davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1896-05-21

ated charge toward the figure darkly
outlined against the hedge of silver
green pea-vines, uttering q savage
below as he rushed past, and Mrs.
Packenham hurried, screaming, down
the hill.
"Abram! Mr.. Sweetlandsl Cap'n
Gilliloe! % she shouted. "Help !help |!
Oh, why don't somebody Gomez Far
mer Ponds Bowse has knocked poor
Betsey Briggs down into the pea-vine
and Is a-gorin' her awful! Help !help |!
help! She'll be killed as sure as the
world! Help! help!"
Just as she burst into the door at
the end of the kitchen, the opposite
one opened, and in walked-Betsey
Briggs herself, cool, calm and COM
posed, with veil folded neatly over
her dove-colored silk hat, and trav-
cling bag in her hand.
Mrs. Packenham sat down and be-
gan to laugh and cry hysterically
Mrs. Sweetlands opened his pale blue
eyes like watery moons; the squire
stared; Captain Gilliloe held out his
two brown hands and waved q fore
castle welcome.
Miss Betsey looked around in gentle
astonishment.
"Dear mel" said she. "What is
the matter? What is everybody look
ing at me SO for? How dye do,
cousin Giles? Why don't you go on
to the house? I thought you was
comm to make me visit! -
ell don't make out this here
reckonin' at all, p" said captain Gilliloe,
scratching his puzzled head. "Some-
how, the wrong signals have been
swung out But it's all right now
aye, aye, it's all right nowl The fig
ure-head of the Betsey Briggs can't be
mistook. +"
"I've just been up to Albany" ex-
planned Miss Betsey, 'to order new
parlor carpet. 1 went up yesterday,
and come down on the evening train ;
and"
"But, Betsey," cried Mrs. Packen-
ham, clutching spasmodically at her
friends arm, 'who is that in yo ur
back garden-gathering peas, you
know? For as true as you live and
breathe, farmer Ponds Bowse has
trampled her to death by this time. "
"Thatl" said Miss Betsey. ''Oh,
that's my wire dummy, as L had when
I worked at the dressmakin' trade! I
just dressed it up in some of my old
clothes, as a kind of like, to
keep the pigeons fro m stealing the
green peas. right out of my pods.
They're the sauciest creeturs in all
the world. Why, you didn't never
take it for live person did you?"
And everybody laughed the more
heartily as their folly became appar-
ent to them.
"I declare to goodness was clean
out of my latitude and longitude, u
said the sea captain with q chuckle.
Appearances are deceitful," said
mild Mr.. Sweetlands, rubbing his
hands.
II won't believe my own eyes
ag'in!" shouted the squire.
And then they all three went to
drive the belligerent bull out of Miss
Briggs vegetable garden, and to patch
up the defective pickets in the fence,
and Miss Betsey herself sat down to
drink a comfortable cup of tea with
Mrs. Packenham.
''For I'm sure I need one after all
I've been through" said the squire s
wife.
"Well / declare" said sympathetic
Miss Betsey, sit must ha' been trial.
won't never put that dummy out
ag'in. Saturday Night.
Derailed by Buzzard.
The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1896-05-21

The Columbia river of Canada ii,
l, 400 miles in length; the stream o.
the same name in Oregon :, COZ
miles.
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19
By JOHN H. BEADLE.

The accompanying illustra-
lions are from New York
newspapers of recent date.
They are published to show
the popular idea of the per-
sonality of the American far
mer in the gold stronghold of
the country.
will invite your attention to two
pictures.
Twenty five years ago the American
farmer was a king. Poets sang about
him. Orators praised him.
Edward Everett held up an ear of gold.
sn corn before his audience and eulogized
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

AN ardor OF pa
triotisn which
o IN e writers
have thought i'm
possible in men
reared in cities.
Naturally, there
fore. the north
ern farmers stood
by their govern
ment in the great
civil war. The
Republican party
was in power and
acquired an i'm
mense prestige
by the successful
issue of the con-
hict. Naturally
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

the grower in
, s u C h eloquent
wordsthatstorms
of applause shook
the hall. We
loved to read and
quote the old STIR
ring lines telling
how "the en-
battled farmers
stood" at Lex
ington and Con-
cord, and it was
u Ii i v G r la H.
agreed that they
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1e. 1896

Ills very virtues have been made thu
mems OF his degradation. The farmers.
and especially the men who till their
own acres, are our great conservative
class They dread revolution. They
love their country with an impassioned
ardor born of close contact with the soil
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19


has yielded exactly the same result.
The fluctuations since the principal ma
lions adopted the gold standard have
exceeded all previously known. But
here is simple test which the farmer
can easily apply for himself:
Take the average of prices in your
neighborhood for the five years ending
in 1875 lit is not fair to take one year,
and the average gold or greenback value
of ten ounce bar of silver at that
time. Divide and see what that silver
would have bought Do the same for
the five years ending with 1895, and you
will find that the silver will buy more.
Is it not arrogant and insulting nom
sense to say that silver has deprecated
when it will buy more of the products
of your labor? Here is a table to help
you in the calculation:
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

contrary. EN-
pires Of land and
hundreds of mil
lions of money
were given to
gre 1t corpora
tions. Credit Mo-
bilier, the Indian
ring, the whisky
ring, the star
route ring and
scores of others
followed in rapid
succession, but
though the farm
ers m urn ured
they did not re-
volt. They over.
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19


haps in one or
two where the
process has been
going on for
l, 600 years, but
in no country,
ancient or mod
ern, has the proc
ess been so rapid
as in this. In
1860 there were
alleged to be in
this nation a doz-
en- nillionaires.
Today there are
at least 8, 900 and
probably many
more. On this
point we have
u IL i m p eachable
testimony and
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

losses American
farmers have
sustained because
Of the increased
! purchasingpower
aof gold, look over
the files of the
gold papers be-
fore this became
l.x.a
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

cannot be explained by that handy
phrase 'overproduction.
Has there been any overproduction of
fat hogs? Every farmer knows that there
is just now great scarcity. almost a
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

1851. for instance, $685.
$50, 090 bushels were val
ued at $456, $50, 427. and
in 1895, 467. 1902, 947 bush
els at $237. 93s, 99s. And
yet the world has not as
much wheat as it wants.
and not much more than
half as much as it would
buy if it had the where
with. There is evidently
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

crops, the coun-
try rings with
frantic cries of
rage and denun-
citation. The
farmer has SUBJ
lnitted too long.
He has lost the
respect of those
who have robbed
him, and it is
,,,nal, tAho fnaral
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

yer is by natural
law far more sta
BILE in value than
gold has been
proved from ge-
ology, from min
eralogy, from
metallurgy and
still more by
comparing the
fluctuations Of
prices in differ
ent C oun tries
having the diff
ferent standards
or in the same
country at differ
ent times. Every
ono IF tbaSa tacts
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

nearly 100. 900, 900 people cannot afford
TO eat wheat bread. They are using
cheap substitutes like rye and potatoes.
Are we to suppose that they do that for
fun?
Enormous Losses to Agriculture.
If you want to realize what enor@cas
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

again. therefore, the great majority Of
farmers credited all good things to that
party. They could not believe that the
party of Lincoln and Sumner and other
friends of humanity would do aught of
injustice.
The Robbery.
The war tariff was prolonged in time
of peace despite solemn promises to the
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

Price Prices Of Price of Price of
The Concentration of Wealth.

The Concentration of Wealth.
MANY cite the concentration Of
wealth in q few hands as one cause of the
farmer s poverty, but is not that worse in
other countries with different syste1ns?"
There is no country of high civlliza-
ton in which it is SO bad. excent ner-
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19
THE FARMER.
As He Was and
as He Is.
HOW He IS ROBBED.
Stupendous Decline in
Farm Products.
A PERNICIOUs FINANCIAL POLICY.

Evils Of Contraction-The Concentration
Of Wealth-Rise and Fall Of Goid-The
Eject of the Free Coinage of Silver.
What Gold Accommodation Stands For.
offered by the Ballot.
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

looked the fact that parties are com
posed of men and therefore subject to
change. They were slow to believe that
tie grand old party could contain
schemers.
On top of all the rest comes finan-
cial system which has added 80 per cent
to the value of money and deprecated
the price of the farmers products in
like proportion. and at the least signs of
a revolt on his part he is denounced as
a traitor. 1t is assumed as q matter of
course that Wall street
should strive for rise in @ME
stocks, that manufacturers SSAs 49,
should lobby for higher L1F-Ti5
tariff, that the Pacific CALF
Railway compani,s should *
evade payment of their
debt. All other men can Judge.
vote and lobby to raise the price of what
they own and he good Christians. but
at the bare hint that the farmer
is to vote for restoring silver to
get little better price for his
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

manufacturers
''And how were the rest made?''
The enormous land grants and subsi-
dies to railroads made few dozens like
Stanford, Crocker and Huntington. The
sudden growth of western cities due to
the dollhouse system of forcing develop
ment made few hundreds Dozens like
Jay Gould and his fellows were made
by the system of railroad wrecking.
Many were made by speculation in gold
and government bonds, by the national
banking system and many other schemes
fostered by government A few-very
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

United States by
TIL e Tribune's
agents. The lists
were published
weekly in The
Tribune for cor
rection and then
compiled in a
pamphlet. The
number exceeded
1000 and was
soon proved to
be entirely too
small. Mr.. Horr
ded in
proving to h i s
own satisfaction
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

tim of all the stale old practical jokes.
"Hayseed" and "Wayback" and "Jay'
are his regular titles, even among Guilt
waited people, and in the slums farmer"
is one of the vile epithets which provoke
fight He figures in the illustrated
comics US a half savage. Look at the
pictures of the typical farmer in the
New York papers and see something
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

the farmer COM
plain that prices
go down as the
size of the crop
goes up? And
how can you
prove that elevat-
ing the condition
of the farmer
will elevate that
Of other labor
ers?"
1t is impossible
to raise the agri-
cultural class of
any gu Ii t ry
without raising
all the other
classes who de-
pend on labor for
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

that in great part he has lost his own
self respect. His poverty has become
is reproach.
The Affection of Abundance.
But there has been so great an in
crease i'll production. Now, why should
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

the loss of the farmer. Wheat is supposed
to be an exception because our rivals 10
other countries are producing 80 much,
and yet the figures are significant. In
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

with their own land. Their N. Y. World
names were coupled in the popular lore
with the names of their estates. 1t was
Washington of Mount Vernon, Jeffer-
son Of Monticello, Clay of Ashland.
Webster of Marshfield and jackson of
The Hermitage.
Where is that farmer now?
The Vilihcation.
He is the eibe and the sneer of every
clown who can get on the city stage in
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

spotted Dreeches.
He is the butt of
vile jokes in the
city saloons. He
shares with the
mule and the
mother in law,
t h g plantation
darky, the rusty
stovepipe and the
tramp as the
stockmaterial for
cheap paragraph
ers. He is brought
on the stage of
every low theater
IL A1
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

from an unwilling witness. Early in
1892 Hon. Roswell G. Horn, tariff edi-
tor Of the New York Tribune, started
out to prove that protection did not Gre
ate lnillionaires
Under his direction a very careful
census was taken in every part of the
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

breadstuffs than
they can eat and
more cotton than
they can wear
and more pork
and beef than
they want or
more shoes than
they need? Why,
the largest wheat
crop ever raised
only amounted to
three bushels per
capita for the
people of the
civilized world,
and definctino
seed and that
made into whis-
ky, little over
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

were the salvation of the land. They
were the hardy yeomanry, the free and
independent workers. and even such for
eign visitors as De TocquevilIe went
out of their way to describe the happy
condition of the landowning farmer m
this country
Washington gloried in being farm
er. Our greatest statesmen passed their
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

N. Z FFeBB.
like this: A long, lean, lank monstrosity,
with bones showing horribly prominent
through his clothes, face like point
ed Gothic front, nose that describes an
irregular arc from the lowest point be-
tween the eyes down over the mouth, and
On his chin what is supposed to be
whisker, but looks like wisp of weather
beaten hay.
This is the farmer of today as the
people of the cities are taught to con-
sider him.
And why this change? 1t is because
De has been systematically robbed for 80
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

lawyer, has conclusively shown that
some 30, 600 men own or absolutely con-
troll one-half the property Of the United
States; that 100, 900 men own half the
remainder, and that the great mass Of
laboring producers actually own very
little if any more than they did in
1850. The results are siFrply awful.
Ten men in New York CRY today hold
the credit of the United States abso-
lutely at their mercy. If it were to
their interest they could tomorrow
sweep away the gold basis and precipi-
tate panic in Wall street. But the
former is .o,a ,hat I'll this is none Of his
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

vacations ON their own
farms, among their horses
and cattle. They delighted
in rural pleasure, they
worked and personally d.
rected their employees,
and from a season of this
kind of life and close con-
tact with the people they
came back to Washington
wonderfully freshened by
having lived close to the
heart of nature. more
American and more DEM
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

few, It must be adj
mitted-were hon.
estly made by legit-
innate enterprises in
which the govern
ment was not a
partner, and many
by the advance in
real estate in our
great cities. Many
others have carried
the investigation
much farther.
Thomas G. Shear
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

49, AAA4AS
between this and
the elections"
Not at all. In
its present shape
indeed it is sin
gularly simple.
1t can be reduced
to two or three
plain questions,
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

Fuck. pollClcdl Issue,
before they had any interest in deny
ing the truth. In the New York Sun
of Sept. TO- 1898, for instance, was an
editorial Of which this is an extract:
For nlora than Is years. 1878 to 1893, all the
great primary agricultural staples have been
declining in price, although there have been
periods when the price of some one was high
for a limit time. This is more notably true
as respects secondary products, especially
meats and lard. but the trend of the whole
scale has been constantly downward, and the
general price level ut the end of each year
was lower than ut its beginning. In the mean
time there had been no material reduction in
the cost Of production, the self hinder, the
gang blow, newer hay tedder and hay loader
hnd I'LL other great improvements in agricul-
tural machinery having come into use prior to
1875. Subsequent notifications and improve
ments have been in the direction Of greater
facility in operation rather than of lessened
cost. While It is true that there has been
materinl reduction in the cost Of farming i'm
plements. such reduction has not always re-
suited in lesseniag the cost of production or
the farm, as new machines have often dis
placed those which were but partially worn
md which were quite efficient.
1t is probable that upon farms large enough
to warrant the purchase of full lines Of inn
proved machinery the cost of production has
thereby been lessened 10 per cent but such
farms constituting less than per cent of the
whole AREA under cultivation the aggregate
saving from such economies has been slight
and has probably been fully offset by the
progressively increasing use of commercial
fertilizers which has been found necessary in
all the region east OF the Mississippi. not to
increase the fertility Of the land, but simply
to prevent further deterioration.
The Yield OF an Acre.
While the cost of production cannot have
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

ports for 20 years
and deduct that
used for export
and seed from
the crop of each
year and that fed
to stock in late
years you will
find that 20, 200,
900 people are
eating only about
the same amount
of wheat flour
that $4,000, 600
people did. In
Europe also it has
been shown that
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

But as martcr of fact is there any
oyerprodGcnon? Have mankind more
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

two bushels per capita was left for
breal 1t has been repeatedly shown
that the worlds cotton crop is still
5000. 900 bales short of the worlds
tonsumDtive demand Onr own agricul-
turaI department has shown that the
American people are eating consider
ably less wheat per capita than they did
a few years ago, and if you will take
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

perhaps to one, and that is, Has silver
deprecated or gold appreciated since
1878? On their answer, to that depend
the votes of million honest farmers.
Monometallists say gold has stood still
while all other things have cheapened.
We say that silver has stood almost un-
changed while gold has advanced enor-
mously in value, and. what is more, we
prove it by every line of reasoning which
can be applied to the subject. That sill
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-19

Remember the At 70
the public extended
We of
We shall
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-04-04
LITERARY BRIEFS.

Mr.. Crocketts new novel, Cleg
Kelly, Arab OF the City: his Progress
and Adventures, is said to open rev
ground, and to be the most effective of
his books in incident and humor. It is
to be published Immediately by D.
Appleton & Co., with several illustra-
tons.
R. FL. Woodward Company, Balti-
more, Nd, announce new book, "Story
OF Turkey and Armenia This book
will contain a full and graphic account
Of the recent Armenian massacres,
which have aroused the civilized world.
Richard Harding Daviss new book,
Three Gringos in Venezuela and Cen
trial America contains sixty seven illus
tresions, and map showing the route Of
the "Three Gringoes' from Belize, in
British Honduras. via Corinto and Pan
anna. to Caracas, Venezuela.
The success of Stonepaetures, the
story by Eleanor Stuart, new Ameri-
can writer, recently published by ID. Ap.
pleton & Co., is taken as text by a
recent writer who holds it up to those
who complain thet the freshness and
promise Of recent literature come from
English writer's, and adds: "Here is q
home grown novelette,, concise, vivid
and vigorous"
-Messrs. Harper and Brothers will
publish in the immediate future: The
Apotheosis of Mr.. Tyrawley, novel by
E. Livingston Prescott; In Search of
Quiet: Country Journal, May July, by
Walter Firth; James Inwick, Plough
man and Elder. novel. by p Hay
Hunter; The Critical Handbook of the
Greek New TESTAMENT NNew Edition),
by Edward G.. Mitchell. DID,. President
of Leland University, New Orleans; The
Woodlanders (New Edition), by Thomas
Hardy; and Venezuela Land Where
it's Always Summer. by William Elsroy
Curtis.
Prof. j. B, McMaster's new book,
which includes review of the Monroe
Doctrine, the Third Term in history,
and other themes of special interest, is
to have as its general title, with the
Fathers"
The present interest in the Trans.
vaal has called attention again to the
admirable account of life among the
Beers. and Of Johannesburg, which is
furnished in Mr.. Frank Vincent's
Actual Africa. A portrait of President
Kruger is among the illustrations.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-04-04

ses Of our Lord are not disjointed dis
connected statements of truth, but
continuous, logical utterances, whose
continuity of thought cannot be brok-
en- without damage to the meaning.
Thus it is that the 10th verse of Mat
thew, XIV, is made to declars for a
judgment in the great hereafter when
the righteous shall be sent to ever
lasting life but the wicked to everlast-
ing punishment. The fact is un-
known, or lost sight of, that Christ
begins this discourse back at the OPP
ening of the xxivth chapter, and con-
tinues it upon the same general
theme without break, to the end of
the xxvth. When Christ speaks of
the send of the age" (not world" as
the translators have rendered it) in
the 18th verse of the xxivth chapter.
he is speaking of the same time to
which he refers when he speaks of
the coming of the Son of Man in his
glory" in Matt. XIV: 81. Yet in the
previous chapter, in the very heart of
the discourse, Matt. xiv: "a, he says:
"This generation shall not pass away
till all these things have come to
pass" And we know that that gen
GRAFTON did not pass away until Jeru-
salem had been destroyed, the unbe
lieving Jews scattered abroad and the
Christian Church established in pow
er and glory.
To get these facts eRectually before
the people, that they may see the true
beauty of the Scriptures, and under
stand how wonderful and ample is
Gods plan, is the work before us.
The old teachings pervert the real
beauty of the Bible and keep men
away from the knowledge ofits price
less promises which should put a
song into every human heart and
smile of love upon every human face.
-Rsv:. b.. j. Felt.