davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
WOMEN AND THE BICYCLE.

discussion has been started as to
the influence of bicycle-riding on the
physical and the moral health of wo-
men. So far as we have observed
these who oppose the pra"+lce as dele
FERROUS do not seem to knrw anything
about it eXperimentally. They are
not themselves bicycle riders. Their
opposition to the exercise is theoret-
zeal purely, or is due to the effect they
imagine it has upon those who engage
in it. We have seen no notable meol-
cal opinion which sustains their as
sumption as to its necessarily injuri-
Gus physical consequences, and un
questionably there is no general agree
ment among physicians that it is
hurtful to women especially.
If bicycle-riding producer the immo1
ality which a few sensational writers
attribute to it's use, the evidence 9y
this time would have become indisl u
table and overwhelming. In many a
rural community the great majority
Of the young women are vince, ers, a I'd
in all the large cities there are many
thousands of the daughters of the most
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
NEW STYLES IN PETTICOATS.

The Letticoat of lawn, cambria or
batiste, which for a while has been
rather under a cloud, has come back
to fashionable favor, and hat this
should be carefully chosen to harmon
ize with all else that is worn is proof
of the growing thought and taste of
modern dress. Some very well dressed
women, however, never Wear anything
but a white petticoat of very fine fab
ric, fearing the effect that the greater
thickness of a satin or glace taffetas
might have upon the close fit below the
waist of the present fashionable skirt.
The petticoat of white or colored cot
ton is best suited to wear under light
dresses. with frills or fiOunces around
the bottom.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME.

Hello, Johnbr6wn! How
do you prosper now that your family is
away for the summer? Pretty lonesome
and unsettled, eh?"
Johnbrown-"Not bit of it; getting
along finely"
That's queer; should suppose that
you would feel the loss of your accus-
toned surroundings.
so [ would, my boy, if [ hadn't
dropped into just the boarding house
did. You see, the landlady is a particu-
lar body and she calls me down every
time miss my meals and stay out late
Then the young woman in the room
across the hall has a spunky pair of
twins who do their yelling between 9
and II every night, so that I can go 10
sleep with the usual accompaniment
Talk about all the comforts of homer
l wouldn't leave that boarding house
to go to the best hotel in town as the
guest of the proprietor Buffalo Ex-
press.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

respectable families who indulge reg
ularly in the amusement Great num-
bers of matrons also are bicycle-riders-
This summer there are twice, proba-
bly, many times, as many feminine
wheelerS as there were last year
Wheeling has become a fashionable
feminine practice, and hence the oppor-
tunity is at hand for obtaining mass
of evidence as to its moral and physical
consequences upon which to generalize
with certainty. If the evils charge,
as almost inseparable from it really "
listed, they would appear beyond the
possibility of concealment. They
would be shown Enthusiastically in mary
thousands of households to the watch
full eyes Of physicians and the anxious
scrutiny of parents Who has seen
them? Where have the deleterious
consequences been made apparent:
Could they be all about us Without ex-
citing the restraining Influence aud
positive prohibition of priests and
clergymen? How is it that there are
so many clerical wheelers If the eXer-
else is demoralizing?
! 1t is enough to ask the Sc questions
to show how evil are the minds if not
the deliberate intentions of those VINO
raise the cry against the use of the
bicycle. 1t is not new device to cater
to vicious tastes by pretending to dis
cover depravity. That is an old trick,
/ and its revival under the guise OF
pointing out a danger is az insult to
bicycle riders. The charge against the
practice by women riders that it fosters
immodesty is attributable to the de-
praYity or the narrOwness Of the MINIS
of those who make it. SO far from
being immodest, the special bicycle
! costumes of which the so general use,
of the wheel by women has caused the
fashion are both modest and suitable.
! They are also becoming. Moreover,
they are tending to change of the
outdoor dress Of women which is al
together desirable. The bicycle is pro-
ducing a dress reform demanded Oy
good sense which otherwise would
have been long delayed. Women are
| learning the convenience of shortened
skirts for wear outdoors and in busI-
Hess CupdIlOuS. lucy oI SSLJ1llS az
customed to them, and the novelty
which once attracted unwelcOme at
tention to such a costume has passed
away. Women have discovered, too.
that the dress can be made very be-
coming, more especially to young and
graceful figures. Pretty girls in pretty
bicycle costumes are wonderfully pref
ty to look upon as they stand by their
wheels or walk about in the intervals
of rest from riding. Neither is there
anything in their appearance which IN
dictates that they are suffering from the
physical ills attributed to the use OF
the bicycle by writer's at a loss for
something to say that will attract at
tention They look strong, hearty
+ and vigorous, &nd seem g. the better
for the exercise. They have acquired
a new freedom of movement which is
graceful in it's naturalness.
Nothing in recent times has done
more for the desirable advancement of
women than the bicycle. New York
Sun.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

nevertheless, it is known that he keep
game for?" asked the patron, when his
eye had been wiped out.
Worst crank in town. was the
CHEEKY response.
Then what makes him leave just at
the most exciting mOment?"
Thinks he's a hoodoo He actually
believes the boys can't get out of tight
place while he's on the grounds. Actu-
ally crazy on the subject. After he gets
outside he walks up and down and
waves his arms and swears until he can
find out what the result is
us he crazy?"
mot on anything else. He runs the
livery stable round the corner, makes
good money and is one of the quietest
and calmest men you ever saw except
at a base ball game. Yesterday when
the score was tied he let a shrek out
of him that scared everybody in the
grandstand and flew downstairs like a
dog with can on his tail. Then he
stood outside for half an hour and gave
five kids money to get in with so that
they could come back to the door and
! tell him how the game was going. He
wouldn't have gone away for 500 and
he wouldn't have gone back inside for
twice as much. ''-Detroit News.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

lives are spent amid social gayeties He
a large piece of property at the corner
of the Avenue du Bots de Boulogne
and the Avenue de Malakoff This
property is in the center of the most
fashionable part of Paris and cost a
prodigious sum.
When the purchase was made it
leaked out that it was the intention of
Castellane to keep on purchasing
property along the Bots de Boulogne as
far as st. Cloud, and even as far as
Versailles, for the purpose of reproduce
ing the Grand Trianon and petit Tri-
anon palaces, with their surrounding
garden and buildings, making the
whole seem as the original did in the
days of Nine. de Pompadour, of Marie
Antoinette and Of Napoleon.
TO carry out this plan would cost
millions upon millions. Moreover, it
would take at least a quarter of a CEN
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
GOVERNMENT KITTENS.

There are three hundred cats in the
employ of the United States govern
ment. They are al accredited to the
post-office department, and the only
salaries they draw are food and shelter.
and this is carried by the postmasters
of the big offices as an entry upon their
expense accounts. The reports show
that the average cost per head is about
S. per month"; pretty sum for these
aristocrats who feed sumptuously at
the public crib.
This branch of the service was estab~
lished about twenty-five years ago, AMI
is maintained that the mail bags and
postal matter may be saved from the
ravages of rats. 1t was an absolute ne
cessity, as it was found that in single
night an industrious colony of she ro-
dents would eat through an entire stack
of bags and ransack many thousand
letters in search of food. The cat de-
partment was introduced to meet this
emergency
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

on buying property in the direction
originally mapped out. 1t is estimated
that at least S1,5O0,00O of the Gould
wealth has already gone into this
scheme.
The entertainments which the Cas-
tellanes have given are of WORLDWIDE
fame. The last one, given in a skating
rink on the Bots de Boulogne, cost, it
is said, 100000. There were three
thousand invited guests, and while
they comprised every one in the fash
Ionable Partisan world, the result was
the same as with other affairs given by
the same host and hostess. Every one
agreed that it was the grandest affair
that Paris had seen for century, but
the next time they saw the count and
countess the latter were probably
snubbed.
Since the countess marriage the
stocks Of the Gould family have depre-
ciated Is per cent. This is a serious
thing where tens Of millions are con-
cerned Summed up the countess gave
$4,000, 900 to the count; she has tied up
81, 500, 900 in real estate of a non-in-
come earning kind; $1,0O0,0O0 has been
lost in stock and horse speculations,
and $1,000, 900 has faded away by the
deprecia lion in stocks. This brings the
total to 56,O0O00O. Of this, there is lit
tie to show but the real estate, and as
it was purchased at fancy prices, it
would not bring 20 per cent. of it's cost
if forced upon the market.
If things go on in this way it is easy
to foresee the time when one Of Jay
Gould's children will be short of funds.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
HE VOTED.

In Kentucky it is necessary for a
voter to pay poll tax OF 81 in order
to be allowed to vote. This necessi-
tates a campaign fund in both parties
in order to enfranchise such voters as
cannot pay the tax.
At Mount Sterling an old man came
in and the manager of the republican
campaign fund asked him if he had
voted
mo; hain't got my poll tax paid yet. -
was the reply. Two dollars was given
to him and he started for the collector. !;
office. On the way he met the demo-
cratic candidate
Voted yet?' inquired the politician.
NO; hatr't paid the poll tax"
The candidate produced 81 and the
! old man went, paid his poll tax, re-
| turned aud voted.
well, you voted right, did you?"
inquired the republican,
E'Yaas. l aIlus vote as my conscience
dictates. I never 'lCws no considera-
ton but duty ter influence me. | voted
as l allus does, the straight prohibition
ticket, ter do away with rum, an drive
| Their corrupt old parties ont of the
country. ''-Washington Star
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
CALLING FOR A DOCTOR.

Your story about calling for a doctor
in the circus said a retired Snowman
reminds me of the way we broke up a
nuisance in a goOd-slzed Pennsylvania
town. l was on the road with farce
comedy company ard we put in Two
weeks at the town in question, there be
ing a big military encampment theT
and a county fair to boot. We drew
good houses all through the engage
ment, and were booked for an early re
turn l don't think We had been there
more than one night when the doctor
nuisance began. There would come a
hurried messenger from the box office
to the stage manager with the request
that he ask if DR.. Bolus, or whateY 81
his name happened to be, was in the
house, and if he was to send him to the
box Office at once. Of course, the stage
manager couldn't very we'll refuse, and
general attention was directed to the
medical man, much to his satisfaction
We soon found out that the doctors
who were so much in demand were very
small medical fry, and there wasn't a
doubt that they had themselves called
for in order to secure the consequent
notoriety. Well. we stood it for a few
lights, and then an idea occurred to ne.
| took a walk up the main street until
| came to a certain sign hanging over
q stairway. I went up to the Office in
Gicated and had a brief conversation
with its inmate, ending it by handing
him reserved seat tickets.
THAT evening, Immediately after the
first act and before any messenger from
uhe box office had chance to arrive,
[ stepped out in front of the curtain
and held up my hand. Then in my
gravest tones I asked:
us DR.. ChizzioId in the house?'
Immediately a very tall colorad
man, with a bushy white head and
huge silver-mounted spectacles, arose
and said:
{" 'Heah | is, sab
THE audience Uttered, but kept my
gravity.
You are wanted at the box office at
once, doctor, in a case which requires
your immediate professional attention
LAS the aged darkey ducked to me
and hobbled from the room the audi
ence broke into a wild roar.
perhaps you will understand their
cause of their merriment when [ add
that the old man was corn doctor, and
probably the best known eccentric
character in. town.
"Well, there were 10 more doctors
called for from that stage during our
"-Cleveland Plain Deal
or
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

is graceful, amusing, and has Won
derful amount of ingenuity Of the KIND
which devises pretty costumes, dainty
dances and charming tableaux. He
was not rich, but yet he had as much
as most Of the young men Of the old
French aristOcracy.
Castellane's return to Paris was a
shock. His marriage had changed
everything. Money-makers and chi d.
rem of money-makers are not regarded
favorably by the aristocrats Of the old
regime They like money we'll enough,
and are willing to enjoy the pleasures
which money will give, but they draw
the line at social intimacy with those
in the despised class. It. is pecunar
condition of social affairs which the
average American can with difficulty
understand, but it exists nevertheless,
and has existed for many. generations.
CasteIlane could barely understand 1t,
although one of them. He saw his
wife snubbed in polite way time after
time. The aristocrats looked down up
on her, and upon him, too, and this
made him desperate. Then he deter
miLed to assume the aggressive. and
bring them to terms by forcing them
I to acknowledge his wife as a hostess
unparalleled in the present generation
of Paris. He would use his wealth as
an engine to smash down all the bar
riers and leave the road free and clear
to the highest social eminence. No
field of endeavOr would be left untitled
He began his crusade by establish
ing one of the finest racing stables nat
France has seen in a long time But
his horses were unfortunate He bet
on them heavily, and his ventures were
consistently unsuccessful. He lost big
ge4 sums than the world will ever know
Of, and his marriage settlement OF
100000 was seriously impaired. To
reCOup he tried speculation on the
BOurse. He knew nothing at all about
the science of stocks, and he made
ducks and brakes of his money, and
more, too, in that field.
All this time he was, and for that
matter is, carrying on the campaign in
other directions. His first move of
great magnitude was the purchase of
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

New York, Sept. 20.-An astounding
piece of news has been brought mere
by certain society folks who spent q
portion of their European season in
Paris. 1t is nothing less than that the
fortune of Anna Gould, the Countess
de Castellane, is rapidly on the wane
and that if it continues to fade away
at the present rate it will only be
question of few years when it viii
amount to little or nothing.
When AnnaGould, on Monday, March
A. 1895, became the countess of CasteI
lane in the Fifth avenue home OF he1
brother, George Gould. she had for
tune of $12,00O,O00, yielding an income
of 100000 a year 1t would seem that
this sum would be sufficient o nobly
support any young couple starting Out
on the voyage of married life, but, ap-
parently, it was not in this case. To-Day
the countess of Castellane has less
than 100000 Part of this de
crease of $5,O0O,00O is directly due tc
natural causes, namely, the deprecia'
ton in the value Of the railroads, bonds
and stocks controlled by the GOul6
family.
When Jay Gould died in November OF
'93 he left a fortune of $72,O0O,O00
After making special gifts of real estate
to his eldest son, George, and to his
eldest daughter, Helen, the remainder
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

amounting to about $67,000,000, was
divided equally among the six children
George, Helen, Edwin, Anna, Howard
and Frank This gave a trifle more
than $1,000, 900 to each. In the year
and a half previous to her marriage,
Anna Gould spent comparatively moth
ing of her vast income, and it became
part of the principal In addition to
this the Gould stocks appreciated
slightly, giving her in round figures on
the date of her marriage $4,000. 900.
When the marriage agreement was
made with the young Count Jean de
Castellane, 100000 of Anna Gould's
fortune was settled upon him outright.
At the time outsiders regarded this as
a pretty steep price to pay for a title
in country where titles had long
since passed out Of date, but it seems
that great as the sum was it was only
a portion of the cost.
When the Castellanes went abroad
shortly after their marriage it was
generally supposed that Anna Gould
would rule in the aristocratic circles of
Paris. There was no doubt as to the
social standing of the Counts family,
and it was logically argued that with
Immense wealth at his command the
young couple would naturally become
an imposing factor in the best social
element
If matters had gone along smoothly
in this respect, the dollars which Jay
Gould gave his happiness and life to
pile up would not be melting away like
butter in the sun. But the aristocracy
of the Faubourg st. Germaine, the
makers and unmakers of Partisan soci-
ETY., decided against the Castellanes.
and that decision has never been re-
scinded. When he left Paris to come
to New York Castellane was q good
deal Of a social pet. There was no door
closed against him; in fact, he was
eagerly welcomed everywhere He is
the kind of man who makes himself
pleasant to the men and women whose
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
EGGS IN THERAPEUTICS.

A mustard plaster with the white of
an egg will not leave a blister
A raw egg taken Immediately will
carry down a fsn-bcne that cannot be
got up from the throat
The white skin that lines the shell Of
an egg is a useful application for a
boil
White of egg beaten with loaf sugar
and lemon and sugar relieves hoarse-
ness Take a teaspoonful once every
hour.
An egg added to the morning cup Of
coffee makes a good toric.
A raw egg, with the yoIk unbroken,
taken in a glass of wine, is beneficial
for convalescents.-- Medical Record.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
BLACK vARNIsH FOR THE TEETH.

An Indian missionary, speaking of
the Burmese and Siamese habit Of
staining the teeth black, Says:
TT is enormously believed that the
color of their teeth is caised from the
practice of chewing betel nut mi.ted
with lime The fact is that the color
is produced from a regular process.
"The kernel Of the cocoanut is first
charred and then ground up with ell
until it forms a kind Of paste. This,
by some method only known to GER
tain special practitioners among the
natives, is converted into a regular
black varnish:
This is applied to the teeth and at
once becomes equally as hard as the
teeth, so that the action of eating does
not affect it in the least The blacker
and more polished the teeth, the gre IT.
er their beauty in the eyes of these
people.
IAN other thing is the habit of filing
the teeth down to point like sharks
No Burmese belle would consider her
self beauty if her teeth were white
like Chinaman's or Europeans.
''It has been suggested that this
black Varnish, as made by the Burmese,
might be useful in the arts IN preserv-
ing wood and metal, as it appears to re-
sist the corrosive action of the animal
saliva. The secrecy observed by tn
natives in the mode of preparing I,
however, has hitherto baffied the rc-
searches of Europeans"
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24

AS the season advances these unique
honey repositories become SO full Of
honey that their stomachs are finally
distended to the size of a small cherry.
These honey-fattened ants get into a
state of innocuous desuetude. They
simply cling to the walls of their
home in sort Of comatose condition.
When the honey season ends the work
ing ants want food. So they gently
squeeze the stomachs of the house
keepers, causing them to disgorge
honey from time to time, and on these
dfsgorgements the workers live until
the next honey season. 1t is hard to
beat an ant on the question of Geo.
nomicS
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
DANGER FROM NATURAL GAS

The sell in the coal regions of In1i-
ana and some of the adjacent states IS
so permeated with gas that it is dan
gerous to start fire out of doors, or
to throw lighted match or cigar into
any depression in the earth. Recently
an excavation was begun for a building,
and having been undisturbad for a day
or two, some workmen, as they 70
turned to their labor, threw a lighted
match into the ditch. An explosion IN
mediately followed, and through a
small assure in the earth came a little
jet Of natural gas.-POpular Science
News.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

No man is much Of hero to a widow
The woman who marries for spite
usually gets it.
Few men would marry if they could
live forever.
Matrimony has established the fact
that love is not incurably blind.
About every third woman imagines
that she is an uncrowred queen.
The man who is good for nothing else
sometimes makes a good husband.
Never marry "a man to reform him.
Reform him first, and then don't marry
him.
A good many men marry to get
home and then spend most of their
time away from New York Press,
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
THE HONEY ANT.

Honey ants have a peculiar custom.
They form subterranean chambers for
a home A number of the tribe never
leave this home. Their vocation in
life is remarkable. They keep house.
The working ants go abroad and seek
honey. Returning home they feed this
honey to the housekeeping ants and
stuff them full Of the saccharine mat
ter. The housekeepers are the honey
jars of the establishment, as It were.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-09-24
HE WASN'T HUNGRY.

81 don't think your father feels very
kindly towards me-" said Mr.. Stay
late.
you misjudge him, The morning
after you called on me last week he
treated you with proper courtesy"
Indeed? What did he say?"
''He asked me how I could be so rude
as to let you go away without your
breakfast. "-Washington Star.