davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
Games of Cards,

Games of cards have been the rage, have declined in popular favor, have faded into virtual extinction, and have been suddenly revived over and over again. Lansquenet, piquet, vingt-et- un, ecarte, triumph, prime, fux, nlatri- mony, basset. boston, spadille, manille and basto, together with ombre, which was only an ancient form of whist, with many more games than even the voluminous Hoyle dreamt of, succeeded one another in society, and by turns enjoyed their epoch of patronage; but the cards themselves have scarcely changed pictorially for more than two hundred years.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
AN OWNERLESS COLLECTION.
The Museum at the Dead Letter Office in
 Washington.

The Museum at the Dead Letter Office in
 Washington.
 One of the most interesting places in the capital city, according to the New York Advertiser, is the museum in the dead letter office. Several Indian hatchets give to section of the cabi- net an archaeological appearance, and a pair of Indian pipes O. red sandstone cross each other in peaceful style. A rare curiosity is a piece of parchment on which is penned the Lords Prayer in fifty-four languages. It is said to be a duplicate of parchment which hangs in St. Peters at Rome. It came to this country in the mail from Flu rope in 1S42, and, as it was never claimed and it's origin could not be traced, it was sent to the dead letter office, where it has been on exhibition ever since. One of the prettiest things in the cabinet is a lady's fan made of stork feathers, the plumes being rarer and richer than the finest ostrich plumes.
 In an envelope is a lock of dark brown hair. An inscription on the en- velope in nervous hand, reads: ''This contains my hair, Charles Guiteau." It was put into the mails by the mur- derer of President Garfield, without any address, just as it appears in the cabinet
 A few years ago there came to the dead letter office tin can upon which no address could be found. The can was opened, and sixteen lively looking rattlesnakes made their escape. There was a stirring scene in the dead letter office for few minutes
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
Cats on Regular Duty.

A railway company in Australia has eight cats upon its staff and their maintenance is regularly entered in the company's books. Their duty is to look after three or four hundred thousand empty corn sacks which arc much preyed upon by rats. That the rodents do tremendous damage is evi- dent from the fact that the holes in the sacks have to be attended to by twelve women, who are kept constant ly employed.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
An Ancient Art.

The art of glass manufacture is prob ably nearly as old as the world itself. Specimens of glass work of a superior sort have been found in the ruins of the most ancient Egyptian cities, and representations of fglassblowers abound in the oldest sculptures. In ancient Rome glassware was highly prized, and it's manufacture was carefully studied and cultivated. In the middle ages the great glass center of the world for many years was Venice. The city long kept the glassmaking art a secret, but finally it was discovered, and then Venice had to suffer brisk competition from England, France and Bohemia. The latter was for a long time Venice's strongest rival, and up to the time of the discovery of English flint or lead glass the Bohemian glass was the finest in the world.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
ADMIRAL MELANCTHoN SMITH.
The Stirring Career of a Recently De-
 ceased Naval Veteran.

The Stirring Career of a Recently De-
 ceased Naval Veteran.
 Admiral MelancthOn Smith, who died recently, came of an historic fam fly, for his grandfather was Alexander Hamilton's chief opponent in the New York state convention which adopted the constitution, and his father was a colonel in the war of 1872 and com manded Fort Moreau in the battle of Plattsburg, while an uncle was cap tain in the navy and fought at Lake Champlain under McDonough. The admiral entered the navy in 1926 and saw all sorts of service on sea and on land, going round the world in 1928 on board the Vincennes, commanding a fort in Florida during the Indian troubles, acting as executive officer of the Pensacola navy yard, and serving as lighthouse inspector from Maine to Nantucket. When the war broke out he received command of the steamer Massachusetts and helped to guard the passes of the Mississippi October 25, 1861, he had an engage ment with the confederate steamer Florida and stopped her fire in an hour. At the passage of the forts be- low New Orleans he commanded the Mississippi and destroyed the ram Manassas. At Port Hudson he lost his ship, which grounded right under the fire of the enemy. He set her on fire and abandoned her. His next ship was the Monongahela, with which he par ticipated in the siege of Port Hudson. In command of the Onondaga he CO., operated with Gen. Butler at Dutch Gap. He had a hot engagement last ing two days at the mouth of the Roanoke river with the ram Albemarle and two other boats, having a fleet of four small vessels besides the Onondaga under his command. During both at tacks of Fort Fisher he commanded the frigate Wabash. After the war closed he was commander of the Wash ington and New York navy yards and governor of the naval asylum at Phil adelphia. He was made a rear admiral in 1870 and retired the next year. He had visited very port in the United States except that of California, been blown up, had his ship burned and had had shots fired through his hat and clothing without receiving scratch. He was a native of New York city and was more than eighty-three years old when he died.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
A LONG LEASE.
Thirty Acres in Hebron Provided For for
 Term of 9,999 Years.

Thirty Acres in Hebron Provided For for
 Term of 9,999 Years.
 A lease for nine thousand nine hun dred and ninety-nine years in this country, at least, is rather rarity, al- though the term of ninety-nine, or even nine hundred and ninety-nine, is not uncommon. John Peters, the father of Rev. Samuel Peters, the tory parson, says the Nor Hich Conn., Bull lctin, gave in 1735 to ''The Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Cos the Church of England society in Hebron, about thirty acres of land, which afterward came into the posses sion of the parish of St. Peters church in that town, as the successor of the Church of England there. On May 25, 1795, the parish leased this land to s. w. Case for and during the full term of nine thousand nine hundred and nine ty-nine years fully to be completed and ended, yielding and paying there for yearly during the said term unto us, the said John Sutton and John T. Peters, church wardens of said society, and to our successors in said office, the annual rent of one grain of pure silver or other silver or gold equivalent (if demanded upon the festival of St. John the Baptist in each year ensuing the date of the presents during the term above said" So says Hebron land records, vol. ix., p. 264. The pres ent occupants would be somewhat sur prised at a demand for the grain of pure silver, but the old contract still remains on the record.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
"ENJOYING LIFE"
A Peep Into a Fashionable Chop-House
 at One O'clock in the Morning

at One O'clock in the Morning.
 If you feel any interest in the curi- ous phases of mankind take look in one of our fashionable chop-houses about one o'clock in the morning. If it be Saturday night all the better That peculiar class of men who rise very late in the morning and go to bed only when everything else is shut up, says the Pittsburgh Dispatch, are then out in full force. It isn't because they can't come on some other night, but because on other nights there wouldn't be so many of their kind to admire them. Most of these modern chop house crowds are young men of from twenty to thirty years of age. They are mostly in evening dress and their walk and conversation have theatric- al flavor. The greatest compliment that can be paid one of these young sters is when he is taken for rounder, a man about town, or something equally devilish. As the world goes, they are rather fne-lool1ing specimen of American manhood. They have stiff stomachs yet untouched by the insidi- ous demon of late suppers they arc in the act of coddling. They are neither heavy drinkers nor loud and boisterous of demeanor. But they can get away with rarebits and fried scollops and Holsters and steaks and chops and other things like hired men in thresh ing time. A few indulge in expensive wines, but most of them prefer the conventional toby of ale from the wood. About two in the morning they will have disappeared. Then the wait CTS will go around and gather up the canes and umbrellas that have been left in the corners during the evening. These average from two to dozen nightly. Men who leave canes around in this way are not accustomed to car rying canes.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
Russian Women Who smoke.

So fond are Russian women of snok- ing that the czar's minister of the in- terior has ordered the railway officials in the empire to provide passenger trains with smoking compartments for the use of the fair sex. It is said on good authority that nearly all married women in Russia smoke cigarettes, and that the habit has begun to obtain largely among the unmarried, with the result that smoking cars are now as much of a necessity for travelling Russian women as for men.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
Emneror MIuiam nnd IIs Gun.

The German emperor frequently has a weeks retirement from the bustling world, and hides within the depths of the forest of Procl1elwitz, where a small cottage is his abode, nestled be- meath a splendid oak, with forest around him for miles. There, while the dew is on the forest, he starts forth gun in hand, with brace of dogs and a sturdy forester, and at four o'clock he is at the best spot for sport. Then his majesty bangs away till eleven, when he werds his way homeward to his cot, cats and sleeps awhile, after which he puts his signature to all the documents which require it, and have been duly forwarded to his lonely re- treat from Berlin.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
Soldiers of the steppes.

The Cossack soldier in the winter time is obliged to sacrifice every other consideration to that of resisting the deadly cold of the steppes. There is a belief among them that their entrance to Heaven will be easier if they are personally clean so that a scrupulous toilet is made before any chance of an encounter, but this neatnesss is not ap- parent at first glance for they are bundled up in great coats of sheepskin or goatskin, with great pointed hood Clumsy mittens conceal their hands and wisps of straw are bound around their feet. The officer looks exactly like the private. The Cossacks made their first campaign with Russian sol diers in 1888. The Cossacks now in the Russian army number 19,448, exclusive of those incorporated with the field trOODS
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
SLEEP IS GOOD MEDICINE.
Liberal Indulgence Even Induces Flesh,
 as Inventor Edison Proved.

as Inventor Edison Proved.
 There is nothing like sleep to store up nervous energy and put flesh on the bones, says the Philadelphia Press. In an article published some years ago, and generally ascribed to Oliver Wen dell Holmes, it was recommended that nervous women be put to bed and com pelled to stay there while they were fattened with nutritious foods, just as a chicken is fattened for m arket. With the requirement of fat and the filling pof the reservoirs of nervous strength the fdgety, emotional, whimsical woman will get up from her bed an other being. Thomas A. Edison, the electrician, proved by his own case how flesh can be acquired by sleep. One week he slept fourteen hours a day and the next week twenty-two hours. The result was a gain of seven pounds in weight. A woman of only moderate physical strength was asked how she managed to attend to the large business from which she gained support, and the answer was that she obtained it by sleeping ten hours six days and spending the whole of the seventh day in bed. There has been a visible advance in the health of the American people during the past twen- ty or thirty years. Their stock of vii tality has increased and they live longer. And while there are other reasons for this change, the chief one is that people sleep longer and rest more. The hours for work have grad ually grown fewer. Factory opera tives are no longer compelled to hurry to their work at five o'clock in the morning and work until seven o'clock in the evening.
 Business and professional men go to their counting-rooms and offices an hour or more later and leave as much earlier in the afternoon. The result is more time for sleep and better health. But there is still more room for inn provement in this way. Walter Be- sant, the English novelist, said few weeks ago at Harvard university, when commenting on the graduating class: "A fine, noble looking lot of young men. They are unlike our English university students physically. think our young men, as rule, are bigger, heavier, stouter men, while yours have more nervous activity than ours They are slighter and, perhaps, taller, but they seem to be more highly strung nervously." That is the trouble with majority of graduates. Not withstanding the growth of the athletic spirit in colleges, too many young men go out into life too highly strung nervously." There is no better medicine than good sleep and plenty of it, and many a boy and man is crippled in energy by an unwise habit of getting up too early in the morning. The American people would be happier, there would be less crime committed if people slept longer. It is time the so-called sluggard had his rights and the man who prefers his morning snooze to a morning cocktail is estimated at his proper value.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-19
CATTLE BRANDS.

Ear marks: Clean split from root to point left ear, upperbit in right ear. Wattle (varuga) on Jaw, under mouth, C on left jaw (cheek) bulls c on left cheek only. Flooded stock c on left cheek and c on left ribs.
 HENRY HUNING Post office: Show Low Arizona Range: Show Low creek, Silver creek, Laguna Ortega and Laguna Salada.
 Horse brand C ( left shoulder.
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
BRIDGEPORT.
BUILDING GOSSIP.

Architect W. R. Briggs has made plans for spire for the St Johns Episcopal church which was omitted at the time the church was built, It will be 136 feet from the base to the top. The base will be of blue stone and the upper part, which will be pyramidal in shape, will be slated. There will be tall windows in this tower in which will be chime of bells to be given by one of the members.
 The Savage & Smith Building Co.,, are building a double house on Iranistan avenue for James Roy. They are also fitting up a dinning-room in Col Taylor's residence at Milford on which he will eXpend about $l9, 9,000.
 At the last meeting of the building commissioners the following permits were issued: Logan Brothers, Center street, frame house; Jonathan Throne. Black Rock, three-story addition; E. $. Hawley, Franklin street, addition ; Frederick Lane, French street, frame house; Thomas O'Brien, Lafayette street, frame addition; Mrs II. s. Ben nett, North Washington avenue, addi- tion to house; Andrew Dugan, Church street, brick addition; H. C. Bradley George street, frame addition, 1Sx20 Radcliffe Hicks, Fairfield avenue. remod- el brick building.
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
STOCK BREEDING.

Secretary Gold, describing the methods he has pursued in stGck breeding for 90 years, said before the Mas -achusctts board of agriculture that when streets command good plices he bred Devons largely, but now that cream is in such deiuand he was breeding GuernSeys. This moved Hiram Taylor, who raj some of the good -tock for which the Middlefeld hills of Massachusetts are noted, to take the floor and speak of the value of steers and oxen to-day. Pri- vately he told us that his yearlingS and tWO-ycar-old steers, which took prizes at the local fair, always called for fancy prices, either by farmers for working OK en or by circus men to be shown in the ring. IL is no doubt true that the rais- ing of more steers could be profitably fol- lowed by many farmers, yet much de- pends on the feed and care. Mir Taylor told us of a pair of yearlings he sold for $9O, while he bought pair for $l5 sired by the same bull and out of about the same kind of cows. The latter had not been cared for or we'll fed, while his had. He made handsome profit on the pair he sold for 800, while the man who rais. ed the pair Mir Taylor bought for $l5 was poorer when he got his money than he was before the calves were dropped.
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
WATERBURY.

Architect J. A. Jackson has made plans for a new store house on Bank street, adjoining the railroad tracks, for M. J. Daly. It will be built of heavy timber and will be used for the storage of pipe. Tracy Brothers have the con- tract.
 Disley & Weyant have just completed 1900 feet of copper skylight for Ran dolph S Cloves and they are also doing the galvanized iron work on the new church at Terryville.
 John Moriarty of the Waterbury Fur niture Co.,, has purchased the plant of the American Pin Co.,, on East Main street, and will soon build large furni- ture warehouse in addition to the pres building. It is also reported that the pin company will build new plant.
 Chatfeld & Chatfield, masons, have broken ground for the new Second Con- gregational church, ,on West Main street. They will do the foundation work only.- [The Weekly Record.
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
BRTDGEWATER.
AT ST MARKS.

The supper given by the young ladies of St Marks Bible class, Thursday even- ing, the 27th, was so entirely success socially and financially that it was re- peated the next evening. The four young ladies in antique costume were an attract i've feature of the entertainment and the exceIlency of the supper beyond ques- tion.
 Bishop Williams is to be at St Marks, Saturday, May 6.
 Mir and Mrs Samuel Hurlburt from New Haven were recent guests of her sister, Miss Flora Keeler.
 Mrs Jay Frost is to spend some time with friends in Ridgetield and in New York City.
 Elmer Beers started for Colorado, Thursday, the 27th, expecting to stop in Chicago to be present at the opening of the Worlds fair.
 Miss Genevieve Sanford was home Sunday, accompanied by friend, Miss Newton from Washington.
 Rev Edward Aver filled the Congre gational pulpit, Sunday, the 30th, speak ing in the morning from Romans 8 :32 The |. P. s. c. E. meeting was led by William Marsh, the topic being, My Choice"
 The womans missionary meeting vii be held Saturday afternoon, May 6, ir the chapel.
 A. H. Gillett entertained MT Aver over Sunday. His many friends were glac to hear him again.
 Mrs Mallory's father is failing. Hi: son, William kasson, was with him, Sun day.
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
In Fairfield County.
FAIRFIELD.

THE BIG STORM OF WEEK BEFORE LAST.
 The storm, will be long remembered in this vicinity as the severest by far, of any that has occurred in many years. All day long the winds blew high and surf beat high but it was nothing com pared with the fearful gale at midnight. It was high tide at } a. m., and with the high wind of the day, blowing directly east, the water was piled upon the beach and into Black Rock harbor with fearful force. Watchers on the beach were near ly driven from their shanties and for a time it was trying situation for them. The morning sun showed great devasta- tion. The high ridge of the beach has been washed away to depth of three to five feet. The pavilion enclosure is covered with two or three feet of sand. The cultivated lots, have some of them been cleanly washed, others covered with the debris. Jennings pier stood the storm bravely. It must have received a terrific beating, yet it stands practi- cally intact, contrary to all predictions in
 
 end, consisting largely of stove e-filling,is washed away. Black Rock seems to have received the greatest beating.
 Sunday driving and racing has become a great nuisance of late. Nearly all day Bridgeport parties are racing through the village, making much racket and shouting. Each year the need of control by the authorities becomes more appar- ent. Last Sunday, as usually occurs, a runaway enlivened the order. A son of Frank Miller of Bridgeport, accompa- nied by friend, were dashed along the street a little faster than was pleasant by span from Carstesen's stables. The horses were frightened near the winter quarters on State street and ran madly through to Fairfield, being finally brought to stop at John Martins, a four-mile run. There it was found that one of the horses was badly hurt and it remains at Bulkley's stable; probably ruined.
 The very pleasant improvements at Grasmere are being rapidly pushed for ward now the one unpleasant feature being the encroachment on the highway on both sides. It will always be regret ted that this opportunity of strengthening the highways was not improved. By giving narrow strip of the bend of the road with another similar strip on MT
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
MARBLEDALE.
AS TO TIE GOLD REsERyE.

We read great deal in the daily papers of the great anxiety in official circles to keep the gold reserve at the customary point, that is $100,000, 900. To fall below that amount seems to be regarded almost as national calamity. Well, perhaps it might be, but does it not seem very strange that the officers of the grandest government on the face of the globe should be obliged to endure the tension which they are called upon to bear, in order to maintain the gold re- serve? It does seem to be strange, to say the least, that the government should be thus placed as it is to-day. It seems to be no fault of any one party that such is the case and yet there is a condition and not a theory, confronting the new treasurer of the United States. What is the cause of it? It does not seem to full ly answer the question to say that the balance of trade is against us and there-
The Newtown bee., 1893-05-05
SOUTHPORT.

Religious services at the chapel will commence every Sunday evening at 7.3O until further notice.
 Robert Stevens and family are visit. ing at T. F. Wheeler's.
 Mrs Carlos Booth, formerly of New town, is visiting in this place. She was the guest of A. T. White, last week.
 Mrs Lewis Taylor of New Haven, visi ted her parents, last week.
 Mrs Warren Stowe is sick in Bridge port.
 Miss Ovalene Burr, who is attending school in shelton, spent last Sunday with her parents on Hulls' Hill.