davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-19

Britain to Fortify the Faiklands.
The British Government Is about to SEND
an engineering corps OF 14oo men to fortiiJ
Port Stanley and other points on the Falk
land Islands
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-19
The Balkans In a State OF War.

Tho situation In the Balkans is serious
Turkey has 100, 900 men under arms pre-.
pared to nut down threat ened revolution
IT Macedonia and Bulgaria Influenced By
Hussia,
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-19

Theatrical companies in Mexico
have to pay fine if they do not pro-
duee the pieces announced.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-19

Defeated Her Husband at the Polls.
GALEsBURa, III. Especially Mrs. James
Mansfield, Democratic nominee, defeated
her husband, the Republican nominee, IN
the School Trustee contest In Rio township.
seceiving the largest vote given to any can
didate.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-19

During 1898 the New York, New
Haven and Hartford Railroad handled
2.O79. .463 pieces Of baggage.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
PERSONALITIES.

Wu Ting Fang, the Chinese minister at
Washington is a Cantonese, who was ed
ucated In law in England and admitted
to the English bar. He wears the pic
turesQuc costume of his County-the
queer boots which are never seen in this
part of the world save on n Chinaman or
in museum, the long, flowing coat, the
loose Jacket and round black satin hat,
the front of which is usually adorned by
handsome diamond. His manners are
genial and cordial, he is approachable
and responsive, and has a host of Ameri-
can friends.
DR.. James Legge, professor of Chinese
in the University Of oxford, who has re-
Gently died at the age Of so, was, it is
said, in the habit of rising at a. IN.
and allowing himself only five hours of
sleep. Brunei, the famous engineer, for
considerable part Of his life worked
nearly twenty hours n day. Sir George
A. Elliott. afterward Lord Heathfield,
who was in command throughout the
great siege of Gibraltar which lasted
four years, never during all that time
slept more than four hours out of the
twenty-fOur. He lived to the age of 81.
"As I get Old" said Humboldt, 'I want
more sleep-four hours at least. When
I was young two hours of sleep were
| quite enough for me- On Professor Max
Muller limiting that he found this a hard
saying Humboldt said: "It Is quite a
mistake, thought 1t is very widely spread,
| that we want seven or eight hours of
sleep. When I was your age I simply
| lay down on the sofa turned down my
| lamp and after two hours sleep / was as
! fresh as ever" He lived to be SO.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19

cycles or the comparative study of the
ages-old fossilized remains, that man
has, step by step and little by little,
built up the sciences which are gradu-
ally giving him mastery of all the
earth and its surroundings. It's prin-
ciples. its materials and its multitudin-
Gus secrets. 1t seems to me there Is
quite as much justification for an effort
to ascertain what exists at the top OF
our own earth as there is for building
great telescopes with which to pry
into the secrets of worlds beyond. The
latter is simply costly, while the form
er Is both expensive and hazardous.
But what fine lot of lords of crea-
tion, masters of the world, we should
be were we to stop for that"
This is plausible argument. and
since it rests mainly on sentiment
there is no positive way to demolish It.
The world Is made up of various peo-
pie. some of whom need adventure as
much as others need food and sleep.
We need not quarrel with them; but
taking n practical view we must admit
that to date north pole hunting has
not paid. Judged by results it is a
disappointment and a failure. What
it may be is, of course, entirely conjec-
tural. In Wellman's case, just think
what a lot of warm American history
has been made since the June morning
one year ago when he left his com
Portable post as Washington corre-
spondcnt of the Chicago Times Her
aid, on the edge of the flare-up with
| Spain, and set off for the ice fields Of
| Franz Josef land. And of all this his
tory Wellman, the newepaper man
and expert chronicler of contempor-
| aneous events, was at the time in COM
| plete ignorance, besides having brok-
en- leg into the bargain.
! Every man to his fancy but this
| fancy is not ours.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19

NUBS OF KNOWLEDGE.

While Americans are eating apiece on
an average of 65 to 10 pounds of sugar q
year, and our cousins in England are us
ing so pounds per capita annually, the
average citizen of Germany consumes
but % pounds year, the Austrian but 16
pounds, the Frenchman but 80, the Rus.
sian 16 pounds, the Italian Z pounds, the
Spaniard IL pounds, and the people of
Greece, Servia, Bulgaria and Turkey from
3 to pounds n year.
The largest book in the world Is In the
Cainese department of the British Mu-
scum, and consists of 5000 volumes. This
wonderful production of the Chinese
press was purchased af ew years ago for
So, 0OO and is one of only three copies in
existence. 1t is an encyclopaedia of the
literature of China, covering period of
twenty-eight centurtes-from 1000 b. c.
to 1900 A. d.
The most expensive book ever published
is the official history of the war of the
rebellion, which is now being issued by
the United States government. at a cost
up to date of $2SOO,OOO. or this amount
nearly one half has been paid for printing
and binding, the remainder to be ac-
counted for in salaries. rent, stationery,
and miscellaneous expenses, including the
purchase of records from private individ-
uals. II has taken ten years to COM
plete this work, which consists of 112 vol
umes.
There are in Germany now 401 beet
sugar factories, where in 1873 there were
329. They produce 1,I250O0 tons now
where twenty years ago they produced
SS3,S2S tons. When they began it took
1882 tons of beets to make one ton OF
sugar; now it takes II. In other words
| they have by improved methods become
| able to get 1915 per cent. of sugar from
n hn nf a or
| yielded but 1924 per cent. On the start
"a tons of beets were all a factory could
work up in a day; now the average for
each factory is PSI tons. In 1878 they
got 203 pounds of raw sugar from tor
of beets; in 1898 they got so pounds.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
PENN's SUCCESSFUL DOCTORS

From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
The result Of the examinations by the
State Board of Medical Examiners.
through which alone graduates in medi-
cine may be permitted to practice in the
state of Pennsylvania, has just been an
nounced. The University of Pennsylva-
MIA makes the same extraordinary show
ing I'm 1899 as was the case in 1898. OF one
hundred and forty-three students exam
ined only one failed, and the general av-
erage of the whole number was S6-an av-
erago far In excess Of that obtained by
students of any other school of medicine.
The graduating class of the School of
Medicine at this institution numbered 2lS,
OF whom about 1876 resided in Pennsylva-
| MIA. The fact that some men from other
states will remain here to practice their
| profession or to become resident physi-
clans in the various hospitals accounts
| for the greater number who took the eX-
| animation than who reside here.
The fact that the University Of Pennsyl-
vania has furnished about thirty four per
cent. of the entire number of candidates
| for the boards certificate and less than
| two per cent. of the number of failures
makes the record all the more remark
| able, especially when the exceptionally
| high average obtained by all the men is
| taken into account.
| The details of the examination are as
| follows:
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
A Fable for Croker.

There once was a candidate for con-
gress out in q frontier and he was sere-
naded the night he was placed in nomi-
nation. In acknowledgement of the
compliment he made a speech In which
he was at pains to explain just where he
stood on leading political questions of the
hour. In concluding his somewhat eN-
tended remarks, he said: such, my
fellow citizens, are my earnest conVlc-
tions in reference to great national and
state issues. 1 have only to add that II
they don't suit they can be changed
We are not sure what this fable teach
es; but Richard Croker may like to cut
1t out and paste it in his hat.-New Yorl;
Mail and Express.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19

a great distance from the field of opera
tions. I do not believe that an army
can exist be 1t the army of Spain. of
the United states, or Of any other ma
ton of the world, where the chief of
the army the effective and absolute
chief. is the secretary OF war. How
would it be possible for n secretary of
war to direct from Madrid two cam
paigns. one in the Occident and one in
the orient. with waters immeasurably
dividing. and conditions so variant
from our own? In the natural course
of events mistakes arose and disagree
ments were inevitably engendered be-
tween the secretary of war and the
commander in chief, as was the case
with all the generals who were sent
out to Cuba, because the military Off
GERS in the island, as we'll as those
away from the island desired con-
tnuance of the war. We could see the
weakness of the enemy clearer than
you, and when peace was nearly at
hand we begged for and would have
suffered one month more of war; and
had the war been continued four weeks
more, we could have dictated our own
terms of peace to the United states.
General Pando spent the last weeks
of the war in organizing expeditions in
Canada, Mexico and even in the United
states designed to smuggle supplies
into cuba for the Spanish army, He
says he had arrangements made for
fourteen ship loads of ammunition and
other necessary materials, together
with plans fully matured for running
the American blockade, when the au-
thorities at Madrid. against his per-
sonal protest. and, in fact, against the
unanimous voice of the army, decided
to sign the protocol and bring the war
to an inglorious end. Pando's speech
is pathetic in its helpless protest
against civilian intermeddng with
military affairs and against the cor
ruption and incompetency OF Spanish
civil administration; its note of wound
| ed pride is also somewhat touching:
but in spite of the twenty years study
which he confesses to have made of
! American military conditions it is pos
| sible that General Pando undertakes
| the rpcuperative and the adaptive ca
| pacities of the American soldier. We
| had, it is true. let our army organiza-
tion go to seed and neglected almost
every precaution which military ma
tion would take, yet the enormous re-
| serve energy of our people accom-
| plished miracles when the time came;
and if Pando will study the new Phil
ippine army he will perceive a differ
ence between it and the chaotic, ill-ted
and dsorganized force which, in spite
of msmanagement at headuarters, by
the sheer bravery of its human units
took the fortifcations around Santiago
and compelled Spain to surrender.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
North Pole Hunting-Does 1t PayP

Walter Wellman'S return to Norway
from North Polar explorations, physic-
ally crippled perhaps for life, after a
series of hardships which cannot be
regarded as other than a costly price
to pay for the new knowledge of bar
rem ice fields and polar fauna gained.
recalls the expression of opinion which
Mr.. Wellman made the day before he
set sail on this visionary pursuit of
the unattainable.
Il have no quarrel" said he with
the people who think the quest for the
north pole a foolish and useless one.
who can see no good to come from it,
who regard every man who attempts
it as a hare-brained chap who would
much better remain at home and at
tend to his bread and butter getting,
as other sensible persons do. There
are people who can see nothing to be
gained for humanity in the writing OF
a great poem or tragedy or song; and
what is the effort to reach the north
pole but the writing of a poem of ad-
venture. of courage, of conquest Of
granted that the discovery of the pole
will not open up new mines or fields
of agriculture or opportunity for the
exploitation of railways and trolleys,
| but | for one would be sorry to think
| these are the only worthy objectives
of mans activity. I prefer adherence
| to the doctrine so well expressed by
that greatest of all arctic travellers,
| DR.. Nansen, that 1t is beneath the dig
! nifty of man to permit 100000 square
miles of the earths surfce-the earth
! that was given him for his home, thai
he might know and master all of it
| to go uneXplored."
| But why the pole-always the pole?
Why will not some other spot in the
uneXplored region do just as we'll? To
this Mr.. Welman frankly replied: 1T
| happens that man has for centuries
sought the mathematical point which
marks the northern termination of the
axis Of our earth. Innumerable lives
have been rsked and a few of them
sacrificed in the search. There have
grown up about the quest for the pole
a tradition, a literature, a sentiment
a spirit of rivalry between the nations
and if anyone imagnes the search is
going to stop till the objective point
shall have been reached he does not
know human nature This is why the
pole is of greater importance than any
other spot in the unexplored region
It is considered the center of the un.
known, the typical point whose char
acteristics mark those Of all the re-
gions lying about. To reach IT will bt
a triumph of sentiment and adventure
IA victory of man over the difficulties
Of nature. 1t will be a service to sci
ence, too, for philosophers agree tina
there are problems concerning ou
earth which can never be solved til
the axis is touched.
Il will frankly admit" he added
that the value to science Of the dis
covery Of the pole may be overrated
But it may be underrated. One neve
knows tin he gets there what informa
tion of prime value is to be had at
remote point. 1t is certainly in Jus
this spirit of demanding to know, an,
OF persisting in the search, learning
all that is to be learned. whether a
the depths OF the sea, the tops OF noun
tains, down in the earth or up In tn
! skies, from the deposits OF geologIca
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
Aguinaldo's Boastfulness.

Even General Aguinaldo has acknowl-
edged the ability of General Funston as
"A fighter, says the Topeka state Journal.
Not long ago the latter received the
following message from the president OF
the Philippine republic: ..
You did splendidy at Calumpit, but
regardless of your superlative lighting
proclivities. ] am going to take San Fer
nando from your troops on next Thurs
day night"
Doubtless General Funston chuckled at
the chOcolate-faced imp's audacity. Any
way when the rebels, advancing on three
sides of the city, came within range Of
the Yankee outposts they received de-
cidedy warm greeting The lawn fete,
as Colonel Little called it. lasted about
two hours, when the insurgents retired.
leaving possibly 500 dead and wounded
on the field. The American losses in
both killed and wounded would not eX-
Ceed twenty five.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
A Spanish View of the American
Army.

The Washington Post prints a trans
lation of the speech in which Lieuten-
ant General Pando recently defended
before secret session of the Spanish
cortes his military actions in Cuba. 1t
contains some points which are of in
terest to the American people.
At the beginning of our war with
81 ain, Pando and Blanco had dis
agreement over the proper policy to
he pursued by the Spanish forces in
Cuba. BlancO wanted to strengthen
Havana at the expense of the rest of
the island. Pando wanted to defend
the island as a whole, drawing sup
plies from the American continent by
means of tlibustering expeditions
Says the latter: II considered the
United States, as nation, very strong
in some spheres of life, but as a mill
tary power much inferior to Spain. ]
had based this knowledge upon a pro-
found study which | had made during
the past twenty years of the military
power Of the United States, having
sent for that purpose to that country
many competent persons, including ma,
val engineer officers, and several peo,
pie at my own expense, who had pre-,
pared for me special data, and KEEP
me carefully informed Of every change
and movement in military affairs
Through information furnished BY
these secret emissaries, | stated. ant
will stand by my statements, that tn,
United States had not an army, anC
would never have an army without
complete and radical change in thei
organic life, and their deeds have dem
onstrated that I am right. still
stand by my opinion and statement
formulated long ago"
70 A little later he said: "It is true tn
Yankees vanquished us but their vic
tory was not because of our feeble
ness as military nation. !, was be
cause we We're completely disorganized
The responsibility for our defeat lie
with ourselves; not alone with ou
generals, with our military men, bu
with the government as well. 1t wa
my opinion, which l still hold today
that had the war continued, we woul
have been the victors, and the Unite
States would have been vanquished,
fallen foe at our feet. believe 4
The fault rests, in great measure. /
\. the impOssibility of organizing an
sion Of directing force at sue
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19

The admral's flag is at the peak,
The snowy sheets are spread,
The last salute has died away.
The last goodbye is said.
Across the Indian ocean
His flagship rides the foam;
The message speeds beneath the sea
That "Dewey's coming home!'
On hills and plains, where dwells the
Past
And History had her birth,
Egypt and Asia browse and dream
The ancients of the earth!
And yet their aged eyes are turned
To sean once more the wave,
Where high aloft his banner floats
The pennant of the brave!
The Red seas waters welcome him;
Winds from Arabia sweep
Across the sands TO greet him;
And, rousing from his sleep,
The Sphinx beside the pyramids
Lifts his grave eyes TO see
Far off q. strange new banner float
The Ensign Of the Free!
He skirts the storied Isles of Greece,
And in the starlit right
olympus for Olympia wears
His crown of silver light;
And from the desolated shores,
Mourning her stricken sons,
Spain hears the admirals proud salute
From grim Gibraltar's guns!
Then straight away the flagship sails,
Due west and homewaTd bound.
A nation waits you, admiral
The hours move slowly round,
The harbor guns will thunder
And the martial drums will beat;
But-bow your thanks and hasten-
For homeland rest are sweet!
The bugle's quick ASSEMBLY" sounds
From mountain peaks again,
And heroes of a hundred years
Rise at the shrill refrain!
Once more at hard-fought Bennington
stark answers to the call.
| And Warmers men fall In again
To greet the admiral.
Macdonough's Yankee tars will man
| His phantom fleet again,
And in your honor ride once more
The waters OF Champlain;
While autumn from the mountain crest
Filings her bright banners free,
| In welcome to our admiral
| The Hero of the Sea!
Harry Ripley Dorr, in Boston Tfan
script
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
HUMAN NATURE STUDIES
Ancient but Good.

A youthful graduate Of the Harvard
Law school went out west and opened
an office in a small frontier town. His
first client was man accused of steal
Ing horse. The case came to trial be-
fore an old judge and a jury composed Of
bewhiskered ranchers. and, though there
was no doubt of the guilt of the defend
ant, he had a regiment Of friends who
swore he was forty miles away when the
horse was stolen. This evidence the
prosecution was unable to break down.
and the young lawyer plumed himself on
certain acquittal The jury retired.
and hve minutes later came back into
court
Have YOU agreed on a verdict?" asked
the judge.
I'VE have" answered the foreman, as
he shifted a gun he carried on his hip.
I'VE find the defendant not guilty, an
recommend the defendants lawyer OWN
to his youth an innocence, to the mercy
of the court"
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
His Tribute,

A story is told of an old German who
never failed to attend a neighborhood flu
neral, II able to do so, and who always
sought an opportunity at the side of the
grave to speak word of eulogy for the
deceased. On one occasion, at the burial
of a townsman Of rather unsavory repu-
tation, the old German was present and
the other attendants wondered what good
thing he could say of the dead. Finally,
going forward and looking down into the
grave, the old man remarked, well, he
was a good schmoker, anyhow"
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
The Frog Had Disappeared.

A good story is current just now In
London concerning that learned univer-
sity professor, Sir John Sanderson, who
was knighted the other day by the
Queen, and as the tale has been repeated
in certain of the scientific papers, sup
pose we may take it as having the au-
thorty of truth. Sir John is very alb
sent minded. 1t seems that week or so
ago his assistants left him in his labora-
tory wrapt in contemplation of a frog,
of which the heart was exposed. Beside
him was a sandwich, which was to con-
stitute his lunch. When the assistants
returned they found Sir John still alb
sorbed in contemplation, not of the frog,
but of the sandwich. The frog had mys-
teriously disappeared. - Marquise de bon-
tenoy, in Washington Post.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19

A Baltimore physician has invented
cOntrivance for hanging CRIMINALS
which he claims will never fail to
break the neck of the subject and Is
far superior to the old-time seven-loop
hangman's cord. This discovery Is
timely and should be well received in
the world of science. The inventors
have in past been spending so much
time in the creation of car brakes and
bicycle attachments that they have
neglected fields Of invention where per-
haps they could be of real service.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
Neighborly Charity.

Mrs. Dix-When my husband and
quarrel we never allow the children to
witness 1t.
Mrs. HiX-Why, how in the world do
you manage 1t?
Mrs. DiX-Wc always send them out of
doors so they can hear nothing.
Mrs. Hix-Oh, now / understand. I've
often wondered why your children were
on the street all the time.-Detroit Jour
nal.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19

The United States Board of Geogra-
phic Names, which fixes the official
spellings for the government, is at
odds with the president over the SPELL
ing of Porto Rico. The Board demands
that the old Portuguese manner,
Puerto" be retained; the president
insists upon Americanizing the spell
ing as well as the island itself. The
country stands by it's president
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
A New Dilemma.

"Did I hear you say. conductor, that
the locomotive was at the rear end of the
train?"
"Yes, maam. We've got a locomotive
at each end. 1t takes an extra one to
push us up the mountain"
Dear. dear, what shall do? I'm al
ways so sick if i ride with my back TO
the locomotive!-Cleve Plain Dealer.
The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-19
Of Course Not.

Lipper--What do you think Of Camfer's S
new venture?
Chipper-What Is he doing now?
Lipper-He has invested in new wax
works aggregation and is travelling about
the country with It.
Chipper-Pshaw! OF course he hasn't a
living show.-Richmond Dispatch.