davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Forrest City times., 1898-08-26

Township 4 N. Range E. s ne sec. l. Sw nv sec. 4. nv sw sec. 4. sw sec. 5. Sc sec. 5. Und ! sec. z, (except the fri.
 sw and 6 3S-100 acres off of
 the west side of SC of sec. z. Ne sec. s. Und ] VI of VI sec. s. E. sw sec. s. Nv sw sec. 9. Und ] ne sw sec. II. Und I nv SC sec. II. Und l! sw SC sec. II. Sc nv sec. 12. W. e. sec. 17. 112 64-100 acres off east side
 Sc sec. 19. Nv sec. 19. Ne sec. 19. Ne sec. 20. S nv sec. 20. Sc sec. 20. Ne sec. 21, except $ of TT and
 6 of Big Creek.) Nv sec. 2l. Sw sec. 21. Nv sec. p. Ne sec. 23. W. Se sec. 26. Ne nv sec. 27. E pit nv ne sec. 2S. Ne sec. 29. Nv sec. 29. Sw sec. 29. N ptse sec. 29. All sec. 30. All sec. 31. Nv sec. B. NJ sw sec. 32. Ne ne sec. 34. Sc sec, 34. Nv nv sec. 34. Sc sec. 35.' Sw sec. 36.
The Forrest City times., 1898-08-26

Township 5 N. Range I E. Und ] VI sw sec. 1. Und ] ne sec. ?. Und ] SC ne sec. 6. Sc sec. 6. Fri sw sec. z. E4 sec. 8. E4 VI sec. s. Und e9 nv sec. 9. Und ] ne sec. 9. Sa sec. 9. w. nv sec. 9. Sw sec. 10. Sw sec. II. E4 ne sec. 13. Und ] w4 ne sec. 13. Und , WI sec. 13. Und ! e1 sec. IA. Und |! ne sec. IA. E. nv sec. 14. Und e9 sw sec. 14. W. q sec. 15. Sc sec. Is. Und ] sec. 19. Und l of W! sec. 19. All sec. 20. NJ sec. 21. Und ] S! sec. 21. E! e! sec. 9. w! e! sec. 22. Nv sec. 26. S4 ne sec. 24. Sa sw sec. 24. w! nv sec. 24. E.! SC sec. 24. E! ea sec. P. Nv sw sec. 27. Nv sec. 27. Ne sw sec. 27. Sw sw sec. 27.
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

flew faster and she coughed slight
cough.
She knew, without looking up, that
her brother brought in pile OF Vaien-
tines in his hand and that when
presently he should have finished dis
tributing them to his eager sons ana
daughters, her nephews and nieces'
he would come and bring one to her
or else? He would not do this last.
1t was this dread that brought the
crimson spots to her cheeks.
If there was one for her he would
presently come, and leaning over her
shoulder, he would say, as he dropped
upon her lap the larger, handsomer one
than all the others: This looks
mighty suspicious, Sis Minnie"
Each year for seven years her broth
er had tenderly handed his sister her
valentine After he had seen the look
of pain and confusion that followed
his playful teasing in presenting the
first one, he had never more than re-
lieved the moment by passing jest.
The regular coming of Aunt Jemi-
mas valentine" was a mystery in the
household.
1t had been thirteen years since she
had quarreled with Eli Taylor, her
lover, and they had parted in anger,
never to meet again. Since then she
had stayed at home and quietly grown
old.
Fourteen years ago she had been in
the flush of this, her only romance, and
st. Valentines day had brought a
great, thick envelope, in which lay,
fragrant with perfume, gorgeous val
entine.
The oldest children had been very
small when this Respondent confection
had come into their home. Some of
them had not been born, but they
had all grown up in the knowledge
of it.
Shortly after she received it there
arose foolish lovers quarrel-Eli had
gone away in anger-and that had
been the end.
Disputes over trifles are the hardest
to mend, each party finding it difficult
to forgive the other for being angry
for so slight cause.
And so the years had passed.
For ten long years the beautiful val
entine had lain carefully put away.
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

the life of the live single woman OF
forty-if she be alive enough-when in
the face of even negative and affec-
tionate disparagement she is moved
to declare herself.
One thing, indeed, it was to own a
yellow, time-stained valentine, and
quite different one to be of the dim
pied throng who crowded the Jones'
vile postoffice on Valentines day.
Il reckon them young ones would
think it was perfectly re-dic'lous eft l
was to git valentine at my time CT
life," Miss Jemima said, aloud, to her
looking glass one morning. 1t was the
day before st. Valentine of the year
following her day of tears.
but I'll show emf" she added, with
some resolution, as she turned to her
bureau drawer.
And she did show them. On the
next day great envelope addressed
to Miss Jemima Martha Sprague came
in with the package of lesser favors,
and Miss Jemima suddenly found her
self the absorbing center of new in
terest-an interest that after having
revolved about her awhile flew off in
suspicion toward every superannuated
bachelor or widower within radius OF
thirty miles of Jonesville.
For ten years her self-sent valentine
was a mystery to the other members
of the family.
AS the years passed. if her brother
began to suspect, he made no sign of
it save in an added tenderness. And,
of course, he could not know.
On the anniversary upon which this
little record of her lie had opened.
the situation was somewhat excep-
tional.
The valentine had hitherto always
been mailed in Jonesville-her own
town. This postmark had been noted
and commented upon, and yet it had
seemed impossible to have it other
wise. But this year, in spite of many
complications and difficulties, she had
resolved that the envelope should tell
a new story.
The farthest point from which, with
in her possible acquaintance. it would
naturally hail was the railroad town
of-let us call it Hope.
The extreme difficulty in the case lay
in the fact that the postoffice here was
kept by her old lover, Eli Taylor.
Here, for ten years. he had lived his
reticent hachelor days selling Dlows
and garden seed and cotton prints and
patent medicines, and keeping postof-
fee in small corner Of his store.
AS Miss Jemima pondered upon the
thought of sending herself a valentine
through her old lovers hands. the COZ
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

done away with the drawing of lots
Young people are not satisfied with
leaving the matter to fortune, as were
their ancestors, but fix it themselves
The universal means used to celebrate
the day is combination of lace paper
pictured hearts, cupids and verses,
thousands of which now hang in the
stationers' window. From one to a
dozen of these are selected, at a cost
of from one cent to several dollars,
and entrusted, properly addressed, to
the postmans care. Invariably, the
missive is sent anonymously. Often,
too, the sender steals, missive in hand,
up to the door Of the one who is to re-
ceive it, after dusk Of st. Valentines
day. The bell is pulled, the valentine
dropped, and away runs the young one
in high glee. The most delightful joy,
however, is experienced when the ''ir-
repressible" steals thus up the steps,
chalks a white square the size of an
envelope upon the porch, rings the
bell, and scampers away. OF course,
in the darkness, the square resembles
a valentine, and the fair one, her heart
beating little faster than ordinarily.
stoops to pick up-nothing.
A spirit of irreverence for the senti-
ment of st. Valentines observances
has sprung up within the memory Of
living man. Instead of the regulation
lace and verses, the latter of which are
of the 'molasses drip" sort, contracted
for by the hundred pounds, there is
now a most grotesque sort of carica-
ture, with a libelous accompaniment OF
lines. Great swollen heads, emaciated
chests, and misshapen feet, printed
upon cheap paper, are dedicated to a
tradesman or man of professional
calling. Some of the caricatures have
their foundations based on peculiari-
ties of custom or eccentricities of habit.
One of these eccentricities is taken
apart from any other trait, dressed in
an outrageous body and glazing
clothes. and becomes the missile of the
small boy with which to attack the
foibles and foolish conventions OF So
ciety. i
There will long remain, notwith-
standing the practical, hardening tend.
ency of the age, something of the senti-
ment peculiar to st. Valentines day,
which led the Roman lads to choose
and honor their lady loves. Though
the New York postmen may cease to
carry 100000 extra letters on that day.
Cupid will continue to be honored, and
the confectioner and the florist may
notice an increased sale of their wares.
for the spring still comes and the birds
still mate. and human nature is much
as it used to be in the olden days at
Rome.
E. L. sANDERSoN.
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

its time-stained face and c.ught its
musty odor, she seemed to realize
again the very body Of her lost love,
and for the first time in all the years
the fountains of her sorrow were
broken up, and she sobbed her tired
heart out over the old valentine.
Is there a dead-hearted woman in all
Gods beautiful world, l wonder, who
would not weep again. if she could,
over some of life's following symbols
symbols of love gone by, of passion
cooled-who would not feel almost as
if in the recovery Of her tears she had
found joy again?
For the first time since the separa-
ton, she clasped the valentine to her
bosom and called her lovers name
over and over again, sobbing it, with
out hope, as one in the death agony
Miss Jemima, in her suddenly real
lied younglove setting, had become,
to her own consciousness, old and of
date gone by.
But there is apt to come time in
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11
esting things happened in quick sue
cession, And then?

esting things happened in quick sue
cession. And then?
There was a little, quiet, middle
aged wedding in the church on Easter
Sunday 1t was the old lovers idea
to have 1t then, as he said their hap
piness was resurrection from the
dead, and belonged to the Easter sea-
son, and there was no one to object
Miss Jemima showed her new valen-
tine to the family before the wedding
came off, but in spite of all their
coaxing and begging, she observed a
rigid reticence in regard to all those
that had come between that and the
old one; and so, seeing the last one
actually in evidence, and rejoicing in
her happiness, they would only smile
and whisper that they supposed he and
she had been "quar'lin' it out on them
valentines"
II amt fifteen for you, Jemimy
honey, no mon I was eighteen years
ago." he said, his arm timidly locking
her chair, the night before the wed
ding, but eff you keered enough about
me to warm over the little valentine
sent you nigh twenty year ago, and 10
make out to live on it, l rackon can
keep you supplied with jest ez good
ez tibet, fresh every day an hour. But
befo' | TAXI you into church | want TO
call yo' attention to the fac tibet I'm
a criminal li'b!e to the states prison
for opeRin' yo' mail-an' if you say so,
why, I'll hat to CO.
We'll, Eli" Miss Jemima answered,
quite seriously. "ef you're li'ble to
states prison for what you have done,
| don't know but am worthy to go to
hotter place-for the deceit I've prac-
ticed."
We'll" said Eli 81 reckon eff the
truth was told, the place where we jest
nachelly both b'long is the insane
asylum-for the ejiots we've acted.
When ! reflect that l might "a been
ez happy ez l am now eighteen year
ago, an think about all the time we've
lost Well How comes i that
Easter comes so late this year. any
| how"
FINS
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11
or OF the scheme began to change from

or OF the scheme began to change from
impossible green to rosy red.
Instead of dreading, she began ar
IDENTIFY to desire this thing.
But the only possible plan by which
she could manage secretly to have the
valentine mailed in Hope-a plan over
which she had lost sleep and In which
she had been finally aided by an illit-
crate colored servant going there, TO
return next day-it must reach her on
the day before Valentines. This day
had come and gone, and her valentine
had not returned to her. Had the
negro failed to mail it? Had it re-
manned all night in the postoftice-ln
possession of her lover? Would she
ever see it again? Would her brother
ever, ever, ever get through with the
children and finish giving out their
valentines?
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

lovers room in Hope and who had
49, investigating way with her, pro-
duceL seven or eight torn scraps Of
paper collected at this period from his
scrap basket, on each one of which
was written, in slightly varying terms.
bits of rough sketches of note in
which occurred broken sentences like
the following: sending you this new
valentine just as hearty as l sent the
old one eighteen years"
"You sha'nt never want for a fresh
one again every year long as l live.
unless you take"
again and me along with it."
Miss Jemima posted a note on the
following day. and a good many inter
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

For five years Jemima had looked at it
with fearless eyes and a hardened
heart. And then came the memorable
first anniversary when the children of
the household began to celebrate the
day, and tiny comic pictured pages be-
gan fitting in from their school sweet
hearts.
In the youthful merriment of those
budding romances Miss Jemima seemed
to see sort of reflection of her own
long-ago joy, and in the faint glow of
it she felt impelled to go to her own
room and to lock the door and look At
the old valentine.
With a new, strange tremor about
her heart and an unsteady hand she
took it out. and when in the light of
awakened emotion she saw once more
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

Billets of paper bearing the names of
the young women were drawn from a
jar by the young men, and afterwards
the young women reciprocated. Each
one was thus valentine" to two others.
the one whom he had drawn and the
one to whom he had fallen by lot.
But" observes Samuel Pepys in his
diary, "a man doth pay much more at
tention to the one he had drawn than
TO the one to whom he hath fallen"
or. in other words. the billets drawn by
the men counted for more than those
drawn by the women. The valentine"
thus paired, showed each other marked
attention. Gifts of jewelry, silks,
gloves and sweetmeats were made.
Nor was the custom confined to young
people. Married men anc women and
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

courtiers were partakers In 1t, and the
gifts they made to each other were
many times costly. In one of the En-
gllsh counties, Hertfordshire, 1t was the
custom for the poor children, as gayly
dressed as their 9cant means would
permit, to march through the towns,
early in the morning, stopping be-
meath the windows here and there, and
singing Good Morrow, Valentine" A
shower of pennies was the usual re-
suit. In Norwich, gifts were sent to
fair ones anonymously.
The number of poems written about
the custom Of the day Is beyond count
ing. From Chaucer down, the poets
have sung of the god of love to whom
the popular observance has ever dedi-
Gated the day John Lydgate, l44O,
wrote:
"Saynt Valentine, of custom yeere by
yeere,
Men have an usaunee in this region.
To loke and serche Cupide's kalendere,
And chose theyr chosye by CRETE af-
fectioun."
In Hamlet, Ophelia is heard to sing;
Tomorrow is st. Valentines day,
All in the morning betime,
And I, maid at your window.
To be your valentine"
Some have accounted for the origin
of the days observances by saying that
it is the time of year when the birds
are mating and, with the feathered
world,
THE young mans fancy
Lightly turns to thoughts of love.
In some parts of England, it was the
custom, on st. Valentines eve, to walk
the woods with bird-net, in the hope
of catching an owl. Success in love
was the result of bringing home live
owl from the hunt, for, as the wisest
of birds, it was supposed to have the
secret of success which it would i'm
part on this night. 1t was believed
that the first person of the opposite
sex one met on st. Valentines morning
was to be that ones valentine" and
records remain of young ladies who
conscientiously locked themselves in
their rooms, with eyes tightly closed
when leaving it, until the right young
man was announced.
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11
ST. VALENTINES DAY.

DAY OF rites and
festivities was the
18th Of February in
a n C | e mt Rome,
where the Luperca-
liza was celebrated
in honor of a deity
designated by the
various titles. Up
on the blotter OF
the modern police
court the gentle
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

Miss Jemima had not long to wait
and yet it seemed an age, before the
distribution was over, and sne lelt
rather than saw her brother moving
in her direction.
Bigger an purifier one n ever Tor
Aunt Minnie this time-looks 10 me
like" he said, as at last he lald the
great envelope upon her trembling
knee.
Don't reckon it's anything eXtry-
in particular" she answered, not at all
knowing what she said, as She con-
tinued her work, leaving the valentine
where he had dropped it: not touch
ing it, indeed, until she presently
wound up her yarn in answer 10 the
supper-bell Then she took it, Win
her k-basket, into her own ROOM
and dropping it into her upper bureau
drawer, turned the key.
AS she sat tonight looking at the
outside of the envelope, turning 1t over
and over in her thin hands, great not
tears fell upon it and ran down upon
her fingers, but she did not heed
them
1t was even dearer now than ever
before, after this recent passage
through her lovers hands. At TINS
thought she raised it lovingly and lald
it against her cheek Could he nave
handled it and passed it on without d
thought of her? Impossible. Ana
since he had thought of her, what must
have been the nature of his thoughts?
Was he jealous-jealous because some
body else was sending his old sweet
heart a valentine?
This years envelope, selected with
great pains and trouble from sample
catalogue and ordered from a distant
city, was fine affair profusely decor
ated with love symbols.
For a long time Miss Jemima sat
enjoying the luxury of nearness to her
lover that the unopened envelope had
brought her before she felt inclined
to confront the far-away romance typ1-
fled by the yellowed sheet within. And
yet she wanted to see even this again
to realize its recovery.
And so, with thoughts both eager
and fearful, she finally inserted hair
pin carefully in the envelope, ripping
it open delicately on two sides, so that
it might come out without injury to
its frail, perforated edges. Then, care
fully holding its sides apart, she shook
it.
And now-Something happened. One
of Gods best traits is that He doesn't
tell all He knows-and sees.
How Miss Jemima felt or acted,
whether she screamed or tainted, no
one will ever know, when, instead of
the familiar pictured thing, there fell
into her lap a beautiful, brand-new
valentine.
1t was certainly a long time before
she recovered herself enough to take
the strange thing into her hands. and
when she did so. it was with fingers
that trembled so violently that bit
of paper that came within the valen-
tine fluttered and fell beyond her
reach There it lay for fully several
minutes before she had strength to
move from her seat to recover it.
There was writing on the fiuttering
fragment, but what it was and why
Miss Jemima wept over it and read it
again and again are other tritling
things that perhaps God does we'll not
to tell.
The details of other peoples ro-
mances are not always interesting to
outsiders.
However in this particular case, 1t
may be interesting to know that the
woman who took charge of the old
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11
THE LOST YEARS.

WO crimson spots
appeared upon Miss
Jemima's pale face
when she heard the
gatelatch C III C k.
She knew that her
brother was bring
ing in the maitland
as he entered the
room she bent low
err over her work,
her crochet needle
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

Love never dieth." We learn this
as a promise. We get. after such SUI
fering as involves as II were a new
birth and other faculties. to know 2
as experience.-George s. Merriam
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

was like a queens,
And not waist in all the town was
neat as Eveleen's.
Oft before her ivied window in the
snowdrifts or the dew
He had fingered, looking fondly at the
tapers shining through,
But the maiden was as bashful as her
beauty was divine,
So now he sought to WOO her with
dainty valentine.
Before him on the table lay rose Of
velvet red.
A fillet wrought of silver just to fit her
curly head.
A string of coral, rosy like her glow
ing finger tips,
And frosted sugar plums to melt like
kisses on her lips.
And yet he could not make choice,
till Cupid, straying near
Behind his gilded culver hid a smile
that held a sneer;
GO write" he said, "a pretty note, and
ask her to be thine,
And seal it with a kiss to send by old
St. Valentine
The lover took a scented sheet, in hue
of palest pink,
And on it with a slender quill he wrote
in blacklist ink:
Dear Eveleen!-sweet Eveleen! thy
name is my delight.
1t maketh music in my heart from
morning until night.
IT'S mating time for all the birds, and
happy things are they,
But am left lonely man to sigh my
life away
To sigh my life away, my love, if thou
wilt not be mine.
Oh, come to me, fair Eveleen, and be
my Valentine!"
Across the purple eventide, and over
hill and dale
The moon, a silver crescent, flung her
glory like veil.
And still he sat a-dreaming of the lips
he longed to kiss,
When inward swung the oaken door
what vision fair was this?
A slight and graceful figure all in ruby
velvet dressed,
With a tear upon her lashes. and lily
on her breast.
He felt her arms about him In thei-
snowy whiteness twine;
Il come to thee, my dearest love, to be
thy Valentine!"
Oh, we laggard lover pining like the
youth of olden times
For shy and lovely maiden, find a
lesson in my rhymes,
Do not woo her at distance, signing
at her garden gate,
Lest another boldly enters and you
find yourself too late.
Do not send her cards Of satin. scat
tered Ger with flying doves,
And a wreath of roses tended by host
of dimpled Loves,
Dut frankly written letter. with your
heart in every line;
And she win come, like Eveleen, and
be your Valentine.
-Minna Irving.
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11

When woman tells you she will
be ready in a minute she doesn't Aay
which Rluute.
The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1898-02-11
FINS.

n a f e b u airy
morning, in the
classic days OF
old,
. gallant youth sat
dreaming of a
maid with curls
of gold.
Her voice was
sweeter than a
flute, her step
The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-31

troops now on the way. The military road
to san Juan is broad and we'll beaten and
will offer no such difficulty to the passage
OF artillery and supply trains as did the
s"sgy and almost unbroken trails of Cuba
to the advance of Gen. Shafter.
The Spanish made a stand at a small
town, resisting Gen. Henry's advance sew
en- miles north of Ponce tonight. Artillery
IRE could be seen distinctly as the dispatch
boat bearing this news left at o'clock in
the evening.
Information received by Gen. Miles in
dicates that there are less than 1000 regu-
lars and 1000 volunteers in the island.
Gems. Miles and Wilson with their staffs,
accompanied by the British, French. Ger
man and Danish consuls called upon the
alcalde this afternoon.
The latter gave them gracious welcome
and asked 10 be advised as to Gen. Miles,
desires with regard to the government OF
the city.
Gen. Miles informed him that it was not
his purpose to interfere in any way with
the local government, and advised the all
calde to conduct his administration as us
ual' lie said, however that all persons
having arms given by the Spanish must
give them up or be treated as enemies
Ihe alcalde said that this should be DONE
At the conclusion of the conference,
which was brief. the American officers,
stepped TO the balcony of the municipal
building, overlooking the plaza, where sew
eral thousand people. including the fire
department and a number of bands, were
assembled. The crowd cheered Gen. Miles
and the American bands played national
airs.
Surgeon Greenleaf said to-day that there
was no yellow fever in Ponce or its vi
entity, but there were a few cases of
smallpox.
United States Consul Hanna, who Is a
personal friend of Capt. Gen Macias. tele-
graphed to the latter to-day, uring him to
wire the Madrid government to surrender
IN the name of humanity, as the Amerl-
cans are certain of victory.