davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11

found more than six or seven rooms
which the teacher in charge could not
control. There is an abundance of poor
teaching and any amount of lack Of
teaching. The country is full Of people
who can control. 1t is also an easy
thing to teach pupils to read in the
sense of recognizing word-forms. In
pills in the upper rOoms who can read
with fiuency. Teachers with no meth
cd or with any one method or with all
methods will teach pupils to read. 1t is
easy to teach grammar to a certain eX-
tent. By the aid of ~diagramming and
formal parsing a mechanical proficien-
cy may be secured which is closely akin
to intelligence. History and geography,
too, have their easily accessible phases.
1t is quite as remarkable what children
markable what ignorant persons can
do in the way of teaching.
On the other hand. it is remarkable
how little influence the common school
has Cd the life of the pupil after he
leaves school. | mean in the way of
giving him a predispositiOn to push any
or all of his studies after his school
days are ended. The biographies and
histories and reading books of our COM
mon schools have no successors unless
the pupils find them in higher institu-
lions Of learning. Does it not seem fair
to expect that the common school will
make book stores more profitable? l
mean real book stores and not paper
covered ones.-EXchange.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Political Pointers,

In the meantime nobody has recently
mentioned Benjamin Harrison, for
merly well known in the American re-
public, for a place in the cabinet.
InsMexico, if an advance agent mis-
represent his show he is sent to Jail. If
Hanna lived in Mexico he would have
to secure a pardon before running for
Senator.
You are u kind of people. Mad
den, and We are sorry you lost, but
We'll do a whole lot of the kind of work
you We're expected to dot. Cute Platt
and N. Slippery Quay.
The Ohio wolves want the govern
ment to prohibit the entrance of for
eign wool into this country. Perhaps
one of the vultures will explain how
this will increase our revenues.
The old Mckinley tariff has been put
back upon lumber, 70 far as the recon-
mendation of the ways and means COM
mittee is concerned. The consumer Of
lumber, the householder, will soon
find out how much more expensive it
is to rear a dwelling under high pro-
lection than it has been under a mad
crate tariff.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Refuse Oyster Shells.

The waters of Maryland produce one
third of the total supply in the world.
1t yields twice as many of the luscious
bivalves as are grown in all foreign
countries combined. During the presen.
century it has put on the market 400
100000 bushels of the toothsome mol
lusks. These have sold for the enor-
NOUS sum Of $3.50, 600, 900. Almost nj,
of this country is dependent for the
abundance and cheapness of this edible
on the supply Of the Chesapeake. From
here also come very nearly all of The
oysters used for canning. In fact. the
output OF this industry in Maryland IS
equal TO one-siXth of all the fisheries OF
the tnited States put together.
The quantity of oyster shells landed
upon the shores of Maryland during the
last century has been reckoned at H.
O0G,G0O tons. Until very lately the can
ming firms have had much trouble in
getting rid of the shells, having to paw.
in fact, FOR the removal of all that they
could no give away. Recently. how
ever, they have been able to sell them.
They are now shipped to all parts of
the country and are utilized v~ariously
for roads. for lime and employed in
making coal gas. They have also been
found to serve almost as well as stone
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
E,raaks

Near my old home in Marshall Coun-
", Kansas" said Mr.. G. A. A. Deane-
of Little Rock. Ark. at the Hotel Page.
there occurred a cyclone the other day
that performed a queer feat. 1t struck
the house of a former neighbor of mine
and scattered things in various direc-
tons. y few days later he got a letter
that had been carried by the wind ana
dropped in a small town in Nebraska
~sixty-five miles to the northeast. and
not long afterward some c~onsiderate
stranger mailed him his check book
that had been found away down in Mis-
souri,, 100 miles to the southwest.
Now. the truth of these statements I
will vOuch for, as they are made by
one of the most reliable men I ever
knew. Why the two articles should
have been carried in opposite directions
| am unable TO explain-it's too deep
for the unscientific mind. and | ON
mend it to some of UEcle Sans tornado
experts in Observation-Disclosures
Post.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11

In the manufacture OF special grades OF
iron for railroad beds. Cultivators OF
oysters also employ them, having found
that they afford suitable surfaces foS
young oysters to attach themselves To.
They are likewise used to some extent
as chicken food. They are very good
for hens. the shells of eggs being large
" made of them. The trade received
$4,000 in a single year for the empty
shells.
Starishes are the oysters worst enc
my. Other animals the young sivalyes
have to guard against are crabs and
boring snails. They are also in danger
of being stiled by mud. In Pacific wa
tiers stingrays are their most dreaded
foes. The little crab that lives in the
shell of the oyster has always excited
much interest. 1t is found in about !
per cent of the bivalves. 1t is n sort OF
parasite of the oyster. whose she'll pro-
tects it and whose feed supports tt
Philadelphia Times.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Sleeping on the Stomach.

Sound, restful sleep, both by night
and by day. is more easily induced if
from the first the child be taught to lie
on its stomach and face. The only nee
essary precaution against %suffocation is
the provision of a smooth. fiat. some
what hard hair mattress without a pill
low. The advantages of this position
are many. Some one has said that half
the diseases of infancy result from
keeping the stomach too cold and the
other half from Oyerheating the spine.
BY adopting the position suggested as
the uniform one during the hours OF
sleep the stomach and abdomen are
kept so warm as to prevent the collie
and stomach ache and materially to aid
h digestive process, while the spine
and back Of the head are no longer
overheated by the increased tempera-
ture of the sleeping child. 1t may be a
coincidence merely, but it is at least a
significant one. that all the children the
writer has known to rest habitually
face downward have been unusually
sound sleepers and have enjoyed more
than average good health.-Harper's
Bazaar.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
StOD the Evil.


Should the little folks be required to
prepare lessons for school at home?
Emphatically, 10. Six hours mental
application, which they get in school,
is enough of a demand upon their vital
resources every day. A sound mind and
a healthy body are worth infinitely
more to every man and than
the knowledge of books and schools.
Give the children a chance to play and
romp, to laugh and sing, to rest and
sleep, so that the fatigue and worry
h a necessarily settle upon them from
the days work may be thrown off, and
their young systems kept fresh and
elastic. Do not crush the springs of
young life and make children at seven
and ten talk and act like old people.
You have no right to starve their men
tai and moral growth, and yet that is
what you are doing when you burden
them with work at night. Six hours
study is more than enough for any
child below twelve years of age, and to
attempt more than this is taking a
mortgage upon the child's future health
and happiness. Let us be content in
such cases with the school, and not
seek to do that which will harass the
child's sleep with troubled dreams and
the morbid fancies of an overworked
brain.-Exchange.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Not EXACTLY a Cinch.

This is the way a man named Gaines,
of st. Peter, Mimi, got the better of an
insurance company: Many years aSS
Mr.. Gaines insured his life for So. 800.
After many years of payment of 500 Il
year premium at the age of 30 years lie
asked the officers of the company how
much they would pay him to cancel his
policy. They offered him $4,000. He
refused to take it, but made them this
proposition: IF you will give me SIG
a year until death, which is IS a week,
L will cancel the policy"
Agreed" said the company. which
thought it had a cinch in its favor. as
he would not live many years. Since
that time he has lived eighteen years.
and the company has paid him his
yearly stipulation of SAG. which I'D to
this time has amounted to $7,4SS-the
savings of the 800 premium in the eigh-
teen years and the interest make it the
snug sun of over $4,000 that the old
gained by his bargain. Mr.. Gaines
is well preserved at SO, and bids fer to-
receive many more payments at the
hands of the company, which struck a
tough piece of human timber upon
which to base it's calculations.-Chica-oA
Tribune.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
In the Gas Office.

There was a look of joy about his
face as he went into the gas office that
made the man behind the counter glad
in his soul. 1t was so different from
the expression Which visitors ordinarily
wore. He walked to one window and
then TO another and stood around and
smiled.
Can we do anything for your the
clerk inquired.
''Nope. Go right ahead with your bus
mess. Don't mind me-"
"If you came to get warm the clerk
suggested. the heater is over on that
side of the room"
Il didn't come to get warm. There's
a genial glow through me that makes
external heat entirely unnecessary. L
bad a few spare minutes and l came
here to gloat.'
cover whom?" was the surprised
query.
Over the company"
II must say 1 don't quite under
stand you"
Il suppose I'd better explain it. It's
too good to keep. But l get so much
enjoyment out of it that you'll have
TO excuse me if ] tell it slow, so as to-
make it last longer. Your people are
very particular about your meters"
"Of course. We have to be-"
you've got it down so you can meas
ure the extra pressure that occurs all
through the city if one of the wOrkmen
happens to cough in your gas factory"
I'VE haven't got it quite so close IA
that, but we've done our best to protect
our interests"
Well, L had occasion to have a san
itary plumber in my house yesterday
He's the a that made the discovery.
informed me that there was a whole
lot of gas in my house that you
lever discovered. You didn't have any
arrangements for measuring it in the
meter, and it got clear past you. I'm
not naturally yindictive, but l couldn't
resist the temptation to come around
and tell you about it and make you feel
bad."-WashingtOn Star. 10
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
That Explained 1t.

One of the dispensary doctors-it
would not be fair to name him-teIls
a good story on himself.
There was a dispute as to the disease
of which a certain gentleman died
whom he had attended. Several medi-
cal friends insisted that he had died of
dropsy. None of them knew that the
young doctor had attended him, and
when he remarked that he knew what
the man died of. and insisted that ev-
cry body else was wrong, one of them
said:
How do you know so we'll what he
died of? If you know so we'll, perhaps
you can-tell u.s.
II know what he died of-because I
attended him." was the reply, and the
cruel answer came in chorus: THAT
explains why he died."-St. Louis Post
Dispatch.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
How To Read

Read topically, read about a period,
read about a certain nation. Have a
system, but don't spend so much time
on the system as not to read at all. AS
to what to read" read relatively little
fiction, no matter how good. Read what
interests you. Read in connection with
your business. Be sure to read at least
n great and good book each year.
Have books, but do not buy a whole Ii
brary at once Buy the books you want.
Let your library grow up around you.
No n can afford not to buy books.
When a man gets where he wants no
more books he is dead and only awaits
burying. The envelope system of secur-
ing and classifying the results of ones
reading is to be commended. Have a
series of envelopes. Put the topic on
the outside. Put a blank piece of paper
in each. On this put references to any
work you may have read on the sub
Ject. Also put newspaper cuttings in
the same envelopes. By this means
ones information on any subject can
be massed very quickly.-Selected.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Singing.

Among the tried recipes for happi-
ness and good work in primary classes
none finds greater favor with me than
singing. l wish every teacher of little
ones could thoroughly appreciate the
assistance it affords. There is nothing
more refreshing and restful after q
period Of steady work than a song. The
effect is sometimes magical. Pencils
are placed by tired little hands that
look as though they. could go no far
Their. But look again a minute or two
later. Fingers are moving as rapidly as
muscles can make them, as the snow
comes failing down so pure and
white" The music and motions put
new life into the children.
Languor and lassitude fly before a
bright song, and often when a spirit of
unrest and disorder seems to possess
the class it disappears entirely when
the regular work is stopped for five
minutes and a song substituted.
Chilren love singing. There is no
doubt about this, and when we add to
that fact the other, that it is of the
greatest assistance in preserving good
order, we should be convinced of the
desirabiliity of giving it a place in u
program. 1 would have every grade up
to the highest sing, and sing frequent
ly. Time is not lost, but rather saved,
by it.-Educational Record.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Fresh Burdens !or the Farmer,

The Republicans are doing their best,
as far as can be judged, to evade the
responsibility they sued for. Instead
of trying to remedy the constant and
growing losses of the farmers the Re-
publicans are actually engaged in pre-
pairing to legislate higher prices on the
goods which the farmer has to buy and
which, for lack Of money, he cannot
buy even at present prices.-Atlanta
Constitution.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Bosses of New York State.

Republican rule in New York stands
to-day for Platt and Payne. two men
whose theories of political purpose and
political methods are utterly corrupt,
and lowest in modern political life; two
men neither of whom would dare sub
nit his cause to the people. knowing
that it would be buried under an V
whelming adverse vote. & st. Paul
Globe.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Asking for Too Much

If Chairman Dingley can devise Il
bill that will collect $50, 900 a year
from the taxpayers without their
knowledge OIL consent he will meet a
long-felt want. Another way which is
received with jeers by politicians and
cheers by the people would be to re-
duce expenses $50,0O0,00O a year, but
of course this is asking too much. and
we hope the politicians will pardon us
for ever limiting at such a revolution.
airy charlottesville Post.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Congressional Extravasauce.

INK
When Speaker Reed, a few years ago,
warned his neutrality-suspicious. that it
would prove a dangerous thing from q
party standpoint for them to furnish
the country with the spectacle of 4
'billion-dollar Congress" they paid but
little attention to him. and what he
foresaw did happen. There was a po-
litical overturning which completely
staggered them and lost them control
of the Government for four years.
The country has now had another
Republican Congress for two straight
years. and it is a billion-dollar one be-
yond question. When Mr.. Reed gave
his former warning there vas only a
possibility of a billion-dollar Congress.
The>moSt conservative estimate of the
cost of the present n to the people is
forty-five millions more than the bill
lion. which the then Car of the House
himself considered the height of ex-
..ravagance!
Despite the desperate condition of the
treasury. as well as of the country at
arge, every appropriation bill reported
% the House during the present session
nas been larger than the similar bill of
he preceding session. Thus the pace
s set in XtIayagance for the next Con
gress, which will have a Republican
President, who is sure not to set his
,ace in favor of that economy which is
contrary to the traditions of his party.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Insist on Robbiuc the People.

To-day, when you could count on the
fingers of n hand all the industries
Of the United States that could not
compete on equal terms with the prod
ucts of like industries in any other
country in the world, we find that. so
far from gradually diminished duties,
a special session Of Congress is to be
called to restore them to the highest
point ever known.-St. Paul Globe.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Protection Another Name for Robber,

Protection Another Name for Robbery
The present tariff law has been the
best protector of American industries
ever devised in this country, for it has
enabled Americans to sell more goods
and product abroad than ave- before,
but this is not what the millionaire
manufacturers want. What they actu-
ally mean by protection is a measure
that will so choke off foreign competi-
ton that they can sell their goods to
their people atltwe or three times
their value.-Memphis Commercially
peal.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Cycling in Paris.

Cycling is increasing rapidly in Paris.
The Touring Club de France has been
six years in existence. and while in
1895 it numbered 25.COO members. it las
increased to $4,000 and it is confidently
predicted that before the exhibition is
opened it will attain the high figure Of
100000.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11

protection for trusts and the whole bur-
den of federal taxation put upon con-
sumption-the food, fuel. clothing and
shelter of the ~people-this is the pro-
gram. The advance agent of prosper
ity" proves to be the arrived agent Of
injustice.-New York World.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
The Four Burden-Bearers.

Food. fuel, clothing and shelter are
The four essentials of existence in our
climate. The Dingley bill as drafted
puts nearly the whole burden of taxa
ton upon these prime n~ecessaries. The
so-cal1ed farmers schedule taxes every
article of food for man or beast that
NAV seek access to u market to sup
DIV local or temporary deficiencies.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
a LOGICAL

Expecting the Republican party to
lake II decisive action against the
monopolies and trusts is like expecting
a cat TO drown her own kittens, and
those who still have a lingering belief
that the LeXOw investigation will
amount 10 anything. or who hope that
the Mckinley administration will do
something of consequence for the relief
of the people, are sure to be disap-
pointed and undeceived.
Monopolies, trusts and combinations
of all sorts, formed to enable the few to
enrich themselves at the expense Of the
many, are the offspring of the Republi-
cal system Of alleged protection, of
which we are Ire to have another eX-
ample in the Tariff bill, for the passing
of which Congress will be called in
extra session after Mckinley has been
inaugurated. They are the result of
government partnership with individ-
uals and classes wherein the former are
put in the possession of millions that
make it possible for them to contribute
literally to campaign funds and to buy
up PreSidencieS and Legislatures that
may help and protect" them in their
raids on the pockets of the masses.
The Republican party to-day is the
champion of those who have already
made vast fortunes with the aid of the
Government, and who want to add to
them, as well as to put their friends
and relatives into good things" 1t
could not do otherwise than favor the
trusts, the monopolistic manufacturers,
the favored national bankers or any
of the other big fry who fatten on the
masses. To think for a moment that
its mos conspicuous representative,
Mckinley, will try to cut loose from
them and select anybody for his cabi-
net who is not entirely satisfactory to
them is merely to blind oneself to the
logic of the situation.
The money-making combinations will
be intrenched in all governmental
places of power so long as the Repub-
llcan party remains triumphant. That
much is certain, and the people now
realize it.-New York News.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Horses and Motors

In England it is estimated that tn.
cost of fodder for a horse travelling
twenty miles a day is twopence Der
mile, while a motor-wagon of two and
a half horsepower can be driven the
same distance at the expense of half a
penny per mile.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Highly Paid Labor the Best,

Americans can manufacture iron
more cheaply than Englishmen, while
paying much higher wages to labor,
but it has been conclusively demon
strated that the best paid labor is the
cheapest. England pays better wages
than are paid on the continent of Eu-
rope, but in spite of that she has been
able to, maintain her supremacy, be-
cause she gets more service for a given
amount of money. s The same is true
Of labor in the United States. 1t is bet
ter paid than that of England. but in
return it renders better service and Is
more Observation-Disclosures Times.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Farmers end Good Roads.

A review of he proceedings of the
farmers meetings, being held this win
ter. shows that the tillers of the soil are
taking up the subject of improved high
ways in an earnest and active manner
1t can no longer be truthfully said
that the farmers, as a class. are against
the good roads movement. A goodly
majority of them are eXerting a strong
influence for the betterment of the pub
lie ways, and are laboring with their
less-infOrmed neighbors, to try and
make them view the subject in the same
light.
The result of the campaign of edu-
cation, that is being carried on this win
ter, will become happily apparent in the
superior amount and kind of road i'm
provement that will be undertaken in a
great many localities when spring ar
riyes.
From State legislatures to the i'm
promptu gatherings about the store
stove, at the corner grocery. the sub
Ject of better roads is being dwelt up
on. Luckily it is a question, the discus
sion of which means that, eventually,
1t will be answered in the proper way.
Wheelmen, in every locality. should
keep the matter before the public for
consideration. The present year should
bring large results in road and street
improvements. A. W. Bulletin.
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Teacher OR Drillmaster.

There are certain things which are
easy of accomplishment in a school
room. In over seventy schools that I
have inspected thus far I have not
The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-03-11
Can Get No Jurymen.

1t has been discovered in Jamestown.
r. l., that it is impossible to secure a
man there for jury duty, as they are
all enrolled in the fire department.