davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
MURDER IN AMERICA.
Queer Facts About tho Crime In ThIl
CountrV

Queer Facts About tho Crime In This
Country.
Some late statistics published in
regard to crime In this country show
some interesting and curious facts.
We generally think foreigners com
NIT most Of the murders In this
country but, In fact, over half the
homicides committed by white people
are chargeable to native Americans.
The negro homicldes constitute near
ly one-half Of all such crimes native
or foreign, and they are remarkable
for cruelty and brutality. Murderers
are not usually illiterate The ma
jorlty of them can read and write,
except In the case of negroes, less
than half of whom can do either, and
Of the Indians only very few have
any education or even civilization
at all.
One Of the most curious facts is the
large number Of farmers guilty Of
homicide. The farmer is usually
supposed to be tractable and peace
loving. Yet out OF all homicides in
any one year it will be found that
nearly 0ne-third Of them are conf
mitted by farmers. 1t is even claim
ed by some that contact with the soil
arouses a love for blood. The pro-
fesslons furnish about one or two out
of 100; the otlice-holders about one
for every 200, and the fishers about
one for every 300. Unskilled labor Is
credited with most agrlculturlsts
come next manufactures and me-
chaaical industries follow, and then
in their order Of criminality come
personal and house servants, railroad
and steamship people, trade and COM
merce, mining, professional, official
lumber and miscellaneous.
TO the everlasting honor of wom-
anhood, be it said that out of all
homicldes men commit ut least 90
per cent Of them and women not
over 5 or per cent, and Of those the
vast majority are by lewd and aban-
doned women, And of the men it Is
found, naturally enough, that nearly
one-half of them are bachelors.
Men are never too old to murder.
The average age is found to be about
50 years, except among the Chinese,
where the average is higher Twen-
ty per cent, are under 80 and a few
are over the Scriptural three score
and ten, The average age OF women
is over 30, and that Of the negroes is
about 30.
The figures also dispel the popular
delusion that idleness is crimes great
workshop, as over three-fourths OF
all persons charged with homicide
were employed at the time Of the
crime. Nor does liquor play the all
important part usually attributed to
it. Less than one fifth Of all the
homlcides are found to be lnveterate
drinkers, while fully as large num-
Der are found to be total abstainers.
Over 80 per cent. have been found to
be in good physical health, and very
few have shown any striking marks
OF physical atavism or degeneration.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

with. The blades of these knives
are not more than three inches in
length, while the handles are not
more than half an inch long.
1t would puzzle any one to whom
it had not been explained, to know
how to make use of one Of these
knives, but, held in the manner shown
in the cut, with the short handle in
the middle of the closed palm, the
knife blade protruding between the
first and second fingers, one Of these
Polack knives would be a formidable
weapon "for jabbing," as the inspec-
tor who captured the one from which
the sketch was made, put it.
One Polish immigrant who was or
dered sent back nearly made his es-
cape from the room in which he was
confined, not long ago, by the vigor-
Gus use of the blade on the putty
that held the window-panes in place
in the sash. He would have had
nothing but his labor for his pains
had he succeeded in getting to the
ground, for the Waterman outside
would have been sure to see him, and,
even If that official had been care
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
Not Blown on by the wind.

About year ago the telegraphiC
dispatches contained an account of u
wind storm In Missouri, which not
only blew down houses and fences
and caused great loss of life, but ac-
tually stripped the feathers from a
rooster The correspondent stated
that not even the pinfeatheTs were
left, and his description of how the
cock next morning strutted forth,
tapped his naked wings and crowed
with a somewhat-dlsaghred -but-still-
in-the-ring style caused considerable
merriment. 1t was reasoned that u
wind of such force would have blown
the fowl to Jericho, and the writer
was set down as a Munchausen.
Scientific research, however, sustains
the story, but ascrlbes the ROSTERS
condition to another cause, A writer
in Der Stein der Weisen says:
among the most astonishing effects
of whirlwlnds must be reckoned the
well-supported facts that, on their
cessation, birds exposed to them have
been found stripped of their feathers,
and people with every shred Of cloth
ing torn from them. These effects
cannot possibly be ascribed to the
wind. The force necessary would
have sufilced to transport the objects
away bodily Numerous similar oc-
currences were observed in France in
the tornadoes which prevailed there
three years ago, and these were grad
ually brought under investigation.
Over the whole region affected trees
we're found rent in a manner which
could not possibly have resulted from
the wind. These were, first, oaks
split down the center for length Of
twenty to twenty-five feet; second,
poplars and beeches for length Of
six to twelve feet were shlVered into
sticks of uniform thickness QoT ex-
ample, u beech tree sixteen inches
in diameter was split into more than
500 sticks a centimeter thick, two
centimeters broad and three and a
half centlmeters long,; third, frs and
other reslnous trees had their stems
cut clean through, leaving almost
even surfaces, These phenomena
and others Of kindred nature can be
ascribed only to electricity.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
IT, WINS the Hat.

Il never realized the truth Of Shak-
speare's saying that the apparel doth
oft proclaim the man till l made my
first trip to New York City, said Ed
itor McAdams, who prints the Chick
asaw Chieftain away down In the In
dian Nation, to some friends at the
Ebbltt.
"You see the sombrero l have on
now--well, the brlm Is pretty wide,
but not a marker to the one l wore
that day on my pilgrimage up Broad
way. must have looked pretty YER
dant, for there were just seventeen
sharDers that struck me between the
Astor House and the Fifth Avenue
Hotel. When l reached that point
the thing got monotonous, and ]
went into a hat store and bought a
derby. Then / resumed my saunteE-
ing and walked mile further, but
never CON man reached out his
hand and with an insinuating smile
pretended toknow me. Washington
Post
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

rise, fluttering and leaping through
the branches, his song never ceasinq
for an instant, until he reached tho
Summit Of the tree and launched into
the warm, scent-laden air, floating In
splrals, with outspread wings, until,
as If spent, he sank gently back into
the tree and down through the
branches, while his song rose into an
ecstasy of ardor and passion.
His voice rang like clarlonet in
rich, full tones and his execution
covered the widest possible compass
theme followed theme, a torrent Of
music, a swelling tide Of harmony, in
which scarcely any two bars were
alike.
/ stayed until midnight listening
to him; he was singing when / went
to sleep; he was still singing when !
woke up two hours later; he sang
through the livelOng night.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
Heat OF the Body.

Perhaps the most wonderful phe-
nomenon connected with the bodily
temperature is the preservation of its
general level under all external cir
cumstances OF heat and cold. This
power seems to exist in man in q
higher degree than in most other ami
mails, since he can not only support
but enjoy life under extremes which
would be fatal to many. The ac-
counts of degrees Of cold frequently
sustained by Arctic voyagers are al
most incredible. We read Of tenn
peratures 80 degrees, and even 102
degrees below the freezing point. On
the other hand, in the tropics the
temperature often rises through
large portion Of the year to 10 de-
grees, or even higher, and we know
that workmen can remain in furnaces
at temperature of 300 degrees or
more without inconvenience. In all
these cases the air must be dry and
still; similar extremes Of heat or Of
cold, accompanied by moisture, would
prove intolerable. -Fortnightly Re.
view.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
Mocking-Bird Music.

Mr.. Theodore Roosevelt expresses
the opinion that the musical reputa-
tion Of the mocking-bird suffers great
ly from its habit Of mimicry On
ordinary occasions, and especially In
the daytime, 1t plays the harlequin,
but at night during the love season
1t has "a song, or rather songs, which
are not only purely original, but also
more beautiful than any other bird
music whatsoever Once, near
Nashville, he heard a mocking-bird
sing in way that he can never for
get. He thus describes his expert
ence:
The moon was full. My host kind
ly assigned me room the windows
of which opened on a great magnolia
tree, where, | was told, mocklng-
bird sang every night, and all night
long. / went to my room about ten
O'Clock. The moonlight was shining
in through the open window, and the
mocking- bird was already in the mag
nolia.
The great elm was bathed in
food Of silver; l could see each twig,
and mark every action of the singer,
who was pouring forth such rapture
of ringing melody as l have never
listened to before or since.
Sometimes he would perch motion
less for many minutes, his body quiz
ering and thrilling with the outpour
Of music. Then he would drop soft
ly from twig to twig until the lowest
limb was reached, when he would
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
Simple Enough.

AS change from the story Of CO.
lumbus and the egg, which may now
very properly be laid aside until 1892
draws near, an incident related by
a French man of science, and vouched
for by him, may be told. This gen.
tleman relates that he was at his
work before glowing coal fire when
some one tapped at the door, and a
young girl, belonging to family who
lived in the "lat" above him, came In.
"Sir," she SAID, would you kindly
lend me live coal or two to start
our fire with? It's gone out"
Certainly, my dear" said the sa-
want. "But you have brought moth
ing to carry 1t in. Take my shovel"
"Oh, no, sir" answered the child.
81 will carry the Goals in my hand, 3"
an your hand? What do you mean?
You'll be burned. "
"Oh, no, sir. III show you how"
The child dipped up some ashes
from the CRATE and placed them in
the followed palm Of her left hand.
Then with the tongs she laid two
burning Goals on the top Of the little
heap OF ashes. Then she bowed,
smiled and went out, bearing her
Goals unframed.
swell, well" said the man Of science
to himself. "Here I've been study
Ing natural philosophy forty years,
and never had the wit to do that"
Whether he ever repeated the ex-
pertinent on his own account we are
not told, but If young readers are
tempted to do so we should advise
caution.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
oLD-FAsHIoNED RELATIVES.
A Little and Aged Man Inquiries II OWL
lie" Can BE Seen.

Little and Aged Man inquiries II "Wll-
lie" Can BE seen.
Relatives of the old-fashloned sort
are sad dlsturbers of the dignity Of
the rising generation, especially when
they trot out pet names in public,
as all fond parents Of the old-fash-
toned sort invariably insist on doing.
It's difficult thing for a parent to
realize, anyway, that his child has
grown up,
There is young man in position
of great trust in.one Of the largest
mercantile establishments of this
town. He came from the country
originally, but would rather have
that forgotten. Yesterday a little
old man entered the counting-room.
He was done up in about five lengths
Of red-and-yellow scarf, and gave
other evidences Of halllng from the
latitude of Johnson's Creek or Find
ley's Lake.
as Willie IMP" he asked the clerk
at the counter.
willie? WHO'S Willle?" questioned
the puzzled youth.
"Why, our Willie. He's clerkin' 1t
here, amt he?"
The young man was about to reply
that Willie was not on his visiting
list, when the stately gentleman who
is known to the head of the firm as
William" to the cashier and the
principal bookkeeper as will" and
to the other employees as "Mr. Jones"
with the accent on the mister" came
forward and greeted the visitor as
father" But he will never again be
called any name in that establish
ment, even by the smallest Office boy,
except willie. buffalo Express.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

ed shotguns, homemade knives-made
of old crosscut saws, files and the like
and we looked dangerous We were
camped in an old storehouse in Helena
waiting for orders, and discipline, and
whatever it required to make the
Twenty-third Arkansas Regiment. In
our house we had room in the corners
to stack our guns and knives and other
baggage, aud we had hauled some
shucks and hay and put over the floor
for bedding. Then, when we all had
our beds down at night, we had the
floor pretty well covered up with men.
Now, ON the south side of our building
we had windows, and in the east end a
double door. On the north side there
were no windows, and in the west end
there were none. There was friend
ly COW, belonging to German bar
keeper near by, and she would come
and steal our shucks and hay when we
were outside cooking and eating.
On this particular night the moon
was shining in through our windows
and the old COW climbed in at the door
and made her way on and on until she
had reached the back of the house, no
one thinking or caring anything about
the COW. Perhaps she was two hours
or more making her way over, around
and through the men, but in course of
time she stepped on someoneup in the
dark corner, and he gave scream for
mercy. Then the old COW took the
nearest route for the door, regardless
of men, blankets or any of the imple-
ments of war. The men prayed, yelled
and cursed. Some ran off to the
river, some one way and some another,
and day dawned on us before we all
got settled back to sleep.
We had, if l remember correctly, 10S
men in our company. We went
through the war and surrendered with
about eighteen men. We saw the
elephant at many places, but the mem
bers of Company G were never scared
worse than they were by that COW at
Helena.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
An Arrioan King.

After Emin Pasha had learned OF
the fall Of Khartoum and the con-
quest Of the Soudan by the Mahdists,
he gave up hope of being able to de-
fend the Equatorial Province with
the force at his disposal, TO rescue
the Egyptians who garrisoned the
various posts was now his first duty,
and he began to make his plans for n
march to the sea. The only practical
BILE route appeared to be through the
kingdom OF Unyoro, which bounds
the Province on the southeast Ac-
cording he sent his medical officer,
Vita Hassan, with valuable presents
Of ivory and other things to the
king Of the country to obtain permits
sion for the passage Of the troops
through his dominions.
This African monarch, who was
named Kabarega, though in outward
appearance a mere savage, showed
that he possessed some of the quail
ties OF a successful ruler.
Among the presents sent to him
was little box which had come from
Mambettu, a country In the extreme
western part Of the Province When
the king noticed that it was made of
a single piece of wood, he was very
much pleased with it, and asked the
envoy whether he thought that his
subjects were capable of initiating
such work.
II answered him." says Vita Has
san, that the Wanyoro had no eX-
perlence in such work, and that 1t
would be very difficult for them to
do it as well as the Mambettu, who
were skilled in fashioning out of a
block of wood the most varied and
difficult objects. In a really artistic
manner they are able to make dishes,
plates, bowls, stands, and even Turk
ish jugs with their long and crooked
necks.
"The Wanyoro, on the other hand,
understood the preparation Of skins.
This is their speciality, as wood
working is that Of the Mambettu.
My words aroused the jealousy of
Kabarega, and he counted on his
fingers to five, and then said, ON
this day, pointing to the fifth fin
ger, come here again, and | will
show you whether or not my people
can make box like this
"On the fifth day the Wanyoro had
succeeded, under the most frightful
threats of the king, In manufactur.
ing a similar box Of perhaps even
better construction. Full Of pride,
Kabarega showed it to me with the
words, What use is 1t being a king
If cannot get my subjects to make
everything which | wish?'
"EBut what IL you desire some
thing which is beyond their ability
or their knowledge"
"'There is no need of that, for ]
have not lost my head; / shall never
bid them fetch me the moon, but II
it is q thing which is not beyond oul
power, | cannot permit that they
should give up at the first difficulty.
"For negro king this seemed t
be very reasonable, and l bowed my
assent
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

me and q hundred others was the
screaming of shell over our heads. l
had heard thousands of them before,
but never while / sat munching hard
tack and figuring on long nights
sleep The Internal thing must have
shaved us closely, as it blew my hat
off with many others, and the scream
ing of it seemed to loosen every tooth
in my head.
A hundred or more Of us rose up and
tumbled over each other and made for
the supporting lines. 1t seemed to
me that 1 fell down about every ten
feet Of the distance, and twice Ishould
have dropped into hollow if the
eligible spots had not been already oc-
cupied by parties who had beaten me
in the race. Sixty or seventy of us
ran in among the supports and would
have kept on running had we not
been forcibly stopped.
When l came to my senses rs it
were, was all a-tremble and SILVER
ing, and it was the hardest kind of
work to get a word or two past the
big lump in my throat, There was
that queer feeling at the pit of the
stomach, which most people experience
when swinging, and may add that i
mad very little desire for food for tile
next day or so. The brigade we had
left were fighting fercely to hold the
position and the supports falling in to
move up, every man of us, so far as |
could ascertain, returned of his own
accord, fell into his company and
wiped away the smirch by standing
fast. l talked with at least score of
them afterwards, and every one of
them diagnosed his symptoms as L
have mine. No one felt any particular
fear or fully realized what he was do
ing. The passage of the shell shocked
the nervous system and our legs ran
off with us. When we had recovered
in a message from the shock our legs
were just as willing to carry us back.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

the whole interior of the lamp can
be produced for a very short time
without having the lamp connected
to any source of current by wires,
etc. This interesting experiment
may be performed in any ones parlor
without any appurtenances other
than an incandescent lamp, a dark
ened room and mechanical power in
the shape Of two unobstructed hands.
The lamp is grasped about as shown
in figure /, at its lower end, with the
thumb and first finger Of the other
hand partly and gently enclrcling the
bulb of the lamp at its upper end
not holding the lamp so firm as to
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

more like one of the teamsters than an
officer of rank.
One day raw recruit went through
the camp inquiring for some books he
said some one had stolen from him.
One of the old veterans told him that
the only thief in camp was Jim Morgan.
q teamster, and that his tent was down
there by the blue flag. The raw re-
cruit went down to the tent, and,
poking his head in, exclaimed:
Does Jim Morgan live here?"
eyes, sir" was the response, shat is
my name"
well. I want them books you stole
from me-" said the raw recruit.
II know nothing of your books,
said Gen. Morgan.
"It's q lie!" exclaimed the raw re-
cruit. "The boys say you are the only
thief in camp. Give up them books
now, or L will pound you into apple
Sass"
Though General Morgan expert
enced some difficulty in convincing the
raw recruit that he was in. command
of the brigade, he relished the joke.
By appealing to member of his staff,
who came in, he established his yank,
when the astonished recruit remarked :
well, hang me, il I'd ever taken
you for Brigadier!'
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

three gun vessels, The General-Ad-
miral was on the station as late as
1864, and the squadron remained at
much the same strength, although
changes had been made in the ships
Their headquarters were at that
time at Vlllefranche, near Nice; but
some Of the ships of the squadron
were always at the PlrRus, Soon
afterward the squadron was reduced,
and in time vanished altogether.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
Russia's ships on the Mediterranea al

hussia's ships on the Mediterranean
A British naval officer writes to
the St. James Gazette to correct the
popular impression that Russia has
had no Mediterranean squadron, I'M
til now, since the Crimean war. IL
appears that as late as 1874 she had
four ships stationed there, although
only one at that time was of any size,
jhe Kaiaz Poziarskij, an old broad
side ironclad Of the early type, of
1000 tons displacement, with six
,nch water-line belt Ten or fifteen
years earlier the squadron consisted
Of four or five formidable frigates.
The flagship Commodore of the first
;lass) was the General Admiral, a
luge sixty-gun frigate of great length
ind beam--far longer than anything
n the British service. Three others
we're tlfty-ton frigates, the GromObOi
ind the II Muriavitch and the Oslaba,
md in addition there were two or
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
NEAT TOOL FOR MURDER.

Queer Knives that Are Carried by Polacls
Immigrants.
1t is the duty of the immigration
Inspectors at Ellis Island, New York
harbor, to search all incoming for
eigners for concealed weapons, and
their finds include some very queer
looking knives, knuckles, and so forth.
None are stranger than the little
knives found on the persons of the
Polacks, of which cut is given here
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
Size ana Weight Of the Giant ofBelIs

The "tltan of BELLS" the skiing OF
BELLS" the great bell OF Moscow, :"
etc, was cast in 1882, part of the
metal used being from the fragments
of "The Giant" one Of the former
monster bells which have made Mos
COW famous. The "king" was only In
use five years before it met with an
irreparable accident having a huge
piece broken from its side during the
great fire of 1887. 1t is now on the
ground, and will probably never be
repaired and hung" as IL would be
impossible to do so without recasting
it. During the present century this
monster bell itself is said to have
been used as a church, the three-cor-
nered break in the side serving as
door. This story is not at all impOs-
sible when we consider its gigantic
proportions, which are as follows:
Height, 10 feet inches; circumfer-
ence around the margin, go feet and
8 inches. The weight of this "colos-
sal folly" has been variously estima-
ted by different travellers and authors,
but it has never been set down at
less than 240 tons. st. Louis Re-
DubliC.
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12

not enable the right hand to rapidly
move the lamp up and down through
between the thumb and first finger
of the left hand, in the meantime
holding the left hand stationary,
After a few rapid movements the
lamp will glow about as shown in the
accompanying figure
Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-04-12
HOW TO HOLD THE KNIFE

less, the escaping immigrant would
have had hard time Of it getting
through the waters of the bay to the
main land. But the strictness of the
search for hidden knives has been
doubled since.