davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
Rained Elephants in Kansas.

Everybody in the smoking compart-
ment of the sleeper had told story
except one quiet, inoffensive sort of n
man in the corner, and the drummer
eyed him with suspicion as he finished
what he considered the corker of the
entire combination, says the Detroit
Free Press.
AS the drummer concluded the quiet
man poked his head cautiously out of
his shell and coughed slightly as men
do who have lain dormant awhile and
rouse themselves to utterance.
Il remember" he said, without fur
ther preliminary, "a queer circumstance
which happened to me during sum-
mer visit l made some years ago in
Kansas. I am reminded of it by the
story of our friend here '-nodding to-
ward the drummer-"tells of shower
of fish falling from the sky.
can readily believe his story"-the
drummer looked grateful-"and hope
he will believe mine.
"One afternoon we were sitting out
in front of my friends house, some
three or four of us, noticing the pecu-
liar shape, color and movements of the
clouds, when, all at once, as true as
gospel. an elephant. alive and kicking,
dropped right down in front of us out
of the sky, and more astonished look
ing brute never saw"
The drummer sat spellbound and
everybody else choked up, speechless.
The quiet man looked around on his
auditors.
Its as true as preaching, gentle.
men," he went on, and though, as a
rule, in Kansas it doesn't rain elephants
it did on that occasion, and is accounted
for by the fact that a cyclone had
struck circus twenty miles to the
west of US, and furthermore it was
raining lions and tigers and horses and
hyenas and monkeys and tent pins for
week afterward, the biggest things,
of course. coming down soonest"
My dear sir. gasped the drummer,
as the quiet man was about to continue
don't say another word. travel for
n liquor house. and if you want bar
rel of cocktails give me your address
and I'll send it to you by the first
cyclone that passes our place.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
Ages at Which Mon Marry.

Statistics show that law of chances
governs in the vast majority of cases
the ages at which men marry, who are
engaged in certain occupations. Work
men and artisans take unto themselves
wives at an earlier age than those whose
vocations are of more intellectual
kind. Thus, miners, textile factory
hands, laborers and artisans marry at
an average of twenty-five years. Of
these the miners are first in the field.
more than 100 of every 1000 of them
securing wives before they have be-
come of age. Workers in textile fabrics
run them close, then come shoemakers
and tailors, and they are followed by
artisans and laborers. Farmers and
farmers sons consider twenty five early
enough. Commercial clerks seek the
pleasures of matrimony at twenty six.
Shop keepers and shopmen postpone
the rapture little while longer. Pro-
fessional men and gentlemen of indie
pendent means rarely care to cucumber
themselves even with so delightful
burden as wife until they have toel
the line of over thirty years. Though
the rich marry at a more ripe age than
the working fraternity. they continue
marrying until long after the last
named haye ceased to we'd. Whereas
fourteen miners and twenty five artisans
in every 1000 marry between the ages
of thirty five and forty, nearly 100 of
the professional and independent class
do. 1t is explained in this way: The
rich like to see something of the world
and its pleasures before settling down
to sober matrimony. A laborer has
neither desire nor opportunity for it.
When he has house of his own. and
wife to look after it for him, LIE has at,
tanned, perhaps, to the height of his am
bition. 1t is said man is neither
physically nor mentally mature until he
is thirty, and if this is true, it stands
to reason a man at that age should be
better fitted for the duties of husband
and father than STRIPPING of twenty
one.-N. Y. Ledger.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
Spanish Obstinac y.

A Spaniard is as obstinate as mule.
When he is angry he Is an infiexible
tyrant. and he becomes very angry
when he is thwsrted.
An anecdote illustrates what a tyrant
n Spanish father may be. while at the
same time exhibiting the magnanimity
of fair. minded soldier.
General x. an old officer of
Spain, had a daughter who fell In love
with her fathers adjutsnt. There was
no good reason against the match, but
the general refused his consent, and
the pair married without it. From the
hour of their marriage he would not
recognize their existence. The son in
law and the father fought side by side
in several battles; but neither spoke to
the other.
At last the adjutant so distinguished
himself that his friends pressed the
general to apply for his son-in laws
promotion.
Son in law! have none" he replied.
Your daughters husband"
Il have no daughter"
I'VE mean Lieutenant -, your late
adjutant."
All. that is different thing! Lieut.
enant - is a good soldier. l viii!
willingly assist his advancement"
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09

A Plea for the Organ Grinder

Our organ grinder is no more beg
gar than is my good friend Mr. Henry
Abbey, the honest and best of operatic
impressarios, writes H. G. Bunner, in
Scribne''s. Mr.. Abbey can take tho
American opera house and hire Mir.
Seidl and Mr.. It TO conduct grand
opera for your delight and mine, and
when we can afford it we go and listen
to his perfect music, and as our poor
contributions cannot pay for it all tho
rich of the land meet the deficit But
this poor footsore child of fortune has
only his heavy box of tunes and a
human beings easement in the public
highway. Let us not shut him out of
that poor right because once in whilo
he wanders in front of our doors and
offers wares that offend our finer taste
1t is easy enough to get him to betake
himself elsewhere, and if it costs us q
few cents let us not ransack our law
books and our moral PHILOSOPHERS to
find out if we cannot indict him for
constructive blackmail, but consider
the nickel or the dime little tribute
to the uncounted weary souls who love
his strains and welcome his coming,
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
People Who Know Not the Luxury of a
Soft Couch


A man accused of begging once de.
clared that he had not been in bed for
thirteen years, he took his rest in door,
ways and passages. This is not bad
record, but many Of the homeless class
could doubtless beat ID, says all OK
change. Certainly there are thousands
to whom such luxury as q bed is I'M
known; unfortunates. obliged to lay
their heads in the oldest places i'm
aginable to prevent their being rudely
awakened by the police.
A sad ne'sr do we'll told the writer
that this was his principal thought for
more days than he could count-where
should he sleep that nightp And he
had theory that but for having this
object in view constantly as he tram ped
over the monotonous pavements of .on
don he must have lost his reason.
He laughed in after days when he
thought of some of his experiences at
"dozing out" Even he, however, never
slept in q stream, which was what some
thirty persons Of both sexes did at
Budapest few years back. The water,
which was warm, flowed from mill,
and the Migrants got into it and con
verted O number of stones into tenn
porary pillows. Even people with
homes could tell some strange stories
on this head.
Of course, in some countries beds are
unknown. The Japanese, for example,
sleep on the floor, muffled in a great
wadded coat, and with big block CT
wood for pillow. But, combining our
selves to England, just talk to tho
jewellers in the slums on the subject
Why, going to bod there during the
summer months is positively inviting
torture! Many places swarm with ver-
min, and consequently those who live
in them find it more comfortable to
sleep anywhere rather than in the
proper place-even on the doorstep.
DO "trippers" ever sleep except in rail
way carriages, and do holiday makers
sleep anywhere when they are at GER
tain popular health resorts?
The manager of an Isle of Man hotel
remarked few months ago that "vis.
tors" never went to bed. The servants
were often asked to provide break fasts
at 3 or o'clock In the morning. A
gentleman is fond of relating that one
night party settled near his bedroom
window and created the most discord-
ant din imaginable. He bore it with ex-
emplary patience for about five hours
and then, dressing himself, he went out
and mildly expostulated, saying he
wanted some sleep.
"Sleep!" roared one of the gang,
blowing terrific blast on toy trum
pet. Then why did you come to the
Isle of Man?'
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
OUR ANCESTORS SUFFERED.
They Had No Lemons Before the Days o.
Henry VIII.

Henry VIII.
Who ever thinks of connecting such
Il commonplace article Of diet as the
lemon with the romantic history of ill,
fated Anne Boleyn? Yet indirectly
she was the cause Of its first introduc
ton into England and so into popular
notice. Henry VIII.-who, if he rid
himself of his wives like brute, GER
tainly won them like prince-gave
such splendid feasts and pageants iii
honor of the coronation of Anne ana
of their previous nuptials as had sell
dom been accorded to queens of the
blood royal
These kingly entertainments were in
turn followed by the great civic feastS
of London which the whole world was
searched for delicacies to add to the
Splendor At one such banquet graccd
by the presence of the royal pair u
lemon was introduced as an elegant
novelty.
To an epicurc such as Henry the
acquisition of castle in France would
have proved less acceptable, and such
was the Importance attached to the
diScovery-so says an old biography
that Il special record was made of the
fact that the cost Of this precious lemon
was six silver pennies!-kate Fields
Washington.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
A DAREDEVIL TROOPER.
Col. Howard's blackberry Lunch with
Uninvited Guests.

II was Il member of the Eleventh
Confederate Cavalry, commanded by
Col. james Ross Howard, who died
the other day in Washington" said
Stephen Meyer. Col. Howard was Il
remarkably brave man. He went
through the Mexican war as Il pri-
vate. served with distinction through
the civil war, and was three times
desperately wounded. After the sur
render he joined Don Carlos in his at
tempt to seize the throne of Spain.
Howard loved to fight better than to
eat, and never stopped to count noses
when an enemy was in sight
I'VE were in the Kentucky campaign
under Kirby Smith, and one day the
colonel. myself and two others got
separated from the regiment. We had
gone up considerable hill to look for
the Yankees, but failed to find any.
Blackberries were ripe and the woods
We're full of 'em. We stopped to enjoy
them, and while we were fcasting the
command marched on. All of us kept
our bridle-reins over our arms but
Howard, who tied his mount to Il tree.
laid aside his sword and pistols and
proceeded to enjoy himself. l sug
geSted that it was well not to get too
far from his horse, as Yankees We're
powerful uncertain critters. oh, thun-
der" said he, there isn't Yankee
within twenty miles of here
He had hardly got the words out of
his mouth before four tall, raw-boned
bluccoats rose up on the other side of
a clump of hazels and covered us with
their rifles, while the sergeant in COM
mand drawled: 'Du tellv Howard
looked at them, transferred a liberal
handful of berries to his mouth and re-
Piled Speak of the devil and you'll
see his horns. Help yourselves to ber-
ries; you're perfectly welcome He
went on picking and eating, and the
Federals lowered their rifles and looked
at him in a surprised way, and began
an onslaught on the big berries. We
chatted with them while we ate. and
found them very agreeable companions.
when we had finished Col. Howard
said: Well, are you fellows going with
us. or do you propose to take us with
you? Wall said the sergeant slowly,
as he reached for a new berry bush. L
kinder cackalate we hain't agoin with
you Eff v want t surrender We'll
take v in, but we amt a-hankerin' fer
yer company Same here said How
ard, and we parted."-St. Louis Globe
Democrat.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
An Ex-Confederate Tells How a Kiss in
the Moonlight Saved Him.

the MOOnliSuU SASeu hih'
Il was lieutenant colonel Of Ken
tucky regiment" said Col. John G.
Underwood, of Kentucky, to Boston
Globe man. Our command was in
East Tennessee, and one bright moon
light night 1 concluded to ride away
from camp and take look about the
vicinity.
Il rode several miles and, coming to
farm house, hitched my horse and
knocked at the door. Ayoung woman,
thei most beautiful l had ever seen. it
seemed to me, appeared after while
and invited me in.
She and her aged mother were the
only occupants of the house, the men
of the family being in the Confederate
army. We chatted pleasantly for a
few minutes, whom my fair hostess arose
and said: Colonel, you ran great
risk in leaving your horse in such an
exposed position. The Yankee pickets
are all about it. will go and put him
in the barn.
She left the room and after few
minutes returned, when we resumed
our conversation. Suddenly she started
up and listened. Colonel, you must
go now she exclaimed. i hear the
sound of horses hoofs; the Federals
are coming? Rushing out of doors,
she led my horse to the back of the
house, and I, following her, jumped on
his back.
The most natural thing for me to
have done would have been to set spurs
to him and get away as soon as pos
sible. But could not. was young
and impressionable. and the situation
was enhancing. The moon shed sill
verlight upon the earth, gentle breeze
was stirring and the rustic of the leaves
in the grand old trees was like music to
my soul. And amid these enchanting
surroundings beautiful face with
fearful eyes looked into mine, beseech-
ing me to hasten.
Il could not resist the temptation.
and stopping down from my horse put
my arm around her, drew her closer to
my side and kissed her. As did so a
shower of bullets passed over my head.
One of them went through the rim of
my hat. was in full sight of COM
pany of Federal horsemen. No other
warning was necessary. My horse real
lied the danger as we'll as and race
for life ensued. The enemy pressed
hard upon me for time, and more than
once their bullets grazed my head, but
fortune favored me and l at length
reached the Confederate lines in safety.
Do you wonder that I remember when
kiss saved my lfe?"
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
Look on tho Good and Great.

The youth who has high aspirations
and close his eyes to the littleness of
an age and save his mind and heart for
the vision of goodness and greatness.
AS artists on their noble studies of ma
ture do not sit down to sketch malar-
ial bog or some piece of deafness or
responsiveness, but go to where noun.
tain of pines rises up from fiowery
geld or to where the smiling ocean lifts
the soul toward infinity, thus the youth
who hopes to make high use Of his stay
upon earth must look long and with
rapture upon those fields Of human life
where humanity unfolded itself in more
colors than O whole summer time can
contain and In breadth and depth
which no ocean can equal.
Swing.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09

We use 100000 envelopes daily.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
But This Is Not to BE Regarded as His
Height.
The strongest poet I o,

The strongest poet ever had to in
terview," said the fighting editor of the
Boston Globe, was big fellow. Why,
he stood eight feet
"Oh, cut it short" cried the others
in chorus. Come down little from
that height"
Il am telling you nothing but the
truth. He stood feet e.
Now, look here" exclaimed one of
the party, you can't stuff that down
our Threats. and there's no use trying
it."
IF you will be kind enough to wait
till l finish you will all acknowledge
that am telling nothing but what is
perfectly plausible. The man stood s
feet inches
"Oh, get out!'
Eight feet six inches away from me
when he talked" concluded the pugil-
istic one with calm smile as he walked
off amid the groans Of his listeners.
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
A KISSING FAIR.
The Curious Custom That Obtains in a
ROumanian Town.

ROumanian Town.
IIalmagcn, Il Roumanian country
town of 1,20O inhabitants, holds its an
nulal fair on the Feast of ST. Theodore
On this occasion the place swarms with
newly brides from some 60 to
so villages in the district; widows who
home. The young women, in festive
attire. and generally attended by their
mothers-in-law, carry jugs of wine en-
wrcathcd with flowers in their hands
They kiss every one they meet. and
afterwards present the jug to his lips
for nip" The individual thus re-
called bcstows small gift on the fair
Cybele. Not to partakc of the prof
fercd wine is regarded as an insult to
the young wife and her family. She is.
therefore, reserved towards strangers
and only kisses those whom she thinks
likely to taste her wine. The kissing
is carried on evcrywhcre-in the street
in the tavernS and in private houses
The origin of this custom is yelled i'm
obScurity. Some say that it dates back
to the time when the Turks made fire.
quent raids into Pennsylvania and car
ried away all the young women they
could lay their hands on. Such of them
as contrived to escape from captivity.
happening to return to Halmagen at
the time of the fair. kissed their friends
and relatives, and even strangers who
congratulated them on their wonderful
dcliverance. RumaniSche Wochen-
Schrift
Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-09
Cumberland and Pennsylvania
RAILROAD.
SCHEDULE
Eastward.

of performance.
All trains stop at Hays street station Cum
berland
Nos. l, 2, 3 and daily except Sunday. Nos. 5
and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only
No baggage car will be hauled en- trains Nos
5 and 8. l.. NJ. HAMILTON,
May2t Superintendent
The herald., 1893-07-23
Pottery of the American Indians,

The pottery of the North American
Indian is in some respects like the dol
men pottery of Europe, although it diff
fers in many details of form, mode of
manufacture and ornamentation. The
North American Indian used neither
wheel nor furnace, nor did he, except
rarely, decorate it with colors. The clay
was frequently mixed with powdered
shells. The decoration of pottery made
in the eastern portion of the United
States was effected by incised lines and
dots with various combinations. The
spiral and volute were employed.
Among the southern Indians much of
the decoration was made by the i'm
press of textile fabrics, sometimes with
only string or cord. In the interior and
principally on the Mississippi river the
pottery vessels were made to represent
sometimes the human face, sometimes
animals. There was much greater
prevalence Of the bottle form in the
United States than in Europe. The pre-.
historic pottery Of Mexico and Central
America forms special group; that
from the pueblos of Arizona and New
Mexico another. while that made by the
North American Indian constitutes q
third group. Each Of these has dis
tinctive characteristics, Great Divide.
The herald., 1893-07-23
Mr. Fergu.on,s Saving Prayer.

Away back in the early sixties Mr..
Ferguson was defending man accused
of beating his wife. The case was ON
trial before justice of the peace, prob
ably the same justice who decided that
stealing sack of potatoes out of canoe
was piracy on the high seas" The ac-
cused was convicted, and the justice
promptly sentenced him to be hanged.
"But you can't hang man for beat
ing his wife," expostulated Ferguson.
"The devil / can't" said the justice,
bridling up. Saint he guilty. Oughtn't
any man to be hung who would beat q
woman and that woman his wife? And
amt l the only judge in this county, If
haven't got the power to hang man,
who has, eh? I'll hang him within an
hour; won't we, boys9" he concluded,
addressing the crowd standing around,
whose sympathies were evidently with
the woman.
"That we will," shouted the crowd.
Seeing that the case was beginning to
look serious for his client, Ferguson said:
swell, your honor, before the man is
hanged I'd like to take him out behind
that big tree and pray with him."
"All right" said the justice, and off
went the prisoner and Ferguson. When
they got behind the tree Ferguson said
In an undertone:
"Now git, you hound" And he got
Seattle Press-Times.
The herald., 1893-07-23
Charmed by q Snake.

As was several miles out in the coun-
try, riding horseback from Pomona to
Etiwanda, / saw jack rabbit standing
still only a few feet from the road.
drove up close to the animal, which still
refused to scamper away. On the con-
trary, the rabbit stood or sat transfixed
to the spot, though making a constant
nervous, shuddering motion, as if anx-
ious to get away, but at the same time
being held to the spot. was surprised
that the rabbit did not flee at the ap-
proach of myself and horse, and when
looked little sharper l saw large rat
tlesnake coiled up nnder some bushes,
his head uplifted, about six feet from the
rabbit.
shall never forget the scene. The
rabbit was looking with indescribable
eagerness straight at the slowly ap-
preaching snake and needed nothing
else. l dismounted, and seizing long
stick by force pushed the rabbit away,
when the snake instantly swelled with
rage and sounded it's rattles. wounded
the snake and then dispatched it. The
rabbit for a second or two seemed be-
numbed and was hardly capable of mo-
tion. That was over quickly, and the
animal hoped away.-Pomona Prog
rass
The herald., 1893-07-23
She Fed the Dog.


up town drug store the other day. She
led tiny pug by. q slender silver chain.
Her hat was all a-bloom with purple
flowers, and an Alsatian bow Of purple
ribbon was tied about pnggie's neck SO
big as to give the impr ession that there
was more bow than dog. s@..,'... u
Milady seated herself on a stool in
front of the soda fountain and tenderly
lifted his small canineship to another
seat beside her. The order was given
for chocolate ice cream soda. When it
was served, this rather remarkable
young woman conveyed a teaspoonful of
the cream first to her own lips and then
to puggie's. This process was repeated
until not drop was left.
It developed during this interesting
episode that the dogs name was Mig,
and to see Mig blink his eyes and lick
his small chops was very funny indeed.
"Ughl" exclaimed matter of fact
woman looking on. 'How that girl can
put that spoon back in her mouth after
that dog has licked it passes my compre-
hension. think it is perfectly disgust
ing"
But Mig only blinked the more know
ingly, doubtless thanking the good Lord
that all women were not made alike
Chicago News.
The herald., 1893-07-23
Teeth of the Beaver.

The beaver is armed with two long
chisellike teeth in each jaw. These
teeth are exceedingly powerful and are
to a beaver what an ak is to woods
man. One such tooth taken from the
lower jaw of medium sized skull (they
can be removed without difficulty, un-
like the most of ours) is bent into near
ly semicircle and measures 8 inches
along its outer curve. Only one inch of
this length projects from the skull. The
corresponding one from the upper jaw
is bent into more than complete half
circle and measures upon its outer face
4 inches. of which less than an inch
protrudes from its bone casing. In
width each tooth Is fve-eighths of an
inch. Examination Of one Of them re-
veals the secret of how beaver can per-
form such feats as chopping down
birch tree 16 inches in diameter, not to
speak of softer woods, like the bass
wood, of much greater size.
The tooth is composed of two mate
rails. Along the outer face or front of
the tooth is thin plate of exceedingly
hard enamel. On the inner, forming the
body of the tooth, is a substance called
dentine. The dentine, being softer, wears
away with use. The thin enamel re-
..eai-s- eas,4saaratiyely ncss.o-,, so that
the tooth assumes the shape OF a Keen
chisel that never grows dull. The tooth
is hollow at the base for half its length
and is filled with nourishing substance
which keeps it constantly growing.-St.
Nicholas.