davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

speeding them are kept secret as the grave,
says correspondent of the st. Louis
Globe Democrat. For many years past
France has maintained School of Aeros
tation at Meudon, at which experiments
are carried on under conditions OF the ut
most privacy. 1t is known, however, that
cigar shaped balloons have been made
there which ARE able TO run at speed of
fourteen miles an hour, and even maneu-
yer in the teeth of fairly strong gale Of
wind. This is accomplished by means of
O very large and light cloth-covered screw
propeller, which is operated by an electric
motor in the car.
Incidentally the Germans have been try
ing to find out what defense could be
made against such balloons. The answer
seems to be that the strongest and best
equipped army would be helpless and at
the mercy of single airship of the kind
lowering overhead and dropping a car
fridge containing high explosives. To fire
at 1t with rife or cannon is hope less. AT
height of only 1000 feet balloon is an ex-
tremely difficult object to hit. Tests
proved that the most expert marksmen in
the German army could not strike such
target more than once in sixteen times.
At an elevation of mile balloon is
wholly out of range of modern rifle, ow-
ing to the attraction OF gravity, and no
cannon has yet been invented that can be
aimed accurately toward the zenith. A
first class mortar-the only large gun that
will throw proiectile directly upward
will send ball TO the vertical height of
considerably over mile; but to make the
shot with any degree of precision at tar
get moving overhead is out of the question.
Projectles from cannon or mortars, as
opposed to balloons, are, therefore, not
worth considering. AS for rife-bullets,
scores of them might pierce the envelope
OF the gas bag and yet do no important
harm. Such bullet does not leave cir
cular hole when it has passed through;
the aperture is partly closed by the torn
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
FIRED BY THE SUN.
A Gun Discharged Without Human
Agency.

A Gun Discharged without Human
Agency.
In the paper Of last Saturday appeared
an account of strange accident. in which
a man was killed by the discharge of a
gun while lying. asleep on lounge in his
room, the weapon being discharged by re-
fected rays of the sun falling upon the
cartridge chamber of the firearm.
Since the publication of the story cor
respondent from York, Penn, writes con-
corning the accident, and refers to SINH
lar case, in which, through the efforts of a
clever Cincinnati lawyer named G. c.
Wallis, the person accused OF murder and
sentenced to be hanged was set at liberty,
the circumstantial evidence on which he
was convicted being entirely exploded by
witnessed demonstration as to how the
accident really occurred.
The York correspondent referred to
Volume Is of the Criminal Law Magazine,
page GOT, on which a full account of the
affair appears. The cast was that of the
State of Tennessee against Avery, tried in
Henry County. that State, and is one of
the most remarkable in the history Of
criminal Jurisprudence.
In June, 1887, Charles Ensley the cousin
of man of the name of Avery, was killed
in his room while lying on a lounge,
about 'clock in the afternoon. The
weapon which caused the death was a
small rifle, sending a 32-caliber ball,
through Ensley's brain. No one was in
the house at the time but Ensley. An
empty rifle was found lying on a rack on
wall of the room in which the killing &C.
urred, and the bullet fitted the tube.
Avery was arrested for the crime. as he
was the only living close relative to Ems
lev and by his death profited to the
amount of about 100000. Avery was
tried, pleaded not guilty, but was con-
victed of murder in the first degree and
was sentenced to be hanged. He appealed
Wallis to defend him. The Supreme
Court remanded the case back to the Cir
cult Court on technical errors. Two mis-
trials were brought about, and then came
the strangest part of the story. The
brilliant Wallis struck the keynote of
the mystery. In August, 1891, he had
the rife loaded and hung on the wall.
A white sheet with the form of a
man marked on it was placed in exactly
the same position occupied by Ensley
when lying asleep, and a heavy cut-glass
pitcher of water, like the one found in the
room, was placed on the shelf above. The
temperature was ninety degrees in the
shade, one of the hottest days of the year.
The pitcher acted as a sun glass, and the
hot rays of the sun shining through the
water refracted directly on the cartridge
cham Der OF the rifle.
Eight witnesses were in the room, and a
few minutes after 8 o'clock puff and re-
port occurred, and the ball struck the
outlined form back of the ear, in the exact
location where Ensley was shot, and the
theory of circumstantial evidence went to
pieces. The incident being witnessed and
sworn to, readily explained itself to the
jury.-Cincinnati Enquirer.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

ment was eminently logical: If nerve ac-
tivity did not reach the hair root, it could
not affect IL. :
The grayness of hair commences at the
hair bulb where the cells are produced, and
rises upward to the tip. 1t is caused by a
deficiency and the degeneration respect
lively of the pigment matter The color
ing stuff either gives out or retrogrades.
The chemist can perform the same for you
in an incredibly short time by simply
soaking your raven or auburn locks. re-
moved from the head. in alcohol or ether.
An instance of accidental hair bleaching
notice. peasant boy had undertaken to
rob an eagl nest of its young by hang
ing over mountain precipice, his COM
rades dangling him on "a rope. 10 pro-
tect himself against possible attacks by the
old birds he carried long sword.
The boy had captured his prize, and was
about to be pulled up when the parents of
the little ones. attracted by their brood's
cries, attacked him with claws and beaks.
To ward them off the young fellow struck
out with his sword, and pereeivlng GER
tain pull in the rope saw that he had hit
the hawser, which hung only by one
strand.
Terror seized him; he might be plunged
in the abyss every second, prey to the
ferocious feathered fiends. There seemed
no hope whatever, till his friends, by their
quick and well-calculated action, succeeded
in landing the seemingly doomed boy
safely, and q drink of kiIch soon revived
him. But when he took off his cap to
throw it IN Joyous fashion into the air 1t
was seen that his abundant brown hair
had turned white from root to tip.
DR.. ALBERT tells OF case where a
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

mites of making themselves acquainted.
prudence would suggest that such craft
should never be intrusted to people who
have not especial experience.
To put strangers into them is alike unfair
to the builders and designers. dangerous to
the personnel risky to the vessels, antago-
nistic 10 service efficiency and costly to the
public purse. But, with very few excep-
tons, strangers are always put into them,
and that at short notice. 1t is in complete
conformity with our gloriously haphazard
manner OF doing everything. The very
natural result this year was that out OF
twenty-five destroyers and boats (includ-
ing both Dasher and Contest) engaged
thirteen came to grief of more or less Sc
we're kind. It was not the fault of the Off
GERS or the men, for humanity is not born
with the heaven sent gift OF ability to man.
age any strange craft that may be encoun-
tered; it was chiefly and mainly the fault
of the system. What ought to be done
has been pointed out over and over again
by writers and speakers, both in and out
of the service. There should be always a
considerable number of destroyers and
boats in commission at,home and abroad,
and all officers and men who may be liable
to be called upon to serve in similar ves-
sells should be Systematically passed
through them.
Experience gained in 127-foot boat I'll
the year 1886 is OF little or no use toward
the conduct of a 200-foot destroyer OF 1895.
Boilers are different; engines are differ
ent; speed is different; turning capacity is
different; sea-golng qualities are different.
Experience gained in a bath chair would
be about equally useful toward the proper
management of racing bicycle. And
thus although few officers and men, in
the Mediterranean and elsewhere, do occa-
sionally get some practice in boats OF old
type, it does not follow that they are much
more competent than their fellows who
have spent their time in slow gunboats in
China or the Red Sea for taking care of
Bruiser or a Surly. The lesson taught
often enough before has been this year so
convlncingiy illustrated and accumulated
that l cannot suppose that it will be any
longer neglected.-F ortnlghtly Review.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
Berlin, harbors female idiot, aged 10,
who experiences alternating fits of COM

Berlin, harbors q female idiot, aged Is,
who experiences alternating fits of COM
paratige euietude, followed by periods in
which she exhibits terrible excitement
and extreme nervousness. On her quiet
days her skin is dry and her face pale,
while during her periods Of nervous ex-
element she displays great energy and
her cheeks then are red and her skin is
generally heated.
The color of her hair changes almost
vis1bly with the temperature of her body
it is yellow blonde while her skin re-
mains dry, and becomes auburn when she
is excited. The change occu.s within
forty-eight hours and on the third day is
at it's height.
Medical reports set forth that patients
suffering from disease of the nerves in the
head become gray at the very spots where
pains manifested themselves. This
change, in the majority of cases, took
place slowly; in some cases it occurred
over night.
German army, had been discovered in the
act of manipulating by his chief. He
feared dishonorable dismissal ane spent
twenty days in dreadful anticipation.
When, finally, his case was passed on, his
colonel decided not to punish the young
fellow on condition that he promise never
again to touch card. After it was all
over bunch of hairs was cut from the cul-
prit's head to subject them to microscope
cal investigation.
In this connection it should be stated
that the growth of hair allows of measure
ment day by day. at an average young
peoples hair grows at the rate Of fifteen
lines twelve lines make one inch) per
month, but there are exceptions. My
young friends hair, according TO previous
investigations, grew only at the rate of
one-fourth of a line per day. Taking this
for the basis of my examination, says the
professor, it was easy to, determine on
what particular days certain portions of
the hair, which l cut from his head, had
formed. found that, beginning with the
ing with the formations of July "a the hair
had changed from brown to reddish and
light blush tints, increasing in intensity
until, under the microscope, it appeared.
almost yellowish white.
The young mans diary showed that
during that period he had gambled. losing
steadily. Consequently. his nervous ex-
element grew apace. On the 24th 1t
reached its height, and then he found
himself vis-a-vis of Nemesis, personiied
by his superior officer. after that followed
period of quiet resignation, during which
the hair assumed its natural color, but as
the day Of Judgment drew near. in the
second week of August, the tint changed
blush green. The inference is obvious.
A gentleman of my acquaintance re-
ceived on October 16 of last year news that
his only son was suffering from fatal
malady. On November the patient was
declared to be out of danger. Five days
later cut bunch of hair from my friends
head, and after conducting preliminary
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

poor soldier be the victim, the living tar
get of the fight-the king, members of
Parliament and other important person
ages concerned in the making of the war
keeping at safe distance When such
flying machines become common, as Mr..
Maxim has remarked, the first man to be
attacked will be the monarch or Pre- ST.
dent; the first building knocked down will
be the royal palace, the second the Par
lament House.
With equal pointedness Mr.. Maxim sug-
gests that flying machines would be most
useful for invasion. No hostile man-of-
war can get near the United States now
without big fight, but an enemy's bal
loon might enter the country overhead
with perfect impunity. Flying machines
are the only possible defense against
flying machines. If the upper atmosphere
is to be a theater of warfare in time to
come, this Government ought to be pre-
pared to play a part. Up to now it has
done nothing.
Enormous sums are spent on coast de-
lenses; the cost of creating and maintain
ing feet of airships would be trifling,
comparatively. 1t is reckoned that if half
a dozen batteries. Of four balloons each,
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
BALLOON SECTION OF BRITISH ARMY ENGINEERS

edges and not much gas escapes. A balloon
containing 10000 cubic feet of hydrogen
can afford to lose great deal of gas before
succumb ing through lack of buoyancv.
Meanw lille, if weakened, it can float away
and then descend.
The only possible protection against war
balloons is feet of war balloons. Sooner
or later Uncle Sam will be obliged TO build
such fleet, unless he is to resign himself
to the prospect of being wiped off the
earth. All this, on the face Of it, would
seem to be look into the far future; but
it is not such in reality. The progress of
invention does not pause; it goes steadily
ahead, and the navigation of the air is
fact practically accomplished already. In
order to render practicable such things as
are here suggested, very little improve
ment is needed.
The warships of the future will be air
ships-dirigi balloons carrying high ex-
plosves in small compass, which may be
dropped wherever they will work the
most destruction. lowering over great
cities like gigantic birds OF prey, they will
compel subsection on whatever conditions
NAV be prescribed. 1t follows that the
conditions of conflict between nations
will be wholly altered. No longer will the
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
CHAIN ARMOR IN THE ARMY.

well-Known Articles of Trade to the
Service.
Setting aside at once at once all talk
about projections that are perfectly bullet
proof, give you my assurance that an
immense number of the officers of our
army and navy who go on foreign service,
especially when one of our "little wars" is
expected, provide themselves with certain
easily recognized projections.
These, mind you, are well-known arti-
cles of trade to the service. The common
est and most usual type of these protec-
tons consists of fine but beautifully
tenn pered steel chains, inclosed in soft
leather, which run along the shoulders,
down the outer side of the arms and over
certain parts of the body. These can
either be sewn into a particular tunic Or
they can be adjusted separately and put
on like harness. Take it absolutely that
hundreds upon hundreds OF sets are sold.
The most valuable of all chains, in con-
nection with accouterments, are those
which guard the head, and in cases where
the regulation cap or helmet is not suffi-
GENTLY protected in this way specially
made chains are sewn inside the same anu
covered by the lining.
ONLY those who have boon in actual con-
flict know how valuable all the chains
mentioned are In minimizing the effects of
sword cuts. AS regards protection, both
from sword and bullet, the general belief
of officers nowadays seems to be in thor
oughly tanned leather and great quanti-
ties OF tight-titting leather under-tunics
are made for officers, the favorite
pattern - said to be the invention
of the late Sir Richard Burton
being that which forms not too prom
inent ridge down the center OF the chest.
have heard innumerable stories from
officers of bullets which have been diverted
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
. ORIGIN OF JINGO.
How It Came to Apply to Advocates OF
War Policy.

How It Came to Apply to Advocates OF
War Policy.
The origin of the word lingo" is inter-
esting at this time, when one is confronted
with it so often. at the time of the close
of the Russo-Turkish war. which, as all
readers of history know, terminated so
disastrously for the Turks, and caused a
feeling OF apprehension in England that
the Russians were bent on taking Constan-
tinople and the ultimate dismem berment
of the Turkish empire a change which
could not be tolerated, the public feeling
found expression in England upon the
stage in pantomimes and in the music
halls by numerous patriotic songs. One of
these was as follows:
The dogs OF war are loose, and the rugged Russian
Full bent on blood and robbery, has crawed out of
1t seems a thrashng now and then will never help
That brute, and so he's ont upon the same old
The Lion did his best to give him some excuse
To crawl back to his den again-aI efforts were
He nungered for his victim, he's pleased when
blood is shed;
But let us hope his sins may all recon- on his own
head.
We don't want to fight but, by lingo, If we do
We've got the men, we've got the ships, we've got
the money, too.
We fought the Bear before, and while we're Brtons
The Russians shall not have Coustantinople.
The song became most popular and was
heard on every street coraer, from every
organ grinder, and was whistled by every
bootblack. Shortly after this the election
campaign began in which Gladstone, the
head of the Liberals, attacked the Tory
party. then led by the Earl of Beaconsfield,
who was in power. The Tory foreign pol
icy was r1diculed, and they were stigma
tized by the Liberals as "the party of
bloodshed, glory and jingo."
From the time of this election campaign,
which resulted in the defeat of the Tories
and the accession of the "peace party"
Gladstone 1880 administration, the word
''iingo" has been used to denote an indi-
vidual or section OF a party ready to rush,
without mature consideration, into all the
horrors of war.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

investigations similar to those in the case
of the young soldier / let the microscope
tell the story. The formations from the
root upward, covering period OF hye
days, were entirely normal, those formed
between October Is and November ex-
hibited the following tints:
Black blue turned red, red turned yell
lowish brown, yellowish brown blood
orange, blood orange light yellow.
/ also discovered another phenomenon
in connection with this case. The particle
of hair grown on the day when the man
experienced a sudden shock seemed to be
bent so as to make a flaw in it, and at the
concaye part of that impression found
number of lnfinitesimal corpuscles, appar-
entity parts of the hair root. This shows the
tremendous force which the nerves and
muscles exercise over the hair, symptom,
by the way, which the average individual
finds exemplified in the sensation COM
monty called "goose-fesh' or goose-skin.
1t is endured as a consequence OF sudden
fright or terror. The skin of the head for
the moment looses its smoothness, the
hair roots elevate. the hair itself becomes
rigid the color of the skin is pale.
Medical science explains 1t as follows:
The hair contains certain muscular fiber
cells which arise in the upper part OF the
eorium. AS each hair enters the skin OBJ
liquely, forming an acute angle with the
surface, and as the muscle lies in the cor
responding obtuse angle, its contraction
erects the HAIR that is, makes it stand up.
These goose-skin sensations were OBJ
served in lesser degree in certain cases
where they could not be accounted for as
the consequence Of sudden terror, al
though the nervous tendency predomi-
mated.
1 know many women who have lived
through all sorts of distress and troubles
without a hair in their head changing
color, while others likewise affected turned
gray at the sides and the fore part of the
head at an early age and in a short time.
What does it prove? Simply that the
first mentioned parties retained their equi-
librium, their joyous disposition, while
their friends gave way under the burden.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
each one of them lighting up the sur.
roundings with 900 can dle-power.
WHY HAIR TURNS GRAY

Terror, Grief and Anxiety May Change
the Color of Your Hair.
Professor Pohl contributes an interest
ing article to the New York World on the
human hair. Few persons know that
the hair is barometer of a mans health
and character, and that it is influenced by
his mental condition from time to time
The hair consists of a root, shaft and tip,
the latter two being the projecting parts.
Its substance is composed of henry ma
terial containing the pigment granules,
which are developed in the root and the
color of which depends on the presence of
peculiar oil, sepia tint in dark hair,
blood red in red hair, and yellowish in fair
hair. While it has been generally ad-
mitted that the hair of all mammalia has
nerve connection, similar state of affairs
has been denied with reference to human
hair until recently. The past lack of
knowledge accounts for the skepticism OF
the modern Psychologists. Their argu-
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

tice to secure the feet properly on the ped
ais without bending the clip.
This new toe clip has several good feat
ures. The construction is such that when
the pedal is not in use and hangs down.
ward the toe clip swings out of the way, so
that the pedal may be caught by the rider S
foot without any attention being paid to
the clip.
The instant the foot is placed upon the
pedal the clip flies up into position, where
it locks firmly, and when the foot is re-
moved from the pedal it turns with the
clip on the under side, the mechanism i'm
mediately unlocks of itself, and is at once
ready for further use. By the use of this
clip the side guards on the pedal may be
dispensed with, as the clip is provided
with metal strip which acts as guard
and which can be made wider or narrower,
to suit the riders foot.
The clip can be readily adjusted to fit
almost any make pedal. The construction
is very simple, having no parts to become
disarranged or get out of order, and the
weight is only three ounces.-New York
Herald
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29

in some degree by these leather tunics.
some of which are lined with woven steel
wire. OF course none of these things are
supposed to be an absolute protection but
only sort of palliative.
A West End gunsmith who sells great
many chain mail body protectors, which
fit almost like an ordinary vest and are
very expensive, sells a large number of
them to army men, and he not long sent
a gross, as many as he could get made in
time, to Japan, where they were snapped
up like wiidtire, as he tells me. | have
had made on behalf of individual officers,
who have themselves drawn the design. a
variety of different patterns of what you
might call armor. but fine flexible chains
and leather have entered into nearly all of
them.-London T1t-Bits.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
A NEW PEDAL ATTACHMENT.

Foot Clip for Bicycle That Locks and
Un1Ocks Automatically.
Among the mass of new inventions for
the general benefit of bicyclists is toe
clip. Riders have, as a rule, been skepti-
cal regarding toe clips, for the majority of
them, while having one or two good feat
ures, are defective from the fact of being
stationary and requiring considerable prac-
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-29
BALLOONS IN WARFARE.

Rapid Progress Has Been Made in
Aerial Science.
The balloon that can be steered is no
longer problem of the future; it is an
accomplished fact. Dirigible airships
have been built by both the French and
German Governments, though all data re-