davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
TOTAL ABSTINENCE NEWS

LECTURE at St. Marys, Forty-sixth street,
tonight.
DIR. LEEMINe lectured at st. Bridgets Tues
day evening.
CARDINAL GIBBONS heartily indorses the
Catholic school chiIdren's pledge.
A TOTAL abstinence circular is being pre-
pared, which will be furnished societies at
cost
REV. PRESIDENT LANDING was in Pittsburg
last Tuesday. He will lecture soon at Johns
town.
ST. KIERAN's expects to have the banner
DerS.
ONE of the two applicants against whom
Father Kittell, of Loretto, demonstrated was
refused license.
The meeting of the Union at st. Kieran's
last Sunday was quiete enthusiastic. Father
Brfley's temperance work was indorsed.
The next monthly meeting of the Union
will be at st. Bridget's. An arrangement for
the Scottale Convention will then be made.
All out OF town societies should send dele
gates.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
but he Is most attractive as man, without
stage furbelows, and ashead Of his family
family of several hundred rats

but he is most attractive as man, without
stage furbelows, and ash head Of his family
family of several hundred rats!
How the Trainer Lives.
He has 230 rats on his handbills. OF
course, this number is subject to fuctuation.
Those that escape or die are made up by
new recruits They are all outdoor rats.
He has Russian, German. Spanish, white,
variegated and gray rats. After two hours
of detention, fasting and caresses, the new rat
becomes an approachable subject Then
Douroff studies his character, his talents,
his suppleness of mind. I have rarely re-
ceived SO startling an impression as when,
for the first time, I entered the restless
menagerie where Douroft lives with his
wife and charming baby. You can imagine
nothing with SO much character in few
souare Yards as Douroff's home, unless 1t is
his den at the Theater Folies Bergeres.
This yiyacious little man is Slavonian.
When at home-his home consisting of one
room in a large house-he generally lies
stretched out in bed, reading some book on
training animals and continually passing
from theory to practice. It is in bed that
he gets acquainted with the newcomers
and cultivates the good will Of the whole
troupe.
Cats and Dog Dwell in Peace.
Douroff is in bed then-one has to get
accustomed to this way Of living! All
about are cages filled with rats, boxes in
which to move them long distances, the
trunks of the strolling family, and the "pro-
pertles," from q train of cars down to
baskets and little houses daubed with paint.
On the mantelpiece gray cat sits and
points its ears toward its master in comi-
cal way; beautiful black cat with long
hair has chosen for its resting place the box
in front of the bed and seems clothed with
paternal authority over all the rats that
run leisurely about the room.
To return to the bed: Dourof, leaning on
his elbow, is making his pupils work; at his
side his little girl scarcely years old, care
lessly submits herself to the rodents that
pass over her pretty and animated little face
and among her hair, and dispute about the
biscuit crumbs on her lips. A large black
and white hound takes the place Of down
cover for Douroff' feet.
The most important element in Douroff's
training is gentleness. When he speaks to
his beasts he does SO very softly, in caressing
tones. He does not touch them. There is a
of corn, bit of bread, or some dainty.
1t Doesn't Take Him Long.
The widest rat is tanned in few hours.
Very soon also-very soon or never-Dou-
rolf will have taught him the most varied
exercises, to dance around on his fist, to
look smart, and to obey him. Rats that
cannot be trained are kept to swell the num-
Der on the stage. Rats have very decided
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
comparison with the few needed for super
visorv and indenendent work

comparison with the few needed for super
visory and independent work.
Thirteen women of recognized ability,
trained as apprentices in large Libraries or
in the school of experience, receive from
$3.50 to $1,000, an average salary of 81, $50.
The 81 women trained in the Library school
which was opened in 1887 receive from $500 to
81, 800, an average salary Of 5000. The 13
highest salaries paid to Library school
women average $1,000. Seven women as
librarians of State libraries receive from
1925 to s., 200, an average salary of 81, 900.
The "a men filling similar positions receive
an average salary of 81 ,45O.
A woman occupying subordinate posi-
tion in a library, where faithfulness, ac-
curacy and fair knowledge Of books are
the only essentials, can expect from
$500 to $500. A good cataloguer, or a
librarian with average ability and training,
can expect to receive from 5000 to 5000. A
woman with good natural ability and fitness
for the work, with liberal education and
special, training. can expect q, 900 at the
head of library, or of department in a
large library, with possible increase to
81, 500 or 50, 900. Women rarely receive the
same pay as men for the same work.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
ment, and the coils, in place of being at.
tached to the floor, being fastened to the

ment, and the coils, in place of being at.
tached to the floor, being fastened to the
ceiling.
Some substances, among which water is
the commonest, expand in freezing. Hence,
when subjected to great pressure, they can
be maintained in the liquid state at tenn.
perature much lower than their ordinary
freezing point. Very often, in northern
seas, the ocean at great depths is several de-
grees below the congealing point of salt
water. Most substances, however, shrink
state. In their case the point at which
they pass to liquefaction can be artifcially
heightened by subjecting them to extreme
pressure This has had not little to do
with what at first view looks very like the
subversion of chemical affinity at great
depths in the earth's crust
From Inferred From Behavior.
When exposure to heat, moisture, or
rough usage has made a bowling ball lose
its truth Of form, a lathe tool is employed to
restore the wood to exact roundness. The
turner, when he is an expert, can begin his
''trueing up" without touching his calipers.
He simply marks circle around the ball
and lets it roll along level floor. From
the peculiarities of its devious course he
knows just where to commence cutting off
protuberant material He infers its form
from its behavior Sticking bit of wax on
the side of a newly turned ball, he can make
it follow pretty much the same erratic path
as the ball in need of attention.
A designer of machinery to whose mind
the resources of cams and cones, pawls and
ratchets, wheels and pinions, have for years
been familiar, has a faculty of conceiving
how new machine is put together which
seems marvellous to the layman. All that
he asks is specimen of its product, then
scrutinizing its twist of thread, or curve Of
loop, he imagines exactly what form of
machine would weave, let us say, such and
such q piece Of ribbon or wire cloth.
Among the chief employees in large manu-
any defect or breakdown i'll machine is at
once referred. The quick inference of these
men is wonderful A bit of gingham, for
instance, is brought from loom with few
of its threads askew. The expert goes at
once to the lever bar which needs straighten-
ing, or to the cam which from undue wear
needs renewing. Or, it may be at a print
ing office that boy hurries to the foreman's
desk with several sheets torn in zigzag
curve, or printed too family in what seem
to be random breadtha That instant the
press is stopped, and finger is laid upon
the spot where repair must be made, or an
intruding bit of wire removed.
Principles Of Analytical Chemistry.
A che mist does not deal with the massive
wheels and levers of the machinist, but with
atoms and molecules which elude direct OBJ
Nevertheless, by studying how
an alcohol behaves, that is, what its prop
critics are as tested in varied experiment in
comparison with other similar compounds,
he reaches definite idea as to how it is
built up. The technical literature of chem
istry abounds with diagrams representing
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
FENCING IN PITTsBURG.

East End Gymnasts Contemplate Division
for Sword Practice.
The Amateur Fencers' League of America
| is the result of the awakened and constantly
Increasing interest in fencing which has
sprung up in this country within the last
few years. There has always been certain
amount of fencing, as at the Government
| schools OF West Point and Annapolis, the
Turner's clubs and among the local colonies
of foreigners, but there has, until recently,
been feeling that fencing was an ac-
complishmsnt only necessary to the dueliss.
The public is now realizing that it is one of
the best exercises not only of the body, but
of the mind and eye as we'll. 1t can be in
dulged in also by women.
The only general regulations governing
amateur fencing ever formulated in the
United States are those of the Amateur
Athletic Union, but as its votaries are gen.
orally specialists in this line, the A. +. L.
A, has come into existence to take special
charge OF 1t, and is entirely in sympathy
with the Amateur Athletic Union, which
now unites with it in holding championship
meetings. It Is the desire and intention Of
the A: F. L. A, whose headquarters are in
New York, to establish divisions through
vision of local contests in fencing, and
which shall, each year, hold a preliminary
contest at which amateurs may qualify for
the final championship meeting Of the Uni
ted States.
A number of the members of the East
End Gymnastic Club arc desirous of estab-
fishing division of the League in Pitts
burg. and if successful, some interesting
contests may be looked for next winter It
is proposed that three very handsome medals
be provided for contests with sabres, dueling
swords, and foils, and that contest shall
be held each month, the winner of
each event to wear the medal until the sue
ceeding contest. New York City supports
six fencing masters, Chicago nearly as
many, and others can be found in nearly
every large city in the United States. If
the different athletic associations of Pitts
burg would make united effort first-class
instructor could be had at comparatively
little cost to each society, and, with the
private pupils he would obtain, he could
make handsome living.
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03

elements as grouped to form compounds OF
extreme complexity, and these diagrams
have sound reasons behind them.
In fields of investigation more difficult
still a similar method is pursued, and, where
direct testimony is not to be had, circum-
stantial evidence suggests an explanation or
throws out a clew. Beyond the range of the
most powerful microscope, beyond the
point where the most sensitive Photographic
plate can secure an impression, the physiol-
ogist may still extend his view. Let us
suppose that he is studying the powers of
the eve. The laws of optics enable him to
explain very clearly how light is refracted
on its way to the retina But now he comes
to the perception of color. Why the petal 8
of rose should give him impressions SO
radically different from those received from
its leaves is neither explained by any rule
of optics nor by any discernible part of the
eyes structure. An expert mechanic, in
looking at the work of loom, can describe
the details of its mechanism or the derange-
ments which have befallen its wheels and
levers. To use the language of science, he
infers structure from function.
Studying Functions of the Eye.
This is precisely what the physiologist
does when he endeavors to imagine how the
eve is formed so as to be sensitive to varie-
ties OF color. He attacks the problem in re-
verse, and conceives that in the eyes mi
mute 6bres are parts related to each other as
the strings in piano or violin. each with
power to respond to special stimulation in
the visible scale. And when he comes upon
a case of color blindness he is well assured
that the cones, let US call them, which
should be affected by red or green light, are
so deranged as to confuse together the i'm
pressions they receive.
Thus principle fruitful of suggestion in
workshop and laboratory becomes, at last,
finder-thought enabling him to explain
one of the noblest human powers, to solve
a mystery which at first sight would seem
inscrutable. 1t is the possession of such
power as that which implants the faith that,
weak though the hand of man may be, it
still can seize and unravel every thread in
natures web, so that at last she shall be un-
derstood to her very core.
GEORGE LIES
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03

the Little Bear (Ursa Minor), popularity
known as the Little Dipper. This constel-
| 1ation anciently subserved very I'M
| portant use.
The Compass Of Ancient Mariners.
1t was the compass of the Greek and
| Phenicisn mariners, by which they directed
| their course at night, its two brighter stars
the pair which correspond In position
| with the Pointers in the Great Dipper-
| being 1000 years ago much nearer the
| celestial pole than they are at the present
time These two stars are still known as
| the Guardians of the Pole.
An old Greek name for this constellation
was Cynosura, whence we get our term
cynosure, for an object which attracts all
eyes. This word signifies literally dogs
| tail. and seems to indicate that the constel-
lation was sometimes regarded as dog,
| rather than bear, particular stress being
laid on the great length Of its caudal ap-
pendage.
Between the two Bears and partly encir-
cling the Little Bear, is q curving line of
third-magnitude stars, which form the body
and tail of Draco, the Dragon. The line is
in the main easily traced, although it re-
quires some Imagination to see all the folds
and coils which one may see depicted on .
celestial chart The Dragons head is
marked by conspicuous pair OF second
magnitude stars, which are nearly in line
from Vega to the two Guardians Of the
Pole.
A little to the west and north and near
the horizon is the W-shaped figure of Cas-
siopeia. This constellation is, however,
now too low to be seen well.
The Planets for April.
The reigning planets now are Venus and
Saturn. The former is an evening star,
adorning the western sky with her unsur-
passable loveliness long after nightfall,
although her greatest brilliancy will not be
attained until the I'd Of June. Seen through
a telescope Venus now presents the phase
Saturn is about half way between Reg
ulus and Spica, in the position indicated on
the planisphere. Its appearance is that of
an orange-colored star of the first magnitude.
One can hardly find difficulty in identifying
it. 1t is now ''retrograding." or moving
apparently in westerly direction among
the stars-an appearance due to the fact
that we, upon the earth, are moving more
rapidly that it between it and the sun.
Mercury is involved in the suns rays,
and cannot be seen this month.
Mars rises in the southeast about mid
night 1t will be two or three months yet
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03

infinitely gentle motions, Douroff directs
his rats upon the platform. He carefully
drives them out of their cage, caresses them,
teaches and persuades them so we'll that
each one keeps to his own role without
making any confusion among the rest. One
rat is taught to 60 to the locomotive, he is
the engineer; his assistant, the stoker, fol-
lows him; the tender is filled; the travellers
get into the cars. One rat raises the serna-
phore lantern; other travellers hasten in the
direction of the station; the cars fill up,
and heads are seen at all the windows; the
the bell rings. the train moves, and, with
out accident, comes back to its starting
place.
Wonderful, isn't it? Well, the appren-
ticeship has been long and wearisome and
the rehearsals difficult. With infinite pa
thence, too, he teaches them to climb poles,
inch by inch, patting them with his left
hand, with his right offering them rnorsels
of biscuit. Let us turn to their public ap-
pearance. On the stage is an inclined plane,
and in the centre of it is an extinguished
street lamp. The black cat appears alone in
the gloom, climbs to the lamp and Lights its
red flame with its paw. Douroff enters,
dressed in the costume of the Middle Ages,
and plays with the cat; then he takes flute
and draws from it few simple notes
"a ratp' exclalms someone, Yes a rat
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
As THE FLAME OF A CANDLE
The Old Mans Life Went Out With the
Breath OF q Sacred Hymn.


Breath OF a Sacred Hymn.
This story is told BY Charles B. Lewis in
the New York Sun: One who looked the
crowd over as we waited for the train would
not have set us down as hard-hearted and
indifferent; but so we proved to be, as a
young girl, not over 13 years of age, leading
an old man who was stone blind and very
feeble, passed slowly around the room So
liciting aims They got a penny here and
there, but even those coins seemed to be
given grudgingly, and those who gave moth
ing consoled themselves with the reflection
that the pair were frauds and really needed
no financial assistance.
When they had made the tour of the room
the girl led the old man to a seat in a cor
ner, and, after few words had passed be-
tween them, they began singing hymn.
She had wonderful voice for q child, clear
and sweet, and his was a deep bass The
hymn was that entitled "Nearer, My God,
to Thee" You have heard it by full
choir. accompanied by the strains of grand
organ, but you never listened so intently az
we did there. There was plant in that
girls voice which touched, chord, and there
was quaver in the old mans bass which
saddened you. They sang low and soft, and
they had not finished verse when half of
US were standing up to see them better.
The girl kept her eyes on the floor at her
feet. The sightless eyes OF the old man
her father-were raised to the ceiling, and
over his wrinkled face crept glad smile as
they finished the chorus:
Nearer nv God, to Thee
Nearer to Thee.
The hymn was not finished when every
man began feeling for a contribution and
women opened their portemonnaies. 1t was
different now. They were no longer frauds
and everyone was glad to give something.
Two or three were ready to move about to
take up collection, but they waited for the
end Of the hymn. When it came to the
chorus Of the last verse the old man was
singing bravely. Half way through his
voice suddenly choked and the last two lines
were sung by the girl alone and died away
in sob and a cry. All of us saw the old
mans head drop forward and his body lurch.
He would have fallen to the floor had not
the girl seized and held him up. A dozen
of us were there in a moment, but we were
too late. The old mans life had gone out
as you breathe upon the flame of candle,
and on his ashen lips still trembled the
sacred notes of the refrain:
Nearer to Theei
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
THE HAIR OF SAMSON.
Abundance of Hirsute Adornment Is Not a
Sign of Strength.

Abundance of Hirsute Adornment is Not a
Sign Of Strength.
Pearson's Weekly.1
1t is ialIacy to suppose that an abund-
ance of hair is a sign of great physical
strength. The case of Sandow-the most
prominent of the many strong men who
have given public performances lately-is
in itself sufficient to disprove this theory,
for he is only sparsely provided with hair.
People who exercise particular limbs a
great deal thus induce q strong growth of
hair upon them, for the exercise of the mus
cles promotes the flow of an abundant sup
ply of blood to the vessels which run
through them, and this nourishes the hair,
with the result that it grows plentifully. 1t
will usually be noticed that the arms and
chests OF blacksmiths are very hairy, while
the same thing is very often the case with
the legs of runners
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03

characters There are some that Dourof has
never been able to keep shut up. They will
not abide a cage. They must roam about
the house They are free poets, sons of the
starry night, wishing to live without re-
straint and at their own sweet will. 1t is
often among these that Douroff finds his
best subjects-ine artists, graceful and
skillful performers
While Douroff is initiating me into these
little mysteries. a hospital rat fiercely snaps
at his master as he passes. "Ah!' says
Donroff to me, che wants a little rubbing
with glycerine; there?' And the trainer
rubbed the little beast, whose expressions
of satisfaction were most amusing, Dou-
rolf s den at the theater is on the same plan
as his room at home. To form any idea of
the trainers patient art, it is necessary to
have assisted at regular stage rehearsal
with a company of this kind. Douroff
makes all his troupe take journey in
train of cars run by machinery. This sight
astonished me.
Rats on O Railroad Train.
On the floor of the stage he places cir
cular road of more than 20 yards in circum-
ference, with tunnels, a station, sema-
phore or signal apparatus, and a train of
several cars fastened to locomotive. With
Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03
WORKING BACKWARD
Wonderful Things That Have Been
Found Out by Reversing the
Usual Order of Motion.
EXTRACTING THE CUBE ROOT.
low the Pump Was Changed Into the Steam
Engine and the Fan Reversed
Into q Windmill.
ELECTRIC MOTORS AND DYNAMOs.
lnferring Form From Behavior and Structure From
Function in Everyday Life
EXTRACTING THE CUBE ROOT.
ELECTRIC MOTORS AND DYNAM0s.
lnferring Form From Behavior and Structure From
Function in Everyday Life
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.l
One of the noblest bridges in the world j.
the structure which unites New York and
Brooklyn. A curious fact in regard to it,
and to every other bridge of the suspension
type, is that, were its design turned upside
down, the outline would indicate . capital
plan for an old-fashioned arched bridge.
The strength of the steel in the cables span.
ming the East river is employed to hold up
burden hanging beneath theln. The lines
along which the metal is most effectively
disposed for this DUTY are substantially the
reverse of the lines most suitable were the
load not beneath the steel, but above it.
As in the case OF the Brooklyn bridge, go
with other familiar objects. We are apt to
think of them only in the single aspect in
which we usually see them. We forget
that the rule according to which they were
built or made works both ways, so that
were these familiar things but looked at in
reverse they might be quite as interesting
or useful
Ask the next schoolboy you meet to draw
for YOU the outline of cone. His sketch
will give you the figure resting very
naturally on its base. Were you next to
ask him how an apparatus for extracting
cube root could be put together he would
very probably shake his head and fall to
thinking about highly complicated cog
wheels and levers.
Novel Way of Extracting Cube Root.
And vet simple cone has only to be i'm
mersed in a cylindrical jar half full of
water to extract cube root with precision.
Ii must, however, be inverted; and, that the
water may rise as much as possible, the jar
should be only trjie wider than the base
of the cone, and the cone should be tall and
slender. A cone increases in contents as
the cube of its height-hsrdly any fact in
Euclid is more familiar. A D in the figure
has % times and A eight times the con-
tents of a d. Inverted and immersed in
water, displacement increases in exactly
the same ratio. Had the cone been seen as
often with its apex downward as in its
ordinary position, this little invention
would have been given to the schools long
ago, and not, as is the case, only the other
dav.
One of the engineers principal tasks has
always been to lift water, as well as to bring
il where needed. OF devices for the former
purpose there have been plentiful variety,
from the screw of Archimedes to the modern
pulsometer A form long known and now
universally employed is that of the common
pump which resembles garden squirt in
pattern. 1t uses a piston to force water
iron a cylinder in which the piston freely