davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
The Cane Has Gone.

The really high caste London swell
has ''cursed his stick and cast it out. "
Swagger Englishmen no longer appear
in public with canes of any description.
The collection of choice silver topped
and natural wood weapons they drew
mental sustenance from through so many
seasons has suffered temporary divorce
from the fashionable toilet. British
manhood is unprotected, and goes empty
handed on the promenade save for a
glove possibly, Or in stress of weather a
medium sized silk umbrella.
The collapse of the stick is attributable
to the wholesale adoption Of imitation
costly canes by the London clerk and
petty tradesman.
AIRY, the haberdasher, greengEocel
and draper men were contented until re-
Gently to carry blackthorns or a light
rattan. To this no objection was raised
by the aristocrats, and all would have
gone we'll had not a sharp American
flooded the market with cheap, fashy
copies of swelldom's own stick. The re-
suit was intolerable, and hence the uni
versal remuneration of canes in upper
circles. illustrated American.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
How Col De EreCe MANAGED

Col. De Frece tells how he managed
to make his stage at the Stanley lecture
pay him about $4,000. 1t is a trick
worth knowing, although l do not think
he intended that the public should
be taken into his confidence in relation
to it. The colonel went down to Mayor
Grants Office and got a list Of the pro1ni-
nent citizens who had been named on
Worlds fair committees as represent
ative New Workers when we were try
ing to secure the location of the fair
in this city. With this list as basis no
sent out 400 polite notes about as follows:
MY DEAR SIR-You have been selected to serve
the Metropolitan Opera House on the occasion Of
Henry NJ. Stanley's first lecture in America
Kindly notify me at once of your acceptance.
There were very few replies that were
not in the nature of an acceptance.
Every man who got such a note as that
felt fattered by the distinction and sent
in his acceptance at once. Thereupon a
second note was sent to him requesting
him to send check for $40 for his stage
seat. Having accepted the honor he
couldn't very well refuse to pay for it,
even though he knew and felt he had
been tricked. Yet | am told that some
gentlemen upon the receipt of the second
letter had the good sense to write and
decline either to serve on the reception
committee" or to send $40 to Col. De
Frece-New York Press.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Repudiatine His Own sIotne.

The recent death in Canada of Mrs,
Sterling, mother of Charles NJ Sterling,
who was executed at Youngstown, O..
for the murder of Lizzie Grombacher,
has unveiled the facts concerning an in
cident that occurred shortly before his
execution. His mother came from Max
well, Can, and though he had left home
when but a lad with maternal intuition
she recognized him. When brought to
his cell Sterling without the culver of
muscle said:
You are mistaken, madam; | am not
your son."
She implored him to recognize her, but
he refused, and she returned home half
convinced that she was mistaken To
his counsel Sterling said:
''She is my mother, but L could not
break her heart by telling her that her
son would behung. Keep it secret until
she dies"
Her death caused his attorney, W S
Anderson, to break the seal of silence
1T was the most dramatic scene | ever
witnessed, said Mr.. Anderson "Ihave
seen all the tragedians Of the past quar-
ter of century, but none that compared
to the scene on that occasion The
mother. every line in her face showing
the most intense suffering, and her heart
nearly broken, while he son, knowing
that the truth would kill her, stood like
a statue, his face showing the pallor IF
death, assuring her that she was mis-
taken. Such intensity of action was
never produced on any stage. 1t could
not be. "-Cincinnati Enquirer
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
To Winter in the Arctic.

Three vessels from San Francisco are
now in winter quarters at the mouth of
the Mackenzie river, within 200 miles
of the north pole. This is said to be the
first time that whaling vessels have vol
unfairly wintered in this location The
colony comprises nearly seventy men
It will be late next summer before they
can be heard from, unless by some chance
trapper might find his way that far
north by sledges and back again to a
British fur trading post. Provisions in
the way of fish and game will be pro
cured from the Indians who have vii
lagos close by. The vessels are the
steamers Grampus and Mary D. Hume
and the schooner Nicolene. Alluring
stories of bowhead whales being so thick
in the water that you could walk about
on their backs as on broken ice led the
vessels to their present location.-San
Francisco Alta.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Sending Panoramas Abroad.

4 product purely American and prob
ably in the nature of revelation to the
heather peoples of England and France,
to whom Steamship Agent Low has just
consigned it, reached here all the way
from Minneapolis day or two ago by
water. 1t was q panorama, and as it
was ffty-four feet long it had to be tar
paulined and bolted to the deck of the
steamship Lydian Monarch, as there was
no room for it in the hold. A single
freight shipment fifty-four feet long is
not to be sneezed at, even if it is only
five feet and half square in the other
two dimensions, and this particular big
roll of canvas weighed all of three tons.
The manufacture of panoramas for the
European market is a novel industry Of
recent origin. These canvas pictures ara
not shown over here at au.-New York
Letter
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
A Remarkable Poem,

The following poem of three stanzas
of four lines each has often been alluded
to as one of the most unique of literary
curiosities. Each stanza contains every
letter in the alphabet except the letter
Sc" which all printers will tell you is
one of the most indispensable of the let
tiers, its relative proportion of use being
100 times to 4, k s, g II and 40. The
one coming next to sc" in number Of
times of use is ga" which is used so
times while the letter in question is be-
ing used 100 times.
The poem which has caused the above
depression is entitled
THE FATE OF NASSAU.
Bod Nassau quits his caravan,
4 haZy mountain grot to scan;
Climbs jaggy rocks to spy his way,
Doth tax his sight but far doth stray.
Not work of man nor sport of child
Finds Nassau in that may wild;
Lax grows his joints, limbs toll in vain
Poor wight Why didst thou quit that plain?
Vainly for succor Nassau calls.
Knows Zillah that thy Nassau falls;
But prowling wolf and fox may joy
To quarry on thy Arab boy.
st. Louis Republic
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Buried i'm Perfume.

Passing throngs gazcd curiously at a
strange plant that sprang up in the win
dows of the Chinese laundries People
without poetry in their souls darkly
limited that the almond eyed Mongolians
were raising onions The emperor's
subjects were innocent Of the base
charge. The essence Of human emo
lions was clustered in the white and
yellow petals of the flower
The plant is called Chinese lily, and
Cinnamon at this season of the year i'm
port it from their native land They
place it in vessel filed with pebbles
and water and the foweri is in full bloom
till Christmas, when it imparts beauti-
full odor that fills a room with perfume
The grateful foreigners have presented
their friends in this city with pretty
specimens as token of their gratitude
for kindness shown them. -Pittsburg
Dispatch
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
a New Novelist,

A new Richmond is about to enter the
field Of fctlon-a woman who has here
tofore confined her public work to essay
writing and dress reform. | refer to
Mrs. Annie Jenness- Miller, who, | learn,
has just signed contract with a New
York publishing house for her first novel.
| suppose that Mrs. Miller is one of the
hardest worked women in this country
She has not learned the art of dictation
to an amanuensis, and so, when | called
upon her last week, found her suffer
ing from writer's cramp.
She and others like her should take a
lesson from John Habberton, the author
Of "Helen's Babies" who told me only
recently that he could dictate a novel
either to stenographer or directly to d
typewriter, or that he could write with
his left hand quite as well as with his
right, and he has on one occasion talked
a whole novel of 250,0 words into one
of Edison's monographs. Is there not a
hint in this for our overworked literary
men and women?-Edward W. Bok's
Letter
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
From Slavery to Affiuence.

The will Of the late Roswell j. Jeffries
has been admitted to probate by Surro-
gate Arlington. The deceased was a
slave before the war, and often related
in the prayer meetings which he attend
ed some of his experiences and the Incl
dents of his conversion to Christianity in
his early life. Upon obtaining his free
dom he came to this city and bought
small farm upon what was then the out
skirts of the city, and which has since
been built up into the fine idence sec
ton now bounded by ark avenue,
Brighton avenue, Meigs and Rowley
streets. Although real estate spectators
reaped some of the benefit of the ire
mendous increase in the value of this
property, Mr.. Jeffries was at his death a
rich man. He lived to the advanced age
of 80 years. His wife and four children
survive him. The exact value of his es-
tate is not known, but it is certainly
over 100000. Rochester Post Express.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
The PouuIar Cosmos riouer

The cosmos flower, which has come to
be all the rage here this fall, has an in
teresting history, which Mr.. Small, the
florist, related. 1t is indigenous to Mex
leo, where it grows wild in the fields like
the daisy in this climate. Some four
years ago a German florist in Hoboken,
n. j., propagated some of &he plants
from imported seeds and introduced the
flowers in New York. Then the plant
appeared in the Soldiers home gardens
at Hampton, near Fortress Monroe,
where it was found that it would bloom
as late as January and February, on &C
count of the milder climate. A gentle
man near Alexandria, Va, then secured
a quantity of the seed and began to grow
the plant for the market meeting with
such success that he has now several
acres covered with the cosmos blooms,
and he ships immense quantities to New
York daily.
Mr.. Small says that the plant cannot
be grown with great success farther
north than this city, as it succumbs to
the first frost. This is the first year that
it has become common, but just now
great branches of it adorn the windows
of each florists establishment, and can
be bought cheaply in the market or OF
the boys on the street The flower
makes a pretty interior decoration, or il
will keep fresh for four or five days il
placed in a vase of water Immediately
after it is cut. The white blossoms are
the handsomest, resembling narcissus
in their white petals and gold hearts
but there are other tints that are highly
priced. The cosmos is apt to be as pop
ular ere long as the chrysanthemum, al,
though florists will always prefer the
latter.-Was hington Post.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Last of the Buffalo.

There is small herd of buffalo on
what is known as the Red desert, not
many miles from Laramie, Wyo. A
party of hunters recently returned from
there and report having seen fifteen
During their trip they captured two
with lasso, but both of them died, it is
said, from the effects of the choking they
received. One of them was taken after
a chase of two days. Mr.. j. G. Robbins
was at the head of the party, and his
purpose in capturing them alive was to
add them to a private collection of the
wild ANIMALS of the Rocky mountains,
which he intends exhibiting at the
Worlds fair at Chicago. He left three
hunters in the hills near the desert for
the purpose of capturing other animals
Denver News
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Electric Oil We'll Drills

A patent has been granted for an cleo
trical drill for oil wells. The device con-
sists of a series of motors in tandem,
connected in such way as to make one
motor, The design has been to get the
power within a six inch diameter, so
that the entire mechanism, which much
resembles common boiler, can be low
cred in the we'll, and the power can be
applied at the bottom. The drill bits
are firmly fastened on the rod, which is
worked rapidly in and out of cylinder,
after the manner of a piston rod.-New
York Telegram.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
A Bear in the Road.

Six oxen ought to be enough for one
bear, but they are not. On an evening
not long ago John F. Sullivan, of Whit
NEVILLE, was journeying home from
Wesley with six oxen tied together.
When in the vicinity of Six Mile Hill
they suddenly halted and manifested
great fear. Mr.. Sullivan, who went
forward to ascertain the cause, found a
very large bear standing erect in the
middle of the road, and not more than
two rods distant. Mr.. Sullivan threw a
few stones at the bear, which responded
by hopping around upon its launches
and waving its fore paws as if it meant
business; but the next volley caused him
to assume different attitude, and with
angry snarls he left the road.-Augusta
(Me.) Journal.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Small Bonnets for the Theatre.

The men in town are looking forward
to delightful winter for playgoing 1t
is all on account of the ladies' bonnets.
A year ago they were only comparable
to cart wheels and steeples, but now
they are the most modest, low and snug
little hats. AS for the bonnets, at the
opening night of new play at the Bijou
two well known bankers and the presi-
dent of a trunk line railroad escorted
their wives to front seats, and all the
men in the house felt like breaking out
with applause. This was because these
wealthy mems wives wore bonnets
that just covered the tops of their
heads-little CONNECTIONS of lace that
looked pretty and stole no one's view of
the stage.-New York Sun,
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Let Christmas Stand for Pleasure.

Christmas is the preacher who empha-
dzes the fact that the religion which it
celebrates is adapted to human nature.
Horace is called the laureate of the
worldly, of the epicurean, of the pagan
who would eat and drink in view of to-
morrow. The gay adage dunn vivimus
is cited with a shudder as the gospel of
pleasure. Christmas was hunted in the
Puritan parliament as kind of god of
pleasure who was only masked devil.
1t was COMPOUNDED by Governor Brad
ford with the Belly god. But why, said
Charles Wesley, as he sweetly sang
why give all the good tunes to Satanl
The sweet singer might have enlarged
his view and his question. Why give
Satan any of the good things? Why,
above all, let him have Christmas, as
Andromeda was abandoned to the drag
on of the sea? Let Christmas stand fol
pleasure and for the reason that it is es-
pecially the Christian day. Then Chris
tianity drops her weeds and smiles
HarDer'S
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Wather WOugh.

''Gwacious," cried Cholly suddenly at
dinner, "there are thirteen people at
table"
''Oh, no, Mr.. Budd," whispered his
fair companion, "only twelve people
and you" Life.
A year from next March the railroad
now building from Jaffa to Jerusalem
will be completed, and tourists will then
be whisked away from the coast to Jeru-
salem in two or three hours, journey
that is now made by camel or in dill
gences over horrible road. The money
required to build the line is in the hands
of Paris bankers. who have just for
warded the second installment of the
funds to the contractors.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
The UnfreezahIe Rabbit

A learned professor of the Paris AGA
demie DIES Sciences has been making ex-
periments which have resulted in con-
vincing him that the rabbit is, of all liv-
ing things, the most capable of with
standing a very low temperature. IL
closed all night in block of ice, rabbit
was found next day getting on very com
fortably and evidently not aware of any
thing very peculiar in his circumstances.
In this regard the rabbit leaves far be-
hind our faithful friend the dog, though,
according to the learned professor, sheep,
goats and pigs take good second, third
and fourth places.-New York Telegram
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
An Impostor who Made Money.

One of the men who made a fortune
out of the Cardiff giant humbug nearly
twenty years ago died in New York re-
Gently. His name was George Hull.
He was formerly a tobacconist in Bing-
hamton, and was the author of the
fraud, which he engaged an Italian
stonecutter of Chicago to carry out.
A large gypsum slab was obtained il
Iowa and cut into the form of gigantic
man. The stone was arti6cially colored
to give the appearance of great age, and
then buried in the vicinity of Cardiff
where it was accidentally (of course
discovered and exhumed, and exhibited
about the country as a prehistoric figure
The imposition was so clever that many
scientific men were deceived by it
Chicago Herald.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Policemen's Lot Not Happy.

The Portland police are not allowed to
carry umbrellas. They have also been
ordered to report daily the electric lights
that do not burn. The result of this at
tempt to make the policeman useful as
well as ornamental will be carefully
watched by other cities not less anxious
to experiment in the direction Of reform.
-Biddeford (Me.) Journal.
At Mount Dol, in Brittany, it is assert
ed, the remains of about 100 elephants
have been discovered, gathered on a
small surface of about 300 square me-
tiers. All the bones are broken, and it is
thought that the animals must have been
eaten by prehistoric men.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
About Folding Election Ballots.

If those distinguished New Workers
really couldn't fold their ballots accord
ing to the method prescribed by the new
law they may console themselves by
the thought that the greatest minds are
often puzzled by trifes. Newton, who
enunciated the laws of nature, cut a
large hole in his study door for his Cat
and small one for her kittens. Chaun-
cey M. Depew and Abram S. Hewitt
can direct great public interests, but
cannot fold a little piece Of paper Such
is genius.
AS to a Brooklyn gentleman, who
bears the euphonious title of doctor of
pedagogy, but could not, after repeated
attempts, succeed in folding the ballots
to the satisfaction of the inspectors, his
failure may perhaps have been due to
the fact that he took his learned degree
into the polling place and got tangled
up in its tr;cacies.-Munsey Weekly.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18

WINE crossing the Drdge over Rocky
river, which is ninety-two feet above the
water, he was overtaken by passenger
train. He shouted to the engineer and
started to run, but it was too late. The
shrek of the whistle, the roar Of the train
and the trembling of the bridge caused
Murphy to become panicstricken, so
that instead of lying down on the outer
timbers, as he might have done with
perfect safety, he leaped from the bridge
into the chasm below.
The passengers on the train and three
or four persons in the vicinity saw Muir
ply turn over several times in his awful
fall and strike the water, which is only
six feet deep at this point, and supposed
he was killed. The keeper Of the boat
house, a short distance below, pulled
rapidly to the spot, found Murphy still
struggling and hauled him into the boat.
He vomited freely, but quickly recov-
cred, and on the arrival Of physician
it was found that, although badly shaken
up and bruised, he had sustained no seri-
GUS injury. Chicago Herald.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
Terrorized by a Balloon.

An account which recently appeared
in The Novoe Vremya of a balloon voy-
age from St. Petersburg to a point not
far beyond Lake Ladoga conveys a
striking picture of the benighted con-
dition of. the Russian peasantry, even
within a few hundred miles of the
capital The balloon in question, con-
tanning a Col. Pomostzef and Count
Covanko, descended at place called
Moustoi, in the government of Oletz,
300 versts from ST. Petersburg, and this
is what followed:
There was a general panic. The
peasants thought the anti-Christ was
descending from the sky, and that the
end of the world was come. Women
screamed, children cried and all the
inhabitants were well nigh out of their
wits from fear Soon from the wood
came the women who had been gather
ing mushrooms, running as fast as their
legs could carry them. ga house" they
cried, 'shas come down from the sky
with wonderful strangers in it!''
The peasants thereupOn hid them
selves in the village as best they could,
with the exception of few bold fellows,
who took their hatchets and cudgels
and proceeded cautiously to the forest.
1t was long before these latter, who as
sisted to convey the apparatus to the
village, could prevail upon their fellow
villagers to come out of their hiding
places.
The aeronauts spent the night in this
village, and in the morning marched
back, the balloon being packed on a
sledge, because there was not wheeled
vehicle in the Mace
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-18
A Cats Predicament,

A Center street merchant, while on his
way home Monday evening, was wit
ness of rather amusing incident. He
discovered a quart milk can on the side
walk bottom side up, and as he lifted it
up cat came with it, the poor animal
having caught its head in the neck of the
can. A vigorous shaking was necessary
to release the cat from its imprisonment,
when it darted across the street with a
tail the size of a brush. 1t is supposed
the cat found some milk in the can, and
in its eagerness to get it got caught
Rutland Herald.