davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

The Spanish news smiths at Havana
have a serious rival in the man who is
forging dispatches from the seat Of war
in the Philippine islands. He has even
a harder task to manufacture victories
for the Spaniards than the Havana men
have, but he gives his stories much
neater turn. His report Of the three at
tacks upon Noyeletas reads very much
like the account the editor wrote of the
encounter he had with a war-like Wis
itor. "We inserted OUT nOse," he wrote,
''by an adroit movement into our antag-
onist's mouth, and suddenly throwing
ourselves upon our back drew him down
upon us with great force. He attempt
ed to strike us several times, but we
cleverly caught the blows upon our eyes
and mouth, and when we had tired him
out we allowed him to rise from his un-
comfortable position" This is how the
Spanish troops treated the Philippine
rebels
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

A taXidermist at Northwood, n. Y,
has been making experiments as to the
effect of light reflected in birds eye.
A glass, seven or eight inches in diam
eter, has been fonud most serviceable.
The antics of blue jays are remark
able when the light strikes them as
they sit in the shadow of an evergreen
tree. They jump to another branch
and try to look into the light, but they
have to turn away, as the light dazzles
them. Then they fly around the re-
f1ector, but after practice one is able
to keep the light always on them, and
the birds not infrequently come within
reach of a mans hand. A ruffed grouse
gives a startled look when the light
strikes it. Then it jumps, and away it
goes. Hawks, too, are usually star
tied or annoyed SO that they fly off.
Woodpeckers don't seem to mind it at
all. Rabbits blink and stare at a glass
for while, then go around a stump
and sit up again, as if waiting for the
light to play tag with them.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

A bright young Chicago man mas
American travel which wins praise
from more people than his friends,
but even the author must smile to read
in Chicago Sunday newspaper the
following finale to review Of his book:
'"How much do any of us know of South
America? How many of us ever heard
that Venezuela meant originally Little
Venice, and was so named by a Euro
pean? Young Mr.. Morris deserves the
thanks Of public either too busy to in
form itself about its own hemi-demi-
sphere or too Indifferent" If the ele-
vator boy or mailing clerk who wrote
this enthusiastic review ever went to-
school he would have known that Ven
ezuela, Little Venice, is popularity sup
posed to have been so named by a Eu-
ropeam and not By an Australian bush
man or an inhabitant of Mars, as the
naive statement Of the reviewer might
indicate. He would also know that the
average American citizen is tolerably
well acquainted with the history and
geography Of South America, and can
distinguish between Simon and Patsy.
Bolivar. The reviewer should send toi
and get the handbooks Of,
the bureau Of American republics. /
Then when the elevator shift Is chang
ed he can read up on heap Of things
be is seemingly unaware Of.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21
SLAUGHTER IN CUBA.
Desperate Battle Takes Place, in
Which Mary Men Arc Lost.

Desperate Battle Takes Place, i'm
whicI, Mary Men Arc Lost.
The New York Press claims to have re-
ceived news through private channels that
Cen Maximo Gomez stormed and cap
tured the important city of Santa Clara
on Jan. 8. and is now moving on Havana
with 5000 men. The famous cavalry
leader. Quintin Banderas. was mortally
wounded, according to the Press. and
Gen. Luque, commanding the Spanish,
was also wounded. The news received
said that the losses were: Spanish, esti-
mated, killed and wounded, 900; prisoners,
700; cannons captured, IS: battle stand
ards, 4; rifles in the Spanish arsenal o.
600, with plenty of ammunition. Cubans
killed and wounded, 1,50O, which is 600
more than the Spanish loss. The Press
quotes Carlos Roloff as saying the report
is credited.
A Havana dispatch TO the World says
couriers who have slipped through the
Spanish lines in Matanzas province
bring the news that Gen. Gomez is un-
doubtedly marching on Havana slowly
but surely, and that his advance guard
is laying in waste the country as they
proceed. In less than a week the adj
vance guard of Gomez's army has destroy
ed by fire twenty-one of the most valuable
estates in the province of Matanzas. and
the work of destruction continues as the
army moves along. The people of Ha-
vana are at last becoming thoroughly
alarmed at the situation. and all who pos
sibly can have already left the place.
Those who have been detained are max
ing preparations to leave with I'll possible
haste. Many of those who have been out
wardly loyal to Spain have lost all conf
dence in Gen. Weyler's ability to handle
the insurgents, and they now actually
fear for the safety Of Havana. Skir-
mishes occur every day in Pinar del Rio. :,
The insurgents are under command OF
Ruis Rivera
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

never more than half alive at best. Yet
they live, if not happily, still with an apa
thetic content unknown to the Caucasian.
In the best years, they drag their ema-
ciated bodies back and forth from their
work seemingly with no other use in the
world than to figure in statistics illus
trating the greatness of the British en-
pire. to whose far distant seat of power
their surplus grain is shipped, while they
live on as they have always lived-from
hand to mouth, in the most literal sense
of the word.
With little or no clothing, except a cot
ton rag, with hardly enough to eat in
week to keep an American laborer alive
for a day, they are still peaceful, un-
complaining and seemingly contented as
long as they can manage to barely exist.
Famine Levels All Castles.
From year to year they barely exist,
until the monsoon on which they depend
for rain fails them. Then comes famine
with pestilence in it's train. The streets
of the cities are filed with the cries of
women begging mOrsel of food for their
starving children. High-bred gentlemen
and ladies of the Grammar caste, who
dread the breaking of caste laws worse
than any ordinary death, mingle in the
streets with Yariahs and outcasts. Fam
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21
Told in a Few Lines.

The question of century celebration of
the death of Edmund Burke is being
mooted in Ireland
Because he was out of money and had
nothing to live for. Henry Miller (also
spelled Mueller). who was formerly a
prosperous butcher in Chicago, shot him
self in the left lung at San Francisco and
is now dying.
Ahlwardt, the notorious Anti-Semitic
agitator and member of the German
reichstag. who recently came to the Unit
ed States to organize crusade against
the Hebrews in this country. is said to
have deserted his family in Germany.
The Pope has issued an order forbid
ding priests not belonging to the Roman
diocese to dwell in Rome under penalty of
suspension. 1t also threatens measures
against the resident clergy who are seen
on the streets after the religious curfew
bell.
The premises of the Russian Oil Com
pany at Purfeet, Eng, have been burned.
doing immense damage. Cataracts of
burning oil were poured into the Thames,
Illuminating the river from Greenwich
TO Gravesend The Purfeet powder mag
azine and the Anglo-American Oil Com
rany adjacent. We're saved by the efforts
of the fire brigade
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

A coffee merchant in Brooklyn hau
the impudence to go into the business
of sugar refining and thus become a
competitor of the sugar trust. But he
is about to be well punished. The sugar
trust has bought big coffee factory
and will sell the product at price
which this Brooklyn merchant cannot
meet And as soon as the Brooklyn
merchant is crushed the price of coffee
and sugar will be raised and the trust
will make good it's loss and will take a
million or SO in addition as payment for
the trouble this impudent fellow gave
it. There is entirely too much imper-
tinent criticism and rebellion against
these monopolies. The Independent
business men and the people generally
need to be taught their place. 1t is
earnestly hoped that the monopolies
will be even more severe in the future.
Put the screws on hard. The break
will come the sooner!
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

giles and the parched fields come dust
clouds laden with the seeds of death in
many forms-and among them that swift
est and most dreaded of all forms of death
in Asia-cholera. Whole villages. weak
ened by hunger, are swept away by it.
Father, mother and children die together
There is no one to bury the dead Houses
IN the outlying villages are filed with
corpses, and the gaunt wolves and jack
ais from the jungles are emboldened to
enter the deserted streets in search of the
food which famine, though it has made
them lean in the beginning. supplies them
IN superabundance in the end.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

ground parches under sun which bakes
it until it is dust with no drop of moisture
anywhere to make even a cooling dew.
The brooks vanish. The rivers become
mere threads or dry up altogether. The
pools of water on which the villages chief
ly rely are foul at best, but in prolonged
drought the water in them evaporates
until it is of the consistency of slime.
And this slime, foul with animal and
vegetable putrefaction. the people must
drink as the horrors of thirst are added to
those of hunger Up from the dry iun-
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS FOR 1895
Statement Relating to Merchandise.
Gold and SILVER Issued

statement Relating to Merchandise
Gold and SILVER Issued.
The monthly statement of the exports
and imports of merchandise. gold and sill
Yer for the month of December. 1896. and
for the twelve months of the calendar
year 1896, shows as follows: Exports of
domestic merchandise during December.
$'16,12S,3334 and for the year. S9S6.S71.-
256 This is gain of $25, ,OJ2. 900 for the
month, as compared with the December.
1893, and gain for the year of S179,-
l2S,OOO. The imports of merchandise
during DecembeT Amounted to S57,9 ,956.-
0O9, and for the year SGSO. .556. .223. OF
the amount for the year S321, ,951. .526 was
free Of duty and 1858 So, ,72.- ,grs.s {l,f,sa--
bic. The zG:rI so lie month is ab6ut "a
2004@J0 and the loss for the year abont
SlZ1 ,l13,000. The exports of gold during
December amounted to S405. 500 and tine
imports to $2,572,211. For the wear the
exports aggregated $56.742. .S44 and the
imports $1O2, 1885, ,43S. The silver exnorts
during December amounted to So. .S19 545
and the imports to $1,219. .SO1. During
the year the exports amounted to SG3,-
o29,o36, and the imports to $12.5O4,577.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

Hale, the victorious cyclist, not only
broke the wheeling record, but the diet
ary score also. On the first day his con-
sumption Of food by wight was 341s
pounds, on the second SO pounds, and
the total weight in six days was 1921
pounds. This goes beyond the perform
ance Of the Zulu Kaffir, who makes
nothing Of consuming fifteen or twenty
pounds of baked elephants foot at a
sitting, but who follows up his feast
with a fast of considerable duration,
not trying to live the pace for a week
together, as Hale succeeded in doing
without apparently incurring any Inv
Jury.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

inc, the great leveller. brushes away dis
tinctions like cobwebs. In the agonies OF
hunger they forget the religion which
made them apathetic and meek, and in
great crowds they throng around the
headquarters of the local governments.
demanding bread with ferceness which
gnawing hunger can inspire even in
Hindoo-the mildest of all slaves.
During the famine period of 1S11-IS
the British Government spent S4O,OOo,OOO
in attempts at relief, but in spite of all it
did in relief work, there were 1.556,OO0
deaths in single year in the single prov
ince of Madras
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21
DVzskSa e aSE|'ft1s E|'
SspRESs

Out in San Francisco that Durant case.
still continues to hang, while Durant him
self doesn't.-Cincinnati Commercial Bul-
letin.
The murders of 1896 exceed those of
1898, but then last years comic songs
certainly were good deal more irritating.
cleveland Plain Dealer.
1t appears that there is an impression
among some persons that they can make
good bank officials of themselves by Com
mitting suicide.-New York Journal.
Now New York has begun a war on the
tall church bonnet. This loks very like
movement against feminine piety in
its most popular form.-BOston Herald.
We are sure that this Mr.. Angel. who
wants to come to the Senate from Idaho,
would feel very much out of place ON the
roll call of that body.-Wa ashington Post.
Georgia is unable to see why such a
pother should be made over Kentucky's
six lynchings in six days. Georgia some
times has nearly that many on one limb
at time.-Kansas City Journal.
Recent events in Western banking cir
cles are likely to increase the popularity of
the stocking heel and the chimney as
places of safe deposit for people of a saw
ing disposition.-New York Press.
1t was very thoughtful in the makers of
New Year calendars to have the figures
so large and black. Hang one of 'em on
the wall and you can tell when a note falls
due without getting out of bed.-Atlanta
Constitution
The delights of holiday buying have
now been followed by the equally keen
pleasures of post-holiday bargain hunt
ing, and the soul of the shopping woman
is full of energetic peace and joy.-BaI-
tlmore American.
China is establishing schools for the
teaching of English 1t is not suruised.
however, that the demand for teachers
will interfere to any considerable extent
with the laundry business in this country.
Houston Post
Mayor Pennoyer, of Portland. Ore, de-
cided that his salary was too large. and so
he offered to give back one-half of it.
There are various degrees of this malady.
but 1T is not very often elected to office.
Baltimore American.
White Ghost, Sioux chief. has gone TO.
Washington to collect little bill of $780,
900 said to be due his tribe. If he is sue
cessful in his errand it will not be neces-
sary for this Ghost to walk back for lack
of car fare.-New York Press.
Frederick Starr, professor of anthro-
pology at the Chicago University. an
nounces that the American people are de
generating into Indians. This theory ac-
counts for the increasing popularity of
the college yell.-Chicago Journal
One of the most sublime and ridiculous
attributes of human nature is the peren-
NAL assumption that if few men will
meet and pass a law against an evil, that
evil will at once get scared and flee to
parts unknown.-St. Louis Republic.
1t is reported that woman in Philadel-
phia who has been a kleptomaniac has
been permanently cured by a surgical ope-
ration. The surgeons have not yet re-
ported the nature of the operation. but if
it simply involves the amputation of her
fingers the cure Is not discovery worth
mentioning. Journal
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

its dialects is so strikingly like our own
that there can be no doubt of their blood
relationship to us. Yet they seem to be
utterly without the race impulses which
force the European into ceaseless activity.
Given thatched hut with a little rice or
grain enough to make cake on the heat
ed stones of the hearth and they do not
care for the future.
The jungles near which they make their
villages are full of fierce quadrupeds and
yet more deadly reptiles. Tigers kill and
devour them, cobras sting them to such
an extent that the deaths from this cause
alone run INTO the thousands every year
The deadly lniasma of the marsh and the
jungle saps their vitality until they are
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

Senator Davis, Of Minnesota. saws
that the country has never experienced
such hard times as in 1857. money
was not only scarce, but there was no
money ia cfrculation-none to be had
anywhere Along the Chippewa, Black,
Mississippi, and other rivers sawlogs
were legal tender. In fact, everything
that possessed any sort of value passed
as token money. Up in Northern Wis
consin copper was mined, and copper
cents were minted and issued by pri-
vate individuals. The general store
keepers issued their own scrip, and it
passed for money many time We
had every kind of token money except
wampum. We didn't get quite that far
back to the primitive method and me-
dium Of exchange"
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

At Philadelphia a wagon loaded
with gasoline collided with an electric
car. The wagon was demolished and
the oil flooded the street. The accident
attracted the attention Of a motorman
OF another car, who ran his car up to
the scene. Seeing the Oil running under
his car, he turned on the current to get
away. A spark from the wheel i'm
mediately ignited the gasoline fumes
and instantly the street was ablaze
-Four pople were injured, one seriously,
and one horse was burned to death.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

One Of the largest nuggets of pure
gold of which record has been made
that was ever found in either North
or South America is, says the New
York Sun, now in the office of Carter,
Hawley & Co, William street and Ex-
change place. 1t was found on a
placer mine in Dutch Guiana, ON the
north coast of South America, in No
vember last. 1t is in the shape of an
irregular honeyeombed triangular
plate that is about ten inches long on
the base line, by six and half inches
high to the apex and an inch and half
thick. 1t weighs 1854 pounds troy, and
seems to be pure enough to sell for $50
an ounce, or $3,753.60 for the whole
mass.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

a Boston woman who has lately re-
turned from England brought with her,
among other curiosities collected dur
Ing long residence abroad a piece of
fancy work which was purchased at q
fashionable charity bazar in London,
1t is knitted shawl about half yard
square, and its color is pink. The ex-
ecut1on is Indifferent, the usefulness or
the beauty of this article is not appar-
.ent, yet the present possessor values it
beyond price. 1t is the handiwork of
the Queen Of England, and sent by her
to the bazar. where II was raf1ied for.
This royal handmade shawl has
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21
HORRORS OF FAMINE.
APPALLING CALAMITY THREAT.
EMS THE INDIAN EMPIRE.
Millions Of Human Beings May Perish,
as in lS77-7S, of Hunger and Pesti-
1erce-Ihe Peoples Miserable Con-
dition-Measures of Relief devised.
Ghastly Records o. the Past

Y.
The famine prevailing in the north and
northwestern parts of India is. according
to the best information available, one of
the most appalling calamities which has
ever visited the great peninsula. The dis
trict affected is many thousand square
miles in extent and the failure of the
crops has been almost complete. The mill
ions of India live from hand to mouth,
and when from any cause even single
crop fails the effect is at once apparent
in widespread suffering. With 1,250,000
people on the verge of starvation in the
Deccan alone and the gloomiest prospects
In other great agricultural provinces. the
civilized world may be shocked by re-
currence of the unspeakable horror of
such famines as those of 1869 and 1877
1S, when people died not by the thousand
or the ten thousand, but by the million.
The population of British India is now
estimated at 240,000,000 people-twice as
many as the Roman empire had as it's
period of greatest strength. Nearly all
these millions are laborers living from
hand to mouth, and the giving such sur
plus as they produce to support the Brit
ish imperial establishment and their own
priests and hereditary rulers.
India's Pitiable Condition.
At best, their condition is utterly mis-
can occupy in looking at them These
strange people living in the hotbed of ma
tions, speak a language which in some of
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21
BLEACH THEIR OATS.
An illegal Practice Attributed to
Chicago Grain Dealers,

AL AiASSai EfaCtlCe Atfri buted to
Chicago Grain Dealers.
Considerable interest has been aroused
over the discovery that oats bleached
with sulphur have been handled in The
Chicago market. 1t is against the law
OF the State to use such a process. but the
poor quality of the present oats crop has
proved too great a temptation to certain
who have frightened up the oats
with sulphur to help out poor lots. The
fact became generally known when in
surance inspectors made complaint to
two or three concerns, and raised the in
surance on certain buildings: Later all
the large concerns handling oats were
questioned as to whether they were using
sulphur. Most of them denied it en-
phatically. The innocent ones in the trade
are highly incensed at the use of the
process by others, as it is claimed it will
hurt the reputation of Chicago oats.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

1t is the practical aspect of civil serv-
ice reform that makes it unassailable
Great as its benefits are to the public
service, they might not be able to pro-
tect it against a combined attack in
Congress if the spoils system were
really, as it was once thought to be, a
strong tower of defense for the poll
tician. He has learned that it is the
weakest point in his armor He, in self
defense, is now ranged with the friends
of good government ON the side of civil
service reform.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

Nearly everybody learns to do some
thing nowadays. The man or woman
Of fashion usually plays on some musi-
cal instrument or recites. The newest
thing, however, is the mastering Of the
art Of the prestidigitateur. Many Of
the swell men have become adopts and
entertain their guests with tricks of
conjuring. To do this we'll quick eye.
a dextrous hand and a ready tongue are
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

The sending of cotton from the South
to San Francisco for reshipment thence
to China and Japan is one Of the anom-
allies of commerce. Cotton for the ORR
ent has hitherto been shipped entirely
from New Orleans and Mobile, but the
demand has increased so enormously
In the last year that those ports alone
can no longer supply it, and it has been
found necessary to send vast quantities
overland by rail to California.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

Twenty-Five turkey gobblers at New
Brunswick, \. j.. attacked a tramp
who had entered their incloSure with
felonious intent, and when he got away
he had no turkey, nor as much clothes
or cuticle as when he started in.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

There is no royal road to wealth, and
there is no way to shoe a horse except
to nail on the shoe. So says a black
smith, and. in proof Of his assertion,
he states that while nearly 200 patents
have issued for horseshoes and $4,000
paid into the patent office at Washing
ton, not one Of the inventions has ever
been used
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

A New York clergyman who recently
conducted a Sunday morning service
on Blackwell's Island learned that
there are at present fifteen college
graduates wearing the "stripes" in that
penitentiary.