davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
HE SENDS THEM FLOWERS.
An Elderly Man who Supplies Young
Ladies with Flowers but Keeps His lden-
tity Secret

Some extraordinary occurrences nave
been taking place in this city recently,
of which there is as yet no full explana-
tion. Some young ladies, who are
prominent in our social circles. have
been receiving anonymous gifts OF very
beautiful and costly flowers. They are
sent direct from one Of our leading
florists. They began to come to one
young lady last February and have come
regularly every two weeks siuce. Soon
after a second young lady began to re-
ceive flowers regularly every two weeks.
She has received them thus far four
times. Once six bride roses. six Jacque-
minots and two large punches of violets
were brought by the florists boy to her
at one time. Last Wednesday third
young lady was included in this strange
proceeding, and each of the three received
a dozen of the most expensive Jacque-
miuot roses, that must have cost quite a
sum of money. The three girls are
friends, and they and their other friends
are quite nonplussed in regard to the
identity of the sender and his object.
The florist says that the man is elderly,
and there is apparently little doubt that
he is crazy.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
DEERING.

The A. B. c. Klass will meet with
Mrs. Frederick Jones, Deering Centre,
Friday afternoon, from 8 to O'Clock.
All mem bers of the "klass1 are invited
to be present.
Miss Trask, of the Riverside school, is
out on account of illness, and Miss
Grace Smith of Lunt's Corner is sup
plying in her place. Miss Mary Smith,
of the Lunt's Corner school, is also ill,
and Miss Mildred Grover of Bradley's
Corner is taking her place.
Arrangements have been completed by
Fraternity Lodge, No. 6, I.O.O.F., for
the celebration at City Hall. .Deering,
Wednesday evening next, April 25. of.the
18th anniversary of the introduction of
the order into America. An instructive
address will be delivered by Hon. AS.
Kimball Past Grand Representative, and
there will be an entertaining programme
consisting of readings and vocal and in
strUmental music. Invitations to be
present have been extended to Past
Grand Representatives jim. Read and
Isaac F. Clark anG Rev. HIS. Whitman.
All past grands of the lodge are re-
uuested to be at the hall by 7.45. Those
who desire to attend and have not OBJ
tanned tickets should do SO at once. The
entertainment is free to members of
the lodge and their ladies and friends.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
WESTBROOK.

The men at whose residences seizures
were made by City Marshal Cloudman,
Policemen Cousens and Dresser on Sat
urday evening were brought before
Judge Tolman on Monday afternoon.
John McNair, at whose house lot O.
beer was taken, was acquitted, as a
neighbor testified that the liquor was
his producing bills for proof, and the
expressman had left it at the wrong
house.
Mr.. Davidson, of the Highland House,
was fined 500 and costs, from which
decision he appealed. He afterwards
promised to quit the business and pay
the costs of court if the case was not
carried further. The judge accepted this,
still holding the matter over him as a
guarantee of keeping out of the liquor
business.
Tony Clark, who was arrested on Sat
urday evening for drunkenness, also
appeared before the judge and was fined
SIS and costs.
The liquor seized at the Highland
House had just arrived Sheriff Chute
visited this place on Friday evening,
and was unable to find anything, and
Davidson states that there was nothing
there at the time. When the officers
called on Saturday the liquor had been
in the house but few hours.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
PRACTICAL FERTILIZERS.
Restoring wornout Acres by the Applisa-
ticsa of Mineral Constituents.

Restoring Wornout Acres by the Applica-
ticn of Mineral Constituents.
About 10 years ago Julius Hensel OF
Germany, a physiological chemist of
great reputation, first promulgated the
idea that the reason SO many farms at
the present day produce smaller and
more inferior crops than in times past
despite lavish use of stable manure
and other fertilizers is due to the fact
that the mineral constituents of the
fields has been slowly but surely taken
out of the soil, and that while stable
manure, superphosphates, ETC., furnish
an abundance of heterogeneous elements
to the plants they are woefully deficient
in the mineral food SO necessary to the
growing Of healthy and abundant crops
He maintained that the very thing
which the farmers are 80 anxious to re-
move from their fields, the rocks and
stones, if put back in assimilable form
i. e., in a finely pulverized state-will
be of immense benefit to the soil, and
that their persistent application in that
form will restore seemingly wornout
acres to their former natural fertility.
In order to test the truth of his idea he
analysed the ashes of wheat, rye, corn,
potatoes, clover, grasses, ETC., and from
these he ascertained the mineral con-
stituents of the grains, ETC., and by sup
plying these to the soil found that his
claims were abundantly confirmed by
large and healthy crops.
He maintains that the soil of the val.
leys and plains, which are most fertile,
were formed primarily Of disintegrated
rocks washed down through ages from
the mountains Vegetation ensued, and
after it's decay becoming mixed with the
enthusiastically small particles Of rocks
furnished the ideal plant food.
His views, promulgated with all the
power of earnest conviction, soon aroused
the interest of some intelligent and pro-
gressive farmers. Experiments were
made with most surprising and satisfac-
tory results. An enterprising man was
induced to engage in the manufacture of
these fertilizers in small way, and the
results have-been simply astonishing.
This discovery has most decidedly
passed the experimental stage, and it
behooves the farmers of the eastern part
of this country to investigate this most
important discovery, which may point
the way to counterfeit the cheaply raised
grain on the low priced lands Of the
west. 1t is claimed by the best authority
that by means Of this discovery they can
not only increase the quality of their
grain and other crops, but the yield also,
and in many cases threefold at small
cost.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
A New Division.


Secretary Morton has created new
division in the weather bureau to be
known as the division Of agricultural
soils. Professor Milton Whitney has
been appointed chief of the new divi-
sion. The purpose of the new division is
to pursue Investigations Of an analogous
character, carrying the climatic obser-
vations of the weather bureau into the
soil, where the moisture effects its work
and makes it's influence felt upon the
plant life. The secretary's order briefly
defines the work as follows:
cit shall be the duty Of this division
to study the climatic conditions OF heat
and moisture under the surface of the
ground and the relation Of these condi-
lions to crop distribution. -
It is expected that the work Of the di-
vision will result in acquiring great
deal of information of value to farmers
on the character Of soils in relation to
the distribution Of moisture to plants
The solution Of the problems involved
will serve to determine the adaptability
of certain kinds of soil to certain crops
by which the value of land may be great
ly increased.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
On the Country Road.

AS special manure for the tomato
crop, nitrate of soda cannot be excelled.
dollhouse lambs never sold so low as
they have this season.
Tenant farming is on the increase in
the United States.
The official and commercial estimates
of the worlds wheat crop for 1898 make
it 80, 900, 900 bushels less than last year.
Rural New Yorker very truly says
that the man who tries to grow potatoes
by hand, without making use of the i'm
proved horse power machinery, will have
to drop out of the race.
Avail yourself of the work your state
station is doing, by making a written
application to the station for the bull
letins issued therefrom.
According to The Rural New Yorker,
it is safe rule to keep both plaster and
lime away from soluble phosphoric acid.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
A HORSE STORY.
He Helped Bury Four Hundred Soldiers
Kept Time to the Music-Also Chewed
Tobacco

Portland man tells the following
story about famous old horse that was
killed at the Soldiers Home at Togus
last winter. He was killed because he
had become too aged and lame to be
longer of use, and it is the rule at the
Home never to sell an old horse to be
subjected to possible cruelty. but to
give them an honorable and merclful
death and burial when their usefulness
is over.
The Home has about IS or 20 horses,
and an average of one is killed every
year. The horse who was killed this
year was named mike" and was very
intelligent animal. For five or six years
@Mixen was the "hearse horse" when
occasion demanded. AT other times ne
was the "dump cartn horse. He, much
preferred his duties in the former ca
pacity. In fact he took great delight
therein. He drew to their last resting
place, up over the hill, at least 400 SOL
diers. When the solemn music began
and the procession started, Mike was
happy. He would proudly lift his head
and tail, and also he would lift each
fore foot as he walked. and actually keep
time to the music. That he enjoyed the
sound and the rhythm of the music there
is not the shadow of a doubt.
But his intelligence was developed also
in less exalted ways. He became ready
nup;I of his driver, and learned to chew
tobacco with great efficiency and appar-
ent relish. Though he did not expec-
torate in the most skillful way, yet not
an inmate of the Home was his equal
in the chewing process.
A favorite joke of his master. also an
Irishman, was to startle povices when
occasion offered in the following way:
IL he saw in the distance those VINO
did not know the horse and VINO were
standing near the store, he would Nip
a ten-cent piece into Mikes mouth ana
drive up as innocently as ever. he w'ooio
lump down at the store, search his
pocket, look chagrined, then shout to
the horse: I say, Mike, I'm dead broke.
Can't yer lend me the price OF plug OF
tobacco?n Mike would turn his head
and drop into the outstretched palm the
ten cent piece that he had carefully heid
in his lip. Then the tobacco would be
bought and, to the further establishment
OF the onlookers, both master and horse
could take chew, much to the delight
of the former.
But Mixes intelligence was not always
SO pleasant for his driver. On one &C.
casion Governor Stephenson desired the
latter and could not find him. He found
Mike hitched to the post. but no driver.
Then he thought of Mixes intelligence,
turned the horse loose and followed him.
Mike started off, with no uncertain
manner, and proceeded through the
village of buildings, straight to the
door of the beer saloon. Inside the
Governor found the recreant driver, who
got severe reprimand and who shook
his fist at Mike, as he came out and
muttered: e DIN yer Mike, yer give me
aWayn
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
The Canning Industry.

A recent government report shows a
fact that will be interesting as well as
new to Minnesotans. It is that the
season Of 1898 was the first in which
Minnesota and Wisconsin were consid-
cred as a factor in the tomato canning
industry of the United States. Out of a
total pack in 1898 Of 1890, 433 cases
of two dozen cans-2, 600 cases, were
canned in Minnesota and 8, $50 in Wis
consin Iowa canned SO, TIC cases, and
Maryland, which heads the list, packed
/, AT, 626 cases. New Jersey follows
with OFT, 2A2 cases, California with 451,
SAT, Indiana with SAT, 1850, and little
Delaware has credit of 271, 277 cases.
The increase in the pack of tomatoes
over 1892 was So per cent, extending
generally all over the United States.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
A Word About Oats.

American Cultivator says: Though
white oats almost always bring highest
prices in the market, they are not always
best for feeding, especially when given
whole. More depends on the kind OF
husk or beard as regards fneness OF
harshness than upon it's color. A black
oat that has soft husk is less apt to ir-
ritate the stomach than some of the
white kinds, whose husk is nearly as
harsh and stiff as that Of barley and
which is injurious to the stomach. The
very heavy oats are most apt to have
this harsh character of husk, and for
this reason the same weight with larger
bulk of light oats is preferable for feed.
ing
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
STATE TOPICS OF INTEREST.

Houlton is reported to be alive with
men waiting for work to began on the
Northern extension of the B. & A. Rail-
way.
The convention Of the Third congress-
ional district will again be held in Water
Vile, the district committee, of which
Hon. Nathan Meader is chairman, hav-
ing so decided. The date of the con-
vention is not yet fixed.
At a meeting of the Repu blican county
committee held in WatervilIe Tuesday
VIM. Dunn Esq, was chosen chairman
and &c. Stevens of Chelsea secretary
and treasurer. The date of the county
convention was fixed for June 10, and
the place Augusta.
In the law library of the Bangor
Court House Saturday there was an i'm
portant hearing, it being the close of the
well known aqueduct case of Auburn.
which was referred to Chief Justice
Peters and Ruel Small, ESQ.,, as referees
ss"In all my experience" said a proni-
nent Rockland sea captain Wednesday.
81 never saw day before when not a
single barrel OF lime was being loaded, -
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
An Agricultural Education.

The New England Homestead calls
attention to sensible idea. 1t is the
nonresident course in agriculture at the
New Hampshire state college. Anybody
can attend without preliminary exami-
nation or fees. Students may study any
of the topics of interest to the farmer
and upon the completion Of a stipulated
amount Of work receive certificate
This is cooperation in education for the
farmer thing much needed Not only
can student elect his own studies, but
in towns where there are a number of
students members Of the faculty will at
tend their meetings to deliver lectures.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
A Very Curious Fact.

The following extraordinary story is
told by Portland lady, in regard to, an
event in her mothers life lat has never
been explained, and that never can be.
About forty years ago she was residing
in Bangor, and one day received a letter
from Boston. She lost it, or at least it
disappeared as letters usually do not
burned up. Thirty seven years after.
when the lady was residing in this city,
that letter was found by her in the barn
. in load of hay that had been brought
in from the Marine Hospital.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24
Funeicides and Insecticides.

Professor Maynard Of the Massachu-
sets hatch station says that bordeaux
mixture and ammoniacal carbonate Of
copper as fungicides and paris green as
an insectioide have given the most sat-
isfactory results. Plum knot was largely
prevented by pruning and application
Of kerosene and bordeaux mixture. Bor-
deaux mixture also gave satisfactory re-
suits for carnation rust. ;"
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24

Experience has demonstrated that the
annual application of from 1000 to
1900 pounds of the proper fertilizer per
acre is as much as is necessary, and the
effects will become more and more mani
fest from year to year.
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-24

A young man named Smith INDUCED
in a big eat Saturday. Raw eggs 16 in
mum Der, can of strawberries and a
pound of prunes was his fare, followed
by hearty supper.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-11-25
China's Bad Plight.

The latest news from the war In the
East would seem TO accentuate the wis
dom of Japan in declining the offer OF
other governments 10 mediate the trouble.
This news shows the situation to be about
as follows: Port Arthur, the Chinese Gil
braltar. has been captured by the
japanese; the japanese column under
Field-Marshal Yamagata Is in tho vicinity
Of Moukden, n part Of Count Oyama's
force. which had been investing the Chi
nese stronghold. is moving upon Much
wang, and another japanese army has
left Ujlna for the purpose, II Ia supposed.
OF operating in the Yang kiang dis
tricts of the Flowery Kingdom.
From a brief study Of the map OF
China IT VIII be seen that these conditions
constitute a gloomy outlook for the Ce
lestials. 1t does not appear possible that
anything except armed intervention on
the part Of the European Powers can
prevent Japan from debating her own
terms of peace.
Port Arthur is situated at the point of
a tongue OF land known as the Regents
Sword and commands the Gulf of Pechili.
the water approach to one of the principal
strategic defences OF Picking. The capture
Of Moukden. the ancient Manchurian
capital. would virtually accomplish the
subjugation Of Manchuria. The fall OF
Niuchwang. which is said 10 be defended
by a rabble only, would leave open the
way for a rapid advance upon Shan-hN-
Kwan. the terminus of the railway TO
Tientsin, and the key to the northern
capital of China.
The fall OF Pekin alone would, II is
believed. place China at the feet OF
Japan, but It appears that the japanese
have determined TO make assurance dou-
BILE sure. The invasion Of the Yang-Tse-
Kiang districts is taken 10 mean a de-
monstraton against Nankin, the south
ern capital of China, and one Of the
greatest military depots in the country.
Should this prove as successful as have
japanese operations in the northern part
Of the kingdom. II would be in the power
OF Japan to annihilate utterly Chinas ter
ritorial integrity. The conclusion, there
FORE Is that II would be wisdom on the
part Of China 10 sue now for the best
terms she can get. and trust to tho
friendship of the European Powers to In
fuence Japan not 10 be too merciless.
If Japan has not increased her demands
the payment Of a war-indemnity, the
erection of Manchura into a buffer State,
and the recognition Of Korean independ-
ence-China may consider herself very
fortunate.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-11-25

"And who was the man in the iron
mask?" A final solution of the question
seems TO be given In the last number Of
La Revue Historique by Gabriel Monod
and Charles Bemont, deciding it in favor
of the theory advanced by Lord Dover
sixty years ago, that he was Mattioli, the
secretary of the Duke of Mantua. They
have found the order OF arrest dated April
2s, 1919 and the instructions that he he
confined in Pinerolo. An Italian pamphlet
OF the time gives an account of the
arrest. and says that Mattioli was mask
ed. The register of the Bastile contains
the entry. "On Thursday. September IS,
1859. at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, NJ
de Slint-Mars. Governor of the castle Of
the Bastile. arrived to take up his duties,
coming from his post at the lie Sainte
Marguerite, and having brought with him
In his litter "A former prisoner whom he
had in his custody at Pignerol. The latter
he keeps invariably masked and his name
is never mentioned.
M. de Saint-Mars. In the years In ques-
ton, had only FIVE prisoners in his charge
at Pignerol. The fate OF four 1--WE quote
from tnc New Ofk SUM mas Decn clearly
traced. the fifth must be Mattioli. The
prisoner died in 1903 and was buried on
November 30th in the Cemetery Of St.
Paul. NJ. Bertrand OF the French Foreign
Office has examined the register Of
burials. and finds the name Mattioli
under that date. Louis XIV. told Nine
de Pompadour that the prisoner was an
Italian Minister: Louis XVI. assured
Marie Antoinettc. on the authority of
Maurepas. that the man was q dangerous
intriguer. a subject of the Duke OF Man
tua, who had been arrested at the from
tier and imprisoned first at Pignerol and
then in the Bastile. The evidence seems
conclusive. and puts an end 10 all other
theories, including Voltaires bold inven-
ton that the man In the iron mask was
suppressed brother OF Louis XIV. which
Dumas has taken UP and immortalized in
his Three Guardsmen' romances. Mat
tolls crime was giving Information TO
Austria. Spain, Savoy. and Venice of
negotiations into which Louis XIV. had
entered with him. TO induce him 10 sell
the important fortress Of Casale TO the
French.
Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-11-25
Longevity.

Professor Humphreys. OF England, has
published some longevty-tables, citing
S2i cases in which the subjects had
reached from 50 to over 100 years. There
were, we suspect, but few Of the latter
class. These tables prove. as one of our
contemporaries says, that the law IN
regard to longevity. II there is any such
law, is extremely capricious and variable.
We can all easily believe that more wo-
men than men live TO be uncommonly
old; for there are many risks which
women are not subject TO. 1t is said
that the reason why women talk less in
February than in any other month Is
that that month is shorter than any
other. In like manner the reason why
so many more women than men es-
cape the accidents of life Is that the
women are not exposed to these accidents
at all. In other words. our modes Of
life provide for more old women than
old men.
The average longevity OF the poor and
of the rich Professor Humphreys finds
10 be about the same. We do not think
he would find 1t so in Richmond. or any
other city having a large negro popula-
ton. These negroes are almost all Of
them unthrifty and poor. A good many
lazy and stupid people live TO be very
Old. But these lazy and stupid people,
like women, do not expose themselves
to the perils TO which active. Industrious
10 Y,c mi HiH
not seem to think that many persons
lived to be mora than three-score years
and ten.