davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
DOWN TO EARTH.
Proving That Hunger Is n Base Ed
cEsty to Things Romantic.

They had just become engaged and
acted like husband and wife while
baskin@ in the honeymOon.
Il tell YOU. pet" lie said after a long
and pleasant scance in The parlor, to
morrow we will 20 down 10 the finest
hotel in the city. and have dinner. You
wear tnat gray dress tnat las such
pile of fluffy stuff. I'll put on my
best bib and tucker, and were bound
to make Il hit
"Oh. you dear old darling! DO you
know. ] have mania fer swell hotels.
When we get rich. Wen live in them,
north in the summer and south i'll the
winter, won't weE"
Yes, of course. Certainly. What
you prefer will be my delight, you
know. But lets think of tomorrow
now. Wen make it red letter day
and n celebration"
They went into the dining room after
scores of guests had assembled, and
they did make a stunning appearance.
The hum of conversation was stilled,
diners nudged each other, and she felt
that her heart was growing faint while
he enjoyed the unmistakable evidence
that they were taken as bride and
groom. They were received at sep
arate table with a flourish. The waiter
in charge looked important, put on the
high touches of Il cake walk as he
seated them and then leaned over her
shoulder as though her order was 4
matter of the strictest confidence. Poor
girl, she knew as well IS did the
waiter that their table had concen-
trated all eyes. The menu showed
her as much as blank piece Of pa,
per 1t was rich. in good things, hut
it did not convey an idea to her per,
turbed brain.
What shall l bring 90 fus', m Ia,
dy?"
She swallowed rapidly, blushed rap
idly, wished that she was ut home and
then said in q low but steady voice
"I'm not quite in appetite today. Bring
me some ham and eggs."-Detroit Free
Press.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
FLAX AND FLAX FIBER.

The fiber Of the flax plant has been
known from time immemorial and val
ued for its uses in textile manufac-
lures. The bad, rich man of the olden
time was clothed in purple and fine
linen and the most beautiful work
ever wrought by human hands in tex
tile fabrics has been done with linen
fiber. The process of extracting the
fiber from the stalk has always been
tedious and expensive one, the fiber
being united and incloSed by Il gummy
bark which until recently has defied
every effort made to secure its decorti-
cation rapidly and cheaply. The proc
ess of separation has always been by
rotting, or retting, as the term is (the
placing of the pulled stalks in pools Of
stagnant water, some waters supposed
to have special fitness for this work.,
and after period of six weeks or two
months natural decomposition will ef-
feet a separation of the fiber from the
woody matter Much hand work being
necessary and cheap labor being indis-
pensable, it has come that this indus
try has never gained a foothOld in this
country, but has been confined to Ire
land, Belgium and some other localities
where the water was supposed to pos
sess some special virtue for this work,
where the climate was mild and moist
and where labor could be obtained at
the lowest price. The cost of thus pro-
ducing the fiber has of necessity made
all linen products much higher in price
than those of its competitor, cotton.
1t may be here noted that linen fabrics
possess qualities of durability, beauty
and utility which those made Of cot
ton fiber can never attain to. Three
states-Minnesota and the two Dako-
tas-produce more flax than any 9th
er section of the earth. Until within
a year the flax straw there produced
has never been utilized and has been
burned to be rid of it. y new process,
now in successful operation, separates
quickly and mechanically and chem
ically the fiber in this thrashed straw
and prepares it in the shape of pure
lint for use just as raw cotton is. 1t
can be so prepared and laid down at
the textile mills of the east for the low
price of IL cents per pound as COM
pared with cotton at s cents. This
means q revolution in textile manu-
factures in this country. 1t means
new source of wealth for these fax
producing states; it means cheaper lin
en- fabrics for all the people.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
The Hard work of Congressmen.


Let those who are blissfully ignorant
.augh at congressman for the easy time
they have at Washington. Only those
who have been through the mill know
how hard a congressman must work IL
be is to fulfill his public duties. A
hardworking senator said to me, II
might have made $4,000 during my
term in the senate If l had given as
much attention to my private business
as l have given to the public business.
rhe amount of work which is laid up
IN member or senator Is simply enor-
nous. What with the demand for pen
sions, postoffice docume/ts, applica-
tons for promotion or discharge in the
army and many other things, men,
ber's time may be taken up with the
axactions Of his daily mail. A good
clerk may be Of immense help, but
some senators employ two or three
and then find there Is great deal
which they must answer or attend to
In person.
The daily sessions from - to about
) take up half a day, and committee
meetings often take up the other half
for two or three days in the week. 1t
IS hard to tell when the busiest men,
bers, who are never absent from ses-
sion or from a committee meeting, find
time to prepare the elaborate speeches
which they sometimes deliver. 1t Is
not strange, then, that so few members
If either chamber are found in the
reading rooms devoted to them in the
Congressional library. When they want
books from that or any other deposit
tory, they have them sent to their
omeS-IndeDendent.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
HOME EMADE ICE.
what People May Do when the Price
Gets TOO High.


IF the courts fail science may be de
pended upon to knock out the ice
trusts" says a chemist in the Kansas
City star Il venture the prediction
that the average well To do family will
be making its own ice inside the next
two years. For a long time past
number Of the cIcverCst inventors in
the country have been trying to devise
q small. compact ice machine with a
capacity of from 80 to 800 pounds
day that can be operated by ang do
nestle servant, and they have made
sufficient progress to bring success
clearly i'm v.r". 1t is an interesting
fact that u,o.4. all the remarkable i'm
provements which have been made in
large commercial machines during the
last two or three years have suggested
themselves in this tireless search for a
practical household apparatus.
"Whcn | say that success is in sight,
l mean that all the most serious prob.
lens have been solved, and the difficult
ties that remain to be overcome are
purely mechanical. AS a matter of fact
four or five small machines are al
ready in the market, but none of them
quite meets the requirements. The ideal
apparatus for use in cities will proba-
bly, obtain its power from an incandes-
cent lamp socket, just like the ordinary
electric fan. The cook will fill up the
receiver with water, make the connec-
ton and go about her business.
There is nothing Utopian about this
little forecast. Private ice plants are
already practical for very small COM
mercial concerns, restaurants, confec-
TONERS, etc, and the household ma
chine is one of the advances along the
line of domestic economy to which we
may look forward with absolute conf
dence. By the way, one of the invent
ors who are pcgging away at the prob
lem is Il New Orleans man, and l was
told lately that he had turned out a
very successful working model. | have
said nothing about liquid air, because
that strange product has proved so
tricky and intractable that it is risky
to venture any predictions as to what
may or may not be done with it. An
other substance which has been eX-
plotted as the 'rcfrigerant of the fu-
ture' is a so called freezing powder
1t is really nothing new, but an expen-
sive chemical salt that is frequently
used in laboratory experiments. 1t has
no possibilities in practical operation"
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
Soil and Fauna.

In an article in the annals Of the Lin
mean society of Lyons NJ. Roux ap-
plies the results of his geological study
of the Lyonese mountains to an inter
probation of the peculiarities of the re-
gion, not only climatic, economic and
hygienic, but also as regards the fauna
and fora. He comes to the conclusion
that the absence of calcareous salts
has an undeniable influence on the ami
NAL life. The fauna of a sllecious re-
gion is less vigorous, less rich, less va
ried in species, less abundant in indi-
viduals than 4 calcareous region. This
Is particularly true as regards mol
lusks, certain kinds Of insects, crusta-
ceans and worms, but 1t also affects
vertebrate forms. The assay is q most
Interesting one In its detailed attempt
to correlate geological and biological
facts
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
CHINESE PRONUNCIATION.
Three Simple Rules That VIII Help
You In the Task.

An acknowledged authority on the
pronunciation of Chinese names as
transliteratcd into English assures us
that there need be no serious dIlhculty
in sounding the many Chinese names
now appearing in the newspapers II
the speaker will remember that the
VOWelS in these names are uniformly
those of the Italian or continental al
phabet-namcly o. n, always about
as in far; g, always approximately
as in they or then; i, very like IN
machine or pin; O, as either the or
song or how, and Il, always as the II
of rule. (2) Also, it should be remem-
bered, every syllable has an independ-
ent value and should be given that
value in pronunciation. 3) AS for
consonants, they are pronounced eN-
actly as written. These three rules
will secure as correct pronunciation
of Chinese names as can be secured
without oral instruction.
For example, under the first rule
one would say tahkoO for Taku, not
take-you. as one may frequently hear
the word pronounced; lee hoong
chahng for Ii Hung Chang, not lie
hung chang; peh-king for Peking, not
peek-in: shahng- -hah-ee for Shanghai,
not shanch.-,; tsoong- g-lee-yahmen for
tsung-l-yameu. not tsung lie yay-
men. and so on. Under the second
rule rien-tHin +; pronounced teeyen
tsinn. accruting the yen syllable, not
teen tsin. General Nieh's name is Nee
vch. The Chinese coin tael is not tale,
but tah-alc. pronounced quickly. Yum
nan fu is yoon-nahn-fOo, not yunan-
fyu.
In like manner all words are pro-
nounccd with syllable distinctness and
with uniform vowel sound. Under the
third rule the province name Szechuan
is sounded. not zekuan, but nearly as
zehchoCahn. touching the choo very
lightly; Nganhwei as inggahnghoo-
wayce, dropping the initial sound,
and the German possession Kiau Chau
Is KecahOO chahOo.
However. without multiplying exam
pies, the reader of news from the much
troubled far east will find his way
through the many difficult names he is
to meet in his reading in the near fu.
ture with sufficient safety if he viii
but observe the three simple rules here
given for their correct pronunciation
Boston Transcript.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
Crane Carried His satchel.

Arthur A. Leeds of Tioga met Ste
phen Crane once under circumstances
which showed how little the novelist
traded upon the fame that came to
him. Mr.. Leeds got off a train at Del
aware Water Gap. The only man on
the platform was bumped up against
the side of the depot gazing into space.
He looked like a farmers boy. His
trousers were baggy, his coat battered
and his hat rowdy.
"Say, carry this stuff to the hotel for
me, will your asked Mr.. Leeds. The
man grasped the bags and started in
the wake Of Mr.. Leeds toward the
hotel
When the hotel was reached, Mr..
Leeds lost sight of his porter for few
minutes while he greeted friends.
Looking around for his baggage, he
saw the man who had packed it to the
hotel sitting on the piazza with his
legs on the railing. He was reading a
book.
"Who's that MANI" asked Mr.. Leeds.
"Oh, that's Stephen Crane" some one
said. The next day Crane left the place
before Mr.. Leeds had an opportunity
for explanations.-Ph North
American.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
The old Time ShipbuiIder.

The man with the broadax is gradu-
ally disappearing. He is very hard to
find in Canada, but few of his tribe
are still scattered along the New Eng
land coast, mainly on the Kennebec.
1t is probable the tribe will die out on
the spot where the first blow of the
broadax was struck. The man with
the rivet is the next step in marine ev-
olution. He is a noisy fellow, just
part Of machine, and he can never
replace the quiet, contemplative phi
losopher in the red shirt and overalls
who stood in the American shipyard
in days that are past.-Boston Herald.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
NEW CURE FOR VAGRANCY.
Scientific PoIiceman's Simple Scheme
tn Make nnor SIeepers Move On.


The New York police force is credited
with being one of the best in the world,
but at least one member of it is a genius
born for greater things. He has invented
a method for Kidding his beat of yagrants
and doorstep sleepers. This officer is at
tached to the Church street station and
patrols in the neighborhood of Washing
ton street and the Battery, where cheap
lodging houses. small beer saloons. labor
agencies" and the genuine Weary Will
lie" luAuriantly aboand. so he has almost
daily opportunity 10 test his invention.
The vagrant is not particular where he
sleeps, so that it costs nothing, and door
ways are favorite lodging places. 1t was
a sleeper in one of these that received a
never to be forgotten shock the other day.
He was asleep in the doorway of a sa-
loon, with his head thrown back against
the jamb and his legs sprawled over the
pavement.
Watch me make him move on" said
the inventor. His hand went under his
coattails, and it looked as if he were GO
ing for his ''gun" in deadly earnest. A
spectator stood petried, waiting to see
a bloody tragedy enacted, but the blue
coat pulled out small vial and, leaning
ONtl luS SlSCp'l' ppulSu SOi4ic VI 40 ~SA
tents ON his thick, reddish mustache.
The effect was electrical. With wild
snort and a gurgling gasp the hitherto
nert figure sprang into the air and claw
ID at his mouth and throat; the tears
streamed out of his eyes, which were dis
ended with terror, and he stood gasping
and making horrible faces and still claw
ng frantically at his mouth and throat,
while the policeman smiled grimly and
waited for the customary denouement.
1t came in a moment. AS soon as the
.errorized doorstep lodger had recovered
enough of his breath to permit his NOV
,ng he started hurriedly up Washington
street, sans coat, sans hat, sans every
thing but a consuming desire TO put as
much distance between himself and that
loor as possible. The policeman laughed
heartily as he watched the rapidly re-
treating figure.
"I'll bet he don't come back here
again. he said. THAT dosell last him
for a month Ammonia's a great thing.
It's better than insect powder and it
saves making arrests. That fellow is
not only obeying the move on ordinance,
but the dose sobercd him up to boot"
New York Mail and Express.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
The Breach of Promise Record.


Many records of different kinds have
peen broken of late. but it will take a
long time indeed to break the one that
has lust been made by the Bavarian
gentleman. Mr.. AloiS Frankenbcrg, re-
marks the New York Sun. His case
came up the other day in the assizes
court of Gratz, Austria, in which the
testimony against him, the truth of
which was admitted by himself, footed
up q total Of 100 cases Of breaches Of
promises to marry. Young girls, old
maids, widows, bruncttes and blonds,
fat and lean, long and short, all fig
ured in his gigantic dOsser. And yet
his mode Of procedure was simple
enough. After he had spent fortune
of 100000 marks leading a wild life in
different countries he returned to
GratZ pennileSS.
His last resource lay in his good
looks and winning ways. He put an
advertisement in several papers invit-
ing ladies desiring to marry "a gentle
man Of fortune" to put themselves in
communication with him. And they
did His bonnes fortunes were phenom-
enal, even though his fortune" was
fictitious. In n short time he had
sweethearts galore, and, to buy furni-
ture for nice flats in their castles in
Spain, he obtained money from them.
That is what brought him into trou-
BILE. After sparkling all that was prof
itably sparkable in Gratz he abandon
ed his beloved ones in that town and
set up in business as matrimonial
merchant in Munich, where his success
was still more extraordinary. Then he
returned to GratZ, where he was de-
nounced, arrested, tried, convicted and
sentenced to Imprisonment for two
years and six months with hard labor.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
4 MOOdy Joke,

Dwight L. Moody, the famous evan
gelist, loved a harmless joke. Once in the
early days at Mount Hermon, while he
was acting as anchor for one side in
"tug of war;" he planted himself in front
of a large oak tree, round the trunk of
which, without being observed, he sIyly
got a turn or two of the rope. Then he
sat there and shook with laughter while
the other side, headed by one of the
teachers, tuggcd away in vain.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
What Did She Meant

Maud was coming to call at your
use if we had not met.
Ethel-Oh, what a pity we nett
oonshine.
Salt used in sweeping carpets keeps
t the moths.
,alt and soda are excellent for bee
ngs and spider bites.
alt and vinegar will remove stains
m discolored teacups.
alt in the water Is the best thing to
an willowware and mating.
alt on the fingers when cleaning
gls, meat or fish will prevent slip
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
His Nuture.

You never can believe what the india
rnbber man says" confded the Circas-
sian princess to the wild man from Bor-
neo.
"Why?" asked the latter.
"Oh, he is always stretching things"
giggled the lady with the upright hair
Baltimore American.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
Comforting Reflection.

"Well, there's one thing certain"
mused Uncle Allen Sparks, who was
watching a boy dangling over the pier
and holding a fishing pole in both
hands. THE capitalists can't organize
any happiness trust."-Chicago Trib-
une.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
Fnte of the Confederate Seal.

1.-THE result OF the last Confederate
council Of war held at Abbeville, s.
=, in May, 1865, was soon known all
Dver Abbeville, and the generals and
he secretary Of war were kept busy for
Iours signing honorable discharges for
he tired soldiers, who Immediately ap-
Dlied for them" writes Mrs. Thaddeus
1orton. in The Ladies' Home Journal.
'Ddring the evening Mr.. Benjamin ask
d for Ratchet, and with it he defaced
he Confederate seal About IL o'clock
he same night the Confederate party
ontinued its retreat in the direction Of
Washington. Ga. and while crossing the
savannah river in the darkness some one
uggested that the seal be thrown over
oard. This idea was at once approved,
nd when the boat reached midstream it
,as dropped with dull splash into the
andy river bed of that beautiful south
rn watercourse. where TO this day. Its
lission all fulfilled, it serenely rests"
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
CouIdn't Stick Pop.

Tommy-Pop, what's a bachelor?
Tommy's .Pop-A bachelor, my son, is
n man who isn't obliged to answer the
silly questions of his offspring.-Phila-
delphia Record.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

A Cherokee Indian, after having been
in the penitentiary five years, returned to
his tribe but he had forgotten their Ian
guage
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

Connections at Rupert with Philadelphia
Reading Railroad for Tamanend, Tamaqua,
Williamsport, Sunbury, Pottsville etc. At
Northumberland with p and +. Div. Z. X. X. for
Harrisburg. Lock Haven, Emporium, Warren
CORY and Erie.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

Teacher-Do any of you boys Of the
history class know what is meant by the
seat Of the trouble?
Willie Jones-You bet. Just let my
dads slipper get after you once.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
the Indenendeuf nehutaufe

An ambitious girl who had just como
out was invited to adorn the box seat Of
a coach with young man who was very
wealthy, but who didn't know how to
drive four horses at once. When the lead
er attempted to go sideways, the girl in
sisted on telling the young man how her
brother drove and suggested that he take
q double loop in the reins. The result
was that the wealthy young man was so
chagrined that he had hired man drive
home, while he occupied the back seat
with the girls chaperOn, who was a wild
ow They acted disgracefully and the en-
gagement was announced soon after
ward.
Moral.-Never give a wealthy young
man points on anything he doesn't know
how to do.--Dramatic Mirror.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
DO 1T YOURSELF.

You can tell just as well as physician
whether your kidneys are diseased or
healthy. The way to dois to takea bot
tie or glass tumbler. and fill it with urine.
If there is sediment IA powderlike
substance-at the bottom after standing
a day and a night, there is something
wrong with the kidneys Another sure
sign of disease is desire to urinate often,
and still another sign is pain i'll the back
If urine stains linen, there is no doubt
that the kidneys are affected.
Any and all diseases of the kidneys,
liver, bladder and Of the urinary passag-
es and constipation of the bowels are cur
ed by DR.. David kennedy's Favorite
Remedy There is no question about its
being the best and SurcSt medicine in
the world for such troubles. 1t quickly
relieves and cures inability to hold urine
and people, young or old, who take 1t
are not compelled to get up a number of
times during the night. For putting an
end to that scalding pain experienced in
passing urine, nothing is so good as DR..
David kennedy'S Fayorite Remedy. 1t
corrects the bad effects of whiskey and
beer; is pleasant to the taste, and does
not seam to be medicine at all. DiSeas-
eS of the kidneys and the bladder often
require the use of instruments to push
back the sandy matter so the urine can
be voided In such cases Favorite Rem
edy should be taken without further de
lay or the disease may prove fatal. Iii
sold for one dollar bottle at all drug
stores. 1t Is well worth many times its
pTICp
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

First Keeper-The hardest proposition
ever encountered was a crazy dago with
a stiletto in each hand.
Second Keeper-Well, that was stick
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

A man who holds his head up high may
stumble, bu' he never enthusiastically
Evening Post.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

The very cream of agricultural pros
perity is visiting the winter wheat
growers in Kansas this year. y crop
of choice wheat, which in some coun-
ties averages over 200 bushels to each
voter, and a failure of the crop of
spring wheat in the northwest, which
has put prices at fancy figure, in
sures the Kansas granger a good fore
taste Of the millennium. There are sim
gle counties in that state which w II
produce over $5,OOO,OO0 value in wheat
alone this year.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
1T is TO LAUGH.
Some Puns Perpetrated by n Joke
ster From Yonkers.

Soubrette-I tell you, the tone Of the
managers letter inclosing the contract
was delightful.
Comedian-I'll bet. 1t must have had
a true engagement ring.
Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18

Some of the hardest and meanest
work to be done on Il western farm
consists in getting rid of the old will
low stumps, the legacy of willow
hedges planted along the highways
in the pioneer days. These old stubs
possess a wonderful vitality, and about
the only thing which will finish them
up is fire, and not even that unless
the earth is well burned down into the
roots