davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
zEB,s NEW GUN.
9he nsys Told Him There ~ SUI -,
thing About It That He Coui tll -.
Not Make Out.

The rugged old fellow VINO al"ays
goes az guide and companion to parry
Of Young men on their hunting exPeol-
tions was very proud OF new gun
which he had just purchased lie nao
boasted of it many times before tney
get to his home, and lost 10 time IN
bringing it out for inspection.
"Tbar." he said, as he he'd II OUT
saint she beauty?'
"Why, yes," answered his tr1eno' az
he took the weapon; "it looks all rlgn.: IT.:
Saw. you've never fired this, have you
"Not yet. I were waitln' 1ur YOU
fellers all to come along SO as 10 gu
it it's fust trial."
"Whv. it's handsome piece OF WORK.
and no mistake, but, Zeb, this gun
shoots blue flame.'
'You don't say So"
eyes, sir"
He took the gun back gingerly ana
was about to put it away, when an
other of the party came in.
Snow, Zeb,'' he said, lets see tna'
gun you were talking so much about
He handed it over, and the newcomer
returned it hastily with the exclama-
ton:
"why, zeb, this gun shoots a blue
! flannel"
The old fellows simple nature never
permitted a suspicion that so small
| matter as a joke could be made the
subject of an organized conspiracy:
He meekly took the gun back ana salo
nothing.
A third hunter came In and said,
cheerily: 'Let's have a look at the
gun"
"Oh. I guess mebbe faint so much
of gun" he said, glumly.
"Nonsense. Don't be modest-why,
Zeb!"
"That's all right. You needn't tell
me. know it already. The gun shoots
a blue fame"
"As sure as you're born it does. Here
comes Joe," he added, as another mem
Der of the party struggled in. ASK
him. How about that gun, Joe?''
'Why," answered Joe, promptly, aft
er casual inspection, lit shoots blue
fame.'
"You fellers kin go to bed when you
git ready" Zeb said, abruptly. I'm
eoin' to take a walk"
That night in the middle OF sound
slumber all the members of the party
were awakened by a vigorous shaking.
Zeb stood in the middle of the floor.
"Gentlemen,' he said, ''1've been sit
tin out in the moonlight on rock
thinkin' it over ever since left you.
An thar's one question want to ask
you all S'posen this gun do shoot a
blue flame. What the blazes difference
do that make e?"-Washington Star.
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
"a " 1{lE8 |R@J i ;I{11
S@9Riks&}ij(5!il$@$44
TIE WOMEN OF MANILA
They Are Fond of Rich Dress Fab:
Rics and Possess q Decorative
Skill Peculiarly Their Own.

The Filipino woman inherits the
Spaniard's fondness for rich fabrics,
the Moorish love of color, and certain
sense of contrast and decorative skill
peculiarly her own. In consequence,
the great merchants shops of Manila
exhibit some beautiful costumes-here
pale-hued satin, covered with old
Spanish lace and passementerie, and
CIT to display bare arms, low neck and
back; near by silk, whose faint glow
seems enmeshed with net and bars of
ribbon; there is dress of soft pongee,
with black velvet appliques upon it in
fanciful design; just beyond number
of pretty waists, pink, blue or gree1,
and stately robes of velvet, black olive
or maroon, for the ever-present duenna,
while close by hangs some dainty silk
en- chemise, heavy with gold and silver
braid, and a lace and satin bolero
CLEANS where the single jewel clasps
1t at the neck.
These shops also handle large and
fine assortment of laces, pongees, linens
and nets. These goods can be had very
cheaply. Ones measures are taken
deftly, and the robe delivered at any
address within "a hours. Most of the
Philippine women prefer to sew with
dressmaker in the house, however, in
stead of ordering the garment made up
in the shop.
Daintiest of all pretty trifles are the
mattings of which the Flipinos are so
proud, and which are used as mat
tresses, chair cushions and wall tapes
tries, window curtains, bed covers and
screens. Those used as bedding are
colored a deep, rich red, whose chem
fcals are poison to all insects and ver-
min. On them one can sleep in bliss
full security, though the ants are nu-
merous enough to devour one, and the
rats which scamper so fearlessly about
every Philippine bed chamber are large
enough to drag ones articles of dress
all over the room.
Some of the cushion mattings are
golden toned, almost luminous, with
suggestions of foliage dropped upon
them here and there as from full
brush; others show unreal vagueness,
like the tops of bamboo groves in wind
and rain, or swell of golden foam
against some eastern hills, and many
display gnarled branches, tangled with
river grasses, or green stretches of
rice field fanked by blue mountains.
Almost all are wildly individual in
color-thick gold, dark, rich hues,
strong black and white, soft, suggest
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27

with single movement, when the
racks are moved apart on their tracks
and the ''moder' steps out.
After the readjustment of the racks
into their original positions sheets of
paper, with one straight edge, which
is placed against the square face of
the supporting frame, are placed one
across each row and the ends of the
points marked on it in pencil. This
process is repeated with each row. It
is evident that by placing these sheets
in their proper order on level sur
face, such as table, and joining the
several points upon the sheets by lines
of even sweep and cutting the sheets
through such lines a number of pat
terms are obtained of the body, or fig
ure, by the aid of which any good me-
chanic at all familiar with the work
can readily construct a model which
will practically be a fac-simile of the
original. Such, at present, is the
highest type in the evolution of the
dressmaker's tape measure.-Cincin-
natl Commercial Tribune.
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27

his way home that Blessed minute to
jnletamorp rphose Maple Knoll into the
finest little farlh in the county, take
care Of aunt tand Dora and Incidentally
marry me-. ~ r: $50 81 e, y
When got back to earth again MIR.
Melton had taken Dora off in his sleigh
for a ride, SO auntie and I had little
jollification ofours own, and forgot all
about lunchatime. 1t didn't matter,
though, for when the sleighing couple
came back they didn't seem to know
much of anything. fell on Dora in the
hall and told all about Franks letter,
and she hugged me black in the face
and said she was tremendously pleased,
but he wouldn't have to take care of her,
because that was going to be attended
to by Rev. Cyrus, who was the dearest
man in the world, but crazy as loon,
because he confessed that he had fallen
more in love with her than ever the day
he came and found her baking hoecake
in the fireplace.
We celebrated that night by having
the biggest fire of the season in the old
fireplace, which behaved splendidly,
and we sat up till all kind of hours,
Aunt Laura, Dora and I, with no light
but the mellow crimson and gold bril-
lance of that big old black cavern,
roasting nuts and red apples, talking
about the new paths opening before us,
and telling each other how grateful and
thankful we ought to be for this happy
opening day of the new year.-Hattie
Whitney, in Farm ard Fireside.
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
own greatsgrand mot Tiers and great.

own greatsgrandm Tiers and great
saunts-how lovely = s8.s..
well, you'll havcto help, miss, and i
doubt if you think it so lovely before
you get sthrough," returned Dora.
you'll be baked a beautiful brown .. +:
We took an inventory of our stores to
see what there was we could cook by
the fireplace. e., .. ~, 49,:
"There's a sparerib, for one thing
announced Dora. "We'll hang it up BY.
q string in front of the fire" E%
"Potatoes we can boil by hanging the
kettle on the hook and chain" said Aunt
Laura.
"And the sweet potatoes we can roast
in the ashes,'' added.
"And bake corn in a skillet in the hot
Goals" finished Dora.
''Goody," said I, ''that's fine enough
dinner for blizzardy day like this. Of
course, nobody'u come"
But somebody did come, as they usu
ally do when you think they won't;
and who of all persons but Rev. Cyrus
Melton! Dora fairly squirmed when
Aunt Laura brought him right into the
sitting-room, for, of course, she
couldn't take him anywhere else, unless
she wanted to freeze him. So in he
came, smiling placidly, and there was
the rib cooking in front of the fire with
a skillet set under to catch the gravy,
and there was Dora with her face like
a hollyhock, turning a great hoecake
in another skillet, and there was I
prodding in the ashes with long fork
to dig out the sweet potatoes! Not that
it mattered much about me; but some
folks were beginning to observe that
Rev. Cyrus was a trifle more attentive
to Dora than the fact of her being one
of his flock warranted, and knew that
in her eyes he was about as near state
of perfection as a mortal man needed
to be.
He was just riding out, he ex-
planned, to see old Mrs. Hankins, who
was sick, and had been delayed lit
tie by the blizzard and been on the
road quite awhile; he had brought a
bag of oats for his horse, and had
come up through the side lane and
taken the liberty to put the animal
in our barn to eat his oats, while he
himself ran in to see how we all Jared
this inclement day, etc., etc. slid
out while he was thus discoursing and
rushed to the parlor with a very for
lorn hope of finding stray stick or
two left over there, making a fire
and getting him into the parlor while
we finished the dinner. The hope died
as poked my head into the arctic des-
olation of our best room. It was on
the east side, where the spiteful wind
had been battering at it all night,
searching out a hundred crevices
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
object of charit groaned Dora, .'es-

object OF chart groaned Dora, ''es- :,
pecially z = II, 81.
"Oh, well, I don ! suppose he'll
preach about it next Sunday" said,
consolingly; but Dora wouldn't cheer
up very much. Still, it was very COM
Portable to have plenty of wood, and
I felt grateful to the good man for
instigating Uncle Jink to come to our
assistance. ~. ,+' ~> :.
@sOf all the 365 days Of that year the
three hundred and sixty-6fth was the
most dismal at Maple Knoll. 1t opened
with drizzling, soaking rain, much
more depressing than the blizzard
from which it evoluted; the kind that
dampens your spirits in spite of all
the philosophy you can bring to bear
against it. The sky was dismal gray
waste without a slit of light. Aunt
Laura had racking neuralgia in her
face. Dora had been dreaming about
charity and wood all night. AS for
me, I had little trouble of my own
which popped up just now more ag-
gressively than ever. I never had but
one lover Il never wanted but one),
and he was poor young man who
had gone to the frozen Alaskan re-
gions with the avowed intention of
making his fortune and coming back
to share it with me, rebuild the old
house into stately mansion and take
| care of Aunt Laura and Dora, which
was quite proper; for, you see, I had
] been gathered into the family when
I was left small orphan, in Uncle
had not made an atom Of difference
between Dora and me in their love
and care. But now it had been so long
since I had heard from Frank l
couldn't help being afraid he had
frozen to death or been buried in a
snowslide. And this dreadful rainy
day 1 couldn't even have the satisfac-
ton of going or sending to town for
the mail, if there should possibly be
any news.
Dora and I had an unwritten law
that the more downcast we felt the
jollier we should force ourselves to be.
To-day I think we degenerated into
Stiffness in our efforts to be cheer
full. But a lot of smaller troubles
followed each other so persistently-
such as the refusal of the cook stove
to draw, the falling of the light bread
in consequence, a slip in the mud on
Dora's part, etc., etc.-that when, to
cap the climax that evening, our be-
loved fireplace smoked sulkily and re-
lentlessly, we felt that we might as
we'll wind up the year by going to bed
at eight o'clock.
When we were all snuggled down
and the lights were out could have
cried just out of low spirits, but I
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27

about windows and door to hurl the
fine, powdery snow through. There
were drifts, varying in size, on the pi-
ano, on the chairs, and dainty white
powdering all over the carpet, which
the wind had puffed in under the door.
You could fairly feel the gale whisk-
ing about your ears. There wasn't
a scrap of wood nor a chip in the
wood box. Relinquishing wild idea
of chopping up.a parlor chair or two
to make a fire of, scooted back to
the sitting-room chilled to the bone.
Dora, putting as bold face upon
the situation as possible, was bringing
ir dishes from the dining-room and
setting the table right under the eyes
of the minister, who was chatting
away as serenely as if he hadn't
driven us all frantic by his ill-timed
call. Aunt Laura had levied on her
cellar goodies and produced preserved
ounces, apple jelly, picked peaches
and chow-chow, so the dinner wasn't
so frightful. The only thing I was
ashamed of was the corn cakes; they
were so big and clumsy, and Dora had
crumbled the edges in turning them.
But that good man seemed to think
we had banquet. and even the corn
cakes didn't 60 begging so far as he
was concerned.
We all made merry over our predic-
ament as we told him how it hap
pened, and he joked about it, too, but
shook his head a little, and said it
oughtn't to go on that way. He pro-
ceeded upon his errand soon after din
rer,~ and we went about our work with
what spirits we might. 1t wasn't more
than two hours after he left that
Uncle Jink, dilapidated old colored
man, appeared with yoke of steers,
which he left in the lane while he
came plodding through the snow to
the house.
"Heerd y'all was out O. wood" he
grinned, $50 lowed I'd come an
snake up few logs m split fer de
f'place n whack up some fer de
cook'n' stove" s..,-..-.
"It's very kind of you, indeed" said
Aunt Laura, for we are in great need
of wood-only I'm afraid I can't pay
you for it to-day, Uncle
sDass all right-dass all right," " in
terrupted Uncle Jink; don't y'all
boddah bout dat-dass all right" and
he scuffed away, leaving us a little
mystified, for it was not quite like
Uncle Jink to be SO Indifferent about
compensation for his good deeds. 10.
'.Of course Mr.. Melton went and told
him to come, and either paid him or
agreed to if we didn't . expounded
[Dora, and looked as If she were ready
to fall in heap. @.5 ].
1T was very good Of him if he did, 2
said Aunt Laura.
..'Good-yes: but who wants to be an
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
A FIGHT TO THE DEATH.
and an Alligator and the
Shark Won.

Some fishermen down at Mayport,
Fla, the mouth of the St. John s. river,
witnessed a strange fight a few days
ago between a large alligator and a
man-eating shark, says the Philadel.
phia Press.
The alligator was summing himself
on the river bank when the fishermen
approached within 80 yards.
There was roar from the alligator,
which attracted attention to his pres
ence, and he fell sprawling in the river.
Then a huge shark shot toward the
bank and caught the alligator's tail
in his mouth, causing the alligator to
roar with pain and turn onto the
sharks tail with his mouth.
The two monsters stuck their teeth
firmly in each others tail, and the
shark snatched off a piece of the alli-
gators flesh, swallowing it at one gulp.
The alligator let loose the shark and
made desperate effort to escape. The
shark raised himself above the water
and pounced upon the head of the alli-
gator.
The entire head Of the alligator was
caught between the jaws of the shark
and mangled.
Several hours later the dead alligator,
without head or tail or legs, rose to the
top of the water and was carried out
to sea by the ebbing tide.
Several sharks have been caught at
Mayport this year, and the fishermen
who reported the above story will try
to catch the shark that ate the alli-
gator.
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27

wouldn't. I knew God could see far
ther ahead than we could, and I put
everything into His hands and went
to sleep.
I slept so soundly that was greet
ed the next morning by savory,
sagey scent of frying sausages CON-
ing up the little back stairs before
fairly got back from the slumber
world. Dora was down in the kitchen
singing Lightly Row. over the bis
cults, and looking as fresh as peach,
with her rosy cheeks and clear gray
eyes. And the stove was drawing
beautifully. And Aunt Laura came
down without speck of neuralgia
and feeling as spry as a girl, to finish
breakfast, while Dora and went forth
to do the milking. And behold! the
sopping rain had turned into a love-
ly. soft snow in the night; not biz
zardy snow like the one before the
rain, that blew in everywhere, bu; a
gentle, fine, thick powder. It had
stopped falling now, and the air felt
crispy and bracing. The sun wasn't
shining yet, but there was mellow
look in the sky, as if it meant to pop
out any minute.
New Years calling was not much in
vogue in our rural district; still, it was
Aunt Laura's way to make red-letter
day of the opening one of the year, and
always to be prepared for any stray
caller who might chance to appear. She
had cheerful fire in the parlor, plen-
tiful supply of coffee and cake on hand,
and we all put on our pretty house
dresses and prepared to be happy
whether anyone came or not.
At half past nine a pleasant melody
of sleigh bells jingled along, and the
cutest little cutter stopped at our gate,
and here came Rev. Cyrus Melton smil-
ing up the walk. We were mighty
thankful for the contrast between this
call and his last one: but such is the
Perversity of man. T imagined he
looked little disappointed at not be-
ing ushered into the cooking regions
again. Still, he smiled very good-na-
turedly, with those jolly brown eyes OF
his, as he fished something out Of his
pocket and handed it to me. - T.. =
''Miss Nettie," said, II felt it in my
bones that you couldn't get any mail
up here on the hill all yesterday, and ]
dropped in at the post Office as I came
BY this morning, and found you this
Maybe I didn't know what it was,
even before I saw the handwriting on it.
and perhaps I didn't fly to get it and
scamper out to the big fireplace and
curl down beside it on little wooden
stool to read my letter all alone. Frank
hadn't made q fortune, he wrote me,
and he didn't know as we could have a
big mansion built, but he had dug
enough gold to repair the old house and
make us all conf able, and he was on
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
When Baby Has Convulsions.

There is little to be done when child
has convulsions except to put it, as
quickly as possible, into a warm bath.
Moisten tablespoonful of dry mustard,
rub it smooth and add to it the water
in the bath after the child is in it; do
not wait to do it before. The doctor
will order one or two tablespoonfuls of
sirup of ipecac, until vomiting is pro-
duced, if the convulsion has been caused
by undigested food. If from nervous
irritation, as in teething, five or ten
grains of bromide of soda dissolved in
water may be given.
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
LEM MADE A HIT.
The Office Boy Comes to the Rescuo
of the Editor at a Crttt-
cal Moment.

'sLem," said the proprietor Of the Po-
hick Clarion, ''let's wake up
"What's the matter?" asked the office
boy, as he wiped his hands off on his
apron.
''We're gittin' behind the times ag'n.
We amt keepin' up with the percession.
We've got to give our readers something
up to date"
''Somethin' about Admiral Dewey"
suggested the boy.
''Thats the idea. Let's write up lot
of anecdotes about prominent folks for
our next weeks issue. Maybe it'll do
the circulation good.'
every family in town takes the pa
per now. And putin in anecdotes
won't make 'em pay up"
"Well, it'll look we'll, anyhow. You
20 to work, and I'll see what arrange
ments I can make about a load O. wood
that big advertiser has promised me-"
He was absent an hour, and on his
return Lem laid Oh his desk a proof
slip containing the following:
AGooD ONE ON DEWEY.
When Admiral Dewey first went to
the Naval academy be was very young
man. AS he grew older day by day, he
began to get whiskers which he was
obliged to cut off. For this purpose he
was accustomed to use razor. Anoth-
er student, who was also a young man,
came in and found the future admiral
shaving. Of course, young Dewey did
not know he was going to be an admiral
| then. But then if he haG known it he
would no doubt have joked familiarly
with those around him, just the same.
Such is the delightful simplicity of his
| character
"What are you doing?" asked his
| class mate.
"Cutting off my whiskers."
"But you haven't any whiskers yet"
"No. But expect to razor few"
Little did young Dewey dream that
he would wake up to find his words thus
treasured in history. 1t all goes toshow
what an American boy can do if he will
only try.
'Lem," said the editor, as he looked
| at the Office boy over his spectacles,
''that's great. Write sn1ne more of 'em.
That sounds just like the real thing"
| -WaShingtOn Star
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
Baked Apples Glazed.

This is pretty, though simple, dish
Choose some small apples of an equal
size, remove the cores, peel them and
let them boil in water acidulated with
lemon juice or citric acid and sweet
ened. Do not let them boil too fast or
the apples will break. Keep them cop
cred. Drain when they are soft, place
in basin and pour a little sirup over
them and let them cool. Well coat
them with apricot or apple marmalade
and decorate on the top with angelica
cut into rounds. Fill the center of the
apples with preserved cherries and fruit
jelly a9d dish in a group, with slips of
angelica cut to represent leaves and
placed around the dish.-Cincinrati
Commercial Tribune.
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
A L1BELOUS STORY.
about Way to Make Her Surplus
Secure in Gold Coin.

Many comical stories are told at the
expense of the fair sex regarding their
lack of familiarity with banks and their
methods. One came to notice yesterday
that apparently has the merit of new
ness.
MY wife had saved up her pin money,
or what she hadn't any occasion to u.s.
of it, said the relater of the story, ''un-
til she had $40 in bills of various de-
nominations. This she was extremely
desirous of securing gold for, and every
day when came home to dinner she
would haul me over the Goals because
I had forgotten to procure the shining
metal. Finally, she said she would at
tend to the matter herself. That even
ing she greeted me with triumphant
smile.
"I got my gold,' she exclaimed, as
soon as entered the house, but had
a time in doing it, though
''Then she told me how she had gone
to the mint with her bills and been re-
fused the coveted coin, because the
notes weren't gold notes. Next she
hurried around to bank and secured
four ten-dollar gold pieces. These didn't
suit her because they weren't new and
shiny, so she trotted back to the mint
with them and exchanged them for two
double eagles fresh from the dies. I
listened to her recital and asked her to
let me see the coins.
"'Let you see them!' she exclaimed, |,
in surprise. why, I haven't them any
more, you goose!'
Haven't them any more?' repeat
ed. What did you do with them?'
*'She looked at me with mingled
scorn and contempt.
ct deposited them in the - Saw
ings fund, of course: That's what 1
wanted the gold for. What did you
think was going to do with it? Keep
it around the house to look at?'
"But I was too busy laughing just
then, and for half an hour afterward,
to make any reply Philadelphia In
quirer,
Willmar tribune., 1899-12-27
Told Of an IJnlucky Onn1.

A Topeka man lost small opal set
out of his ring and went to the jeweler
to have it replaced. Returning home
he found the old set and, putting it in
his mouth for safe keeping, hurried
back to the jewelers. to have that set
used instead of the new opal. Rushing
into the store he said: "Say, I've
found the old set, so don't use that new
one. He attempted to remove the
stone from his mouth, gave a .gulp,
looked sheepish, and said: II guess
you'll have to use the new stone"