow
ers. He has kindly consented to give
us a slight exhibition of his remarka-
ble ability to communicate with the
unseen world. He promises, however,
not to frighten anybody who has not
guilty conscience"
This speech was greeted with laugh
ter and applause, and the introduction
of DIR. Slayton was generally believed
to be a capital joke, part of the amuse-
ment of the evening. But the verita-
BILE Doctor soon appeared upon the
stage, to the surprise of my companion
and myself who were fo mi1iar with his
appearance, he having been one of our
fellow-voyagers upon the fateful jour
ney from Europe,
Nothing very terrifying occurred.
Some familiar airs were played by un
seen agencies, and bouquets of natura
flowers were bestowed upon some o
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

over was one continuous network of
rivers, creeks, swamps, lagoons, and
morass. A great portion OF it was densely
timbered with cypress, pine, oak, and
sycamore (the latter the old Southern
buttonwooi).
1t was populated pretty thickly in a
few sections only. The great swamp
tracts, covering thousands of acres, con-
tanned but few whites. however, the popu-
lation being made up of negroes, whose
indolent nature and impervious organiza-
tion rendered them proof against malaria
and steady work.
Lassitude and superstition grew more
prevalent as we journeyed toward the
Gulf, until as we approached South Caro-
lima we found the blacks, like the islanders
of the south seas, idling away their time
lolling about in tho shade or congregated
at corner stores i'll groups waiting for that
long -looked-for and always expected
forty acres and a mule" Caleb wasn't
one of that kind, however. He was
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

There had been great trouble in keep
ing the singers up to the pitch, and, as
the village shoemaker performed on
the violoncello, permission was OBJ
tanned from the pastor to introduce
this instrument into the gallery to sus-
tain the voices. On the first Sunday
that it appeared, no sooner had the
unlucky Crispin drawn his bow across
the strings to give the singers the pitch
for the Venite than Miss Smith, in the
front pew below, turned swiftly around,
the bows on her bonnet trembling with
the agitation which shook her pious
frame, and cried out, in loud tones:
stop! stopl take that thing out 1
won't have no fiddle in my church"
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
Understood the FamiIy.

Monsieur wanted the picture hung to
the right; madame wanted it on the
left. But monsieur insisted that the
servant should hang the picture accord
ing to his orders. Consequently Joseph
stuck nail in the wall on the right,
but this done he also went and stuck
another in on the left.
"What is that second nail for?" his
master inquired in astonishmont.
'1t's to save me the trouble of fetch
ing the ladder tomorrow when mon
sieur will have como round to the views
of madame. ."-London Punch.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
ssyyhite i'm a Single Night"

Chemists have discovered that the
hair contains an oil, mucus substance,
iron and carbonate of iron, phosphate
and oxide of magnesia, besides large
proportion of sulphur. White hair con-
tains also phosphate of magnesia, and
its oil is nearly colorless. When hair
becomes suddenly white, from fright
or other causes, it is probably owing to
tse sulphur absorbing the oil, as in the
operation Of whitening linen clothes.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
FAITH.


ask not the world Of science
For proof of mg Fathers might,
How long the world hns been swinging
Through a-es 1f darkest night,
question rot His power
Or doubt His LOly grace,
buy know my SuyiOr liyeth,
Ana long to behold his face
Oh. brar-iful faith that strengtheus
IS Tie years creep slowly on!
Oh beautiful hope that can not die,
ILct Sh the JOY of the world be gone
love to cream OF that heaven,
To picture its perfect rest
10 hearts that have grown world weary
And reached its shores so blest.
care not the skeptic's whisper,
know my Fathers might
He has said tho our sins are scarlet
His pardon can make them white
How dare doubt His promise
Or question His loving grace
but know my Savior liyeth,
hope 10 behold his face.
WILLIAMSBURG, Ohio.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
Embarrassing.

Did you use your French while you
were in Paris ?" asked a young woman
OF friend who had just returned from
a European tour.
Once OF twice-but it was embar-
rassing"
"Why?"
I'VE nearly always had to tell what
VIC wanted in English before we could
get any one to understand us."-Mer-
chant Traveller
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

workman, VINO, before expanding the
gathering" of molten glass into car
boy, examines it critically 10 detect flaws
and impurities undiscernible to an ordi-
nary eye. These flaws are picked out
with hot iron tool, just as cook would
extract plum or cherry stone from a
mass of dough.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
Too TTIIe.

Joke-Hullo, what do you call your
self
Broken Pin-I'm a pin.
Joke-No; you're not q pin, either.
You haven't got head enough for pin.
Broken Pin-Huh! What do you
think you are?
Joke-Pm joke.
Broken Pin-Pooh, You're no Joke
you haven't got point nough for q
ioko.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

HAT the glass blow
ing industry ought
to be one of the
principal factors of
the commercial pros
perity of the United
States is apparent
at once TO any one
who considers how
instinctively the av-
erage A m e + i C a n
takes to any me-
chanical art which
demands personal
smartness and activ-
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

suitable mold. Inc carpoy, Derore Delng
taken to the annealing furnace, is de-
tached from the blowing-rod by dex-
trous nip on the neck with a stream of
water, which cuts off the carboy as clean
as if knife or file were used. A similar
expertness is exhibited by neighborina
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

OR days after having
left the plantation of
Col. Jim Thompson,
near Alligator Swamp,
n. c., Denton, myself,
and Caleb, our colored
guide, continued our
journey still horse
back in q Southwestern
ly direction ward
the South Carolina
line, writes a CORE
spondent of the Chi
cago Times. Til o
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13


my own observation, however, contro-
verts this statement. l have a morbid
habit of imagining the crimes that GER
tain persons of my acquaintance might
commit, if given the temptation and
opportunity. No doubt this mental
popularity of mind is due to my occu
patton, that of detective.
1 had been sent to Paris upon bust
ness connected with bank robbery,
and having no charge upon my return
voyage was at liberty to employ my
leisure time in studying my fellow-pas-
sengers.
1 was especially fascinated by
young husband and wife, of whom L
sould not learn much except that they
We're New Y orkers and bore the name
of Tracy.
Though 1 never exchanged dozen
words with the lady, yet she won my
deepest sympathy, from certain visit
full expression of her beautiful eyes-a
look which l imagine often character
ICES neglected wife.
The gentleman was always affable
AM I general fayorite; still, could
sot rid myself of the conviction that
ae would help his gentle, delicate wife
GU. 81 the world if he had any power
ful incentive to the crime.
Earopean voyages We're rather longer
In those daYs than thev are now. Ours
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
VERY EXCITING SPORT.
CATCHING ALLIGAToRs IN SOUTH
ERN SWAMPS.

Traps Laid for Saurians AMI How tho
Savage Beasts Sometimes Fall Into
Them-Rejoicing by the Entire Colored
Population when the Captive Is Finally
Killed.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
HOW GLASS is BLOWN
AN HOUR IN THE INTERIOR OF A
GLASS FACTORY.

Many Beautiful Forms Produced without
Much Aid from Tools or Machinery-An
Art in Which Little or No Progress Has
Been Made in the Last Three Hundred
Years.
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
u came IRON

nowhere, apparently.
Presently Mr.. Tracy and myself
were requested by messenger to re.
pair to the library. We crossed the
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13
OUR MURDERER

The Sea Gives Up Its Dead
Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-02-13

BY BARBARA THoRNE.