davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
THE HOLE IN THE MOUNTAIN,
Seen from Distance, But Disappears
When Approached.

Seen from Distance, But Disappears
Whom Approached.
For the last half century the Ameri-
can residents of Tucson, Ariz., have
been trying to solve mystery in the
shape of what appears to be hole
through mountain peak in plain sight
from the town. In the clear. rarified
air it looks to be only short distance
sway, when in reality it is at least 40
miles. The earliest residents noticed
the phenomenon, and the only difficulty
that lay in the way Of finding out just
what II was was the fact that it was
inaccessible, and when they came any
where near the spot the hole disap-
peared from sight. In fact, it can
only be seen from within few miles
OF Tucson, and this has led many peo-
pie to believe that 1t is not hole at
oil.
BY the aid of q good marine telescope
the mountain can be brought to within
n few miles, but not near enough to
tell the exact nature OF the rock forma-
tion. An astronomical telescope can
not be focused on it, as the mountain
is too near. A first peep through the
glass would lead one to believe that
there was no mystery about 1t. The
hole appears as plain as possible, but
several days study OF the spot will
develop the fact that the hole" does
not always look the same. Many days
when the sky is dark behind the noun
tain the hole will appear brilliant
white, like q snowdrift, and On days
when the sky is blue 1t will often look
10 dark as to be almost invisible.
These facts have led many to think that
it is an immense piece of mice lying
with its polished surface toward the
sky and rejecting the cloud forme'
tions of another part of the horizon
instead of being the light seen through
o hole. Viewed with the naked eye the
hole simply appears as white spot
but the telescope reveals pine trees and
other details, although very indis'
tinctly.
The range of mountains in which the
strange peak can be seen is known as
The Catalinas, and numerous parties
have made the attempt to climb it, bu'
NIL have failed on account of the stcel
and rugged precipices in the vicinity
The peak is high one, and can bt
seen from any point in the journey
toward 1t, but when ten miles out o.
Tucson the hole can no longer be seen
even with the aid of glass. Thi
Gun be explained on the mica theory
MS surface of that material would no
reflect a ray of light toward person
eye after he got out of its angle o
projection. San Eranciscn Call.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
STORY OF A STORK.
How 1t Carried IA Letter to Africa and
Brought One Back.

Brought One Back.
A story that comes from Germany ia
as quaint as il is true, says Our Animal
Friends. Some children living in the
northern provinces discovered that
storlS had made its nest upon their roof.
Being orthodox little Teutons they
hailed the newcomer with favor, as
storks are supposed to bring luck to
house. All the summer they shared
their tidbits with their long-legged
friend, which became very tame and
companionable.
At the first signs of approaching cold
weather the stork prepared to fit to
warmer climes. The children were sad
at the thought of losing their pet, but
their parents conscled them with the
assurance that the bird would surely
return the next spring. The children,
still uneasy at the ;'iea OF the stork not
being cared for through the long
winter, consulted together and evolved
brilliant idea, which they Immediate
~ proceeded to put into execution.
They wrote note in their best German
script, stating that the stork was very
dear to them and begged the good peo-
pie in whose country it might spend the
winter to be kind to their pet, and send
it back to them in the spring.
They sealed the note, fastened 1t to
ribbon, tied it around the birds neck
and tucked il under its wing. The next
day they sadly watched the stork wing
its way toward milder skies. The snow
and ice came; Christmas time brought
the children gifts and fresh amuse-
ments, but their summer pet was not
forgotten. When the spring came
round again their little feet used to
climb to the roof day by day, looking
and longing for the stork's return; and
behold. One fine morning there 1t was,
tame and gentle as ever.
Great was the children's delight, bu,
what vas their surprise to discover
round it's neck and under it's wing an.
other bright band with a note attached,
addressed to "the children who wrote
the letter the stork brought" The
ribbon was quickly united and the
missive opened. twas from n mission
airy in Africa, stating that he had read
the childrcn's note and had cared for
the stork, and thought that children
whose hearts had prompted them to
provide for the comfort Of n bird
through the winter would be willing to
help clotbe and feed the little destitute
children of his mission. A full name
and address followed
The children we're full of sympathy,
and the missionary's note won golden
answer from the family. Other letters
came and went by post between them
until by and by the children learned 10
know the missionary and his little blacb
waits almost as well as they knew The
beloved stork that had proved so trust,
Il messenger.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
PITh AND POINT.

.--Agatha-"Gharley is tiekled with
his new mustache, isn't he2" Marie
"Yes, but with blush) not half a.
much as am."-Clairmont Eagle.
The difference between somnam'
bul!st and messenger boy is trifing'
One walks in his sleep and the other
sleeps in his walk.-Philadelphia Press.
Without Accompaniment.-"Is the
young man to whom Miss Songster en-
gagged musicale" "Oh, yes, indeed. You
ought to hear him chant her praisesl"
detroit Free Press.
-Wiclswire--"Notic what hollow
laugh Nudge has this evening?" Yabs-
iey-"Yes. He Is getting of that hol-
low laugh to disguise the fact that he
is full."--Indinnapolis journal.
-"That," said the crank, as the op.
position fielder jumped apparently
about Is feet in the air ana pulled down
home-run fly, "that is nothing short
Of a high-handed outrage.
lis Jotirnal.
-ObeIul ~ LUST iou ohOuiu i"'o
seen how regally Miss DE Frivolous
swept down the avehue yesterday"
"Well, that's the first time ever heard
Of that girl doing anything useful
Detroit Free Press.
The young man who had Travelled
began: "And there / stood, the abyss
yawning at my feet" "Was 1t yawn-
ing before you got there, or did 1t be-
gin after you arrived?' asked the
young woman who has never been away
and then the young man found that
he had just time to catch the last car
Indianapolis Journal.
1--WE are thwarted," she gasped,
falling into the arms Of the leading
juvenile. "My father!" "What has he
done?" demanded the youth, with an
ominous intonation. "lIe has hidden
all of my wardrobe except 81 costumes
she cried, her voice rising to n shrek
Anybody at all conversant with the
tendencies of the drama could see that
an eiopement was impossible. How
ever, they could do song and dance
Detroit Tribune.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
WHEN TEACHER GETS CROSS


When the teacher gets cross and her brown
eyes get black.
And her pencil comes down on the desk
with whack,
We chiluns In class sits up straight In a
line.
As II we had rulers instead of spine!
It's scary to cough, and it's not safe to
grin
When the teacher gets cross and the dim
pies goes In.
When the teacher gets cross the tables all
mix,
And the ones and the sevens begin playing
tricks.
The pluses and minus Is just little smears
Where the cry-babies cry all their states up
with tears.
The figgers won't add, and they act up like
sin
when the teacher gets cross and the dim
pies goes In.
When the teacher gets cross the readers
gets bad,
The lines Jingle round till the chilluns is
sad,
And Billyboy puffs and gets red in the face.
AS II he and the lesson were running a
TIL she hollows out Next" as sharp as a
pin
When the teacher gets cross and the dim
pies goes In. ts
When the teacher gets good her smile Is Sc
bright
The tables gets straight and the readers
gets right,
The pluses and minus come trooping along
The figgers add up and stops being wrong,
And we chilluns would like (but we das
senU to shout,
When the teacher gets good and the dim
pies comes out.
Rochester Express.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
Guessing Flowers.

A pleasant variation in an evening OF
games is the drawing of flowers with
colored crayons, and then having your
guests guess the names of the flowers.
A list of flowers should be made out,
each one with number. On separate
slips of paper write the name of one OF
the flowers with It's corresponding
number, until you have used each one
on the list. Give each guest one of the
slips, or have draw for them, and pro-
vide them with crayons and sheets of
paper. Give Is minutes for the max
ing of the flowers, then collect the
drawings and pin them up about the
room. AS the names of flowers are
read from the list guesses are given as
to which flower among the drawing
represents It. Another pleasant game j.;
called matching quotations. Well
known lines are written on slips of pa
per and then divided into bits, each part
having three or four words. These
fragments are pinned about the room
on furniture, curtains, and hangings
and each person takes one and starts
out to. find the other parts that vii
make the quotation complete. Some
times the quotations may consist Of al
entire line, with the second line form
ing the other half to be looked for
Philadelphia Times.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
LEARNING 1o SPEAK CHINESE.
Some of tho Difficulties Set Forth by .
Missionary Student.

Some Of the Difficulties Set FORM by .
Missionary Student
John Wesley is credited with the say
ing that the Chinese language was an
invention of the devil to keep the mis-
sionaries out of China.
On opening his book the student sees
a mass of hieroglyphics, with no clew
whatever to their pronunciation, sound
or tone.
In Chinese we have no alphabet, no
infections, no coniugations and no dis.
tinctions of mood, gender, tense or per-
son.
Standing alone and divorced from its
context, the student cannot tell wheih-
er a single character is noun or
verb, lie turns to his dictionary and is
often bewiidered by score of diverse
meanings that have gathered around
the word during 1900 years Of service
IN Chinese literature.
II is worthy OF remark that a China
man living in Canton will pronounce
these characters altogether different
from the Chinaman, for instance. iu
Foochow; yet the meaning OF the char
acters and construction of sentences is
the same all over China.
The spoken language differs accord.
ing to the locality, and yet Chinese
scholar will sit down and write poetry
and prose compositions in classical
style that are intelligible to every edu-
Gated man in China, Corea and Japan.
l have often seen two Cinnamon who
could not understand word of each
others speech sitting down and hold
ing a conversation in writing, much rs
the monks of different European coun-
tries used to correspond with each
other in Latin.
Few foreigners are able to write Chi
nese with the elegance of the native
scholar. Some cannot read even sim
gle character, and yet are able to speak
a local dialect with as much fuency
and as perfect idiom as Chinaman.
The great difficulty in acquiring the
spoken language rs In the tones, the
inter-syllabic nspirates, and the utter
lawlessness of its idiom. There are only
about 700 distinct sounds in the Ian.
guage, and few months practice will
easily master their pronunciation, but
it must be remembered that to each OF
these sounds there is attached n sort oi
metrical scale, ranging from an octave
to an octave and half, giving variety
Of tones which only n musical ear cal
| detect.
In English tone may denote anger
surprise or injury, but does not alter
the meaning OF the word. In Chinese
the tone is all important.
Take the sound tseung. This may
man mean grasshopper, oar, elephant
mechanic or pickles, according to the
tone.
Put an aspirate into the middle Of tn,
word, and 1t may mean examine, goot
luck, wall, spear or gun, and varict.
of other meanings, depending on lh'
tone given.
A man is man only when the correc
tone is given. Change the tone, ant
man becomes nightingale, carrot
and many other ridiculous things
Northwestern Christian Advocate.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
VERY QUEER ANIMAL.

The Great Ant-Eater Is Funny Ccmbi-
nation in Every Way.
With the exception of the jaguar, the
great ant-eater, the ant-bear, or crested
nnt-bear, whichever you choose to call
him, is the most snowy quadruped in
all South America; nor am / at all
sure he is not entitled to first place.
In height and bulk full-grown speci-
men is about as large as Newfound-
land dog, and is really quite bear
shaped in body and legs. Is tail is
long and strong, and bears tremen-
dous brush of coarse, wiry, brown
black hair, which makes this organ
very noticeable. Its head is so small,
and its muzzle SO fearfully prolonged,
that il reminds one of the head and
beals of an ibis. It's mouth is narrow
slit across the end of that curious muz-
zle, its tongue is like big angle-worm
u foot long, and it has no teeth what.
ever It's covering is rough coat of
long, coarse, brown hair, most strange
ly marked by black band underneath
the throat, which on the chest divides
into long, wedge-shaped stripe of
black that extends backward and up
ward across the shoulder.
To me it has always been n puzzle
why this creature should possess such
luxuriant coat of hair in so hot a
climate. Another point still more open
to criticism is his dubbed fore feet.
He walks on his claws, and the outer
edge OF his fore feet, in most awiS-
ward and even painful way, for which
there seems to be no adequate excuse
unless his feet were formed that way
TO vex the souls of wicked taxidcrmists.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
Boy Snowballs an Emperor.

The German emperor is very much
Of an autocrat, but he has many kindly
as well as kingly traits. One day he
and the empress, while out sleigh
riding, came across three little boys
in the Thiergarten, who were SO busy
snowballing as to overlook the imperial
couples approach. In consequence, ore
of the snowballs hit the monarch on tie
nose. "Did it hurt you, Herr Kaiser ~
asked the little culprit, in an anxious
tone. IF so, you can hit me and call it
square" AT this the royal coupl,
laughed merrily, and, taking the boys
address, the emperor next day sent him
n comical memento of the incident.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
A WOMAN'S ISLAND.
Three Times as Many Women as Men at
Tristan da Cunha.

lristhn uh Suhna
From the isolated group of little is
lands in the South Atlantic, whence the
Gagged eagle, Napoleon, was guarded,
though 1900 miles distant, on lonely st.
Helena, comes by faraway, round
about means the strange tale of life
without communication with the rest
of the world for six months, and bit
of history in a community in which
women outnumber the men in such
majority that they may compel obedi-
ence, by force, II necessary. The news
from the group of Tristan da Cunha,
the three little islands midway between
the Cape of Good Hope and the coast of
South Africa, came through the captain
of the ship Dartford, who says that In
about latitude 81 degrees minutes
and longitude IL degrees 16 minutes
his vessel was signaled by small boat.
The yards of the hartford were backed
and boat came alongside. In it were
several men and quantity of potatoes,
eggs, milk and penguin skins. The
men offered the fresh produce and the
skins in trade, saying they wanted
clothing, tea, rice, sugar and flour from
the ships stores in exchange for the ar
ticles they brought from the island
home. They told the captain that they
depend on passing vessels for the pro-
visions they named and for clothing.
and that the inhabitants of the island
were in dire distress because for six
months not boat had succeeded in
hailng a ship.
The population of the island of Iris.
tan da Cunha, as reported to the cap
tain of the hartford by the men in the
boat, is 60, the women outnumbering
the men in the proportion of three to
one. Therefore there are 45 women and
IS men. The group consists of three
tiny volcanic isles, Tristan, the largest
being seven miles in diameter lin the
center being a mountain 1900 feet
high, inaccessible, about two miles
across, and Nightingale island, baby
islet, just big enough to hold two hills
The islands have been under the Brit.
ish flag since 1916, though, as the men
in the boat told the master of the Dart
ford, no European government had paid
any attention to them in the memory ol
any of the inhabitants. When Napolc
on was at st. Helena, 1900 miles dis
tant, British garrison was stationet
on Tristan, but was withdrawn aftel
the death of the exile. Corporal vii
linm Glass, his wife and family and twt
private soldiers were permitted to re
main on the island when the garrison
was withdrawn. The population has in
creased to 60 people, some of the acces
sions being due to shipwrecks and som'
to desertions from whaling vessels
Boston Transcript.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
A PRETTY EXPERIMENT.

exceedingly leaky tissue. You will
very soon succeed in this experiment,
Hereon. follows :he second part,
Place your full, but not dripping, glass
of water, thus turned upside down, but
not inside out, over the full glass of
wine, and you will soon see little jets
of ruby penetrating the tulle in every
direction. 1t is the wine, progressively
mounting the superior glass, which ir
the same proportion yields water to the
lower glass in the opposite direction.
At the end of about a quarter of an
hour the. exchanges will be complete,
and you will see the lower glass filed
with pure transparent water, while the
upper one will be chock full OF good, red
wine.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
A Homo Thrust.

The other day a young man from
London arrived in northern city, and
wishing to let his friends in the south
know OF his safe arrival, he went to
post Office (not the chief one), and in
qured If he could send telegram li-
rect from the Office, and how long it
would take. The young lady was In
clined to be snubbish, and cut short
his inquiries with: II am not paid to
answer silly questions" Her face
blancncd wonderfully, however, when
she found herself compelled to wire the
following message: ARRIVED safe.
Girls hers ugly and bad-tempered."-
Titbits.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
One Dollar Per Year.
WATER UPSIDE DOWN.
A Very Pretty scientific Experiment for
Young People.


A pretty bit of scientific recreation
which comes in handy after dinner 10
sometimes dignified with the classical
title of"The Revenge Of the Danaides"
in allusion to the daughters II Danaus,
who, us punishment to their crimes,
were condemned to forever draw wafer
with leaky vessels.
Fill completely two glasses of exactly
the same size and shape, one with wa
ter, the other with wine. Stretch over
the mouth of the glass containing the
water a circular covering of tulle, some
what larger than the glass and pre-
viously moistened.
Now smooth the tapping over the
tulle as closely to the glass as possible,
and, applying the palm of the right
hand squarely to the mouth of this
glass, seize the stem with the left and
turn it quickly upside down. avoiding
the entrance of the air.
Next, slide the right hand softly
away from underneath, and. much 10
your astonishment, the tulle will re-
main adherent to the glass, while not a
drop of water will fall out through that
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11

JorkinsI am going to have my bank
bills disinfected before handle them.
Mrs. Jorkins-For what reason?
"To remove the danger Of contagion
tn my family"
81 never heard of your family being
exposed. ."-Detyoit Free Press
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
Clever Boys Can Do This.

John Whalen, who is serving years
sentence in the Cook county Jail, iii.
nois, has made handsome and unique
picture frame from cigar boxes THE
frame is 20x24 inches in size, and con-
tains nearly 1000 pieces of wood, beau
tifully carved. A common pocket
knife and a small hammer were Whacn't
only tools,
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
AKentuckx Tramp,s Ruse.

A tramp visited all the houses of
small town near Louisville, KY, and
begged from every kind lady he met
postage stamp, with which to write a
letter to his sick mother He got the
stamp, or it's equivalent, every time,
and went out of town with nearly five
dollars in his pockets as The result Of
his successful ruse,
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11

Nell-Chollic told me last night that
he thought my face would stop an angel
in its fight.
Belle-Don't you think you'd better
practice on a clock first, my dear?---
Philadelphia Record
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11

The business portion Of St. Peters
burg was seriously damaged by fire
in 1862. the property loss exceeding S.
100000.
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11
One Object of Life Insurance.

The subject Of the conversation hat
taken several routes, and finally the
topic of insurance was reached by the
guests, the hostess and the host at the
dinner table.
Papa has his life insured" spoke up
the little girl, the pet of the household.
''Is that 500" asked one Of the visit
ors, showing interest in the evidence
Of precocity. Everybody present looked
at the child, and the father and mother
gazed fondly and proudly.
"Yes'rn; for $15,0o0."
"What has he done that for?"
$50 mamma can buy new husband
when he's dead" d."--Louisvi]lc Courier,
Journal
Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-06-11

Charles Lamb was known to his
reading contemporaries as ELLA" Even
TO the present day many persons sup
pose "Illia's Essays" were written by
} person Of that Sama,
The San Francisco call., 1896-03-27

produced in foreign countries, and that it
has no reference, technically, to currants
coming alone from the island of Zante.
No restrictions or exceptions as to places
are either expressly or impliedly made
The court says:
The mere fact that the currants comprising
the importation in this case bear the name
Zante, an island in the archipelago, is of itself
devoid of particular significance as Indica ting
that Congress meant to tax currants which
come only from the island OF Zante. AS mat
ter Of fact, the evidence tended to show that
much larger quantities of Zante currants so
called, are grown and exported from the
provinces of Greece than from the island of
Zante, and that those grown on the mainland
are still known commercially in this country
Zante currants. In other words, Zante cur
rants is the generic commercial term tor this
species of grape when dried into raisins. 1t
would be unreasonable TO suppose that Con-
gress, in imposing duties on Zante currants in
the general language employed intended not to
tax those which come in much larger quanti-
ties from other localities. Such an interpreta-
ton would result in an unfair and unwar-
ranted discrimination between foreign places
of produce, which, in the absence of clear and
unambiguous words to the contrary, should
not be imputed to Congress.