davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

/
Too SLIPPERY.-Sea-captains have
many adventures, and the stories of
the wonderful escapes seldom lose by
! repetition. Many years ago pirates
! cruised up and down the English chan
mel, to the great peril of the merchant
men. The story is told of q Captain
Davis, who was noted for his quick
wit as we'll rs for his skill in naviga-
ton, that he was returning from Ire
land with cargo consisting mainly of
butter.
He had not been out very long when
q pirate was seen coming down upon
him. In vain oil sails were spread !;
but every moment brought the pirate
nearer.
The men were at their wits end !;
but the captain knew trick or two.
He ordered his men to take off their
boots and stockings, and directed that
a score of butter barrels be brought on
deck.
In a few minutes the barrels had
been knocked to pieces, and the butter
was thickly spread all over the deck
and outside the ship. Not rope nor
o spar that was not slippery. Even
without their boots and stockings the
sailors could scarcely keep on their
legs.
On came the pirate, not dreaming
how smoothly he was to be received.
Captain Davis assumed an air of SUBJ
mission, and allowed the enemy to
come alongside quietly.
But 10 when they jumped over,
fully armed, with pistol in one hand
and sword in the other, they slipped
about and tumbled over each other
on the buttered deck like so many
ii-rats.
One fellow shot foremost down
into the cabin, where he was imme-
diately set upon by the boy another
slid across the deck, and shot out into
the sea by an opposite port-hole.
Not one of them could stand on his
feet, and as pirates are generally sup
erstitious, an idea seized them that
the ship was possessed Of the devil.
They hurried back into their own
vessel, cast loose, and Captain Davis
got safely into port at the expense of
a few pounds Of butter.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
Ratigan, who had stopped down OH to

Ratigan, who had stepped down OH to
tho ground and saluted.
II can alight" said Miss Baggs
feebly. And getting as best sho could
to tho door of the ambulance Ratigan
helped her out. She looked faint, but
stood by tho aid of the corporal's arm.
!"Tako her in to the general" said the
little captain. "He wants to sec her ="
AS tho tent was an ordinary wall
tent, there was no great room in it.
Miss Baggs went inside, while tho cor
poral stood directly outside, with his
hand OH tho tent pole
81 must have you searched" said the
general to the prisoner. Then nd added,
somewhat hesitatingly, "It's rather
awkward not having woman in camp"
II will relieve you of tho necessity"
said the prisoner, with dignity, and put.
ting her hand into her pocket she drew
forth q bundle Of papers, which she
handed to him.
"What are these?" asked the surpris.
cd commander.
"Copies of intercepted kilograms.
Tho general uttered an exclamation,
and taking tho papers ran them over
with his eye.
Ho looked up ut tho woman, who,
savo for tho pallor -occasioned by her
fall from the collapsed buggy, stood ap-
parently unmoved. There was admira-
tion in tho eye of tho man who gazed ut
her. Hc was astonished at the GOODNESS
with which she handed him documents
that would warrant his hanging her to
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
QUICKLY OVER.

In the old pioneer days of the Green
Mountain State, the marriage ceremo-
ny partook of the simplicity which was
a distinguishing Characteristic oflife in
Vermont at that time. A native ol
the State tells story Of those early
days, which his grandfather used to
take great pleasure in relating:
Elder Brown, much beloved Meth
odist minister, was saving wood in his
front dooryard. The day was warm,
and the minister's occupation was
naturally heating in its tendency, so
Elder Brown was in his shirt-sleeves,
just like any unministerial wood-saw
yer of his parish.
Presently there came riding along
the road and up to the fence a tall,
lank, ungainly country pumpkin on
horseback, with a fresh-faced girl on n
pillion behind him, with her arms
clasped about his waist.
AS they came to halt, Elder Brown
advanced to the fence and rested his
arm comfortably on the top rail.
"You want t get married, l CAL
c'late?" he said, addressing the smiling
pair impartially.
"Ya-as," they replied in unison.
"Well, them" proceeded Elder
"James, will you take this woman for
your wife,"
"Ya-as," replied the grinning BRIDE
groom.
"And you, Hetty, will you take this
man for your husband ?"
"Ya-as," replied the bride, with un-
faltering promptness.
"All right, then" remarked the min
lister, reaching out his right arm and
bestowing q hearty handshake on
each of the newly-married pair, "you
can ride on !"
And they rode on, as happy as if the
ceremony had been much more elabo-
rate, while the elder returned to his
wood.sawing.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

WILL SUSTAIN 935, ,766,3O0 PER
soNs.-Have you any idea Of the num-
ber Of persons that the United States
would sustain without overcrowding
the population, or even going beyond
the limit of density now shown by the
State of Rhode Island? The last GEN.
sus of the pigmy State just gives it q
population of 100000. The area of
the State in square miles is only l, ,250 I;
thus we find that there is an average
of 3l8 persons on every square mile Of
her territory. We can best illustrate
the capacity of the whole of the Unit
ed States and of the other States by
making some comparisons: The State
of Texas has an area of 256, $50 square
miles, and, were it equally as densely
populated as "Little Rhody," would
comfortably sustain population Of
SO, ,523, ,62S inhabitants-a greater num-
ber of persons than the whole country
is expected to have in the year 1900.
Scatter people all over the whole land
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
from the British possessions as thickly
as they are now in Rhode Island, and
we would have 945,766,300 inhabi-
tants, instead of an Insignificant g.
100000. In other words, if the Unit
ed States could be peopled to their
utmost sustaining capacity, we could
take care of nearly two-thirds of the
present population of the globe.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
HOW TO TELL TINE IN THE DARK.
1t Needs n Little Time and Regular Habit,

1t Needs u Little Time and Regular Habits.
"What time is itp"
~ think I can tell you without look :
ing"
He drew out his watch and held it
up close to his ear and slowly turned
the stem-winder, ~, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Z, g."
he counted, andlthen said: "that means
70 minutes. 1 wound up the watch
tightly at 3 o'clock, and so the time
ought to be 4.12. Let's see how near
1 came to it. Well, it's 4.1S-I was
only 6 minutes off,"
The other was regarding him with
amazement. "Do you mean to say
that you can tell the time of day by
winding your watch ?"
"Not exactly, but I can come nigh
ty near it; usually within 10 minutes,
and it's very simple, too. All you
have to know is how long one tick in
winding up will run the watch. I'll
explain to you. Suppose that at 8
o'clock wind up my watch until it is
tight, as we say; that is, until another
turn of the winder would apparently
break spring. At 5 o'clock 1 wind
my watch again and find that the wind
er clicks ~ times before the watch is
wound up to the place where it sticks.
Then you know that II clicks will run
the watch 12O minutes and click rep
resents 10 minutes of time.
"What good is it to know that ?"
"Well, suppose you 30 to bed at IL
o'clock tonight, and on retiring, wind
up your watch and put it under your
pillow. During the night you wake
up and wonder what time it is. You
don't want to get up and light the gas.
All you have to do is to pull your
watch out from under the pillow, hold
it to your ear, and count the ticks as
you wind. If you c63nt rs ts1yuu
know that the watch has run down
1SO minutes since II o'clock, and that
the time must be very near 2 o'clock.
TO be sure you can't tell the exact
time, but you can generally get within
n quarter of an hour of it,"
"Wouldn't the same rule hold good
for clock or watch which is wound
with key"
~ dare say it would but I never
tried it on anything except a stem
winding watch. know blind man
who always tells time by winding his
watch and counting the ticks. His
sense of touch is quite delicate, aud he
can wind up his watch three or four
times day and then calculate within
10 minutes of the correct time. Chi
cago record.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
CHAPTER XIII.


There was rattling Of wheels on
the soft road, and looking up Ratigan
saw the messenger returning, followed
by an ambulance. Driving to Miss
Baggs, who was still lying in the grass,
the driver backed it up to her, while the
tUSrHrS S.'.t.''I NNd oT&n6d m"
door. SfnH c;,valrSlncn stood ready to
lift the prisoner into tho vehicle. but
Miss Baggs waved them all away en-
cept tho corporal, and taking his hand
rose to her feet and stood for moment
supported by him. Tho effort was too
much for her. Her head fell OH his shoul.
der, and for II moment she lost con-
sciousncSs. Ratigan took her off her feet,
and lifting her into tho ambulance laid
her OH tho cushions.
"Oi'll ride ut tho foot, he said to
tho Others "Ono Of yo lead mo horse. y
When they camo to tho place where
each had succcssivcly emerged from the
camp through which Ratigan had fol-
lowed her before daylight, they found
the road lined with soldiers, whose curl.
osity brought them there to SEQ the
woman who had succeeded Ill breaking
through whole chain of guards. They
had all heard of the exploit and crowd
ed around the ambulance us it passed,
but were kept away by the guards III at
tendance, who dropped back to the sides
and rear. This prevented any further
conversation between Ratigan and Miss
BaggS, except an occasional whisper,
but the corporal managed to keep her
hand in his under blanket, unobsorvcd.
At last tho ambulance pulled up before
tho headquarters of tho division whose
camp they had entered, and Ratigan
suddenly became conscious of tho fact
that ho must turn his prisoner over to
others, doubtless to be dealt with sum-
marily, for he well knew the case would
naturally receive prompt attention.
An officer with a captains shoulder
straps camo out from headquarters and
surveyed tho ambulance. He was a
dappcr littlo fellow, fat and red faced.
"Who'vo you got therc?" ho asked OF
Ratigan.
"A lady, sir.
1.-The woman who ran tho guards last
night" =,
"Oi captured her on tho road l"low. .
Him. The guard duty Of this divl'
sion is in "a tino condition when wont
al can run whole chain Of scntinels
Get her out Of that.
".Shus badly hurt. captain" said
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
CHAPTER XII.

n SnANuED
Corporal Ratigan had been worked
up to such fever Of excitement by the
chase and his complicated feelings to.
ward the object Of it that when he shot
over the rise in the ground that hid the
fugitive from his view his visage was
distorted from tho expression of good
nature usually stamped upon it to one
which can Oily be called demoniac
His eyes were wild, that portion Of his
hair which extended below his forage
cap seemed to glow with unusual red
ness, his body leared forward like q
jockey i'll q race, tile whole forming O
picture of eager ferocity. In short. Cor
poral Ratigan resembled on escaped
lunatic chasing flying fend who had
been torturing him.
On the crest of the second rise he
strained his eyes after Miss Baggs.
Nothing appeared to denote her presence
on the landscape except horse in har-
ness, which he dragged III tho dust,
trotting back toward a heap of rubbish
OH tho road. A sudden dread took pos
session of the corporal. 1t was plainly
evident therc had been on accident He
had been chasing Confederate telc.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
HISTORY CORRECTED. The last

HISTORY CORRECTED. The last
words ~. William Pitt are reported
Ito ha, ssu,r4o my country how
ffove countryw But Lord Rose
berry, in his recent memoir of "the
Commoner," quotes an anecdote which
Mr.. Disraeli used to tell that proves
that one man at least had doubt
about the authenticity of the excla'
nation.
When Mr.. Disraeli entered parlia-
ment, he used often to dine at the
house of commons, where he was
generally served by grim old waiter
who was supposed to possess a secret
treasure of political tradition.
The young member sought to win
his confidence. One day the venera-
BILE domestic relented.
"You hear many lies told as history,
SIR" he said, "do you know what Mr..
Pitts last words were?"
"Of course, said Mr.. Disraeli, they
are well known: go my country how
| love my country" ,,
Nonsense" said the old man. "lN
tell you what it was. Late one night
was called out of bed by messenger
in a postchaise, shouting to me outside
of the window.
what is it p / said.
You're to get up and dress, and
bring some Of your meat-pies down TO
Mr.. Pitt, at Putney.'
$50 l went and as we drove along,
he told me that Mr.. Pitt had not been
able to take any food but had sud,
denly said, Il think could eat one OF
Bellamy's mutton-pies.' And so was
sent for posthaste. When we arrived
Mr.. Pitt was dead. Them was his last
words: Il think | could eat one OF
Bellamy's meatpies.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

greater than death by hanging She
reached tho bottom, where the road ran
level to tho fork and the wood. Hope
urged her. 1t was not 100 yards to the
point sho was SO anxious to reach.
Passing over rut at the very fork Of
tho road that seemed her only chance
for escape, the old buggy gave dismal
groan, as much in sympathy with the
mistress it had served so we'll as death
rattle, and flew into hundred pieces.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
GfffGKAMAfJGA. Il.
a SEQUEL TO CHATTANOOGA,
BY CAPT. F. A. mitchell, LATE U. s.
Copyrighted, 1894 by American Press Association.
SYNOPSIS OF CHATTANOOGA.


Private Mark Maynard is sent by Cen
eral Thomas from the Union camps in
central Tennessee scouting toward Chat
tanooga and barely escapes capture by
Confederates through the cunning OF a
native girl-Souri Slack. He gets suit
of citizens clothes at Slack's, and Jakey
Slack, a lad OF l3, goes with him to help
disguise his character. Souri, gives Mark
q silk handkerchief as memento.
Mark and the boy beg supper and lodg-
ing at the house of Mrs. Fain, Southern
woman married to Northern man, who
is absent in the Union lines. Captain
Fitz Hugh, G. S. A., q suitor OF Laura
Fain's, drops in and suspects that the
strangers may be Union spies; but Laura
wards offinvestigation, and the travellers
resume their journey undisturbed. :,
Mark reaches Chattanooga, IS captured
and condemned as spy.
Jakey sends Souri's silk handkerchief
home by friendly Negroes and Souri, takes
hint, hastens to Chattanooga and helps
Mark to escape Jail.
Mark reaches the Fains' house and is
protected by Laura.
The remaining chapters show how
Laura decides between Captain Fitz Hugh
and Mark, compelling the Confederate
TO shield his Yankee rival. Mark travels
toward the Union lines with Mrs. Fain
and Laura, is recaptured and again spared
by Captain Fitz Hugh, marries his fair
protector, reaches the Union camp with
valuable information about the enemy
and is rewarded for his exploit by ap-.
pointment as an officer on the staff OF
General Thomas.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06
A WONDERFUL SYSTEM.
That by Which Uncle Sam Spots and Catch

That by Which Uncle Sam Spots and Catch
es Mail Robbers.
"The system employed by the Unit
ed States postoffice department in
tracing thefts from the mail is so per-
feet that it is utterly impossible for
anyone to rob the mail many times
without being detected" said man
well posted in the workings Of Uncle
Sans big postal to New York Adver-
tiser man. every now and then you
read of this or that person being ar
rested by the postoffice inspectors, but
do you know the system they use to
trace the theft ?'
"Well, suppose you report that you
sent letter or package to New York
which never reached its destination.
The first thing is to find out just what
time you mailed the matter and from
that the inspectors can tell what train
it was sent out on. When mail matter
leaves an office it is accompanied by
the card of the one who handled it,
and it is the same with each messen-
ger on the trains.
"a list is made of every man whose
hands the mail passes through or
would have passed through on reach
ing its destination and q dot is placed
opposite their names. Before long
another complaint will be made and
the same process will be gone through.
Before the mail disappeared maybe it
passed through the hands of four or
five Of the same men as the first one,
and two dots 60 down Opposite itheiS
pames.~ziFhe'sy system is Ks ant
pretty soon, if the thief i5 not t0ugnt
before that, five or six dots appear op-
poSite one Or two mems names.
"Detectives are ut once put to work
shadowing the suspected men, and,
after becoming reasonably sure of who
is the guilty one, decoy letters come in
play, and the work of gathering con-
victing evidence is carried on until the
inevitable climax of arrest follows.
"To accomplish this work it requires
a complete system of keeping tab upon
each and every piece of mail matter.
A railway messenger is allowed 30
mistakes a month or one each day. IF
he makes more he has to explain, and
if he makes 60 off goes his head.
"Somctimes one man does not report
another; if he does not and no mis-.
takes are reported against q railway
messenger then the men in charge of
the department begin to investigate.
They know the man must make mis-.
takes, and they thus force each man to
report another, for one who sees mis-.
take and does not report it is as guilty
rs the one who made it,"
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

EATING SNOW AND IcE.-This is the
time of year when small boys are very
much inclined to eat snow and ice.
Perhaps it will be quite as interesting
for the small boy 20 know just what
he makes his body do when he does
eat this ice. If he eats two ounces OF
ice-and that is not very much-he has
to reduce this to water.
This reduces the temperature of his
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

OUR NATIONS FORMATIVE PERI.
oD.-When Washington was inaugu-
rated, Philadelphia, then the metropo-
lis Of the country, had about 20 600
people, New York but $4,000. Boston
$4,000, Baltimore $4,000, and no other
city anywhere near 10000 even after
the lapse Of halfa century, during
which New York had overtaken Phil.
adelphia, so that in 1910 it had 3l2.
600, inhabitants to the latter city'.
25S,O0O. Baltimore and New Orleans
were the only other places with more
than 100000 people, and except Bos.
ton, with 93 900, all ofthe few remain
ing cities fell short Of $4,000. During
the formative period of the new nation,
therefore, all but the merest fraction
ofits citizens lived in places Of small
population, the local affairs of which
were easily administered through town
meetings or other such simple machin-
cry.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

pB" 1t is claimed that the paper
horseshoe has been used with success
in Germany. 1t becomes rough by
wear, and is therefore a security
against slipping, the chief defect Of
the metal shoe.
BE- Mamma, may we play at keep
ing store in here?" "Yes, but you
must be very, very qtiet." "Well,"
said wise Tommy, "we'll pretend We
don't advertise"
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

The ORIGIN OF EARRINGs.-It is q
strange tradition among the Arabians
that earrings came into use in the
following way: When Pharaoh sum-
moned Abraham and reproached him
for his untruth Gn saying that Sarah
was his sster Abraham prayed for the
king, and Allah healed the king, who
now gave Abraham many rich presents,
and among others an Egytian slave
named Hagar. She bore him son,
whom he called Ishmael.
But Sarah was barren, and the more
jealous since the light of Mohammed
shone on Ishmael's forehead. She de-
manded of Abraham to put away
Hagar and her son. He was undecid-
ed, until commanded by Allah TO obey
Sarah in all things. Yet he entreated
her not to cast off her bondmaid and
her son. But this so exasperated her,
that the declared she would not rest
until her hands had been imbrued in
Hagar's blood. Then Abraham pierced
Hagar's ear quickly, and drew ring
through it, so that Sarah was able 10
dip her hand in the blood of Hagar
without bringing the latter into dan
ger. From that time it becam a GUS
tom among women to wear earrings.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

SOUTHERN LIMIT OF THE Snow
BELT.-The landed surface Of the
globe is so situated that snow never
falls upon more than one-third of its
area. In our country snow falls every
winter in four.fifths of the States and
Territories, and occasionally in the
others, the southern point Of Florida
being the only section Of the whole
country in which it was never known.
On the west coast snow has fallen as
far south as the southern boundary of
California. This has occurred but
once since the Signal service was es-
tablished-in January, 1882. The
fartherest south on the east coast that
snow was ever reported was at Puuta
Rosa, Fla. (about 100 miles from Key
West,) on December /, 1876. Along
the Gulf Coast it has been known to
fall from Pensacola to Brownsville,
Texas.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06

ORIGIN OF ITALIcs.-Italic letters
were first used about the year 1900
by Aldus Manutius, Venetian printer.
He observed the many inconVenien-
ces resulting from the vast number Of
authorizations which were then so fire.
quent among the printers that book
was difficult to understand treatise
was actually written on the art Of
reading printed book, and thus ad-
dressed to the learned. BY introduce
ing the italic letter he contrived an
expedient TO which these abbrevia-
tions might be entirely got rid of, and
yet books suffer little increase in bulk.
He dedicated his invention to the
Italian States, hence the name. 1t
has also been distinguished by the
name of the inventor and called
Aldine. The first book printed in
italics was an edition of "Virgil,"
printed at Venice by Aldus in 1901.
How TO GET RICH-An exchange
gives the following sensible advice,
which our readers might try. 1t is
certainly quick way to become rich :
"Money makes money. No one is so
poor that he cannot rake up a penny
to start on. Now upon the first day
ofthe month deposit cent in bank,
and on each of the succeeding 30 days
of the month double your deposit.
Follow this programme faithfully, and
ut the end of the month you will be
surprised to find that your account
will show the sum of s., ,36S, ,709.12 to
your credit. With that little sum, all
you have to do is to retire and let the
other fellows hustle"