davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
STUNNING SUCKERS.
A Winter Piscatorial Sport in Which
the Fish is Capturedin an En-
tireIy Novel Way.

With the first firm coating of thin
black ice the New England boys pre-
pare for variety of sports. After
flinging rocks and sticks on the surface
of the freezing stream for several days
land thereby running the skating) and aft
er Sundry Stampings of the foot on the
shallower spots to test the bearing
strength, the whole village of boys takes
to the river Besides running ''TOmmy"
over the dangerous spots, leaping the air.
holes, playing hocky by day and prison
er's base on moonlight nights, there is
the little known but rarely delightful
pastime of understanding. This lat
ter is particularly popular among the
SkateleSS lads.
1t is only possible during new freeze;
that is, when the stream is covered with
clear fresh ice. Soon after the first cold
night or two you will see in many vii
lage little groups trudging creekward
armed with short heavy-headed clubs and
an axe, or Ratchet: To the inquiring
green" on the subject they yell back,
"Goin' a-stunnin' suckersp'
Selecting a stretch of water not over a
foot deep they separate and move
stealthily over the ice. The half-inch
rubber ice bends under their feet and
loud-prolonged "boom!' Under it they
can see the bottom as clearly as from
a skiff in summer. The slow-swirling
dead leaves drift over the pebbles and
muddy bars. Now and again a water
soaked branch crawls past. Ha! One
boy bends forward eagerly and raises
his weapon. He sees lying slantwise
of the current a doing old sucker, a big
one. Hardly a movement of fin is per-
ceptible, yet the fish is keeping his white
nose pointing upstream.
Whack! Down comes the club directly
over the sluggard and the fractured ice
forms a glistening star where the blow
fell. Water oozeS up from tiny hole
in the center of the star and through
the cracked ice one may see the now
unconscious sucker floating with snowy
belly uppermOst. A cry of triumph
brings the boy with the axe. A hole is
speedily cut, little downstream from
the fish, so as to allow for the speed of
the current, and the stiffened fish is
ScOOped out.
Usually he is a ''buster,' for the stun
ners do not bother with the small fry
By the time the axeman has captured
the first fish usually another is waiting
to be chopped out, and for two or three
hours it is merry sport. 1t takes consid
cradle skill, too, to stun the fish, for
very violent stroke may smash the ice
without even affecting the fish. If the
aXeman is slow the sucker, after drifting
few moments will revive and swim lazi-
ly away. 1t is not uncommon for a par
ty of four or five to bring home from
thirty to sixty suckers as an afternoons
work. These, in the small streams,
will average a pound or pound and
half apiece. In such rivers as the
Housatonic and Naugatuck, however,
some suckers weighing five and six
pounds are stunned every fair day, and
the average weight is not under two
and half pounds. York World
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Some Parkhurst Epigrams.

Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, in his
initial paper for young men for the La
dies Home Journal, gives brilliant en-
phasis to his text. ''The Stuff that Makes
ployment of forcible epigrams. He con-
siders a proper getting ready as the
greatest value in preparing Tor life's
work, and upon this point flashes his
strongest, brightest lights in brilliant IA
dinace.
Putting buttercup to school will not
graduate it butterfly even if it is Il
very good school. It's only wholesome
ambition will be to be as good as it can
as q buttercup.
I have watched a good many brooding
hens, but / never saw one facilitate
the Matching process by pecking the
she'll The chick on the inside will get
out if he is worth it.
More men are injured by having things
made easy for them than by having
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Sronned the Solo.

George Ford, the well-known basso,
sings in the choir of st. Stephens
church. Mr.. Ford, although one would
never suspect it from his appearance, is
a grandfather, and last Sunday his little
grandson attended church for the first
time. The little chap, who is only four
years DID, was naturally very much in-
pressed with the strange surroundings,
and it was with difficulty that he could
be restrained from making known his
impressions in a shrill, childish treble.
Mr. Ford was down for a solo, and, after
Organist Wood had played the prelude
the singer arose in the choir loft. The
first time and, jumping up with grin
of recognition on his face, he shouted at
the top of his lungs: Hello, grandpopw
The congregation Uttered Mr.. Ford
grew very red, and the solo was post
poned.- Philadelphi Record
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Why Arc Lights Hiss.

Prof. Sylvanus Thompson has been
answering a question which has often
puzzled the public The arc light pro-
ceeds from the points of two little carr
bon rods as large as ones little finger.
Prof. Thompson explains what is the
state of the carbon when the lamp is
throwing out it's light. He says that
the carbon is sometimes actually melt
ing a thing that was until recently
thought impossible.
Moreover, he says that when the light
is kissing the liquid carbon is really boil
ing. In ordinary combustion the state
of the arc crater is such that the solid
carbon below is covered with a layer or
film of liquid carbon just boiling or evap-
Grating off. When kissing takes place
the new state of things is set up.
He says: eff you watch a short, hiss
ing arc, you will see a column of light
concentrating itself on a narrow spot,
and the spot keeps moving about and is
very unstable in position, as we'll as in
the amount of light it gives out. The
crater surface after the arc has been
kissing is found to be literally honey
combed.
''When the arc is Kissing you can see
little bits erupted out, and the kissing
seems to be compare BILE to the kissing
which takes place IN boiling water.
There is, in fact, exactly the same kind
of difference between the silent arc and
the kissing arc as between quiet evapora-
ton and noisy boiling. '-Pittsburg
Dispatch.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
yvet1e's sharp Reply.

Yvettet Guilbert has a sharp tongue
of her own When Mines. Nordica and
N1eIba and Pol Ploncon refused to sing
at the French charity concert in New
York because her name was on the pro-
gramme. Mile Guilbert said, among
other things: 'There is only one Of
ing with me, and l respect her for it
deeply. l mean Nine. Melba. Although
l have risen from the people myself,
1 am a strong believer in caste 1t
would not be proper for a woman who
belonged to the House of Orleans to sing
with me- Mile. Yvette will be glad to
learn that, as we stated IN our last is
sue, the young Due dOrleans is tired
of acting as correspondent in the English
divorce courts. San Francisco Argo-
nAnf
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
A Black Diamond.

Henri Moisson recently exhibited at
the French Academy of Sciences a black
diamond as large as mans fist, which
is valued at about $4,000. 1t is said to
be the largest black diamond ever found,
working in private grounds. 1t weighed
5000 carats. or about twice as much as
the largest stone of the kind hitherto dis
covered. Within a short time after it's
discovery, about five months ago, it lost
nineteen grammes of it's weight, evidently
by the evaporation of water contained in
it. but this loss has now ceased. It's
bling that of the artificial black diamond
formed by the capitalization of carbon
in silver crucibleS
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10

bia. with a displacement of 1850 tons,
1891 horsepower and a speed of 22.S
knots, can be stopped in two minutes and
fifteen seconds, and within space of
2147 feet. The little flyer Gushing, also
of the United States navy, whose dis
placement is only 105 tons, and horse
power 1854, while it's speed is 22.48
knots, can be stopped within a distance
of 301 feet in 1874 seconds. In each
case the vessel is supposed to be going
at full speed and the stoppage is pro-
duced by reversing the action of the
propelling machinery.-Youth's Compan
ion
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
A Girls Peculiar Habits.

Mary Lyons, known to the park police
as the Squirrel Girl was again arrest
ed in Central park last evening. She
was suffering with the cold. The girl
for some time has been seen almost daily
in Central park at all hours of the day
and night. The park squirrels are on
terms of great friendship with her, and
hunt through her pockets for peanuts
been sent to the workhouse, and in the
Yorkville police court today she was
sent there again at her own request until
the cold weather is past.-New York
Evening Post.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Bare-Necked Skaters.

We are accustomed to see women bum
died UP in furs as they glide over the ice.
To witness woman's race in Holland
would give us a greater chill than to
meet a ghost at midnight. A foreign
correspondent, in mentioning contest
on skates. describes it as follows:
1T was showing slightly, but in every
available moment between the races
troops of men were told off to clear the
course. At a given signal six women
started for the first race. They were
dressed in very short skirts and trans
parent-looking blouses, low necked, with
no sleeyes at all. We were told they
were from among the lower peasant peo-
pie, and that the shop classes never en-
tered the lists at all. The speed they
went at was quite wonderful, and es-
pecially remarkable at the corners. For
the most part they raced with their arms
behind them. but the girl who won the
prize (E2) skated with hers folded in
front"
Bare arms and necks in midwinter!
Our physicians think women are court
ing death by wearing low-necked dresses
in bathrooms. What must it be to wear
them as outing costumes New York
Press
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
keeping Bears Out OF Cornfields.


In the district of Rachinsk, in the
Trans Causasus, bears are regarded as
the worst enemies of the maizefields, and
when the season for the maizecobs to
ripen comes around, the population take
all possible steps to protect the fruits
of their toll. In the evening, says our
consul at Batoum, the peasant, armed
with gun, kinjal, a stout oaken cudgel
or whatever other weapon he can secure,
takes all the dogs he possesses with him
and goes off to the field, where he sleep
lessly guards his maize during the whole
night, sometimes at the risk of his life.
He passes the night in firing off his gun
and continual shouting; while during the
day he is forced to work to the utmost
of his powers, seeing that it is just at
this period, j. e., when the maize is
ripening, that he has to thresh his
wheat. gather in his crop of beans. re-
pair his winnower, and make ready the
places for storing his maize. If bear
gets into a maizefeld in which he does
not expect to be disturbed during the
whole night, he first sets to work and
gorges himself. then feeling heavy he
begins to roll and sprawl on his back.
Having sprawled about a bit, the bear
begins to feel playful, and it is then
that the maize stalks suffer most severe
ly: tuclking his legs under him he rolls
head over heels from one end of the field
to the other, and in his course he natural
ly breaks and rolls down everything IN
his way, rendering the whole crop USE
less.-London Daily News.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Not Worth 1t.

Judge Walton, who presides over a
court at Washington, is a man Of grim
humor. One time, in the lobby, mem
Der of the bar was seeking to convey
the impression to a group, of whom
Judge Walton was the center, that his
income from his profession was very
large II have to earn a good deal"
the lawyer said; ''it seems a large
story to tell judge, but my personal
expenses are $4,000 a year. 1t costs me
that to live '"rhat is too much,
Brother s." said the judge; Il would
Mt pay it-it isn't worth itn'
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Domestic Trouble.

A colored witness in a Southern court
recentlv stated that he was unable to
testify as to certain occurrence, be
cause he had a domestic trouble just
about that time. ''What was that do
nestle trouble?'' asked the examining
attorney. 'Well. to tell the truth,
boss said the witness. II was in the
penitentiary for stealth cow
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Dogs Passion for Dolls.

The latest sensation in Birmingham is
the doll-snatching dog. The animal is
the property of lady who resides at
Small Heath, and some time ago one of
her little girls was very fond of inducing
the dog to carry her doll, and the ami
NAL acquired quite a passion for relley-
ing the child of her precious charge.
The dog would carry the doll about for
hours, and oftentimes take it to his ken
mel and lie down beside it for the great
er part of the day. He never harmed
the doll, always gripping it's clothes and
not defacing it in the slightest. Up to
certain point it's tendencies were product
i've of unauthorized fun, and so popular
did the dog become that the children of
the neighborhood frequently came to its
owners house with the query: please,
Mrs -. can your dog come and take
my doll for walk?''
But by degrees the animals healthy
affection for dolls developed into an alb
solute passion, and now a more unpopu-
lar Quadruped does not exist in the whole
suburb. Not content with carrying a
doll when requested to do so, the animal
commenced to prowl about the neighbor-
hood and forcibly deprive stray chill
dren of their treasured~pets. Whenever
and wherever he saw a. doll in q child's
arms he would stealthily. walk up to
her, seize the prize and run off with it
to his kennel. In single day he had
been known to bring four captives home
and the maternal Indignation of the
neighborhood is something terrible to
contemplate. If that dog does not mend
his ways shortly his career will be pre-
maturely ended.-St. James Gazette.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
GOSSIP FOR THE LADIES
of Love-.

To meet thee? Why, to meet thee is to
draw
Long inward breaths of something more
akin
To that great strength Of strengths my soul
would win
That l have known-to learn to love the
law
That governs loving. Faith! I never saw
Thy face but that l read therein
How much love thee, and it were sin
TO stifle love that has no feck nor flaw.
Love grows so like the flower in yonder
mead
hand
Planted and nourished with his sun and
rain.
need
OF present love, still here for thee doth
stand
Love in full blossom bred of joy and pain.
James Berry Bensel.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Blew the Horn.

At Hull. recently, a passenger steamer
was just leaving the wharf when an old
gentleman rushed up and shouted: 'Hold
on minute, Captain, there's party of
fifty coming aboard" The steamer
backed in again, and the old gentleman
walked on board and sat down. Five
minutes passed and the captain, who
thought he was sure of getting picnic
party, came across to him and asked
if the party would be much longer.
What party?' asked the old gentle
man.
''The marty of fifty you spoke about"
ooh, I'm the party-I'm so today"
Then the captain went and blew the
fog horn.-Weekly Telegraph.
Tacoma has a Schlatter. He is a
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
A Den for the Man of the House.

A man who is so successful in his bust
ness that he is enabled to maintain a
modern apartment in New York city,
and who, on coming home at night has
no room to claim particularly as his
own, is nothing but passenger in his
own establishment. The New York man
is Il nervous man. The wear and tear
Of a business day increase the tension
by the time he is ready to respond to the
attractive force of the magnet he calls
home, he is more of shackled brute
who. but for the force of his chains of
courtesy, would yield to devastating and
blOodthirsty impulses and wreak ven
gpance on all that came in his track.
He leaves the cares of business to shout
der other cares. His intentions may be
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Social Failures.

Many of them retire after a first de-
feat, never to appear again, carrying
with them a flavor of bitterness which
tinges much of their after life. Papas
and mammals, auntS and elder brothers,
consult together about the cause of the
difficulty and the remedy for relief.
Some blame the men. did you ever
know such Doors as they are?" one will
exclaim. 'Now, in my day." etc. The
elder brother calls the younger to ac
count. whats the matter with you
fellows? Don't you know it is mans
business to see that no woman is allowed
to feel neglected in society? When [
was young we felt it an obligation among
ourselves to be nice to every stupid girl,
and a man who danced the german with
her knew that every other man in the
room would help him by taking her out
as often as possible"
One mamma thinks they have not en-
tertained enough; that success in So
ciety is, after all, only question of
give and take. So invitations to dinners
and teas are issued, and artificial founda-
tions are as artistically laid, and the
daughter is launched again on the frothy
current flowing over it, her success to be
measured by still more artificial signs
Another mamma says her daughter is
not asked to dance because money now
adays rules everything, that of course
the girls with private fortunes will re-
ceive greater attention than those who
have none, forgetting while she speaks
those of the rich who are likewise neg,
lected.
Social success by them all is made the
final test by which the training of years
is measured. Only after great and griev-
Gus disappointments are the energies
turned into new directions. and other
foundations laid for other kinds of hap
70 how al, oil Of
these things for ourselves, recognized the
folly of it VIE seeing. too. the working
of law we cannot blindly condemn
Harper's Bazaar.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
NATIVE PUMlCE.
Immense Deposits in Nebraska and Utah
Being Utilized.

Recent discoveries of apparently in
exhaustible deposits of pumice stone in
Western Nebraska have brought the
United States into successful competi-
ton with the only other pumice pro-
ducing mine in the world. The island
of Lipard consisting chiefly of ex-
tinct volcanoes, off the coast of Sicily
and forming a part of the kingdom of
Italy, has hitherto been the only source
from which this valuable mineral has
been obtained. The difficulty of min
ing, manufacturing and shipping from
that region together with the export
duty levied by the Italian government
has greatly curtailed it's use.
In Nebraska the deposits cover about
400 acres divided into seven different
localities within a small radius, each
having a separate deposit of powdered
pumic or volcanic dust, the greater
portion of which is exposed and easily
worked. 1.-THE estimated amount of ma
terial in sight, said Frank A. Druehl
enoromus. 1t is claimed that there are
100000 tons in one deposit alone, which.
based on a market price of $50 per ton,
reaches the enormous sum of S16,00O,-
600. The pumice in that locality is in
pulverized condition and after careful
be of very high grade, and, being
entirely free from any gritty or crys-
talized substances, its preparation for
the market is very small item of cost"
Referring to the deposit in Utah, Mr..
Druehl describes it as one huge mount
ain of lump pumice covering about
100 acres. The stone found here is en-
tirely free from crystals or hard sub
stances, is easily obtained and can be
Quarried. one portion being an i'm
mense deposit ranging from the size
Of an egg to enormous boulders, the
whole in easy access, while cars can be
loaded from the mountain side.
The properties are owned by Chicago
men, who have capitalized them at $780,
600, and who have erected series of six
buildings with which to handle the prod
uct Of the mines. Eight different grades
of powdered puinice are produced. The
plant is perfect one and arrangements
having been made with responsible
Pennsylvania firm to take the entire
output of the factory, the capacity Of
which is twenty tons a day, the steady
operation Of the mines is assure.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10

the best in the world, naturally, but the
abnormal condition superlnduced by
OverWrought nerves changes his nature.
| like the word den as a name for the
place to which he may repair and grad
ually loosen the nerve tension and re-
move the chains with which he has
bound himself, fguratively, in order that
he may be a criminal in thought only
Every man has a right in his own
home to one room that is exclusively his
own. He is entitled to have door to
the room; to couch on which he may
indulge in q nap when nature suggests
it; to a desk in which he may file away
his rent receipts; where he may even
lay those receipts carefully on a chair
and find them there when he looks for
them later; where he may hang his hat
on the bric-a-brac if he wishes to; where
he may smoke the draperies and fiji the
atmosphere with the smoke and have no
one to comment upon it; where he may
read late at night and sleep in his chair
for hours and have no one to prompt
him or object; where he may go at times
when he loses his temper and wishes to
exhaust his vocabulary of profanity.
Den is such a good name for a retreat
of this sort. 1t is the cocoon room in
which the metamorphosis from the brute
to the man takes place; wherein Mr..
Hyde becomes DR.. Jekyll. In the mod
ern apartment the various rooms belong
to various persons. The kitchen be-
longs to the cook; likewise the dining
room; the parlor belongs to the public;
the library to the wife, and likewise the
boudoir. A man so situated tells me he
hasn't foot of space to call his own.
This chapter was suggested by him.
In conclusion, every wife might WOO the
god of happiness quite successfully if
she would set aside one roOm-the most
quiet room in the house, if possible-and
arrange it to suit the taste and con-
venience of the nerve-weary bread Win
ner of the family.-Haryot Holt Cahoon,
New York Recorder.
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10
Stopping a Ship.


The motion of steamship on the At
lantic when the sea is calm, is so smooth
and steady that the passenger hardly
realizes the tremendous momentum of
the vessel under his feet. After the en-
gines have been slowed down there is a
startling revelation of the energy of mo-
ton. This energy can also be accurately
calculated with the aid of mathematical
formulas, and the time and distance
within which the motion can be totally
arrested, and the ship be brought to a
stand. may be ascertained in similar
manner This calculation has recently
been made for several well-known ships,
To stop the Etruria, whose Misplace
ment" is $3.50 tons, horsepower 1892,
and speed 2O.18 knots an hour, two
minutes and forty-seven seconds are re-
ouired. and during the progress of stop
ping. the ship will forge ahead 2464 feet,
which is only 176 feet less than half
mile. The United States cruiser Column
Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-02-10

Tacoma has a Schlatter. He is a
priest of the Puyallup Indian tribe and
is said to perform marvellous cures.