davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

mo, 1 don't play poker any more, SAID
a big Westerner who came lnto an up
town clubhouse the other night with some
friends who had been showing him the
town. He spoke rather seriously, al
though he had been chatting and laugh
ing in a loud, breezy way until the very
moment when somebody suggested little
game of draw as an appropriate wind-up
of the nights diversion.
why, how is that?" exclaimed one of
his friends. 'You used TO play stiff
game. You haven't sworn off, have you?'
Mo-" said the Westerner. still seri-
Gus. Il have not sworn OF, but there is
no excitement in the game for me now
The last game 1 played was TOO exciting"
The thrilling story thereof, as told IN
the New YORK Sun, runs as follows:
''It was dozen years ago, when | was
tenderfoot, with the usual allowance OF
freshness and ignorance of frontier perils
We used 10 call it brashness, and was
certainly brash. l roamed around the
country rather for the better part OF a
year, with a more or less vague purpose
of settling somewhere, but not caring
much where. 1 had money enough to
start with, whenever l should find an
opening to suit me- but l was not IN
hurry, and was enjoying the freedom and
adventurous life of fne plains as only a
voungster can who is not obliged to put up
with the hardships, but looks on them as
mere incidents.
81 was well down toward New Mexico
when there was rumor of Indian troub-
les, and l heard that company of United
States troops were on the march toward
one of the principal villages where the
redskins were particularly sullen. l had
been out hunting for q week with a couple
of fellows l had met in one of the towns,
when we got the news from a stranger
who came into our camp late at night and
asked for supper. He admitted when We
questioned him-not too closely, for inquis-
itiveness is at a large discount on the
plains, but casually-that he was scout
in the Government employ and was on
his way to join this company.
=" There's likely to be some pretty warm
work. he said when we asked a little
more, 'ior if the red devils are not on the
warpath now they will be In day or two,
and you fellows will do smart trick if
you turn back
Turning back, however, didn't seem
very attractive to me when there was so
much excitement ahead. L promptly re-
marked that L thought 1 would go on with
the scout and offer my services to the cap
tain in command. 1 told you I was pretty
brash at the time, and had no knowledge
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

Artificial. rain m aking and the creation
OF breezes while travelling at the rate of
mile minute in railway car constitutes
the latest triumph OF inventive genius.
The man who has. conceived the appa-
ratus by means of which these remarkable
results can be brought about is E. H. R.
Green, the general manager of the Texas
Midland Railroad. Mr.. Green labors un-
der the disadvantage, so many people
would believe. of being born with silver
spoon in his mouth. for he is the son
of Hetty Green, the richest woman in
America.
Mr.. Green's clever idea has made it pos
sible for a person to travel in the warmest
day of summer without suffering in the
least from those twin evils of railroad
journeys, dust and heat. The practical
bility of the idea has been clearly shown
by thorough trial, and within the past
week several cars equipped with the in
vention have been daily running on the
Texas Midland Railroad. 1t has been be-
iieved that such thing as constructing
practically dustproof car was out of the
question. The new idea shows again that
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

as far distant from Boston as sixty miles
were tormented.
The first year of the operation of this
law made 1T plain that the scientists were
accomplishing something. The region
which the men treated did not suffer
greatly the following year. In the prose-
cution of the work of moth destruc-
ton In the last six years the commits
soners have made many important dis
coverles that are extremely valuable in a
scientific and agricultural way. Many
valuable machines have been invented for
use in this particular work. Several in
genlous compounds have been prepared
which have proved most effective.
The work of fighting this pest has been
tremendous in its demand for ingenuity.
patience and determination. Hundreds
OF acres have been gone over foot by foot:
brush land has been burned over for the
purpose of destroying eggs or cater
pillars; even stone walls have had
to be thoroughly sprayed. To one
who had been in this State in 1850
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

had to decide who should go. and 1 sup
posed, of course, that we would draw lots
but one OF the men spoke up unexpectedly !:
".Whoever goes he said, doesn't want
10 start for some hours. The scout says
Just after day break is the best time. What
is the matter of settling this thing with
poker? We can play freeze-out, and three
games will settle it, the winner dropping
out each time
'tThe proposition caught me. You
know used to pride myself on my poker
After little hesitation the others agreed.
The man who proposed it had the cards
and we counted out 600 coffee beans for
chips and began playing on blanket
folded and laid on the ground. You would
think the details of game like lat would
fix themselves in the memory so that L
would be able to tell you every hand l
held and every bet made, wouldn't youP
Well, can't. In fact I can't tell any,
thing about the first game excepting that
was the first man to lose all his chips.
had played often enough for what l
thought were high stakes. but the thought
th at was playing for my life ratified me
completely, and really believe bet at
random. Whatever / did lost, and the
man who had proposed the game won out
He was shot in 5ling-house three
months later-had an extra ace in his
sleeve, believe, or something like that.
"The next freeze-out, between three of
US, was com paratiyely short one. 1t did
not take more than twenty minutes for
the scout to gather in all the chips, but
short as it was l managed to get myself
together little, though l was still full OF
the thought of the value of the stakes-a
thing which, have noticed. always inter-
feres with my play. When / consider the
value of chip it always influences my
betting one way or the other, even though
try not to allow it to do so, and in this
case l said to myself that each bean repre-
sented the one hundred and fiftieth part
of my life. In other words was ambling
away months and years instead OF money.
when the third game began, however,
/ pulled myself together with most tre-
mendous effort and really became as cool
as l ever had been before at game of
cards. The man 1 played against this
time was a young Englishman whom I
had grown to esteem highly in the short
time / had known him. He was gentle
man clear through and as CHEEKY and COM
panionable a man as L ever met. His peo-
pie at home never heard this story and
hope they never will. They know that ne
was killed by the Indians and that he was
on hunting trip, but they never heard OF
his last game of cards, nor of the way he
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15
forest trees.

One morning Monsieur TrouveIot, while
at work in an upper room OF his home,
at % Myrtle street, was called away for
moment and did not think to pull down
the shutters. A stray puff of wind blew
some of these moth eggs from the
table and into the yard. Trouvelot, on
discovering what had happened, was
greatly frightened, for the fecudity of this
species of moth is almost incredible. He
made dIligent examination and took
much precaution to spray the trees near
his home with poisonous compounds. No
particular attention was paid by the pub
lie to his announcement of the accident.
Within very few years the gypsy moth
had become SO numerous about Medford
that it threatened to destroy every vestige
of vegetation. People were fighting 1T
and every summer marveling at the as
tonlshing myriads of caterpilIars. They
covered trees. fences, grasses and side
walks. For years owners of land fought
the pest as they could, but all
the while it kept spreading, and
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

Thus 1t will be seen that the air in plen-
tiful quantity is admitted from the out
side. On It's admission it encounters the
first screen. Then it must slit through
the spray of water. After that comes an
other screen, and thus it is made plain
that the air of necessity must be pure by
the time it reaches the breathing appara.
tus of the thoroughly comfortable passen-
ger. 1t might be thought that it would
be matter OF difficulty to secure a suffi-
cient supply of water. but as the only way
in which that supply is reduced is by
evaporation, the same water being used
over and over again, it may readily be
seen that the question of sufficient SUI A
is not q difficult one to answer.
Inasmuoh as the success OF the invention
has been instantaneous it may be stated
with confidence that it is only question
oftime when the apparatus will be adopted
by all railroads. 1t certainly solves the
problem with which railroad men have
been struggling Tor many years
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

of military affairs. My notion was that
the captain would be glad of recruit, or,
at least, that he would make no objection
to my going with him.
81 noticed that the scout looked at me
little curiousy. but he evidently thought
it was not his business to educate tender
feet, and he only grunted. My two com
panions were as fresh as l was, and we
told the scout we would go along if he had
no objection.
"'It's free country, and l reckon you
can travel wherever you like he said,
with grin that l understood better after
ward.
1--WE started before dawn, and had some
thirty odd miles to go to strike the trail
where the company was expected to camp
that night There were still some ten
miles to go when, as we were rounding a
small hill, the scout suddenly leaped
from his horse and called to US TO do the
same.
''He had seen Indians, and, to cut 1t
short, we camped that night in a place
where the scout said that four men could
hold out for while. even against the hun
dred or SO in the party that had surround
ed as. 1t twas certainty, though, that we
would all lose our scalps unless help came,
for there was no water to be hai, and the
Indians knew it and made themselves
comfortable just out of range of our
rifles. The scout didn't say much for a
long time, but we could see that he was
thinking as hard as any of US. and We
were all pretty busy at iG. There didn't
seem TO be anything to suggest. or at least
there was nothing that I could think of
excepting to make dash and try to
break through. Nobody said anything in
reply when spoke of that, and the scout
gave me look of disgust that made me
angry enough, but shut ne up all the
same. Finally he said: "'It's Just this
way. These devils have caught us and
they know 1t. They won't make a rush
for they know we will shoot, and an In
dian will never risk being shot if he can
get his man without. We can't fight our
way out. There's too many of 'em And
we can't stay here any longer than we
can live without water
81 asked him if the captain wouldn't
make a search for him, and he said the
captain didn't know he was coming.
He's on his way south, he said, 'and the
trail he is on is ten miles to the east of us.
There's only one thing that see, and
that means certain death for somebody, l
reckon. It's certain death for all of us,
though, If something amt done We
asked him what it was, and he said:
:" If one man can make his way south
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15
They Do
Business on a Tiny
Bit Of Land
Smallest Piece of Improved Real
Estate on Sacramento
Street, Just East of
Kearny

The smallest piece of improved real. es-
tate in San Francisco has frontage OF s
feet inches on the north side of Sacra-
mento street, few doors east of Kearny.
For a piece of business property in the
heart of the City this is as queer little
place as one could imagine. The lot ad-
joining it to the west has frontage of Ii
feet incnes, while the lot on the east,
which belongs to Michael Frank Michael,
has frontage of Al feet and 2 inches.
This foot s inch strip is the property OF
Mrs. Mary A. Gibbons an Alameda lady.
1t has a depth of So feet 6inches, and
every inch of both depth and width is
fully utilized.
There is a single-story, weather-boarded,
blue-painted frame structure on the
premises, which brings quite fancy
rental, everything considered, for it is oc-
cupied by two different firms and as many
businesses. c. l.. Giller makes and sells
metal dies, signs and letters here. while
the tirm of Koch & Harvey, job printers,
also do a considerable trade in this tiny
structure.
The place has show window, of course,
and front door, which gives ingress and
SSiSea " the prOptietolS auu iAoai CHI
ployes, but should a fat man seek to enter
that door he would have to turn sideways.
This is undoubtedly the very smallest
piece of improved realty in San Francisco,
and aside from this is one of the old
landmarks of that quarter of the City.
None OF the stores in that neighborhood
are very large, but, considering the value
OF the improvements. no other property
IN that block pays as good an income on
the investment.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15
A Church
That Is Modest and
Very Rich
The Smallest House of Worship
IN the City Belongs to
the Wealthiest Con-
gregation

The smallest church in this City is
probably the Sweienborgian, on Lyon
street, near Washington, though the little
church of st. Mary the Virgin, at Steiner
and Union streets, presses it very close.
Comparing roughly the exteriors of the
two churches one would say at once that
the Swedenborgian edifice was much
smaller than the Episcopal structure. but
upon closer inspection one finds that the
difference between the two is very small.
The Swedenborgian church is designedIy
modest, even humble, in its exterior, so il
looks much smaller than it really is, But
there are costly treasures of both art and
architecture within, and, curiously
enough, this smallest church in the CITY
gives shelter to what is probably the rich
est congregation in the City. At all
events, there are no quesuons OF church
debt ior this congregation to puzzle over,
and the modest, hum BILE, meek little brick
structure cost more money to build and
furnish and enjoys more expensive site
than far more pretentious church edifice
built by many poorer congregation.
1t is called the Church OF the New Jeru-
salem No. 2, being the second Sweden
borgian church in this City, and in
teriorily it is one of the architectural
beauties of the City. 1t was designed
chiefly by the late A. Page Brown, and
there are some rare paintings and fur
nishings within. ALI about the little
place is very quaint and odd, even strange
for church, but very artistic as well, and
quite unconventional.
Its rival in point of smallness, the Epis-
copal church at Steiner and Onion streets,
has been known as Frank Pixley's church,
but, in fact. the late editor did very little
for the church, though quite recently his
widow has donated the land.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

Some ingenious rogues in Calcutta and
Bombay purchase favorite brands of liquors
in the original packages. They remove
the good LIQUOR, without touching the cork
or the capsul, and substitute vile stuff.
This is done by drilling hole in the bot
Tom of the bottle and filling the hole with
wax when the spurious liquid has been
introduced.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

The ex-Empress Eugene. who is still
engaged on her memoirs, uses penholder
that is set with diamonds. This was en-
ployed by the fourteen representatives in
signing the treaty of peace in Paris in
1856, and was presented to the ex-Empress
as a memento.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15
He Lives
In a Tiny Box on
the Wall
The Smallest Residence in San
Francisco Is Inhabited by
Wong Seek In China
town

The smallest residence in San Francisco
is, OF course, located in Chinatown. 1t is
not, however, at the end of dark alley in
damp cellar. In many of these are some
very dininutive roosting places but they
are elegant homes and flats compared to
Wong Seeks private residence on the cor
ner of WaverIy place and Clay street.
Wongs home is about as big as his skin
"a trifle larger, of course, to allow for his
wooden shoes that go to bed with him,
but the difference is not material. Wong's
home is box nailed to a brick wall over
the fruitstand where Wong makes living
that would not keep q white baby fat.
Directly opposite-that is to say. on the
southeast corner of Waverly place and
Clay street-the-e is another Chinaman
who has residence similar to that of
Wong. But his is larger than Woug's
whether owing to larger wooden shoes or
to just what is not known. But it meas
ures fully foot more in length and is an.
inch or so more in thickness.
The dimensions OF Wong's private resi-
dence-he lives in it all by himself-are
feet in length, feet in width, with CELL
ing height of 8 feet clear of the gas fixtures.
For pillow Wong has 90-cent oil-stove,
and in the morning he cooks his break
fast on his pillow. He uses a rope-ladder
to get into his home, and when he has
tucked himself in for the night he pulls
UP his ladder and is safe.
Wong is saving his money and will some
day take the steamer for China and cart
off 200 or 800 American gold dollars to the
slums of Hongkong, where he will live
like prince.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

Llteboats are now being made in some
quarters of pumice-stone. This is mate
rial OF great lightness and strength, and a
boat made thereof will support consider
able load, even when full OF water.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

though, for the scout to give his advice,
which was for one to ride out, waving a
white handkerchief. He was to keep to
the eastward and ride as hard as he dared
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

the idea of riding out alone into that pack
OF fends. but l realized that our only
chance was for somebody to go, and
knew life was as sweet to the others as it
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

No fe wer than thirty-six specimens have
been added to The reptile-house of the To-
illogical Gardens, London, during the last
few weeks, several of which are new to the
collection. The chief OF these is an Indian
python.
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15
Stake the Most Exciting Game Of FreezeOt Ever Played

east tar enough, so that the noise of the
firing will reach the company. the captain
will send searching party. 1t all de-
dends on how far the man gets before he
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15

In the Russian army two days week
are observed as tasts-Wednesday and
Fridays-on which days all the soldier
gets in the way of food is lentil soup and
black bread and drink consisting of
water in which rye bread has been abb
sorbed
The San Francisco call., 1896-11-15
THEY PLAYED A GAME FOR A LIFE.

was to me. Instinctively we began first
talking about the way the man who should
go should maneuver to best advantage,
before raising the question who should be
the man. 1t took only a few minutes,
Decorah-posten., 1896-06-30
Slir &Din0Crnc ttiuOrc %
Mtnorc ttltrGffcnoc!

s Srantrig tlager man / ben ienere
lib ooer tiltagenOs afoltning, oper
dftdgenoe Intal at gsrn at QggteItaz
Der. Oct er, ~Itrioer "2e Sigarp,"
Wan9el pua ai9rlisbeo, paa gjsniiois
IiltrGtning mellem 8jsnnene, iom er
IarIas til Neogangen / 9GsteItabernss
5al. 5~iloioferne fsrer ~Iociale 8runbe
/ Wtarten. 2ibet er for badrot for
Wanoen, til at ban enonu BERTH Ituloe
tunne paatd iig ben gDroe at Ierge for
Some os Barn % for en- camille. On
ore mener, at Spinoernes operbadnoz
tagenoe 2utsus filler Nianoen fcran
Salget melem en- toItbar Sufts eIer
lln9tarl8 itdnoen, o. at ban ou p9lgsr
ben iioIte Tom bet minoite Snoe. Qts
ter andre flyer, at 8onfurrancefumpsn
mellem De to &jsn MI for Sioen rsper
begge Barter 2epebrebet. NQe oisIe
8runoe, mener andre, boloer life Stit.
Vt lepe er life to5t6drere eno for. Sl2z
Der, Mebler, 9r9noe, NGringsmioler
etc. er I~narere blst biqigere. S9Iaa
&pinoernes 2utsus er fun tilTpnelaz
oenoe, lite reel. st al bore 9eoItsmps
ores Soiletter toIteo IigeIaa me9et Tom
ii al bore apinoers. QarIagen, msner
De, ligger / W9noenes ringere 2egsmsz
trait pg / &oinoernes forminoIteoe
Stjenbeo. Qasrsoe / lin tioligIte
ungoom Ter bore Ynolinger uo Tom
Sloinger pg oeres oelitdte Mape fan
life foroeie gGgteItanoens tsrre 9rso,
pau ben unoen Sioe bar life apinoerz
ne Longer oenne ungoommens Slo.
ION gjer benz 'aa attraap9roi9e. "Oe
er for blege, for uotersbs, for Inoeliee,
til at tunne afsi ben It9rte 9~ipsleoIa=
9erinoe, 'om tunoe bore for Manoen
mere en- Ststte eno en- Sproe."
Decorah-posten., 1896-06-30
TrGTocntcms 9Gicl.

Spl9snoe Inetopie iortGaeS | ct tpif
Stao ON Trnuspoals Yrriioeut arii.
ger: Z 1889 fom Ell Population al
uriimOcrs til Yr9lioeuten, os beflas
9eoe Jig puer, at &e9ierin9euS SOran'
italinrn9er ituloe p9re Stplo j. of
attlernes S9rbi ialot iaa ubprt. YrGs
lioent SriiJer tnnote Jig ell Yibe, latte
Jig befuewt ~tilrette / i'm 2Gneitpl pg
gap Jig III at iortele iplgenoe: "5or
np9le Nar iloen bauoe jes ct 9giel, iom
ies bplot ipart Of. Gn Dag Tom je9
meo bette 9Giel sjennem Ell SfUg. bpor
le9 blep mot iii at %ppsrnntte. Set bar
me9et tolct. Seq ojurbe o%erior Up Ell
Slb for at parme mig lelu us gGlet.
2ette gif iua Nor FEN til Sloen, at bet
br9uote lin Sale. "a reuote Bet ia
ON % beo mig. Seq ia8Oe oa: seq
Tan ie, at Oh er ct gGiel, nit fIrre
eansprc. Slben .eiOroe jog up iur at
uarme big % mig. gtu bar on brGnOi
Salen bin - bet bar life min StDlo,
% jes fan llet life besribe, boOripr on
er lint paa mls!" 3ermeo reiite TrGs
lioenten Jig, idgoe i%orbinotli8 900.
mOrseu mine 0errer!" % leoiaaeoe
9eputationen iii 9DrIn.
Decorah-posten., 1896-06-30
Nlp 90 Sarp I SlagsmaaI.
Sra Sait6elobaleu lfripes:

Sra Saitijelooulen lfripes:
ct %eneliaaenoe Sla9smaal bar fun.
bet Steo paa norore Del al &Dsuauz
oct, ibet 4 G~eilcnoe - en- ualmnoelia
tor lllu ps 3 SGrue - bar %truiict
lammen paa Sien ltror ueitcnior @anrl
Den Stnoplg Ds plebIIttelis fOmmet i
Saarene paa b%lnanoeR.
Otter Sporene paa Sueen at opmme,
bar aanpen p9ret pOlOiOm, % enote
meo bet Neiultat, at ben fore @raas
benz blep llssenoe BOB paa Yalplaole len.
S9roene bauoe nof better life iunoet
ll8 rIStlg bel tllpas eiter &en, oa
De bauoe tilbaselast FUN noale Wteter
meliem buer Gang De bar li90et %
built Jig.
Soncs 2inopls fanot lirar uluen.
Oct piiie Jig, at 9Groene bapOe tulOt
2ng ell paa bper Sioe al Struben, o.
oerpeo tpalt ben. lllpen bar ugr l
Wtster bci ira aloen til Wanten, %
6lnoeren fit fig ct fort ps prastiot
Sflno al SGitst.
VT Sarpen bar orabt lllp, CT nuaet,
lom life pioes bGnot ipr.
Decorah-posten., 1896-06-30
Sfibcs YlDmoriug.

&a6plsrne pad &p'ten at Marotto
Ipnes ! ben Ienere Sib at uopitle en-
liplig Iftipitet meo at u%oplpnore Tors
bipasIerenoe Stibe. 5ornplig fDreos
be pua ben betjenote engelIte 2Ditpu6t
"Iilie," Der orep / N9rbeosn al apiten
/ 8inoitiae. !Seloigpis Tom Der / rette
Sto en- friIt Sris, iom Inart braaic
5urteiet uo al fine 6orTglgere5 Rottes
piooe. SITE Iaa beIpig Hap Den bris
tiite 5elutte San Sole, Iom for 4
Tiger iioen Ieileoe meo GoOs % pasIas
gerer til 2etuan. 0a ben en- Qfitano
al 3 Mil ira ben aGitanIte SpIt msote
YinoItiae, operfalot R~eopirdterne Sill
BET og tpang Sapteinen og 6 pasIaz
gerer | Suaoene o9 befdleoe Dem al
llRbte 5arteiet til Gano. 2aoninoen,
propianten, Ell tontant p~sngebelgb paa
$50 Dollars IaaoelIom o~perboptoet alt.
boao Der life bar nagelfait / Sti6et.
blsp label poer / Piratfartsiet og 6raat
ilano. Munoitubet % pasIacsrerne
blep bunOet Iammen purpis % peo
5oroelingen at 8pttet bereanet til $50
Dollars pr. 6ppeD.
Den felgenoe Dag lB8loo man Dem
imiolertio og latte benz omboro paa De-
res Sttb, meo bOiltst be after itnreoe
ttlbu9s til Gibraltar. Pad ReiIen bib
mdatte 5oltene, oa be mdn9leoe baaoe
yropiant og enoog 8dno, uoboloe be
frpgteliglte Sapn, Iaa at De, ba be en-
Oelig IunoeOe, bar en- elenOig 5orIats
ming.