davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

and he used to write the most interest
ing letters to his mother, telling about
all the latest changes in styles. 1 do
not wish to rebuke you, dear son. but
when you write to us why not write at
greater length and tell us something
which would be of assistance to us in
our spring shopping? We hope to hear
from you soon.
Your affectionate mother.
After Jimmy read this letter his con-
science smote him. very hard. He
realized that his letters had been short
and businesslike and he decided to
make amends and write long letter
chocIS full of the kind of information
which would please his women relatives.
Up to that time he had not paid much
attention to feminine styles, but he
went out and took a long walk in the
shopping districts, looking at the dis
plays in the windows, and after he had
found out all about the spring styles
he went back to his room and dutifully
prepared the following letter:
Dear Mother; When received your
letter two days agoI felt very sorry to
think that had been writing such poor
letters. The trouble with me is that
when ! sit down to write l can never
think of anything to say. Since You
have suggested a subject for me will
do my best to tell you what the women
in the city are wearing this spring.
As you know, mother, never was much
OF hand at describing girls get-up.
You say that Ernest Perkins knew how
to tell his mother all about the fashions
in Philadelphia. but Ernest was always
that way. I can remember when the
rest OF the boys were out playing base
ball ard Skinny Ernest used to sit in
the house with the girls and make doll
clothes. He could crochet just as well
as any of the girls and he used to wear
his hair in curls--in fact, the boys used
to call him ISIS" ] can understand
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
ESlRo pcoS

money are stalking every cent they can
raise upon margins. From what can
hear-though it is not so easy to be
sure OF this-a good deal more money
than usual is coming in from the farms
to be invested by ''blind pool men" and
other smooth robbers. Probably the
proceeds of many broad wheat field
will disappear in the final shearing OF
the lambs.
The current prices of long standing
and substantial interest-bearing Sc
curities-bonds of good railroad lines,
stock of conservatively managed con-
cerns-are not too high, and in these
there is, indeed, but little gambling;
they are not sufficiently exciting. The
most reckless bidding is done upon new
| .'industrials," upon street car lines and
| combinations and in general upon
stocks that have never paid dividend.
| Such stocks are good to gamble with,
! for they may be worth everything or
nothing. a safe four per cent. bond is
not good to gamble with, because every
body knows almost exactly how much
| it is worth.
OF course fortunes are made every
| day in a market where values are kiting
up and down with each breath of ru-
NOR; but they are necessarily made at
| the expense of some one else. When the
losses are reckoned up at the end of the
game, few men will have all the chips;
| the rest will have experience. Men will
call that time panic. We are getting
ready for it in the street. Good mar
| kets for wheat may delay it, or a falling
| market may hasten it. But when it
! comes-in many cases sooner-the
lambs will lose their f1eeces and have
not even sympathy to console them.
It's good time to invest money; g. bad
time to gamble with it.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
COFFEE IN PORTO RICO.
culture OF the Berry In an ImpOr-
tant Industry OF the
Island

Coffee raising ranks second - an in
lustry In Porto Rico. bringing wage
INTO the pockets of thousands of earn
hrs and substantial profits to the cof-
sers OF the plantation owner and ex-
porter.
Besides the assured income from q
Een-pzanted coffee plantation, the
life of the planter and owner has many
desirable features which recommend
t as an occupation to be followed by
The American Investor First. coffee
must needs be raised in the higher al
Htudes OF the picturesque rolling
hills, and on the faces of the steep
mountainous iuclines which finish up
ward in sharp zigzagging Darrew
ridges, thus giving him a healthful,
cool place of residence, away from the
hot lowlands and fever country of the
coast. Second, in the hills and noun
tains living springs for uncontam-
mated water-suppiy are found. and, at
the worst, he has always at hand the
cooler, frothing. dashing torrents OF
the rock-bound mountain streams
from which to draw crystalline water.
Third, and perhaps most important.
no great technical training is required
10 raise coffee successfully, as is the
ease with raising sugar or tobacco.
Fourth, the life is an easier one for
the proprietor-which is no small fac
tor in a torrid, zone. where excessive
activity IS sure to bring on fever in the
ease of the unacclimated-in that he
travels in the shade of the forest which
shelters his coffee trees from the hot
sun, as he makes his overseeing tours,
and works under cover where the pulpy
berry is changed into the finished and
polished bean of commerce.
Good coffee land rangesin price from
$40 to $500 an acre, depending upon To-
ca ton and the topography of the site.
and again whether it be virgin soil or
in crop of varying age, the highest
price being asked. for five-year-old full<
bearing trees, near the great military
highways, within easy-hauling dis
tance of coast shipping centers.
1t may be said that $500 is fictitious
value for any coffee plantation. and
that the owner naming sueh.a price is
| usually a Spaniard, filled with desire
10 return to Spain, but inwardly fear
| ing, even in his dislike of the Ameri-
can, that the new rule may mean IN
paralleled progress in the island. Two
hundred dollars al acre for wel!-grown
| trees. with adequate shade above them.
has hitherto been considered good
round sum for a plantation. though as
much as $500 has been paid under
Spanish rule.-Harper's Weekly.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
A LITTLE KNOWN SPOT.
Gloomy Rnvine In Yellowstone Park
That Is Seldom visited
by Tourists.

Death gulch is a small and gloomy
favine in the northeast corner of the
Yellowstone National park. I'm this
region the lavas which fill the ancient
basin of the park rest upon the tanks
of mountains formed of fragmentary
volcanic ejecta, while the
hydrothermal forces of the central
portion of the park show but feeble
manifestations of their energy in the
almost extinct hot-spring areas of
Soda Butte, Lamar river. Cache creek
and Miller creek" Although hot wa
ter no longer flows from these vents,
gaseous emanations are now given
off in considerable volume" ION Cache
creek. about two miles above its con-
fiuence with Lamar river, are deposits
of altered and crystalline traveTtine.
with pools in the creek violently eff
fervsScing locally. This is due to thee
copf%hs emission of gas. Above these
deposits "the creek cuts into a bank of
sulphur and gravel cemented by this
material, and a few years beyond is
the debouchure of small lateral guliyo
coming down from the mo1ntain side.
In its bottom is small stream of clear
and cold water, sour with sulphurie
acid, and flowing down a narrow and
steep channel cut in beds of dark-grsy
volcanic tuff. Ascending this gulch.
the sides. closing together, become
very steep slopes of white, decom-
posed rock. The only springs
now flowing are small oozes of water
issuing from the base of these slopes
or from the channel bed. forming a
thick. creamy, white deposit about the
vents. and covering the stream bed.
This deposit consists largely of sui
phate of alumina. About $50
feet above the main stream these ooz-
ing springs of acid water cease, but
the character of the gulch remains
the same. The odor of sulphur now
becomes stronger. though producing
no other effect than slight irritation
of the luDgs.-T. A Jaggar. Jr.. in APP
pletons' Popular Science Monthly.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

cid thing and look well. I don't sup
pose this kind of hat would look so
well on an elderly woman, SO won't
recommend it to you, mother.
There's another kind of hat with a
feather hanging away out on each side
Of it. These two feathers look like
pair of wings. and make you think that
the hat is going to fly up into the air
at any moment.
All the hats are big. / saw one girl
to-day who had a common old country
straw hat with a singly turkey feather
stuck in the band. The hat looked as
if it might cost ten cents but maybe it
was fashionable.
This same girl had little split
coat that stuck to her all around as if it
had been glued, and she was leading
bulldog. I'll tell you she attracted a lot
of attention, but then / wouldn't advise
you to do anything of that kind, moth
er. i wouldn't like to see you wearing
an Indian feather and leading bull
dog.
don't know what else I can tell you
about the spring styles. noticed in
one window lot of red golf coats for
women, but then you don't play golf.
I'm mighty glad to be able to say that
1 haven't seen any boomers this year.
But I know they wouldn't interest you.
Give my love to the girls. q
Your affectionate SOL, Jimmy.
He sent this letter and felt that his
mother would be grateful to get the
latest particulars as to the spring styles
in the city. He didn't suppose that his
mother and sisters had ever heard of
tailor-made suits or steamer-rug capes or
the new inflated hats. When he visited
at home the other day and found his
sisters wearing the very latest city
gowns and hats, he took all the credit
to himself and said: "Well, girls, see
that you took my tips on spring styles
JOHN HAZELDEN.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
Owen Lsngdoa Says
Migration Up Fifth
Avenue Continues.

lady in the case succeeds in marrying
one of her charming daughters to a
British duke, the cases will be sufficient
~ near enough alike each other to
satisfy everybody. Mrs Sloane is
close relation of the Vanderbilts by
marriage, and her husband was a man of
vast wealth, like the bereaved Willie <
Her eldest daughter. Jessie Sloane, is
about Is years old.
The daughter of another parted pair.
Mr.. and Mrs. James Brown Potter, is a
few years older than Miss Sloane. Miss
Fiji Potter is in society, her debut hav-
ing taken place last winter. She is one
OF the most charming girls in New York.
She has not seen her mother since their
memorable meeting in New York few
years ago. On that occasion the mother
wept upon her daughters neck. After
the girl had gone-they had met in a
hotel-the servants found behind a sofa
a bunch of flowers. The mother had
given them to the daughter; the daugh-
ter had flung them there as soon as she
conveniently could; they have not since
met.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

stuck out at the shoulders. think you
call them puff sleeves" Well, you
don't see so many puff sleeves now.
The sleeves are so tight all the way up
that if woman had big hands l don't
see how she could get into one of them.
They are long, too, and sometimes they
come down as far as the l2nuckles. L
don't know whether this is the style or
whether the sleeves don't fit
The skirt laces up the back the same
as a shoe and has two rows of funny
little buttons. 1 don't know what these
buttons are for or how you work them,
but have seen a good many of them.
Then there are some skirts that have
big stripes and checks. 1 don't know
what you call the material, but it is
kind of fuzzy, the same as a horse
blanket, and the stripes are about two
feet apart. They are the loudest things
have seen, and hope you won't wear
them. I don't mind seeing them on
strange woman, but wouldn't like to
see anything of that kind ON you.
think they look better on young wom-
en-. have seen some capes made out
of this wooily stuff with checks that
you could see a mile off.
l don't know Of anything else need
tell you about the dresses. Some of the
women are wearing shirt waists again.
The shirt waists are worn with belts,
the same as last year, and you can't
tell the difference between q mans
necktie and woman's.
Oh. yes. I wanted to tell you that
some women are wearing short skirts.
not only when they are riding their
bikes. but when they are downtown
shopping. This is another style that de-
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
7o1l5dl5l;

She thought that, Jimmy being in the
city and having the opportunity to see
all of the interesting sights. ought to
be able to sit down about once week
and write a long and entertaining let
ter. However, letter-writing was not
one of his easy accomplishments, for his
epistles were always of the same pat
tern. He said that he was well and
getting along first-rate, and the wealth
er had been disagreeable, and he hoped
everyone at home was doing nicely.
About two weeks ago his mother wrote
to him and reproved him as follows:
Dear Son: We received your last let
ter and of course we were glad to hear
from you again and to know that you
are getting along so we'll, but your sis
tiers and / are rather disappointed be-
cause you do not give US more news in
your letters.
1t seems to us that if you took the
trouble to do SO you might be able to
give US great deal of information. For
instance, your sisters are quite anxious
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

why Ernest would know all about
basques and ruching and cut-on-the-
bias and everything like that, but you
must remember, mother, that you neg
lected my education in regard to these
things, and so if I fail to give you a
very clear idea of spring costumes in
the city it will be your fault However,
] will do the best can.
Since l received your letter 1 have
been looking around considerable, and
/ notice that the women's dresses are a
good deal the same as they used to be,
although it depends somewhat on the
woman herself as to how swell the dress
shows up.
Some of the dresses this spring are
dark in color and some are light. have
seen several with stripes and there are
others that have no stripes. But on
the whole I think the women are wear
ing very nice dresses this spring.
One thing 1 notice is that great
many women have their clothes made
out of cloth, just the same as mems
suits are made of. They wear kind
of a coat, I suppose you would call it,
although it is more like vest, with
sleeves in It. The coat or the vest,
whichever it is, is made out of the same
material as the thing below. 1 think
you call that the skirt. A good many
of these costumes are very fine to look
at, especially if the women are good
looking. I don't believe they look as
well on very fat women and very thin
women as they do on the others.
The sleeves are very tight. You know
the women used to wear sleeves that
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

Trunks Gobsg Abroad. housein New York
is for sale 1t Will not be strange if the
legislatures of the various states are in
the end driven to some scheme of legis-
iation to counteract the effects of this
continual exodus of rich Americans.
They do, from the standpoint of the
tax gatherer, take money out of the
country" Mr.. William Waldorf Astor,
for instance. not only spends in Eng
land most of his s.. 600, 0cO of income,
but he pays to the British government
eight pence in every pound of his in
come as assessed.
have never seen the exact figures
stated, but if the assessors do not err
on the side of mercy, his income tax in
England must be some $780, 900 a year.
His being an American will not help
him. He must pay And naturally he
doesn't feel like paying a personal tax
IN New York at the same time, though
he has heretofore done this
1t would only take ten men of Mr..
Astor's wealth, transplanted from the
United States to England, to pay the
latter country n million year in taxes.
This would be serious loss to the tax
CELEBRATES of this country. and, as things
are, it falls most heavily upon New
York.
Mr.. Julian Ralph has computed that
1T costs rather more to keep house in
London than in New York Consider
ing the taxes also, it is evident that
Americans do not go to live in England
for reasons of economy.
OWEN LANGDoN.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

S ~ fourth street, al
most exactly four miles. since 1874,
making mile-long jumps about every Is
years. 1t has always kept at the
lower focus of fashionable New York.
Delmonico's is a public institution.
There was a time when Sherry's, backed
by the powerful influence of the Astors,
who own the handsome Sherry build
ing. contested the supremacy with
"Del's." But the indescribable scenes
of the famous 'SeeIey dinner" nearly
ruined Sherry's and drove it to catering
for a cheaper class of trade. Now that
Delmonico is in the same neighborhood,
it's rival will have even harder task to
survive.
The older house has never made
blunder; it has never truckled to
customer, however powerful; it has
never had sign-Or needed one; 1T has
never dunned a customer for money
any of its regular patrons could eat for
month if he was short of cash before
his credit was exhausted, and this Gus
tom must have cost it millions, but is
still followed; it has never driven a
woman from its door with insults-and
if that does not seem to you a thing to
boast of, either you are not woman
or you have never tried to get a meal
in a New York eating house after six
O'Clock. unaccompanied by man.
Of course Delmonico's has its rules,
like all the other places; if woman OBJ
viously not respectable tries to get a
meal there she is treated with signal
courtesy. Her order is taken-and the
To
other waiter is called, he also takes the
order and forgets to come back. BY
and by the woman gets so idgety that
she cannot stand it any longer; she
| rises and goes out-bowed from the
door with the utmost civility by the
head waiter. She never comes back.
By such gently firm measures has the
famous house maintained its position
| as the most decorous of New York res
| taurants. Its private rooms have never
| witnessed anything worse than gam
bling Parties-men only. 1t is some
times called rigidly puritanical.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

VI DOOh Selling with ~ -o--"S 49,
that of book making. Nassau street,
formerly the most famous thorough
fare of bookshops, now contains but a
single one of the frSt-class-though
there are number OF shops where old
and rare books are sold; for women are
ness men throng Nassau street all day
long.
Another melancholy reminder of the
uptown drift is the sale of the two
houses in Gramercy park, so long oc-
cupied by Cyrus W. and David Dudley
Field. They brought $200. 900, it is true,
but that is not much more than they
would have been worth, 20 years ago,
when Gramercy park was the home of
men like the Fields, Samuel j. TiIden, S.
lis region of high-class boarding
houses, and of the entering wedge of
trade.
{ AS for churches, there are in the low
er four miles of New York, inhabited
by nearly half its 100000 population,
scarcely any churches left OF the Prot
estant faiths, except those which have
been preserved by historical interest,
like the Judson Memorial, old Trinity
and the John Street Methodist church,
cradle of sturdy faith in a new world.
All the rest are gone-an removed up
town, their buildings turned into thea
tiers or put to other uses.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
Trying to Save AILaii Deserts.

Investigations by the division of soils
of the department OF agriculture into
the alkaH waste lands of the Yellow
stone valley. particularly in Montana,
develop the fact that great tracts
may be saved by underdrainage The
damage is due principally to excess of
water used in irrigation and the re-
sultant accumulation of salts. 1t is
urged by the division officers that the
land be saved from utter humiliation
by underdrainage. which. though being
expensive, is sure to be a paying IN.
Testment.-ChicagoC Chronicle.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
Exnennixe Chanre.

Incautiously he had monkeyed with a
buzzsaw, and his arms had been am
putated about half way between wrist
and elbow.
Skillful manufacturers of artificial
limbs had made good the shortage.
however. and provided him with ths
best limitations of hands they could
turn out.
This concern" he observed, cheer
fully, as they strapped them on him.
"has changed hands"
Whereupon they added two more
bones to the bill.-Chjcs9o Tribune.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

hat this spring is supposed to be the
real article. I saw hat yesterday
that looked like a, bushel basket with
a mosquito net around it. 1t must have
been made of some light material, or the
poor girl couldn't have carried it. This
hat made me think of those pictures
OF oriental life showing the women
with big bale of something balanced
on top of her head.
Some of the hats l have seen swell
out on top as if they had been inflated.
the same as football.
Then there's another kind of hat with
tall feather sticking straight up into
the air like a liberty pole. / saw one
feather that was about IS inches high.
The girl that wore this hat was a
corker. That's one thing I've noticed,
that good-looking girl can wear any
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

evidence that New
York society is not
as careful of its
reputation as it
might be. T h e S e
troubles seem to
make throughout
a curious parallel
to those of the w.
E. Vanderbilts.
AS in that case,
the man is a Bel
M ont; the ag-
~iovad husband
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

good NlrS. Brad
ley-Martin is now
in the city, hav-
ing come over for
a brief visit and a
season of social
activity, but she
viii soon sell her
house and take her
40 trunks full of
dresses back to
London, where she
will make her per-
manent home. 1t
is said that the
Rradlev Martin
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

to know about the spring styles in the
city. They are about to have some
dressmaling done and get their spring
hats and they want to be strictly up to
the times. Why can't you write to us
and tell us what the women in the city
are wearing this spring? Surely. you
must have observed the costumes.
Now, there is Ernest Perkins, who
visited in Philadelphia two years ago
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

,
tSc'eH Ma Honkers. will consent to be
made the plaintiff, instead of the de-
PENDANT, in a divorce suit, and after
everything was satisfactorily arranged,
brother Perry married the divorced
woman, as brother Oliver did in an
earlier instance.
Now. if in a short time the beautiful
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

time you can see
that it moves 1t
b a s lateral mo-
raines on Madison
avenue and River
side drive, and a
terminal moraine
up Fifth avenue"
farther up each
year.
Delmonico's, for
instance, has fol-
lowed the social
drift from the Bat
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

yer ybody is
taking flyers in the
street. Men who a
year ago talked of
books, theate + s,
sports, now Won
d cr w b e t h e r
B r o oklyn Rapid
Transit and other
favorite gambling
shares are going
up or d Q w N.
Clerks, reporters,
Office boys, mes
sengers and other
people who can ill
afford to lose their
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02

-
At present the
most famous retail
book shops are be-
tween Fourteenth
street and Eorti-
eth, and on or near
Fifth a v e n u e t.
Harper'sis the only
publishing firm of
any consequence
n o w remaining
downtown, a n d
this house makes
no effort to COM
bine the business
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-02
JIMMY" CUTLER

had gone through
college he went to
the city and found
employment. He
was very much the
same as any other
young man = that
is, he tried to be a
dutiful son, but
sometimes he did
not write home as
regularly as his
m o t h e r desired.