davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
Making Railroads Smoother

The fact that within the past Is years
two-thirds of the unevenness in rail
road tracks has been done away with
on certain lines was discussed at a re-
cent meeting of the New York Academy
of Sciences. The Improvement has been
brought about principally through new
designs and methods of manufacture of
rails. \ "track-indicator" car, travel
ing 20 or 80 miles an hour, sums up the
inequalities, the ups and downs" IL
the rails for each mile traversed. For
merly the total inequality" per mile
amounted to six or seven feet, even
for the best roads; now it has been re
duced to only IS or 20 inches, and this
remnant is said to be due to dents in
the rails. 1t was pointed out that the
improvement, which may be carried
farther, brings with it heavier locomo-
tiyes and cars, longer trains and higher
speed-1outh's Companion.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
GERMAN COURT BALLS.
The Walt IL stu Danced nj the
Court Of Stuttgart.

\ few years ago the minuet and the
ravottc were the special dances of the
| Eerlin court, the kaiser himself having
taken n special fancy 20 them. Some
how they did not find much favor in so
ciety. rs young people prefer Waiting,
and after all, the Old-fashicned dances,
Ike a good many Old-fashioned habits,
are oil very we'll when the actors are
| dressed in the clothes OF the period and
resemble IN mode of thought aud ear.
rage Of body their great-grandparents.
liut few young people are like THEN
forefathers. There was some reason foI
! the introduction of fanciful and pic
iuresquc dance at the grand festivals OF
the imperial court, especially as very
special rules prevailed there. 1t is well
known that TIE late Kaiserin Augusta
strongly objected to waltzing, and sc
does the court of Berlin The conse-
quence is that kind of gal!op was in
vented for BerliI-a two-timed move.
ment, danced to the music Of the waltz.
but not at all resembling the old deuX.
temps waltz. In Niecklenburg the waltz
IS never danced at all at court, the rea
SOC for this being, as it is said, that the
Grand Duchess Marie does not like dane.
ing. Moreover, almost everywhere al
German courts the slow waltz was
looked down upon as lad style. Good
style depends npon the leaders of fash.
ion, and so the slow waltz has been pro
nOunced rs the correct kind to bt
danced at the court of Stuttgart this
winter. Both the queen and her step
daughter are very fond of waItzing;
her majesty has ordered that the waltz
is to be danced slowly at the court bale
now. as is the custom in Vierna.-Lon.
don Telegraph.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
RESERVATIONS OF POiSONS.
Men Who Make Cyanide of Potassium
Are Strangely Tempted to Eat IT.

Men Who Make Cyanide of Potassium
Are Strangely Tempted to Eat 1t
There is factory in London that
makes only the deadliest poisons known
to chemistry. Last year it produced
1000 tons of cynaide Of potassium. Five
grains of this is sufficient TO kill man,
In one room of the factory visitor
found tons of this deadly poison. tire
sembles very closely white crystallized
sugar. The visitor remarked to the
manager: SIT looks good enough tc
eat"
"Ah," replied the manager, gravelyi
"that is just one of the dangers we have
to guard against. For some ineXplicae
Gle reason cyanide of potassium exer'
cises a remarkable fascination over the
men engaged in it's manufacture. They
are haunted by a constant and ever-re-
curing desire toeatit. They are perfect
ly alive to the fact, however. that to give
way to the craving would mean instant
death, and are consequently usuaIfy
able to resist it. But not always. Dur
ing the time I have been here three
of our best and steadiest wOrkmen have
committed suicide in this strange man
ner. impelled thereto apparently by no
cause save this mysterious, horrible
longing. 1 myself have felt the same
strange lust when / have been long ex-
posed to the cyanide fumes, and have
had 10 leave the works for time in con-
sequence. So we'll is this curious fact
recognized that there are always two
men at work together in this branch Of
our business, and jar of ammonia,
which, as you may know, is the anti
dcte to the poison, is kept constantly
near at hand"
Apart from this remarkable infatua-
ton, which may be likene6 to the de-
sire experienced by many people when
standing on the brink of a precipice
10 throw themselves down, the manu-
facture of potassium cyanide is not par
ticularly dangerous. Neither is it un-
healthy. In fact, it is asserted that
men have gone into the cynaide house
iii and debilitated and in Il short time
have been restored to robust health
y. y. World, $50
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
HUMOROUS.

Mrs. PancalSe-'1 cant see why a
great, big fellow like you should beg"
Hungry Hank-''WelI, mum. l s'pose
me size helps to gimme an appetite -
Truth.
The whiskers of the walrus ex-
tend three or four inches from the
snOut. 1t would appear that the wal
rus aims to be the populist OF the sea-
Boston Transcript.
On His Guard.-Dr. Powder-'Ahi
How are you to-day, Mr.. Gimp"
Glimp-''Do you ask as an inquiring
friend or as my family physician p
Philadelphia North American.
The writer's name must accompany
every communication" said the editor
piece signed Constant Reader" Il s,se,"
replied the man. You don't want to
get the world involved in controversy
about the authorship Of n second series
of Junius letters. Pittsburgh Chron-
icle Telegraph.
-Woman's Way.-"You women" said
he, in the peculiarly eXasperating way
a man has of saying those two words.
you women buy bargain things because
they are cheap" I'VE do not" said
she. I'VE buy cheap things because
they are bargains" The distinction
was almost too subtle for the blunder-
ing masculine intellect, but it was there.
-IndianapoliSJO Journal.
ALI She Wanted.-''My dear mad
am" said the professor of music, your
daughter has TO sense of melody and
no instinct for time. She couldn't play.
And she has no voice, therefore she
cannot expect to sing" We'll, OF
course" was the complacent reply,
those facts are drawbacks, but you
can go on giving her lessons, just the
same. 1 don't care about her perform
ing or singing, as it would maybe take
her away from home. All want is for
her to learn enough to make comfort
able living as eacher.'-Washington
Star
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
Saved A-niD.

Mrs. Bimley met her husband in the
ball and gave him a good hug and kiss.
20, George" she said, I'm so glad
you've come. Your slippers are by the
ire, and [ have 4 nice hot supper for
you, and some of that ounce marmalade
YOU like so well. When you are away
I'm so lonely / don't know what to dc,
and l thought 1 would ask YOU if"
Here" said Bimley, hurriedly draw
ing from his pocket $50 bill, this is
for the spring bonnet. and I'll have that
set of diamond earrings sent up first
thing iii the morning. Don't say a word;
you are perfectly welcome"
Later on Rimley wiped the perspira-
lion from his brow and rnuttered tc
himself:
Got that visit from her mother
headed off once more, but it comes
high. "-Detroit Free Press.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
The Cannon Chr

Military journals express interest in
an invention by which it is proposed to
arm self-moving car, driven by a
16 horsepower engine, with two rapid
fire cannon, mounted on pivots so as to
sweep in all directions. Having four
broad-tired wheels, it is claimed that
the car can run across level country
(barring fences. of course) at the rate
OF 40 miles an hour. Terrible pictures
are drawn OF the havoc that such cars
could make on a battlefield. Only one
man is needed to operate the car ard it's
cannon. and he is protected by strong
steel shieldS.-Youth's COMPANION.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
UMBRELLAS AND CHARACTER.
Feminine Dispositions Revealed by
Methods Of Handling Them

Feminine Dispositions Revealed by
Methods of Ha milling Them.
Two men who sat near the window OF
downtown hotel Il few days ago whiled
away the time by watching the women
go by and commenting on their umbrel-
las.
The storm had abated about an hour
before and the sun had peered through
4 rift in the Clouds but for all that the
first pedestrian went stalking pastwith
her umbrella still held aloft.
That woman" said one OF the men,
SIS as patient as Job. She is not stu
dent. absent-mindedly porting over book
lore. but housekeeper who is so taken
up with thoughts of what she is going
to get for supper that she doesn t know
1t has stopped raining People who for
get to lower their umbrellas when the
sun begins to shine always are. That
girl just behind her who has already
taken time to fold Ter umbrella neat
ly. even though it is soaking wet, is
going to be an old maid. She is narrow
minded, too. The next one has bound
the folds down, but it looks uneven and
always look dowdy, but she will nurse
them successfully through innumerable
attacks of Group and rash. and no fam
lily in town will have better things to
eat.
That short woman with her am
brella Hopping this way and that will al
ways be poor, because she will give
oh
it. Hers isn't altogether commend
able generosity, either, for it is caused
more by lack of power to say no than
by an inherent desire to help her fell
low-creatures. That dark woman with
the tip of her umbrella trailing down
ward and backward at an angle of AZ
degrees is malicious. 1 wouldn't trust
f1er out of my sight. She'd say some
thing mean about me the first chance
she got. The one who carries her UNI
breila, swung carelessiy over her Shout
der is n happy go-lucky individual who
will always have Il good time, not be-
cause she earns it, but because the
world owes it to her, and she is going
to have her rights.
her umbrella at right angles to her
body and sticks the sharp point ahead
like a bayonet? She's one of the kind
that sets the world afire. She has more
energy in a minute than most people
have in a year. A woman who swings
ner umbrella as she walks is prone
to lly-dally-she never knows her own
mind, and no difference how we'll she
may pretend to like a person, if an
other speaks i'll of him in his absence
she will generally SHE in with the
calumniator. At any rate she will say
nothing in his defense. She who trails
her umbrella along IN her wake is I'M
:idy and inclined toward low princi-
piles. The one that holds the stick up
right and keeps tapping it on the pave
ment every little while is n good person
TO tie to; she has strength ard honesty.
There comes a woman carrying her
umbrella under her arm. Shes my wife
and 1 won't say anything about her"
His companion looked at the little
mans wrinkled, perpieXed face and
smiled. lie faDcied he knew what the
YerClict would have been had the wom-
an only been somebody else.-Chicago
Tribune.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
Didn't Want to De King.

The family life of the reigning house
hold both at Athens and at Deceleia is
said to be exceptionally happy. a story
is told, well illustrating the extent to
which democratic feeling has taken hold
even of the kings sons, to the effect that
rs the children were playing together
one day they got to talking about what
they were to do when they grew up, and
the crown prince said to his brothers
"Oh, George, you be king when you are
grown up; L don't want to-" Neither
did Prince George want to be king, and
both decided that it was a disagreeable
fate. Now one has been at the head of
the Greek fleet, and the other has been
sent IN command of the land forces to
Larlssa. L recall well that one day
when L was walking along the Odos
Amaiias, or Amelia street, with nv wife
we saw the crown prince and crown
princess also out promenading on the
street; and what tall, fre-looking fell
low he was!-blond, and very large,
erect, and in uniform-President VIII
liam Z. Waters, in Chautauquan.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
THE OLD SLATE.

1 came upon it yesterday up in the garnet
old,
A homely object yet to me it's worth its
weight in gold;
Its frame little set awry, its body cracked.
you see
But as 1 held it in my hands what scenes
came back to me!
Upon it's surface long ago solved the prob
lens dread
For masters who are sleeping now beneath
the flowers dead;
And many message here I wrote for only
one to see
The little lass who used to sit across the
aisle from me.
/ found initials in the frame by jack-knife
lettered there,
They stand for one who was to me the fair
est of the fair;
And every mark upon the slate that cruel
time has spared
Recalls some lesson which in youth that
fairest lassie shared.
All. here's the crack which long ago was
was made by Jerry Call
When to the floor my precious slate he pur-
poSely let fall;
We did not speak for near a week. his mis-
chief caused me pain,
But when he drew me from the creek we
friends became again.
How often Ger this ancient slate with many
a scar and nick,
! wrestled with the myst'ries of the old
arithmetic;
How proud used to hold it up whenever ]
was right,
But when 1 failed how glad was to keer
it out of sighti
What victories from my Webster" on this
old, old slate won;
What little rhymes I used to write when
other tolls We're done:
How in my seat behind the stove the muse
1 tried to WOO,
And glibly wrote of roses red" and violets
soft and bluer'
I seem to see those little rhymes upon its
surface now;
I seem to catch some cherished names
breathed oft with boyish VOW;
And round me from the misty past where
recollections meet.
hear the merry patter of a score of youth
full feet.
] see the stern old masters, kind for all their
stately ways;
They frightened though sometimes they
clouded Ger my boyhood days:
And, grateful, would weave wreath and
place it where they lie
With folded hands to-day. beneath the gen.
tie, Sldrlll SKY.
/ hear the merry laughter of the girls we
used to swing
Beneath the hoary beach that cast its shad-
ow Ger the spring;
But from among them all there comes from
out the far away
A sweet and loving face upon the olden slate
to-day.
The pencil of my memory brings out every
graceful line,
Until there stands before my gaze figure
half divine;
And neither sponge nor moistened hand
with mischief all elate,
Can rub a single lineament from off my
treasured slate.
The spiders shall not spin again their filmy
silver thrau
Across the old slate resting long against the
garret'S wall;
I'll set it in the sunshine like a queen in
veStments fine,
For it whispers of boyhood which to-day
seems half divine.
II. c. Harbaugh, in Ohio Farmer.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
THOSE MCCARTHY BOYS.
BY GEORGE ABE.

Mrs. SINNERS brother James was
late at dinner time. The others were
at the table when he came. His sister
rebuked him mildly and said it wasn't
her fault if the soup was cold. He re-
piled with great enthusiasm that the
soup was Just right" and, to prove
that he meant it, he consumed his entire
portion. Then he leaned back aud
looked inquiringly at his nephew Will
lie, who had been scolded twice already
for whistIing at the table.
Uncle jim winked and little Willie be-
gan to smoker.
Willie-I did.
Uncle Jim-Did you?
Willie-Yes; and you ought to have
heard Ed Mccarthy laugh.
Uncle Jim-What did the teacher do ?
WilIie-Oh, she didn't do much. 1t
made her kind o mad, guess. She
you're one of the worst boys in the
school,"
Mrs. Skinner-What's this all about
Willie-Aw, it amt much. Uncle Jim
taught me to speak a piece that he
used to speak when he was kid.
Mrs. Skinner-When he was boy.
Uncle Jim-It's a good piece, isn't it,
Bill?
Mrs. Skinner-James, it sounds aw-
full to call little boy by such name as
that. What was it you spoke, Willie?
Willie-Aw, it was just n piece.
Uncle Jim-1ou must remember it.
It's about the captains daughter. 1--WE
were crowded in the sabin," and so on.
Mrs. Skinner-Yes, of course. Did
you teach it to Willie?
Uncle Jim-You ought to hear him.
Go on and speak it for them, Bill.
Willie-Aw, l don't want to now.
Uncle Jim-Go on. I'll bet your
father wants to hear it; don't you,
Tom?
Mr.. Skinner (taking a sudden inter
est)-Yes, of course. WHAT'S it?
Uncle JIM knew he wanted to
hear it. Your mother will like it, too.
Ethel guess he's forgotten it.
Willie-Aw, forget it. 1 know it
easy. It's just:
1--WE were crowded in the cabin.
Not soul had dared to sleep:
Tt was midnight on the waters
And the storm was on the deep.
-'' IT'S a fearful thing in winter
To be shattered by the blast
And to hear the rafting trumpet thunder:
Cut away the mast!
''And as thus we sat in silence,
Each one busy with his prayer,
I'VE are lost" the captain shouted,
As he staggered down the stair.
-'But his little daughter jollied him.
AS she took his icy mitt
Amt you afraid?' the captain cried,
And she bodily answered: Nit"
$50 We"
Mrs. Skinner-Willie Skinner! Stop
that this minute. Well, Thomas. think
that you, at least. ought not 10 laugh at
anything of that kind. He's bad enough
without Icing encouraged. (To Willie)
Did you get up in school to-day and re-
scite rnat piece?
Wiuie (half-frightened. but also en-
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
Had Her Fixed.

Dobkins-Iou don't seem to be in any
hurry about going home tonight, ole
boy.
Fogg-No; the fact is / shall find my
wife in angelic temper, no matter how
late it is. She was going to fortune.
teller this afternoon
''Yes?"
Don't you see? went there before
and gave the fortune-teller flyer. OF
course Mrs. F. will ask aboutme and Of
course 1 shall get my five dollars
worth See?"-Boston Transcript.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
When Smeits We're Burned

Recent experiments by the curious
1T Portland, Ore, have revived recollec-
lions of primitive light used in the
carly days of the settlements along the
Columbia river. when the residents
called smelts candlefish. The dried
smelts burn as we'll as candles and give
Off an appetizing odor.-N. Y. Sun.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27
~ Ease Insiruntinn

Conductor can't use bill that is
torn like this.
Passenger-You might turn that one
into the company.-Brooklyn Lie.
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27

-Toothpicks prepared by nature are d
product of Spain and Mexico. a COM
Paratively small plant in Kew Gardens
was estimated to have Il. 500, and large
specimen in the same place could have
bad no fewer than $1,000
The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1897-04-27

You may soon be able to go from
Cairo to the pyramids in Shades of the
Pnaraohs.) a trolley car.
The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-07-03
TROUT AND PICkEREL.
Something About Their Methods or Feed
ing, as Observed at the Aouarium.

Something About Their Methods or Feed
ing, as Observed at the Aquarium.
1t is easy to observe at the aquarium
the habits of fish in feeding. Some are
sluSSlsh4 Some are fierce and some are
SLY. The trout are fed on live killies.
II klllies when thrown into the tank
scatter Ill all directions, with the trout
after them like chain lightning, twist
ing and turning with marvellous celeri-
ty. The killies double, the trout dart
after them. Rising TO a bunch of kill
lies at the top, the trout 1airly make
the water fly. They jump almost, if not
quite, clear out Of it, as if they were
turning sornersaults, and down they 60
IN again and on after the kiIlies. It is
a dashing, ~slashing, crashing pursuit.
II in about half 4 minute the kilIies
are all gone.
The pickerel-how different. How
silent, and yet how sudden! The killie
dropped i'll above darts downward
through the water. Not pursued, it
slow down aud halts in the middle Of
the tank to rest and to recover its equa-
nlmlty after its recent disturbing cxpe-
rlelce OF being removed from its home
IL the live food tank, carried about in
a galvanized iron tray, and finally
dropped into another tank as food for
other fishes.
At a little distance is observed the
pickerel. Il has come up silently, like a
long, slender, little steamer moving
dead slow. It comes to a halt so smooth
ly and quietly that the instant Of its
halt is not noticed. 1t is simply seen to
be lying there, motionless, about six
inches from the killie.
All is peace and quiet in the tank.
The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-07-03
The Roman Fisherman,

A traveller in Rome tells of a citizen
who was evidently too lazy to sit on
the bank Of the Tiber and fish after the
manne OF the ordinary fisherman, but
instead arranged his apparatus in the
form OF automatic nets, which are made
to revolve by the aid of weights and
the current of the stream, so that it is
not necessary for him to visit the spot
oftener than ono a day. With the aid
of a pneumatic tube to shoot the fish
from the bank to his house it woI]d
seem to be unnecessary for him to do
even this. Nothing would be lacking
then to complete his happiness but an
electric broiler and possibly an auto
matte Zone extractor. Buffalo Com
mefcial.
The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-07-03
THE CITY.
Farewell to the mountain side,
For the city is calling me-.

~ shP i-iottltAll ~iur,
For the city is calling ma.
TIL chinquepin's scattered with lavish hand
Her gems to the sayly appnreled land.
There's an opaline tinge to the freshenine a,r
The spell of autumn j. everywhere.
But how can l longer bide,
Fair though the mountain be?
For the city has lifted her eyes again,
She's smiling and reckoning over the plain.
As the leaves drift down,
As the winds grow chill,
Her warm blood bounds and her pulses thrill
Oh, the mountains aglow with the frosty
breath,
A fever flash, ere the risor Of death
That grfsly winter'n bring.
But the city-the city's awake, ~a-start.
The deadliest winter but warns her heart
She calls to me over the sunlit plain,
And my spirit awakens and lives again.
Farewell to the crimson and gold,
To the mountains billowy blue,
But sing, my ~heart-wlth rapture sing
The city breathes anew
New Orleans Times Democrat.
The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-07-03
FlOuaces.

Many Of the elegant dress toilets O.
figured india game, tulle or French or
Candle, made up Over taffeta or watered
silk. have the skirt arranged in a cres-
cendo and diminuendo Spanish founce
that varies from one-half to th~ree-quar-
tiers of a yard in depth, its greatest
depth being on each side of the skirt.
The founces set on in very fine shirr-
ings, with q small, full frill at the top.