davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
The Most Painless Death.

The most complete answer to all
the objections raised against death
by electricity in New York, and a
settler for all the fuming and fret
ting for those who are exercised
over the fate of condemned murder
ers, was surely given in the death
of Clerk Freeman in silver-plating
shop in New York. Freeman, stand
ing on a floor covered with sheet
iron, touched, almost imperceptibly
the metal parts of an electric motor
and fell dead. There was no scene,
nothing that any weak-minded cor
respondent, with an Imagination
born of foregone conclusion, could
have used to harrow the feelings OF
his readers; in short, the death of
young Freeman is one more proof
that electricity is an instantaneous
and painless instrument of death.
If such death can happen where
there is no forethought to make the
contact perfect, no effort to bring
about such, and why, then, should
the experiments at the State Prison
fail?-Philadelphia Press.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
He Lived On Snake Meat.

I have travelled all over Asia and
Europe and I have had some
queer experiences. Becoming sati-
ated with travel and sightseeing, |
concluded to remain in Montchoo-
ris, province in China, month or
SO. Every day my cook served me
with kind of potpourri mixture
of rice and other things. enjoyed
the potpourri every day for month
and then my appetite for it was
killed. Returning from reed-bird
hunt came upon the house was
living in from the rear. | saw my
Sepoy servant busily engaged in
ohopping small black snakes into
small fine bits. When [ asked him
what he was cutting up snakes for,
he replied: "Why, for you to eat,
Sahid." told him l would not eat
one for any amount of money.
Then the Sepoy grinned and coolly
informed me that the chief ingredi-
ent in the potpourri was snake.
That cured me Of eating any kind Of
a gumbo mixture that came along,
especially while / remained in the
Orient.-Gen. James E. Furlong.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
Sheeplshness.

Some men are constitutionally
nervous. Though they should ad-
dress an audience or a jury three
hundred days in a year, they would
be about as bashful OH the last day
as on the first. Lord Erskine once
insisted that the frequent practice
of public speaking begot confidence
in ones self. The assertion finally
brought out the following witticism
Erskine's remark was repeated
to Chancellor Lamb, an old lawyer.
Il do not find it So" he said "for
though / have been many years at
the bar, and have had good share
of business, / don't find my conf
dence increase; indeed, rather the
contrary"
On Lambs words being told to
Erskine, the witty advocate OBJ
served, No wonder; every one
knows the older lamb grows, the
more sheepiah he becomes"
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
On American Beauty.

American is the direct descendant
of Irish beauty; the lovely hair,
teeth, eyes and complexion of Erin's
daughters transplanted across the
Atlantic derive in the~second or
third generation from change of
climate and diet and various other
favorable influences, a character OF
refinement Gas well as intermarriage
with Americans J which is not Irish !;
the features become sharper, the
figures lighter, the hands and feet
smaller, and the whole result is that
delicate and brilliant, beauty, re-
markable alike for elegance Of form
and vividness Of color, by which
American women are distinguished.
You ask me if American men are
like the English. No; American
gentlemen are a cross between the
English and French men, and yet
really altogether like neither. They
are more refined and modest than
Frenchmen and less manly, shy and
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
COULDN'T TELL 4 LIE.
Still Washington Could Make Other
People Tell Them.

It is painful to find that the father
of his country practiced deceit down
in Jersey. Elias Boudinot, whose
papers are getting printed, reveals
this side of Washington's character.
He actually played trick on Sir
| William Howe and made him be-
lieve he had 10000 men in his army
about Morristown, when he had but
5000. It seems that Howe had sent
one of his innumerable spies, who
were Tories in New York and patri-
OTIS Philadelphia, to see what was
going on about Morritown. The Ad-
jutant-General found out the rogue
and asked General Washington if
he would not have him arrested.
No, said the crafty Virginian-
and here / quote Boudinot-"but
ordered him to 60 home and imme-
diately to draw returns from every
Brigadier in the army of the num-
Der of their brigades, making the
army to consist of about twelve
thousand effective men, etc-to
place these in the pigeon Holes of
the Desk, and then to get introduced
to the Spy and invite him to lodge
with him. To endeavor to get him
to sup with him alone. About 9
o'clock in the evening to have an
Orderly Sergeant to call on him
with positive orders that the Adju-
tant should attend the General in
haste; that then he should make an
Excuse to the Gent. suspected as a
Spy, and leave him alone about half
an hour.-This was done and in this
interval, as was suspected, the Spy
took copy of the returns, and next
morning went off with them to New
York.-This convinced Howe that
we were too strong to be attacked
and saved us thro' the winter
Professor Hasmer, who has writ
ten so well about Sir Henry Vane
and Samuel Adams, thinks that
Adams and Franklin did not behave
quite right in the matter of Gov
ernor Hutchinson's letters, which
put Massachusetts in the hands of
the patriots. But here is George
Washington, who ''eould not tell
lie," making his Brigadiers all tell
One.-F. 3. SanbOrn.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
A California Newspaper Man.

The San Francisco correspondent
Of the St. Louis Globe-Democra1
gives some pleasant recollections O
the late Senator Hearst: The late
Senator Hearst once told me he re-
garded his possession of an i'm.
mense fortune nothing less than a
miracle. Il was forty-nine years
DID," he said, "when the row made
over the discovery of the Comstock
silver mines made the whole coast
wild. I had been disappointed in
the work I'd been at, and found
myself pretty nearly broke. l had
enough to buy a horse and the out
fit and started over the mountains
from California with the boys. That
broke me, and | wasn't feeling hap
py, because I'd worked and strug-
gled and speculated for a good
many years, and it struck me as
rather rough that a man of my age
should have to start out, as | did
then, like a young fellow. There
were about ten or twelve of us in
the party, and as l was blue they
let me alone rather, and my mus
tang being worn down, I stopped
on the trail, put my arm through
the bride, and picked out a rock
to sit on. The rest of the boys rode
on, but I sat there. There wasn't
any reason why [ should particu-
larly, only I did. The whip / had
was willow switch which I'd pulled
from tree while l rode along. AS /
sat there / switched the dust of the
trail, and thought: Shall I go with
them, or shall ! 60 back? l switched
and switched, and thought and
thought. l saw behind me all the
hard work I'd done, all the chances
I'd taken and lost on, and felt old
and used up and no good. My sense
told me to turn back and make my
fight where | was known. There
was safety in that, any way. But
I'd been camping night after night
with the boys ahead of me, and it
made me lonesome to think of part
ing company with them. So, afte,
switching and switching the dust
on the trail and feeling weak and
humble because yielded, / mount
ed nv horse again and rode on after
the party. l got to the Comstock,
and in six months made half mill
ion dollars. That is the foundation
Of what | have done since. Now,
why shouldn't / have turned back
when / hesitated? 1t would have
been sensible, conservative to do
that. But I didn't and because l
didn't / won. If you're ever in
clined to think there is no such
thing as luck, just think of me-"
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
A Dreadful Disclosure.

"Probably not one man in hum
dred, when he dreams of his lady
love, ever thinks of her as having
corns," said young chiropodist
the other day, as he deftly finished
some professional attendance to the
reporters little toe and gently MUIR
INJURED, "That will be fifty cents,
please" !"
"sAt the same time," continued
the pedicure, ''it is fact that We
have five women who come here to
have their tootsey wootseys attend
ed to where we have one man who
needs our services. I have seen
young girls with angel faces come
in here as often as once week for
months. Their complexions are per-
feet, and among them are some Of
the loveliest young girls | ever saw.
"It would seem to be almost q
proclamation to imagine for an in
slant that such lovely creatures
should have corns. Yet the feet Of
some of those young women are
enough to make a Venus de Milo
turn over in her grave. The poor
little toes are pressed together and
oftentimes distorted out of shape.
and by the time / have finished my
work and have bound strips Of plase
ter about them, besides putting little
wads Of circular pieces of cotton
batting between my lady's toss, they
present sufficiently droll appear
ance. It would be impossible to get
a girl to walk along beach in sum-
mer in such plight, and it is no
wonder the dear creatures wear
stockings when they bsthe IL pub
Hc.-New York Herald.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
The Electric Motors Work.

The New York Sun thus speaks
of electric power, in which the work
of the motor is summed up as fol-
lows: "In some cities, so far has
the use of electric motors gone,
that it is possible for a man to-day
to drink at breakfast coffee ground
and eat fruit evaporated by electric
power. During the morning he will
conduct his business with eletric-
ally-made pens and paper ruled by
electricity, and make his records in
electrically-bound books, his sew
enth-story Office, in all probability,
being reached by an electric motor
elevator. At luncheon he will be
able to discuss sausages, butter and
bread, and at night eat ice cream
and drink iced water due to the
same electrical energy. He will
ride all about the place in electric
cars, wear shirts and collars man.
gled and ironed by electric motors,
sport suit of clothes sewn and a hat
blocked by the same means; and
holidays ride a merry-go-around
propelled by an electric motor, or
have his toboggan hauled up the
slide with equal facility; be called
to church by an electrically-tapped
bell, sing hymns to the accompani-
ment of an electrically-blown organ,
be buried in a coffin of electric
make, and, last of all, have his
name carved on his tombstone by
the same subtle, mysterious, all-per-
suasive, and indefatigable agency.
This may sound like wild and
exuberant flight of fancy, but it is
simply a faithful statement of the
manner in which electricity is be-
ing supplied to every one Of the
necessities and luxuries Of life in
America.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
Tobacco In France.

Frenchmen are about to erect a
monument to Jean Nicot, who in
troduced tobacco in France Nicot,
while ambassador to Portugal in
1860 sent package Of tobacco seed
to the Queen, Catharine de Medici,
in Paris.
The weed throve so we'll in French
soil that sixty years later Cardinal
Richelieu found it worth while to
begin collecting the first French to-
bacco tax. In 1897 the tax was 40
sous on 100 pounds. Shortly after
the annual product of the tax was
some $4,000. In 1918 the right to
the product of the tax was let out
to the collector for $3,2OO,O0O. Be-
tween 1719 and 1889 the tax was
not collected.
twas introduced at the latter day,
and in 1871 was again abolished.
Napoleon /. in 1910 began collecting
the tax by means of government
monopoly. The first Empire got
some $S,OOO,OO0 annually from the
tax, and in 1880 the product was
$9,OOO,OOO. In the following half
century the tax grew to $4S. 100000.
Altogether the tax has brought the
French government 81 ,8O0,OO0,OOO.
It is no wonder that the enthusiastic
French smokers have suggested that
the government could we'll afford to
commemorate to pure gold the name
of Nicot.-Boston Transcript.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
modest than Englishmen. The

modest than Englishmen. Their
brains are finer and flimsier; their
bodies less vigorous and robust than
ours. We are the finer animals and
they are the subtler spirits. Their
intellectual tendency is to excite
ment and insanity, and ours to
stagnation and stupidity.
I think American women, COM
pared with others, deficient in nat
ural animal love of offspring. |
think many things in their climate,
education and modes of life produce
this result; morally and intellectu-
ally they are very good mothers,
but not physically, and they and
their children are the worse for it.
Kimble's Memoirs.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
Such Is Life.

| The lawless instinct apparently
inherent in California blood, shows
no diminution with the ageing anc
passing Of the hardy and explosive
pioneer, though the form Of mani
festation may sometimes be less
violent. Witness the injustice done
that amiable and benevolent old
gentleman ex-senator Fair. He
accuses one Palmer, formerly super.
intendent of his Yolo ranch, OF
forgery and embezzlement, and has
had him indicted and tried in sew.
eral counties of the State on those
charges. Yet jury after jury sees
Senator Fair on the stand; beholds
his patriarchal aspect, listens to his
deprecating and persuasive accents,
and straightway votes to acquit
Palmer.
"I'm mighty glad of it," said a
citizen coming out after the latest
verdict. cit amt good law, or good
morals either, I suppose, but some
how you can't but feel that any
body who robs Jim Fair is only re-
covering looted goods. The old
man every time he gives jury OF
his fellow citizens a hack at him
draws down dividends on his rep
utation."
The late Senator Sharon suffered
in the same way. Scarcely any
body believed that he had signed
that marriage contract with Sarah
Althea Hill, yet nearly everybody
shamelessly expressed the hope that
she would manage to get some OF
his money.
When Cox shot Mclaughlin, who
had used the power his money gave
him to keep in courts for twenty
years law suit between them-a
suit which involved about all that
Cox possessed and that in justice
should have been decided within six
months-the slayer was applauded
and discharged without trial.
The disrespect for the forms of
law, this reckless hostility to the
privileges of wealth, must fill with
alarm every American who has
made his pile and would like to en-
Joy it. "He has more money than
[ have" a broad-minded gentleman
of my acquaintance remarked in
discussing the social problem, and
him, l hate him y There's a
touch of that spirit in most human
breasts when wealth and power ride
by spattering the mud on the coat
of the average man, and its pre-
valance has often brought the bitter
salt tear to the guileless eyes OF
dear, fatherly old Senator Fair. !
hear that he means, just the same,
to keep on indicting and trying the
x-superintendent of the ranch.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
Bits of Information.

| Three hundred and ninety-eight
millions speak English.
To make one pound of honey the
bees must visit from 10000 to 20O,-
600 flowers.
In the fiscal year 1890, 52,O03
Italians came to the United States
for settlement.
The first church and the first sa-
loon started in St. Louis about the
same time in ITO.
The largest public park in the
world is the Yellowstone. 1t is also
one of the most interesting.
If a man wants to learn just how
popular he is, let him have it pub
lished that he has inherited large
fortune.
It takes about three seconds for
message to 60 from one end of the
Atlantic cable to the other; this is
about 700 miles second.
The coast line of Europe, includ-
ing, of course, the Baltic, Mediter-
ranean and Black Seas, is about
1900 miles; that of Asia, 33 5000
miles; that of America, 1900;
that of Africa, $1,000.
The custom of keeping birthdays
is many years old. 1t is recorded
in Genesis XII, 20: "And it came to
pass the third day, which was Pha-
raoh's birthday, that he made q
feast unto all his servants"
Both England and Italy have
cannons of seventeen inches caliber,
which throw projectiles weighing
1000 pounds. These are the largest
guns in the world. Their range is
understood to be between ten and
twelve miles.
The Washington Monument In
Washington, D. c., heads the list
of objects of this sort. 1t is $50
feet high. The Victoria Tower in
London, $40 feet, comes next, and
Bartholdi Statute of Liberty ranks
third at 3O5 feet. 4
The first sale of land on record
was the transaction between Abra-
ham and Ephron. The patriarch de-
sired place of burial for his family,
and bought a field of Ephron for
400 shekels. The details OF the
transfer are in Genesis.
There are spiders in Ceylon that
spin webs so strong as to prove q
check to any one moving quickly
against them. Hats have been
knocked off the heads of persons
by single thread. Some of the
spiders are eight inches across.
But three eastern states will se-
cure additional representation in
the Electoral College in 1892 on the
basis of last years. census. These
states are Pennsylvania, which gains
two electors; New Jersey, which
gains one, and Massachusetts, one.
The longest canal in the world is
the Imperial canal of China, which
starts from Peking, connects the
Hoang-ho, Yang-tse-Klang, and a
number of other rivers, passes by
the gates of forty-one cities, and,
with its branches, affords nearly
1900 miles Of water communication
in the heart of the empire.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
England the Prince and Princess

4
came the second week to see it
The Prince who visited the old mu.
scum when he was in this country
greeted me very cordially, and both
he and the Princess were delighted
with the show. About a month
later the Princess came again with
her daughters, Prince George, a
jolly young chap, and her brother,
the Crown Prince of Denmark. /
met the royal party at the entrance
and on my expressing my gratifca-
tion to the Princess that she should
have deemed my entertainment
worthy of a second visit, she raised
her hands to her lips and whispered
behind it: Hush, MIR. Barnum,
this is the fourth time I've been
here And she told me she had
come yelled and incognito." "You
know" he concludes with a SYM
pathetic air, "these exalted person
ages get awfully tired of seeing an
audience raise and hearing God
Save the Queen eternally played" "
THE OLD MANS DARLING.
Mrs. Barnum here enters. She
is in the prime of life, finely de-
veloped, very fair-complexioned,
dark haired and blue-eyed. She is
very retiring and possesses a high
bred air. She is a talented woman,
capable of excellent literary work.
She is, moreover, something of an
architect, having designed the COM
plete and ideal home of which she
is mistress. The house is perfect
in it's arrangements and appoint
ments. Her own suite of rooms
are luxurious and beautiful. There
is quite romantic story connected
with this second marriage of Mr..
Barnum, which he loves to tell. In
1858 he gave a lecture in Manches-
ter, England. The next day a gen.
tleman named John Fish called
upon him at the hotel where he was
stopping. In the course of CONVEX
sation he assured Mr.. Barnum that
his success in life { he was wealthy
cotton-miller) was attributable to
Mr.. Barnum's autobiography, for
upon reading it he was so fired with
his ideas of making money, that he
branched out in decidedly un-Eng-
lish fashion and was rewarded for
his daring and especially his ad-
vertising, by affluence. Later Mr.
Fish erected a new engine in his
mills, which his daughter christened
"Barnum." After the death of the
first Mrs. Barnum Mr.. Fish visited
America, and his daughters letters
to her father SO delighted Mr.. Bar
mum that, to quote his own words
II fell in love with my second wife
before I had ever seen her. Those
charming letters did the work" It
has been very happy and congen-
ial marriage, though Mrs. Barnum
is just forty years younger than her
husband. His children by his first
wife are devoted to their step
mother, and two of the little tots
whose pictures adorn the walls of
his bedroom are named Nancy"
for their step grandmamma. The
tender devotion and loving care
which the wife shows the husband
in his decline are refutations of the
theory that June and December are
not sometimes suited to each other.
IN. Y. World.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11

The KEYSTONE has long been sctnow
edged to be the sole representative of the
treat Upper Wood River and Sawtooth
mining regions, and, located as it is in tl,e
very heart OF the most promising mining
country on the face of the earth, and leav-
ing nothing undone to present its readers .
developments, as well as matters Of local
Importance in the growth of Ketchum, the
future metropolis of Idaho, it is aninvalua-
bic guide for capital and informant to the
settler of every craft and position. Sub
scribe for it, read it, and let your friends
read what may benefit them.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
why Big Men Have Little Wives,

There is a very general and ancient
impression that big men in choos-
ing wives prefer small women. At
first glance this would appear to be
true, because the number of BIG men
with little wives is certainly In an
overwhelming majority as we see
them. In the FIVE years have held
nv office have learned thing or
two through the medium of the
marriage license Office, and it is my
impression that it is not that big
men prefer little women, bQt that
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11

The United States has now become
the greatest iron-producing nation
in the world, having produced
9 ,2O2, ,7O3 gross tons in 1890, against
5000, 600 produced in Great Britain.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11
Notice for Publication.
Land Office at Haley, Idaho,
January II 1891.

January 81, 1891.
r Aolee is hereby given that the following
ndlheu settler has filed notice of his inten-
eloin, Gon TO make final proof in support of his
ftasla; ta.a and that said proof will be made be-
IJIS T1., The Register and Receiver at HALEY,
io' iiusilo' on April 6, 1891, viz: Alfred Pothier,
~ lotS and I, block 5, Ketchum, Idaho.
MT nne names the following witnesses to
r,UNe i" hls continuous residence upon, and
"nIioTement nod OF said lots, viz: l.. Bour-
iISSos ISah Ii; =. West, H. +. Steward of HALEY,
"Ho' Walter Clark, of Ketchum. Idaho.
". t. RILEY. Register.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11

THE highest place in the world
regularly inhabited is stated to be
the Buddhist Monastery Haine, in
Thibet, which is about 5000 feet
above sea level. The next highest
is Galera, a railway station in Peru,
which is located at a height of 49,
635 feet. Near it, at the same level,
railway tunnel 3, ,847 feet in length
is being driven through the noun
tains. The elevation of the city Of
Potosi, in Bolivia, is 1880 feet ;
Cuzco, Peru, II $3.50 feet; La Paz,
Bolivia, 1O,883 feet, and Leadville,
Colorado, 10000 feet.
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11

It is always safe to mistrust the
man who gives you his confidence
the irst day he meets you,
The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1891-04-11

AS Easter approaches the best
thing to have laying around the
house ia q hen.