davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Republican., 1899-07-06
CAPTURING A PYTHON.
Monster Measuring Twenty-Five and
Half Feet Killed in the Philip
pine Islands.

Pythons are numerous in the Philip
pines. We often heard of large ones,
says Mr.. Dean c. Worcester, in his in
teresting account of these much-talked-
of islands, but the nearer we got to
them the smaller they grew. Finally,
however, we got fine specimen. Some
men had found him coiled up under a
fallen tree. Arranging rattan slip
nooses so that he could not well escape
them, they had then poled him till he
crawled into their snarcs, when they
jerked the knots tight, and made the
lines fast to trees and rocks.
When we reached the python 1 near
ly stepped on him, for he was stretched
out on the ground and looked for all the
world like log. A venomous hiss
warned me of my mistake, and caused
me to beat so sudden retreat as to af-
| ford great delight to the assembled Tag
| banuas.
The reptile had about three feet of
play for his head, and 1 thought it wise
to treat him with respect. Drenching a
| handful of absorbent cotton with chic
reform, presented it to him On the end
of a piece of bamboo.
He bit it savagely, and it caught on
the end of his long, recurved teeth, so
that he could not get rid of it. Then l
saw a most remarkable exhibition of
brute force.
Under the stimulus of the chloroform
that phython broke green rattans three
! quarters of an inch in diameter, and
that without apparent eXertion. There
was no thrashing about. 1t was all
quiet, steady pulling. He soon broke
or twisted out of every one of his fas-
teniBgs except a running moose
around his neck; and getting hold for
his tail around a stump, he pulled until
it seemed as if his head would come off.
Eventually the chloroform quieted
him somewhat, and I gave him more.
When he was still stabbed him to the
heart, TO prevent further difficulty, and
removed his skin. He measured % feet
and six inches.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

In Vienna organ grinders are al
loved to play only between midday and
sunset.
Whistling is said to be regarded as a
violation of the divine law by Ice
landers.
A custom peculiar to Buddhists is
that of wandering about the country
with hammer and chisel and carving
holy symbols upon rocks by the way
side.
1t is alleged that a London money
lende-- has a 81, 800 note which he lends
as wedding gift along with other
presents.
For some liver troubles a German
physician has discovered new and
simple remedy, which consists in mas
sage of the liver by holding the breath
at the height of inspiration and breath
ing out slowly.
The East Greenlanders journey
round to West Greenland to get snuff,
and will consume four years in a sin
gle excursion there and back, often, ac-
cording to Nansen, remaining no
longer than an hour at the trading sta
ton before taking up their homeward
march.
While opening up Great Marylebone
street, London, England, for the pur-
pose of laying electric cables, the work
men made an interesting discovery.
They came upon several elm tree water
pipes in fine preservation, although
only foot below the surface. Original
ly the pipes were lower, as the street
has been lowered. These bored tree
trunks are estimated at over 200 years
old, and were probably part of some
water conduit. The pipes were blocked
with silt, but otherwise they were quite
usable.
The costliest bicycle in the world has
just been finished at gun factory in
Vienna. 1t will cost 100000 gulden,
which is little more than $27, 800.
The owner is a rich South African dia-
mond king and mine owner, who will
present the machine to his wife on her
next birthday. The frame alone cost
1900 gulden, and at the last Vienna
exposition it was admired by thou
sands. The South African millionaire
was so struck with the exquisite beauty
of the wheel that he bought it and had
1t inlaid with precious stones and dia-
monds on every possible part.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
A TRAVELLING PENMAN.
Origin of Beautiful Script Found in
Remote FarmhOuses in Penn
sylvania.

You would not take that old Ger
man sitting there" said the landlord
of the country inn, ''to be one of the
most expert penmen in the country,
but all the same he is. He travels from
farmhouse to farmhouse, all over this
part of the state, and has all the work
he can do. His name is George Francke
| and his age about so. When he wants
to take a rest he comes here and lays
| off
FAT the farmhouses he takes the
fhmily Bible and writes down the mar
| riages, births and deaths of the fam
lily in German or English script, so
well done that it resembles the finest
engraving. He transcribes marriage
certificates almost equal to the best
bank note lettering. He is rugged and
brown and his fingers rough and knot
ty but he turns out work that is SIM
ply wonderful. He is so expert that
he has the annual job of lettering the
diplomas of all the graduates at several
big normal schools in the state He has
worked for weeks at a time at one
farmhouse writing or printing family
histories, wills, certificates of baptism,
church combinations, etc, and the
penmanship invariably resembles cop
perplate. He charges about so cents
day and his board, but where he has
only small jobs his rates are higher.
He does not work fast, but takes his
time, and it is simply marvellous to see
what he does with a fine steel pen.
He would not undertake to make a
bank note with a pen, but there is no
question that he could do it. He hes
written invitations to weddings and
funerals that could hardly be told at
first glance from engraving. He has
turned out as many as so brief invita-
tions in two days work, and when
they were finished all were alike, and
you could tell no two apart. He has
taught several of the backwoods coun-
try farmer boys to become quite ex-
pert with the pen, and some of their
work looks exactly like first-class en-
craving.
"Francke was born in Germany,
drifted to this country many years
ago and has lived an easy, happy-go-
lucky life ever since, earning all the
money he needs with his pen. I have
seen city sharps at country fairs, or on
street corners at a store box, writing
visiting cards with a great deal of
flourish, but these experts couldn't
hold candle to Francke. Their writ
ing looks like penwork, but Francke's
is like copperplate engraving He car
ries a good assortment of blank cards
with him, and in this way the city Wis
itors to backwoods farmhouses are fire.
quently surprised upon coming across
mountain girls who have very beauti-
full visiting cards. They got theirs
from the travelling penman. He has
his regular route each week and gets
around once year to the various farm
ers he knows, his territory covering
some 80 miles in each direction" IN.
| Y. Sun,
The Republican., 1899-07-06
Coin To Make Any Fuss About LII

the men, taken two miles out of town
and hanged to limb. Some of the citi-
zens who went out came back at the
end of an hour and reported, adding
that the victim was perfectly cool and
made no protests. This was at IL
O'Clock in the morning. At three in the
afternoon five tough-looking men rode
into town and up to the Jail. AS the
sheriff came out one of them said:
'Mebbe you've got man in thar
who calls hisself Dan Needham?"
81 had one, but they took him out
and hung him this morning." was the
reply.
''Then they hung the wrong man."
81 told 'em they might be making a
mistake"
81 am Dan Needham as sure's your
born"
"Shoo! Shoe! Jest went and hung
the wrong mani"
"They did that. I was passing by,
and thought I'd stop and tell you. If
the crowd comes back, give 'em my
love"
The sheriff watched the gang out of
sight and then turned and brought his
fist down into the palm of his hand
and exclaimed:
81 say it amt k'rect! Hangin' is all
right if you happen to git hold of the
right man, but if you hang a man who
don't desarve to be hung, then it amt
the square, fair thing, and I'll allus
stick to it that it amt. 1t amt law,
to begin with; and it amt jestice, to
go further; and last of all, it surprises
and Injuries the feelin's of the man who
gets hung, and makes out that he
didn't have no square show"
The Republican., 1899-07-06

the cork so that they balance each 9TH
er. Then place the point of the needle
on the pin and as soon as it is well bal
anced a breath of air on one of the
knives will make it revolve. Continue
blowing whenever it goes too slowly.
At first the needles hard point will
make a slight impression on the pin,
gradually working its way through un-
til clean hole is bored as perfectly as
any lathe could have done it. This in
teresting experiment requires patience
and careful handling, nothing more.
When you show the other boys the pin,
bored like needle, they will wonder
how you managed to do it.-N. Y. Sun.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
Baker Dropped the Case.

A baker who bought his butter in
pound rolls from farmer, noticing
that the rolls looked rather small,
weighed them and found that they were
all under pound in weight. There
fore he had the farmer up before a
magistrate. THESE butter rolls" said
the judge, ''are certainly short weight
Have you any scales?" 81 have" an
swered the farmer. "And have you any
weights?" ''No, sir" "Then how can
you weigh your butter?" demanded the
magistrate, sternly. That's very SIM
ple," said the farmer. "While I've been
selling butter to the baker I've been
buying pound loaves from him, and
I've used them as weights on my
scales" The baker said he would drop
the case right there.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
CUBAN COAsTING FLAG.

neither the Stars and Stripes, the Span
ish flag, nor the Cuban insurgent flag is
svailable, the United States war depart
ment, now responsible for all things Gu
ban, has officially authorized flag for
the purpose.
This flag, like that of other Southern
and Central American states which
have seeded from the Spanish colonial
empire, is blue and white-the upper
and lower bars being blue, and the CEN
trail bar white, bearing a single star.
The single star is already an accepted
Cuban emblem, as it was in the case of
the Texan republic, first detached from
Mexico and then incorporated in the
United States.
1t is a curious fact that the Cubans
are now actually without nationality
The Republican., 1899-07-06

Mrs. Blank found herself in a rather
embarrassing situation one day when
she was dining for the first time at the
home of minister. Opposite her sat
the minister's little boy, sharp-eyed
little fellow of four years. While his
father was asking a somewhat lengthy
blessing the lady elevated her eyeliGs
slightly and caught the eye of tee lit
tie fellow opposite her, The instant his
father said "Amen" the boy pointed an
accusing finger toward Mrs. Blank, and
cried out, shIilly: "She peeked, paiVui
she peeked !"-Harper' Bazaar.
The Republican., 1899-07-06

The latest information about the
tribe of pigmies discovered by Mr.. Stan
ley, inhabiting a forest-covered region
in Central Africa, comes from an Eng
lish traveller, Mr.. Albert b. Lloyd. He
traversed the forest, and saw many OF
the little men and women who inhabit
it. He met none exceeding four feet in
height. They are timid, and cannot
look a stranger in the face, their eyes
constantly shifting, as in the case OF
monkeys" They are perfectly formed
and fairly intelligent. They never leave
the forest, and have no settled habita-
tions. Their shelters at night are huts
two or three feet in height Their arms
Are bows and arrows and spears.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
HE FAILED ON THE hull.

The man with the claw-marks on his
face and the lobe of his left ear gone
felt that he was an object of curiosity
to the group, and after a time he said
81 made a fool of myself, and my
case should be warning to all young
men. / was travelling with lightning
rod outfit through western Ohio when
we struck a small town in which a cir
GUS was exhibiting. There we're only
five or six animals in the menagerie
part, and one of those was a tiger in
a cage by itself. All hands of us had
been drinking a little too much that
day, and as we visited the circus and
stood before that tiger we began to
dare each other to poke him up. ]
finally offered to bet $25 even up that
1 would enter the cage and remain five
minutes"
The Republican., 1899-07-06
Birds Nest Made of Steel.

A steel birds nest was recently ac,
quired by the museum of Soleure, in
Switzerland. Soleure has an extensive
watch and clockmaking industry, and
thin metal filings are continually being
swept into the roads with the waste
from workshops. One day a workman
noticed a pair of wagtails gathering
steel filings shining in the sunlight and
carrying them to their nests. He made
an investigation and found that the
birds had constructed big nest almost
exclusively of steel filings. When the
brood of fledglings had flown the steel
birds nest was taken away and sent TO
the museum.
The Republican., 1899-07-06

''You must have been a very reckless
man." observed one of his listeners.
''Well, / was 25 years old and full
of whisky, and you know what that
means. A dozen different men offered
to take the bet, and l thought it would
be the smartest trick of my life to win
it. The circus folks opposed the idea,
of course but there were enough of us
outsiders to hold them off, and we
did so. | took another drink, peeled
off my coat and next minute l was in
the cage with that Bengal tiger.
Good lands! And how did he re-
ceive you?"
"Well, he did a heap of growing on
the first go-off, and everybody expect
ed to see me torn to pieces. However,
after l got him by the neck with one
hand and the tail with the other"
You don't mean it,"
"Oh, yes l do. l got him by the
neck and tail and slammed him around
for five minutes, and that took the
fight out of him. AS he lay on his
back, whining like a puppy, 1 placed
my foot on him and stood there for a
minute with folded arms and posed as
hero. There was good deal of
cheering, as you may suppose, and l
owned the town when | left the cage.
1t isn't such a great thing to overcome
tiger if you go about it right, and
didn't deserve half the praise got"
"But-the scars on your face?" pro-
tested second listener
81 got em same day, but not from
the tiger" quietly replied the man.
Having accomplished one smart thing
I naturally looked around for another.
In field near by was vicious old bull,
and when somebody suggested that
should tackle the job of overawing him
The Republican., 1899-07-06

A Missouri man set bear trap in the
woods, and the next morning it was
gone. There were no bear tracks
around, so the man made up his mind
that deer had got caught in the trap,
although he had never known before
of such happening. just then he heard
a deer bleating some distance ahead,
and, pushing his way through the
bushes, he came in sight of big stag.
with a catamount tearing at its flank
The deer was hampered with the trap,
so that it could not use its horns. The
man lost no time in putting a bullet
into the cowardly catamount and then
put an end to the stag's misery. Had
it been free the catamount would never
have dared to face it.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
AMUSING EXPERIMENT.
How to Bore n Hole Through an Or
binary Pin without n Lathe or
Other Machine.

You can bore hole through pin
without any lathe or other machine
All you need is needle, two corks, a
bottle and two pocket knives. Fit one
of the corks firmly into the neck of the
bottle and cut V-shaped notch in the
top. Stick pin in the cork near the
top, so that it passes through the notch.
In the bottom of the other cork force
the eye end of the needle so that it is
held firmly in place. Open the two
pocket knives and stick the blades into
The Republican., 1899-07-06
A Change for the Better.

When Mr.. George Davidson took
charge of the Red Lion saloon last
month he quietly hinted that he would
introduce eastern ways and methods to
a considerable extent. He has carried
out his promise, and we take pleasure
in noting the change for the better. His
bartenders are quiet and civil-spoken,
and no clubs or revolvers are seen ly-
ing around loose. All callers are treated
like gentlemen, and the moral at
mosphere of the place at once has an
effect. Now and then it becomes neces-
sary to eject some vulgar individual,
but it is done quietly and without any
attempt to break his back or drive him
head-first through wall. One hears
no brawling about the place, and moth
ing is said to the man who calls for
two fingers of whisky and so far for
gets himself as to pour out four. We
trust that others of our saloonists may
observe and follow suit. There should
be at least four places in a town Of
this size where gentleman can drop
in for an appetizer and feel as safe as
in the bosom of his family.
The Republican., 1899-07-06
TWO ISLAND FLAGS.
Both Have Made Their Appearance
Within n Space of Less Than
TUeIvemOnth.

The appearance of new flag among
the national ensigns is a matter of in
terest. Within the last few years the
Cuban flag has become familiar, but it
has no official ecognition-since no
power has recognized the Cuban re-
public-and cannot be used in the place
where, III times of peace, a flag is most
important, namely, on shipping. But
vessels engaged in the Cuban coasting
trade need distinguishing ensign;
and as under existing regulations
The Republican., 1899-07-06
LUCINDY LISTENS.

Come, sit by me, Lucindy,
And hear what l would do,
Were you my little mother,
And l a doll like you.
If you a lovely secret
Should whisper in my ear,
1 would not keep on staring
AS if l did not hear.
And when you sang, Lucindy,
Your sweetest lullabies,
And said: The dear is sleeping"
I'd try to close my eyes.
Or, s'pose that in the twilight.
We two were taking tea,
l would pretend to eat, dear,
The bread you held for me.
In fact, my dear Lucindy.
I'd give my brightest curl,
Were you less like dolly,
More like little girl.
Esther A Harding. in St. Nichola!
The Republican., 1899-07-06
1t All Depends.

1t looks now as if there was to be a
boom in theatricals on this circuit this
season, as most of the dates are filed,
but still a good deal depends on the
managers of the various companies.
Our people want what they want in the
theatrical line, and will have nothing
else. Managers who want crowded
houses and barrels of money will con-
suit the taste of the public instead of
their own convenience. We want
Shakespearean plays, but we want
them with variations. Shakespeare
probably never heard of a sand-jig or
a clog-danoe, and none of his heroines
were ever carried off by Indians, but
that was his misfortune instead of be-
ing our fault. Hamlet can just as well
be mixed up with a few fancy dances
and whoop-la songs as to keep him in
the grave-digging business all the even
ing and a boxing match between the
two Dromios would not hurt the play
for any other town, while tickling our
people most to death. Uncle Toms
Cabin has always taken well when
IhC Jul ldlhCAly t0-
vice. Uncle Tom and Little Eva must
be cut short and stage coach hold-up
dragged in to give the boys a chance
to enthuse. When the Lady of Lyons
was here year ago we suggested that
the heroine be captured by Apaches
and rescued by cowboys, and the man
ager had the sense to adopt the idea.
The result was bag of dollars which
he could hardly lift into the stage. The
theater is an educator of the people.
and Giveadam Gulch is proud of its
snug little hall and of the combinations
which travel this circuit, but the man
ager who goes contrary to the idioms Of
our people will meet with misfortune
and have only himself to blame.
A good Arabian horse can canter in
The Republican., 1899-07-06
The &C. c. IdeR.

We regret to announce that Mrs. Col.
Anderson, Mrs. Judge Truefoot and
two or three other female leaders
of our town society are out with ad
dress cards in which the letters sc.
g.. are substituted for Giveadam Gulch.
This looks to us like cutting things
rather too fine. The man who founded
this town was old Dave Coppinger. He
was man of noble sentiments, and in
naming the place was actuated by lofty
patriotism. Here was a spot where the
sun always shone, and the grass was
green for ten months in the year. Cuss-
away creek brought down the noun
tain's water as pure as pearls, and the
soil needed only to be scratched with
a stick to grow beautiful crops. Old
Dave put up shanty, killed bear,
and as he looked around him he decided
that it was paradise on earth, and
that he didn't give a dam for any other
locality short of heaven. 1t pains us
that any of our people should go back
on an honest name, and one which sig
nifies 50 much. While Sc. G." stands
for Giyeadam Gulch, the letters also
stand for Great Guns" and several
other things, and are calculated to
mystify stranger. Let us have no
feeling of false pride about this thing.
Giveadam Gulch is euphonious, ex-
pressive and significant. 1t is name
you can dwell on. 1t strikes the ear
of a stranger with no uncertain sound.
Any attempt to change it to Rose
dale" or 'Daisyville" would simply
mix up our saloons and poker rooms
and set society back for half cen
turY,
The Republican., 1899-07-06

The finding of an extraordinarily
large opal is reported from Winton,
Queensland. The value of the opal is
between $35, 900 and $4,000.
The Republican., 1899-07-06

A good Arabian horse can canter in
4s hours in winter without drinking.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-03-04
$4,000 FOR TOPEKA.
New Building Assured For the
State Insane Asylum.

After a protracted effort to defeat the
proposition, the house was compelled
to accede last night to the senates de-
mand for a new administration building
for the Topeka insane asylum.
The original bill by Major Anderson
provided for an appropriation of s35, 900
for this building.
The house first tried to kill the bill but
the senate said nay. Several confer
ence committees considered the bill, but
the senate committee, Tom Anderson
and George Hanna, stood out with
such determination that the house offer
ed $25, 900 for a new building.
Like a Yankee horse trade the COM
Tnittees "split the difference" and an
appropriation of $4,000 was made.