davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
A Victim of Dissipation.

Who Of his time possessed q greater or
more versatile mind or q keener sense OF
what was right than Robert Burns2 Yet
his most ardent admirers must confess In
sorrow that he was the victim Of strong
drink. In early life he acquired taste for
1t and the habit Of taking 1t. When only In
his nineteenth year, he associated with
smugglers on the Ayrshire coast, and be-
came accustomed, as he tells US, "to scenes
where he learned to fill his glass and mix
without fear In drunken squabble." be
also tells US that when he was learning flax
dressing at Irvine, when he was little
more than twenty years OF age, on Hog
manay night, he with some others was en-
gagged in glorious carousal, when the shop
took fire and all was burned" and that put
an end to his fax-dressing. Yes, and 1t did
more than that, 1t strengthened the craving
for and the habit Of taking drink.
And what terrible evidence we have In his
letters of the dissipated habits into which
he afterwards fell. After a drinking bout
In one Of his friends houses, when in q
state OF intoxication, he had been guilty Of
some improprleties; next day. when writing
an apology to the lady of the house, he con-
cluded his letter by saying, 20 all ye pow
ers Of decorum, whisper to them (other
ladies who were presently that my errors.
though great, were involuntary-that an
In the touching epitaph which he wrote for
his own tombstone, he says
"The poor inhabitant below
Was quick to learn and wise to know,
And keenly felt the friendly glow
And softer flame;
But thoughtless follies laid him low
And stain'd his name"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

bearing quartz is found, and in many
places is being proftably worked.
There seems to be little doubt among
mining experts that extensive quartz
mines will be located in this Yukon
country before long. This will mean
the introduction into that country of
all sorts of improved mining machin-
cry, rock drills, stamp mills and so on.
Just what method will be employed to
extract the ore from the rock will de-
pend on what kind of ore is found. 1t
may only have to be crushed, and
separated by mercury. 1t may be re-
fractory ore and have to go through
some one of the various processes now
in use for separating such ore.
As soon as the mines are found
means OF transporting the machinery
will be provided and the mines will be
started. Mines in rock, of course, will
not be delayed by the weather condi-
tions which make placer mining so diff
fcult in that country, Rock doesn't
freeze and the deeper down the mines
20 the warmer it will get, so perhaps
this kind of mining will be the pleas
anter of the two.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
WORDS OF WISDOM.

Truth is rock large enough for all
to stand upon.
Caution is often wasted, but is very
coed risk to take.
Il reasonable woman is one who is
not always unreasonable.
If some men were to lose their repu-
tation they would be lucky.
The only really happy animal IS the
goat. He can eat anything.
Children cry for the moon and when
they grow up they want the earth.
Open the door of your mind to good
thoughts and evil ones will be driven
out.
There are several things worse than
disappointment in love, rheumatism is
one.
The scientific study of man is the
most difficult of all branches of knowl-
edge.
A. person is always startled when he
hears himself called old for the first
time.
Controversy equalizes fools and wise
men in the same way, and the fools
know it.
Little minds rejoice over the errors
of men of genius as the owl reioices at
an eclipse.
Even q man doesn't like to have the
preacher call when the house is all
topsy-turvy.
People get wisdom by experience. A
man never wakes up his second baby
to see it laugh.
Neatness, when moderate, is q vir-
tue; but when carried to an extreme it
narrows the mind.
Life is circus in which everyone
takes the part of the clown some time
during his sojourn.
Most men appreciate joke much
better when some one besides them
selves is made a victim of 1.-THE
South-We
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
Why He Omit Drinking.

A professional gentleman who was ac-
customed to take his morning glass, stepped
into saloon, and going up to the bar
called for whisky. A seedy Individual
stepped up to him and said:
81 say, squire, can't you ask an unfor-
tunate fellow to join your"
He was annoyed by the mans familiarity
and roughly told him:
II am not In the habit OF drinking with
tramps."
The tramp replied:
"You need not be 80 cranky and high
minded. my friend. venture to say that
am Of just as good family as you are,
have just as good an education, and before
took to drink was just as respectable as
you are. What Is more, I always knew
how to act the gentleman. Take my word
for it, you stick to John Barleycorn, and he
will bring you to just the same place I am"
Struck with his words, the gentleman
set down his glass and turned to look at
him. His eyes were bloodshot, his face
bloated, his boots mismated, his clothing
filthy.
"Then, was it drinking that made you
like this2"
"Yes, it was, and It will bring you to the
same If you stick to It,"
Picking up his untouched glass, he
poured the contents upon the floor and
said, "Then it's time quit" and left the
saloon, never to enter it again.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
All They Said.

The late Professor Jowett, during
his connection with Balliol College:
had occasion, says Household News,
to visit some of the farms belongingt tc
the college near the Scottish borders.
One Of the leading tenants, a sturdy
borlerer of the Dandie Dinmont order,
was deputel to take the professor
around. And q long tramp they had
together over the hills, in the course
of which Jowett uttered not n word,
while the farmer was too much strick'
en- with awe to venture remark. But
when the walk was almost done, the
professor was reused to speech. Look
ing over stone wall at a goodly field
of vivid green, he abruptly said:
"Fine potatoes. Quoth the farmer:
"Yon's turmets." Not word more
was spoken between them.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

most always there is found with gold
fine black sand, which is magnetic iron
ore, and from this the gold has to be
separated. Of course, if the gold is
in nuggets of any size this is simple
process, but if it is in fine dust, as is
generally the case, the mercury pro-
cess is employed.
In this the residue in the pan is
placed in barrel with some water and
mercury. The gold, when it touches
the mercury, forms an amalgam. After
q quantity of gold has been put in the
barrel the mercury is taken out,
squeezed through buckskin bag, and
what remains in the bag is heated,
either in retort or in some other
way, until what mercury is left is va
porized, and the gold remains, nearly
pure.
This is placer mining in it's most
primitive form, but it is slow work, and
long ago various methods were devised
to shorten it where it was to be carried
on to any extent.
The first step in advance in placer
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
Fires are built on the surface and

Fires are built on the surface and
the ground thawed little ways. This
is then dug out; another fire is built
in the hole, and this process is con-
tinued until bedrock is reached. Then
fires are built against the side of the
shaft, and drifts and tunnels are
thawed out.
All the dirt thus taken out is piled
outside until the stream opens in the
spring. Then the sluice boxes are set
up and the winters diggings washed
out. Thus miner is enabled to keep
busy about all the year.
This method of burning out shaft
and tunnels is by no means new, for it
has been carried on for many years in
the basins of the Amoor and Lena
Rivers i'll Siberia, where the conditions
are very similar to those in the Klon-
dixie region.
Placer mining in Alaska differs from
placer mining in warmer climates only
in that the dirt has to be thawed out,
and that water for washing can be OBJ
tanned there only a month or two in
each year.
And even when bedrock is reached
it is in many cases filled with cracks
and seams which are rich in gold and
we'll worth the digging out. As to the
value of explosives in this frozen soil
authorities differ. The Mining and
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
How He Got the Job.

A good story is being told about the
appointment of Postmaster in North
western Ohio. It appears that there
were number of aspirants for the
place, rand when the announcement
was made to him that a German was
sure to secure the plum, every person
was anxious to be in line and congratu.
late him on his success. One of the
congratulators was q man who was
noted for being blunt and asking ques.
tions from the shoulder, so to speak.
After the usual form had been gone
through with he blurted out:
"Why, no person had any Idea that
you were candidate, to say nothing
about expecting you to get the place.
What kind of pull did you have?"
"I will dell you," said the German.
"You see, I used to 60 to school vid
de Congressman, and We we're chumps. "
Most of the people of the town
agreed with the German, but that
didn't interfere with his getting the
place and drawing nice salary for
four years.-Columbus (Ohio) Dis.
match.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

So far all the mining that has been
done in the Klondike country has been
what is known as placer mining. This
is the simplest and oldest form OF
mining, and is usually adopted in new
gold fields. In its crudest form,
placer mining is simply the picking up
of painful of dirt from the bed OF a
stream where gold is supposed to ex,
ist, the washing away of the dirt and
pebbles and the gathering of the gold,
which, because of its weight, sinks to
the bottom of the pan.
For example, let us follow pros
pector on some stream in our Western
gold fields, where the complication OF
eternally frozen ground does not enter
into the question. After travelling
perhaps many weary days he comes
on a stream coming down some noun
tain gorge that looks ''likely," as he
says, to his practiced eye. He stops
and examines the pebbles on the bot
tom, and finds q good many of them
are of quartz.
This, although not in itself an indi-
cation of gold, is a good sign, SO the
prospector scrapes away the earth and
stones at the bottom of the stream to
the depth of q foot or so, and then
takes out painful of dirt. The pan,
by the way, is nothing but a broad,
shallow dish of strong sheet iron.
Having done this, he puts in enough
water to make the painful semi-liquid,
and then gives it rapid, twirling mo-
ton. This causes the gold, if there is
any, to sink to the bottom of the pan.
Then the gravel and sand are carefully
washed out until only the heavy resi-
due remains in the pan. This residue
is carefully examined to see how many
"colors" there are in it. "Colors" is
the term miners give to the particles
or nuggets, if there are any, of gold
that can be seen at the bottom of the
pan.
But gold is not the only thing that
sinks to the bottom of the pan. Al
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
A Common Delusion.

"The most subtle and deceitful hope
which ever existed, and one which wrecks
the happiness Of many young girls life,"
writes Rev. Mr.. Moody IN the Ladies' Home
Journal, ais the common delusion that
woman can best reform q man by marrying
him. 1t is mystery to me how people can
be 80 blinded to the hundreds Of cases in
every community, where tottering homes
have fallen and innocent lives have been
wrecked because some young girl has per-
sisted in marrying a scoundrel In the hope
OF saving him. I have never known such
union, and have seen hundreds OF them,
result in anything but sadness and disaster.
Let no young girl think that she may, be
able to accomplish what loving mother
or sympathetic sisters have been unable to
do. Before there is any contract OF mar
riage there should be convincing proofthat
there has been real and thorough regenera-
tion"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
GODS MESSAGE TO MAN.
PREGNANT THOUGHTS FROM THE
WORLDS GREATEST PROPHETS.

To BE Eternal Is Gods Use-Fear the Oc-
casion of Faith-Prayer Before Com
munion DUTY Lies in the Present
Seeking for Sight Not Faith.
Without an end or bound
Thy life lies all outspread in light;
Our lives feel all thy life around,
Making our weakness strong. our darkness
bright;
Yet Is 1t neither wilderness nor sea,
But the calm gladness OF a full eternity.
o thou art very meek,
To orershade thy creatures thus
Thy grandeur Is the shade we seek;
To be eternal is thy use to US.
0 God what rest, what Joy 1t is to me
To lose all thought Of self in thine eternity.
F. W. Faher.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

wards the end of the box Stats are
placed across, with mercury behind
them, to catch what gold gets by
above.
The miner sets up his rocker near
the stream and piles his gravel on the
the sheet iron, keeping it wet all the
while and keeping the rocker in motion.
The fine gold and sand sift through to
the blanket, while nuggets of any size
remain on the iron. The finer gold
settles on the blanket and the dust is
caught by the mercury behind the
Stats. The BLANKETS frequently rinsed
in a barrel of water with mercury at the
bottom, AID this mercury, together
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

has been coarse, and many of the mug
gets have been found attached to
quartz. This, according to experts,
indicates that the veins from which it
originates are not far distant from the
alluvial deposits. Placer gold is lib
Grated by the erosive agencies of ice,
rocks and water from the rock matrix
in which it is held. 1t is tougher than
the rock which holds it and resists
abrasion better. Drawing all inference
from other regions where placer gold
hos been found in large quantities, it
is reasonable to expect that in the
Yukon country rich gold lodes will be
found.
And this brings us to the subject of
quartz mining in Alaska, for the gold
bearing region up there is byno means
confined to the Klondike country. Ac-
cording to the recently published
handbook on 'Klondike," written by
L. A. Coolidge, of Washington, there
are in southeastern Alaska gold mines
which have been worked for the past
twelve years, and which in 1895 added
over 50, 900, 900 to the gold surplus of
the world. Of this mining region
Juneau is the centre, and its discovery
is shared by Richard Harris and
Joseph Juneau. In 1880 these two
men started out from Sitka-it was in
the summer-and in August discov-
cred gold in a stream which they
named Gold Creek. Later they eX-
plored this stream to its source i'll n
mountain valley, which they named
Silver Bow Basin. Then n town site
was established at the mouth of Gold
Greek, which was at first named Har-
risburg. Later it was changed to
Rockwell and then to Juneau. which
name it still holds. This last christen-
ing took place in 1881.
The next year both placer and
quartz mines were discovered on Doug
las Island, about four miles from
| Juneau. These are now the famous
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
DUTY Lies in the Present.

It will not do in this workaday world to
live too much In either the past or the
future. Neither musty memories nor vacu.
Gus visions can sustain the healthiest life Of
the soul. Yet there are minds Of an over.
reminiscent type that are always groaning
under burdens long since decayed into dust.
and fighting over and over again battles oD
fields where peace was long ago declared.
And 80, on the other hand, there are spirits
that seem to feed on the thin air OF hopeless
hopes, impractical dreamers who stand
steadfastly gazing up not really into heaven,
but irto hazy, mazy clouds where they see
no Lord and whence they gain no inspira.
ton. But duty lies neither In the past nor
In the future. Opportunity is always con.
jugated in the present tense. Now Is the
day of salvation: here Is the arena for ef
fort; at hand are all decisions Of destinies.
N. Y. Observer.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

with that behind the Stats, is ''roasted"
as in the other method.
But even this method is not used
when "sluicing" is possible, as it is
when the stream has sufficient fall. In
sluiciug a number of long boxes are
made which fit into each other like q
stovepipe. Across these boxes Stats
are placed with mercury behind them,
or sometimes the bottoms are bored full
of holes and mercury placed under
meath. A long line of these boxes is
placed at a considerable slant and the
miner shovels his gravel in at the up
per end, lets the water run down the
sluice and the gold, if in nuggets, sinks
and is held by the Stats, or, if fine, is
caught by the mercury. Three times
as much gold can be washed out in
this way as by a rocker, because three
times as much dirt can be washed.
And after the boxes are all done with
they are burned and the ashes washed
for the gold held by the wood.
These are the various methods of
placer mining and thus theyrare prac-
tised in the Klondike region, hampered
only by the natural conditions of the
country. Let US now look for a mo-
ment at what these conditions compel
the Klondike miner to do.
Let us suppose the gold-hunter has
passed through the difficult journey
and arrived at the gold fields. He first
goes out and prospects until he finds
a claim where the "colors" in his pan
encourage him to locate. If he should
happen to be early on q new field he
would probably stake out claim next
to one that was already paying in the
hope that his would pay, too. A
Klondike claim is supposed to be laid
out 500 feet long parallel with the
general direction of the creek, and
666 feet crosswise, the idea being to
give each location the width of the
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

Treadwell mines, having been bought
by John Treadwell in 1884, and, says
Mr.. Coolidge, "from these enough ore
has been taken out to pay the purchase
money of Alaska and more" The ore
of these mines average only from 50. so
to So a ton, but owing to the enormous
scale on which they are worked and
the low cost of extracting the ore
there is large profit in working them.
All around Juneau and, for that mat
ter, all along the Alaskan coast, gold
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
Seeking for Sight Not Faith.

"What shall l do with this sorrow that
God has sent me?" "Take it up and bear it,
and get strength and blessing out OF 1t. u
All. II only knew what blessing there was
In it, If I saw how it would help me, then
could bear 1t like a plume" What shall
do with this hard, hateful duty which Christ
has laid right in my way" DO it, and
only see that it would make me grow" In
both these cases do you not see that what
you are begging for is not more faith
although you think it is, but sight? You
want to see for yourself the blessing in the
sorrow, the strength in the hard and hateful
task. Faith says not, II see that is good
for me, and so God must have sent it," but
"God sent 1t, and 80 it must be good for
me. e."-Phillips Brooks.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
A TEMPERANCE COLUMN.
THE DRINK EVIL MADE MANIFEST
IN MANY WAYS.

A False Friend-Effect Of Drink Upon Cy-
clists-Champions of the Wheel Say
That Even Moderate Indulgence in
Liquor is Injurious-A Victim of Drink.
In all professions alcohol is seen
To be friend familiar, foe, ween;
Mid lawyers, doctors, artists, engineers,
Professors, authors, he friend appears.
And plies his trade, and plays his wicked
game
BY falsely stating he can win them famel
And as to poets, many were, alas!
Too prone to drink, too free to love the
glass,
Which oft they praised, Gin honeyed lies OF
rhyme
A waste OF genius little short Of crime.
But how has alcohol his promise kept?
Ah, we'll ye know who have so often wept
Der fallen genius-over minds destroyed
Ger brilliant intellects made dark and
void;
Der gifted business men become wreck,
Like some poor passenger washed of the
deck.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
2. DIGGING AND DUMPING.

Scientific Press said recently that they
can be used effectively, while the Min
ing and Engineering Journal, in speak
ing of the Siberian mines, where the
conditions are similar, says their effect
is simply to mat the ground together
harder. For this same reason, says
the latter journal, the ground cannot
be dug with pick and shovel until
thawed out.
Lumber, by the way, in the Klon-
dixie country, fit for sluice boxes, costs
from $3.50 to $3.50 thousand feet.
So fat most of the gold found in
placer mining in the Klondike regiou
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29
THE CLOAK THAT IS WORTH A MILLION.
in 1S41 this chief rebelled and tried t,

in 1S41 this chief rebelled and tried to
re-establish the ancient religion. A
bloody battle was fought. the King and
Queen were slain, and the cloak fell
into the hands of the victors, thus be-
coming the property of King Kane
hameha ILL.,, and by him given to Cap
tain j. H. Aulick, U. S. N.
The foundation of the cape is net
work of olona, or native hemp, and to
it are attached by means of fine threads
of the same material the feathers of
native birds found only on the islands,
the feathers overlapping and forming
a smooth surface. The feathers form
on the outside crescents Of red, yellow
and black. The inner lining is with
out quilting and shows the network
and ends of the feathers.
The yellow and black feathers are
obtained from the 90, or Ohio, the yel-
low ones being of great value, as the
bird is comparatively rare, shy and
hard to capture. So very rare is the
bird, and 30 small its stock of feathers,
that three yellow ones once sold for a
large sum. From fifty to hundred
years was the time expendedin making
this cloak, so that its worth in labor is
estimated at million dollars.
The making of these cloaks, which
were once worn by royalty alone, and
regarded as the treasures of the Grown,
was common in the islands prior to
the coming of the whites. The
precious yellow feathers were exacted
as tribute by the king, the bird being
caught alive with bird lime and then
set free. But itrequired a great many
years to get enough material to make
the cloak, which is four feet in length
and over six feet in width.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

mining is the use of the "rocker."
The rocker looks like one Of the old
cradles we find once in while in the
attic of some old house up in the coun-
try. 1t is box about three feet long
and two feet wide, placed on rockers
just like cradle. A part of the box
is covered with piece of heavy sheet
iron, placed few inches below the
top and punched full of holes about
quarter of an inch in diameter. The
bottom of the rest of the box slants
towards the lower end and is covered
with piece of woolen blanket. To-
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-09-29

gravel from rim rock to rim rock.
Most of the creeks up there have q
slight fall with wide bottoms. Bed
rock is anywhere from four to twenty
feet below the surface and pay dirt is
apt to extend clear down to bedrock.
Of course, the great difficulty that
the miner has to contend with is the
fact that the ground is frozen solid
about all the year, and even in summer
thaws only few inches. This mares
it necessary to thaw the ground arti-
fcially, and this is done by s'purn-
ing"