davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
Boston's Famous Ginkgo Tree.

No tree scarcely except the Washing.
ton elm at Cambridge is mora famous
than the ginkgo tree near the Joy street
gate on Boston Common. Dr.. Holmes
celebrates it and others have often men,
toned it, but its name is often mis-
spelled "jingo." 1t has never shown
signs of fruiting, but Garden and Forest
says that the japanese glnkgo tree does
sometimes bear fruit; that tree planted
in the grounds Of the Military Academy
of Kentucky produced fruit several years
ago, and that one Of the trees in Central
Park, in New YORK, is now fruitful. A
tree in the garden of Charles j. Wistar,
at Germantown, Penn, now about forty
years old, bore few fruits last year for
the first time. The fruit Of the ginkgo is
somewhat similar to an olive, with q
large, hard nut surrounded by thick oily
ilesh which soon becomes rancid and is
very disagreeable. The kernel of the
nut, however, has delicate almond like
flavor much liked by the japanese, who
use great quantities Of these seeds as dies.
sert fruit.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

Paris he received large sums for posing
for sculptors and painters, and his photo
graphs sold for time better than any
of the other public favorites. Even here
his photographs have a good and steady
sale because of his manly beauty. In his
work Sandow is said to be the personlh-
cation of forceful grace.
About the last of the famous strong
men to fall victim to Sandow's power
was the noted "chain breaker, !" Samson,
and he fell after long and bitter strug-
gle.
But at his own particular specially,
breaking steel chains, Samson can still
claim first place. Here is partial list OF
some of his feats: Breaking with one
blow of his first steel chain stretched
between posts, and capable of sustaining
strain of 5000 pounds; tearing apart
the links of the same chain in twenty or
thirty pieces by wrapping it around his
hands and pulling in opposite directions,
breaking three steel chain bracelets on
his biceps at the same time by the sud.
den expansion CT the muscles, and lastly
and best of all, the breaking in half OF
silver dollar or half dollar with the
thumb and fore6nger of either hand.
Only one other living man is said to do
this silver piece trick, and he is not likely
to cause Samson any worriment profess
sionally, since he is the present Car of
Russia. Although Samson is the only
strong man doing the chain breaking act,
it is not all strength that does it A lit
tie knowledge of metals helps him ma
terially.
Another prominent performer, and
quite alone in his act, is Andrew Hull,
who is styled the famboyant "Man with
the iron Skull" Hull cannot properly be
:lassed with the sfrong men, since he
does not lift heavy weights, and in ap-
pearance is mere STRIPPING compared
with them.
He has rocks broken on his head with
a sledge hammer, and does not appear
to suffer from the blows. He has been
doing this, or rather getting it done, for
the last two years, at least eight times a
day. The rocks that are shattered on
his head vary iu weight from eighty
pounds up to his record rock, which
weighed 1876 pounds. This rock was of
Scotch granite, and it took thirty-three
blows of twelve-pound sledge hammer
in the hands of a stalwart athlete to
shatter the rock. This feat was lately
accomplished before the Gate City Ath-
letic Club, of San Francisco. At another
time a refractory rock, weighing Ia
pounds, was struck sixty-six blows, while
itrested on Hull Uranium. before it broke.
And the blows were not light ones, for
they were struck by quar1ymau.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

anced his wife, weighing lis pounds,
on his chin, Nine. Cyr standing on a
ladder while he accomplished this act.
Since that time Cyr has curled up with
one hand bell weighing 265 pounds,
curling the bell fairly from the floor to
a full arms length above his head azd
not getting under the iron and pushing
it up. That also is the record of one
hand curling bell.
But the Alsatian Hercules's most Won
derful exhibition Of strength was the
lifting of platform holding eighteen
men foot clear of the skids, the entire
lift registering 3539 pounds.
His performance supplants DR.. Win
ships harness lifting by at least 500
pounds. Cyr is not q large man, and
his arms and back do not give evidence
of his wonderful muscular development.
In fact the Alsatian looks rather fat when
stripped.
Kennedy raised a dumb bell weighing
1880 pounds, standing astride of the
iron and lifting it clear oil the floor with
both hands. Kennedys dumb bell lift
has never been duplicated, and stands as
a record.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
Gettysburg and Waterloo Compared.

At Gettysburg, writes Theodore Roose-
velt in the Century, there were present
in action so, 900 to IS, 900 Union troops,
and of the Confederates some $4,000,
At Waterloo there were 120, 900 soldiers
of the Allies under Wellington and
Blucher, and $4,000 French under Ma
poleon; or, there were about $50, 900
combatants at Gettysburg and about
100, 900 at Waterloo. In each case the
weaker army made the attack and was
defeated. Lee did MOI have to face such
heavy odds as Napoleou; but, whereas
Napoleon's defeat was a rout in which
he lost all his guns aud saw his soldiers
become disorganized rabble, Lee drew
off his army in good order, his cannon
uncaptured, and the morale of his for
midable soldiers mistaken. The de-
feated Confederates lost in killed and
wounded Is, $50, and in captured 7467,
some of whom were likewise wounded,
or $4,000 in all; the defeated French
lost from $4,000 to 30,000-probably
nearer the latter number. The Con-
federates thus lost in killed and wounded
at least twenty-five per cent. of their
force, and yet they preserved their artil-
lery and their organization; while the
French suffered ah even heavier pro-
portional loss and were turned into fee
ing mob.
At Gettysburg the Northerners lost
1855 killed and wounded and 5435
missing; in other words, they suffered
an actually greater loss than the much
larger army of Wellington and Blucher;
relatively, it was half as great again,
being something like twenty-five per
cent. in killed and wounded alone. This
gives some idea of the comparative OBJ
stinacy Of the fighting.
In making any comparison between the
two battles, it must of course be remem-
bered that one occupied Dut single day
und the other very nearly three; and it
is hard to compare the severity of the
strain of long and very bloody, with
that caused by short, and only less
bloody, battle.
Gettysburg consisted of a series of
more or less completely isolated con-
flicts; but, owing to the loose way in
which the armies marched into action,
many of the troops that did the heaviest
fighting were engaged for but portion
of the time. The Second and Third
Corps were probably not heavily en-
gagged for very much longer period
than the British regiments at Waterloo.
Both were soldiers rather than gen.
erals battles. Both were waged with
extraordinary courage and obstinacy and
at fearful cost of lie. Waterloo was
settled by single desperate and ex'
hausting struggle; Gettysburg took
longer, was less decisive, and was rela-
lively much more bloody. According
to Wellington the chief feature of Water
loo was the "hard pounding; and at
Gettysburg the pounding-or, as Grant
called it, the "hammering"-was even
harder.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
Rare Confederate Silver Coins.

Messrs. Roberts and Collins, of Carriers
vile, Ca, have, if they have not recently
disposed of it, a coin in their possession
which is only thirty years old, but is
worth more than q thousand times it's
face value. 1t bears the date of 1861,
and is one of the four pieces struck at
the Confederate Mint at New Orleans be-
fore that institution was closed. The
coin is half-dollar, and has the God
dess of Liberty on one side and stalk
CT cane, stalk of cotton, and the Stars
and Bars of the Confederacy in coat
Jf arms, with liberty pole through it
and liberty cap on top on the other
side. Of the four known specimens of
this coin, one is in Meriwether County,
Georgia; one in Louisiana, the Roberts
Collins piece, above described, and one
which sold for $500 in New York City
in 1SSS.-St, Louis Republic.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
gomery and Frauz Staher are a few of the
best known of the number.

gomery and Franz Staher are few of the
best known of the number.
At the head of the list, probably, is
Louis Cyr, the AlsatiaD. Cyr has lifted
more dead weight than any man living.
he has put up weights in all kinds of
ways known, and is believed to have de-
monstrated his superiority to his brother
strong men conclusively. Some are
these: Putting up dumb bell weigh
ing 102 pounds, lifting it with one hand
with ease and holding it out horizontal
from the shoulder at perfect right
angle to his body. A little later the
same Gay Cyr lifted foot from the
floor a 1O2 pound bell, a 232
pound bell and man weigh
ing $50 pounds with one finger, the
aggregate weight of the lot being 4s4
pounds. This feat is the record of one
finger lifting. Again that day Cyr bal
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
Cultiyating the Rubber Tree.

The threatened dearth in the worlds
supply Of rubber has led to the formation
of syndicate which proposes to culti-
vate the rubber tree on large scale. In
Ceylon steps have already been taken to
carry out the same idea by sewing tho
seed of the Ceara in patches of jungle,
and the supply of rubber from that island
promises to be in few years, double
what it is at present. Encouraged by
the apparent success of this experiment,
the syndicate proposes to carry ou the
rubber cultivation on several large cs-
tatcs in the southern part of Mexico, not
far from the gulf, where the climate will
be most favorable for their operations.
The rubber tree grows with great rapid
ity, and Il tree of average size will yield
about twenty gallons OF milk, which is
equal to forty pounds of dried rubber.
From the testimony of experts, it is
found that this yield will give Il hand
some return on the capital to be invested.
-NeO York Commercial AdvertiSsr.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
--latest Coffee Adulteration Trick.

How long it is since the coffee bean
was adulterated and the ingenuity of
man was exercised to provide substitute
for the popular and stimulating berry it
would be bootless to inquire; suffice it
that almost every known vegetable when
roasted has been used in this way. The
newest substitute is at least novel, for it
con5ists of the coffee bean itself. The
one which has hitherto been most popu-
lar in Holland, at all events, was an lmi.
tation bean made of dough with slight
admixture of ground coffee. This, when
baked, was remarkable imitation of the
real product of Arabia, and when used
in the ordinary way the beverage so OBJ
tanned was sure not to act in hurtful
way to a sensitive nervous system as,
though the color was all right, the effect,
was not stimulating. To DR.. Roos, of
Amsterdam, the credit now belongs of
adulterating the coffee beam. This,
though apparently contradiction in
terms, is not really so, for he has hit
upon plan which every one agrees does
great credit to his ingenuity. By
chemical process, which is remarkably
clever, he manages to extract every par.
ticle of the oily substance the berry con-
tains, and in which the active principle
exists, without at the same time injuring
the appearance of the bean. This bean
is then covered with little varnish, and
is ready to be put on the market and sold
as coffee, which is minus its original
properties. The change which has been
wrought by these chemicals in the ap-
psarance of the bean is so slight that it
can only be observed after very minute
aud close microscopical analysis.-Boston
Transcript.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
CURIOUS FACTS.

Electric light illuminates Jerusaiem4
+ A Ukiah penn. man incubates "a, ,000
eggs at time.
Oroville, Ala, has ''boneless boy"
who is unable 20 stand. -
Hebrew women, on an average, ara
said to live longer than those of any
other race. !.
The highest railroad bridge in tha
United States is the Kinzua viaduct on
the Erie Road-305 feet high.
The oldest known journal of tho
weather was kept by one Walter Merle,
Fellow of Merton College, Oxford,
England, during A. D. 1874. !:
The Michigan penitentiary has claas
of fifteen in telegraphy, originated BY
one of the prisoners. Each convict pur-
chased his own instrument by working
overtime.
Joshua Atkins of Deadwood Hill,
Penn, has a curiosity in the shape OF q,
pig. It has eight legs, four ears, and;
two tails, lacking only another head to
constitute two pigs grown together. It
Is the intention of the owner to place
The little wonder on exhibition. {.
Russian journals report that since their
marriage the Grand Duo Michel Mekat-
Iovitch and his wife, the Countess de-
Merenburg, have taken the names OF
Count and Countess Of Love. This ro-
mantle appellation is the literal transla,,
tion of the name of the Romanoffs. :
One of the most frequent complaints
among canaries is asthma. This disease
s easily cured if taken hold of at once.
The bird-dealers sell powder that Is
mixed in the water the birds
ire given to drink, and there
IS also bird tonic which is good
:or all the ills that bird flesh is heir to.
When bird has the asthma the symp-
;oms are heaviness of breathing at
light. Canaries with this complaint
have been known to breathe like human
beings.
Recently a workman, while excavatinS
'or levee near Shelton, Ind, unearthed
+. mammoth foot. supposed to be of the
ostrich species. The leg was disconnec-
:ed at the knee joint. The leg from the
knee down was intact. This relic was
found about eight feet below the surface
of the ground. The entire length of the
limb from the joint to the end of the
middle toe is six feet nine inches; the
length of the toes is respectively nine,
seven and St inches each. 1t is thor.
oughly petrifed and heavy as rock.
The first firearms used in Europe were
cannon. Gunpowder artillery was used
in China in SIS, B. c., but the arquebus
20 be carried by soldier was not in
vented until 1850, A. D. Inventor not
known. Charles V used the muskes in
l54O. These used matches or match
locks. The wheel-lock was invented IN
l517, the hint-lock about 1892, the per-
,ussion principle by the Rev. NJ. For
,ythe in 1SO7. Speaking generally, the
early hand guns were bIeech.l Leaders.
First patent in the United States for
breech-loading fire-arm was to Thornton
and Hall of North Yarmouth, Mass,
May, 21, 1911.
The ways of the auctionccr in differ
,nt parts of the world vary greatly. In
England and America the seller bears the
expense of the sale, but in France the
purchaser bears the cost, five pc. cent.
being added to his purchase. In Holland
it is still worse, the buyer being rclun ed
20 pay tel per cent. additional FOR the
sxperscs Of the sale.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

The "nickel-in- the slot" apparatus
has been adopted by the postotlicc de-
partmcnt OF Great Britain, the Postmaster
General having given permission for the
erection throughout London of pillar
boxes for the automatic supply of stamps
to the public.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

But Hull isn't satisfied with getting
rocks broker! on his skull. He is trying
to accustom himself to having chunks of
pig iron broken on his Uranium. 1t is
better to have thick skull sometimes
than a skull full of brains.
Sebastian Miller is another strong man
who has q speciality. Breaking cobble
stones with blow of his fist is his chief
claim to distinction as strong man, al
though some years ago Miller was a
wrestler of note.
"Cowboy Samson" is still another ex-
ample of what the strong men do in the
way of variety of muscular acts.
The "Cowboy" puts his heels on one
platform and his neck on another, thus
making bridge. Across his body
plank is placed, and on each end of the
plank is stationed horse, the two play
ing seesaw. The Cowboys body thus
frequently supports $500 to 5000
pounds.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

An English -German-Italian syndicate
has bought S25, 100000 worth of Rus
sian wheat.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

Toothpick Charlcy-"Wcli, Spider,
how goes it'2
Spider-"Fine; why when first went
on the road hadn't rag on my back.
Now look at me. I'm all rags. Man.
seY'S Weekly.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

4 beet sugar plant is being erected at
tlarshalltown, Iowa, with capacity Of
400 tons.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

THERE are S,749 abroad bridges
In the United States, spanning 3,2l3
miles. .-- -.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

Coffee of excellent quality is raised in
South Africa, in the TransYaal region.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

New York for the year 1890 received
a total 9: 100000 immigrants.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

There are tricks IN Ii trades and some
Of the performances of these muscuia,
gentlemen are not nearly as hard as they
look. Take the "chain breaker" for
instance, who has not a rival in his line.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
MODERN SAMS0NS.
MEN WHO ARE STRONGER THAN
= GIANTS OF OLD.
Feats of Strength That Would As
h. tonish the Heroes of antiquity
Where the TriCkery
Comes In.

There are thirty strong men at least
now prominently before the public.
Louis Cyr, Samson, Sandow, Cyclops,
Kennedy, Ajax, Hermann, Sebastian
Miller, Milo, Marks, Hercules, Dodnetti,
Andrew Hull, Wilson, Ayres, Mont
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17

without bread at all for fun. Men do not
sleep unshelterel in eluinoctal storms for
fun.
AS chaplain of Pennsylvania re,im snt,
and as repres ,ntative OF the United States
Christian Commission, l was for waile at
the front, and in those hospitals at Hagers-
town and Williamsburg AMI up AMI down
the Potamac, whers all tn, churches and
farm-houses were filled with wounded and
dying Federals and Confederates forgot
amid the horrors to ask on which side they
fought, when with what little aid could
take them tor their suffering bodies, and the
mightier aid could pray for their souls
passed the days and months amid scenes
that in my memory seem like a ghassly
dream rather than possible reality.
When New Orleans boy, unable to an.
swer my question as to whers he was hurt.
took out from the folds Of the only garment
that had not been torn off him in the battle
a New Testament, marked with his own life
blood, and saw the leaf turned down at the
passage, my peace give unto You, not as
the world giveth give unto You," it read
just as though it had been northern New
Testament. And when sat down and took
from South Carolinian dying in barn at
BoonesvlIle his last message to his wife and
mother and child, it sounded just like mes.
sage that northern man dying far from
home would send to his wife and mother and
child.
And when I picked up from the battle
field of Antietam the fragment o. letter
which have somewhere yet, for the name
and the address were torn of, I saw it was
the words Of a wife to he: husband telling
him how the little child prayed for their
father every night that he might not get
hurt in the battle and might come homs
sound and come home we'll, but that II any
thing happened to them they might all meet
again in the world where there ara no part
inys, it read just as a northern wife would
write to husband away from hons and in
peril conveying ths messages OF little cai.-
dren. Oh, yes; they were honest on bosh
sides. And those who liveI to yet hons as
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-26
THE GORDON WILL CASE.
Ink Said Not to Have Been Made Until Aft
the Date of the will.

Ink Said Not to Have Been Made Until After
the Date of the WILL
The hearing in the Gordon will case was re-
sumed on Friday in Jersey City. Gordon was
an inventor and manufacturer of printing
presses. He was millionaire, and it was sup
posed he died interstate. An old will was dis
covered recently and offered for probate. The
proponents say it is a genuine document, while
the opponents are trying to prove that it is a
forgery. The testimony given on Friday was
entirely of an expert character. There we're
interlineations in red ink in the original draft
of the will, which are said to have been made
by Mr.. Gordon himself
Prof. James B. Stebbins of New York had ex-
amined the interlineations with a microscope
and he declared that they were made with ink
manufactured from eosine, an ink that was not
discovered until six years after the date Of the
will. Other experts ready to testify that
the ink is an aniline ink and was in use for
years before the will was drawn. Henry c.
Adams. the elderly lawyer from Orange who
discovered the will among his fathers papers,
was recalled. He has become doubtful az to
whether the draft of the will with the inter-
lineations was made in 1868. He remembers
now that another draf. was made some time
between 1875 and 1877, and he thinks this may
be the one.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-26
STAGE ROBBERIES IN CALIFORNIA
This One the Third Within a Week in Shasta
County.

This One the Third Within a Week in Shasta
County.
Three stage robberies in a week is a pretty
big record for one county, but Shasta county
Cal. scored this number Thursday night, when
the Redding and Alturas stage was held up six
miles from Redding. One of the previous rob-
berries was on the Weaverville line and the
other was on the Alturas route.
Thursday nights robbery was done BY two
masked men who wore gunny sacks over their
heads, and were walking arsenals Of shotguns
and revOlvers. "Aleck" Smith. the veteran
stage driver, was on the box, and the first in
timation he had of the highwaymen's presence
was when gun was poked through clump of
chaparal and demand made that he throw
down the Wells-Fargo box and the mail bag.
While one man covered those on the coach
the other skillfully broke open the box and took
out 200 in coin. Then the mail bags we're
ripped open and large amount of money was
taken from registered packages The man who
had done this work then remarked: Il hate to
go through you, but We must have all the coin
there is on this stage" Then he politely re-
quested the passengers to step down, form a
line and hold up their hands. They we're all
robbed, including one woman who was so badly
frightened that she could hardly stand. Even
the driver wasn't omitted He forked over S.
The polite robber then lifted his hat and
wished the party pleasant journey. The two
highwaymen had about ten hours start of the
officers. but their trail is pretty distinct. They
are supposed to be the same men who robbed
the stage last Monday.
The express company is making great efforts
to capture the gang, which is the most danger
GUS that has appeared since 'Black Bart was
sent to prison. 1t costs a great deal to send
shotgun messengers with these mountain
stages, but if the robberies continue this will
have to be done.