davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

Frank Wagner, a private in the Saliva
ton Army ut st. Louis. has probably the
most sensitive conscience on record. Men
who In a moment Of moral obliquity or
mental alteration have defraudcd the
widow or tho orphan have been known to
suffer later from the prickiDg Of their re-
vived conscicnccs, but never before in the
history of man has his conscience reached
that refined and sensitive condition when
1t became plain that It is a sin and a
shame to blk the railroad companies
whenever the opportunity offers. wae.
oner, however, not only repented of
stealing rides from the Missouri Pacific,
but deliberately sat down, figured out
how many miles Of transportation he had
flchcd from the railroad and wrote out n
check for GIG and mailed it TO the treas
urcr. He feels better now, and tho treas
urer Is fully persuaded that the end of tho
world Is near.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

eomm@cial project ny Thomas Arnold, =
gray bearded. wise looking cid man who
haunts the Offices of Chicago board Of trade
operators ic an effort to enlist capital for
the enterprise. st will be years." he
urges stoutly, "before oven a satisfactory
telegraph service can be established, and
In the meantime we can make q lot Of
money with carrier pigeons. There axe
5000 or 10000 people up there now shut
of from communication with the civilized
world, and they win pay big rates for q
service OF this kind. So would the news
rapers all over the world that want to get
fresh news from the mining camps. It
will only take couple CT thousand dollars
to start the thing, just enough to pay my
fare up there and get the pigeons acclimat-
ed and relay posts fixed" The old man
pleads well, but that paltry 1000 is not
forthcoming.
Tho establishment of permanent dog
kat and similar trails is pet hobby with
q mum Der of men who are soliciting money
for this purpose in sums Of from $40, 900
to $lcC, 600. 1t matters not who finds or
digs the gold, they assert, so long rs they
can have the business of hauling in Pas
sengers and supplies and bringing out the
metal at regular express charges. The
formality of organizing companies is gone
through with in dingy quarters, but the
papers never get to the secretary Of state.
1t costs money now to get articles of in
corporation.
Balloon exploitation Is favorite field
for daring spirits. At the head of one OF
these enterprises is Don Carlos Stevens.
He is engineering tho Jacobs Transporter
ton company, with n capital stock of
$4,000, one of the few schemes which
have really taken the form of legal incor-
poration. A monster balloon is being con-
structed, and when this is ready Don
Stevens will take 1t by rail and steamer to
TiskiO bay. There he will hang out his
sign, "All Aboard For the klondike," and
when he gets his complement Of passen-
gers he will cut the anchor rope and sail
away for the goldfelds. This trip, accord
ing to Don Stevens, should be made in
two days, and he will keep his balloon 60
ing back and forth between Tiskio bay
and the klondike so long as there is money
in the traffic. Profits? Why, balloon
line will be better than $40 ran dirt if
Don Stevens scheme does not go awry.
Frank a. Corey of Kalamazoo, Mich.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
TO KLoNDIKE IN a BALLOON.

also announces that he Is building a bal
loon in which Inc intends to go to the gold
fields with two companions and load Of
provisions. Mr.. Corey is one of the few
men who doesn't seek financial aid. He
has money of his own, and is pushing his
balloon in a manner which indicates that
he has full confidence in his ability to
make the journey in the manner outlined.
A big sail, rugged at tho rear of the air
ship and manipulated with ropes, will en-
able him to navigate the craft and keep it
headed In the right direction.
Still another advocate of the aerial route
is DIR. Rufus G. Wells of st. Louis. He is
building a huge cigar shaped bag, to be
sustained by gas. The basket will be of
enormous size, capable of holding so men
and their baggage. He will offer to sell
to adventurous argonauts round trips to
the Klondike by the balloon route for $500
each.
Broken down prOspectOrs who have been
unable to make strike in the west offer
their services in trying to find gold for
other people in Alaska. The only re-
quisite is clothes, food and money, espc-
cially the latter. Thus equipped these
prospectors will go to the klontike and
send back at once half the gold they find
Men who have just come back from the
goldfelds, as they assert, offer bargains in
the way of partnerships In claims. They
proudly exhibit bottles of gold dust in
proof of the rich strikes they. have made,
and then name prices which would be ri
ciculousIy cheap for bona fide properties
o. the kind described. 1t is pretty diff
cult to trace an Alaska claim at this dis
lance from its LOCATION, and there is no
satisfactory way of establishing its exist
ence, Dimensions or worth. When the
mining fever Is on a man, however, he
overlooks such minor things as these and
jumps in haste to close what he calls a
| good bargain. He doesn't stop to consider
the risk he is running and goes away to
make room for another customer, who
will buy the same claim right over again.
Almost any kind of mining stock with
the name "Klondike' on it can be sold
these days if price is cheap and terms easy.
There arc plenty of men who know this
| and some printing presses are being over
, worked to supply the demand. Where the
stuff goes TO nobody seems to know, but
it is certain the schemers do not keep it
any longer than necessary.
The magic word " KloEdike" seems to
be ample Endorsement in the estimation
If the public for any kind of an Alaskan
proposition, no matter how wild or ridicu-
lous its scope.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
gophers. Nothing is impossible, nothing

gophers. Nothing is impossible, nothing
chimerical.
Men with seedy garments and faces bear
ing ali too plainly the marks of hunger
and want rub elbows with portly, we'll fed
individuals and talk glibly about millions
to be had in various ways. Newspapers
are full of advertisements calling for
financial aid in developing Alaskan prof.
ects, offices of transportation lines are be-
sieged by hundreds of impecunious beings
who seek to make their wits pay the price
of passage to the Ell Dorado and on every
street corner people are encountered with
klondike schemes in varying forms of de.
velopment. Women have got the craze as
badly as men, and some of their hobbies
arc, If anything, even more outlandish
Importation OF young women into north
ern Alaska as wives for the miners is the
project one elderly dame laid before tho
officials of the North American Transpor-
tation and Trading company. She figured
that at least 1900 of the 10000 hardy
prospectors in the Klondike would like to
get married right away and would DO
willing to pay good price for the proper
kind of helpmeets.
Charlotte Smith, the sociologist wants
to transplant 1000 or more working wom-
en- from sweatshops and factories to Klor-
dixie camps. Hers is not q money making
scheme. She is laboring solely in what
she thinks the best interests of humanity.
To carry out her plans funds are needed,
but no big subscriptions thus far have
been reported.
Another woman wanted to get So 900 to
use in organizing a company to locate
gold placer claims She was endowed with
powers OF clairvoyance and could uner-
ringly point out hidden deposits CT pre-
cious metals Suggestion that clairyoy-
ance should enable her to pick out q back
er was taken as personal insult and she
departed in high dudgeon.
A midwife advertises for a partner to
furnish money. to open n hospital in Daw-
son City. "On an investment of S., 900, ~
she says, 81 will guarantee yearly in
come of $4,000 sure, with the chance Of
making double this
Women appear also as promoters of
mining and development projects. Some
Of them can talk intelligently about the
country and its prospects, and have a con-
vincing why Of setting out their PROPOSE
tions. One, a little keener than her COM
petitors in the hunt for the dollars of the
public, has sprung a plan by which stock
may be paid for on the instailment basis at
the rate of % cents a week share. In
the spring-most of these good things are
going to come of in the spring-expe.
rienced prospcctors will be grub ssaked and
sent into the Klondike 70 look for pay
ing claim. The company las nothing al
yet In the way of assets save expectations,
but these arc very big and strong.
"Alaska Carrier Pigeon Mail Service
Is the title given in all seriousness to Z
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
Maa.s DanRerous Arc.

1t Is singular fact, yet one substanti-
atctl by statistics, that most crime is COM
mitted In this state by men go years old.
snys the Albany Timcs-Union. This Ia
not only true of the lesser but also Of the
greater crimes, although a man IL pre-
sumed to be at that period Of his life not
only in the zenith Of his physical, but also
In full and complete possession Of his
mental powers, with complete apprecia-
ton OF right and wrong and their respcc-
tive consequences. This condition Is n
problem which has not been solved by the
student Of criminology and one which is
made the more complex by the fact that
the ages Of 81, II and As years nearly
equal it, with the intervening years show
ing far less percentage of crime.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
LAURA CAREY IN TRAMP ATTIRE.

LAURA CAREY IN TRAMP ATTIRE.
follow travellers, but the conductor Of a
freight that pulled into Philadelphia soon
after midnight recently found a dead
head" whom he decided he ought not to
risk carrying.
The stranger, clad in an i'll fitting coarse
blue suit, was clinging to hand rail in
a distinctly feminine way. Having no hat
to support the other masculine attire, her
features, dirt stained though her face was,
further betrayed her. As soon as he had
gotten over his first surprise, the conductor
hailcd her with "Hello, miss! What yer
dom there:''
81 amt no miss" retorted the traveller,
Strengthening herself.
well, madam, then, IL yer like that
better" said tho trainman, with laugh.
The train had stopped. He ran over to
the station and called n policeman. When
they went to the train, they found the free
rider sitting on tie.
Guess the games up this time" she
said philcsophically. "Up in York state
they wouldn't carry me with skirts. So
put on these. Guess I've got to foot it
rest o. TIL way to Cumberland"
The officer took her to the station house,
and there she told this story:
II was married down In Cumberland to
O felier who took me to Binghamton, N.
T., where he wanted to get rid Of me, but
l wouldn't have it that way. Our child
was born. and after that my husband
treated me SO bad couldn't have no rest.
When the kid died, a month ago, just de-
oided wouldn't put up with it no longer,
but jest get back home an aek the folks to
forgive me. An here lam. Icame all the
way by freight
The authorities believed her story and
sent her home to Cumberland on a passen-
ger train. nfter first providing her with
clothing suitable to her sex.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
KLONDKE AIR CASTLES
Dhe Popular Craze For Mining
and Trading Syndicates.
TRICKS OF THE Willy PROMOTER.


He IL Fun Of Schemes Plausible and
Schemes Preposterous-Lovelv Woman
=, e.. p,.. ,
" 10 the foohc "uihnihty.
Many and oueer are tho schere. tb.t
have orovn ont ., ,ho K,ona;lo .-azo
III e Ae oiaAe
ie'"A 'n' i"o'eu uiss ""en ma
g'cians hao she power TO conJure up won
oer1ui genn and set them to doing strange
ana uncanny things. The very air is full
OF schemes, some alluring, some preposter-
Gus, some audaclously novel. 1t Is the
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
Married By Her Mother.

There were quite number of innova
tons introduced into the wedding of Mr..
Elmer Cole and Miss Jessie Naylor Of San
Francisco. They were married by tho
brides mother, Mrs. Rebecca Mayor, pas
tor Of tho Quaker church in Berkeley.
"Gates Ajar, that piece de resistance Of
suburban funerals. Substituted the princi-
pal floral design. The local paper was
kind enough to explain that the gates jar
symbolized the opening Of their new life.
Instead Of the wedding march they were
married to the music of Oh, Promise Mer'
The bride IL member Of the University
class Of '9s. She proposes to return to the
university and be graduated with the class
next year.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
Marry Each other Every Year.

When G. c. Hopkins married his wife
In Chicago five years ago, 1t was agreed by
the two that the marriage should last for
one year only. At the end of the year, &C.
cording to the agreement, their marriage
was void. but they had got along so well
together that they resolved 70 be married
again for IL months. A second ceremony
was performed, and life went on smoothly
for another year. Since then Mr.. and Mrs.
Hopkins have married each year on tho
anniversary of their marriage. The cere-
mony has been performed five times, each
time it being understood between tho con-
tracing parties that the promises made
were binding for one year only. Tho min
listers or magistrates who performed tho
various ceremonies were not let into the
secret They were simply asked to officiate
In the marriage rites.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
A Voice From Hell.


J Sioux City is excited over certain spirit
ualistic manifestations which nonplus oven
the skeptics. 1t Is said that none who
hos Investigated tho case has the slightest
suspicion Of anything like deceit on the
part Of the medium. Miss Mary Reilly is
her name. Her family is we'll known in
Nhe city. Mono of its members Is a spirit
ualist. She sits ut n typewriter and re-
oeives messages through tho keyboard, n
Wystefious force guiding her fingers. The
uukuowp spirit that communicates with
Aiss Reilly says It Is in hades. Asked to
describe the torments Of hell it replied:
"A nameless, voiceless, never ceasing
regret. An agony without name for
aoWe ono OF something forgotten. Dreari-
hess unspcakable. A restless longing for
! tnow not what"
! "Have You any physical sensationsf'
"Sometimes ! seem to have. They arc
al Of pain-pain caused by extreme ter
rpr and hardly separated from mental an.
sgi,h."
"vHe awful shapes and frightful sounds
that side and ring through hcll-moans
and cries that have no fitting name to ex
pren the terror they inspire"
do you try to avoid them?'
"Yes. avoid ono by flying to another.
There II no escape. Sometimes there is Q
stiffness that you Of the world have never
known. Everything Is nothing, and yet
you e1ist In wonder and horror. It IL a.
II you were n new born child with the
mind Of q man. You cannot prove exist.
enco by sight, sound, taste, feeling or rea-
son, yet you know you are something,
somewhere, with an ovcrpowcring desire
to uso al1 your faculties and no power to
do -. oh, tho awfulness Of being nothing
and yet remembering you were some.
Hhinvr,
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
A SAMPLE BlGAMIST.
David f. Bates Is Type of the Much Mar
ried Man.

David f. Bates Is Type Of the Much Mar
ried Man.
The much married man is always a
study-not the simple biRamist with q
wife in Vermont and another in Texas,
but the man who persuadcs anywhere
from six to a score of women to marry
him. How does he do it? There is never
anything attractive in his appearance or
manner. Usually he is fully rs repuleive
as such a villain should be- Yet his his
tory shows that nc can find n wife in q
week In almost any community, and not
all of the victims are unidentified.
A typical case is that Of David E. Bates,
now under arrest in Chicago. Half q
dozen of his wives have already been
found. Doubtless there arc others. Bates
Is dull, embarrassing, homely, thin
faced, angular specimen of humanity of
tho commonplace tyne. He says he is par
ticularly fond of blends, although he has
no objection to brunettes. All his wives
are pretty.
The best explanation of the success of
such men Is that, being thoroughly dis
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

THE BRONCHO BUSTING AT HAvRE.
clcrs' warlrobes. There was no nonsense
about sidesaddles. During the few seq
onds Of time in which they were on the
bronchos' backs they rode a-straddle. Sew
eral times the mix ups were SO lively that
there seemed an alarming possibility Of
the costumes being reduced to merely tho
high heeled boots the riders wore, and bets
were offered several times that this result
would happen, hut Il did not happen.
Sombreros and whips were lost during the
melee, and the riders came out of 1t with
their long hair whipping in tho wind and
their clothes presenting the general ap-
pearance of having been used rs street.
sweepers, but there were no bones broken,
no serious rents in garments, and not even
a scratch serious enough to leave q per-
manent blemish on n pretty face.
Havre went beside itself with hilarity
the night after the event. The ginmills
and the faro games gathered in the dollars
with a scoop net, and even now the town
has hardly recovered its composurc.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

walked into Boston the other day to warn
the denizens of that cultured city that the
Hub Is doomed to destruction.
Evangelist Camp used to be a Baptist
preacher in his younger days, but he left
the evangelical fold and wandered of after
Bob Ingersoll. Two years ago, in the
Rocky mountains, over the divide, he says
God met him in q vision and commanded
him to go forth and preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
He speaks of this vision with the utmost
respect as the turning point in his life.
He give up Bob IngersoIl and accepted
Jesus Christ.
81 was entranced,'' said he, ''for go
hours, and during the whole of that time
l was out Of my body, which lay in cave
in the mountains. went to heaven and
I found it a real country, with birds, fruit.
grass, flowers, water and all things beau-
tiful and lovely
He says he has walked through "a states
and the District of Columbia, covering
nearly 5000 miles in about IL months.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

Mrs.. Warren Neal Of Neal, Mich. has
rseestly been appointed deputy game war
den for Grand Traverse county. Mrs.
the protection Of game and fish and Is do
scribcd Is q bright, plucky, attractive lit
tlo woman, full Of good sense and energy.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
The Doctors rroehe.

A doctor in Johnstown, Pa, while es-
corting lady home one evening, gave her
a troche to relieve her cough, but it had
no effect. The next day she returned the
trousers button with a note suggesting
that he might need it.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

cause prophets are such queer looking Gus
toners and SO erratic of mind and action
withal.
1t Is hard to honor a blear eyed, wheezy,
bewhiskered old man who goes about
shouting ont prophecies of evil and warn
ing mankind of the wrath to come, but he
attracts plenty of attention, and he often
proves to be quite an interesting character
when you come to know him.
Such n one is John Welsh, an ancient
evangelist who is making tour Of Cali
fOrnia as the banner attraction OF the Sal
walton Army. He marches at the head of
the motley band through tho streets, and
on account Of his great height, ANTIQUE
plug hat and many decorations he creates
mild sensation wherever he goes.
There is q romance connected with the
early life of John Welsh that is even moro
extraordinary than his personal appear
ance. He says he married for spite on n
half hours acquaintance and then went
on drunk that lasted half century.
With that experience Welsh is abundantly
qualified to pose as n brand snatohed from
the burning.
John was q Green Mountain boy and
was all ready to be married when stranger
came along and won away his intended
swore long oath to marry the first wom-
an who would say eyes, to his proposal.
With this idea in view he went to Cali
fornia. He was tramping along in the
Golden State one hot day and stopped at a
ranch to ask for q drink of water. The
lady asked him where he was going, and
he told her he was looking for wife.
"Then, why cent you marry my sis
ter?" sine said. This sister was in the
house on n visit from New York state.
John said II she was agreeable no would
take her, although he had not seen her.
In few minutes the farmers wife re-
turned with her unmarried sister. They
were introduced. and John and the girl
were left alone. 81 have been counting a
girl five years and she has run away with
another man. Now I'll marry for spite
the first girl that will have me-" said
John.
"You're n stranger. I'll take chances
on you If you will take chances on me, -
said the lady.
Half an hour later they were married by
justice of the peace. John Welsh was
then 10, and before he came of age he was
n widower. He then started on half cen.
| fury Of drunkenness, and tho only sober
days he knew were when he was in jail.
On the 4th of July eight years ago n lit.
tie woman of the Salvation Army brought
John to see the error of his ways, and
since then he has been an enthusiast and
| consistent Salvatiopist
An itine1ant evangelist who makes a
speciality of prophecy is W. j. Camp, who
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

Twice as many crimes are committed In
Paris BY those between the ages of Is and
20 Is By those between 20 and 20.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
Sales
: With Hoods sarsapa- ~
rilla, sales Talk, "and 2X
show that this medi. ! - J ~

cine has enjoyed pablo confidence and
patronage to greater extent than accord
ed any other proprietary medicine. This
is simply because It Possesses greater
merit and produces greater cures than
any other. II ID not what we say, but
what Hoods Sarsaparilia docs, that tells
the story. All Advertisements OF Hoods
SarsapariIla, like Hoods sarsapariila it
self, are honest. We have never deceived
The public, and this with its supcriative
medicinal merit, is why the people have
abiding confidence IN It, and buy
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

honest at heart, they can lie without the
lenst qualm of conscience. A decent man
betrays himself in n lie because he is
ashamed Of it. These fellows are not
ashamed Of nything, and feminine intu!-
ton fails to pierce their unblushing ef-
frontery. They find out what kind of a
husband woman wants and then repre-
sent themselves to be just that kind, with
skill born Of experience apd fortified by
inherent treachery.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21
REMOVAL.
GEr TIKI BEST

Plr1bin3
Heating.
Gas Fitting
Sewer ?ipe
III All Worn ara-ap.s.d
ROseB6eld ssrsss-.
;sns rp.Br avEc,IR
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-08-21

Almost 10 the exclusion Of all others. Try r.
Prepared only by c. ]. Hood & Co.. Lowell. Mass.
r,.ss are the only pills tn take
HOOK P1ulS with Hoods sarsaparilia.