davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

CT invested in her small self, for she | has made no grave mistake so far, lia- | ble as the human judgment is to err | and deceiving as are the lights and shadows of such a secret service. The l man who means we'll will not be in trouble through this shrewd woman | but the man who does Ill will fall into her hands and "black list" without loss of valuable time, which in this case is literally paid for and we'll earned. Her hours are her own to dispose of in her company's interests of course and early in the morning when the bells first begin to clang and the throt ! and thrill of the wires are heard above the early noises she first comes forth clad in a gossamer and rubbers, or walking suit and hat, and with her purse held in the fatal feminine way in all things a woman that would be met with in car or store or street by the hundreds and whom no one would suspect of carrying destinies around with her and placing and displacing the naughty gripman or conductor.
 Sometimes she has amusing expert ences living thus incognita, but mostly it is a serious trade, that of hers, In which there is no badge of office but secrecy and sense, for she has that lat ter quality in large capitals, you may be sure, or big. fat, dreadful corpora tion would not be willing to leave so much of it's confidential business in her hands.
 When I found actually knew a "spotter" I almost tainted away from pride, but anything more demure than this little lady could not be imagined. A chance observer would never see in her looks anything odd or unseemly in the least. She did not even have the long green veil and the trailing robe I had pictured, but was full of snap and vim, and a vision of an up to date feminine. in her silk lined cloth cos tune and feathered hat. She changes that hat and dress several times a day, by the way. in order to look as many as possible, and not to occur too often, seemingly, in her rounds that neces- sarily take her over much of the same ground the week.
 .T really love it." she assured me, and YOU must not breathe to a soul who I am-of course you can say that I do this sort of thing-but any hint of who I really am-and whist!-there YOU are-I would be absolutely ruined, do you see?'
 "Is 1t hard? Well that depends" she said. .There is a great deal of anxiety attached to the matter. but the actual labor is small. Of course I am out in all weathers I must never be detect ed never be seen taking a note of the register even with eye or pencil. But then
 That "but then" was full of possibili- ties.
 But then?" echoed
 "Rut then, you mustn't dare to tell not on your life.
 And I haven't-told her name.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

ratters. She is a great pet" stroking her, and we are great friends. This little fellow" holding up diminutive black specimen, lis a plucky little one. He belonged to a well-known man in the city. The mother and the kittens were playing hide and seek. Thls one scaled a high wall and fell over forty feet. They brought him to me at once. and for over five days he couldn't move. 1 finally brought him through all right. Looks healthy enough, doesn't her.
 You are fond of cats, are you not!' I ask
 Raising cats is my business" he answered simply. We get along all right, don't we, kitty" Kitty settled down on his knee and purred her an swer. .,
 I see enough of them to like them. :" he went on, for I feed between 15O and 200 every morning. This" pointing to
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

she will appear, nor at what awful mo- ment of time she may be adding his name to the list of worthies or unwor- thies. That party is the terrible street car conductor. whom up to this time you have fancied as something less than a Car Of course it behooves him to be honest as a matter of policy, and aside from that fact he is usually a person who tries to do the right thing, as everybody knows who has followed the career of this overworked statue of patience on a cable car. But there is such a thing as necessary caution on the subject, and so the "spotter" tiourishes and makes notes, and rides up and down and earns her salary by look ing as little interested as possible in the whole thing. It is her business, in fact. to look like a we'll dressed, we'll hammered woman of leisure and so like the shopper one meets every day aboard the same car that the most ob-
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

a huge basket, T take full of meat, and that can in the corner is filled with milk. 1 go first to the warehouses on the docks, and then come further up town to the business houses.
 No, I do not often sell a cat. raise them,> train them for a while and then place them in some warehouse or store, where the services of a cat is necessary. Then for so much a month l take care of them. Would you like to See where they play? If you will come this way I'll show you"
 He opened a door and took me into queer little court. Three sides of the inclosure are banked by buildings as old as the house where the cats live The fourth side Is a big brick structure, modern in style An attempt at garden has been made, but even the lonely green geranium looks sorry and forlorn.
 And the catsl If there were many in the house there are many more out here. Asleep in a box of excelsior is a beauty. He is marked exactly like a tiger. As you pass through narrow yellow eyes glance at you. If you bend to stroke him there is a sudden whirl and the next you see of the tiger he is in the roof of shed gazing at you in rather an unpleasant manner
 Don't like to be disturbed" says Mr. Echnier. Down a pair of rickety stairs into the poor little garden and you hear a mad scampering of little feet, and now the roofs are full of dis turbed htties. They have just been fed and like to sleep a bit.
 After awhile we go back into the house and MT. Echnier tells me how he lost his wife a few years ago and
 since then hte has lived all alone in the second floor of the shanty. My only son is employed Tn the Smith sonian Institution in Washington" he says. "Yes, it is bit lonely here. but my cats are company you know
 After a little while I bid him good by and take my leave. A few steps and 1 am right in the heart of town It seems hard to realize that such a place as the catsman's house exists, but it does, and year in and year out a lonely old man with only cats for com- pany lives his patient life ministering to all kinds and styles of cats.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06
THE DAYS OF FoRTY-NINE.

Brave days of long ago, how memories ebb and flow,
 Like bubbles on youths wine The days when men were strong in hope and zeal and song.
 Those days of Forty-Nine. We toiled where nuggest gleamed, where waters foamed and streamed.
 An, that was life divinei We joined in bout and fray-shook hands, that was the way,
 In days of FortyNine. But now through yelling tears I scan those misty years,
 Those years of yours and mine, Which through Times open door have slowly passed before.
 Those years of Forty-Nine. And from that silent ghost comes rAany . wandering ghost,
 Which passing makes no sign. While from the shadowy throngs float back the saddened songs
 We sang in Forty-Nine.
 SAM DAVIS.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

places will help to keep things straight. and help to unseat the one who Is like ly to impose upon 1t.
 No street car company can be sure that every man on it's pay list is going to be always free from temptation. slips, or even downright dishonesty and so 1t is no unfairness to employer or employed to see that the wheels run smoothly up and down the big roads and that every one is happy
 This is where the little girl steps in with her big head and her right to earn as queer a living as ever came a woman's way. She has no very hard work to do, but she must do what she undertakes well, for it is a pretty seri- ous thing to report man for remiss- ness in duty without good foundation on which to rest the charge. This young womans own good standing among the men who hire her depends upon the justice of her accusations, and it is pretty certain that any motives of revenge or i'll will would speedily be detected in her, and she would lose her own head in the basket. But she is careful and loyal and worthy the pow
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

Get down from there, Jim" says my guide in his soft German accent. You must not bother the lady" As he places Jim on the floor l tell him that I love cats. and that Jim doesn't bother me in the least. The kind old lace beams at me as he ushers me into an other room where the meat is cooking.
 If you will wait will bring some or them in here" he says, and a few minutes later he returns with cats of all sizes and descriptions.
 This one,'' he says, pointing to motherly-looking, yellow and white cat. "is the mother of forty kittens. They are scattered all over the city and have the reputation of being fine
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

TO be mysterious stranger in a
 yard of green biege, with "slen-
 der, dark robed figure" and lily
 white hand, and to lift by in the
 shadow" is no trick at all. To
 be one of these articles. with no veil to speak of. a blouse waist ard two-clasped dogskins and to board the cable cars in broad daylight, is, how ever something of a feat.
 And that is what a little person in this city accomplishes, for she is . "spotter" for the street car system and filling a post of great importance, with a large salary attached. It is a pe- culiar way to earn her living, but she haunts the Market street cable sys- tenn with the persistency if not all of the intangibility of a ghost, spending her time riding up and down the big thOroughfare of the metropolis to see how the employees of the road handle the passengers and cash. Hers is a responsible position and a hard one to fill without being detected in her turn, and the performance of her strange du- ties is something that requires much diplomacy and tact.
 This little person has by no means ! he fascinating snap" some boy or girl
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

servant person could not think there was anything unusual about her.
 Sometimes she is loaded with bun dles and looks Jaded and worn, but she has keen and restless eye for the money register, and keeps a lockout in that direction that would surprise the blue-coated potentate who yells. up forward, there" to her as she stag gers through the crowds that block the doorway and tries to find a seat among the people who move
 When this little woman has ridden number of times along one part of the route or in one car she takes an- other number or another little ''vaca- tion." Then she returns and pays out her employers good nickels and be-
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

| HERE Is an odd little man
 named Echnier who lives in an
 odd little house in the heart of
 the busiest portion of San Fran
 cisco, who earns his bread oddly enough. His business is the raising of cats, which he puts into warehouses, stores and other places infested with rats and mice, and his income is de- rived from payment for the services of his pets.
 He lives at Ashburton place. a lit tie court that looks modern enough to the observer, as it is paved with con- crete. But the house is occupied by the "cat man" and his army of cats, and is old and decaying. It is tucked away in a corner of the court It is two stories high. Over the door is a horseshoe. As you come closer to it an odor of boiling mutton is encoun- tered. After that you must need sum- mon all your fortitude and knock boldly. One knock seldom elicits a re- ply, but by perseverance and a total disregard for the state of your gloves, you will at last be rewarded by the sound of footsteps coming your way.
 The door is opened and the odor of mutton becomes stronger. Through a hay atmosphere you see a pair of eyes staring at you-yes, one pair, then two. then three pairs and four. Then you lose the count. Next you are con- scious that a gentle voice is asking concerning your business. You tell him you have heard of his cats, and he smiles and throws the door wide open e eCome," he says, and you go in with him.
 Even through the overpowering odor of cooking meat the mustiness of the place strikes you. It is old, very old indeed, as you afterward learn. Tt
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06
HAVE YOU SEEN THESE WOMEN SP0TTERS?

gins again her rounds to see If every one is honest and every one Is treated well. Now no company can possibly know at all times and In all places and under all circumstances that its cars are being properly run, its patrons politely dealt with and its interests guarded; it cannot traipse around in person looking at the cash clocks. in- specting the mighty man who punches fares out, nor yet be alive to the re-
 quirements of the system. But it knows that little watching in the right
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06
A BACKLOG FANCY.

Tho room is dim, the logs burn low, Rnt in the ftful flash 1 see I-non the wall the sunbeams glow Through the green branches of the tree. The blacklog sputters, and hear The forests leafy summer note. And in the waves of smoke appear The blue pools of the woods remote. Then like spirit, witching, gay. Ascends a throbbilg golden spark fire-fy drifting on It's way Across the lonely marish dark.
 -Harper's Weekly.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

came from the north as early as forty-sfX. A n d the catsl Every where one turns there are glaring yellow eyes which peer from every nook and corner pf the room. Even the very rafters are alive. Some have n friendly look, and the owners of such eyes rub up against YOU in a confiding manner, begging YOU to stroke them. One, more adven- turesome than the other, nimbly runs u-D m Y skirts. nercheS on my shoulder antd peers inquiringly into my face.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

Office boy-Somebody at the tele- phone, sir. Says you're to meet her, or something like that.
 Gaybird-Meet her? Why. of course Probably that pretty telephone girl. (Goes to telephone): What is 1t, dear?"
 Voice at telephone-I'm to tell you that your meter will be turned off to- day unless you pay your gas bil1
 Scene-Office boy discharged.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

mysteries, but my juvenile hair used to stand on end when I heard the yarns that Black Tom, our negro cook, would pour forth in the seclusion of the warm galley.
 belonging to the after guard, could not with dignity take part in these conferences, or he might have learned that, if the presence of a black cat on board a ship was an evil omen, it was
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

She had been unwittingly shut out of the stable and the cruel rats had killed all her darlings.
 And my moth er," " continued the sympathetic nar- rator, "cried as if a baby's death had been laid at her door. It was so pitiful."
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

always been the most given over to the follies of superstition. Even in these modern days of steam and common sense some remnant of the feeling lin- gers, and the old sailor will attach a significance to incidents which the landsman would pass by unnoticed.
 Therefore it was not surprising that, when we sailed out of the Mersey one bitter winters morning, and flew down the channel before a brisk northerly
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

arrangements were made on the most lavish scale, for the Indian officials, when they do things, do them we'll. The Prince was to steam down the lines in yacht, and as he passed each vessel was to be brilliantly illumin- ated with colored lights, innumerable rockets were to be sent up and fire works were to brighten the sky in every direction.
 All the materials required for the
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

like nemesis, her eyes full of re- proach, little dead kitten in her mouth. She laid her treasure at her mistress feet and disappeared, to re- turn with another. This was repeated time and again until seven tiny, furry, dead things were laid in a row before their distracted mistress Then pussy sat down beside them lifting up a pair of despairing eyes, and set up a howl of woe like a wild requiem.
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

The Human Ostrich-Say. that glass you've catered for me Is nothing but old broken green bottles.
 The proprietor-Well, what's the matter with it? Do you suppose I'm a-going to furnish cut-glass decan- ters to your delicate appetite.
 The Human Ostrich-Suit yourself. But understand, I ain't a-going to run the risk of getting collie by eating green glass for anybody
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

Mrs. Bridewell-Im glad I wasn't born in France. Just think of having your husband selected for you by somebody else.
 Mrs. Cheery-I know; but there's the consolation of having somebody to blame afterward
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06
MRS. STEvENSON'S CAT STORY.

When you so readily drown poor pussy's litter on pretext of overpopula- tion do you dream you drown her maternal feelings with them and that she takes no count of her lost darlings she has brought into the world with pain and travail? Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson once told of her mothers cat who had accidentally been left kit tenless. The kittens lived in the stable and it was their mistress nightly cus-
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

tom to see that Mrs. Fuss was safely housed when the stable doors were shut at night On one preoccupied evening she left the duty to another and mar veled when she was awakened in the night by the cries of the cat in distress But cat cries at midnight are troubles we grow used to, and the mistress took no further notice. She had cause to re- member her indifference.
 Next morning poor puss appeared
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

Tourist Gin old German castle)- You needn't go over the story of the tragedy; I know 1t we'll. But what makes you charge double what you did when I was here two years ago.
 Guide-Ah, mein Herr, dis was a much finer sgeleton dan de vun ve had ad dat time"
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

In it. For the mystics and seers of all ages have dealt largely in cats; the creature had a hidden significance to those who dwelt within the inner cir cle. and it is no wonder that the com mon people, living outside this charmed realm of knowledge, said many disa- greeable things about, and attached many disagreeable attributes to, the harmless, necessary cat.
 Of all the uneducated. sailors have
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

breeze. there were old sailors among our crew who shook their heads signifi- cantly and prophesied ill-luck for the ship and the voyage.
 I was only bit of a boy myself, knowing nothing of the sea and it's
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06
THE CATS REVENGE.

> ROBABLY. unless you are / very superstitious person, you
 will not believe this story, and
 just because a black cat hap
The San Francisco call., 1898-02-06

iImr '''S0 TIE COiSOo~ oN
 Qhight think when they learn that she really rides for nothing" all day long, with nothing to do but to use her eyes and her brains. She must be sharp to fill her place so acceptably to all par ties concerned except one. The latter party does not know who she is, when
Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-02-09
Mappinv +he Skies.

Astronomers everywhere are inter-
ested in the prospective publication of
the great map Of the stars, now well
under way-that is, Photographic
chart Of the whole heavens has now
for some time been in process Of con-
struction by an association of observa-
tories in some of the leading coun-
tries of the world. In this important
work the plan pursued is that Of map
ping the skies in sections, one section
being assigned to each observatory;
5000 photographs will be taken at each
of the observatories, or a total of
81 1000, and for each hemisphere there
will be 1900 small maps, or $4,000
for the entire universe. The vast map
composed of these small ones will show
some 3O,OO0,000 of stars, OF which
100000 will be catalogued and NUM-
bered, By which means any star down
to the eleventh magnitude may be 10
Gated at a glance. One object of this
immense and splendid enterprise Is to
show Just what aspect is presented in
the heavens now, so that any changes
in the future may be detected and
measured-a method by which, it is
expected, valuable data will be OBJ
tanned.
Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-02-09
a Years Reading.

elbow many volumes can manread
in the course of a year," was the ques-
tion recently put by Washington
Star reporter to gent, aman whose
time is largely employed rs book re-
viewer on one of the leading maya
zines.
"Well," said the gentleman, point.
ing to row of books, 18th ere is col
lected edition of tue English poets.
The work only comes down to Cowper,
who died in 1900, but 1t comprises
twenty-one volumes royal svo, double
column, small type. Gav- volume
averages 700 pages. This gives total
of IA, 700 pages, OF 29,400 columns.
Now it takes-I have made the ex-
periment-four minutes to read a
column of such matter with fair atten-
ton. Here, then, is good years
work in reading over, only once, care
fully, selection from tie English
poets.
''The amount OF reading, however,
which student can get through in n
given time hardly admits of being
measured. The rate Of reading varies
with the interest one takes in the sub
iect matter of book. In other words,
o page of Kant's "Critiqae Of Pure
Reason" requires proportionally more
thorough attention than the latest work
of fiction. Still, just to have some
thing to go by, it will be found pretty
accurate to make calculation like
this: Suppose man to be able to
read eight hours day. No one can
really give his receptive or critical at
tention to printed matter for eight
hours regularly every day, But take
eight hours Us the outside possibility.
Thirty pages, sro, is al average hours
reading, taking one book with another.
This would make 240 pages per day,
1850 per week, and 1850 pages in
the year. Taking the average thick
ness of an Svo volume as 400 pages
only, the quantity of rea:ling matter
which an intelligent student can get
over in q year is no more than on
amount equal to about go volumes
Svo. Of course this is merely me,
chauical computation by which Iwould
not pretend to gauge the reading ca,
pacity Of the average student. But il
may be interesting to know that the
merely mechanical limit of study is
some 220 volumes Svo per annum."
Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-02-09
Persons Who Are Magnetized.

Recent French experiments have
developed the curious and unexpected
fact that certain persons possess a
magnetic polarity-that is, they act as
magnets, having north and south
poles. Such person, when COM
pletely undressed and placed near a
sensitive galvanometer, will, when
turned on a vertical axis, cause de-
Election first in one direction and then
in the opposite, just as a magnet
would. All persons do not possess
this polarity. Professor Murani, an
Italian, upon whom the experiment
was tried, exhibited this phenomenon,
and it was found that his breast CORE
sponded to a north pole and his back
to q south pole.