davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
Sa aiIors, Superstitions.

The superstitions of actors would fill a book and so also would those of sail ors. But this, says the Boston Home Journal, has affected the amateur yachtmen, who are men of education and who might be expected to laugh at it. Notice the names of crack racers of late years, and it will be seen that the mystic seven has entered most largely into their selection. In 1891 the Adams boys," as they are called, had boat called the Beatrix (notice the seven letters) which was very sue cessful. She was altered and renamed the Harpoon, which, in addition to the seven letters, had a lucky co. The Typhoon had the lucky seven letters and the lucky co, and was eminently successful, therefore. It is also lucky to have double consonants in the mid dle of the name. The Gossoon, cut ter owned by the Adams boys, won all the races in her class in 1890, and in a previous year these same yachtmen misspelled word for the sake of gain ing the lucky combination, and called boat the Babboon.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
PLEASANT THINGS IN ARIZONA.

Poisonous Skunks, Savage Peccaries, Gila
 Monsters, Scorpions and Tarantulas.
 Arizona, from the nature of it's loca- tion, is, I suppose, the most peculiar country in it's animal, insect and rep tile life on the continent" said c. N. Bruce, member of the legislature and one of the cattle kings of the south west, to a reporter for the San Fran- cisco Examiner. ''There are peccaries that are very savage in the high Rincon and Chiricahua mountains. l have heard it said that they have hoofs like
 mules, but I never saw any of that kind. They are as big as six-months'- old shoat, have sharp back and long hair and emit a musk something like skunk. They are so savage they will attack you whether you attack them or not. Every once in awhile some of the boys get caught in the trees by these peccaries. They have to take to the trees or get torn to pieces.
 q know a fellow in the Rincon mountains who was kept up for several hours. There was a large band of peccaries under the trees. The tops of GllC hlnCOA cl1C CONC1CO WiG4l live oak, or what they call post oak, and the peccaries feed on the acorns. They are simply wild hog. I am confident our domestic hog is de- scended from them. Speaking of the peccaries throwing musk and the dan gers from their teeth reminds me of the spotted black and white skunks, whose bite down there is poisonous.
 ''The skunks have rabies, and bite from them at such times is fatal They make for a man as quick as they see him, and lie has to be very lively if he gets out of the way. Two vaqueros, employed by the Crittenden Cattle com pany, died from their bites last sum- mer. suppose if have known of one case I have known of twenty of this kind.
 IS. Weir Mitchell, now of the Smith sonian institution, but stationed for long time at Fort Wingate, N. M., made them special study. He made the Gila monsters, centipedes, SCOT pions, tarantulas and all the animals of the desert the subject of special inves- tigation while he was at Fort Wingate as an officer of the United States army. His Investigations bear out all have said relative to the animals and rep tiles of that region'
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
HeaYY-Weirht Rread.

A Yankee carpenter tells story that is intended as a joke on his wife. When they were married they rented apart ments in block, the rear of which overlooked one of the rivers, and among the wife's earliest culinary efforts was a batch of bread. The young husband sampled his wife's contribution to the worlds stock of the staff of life,' and, arising from the table, playfully re- marked: My dear, cast your bread upon the waters" The wife took of fense at the injunction, and, as the husband left the house, she flung the remaining loaf out of the window into the river. It struck passing boat, crashing through the bottom and sink ing in the waters murl1y depths. The next she knew, the boatman, dripping wet, made tour of the block, bent on discovering who dumped the bod of brick into his craft.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
DenIorshle IRnorance.

After relating the story of the Eng fish lady intending to visit the worlds fair, who said that she would prefer to board in the suburbs of Chicago while doing so, and therefore wrote to a friend asking her to engage rooms in Bangor, Me, the Buffalo Commercial comments as follows: Now this seems very funny; but we have heard of a Boston woman, who made no little of her education, ask if it was the Hud- son river that ran from Buffalo to the falls. Nay, more, not a month ago a Buffalonian was asked by a New York CT who derives his education from a very popular university not thousand miles from Boston, whether the short est way from New York to Buffalo was not by the Pennsylvania Gen. tral. And when he was mildly as sured by his parents that such geo. graphical ignorance was not to his credit, he blushingly answered that he had not travelled much in this country, and really did not know anything about fhe west '
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
A STRANGE STORY.
Three Mysterious Suicides at Mount Pc.
 pOcatapetl.

pocatapetl.
 "All the village residents of Mejapo- ho, Mexico, which is situated at the base of Mount Popocatapetl, the vol cano, were moved by strange story in 1885," said a writer in the St. Louis Republic. ''I was there at the time only for three days, and then only at night, because in the day I was out in- specting the surrounding territory. From what I could learn a num- Der of the sight-seers on the mountain had returned to the village on a night in early June and related that they had seen three men leap down into one of the smaller craters on the noun tain's side and bury themselves in the bed of molten lava that bubbled and smoked some distance down. Those who related the tale claimed to have afterward visited the crater and looked into it, but that no traces re- mained of any such tragedy, except lone white handkerchief marked |. D., which was picked up near by. This they deposited with the village authorities. l was rot filed with
  ined the linen and listened to how first one of the strangers ran forward dis tancc of fifty feet while the other two watched, and when he had come to the edge boldly leaped over; then how the second ran and jumped after, and how the third threw something away and followed his two companions. Those who saw it were not Mexicans at all, but travellers from the United States and Europe. They as well as myself left shortly afterwards, with the in- habitants thoroughly convinced that F. D. was the devil, and that he had returned, claimed two of his victims and forced them to leap, alive and well, direct into sheol, without judgment. Last year, while looking over an old paper file in Portland, Ore, I came upon an article in one of the papers which recounted the mysterious disappearance of Edwin Davis, citi- zen of Portland, who left for parts un- known in the latter part of April, 1885, and had not been heard from up to that time, which was two weeks after. A note below stated that young man by the name of Scott had also disap- peared from San Francisco few days later. There was nothing more to it and my inquiry did not bring anything further to light than that Davis had never returned. I think of that incl dent every little while, and recall the Portland end of it, with a vague won der as to whether the Edwin Davis, of Portland, was the same E. D. who threw away the handkerchief and plunged-the last one of three suicides over the crater's edge at Mejapoho. If it was not, it still remains strange coincidence, anyhow"
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
WHY THE LECTURER STOPPED.
The Snore of a Rocumbe1t Student Ends
 Dull Discussion.

Dull D1ScusSlOn.
 There is a certain professor in Bos- ton who lectures before a class of stu dents on a subject extremely abstract and difficult to grasp, and 9 story is told in the Globe of a situation in which he suddenly found himself one day while featuring on one of his most abstruse topics. The members of the class had evidently had an ihkling of the nature of the lecture on the day in question, for at it's beginning tho pro- lessor faced but half q dozen students. He adjusted his glasses, smiled his pleasantest smile, and, turning to his manuscript, was soon reveling in the intricate and bewildering theories of his favorite subject. Attention from the benches lasted but a short time. There was plenty of room to stretch, and stretch they did. In the course of half an hour every one of those six was either extended at full length or in semi-recumbent position. If the pro- lessor had looked up he would have counted but two heads-the others were lost behind the high-backed benches, Everything was quiet enough to indicate closest interest on the part of the students, and the mind of the professor was far away from mundane environments. Suddenly from one of the benches there came a great, loud, prolonged snore-Morpheus had laid hold of him. The half-awale quintette suppressed their giggles the best they could. The professor dropped his glass es and eyed the two heads with a look of great surprise. He took in the sit uation immediately, grasped his manu script and strode out of the room. And he never went there any more." The course of lectures was completed.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
The Soldier Can.

Old United States army regulations say that the soldiers cap should be worn jauntily, with little slant over the right eye. The origin of that GUS tom may have been in the attempt to shade the eye while aiming, but it is no longer observed, and, indeed, most officers would reprove soldier who tipped his cap or helmet conspicuously on one side. The American soldier offers a marked contrast in that re- spect to the English soldier or the Canadian militiaman, for they wear little pork pie' hats that are tipped so far on one side that they would fall off at the slightest motion were it not for a strap beneath the chin.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
THE coWsoY AS HE IS.
More Stern and Commonplace Reality
 Than Poetry in His Life.

| More Stern and Commonplace Reality Than Poetry in His Life.
 The life of the cowboy" of the great west is but little known, says the Rich mond Dispatch. Somehow newspapers, and especially the writers of dime novels, have thrown a sort of romance about the cowboy that makes his life seem charming, but there is no charm about it. As rule there are no more hard-working, simple and unassuming men than the cowboys. They have been maligned and slandered as much | as any other men, because all the depre- dations committed on the frontier are attributed to the cowboys. It is not uncommon for him when he enters town, after spending weeks and per haps months in the great solitude of the plains, to get little more whisky than is good for him and become little frolicsome and reckless. He has a careless way of handling a six-shoot- CT that makes tenderfoot the least bit nervous. But the cowboy drunk and the cowboy sober are two different persons. Drunk, he is like all other drunken men-insane for the time be- ing and really not accountable for what he does; sober, he is usually quiet and as genteel as he can be. Liv- ing life of danger makes him fear less, and do not known of a real cow boy who will not at any time risk his life for friend.
 If he is treated cordially by strangers I, the unhappy tenderfoot who attempts to put on airs when the cowboy is around. He has been known to make the plug hat, or, as the cowboys term them, ''the hard-knocker hat" of a dude the target of his six-shooter, and he seems to delight in expectorating tobacco juice on a pair of freshly blackened boots.
 In his wild western life his home is in the saddle. He frequently passes weeks without seeing house or hav- ing 9 tent or shelter of any kind. Where does he sleep? you will ask. On the ground, his saddle for a pillow and his ''slicker' his only covering.
 If it rains he usually sleeps on his pony, sitting upright. He has studied the habits of the cattle until he knows them. He has to take his turn when driving in for the roundup to ride the circuit to keep guard during the night. They guard by reliefs. The cattle are punched" or got together, and the boys, save those on duty, sleep through the night. Those on duty must keep continually riding around the herd, for young cow or steer will occasionally take it into it's head to steal away. The darker the night the greater must be the vigilance.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
Distinction i'm the Navy.

Much under the spell of rank, seniori- ty, precedent, and the like as the American navy is, every ward room i- proud to have a man, no matter what his title, who has distinguished hims self in any honorable fashion whatso- ever. The inventors of the navy are held in special regard, and the half dozen officers whose names appear now and then at the end of magazine arti- cles are objects of interest to their messmates, to be pointed out to the visiting landsnan. The men who have made notable explorations or conducted difficult expedi tions enjoy like distinction in the ward room.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
Literary PIunderers.

Perhaps every club in New York is plundered of its newspapers, maga- zines, and even books by its own mem bers. The offense is usually inad- vertent, though sometimes intentional. A highly distinguished public man was seen riding down town one day with a newspaper in his hand bearing the conspicuous stamp of the New York club. A man of wealth was ex- pelled from fashionable club for per. sistently carrying off a notoriously dull evening paper. Several clubs usually have posted announcements that one periodical or another is missing. The cutting of newspaper files is common ofense in many clubs.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
Ionreritx of scientifio nren.

The scientific man is very frequently represented to us as an individual of mean physique, but the figures recent ly quoted by Lord Kelvin at the ami versary meeting of the royal society show in the most unmistakable man. ner that the pursuit of science is by no means favorable to the prolongation of life. It appears that of the thirty fellows deceased during the past year the average was over seventy-four. Only two died before the age of sixty, while two others reached the age of ninety.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
stm Send Circulars to rilden.

Enterprising tradesmen, in the dis tribution of their circulars, are not backward in utilizing the lists of dis tinguished persons which are printed in the newspapers from time to time, says the New York Times. Not infre- quently do they get hold of the names of men who long since passed over to that undiscovered country" end cir culars and prospectuses are mailed to the dead as well as to the living. It would seem that a name once enrolled on tradesman's mailing list is never erased. Circular letters addressed to Samuel J. Tilden" arc still occasion ally left at the Gramercy park man. sion. and mail matter addressed to ". Ii. Vanderbilt reaches the Grand Cen tral station every now and then. Many clubren have recently received from 8 shirtmaker what purrorts to be an autograph letter, saying: II am anx- ious to have you for a customer, and l want to make you Q sample shirt free of charge. Of course 1 cannot do this for every one, but for you it will afford me great ple2cure to do so"
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
West India Ornaments.

A kind of peasant ornament seldom seen in this country, except when brought by travellers, is the silver jew elry, rings, bracelets and the like, worn by coolie women in the West In- dies. These ornaments usually repre- sent the savings of the coolie husband, and are sold by the women only with his permission. A mans wealth is measured by the splendor of his wife's adornment.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
Magnificent Temples.

The temple of the sun at Palmyra covered square of twenty-two yards on each side. It was approached by a magnificent avenue over half a mile long inclosed by rows of columns and statues. The temple of Diana at Ephe- sus was four hundred and twenty-five feet long, two hundred and twenty five broad, and with statues and col umns innumerable. Of this magnifi- cent structure not trace remains even of the foundations.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
CATTLE BRANDS.
HENRY HUNIN,

HENRY HUNING Post office: Show Low, Arizona Range: Show Low creek, Silver creek, LaSuns Ortega and Laguna Salad8. Horse brand C {, left shoulder.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-02-01
Apply for Information About THE GREAT
 SOUTHWEST

lEgoouo last year farmers netted $100 to $20J sSHCI c per acre for fruit. grown on land that can be duplicated today for so per acre. lkIg.oro five tons of alfalfa hay, worth SIP per ss1Ct C ton, was grown on land the like of which canbe bought for SIS per acre. Where %any ehs5 sGa "ry bles netted large and larger profits than fruit. lssha~ o the summers arc cool the winters EsHC C warm, cyclones unknown and mala- ria uuheard Of
 AIhorn there is the best opening in the world ssHOI O for honest industry.
 Tow. F. WHITE, Passenger Traffic Manager, T. & S. r. R. R.
 Or HENRY F. GRIERSON,
 Immigration Agent A., T. GI s F. R. R.
 623 RialtO Building, Chicago, III. This railway passes through twelve states end terIit0r es, and having no lands of its own sell has no ob, ,ect in advancing the interests of any Speci al locality, or in giving any other than ab- s0lut ely reliable information. 1t realizes that tn: prosperity of the farmers of the great south. west me ms osperity to itself also and IS thus naturally willing to aid the immigrant as much as possible.
, 1894-01-31
(From the Spectator. Dec. 23.l

San francisco has just lost a very remarka-
bic man-Mr. William Coleman-the chief
facts of whose Life are we'll recorded in
Thursdays Times. On no less than three
occasions, he stepped in when the affairs Of
the State and city had become involved in
anarchy, assumed the powers of a Dictator,
put down mob.rule aud moh-violence, esta.
blished law and order, and then quietly went
back to his county house. 1he first occasion
was III 1851. when San Francisco was invaded
by the scum of tho diggings, and practically
passed into the hands of a gang Of despera-
does. Mr.. Coleman, whose first public act,
by the way, was to stop the lynching of asup-
posed murderer. thereupOn formed a Vigil
lance Committee, and soon cleared the city.
Five years later, however, the rowdies again
got the upper hard, and Mr.. Coleman vas
called back to restore order-which he did.
His next dictatorship was in 1877. when the
notorious labour a~gitator, Dennis Kearney,
went for" tie capitalist and the Chinese,
"openly Boosting thai he would murder the
after, and burn the homes and va! ehouSes of
the former" Once more the respectable
classes appealed to Mr.. Coleman and in
4wenty.four hours he had Eve thousand
citizens under arMs, and after a single con-
hict III the streets. the rioters were put down.
Il ia a significant fact that MIR. Coleman was
never in the course Of his career elected to
hold any pablo office. Not long ago Mr.
ColemaIls business house failed, and he was
only able to pay his creditors 40 per cent.
But though he obtained a full discharge,
this did not satisfy him and he never rested
til he had canned enough to pay his debts in
full. The last payment was only made n short
time befor" his death. Such men Are the
real safeguards against Revolution. II France
5.ad possessed a man of that kind in each 81
her great cities, there would have been no
Reign of Terror,
, 1894-01-31
Spectator De. 80.

We have discussed elsewhere the campaign
which the Govrrpments have been carrying
on against the Anarchists, but may mention
here the iDcidenfsaof the week. A doctors
house has been blown mp in Austria. two
attempts at explosion are reported from
Spain, and one bomb has been found unex-
ploded III a street of Paris. Threats of
vengeance have been received by the authori-
ties n Paris. Barcelona, and Madrid, and in
the lust-nansd place the Police wtre' 80 sure
that bombs would be thrown into the opera
house, that The Queen-Regent was advised
not to attend The executioner in Paris. has
been th reateneG with death if be executes
Valiant, and has resigned; and the Magis-
trate who conducts the inquiry into that case
is inundated with menacing letters. For the
present, the Governments are devoting
themselves to inquiry, the French Home
Office having created a special police for the
occasion, with large powers in all police dis
%tricta; while in spin the police have
discovered the authors oil, the massacre in the
Barcelona theatre, have found the Anarchists
secret laboratory deep oavern-and. think
tbey nowsknow every important man in the
party. It appears to be certain that the accive
Anarchists are hetraying one aIiother and
that their prominent men are under. great
alarm. The effort 70 seize N. Res'ps, nephew
, 1894-01-31

On Saturday last a party Of newspaper
correspondents and others male a tri al-trip
on the Manchester Ship Canal, which IS new
full from the Mrrsey to Stafford Docks. As
far as engineering considerations are concern.
ed the canal is clearly 10 success, and we can
not doubt that a waterway, open at Ill times
Of the tide to ocean-going ships, will be i
great benefit to the trade of Manchester.
Whether the undertaking will ever pay i'm
terest on the Els. 900, COO which it has cost,
is another matter. The canal has q total
lengIh Of 500 miles. 1ts average width at
water-ievei ia l72 fit. Its minimum depth is
rs it. Its minimum width g. bottom is 120ft.
The advocates of he canal note with special
pride hat when tho steamer on the trial-trip
was entering the canal, the Liverpool docks
were af closed because of the low-tide,
Hence they assert that at low-tide it will be
better for steamers to come straight on to
Manchester than 20 hang about in the M5r.
ssy waiting for high water. On January lot
the canal will be open TO all vessels.
, 1894-01-31

out from the pulpit a letter in which he had
been told that his church was to be blown up
with dynamite, and thsn delivered a long SER
mon against Anarchy. Possible |iuryuen are
beginning to feel uncomfortable, and there is
the same anxiety as prevailed at the time
Of the trial of Ravach0i.
, 1894-01-31

The ChirSrsity Correspondent for December
23rd publishes. under tie heading of
"Howlers."so charming a list Of blunder-
ing answers to examination questions, that we
can hardly believe that it was not prepared
by some artistic handi-some one who loved
to follow the advice of Dr.. johnson to put "
cocked-ha on al intlinsically~good story
and place a tick in its hand. For example:
@: "Wh. vas it that his great discovery
was not properly appreciated until long after
Columbus was dead?" d.: Because he didn't
advertise. again. O.: "Who was Joan of
Arc?" A.: "Noah's wife."-Again, 9 ::
Give the derivation Of mother" A.:
My other (~parent): Again. O.: DEFINE
function" A. when q fellow feels in a
furfk."-Q. "Who was Geo4ge the First p
d.. Phs son Of tn, Electric Sophia "a:
define faith" A.: That quality which
enables Us to believe what W. NOW to ba
untrue, "-evidentIy an ~agno,tic squib. Or
take this in phiIology:-'' 9 Give ex-
smples of 'diminutives.'" a.: Pump.
pumpkin; bull, bullet" Surely. some OF
these. and many others Of the answers, have
an artistic twist about them which looks very
Xix elaborate design.