davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Good Roads VS.. Bad Roads.

The present state Of our common
roads ought to stimulate any public
spirit that may still exist among our
farmers. Oh, such beds of mire, or
frozen masses like loads of stone
dumped Oh the roads. are the character
of the roads in this vicinity
This winter, owing to absence of
snow enough to make good sleighing,
has been a very trying one to our farm
ers who had produce to haul to market
or were obliged to come to town to get
their mail. To present a realizing es-
innate Of what our roads are at pres
ent, will give your readers single
instance of one of our "lovely" high
ways. l live at the termination of one
OF the finest avenues Of elm trees ever
saw. DR.. Weed, my next neighbor.
planted them over forty years ago, and
they have grown up and formed an
avenue over mile long. This, Park
avenue. is one of the attractions of our
city, and strangers are always taken
out to admire the approach to our city
that cannot be equaled in any of the
parks in Europe. Three months ago,
when the roads were dry and dusty,
this avenue was the favorite drive for
pleasure-seekers, and the bicycle rid
ers kept it warm.
This avenue is fine level surface,
and the road graders had it put in nice
shape by rounding up the middle of the
road About week since a large
drove of cattle was driven down this
avenue. That day the thaw was about
six inches in depth, but that night it
froze hard, and you can imagine the
state of the road next day-scarcely
single square yard that was not punch
ed full of holes six inches deep; and, in
credible as it may appear, there is an
lneXhaustible supply of gravel within
half mile of the road, and there were
Idle men and teams enough this winter
to have made three or four first-class
roads across the country.
am the firm advocate of gravel
roads for our prairie country, and give
the following reasons:
First-They are the cheapest. and
When the road is in good shape and
drainage secured, the top dressing can
be applied any time, even during the
winter.
Second-Gravel can be obtained with
III easy reach Of the roads, as most
counties produce it, and it requires no
engineering to apply it.
Ihird-When depressions occur OF
holes form, gravel soon forms smooth
surface when used in repairs, and soon
becomes incorporated with the road
bed.
Fourth--It is always clean, as the
rain washes off the mud and the wind
blows off the dust.
Drainage is the first consideration in
all road building, particularly in gravel
roads,
1lils road question grows so import
AM as l write that l will have to defer
lufther remarks to another letter; in
'he meantime the farmers should hold
meetings to consider the best means to
secure better roads, and county con-
Nehtions should be held to determine
vi future action.-Samuel Sinnett, in
arm, Field and Fireside.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
AUNT Hannah" Chard Is Dead.

AunC k1aHndn Cnaru is DEAD.
"Aunt Hannah" Chard. 1OS years old
and who had 1O5 descendants, died
the other day at Ferrell, N. j. She was
brought to public notice about six
months ago, when she resolved to give
up smoking, after having been a de-
votee of the pipe for more than half 4
century, because she had read that the
continued use Of tobacco would short
en- life. In the latter years of her life
Mrs. Chard's chief cause Of concern
was that she could no longer thread
her own needle. She felt sensitive
about this and did not like the subject
to be referred to in company Two
years ago she was prostrated for a
short time by the death of her son,
Jackson Chard, at the age of 81. 81
knew l should never rear that boy,"
was the burden of her lament. "FIe
was weakly from the cradle" "Aunt
Hannah was born in New York. She
ran away from home and was a flower
girl in Philadelphia, where she saw
Washington, Lafayette and other rev.
olutionary generals. She accompanied
a family Of pioneers into the wilder
ness Of Southern New Jersey and at the
age of 21 married William Chard, who
died prematurely thirteen years ago at
the early age of 81. The Chard family
has claim of 1900 acres in Brooklny.
They are related to Gen. Sckles.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Neuralgia and Headaches in Girls


Nothing is SO terrible as severe neu
ralgia, and beyond a doubt girls ac-
quire it often enough by the conditions
of school life Headaches in school
girl usually mean exhausted nerve
power through over-worl1, over-eXcite-
ment, over-anXiety, or bad air. Rest
a good laugh, or a country walk will
usually cure it readily enough to begin
with. But to become subject to head
aches is a very serious matter, and all
such nervous diseases have a nasty
tendency to recur, to become periodic
to be set up by the same causes to be-
come an organic habit Of the body. For
any woman to become liable to severe
neuralgia is most terrible thing. It
means that while it lasts life is not
worth having. 1t paralyZes the power
to work. 1t deprives her of the power to
enjoy anything, it tends toward irrita-
bility Of temper, it tempts to the use of
narcotics and stimulants
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Sir Isaac Newton's Scientific Jump.

Sir Isaac Newton's Scientific Jump.
In an article on the measurement of
the force of the wind, recently pub
hshed in the Monthly Weather Review,
an interesting story is recalled Of how
Sir Isaac Newton undertook such a
measurement when boy. 1t was dur
ing great gale on the Sd of Septem-
Der, 1868. The fact that Newton had
no apparatus, did not battle his in
genuity. He stood out in the wind
and jumped as far as he could against
1t, and then as far as he could with it,
and a comparison of the distances-gave
him the data for calculating the force
Of the gale.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
A Loose Talker.

Mr.. Bellefield-I don't like Spiffins.
He has wheels in his head.
Mr.. Bloomtield-Don't you think that
is an expression to be condemned?
Mr. Belletield-Indeed l don't. 1
know that Spiffins has wheels in his
head.
Mr.. Bloomfield-How do you know:
Mr.. Bellefield-By the spokes that
come out of his mouth.-Pittsburg
Chroncle-TelegraDh.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
lie las always taking hopefully and
confidently to the members of his fam

lie las always taking hopefully and
confidently to the members of his fam
lily.
"It is strangely quiet" remarked the
Colonel one September morning. 81
have not heard gun, and see nobody
passing"
He walked on the piazza and looked
up and down the street.
There was nobody visible.
He waited a while, and far in the dis
tance he saw a cloud of dust. s.
a large body of soldiers was ap.
preaching.
"More prisoners" said the Colonel.
"We captured a lot yesterday, and now
we have about thousand more. More
prisoners and more to come"
He rubbed his hands gleefully.
Tramp, tramp, tramp!
The soldiers were passing by the
house.
Suddenly the Colonel stopped his
promenade. Shading his eyes with one
hand, he gazed intenty into the street,
There could be no doubt about it. The
prisoners were dressed in gray, while
their guards wore the blue! The soli-
tary spectator came near fainting. Sur
prise, Indignation and horror flashed
from his eyes.
''1t cannot be!' he gasped
The long procession continued its
march, and back of the prisoners came
more men in blue, companies, regi-
ments, brigades and divisions.
The Colonel ran down to the gate and
asked an officer a question.
Gen. Slocum's CORPS" was the reply.
Without word the old man stag
gered back to the piazza, and sank into
an armchair.
A band passed by playing ''The Star
Spangled Banner and the children
and their mother came to the door.
They gave little scream when they
saw the host in blue.
Then they rushed to their friend and
protector, who was so strangely silent.
The figure in the chair neither moved
nor spoke.
His daughter gently raised his head,
and uttered cry of grief
The old Colonel was dead!-Wallace
Putnam Reed, in Chicago Times-Her-
aid.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
A Brave ,Junp.

IN december last the Baltimore
american reported Il heroic act per-
formed by William Frasher, brake
man on the Maryland division of the
ililiadelphia, Wilmington and Balti-
more Railroad. The freight train on
" Nn4ch he was running had slowed up
neiore ~. crossing the bridge over Bush
a.Ner. when suddenly lie caught sight
" ooy and a girl struggling in the
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
The Fear of High Places.

President G. Stanley Hall, of Clark
University, has lately been studying
the origin Of the various forms Of fear
and terror, and he suggests that the
common fear Of high places, which
many animals exhibit, and which is
very acute with some human beings,
may be "a vestigal trace, like the gill
Sits under the skin of our necks, ante
dating limbs and inherited from our
swimming ancestors" In reply to this
Prof. Wesley Mills, of McGill Univer-
sity, says that while the youngest
mammals and birds exhibit peculiar
manifestations when placed near the
edge of an elevated surface. yet tur-
tie will walk off any elevated support
again and again, and frog twill jump
almost anywhere" These exceptions,
he thinks, present a difficulty to the
acceptance Of President Halls theory.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
How Train sweeps Air Along.

Interesting results Of an inyestiga-
ton Of the effect produced by rail
road train on the air through which
it moves We're presented at recent
meeting of the ST. Louis Academy Of
Science, by Prof. f. e. Nipher 1t ap-
pears that motion is communicated to
the atmosphere many feet away, so
that large amount of air is dragged
along with the train. A peculiar dan
ger arises near a swift-running train
from the tendency of the moving air to
topple person over, and at the same
time to communicate motion of rota-
ton to the body, which may cause it
to roll under the train.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
De1icafeIv PIT

''And how did he die?' asked the lady
who had come West to inquire after
the husband she had Lost.
"Er-by request ma'am,' said the
gentle cowboy as mildly and regretful-
ly as possiblc.-Indianapo Journal.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Rifles that Shoot Two Miles.

Practice science is still engaged upon
the problems suggested by recent
changes and Improvements in guns,
projectiles and gunpowders. The rifles
adopted for use in the United States
navy have bores less than one-quarter
of an inch in diameter accurately
O236 in.), and, with smokeless pow
der, they send their slender projectiles
over range Of about two miles, start
ins from the muzzle with velocity of
some $500 feet in a second! Similar
rifles have been selected for use in the
navies Of several foreign countries, but
the question is still under debate, in
some quarters, whether the immense
range and great penetrating power OF
these arms are not fully counterbal-
anced by the difficulties connected
with their manufacture and use and
by the lack Of stopping power" of the
projectiles.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
A Boz Slide

Before daylight on Dec. % last rare
and disastrous phenomenon occurred
not far from Killarney, in Ireland. A
great peat bog, lying on a hillside more
than 100 feet high, broke loose at it's
lower edge, and the semi-huid mass
flowed like a stream of black lava.
some ten miles down the valley of the
Ownacree River. A house with eight
occupants was swept away, and roads,
bridges and fields We're buried, yet the
strange flood advanced so silently in
the night that there was no warning,
and people living near We're unaware
of what had happened until day re-
vealed the Shiny lake spread over the
neighboring fields.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
A Double niscovery.

ITS hard world!' exclaimed the
novice, as his bicycle precipitated him
upon the frozen ground.-Illustrated
American.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
True to Life,

The carly patroness of Burns, Mrs.
Dunlop, of Dunlop, had an old house
keeper, an especially privileged per-
son. who had certain aristocratic no.
tons of the family dignity which made
the admiration of her mistress for the
rustic poet incomprehensible to her.
IN order to overcome this prejudice,
Mrs. Dunlop gave her a copy Of the
"Cotter's Saturday Night" which the
poet had just written.
The old housekeeper read the poem,
but when her mistress inquired her
opinion of it, she replied with indiffer-
ence, "Aweel, madam, that's vera
weel."
us that all you have to say in it's
favor? asked N J. Dunlop, in amaze
ment.
Indeed, madam" returned the old
woman, "the like q your quality may
see vast deal in t; but was ave used
to the like O all that the poet has writ
ten about in my ain fathers house. and
dinna ken how he could hae described
it ony other way"
~ - stii1i llidl loul LIS COuuleu Tie Olu
housekeeper's criticism one of the high
est compliments he had ever received.
He probably valued it as greatly as a
writer of new England stories values
q remark once made to her by an old
man.
81 should think when you're writin'
stories you'd like to kind O make up
things more" said this aged critic, in
a tone of kindly reproof. "Now my
wife and l were talkin' about your
last book the other day, and my wife
says to me, why, John, there's just
such folks and such things happening
right in this very town as she's written
down in this book, and most likely be
well paid for;;' and couldn't stand -
for We against her, for knew twas the
TRUTH
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
The Great NIoa.

New Zealand was once inhabited by
race Of gigantic wingless birds, call
ed the moa. Although now extinct.
these birds are well known to men of
science through their skeletons, thou
sands of which have been found. In
fortunately, in the great majority Of
cases. the skeletons are not complete
and in reconstructing them for exhibi-
ton i'll museums it is necessary to
match together the bones of different
individuals. Recently, however, the
British Museum has obtained a COM
plete skeleton of a moa nearly ten feet
high. Not more than three or four
similarly perfect skeletons of this mon
ster of an age long past are known to
be in existence.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Perfect MASQUERADE.

81 hear that Mrs. Fourstar's masquer-
ade ball was perfect in every detail"
SIT was. Even the blackhead ducks
on the supper menu masqueraded as
cauvasbacks. .'-Eyening World.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21

You may talk about bravery as much
as you please, but as a matter of fact,
everybody lacks it.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
A Lighthouse Keepers Complaint

A Lighthouse Keepers Complaint
Lighthousekeepers do not seem to
feel their lonely life. l once spent a
week on Scotland Lightship. near the
entrance to New York harbor The
assistant keeper was in charge, and
he was nearly stone deaf. He had not
been ashore for three months. and even
a newspaper came to him only by
chance from time to time, when a pilot
boat stopped on her way out of the
harbor. From sunrise until nine o'clock
at night he did little else but sit on
hatchwaE. smoking an old pipe and
gazing refiectively at the great harbor
receiving and dismissing it's thousands
of vessels. One day he asked me to use
my influence to get him transferred to
Cape Cod. l asked him why he wish
ed the change.
''Well,'' said he, very seriously. Il
want a quieter station; it's too lively
here; l want to be where there is less
going on.'-St. Nicholas.
The insectivora are the most efficient
enemies of insect pests. They are alb
solutely harmless, except that the mole
will disfigure the lawn by the channels
he bores, and these are readily rolled
smooth again.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Guerrilla McGruder.

The operations of "Bill'' or Henry
McGruder and other guerrillas during
war times led ]. E. Payne, of De
Witt. Mich, to tell the following story
of his experience:
McGruder was born and raised in the
vicinity where Payne was at work as
telegraph operator for the Government
under Capt. Sam Burch in the office at
Lebanon Junction, Ky
On the 9th of January, 1865. Henry
McGruder, with fourteen men. came in
TO Lebanon junction and shot and kill
ed six men, all Union soldiers, who had
served three years and Just arrived in
the town, their people all residing
mile or two out of town.
The soldiers had not yet had time to
visit their families when they We're all
shot. They We're nearly all boys, who
We're born and raised and went to
school with McGruder.
II saw him shoot one of them twice."
says Payne. '''rhe soldier fell rolled
partly over and raised his head up aud
rested it on his hand. When Henry
NcGruder rushed up to him he said:
Henry, for Gods sake don't shoot me
any more
"McGruder then leaned over on the
side of his horse and blew his brains
out. then wiped the bright barrel of his
navy through the wound, then through
his mouth, and then remarked that he
liked to drink the id Yankees blood'
"One of the soldiers ran into a box
car loaded with baled hay for safety.
McGruder shot at him and then took a
match from his pocket and set the hay
on fire and burned him up. Then the
guerrillas went to the hotel kept by H.
r. Willis, where my office was located.
They tore out all my instruments. sew
en- in number, and the switchboard and
threw them out on the sidewalk and
then walked on my tables with their
feet and turned over the stove full Of
fire.
''They robbed everyone who carried a
pocketbook about the premises and
drew their revolvers on every lady (my
wife among the resD and every negro
about the hotel. They also broke open
every room that was closed, looking for
the operator.
But John, the operator, and myself
being one and inseparable, went up
into the attic and drew the Ladder I'D
after us.
Il closed down the hatch and felt
sense of safety until they began shoot
ing through the house, which made it
little unpleasant for a while until train
No. arrived from Nashville on the
main line with some guards. who fired
on the guerrillas at short distance,
when they all took off their hats and
made a polite bow to the guards and
rode away
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21

"Three Looks and a Hoot.''
There is a peculiar pleasure in visit
ing a country where the people have a
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21
Charms Away the whooping Cough.

Charms Away the WhoOping Cough.
w. X. Fanu. a writer on some of the
phases of Irish life, tells of two ways
in which the simple peasantry of that
country treat the whooping cough,
which is generally known among them
as chin cough. One is this: If anyone
should be seen riding on piebald
horse, the father or mother Of the per-
son affected runs after him, crying:
"Youthat ride the piebald horse, what's
good for the chin cough?' Whatever
the rider suggests is procured, and CIV
en- to the sufferer. This remedy is con-
sidered very sure one by the peasant
~, but is difficult to procure, as man
riding piebald horse is not met with
every day.
The other mode of curing the disease
is not considered so certain, but can
more easily be procured, that is, pass
ing the child three times over and un-
der donkey. Some donleys are bet
ter than others. l remember saws Il
Belfast correspondent of the Lancet.
a famous one in the southern part of
County Down, in which the rustics had
great faith, and LIE Fanu tells of one
in County Cork so famous for curative
powers that the owner. Ned Sullivan.
supported himself and large family
on what this remarkable donkey earned
for him. This man used to perambu-
late the city of Cork and the surround
ing neighborhood with his donkey, cry
ing out: "Will anyone come under my
donkey for chin cough?"
Two other charms which 1 have
known to be used in County Down for
this disease-and it is curious that
whoooping coughs and erysipelas (the
rose, as the Irish peasants often call it)
are the affections most treated by
charms-are the administration to the
patient of two kinds of foods (solid and
liqui0 obtained from two first cousins
who are married, and soup made from
the tails Of mice. Staying, sevral years
ago, with an uncle and aunt, who were
full cousins, was amused at the par
ents Of children with the whooping
cough coming to them for two different
articles Of food for their sick children.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-21

speech and manners of their own,
where at any turn a man is liable to
hear or see something new. The New
York Sun describes an experience Of
a Northern traveller in the pine woods
of North Carolina. He had started out
to join some friends who were on a
hunt for turkeys.
Finding no sign of them. he was glad
to meet native in an old road, and
asked him If he had seen anything of
the party.
Eyes suh," he replied "They're up
this road yonduh, three looks and
hoot, sub"
The New-Yorker thought the native
was guying him, and started off in
huff. He went on until he came to
bridge, where he met another piny
woods denizen at work, and asked him
the same question. The man looked up
the road. The farthest thing in sight
was a big pine-tree, nearly mile
away.
Eyes, sub, seen 'em s mawnin', suh,"
he said. "They was jes' bout one look
an hoot from hyuh then, suh.'
The stranger glared at the man, and
went grumbling on his way. Just be-
fore he came to the big pine-tree an.
other native came out of the woods,
and the NewYorker, with much mis-.
giving, asked him the question he had
put to the others.
"Oh, yes, suh," was the reply. "They
only jes' in hyuh a hoot. sub"
The native turned toward the woods,
put a hand on each side of his mouth
and shouted lusty:
"HOO-o-O-O-OO-hOOtr'
In a few seconds similar cry came
back from the woods.
"rhar they is, suh!'' exclaimed the
native. "That's them, suh"
And it was. They were three looks
and hoot from the place where the
New-Yorker had first inquired for
them.
The difficulty was that he did not
understand the language of the coun-
try. A "look' is as far as you can see
from the point where you now are II
may be turn in the road a hundred
yards away. or a point mile or more
distant. You travel to the end of that
'look," and from there take another
look to the farthest object in sight as
your course lies, and travel on to that.
If you have been told that your desti-
nation is two looks ahead. when you
get to the end Of the second look. there
you are.
The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-12-02
POINTED PARAGRAPHS.

All the world practices the art of act
ing,
Love and canal boat are both an
ternal transports.
Apple sauce seems to have been the
source of all mans troubles.
1t is impossible to make both ends
meet in railway sandwich.
It IS the people who come early to
avoid the crowd that make the crowd
History repeats itself every time the
cylinder is placed in the photograph
The book that is not worth reprint
ing becomes in time a rare literary Gu
rlosity
It is not the best fighter, but the best
runner that wins the political battle.
A man never tries TO convince you
that he is perfectly sober unless he is
partially drunk.
The average tumbIer holds halt a
pint; but the circus tumbler holds half
key.
No man is so strong or so great that
ne 10 not afraid of somebody, and in
nine cases out of ten that somebody is
a woman.-Chcago News.