davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
SMALLEST WEAPON OF WAR
Evolution Of the Most Ancient Of Firearms
to the Modern Gun.
PROGRESS OF THE ORIGINAL PISTO
From the FlintIock of 1910 to the
Machine GUNS of the Present.
: Beautiful Specimens OF
Medieval A~rtiHcinE. -

The pistol, the smallest and most inter-
.esting of firearms, is also the Oldest. From
the time OF the battle of Rentz, between
the Germans and the French, In 1916. sword
and pistols have been the recognized equip
ment of a horse soldier.
In England, France and Germany the
service pistol is of a fixed and definite form
and caliber, but in the United States no
such uniformity prevails. The government
does not supply any of its officers with side
arms, so the American follows his own
preference in the selection of his pistols.
These vary both in caliber, make and style,
and there are still in use on board some of
our war ships boarding pistols of a cum
brous, one-fire pattern which went out Of
date twenty years ago.
But some sort of a pistol always appears
as q part of the army officers equipment.
One of the British correspondents who ac-
companied the Gussie expedition to Ca
banas wrote home: "Of the officers, some
wore a sword, some did not, though all
carried revolvers." No orders had been
issued on the subject; it was left to indi-
vidual taste. There have been from time to
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

time efforts made to have the government
secure uniformity in this matter by the
selection of some definite type and callber
of revolver, but, so far, 1t has never been
done and of late there has been a tendency
to substitute sword and carbine for sword
and pistol among our horse soldiers.
The exact date at which the pistol first
made it's appearance as a weapon is not
certainly known. The earliest hand gun of
which there is a specimen eXtant is a fire
lock. A combination pistol and iron club,
made about 1910, is preserved in one of the
European museums. In firing it was held
at arms length and operated by a blazing
stick applied to the touch-hole. Once dis
charged it could be used only as a club.
The modern revolver, as a matter of fact,
is the first pistol really useful in battle for
more than one discharge. At Marston Moor
Q64D the cavaliers discharged their
pistols and flung them at each others
heads At the battle of Wittenmergen, in
1888, the musketeers of the duke of Weimer
succeeded in firing their pieces seven times
in eight hours. 1t sometimes took a minute
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

per gallon. Many people cannot realize that
it is cold in South America. l am
wearing two suits of underclothing at
this moment, and my feet are
in a fur foot-warmer like that we some
times use when out sleighing. | am only a
little over 10000 feet above the sea, in a
hotel built of sun-dried bricks. Many of
the mining regions are $4,000 and more feet
above the sea; there are no houses what
ever, and at certain seasons the winds OF
the Andes are damp, cold and bonebreak-
ing. The wind and sun tan you and as a re.
suit OF my rides in the highlands my face
and neck are now the color of a boiled
lobster, while my rosy nose is peeling off
in scales. / now wear the knit mask which
the natives wear on cold journeys. 1t is OF
brown yarn and so made that 1t covers the
| whole head, leaving holes for the eyes, nose
and mouth. 1t serves its purpose, but it
makes one look a very Mephistopheles.
The rainy season is a serious time for the
| American prospector. The grass on these
high pampas is of a soft, spongy nature. 1t
holds the water, so that going over 1t is like
walking on wet sponges, and no boots can
keep your feet dry. Rubber cracks and
peels when exposed to 1t. In the gold re-
gions of the Benz river, where 1t Is warmer,
the rains are heavier and the vegetation
is so dense that at times you have to cut
your way through with machetes. Some
times 1t is impossible to make more than
two or three miles a day, and In some re-
gions you find savage Indians who think
you are trespassing upon their territory
and treat you accordingly. Most of the
above evils, however, can be materially
modified IL not removed II one has plenty
of money. and for such the opportunities
are, | believe, worthy OF serious investi-
cation. FRANK g. CARPENTER.
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

mechanism of the latter is connected with
and r%evolves the cylinder carrying the car
tridges, the barrel or barrels being station
airy. A noticeable Improvement on the
modern revolving cylinder was believed to
have been found in the mitrailleuse pistol,
which, as tested by the Small Arms board
of the United States navy at Newport, fired
twenty -four rimless cartridges, charged
with smokeless powder. in forty-four sec
onds, with an effective range of $50 meters.
This test was made nearly three years ago,
but the mitrailleuse pistol has not yet been
adopted in any arm of the service.
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

and Spain. the two countries where the
finest medieval firearms we're made, put
their wits to work on an Improvement. The
fint-lock, pistol was the result and the
greatest wars and most famous duels, down
to 1850. were all fought with fint-locks.
II is claimed that the honor of inventing
the fint-lock belongs to a Spaniard named
Miquelet, but there is no convincing evil
dence OF Il. Certain 1t is that the flint
lock was so serviceable n weapon for nearly
200 years that in 1860 officers of the United
States army opposed substituting for the
6int-lock the new tangled percussion lock.
The improvements on the tint-lock
which led to the percussion lock were COW
cred by English patents in the early part
of this century. A Illuminating composition
was first used, to be exploded by the fall
of the cock. (Which had now become iden-
teal with the hen, or hammer). and this
in turn led to the patenting, in England,
of a tube, and a cap of illuminate to vt
on the tube. While some pistols were made
under these patents as carly as 1S20-o0,
percussion cap pistols did not come into
general knowledge until Samuel Colt pat
ented his revolver in London and Paris In
1895. Colt had hard work 20 make the
percussion-cap revolver go. AMI in l&i2 his
company became insolyent. General Zach
airy Taylor insisted on having his soldiers
armed with these revolvers in the Mexican
war and the government orders then given
laid the foundation of Colts fortunes. So
discouraged had he become that when this
order reached him Mr.. Colt had to make
a new model; his old one mad actually been
lost.
The great difference between the print
tive and modern revolver seems to be in
the fact that the barrels of the former, each
fitted with its own individual firing mechan-
ism, printing pan and trigger, were revolved
directly by the hand, while the firing
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
| or two to fire off a wheel-lock aft,
firing process had begun.
Progress Of the Pistol.


The evolution of the pistol can be traced
by the development Of the lock. Its earliest
form, the fre-lock, was succeeded by the
match lock. There is in the tower of Lon
don a MATCHBOX OF 1850. The improve
ments in the match-lock over the earlier
form consisted in the fact that the latter
! carried it's own self burning slow match
fixed on the lock. These Matchbox pistols
! were also called serpentines, from the double
curve of the combined cock and trigger,
which were in one piece. They were used
by the German ritters at Rentz. They
were nearly three feet long and as awk-
ward as can be imagined, yet the skill with
which they were used against the French
on this occasion led to their permanent
adoption as part of the equipment of
cavalrymen.
The wheel-lock, made chiefly in Italy, at
Pistoia, which is said to have originated the
name pistol" succeeded the match lock.
It's mechanism consisted of a cock, so called
from being generally modelled after the head
of the barnyard rooster, holding a piece of
pyrites in its beak, which, on touching the
trigger, was sprung back into contact with
the wheel, in the lock. This wheel was
wound up beforehand by a key, something
like a clock key, and when the trigger
sprung the cock back, the spring of the
wheel was simultaneously released and the
pyrites in the cocks beak were brought into
contact with the serrated edge of the
whirring wheel. A succession OF sparks
followed, as long as the wheel revolved, and
some of them were tolerably sure to reach
the powder.
The pistols manufactured in the seven
teenth century were far handsomer than
any that are made today. Soon after the
discovery Of gunpowdeT the medieval
armorers set at the task Of perfecting a
weapon in which to explode it. AS a result
Of their efforts the wheel-lock pistol was
evolved. There are now in private collec-
lions in this country and Europe several
fine specimens of these ancient wheel locks
which are the despair of the artifcers of
today. Inlaid with ivory, gold and silver
in lock, stock and barrel, the wheel-locks
Of that day well deserved the name of
precious weapons" They were jeweled
often at enormous outlay, Such gunsmiths
as Nicholas Bis. goldsmith to Philip V of
Spain." charged $40 sterling for a single
pistol barrel and sometimes worked at one
for a year. The wheel-lock, from the very
complexity of its firing mechanism, never
came into general use. 1t was always a
rich mans weapon.
The Poor Mans Gum.
AS the wheel-lock cost too much for the
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
Fruit Not Good for sailors.

Writing from Camp Merritt. San Fran
cisco, Mark II. Evans, clerk of Co. +, blst
Iowa, says: when i left Des Moines /
had with me two bottles of Chamberlain
Collie, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy. The
fruit out here has not exactly agreed with a
majority of the boys and my two bottles
have been in great demand, SO much SO
that II is all gone" Mr.. Evans has since
been supplied and will take a good lot OF
the remedy along to the Philippine islands.
There is no danger from bowel complaint
when this remedy is used. 1t always cures.
For sale by al druggists.
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

When Sir William Harcourt was a young
man he once paid a visit to Lord Beacons-
field. or, as he was then, Dlsraeli, and on
Sunday went with his host to the village
church. My friend, the vicar" said Dis
raeli. in explanation of that functionary's
high church tendencies, twill take what
call a collection and he calls an offertory
and afterward what l call a plate. and he
calls an amsdish, viii be placed on what
call a table and he calls an altar"
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
The Poor Mans Gum.

AS the wheel-lock cost too much for the
ordinary man, the hle-lock was evolved, as
a poor mans pistol. Its inadeauacy was sc
evident that the prize gunsmiths of Italy
Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
Not a Poor Mans Country.

I fear that some of the statements in
this letter may lead Americans without
capital to come to South America to pros
pect. I should most earnestly advise such
to stay at home. This is not a poor mans
country in any sense of the word. There
is no chance at all for the man without
capital, and there is no chance for the men
out of money to make money by his muscle
in competition with these Indians, who live
like dogs and will work for about 20 cents
Of our money per day. Many OF them are
good mechanics, and as TO bookkeepers and
clerks the markets are overstocked. 1t
takes a large amount OF money to travel
here, and without proper supplies the hard
ships are ineonceivable, l met last week
two Americans who had been prospecting
In the Benz region OF Bolivia and In the
Carabaya district of Peru. They were the
Understanding Yankees i have seen and
their story was harder than their looks.
They had attempted to live of the country
and had had little more than cornmeal
mush for three months. Some OF the time
Arizona republican., 1898-01-31
INCORPORATED THE FAMILY.
So the Landlord Had to Whistle fol
 His Rent Money

Simeon Armstrong, lawyer, tells a pretty story ofhow he did net collect about $200 rent money for a certain client.
 The client owned a very comfort able fiat we'll down on the South side, and it was occupied by man with a rather generous family The latter fell behind in his payments and the landlord could not collect So he went up to the lawyers office and the latter advised him to let the mat ter run until the debt amounted to $200, when they would take steps surprisingly severe to the delinquent considerably more efficacious than justice court procedure was likely to be with such defendant
 But when the amount reached $20O and Mir. Armstrong brought suit he found the tenant had chcckmated him. He had taken out letters of ni- corporation and his family was a chartered company, with papa for president, mamma for secretary, Pe- ter for treasurer, Jamie for general manager and Margaret for "eXpert and consulting accountant to the cor poration."
 The irate landlord and his much amused lawyer could not levy on any, thing. Chicago Evening Post.
Arizona republican., 1898-01-31

frigate entering the bay; a pioneer train crossing the plains. and a miner at work On the other side in cor responding position are modern, pa latial dwellings, brilliantly il.um nat ed by electricity, modem war ship with a searchlight, locomotive and train rushing across the plains and a native son in the act of harvesting. "El Dorado" beneath Eureka; past" 1S48, and present." 1898, will indi- cate the contrast.
 Suffers mill, near where Marshall discovered the first nugget of gold, will be reproduced built of redwood logs. This structure will be an iden- tical representation of Sutter's mill at ColOma as 1t was on January "A, 1S4s. The ground surrounding the mill will be constructed in the form of an arch, the two massive supports will consist of boulders and earth thrown together at random. In a niche hollowed in O. support will be 8 figure repress nting spring; In the corresponding support will stand sum- mer. Hard by the mill the two gi- gantic pines that stood by Suffers mill will be seen. and the remainder of the summit will be covered with earth, grass and shrubbery. The tail race from the mill. containing the exact spot of the discovery, also will be portrayed. On the left hand cor ner will stand life sized figures of an Indian, Mexican and a Uni ed States soldier; on the right hand cor ner sailor, miner, mechanic d pruner. Large redwood trees and timbers are to be brought from the mountains for the structure in order to give as much the appeaance of the original mill as skill can possibly make it.
 Life in mining camp will be care fully portrayed by a section of a mine, showing the cross drifts and ore chs mbers in natural rock fo nation, with attendants, miners and drill men at work, together with the min ing lamps, little tramway cars laden with ore, and al the accessories of this phase of mining life. The dis i play will be of an extraordinary kind, illustrative of the discovery and the mining for gold in all its phases and branches, from the original and crude | methods to the present improve ments.
 The great transportation lines on the Pacific slope and those whose boats ply between Alaska and the Puget 1 Sound, will pool with San Francisco in the work of gathering the most extensive mineral exhibit that the world has ever seen. Not cnly will ! the golden wealth from the treasure houses of two famed regions be shown at the Trans Mississippi and Interna- 1 tional exposition, but in addition the California state board of trade is mak- ing an effort to have the most cred itable display possible of agricultural horticultural and other natural pro l ducts of the state, showing it's re- sources to the best advantage.
Arizona republican., 1898-01-31

only should be undertaken after sat isfactOry progress is made in the first and second; it is to investigate un- explained laws in nature and the DOW CTS latent in man. This often leads to mysticism, and studies Tn the occult are apt to end in disaster unless one has competent instructors. A mys- tery is simply truth half revealed and half truth is often the worst kind of a lie. The scientific in- vestigators in the realms of chem istry and physics have in the past de- cade wrought miracles, which had they but been mentioned to the au- thOrities a few centuries ago would have consigned the author to the stake. So today the scientific investi- gators in the realms of psychology are making discoveries among the finer forces of nature which will parallel the telescope, the telephone and the X-ray, yet to merely mention the pos sibiliity of such a thing today is to subject the speaker to the same super oilious scorn which greeted Gallileo, Columbus, Fulton, Morse, Edison and CrOokes. TheosOphy does not accept all the theories of spiritualism, hyp- notism, mental healing, telepaJhy, etc., but it does acknowledge the gen. uineness of much of the phenomena therein exhibited, and proceeds to in vestigate the laws underlying it all.
 At the close of the lecture an op- portunity was given for asking ques- tiors, and the answers explained more in detail some of the teachings relat- ing to reircarnation, Karma, the SeVen-fOld nature of man etc Some of the points brought up in the ques- tions will be dealt with in future lee lures by MT. Bailey.
Arizona republican., 1898-01-31
HIT AND MISS CHAT.
ssesssseeesesseeeeeeeeoes,

Bob Burdette never talks uninter- estingly. The cidher day he travelled 300 miles, all the way from Arkan~ as City to Kansas City to hear Nsnsen lecture, only to find that the great explorer had canceled his engagement in that town. Bob was disappointed, of course, but when newspaper re- porter called he brightened up and talked about the probable cause of NanSen's failure ito appear and lec- turing in general. T think ihe colo nel has been feted too much, and it has broken him down. That is the severe, wearing part of the busine
 Anybody can lecture. That's dead easy. All man has to do is to put on a dress suit. set his mouth going and go away and leave it. But the reception, the dinner, the supper, the entertainment by friends-that pulls a fellow to pieces. To be taken to the home of a hospitable stranger; to have the family watch him all day, relieving each other from time to time, that he may never be alone a minute; to keep him talking a steady stream from morning till night; to have different groups of people in vited to meet him at luncheon and dinner with supper after the en- tertainment; to have seven or eight children turned loose on him. This sort of thing is what has rattled the pole-cCmpelling commodore.
 'Its nothing after man gets used to it, but it takes about twenty years to callous a fellow to it, and Prof
 Nansen's vaccination hasn't had time to take yet. The successful lecturer travels from 150 to 200 miles every day, lectures six, seven CT eight times a week. When to that regular work he adds visiting, banque,s, recep- tons, SupperS, etc., etc., he makes a draft on his nerves that goes to pro- test, and pretty soon his system goes BUST. Three hundred dollars a night can't coax James WhI comb Riley on the platform. It was only the wear and tear of social entertain ments that drove him off the rostlum. l. drove Col. Sanford into the insane asylum, as it did John Mccullough; it killed Bill Nye; 1t will knock out any man who tries to keep it up. It hur- ried Eugene Field off the earth, and Major Dane and Ragan. Lscturing it. self is a pleasant and healthful busi- ness. But it breaks the man down when he takes on the social side show.
 Who? Me? O, I'm never bothered that way. I've never done anything to be ionized over. I just lecture for a. living, and that's too utterly com monplace to talk about Pm t:ckled to death when I meet a man at a Har- vey lunch counter who says he heard me lecture once, and offers to pay for my piece of pie. And if he introduces me to a friend who says he never heard me, but always wanted to, and asks me to have another piece with him, I feel that I'm a sort of second Chauncey Depew. It takes very little to make me elated above measure. Even when man says he has read my book and then quotes something from Bill Nye as the best thing in it,
Arizona republican., 1898-01-31
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION.
Some of the Sights That Will Be
 There

Klondyke, the new Eldorado in the northwest that bids fair soon to eclipse all mining camps known to history and to attract a migration the like of which the rev world has not witnessed since the golden days of '49, will contribute from it's fabu- lous storehouse of precious metals to the Alaskan mining exhibit at the Mississippi exposition The initial step in the direction of prepar- ing for an exhibition of gold and sill yer ores from the new wonderland has already been taken by repres nta- tive business men on the Pac fic coz st, headed by ex-Governor James Sneak Icy of Sitka. In conjunction with the Alaska Trade committee of San Fran cisco, composed of members of the merchants association, the chamber of commerce and the board Of trade of that city, the resources of the newly discovered mines of the Klondyke re- zion will be fully represented and an exhibit of especial attrac ion afford ed to the millions of visitors at the Ira Mississippi exposition
 The exhibit vii be supplemented by an extensive display of wild animals that inhaIbit Alaska, specimens of the hardiwork of the Indians, snow shoes, sleds, dog train and packing outfits, mining tools, seal and fishing imple- ments, and multiplicity of objects of interest used by the natives in that far-off land.
 Forming an important and brilliant counterpart to the great K1ondyke exhibit will be shown the mineral resources of California now being ar ranged for the golden jubilee in com memoration of the first discovery of gold in the state, January 24, 1S48. The scope of the great mini g exhibit is extending every day as the prel mi nary work progresses and its various features will combine the largest and finest collection ever seen at any of the worlds eXpositions. The arrange ments of exhibits will be comprehen- sive and instructive in every detail. indicative of the mining resources of the state of California and Alaska. forming an admirable display for the education of the people. One of the features of the mining exhibit will be pyramid of golden cubes occupy ing at its base 1,50O square feet, rear ing it's dome above the galleries, a mountain of gold, representing the output of California the last fifty years, $1,303 ,51 ,59S, thelargest yield of any country during the same period.
 California's progress during the last fifty years will be illustrated by an arch fifty feet high, eighteen feet thick and thirty-six feet in the clear from the pavement to the keystone of the arch. It represents Eureka standing on ton of TelegraDh hill On the rio1, | are the features and characteristics of 1S4S; primitive dwellings, dimly light