davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
Not Scotch Enough.

1t is said that never was there a
greater enthusiast over his own cOun-
trymen than Sir David Wilkie, the
the. celebrated Scotch artist. One
amusing story connected with this
trait of his character was told by
Henry Thomson, who afterward
grew to be quite friend of Wilkes.
Thomson! Ye maun be Scotch
Thomson, III warrant" said Sir
David as they sat together for the
first time at an academy dinner.
II am of that ilk," was the reply.
"My father was a Scotchman."
"Was he, really2" exclaimed Will
kie, grasping the others hand warm
ly.
"And my mother was Irish"
"Aye, aye, was she really2" and
the hand relaxed its grasp trifle.
"And l was born in England"
Upon that Wilkie dropped his new
friends hand and almost turned his
back upon him. His disappointment
was so evident that Thomson actual
ly felt regret instead of indignation
at this treatment and later on endeav-
ored to counterfeit the effect of his
unfortunate nationality. But for
that day Wilkie had no further de-
sire to talk to him and showed it
plainly Youths Companion.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
MeissOnier as Portrait Painter.

Meissonier admitted that he would
not have made a good portraitist by
profession, for with few exceptions
he had succeeded only with sitters
whom he liked and knew well. He
was not satisfied with painting things
as he saw them; he had to under
stand how they came to have such
or such an appearance. Though he
claimed to remember every draw
ing that he had made, he also
claimed that he did not reduce his
knowledge to general formul@. BE
fore nature, l know nothing in adj
vance'-not even, it appears, what
size he was going to make his PIC
ture or how much he was going to
include in it. This is the reason that
many of his drawings and some Of
his paintings have been extended in
one direction or another by bands of
paper or of canvas glued on. Melsso-
nier had a strong dramatic magma
ton and an uncommon sense of har-
mony, yet they were both occasion
ally smothered by this devotion to
literal fact.-Art amateur.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
Guarding the Bank.

The Bank of England is watched
nightly by a guard of about so men
from the Household troops, under
the command of an officer, who usu-
ally march from Wellington or ST.
Georges barracks. They patrol the
spacious quadrangles of the bank and
do sentry duty over allotted spaces
till the morning, when they are re-
lieved on the arrival of some men,
bers of the banks staff. The officer
in command is allowed dinner for
himself and a friend, including the
provision Of bottle of the banks
special old port. The men are also
supplied with the needful rejection.
Besides this military guard two
clerks remain on duty all night at the
bank as well as all day on Sunday,
and these watch clerks" must not
go to sleep. Their duty is to move
about from building to building, in
specting the various rooms to see
that all goes well. Several of the
higher officials also sleep on the
premises, ready to be summoned at
moments notice.-Chdnber'S Jour
nal,
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
A COlored WOman's White Rats.

If the Pied Piper of Hamelin should
ever take it into his head to pay
Washington a visit, he would find
that he had a rival already installed
here and the field fully occupied.
The rival in question is Sarah Baker,
acolored woman who lives in George
town, near the junction of Congress
street and the canal. She raises white
rats, not for sale or profit, but mere
ly for the love of the rats. Her room,
where she and her four footed, long
tailed proteges reside, is a queer
apartment, filled up with cages, piled
one over the other, and scores if not
hundreds of the pink eyed, snowy
furred rodents, making up such rat
full vision as would ruin the trade of
the best saloon in Washington if the
customers had to pass through it on
their way after drink.
The rats are all the descendants of
two or three pairs that were given to
a woman a year or two ago. They
multiplied and increased, and declin-
ing to kill any of them Mrs. Baker
provided new cages as the rats filed
up their old quarters, until now 1t
takes her the better part of her spare
time to feed and attend to the wants
of her file tailed family.
The rats all know her and will
come to the front of their cages and
take food from between her lipa or
if given the liberty of the room some
of the corpulent old fellows will sit
upright on the palm of her hand and
wash their faces and comb out their
whiskers with the gravity of bur
gomaster.-Wa Washington Post.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09

and fine in manufacture, and it should
nave as few seams as possible. More
over, its color should be considered, as
there are quite injurious dyes, causing
bad eruptive troubles, and even blood
poisoning, especially in the shades OF
green. A large shoe is as apt to create
corns on the foot by rubbing as small
one is by COMPRISING, and stocking
is as powerful in this regard as either.
A shoe should always be triile too
long for the wearer, be 1T child or
grown person, as, owing to the shape
that has been deemed proper among
us, there must be little room allowed
for expansion somewhere, and it is more
graceful and less noticeable in the
length at the toe than elsewhere. 1t is
exactly where the action of the foot
demands the most room for play that
we usually see the shoe abbreviated in
the effort to make and keep it narrow
across the ball of the foot. When one
takes a bold step, springs from a car
riage, runs up and down stairs, it is
there that the weight and force are
thrown and it is there then that abso-
lutte freedom is required and seldom
had, so that the lower joint of the big
toe is thrown out and deformed ire
coverably early in life. Especially is
this breadth of sole across the ball of
the foot necessary in children's shoes,
as their bones are still soft and their
muscles tender, and they are liable 10
suffer Chinese sort of compression
that takes away great deal of the fexi-
bility and strength, which depend
upon a development the bones can
never have if crowded together. When
it is remembered that the feet have an
immediate nervous influence upon the
spine, and that injuries to them are
capable of working havoc in the ner-
vous health, it will be seen how import
ant it is that they should be started
upon their growth in the right way
Hdrper'S Bazar.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
Notes and Letters.

The writing-desk is a very important
part of the furniture of a woman's own
room. There are people who scramble
along contentedly and somewhat clum-
silly with a small portfolio, part of a
bureau drawer, or an old atlas, in which
to keep their correspondence, their
paper, and pens. Every one has been
in houses where the request for writing
the house for the family inkstand and
the family supply of paper. Such
houses, however, do not exist in cities,
where very much of the commerce of
life needs to be carried on by means of
notes. A society woman's day begins
with the reading of and replying to her
many correspondents missives. A
well-furnished writing-desk, with paper
of different sizes, envelopes to match,
sealing-wax, stamps, and all the dainty
accessories of the writing table, is
something no woman can afford to do
without. When possible, the residence,
street and number, perhaps the town,
or the name of the house Gf it possesses
a pretty individual name), should be
stamped at the top of the page. If a
monogram is preferred, or the family
coat of arms and motto, these may be
placed at the head of the page, and the
address may be engraved on the outside
of the envelope. "Pine Hurst" Oak
RIDGE" "The Lowlands," etc., look
very charming when ngraven on the
family note-paper. The family crest is
more pretentious, but carries some
weight. The best paper for ordinary
use is plain white, whether rough or
smooth, thick or thin, depending on the
taste OF the writer, and depending also
on the sort of pen she habitually uses.
Few fountain-pens glide easily over a
rough surface, and if these convenient
implements are used, then the lady
should select smooth paper to suit them.
Nothing is more confusing than pen
which catches on the paper and refuses
to make a mark. Ink should invari-
ably be black. Pale writing is never in
good taste; it is too trying to the eye
sight of those who receive il, and seems
to be lacking in dignity. Tinted papers,
ragged edges, and eccentricities of every
kind are not admissible. - Harper S
Bdzdr.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
Personalities.

Keep clear of personalities in general
conversation. Talk of things, objects,
thoughts. The smallest minds occupy
themselves with personalities. Person
alities must sometimes be talked, be-
cause we have to learn and find out
mems characteristics for legitimate OBJ
jects; but it is to be with confidential
persons. Do not needlessly report i'll
Of others. There are times when we
are compelled TO say, 81 do not think
Bouncer is true and honest man."
but when there is no need to express an
opinion let poor Bouncer swagger
away. Others will take his measure,
no doubt, and save you the trouble of
analyzing him and instructng them;
and as far as possible dwell on the good
side of human beings. There are fam
lily boards where constant process of
depreciating, assigning motives, and
cutting up of character goes forward.
They are not pleasant places. One
who is healthy does not wish to dine at
dissecting table. There is evil
enough in man, God knows; but it is
not the mission of every young man or
woman to detail and report of it. Keep
the atmosphere as pure as possible, and
fragrant with gentleness and charity
Rev. John Hall, ID.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
MISCELLANY.
The Schoolhouse on the Hill.

On windy height OF country road,
The schoolhouse stood IN teeth o. the blast.
Summer and winter it shivered and creaked
In the widest gale that hurtled past.
Summer and winter. its front to the north;
Unshetered by trees from torrid sky,
While the urchns played in the sand or snow,
In track o. the wheels as teams went by.
The clumsy old blackboard, the rusty stove,
The whitfield benches with traps for flies,
The books on the master inky desk-
see them all when shut my eyesl
We lived in the world of our school days them
PPM up at the head! I spelled that way"
SO proud of our victory could face
The ogre of composition day.
And we learned Ito be sure we learnedD to parse!
Ciphered our sums we fen the rule
And spoke piece in our starchiest clothes,
When trustees came to visit the school.
Like gladiators in brave, old Rome
Soldiers beseging beleaguered town.
We stood in the ranks of the spelling.school,
Till the fatal word had knocked us down.
OF course we grew older, and quite of course "
We rhymed a verb with the gentle dovel
Had it mood or tense? All our skies were blue;
So was our ink, when we played at-lovel
Uncurtained the windows Win maps between,
OF countries and peoples, vague and dim;
The Caph of Bagdad we better knew
We had often walked the street with him.
And we climbed Jacks beanstalk every day;
Danced while the fairy godmother led.
What delicious fright when the grim wolf ate
The dear little maid with hood of red
What was the dizziest Alp to the slide?
Risking our necks on the flying sled;
Or the court of kings to the beechy wood
When the trees their wealth of nuts had she'd
We longed for old sinbad's diamonds and gold
And all the treasures that pirates hide.
We knew the secret, the sesame spell;
And the magic door for flew wide.
O wonderful glamor of childhood days.
With all their innocent make. beleves
Peopled by fairies and giants. haze
OF magic carpets and forty thieves.
Was there ever a glen like our hemlock dell?
Red berries grew by its tnkling rill,
Where we told such tales of wonderful times,
While the hours flew by with delightful thrill.
When the master raped with rule on the sash,
We knew the signal to call us in.
"The school is dismissed" They were WELDON
words,
And out we rushed with headlong din.
Smile If 1t pleases you at oldfashioned ways
The lessons we learned have served not i'll.
We've a smile and a tear for old-time days
The dear old schoolhouse up onlthe hill,
when lessons and life are over at last
May the roll.ca find us conscience clearl
And the Master smile loving well.done,"
As low at his feet we answer, Herew
-Touths Companion
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
TALKS WITH MOTHERs.-No. J.


Every mother wants her baby to thrive,
because IL healthy child is n happy child.
The question OF how the baby shall be fed
is demanding the attention, us never before,
no. onIy OF the mothers in the land, but of
me entire medical profession also, because
It * now realized how much the health ola
child can he influenced by proper nutrition
during the years of babyhood. AS the re-
suit OF the improper feeding of the infant,
The vitality of the child is impaired, and he
grows up weak and puny. In these days
when artificial food is being so generally re-
sorted 20 for infants, tie demand for a sub
etitute for mothers milk has brought out
many foods for which great claims are
made. Gustav MelliD, an English chemist,
WAS the first to discover and combine the
requisite properties necessary for an arti-
fetal food, and with his discovery the
rational feeding of infants commenced.
Neuin's Food is the only perfect substitute
for mothers milk and 1t has done moro to
make babies strong and healthy than any,
thing else that has ever been invented.
Me.lin's Food possesses all the requisite
heat and flesh producing and bone-forming
constituents necessary to give a child
ceedngly fond of 1t and thrive upon 1t when
nothing else can be retained upon the
stomach. If they have been weak, fretful
and troublesome they become happy,
healthy and active; bright eyes, rosy
cheeks, firm muscles and a strong consti-
tuition are the inevitable results of using
This excellent preparation. Mellins Food,
is also perfectly adapted to the wants of in.
ValidS and cOQyalegSents.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
Effects Of Color.

The beauty of dress depends much
upon the harmony of colors. This is
affected by combination of the three
primaries, either pure or in combina-
ton with each other. .Colors are
modified in tone by the proximity of
other different colors. BY ordinary
gaslight blue becomes darker, red
brighter and yellow lighter. By this
artificial light pure yellow appears
lighter than white itself when viewed
in contrast with certain other colors.
In this way highly polished brass is
often mistaken for silver. At twi-
light blue appears much lighter than
it is, red much darker and yellow
slightly darker.
Colors, too, have the power of in
fluencing the beholder in various
ways. We speak of warm colors,
like the rosy red flushing in the
northern night" Red is then
warm, cheerful and exciting color.
We speak, too, of cold colors, like the
leaden gray Of threatening Clouds
Longman'S Magazine.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
THE HOUSEHOLD.
They Are Dead.

There was man who never told lie
But he's dead;
Never said 1t was wet when the weather was dry
Never said
He'd caught fish when he hadn't caught one
Never said he'd done something that he hadn't done,
Never scolded his wife, and never got mad,
And wouldn't believe that the world was so bad
respecter of men, defender of woman,
Who believed the divine, and in that which was hui
man;
Meek as Moses-he never was understood,
And the poor man died of being too good.
And he's dead.
There was woman who never had gossiped a bit
She's dead too;
who hated all scandal, nor listened to it;
She believed i'm mankind, took care of her cat,
Always turneda deaf ear to this story or that;
Never scolded her husband-she never had onei
No suggard was she, but rose with the SUM-
Never whispered in meeting, didn't care for bon
net,
Or all OF the feathers that one could put on IT.
Never sat with the choir, sang the wrong note
Expressed no desire to lecture or vote;
For the poor soul was deaf as post-also dumb
You might have called forever, and she wouldn't
have come.
And she's dead.
JEANETTE La FiamJ0y.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
The Baby's Shoe.

One cannot be too careful in the
early selection of shoes for the baby's
foot. 1t is all well enough to cothe
the tender little extremities in dainty
wooden socks and in shoes with
soft kid soles while the child is yet in
arms and does not stand up on them.
1t seems to the soft.hearted nurse and
mother as if nothing harsher should
ever touch the little rose-petal like feet,
and they cry out in horror at the shoe
with the stiff sole. Yet the moment
that the child has to rest his weight
upon his feet, if the foot is covered at
all, it should be with something that
can support it and shall not warp it.,
and that shoe must have stiff sole,
with no added height whatever for the
heel-a child should never wear a raised
heel at all; it should be worn by no
one till the foot is full grown. The
soft kid sole that seems 30 appropriate
to the delicate little foot is too yield
ing; as soft as the foot itself, it pulls
up at the tip, and tits the growing toe
upward, and presses more or less pain
fully upon the tops of the little thin
easily impressed nails which 1t meets.
AS much danger, too, lies in a stocking
that is too tight; that being as bad as
an ill-ftting shoe, arresting develop
ment, making corns, and causing in
growing nails, even hole in the stock
ing sometimes doing that. A stocking
should fit even more carefully than the
shoe, allowing every movement OF the
foot free play; 1t cannot be too smooth
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
Nearly Ten Million Men.

An army of 5000, 900 men! How
Napoleon's legions dwindle beside
this and the hosts which Grant, Sher-
man and Sheridan led shrink to pyg-
mics This enormous figure repre-
sents the number of ablebodied men
in the United States available for
military purposes. But of course no
such swarm of fighters could ever be
modified in this or any other coun-
try.
1t would overtax even American
energy and resource to clothe and
feed and arm them and maintain
them in idleness. The figures have
no practical military value, but as
suggestion of the mighty war poten-
tialities of the young republic they
are not without their interest to the
world. But when we come to emu
merate the men actually under arms
in the United States as trained and
disciplined soldiers we realize our
present military significance.
Besides the little regular army of
$4,000 men there is a more or less
thoroughly organized force of 49,
100 men in the national guard and
militia-that is, only about one man
in hundred of those of our citizens
liable to bear arms is regularly en-
gagged in mastering the rudiments of
the soldiers profession.
New York, as might be expected,
has the largest military organization
-737 officers and ~, 073 men. Penn
sylvania has s, GA officers and men;
Ohio, 6,l25. Then comes Massachu-
sets with 1866. Fiery South Caro-
lima, with 5. 440 officers and men, has
an armed force out of all proportion
to its wealth and population.
The New England states, outside
of Massachusetts, have respectable
little armies, ranging from Ver4
mont's 7S4 to Connecticut's 2,761.i
The southern states have large mill,
tia organizations as a whole; the
western states very small ones. But
the national guard is steadily grow
ing everywhere in numbers as in eff
ficiency. 1t is fulfilling in satisfac-
tory way its purpose of perpetuating
knowledge of military art, and il
would be found to be a respectable
nucleus for host Of volunteers to
rally on in an emergency. - Boston
Journal.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09

FOUR BIG SUCCESSES Having the
needed merit to more than make good
all the advertising claimed for them,
the following four remedies have reached
phenomenal sale: DR.. Kings New
Discovery, for consumption, coughs and
colds, each bottle Observation-Disclosures
Bitters, the great remedy for liver,
stomach and Kidneys, Bucklen's Arnica
Salve, the best in the world, and DR..
Kings New Life Pills, which are a per-
feet pill. All these remedies are guar
anteed to do just what is claimed for
them, and the dealer whose name is at
tached herewith will be glad to tell you
more of them. Sold at G. Blakely's
drug store.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09
The Family Scrap Basket.
ONE is the rainbow of life.

HOME is the rainbow of life.
WE are martyrs to our own faults.
A TRUE friend is the rarest of bless
ings.
OvERMUCH familiarity spoils good
courtesy.
GOOD nature is one of the grandest
of virtues.
WHAT is joy? A sunbeam between
two clouds.
IT'S not the clock with the loudest
tick that goes the best.
HE sins as much who holds the sack
as he who puts into it.
SET frog on a golden stool, and off
it hops again into the pool.
To beat eggs quickly add pinch of
salt-salt cools, and cold eggs froth rap
idly.
THE less tenderness a man has in his
nature, the more he requires from
others.
WHITE spots upon furnished furni.
ture will disappear if hot plate be
held over them.
You can take out spots from wash
goods by rubbing them with the yolk
of eggs before washing.
THE hair may be kept from falling
out after illness by a frequent applica-
ton of sage tea TO the scalp.
IT is grand mistake to set up your
own standard of right and wrong, and
judge people accordingly.
WHENEVER you find man who says
that honesty does not pay it is sign
that he has never tried it.
THERE is only one rule to observe if
you want to live long, and that is to let
the other fellow do the worrying.
WHEN the finger nails are dry and
break easily, vaseline rubbed on after
the hands are washed will do world of
good.
RUBBER gloves are a great saving of
time and labor over the hands, as they
keep them free from any grease and dirt
likely to be absorbed when doing house.
work.
A RAW egg swallowed Immediately
will generally carry fish bone down
that cannot be removed from the throat
by the utmost exertion, and has got out
of reach of the saving finger.
IF as much care were taken to per-
petuate race of fine men as is done to
prevent the mixture of ignoble blood in
horses and dogs, the genealogy of every
one would be written on his face and
displayed in his manners.
A SUGGESTION for putting away furs
for the summer. Take clean cask,
remove the hoops from one end, so that
the head can be taken out, do up in
paper the articles to be kept from
moths, etc., enclose in the cask and
head up. If it is water-tight, of course
it will be moth proof.
AN effective recipe for Kidding g
storeroom of plague of red ants is to
dissolve lump of camphor in spirits OF
wine, add hot water, and wash the in
tested places with the mixture. Jumps
of camphor tied in white paper and left
on the closet shelves will also be Of
assistance in driving off the persever'
| ing ants,
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-05-09

trouble. With Irregularities come disturb
ance of the stomach and kidneys.
Violent headaches often attack the
victim, pains shoot everywhere, Extreme
irritability follows quickly and then utter
dependency overwhelms the already over
burdened life. Unless the obstruction is
removed at once, your daughters whole
future will be darkened.
Lydia E. Pinkhdm's Vegetable Com
pound will accomplish the work speedily.
1t is the most effective remedy for irregu-
lar or suspended action known.