davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
SALT WATER FOR sPRINKrINe.
Now Being Used With Success in Several
 of the English Cities.


 The practice has become quite prev alent at English seaports to use salt water for street sprinkling, and the method and result, according to the Boston Transcript, are pronounced very satisfactory. At Yarmouth, which has a population of about fifty thou sand, the salt water is pumped by a gas engine, driving pump of twenty five thousand gallons daily capacity into tank at a considerable elevation, whence it is delivered through a special system of distributing pipes nine miles long and three to seven inches diameter; these pipes are of cast iron, coated inside with a special pre- servative compound. The total con- sumption annually has been five million gallons for street watering, at cost of five cents per one thousand gallons, being a considerable saving over the expense of the same work when fresh water was used; the statement also is made that during the summer months the dust is kept under by the adhesive qualities of the salt in the water, and if the surface coating formed by the salt is removed by sweepers at the ap- pearance of the first, no disadvanta- geous effects can be traced to the use of salt water. At Birkenhead it is found that one spread of salt water on the surface of street or road proves equal to about three spreads of fresh water, as the latter evaporates under the heat of the sun, whereas the crust on the surface left by the salt water keeps down the dust for considerable length of time. In another locality the report of the engineer claims that one load of salt water goes as far as three of fresh in that place; and in various other towns where this system has once been put to the test it has been adopted as one possessing special advantages.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
ONE OF DEPEw,s STORIES.

Told Some Years Ago, Chauncey Now Has One Hundred and Nine Variations of It.
 Speaking of the way some of his pet stories were denuded of pith by those who, after hearing them from his lips, told them to others, Chauncey Depew said recently: ''A coon story told in Boston half dozen years ago is still going the rounds. Ihave collected one hundred and nine versions of it, and I would not venture to guess how many have escaped me. Were it not that 1 caught the first ones and followed up the trail I would never, within month after telling it, have recognized my own story. The great joke is that I have heard gentlemen repeat one or other of the emasculated versions with the assurance that they were among the hunters. As the yarn went, some coon hunters following a hot track found the dogs barking around a big sycamore on the edge of shallow stream. The hunters thought they saw the coon in the tree-top, and one fellow climbed to shake it off. Fifty feet or so above the earth the climber encoun- tered big bump that encircled the tree. With great difficulty he at last climbed over the obstruction and was much chagrined to find that what he took to be a coon was but a woody excrescence. Then he shinned down to the bump, over which he slid feet first, but wriggle and stretch as best he could he could not bring his legs to the. trunk below. The bump prevented 1t. He crawled up again and shouted to his comrades: "Oh, lordy, boys, I'm treed 'sted of the coon, an I'll stay here till Gabriel blows less the river rises fifty feet an floats me off Some of the adaptations picture the coon sitting on the bump holding the hunter at bay, others have the river rising in the nick of time, and a third class bring the other hunters up the sycamore and over the bump until the three are treed and praying for high stage of water.''
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
THE TIPPING EVIL.
It Cannot Be Stopped, Says New Yorl
 Man About Town.

It Cannot Be Stopped, Says New York
 Man About Town.
 ''I sec" remarked a well-known man about town the other day, to a New York Herald reporter, that we are in the midst of another of those periodic outbreaks against tipping, but it won't make bit of difference; tipping will go on just the same. Some few people will conceive the notion that as mat ter of principle they ought to refrain from tipping and they will try it for a few days and then will conclude that for the sake of their own peace of mind they'd better tip. They'll continue confirmed tippers' for the rest of their days.
 "The fact is it requires more courage to rebel against the tipping system than it does to revolt against almost any other social custom. I know whereof I speak, for I've been there, and I'll just tell you how it works. When you withhold the usual tip you become painfully aware that the wait CT thinks you are frightfully mean. You would like to explain to him that you are only making a noble and heroic fight for principle, but of course that is out of the question. Now, noth ing hurts a mans pride so much as to feel that somebody thinks him mean. He could better endure being thought a gambler or a 'bunco steerer,' or a man who didn't pay his debts You become afraid to look that waiter in the face. Next time you dine some where else, and again incur the odium of undeserved contempt. You don't get hardened to it; you hate it worse each time, and after it has gone on three or four days you just say to your self: Hang it!'-or something else this thing has got to stop. I can't stand having people think I'm mean when I ain't; devil take the principle of the thingr Then you resume tip ping and are happy once more.'
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
SPEED LESSENS DANGER.

With Proper Construction and Equip
 ment Fast Trains May Be Safest.
 It may be said that in constantly de- manding more rapid facilities of travel people invite a corresponding increase of the rate of danger to be encountered; but according to writer in the Engi- neering Magazine, it is very doubtful if this proposition can be maintained. The facts go to prove, rather, that faster trains develop more care on the part of the railroad people, and that there is really little, if any, more ia- bility to accidents on such account. As rule the ''Wild Irishman" and Ely ing Dutchman'' and Cannon Ball' trains are run on schedules so arranged as to insure the utmost degree of safety, so far as all ordinary contin- gencies are concerned. Their success depends largely upon this point, and the railroad companies we'll under stand that they cannot afford to take any avoidable risk. The de- nand for increased speed carries with it the demand for increased prudence. Fast trains must have men of superior
 
 they must have good permanent way to move upon, and they must be pro vided with all known appliances for security and comfort. The general eff feet, in short, is to improve the rail road system in all respects, and to eliminate from it the careleSsness and incompetency that would be a source of fixed peril under the slOwest of fixed time schedules. There must always be more or less danger on railroad train, but it is by no means sure that any thing is gained in the way of safety by taking train which runs twenty miles an hour instead of one which goes five times as rapidly. On an Eng. fish railway a high rate of speed is maintained, and this, when kept at a regular rate, unchanged by numerous stops, is found to be safer than the slower rate, stopping often and sub- jecting machinery to concussions and jerks in starting and stopping, which disorder parts of the train more than is done by the uniform velocity of high speed. The writer has covered the space of five miles at the rate of seven ty miles an hour, and, notwithstand ing this extraordinary speed, there was an entire absence of oscillation. So far as any motion of the cars was con- cerned, it was impossible to tell whether they were going at the rate of seventy miles an hour or twenty. The multiplication of fast trains there fore is thing to be commended and encouraged, and the railroad authori- ties are wise to make them as fast as they can within reasonable limits of forethought and precaution.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
AS IT SHOULD BE TAUGHT.

The Sound Views of an Intelligent Edu-
 ca3or on the English Language.
 The following extract from Prof. F. G. Robinson's article in the Homiletic Re view presents in compact form truth that is becoming more and more evi- dent each day, and one that applies not alone to the education of ministers:
 ''The most manifest defect in our sys- tenn of education is it's insufficient at- tention to the English language, not merely to the science and genius of it as embodying one of the richest liter atures and as being the most widely spoken tongue in the world, but to such study of it and practice of it as will give to the student a correct and facile and forcible use of it in the expression of his thoughts. It is hard
 ly possible to Overestimate the value of a mastery of English in any calling that requires the use of it in infiu- encing the thoughts of others, but in preparing for the Christian ministry or almost anything else whose chief func- tion consists in endeavoring to move others to right action by public ad- dress, the attainment of this mastery should yield precedence to the attain ment of no other. And yet, strangely enough, candidates for the ministry and law and journalism and author ship are taken in hand and for ten years are scientifically drilled in a va riety of subjects, some of which they never so much as once again recur to h c11 fc ing the textbooks they have been com pelled to use; while of English, OH their use of which their final failure or success will so largely depend, they are mainly left to acquire their knowl- edge in any haphazard way they can, receiving at most, at the very time when most needing it, only such in- structions as may be gathered from brief study of some college textbook in rhetoric and from writing few compositions, on which the professor in rhetoric scratches in red ink scant words of general criticism; and so they stumble on in their course, reaching the theological seminary or law school only when it is too late for the profes- sor (of homiletics) to do for them what ought to have been done for them all the way along from the start, and what no amount of instruction or personal effort can then do for them. In no sin gle respect are established methods of education so glaringly and so radically defective as in rhetorical discipline. For no one department of instruction do colleges-not one, but all of them make so inadequate provision in the number of teachers; in none are the results of the instruction, on the whole, so unsatisfactory. In no grad uates are these results moro painfully apparent than in the occupants of our pulpits, and law chairs, and legislators and writers in all departments
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
THE SILK WORMS NEW RIvAL.
Wood Pulp Changed Into the Finest silk
 by New invention.

Wood Pulp Changed Into the Finest silk
 by a New invention.
 The Chardonnet process for convert ing wood pulp into silk bids fair to revolutionize things in the cloth man. ufacturing business, if it can once be proved to be practical in all respects.
 Consul Loomis, of St. Etienne. thinks that this question has been answered in the affirmative by M. de Chardonnet, who has built mill at Besancon, where the silk is now being manu- facturcd. The raw material is made from wood pulp, which, according to the New York Tribune, is carefully dried in an oven and plunged into mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids, then washed several times in water and dried by alcohol The product thus prepared is dissolved in ether and pure alcohol, and the result is col lodion, similar to that used in phOGog- raphy. This collodion, which is sticky and viscous, is inclosed in a solid recep- tacle, furnished with filter in the lower end.
 The air pump sends compressed air into the receptacle, and by it's pressure the collodion is passed through the fil- ter, which removes all impurities and flows into a tube placed horizontally. This tube is armed with three hundred cocks, of which the spouts are made of glass and pierced by a small hole of the diameter of the thread of a cocoon as it is spun by the silk worm. The spin 2 hn n1 hn issues in thread of extreme delicacy it takes six to make thread of the necessary conscience for weaving). This thread is not, however, fit to be rolled on the spools by reason of it's viscosity and softness; the matter is as yet collodion and not silk.
 To produce the necessary hardness, the inventor resorted to very ingsn- ious but simple method. The little glass tube already mentioned is sur rounded by small reservoir of the same material constantly filled with water. When the thread issues from the aperture in the manner described it traverses this water, which takes up the ether and alcohol and then the col lodion becomes solidifed; that is to say, it is transformed into an elastic thread as resisting and brilliant as or dinary silks. On account of the ma terials employed the stuff manufac- tured was found to be dangerously in- flammable-it original combustibility being at the alarming rate of two cen timeters a second. Mr. Loomis says that NJ. de Chardonnet has apparently removed this difficulty ''by plunging the spun thread into a solution of am monia, thus rendering it as slow of combustion as any other material"
 The consul added: ''This discovery seems to have great future. have talked with great men, silk merchants, brokers, dyers and men who manu- factured silk goods about the Chardon- net method of producing raw silk from wood, and it is universally admitted that the process will eventually yield large practicable and profitable re- c11lfS g
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
4 Peruvian Drink.

Italia is Peruvian drink widely known in civilized South America, sold to some extent in Europe, but seldom seen in the United States. It Is a col orlcss and very strong brandy. dis tiled from a white grape. It has a de- cidcdly fruity taste. and is so hot that persons unaccuStomed to it mix it half and half with cream of cocoa and drink the compound as a liqueur after coffee. The Pcruvians, however, drink Italia with no drop of allaving water or sucht else to t21le of its c1,Gc.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
AN INDIAN SHAMPOO.
How the Arizona AborIglnes Dress The
 Hair a In Adobe

How the Arizona AborIgines Dress Their
 Hair a Ia Adobe.
 ''If by any chance one of our Arizona Indians should go into barber shop and ask to have his hair dressed he'd run out of the shop when he discovered the barber's way of dressing hair,'' said an Arizonian. "The Indians out there, both men and women, are very fond of a shampoo, but I don't believe their way will ever become popular among white folks. Both sexes wear their hair long, reaching nearly to the waist, and cut square across. Now they wouldn't think of such thing as touching those raven locks of theirs with a brush or comb. When the Ari- zona Indian feels that his hair wants doing up he makes a thick paste of the adobe soil and water. He winds his hair tightly about his head and smears it from his forehead to the back of his neck with a plentiful supply of the paste, so that his head looks as if it were in plaster mold, for the clay is gray and sticky. He lets the a6obe cast get perfectly dry, and then cracks it of his hair, which comes from under this novel shampoo clean, smooth and glossy. The women dress their hair in the same way"
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
President Cleveland Pocket Piece.

The president recently received a sil- yer half dollar which was coined in the year of his birth, 1887. 1t came from Andrew Jackson Long, of Tennessee, who is, as matter Of course, demo- crat. The medium of the gift was Representative Washington, who pre- sented it, and with it letter from the donor The missive asked the presi- dent to carry it as pocket piece, as surfing him that if he did so he would be always lucky, and could catch fish while other men stood around and swore with vexation or wept with de- spair When this assurance reached the presidents eye the half dollar slipped into his trousers pocket with a deftne3s Of motion that I.erInana' : sell woulI have envicl.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN.
Queer Strike of Operatives in Peculiar
 Parisian Industry.

"One of the queerest strikes that have ever taken place here" says a late Paris letter, ''is that of the so-called Machabees, or fishers for dead bodies, who ply their trade on the Seine, be- tween the Billancourt bridge and the Auteuil viaduct. The reason why they have struck is because of the slowness with which their money premiums are paid. Father Joseph, the senior mcm- Der of the guild, has been fishing for Machabees for the past twenty-five years, but he is now idle with his com panions, as he has not been paid for the last batch of corpses sent to the morgue, and for which the government is indebted to him to the extent of fifteen francs apiece. Last year the trade was bad, but this year the morgue has been literally overtlowing with bodies taken out of the river, and in one day alone Father Joseph fshed ont no less than five. Not having re- ceived his money he has, with his com panions, laid down his ropes and grap- pling-irons and moorcd his boat to the wall until the officials whose duty it is to remunerate him see their way to or ganize more expedition in their pay de- partment."
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
SANDWICH ISLAND WOMEN.
Something About Their Costumes, Gus
 toms and Mode of Life.

Something About Their Costumes, Cus-
 toms and Mode of Life.
 The ladies attire themselves in the holoku. The warm tropical climate makes loose, flowing gowns a neces- sity. The young girls wear wreaths of wild flowers around their brows and decorate their bodies with chaplets of green leaves. They do not use gold jewelry, but ornament their toilet with the floral beauty of the tropics. They are fond of outdoor life and live most of the time in the groves. They sleep in hammocks under the trees, and have their dances and feasts in the grottoes of the forests. z5s7Esg
 They have little huts in which they dwell during storms, but are rarely found in their cottages except in rainy weather. They build grass-thatched houses and cover their roofs with rushes and have wide porches in front of their doors to keep off the heat of the sun. They like to be near the sea, so they can bathe in the waters of the ocean. They become expert surf riders and can scale the breakers in the wild est storms. -t',sf-s<f
 Like seagulls they ride the tossing rollers and smile at the oceans maddest winds. In their little boats they sail over the blue bosom of the Pacific and cruise many miles away from their island shores. Their little crafts cross the channels from island to island and visit all the ports in the archipelago. They are not afraid of the ocean soli- tudes, but are at home on it's watery wastes and find delight in it's expanse
The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
Conar;es m Germany,
of blue

For more than century the breed ing of canaries has been a thriving in dustry in parts of Germany. In 1856 the German dealers began to ship the birds to New York, and then to South America and Australia. The profits are small, but the industry is god send to the poor, who make the small wooden cages. It is estimated that about two hundred and fifty thousand canary birds are raised every year in Germany. The most important mar ket is the United States, which takes about one hundred thousand birds per annum. When the birds are shipped to this country they are always accom- panied by an attendant On the re- turn voyage these attendants take American 5irds anI animals to Europe.
Rock Island daily Argus., 1893-08-09

When Baby was sick, we gave ner C'astoria
When she was Child, she cried for Castoria.
When she became Miss, she chung to Castoria.
When she had Children, she gave them Castoria
Rock Island daily Argus., 1893-08-09
Prices of Stradivarius yioIins.

A Stradivarius violin was sold the other
day for ESQ. that being the highest price
yet secured for fiddle IN the auction room.
This fact has caused some inquiry to be
made into the rapid rise in the value of the
violins of the great Cremcna maker, whose
workshop Mr.. Edgar Bundy has so graph
ically depicted in a painting in the Royal
Academy exh h'1ition. 1t seems that a fine
''Strad' was sold in 1905 for 800. but bv
1857, when the late James Goding's collec-
tion was brought to the hammer at Chris
ties, aStradivarius violin fetched 500, and
a viola by the same maker s2I2
In 1872 a ''Strad, since rechristened bv
its fortunate owner The Emperor" " real
lied e290 at the sale of the collection of Mr..
elliott, the penmaker, and it would prob
ably not now be parted with for four times
that amount. The auction price of a
''Strad'' has since reached $500 and it is
quite possible that before the present cen
tury is over the sum will pass into four f 2
ures, while the price at the fiddle fancier'
is already good deal higher
1t seems that the increase of cost is due
partly to the demand for old violins from
the United States partly TO the wish of
every violinist of note to possess at least
one example of the famous maker DR..
Joachim, for instance, has three.-London
News
Rock Island daily Argus., 1893-08-09
Decline of Profanity.

The habit of swearing is dying out. 1t
was within the memory of those who do not
not like to think themselves old very COM
mon. l have heard on what / am sure is
trustworthy authority of clergyman of
the last generation, who, summoned to
breakfast while at his morning devotions.
turned upon the unfortunate messenger
with the exclamation: You! How dare
you interrupt my prayers!' Much less ex-
treme instances are known to many of US
which would now be simply impossible
Are we becoming more pious? That is
not the general impression. Is the fiber of
the race softening? That is often main
tanned, but l do not think successfully.
The civil war is there to disprove it for
Americans at least. Or are we, as French
men and women did long ago, learning
more adequately to master the resources of
our own tongue aud becoming independent
of this crude and rather stupid-to call it
nothing worse-device?-Cent
Rock Island daily Argus., 1893-08-09
A Bit of Arrant FIun!syi,Ia.

A noticeable feature of the an-.omania
which prevails il New York Is the employ
ment OF cochney attendants by some of the
prominent clubs They have managed to
surround the admission of au unintroduced
stranger 10 the club precincts with an
amount of ceremony that would suffice for
the vestibGle Of the grand llama 4 gen
tlernan from Philadelphia called to see a
friend who is member of one of the up
town establishments
is Mr.. F. ins" he asked of the brass
buttoned fiunky who sat in an elaborately
upholstered armchair near the doorway.
Hi cawn't say, sir"
Cant you find out:''
Hi was not 'ired to make inquiries of
that sort"
Can so up stairs and find out for my
selfe'
MY horders is, see that no strangers goes
hup stairs"
Has the club any superintendent
Hit as, but e's bout"
We'll, what does a stranger do who wants
TO see a member"
"'E waits until a member of the 'ouse
committee comes, or e calls again
Perhaps you'd condescend to take my
card and give 1t to Mr.. F. when YOU see
him."
Hits not my place. Him not conde-
scendin to nothink."
Whereupon the exasperated caller made
his final appeal:
Can l sit down on the curbstone outside
and rest myself awhiles'
"You can hask the porter, e's a good 'arted
chap, an perhaps there'll be no hobjection. :"
New York Times.