davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-11-22

take it, and street urchin started the
cry: Stop thief!'
Others took up the shout, and final
ly Il crowd followed in hot pursuit, ull-
til he was overtaken and arrested. His
explanation was laughed at, the police
theory being that he had fled from the
scene of his crime without his hat.
SO Bill's brother was locked up over
night, and had the modification of see
ing his name in print in the morning,
when he was discharged.
SO he gave the opal to Tom; and
Tom was glad to have it, and lost no
time in sticking it in his scarf Bills
brother on the way home picked up a
$40 bill on the sidewalk, when he ar
rived at home found a man waiting to
make arrangements to mortgage his
property to him for S., 900 at 6 per cent.
a gilt-edge investment, which made
him think that the other man had been
presented with an opal.
Tom bought a turkey Oh the way
home. and left it in the train rack
when he stepped off. And when he
went into the house he was Mortified TO
find that his wife had been caiOlad
into purchasing 50 worth of glee club
tickets
Il am surprised that you should yield
to the arguments of those ticket
fendS. Indeed, your are a jewel of con-
sistency," he said with biting sarcasm
Stalking about Jewels" she replied,
with a vim equal to his own. II be-
lieve that opal you have there has
changed our luck. Where did you get
it?"
cousin Luke gave it to me-"
'"That explains it; Luke would never
give you or anyone else anything Of
any value to himself. What time did
he give it to yOu?" asked his wife.
AT , o'clock this afternoon"
4AIIt II WAS DIT luIeC lIldI UOuSul
these tickets. l didn't want them at
all because | needed the So they cost
TO buy some velvet and other things to
cover my old hat and make it do for
winter. and thus save the price of a
new one. and give you a chance to buy
an OvercOat But | couldn't resist.
Have you had any bad luck to-day?"
Il left turkey on the train,' said
Tom.
"Of course you did" snapped his
wife. land l suppose you had counter
felt money palmed off in you in
change Just take out your money and
See.''
He fished some silver out of the
pocket in which he carried his small
change, and, sure enough, there was a
lead 80 cent piece.
"That about cancels my purchase Of
the glee club tickets, doesn't it?" she
said with an air of triumph seldom
eQualed in a battle picture; ''now look
at your bills
He thrust his hand into his vest
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-11-22

pocket and found that it had been cut
-stolen-money and all.
She buried her face in her hands
and sobbed:
go, Tom, why did you sell me those
tickets?''
Il didn't Tom protested.
Yes, you did, and no one else did,
and"
She was interrupted by crash. The
cook appeared frightened out of her
wits, and shouted historically:
''The boilers burst, and all the hair
is scalded off poor Fido.''
So Tom rushed out and met me.
''Here's a beautiful opal scarfpin," he
said, 'would you like to have it?"
l thought of the ill luck it had
brought my poor great-grandfather
and Aunt Cornelia the antique virgin
with the whirling eyes. l was almost
afraid to accept the proffered bauble. I
did summon up courage and took it,
however, determined to dispose Of it
in such a way that it would not be
likely to cause any more trouble in the
family.
SO entered jewelry shop and toss
ing the opal carelessly on the velvet
pad that lay on the glass case, said:
"Will you kindly appraise this social
ed precious stone, this opal? You as
dealer don't share the superstition that
possesses me and will therefore prob
ably purchase it a fair valuation. It
has made trouble enough for me and
mine. and I want to rid myself of it
at any price,
The dealer examined the stone for
moment and said with a smile:
"Opal, your grandmother: this is not
an opal at all: it's a cats eye!''-The
Criterion.
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-11-22
Our Family Opal.

conflicting stories have been told by
various ancestors concerning this part
of it's history. But long ago | register
ed the VOW that if it ever should be-
come mine, | would either destroy or
dispose of it forever. and rid the faml-
w of it's baleful influence
My great grandfather was the first
one of the family to become the pos
widower for the third time. and it was
the desire of all his connections that he
should remain in this state to keep
his worldly goods from slipping out of
the family.
| suppose the opal must have been
aware of all this, because it Immediate
ly set about to indulge it's proverbial
weakness.
At this time. and to the establishment
of all who knew him. he fell in love
with one of his old second cousins.
whose white hair and corrugated face
were sufficient to make such happen
ing seem altogether impossible. And
when she accepted him, what did he do
but have the opal set for an engage
ment ring and placed upon the finger
of his smiling relative, my old Aunt
Cornelia.
After he had given her the opal en-
gagement ring he suddenly rallied
from a recent indisposition, and was
told by the doctor that he might stop
the long walks and resume his pipe
and the glass of punch before retiring.
When this change took place my great
grandfather was so happy and con
tented that he wondered why he
should ever have engaged himself to
Aunt COrnelia OF to any one else, for
that matter And the more he thought
the matter over the more he was puZ-
zled.
It was then that Aunt Cornela con-
Guided that the old man was cooling
off in his attentions, but she didn't
blame him; she regarded it all as i'll
luck, which she attributed to the opal.
Now, another curious feature of the
case was that my great grandfather'S
eyes from looking long and fOndly into
Aunt Cornelia's had suddenly acquired
a peculiar habit of necessarily Whirl-
higher only infirmity.
\ day or two later she noticed that
my at-grandfather's were Whirlin2
and thought that he was mimiclin2
her and making light of her optical pc
cularity She would listen to no word
of explanation, but broke the engage
ment on the spot and handed him back
the opal ring.
That night he made a misstep on the
way upstairs and sprained his ankle
ana on the following day a rairoad
was wrecked and the stock he held in
it dropped from 100 to 60. He then
had the opal ring set in scarfpin ana
gave it to one of his nepheWs for
birthday present.
Suddenly Bill's salary was cut down
in the fullnesS Of it's bloom. His hair
began to fall out and the doctor, not
knowing just what the matter was, or
dered a sea voyage on general princi-
pies. Fearing shipwreck, Bill gave the
The morning news., 1899-04-24

"A weird sort of thing happened down in
Palm Beach about a month ago." said
Washington man, recently back from
Trip along the South Atlantic coast, ac-
cording to the Washington Post. "A pro-
fessional actor of some note was giving
swell society readings down there, and
the reading took place in the big drawing
room of one of the large houses of Palm
Beach, and one end of it was fitted I'D to
represent the study of a man who had
The creepy experience with the bird. There
was the bust of Pallas above the chamber
door,, the students lamp, the volume of
long-forgotten lore which the actor pom
dered as he started the recitation. The
only accessory lacking was the bird from
nights Plutonian shore.
Perhaps hundred of the members of
the winter colony at Palm Beach were
seated in the drawing room listening to
the reading, when the queer thing hap
pened The actor had arrived at the
knocking on the chamber door when a
huge bat few in through one of the open
windows. The bat circled round and round
the room, humping against the walls and
ceiling, and finally went smack against the
plaster of paris bust of Pallas and toppled
it over. There was a whole lot of stam-
pede in that drawing room when the cry
n pdt' was SulS Oult anu the women
were in panic. The reader didn't seem to
ache to get on thick, talking terms with
the bird of evil omen,' either, and he was
on his feet and lodging as quickly as any
of his listeners.
THE bat finally made a sWoop when the
room was almost emptied and got its
clutches in the hair of a young woman
who was just about to escape out of the
door, and she let out a series of piercing
screams and tainted. The bat released its
hold on her hair, as she fell to the floor
and suddenly sailed out into the night
through the window by which it had en-
tered. The reading was not resumed, and
the Palm Beach folks were talking about
the thing in whispers for days afterward
and making all sorts of dire predictions
as to the probable fate awaiting the young
woman upon whose head the bat alghted."
The morning news., 1899-04-24
EnIightening Uncle Hiram.

OF the stories of unsophisticated relatives
on their first visit to their city cousins,
and the mistakes they make, there is no
end, says the Youths Companion. The
blunders of city visitors to the country
are equally amusing, no doubt, but do not
so often get into print
Cncle Hiram, having accepted an invita-
ton 10 spend the Christmas holidays IN
Chicago, had arrived. 1t was a bitterly cold
morning, and Uncie Hiram, to whom the
heating of a house by a furnace in the
basement was something entirely new, held
his hands over the register in the floor,
from which the heated air was coming up
in gratifying volume.
Well he said, beaming with satisfac-
ton, tits a wonder TO me you get so much
heat on a cold day like this, when every
body else is trying to keep his house
warm"
why, where 90 you suppose it comes
from, uncle?" asked his nephew.
''Of course 1 don't know exactly" re-
piled Uncle Hiram, "but 1 know you get
your water from the water works. and I've
always had the idea that you got your fire
from the fireworks"
The morning news., 1899-04-24

In the case of Bateman VS.. Mccarthy
heard at the Brompton County Court re-
Gently, an elderly Irishman, a witness for
the defendant gave evidence, according to
the London Daily News. The claim was
for rs Cd, the price of a pair of opera
glasses lent on hire to the defendant. The
defendant stated that he went to a sacred
concert and when he opened the glasses
they went to pieces.
His Honor Ito the witness)-What do you
know about this affair?
"Och, then, PLACE your worship, sure
sees Paddy Qhe defendanD on his knees
on the floor. Mike, sez he. What? sez
1. Here sez he. 'Where% sez 1.
whist! sez he. Hushr thin seq l. The
next mint, PLACE your worship, some spal-
poems catched holt of me by the head
and legs, and I found m self out in the
gutter. Naughter) That's all I know
about it, your worship"
The Solicitor-Were you sober?
"Of course, I was. Wasn't I looking
after Paddy?'
What was the matter with Paddy?"
He was looking after me-"
His Honor-Verdict for the plaintiff.
The morning news., 1899-04-24
A Year, April 21, 1ses-1sse.

From the New York Times.
Only year
Since fell the bolt that broke our dream of
peace,
A generation long-and called to fight
The hosts, grown torpid with their days
of ease,
Yet with silent potency of might
That struck with fear
A hapless foe, to whom their breath was
blight
How went they forth?
Brave in their youth and joyful in their
strength
Our sons whom we had reared for other
work
With proud eyes, prophetlike to tell what
They'd dare the weary ways where dangers
lurk,
And prove their worth
Meath battles thunder-laden storm
clouds murk.
How came they back?
Older by all the age that lies between
A vision and deed; with added pride
OF dream made true. for what they willed
had been,
And Fortunes self wrought ever at their
side,
Through sun and rack
Down perirs path 70 conquests portal
wide.
But some came not
Far from our arms they lie all lone and
cold.
The hands that smote for justice numb
ed and still,
The hearts that in the foray's front heat
bold
No more the voices of the world shall
thrill,
Nor passions hot
Rouse for a moemnt from their awful
chill
Was it worth this?
To shed the noblest that earth has known
For strangers and the sons of STRANGERS
pay
Our century's debt to Freedom, heavy
grown,
With such fair lives.-Ah! that their glad
young day
In bitterness
OF deaths dark night go soon should pass
away.
Nay, pity them not, with the stainless
bays the tranquil brows above.
For peace Is theirs. and triumph, ana a
peoples deathless love,
But pity us who, here behind moan out
our longings vain
So great so great the victory, yet greater
still the pain!
M. F. Smithers.
The morning news., 1899-04-24

The enlisted men of the Raleigh have
had enough of CORY to last them for a
while. They now desire to get out of the
service and go home at least for a time.
Discharges are due nearly all of them,
but the department cannot see its way
clear 10 permitting them to leave just at
this juncture. There seems to be some
thing Of scarcity of seamen of the class
desired for the warships. The Raleigh is
to go out of commission during the latter
part of May or the first of June, to be
overhauled, and it is desired by the de-
parment that her men shall stay with
her until that time.
The morning news., 1899-04-24

The New York Legislature has passed
bill limiting the hours of labor of drug
clerks TO sixty-six per week The bill ap-
plies only 20 New York city, and is now
before the Mayor for ratification or veto.
A delegation of druggists and clerks called
on the Mayor a day or two ago to protest
against the measure, on the ground that
1T is an unwarranted interference with
private business, and that In operation the
proposed law would have the effect of re-
ducing the incomes of the clerks 90 such
an extent that the best men would be
weeded out of the business. The public
would be incommoded also, said the dele
CATION, since at least three-fourths of the
number of drug stores would be compelled
90 give up all-night service. The ground
on which the bill was passed was that long
hours made tired clerks, and that tired
clerks made serious mistakes In the com
pounding of prescriptions.
The morning news., 1899-04-24
INDEX TO NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.
Meeting-calanthe Lodge No. o. X.

Meeting-Calanthe Lodge No o. K. of
p.
Special Notces-Notice of the Opening
a7d Closing of the Banks; Ship Notice, w.
w. Wilson, Agent. Consignee; Proposals to
Furnish Supplies, Geo. NJ. Gadsden, Direc~
tor of Public Works; Proposals for Fur
nishlng Feed, Geo. NJ. Gadsden, Director
of Public Works.
Business Notices-Smobe LIE Panto Ci-
gars.
Steamship cpedule-Baltimore Steam
ship Company; Campagnie Generate Trans
alantique.
Legal Notices-Notice to Debtors and
Creditors, Estate George H. Stone. De-
ceased.
Cut Disc Harrows. Etc.-Palmer Hard
ware Company.
A Summer Luxury-Byck Bros.
Pearline-James Pyle & Son, New York.
Postum Cereal Coffee-Postum Cereal
Company.
Black and Tan American Porter''-An-
heuser-Busch Brewing Association.
Bicycles-Monarch Bicycles.
Medical-Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey;
Castoria; Browns Bronchial Troches;
Hoods Pills; Ayers Sarsaparnla.
Cheap Column Advertisements-Help
Wanted; Employment Wanted; For Rent;
For Sale; Lost; Personal; Miscellaneous.
The morning news., 1899-04-24

The MORNING NEWS is published
every day in the year, and is served &c
subscribers in the city, or sent by mall
at 500 a month. $500 for six months, and
5000 for one year.
The MORNING NEWS, by mail. six
times e week (without Sunday issue.
three months, 500; six months, a.OO: one
year. $500.
The WEEKLY NEWS. 2 issues a week,
Monday and Thursday. by mail, one year,
Sl.OO.
Subscriptions payable in advance. Remit
by postal orders, check or registered let
aer. Currency sent by mail at risk Of
esnders.
transient advertisements. other than
Gsecial column, local or reading notices,
amusements and cheap or want column, 10
cents a line. Fourteen lines OF agate
type-eQual to one inch square In depth
IS the standard of measurement. Con-
tract rates and discounts made known on
application at business office.
Orders for delivery of the MORNING
NEWS TO either residence or place Of busl-
ness may be made by postal card OF
through telephone No. 21O. Any Irregular
fly In delivery should be Immediately re-
ported to the office OF publication.
Letters and teegrams should be ad-
dressed MORNING NEWS" Savannah,
Ga.
EASTERN OFFICE, % Park Row. New
York city, c. S. Faulkner, Manager.
The morning news., 1899-04-24

A new anaesthetic, called eucaine. was
tried at Bellevue hospital, New York. the
other day. BY its use the patient remains
perfectly conscious all of the time. under
even the most severe operations, meantime
suffering no pain. A patient, under the
influence OF the new drug, was put upon
the table for a difficult operation in abb
dominal surgery The operation occupied
more than an hour. During the time the
doctors frequently asked questions OF the
patient, which he answered promptly and
intelligently. meanwhile asserting that he
felt no pain whatsoever There is said
TO be nlue difference between eucaine and
cocaine. except that the former is much
more safe.
The morning news., 1899-04-24
THE NEwNAN TRAGEDY.

We doubt If there is a well-wisher Of
Georgia who does not profoundly regret
the horrible tragedy that was enacted at
Newman yesterday. 1t is true that the
provocation was great. and that Sam Hose,
the criminal who was burned to death, de-
served the punishment OF death, but the
law ought to have been permitted to take
its course. Ex-Gov Atkinson counseled
moderation and urged that the criminal
be dealt with by the courts, but the minds
Of the people in all of the section of the
country in which the crime of which Hose
was guilty and other similar crimes, had
been committed were so inhamed, that the
lynchers felt they were sustained by pub
lie sentiment and gave no heed to the
words addressed to them by the ex-Gov-
ernor
Lynch law, in communities where the
courts are open and the judges have the
confidence of the people, does not check
crime. 1t provokes a spirit that is likely
10 lead to other crimes The lynchings
which have occurred in this and other
states during the last few years do not
seem to have had the effect intended. If
the men who have been lynched had been
punished under the forms of law the NOR
al effect would have been much greater.
The lynching yesterday win send a
thrill of horror through the entire coun-
try. The method of it was in keeping with
the spirit of a savage, rather than a civ
ilized and Christian, community. There
he ,loe
will have TO DO so on the ground that
vengeance was the motive, rather than
the prevention of crime
The morning news., 1899-04-24

The accident at the corner of Whitaker
ana Duffy streets Saturday evening by
which the little child of Mr.. Yonge lost
her life was one of the saddest street car
accidents that has ever occurred in this
city. When all the circumstances are con-
sidered, il seems to be a reasonable con.
clusion that If the car had been equipped
with fender, the little life would not have
been sacrificed. In nearly every city Of
Importance. except Savannah, it is made
obligatory upon the street railway compa-
MES that every car in service shall be
equipped with a fender, so ARRANGED that
II person is knocked down by or falls in
front of a car, the fender will catch the
body and save 1t from getting under the
wheels. The most favored of modern
tenders consists of a frame extending in
front Of the car for about three feet, and
earring meshed net Of small rope. The
front and sides Of the fender are raised
only an inch or two above the rails. Had
that Whitaker street car been equipped
with fcuder OF the kind. when the little
6i1 attempted 70 run across the track in
front OF the car, she would have been
caught 10 the basket Of the fender. She
might have been bruised, but she would
not have been Killed. The Savannah street
cars carry no Tenders The body which
fai.s in front Of one OF them Is sure 10 b,
frounA and mangicd beneath the wheels
uo'ea" 'ho moionnan ha7 ample room In
"'''. q" apply brakes and bring the car
20 stop.
The morning news., 1899-04-24
A NATIONAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT

DR.. J. D. Emmett of New York wrote
letter TO the New York Tribune recent
ly which is attracting some attention. In
Il he suggest a national health depart
ment. to be presided over by a cabinet
officer. He points out that the pubic
health, and the preservation of healthful
conditions, are of the first order of i'm
portanoe One state. or possibly two
states, may be interested In knowing how
to get rid Of the Russian thistle; but every
state and every community Is interested In
knowing how TO prevent epidemic diseases,
and how to handle such diseases so as to
minimize their ravages. The agricultural
element is recognized in our schemes of
national government and honored with a
cabinet official a the head of a special de-
partment; stin, 1t is not more important TO
know how TO cultivate the fields
than it is 20 know how to combat diseases
and throw around the people all of the
safeguards to health which can be devised
by scientific investigators.
There are. 1T is true. three surgeons gen
hardly more than figurehead. having very
little authority. The surgeon general Of
the army is merely staff officer, and as
under direction of the commanding gen
cral and the Secretary Of War. The sur
geon general of the navy is restricted in
a somewhat similar manner. The surgeon
general of the marine hospital service is
under the direction and authority OF the
Secretary of the Treasury. Thus the three
national medical departments are under
three separate heads, making 1t impossible
for them 10 work together in perfect har-
mony, or to bring the combined resources
of The several forces TO bear towards one
end in matters of emergency, of invesuga-
ton, or experiment The quarantine serv-
ice is under the direction of the Secretary
of the Treasury. The head of that de-
partment is always chosen for his abil-
ity as a financier. He is never a medical
expert. StiR, 1t is within his power. with
the stroke of pen, to nulltfy any propo-
sitlon made by the marine hospital service
for the good of the public health. If
quar- ECS utdNiOLS
with customs receipts, or otner workings
of the treasury department, 1t Is reason
able to suppose that the secretary would
give the financial side of the question
the preference.
It is DIR. Emmett's idea that there should
be one surgeon general. with a seat in the
cabinet. and that he should have author
ity over all matters pertaining to the
health of the army and navy, and over the
quarantine service. The surgeon general
and his assistants should constitute a ma
tional board of hearth, with which all
state and municipal boards of health
should affiliate, while preserving their in
dependence of action in their own terri
tority. In instances of general menace,
however, as for instance an outbreak of
yellow fever, cholera or similar epidemic
the national board should at once assume
active control of the situation. BY hav-
ing doctors, and not business men, at the
head of the machinery for the preservation
of the public health, DIR. Emmett says the
country would be greatly benefited. But
In view of the fact that doctors seldom
agree, is DR.. Emmetts suggestion a wise
opao
The morning news., 1899-04-24

A Washington special to the Phhadel-
phia Record says the administration has
discovered that certain persons in this
country are sending letters or kilograms to
the volunteers in the Philippines calculat-
ed 10 stir them up to discomfort II moth
ing worse. The dispatch says the admin
istration proposes to expose the persons
who are sending such communications to
the islands
The morning news., 1899-04-24

If statements made in letter from a
Dawson City storekeeper are to be relied
upon, the Klondike region is likely to
come into competition with Monte Carlo
for first place as promoter of suicide. 1t
is said that deaths from suicide are oc-
curing daily in Dawson, Skaguay and
other mining towns and camps. Failure
to strike gold is driving unfortunate pros
pectors crazy.
The morning news., 1899-04-24

AT the celebration of Queen Victoria's
birthday at Windsor Castle next month
she will be so years of age, A performance
of "Lohengrin" by the Covert Garden
Royal Opera Company viii be one of the
features of the occasion. Her majesty
who is now in the Riviera, is expected
back early in May.