davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
GLORY SURPRISING soLoMoN,s
London's Lord Mayor Is a Gorgeous Crca- ture VThIIe Arrayed His Robes.

London's Lord Mayor Is Gorgeous Crca-
 ture VThIIc Arrayed His Robes.
 The fountain of municipal honor in England, says the London Teiegre ph, undoubtedly springs from the Guild hall, London. which justly claims to be accounted the most ancient of our municipal halls, seeing that the lord mayors of the last eight centuries are with justice assumed to have proto- types in the Roman prefect and the Saxon fortreye or portgravc. For 8 considerable number of years the robes of the lord mayor, the court of alder men and the common councillors have been settled with precision that none, save the most reckless of innovators, would presume to disturb. The lord mayor himself has his ''gold'' robe for the annual Guildhall banquet and for the times when he proceeds in state either to the new law courts or to the houses of parliament. The alder men have their scarlet gowns, the sheriffs their distinctive and very handsome robes and chains, while the common councillors rejoice in gowns called ''mazarines,' it being generally understood that mazarine is term for dark blue color, although, according to some photographers, mazarine also means a drinking vessel and a1 old way of dressing fowls. Then, again, when the sovereign comes into the city the lord mayor is bound to don robe of crimson or purple velvet, trimmed with errnine. At the time of his in- yestiture, he wears massive gold chain, but when he is hOnored by re- election at the expiration of his term mace of silver gilt, surmounted by royal crown and the imperial arms, is carried before the mayor by the au- thority of the charter of Edward H.; while the city possesses TO less than four swords, one called the ''Pearl," presented by Queen Bess when she opened the first royal exchange, and so called from it's being richly set with pearls. This sword precedes the chief magistrate on all occasions of rejoic- ing and festivity. The sword of state is carried before the lord mayor as an emblem of his sovereignty within the city proper; the black sword is used on fast days in Lent and at the death of any member of the royal family; while the fourth sword is that placed close to the lord mayors chair at the central criminal court.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
A REASONABLE OBJECTION.
An English Clergyman Who Protested
 Against Remarkable Name.

An English Clergyman Who Protested
 Against a Remarkable Name.
 Sometimes in English country par ishes, where the clergyman has been accustomed to have his own way, he protests vigorously if the name pro- posed for child about to be christened does not suit him. Occasionally, how ever, he does so upon false premises. James Payne writes in the Indepen- dent:
 The late Dean Burgon, when curate in Berkshire, was requested by village couple to christen their boy 'Venus," or, as they called it, ''Vanus."
 Are you aware" he said, that you are asking something ridiculous as well as exceedingly wicked? Do you suppose am going to give Christian child, boy, the name of a woman in heather mythology? How did such monstrous notion get into your heads?"
 Please, sir,'' said the father, ''we want him called after his grandfather"
 And do you say his grandfather was named Yenus?"
 ''Yes, sir; there he is, sir.''
 A poor old man, looking very unlike Venus, hobbled out of the crowd
 ''Do you dare to say you were chris tened Venus?" asked the indignant clergyman.
 ''Well, no, sir" was the respectful answer, 'I was christened Sylvanus, but they always called me Vanus."
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
cHlMNEYs IN ENGLAND.
They Were Not in Uss There Before the
 Twelfth Ccrtury.

There does not appear to be any evi- dence of the use of chimney shafts in England prior to the twelfth century. In Rochester castle, which is in all probability the work of V. Corbyle, about 11SO, there are complete fire places with semicircular bacis. and a shaft in each joint supporting a semi circular arch over the opening, which is enriched with a zigzag molding; some of these project slightly from the wall The flUes. however, go only a few feet up in the thickness of the wall, and are turned at the back, the apertures being small oblong holes. At Castle Nottingham, Essex, which is about the same date, there are fire places and chimneys of similar kind. A few years later the improvement of carrying the flue up through the whole height of the wall appears, as at Christ church, HantS; the keep at Newcastle; Sherborne castle, Dorsetshirc; Conis- borough castle, Yorkshire, and Boothby Pagnell, Lincolnshire. The early chim- ney shafts are of considerable height and circular, afterward they assume a great variety of forms, and during the fourteenth century they are frequent ly extremely short. Previous to the sixteenth century the shaft is often short, and not unfrequently terminated by spire or pinnacle, usually of rath- CT low proportions, having apertures of various forms, under and sometimes in it, for the escape of the smoke. There are also taller shafts of various forms-square, octangular or circular -surmounted with a cornice, forming a sort of capital, the smoke issuing from the top. Clustered chimney shafts do not appear until rather late in the fifteenth century; aftcrward they be- came very common, and were frequent ly highly ornamented, especially when of brick
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
A DOUBLE BASS CLUB.
Scheme to Avoid LugsinS the Big Bul
 Riddles Around.

Scheme to Avoid Lugging the Big Bull
 Riddles Around.
 A gold-laced person got on a crowded Brooklyn trolley car and hung bass drum over the brahe-handle, says the New York World. The car lurched and the man next to him stepped on the gold-laecd persons toes, and, being thus introduced, began a conversation about the drum.
 ''Heap of bother carrying a drum around, isn't it?'
 "Yes, but not so much as a double bass, one of these big bass fddles, you know-buIl fiddles."
 Are they much trouble2"
 "Well, they are this much trouble, that they won't let you get on a car in Brooklyn with one. In New York you have to get permit to carry one, just the same as if it was a concealed weapon. Once, here in Brooklyn, I'd have to take carriage for it. But now belong to double bass club"
 "Have pretty good times, I suppose? You get together and smoke and have some beer and play solos on your double basses."
 The gold-laced man looked down and laughed silently. Well, it is kind of funny to think of lot of men sit ting around and playing solos about two octaves below the singing voice. Voomf! Voomf!
 ''No," said he after bit. ''All the fellows that play the double bass be- long to this club and pay two dollars year dues. They have lot of instru- ments and every place they have to go to play there is closet containing bass, to which only members of the clubs have keys. There is a book in the closet, and every time fellow uses the bass he marks down lis name. They have them in all the halls and theaters, and in the summer time on all the bargcs and excursion steamers. The two dollars from each member goes for repairs.''
 So that's the reason why you can't remember having seen double bass on the street cars, TO matter how hard you try.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
A RACE OF ToOTHLEsS MEN.
Coming Generations VIII Fave to NEasti-
 cate by Artificial Means.

Coming Generations VIII Fave to Nasti-
 cate by Artificial Means.
 There is reason to apprehend that unless some cataclysm occurs to arrest the progress of civilization our de- scendants will be as toothiess as Eu- roptolemus, king of Cyprus, described by the historian Pliny as reduced to masticatc his food with a structure of solid bone, in lieu Of teeth. This, at any rate, in the opinion of the New Y ork Tribune, is the inference to be deducted from the statistics recently published by order of the British par lament, demonstrating the alarming ly small number of cases of in any way sound dentition among the English people. Of 4,O00 children attending the London public schools, there were only TOT who had sound teeth; while during a period of threc months 506 re- cruits were rejected by the medical de- partment of the army for purely den tai reasons. Of course, part of this state of affairs is due to.neglect of the digestion, and of the teeth themselves, fact demonstrated by the statement that all the girls who entered domestic service from the London public schools last year five-sixths had never even heard of such thing as toothbrush an assertion that has led the educa- tional authorities to institute in many of the metropolitan schools what is now known as the toothbrush drill"
 Decay of teeth has always attended the advance of civilization and each barbarie invasion has been followed by a recovery of sound teeth in the old world. Under the circumstances it might be worth while to consider whether the repeal of the Geary law and the opening up of the United States to pacific invasion on the part of the Chinese might not go far to i'm prove the American jaw, which, ac- eording to medical experts, is in an immeasurably worse condition than that of the English-a fact probably due to our superior civilization.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
ENGLISH THE WORLD s?EEcH.
The Germans Favor the General Study of
 the Coming Language.

 The Germans Favor the General Study of
 the Coming Ian guage.
 In an article on the importance of introducing into. the schools the study of a universal language (Weltsprache) which recently appeared in the Preus- sische Jahrbuecher Dr. Schroer advo- cates making the study of English ob- ligatory, not necessarily to the exclu- sion of the classical tongues, but at least in conjunction with them. This" he says, lis not a question of taste or rivalry between the 'moderns' and the 'ancients;' it is simply his torical necessity" The learned pro- lessor properly condemns all attempts, however scientific, to construct an artificial world speech, like Volapuk. In his opinion a language which pos sesses neither literature, historical de- velopment nor linguistic relations can never serve as medium of general communication, for the reason that no one will take the trouble to acquire it, merely as ''tool of trade" until it be- comes universal; therefore it can never become universal. Such attempts, how ever, are not only aimless, because they can never obtain the general con- sent of mankind, but they are needless, for there already exists universal language-i. e., language which, by it's spread over the whole earth and by the ease with which it may be learned, has gained such long step in advance that neither natural nor arti- ficial means can deprive it of it's as sured position as the future medium of international intercourse. And this language is the English.
 Prof. Schroer is careful to warn his readers not to get their aim too high, for to learn to speak and write fluently and correctly a language which holds so high place in the scale of culture and refinement as the English is diff cult, but for the average man this is not necessary, for even the average Englishman has but limited com mapd of his mother tongue, and the daily intercourse of life requires but a small and easily acquired vocabulary. This is true of every language, but the absence of puzzling genders and infec- tions and synthical forms renders the English easy in comparison with others. ''The English language" con- cludes Prof. Schroer, Sis the world speech, and will, to all appearance, be- come more and more so every year."
 During the present century the Eng lish-speaking population of the world has increased ive-fold, from possibly twenty-five million at it's beginning to at least one hundred and twenty-five million. No other language has ever been so rapidly developed, no fact in civil history is more significant than this. In every quarter of the world English is the conquering tongue. The wide spread of the Brit ish colonial system, the marvellous growth of the United States and the facility with which it absorbs every foreign element bear witness to this great fact, and our cousins in Germany are of too practical turn of mind to be jealous or forgetful of it.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
OnYcEODhagY.

M. Berillon, a French doctor, who has been directing his attention for some time past to the study of nail bit ing. or, as he calls it, onychophagy, finds that habit or disease extremely common. In a public school ia Paris, says the London Times, out of 265 pu- pils examined dpring the month of April last, siyty-three, that is to say, nearly oncfourth, were addicted to biting their finger nails. Curiously enough, results vary greatly in differ ent districts and in different schools in the same districts. tseems that girls are more given to the habit than boys. In one girls school in the department Of Vonne eleven out of tyenty-one were confirmed nail biters. In anoth- CT girls school the proportion was sixty-one out Of 2G7 pupils. and of those siXty-one fifteen were found to Ee in the habit of biting the nails Of both hands, and the others of biting only those of one hand. Nj. BeriIloa recog- nizes that nervousness has much to do with the habit. and he proposes to cure it by means of suggestion"
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
OLD ELIMINATES.
A Pleasing Story of Celebrated French
 Sportsman.

A Pleasing Story of a Celebrated French
 Sportsman.
 The author of Modern Hunting," in La Nouvelle Revue, tells a pleasing story of one of the oldest and most eel ebrated sportsmen of France, Prince de Joinville. The prince is perhaps the ''senior member" of hunting soci ety in this country. He was hunting in the Chantilly forest, as the guest of Due d'Aumale.
 His party met another party which was following deer in the same for est, and some disorder resulted. The prince lost track of the animal that he was following, but be took the disap- pointment philosophically, and set out to find the deer again.
 On the way he was stopped by an old white-haired peasant, who told him that the deer he was following had passed by there recently. The son of Louis Philippe asked some simple question, but as the old peasant replied he looked at him kcenly, seeming to pay more attention to him than to his words. Suddenly he stopped him.
 Wait! it seems to me that 1 know you, friendl' he exclaimed
 ''Yes. sir replied the peasant, in his old, cracked voice, which shook with emotion. "Oh, yes, we have often eaten cakes at 'Auntie Adelaide's.'" ,"
 It was sixty years since they had been children together, but the varied experiences of that time had not made the prince forget his old playmate and servitor. and he delayed his quest for the lost deer to renew the acquaint-
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
The Light of the Ear North.

The wonders of the aurora borealis in the British possession just over the line of Alaska cannot be told. The heavens all winter long are lit up with a golden glow. Indeed the colors- the sparzles and flashes-are so many, constant and varied that no one can de- scribe them. There is practically no day during the year. For two or three months up to December 15, from nine to twelve o'clock, there is a sort of dawn, but the rest of the time it is night. It is so clear that you can go put and read newspaper anywhere.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
A New Cereal.

A traveller in the Himalayan noun tain region has discovered that the na- tives of that country cultivate grain hitherto unknown in civilized agricul- tural operations, which has something the look of wheat but has very much longer ears, and which has a peculiar inward curve. The shiny, brown grain, unlike wheat, is, on the other hand, much smaller than wheat grains should be for so large an ear. But the inter- est is that a cereal of this character should yield such heavy crops in so high an altitude, where the seasons are necessarily short and the temperature low. The natives call the grain kow-
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
HER BEST.
Pathetic Instances oF the Child's Instinct
 for Fun.

Ratnettc instances Os inc Cnud3 InSClncg
 for Fun.
 Mrs Molesworth, who writes a nov ing article in Woman S Work, concern ing the necessity of obtaining fun, food and fresh air" for all classes of children, says that there arc among London's poor thousands of little ones who never had a toy.
 Yet still the child S instinct to make believe" sur1nounts every practical ob- stacle, and there is true story of one little sufferer from chronic disease whose only plaything were the spots of damp on the wall beside her bed. She played they were real and alive; she gave thcm names and imaginary qualities.
 Another true story showed how far the little candle of a wise and loving word may throw its beams. 4 teacher at a Sunday school for London's poor was trying to impress upon her little pupils some idea of the real meaning of giving.
 .'Whatever it may be-" she said, tour offering to God should be of our best, of what we prize most"
 In one baby heart her words found ready response. Next day little creature con1dcd her offering to the teacher; it was a carefully tied pack age, containing a few grains of rice. This was her most precious and per haps her only treasure.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
PLUCKY YOUNG EELS.
How They Overcome the Distractions
 Passing Up tne Thames.

How They Overcome the Distractions in
 Passing Up the Thames.
 Young cells, in passing up a river, show the most extraordinary persever- ance in overcoming all obstruction. The large sometimes if teen feet in leighton the Thames might be supposed sufficient to bar the progress of a fish the size of alarming needle, says Rod and Gun. Bat young cells have Q wholesome idea that noth- ing can stop them, and, in consequence, nothing does. Speaking of tic way in which they ascend looIgates and other barriers, one writer says: ''Those which die stick to the post; others, which get little higher, meet with the same fate. until at last layer of them is formed which enables the rest to overcome the difficulty of the pass age. The mortality resulting from such 'forlorn hopes greatly helps to account for the difference in the num- Der of young cells on their upward mi grafton and that of those which return down stream in the autumn. In some places these baby eels are much sought after and are formed into cakes, which are eaten fried.
 ''Eels spawn like other fishes. For long, however, the most remarkable theories were held as to their birth. One of the old beliefs was that they sprang from mud; rival theory held that young cells developed from frag- ments separated from their parents bodies by their rubbing against rocks. One old author not clly declared that they came from May dew, but gave the following recipe for producing them: Cut up two turfs covered with May dew and lay them one upon the other, the grassy sides inwards. and then ex- pose them to the heat of the sun. h a few hours there will spring from them an infinite quantity of eels.'"
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
Apply for Information About THE GREAT
 SOUTHWEST

lAEE,ono last year farmers netted $10o to $20C FSICi C per acre for fruit grown on land that can be duplicated today for $50 per acre. IAThoro five tons of alfalfa hay, worth SIP per sSHCI C ton, was grown on land the like of which can be bought for $l5 per acre. HkIho~o many other products such as sweet SsnCi Q potatoes, tomatoes and early vegeta- bles netted as large and larger profits than fruit. AETboxo n the summers are cool, the winters HElCi v warm, cyclones unknown and mala- ria ucheard of
 lEghoro there is the best opening in the world sSiiCi V for honest industry.
 Tow. F. WHITE, Passenger Traffic Manager, A, T. 6 S. F. R. R.
 Or HENRY F. GARRISON,
 Immigration Agent, A., T. & s F. R. R.
 623 Rialto Building, Chicago, III. This railway passes through twelve states and territories, and having no lands of its own sell has no object in advancing the interests of any speci al locality, or in giving any other than aL- sOlut ely reliable information. 1t realizes that the prosperity of the farmers of the great south west means prosperity to itself also, and is thus naturally willing to aid the immigrant as much as possible.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
Worked Haif nar.

The people of E!anitou were e1fter- tained the other day, says a corre- spondent of the Denver Republican. by the spectacle of man carrying a stone around q triangular track, letting it drop and shouldering it again at every turn. The performer was man who has reputation for a disinclina- ton to labor, and the incident was the outcome of wall he was making about the hard times and his inability to get work. A citizen told him he would not work if he got chance, and offered him fifty cents an hour as long as he would carry the stone. To the surprise of all he accepted the offer and held out for five hours. A large crowd gathered to watch the perform ance.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
A uvlaEcroR III AFRICA.
How a Scientific Gent Was Dcspoiled of
 Five ThouEand Ds,Ilars.


 Five Thousand Dollars.
 One of the most curious expeditions ever planned by man was tat once undertaken by Dr. J. C. Hunting. of Portland, says the Lewiston (Me.) Journal. During all his life he had been a close student of the philosophy of digestion, and for the purpose or his investigations he had that remarkable Canadian, Alexis St. Martin, in his care for twenty years. In order to clinch matters and provide facts for some of the doubting Thomases Dr. Bunting cast about for some one else npon whom he might continue to ex- pertinent.
 He could think of but one plan, and that was to go into Africa, buy two slaves, and operate upon their stom- achs. By opening the body near the fifth rib and perforating the stomach a condition could be produced similar to that existing in the person of St. Martin. Therefore the doctor pur- chased his supplies and sailed across to Tunis in the north of Africa. There he hired native chief with forty of his followers, paying them a liberal retaining fee and promising them al- turing largess when the trip should be ended. They set forth. The doctor carried one thousand pounds in his in- side pocket, and the chief probably lay awake four nights thinking about the matter.
 At any rate, on the fifth night he sneal1ed into the doctors tent and de- livered little address over the mug zles of two pistols. When he had con- cluded the doctor passed over his ducats and the chief passed over the border along with his renegade band. They helped themselves to such sup plies as suited their artless and unen- frightened tastes. The doctor came back without retinue and with deal of experience that will never appear in medical work.
The St. Johns herald., 1894-07-19
.t4 x FROGS AND WASPS:
The Former Eat the Latter and Seem to
 EaJoy Them Very Much.

The Former Eat the Latter and Seem to
 EaJoy Them Very Much.
 Some time ago I discovered, acci- dentally, that frogs are yoracious eat CTS of wasps. I have in my garden a tank for watering, with an island of rocl1work, which is favorite haunt of the frogs, writes F. E. Bartlett in the London Spectator. The wasps just now are carrying on raid against my fruit, and when wish to gratify at once my revenge and my frogs l catch a ma rauder between post card and an in- verted wine glass, carry him off to the tank, wet his wings to prevent his fly ing, and set him on the rockwork be- fore the frogs.
 After moments pause a frog ad- vanccs, and in an Instant the wasp has disappeared, drawn into the frogs mouth by single dart of his long tongue. Occasionally the wasp reap pears, wholly or partially, having made it unpleasant fer the frog, but he is al- most always swallowed iii the end. Usually convuisivc movements may be noticed iii the frog's throat and body, as though the process Of dcglutition were not quite easy; but that they like the dict is evident from the fact that a single smallish frog has been known to take three wasps one after another.
 Indeed, it is remarkable what very small frogs, quite infants, will swallow wasp with avidity. One afternoon a tiny frog swallowed a full-grown wasp, when a big relative went for him quite savagely, like a big schoolboy thrashing small one for presuming to be helped before him.