davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
REGULAR MIND READER.
A Music box That Knew What Air
to Play,

II am fond of music, and, as | do not play
and have no little ones about the house, !
bought one of the finest music boxes that
| could find. 1t was a large box and had
nearly a score of melodies, from the sacred
to the catchy negro airs, stored up within its
recesses. There were bells and cymbals,
90, and a tiny drum. 1t was a swell music
box and no mistake. Well, one day ] lost
my position and was in absolute need OF
ready money, My prospects were excellent,
and | did not want to injure them by Dor:
rowing from friends, on whom, however,
knew | could depend. To tide me over my
difficulty | determined to pawn my music
box tit cost me upward Of $l0O-imported,
you know, and | readily secured $50. Well,
things did not pan out exactly as | expected
things seldom so just as they are scheduled
to go-and it was a year almost before |
found myself in a position to redeem the
music box from the pawn shop. took the
ticket, went to the shop and told the man
in charge that | wanted to redeem my in
strument, and asked whether it had been
kept in order and had not been injured. He
assured me that it had not been tempered
with, and, in proof thereof, he offered to
let me wind it up and make it play before
| paid back the money | had secured by its
pledge. | accepted, and, after winding
the box up, it started to play. Now, what
do you think that darned old, long-forgot-
ten musical instrument played?"
As he looked around the crowd no one
could suggest the name of the air, and he
said: Darn my buttons. il it did not start
right in and reel off Il Know That My Re
deemer Liveth.' Almost human knowledge
that, almost human, sirs."-N. o. Times
Herald
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
4,dtd.d+ek+taF+t'hAhet AsFA'dF d'tFka Fa 'sFAF@a
: 'POSSUM SKETCHES. I
8 Old Zeb White, He Tells Why a Mountain :
s Bear Committed Suicide. !
s -- /
e Copyrights 1897. BY n QuAp' =
80 s.. Il Il Il 81 IL IL s.. il LII / II L 81. Il, Il, II, Ii Ii ii II II tt.&


"You don't mean he was killed by the
fall?"
AS dead as a d%oah-nail, sab. He
didn't move a paw after we got out
thar. That bar had tackled a barbed-
wire fence and bin whopped, and he
Just couldn't abide to live on. We
counted up the hurts on him, and that
was over 200. / hey allus felt a bit
sorry fur that yarmint. He'd bin slosh-
in around in the bresh all his life, and
how was he to know a wire fence from
Il pumpkin vine? Hevin' got mad about
it, he was bound to fight, and hevin'
fout he was bound to be whopped.'
"A bear must have feelings to be
hurt" ! suggested.
"Of co'se, sah-of co'se. That vas
what allied this b'ar-his pride had bin
smashed to squash, and he felt that he
could never so back up the mounting
and hev the other bars pint the finger
CT scorn at him. Feelin's! Why, Il bar
is chuck full O. feelin's, and I've allus
felt ashamed that this one didn't hev a
squar' deal. He might hev tackled a
landslide and cum out on top, but
what show did he hev agin 1000 feet
O. barbed wire that was achin' fur a row
with an %elephant?"
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
THE WORLD AS 1T is AND WAS.
Evolution Of Animal and Vegetable
Forms.

IuEiiS
The earth, which we find to-day bright
with varied hues, vocal with innumer-
able sounds, rich in fruits and fragrant
with odors, lay for an almost incalcu-
liable period of time destitute, or all but
destitute, of color, soundless say for
the noise of wave and tempest, and with
no promise as yet Of the rich ~profusion
of vegetable and animal forms that now
diversity its surface and fill it with the
thrill and manifold activities CT life.
We often speak of man as 'the heir OF
all the ages" but not often, probably,
do we pause to realize the significance
of the word. We talk Of evolution, but
seldom make any due effort to grasp
the plenitude and grandeur of the
thought. These senses of which we
have the use, and each Of which brings
a different world within ourken, whence
are they? 1t seems so natural to see;
it seems so natural to hear, to touch,
to smell, to taste, that we forget
through what slow processes, by what
an incalculable number Of slight accele-
~rations and delicate notifications these
wonderful channels of knowledge and
sensation have been made for US. We
go back through the ages, and we come
to a sightless, voiceless world. For a
period probably as long MS all the rest
of geological time the only forms of
life were protozoa. Sight was de-
vcloped among the wonderful crusta-
ceans of the ~silurian period, but as yet
there were no organs of hearing. The
first STIMULATION of an insects wing
was heard (f it was heard), in the De-
yonian age, the birth epoch of the first
vetebrates, fishes; but long ages had TO
pass before the first bee hummed overa
flower or the first butterfly futtered its
wings in the neutrality-suspicious. Pop
ular Science Monthly.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
Copyrights, 1897.

"Speakin' about bars" said old Zeb
White, the 'possum hunter of Tennes-
see, as we sat on his cabin door-steps
one %evenin', "a mighty Gurus thing hap
pened right out thar behind the mewl-
shed a few Vars ago. Did YOU everhar
about a bar committin' suicide?"
mo, | never did" | replied,
"Wall, one did ii right out thar while
men the old woman was lookin' on, a
Teller down at Growers Corners was
OWN me seven dollars and couldn't
pay. He had a lot of barbed wire to
fence his land, and he gin me a big roll
Of it to squar' the debt. | brung it
home and strung it out behind the shed
fur the mewl and hawgs to scratch on,
and it Jest tickled them to death. One
evenin' | was smokin' my pipe out yere
when the old woman comes out and
whispers:
"'zeb White, hev yo' got a nose on
yo', or hev yo' lost it|
"'Reckon I've got a nose says l.,
and what of it%
Don't yo' smell a bar around?"
"'Not a sign OF a bar
"'Then yo've lost yer grip and had
better hunt rabbits. If thar amt a
bar within ten rods of this cabin I'll
never ak fur a new par O. shoes. Git
up and look around
II got up" said the old man, land
about the fust thing | saw was a big
bar out thar by the mewl-shed. He'd
cum down off the hill, through the
laurel, arter hawg-meat. 1t was power
full bold O. him, bein' as he must hev
knowed | was at hum, but thar he
was, and he didn't seem to mind me
tall. The old woman, she seen him,
too, and she whispers TO me:
81 told yo' l smelt bar, and thar
he is. Is the rifle loaded|
Ono
"'Then we don't git no bar
"The bar stood thar and looked at
us fur a mint" said Zeb, "and then
that wire fence cotched his eye. He
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
Dcnfncss Cannot De Cured

by local applications, as they cannot reach
the diseased portion of the ear. There is
only one way to cure deafness, and that is
by constitutional remedies. Deafness is
caused by an iulamed condition of the mu-
cous lining OF the Eustaehian Tube. When
this tube gets inhamed you have a rumbling
sound or imperfect hearing, and when it is
entirely closed deafness is the result, and
unless the Inflammation can be taken out
and this tube restored to its normal con-
dition, hearing will be destroyed forever;
nine cases out of ten are caused by catarrh,
which is nothing but an inilamed condition
Of the mucous surfaces.
We will give One Hundred Dollars for any
case of Deafness Caused by catarrh) that
cannot be cured by Halls Catarrh Cure.
Send for circulars, free.
+. j. Cheney s Co., Toledo, 0.
Sold by Druggists, 75c.
Halls Family Pills are the best.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
THE DARNlNG OF CLOTH.
When II Is Properly Done Is Yer,
Effpctunl

y
. E%fYectuaI.
Very few needlewomen in this coun.
try look upon the act of darning as an
accomplishment of which they may be
proud. The old-fashioned darning stitch
was an exact one. 1t demanded the talk.
ing up Of about two threads, and skip.
ping of four. Embroiderers use this
stitch to cover the ground of some OF
their designs. 1t is a very pretty and
effective kind of work.
Stocking-heels are frequently "run'
or darned in this way when they are
new, to make them wear longer. The
darning of cloth, however, is a little
more careful art than that of stockinet
II often happens that a valuable gowr
is torn and can only be saved by an ex
pert darn, which is done so .skillfull,
that 1t becomes invisible when pressed
When the cloth is heavy this is an easy
matter, because the needle can be care
fully run between the two surfaces o.
the cloth. Silk thread is the strongesr
material to darn cloth with, but some
| times, when there will be no strain or
the work, a ravelling of the cloth ma,
be used because they match better
When inserting a patch be careful tt
match the grain of the patch with tn,
grain Of the cloth, and darn down tho
edges of the tear with ravellings on
the patch. Press the work when don.
on the wrong side.-N. Y. Tribune.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
FASHIONS EANclEs.
New Notes ON the Correct Thing in
Ladies' Costumes.

New Notes on the Correct Thing in
Ladies' Costumes.
The plated round waist and the full
Russian blouse waist contest for favor
with the numberless chic little coat
basques. very short, very smart aud
livery much trimmed. Sometimes we zee
the basque portion cut in one with the
waist, and sometimes added on. In
other instances the coat or basque eff
feet is confined to the basque only,vhile
the front is slightly pointed or quite
round. The back is in II seamless
piece, and is arranged In endless ways
below the belt line. Short jacket fronts
made by leading French coatmakers
open on full vests of any soft material
that gathers, plaits, tucks or can be ar
ranged in effective surplice folds in
side square or tiny rounded jackets Of
some heavy textile.
Evening toilets show stylish loops
and ends of ribbon on the shoulders,
the loops alone or mingled with airy
frills of plated silk muslin. The half
low bodice shows the still popular Wat
teau bow of medium-wide ribbon
placed between the shoulders ut the
backs, the ends falling low On the dress
skirt. OF ribbons alone are made very
charming girdles, bretelles, vests,
gimps, surplice waist front, jacket
fronts, panel pieces, ichus, pulfs for
slashed sleeves, blouses, collars, cuffs
and little mouchoir muffs or chutelaine.
Many of the demitrained dress skirts
are cut with nine cores; and at the back
some are boN-plaited and others fan
plated.
Huguenot caps are added to the tops
of many of the short, full, pulled ~sleeyes
of evening bodices.
Peplums, which are added to Russian
b%louses, jacket bodices, surplice waists
and similar garments, are shaped in va
rious ways. Some are crenelated, 9TH
ers' cut in oval tabs or sharp vandykes,
and also in circular form, with or with
out plaits at the back.
Little bolero, zouave or other small
jacket pieces are added to the fronts of
high or low-necked corsages cut Il la
Russo and made of airy textiles draped
loosely over fitted silk underwaists.
These little side pieces are made va.
riously of lace, velvet, jeweled passe-
menterie, satin, brocade or watered
silk, and the sleeve puffs and collar
If collar there be-match these pieces
in color and fabric.
German broadcloth in dark Russian
red, or the favorite blue shade of the
winter, is noted among elegant models
in ~redingotes and other enveloping gar
ments of the season. Some of the very
expensive wraps are lined throughout
with fur, notably a very beautiful blue
garment made in Huguenot fashion,
with odd, stylish sleeves, a passemen-
terie girdle and lined with chinchilla.
Another handsome model is a cape of
blue German broadcloth, lined with
mink fur and trimmed with dark
brown silk cord ornaments. There is
also an immense revers collar Of mink
around the neck. A third wrap, with
Russian blouse features, is made of red
and black fancy cloth, lined with red
satin and trimmed with bands of black
fox fur, with a very high Klondike col
lar and a capecollar of the fur cover
ing the shoulders.-N. y. Post.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
How Alaska Indians Track Bears.

William b. Otis, who has been all
over the world as one Of the ichthyolo-
gists in the employ of the government,
has just returned from his second visit
from studying the fish in Alaskan
waters. He says: "Strips of whale
bone are folded into the shape of the
letter m envcloped in hunks of fat,
and frozen that way. The fat thus pre-
pared is left in promising spots for
great white bears. to devour. Along
comes one of the monsters, gulps a
lump down whole, the gastric juices
melt the fat and eat away the strings
Of tendon with which the whalebone is
bound; the whalebone springs out
straight across the animals stomach,
and presently 1t dies. Next day Mr.. Es-
kimo comes along and gathers in a
bearskin worth several quarts Of whis-
ky."-Portland Oregonian.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
A E MYSTERY.
We 10 Not Know h Value OF Our
Great WarshIpa.

Great WarshipH.
The most remarkable experiment in
recent years is the building of naviesa at
enormous expense, when there has been
no opportunity Of testing the value of
the new machinery In actual warfare.
During the last quarter of a century
there has been no naval battle worthy
of being mentioned In the same breath
with Trafalgar or the Nile, or with Rod
ney's great victory in the West Indies.
LISA In the Adriatic Was a small fight
at the opening of the new era of naval
progress,
A few ironclads have been In action
on the west coast of South America, and
a British feet shelled the alarmed forts
of Alexandria. There was a battle be-
tween fleets on the Yalu not long ago;
but the mental lnferiority OF the Chi
nese to the japanese rendered it impos-
sible for experts to judge what their
ships would have done If they had been
properly manned and well handled.
Meanwhile, the art of naval warfare
has been revolutionized, and every mari
time nation has been expanding i'm
mense sums upon battle ships and other
fighting vessels without knowing
whether armor will adequately protect
them or whether torpedo boats do not
hold the p~roudest fleets at their mercy.
Two years ago there was a wonderful
naval review at Kiel when the Baltic
canal was opened, and this year there
has been another off Portsmouth at
which the most powerful English fleet
ever assembled in any waters has been
seen on holiday parade. These fleets
were immense combinations of machine
shops, engine houses and gun factories.
What their value may be in a sea battle
is one of the mysteries of the sea.
The best experts frankly say that
they do not know whether these com
pick iron boxes filled with steam and
electric machinery will remain atloat
under heavy fire from shore or torpedo
attack. They readily admit that nayies
| will be transformed as soon as there is
a great engagement between modern
fleets.
In Nelson's time there was an unwrit-
ten law that hot shot were not to be
used in battle, on account of the risks
involved in setting fire to intlammable
wooden ships. There was then a naval
IN cttppt onoinrt +rnnnhnrn tpnthnHg
of fighting. This has passed away.
Every navy now has all the modern re-
sources for setting on fire or sinking
by secret assault an enemy's ship.
In naval reviews the battle ships are
floating batteries which seem to defy
assault; but torpedo boats have never
been used against them. With a single
sting of the little steel wasp the great
leviathan with its heavy armor and
long-range guns may 60 down with a
quick plunge, If the experts only knew
what was the real, effective value of the
torpedo in naval warfare, they could
tell with a fair degree of confidence
what the fleets of the future would be
like.
They do not know, and the building
of the fleets goes on in a fog of uncer-
tainty. II command one of these
ships" said an old seadog at Kiel, "but
let me tell you frankly, | would not like
to go into battle with her. We shall
know more after the next naval war
than we do now."-Youth's Companion.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22

echo is a method long in use. In the
fogs that descend upon the New Eng,
land coast it would hardly be possible
to find a way in safety among the in
numberable Islands, fringed with dan.
gerous lodges, except by needing the
warning given by the echo of the wills.
tie from the naked rocks, or the green
walls of spruce trees along the shores.
Echo, however, has from the earliest
times been famed as an elusive
nymph. She is a great ventriloquist,
rs poor Jack" has often learned to
his cost. Her voice may seem to come
from a dozen different directions, or
she may lie about her lurking place
with the most definite malice.
1t was to reduce her doings to some
order that the Eophone was invented.
Its first use was in locating icebergs.
An iceberg gives back a strong echo,
but is often bewildering in a fog. A
mariner knows that an iceburg is near,
but just where it lies is beyond his
power to guess. The Eophone, how
ever, makes no trouble of it.
The principal elements of this instru-
ment are two sound receivers or col.
Letting devices separated by a vertical
partition or vane, the whole revolving
on a vertical axis so that the receivers
can be directed to any point of the COM
pass. Now it is evident that if the vane
points directly at the object which is
emitting a sound, an equal number of
sound waves will enter each of the re.
c%eivers, but if it is turned in any other
direction, one of the receivers will be
shielded by the vane, and will get less
sound than the other.
From each receiver a tube extends to
an ear of the operator. He hears, at
first, a relatively weak sound with the
other. Then he turns the Instrument
about until the sounds are equal, and
a compass reading gives him the bear.
ing, which he transmits to the officer
in charge of the wheel.
Not only can the echo from an ice
berg be heard by the Eophone, but the
ripping of water against it, though
that would be quite inaudible by the
unaided air. The use of the instrument
in a channel marked by bell buoys, au.
tomato whistles, and other devices, il
obvious. Even more important is the
prevention of collision. How hard it il
to locate the feeble horn of the fish,
erman amid the fogs of the Grand
Banks no one can declare in language
that ov~erstates the fact; and the pool
fisherman can do nothing to protect
himself. He is lost in an instant If tn,
great ocean liner, in whose path he
must often lie for days, sweeps down
upon him.
The revenue marine service unde,
the treasury department was quicker
than the navy to avail itself Of the
Eophone. Nearly all the cutters carr,
such instruments, and they have proven
to be Of the greatest service, SO thai
the determination of the navy depart
ment to use them on the enormously
expensive war ships is a matter of i'm,
portance to the nation.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
nenectlonn Of q pacheIor.

At 80 marriage is the wine OF life; at 40
it's the morning after.
A man is quiet when he is dead; a woman
is dead when she's quiet.
Every woman is a mirror Of her bosom
friend to her husband and a mirror Of her
husband to her bosom friend.
The first sign that q woman is ~beginning.to
feel her age is when she hunts up all the baby
pictures OF her children.
Half a woman's pleasure in buying a pref.
ty pair of stockings cheap is spoiled because
she can never be perfectly sure they wont
crock.
When you see a girls eyes look as II she
had been crying she has generally met with
some great grief, or else she has Just had her
bath and couldn't find her silk starching
bag.-N. Y. Press.
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22
ON THE WAITER.
Why His Customer Couldn't Eat the
Soup.

A certain literary German whose manner
Of speaking wal extremely deliberate, and
who disapproved OF impetuosity OF any sort
and under any circumstances, had an anus
ing experience in a restaurant one day.
He was a well-known figure among the
patrons of this particular establishment, as
he seldom dined anywhere else, and he was
generally served by a waiter who had be
come used to his way of speaking; but one
day a new waiter took his order and brought
his soup.
II cannot eat this soup" said the gentle
Ian, slowly, not looking up from his plate.
The man seized the soup plate before the
customer could finish the sentence, and van
shed with it.
He reappeared in a moment with another
supply of the same soup, which he placed
before the gentleman, and then stood re-
garding him with an anxious face, wonder
ing what could be the reason for the soup
remaining untouched.
Il cannot eat this soup" again slowly re-
marked the literary man.
why not, sir! What is the natter
stammered the unhappy waiter, who had
been told he was serving an important per
So.
Il cannot eat this SOUP" said the literary
genius, calmly, for the third time, because
J have not as yet been provided with a
spoon!" - Northwestern Christian Advo,
rntn
Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-01-22

hadn't never seen zone befo', and purity
soon he walks up and gives a hit with
his paw, He got a jab from a barb,
and it made him mad. What does he
do but give that fence a hug, and it
was the funniest sight yo' ever seed.
The harder he Rugged the mo- he hurt
hisself, but it was a good while befo'
he would let go. He growled with mad
ness and %whimpered with pain, and
men the old woman fell to l%aughin'.
and never thought to load the gun in
side the cabin. 1t was ten minits befo'
that bar would gin up, lie bit and
clawed and Rugged, and when he final
ly let go, he was all over blood.
"'Reckon he'll make off now,' says
the old woman, as the %critter sot up on
end and growled with madness.
"'No, he won't says l. That bar
hain't never bin licked in all his life,
and he'll try that fence agin. lie can't
exactly make out what it is. but he's
jest waitin' to git his breath back
sand so it was. Thar was a heap O.
loose wire on the ground, and bimeby
the bar goes fur it. In a mint he was
all tangled up and fightin' fur his life,
and the grass and dirt flew till yo'
could skassly see him. | never heard
SIGH growlin' in all my life, and when
he bit at the wire it made the cold
chills run up my back. I've killed
three bars in a far fout in my time,
but I'm willin' to say that that var
mint would hev had me on the run in
no time. Thar was lots O. time to load
the rifle and hev a shot at him. but
didn't want to miss any of the funny
performance. The row went on fur Is
minits, and then the bar was all
tuckered out agin.
Cant he see that he amt ftten?'
asks the old woman, as the varmint
begun to back off.
HE kim says l, but he's sot in his
way and hates to gin in. He's all
chawed to pieces by them barbs, but
he hain't got huff yit.'
Five minits later the bar made a
rush fur the fence and begun to hug
and bite, and he was so powerful mad
this time that he pushed down three
or tour rods Of it. 1t wasn't no use,
however. He was q licked bar, and
the mo- he Rugged and bit the mo- he
knowed he was licked. Bimeby he jest
lay still and whined and whimpered,
and it 'peared to us that thar was
tears in his eyes.
"'What does a bar do when he's bin
whopped in a fout?' axes the old won.
ar, as we stood lookin'.
Cant dun say, but | reckon he
sulks around till his hurts git well,
says !.
Il could hev loaded the rifle in hall
a mint" said Zeb, "but somehow
didn't seem to keer fur a shot at the
bar. When he got sorter rested, he so
up and looked at us, but it wasn't q
squar' look, and he didn't hold up hi,
head. He 'peared to be thinkin' fur {
mint, and then he limps over to tina,
chestnut tree and begins to climb up
Dc was mighty slow about it, but bime
by he got up to that big limb, and artel
> sorter far'well look around, he let.
- and falls kerchunk to the airth. H,
" on TO the grindstun, which wal
standin' under the tree. and broke II al
to finders.r
And then he made ofI?" l asked.
ING, sah be didn't. That bar ha.
objeck when be clumb that tree
~ objeck WINS to kin hIrself bekcse n
pr whopped. He 3est cum dow
neaaz1usf and as he struck that grind
staa ~ bsoke'his neck.ss