davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1898-11-12

the bend there came a procession First
theTe was a spring wagon, in which Law n
conn, plain pine coffin whose single coat
OF white paint only emphasized its Main
ness. 1t was a homemade coffin on tbo
ifont seat sat two Swedes both of whom
po"ed polltely to Ole, while one raised his
hat to me. i-'
When ar det?" asked Ole.
Carl Martenson," whispered one of tn,
! men on the front seat.
rs that so?"
Ole S informant nodded his head grayely.
Tne dead man was a farmers son Tho
parents and family mourners came after
the hea1se in buggies and buckboards The
men wore black; but for that matter so
9ld most every one else. as black is the
Sunday color in New Sweden cICt hing Tho
only exception was the handsome Iufheran
parson, who looked like Siegfried. so vel
low and bearded was he. He wore a fash
lonaoie top coat, light brown and velvet
co!lared. After the family came the friends
Ii was very long procession and if took
iuIiy quarter of an hour to pass though
| the horses trctted briskly 1t kent Ole
DuSy holding his own lrisky horses. who
dlSliked standing still, and keeping his hat
raised in reply to the greetings of hts
friends The men of New Sweden all know
one another, but not so we'll that they ever
forget to be polite. This kind of acquaint-
anceship is confined to older and more civil
lied communities.
"A New York man owns that farm
house"
A Business Romance.
Ole pointed out by far the prettiest and
tidiest farm house on the road. 1t is paint
ed red, and even the mammoth barns are
warm with color. 1t is the summer home
of J. B. Hallgrin, a well-known caterer of
the metropolis. His story reads like a ro-
nance. Here 1t Is: He came to New York
from Sweden a poor boy. and began life as
caterer. After he had become well-to-do
| he met and married young girl from New
Sweden, who was living in New York For
a while they spent their summers near New
York, but the heart of the New Sweden girl
! yearned for the hills and valleys of her
nome. and at last she persuaded her hus-
| band to come up here and buy farm. He
| mas been here about twelve years, and has
| made almost as much money out of his
farm as his business. His wife and the
| younger children live here all the year but
he and his eldest son, who is a rising Young
| dentist in New York, make the metropolis
| their winter home.
AT the foot of the hill there is saw
| mill, deserted now while the mill hands
| help harvest which is set in a heavy hard
| wood thicket. short ten feet away there
| Is row of dead trees quarter of mile
wide and ten miles long. 1t is the line of
| the forest fire that nearly burned the mill
and threatened the best part Of the settle
Evening star., 1898-11-12

gerous. They can kick like mules
OF course this sounds absurd. The kicker
ought to lose his balance He ought not to
be able to recover with sufficient prompt
ness. His kick ought to be avoided easily
And it ought not to be hard to rush him.
This is the instructive reasoning of the
Anglo-SaXon, and the only way to convince
him thoroughly is to stand him up against
one of these kickers. Certain conditions
then present themselves which pug:lism
pure and simple, finds way of meeting
Last week l had opportunity to take
some photographs of scientific French sa-
vate play. M. Siegfred Sacher, linancier
and clubman, is, in his lighter moments,
much devoted to this sort of badinaSe
His villa, just outside of Paris on the river
Marine, is known to many a Partisan pro-
fessional. After fighting comes refresh
ment. There are gayety and beauty. For
the ladies' like to come and see the strong
men And they are strong men. Chabrier
the prevot of the great Charlemont is a
Evening star., 1898-11-12
MIRRORING THE KAISER.
The SuItan's Candid Official Opinio
of the Only MiIliam.

The following curious sketch of the
kaiser appears in the sultan's organ Ser
vet:
THE young emperor who honors the Of
toman capital by his second visit is one of
the most characteristic features of this
century. History shows no stronger indi-
viduality than we find in him, and it is this
which makes him remarkable at period
when the general tendency is toward dead
level of uniformity.
1T is difficult to classify him. With all
the up-to-dateness of the modern engineer
he unites the enthusiasm and faith of the
middle ages and the steady perseverance
of the captains of ancient Rome. He is an
epitome of every age, a combination of
every talent. Not only is he interested in
every science and every art-he is a pro-
nounced Specialist He is a soldier in
every sense of the word, passionately de-
voted to his profession. How inspiring is
his eloquence when he appeals to the low
atty of his comrades in arms, and with no
less ability does he play the diplomatist in
acquiring sympathy and appea sing wound
ed suSceptlbl!ities. 1t is remarkable fact
that in France, where a journalist once
styled him Il distinguished enemy there is
no foreign sovereign more popular than he.
@ When he answers Freedman even
member of the academy, it is with a
purity of diction that astonishes the hearer
while an Englishman can perceive no trace
of difference between his accent and that
of his felOw-countrymen.
LAS to the arts, he is both painter and
author. He can design ships, compose or
chestral scores and work out military
plans. And when he seeks rest after ex-
traordinary exertion he refreshes his poetic
soul by contemplating the wild scenery of
Norway and the North Cape or the sunny
shores of southern seas.
The German army owes much to him:
it's navy is indebted to him for its eXist tence.
He has taken only ten years to make it one
of the best in Europe. As horseman he
outdistances all his escorts and his yachts
win prizes in the most famous English re-
gattas. His friendship is strong as his
iron constitution; he is not afraid to assert
it boldly, no matter whom 1t displeases and
his acts are based on 1t. If he wears the
uniform of an English admiral, colonel of
cuirassers, or an artillery officer, it is as
a thorough sailor, trooper or gunner
Evening star., 1898-11-12

farers as rocky, bold and steep, but foul
and reef-inclCsed on the west, shelter for
small craft being found in two to three
fathoms of water with infrequent open
ings through the barrier reefs. The south
ern extremity of the island, which is in
some places from 200 to 400 feet in height,
shows some great white cliffs, which form
conspicuous landmarks. The island itself
is fairly fertie-that is, for the Bahamas
where it is said that the soil is cultivated
with Crowbar and seed planted with a
shotgun, and the poverty-stricken inhabit-
ants send hence some very fine pineapples
to the northern markets. 1t is distant from
Nassau, the chief settlement of the chain,
on the island of Now Providence, about
IT'S miles, means of communication being
infrequent.
of Cat Island, having lain all one summers
day aboard a small "turtler," manned and
ofhcered by black people, blistering in the
heat, without any shelter save the shadow
of the main-boom. Cool and green in the
distance lay the hills of the island, in the
caves of which, later on. he found some
remains Of the aboriginal peoples of the
Bahamas.
1t may be remarked, in passing, that CO.
lunibus himself was the humble instrument
of Providence in causing the determination
of the said aboriginal inhabitants, whom
he found numerous, happy and well dis
posed towards the SDaniards; yet whom
he and those who came after him treated
with barbarous severity. Il swear to your
majesty" he wrote to Ferdinand and Isa-
bella, there are no better people on earth;
they are gentle and without knowing what
evil is, neither killing nor stealing"
- Landing of Columbus.
When, on that memorable morning of.
the 18TH OF October. 1892. boats from his
caraveIs landed on the reef-inclosed shore,
the natives came swarming to the sands.'I
gave them he says in his journal, ''red
20 nS, q nd strings of heads and other tribes.
by which we have got a wonderful hold on
their affections. They afterward came to.
the boats of the vessels. swimming, bring
ing us parrots, cotton threads in balls and
such trifies, which they bartered for glass
beads and little bells. All of them go nakei
Evening star., 1898-11-12

ment 1t came three years ago, and the
colonists worked for three days to save
the mill. There were a hundred of them,
and they divided themselves into squads
ber piles with water from the spring.
A Colony Tragedy.
"Over yonder is the tree where little
Christine Svensson was found said Ole.
Little Christine Svensson?'
Then the driver related the loss of child
from her fathers home the third year of
the colony. She was in the swamp after
water when a bear and her cub frightened
the child, who left the path and was lost
For three days she was sought, and when
she was found she was insane through
fright. The story was told by Founder
Thomas at the quarter centennial. 1t is
the only tragedy this peaceful colony has
ever known, and Ole, the driver, stops his
horses for tourists before the historic tree.
From the Svensson tree the road back to
Caribou takes In about all there Is left to
be seen: There are half dozen white
school houses with their patriotic flag
STATS, and dozen or more saw mills and
starch factories. The latter is the greatest
of all manufacturing industries in this re-
gion, which turns out Is 900 tons of starch
annually. New mills are going up yearly.
l stopped at one of these mlls-a simple
affair, with many odd makeshifts In a me-
chanical line, such as homemade pump
and an electric plant, designed and made
mo, except the one at Caribou. and never
saw that until their own was set up. They
built it from descriptions in a book The
machinery clanked and camored nosily S
the potatoes bounded down the chutes into
the bins wherein they become pulp, then
paste, and at last starch. The latter trans
formation, however, takes place in a great
drying house, which smells as sweet as new
mown clover.
The twilight brought out the vivid colors
of the autumn foliage in startling contrast
to the greens, which deepened in the dark
ness to almost black. cool wave arose
from the earth as we dipped into valley.
The setting sun had left a golden haze in
the west that glded the hilltops with such
gold as no palette ever held. Up the road,
toward the horizon, there flared a rose
flame cloud like Pharoahs pillar of fire by
night which covered the trees on either
side with crimson.
"GOrgeOuS!'
Dust" said Ole, land ray of the sun
through Landgrin's grove. G'lang, Betsy!
were almost home
Evening star., 1898-11-12

Islands, and have come to the same con-
clusion, namely, that the first island on
which Columbus landed was that of Wat
lings.
CThe writer, while working unda. the di
rection OF the bureau of American r,pub-
lies, the Latin-American department of the
chicago exposition, of which Mr.. w E.
Curtis, now the Washington representative
of the Chicago Record, was then chief, ex-
amined the islands and spent a week on
Watlings aloneD
If we follow the journal of Columbus I'm
fact, We can come to no other conclusion
than that the landing was on the last
named island. for its physical features
more nearly correspond to those of Wat
lngs than of Cat. According to this Jour
nal of Columbus, made by Bishop Las
Casas, the caravels lay to just outside the
reefs, from which point Columbus describes
the view. This island" he saws lis large
and very level (Cat Island is quite hilly)
has a very large lagoon in the middle is
without any mountain, and is all covered
with verdure most pleasing TO the eve"
On Sunday. October IA, he writes: AT
dawn 1 ordered the boats of the shin and
of the caravels to be got ready and went
along the island. / was afraid of a
reef of rocks, which entirely surrounds this
island, although there is within it depth
and ample harbor for all the vessels of
Christendom; but the entrance is narrow.
1t is true that the interior of the belt con-
tains some rocks, but the sea is there as
still as Well And this is a most accu-
rate description of that coast today.
out stni' II MAY pe, as the United States
consul at Nassau once said to the writer
mostly a matter of local pride and feeling;
for the generally accepted opinion there
was In favor of Wauings: except at Cat,
WheTe the inhabitants were outraged that
any place could be thought of in this con-
nection except their own island
. AS to the name at present applied to their
island, the unromantic appellation of Cat"
no one seems to know when IL was bestow-
ed. The native name of that first island
be II Cat or Watlings-was Guanah hani and
Columbus called it San Salvador. But by
Whatever name known, ii will never become
dissociated from the gallant deeds of those
heroes four centuries apart: Columbus and
Hobson. The halo Of romance will forever
enwrap it in an ideal glory.
r. A. ODER.
Evening star., 1898-11-12

WiIrrlwTight, q baker. tailor and maker
oI wooden shoes. 1t sturdy. stall
V4TJ party Of picked applicants. There was
Not "a PHYSICAL blrmiSh on one of them. and
No one had been accepted whose character
Rad not been properly vOuChed for They
came from nearly every province in Sweden
and were provided with MONEY enough to
pay their passages to their new home.
AtteI an uneventful journey. tI;e irnmi-
grants reached the borders of Maine on
July 22- As they crossed the line from
New Brunswick. the American Tag was
Iniurltd and the party was greeted by a
salute of cannon by the citizens Of For;
Fairfield.
Rcgan work the Next Day.
The day after reaching their destina ton
thc Swedes began converting the wilder
ness into homes. To put them In lie way
Of calming their living by their own labor,
MI Thomas set them to work Telling trees,
cutting out roads and building rouses, pay
ing them 81 a day in provisions and tools
flcm the state fund provided for that pur-
pose At the close of the year. through
births and additional immigration, the COL
Ony had increased in numbers to III: seven
miles Of road had been cut. - dwellings,
built and about 800 acres of land cleared
ana partly sOwed in grain. y number of
the dwellings, were erected by the state and
were paid for in labor. These buildings
were Of peeled logs, and contained three
rooms each They were also furnished
with cooking stoves. The same year a pub
lie building. called TO this day ''the cap
itol.' was erected. wherein all public func-
tions not given in the various churches are
held.
II was hard work, but every enc aided
In the fields the men and women worked
eide by side, and the potato field was the
playground OF the youngsters They rose
with the sun and went to bed at dusk
Founder Thomas is fond of relating the fol-
lowing incident showing the interchangeable
industry of these pioneers:
Il met once ne says, "a Swa1e woman
sfoot. carrying on her back a buIging sack.
What have you got in there" l asked.
-Four nice pigs
Where did you get them
" Two miles below Caribou
That made a twenty-mile walk, and
the good Wife was smiling 10 herself to
think what nice pigs they were"
Results of n Years Toll
That Is the way they worked and that is
also the MY they work even TO this day.
SO hard have they labored and so SUCCESS
full have they been that today there are
more than LOO Swedes in the colony. which
now extends over seven townships They
Evening star., 1898-11-12

met with an open palm that grasped it for
an instant ard then guided it outward with
the aid Of its own impetus. Between equals
it is brilliant rather than effectual 1t
ought to be draw, If may use the word.
But where one of the parties is the stronger
It is terrible. In the half light of a night
attack it is almost invincibe Against the
unpracticed 1t is deadly.
Add these kicks-a dozen or more in their
various combina tions of high low and mid
dle-to all that is already known of pugi-
lism. and set the parties at each other, with
all fours, like two enraged cats, springing,
crouching, clutching. striking, lodging
fenting, hopping, dancing, kicking at each
others stomachs, groins and shins, and
you will have a faint idea of what is
choicest in French boxing How tar En-
glish and American boxing enters into the
French system would be impossible to say,
because the individual tactics of each fight
er vary; hut it is favorite remark of
Sacher that because we kick we are not
not armless, but their legs are much in ev-
idence! STERLING HEILIG.
Evening star., 1898-11-12

amateur is grounded long before he takes
to the gymnastics of the low foot and
the high kick. Certainly they are gymnas-
tics.
Few Americans will look unmoved upon
the picture of the coup de flame. With his.
BODY almost forming the letter IT. one
leg high up and crooked at the knee, the
torso lean ming backward almost horizontally,
the French professional must present an
excessively awkward and unstable spectacle
to those acci stoned only to the straight,
stand-up attitude of his opponent. Indeed.
il will be hard TO persuade many that the
thing is not mere gymrastic conccit of tie
academy and valueless in serious fighting.
Nevertheless, and without going into Il dis
Cu&sion of the merits of the coup de flame
when prlcticed between two professionals
of equal force-for | believe there IS some
little controversy of technique-I viii be
safe in saying that the best way for the
ordinary man to meet it. even when in
structed, is to stand and wait and watch.
For the unpractiCed there is nothing to he
dsEe.
Like Gigantic Arm.
The skilled French boxer is poised there
on one leg as on two. The other leg has all
the practice and facility of d gigantic arm
1t covers the hole body it attacks 1t can
come driving on the groin, the solar pexus
or the ear. Unlike the 'low foot" it cannot
even theoretically be stepped around or
danced around or rushed. You cannot tell
where it is going to land. When il comes
it comes with n swiftness gained by its
superior length and leverage.
think that one of the technical weak
resses of the coup de flame is that. when
watched AMI waited for by skilled man.
the guard against it is almost perfect.
In the match from which 1 took the pho
tcgraphS the kick turned out to be a high
one, at the face. Chabrier the professional
Evening star., 1898-11-12

beginning, the middle and, / was almost
going to say, the end of the French boxe.
Nothing is more instructive than to watch
the amateurs at Charlemont's Academy as
they spend patient hours in dancing at each
other with this impudent low. outstretched
toe. To reach down and defect it means a
moments safety and the chance to get a
blow in of your own. To hold it for an in
slant till the other hand can clutch it also
means victory Then the victor does not
pull his adversary's leg but lifts it high and
pushes. Down goes the champion, and a
kick would break his backbone.
Bone Breaking.
This brutal talk of breaking bones may
need a word of explanation French box
ing is sport, in one way; but its primary
idea is self-defense. The street roughs of
French cities always kick when fighting
Nature teaches them to kick as the best
way of effecting their purpose. They have
always kicked, in an untutored way. For
night attacks they have a certain number
of kicking tricks, whose merit lies rather
In their surprise. These form the real
Savate, or 'oid shoe school, of which the
backward Cow kick" disconcerting but not
hard to meet when known, is the most
Vaunted maneuver. To meet the savate
and to put Frenchmen of the better class
at an advantage the French boxe was built
up, studied improved and almost perfected.
Its professors do not like the name of the
savate. Its extraordinary merit, in their
eyes, is the defensive power it gives. They
say they can defend themselves one against
three. You will ask how. BY breaking
bones and knockout blows administered in
the stomach. A French gentleman l need
not say, would not kick any one unless
forced to it; nor would he kick at one he
thought his social equal. For these injuries
there is the duel. My card, monsieur
Originating in a dire necessity French
boxing has become rather a fashionable
sport. Its activities are much allied to those
of fencing, in whose practice nearly every
Evening star., 1898-11-12
Curious Callin4S.
From the London Mail.


In India all callngs are hereditary: a
bakers son becomes a baker, and his son
after him, and so on from generation to
generation. The census, however, reveals
some more startling vocations than that of
the maker of bread.
The people of Allahabad especially are
not ashamed of their professions.
Thirty-five describe themselves as "men
who beg with threats of violence;' 226 as
"fatterers for gain;" twenty-five as 'hered-
itary robbers 074 as 'low blackguards;"
twenty-nine as "howlers at funerals" while
as many as 6.372 publicly announce that
they are poets"
In the other districts one frds, besides
the ordinary professions, 1100U tom-t tom
players, forty-fve makers of crowns for
idols, 145 ear cleaners, and-most curious
of all-.hereditary painters of horses with
spots" .5t. -z =.
The census containing this interesting in
formation is kept at the Sanskrit College
at Benares.
Evening star., 1898-11-12

The Old House Still Standing in the
Connecticut Valley.


From the SpI .ngfeld Republican.
On the old highway leading through West
Hartford, Conn.,, to Newington, and mile
south of the central village of the former
town, is the house in which, in 175S, was
born Americas great photographer Noah
Webster. His father, a descendant in the
fourth generation from John Webster who
previous to 1860 was governor of Connect
cut, was a militia captain in the time Cf
the revolution, and the son, who had al
him for his toll as a linguist, abandoned
them for time and served in his fathers
company.
The house of the Websters is on the vest
SIDE OF the way, ard, fronting the sun
rise and the city of Hartford commands
4 fine view of the surrounding country 1t
is shaded by naples and an elm, which lat
ter tree the easily believed tradition
Lns, was planted by Capt. Webster when
his scholar was a boy. The house
stands with the side on the street and the
front door, in keeping with the style in
vogue of yore, is ornamented with a
knocker. Two stories high in front the
house has two large front rooms on the
first floor, one On each side of the front
entry In keeping with the old style. these
rooms show the large sheathed beams lower
than the plastered ceiling. In the story
above are two bed rooms CORRESPONDING 20
the square room below.
The back of the house is but one story
high the roof sloping down unbroken from
the ridge. huge chimney in the center of
the house affords three fireplacas one for
each of the front rooms and one for a large
room on the west side of the house. This
latter was the living room of the Web
sters. North of it is the pantry, and south
OF it q sleeping room. Projecting to the
westward is an l., in which there is another
large chimney, with the fireplace and brick
oven that was considered Indispensable to
the kitchen of old-time housekeepers. The
traditions do not mention which room of
the Webster house it was in which the
country's dictionary-maker was born. nor
do they give the exact date of the death Of
his father Capt. Webster. nor the tme
when the farm passed from the possession
of the Websters to other hands.
The encyclopedias say that DR.. Webster
was born in Hartford, which statement was
true, for Hartford once included the terri
tory which is now West Hartford. The
highway on which the Webster house
stands is one of the finest for a drive to be
found in the state of Connecticut. Through
a valley road, 1t is for some of the distance
so above the land on either side as to give
the traveller fine view of the landsca pc
for miles around. 1t is a wide way and
one that was laid out when people liked
room and had 1t.