davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Something About Diamonds

The ruby mirrors the flame of fire,
the sapphire reflects the blue of the
heavens. the emerald pictures the depth
of the sea, but the diamond is dew
drop laden with sunbeams, the most
poetic creation of an organic nature.
Every moment it flashes a new color
now blue, now red. now royal purple,
now golden yellow, says Home and
Country.
In the rough-that is, just as the stone
has been washed out of the clay and
broken loose from the ore-a diamond
presents the appearance of a crystal
pebble, somewhat pointed at each end.
1t usually appears to be of brownish
hue but now and again a ray of light
will seem to leap from the very heart
of the stone. From this rough form of
the gem the diamond cutter decides
what the shape of the finished jewel is
to be. It should be the aim of the dia-
mond cutter to preserve this octahedral
character of the gem. To accomplish
this the rough stone is first split or
Clipped.
The operation is a most difficult one,
requiring an insight into the character
of each individual stone. There are
hardly two gems that can be treated in
precisely similar manner. Every
diamond has thorough individuality
and must be treated accordingly in
order to obtain the best results. The
splitting" is accomplished by fixing the
gem in block of cement. after which
the angles must be split off in accordance
with the direction of the crystallization.
Flaws are also taken out in this opera
tion and the diamond given its future
shape.
The diamonds most highly priced are
the Indian and Brazilian stones They
are generally of the purest white, the
most complete transparency water
and che most brilliant fire"
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Scared Her Into Speech.

A prepossessing middle-aged woman
walked into the office of a well-known
firm of railroad lawyers on Williams
street the other day and drifted over to
where the junior partner sat. She had
courtplaster and other trifling articles to
sell for 10 cents and showed at the same
time card on which was written! 81
am deaf and dumb"
The lawyer was interested, says the
n. Y. World, for the woman had sad
face and seemed eminently respectable.
So he wrote on a pad: "Any childrenP"
and she, in the same manner, answered
yes" To the question: "How manyp"
the reply was six" emphasized by a
mournful shake of the head. She ac-
knowledge in writing that her husband
was dead. When her address was asked
for she was rather slow in putting it on
paper and when it came to references
She wrote, with a good deal of delibera-
ton, John Davis"
"Where does he live?" was the next
question, to which the woman wrote nc
reply but indicated with her hand q
point on the horizon that might have
meant Jersey or heaven.
"Great Scott! You don't mean to say
you know Davis?" shouted the lawyer
jumping to his feeG.
'Yes, L do" answered the woman
taken off her guard by the vehemence
of the speaker.
They looked at one another for mo-
ment and then the lawyer called al
office boy and told him to show her the
street by the way of the stairs, eigh
long flights.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
In Your Grandfather's Day.

Three-fourths of the books in every
library came from beyond the Atlantic.
Twenty days were required for let
ter to go from New York to Charleston
by land.
All the population of village as
sembled at the inn on "post day" to hear
the news.
The number of toasts drunk at a
banquet equaled the number of states in
the union.
The United States contained fewer
people than now live in New York and
its suburbs.
In most families no cooking was done
on Sunday; cold Sunday dinner was
the rule.
Quinine was unknown; when man
had ague fits he took Peruvian bark and
whisky.
The only recognized method of i'm
parting information was by the liberal
use of the rod
Beef and pork, salt fish. potatoes and
hominy were the staple diet all the year
round.
The women's dresses were puffed with
hoops and stood out two or three feet on
each side.
A New England girl was not allowed
to be married until she could bake a
loaf of bread and cut it in smooth, even
slices while it was still warm.
The cities had no sidewalks. Step
ping-stones were laid in muddy places,
and a line of posts kept the horsemen
from running over the pedestrians.
The drill, the wheeled plow, the
reaper and mower, the hayrake, the
corn-cutter and dozen other farm i'm
plements now indispensable were un-
known.
Frequent complaints were made that
letters were opened in transit by the
carriers and other persons eager to
learn what news was being transmitted.
There were cabbages, but no caui-
flowers nor egg plants; the potatoes
were scarcely larger than marbles;
oranges and bananas were not seen
once year.
When the bones of mastodon were
dug up on the Hudson they were de-
clared to be those of a giant, and the
Bible was appealed to for proof of the
declaration
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Mismated.

Incompatibility of character does not
mean difference of taste, affections,
aspirations; for differences are necessary
to perfect harmony, and the man and
woman 1--WE have repeated it hundred
times) love each other better and better
the more the man is man and the
woman a woman-which is as much as
to say the more different they are.
In common language, incompatibility
of character means, for example. to
harness an OK and a horse of Arab
breed to the same carriage; to put tor
toise and deer to walk together; to tie
a goose and a swallow to the same cord
and condemn them to fly together; and
if these comparisons fall short of the
reality it is because their enormity does
not reach by a very long way the
psychical discords of men and women.
In that monstrous pairing of the deer
with the tortoise, the horse with the or,
the swallow with the goose, only loco
motion is treated of, but for the race
that man and a woman must take
through life it is a matter not only of
velocity but of environment and meas
ure, of all that can modify senses, sem
timents and thoughts.
10 ind a comparison which at all
suits or pictures truthfully the tortures
of two badly matched individuals who
must live together can only take that
of fish and a bird condemned to live
together. But this comparison is not
even good. for either the fish or the bird
would die surely and quickly but of the
man or woman neither dies but lives a
death in life, feeling nothing of life but
disgust, pain and wrong.
Convicts are also paired with chain
without any regard to their sympathies
but they have at least the psychical re-
lationship of crime and often vice, which
brings them near each other and also
that other common hope of escape that
makes them allies and even brethren;
but in that other galley of a badly as
sorted marriage there is not one chain
alone but hundred and thousand. all
invisible, with as many nerves connect
ing two existences condemned to the sad
communion of a common torture which
is doubled for each by the suffering of
the other.
There is the chain of the heart, the
chains of taste and sympathy, the chains
of antipathy, habits, desires and regrets;
and along the length of these chains
there runs currents of spite, hatred,
rancor, malediction. vengeance and re-
taliation. The slightest movement on
one side is communicated to the other
by the chains and makes that other feel
his pain, which he returns doubled by
its own force and rendered crueler by
the desire for revenge.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
A Land for the Poor.

The Bulgarians are not, l admit, an
engaging or a particularly attractive
people. They have no literature, no
artistic tastes, no great intellectual cul-
turc and no dramatic qualities. They
are simply race of peasants, with all a
peasants meannesses and prejudices,
but also with all a peasants virtues of
industry and frugality. remember
many years ago, when travelling in the
western states of America, that, as we
crossed the prairies of Illinois in the
train, there was an old Irishwoman
seated in the corner of the car occu-
pied.
Somebody in the car made dis
paraging remark about the dreary
monotony of the endless plains over
which we were passing. The old wo-
man seemed to take the comment as an
insult to the country, and, pointing to
the homesteads rising out of the prairie,
remarked rather to herself than to any
body else: Sure, and it is blessed
country; l think God made it for the
poor"
And as travelled through Bulgaria the
memory of this incident often came back
to my mind and 1 thought that this, too.
was blessed country made by God
for the peasant peasant state.-Ed-
UGT1 DiceU
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
ALWAYS SOMETHING FOR CHARITY.
A Cattleman Who Never Forgets Whist
He Believes Brings Luck.

About twenty of the leading cattle
men of Texas are in the city, Most of
them are here with shipments of cattle
and others are looking after the condi
ton of the markets and the outlook of
the trade for the coming fall season,
says the Kansas City Journal. There
are in the number some of the heaviest
shippers and most extensive operators
in the southwest. Among them are
Col. d. R. FAINT, d. Clark and A. G.
Plumb.
Yesterday afternoon several of the
cattle kings were at the Coates house
discussing the cattle business and some
of the peculiarities of the men engaged
in it. They were telling stories of ear
lier days on the ranches and of their ex-
periences there. From their conversa-
ton it was learned that many of the
cattlemen are superstitious in their busi-
ness and some of them are always quite
sure that the signs are proper before
they make any heavy purchases or
sales.
81 know one of the ranchmen of the
western part of the state who is very
superstitious in his business relations,
said one of the men. 81 have come to
the market with him several times when
his shipments were heavy and in most
instances his profits were satisfactory.
1 would not tell his name, because he is
sincere in his belief, and l would not do
thing that might cause him to be
laughed at for his convictions.
"Just as soon as he makes his sales
and settlements he hastens uptown and
to one of his friends he gives sum OF
money. Sometimes it is as much as
800 and never less than $50. The
friend is instructed to send the money
to some charitable institution in the
city or else give it TO some school which
is run under religious instruction. He
once told me that he considered he
would have bad luck with his future
ventures unless he remembered some
charity with portion of his profits. If
he makes purchase that appears to be
certain to be profitable for him he at
once sends his remittance to some char
ity in the city where the trade took
place. He considers it his duty to do
! good with some of his cash and he gives
it up with the most remarkable regu-
larity.
His peculiarities are rather remark
! able for frontiersman, but during his
career, extending now nearly twenty
years, he has held to his ideas without a
waver and during that time has dis
bursed many thousands of dollars, all
! without letting his name be known.
His donations are sent in as cash OF
from friend
"Other people in the business have
some peculiar ideas, but my friend has
a monopoly of the peculiar ideas he
holds, so far as have heard"
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Struck the Exquisite.

1t was the duchess of Gordon, clever
and beautiful Scotch woman, who sue
cessfully dumfounded a pretentious
dandy.
He was beside her at the supper party
and in order to gain her good graces
affected liking for the Scottish tongue,
declaring there was not a Scottish
phrase that he did not understand.
"Rax me sprawl O. less that bubbly-
jock, replied the duchess without chang
ing muscle of her face.
The exquisite looked appalled, and
then skunk away in confusion while the
commission was performed by a cav
alier hailing from north of the Tweed.
She wanted a turkey ng.-Detrott
Free Press.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
IN EASTERN KENTUCKY.
Home Life of the Mountain People =
Strange Pets.

They have some strange pets over in
eastern Kentucky. 1t is nothing un-
common to find pet foxes, coons, squir-
rels, owls and rabbits. But the checklist
pet ever saw, writes contributor to
the Louisville COatTteT-,JOur7e0I. was on
the left-hand fork of the right-hand fork
of Potter's fork of the north fork of the
Kentucky river. Judge Milliken, of
Nashville, Tenn, and myself were in
there looking after coal lands in the
fall of 1889, and we stopped at little,
dilapidated log cabin for dinner. There
was plenty of cabbage and other
vegetables growing in the garden, and
we had learned from experience to take
these things into consideration, for some
| times we stopped at places where there
was no garden and found rations rather
scarce.
Everybody in the mountains re-
ceives travellers and makes them well
come to what they have. We were
tired and took our seats under the front
| porch that had a good, smooth dirt floor,
and were eating some delicious apples,
and right here let me say that the best
tasting apples in the world grow in the
mountains of eastern Kentucky. While
eating and dropping the peelings
around the chairs a big, long, gaunt hog,
of the razor-back brand, came up and
commenced eating the peelings.
thought he was rather familiar on such a
short acquaintance, as he walked over
our feet and tried to root over our chairs,
so finally the judge got disguised and
gave the hog kick.
Imagine his surprise when the hog
turned and charged him, knocked over
his chair, spilled our snake medicine out
of our saddle-bags and commenced to
do US up on short notice. We managed
to get to the fence and leave that hog
monarch of all he surveyed. The lady
OF the house finally came out and put
him out of the yard. She said he was a
pet pig and had been in the family so
long that they could not think of killing
him. | think they called him Billy
maybe Billy Breckenridge.
When dinner was ready we found
that the table was nailed up around the
legs, so we could not get our feet under
it, and when we were asked the reason
for it we were told it was done to keep
Billy and the dogs from getting under
there while they were eating, when
they would fight and turn the table
over. That table would have been
curiosity at the worlds fair. 1t had a
little, round-turn table set in the middle
of the big table, on which the victuals
were placed, and it worked so nicely
that when it was started it went round
like merry-go-round, and if you were
good baseball catcher you could snatch
what you wanted as it sailed by. This
would be splendid plan to adopt where
servants are scarce
While eating the bread gave out and
our host reached over in the skillet near
by and picked out pone of corn bread
built on the plan of brickbat, except
thicker and harder on the outside. and
threw it down on that merry-go-round
dumb-waiter with the remark: "Help
yourself, gentlemen, no darn quality
cuts here"
noticed afterward that the Judge
kept sharp lookout for pet pigs.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
What Dollar Bills weigh.

Several customers were chatting in a
Lafayette avenue grocery store one
evening recently when the grocer
pointed to half barrel of small beans
and asked how many of them it would
require to make bushel.
Various estimates were offered. One
man recklessly put the number down at
$4,000, which occasioned laugh from
all the others who had guessed much
lesser quantity, ranging all the way
from 5000 to 20, 900.
well, gentlemen" remarked the
grocer, you are all wrong. There are
approximately $4,000 beans in a
bushel"
No one was inclined to believe him
until he showed them that it took sixty
beans, selected at random, to weigh
half an ounce. The rest of the calcuIa-
ton was simple.
"Now, then," said one of the party,
"since we are engaged in guessing con-
tests, how many dollar bills would it
take to weigh as much as silver dol
larP"
One said one hundred, another said
seventy-fve, while the grocer, who knew
all about beans, put the figures at three
hundred.
"All wrong" remarked the man. at
takes just twenty-five" This was
proven to be the case by experiment.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Tom Reed Afraid of His "eirls."

This story of "Tom" Reed is told by
Kate Fields Washington: The seats
may be packed with all sorts of people,
as they always are when he speaks, and
if there were bombs in all their pockets,
tom" Reed would go on serenely,
without ear or favor. But when Mrs.
and Miss Reed meekly declare their in
tention of being two of the spectators,
he gets weak in the knees. The "czar, :"
the "autocrat," the "usurper," the "ty-
rant" backs down ingloriously, and
begs his wife and daughter TO spare
him and stay at home. He does not
care copper for the public, but he
fears these gentle foes of his own house
hold, and it is great relief when he
can persuade or bribe them to stay at
home. This he often does-so far as he
knows.
The day he made his speech closing
the debate on the tariff, Mrs. Reed and
her daughter naturally desired to hear
it, SO they said quietly but firmly in the
morning that they would go up to the
house. At first Mr.. Reed was diplo-
matte. He offered no objection, but in
persuasive tones pictured the discom-
forts they would be subjected to from
crowded galleries and bad air. The
private gallery, he urged, would be as
packed as the rest, and as for the de-
bate, the tariff had already been talked
to death, and had not shred of inter-
est left. To all this and much more OF
like tenor they replied that they en-
joyed crowd now and then, and that
they had no fear of bad air, and if the
70 hoA - -
was nothing they would like so much as
to witness the funeral. Then Mr.. Reed
threw diplomacy to the winds and fell
upon his knees, so to speak, begging
them to spare him the ordeal of their
presence at his speechmaking.
'Now, girls" he said appealingly,
"you know I can't do anything if you
two are up there looking at me. Kitty,
if 1 make failure you and your mother
will be responsible. I really think you
might stay away and persuade her to,
when you know just how I feel Ican't
help it. don't care continental for
the rest of the world, but do not want
you two in the gallery" What could
they do? Well, they did what they had
done before-apparently yielding to his
entreaties, and let him start for the cap
itol happier but not wiser man. When
he was safely out of sight they put on
their bonnets, quietly left the Shoreham,
and, boarding street car, went to the
capitol. They avoided the halls to thai
gallery Reserved for Members Fami-
lies" and went direct to the public seats,
where, by patience and good manage
ment, they got in in spite of the crowd.
There they sat, looking down on the
unsuspecting ex-speaker, who, inspired
by their supposed absence. made one ol
the greatest speeches of his life.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Life.


Life is book
Of clear, white pages, given us at birth,
Wherein to write the record of onr lives
The record which beyond us still survives.
The story of our pilgrimage on earth.
Our ev'ry deed
Each day we take the pencil and indite
On a new page-our wishes, hopes and
fears,
For good or Ill. And so on thro' the years
The record grows. of every day and night.
We may not look
At what we once have therein written but
Thro' memory; nor may we eer erase
single thing that in there has its place,
Till all is finished, and our book is shut.
o soul, take heed
That in this life's book naught shall e'er Of
fend;
Have thou care about thine every act,
That thy books beauty may appear intact,
Nor blot, nor blemish mar it to the end!
w. H. Cline in Chicago Tribune.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
English Credulitx.

One of the members of our Yale
athletic team tells rather a good story
about young English interviewer who
probably knew as much about the north
pole as he did about manly sports.
Now" said the scribe, after getting
the athletes impressions of things in
general, "about that famous leap OF
yours-what was the exact distance?"
"Twenty-three, five and half, an
swered the college man.
Without looking up from his pad the
interviewer briskly inquired: Feet or
yards?"
And yet that article was no doubt
read by athletes themselves and con
idered capital thing. .-Tratth.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
A Lesson in Journalism.

Professor of Journalism-"If you
were called upon to report a dog fight
what would be your governing consider
ation?"
Class-"To increase the sporting cir
culation without driving away the re-
ligious readers"
Professor-"Howi is this to be accom-
plishedp"
CLASSIFY deploring the brutality
of the exhibition and then describing
it."
Professor-"What destroys barns?"
Class-"Ehe fire tiend."
Professor-"'What did the scene do?"
Class-"Beggared description"
Professor-"That will do for to-day.
Tomorrow you may prepare yourselves
for examination on battling investiga-
ton. ."-Boston transcript,
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Didn't Expect Him.

1t seems to be the ambition of all
young wives to look well when any one
calls.
A young bride heard ring at the
front door.
The maid was out and she rushed up
stairs to arrange her toilet little be-
fore admitting the caller.
There was a moment of lightning
work before the dressing-table.
Quicker than it takes to tell it rib
bon was fastened to her throat, flower
stabbed into her hair, flash of powder
on her face and she was at the door
all smiles and bushes.
The gentleman" said he had the
cheapest clothes-lines that could be
bought for the money.-Spare Moments.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
An English Scientist on Sugar.

The fact that sugar is sweet is not its
only recommendation as an article of
diet. Recent scientific investigation
has tended to increase our respect for it
as an important factor in the develop
ment and nourishment of bodily
strength and activity. Indeed, DR..
Vaughan Hardy has lately reported to
the Royal Society in London the results
of experiments which have led him to
the belief that sugar is "the principal
factor in the production of muscular
energy" He finds that sugar not only
greatly increases the amount of muscu-
lar work that can be done, but also
postpones the effects of fatigue. When
250 grammes of sugar were added to
the meals consumed during day the
work accomplished in eight hours was
increased between % and SO per cent.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Effects of Modern Bullets.

The effects of bullets from modern
German rifles have been studied by
Prof. Bois-Raymond with rather sur
prising results. He finds that while the
old-style rifle bullet merely bored a
small hole through the portion of the
body through which it passed, this
modern bullet rends the tissues so that
if it passes through the head of corpse
the skull is usually burst assunder. The
dispatch which tells of this does not
make the theory of this action clear, ex-
cept that it depends on the greatly in
creased speed now given to proieetiles.
The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1894-12-19
Chance for Lawmakers.

First Citizen-"It is not enough that
bicycles carry bells; the law should en-
force a regular system of signals that
all can understand"
Second Citizen-"What would you
suggest"
First Citizen-"Well,I don't know ex-
actly, but it might be something like
this: One ring, stand still; two rings,
dodge to the right; three rings, dive to
the left; four rings, jump strai ght up and
I'll run under you; five rings, turn back
handspring and land behind me, and
soon. You see, US folks who walk are al
ways glad to be accommodating but the
trouble is to find out what the fellow be-
hind wants us to do."-M Y Weekly.