davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

A pious gentleman in Greeley, Pa,
insisted upon having prayers just be-
fore dinner. His wife and daughter
objected so strenuously that the pious
gentleman attacked them with a fork,
and seriously wounded the wife.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Largest Isa..oon.

The largest balloon ever construct
ed, and capable of lifting over six
tons, will ascend from Berlin shortly
to make meteorological observations.
1t will be supplied with provisions for
several weeks and with two beds.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Rats Gnaw elephants. Feet.

Keepers at the Central Park zoo, in
New York, are vainly looking for some
means of preserving the elephants
from rats. The latter gnaw the feet
Of the big brutes until they are LAGER
ated. and no way has yet been found
to protect them.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Baron.s American Wife.

Baron Mumm Won Schwarzenstein,
the new German ambassador to China,
like his predecessor, Won Ketteler, has
an American wife. She is the daugh-
ter of Mr.. and Mrs. LIE Vinsen. who
were once residents of New York.
RnoSeYelts
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Chinese Pre.erve Grapes.

Millions have been spent In civilized
countries in futile efforts to preserve
grapes. The Chinese have known the
secret for many centuries and millions
more have been vainly used in the eff
fort to drag from them the recipe.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

Piper Findlater of Dargai fame has
now secured farm in his native coun-
ty of Aberdeen, where he intends till
ing the soil for the remainder of his
days.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

The congress for Christian arch
aeology, which recently held its ses-
sion at Rome, has petitioned the Pope
to open the crypts of the Vatican to
scientific researches. Below the basil
lea of st. Peter there are long rows
of galleries and a subterranean church.
all containing valuable treasures.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

4. The war In South Africa has doomed
the Highland kilt as fighting dress,
and it will now survive as parade
uniform only.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

A new Maine statute prohibits the
placing of inscriptions upon the stars
and stripes, and several political
flags bearing the names of candidates
Sor president, vice president and gov
ernor have had to be taken down in
consequence.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Some saved-Much Lost.

Akron, o., Aug. 27.-The safe of the
engineers department was opened
amid the city halls ruins. Its contents,
including many valuable papers and
$500 in cash, were found in good con-
dition. All the plats and profiles of
the city streets and improvements
were destroyed, however. Workmen
are also engaged in opening the vaults
of the city clerk, mayor and police
department. From appearances their
contents are all right and undis-
turbed
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

During the year 1898, 52,661 vessels,
of "a, 233, $50 tons, entered and cleared
Chinese ports. OF these vessels, TAB, OF
239, 152 tons, were American.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

According to the statistical year
book of German cities, it appears that
the consumption of horse meat is on
the increase. and in Breslau, Chem
nitz, Dresden, Leipsiz, Zwickau and
other places dogs are slaughtered for
food. II
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

Some titled foreigners are born rich,
others acquire riches, and still others
have heiresses thrust upon them.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30

The devil is seldom as black as he is
painted, and lots of men are not half
as bad as they pretend to be.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Meade County News.

JoEN d. wEHBLE. Publisher.
Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-08-30
Treasures In Vatican crypt..

August 18th. 1900.
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
THREE kNAVES
AND A TRUMP.

My professional reputation was at
stake. had. ,hrcc months before the
date of which | write. permitted a no.
torlous desperate to escape from my
charge. and I was distinctly out OF
favor with the department. had a
peculiar superstition about the adroit
criminal whose ruse had outwitted me.
He was tall, alert and graceful, with
n face that reminded me strongly or
the pictures | had seen of Edgar A.
Poe. He had an insinuating manner
and the most musical voice I ever
heard. His profession was safe-break-
ing. l had once apprehendcd the man,
and. ~curiously enough. 1t was the re-
suit Of my first assignment TO detect
I've work. He had. as a result. served
a term of sever years In the peniten-
tiary.
II CHANGED that during his residence
there l met him several times and on
each occasion he had regarded me with
n look that was none the less sinister
because II was half ocular. The
mans look was a menace. | knew he
was thinking that he would be re-
venged, and I was sure that only the
most conclusive OF revenges would
satisfy him. In other words, this man
was determined to have my life. /
always faced him with a look as dark
as that which he ave me-. for the In
tention in my soul was no less relent-
less than his own We were doomed.
al l felt in my apprehensive soul, to
stand opposed In some hidcous trag-
edy.
When, three years after his release.
he again incurred the displeasure OF
the law. | travelled 5000 miles in my
search for him. and discovered HIM at
length I'm Indian territory. How he
outwItted me on our way back to Chi
a is a story l have no inclination
to tell.
IL was. therefore. with mixed feel
ings that l learned from the chief OF
our agency OF the nature OF my COM
mission. He told me that Information
had been brought him OF an attempt
to be made that night upon the safe
of the Mcpherson Investment company.
The plot had been overheard by an &C.
centric reporter for one Of the daily
papers. whose business had taken him
into some sorry resort. From the de-
scription which the young man gave
of the three conspirators the chief had
no difficulty In establishing their iden-
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26

and covered where they were. but one
OF them managed to extinguish the
lantern by whose light they had been
working, and they we're possessed OF
the vantage of shadow. | heard the
click OF their revolvers. and. realizing
that the light I carried made us fair
targets, ! put IL out. Half a second
later a bullet clattered against the wall
behind me. dropped to the floor, and
the men with me followed my example.
Then ! heard a gathering at the door.
n knew that Grayson. the reporter,
was trying to get in TO us. But though
the lock must have been forced. yet II
did not yield To- it's manlpulations. n
presently all was silent.
Then the unexpected happened.
Through a tiny barred window. high
In the wall. a fash OF white lightning
cleaned. and we saw hat "a foes.
like ourselves. were crouching on the
floor. Green fired. and a groan fol-
lowed the report of his revolver. For
some reason which | shall never be
able to explain. Weatherby and l did
no shoot. His smiling. insolent face
menaced me, and I looked back with
what defiance I could.
We all waited for the next flash OF
lightning, not drawing an audible
breath. Never did silence seem 80
complete to me as In that little room
where six desperate men waited In
darkness to do each other to the death.
IL | could have heard a sigh I should
have fired. ! have known wounds and
h surgeons probe. but the pain OF
that silence discounted them.
crawled along the edge Of the wall
that might be in an unexpected place
by the mex lightning CLEAN. keeping
my revolver just in advance of my
nose. When the enveloping flash came
IT revealed the eyes OF Payson Wealth
erby not six inches from mine. We
o involuntarily recoiled; we both
fred. A bit of Ice seemed to Craze my
head, and then | felt a warm fluid
dampening my cheek. Bigelow cried
out suddenly. and I was guilty of an
audible groan OF anxiety for him.
Again we waited-I cannot tell the
length OF time. II was no more to
be measured that a hasheesh dream.
Then out OF the silence came a vibrant.
historical shrek. Payson Weatherby
had not looked like Edgar A. Poe for
nothing. His delicately wrought or
ganization ~revolted against the strain
upon 1t. He sobbed and laughed. He
was a mailman.
This horror affected lis all similarly.
We were wary. but we suspended hos
Titles, We were on our guard lest
this emotional maniac should dash our
brains out or his own against the iron
walls.
The hasbeesh dream reached out like
the beginning of eternity. and we be-
gan to suffer for a lack of oxygen.
Then came a ~battering at the door and
l staggered out. drenched in blood
from my wound. Some one helped me
up. and | heard later that 1t was Pay
son W., therby.
When. six weeks later, I came out OF
the hospital, they told me he was in
a cell at Kankakee. AS for me, I
| gave up the detective profession. l
had been q failure at II. But I have
the comfort OF the reflection that IL
Payson Weatherby defeated me, | de-
feated him no less,
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
No Property" Escap ss.

Over the audience rests a settled, i'm
movable stiffness, unbroken even by a
sigh. No expression referable to sor-
row. sympathy. Joy or tears lightens
the blank, dead walls Of the faces. The
Chinaman is impregnable. Only once
do his eyes change. and that is while
the property man Is on the stage. and
he Is never off. The Chinese property
nan sees his duty to the management.
and puts 1t into practical effect. No
property" shall escape him. He gath
ers all things by the way. When the
Chinese Romeo Stays Tybalt the prop
erty nan steps on to the stage, gath
ers up Tybalt's sword. cap and cloak
and things and walks of with them.
He would enter Macbeth's banquet hall
while the weakened monarch was
exercising Banquo's ghost, gather up
the goblets and plates in one arm and
Macbeth's chair with the other, and
carry them away. He would pluck the
roses from Elaine's breast; he would
take thee dagger from Juliet's dead
hand: he would interrupt Hamlet's
soliloquy In the churchyard with d re-
quest for Yorick's skull, and he would
interpose in the murder Of Desdemona
to remove the pillows from her head
Leslie's Weekly.
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
BURR FOUND THE ASSASSIN.
Lawyer Once Ciea rod His Cii-
ent of Murder.

---
Famous Lawyer Once Cleared III. Cii-
ept OF Murder.
Il was particularly interested" said
an old Washington lawyer the other
dsy. speaking OF the Manhattan well
crime, "in the paragraph that describ-
ed Aaron Burr's dramatic act in hold
ing a pair of lighted candles in the
face of a spectator in the courtroom
and shouting. Gentlemen. here is the
real murderer do not question this.
but | remember that Jere Clemens,
once a famous United States senator
from Alabama. told of a trial in which
Burr appeared for the defense of a
man charged with murder. My recol-
lection is that the trial was In the
southwest. When Burr addressed the
jury It was night. The guilty man
was in the room. He had been the
principal witness for the prosecution.
but Burr had learned that this witness
was the assassin, and In closing his
address for his client he picked up two
lighted candles from the table and
holding them in the face of the wit
ness referred to, he exclaimed: Gen
tlemen of the jury, there is natures
verdict. Now write yours At that
moment the witness fed from the
ROOM. After Clemens told this story
he wrote an historical novel called
The Rivals; or, The Times of Hamil-
TOM and Burr In that book he wove
the incident into one of the chapters.
The book Is out Of print and has been
for many years. But 1t had a great
sale. particularly in the south. before
the civil war, for Clemens was a typi-
cal southern orator. and a mar OF
wonderful personal magnetism. The
object OF the novel was to make Burr
a hero, and to besmircb Hamilton's
character. In one chapter where Burr
was high In the esteem Of Washington,
the latter is represented as reading a
letter from Hamilton in which Hamil-
ton detailed some scandalous gossip
about Burr. Burr was standing behind
Washington during the reading OF the
letter. Washington incensed at the
contents of the letter, turned quickly
and saw Burr, to whom he said: How
dare you read my letter over my
shoulder Burr. as Clemens repre-
sents. stung to the quick, drew him
self up and replied with all the haut-
eur OF his natures: When your majes-
ty addresses such an inquiry to me in
the tanner you have, the only reply
deceny can prompt is, Aaron Burr
dares to do anything This, Clemens
AYERS. was the cause of the break be-
tween Washington and Burr"
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
TWO BLUFFS.
A fieasant Meeting Between the Edi-
tor and the Reporter.

tor and the Reporter.
Jack Rogers was a newspaper report
er and broke. He had hung around
the Dubuque newspaper offices for a
job until he had been requested to
owe on. So he decided to move on
to Des Moines. But how % get there
was the question. Jack put on his
thinking cap, and the result was that
two hours later he found himself on
a train and the conductor standing by
his seat. Ticket" said the conduc-
tor. See here, conductor" said Jack,
easily, my names Rogers, and I'm a
reporter on the Des Moines Air
Blast I'm broke and I'm in a hurry
to get back home with a big scoop. You
let me ride and the ofice'll fix Il I'D
with you. See?" Well said the
conductor, Il guess thatll do all right.
The road feels friendly toward the Air
Blast In fact. the editor is in the
back coach. Come along and I'll in
troduce you. If he says you're all right
1t goes" Jack was knocked all In a
heap at the turn things had taken, but
he had nothing to do but to follow the
conductor, They halted in front of a
man in the coach. and the conductor
said: Mr.. Smitem, this Is Mr.. Rog-
ers. lie says he's a reporter on your
paper, and wants the Office to pay for
his transportation when he gets to Des
Moines." How do you do, Mr.. Rog-
ers?" said the editor pleasantly, ex-
tending his hand. Glad to see you.
Sit down here with me-" The conduc-
tor didn't wait for any more, but went
of. We'll, this is nice of YOU said
Jack. too astonished and embarrassed
to talk straight. 'Of course, I'm not
on your paper, but I'm broke and
yarned to the conductor. hoping to get
a job and square 1t up later" "Oh,
that's all right, my boy" said the
other. Neither am | on the paper.
I'm only riding on the editors pass
San Francisco Bulletin.
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
PIRACY is NOT PROFITABLE.
No Cargoes of Gold Now Tempt the
Cupldity Of Mariners.

No Cargoes of Gold Now Tempt tho
Cupidity Of Mariners.
New York Sun A son OF the old
time yachting captain, Jack White of
Red Bank, picked up a Mexican silver
dollar of 1884 or Sandy hook the other
day. Capt. Jack said 1t reminded him
OF many a dollar he had seen that had
been picked up along the Jersey coast
and on Long Island shores. Mexican
silver dollars" he said. were the
money of the commercial world during
all the early part of this century. and
you could find them whenever there
were wrecks. Nowadays pirating would
not pay, but in those days every ship
had to carry a lot of money every time
she went on a voyage. Nowadays a
captain doesn't have to have anything
but a bit of pocket money, and 1t Is a
fact that many a ship goes out on a
voyage with hardly a dollar on board.
IL the captain needs anything. he can
either draw money at any port he en-
ters or else find credit there. II was
very different a generation Ago.. In
those days a captain had to take
out with him money enough to
last him for the whole voyage and
sometimes for emergencies besides. He
often had big sums aboard also that
were used in trading, or that repre-
sented a cargo sold. II was not I'M
common in those days for a ship to
start out with a full cargo, bound for
some foreign port. where the captain
would have to hunt his own market.
IL the cargo wouldn't sell well there,
he had power to go to any other port
to hunt a profitable market. Then
when he had sold out he was expected
to buy new cargo. either for a home
port, or, perhaps, some other port OF
the world. 1t was not unusual for a
captain to handle half a dozen cargoes
on a long trading voyage and come
home in ballast with a big box OF sill
yer dollars to help keep his ship up
to the wind. Even the little vessels
carried a lot OF money aboard. guess
that dollar was wrecked there fifty
years or so ago. and 1t has been drift
ing around In the sands ever since"
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
FORTUNES FROM DREAMS.
Inventors Can Tell OF some Strange
Experienced

1T is remarkable how ideas OF an
marked Henry Hollingsworth to "a
Cleveland inventor. Frequently when
engaged in problems upon mechanics
! have gone to bed and dreamed what
seemed to be a perfect solution of that
which had been uppermost In my mind
during the day. But the trouble Is that
upon awaking. while recollecting per-
fectly that | had dreamed the solution,
IL was impossible to recall the details
necessary to a practical application of
my idea. You know, it Is said OF the
automatic c~ar-coupler of the double
jaw type. that the originator OF the
idea was a telegraph operator who,
while leaning back in his chair, with
his hands clasped behind his head.
doing, was brought to his senses by
the blowing of a locomotive whistle.
That noise served as a connecting link
for his thoughts. With his hands still
clasped, sailor fashion, he slowly
brought them in front Of him, and
wondered why the cars OF that train
could not be connected with one an
other In the same way his hands were
hooked together. AS n result of this
c%uriously suggested idea we have the
the two Jaws of which ut into each
other and clasp after the same manner
OF the human hands. There is a west
ern inventor who tells Of dreaming of
railroad spikes one night last summer.
He saw around fim nothing but spikes,
hundreds and thousands Of them, and
tons and tons piled up In front Of him.
But these spikes differed from any 9TH
err he had ever seen, in that the four
faces were grooved. He thought about
these spikes when he woke up, and
next night saw o spikes than ever
In his dream. Then he became con
WINGED that those spikes we're intended
as the foundation for the fortune that
he had been striving for. As a result
the western nan has applied for a
patent upon the invention. which, IL
Is claimed. effects a saving of 20 per
cent In the steel used, and makes a
cheaper and better means OF holding
the rail to the tie than heretofore em-
ployed .'-Washington Post.
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
IRON GATES.
Decay In Ironworking n sign Of Ma
tionaI Weakness.

tionat Weakness.
Iron gates. through the bars OF which
landscapes and gardens could be seen
and admired, we're brought into vogue
by a settled feeling of public security,
says the Magazine of Art. They were
among the earliest outdoor ornaments
OF a civilization which had become
national In it's force and industrial in
Its aims. They proved that the So
cial spirit. long fostered by religion,
by and by law. had at last
triumphed over the fierce pride. the
~tyrannical lust of power, which during
so many years had set the mobiles at
variance with one another and with
growing townships. making the draw
bridge and the armored gate of wood
az necessary as were a good sword
and a heavy suit of mail. Thus the
smiths craft. after long ministering
to the needs and passions of those UNI
quiet times when wal was an instinct.
became. little by little. not only the
agent OF a warfare which had been
raised into a art, but also the neces-
F ''@a VI hidhN DtdCt1uI lulUO-
tries; and we all know hat our own
civilization is bound up with the his
tory OF iron, is really dependent on the
active working of this metal. Long
may 1t be so: for a general decay in
ironworking has ever been a sign OF
national weakness. Thus 1t was in
Italy. In Flanders. in Spain. as Mr..
Starkle Gardner points out in his we'll
known ~handbooks on smithing; and
thus we see how readily we may pass
through an iron gate into the vast
field OF modern h~istory-the history
OF civilization in Christian times. AS
might have been expected, iron gates
were first set up on sacred ground.
within churches and abbeys. They were
known then as grilles or screens and
they inclosed the choir and the added
side chapels. A very old one has been
handed down to us-namely. the st.
Swithin grille in Winchester cathedral,
that takes our thoughts back to the
red-handed days of William III. These
gates. We must remember, were slowly
evolved out OF much older type OF
grille, a grille in bronze, which came
into use either late in the seventh cen-
fury or early in the eighth. Other &C.
clesiastical gates of iron have yet to
he mentioned; they were of later date,
n were put outside a good many sa-
cred buildings. Some are still extant
in this country, the Oldest of all being
probably those in front CT Cirencester
abey. which are supposed to be early
~Elizabethan. Like the younger gates
al Canterbury cathedral, they close the
principal doors.
The Red Cloud chief., 1900-01-26
CROUCHING ON THE FLOOR.


tity. The foremost of them was my
foe, payson Weatherby-for, though he
had many aliases, this I believe to have
been his true name. The second vas a
mulatto. Washington Brown. a nan
of much intelligence and reckless cour
age. who took his destiny by the throat
and made an outlaw Of himself rather
than court favor of u world which
would. at best. have shown him only
time culprit. George Burke, a thick
necked. low-browed fellow. who was
born to crime.
How many men do you want?"
asked the chief OF me.
Two"
But would II not be wise to out
number your adversaries? They are
desperate men,"
thought OF Pays0n W~eatherby's ST.
lent challenge, and formed a resolve
TO meet him without oddS
We expected to be beforehand with
men. and with Grayson, the re-
porter who had given us the informa-
ton. were at the spot a quarter OF an
hour before the time Weatherby had
appointed. But to our chagrin we
found the rear window of the place
without a square OF glass. My evil
luck still held. The safe-blowers were
within. With me were james Bigelow,
q young fellow, fresh to a detectives
life. and Nelson Green, a grizzled vet
eran, cautious as a cat, and a man
noted for his lightning-swift motions.
They and the reporter followed me
through the window. A few steps
more revealed to me the fact that tie
door of the outer vault had already
been forced.
l motioned the reporter to stand
back and my men and l entered the
vault. which was An iron room 16x16
feet in size. and occupied by a heavy
table and two chairs. Opposite the
door was the safe proper. and before
this three men knelt. all desperately
occupied.
had noticed while ! stood in the
dark alley without that there was a
rising storm, and now a sudden ex-
cessive gust Of wind blew shut the
iron door of the vault with a report
a. loud as that of an explosion. One
of the men-it was Weatherby-cried
out In terror and leaped away from
certain little box-like contrivances
which lay beside him on the floor. He
thought the coneussion would explode
the dynamite. Then he saw US. stand
ing together, our revolvers aimed. and,
recognizing me, rave a little cluck with
his tongue and smiled cynically as he
threw up his hands in token of the
fact that he recognized the situation.
His ~confederates glanced UP. saw us.