davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-12
POLLING A DEATH IN MAINE.
Curious Custom Maintained in Remote
 Regions of the Pine Tree State.

A Curious Custom Maintained in Remote
 Regions of the Pine Tree State.
 The traveller through some of the more remote rural regions of Maine occasionally hears what most men of three score and ten remember as fa- miliar sound in their young days-the tolling of church bell on the death of denizen of the neighbOrhood, the strokes numbering the years of the persons life. There is something pc culiarly solemn about the use of the bell, so long neglected in the more populouS communities, and to writer for the Lewiston Journal no funeral service ever brought the fact of death home with the same pathos as listen ing to the unexpected sound of ''the death-bell," startling the community into hush, broken for few minutes only by the low, whispered query: ''Why, who can that be?" Then, as the tolling went on, the count was kept carefully to solve the mystery. The tolling began usually very soon after the breath had left the body, and before the news had spread through other channels. If a very aged person the count would require a considerable time, while all would sit very still and listen for the strokes. A very dramatic scene connected with this old custom of tolling the age of the dead is told by Miss Mulock in her novel, ''A Brave Lady" It is where the shallow rector has used other money than his own, and is on the point Of exposure, and his wife sees no way to avert the disgrace about to settle on her husband and children, when the solemn sound of the death bell peals over the little village. Breathlessly the count is kept and the bell goes on tolling until there is only one person in the community whose age will compare with it's stroke-the wealthy old dean who has told the rec tors wife he has made her his heir. A dear friend lost, fortune gained-the means brought to hand to make good her husbands wrong-doing-tha is what the death-bell tells her. Hearing the old familiar sound pealing solemn ly over Maine hamlet the other day brought this scene to mind most viv- idly.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-12
ANCIENT MoATs.
They Were Used as Fish Ponds by the
 Ancfeuts.


 Ancients.
 The zoology of these ancient meats is as deeply interesting as their botany. Therein lounge about pike and carp which may be century old, the for mer running to twenty-five and thirty pounds weight and the latter to eight and nine. This fact can verify, be- cause I had to take museum casts of them for my own purpose. In pre- reformation times fish ponds were as necessary to country house as a kitchen garden is now.
 There were the Fridays all through the year when nothing but fish diet was allowed. and the forty days of Lent. In short, the dietary menu die tated by the church extended over one fourth of the entire year. In the eastern counties, particularly where there are no salmon and trout streams, it was important to have stews and meats, where pike, carp, perch and still coarser fish could breed, grow fat and be utilized for the table. The fish were as regularly fed from the oriel windows which overlooked the moat as the doves behind the hall.
 Naturalists are aware that both pike and carp can individually live per haps longer than any other kinds of fishes. Being confined to what we call coarse fish, the culinary skill of the lady dwellers in these moated houses was directed to making the most of them. Hence the comparatively large number of receipts still lingering in our cookery books for preparing carp, pike and perch for the table, although few people care to try the result twice. 1 The carp, coarse in texture though its flesh may be and muddy in flavor, can, nevertheless, if stewed in wine, be converted into palatable viand, as every one who has tramped along the French and German villages bordering the larger rivers is aware.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-12
A VENERABLE TOAD.
It Is Estim ated That It Had Lived Over
 Four Thousand Years.

It Is Estim ated That It Had Lived Over
 Four Thousand Years.
 In laying the foundation of house in Whitesborough some fifty years ago the workmen had occasion to split a large stone from the millstone grit, says the Detroit Free Press. It was perfectly close grained and compact. On opening it, however, they discov- cred black or dark brown spherical mass. This they removed and turned over, when to their unbounded sur prise it proved to be toad, much larger than the common species and of very dark color. It was perfectly torpid, but after contact with the fresh air it began to show signs of life and to hop about in heavy and ponderous manner. The workmen, being ignorant fellows, paid no attention to the toad, which hopped around the yard for sev- eral days and then disappeared. They laid the stone in the wall so that the cavity remained in sight for many years. The story was subsequently investigated by scientists, who, from the testimony of several witnesses were satisfied of it's truth.
 The millstone grit is the oldest of the secondary rocks, and must have been formed many centuries before the deluge. It was supposed that the toad might have grown from an egg de- posted through some minute cleavage in the rock, but no cleavage could be found, and the only explanation possible is that the toad found it's way into the grit while the latter was in aqueous solution, over four thousand years ago; that grit hardened around it, and that it existed within the rock ever since.
 A somewhat similar discovery was made while the Erie canal was being excavated. At that time when digging through ridge of dry gravel the work men came upon several hundred living mollusca of the mya cariosa and mya purpurea families. They cooked and ate a number, and found them very palatable. These living fossils were taken at depth of forty-two feet from the surface of the earth.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-12
A Peculiar Belief,

It is an old belief of native Hawaiians that the spirits of their warrior chiefs inhabit after death the bodies of their favorite horses. There is even now fine white stallion in Honolulu in which, it is popularly believed, lives the spirit of Boki, who led rebellion in Tahiti some years ago. At various times this horse, splendidly capari- soned, is led riderless in state through the principal streets of Honolulu.
The St. Johns herald., 1893-10-12
THE FIRST LIGHTNING ROD.
It Was Not Invented by Benjamin Frank
 lin As Most People Believe.

It Was Not Invented by Benjamin Frank lin As Most People Believe.
 Almost everybody believes that Franklin was the inventor of the light ming rod; and, in this one particular, nearly everybody is mistaken. The first lightning conductor was not in- vented by the genius who is said to have caught the lightning wild and played with bolts of thunder" but by a poor Bohemian monk who lived at Seuttenberg, who erected his lightning catcher on the palace of the curator of Preditz, Moravia, on June 15, 1754 The name of this inventive monk was Prohop Dilwisch. His apparatus was composed of pole surmounted by an iron rod supporting twelve curved branches and terminating in as many metallic boxes filled with iron ore and inclosed with a wooden box-like cover. This was traversed by twenty-seven iron-pointed rods, the bases of which were connected with the ore boxes. This entire system of wires was united with the earth by large chain.
 The enemies of Dilwisch, jealous of his success, excited the peasants of the neighborhood against him, claiming that his invention was the cause of the dry weather that was running their crops. When the inventor laughed at them and refused to remove it they put him in prison and then destroyed his work
 NJ. Nielsen used a triple-pointed rod years before Benjamin Franklin ever thought of lightning rod.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
Prayer Answered While He Prayed.

Prayer Answered While He Prayed.
AUGUSTA, GA. The winds of Thurs
day nights storm settled a religious
wrangle by summarily blowing down the
house of worship where the wrangle took
place.
For weeks the members of the Bro wn-
vile Baptist Church, in the southern
part of the city, have been engaged in
dispute over choice of pastors. Through
trials and tribulations the Rev. White,
far removed in color from his name, did
| L>,;ia .i,;- -l>>>--l- As.-- -L~..-----f
God stood complete, and the church
members pronounced it good, a bright
mulatto theologian came to the neighbor-
hood, smiled upon The females of the
congregation, and announced himself a
candidate for pastor. That this yellow
parvenu churchman should receive any
favor from his flock made the Rev.
White indignant. He prayed that this
house Of worship which he with his own
hands, had built should be destroyed,
thus ending forever the audacioui
claims of his mu,atto opponent and the
wrangling of his ungrateful congregation,
Shortly before last nights storm, while
the clouds were growing dark and th'
distant thunder rolled, the Rev: White
continued to pray. The fury of the blast
increased, the rain fell, the flood came
s6e Rev. white stopped his petition tn
church was destroyed. There was $lS'
|, 900 damage. The negroes of that whole
,ection are terrorized over the visitation
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
aFyMBEER2s
THE COTTON CROPS IS poea

Tho New York World Correspondents
5 :. Say II is Materially Damaged.
= New YoRK.-The World prints sre-g
ports by telegraph from nearly 500 offs
correspondents in tho South and South
west upon the condition, July 5th, of the
cotton crop in ther respective localities.
Thes, reports, which cover thoroughly
the whole cotton raising section of the
Usited States, make very discouraging
showing for this years crop of that sta
pie. 1t is already certain that the crop
he's been badly damaged by unfavorbale
weather during the past six weeks; that
it has got poor start; that it is being in
jurcd by insects aud disease aud canuot
amourt to oanaserages.y .yisla.ssN rcseri-
o9sstill the nrasQeet that.fpytber ad--
pected at this season, catching the belat-
cd crop in its present condition, will
reduce the yield still further
A few sections, as in Florida and
Louisiana, seem to be excepted from the
fate that his overtake the cotton terri
tory generally, but they are not extensive
enough to make any material difference
in the crop as whole.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
Boilers Explode, Killing 90.

ST. PETERSBURG, Cablcgram. ter
.ibic disaster, resulting in laage loss of
ifc, occur>d on the steamer Aliens.
,oat employed in the river trade on the
-Valn,-The steamer-miih- h nnit" q" ~''",
Der Of passenger on Doard, was aP-
oroaching Romano or when the boilers ex-
olodci, killing 26 passengers. Among
he dead is General Petrushewski. The
explosion tore the upper part If the
steamer to pieces, and burning coal,
ylown flom the furnace, set fire to the
wreck. TIE boat burned to the waters
dge, then sank.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
SWEPT BROADWAY CLEAN.
cyclone-Like Doings of q New York
Cable Car.

Cyclone-Like Doings of New York
Cable Car.
NEW York cable car became un-
manageable on Bro adway in front Of City
Hall park, and started on rampage to-
ward the Battery. The motorman Yves
unable to release the glir, and, under the
circumstances, the brake became useless.
In front of the postofiicc the runaway
Car crashed in the rear platform of a
horse car ahead. The driver OF the horse
car, with commendablc presence of mind,
reincd his horses to one side just in time
to save them from being run down. Both
horses sqs weEs tbFG tbFHwR SnsS sS the 7Sgse4V
caued with slight injuries.
Still, the cars rushed on, ploWlng
through trucks and knocking down
horses. In front of st. Paups charch
yard there was block on Broadway, ano
the drivers of trucks were unable to saw
their horses and wagons.
When the cars had cut passag
through the block seven horses "er
bors dc combat and about five wagon
badly damaged. The cars with 'ne
frightened load of passengers, wei
finally stopped near the Battery.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14

When General Dodds, the successful,
French Commander in Dahomey, re.
ceived the brevet Of General during
the recent campaign he was unable,
says Paris correspondent, to procure
there the four silver stars which,
stitched on the uniform, are a sign of
that rank. It was suggested to make
them with silver coins. AS the only
ones that could be found were English
shillings, the stars bore the head Of
Queen Victoria, the Generals original
sovereign.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
Carried onto Sea.

SAVANNAH, aA.-Thc Austrian bark
sirena, Capt. Msrtenlib, has been libel
.lea for Sc, : 600 by rrAItis.B. Wheat Of
this city, who seeks to recover tna'
amount for being shaushaied. Last De-
cember, while drinking, Wheat 1eii IN
with runner, who carried him of to the
sirena and shipped hin under the name
of a negro who had deserted. When
Wheat came to his sens,s the bark was al
sea on the way to Tries;e. There he laio
his case before an American Consul, wh'
sent him to Genoa, The Consul ther'
sending him home. The sirena reacnee
this port few days ago, and wheat VIII
endeavor to keep her here some time.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
rho Parting was Affectionate.

CRANsroN's N. Y.4-Mrs. Jefferson
Davis, her maid and Mss Winnie Davis
departed from Cranston's Monday mnrn-
ing over the New York Central. They
90 direct to Narragansstt- PiAE, RI
where they will remain during the season.
All the guests of the hotel, including
Mrs. Grant, took their leave of Mrs.
Davis last night. The parting between
Mrs. Grant and Miss Dlvis was very af-
fectlonate indeed.
Mrs. Davis and party, in company
with Miss Mary d. Pol, drove to West
Point and witnessed the parade last
evening. After their return to the hote
Mrs. Davis remained IN the large Parls1
during the entire hing and sat con
versing with Mrs. Giant most of th'
| time.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
SMASHING 1 Rum. POWER.

whisky Ed with a Club.
Rev. John It'd OF Aldie, Loudon
county, Va, is at Worlds Fair and
eyidentlyswants Ds Ito kpoN.it.aI Last
l-UAdnAAdAy- s-- esrss.s -a.s-:iS:--
the reverend gentleman came upon the
handsome whisky exhibit made by Sir
John Powers, of Dublin, Ireland. Sud
denly he raised heavy hickory cane he
was carrying and smashed away at the
bottles arranged in the form of famous
round tower of Ireland. Three times he
smote the exhibit, bringing down about
twenty bottles and spilling the liquor on
the floor of the building. Then he was
seized by the guards and the club
wrenched from his hand. A patrol
wagon was summoned and the clergyman
given ride to the patrol barn, where he
admitted smashing the exhibit. He was
kept prisoner while warrant was
being produced, ard he meanwhile wrote
out long statement of "Why I struck
the whisky power" saying that it was
because Jehovah told him, and he dids:it
ON the Fourth of July as an appropriate
day.
CHICAGO, ILL Rev. John T. James,
of Virginia, who smashed tho whisky
exhibit of Sir John Powers in the Agri-
cultural Building on the Fourth of Jnly,
got off easily in Justice Porter's court
The prisoner refused to make any state
ment and acted SO queerly that the
justice allowed the charge of malicious
mischief to be changed to disorderly
conduct. He then fined the reverend
vandal $25. Mr.. James declared be
would 60 to Jail and pose as a martyr for
the demon, drink. Then the judge re-
mitted the fine.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
busy hymenopter.

In spite Of the fact that emigration
asst year was against the Argentine Re-
public, and that the country was un-
dergoing financial depression, the total
area under crops wee e,eo2. 0ee acruu
eseinst Q 4s7, 600 aores in i s91 ,san in.
soresse, within year, Of 1875, 600
acres. The only woods which come to
the United States from the Argentine
are the Cordova carpet woods from
native sheep, shipped mostly to the
Boston mills.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14

A Belgium newspaper correspondent
finds that there are twenty per cent.
more voters in proportion to the popu-
lation in France than there are in tho
United States. His fgures are:
France-One voter in every 3.89 OF
population. Greece-One voter in
every 4.36 of population. United
States-One voter in about 4.5O OF
population. Germany-One voter in
every 4.s7 of population. Great
Britain-One voter in every 6.18 OF
population. Italy-One voter in every
V.87 of population. Holland--one
voter in every 1902 of population
Norway-One voter in every 1857 o.
population. Sweden-One voter II
every 1890 Of population. Hungary
--One voter in about eighteen OF popu
lation. Belgium One voter in ever
k8. 40 Of population.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
HUNG AN INNOCENT MAN.
Suffered Death for O Murder That Was
Never Committed.

Suffered Death TOT q murO0r Iubt tNAS
Never Committed.
FAYETTEvILLB, ARK.-Saturday's de-
yelopments have rendered sensational
suppossd naurdar- nass that has long been
disposed of by the hanging of an in
nocent man.
In 1855 George Watkins, with come
ly young wife, moved from Kansas to q
county adjoining this and settled on the
homestead Of Andy Hedgepeth, q
wealthy planter. Watkins soon became
aware of uuholy relations between
uedpepeth and Mrs. Watkins. The two
men went to market in Hedgepeth's
| wagon. Hedgepeth returned alone. The
sudden absence of Watkins excited sus
picion and Hedgepeth and the woman
were arrested
The woman, at the trial, stated tina
| she and Hedgepsth had agreed to kill he
husband, but denied any knowledge o
the murder. The evidence was circum
stantial, but in strong and unbroke
chain. The case was carried to tho 8.
preme Court, reversed, and at the secon
trial Hedgepath was again convicted an
hanged. 1t is learned by Hsdgspath
counsel that Watkins is living in his ol
home in Kansas, where no has been
the time since his disappearance.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
THE coTT0N TjousE.
Remedies Tor Riddance-+The Lady
Bugs Doing q Good Work.

Remedies for sRiddance--+The Lady
Bugs Doing a Good Work.
EXPERIMENT STATION, RALEIGH, N.
C.-Every season as soon as the hot dry
weather begins in earnest, the Expert.
ment Station receives complaints Of the
damage caused to cotton plants by a
small red mite which most farmers call
louse. This is scientifically known as
totranychus tolarius. 1t is true mite
which lives on the under surface of the
leaf covered by white silken web. 1t
inserts its beak into the veins of the leaf
and sucks out the sap, causing the leaf
to turn red or brown in spots, producing
what is often called crust" The leaf
eventually withers and sfailssp off. This
notice until its presence Is ihte miahdte xaoaaf
by the rusty appearance Of the cotton
leaves.
Remedies: Probal ly the most salts.
factory remedy is to seLd men through
the fields with baskets or bags and pick
off all rusty leaves, carry them away
with their infesting mites and burn
them. AS they live on the under side of
the leaf it is difficult to use s, ray against
them unless one has nozzle that will
throw the spray upwards. Such a noz
zle attached to T rod is made by the
Field Pump Co., of Lockport, N. Y. A
reliable ready prepared emulsion can be
bought of W. S. Powell & Co., Apnapo-
lis Junction, Md, as cheap as any one
can make it.
The tobacco decoction will also de:
stroy these mites. 1t is made by boiling
tobacco stems or powder in water for
half an hour at the rate Of one pound of
tobacco to three gallons water. 1t will
be more powerful if sulphur is used in
| connection. Mix five pounds OF -four OF
sulphur with ten pounds of fresh lime
and boil together in five 10 ten gallons of
water for half an hour. Add this, boil
ing hot, to twenty gallons of diluted to-
bacco decoction and use at once. In
stead of boiling lime and sulphur, sui
phide Of lime may be bought at the stores.
One pound of this powder should be well
mixed with one quart of ordinary soft
soap and the whole then stirred into
twenty gallons Of the hot tobacco de-
coction aud used at once. Should the
weather turn wet those mites will soon
disappear as they are unable to with
stand much moisture.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14

A timber expert makes the interest
ing statement that the spruce lands oi
Maine are to-day worth more than
were the pine lands Of fifty years ago.
mainly because of the development oi
the uulp business. He estimates the
value of wild lands at $40 per acre,
reckoning only eighty-five cords to an
acre. There are nearly $500, 600 acre'
of wild land in Maine, and assuming
that only q quarter of this is covered
with merchantable growth, the tota
valuation would be something like
s47, 900, 900. Some idea of the i'm
mense extent Of wild lands in Main
may be gained from the statements tina
they would make State twice as larg'
as Massachusetts, twice As large as NeN
Hampshire and Vermont combined
aud thirteen times as large as Rhod
TsIand. In Aroostook County aion
there are nearly 8, 900, 600 scres, Will
in Piscataquis, an adjoining county
there are over 1000, 600; in Washing
ton, another adjoining county, ov'
SOC. 900; in Somerset nearly 2, 600, o0
and in Hancock about 400, 900 acre
Penobscot the most thickty settle
county in eastern Maine has over s0(
600 scres.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
Latest in North Carolina.

The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad
has decided not to pay Its regular July
dividend because of having to pay heavy
back taxes to the State.
Trains are expected to run between
Wilmington and Newbern on the Will
mington, Newbern & Norfolk Railroad
(nearly completely in August.
The Fayetteville Gazette says that
"Bolly" Gillespie, colored, was taken
from his house near Hope Mills by some
white and colored men recently and
given thrashing for having ''blown" on
certain "gall-berry still" in that neigh
borhood. Warrants have been sworr
out for several of the offenders.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
Port ROYALS Dry Dock,

PoRr ROYAL, 8. C.-owing to the
earthouake and extremely high tides the
Golfer dam to the dry dock became weak
enea and a crevasse appeared on Friday
night, through which the river water
aowea and filed the dock. The coffel
dam is being rapidly repaired ano
strengthened, when the dock will b.
numped out and work proceeded with
The water in the dock can do little dam
ace. as it is built to hold water.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
The Register of the Treasury.

WASHINGTON, d. C.-James f. Ill.
Imam. of Tennessee, the new Register OF
the Treasury, is not well known to the
public, but he is describsaSy-"n an e'see,n'
ed Virginia contemporary as "a gen.ie-
man of much ability, finesocial quaht'es'
and handsome personal appearance, who
has been prominently ipdcntihed with
J the NavspDsa farmers Alliance" IL
seems that Register TiIlmhn is manager
and an owner of tho Nattonas feonom's''
the national organ of the National Farm
crs, Alliance aud industrial Union.
The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-14
The American Bi-Metallic League
Called to Meet.

WASHINGTON, D. C.-Gen. A. j.
Warner, president of the American BIZ
Metallic League, issued a call for a national
convention of that League to meet in
Chicago August 1st to continue as long
"a the convention may direct. CAN
members of the league are urged to at.
end, and all who are in favor of main
aiming the money of the constitution and
opposed to the establishment of the sin
,le gold standard in the United States
Without regard to party, are invited tt
atend and participate in the delibera
ions of the convention"