davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
CURIOUS FACTS.

A British peer cannot resign MS
peerage. 80
Italic type was first made ny Aious
about 1476.
About one-third CT the houses IN TINS
country are lighted by gas. 4
Jhina's national hymn Is 80 long
that people take half day to listen 70
it.
Some one has figured that finger
nail grows seven feet nine inches IN
Scriptural term lifetime.
AT masquerade in New York sub
urb recently man who nppesred as
Father Time carried lawn mower IN
stead of a scythe.
The Third United States Cavalry
rode 18, 900 miles last year on the Dor
der, one company, Troop G, accom-
plished cightyfive miles in one day.
A gray fox on West Chester, Penn,
farm is ON terms of friendship with
lot of young beagle dogs and frequeut-
ly sleeps in the same pen,with them.
An exceedingly raro animal, n black
faced, black-eared caribou, was re-
Gently shot at Andover, Me. This
caribou was unusually large, with big,l
branching horns. !,
"The Bachelors Ready Marriage
Club" an organization designed for
the purpose of providing the necessary
funds for any member who desires to
be married, is i'll process OF formation
in New York.
The monument to the memory OF
King Henry the First of England
ought to BIO yard stick. His arm
was just thirty-six inches long, and
that is where the English and Ameri-
can yard got its standard of length.
John Thacker, of Waterford, Va be.
ing nccidently ut Cincinnati, bought
at sale of unclaimed baggage trunk
in which he found property which
proved to be that of a relative who had
been missing for years, and the Incl
dent has led to the reunion of long
separated family.
CLEAR, hear, is perhaps the most
familiar interjection heard during de-
bates in tho House of Commons, but
how few members know the origin of
the phrase. 1t will be surprise to
many to know that the earliest instance
of its use is to be found in Samuel Xxx,
16: ""rhcn cried wise ,veMnn outSof:, !,
the city, "Hcar, Hear"
Tombstone, Arizona, owes its name
to an attempted witticism. When
Schieflerlin, the discovcrer of the
mines in that locality, was starting on
his most successful prospecting tour he
told friend he was "goingto discover
mine this time sure" The friend re-
piled: "You'll discover n tombstone"
In recollection of the rejoiner Schief-
ferin named the mines he found the
Tombstone.
A German newspaper states that
the original sketch of the letter of Ma
poleon 1. which he wrote in 1915 to
tho Prince Regent, demanding per-
mission to make his home in England,
is to-day in the hands of a resident Of
Strasburg 1t is entirely in the EN-
peror's own hand, full of erasures and
alterations, and belongs to descend
ant of the courier of General Gour-
gaud, who made the clean copy of it
for transmission.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13

One of the surgeons sent abroad by
the United States to inspect intending
emlgrants at European ports says that
the knowledge of such inspection by
the United States made the Steamship
companies extremely careful MS TO the
sort OF steerage passengers they nc
cepted. He inspected $4,000 pnsscn-
gers and detained but two, while on
this side not single one of those who
came under his inspection was excluded
from this country.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
Muman Nature "Worked.v

The man who owned the toy store
understood human nature. He knew
that when you forbid person to do a
certain thing that person is Mt once
possessed with wild desire to do it.
some things are part of mischievous
human nature and you can't get rid
of them. Every man has wicked i'm.
pulses to touch his finger to fresh
paint, to kick an old hat, to take an
extra peanut from the huskster's stand
and to give twirl to any sort of
wheel that hangs loosely.
The toy store man put good sized
wheel i'll the street and Immediately in
front of his show window. A sign
said:
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
New Uses for Aluminium.

When old DR.. Wohler way back in
lS45 succeeded in isolating n few
grammes of aluminium Mt great ex-
pense and at greater labor he probably
had no idea what uses the metal would
be put to in the future when it became
cheaper and easier to get at. When one
reads of things manufactured out of
the light metal it seems MS though there
was no end to them. And now there
is man who is going to sea in an ain.
minimum boat; that is, provided that ;t
is successfully built. The enterpris-
ing individual who has ordered tbie.
me hrst sea-going aluminium boat. ia
the Comte de Chabannes la Police.
and the craft, n ten-ton cutter. is he
ing built in Loire. He expects it to
he great Success, and il looks no
though it would. The hull when com
Pleted will only weigh $500 pounds
Made OF steel it would weigh 10, 600.
oncie Snm is going to make expert
ments, too, and will try aluminium in
place OF the metal ordinarily used ON
the accouterments carried by the sol.
alers. A set of experimental capteens
has been ordered and little aluminium,
department has been put in charge Of
Lieutenant NJ. G. Brown. He will
make thorough experiments. During
.ne war private could cnrry only
eighty rounds of ammunition. II il
saiu tnat the decrease of weight is the
aecouterments caused by the use of
onn WILL allow the carrying of
ACo rounds. Uncle Sans enemies will
WISH ne hadn t adopted the new notion.
New York Mail and Express.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13

MIR. Brentano, the publisher and
bookseller, sold i'll his Paris store II
newspaper printed i'll New York CITY,
which contained an Incorrect stute-
ment touching French gentleman of
distinction. After long legal Int
tie, states the New York Advertiser,
brentano has been compelled to pas.
damages to the amount of $1,000 and n
hne of $40. That's French law. 1t
is also French "justice.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13

White horses arc to be barred from
military service in Germany. The En-
peror has ordered that no more be
purchased for the army, and those now
IN use are to be sold He thinks that
IN war white horses would be espc-
cially conspicuous because of the use
OF smokelcss powder, and would al-
ford an easy mark for the enemy.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
Where the Sun Gets lis Heat

why the sun continues to give forth
light and heat in undiminished GUAM
titles and unvnrying intensity after
having been i'll state of combustion
Tor untold ages has long been n puz-
Iic TO the astronomers as we'll as to the
thoughtful observer i'll the lower rank
OF the star gazers Those learned in
sun lore tell lis that for every second
oil time the sun cmits as much heat ms
would result from the instant combus-
ton of l1,G00, 900, 600, 900 tons of
coal! Calculating from these figures
1t Is easily shown that if the suns en-
tire mass consisted of first quality of
coal III state of combustion. md
that 1t could burn until the time when
the very last ton were consumed (mnin
tanning until then the rate of heat
emission now kept up) the supply
could not possibly last over 5000 wears.
But it is believed that the sun
Inns been i'll existence for hundreds of
thousands and probably millions of
years, and that since the Cages of
man dawned the quantity OF heat
emitted has notperceptibly diminished.
This being the cnse there is but one
conclusion as to how its heat supply
is kept up, Wis: that it has an outside
store fuel to draw upon. The latest
theory is that the immense regions of
space are occupied by untold myriads
OF miniature bodies known as meteors,
meteorites and nerolites, which are
being constantly drawn to the sun,
and that these constantly blowing its
atmosphere evolve numerous streams
OF both heat and light. ST. Louis Re-
public.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
In France the granting of suffrage
to women is regarded as matter of
business rather than sentiment.

Did any statistical financier ever
pause to reaecb'' asks the Atlanta
Constitution, "that the worlds wheat
crop of 1892 was less than that of 1887
by 12O, 600, 900 bushels?"
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
"DoS'T Touch THIS WHEEL"

The result is that every man who
stops to look i'll the window defies the
instruction and gives the wheel turn.
Inc axle Is connected by belt with
the motor which runs all the mechani
cal toys in the window. When the
wheel /" turned the manikin begins to
saw wood, II clown beats II drum and
the preacher makes gestures. The
man gives the wheel another turn to
Keep them all going and then crowd
gathers. When he gets tired some
one else is there to keep the wheel
buzzing. The shop-keeper gets his
motive power free of charge.
Suppose he Ind put out placard
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13

The tax OF 50 year on cycles which
was imposed i'll France last April,
yielded in the first half year over
S156, 600. The tax on stock exchange
transactions, which tho brokers de-
clared would surely ruin all business
on the bourse, yielded round $780,
o0O between June l and November 30.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13

Total. ). ..slos, 1872 ,52a s72s, 7ss, sla
The industrial prospects OF the South
ore growing brighter, the Journal
asserts, and the next few years
will probably witness material de-
velopment in this section, oven more
remarkable than that which has taken
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13

There is talk of demonstrating the
old Statehonsc on Beacon Hin, Bos.
ton. The scheme meets with much ap.
prosal ia that city,
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
PLEASE STEP UP AND TURN
THIS WHEEL"

Why, then the great public would
have been dnrkly suspicious, and
would have hurried on.-Chicaeo
Record.
Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-07-13
THE FATAL MARK,

) this Mr.. Rush
ton's?"
1t was n hand
some young man
who asked this
question: sty-
lish fellow, with
plenty of light
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02

of the great clearinghouse of Barring,
Hagoun & Co.. the third and last of the
promoters of rival railroad to the South
ern Pacific system"
"What became of Buck ?'' asked as the
colonel paused.
Buck? Just read that clipping" and
the colonel took from his pockatbook
worn bit of newspaper and handed it to
me. 1T read as follows:
BAGDAD, Colorado Desert, January IL
1S89.-An old prosDector and surveyor known
as Buck" Pomeroy disappeared mysteriousIy
from his camp at this place three days ago and
no trace OF him has been found. He was In
company with two friends, and was apparently
In good health and spirits They all retired as
customary early in the evening. but in the
morning Buck was missing. and dilIgent search
has failed TO find him. He went away Just as
he was rolled in his bankets-barelooted and
half-dressed. One OF the men said he thought
he heard Bucks voice IN the night saying
something about some ghosts being after him.
but he thought IL was dream and so paid no
attention to 1t. Buck has evidently Joined thar
innumerabe caravan of men whose bones
whiten the remote sections OF the desert. and
will doubtless remain forever without burial.
l folded up the clipping and returned it
to the colonel. He put it back in his
pocket-book without a word. G. F. w.
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02

1t is easy to understand how large
whales are now resting on the SUBMITS of
mountains where the earth has been
thrown up in huge ridges and the sea
turned back; but how whales in the flesh
could be conveyed there was a puzzle to
many. 1t is, however, easily accounted
for. Thus, the ship Sheerwater sighted
in the Antarctic waters a large berg, in
which, 1000 feet from the water, was
whale. nearly all of its body standing out
in bold relief. The explanation was that
about a certain island near the south pole
wall of ice had formed, down
upon which snow from the neigh Dor
ing cliffs had blown and accumulated,
pushing the ice down deeper and deeper
until finally by sinking it was one or two
hundred feet thick. On to this submerged
ice field large whale was blown or
washed, becoming encased in Ice and
slowly frozen in. Finally an off-shore
gale detached the ice field and it blew off
as berg and broke up. The wer portion
melted and finally the berg tipped over
and the imbedded whale was carried two
or three hundred feet beneath the surface.
By melting and othe- losses the berg again
turned and the great ice mountain was
seen rising grandly in the air with the
whale projecting from it-a puzzle to those
who were not familiar with the various
methods of ice formation in the Antarctic
islands. G.. II.
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02

| looking out over the desolate eXpanse of
desert toward Lancaster, a station on the
| Southern Pacific road some twenty-five
or thirty miles to the southwest. Buck
had been entertaining US with yarns about
| ghosts that be insisted haunted an old
mining camp near Owens Lake, and was
| inclined to feel hurt because laughed at
| his tales.
| When darkness came on and only the
outlines Of the gaunt mountains across
the desert were discernible in the star
light. Buck of a sudden said. Colonel, I
never thought an engine headlight could
be seen SO plainly at Lancaster"
Nor did l." was my reply, as l saw
close to the ground at distance difficult
to estimate a round, strange olored light
or ball of fire, very like locomotive
headlight. A moments watching, bow
ever. soon convinced me that the light was
erratic in its movements and was nothing
more or less than a grand display of the
"ignis fatuus" or will O. the wisp, some-
thing / had seen many times at the ends OF
the spars or mastbeads of a ship at sea,
but never on land or in such magnitude.
l said to Buck: "Its no headlight. It's
one of your ghosts come to convince me of
the truth Of your stories" He turned
white as sheet and grasped me by the
arm. saying, sits coming dead for us,
sure as we live"
And so it was; dancing up and down Il
came nearer and nearer. / must confess
it made even me trifls nervous. while as
for Buck he evidently took my joke about
the ghosts In dead earnest and was COM
petely panic-strlcken. "For Gods sake %
he cried. Let us get out Of this" and was
on the point Of jumping up and running
| off into the desert, when all of a sudden
| the light disappeared and was seen no
more that night.
Buck finally quieted down, though 1
could see by his nervousness and frequent
quick chances in the direction in which
the light had appeared that he was still in
dread of its temperance.
/ discussed the matter with him for
hours. trying to explain the real nature of
the phenomenon and that no possible
| harm could come of it. But he would not
have it that way, and all that / could say
did n OF influence mis- superstitlous dread of
the strange appearance.
Colonel" he said, tits hoodoo. This
railroad scheme and its promoters will die
suddenly. Surep'
laughed at his fears and we laid down
to rather restless night. The work in
this section was not COMPLETED next day in
time to return to the main camp, and half
dozen times in the course of the work
| Buck spoke about the ghosts" as he per-
sisted in calling the phenomenon, and he
was even more muddied than usual in his
MANIPULATION of the transit Finally, his
slowness caused night to come on before
our task was completed, and we therefore
returned at dusk to the same camping
place as the night before.
] After We had eaten supper Buck said :
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02

near cliff of ice. eight hundred feet or
more in height, he saw a vast berg some
1900 feet in length and 100 feet in height
break off from the ice-cliff and fall with a
terrific conclusion into the water. Whe n
the berg assumed its level the observers
saw, to their establishment. protruding
from the ice huge whale of the sulphur
bottom variety. IL was over 200 feet above
the masthead of the ship, standing out in
bold relief, presenting marvellous spec
tacle and arousing much comment among
the superstiti0us sailors, who considered
it little less than a miracle that q whale
should be seen in such position.
The whale had in some way been inn
prisoned in the berg and was frozen solid.
portion breaking off and falling, which
the whalers secured. How old the speci-
men was they could form no idea. Man,
moth meat has been preserved this way
for thousands of years. and it was as
sumed that the whale was very old. Its
flesh was so perfectly preserved that the
men tried out eight or ten barrels of oil
from it, and the birds. bears and other
animals fed for long time on its remains
which were left on the ice. Some whalers
found the skeleton aud some of the flesh
of large whale on Ragged Island sixty
feet or more from hlgh-water mark and a
mile and half from the water.
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02

more than equsled my expectations in the
way of weight
Fishing on dry land may strike a layman
as surprising, but whaling in a mountain
range. four or FIVE thousand feet above the
sea, seems even more remarkable and can
be enjoyed by the earnest seeker after
novelties. Not long since, in cutting
through some of the streets of Los
Angeles, the laborers came upon the
skeleton of a whale, its gigantic bones
reaching away beneath a house, showing
that here at one time the ocean, that is
now twenty miles away, rolled and the
largest of living animals swan.
A most remarkable sight was that seen
in the mountains north Of Los Angeles
some years ago. A prospector in walking
in the range In search of gold was sud-
denly amazed at seeing landslide had ex-
posed the bones OF gigantic animal. The
jaw, which was twelve or fourteen feet
long, was lying on the ground with a huge
shoulder blade, itself more than a man
could lift while away from it the remain
ing bones of the whale could be traced for
over 100 feet. This was whaling OH dry
land beyond question, and many such
discoveries have been made in various
lands and have always caused great ex-
element among the people in the vicinity.
One of the most remarkable whales for
its size was discovered in the flank of the
Monte Pulgnasco. one of the Apennines
1t was 1900 feet from the base of the
mountain and beneath a deposit of 800
feet. suggestive Of the enormous time that
has elapsed since the whale swan in its na-
tive element. II had died and dropped to
the bottom, the bones lying there some
time, as shown by oyster shells attached
to the vertebra. Then came the tremen-
dous upheaval that raised the ooze and it's
contents high in the air. forcing the water
away Another skeleton was found 300
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02

Colonel, never want to see that In fernal
light again. Ghosts or no ghosts, it's no
good and no luck will come of it,"
The words were scarcely cut of his
mouth when, apparently not more than
hundred yards awav, the huge ball of FIRE
appeared like flash, dancing up and
down and seemingly coming dead toward
US. Now Buck became almost beside him.
self with terror. Lets go, and the
quicker the BETTER" shouted my now thor
ougblY alarmed companion; but suddenly,
as on the previous night. the light van
ished. Buck then recovered some portion
of his equanimity, and though he was still
anxious to return 10 camp finally per-
suaded him that there was danger that we
would lose our way if we ventured out on
the desert after dark, while il we re-
NAMED there was nothing to be afraid of.
Neither of US slept much, however, for l
must confess that had a sort of creepy"
sensation myself, and we were up early
next morning completed our work and got
an early start back to camp.
While we were on the road Buck said !:
Colonel, don't want to discourage you,
but the people who are at the head of this
| scheme to build competing railroad will
Ule Suuueuly anu tnlS Work Will STOP. In
fact, wouldn't wonder if you and l both
went over the range with them to keep
them company. But they are going, surep'
'How little you know" l replied, and l
could say no more, as my hackers were
then unknown.
Now let me tell you the strange sequel
The very same week that Buck made his
prediction the Earrings failed. Early in
November Henry D. Minot, the leading
spirit and financial head of the enterprise,
was killed in a railroad accident while re-
turning from Washington, D. c., where
he had concluded the purchase OF General
Beale's ranches in every detail, save the
passing Of the papers and paying the
money, the intention having been to SUBJ
divide that immense estate of 264, 900
acres.
On Thanksgiving day Of the same month
came orders to close the work, discharge
every body. and break camp. The follow
ing year Allan Marvel, president of the
AtchisOn, Topeka and Santa Fe road, died
after brief illness, he having been The
second hacker of this great enterprise, and
soon followed the death of of Mr.. MagOun
The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-02
THE PROSECUTORS FATE.
A Mystery of the Desert.

Colonel Whitehead is a s;ory-teller from
way back and has reputation as a racou-
teur that spreads over dozen Western
States and Territories. and from the waters
of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific He
has had innumerab BILE thrilling adventures.
both in war and in peace, and when in the
proper humor he will spin yarns of the
most absorbing interest by the hour.
One story that he related as we were
jogging along behind the mules on recent
trip to the undoubted gateway OF sheol
Ii. g., the sulphur banks of Kern County,
is so uncanny and strange that L will ven
ture to repeat 1t.
Some three years ago, said the colonel, l
was engaged in making a survey from
Rogers, on the Mojaye Desert, to Antioch
We had made rapid progress toward Fort
TETON Pass. and it became necessary to
check up the line, measuring distances
from Government corners, that the road
might be accurately located upon the filing
map. This work was assigned to an odd
genius whom l will call Buck" a man
past Is, tough as knot and as wicked as
a pirate. Frequently he would set his
ricketty old transit with the lens wrong
end to, and after trying to locate the flag
for fifteen or twenty minutes he would dis
cover his error and then such swearing as
he INDUCED in is rarely heard outside the
forecastle of man-of-war. l sometimes
think the strange manifestation which |
am about to relate to you might have been
due to Bucks profanity. Certainly, if
man can have power to summon spirits,
evil or good, from the neither world Buck
ought to have had that power In no small
measure.
l began the inspection of the survey
preparatory to the right-of-way work.
starting at Rogers, a desolate station on
the A. and P. road, on the borders of an
immense dry lake. We made our first
camp some fifteen miles west of that
point. The regular survey camp was at
this time near Germans station. under the
shadows of Mount Frazier. Our camp
was a rude settlers cabin, and near 1t was
a shack barn with little nay stored in il.
A we'll of fairly good water close by made
a comfortable camp possibility. 1t was
late in October, and the water had risen
near the surface in the bed of the dry
lake. We had eaten our supper the first
night out, and were having quiet smoke,