davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Tho DIphthcria Baoillus.

The ardor with which the study of
the causation Of diphtheria has been
pursued among those who are engaged
in that branch of medical science has
been at last rewarded by the discovery
of the true diphtheria bacillus. The
most eminent psychologists in the
world with great unanimity announce
the fact.
Doctor Klein, the eminent English
bacteriologist, has published an elab-
crate report in the nineteenth annual
report Of the local government, in
which he enters into the details of his
methods of investigation and his tests.
His paper contains several facts Of
prime Importance, a knowledge of
which should be generally known.
Among them are the following: Some
of the lower animals, particularly
COWS and house cats, are susceptible
to the disease, and instances are cited
in which the domestic cat has com
inundated the infection to the family
to which it belonged, with fatal re-.
suits. He has also demonstrated the
presence of the infection in the milk
VI CoWo previously 1uOCuAuteu WILL
diphtheria bacilli.
He takes occasion to emphasize an.
other fact which is of great practical
Importance and should always be
borne in mind by health officers, te
wit: The contagion of diphtheria is
to be classed with those which cal
exist and thrive outside the human
body. ut is matter of common be-
lief" he says, chat room may retain
active the diphtheritic contagion for c
very long period; that milk may BIZ
not only the vehicle but even the null
tiplying ground of the diphtheriti'
contagion; that sewer air and sewagt
may contain and be the means of dis
tributing this contagion." These
points are of much import in investi
eating new outbreaks Of this disease
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Eneagement Rings for Fire.

Apropos of the prospective increase
in the price of diamonds, man from
New York has scheme calculated to
help the impecunious young exquisite
who wants to get engaged but who lacks
the necessary funds to purchase suit
able diamond pledge Of his affection.
This scheme is nothing more nor less
than to loan engagement rings for SO
much per month.
cit is just this" said Mr.. Solomon
that is his name-''a young man can't
afford to buy diamond ring. Very
we'll, he doesn't need to do SO. He
comes to me. take his note and lend
him a splendid diamond ring at q
reasonable rental. He gives it to his
fiancee. The marriage takes place in
the course of time and in few months
afterward the young man owns up and
takes back the ring upon which he has
been paying rent and gives it to me.
Risk? Oh, none at all. 1 have his
note. The humiliation that would
come from exposure should seek the
assistance of the law precludes the pos
sibility Of his defaulting. Ihave never
lost a ring yet nor dollar of rental.
The business has been a paying one,
and now that diamonds are to advance
it will prove more profitable than
ovor
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28

well-defned idea of how he intended
to secure trade This idea took the
form of giving the grocer guarantee
that all unsold loaves would be taken
back at their full wholesale price.
This plan worked admirably, for many
grocers who had not heretofore
handled bread saw an oppor-
tunity for possible profit and
no loss. What the bakers origin
al idea for the disposition of
his stale loaves was is not very clear,
but it did not appear to be the knead-
ing over Of the old into new material.
as great many suppose bakers are in
the habit Of doing. Under the new
order OF things grocers began to make
inroads into the trade of the small
bakers, and the man who started with
his owed-for barrel soon extended his
business until it occupied building
half block in length. As there is
scarcely product in the world to-day
OF which the waste cannot be turned
to some profitable use, so it is with the
bakers stale loaves. Many of the
poor people of the neighborhood got
their bread at reduced rate because
~ WIS one Gay OLD, but the problem OF
disposing of the whole stock each day
was finally solved by the Italians.
One by one they dropped into the
bread factory for stale loaves, until
finally there was a regular colony of
dealers, male and female, who took all
they could get at q price which paid
the maker for its extra handling, yet
much lower than the price given gro
GERS. The large italian settlements in
Williamsburgh and Brooklyn are fully
covered by certain of the dealers.
Others of them cover the Harlem dis
trict. The chief camping ground for
the stale-bread vendors, however, is
Mulberry street and its intersections.
This is the quarter where the man
with the bag Of bread can always be
sure Of selling out. In fact, the sup
ply never equals the demand"
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Nervous HeadacIle,

Nervous headache is, perhaps, the
most difficult of all to describe or to
treat, inasmuch as it is not disease
but a symptom, the cause Of which
may be in some remote part of the
system. One form OF nervous head
ache, which is unmistakable, though
not always understood as such, con-
oists of dull grinding pain at the
back of the head near the base of the
brain, where the nerves Of the sriual
cord enlarge and ramifv for the forma-
ton of the brain. Pain in this local
ity, frequently down the neck, is q
sure indication OF impaired nervous
action, and should be treated accord
ingly. In another direction nervous
trouble produces violent headache
that is from the medium of the stoni-
ach. With many peo lie any dee OF
sudden emotion, such as grief, fear,
or even JOY may partially OF entirely
paralyZe the action OF the stomach ;
there is an utter absence of appetite,
and the serious headache which re-
suits is simply the indication Of me
trouble. When it is removed, ard the
stomach resumes its accustomed ac-
ton, the headache will di.apr 'ear. =
Good Housekeeping.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
ELECTRICITY AS A MOTOR.
Wonderful Progress Made in the Past re,
Years In Railroad Service.

Wonderful Progress Made in the Past Ten
Years In Railroad Service.
The marvellous progress made in the
development of electricity as motor
in the past ten years was shown at the
hearing before the New York Rapid
Transit Commission recently. The
first serious proposal in this country
for the operation Of an electric railway
motor by current through the rails was
made about twelve years ago by Field.
One of the earliest private experiments
was made in Menlo Park, in 1880, by
Edison. In 1886 Sprague and johnson
experimental on a branch of the ele-
waited railway. A year later Sprague
started street railway works in New
York, Boston and st. Joseph. It was
not till 1887 and 1888 that the move
ment took place which was the pre-
cursor of the present development of
electric railways, and which makes the
application of electricity to the future
rapid transit system of New York and
other cities feasible. This was the
opening in February, 1888, of the Rich
mond Union Passenger Railway by the
Sprague Company on the lines of mo-
tor development shown by the expert
ments on the elevated road in 1886.
The difficulties and problems there
overcome forever settled the supre-
macy of electricity as motive power.
The development which followed was
unprecedented. There are now under
operation or under contract on the
lines laid down at Richmond not less
than 325 roads in the United States,
England, Germany, Australia and ia
pan, requiring over 1000 cars and
1000 motors, with 1900 miles of track.
with a daily mileage of not less than
AGO. 900 miles, and carrying three
quarters of billion passengers annu-
ally. Grades of 10 and IA per cent.
distances of six miles or more from the
central stations, speeds as high as from
70 to 30 miles per hour for single cars,
trains of from two to four cars charac-
terize their operation. Not less than
10, 600 persons represent the number
employed on these roads. Fifty mil
lions of capital invested in this country
alone, and present annual business
of not less than eight to ten millions
of dollars on the part of the manufac-
turing and contracting electrical COM
panies, show the present standing of
the street railway work.
As an earnest of his confidence in
the capacity of electricity, Frank J.
Sprague offered to guarantee his opin-
ion to the commission in this way:
Il am ready, if rapid transit sys-
tenn be adopted requiring the use of
the electric motor, to undertake the
entire contract for the necessary steam
and electric equipment for not less
than fifty way and express trains oper-
ated as have outlined, under satisfac-
tory guarantees of efficiency and cost
of operation as compared with steam
practice"
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
STALE BREAD.
How a Shrewd Baker Established Big
Trade.

How Shrewd Baker Established Big
Trade.
The following story of the success of
New York baker and his disposal of
stale bread is told by the Herald: ct
has been question for many years
what becomes of the many billions Of
pins that are made in all parts of the
world, and q similar query might be
made concerning loaves of bread which
have become too stale for use by the
ordinary consumer. When bread
which has been bought and not eaten
confronts the housewife she knows Of
various uses for it. There are many
uses for bread crumbs in artistic cook
ing. The French cook can find, it is
asserted, Thousand uses for stale
bread crumbs. But stale bread in the
shop is another thing. Large baking
concerns who supply grocers with their
product are now making practice of
taking back the unsold supplies Of the
day before. A few years ago Ger
man-American started business with a
borrowed barrel Of flour. He had o
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28

used to invade the famous old cabin and
exert all arts to placate the surly AMI
impolite Scotchman. They would bring
ga Ions of "usquebaugh" popular
drink in those days-and put the old man
to bed on it, each one striving mean
while for but one moment with the beau
tiful daughter.
1t finally came to the luck of Cooncl
John =. Vanness, o. New York, young
member of Congress and kncker-
booker, a gentleman OF fine qualities but
n notorious fortune hunter, to carry Off
the prize. When he was sober old Davy
would run everybody oil the premises
bu,, yanness Him he liked because lie
was a rollicking kind OF IA chap, who in
q mock way made fun of the then politl-
cal leaders, whom Davy hated The re-
su I; was that Colonel Vanness and Mar.
cia were married, and, with hne regard
for his fathcr-in- law and with eyes wide
omen to the Immediate future, went to
live il the little old cottage. One can
lanph at the self abnegation OF the tor
tnne-hunter when he looks to-day at the
rooms and the roof which sheltered the
conrtjv Vanness and his humble bride.
Tho old building has but little changed,
except from the work OF time. ~ nao
fonr rooms-two below and two ABOVE.
They are still there. One OF the rooms
IN the lower floor, which was Ola DAVIS
bedroom, is now the homo OF the mosI
ferocious bulldog that mortal eye, ever
reated mon. Even the negro IN charge
If the premises will do no more tnsG
omen the main door on crack ana give
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
A FAMOUS TREE.
1t Fore Murderer's Head and Was
Twice Struck nv Lirhtninr

" Eore Murderer's Head and Was
Twice Struck by Lightning.
In conversation with some friends
1t the Willard the other night. saws
the Louisville Co,trier-Jour7sal, the
Hon. John Young Brown spoke of a
famous oak tree in Webster County
that was from 1911 till 1860 the object
that marked the corner of Henderson.
Union, and Hopkins counties. The
tree has history. About the begin
ming OF this century two men and three
women came into Kentucky from North
Carolina. The men were the brothers
harpe, Micajah and Wiley. The elder
was man of gigantic stature, raw
boned, muscular, and athletic; the
longer rather small in size, but very
agile in his movements, and hardy Of
physical constitution. Both were fiend-
ish in disposition, passionate, fero-
cious, and bloodthirsty. Robbery was
their trade and murder their amuse-
ment. The women who accompanied
them were their wives-"Big" Harpe,
as the elder was called, having two,
and Little" Harpe. the younger, one.
A few days after their advent into
kentucky. on the upper Green River
ihey murdered man named Langford
for no reason that was ever discovered,
except their passion for shedding hui
man blood. They were apprehended
for the crime and lodged in Jail at Dan
Vile, from which they managed to es-
cape. Soon after they murdered o
small miliboy in Adair County, son Of
Colonel Trabue. Pursuing their way
to Western Kentucky, they murdered
in succession three men-Dooley, Gil
more, and Hudgeon. Finally they muir
dered a whole family of women and
children, named Stigall and guest of
the family, one Love, and set fire to
the building. A posse, under the lead
Of Captain Leeper, q powerful and
fearless man, pursued them, and q
shot from Leepers rife brought down
big" Harpe, near the foot of the tree
mentioned by Mr.. Brown. He was
desperately wounded, when Stigall,
the head Of the family murdered by
the miscleants, came up and dispatch
ed him. The young Harpe escaped.
and was afterward unprecedented and
hanged for a murder he had committed
in Mississippi. "Big" Harpe's head
was severed from his body, and some
one, ascending the tree spoken of, then
q slender sapling, severed the trunk
near the top, and, sharpening the
standing shaft, stuck the head Of the
miscreant on it, where it remained for
years. The tree was at or near the
point where the roads from Hender-
son, Hopkinsville, and Morganfeld in
tersect, and the place is called
"Harpe's Head" to this day. Soon
after the head was gibbeted some one
assembled the tree and carved the head
of man under Harpe's head, and the
effigy yet remains. About four years
ago the tree was struck by lightning,
and nearly all it's branches destroyed.
Some months agoit was again stricken
with lightning, and the current set il
attire, and all that remains of it is 8
charred trunk, shaft twenty or thirty
feet high, with the carved efiigy still.
plainly to be seen.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Advice to the Girls.

Girls talk and laugh about marriage
as though it were jubilee, q Jolly,
gladstone thing, rose without thorn.
And so it is, if it is all right, if they
go about it as rational beings, instead
of merry-making children. It is q
serious thing to marry. 1t is life
business, and that of heart and happi-
ness. Therefore never do it in haste
never run away to get married; never
marry for wealth. or standing, or fine
person, or manners, but only for char
acter, for worth, for the qualities of
mind and heart which make an honor
able man. Take time, think long and
well before you accept any proposal 1;
consult your parents, then some jul
dicious friend, then your own judg-
ment,
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Floating Gar lens OF C,:aInlnre

The thousands of floating garden' Oh
the rivers of Cashmere as: formed hy
long sedges which are woven 'ogeth y
in the form of q gigantic mat. h",e
sedge grasses, flags, stalks, lilies. csc .
are woven on the river or lake bank
while their roots are still growing III
the slime underneath; The re9ui Ell
amount of earth is then silpeiimaso ed
upon the mat: the stalks q. G then rrt
and the mat and its load it. u full
hedged Floating garden" They :: .
usually about twent' bv fifty .vars!> i
extent, seldom larger, the full dept %
the mat and its earthly covering bong
abort three feet.
A di. honest Ca ;hmiri will ome'ira,
tow his neighbor's garden AWAY TO-.
its moolings aud sell The produce ii
the others toll. The writer HIS II,
quently seen one of the largest OF
these miniature gardens being towed by
two men in a row-boat which hardly
looked larger than one of the luscious
melons serenely reposing on the flea
ing truck farm.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28

buildings, etc. OF the remaining ground
racing on the streets and avenues the
government and Carroll and Burns were
10 divide, each private proprietor to take
every alternate lot on his own holding.
FOR that portion of the two farms re-
served for public uses Burns and Carroll
were to receive $25 per acre, Maryland
money, which was then equivalent to
S66.66 per acre.
The little hut where old man Burns
lived when he cultivated the present
site of the White House and the Treas.
ury, the State, War and Navy Depart
ments, the Corcoran Art Gallery. the
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28


Square, the home of Blaine the Airing
ton, the Ebbitt, Wizards, the Shore
ham, all OF magnificent Connecticut
avenue, and the whole northwest sec.
ton, now selling for Sc a square foot, is
still standing and is one of the genuine
curiosities of Washington. 1t is at the
foot of Seventeenth street, scarce a
stones throw from the great State, War
and Navy Department., and directly
opposite the "White Lot" south of the
White House. 1t is out Of the course Of
travel, and is completely swallowed up
in the neglected park and the general
dilapidation of the greater mansion
built in honor Of his daughter. Both
buildings are wrecks, but the greater
interest attaches to old Davy's cabin,
because seventy years ago the faithful
Marcia would not allow it to be torn
down when her husband, made rich by
her dowry, built on the same ground the
grandest mansion then known in Wash
ington outside the White House. Strange
to say, old Davy's cabin still exists,
while the greater mansion is rapidly
disintegrating.
After old Davy Burns had made this
bargain with the Government he knew
that eventually he would be rich. He was
a widower and had this only child, Marcia.
He sent her over to Baltimore to be edu-
Gated and trained She grew to woman
hood about the time Jefferson was serv-
ing his second term. She was accom-
plished in the fashion of the day and
devoted to her father. When she re-
turned to Washington she made no OBJ
lection to living with the old man in the
home cabin. Suitors came galore, be-
cause it was known that she was to be
the richest woman of the section. 1t
would be quite laughable now if we
could get the names of a long roll of
even then distinguished young men who
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28

Old Scotchman. Between them
men owned nearly 1900 acres of
Ey choicest part Of the site selected
new city. Their two farms ad-
Carroll owned the ground on
tic Capitol now stands and all
ortion OF what is known as Capt.
NJ. Old Davy Burncs owned al
Ne White House and Treasury oc-
PAD all that magnificent section OF
ty which is now the fashionable
ice quarter. His farm took in all
Ca that is at this time the most
labe in Washington.
lei Carroll was q gentleman as the
inplied in those days. He was edu.
and was a very intelligent man.
itkiy came to terms with Wash
and the commissioners for the
MS property. Old Davy Burns
~ the reverse. He was ignorant,
ated. cantankerous. and morbidly
ao's of General Washington and
Naons. He first would not sell
price. He and Washington had
stormy scene in which it is
mat the Father of His Country
'ofc than once moved to white
profanity. In fact, the two never
'Ie 10 terms One day, as history
'he General and old Davy sat un
u mp O. trees in front OF Cd
famshaalSle cottage, and in the
VI their discussion Washington
Ea some remark which indicated
ieIt the humiliation of having tc
WIN social inferior, when Old
of'slled UP and in the broades1
replied: tut, mon. We need ia
'efSei' so high. If We had IA mar
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Rest as q Medicine.

A physician, writing OF rest as a
medicine, recommends short nap in
the middle of the day, for those who
can take it, as beneficial addition to
the nights sleep. It divides the work
ing time, gives the nervous system a
fresh hold on life and enables one to
do more than make up for the time SO
occupied. A caution is given against
the Indulgence of too long sleep at
such time, under penalty of disa-
greeable relaxation. There has been
much discussion regarding the after
dinner nap, many believing it to be in
furious, but it is, nevertheless, natural
and wholesome.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28

horse" The law compels the use of
this horse until the summit of the hill
is reached, and there is heavy fine
for refusing to hire the extra, at a small
fixed rate.
A placard by the roadside indicates
the point where the extra horse must
be taken on, and another, higher up,
shows where he may be dispensed with.
All truckmen and other transfers in
large cities pay strict attention to this
regulation, framed in the interest of
toi!ing animals.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
Binder Irvine.


The binder Irvine is used by the
wheat-growers all through the Western
country to bind up the wheat. and from
sixty-fye thousand to seventy-tive
thousands are used every year iu this
way. The binding is done by ma
chinery, and it is said that Nice ormick,
Of Chicago, the Walter Wood Com
pany, of hoosac Falls, and other con-
Germs turn out 100000 binders every
year. Wire was once used for binding,
but pieces would get in between the
mill stones and the millers naturally
opposed it's further use and oppo- O.! it
successfully. Our wheat CROPS this
year are SO large that many thous and
more tons of binder Irvine will be used
for binding wheat than ever before.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
HeatheniSIli

A couple who did not move in the
most exalted social circles of River
mouth, Mass, were united in the holy
bonds Of matrimony upon the day
which followed the funeral of the first
wife OF the groom. The conventional
sense of propriety in the neighborhood
was shocked by this haste, and upon
the night of the wedding there was a
gathering to serenade the pair. The
charivari was at its height, when the
bride appeared darl1ly at the window.
saint you ashamed" she cried, in
hot indignation, "to come here making
disturbance like this, when we had q
funeral only yesterday z"
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-28
nusln lie IS xonen's Dress.

The xecutive Board of the Women's
National Council, in Indianapolis, APP
pointed q committee to prepare sym
postum on dress, to bepublished lss.r
the auspices Of the National Coup..i9 in
one Of the popular magazines du.sng
the coming year and report to the con-
ference Of the Executive Board of the
Council of May, 1892, its idea of bu-
siness dress for women, accompanied
by model OF the same. The Core
spending Secretary was authorized to
correspond with Marion Harland about
stone to be placed in the monument
to Mary Washington and to collect
the money for the same.