davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

to the west and northwest and built up the city in that section. Consequently the population on Capitol hill is com paratively small, and along the line of Pennsylvania avenue, east, there are no public buildings of consequence except ing the congressional library, and there are no residences there to make the ave- nue attractive.
 West of the capitol, where all political business is done and where all hotels of prominence are located, Pennsylva- mia avenue is really a national disgrace. True, it is the broadest avenue in the world. Its surface is splendidly con- creted and its sidewalks are broad. But the buildings are old, neglected, dirty, and majority of them squatty.
 On the north side of Pennsylvania avenue, west, which you will remember is the principal part of the avenue, for four blocks from the capitol the houses are inhabited by Chinese, wicked men and women of the white and black race; and the ground floors are generally oc- cupied by saloons and low dives. There is more vice within a stones throw of the capitol on this end of Pennsylvania avenue than can be found in a similar distance on any public street in any other capital city of the civilized world.
 Fifteen years ago Congressman Springer, of Illinois, introduced bill providing for the purchase of the en- tire north front of the avenue, and he made strenuous efforts to induce the congress to buy that property and de- vote it to public buildings which would be a credit 10 the nation. But all of his efforts were wasted, because very few men in congress had the artistic sense to appreciate the necessity for such action. Since then, although the land is still possessed by the wicked, the property has more than doubled in value; and it would cost an almost fab ulous sum to buy it for the government to-day.
 On the south side of this historic thor oughfare, extending three blocks west of the capitol, the botanical gardens are located. It would be we'll for the gov ernment to always maintain them there But from Third street to Eff. teenth street west, where the avenue reaches the treasury, the south side belongs to vice. crime and degradation.
 But there is an innovation at last. The south side of Pennsylvania avenue has one adornment. At the corner of Eleventh street, where for many years
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

thick, they would scrape their skin with wood ashes containing potash lye. When the barbarian inventors of soap the Gauls and the Germans-first taught the effete Romans the use of it, the lat ter made such a fad of it that they went into society with plaster of highly perfumed soft soap covering their hair and face.
 All soap consists of combination of fats with caustic Ives. When the an- cient Germans broiled their fatty hog and bear meat, the grease would drop into the fire, where it combined with the potash of the wood ashes. If in ad- dition quantity of cooking salt, that is chloride of sodium, fell in, the soda would displace the potash and ordinary hard soap was formed. As potash pos sesses the property of attracting moist ure from the air, soap made from it is soft, and until about 50 years ago hard soap was looked upon as quite luxury. Tn many parts of the old country, and amongst the emigrant farmers of the great west, the busy housewives still soak the lye out of wood ashes and cook it with animal fats over the kitch- en fire. A slimy substance with rancid smell or full of biting free alkali is ob- tained, but it does the work of clean ing dirty linen and dirtier faces.
 Formerly hard soaps were made by initiating the ancient German method of adding soda salt to the potash mix ture. This was quite an expensive process, and when 50 years ago an Eng lishman began to use soda directly in place of the potash the soap industry as such took great spurt. Hard cakes in endless fancy shapes and fanciful varieties were produced, and potash soap almost disappeared. In France and Germany soft shaving cream is still extensively used and the shampoo creams are or ought to contain potash It is only within the last few years that attempts have been made to re- introduce the soft varieties for toilet purposes. They are said to possess sew eral peculiar advantages, and a cholera commission at Hamburg recently re- ported that potash soaps act as the most
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

Huge machines for cutting and press ing covered the first floor, while cooling vats extending three stories high were placed along the sides. A row of some 40 tallow barrels lay over steam coils and the melted tallow was slowly run ming through pipe into a so-called boiling vat. Until few years ago the cumbrous process of dumping the con tents of each barrel into the vat pre- vailed.
 When the melted tallow has all flown into the vat lye is added. The mixture is thoroughly boiled, sometimes for sev- eral days. The lye finally breaks the skin surrounding each globule of fat and the chemical union, the saponifica- tion, takes place. This should be per feet" that is, every particle of fat should combine with every particle of lye, the one neutralizing the other. If there is an excess of fat. the mixture will in time become rancid, while rem nant of free alkali would bite the skin and make the soap unfit for any but laundry purposes. The superintendent dipped stick into the boiling mix ure, and after it had cooled off touched 1t to his tongue.
 "The soap must boil several hours longer" he said; it is not yet neutral, for I can taste the free alkali."
 Just then one of the employees dipped a pail into the vat. There was great commotion.
 That's the tallow pail" some one faI Ior +l ing mass with violence and extra steam was turned on.
 "There are 7H tons of soap in that vat" cried the superintendent, land every bit of it may spoil. You see" he took the tallow pail and said: There's always a few ounces of grease sticking on it, and that is enough to spoil the whole lot. If small corner becomes rancid it will contaminate all the rest"
 The addition of an improper per fume, or coioring substance, or the use of certain oils under certain circum- stances may likewise cause a chemical reaction which will spoil whole vat of soap.
 When the lye and fat are thoroughly saponified crane is opened and the liquid runs into cooling chambers. Here it remains for several weeks. The i'm. purities settle at the bottom, and often one-third of the whole must be re melted. Some of the foreign substance especially iron salt. settles in streaks through the soap, thus forming the so- called mottled castillo
 To produce white or evenly-colored soap the streaks are cut away and the
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

derness of undergrowth, within half a mile of the capitol building. It is only since 1872 that the city has grown up and spread out in accordance with the plans of the civil engineer. Even now, with population of nearly 100000 peo- pie, the capital city is practically in its infancy, although it has fully assumed the forms and outlines intended by the brainy man who thought it all out so many years ago.
 Pennsylvania avenue cuts diagonally across the city from Georgetown to the navy yard, a distance of more than three miles. If it were continued in a direct line 1t would go directly through the center of the capitol. But the grounds around the capitol are very large. They are we'll cared for, and have been developed by the best land- scape gardeners in the world.
 The great avenue passes around the capitol and runs along E street, past the new congressional library building, and then resumes it's diagonal course eas yard to the eastern branch of the Potomac river--a stream which is no longer naflSdDie anu ONEf WHICH tHe government will ultimately build arches and convert it into a sewer, just as Fiber was long since hidden from view. There are many thousands of people here to-day who never saw the Fiber and who never even heard of it.
 Westward from the capitol. at Eff teenth street. the avenue defects from its course and passes around the treas ury building and the executive man. sion. At Seventeenth street it resumes its diagonal course to Georgetown, crossing Rock creek, stream which di- vides Washington city from ancient Georgetown. This stream viii also soon be arched over. and will live only in history.
 East of the capitol Pennsylvania ave- nue amounts to almost nothing. It will be many years-say 50 years. at least before the great thoroughfare will be attractive in that section. IL was the intention of the founders of the city to have it built up east of the capitol. But real estate dealers were as avari- cious then as they are now. They held up prices so that home builders went
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

remainder is remelted with the proper perfumes and colors. A ''cold water'' soap is produced without the expensive remelting process, by boiling iye and fat with the ingredients gently enough to prevent the evaporation of the latter.
 The finer grades of perfumed soap are "milled." When the boiled mass comes out of the cooler it is cut into fine shaw ings and dried. Ground perfume and coloring matter are then added and the whole is put through a series of iron rollers which mix and grind the com. pound into homogeneous mass. Near. ly all the fine grades of soap are pro. duced in this way.
 The final stage is the shaping of the cakes. A big block is put upon table and wire netting run through in all directions, so as to cut the block into cakes. With a single stroke of the cut ting machine, thousands of cakes are thus turned out.
 Milled soaps are pressed in dies. The cakes are put upon belt. which car ries them to the stamping machine, and there they are pressed into the desired shape. with suitable design and letter ing, by means of two piston-like rods, one pressing downward and the other upward.
 While the general method of saponi- 6cation remains the same, certain soaps are made by peculiar processes. Thus the creamy father of shaving soaps is obtained by the addition of chemicals whose nature is known only to few men in the United States. Although it is the height of every soap makers am- bition to produce the most delicate article, Il first-class shaving soap, few factories in the world have met with success. Transparent soaps. dissolved in alcohol, which is subsequently eyap- orated, are also made by secret proc- ess, and many of the other toilet soaps possess peculiar virtues which cannot be initiated. Floating soap, for in- stance, was first made in 1873, by an American firm, and it took ten years before competition realized that the whole secret consisted in mixing air with the soap by means of a revolving spiral. E. T. GUNDLACH.
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE.
The Greatest Thoroughfare in the
 Capital of the Nation.
The New City Post Office the First Building Really Worthy of Place on the Imposing
 Street.
Special Washington Letter.l

You have all read of Pennsylvania avenue, the great thoroughfare of the national capital. It is the grandest parade ground in the world, and will some day be the greatest avenue on earth for beauty, comfort and pleasure. To-day Pennsylvania avenue is noth- ing like the splendid public highway that the people generally imagine it to be. You shall see it through the eyes of one who knows every inch of the ground. by riding over it, driving over it and walking it's entire length for many years. You will be disillusion- ized
 It need scarcely be said that Mai L'Enfant, the civil engineer who planned the city more than hundred years ago, performed a piece of work which daily demonstrates his wisdom and sagacity The capital city of the new republic of the new world was without form and void. The site was selected by Washington, but the civil engineer saw before him nothing but unbroken forests in which aboriginal men and women roamed. There were
 
 named the Fiber, lot of high lands, and lot of lowlands, all of them in a state of rugged nature.
 With only this prospect before him, Maj. L'Enfant planned the city, laid out it's streets and avenues, located the public buildings. many of which were erected from 50 to 100 years after his his death He was wonderful man.
 With pencil, pen and paper he first located the great capitol building, in which the congresses should sit and de- liberate for the general welfare. With that as center, he drew his lines and marked out streets and avenues which should be developed as the city might grow. Even at the beginning of our civil war the trees of virgin forests were growing in profusion, with will
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

the lowest kind of saloons were main tained and where vile theater fer vile men and vicious women was promi. nent feature, a public building has been erected. It is a beautiful piece of ar. chitecture and is the only building on the entire avenue which is worthy of 8 place there.
 The congressional mail is annually increasing, and hence the business of the Washington city post office is con stantly increasing. Five years ago the congress made an appropriation for a new public building for the city post office. With wisdom unusual for congressional committee, this site was chosen. The building is now al. most completed and will soon be occu. pied
 Senators, representatives, visitors and residents here are proud of this building. Moreover, it is going to be a landmark for the future. It marks the beginning of an era. Every thinking man and woman, looking at this build ing, entertains and expresses the thought: Pennsylvania avenue should be beautified with such buildings all along its line"
 This thought will crystalline into ac- tion. On the corner of Fourteenth street, three blocks west of this new building, there is block of vacant ground, upon which the secretary of agriculture is looking longingly. A new building is needed for the depart ment of agriculture. There is splen- did site only one block from the treas ury, and only three blocks from the white house. It is just the place for grand edifice for the new department of the people. We cannot expect the congress to make m appropriation for this purpose. at once; for the treasury is poor. But it is now simply ques- tion of little time when there will be erected building on Pennsylvania avenue for the department of agricul- ture; and that will emphasize the ne- eessity for the improvement of the ay- cnue. by the erection of public build ings. in place of the unsightly and crime-stained rookeries which now dis grace the place.
 SMITH D. FRY.
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02

effective disinfective and preventives against the dreaded disease.
 A modern soap factory must be equipped with elaborate machinery and thorough chemical laboratory. The making of an article apparently as simple as soap is difficult and com plex process, requiring a much deeper and wider scientific education than I had ever imagined previous to my re- cent inspection of several factories. I also found that great secrecy is ob- served in the concoction of certain products. In one of the largest factories In the world 1 was refused admission until I had produced my credentials as newspaper man.
 ssWe have spies coming around from rival factories almost every week." said the superintendent. All the large fac tories have hit upon brands possessing peculiarly desirable properties. and we must be very careful not to divulge our secret processes to rival concerns"
 The superintendent admitted me, however. with the compliment that I would not be able to ''catch on" any way; "as you are not soapmaker." he added. afterward.
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02
Trees That Grow Ivory.

1t is a mistake to suppose that all ivory comes from the tusks of the ele- plants and other animals. As mat ter of fact, the greater part of it comes from the fruit of palm trees that grow in South America. If a man could only cultivate these trees in England he could turn his back garden to good ac- count. Of course, the ivory does not grow in the form of tusk. The fruit of the tree contains nuts, having a copious supply of albumen, which is edible when young, but afterward be- comes exceedingly hard and whites bearing so stronga resemblance to ivory that only an expert could tell the diff ference. Nearly all knife handles that are sold as ivory are made from these nuts.-Phiiadeiphi Press.
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02
FOREIGN GOSSIP.


 -London's Geological garden has lost the monster python, 20 feet long, which 1t had possessed for 21 years. For two years past the serpent would not take food voluntarily, and the keep CTS were obliged to cram it down it's throat.
 -Lundy island, in the Bristol chan mel, has been provided with two new and powerful lights, one at either end of the island. The families of the keep CTS will no longer be allowed to live at the lighthouses, but will be trans ferred to the mainland.
 A remarkable improvement in worm gearing has been made by Prof. Stodolo, of Zurich. He has obtained an efficiency of S7 per cent. from 21-horse power with a worm 3.15 inches in diam eter with pitch of 3.2 inches, running at 1,500 revolutions a minute.
 Attempts to evade the death duties act are causing queer complications in England. An old man transferred all his property by deed of gift to his young wife, not expecting that he would survive her. She made will leaving it to former beau of hers, and then was killed on the hunting field. The husband was thus left dependent on the lover's generosity.
 While the lord chief justice of Eng land, with others of the judges, were being entertained by one of the fellows of Downing college, Cambridge, in his rooms some undergraduates tied up the door handle and then smoked out the company by pouring water down the chimney. The judges were obliged to get out through the window, and sev- eral students have been rusticated.
 A decorative art commission has been formed in Paris under the name of "Societe de PArt Precieux de France" with Gerome, the painter and sculptor, at it's head It's object if to improve the artistic standard of French "objects of art" Works approved by it will be stamped with its mark, which will serve as guarantee to purchasers, and only French productions will be examined.
 A steerable aluminium balloon, driven by benzine motor, was tried recently in Berlin. It rose to a height of 1000 feet, but could not work against the wind, and soon came down with crash. It was 13 metres high by 45 metres long, weighed 7,5oO pounds, and is said to have cost 100000 marks, while the experiments preliminary to its construction cost 5000, ,000 marks.
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02
JAPANESE WOMEN.
Their Lives Are Full of Onerous Do-
 mestic Duties.

nestle Duties.
 The Japanese young woman, when she has passed from the happy ''mousmee," or girl-in-her-teens stage, has a very busy life. If she be married she has to rise at an incredibly early hour to wake her servants, and in most cases to warm the water for her husband to wash in and prepare his breakfast. She has to make the clothes for the entire family, male and female, if they dress in the na- tive style, and to keep them in repair; she has to do the marketing and exer- else the minutest supervision over the servants while they are cleaning the house, doing the washing, cooking and other domestic duties, and generally performs q considerable part of them herself; she has to be at the beck and call of her husband and children, and, if she be the wife of shopkeeper, has often to do the most of the shopkeep- ing. It is the nature of a Japanese to be kind and gentle to anything, and he is often very affectionate 10 his wife, when he is not tired of her. But after girlhood woman's good time does not begin until she is a mother-inIaw, or has sufficiently grown-up daughters for her to impose upon. The least attract i've feature abou. the Japanese is that they attach no sentiment to the mar riage tie or even to courtship. And this is reflected in their poems and novels, which hardly ever turn upon wooing of woman or the vicissitudes of the ten der relation of husband and wife. It is flial affection, not marital, or often even parental, which furnishes the love episodes of Japanese writings. But this again, like everything in Japan, down to arranging wild flowers, is largely matter of etiquette. The Japanese who marries a European lady makes her an excellent husband. He is said to carry this even so far as making good hus- band to Japanese woman if she wears European clothes. Mir. Basil Hall Cham berlain and others of the most accu- rate and intimate observers of Japanese life say that the same man will stand aside and let his wife go in front of him if she is wearing her ill-ftting and unsuitable European clothes. but make her follow him like dog if she has gone back for comfort to her dainty and elegant native dress.-Woman at Home.
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02
MANUFACTURE OF SOAP.
The Processes Employed in Great
 Modern Establishments
Gauls and Teutons the First to Use $ ponaceous Substances = Hut Now America Produces
 the Finest Soaps.
[special Boston Letter.

Soap and civilization, the celebrated pr. Justuc ven Liebig once remarked, go hand in hand; the quantity of soap consumed by people being directly proportional to their intellectual and moral advancement.
 This is not mplimentary to the an- cient civilizations of Rome and Greece, nor to the classic period of good Queen Bess in England. In fact, it is not un- til the time of Dr. Liebig, at the begin ning of the nineteenth century, that the manufacture of soap became great industry.
 The Greeks washed themselves in running water, and if the dirt was very
The Mena weekly star., 1898-02-02
He wns Accepted.

Matilda-Have you spoken to papa?
 Bertie-Yes; asked him through ths telephone, and he answered.: "I don't know who you are, but it's all right" Pick Me Up.
Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-08-18
NO WOMAN Is EXEMPT.

ReFularityis n matter Of Importance
in every woman's life. Much pain is,
however, endured in the belief that il
is necessary and not alarming, when
in truth it is all wrong and indicates
arrangement that may cause serious
trouble
Excessive monthly pain itself will
unsettle the nerves and make women
old before their time.
The foundation Of woman's health is
a perfectly normal and regular per-
Torrance OF natures function. The
statement we PRINT from Miss GER
TRUDE SKIES, Of Eldrcd, Pa, is echoed
in every city, town and hamlet in this
country. Read what she says;
"DEAR MRS. PiNKHAM--I feel ike
new person since following your adj
vice. and think it is my duty TO let the
public know the good your remedies
have done me. Ny troubles were pain
full meustruation and leucorrhna. /
was nervous and had spell = Of being
confused. Before using your remedies
! never had any faith in patent medi-
cines. now wish TO say that never
had anything do me 50 much good for
painful mcnstruation as Lydia f.. Pink
ham Vegetable Compound, also would
say that your sanativc Wash has cured
me Of leucorrhua hope these few
words may help suffering women
The present Mrs Pinkham's expert
ence In treating female lis is unparal-
leled, for years she worked side by
side with Mrs. Lydia Il. 'inSham, and
for sometime past has had sole charge
OF the correspondence department Of
her great business, treating by letter
as many as a hundred thousand ailing
women during single year.
All suffering women are invited 70
write freely to mrs. Pinkham, at Lynn,
Mass, for advice about their health.
Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-08-18
An Army and Nnyy

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