davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
He Loved A ninlaIs.

Charles Kingsley seems to have low
ed every living creature around him,
and he taught his children to respect
even the most lOathsome insects. Mrs.
Kingsley tells how a family of runa-
way toads made their home in a hole
of green bank at Eversley, and the
scythe was never allowed to approach
their retreat. He had two little friends
In pair of sand waspS which lived in
crack of the window in his drawing
room. one of which he had saved from
drowning in a basin of water, and ev-
cry spring he would look out eagerly
for them OF their young, which came
out Of or returned to the same crack.
He petted the white stable cat and
the black house cat and sat up with a
sick dog during the last two nights of
its suffering life. Wherever he went
he was followed about the parish by
his faithful little Dandy Dinmont.
whose intelligent face was always to
be seen at the lectures and school les
sons and was known to every cottager
In the place, being almost as much es-
teemed by them as the Kingsley chill
dren, whose attached friend he was for
ten years.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
Here Are Some Puzzles.

Why is an old fashioned library not
good place for study? Because they
! usually keep Locke on the Under
standing" there.
Why is bashful man like a valen-
tine? He is a-verse to ladies.
Who is your most convenient rela-
tive? Mother wit.
Why is n kitchen chair as good as
one in the drawing room? Because
they are both satin.
Why are good church members not
human? Because they are insects.
How many hard boiled eggs can a
giant eat on an empty stomach? One
after which his stomach isn't empty.
What is the difference between a bad
schoolboy and postage stamp? One
you lick with a stick, and the other you
stick with lick.
When is n mans head like a house
roof? When it is shingled.
What stands on one leg and has its
heart in its head? Cabbage.
If you were on high church steeple
and had a goose, a handkerchief and a
cane, how would you get down? Pick
1T off the goose.
Patch upon patch, with hole In the
middle2 Chimney.
What is the middle letter of the A B
C's? b, of course.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
Pussy Understood.

This story may sound little bit like
a fairy story, and YOU may think it
safer not to believe it, but 1t is just as
true as can be- for the owner of the cat
said so himself.
He was a fine, black Persian cat and
came proudly marching into the house
one day with a poor little sparrow in
his mouth, for pussies will catch birds,
no matter how fine their family blood
may be.
After showing his prize pussy went
to the front door, and, thinking the
mat there would make a nice table,
commenced his meal. OF course he
scattered a great many feathers around
and made the front entrance look any
thing but tidy, and the cook was not
pleased at the litter pussy had made
and told him so and said the next time
he chose to dine there he must turn the
mat over on the wrong side. And, fol
lowing his own text, cook turned the
mat over.
About two weeks afterward pussy
brought another bird to the front door
and, though the maj was quite heavy
for him, took his claws and turned it
over as cook had told him to do. Then
he proceeded to enjoy his feast.-Pitts-
burg Press.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31

Frog farming has become an impor-
tant business, especially near the large
cities. At Siege, a small station about
20 miles from San Francisco, is a ia
nous farm. 1t is on a ranch that eX-
tends along the shore Of San Francisco
bay, and it comprises about a dozen
acres of land and water. In the low
ground near the bay many springs of
water bubble out of the soil. These
were surrounded by a hedge of cypress.
and the water was so confined as to
form three big ponds. Around each Of
these ponds is fence of wire netting.
high enough to keep the frogs from es-
Gaping, and the ponds are filed with
aquatic plants, moss and everything
necessary to make the croakers feel
contcnted. When the ponds were first
stocked with frogs, only few hundred
We're put in the Enclosures, but since
that time the population has grown SO
rapidly that thousands of frogs are
captured and sent to market every
year without apparently diminishing
the supply.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31

print and wrapped it up, handing the
package to little Mercy herself. She
Rugged it tight in her arms all the way
home, and her mother and eldest sister
made the dress for her. and she wore 1t
to meeting the very next Sunday. 1t
was cut low in the neck, with n wide
rufile falling over. and the sleeves were
short and ruified too. There were pant
alets, like the dress. that came to the
tops of her low black morocco shoes.
She wore a large, open straw bonnet,
and If it had been cold she would have
worn little shawl, folded so as to
have three corners.
| know she never had a gown that
she liked any better; for although
Mercy has grown to be a great grand
mother she has not forgotten about it,
when l was not much older than
you she said, to Betty. Il earned Il
new dress for myself" And then she
took some fine, narrow strips of paper
and tried to teach her little great
granddaughter how to braid straw
while she told her this true story
Kate Whiting Patch i'll Little Folks.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
HOW LITTLE MERCY
EARNED R new GOWN.

1t was ever so many years ago that
Betty'S great ndmOther was little
girl, but she was a little girl once and
the youngest child of "A good old fash
Toned New England family That means
that she had a great many brothers
and sisters. Little Mercy-great-gran
mothers name was Mercy-was a pet
with them all, am sure, and she must
have been "A pretty little girl, with her
big blue eyes and golden curls.
In those days. when almost every
home held many children, the young
folks had TO help mother and father do
the work, and they often had to spend
q part of their time in earning money
to help buy their clothes.
Little Mercys sisters used to braid
straw. Such things were not done by
machinery then, and the straw had to
be braided by hand for every straw
hat that was made.
The rye straw was brought in from
the fields and bleached on the grass
and sca1ded in soapsuds and smoked
with sulphur in a barrel and then dried
and split with little hand machine
Into strands and so by slow degrees
made ready for use. Then the girls
would braid the strands in many pref
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31

flame of spirit lamp, into which salt
is allowed gradually to fall. Upon
looking through the prism we see one
image of the needle colored orange
yellow. There is no trace Of any of the
other colorS, which we may have ex-
pected to see after what has just been
said, and the reason is that the flame
of sodium vapor-Salt being the chic
ride of sodium-does not emit composite
white light. but only light of the single
color, orange yellow.
We next illuminate the needle by a
candle or a gas flame. taking care that
the direct light from the candle does
not fall upon the face of the prism, and
now we get q very different appear
ance. We no longer have an image Of
the needle, but a complete band Of rain
bow colorS from red to violet. We
have, in fact. an innumeraOle multi
tude of images of the needle close to-
gether and all colored differently.
If finally we throw open the shutters
and admit the sunlight and allow the
needle to be illuminated by the bright
light which comes through the window.
taking care as before to shield the
prism. we get n spectrum of still diff
ferent kind. In the main it is like that
produced by the candle or gas flame, q
band of rainbow colors.
But If we examine it closely we shall
see that here and there dark lines run
across it. Some of the coTored rays are
lacking in sunlight, and hence in GER
tain places in this spectrum there are
no images Of the needle.
In the specuoscope as made by an
optician the part here performed by the
needle the use of which is to furnish
slender line of light by reflection from
its round surface) is performed by an
exceedingly narrow slit, through which
the light to be examined is admitted,
and this slit is viewed through the
prism or prisms-for large instru.
ment has several prisms. giving a very
long spectrum-wfth a small telescope.
With this arrangement the dark lines
which cross the solar spectrum can be
seen far more distinctly than we have
just seen them. and it is found that
there are thousands of them, some very
conspicuous and others so faint as to
resemble the finest spider lines.
These dark lines are to the spectre
scopist so many hieroglyphs. which he
has learned to interpret. The eXplana
ton of them has come through a long
series of experiments, from which have
resulted certain spectroscopic aXioms.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
SPECTROSCOPE THAT
ANY BOY GAN MAKE.

For a few pennies any of us may
make for ourselves an instrument
which will serve many of the purposes
Of demonstrating some of the more
beautiful fields of knowledge which
have been opened to us by the use of
the spectrOscope, says Sir Norman
| Lockyer.
From an optician we can get small
prism for Il few pennies. This is to be
fastened securely to one end of strip
of wood about II inches in length by 1
inch in breadth, the prism being set
by trial at such an angle that we can
see through it the cOlored image of
needle stuck upright into the other end
Of the strip.
This is the instrument. Before we
experiment with it a word or two in
explanation of what we shall see upon
looking through the prism, and we can
not do better than to take the exact
words Of the distinguished spectroscop-
list himself
zone key to the hieroglyphics, the
light story, which is hidden in every
ray Of light, is supplied us by the rain
bow. 1t teaches us that the white
light, which nature bountifuily supplies
us with in sunlight, is composed of
rays of different kinds or of different
colorS.
What nature accomplishes with
raindrop we can do with prism. If
we pass ray of white light through
prism, we find that after the light has
so passed through it is changed into "A
beautiful band, showing all the colors
of the rainbow. Such prism Is the
fundamental part of the instrument
called the spectroscOpe, and the most
complicated spectroscope which we can
imagine simply utiliZes the part which
this triangular piece of glass plays In
breaking up beam OF white light into
it's constituent parts from the red to
the violet. Between these colorS we
get that string of orange, yellow, green
and blue which we are familiar with
in the rainbow"
We will take our spectroscope into
darkened room, and as our first expert
ment we will flIumine the needle by the
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
The Dog Expected 1t.

New York society dame who is an
ardent upholder of the Society For the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
owns Il little fox terrier of which she
is exceedingly fond. \ man who had
called on her the other day was admir-
ing the dog and asked its mistress how
she, with all her humane theories
could have allowed the cruel dog fam
cier to cut off Snaps tail and ears to
the fashionable degree of brevity.
MY dear sir. Snap expected il. Ev-
cry thoroughbred fox terrier expects
to have his tail and ears shortened"
And that humbled man went away
saying to himself, That's the first
time L ever thought of 'noblesse oblige'
as applying to fox terriers. New
York Tribune.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
AN EXAM PIE.
Be Careful How You Act Before Your
Small Brothers and Sisters.

Small Brothers and Sisters.
Mamma. dear, just look at Kitty
| Is she not too cute, taking off the way
| [ stand, and yesterday, don't YOU re-
! member she bowed to Miss Brown and
said, so glad to see YOU, exactly as L
did? Don't you think she will be an
actress when she is big, she Is such a
little mimic now?'
Il hope not" declared Mrs. Lee, pick
| ing up her baby girl and kissing her,
but she Is a little take off, L am sorry
TO say"
ooh, mamma, why?" asked Edith,
who was proud of her o-year-old Sis
ter's accomplishments.
Because, my daughter. she copies
the things that 1 am sorry to say would
better remain uncOpied.'
"Lemme go!' cried Miss Kitty, who
thought there was a reprOof in store
for her, and her mother laughingly put
her on the floor and told her to run in
the next room to her nurse, while she
talked to sister.
Mamma, what do you mean by
copying wrong thingsT
Il think you can guess, my pet" an
swered Mrs. Lee. What did we hear
at breakfast this very day."
Edith looked down, and her mother
continued, No, l won't eat my egg; it
amt cooked right And last night did
she not say very decidedly. 4 won't, 1
wont; 1 don't want to go to bed so
early; Molly Brown does notT"
Edith smiled, though rather sadly.
Eyes. it was funny, L thought at the
time. The idea of our Kitty saying
what Molly did, who is 10 years old"
"Ah, my dear, she simply copied you
and, little goose as she is, did not see
that there was no argument in her pro-
tests! But it only shows more clearly
the force of good example, and, my
child, if you don't want to see certain
little habits of yours repeated again
and again, pray be careful"
Il will, truly" promised Edith, who
was a sensible girl, though at times she
acted otherwise. II will try, dear
mamma, to say and do only those
things that you would like to have Kit
ty copy"
"Try, Edith; for after all there is
only One that ever lived on this earth
of ours whose example and conduct
could always be copied"
Edith looked lovingly into her moth
er's face and said, Yes, mamma, L
know, and l will try to follow his eX-
ample, and then Kitty can copy me as
much as she plea seS.'-ChriStian Work.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
Mamma Elephant Helps the Doctor.


The intelligence of the elephant is
well known and Is illustrated in an in
teresting incident IS follows: A young
baby elephant had received a severe
wound in its head, the pain Of which
rendered 1t SO frantic and ungoyern-
able that it was found impossible to
persuade the animal to have the part
dressed. Whenever any one approach
ed, 1t ran off with fury and would suf-
fer no person to come within several
yards of it. The man who had charge
of it at length hit upon a contrivance
for securing it. BY n few signs and
words he made the mother know what
was wanted. The sensible creature
seized her young one with her trunk
and held it firmly down, though groan-
ing with agony, while the surgeon COM
pletely dressed the wound, and she
continued to perform this service every
day until the animal was perfectly re-
covered.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
just a Little Boy.

There IS boy ir our town
(And he is wondrous wise),
Who, when the rain comes pouring down
And clouds o'erspread the Skies
Says, I'm Just smile the best can
No matter how it pours,
And Wen have sunshine in the house
II it does rain out OF doors"
When naughty words swarm through his brain
And clamor to be said
He shuts his teeth together tight
And says: ''Pll kill you dead,
Unless you will be sweet and kind
And good and full OF run.
You can't come out until you are;
No. not single one!''
He thinks when he's a grown up man,
With wise and sober face,
He'll do wondrous deed to make
This earth brighter place,
But nothing in this whole wide world
Can give more lasting joy
o. make more solid sunshine
Than just little boy.
Mary NJ. Parks.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31


SUNDAY.
ty patterns, and when they carried it
to the village the storekeeper would
take their straw braid and give them
in exchange dress goods or shoes or
groceries, whatever they might want.
! When Mercy was + years old, she
Thought it was quite time that she, too,
began to braid
won't you show me how?' she kept
saying to her eldest sister. 81 do so
want to do it,
/ Her sister looked down into the little
eager face. II don't want to teach
you" she said. IF you know how, you
will have TO do it. Then you will be
sorry 1 taught you"
But little Mercy persisted.
"I do want TO know she said, ''and
Il won't be sorry" and at last her sister
put some straw in the small hands and
taught Mercy how to braid.
The little girl was very proud of her
first bit of work and ran 10 show it to
her mother.
81 want you to set me a stent," she
begged, lust like the other girls"
THAT meant that she would have to do
a certain length of braid each day.
every WELL" said mother; you may
do half yard
That seemed very small stent. The
iothers had to do n great many yards.
Mercy sat down on her little stool at
her little three legged table. On the ia
bile she had bowl of water to wet her
fingers to keep the straw strands damp
and flexible so that they would not
break as she braided them.
! Her sister was very kind and helped
her when she made mistakes, but Mer
lcy's little fingers soon began to grow
tired, and it seemed long before the
first half yard was finished.
| Every day after that Mercy braided
her half yard. and by and by her moth
er thought she could have longer
stent, so she told her to braid yard.
! The little girl sometimes wearied of
her task, but when she saw her roll of
braid growing larger and larger she
was not sorry she had learned to work
like her sisters, and she never failed TO
braid her yard.
At last one proud day mother tied on
Mercy's bonnet, and they took the roll
of braid and walked down to the vii
Ilage store.
mercy has been braiding," her
mother said, as the storekeeper took
the package. This is her first work,
and now we want to know what 1t is
WORTH
"Well. well, l am sure she is a very
smart little girl said the man, rs he
examined Mercy's work. .'She has done
1T very evenly, and L will give her
enough print to make a pretty gown.
She may choose it herself
How Mercy's eyes danced when she
heard him.
So they walked over to the dry goods
counter, and the storekeeper took down
all his pieces of print and let Mercy
look at them.
J Her mother rather favored those in
dark colors, but the little girl shook |
her head.
Il like this one,' she said at last, lay |
ing her hand on the very prettiest piece !
of all. 1t was white, with a blossomy |
pink stripe about two inches wide. I'll
came from England and cost % cents j |
yard. Any little blue eyed, sunny hair
ed, rosy checked girl would have
chosen it, am sure.
VERY WELL" said the stOrekeeper |
And he cut off several yards of the
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31

"Where'S your papa, NellieY' asked
a mother of her little daughter
Hes out on the back porch" was
the reply.
l What's he doing there?' Queried the
mother.
His bicycle is all out of breath, and
he's putting some more in answered
the small observer
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
\ Mixed Expinnatiun.

little girl who was trying to tell q
friend how absentminded her grandpa
was said:
de walks about thinking about
nothing, and when he remembers II
he then forgets that what he thought
o. was entirely different from what be
5Fanted to remember"
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
FROM Stun TO FARM.

institutions. The experiment has been
successful, and both the farmers and
the boys approve the plan, as the
above picture, from n photograph
made for the Cincinnati Commercial
Tribune, shows.
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
Better Than the Poorhou,e

The organized charities of New York
place poor orphan boys in the homes
of good farmers throughout the state,
where they work and enjoy life much
better than they would if placed in city
El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
An Afternoon Ride.

1t is nice, warm afternoon. and
Bessie has taken her little family out
for an airing. Don't they all look
happy?
West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1900-07-12
q Full Quarts, Securely Boxed,
Express Prepaid, folS3.1O.

Your Choice of The Following:
College Club, Dough erty.
Mt. Vernon. Old Cumberland.
Royal Club, Doctors
Choice. Diamond Buck, Blue
Belle. 0verholi, 8
Brands or Assorted il desired.
These goods are
West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1900-07-12
MHaM2a19
NgsSSIa 1V|1)
Satisfaction Over the Work Of the
Democratic National Convention.
The New Commander In the PhiIIp-
pines Seems TO BE n Soldier Instead
or n Politician.
Prom our Regular corro.ponaept.

from Our Regular CORRESPONDENT
Washington, July 7, Iooo.-If
there are any Democrats in Wash
lngton who are not enthusiastically
pleased with the ticket and platform
made by the Kansas City Conven-
ton they are not showing them
selves or doing any public talking.
1t cannot be said that any part of
the Convention was a surprise.
The only thing that could be con-
sidered open when the convention
assembled was the nomination for
Vice President The head of the
ticket had been fully settled by the
instruction of more than the neces-
sary two-thirds of the delegates for
Col. Bryan, and the important
planks of the platform were practi.
cally settled in advance by those
same instructions, as there had not
at any time been any doubt of the
position of Col. Bryan, whose con-
sistency is one of his strongest holds
on the rank and file of the Demo-
cratic party, upon any question that
would be handled in the platform.
A candid Republican, prominently
connected with the administration,
who made no pretense to conceal
his disappointment at the failure of
the attempt to modify the silver
plank, said: "That convention
was wiser than thought it would
be. The platform will lose votes
for the ticket in States where they
could not have affected the result
but | am afraid it will gain enough
votes to give the Democrats several
West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1900-07-12

a pint" says The deacon, as he hits
a cracker bari with his cane. ayes.
SIR, thar's good deal in your theory
about dodgin'. When all the cows
around here was heyin' the lump
jaw, a Teller offered to protect mine
ag'in it fur So. said re let her
take her ,chances, and she come
throuph all right. observe Moses
Forbush among the audience. and.
as Moses built the fence around the
schoolhouse, mabbe he's got sunthin'
to say"
al amt ag'in lightnin' rods" SAYS
Moses in his slow way-'I'm not
ag'in 'em fur what they are. Ii
pears to me, however, that we'd
better begin at the bottom instead
of the roof. Thar's about 20 hogs
neslin' under the schoolhouse, and
thar's about 20 holes in the floor. /
sorter like the idea of a lightnin'
rod, and sorter like the idea of a
new floor and drivin' the hogs out.
One idea sorter balances the t'other.
and l don't want to cast my vote
either way"
"fou haven't made a pint" SAYS
the deacon, "but nobody expected
you to. | take it, however, that
you go in fur an emporium of edu-
cation, bein' you got the job of
buildin' the fence and have seven
children goin' to school,"
eyes, | think | do" replied Mo-
ses. "I've allus felt that it was nv
duty to uphold the Magma Charta of
liberty, and when it comes 10 boost.
in the wheels of progress and civil
ization, Pm good to lift ton"
1t was then suggested that the
lightnin' rod man might want to say
suthin' more, and he went at it and
made reg'lar Fourth of July ora.
ton. He pictured George Wash
ington, John Hancock, Thomas Jef.
ferson and half dozen more goin'
to school to learn how to spell such
words as elderly" "freedom" and
"bulwarks." He pictured the school
houses bein' struck by lightnin' fur
the want Of rods, and he had tears
in Joab Warmers eyes in less'n five