davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
MAMMOTH SIUkGEUN.
Capturing Half-TOn Fishes II a Mat
ter of Common Occurrence In
British Columbia.

I saw sturgeon in Victoria, on the
cannery floor, measuring l2 feet by the
'ape and weighing more than GEO
.ounds. Anyone wishing to deceive the
abiic BY aid of a prevaricatiEg cam
"a should pose beside this 12-foot fish.
he men who skllfully and laboriously
reduced it to sections with an ak said
it was not an uncommon fish, though
the biggest on the floor; that they
often found them far larger, and weigh
ing as r.uch as 1900 pounds, says the
Toronto Globe.
Two men lifting half-ton fish into
their boat is the exciting feature of
sturgeon fishing. The sturgeon, if not
fastened in his thick hide, is apt to re-
sent it. He shakes his head in en-
phatic dissent; and head three feet
!ong and as big as il log, when vigorous
y shaken by half-ton body. is thing
10 be avoided. The tail, too is 4 source
of danger, for it not only slaps with en-
ergy, but can cover large surface
with one application. The man new at
the business is apt to get hurt the first
time he helps to coax wriggling stur-
seon of standard size over the gun
vale.
On the floor of the cannery it is
great inert mass of flesh. The first op-
Grafton of the butcher is to chop off
the head and tail with an ak, and for
these free gifts of nature the Indian
and Chinaman are eagerly waiting at
the door. The fms are cut off with n
knife, and these are not allowed to go
to waste. As the refuse is shoveled
along the planks TO the river there is
little allowed TO pass the coast native
and his cousin with the braided hair,
Cinnamon potter around the place and
help to clear away the refuse for the
sake of what they can CLEAN, and have
a weakness for taking parts not in
tended for the river. When such Mon
golian tricks are discovered the China
men are all driven out with more noise
than ceremony, but they take their ex-
pulsion with oriental indifference and
in few minutes are all back again.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
NAMES FOR MONEY.
This Year 1t Is Oil and "Let the OIL
TricIkle" Is a Saying That Is
Heard sn the Land.

To Artemus Ward is attributed the
saying that there are many men in the
United States who never seem to have
any money, there does not seem to be
any men in the United States who
haven't name for money, and the less
money a man has the more names he
uses. Many colloquial names for
money, if not indeed A-~jority of
them, have their origin among gam
blers, or at least card players and other
individuals who delight TO be described
in the newspapers as members of the
sporting fraternity" says the New
York Sun. Last summer the name very
generally in use for money was the
word '.cush;" the summer before the
word phrase in most general use was
'the long green" Prior to that such
nouns were frequently in use as
dough-" sugar stamps" 'the
ready" "dust," "the old stuff" "the
price" "the coin,' and ''spondulex."
This year the favorite seems to be
''the oil,' and what has come to be a
familiar expression is "let the oil
trickie," which is latter-day version
of the old familiar advice, put up or
shut up" When one such expression
is fairly started on its way to popular
ity it remains in use for usually year,
or until superseded by one more de-
scriptive or having at least better
claims to acceptance as a verbal novel
ty. Oil has one marked point of re-
semblance to money. 1t is hard to hold.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
HAD HEARD OF CLEVELAND.
NcwsbOy's Response to Worthy
CIergyman's WeIl-Meant
Advances.

Rev. Ward Beecher Pickard, of Ep-
worth Memorial church, while on his
vacation in the east, has been writ
ing series of interesting letters to
the Sunday school. In his last he
told of an incident in Boston, says the
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
He was walking along the common
che morning and stopped to buy
paper from brightfaced newsboy.
"Haye YOU ever heard of place
out west called CleveIand?" he asked
the boy.
'Sure. That where you belong?"
came the quick reply.
Yes my little man." said Mr.. Pick
ard. "But what do you know about
Cleveland?"
81 know it's out on Lake Erie and
youse got dondy baseball club.
They're crowding our boys too close
for comfort, and that's no joke,
either"
Whether the dignified pastor of one
of fCleveland's most prominent churches
was pleased or not his letter did not
say, bat he asked the boy how old
lie was and paid for his paper, saying:
There are IL pennies, one for each
year. If YOU grow up to be as good
a man as you are bright now you'll
be all right"
"I've been told that BEFORE" was
The parting response from the little
chap as the preacher moved on.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
THE PASSING OF GOLD LACE.
Fleshy Uniforms Are Net Now as
Common as They Fcr14erIy
Were.

The sober-tinted and workmanlike
appearance of the American army
service uniform has attracted much
attention among the representatives
Of foreign armies. Big gold epaulettes,
startling rows of brass buttons, sashes
and shakos used to hold the military
mind in spell, even in this country;
but the gold lrce and the tinsel had to
GO. The Indians and the long-range
rifles shot them away. The CLINT of
a brass button or gold braid, bit of
trimming on dark blue, the eagle-eyed
redskin could see tremendously long
distance away in the clear air of the
mountains. Long range is his first
principle in war. A stand-up fight is
not in his line, and his aim is believed
to be less accurate at 300 yards than
it is at 500. So all the bits of finery
that caught the light had to be dis
pensed with, and even the polished
swords and the white trimmings dis
appeared. AS often as not dingy buck
skin would replace the blue cloth. A
company of infantry came to look like
hunters and a troop Of cavalry like
cowboys. One of the best changes thus
brought about was the substitution Of
the useful sombrero for the iaunty
but insecure forage cap. 1t remains
to be seen what further changes in
uniforms the present war will bring
about. If there should have to be
much more fighting in tropical eli
mates a uniform not only of special
color but of special texture would
have 10 be adopted. In such climates
white men are not expected to walk.
Ii a man has to go quarter of a mile
lie Jumps on his horse If he tried to
walk the distance he would be bathed
in very inconvenient if not unwhole-
some perspiration. The idea of our
soldiers marching in such countries
with their ordinary kit and clothing
strikes anyone who knows the condi-
tions as appalling, and if the war were
TO last much longer the question of
change of uniform for special condi-
t;ons would inevitably have to be
taken up-St. Louis Globe-Democrat
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
ohAkEkS AS LAND OWNERS.
They Have Invested Heavily In
Valuable New York City
Realty.

people would be amazed to know
said an uptown dealer in real estate
reports the New York Mail and Ex-
press. "that some Of the riches
patches of improved land on Manhat
tan island are owned by the Society
Shakers in New Lebanon. Only fe
days ago they acquired title to va
liable hotel property running an entire
square on the West side and worth at
least $2,000,0OO. They are forever on
the lockout for heavy investments, all
in real estate, and seem TO have q
pocketbook without a bottom. They
are rich as cream. Their methods are
peculiar, extremely primitive. One of
the slyest members slips down to the
city, spends a few weeks in nosing
around for bargains, talks with prop
erty holders and agents, and then goes
home to report. The supreme council
Of the Shakers is composed of so acute
business men, who can drive bar
gain and pray with the same facility.
III this body these reports are dis
cussed, and the investment of enor-
nous sums hangs on the verdict
Jh6Iy DONy mas q CudiICc III MAKE Sug-
gestions, and, in this way, some point
that others would miss is seen and
acted on.
'As result these peculiar, ascetic
disciples of Mother Ann and Joseph
Meacham, who founded the New Leb-
anon settlement back in the last cen
tury on plain oatmeal basis, now
possess property here On the island
that will make their descendants
Astors. They have gone specially, in
the past five years. into upper West
side development. All this is the out
come of economy and thrift. Idleness
they call a cardinal sin. They have
enormous gardens. where flowers.
medical herbs, fruits and vegetables
are cultivated. Lately they have gone
heavily into agriculture and manufac-
ture, and find a ready market for all
they produce
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHS.
Prof. Draper's Sister Sat Thirty
Minutes for Her Portrait.

Elizabeth Flint Wade has an illus
trated paper on photography: Its
Marvels" in ST. Nicholas. The author
says:
THE first accounts of this great dis
covery are very entertaining reading.
Prof. Morse. the inventor of the tele-
graph, was in Paris when the news
was published. and at once went to see
Daguerre's wonderful pictures. In
describing them afterward, he said
that moving objects made no impress
sion on the plate; for picture taken
of crowded boulevard showed it as if
entirely deserted, with the exception
of man having his shoes polished.
The mans feet, he said. were we'll de-
fined, because they were kept station
lry; but he was without head or body,
for these were in motion.
ITO America belongs the honor of
making the first Photographic por-
trait. the artist being Prof. John
Draper. a professor, and afterward the
president, of the University of New
York. His victim was his sister. Miss
Catherine Draper. He powdered her
face. that the likeness might be more
quickly impressed on the sensitive
plate. and for 30 minutes Miss Draper
sat-or. at least, tried to sit-as i'm
movable as statue.
"The first class in photogra ply was
formed in Boston in the spring of 1s4o
bv Daguerre's agent, Gourad of Paris.
Rev. Edward Everett Hale, then stu
dent in Harvard. became an enthusi-
astic member of the class. In his
diary, under date of April I. 1910, is
this entry: On my way home I
stopped at the shop and got my
daguerreotype thermometer. There
seems to be great demand; there
were three or four others there"
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
MurGerous MiIIin cry.

A woman in Paris Or London may
discover that the tail of bird 'sets
her off," She walks forth, and To-,
tails are the rage. and millions Of
birds have been slaughtered for the
mere qualification of tender-hearted
woman. It is not an exaggeration to
say that in whatever part Of the world
beautiful birds are found there will
be found also the agents of the draper
and the milliner. The part they play
is that of supplying the demand. Wom-
an wants. The striking expression
'murderous millinery" is current in
speeches and writing on the subject.
"Feather-headed women" as indeed
they are in more ways than one, IS
a term which might be used more fire.
quently than it is with much advan-
tage. Surely they invite some such
public stigma by exhibiting themselves
as they do in the relics of murdered
innocence. = London Saturday Re-
view
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
FUNERALS OF SENATORS.
They Range in Expense from $3.50 in
One Case to s21, ,322.55 in
4 Another.

The first time any part of deceased
senator's funeral expenses was paid
out of public funds was On the occasion
of The death of John Gaillard, of South
Carolina, who died February 26, 1926.
Two other senators died that year
Nicholas Van Dyke, of Delaware, May
10, and Joseph McIlvaine, of New Jer-
sey, August 10. The average public
expense incurred on account of these
three deaths was S292.47, says the
\ ortn American Review.
Nithin the next % years-from 1926
to 1647, inclusive-27 senator's died,
and the remains of II of them were in
-rred at the governments expense.
The average expenditure in those cases
was S018.60. From 1848 to 1867, inclu-
sive, 20 senators died, ard IS Of them
were buried by the senate at an aver
age expenditure of 81 1,365.13. The rec
ord from 1869 to 1894 shows 80 deaths
in the senate, and all but five of these
were the occasion of more or less out
lay Of public money, the aggregate
amounting to $68.849.96, an average Of
%2,754.
In all, up to 1894, there were "a in
terments from and, by the senate. and
the last 10 cost more, by 81, 1882, than
all the other Il. The total amount Of
public moneys expended On account
of senatorial funerals, up to 1894, is
800, ,234.18, ranging from $3.50 in one
case to $21, 32255 in another. The
average is 1885 81.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
SHE ROUNDS UP HoBoES.
A Western Woman who II an Expert
I'm Persuading Tramps to Work
on O Railroad.

Mrs s. j. Atwood calls herself the
Hobo Hustler of the West" and there
is possibly no ether woman in the
world who holds similar position,
says the Kansas City World.
Her business Is 10 gather up all the
idle laborers she can find and put them
TO work on the Union Pacific railroad
In Colorado. Wyoming and other west
ern sections. She has been employed
by the Union Pacific in this capacity for
the past 12 years. and the company
finds her services indispensable.
Mrs Atwood arrived in Kansas City
the other day, and the next day she
left with so meL for Wyoming. Most
of the men were negroes. Several OF
them had the appearance of typical
hoboes. Mrs. Atwood has been in the
business SO long that she says she can
tell by looking al a man whether or
not he will make a good hand. When
she sees one who suits her taste she APP
proaches him without hesitation and
asks him how he would like he posi-
tion she has TO cffer. 1t only requires
the work of about q minute for the
terms to be arranged, and the man is
escorted TO some corner where others
she has engaged have been coDgre-
gated.
Mrs. Atwood has no place she calls
her home. but che usually makes Den
yer her headquarters. Most of her
time is spent between Denver and
Portland, Ore. She says she does not
exactly like the style of the men she
received in Kansas City. as they do not
look sufficiently hardy, but that labor
is very scarce in the far west just now
and she could do no better.
The hobo hustler" is little wom-
an about 80 years of age. She has
short curly hair that is as black as
night. She walks with an agile step
and always has pleasing smile for
even the TOUCHES ST hobo.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
COMMERCIAL ENGLISH.
Warning to Those Who Would Send
Trade Circulars AbrOad-A
Queer TRANSLATION.

Manufactures who wish TO do an eX-
port business must have their circulars
and catalogues translated into foreign
languages, says Engineering, but care
should be taken that the translator is
not only a good linguist, but also an
expert in the particular business to
which the documents to be translated
refer. Otherwise the translation is apt
to be a matter of ridicule to those to
whom it is sent.
We cannot we'll give an instance to
show how an English circular might be
translated into bad German, for exam
pie, but the London Engineer gives US
the following illustration of transla-
tion from another language into Eng
lieh which is probably no worse than
many translations from English:
eve pique ourselves" says the cir
cular, ''on making you known that in
the sale of the - has by us under
taken, This preparated exclusively ar
ranged by some vegetables, is entire
ly spoiled about something hurtful to
the steam boiler blades. BY our pre-
parated every calcarious substance is
neutralized, reducing it to power, and
at the same time steam boiler blades
are conserved from the usual corroslon,
not only, but the ebulition is totally
avoided, as it appears about some very
interesting experiments which have
been made in several establishments"
In conclusion, the circular adds: ITO
be wiling, this preparated may be de-
comDOsed" i"
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
Russia Hoarding Gold.

Financiers want to know why Russia
is accumulating such an immense
store of gold, and certainly the ques-
tion is not without interest to the poll
tician, says the Nottingham Guardian.
\ huge gold reserve implies that a
great war will not lack the necessary
sinews. Why should Russia, who al
ready possesses a larger stock of gold
thar. any other government, keep on
adding to her store of the precious
coin? 1t is two years since she began
her accumulations, and apparently
she has no intention of stopping them,
for the latest arrival of gold from the
cape has been wholly purchased for
Russian account. Yet, with a stock on
hand already reckoned at & 120,Co0,000,
the need for this purchase is not very
apparent. a significant feature of the
case is that whenever notice is called
to these Russian gold purchases they
cease for awhile, only to be resumed
as soon as public attention is turned
another way.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
AFRAID OF THE GLASS EYE.
japanese Coolies Who COnfd Not BE
Induced to Serve the
Owner of 1t.

A wear or two ago an artist from San
Francisco who wore a glass eye came
TO Yokohama and established himself
in little bungalow on the outskirts
CT the city. says the Porkville 1eoman.
The weather was extremely warm,
and before the stranger had become
settled he was besieged by a number
of coolies, who wanted to get the job
of flaming him at night. The artist
looked over the applicants, and finally
selected an old man who brought eN-
cellent recomme ndations from his last
employer.
When it was time to retire the artist
took out his glass eye, laid it on
stand at his bedside and went 10 bed.
The old man picked up his fan and the
San Francisco man was soon asleep.
He slept peace fully for an hour or two,
when he was awakened by chorus of
buzzing insects about his head. He
looked about him, and found that the
man whom he had hireu to fan him was
gone.
The next morning when he went in
search of another coolie he was
amazed TO discover that no one would
work for him. He was looked upon as
a wizard and worker of miracles. with
whom il was unsafe 20 be alone. The
Old man had gone amcng his friends
and told how the Californian had
taken cut his eye at night and laid
it en- a stand in order that he might
watch his servant at night and sec that
he kept his fan in motion. The old
coolies story created such excitement
that the San Francisco man was never
able to get another japanese to fan
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
SCIENCE AND Industry.

A scientist looking for microbes says
there are absolutely none on the Swiss
mountains at an altitude of 2,o0O feet.
Prof. Bilsilk says. The relative size
oi he earth as compared with the sur
is, approximately, that of grain OF
sand to an orange,
The beautiful colors seen in the soap
bubble arise from the fact that the
bubble, being very thin, reflects light
from both the outer and inner surfaces
of the film.
II has been calculated that ordinary
gunpowder on exploding expands
about 1900 times, that is, fills space
this much larger as gas than when in
a solid form.
Nearly 100000 women in Spain
work in the field as day laborers; $780,
900 women are registered as day serv-
ants-that is, they work for their food
and lodging. There is no such class
anywhere else.
The skin of the reindeer is so imper
vious to the cold that anyone clothed
in such a dress, with the addition of a
blanket of the same material, may
bear the intensest rigors of an Arctic
winters night.
Coronium, a chemical element hith-
erto found only by spectroscopic ex-
animation in the suns corona, has
been found by Prof. Nasini in the gases
given off by Mount Vesuvius. 1t is sup
posed 10 be much lighter than hydro
gen.
A Berlin patent agency announces
that a Polish engineer has found way
of chemically treating straw in such a
way that it can be pressed into sub
stance as hard as stone and cheaper
than wood paving, for which it is ex-
pected to prove a substitute.
For several years the engines of the
Detroit waterworks were run with fuel
oil, and it cost 1.55 cents gallon. At
that rate the city paid s2.1s per mil
lion gallons for pumping the water.
Soft coal, for which between S2.4O and
$3.50 ton is paid, is now used instead
of oil, and it costs only s1.4O to pump
10000 gallons of water.
Nickel is a modern metal. 1t was not
in use nor known till 1715. 1t has now
largely taken the place of silver in
plated ware, and as an alloy with steel
it is superior 10 any other metal, for it
is not only non-corrodible itself, but it
transfers the same quality TO steel;
even when combined as low as five per
cent, prevents oxidation. ..=s.---..-.
The Winslow mail., 1898-10-08
THE OLDEST LETTER.
Was Written Fifteen Centuries Be-
fore Christ-Ncvv in the Brit.
ish Museum.

Probably the Oldest letter in the
world is the letter of the Panbesa,
written IS centuries before Christ, to
mis- friend Amenemapt, the scribe, says
the Kansas City Journal.
The manuscript is of perisha BILE
papyrus, and it is amazing that it
should have survived for more than
80 centuries and still be legible.
1t is preserved in the collection of
tile British museum. 1t has been sew
eral times translated during the pres
ent century. 1t presents an interest
ing picture of life in Egypt in the time
Of Rameses II. 1t is more in the ma
ture of literary production, poem
composed in celebration of the visit
of Pharaoh to the city of Pa-Rameses
than an ordinary letter of to-day.
Panbesa ''greets his lord, the scribe
Amenemapt, to whom be life, health
and strength" and then goes on to
describe the verdant fields, the thrash
ing floors, the vineyards, the groves
Of olives, the orchards of figs; the
great daily markets with their fish
anu water 1oWl anu sWdrlnS OF pur-
chasers.
The citizens had their "sweet wine
Of Khemi, pomegranate wine, and
wine from the vineyard" and to these
they added "beer of Kati."
There was music in plenty furnished
by the singers of the school of Mem
pbis.
On the whole, Pa-Rameses seems to
have been a pleasant place to live
in. "The lesser folk are there equal
with the great folk" and Panbesa
writes that its maidens were in
holiday attire every day." with locks
"redolent of perfumed oil''