davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1900-04-13
Middlers Exhibition.


The following is the programof the
Middlers exhibition at Spaulding
high school chapel at 100 Saturday
evening:
Prayer: LONELINESS, Helen Corskie.
Good Roads, William II. Wales.
Ovid and his works, Gladys Edna
Barron. . ~
Instrumental solo, Nellie V. Barnes.
The Weather, Maurice Trow.
Saint Cecilia, Maud Lillian Ayres.
The Mountain Whites, Fred A.
Hanson.
Vocal duett, Misses Corskic and
Ayrcs.
Westminster Abbey, Josie NJ. Hol-
den.
A Roman House, Ernest N.
Worthen.
The Madonna In Art, Nellie V.
Barnes.
Instrumental duett, Misses Barnes
and Ayres.
Civil Service Reform, Charles II.
WiShart.
Oliver Cromwell, Arthur G. Moves.
John Ruskin and his works, Mag
gle G. Brown.
Municipal Control of Public Fran
chises, Frank E. Beckley'
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

a
club grounds, where most of Picking So
ciety turned in for a short time each
afternoon, and the ministers wives
took it in turn to give tea there once a
week, when Sir Robert Harris band,
consisting altogether of Chinese, gen.
orally played. It was most pictur-
.esque rink, being all lit up with Chi
,nese lanterns, and very many pleasant
evenings were spent there. Then there
were the dances and dinners and balls
innumerable and kind hospitality re-
ceived from friends, which for years to
come will always make the winter
spent there a memorable one"
AS the allied forces will probably be
distributed between Picking. Tien-tsin
and Taku there will be a considerable
body of troops that will not fare sc
well as those quartered in or near the
capital, at least so far as the officers
are concerned. There will be barracks
available both at Tien-tsin and Taku
and as supplies of every sort. for win
ter campaign have already been for
warded from the United States oul
boys in China will not suffer, except
from ennui. Should they have a taste
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

temperature of the northern United
States, the climate of north China pos
sesses many advantages.
According to '"Notes on China" an
excellent work in an invaluable series
issued from the adjutant generals Of
flee of the United States war depart
ment, "the main characteristics of the
climate depend, first, upon it's situation
on the east side of the greatest land
masses in the temperate zone of the
northern hemisphere, and, second, upon
it's situation within the region subject
to monsoon winds. The climate of Chi
ma, owing to the vast extent and the
numerous variations in elevation of
her territory, could not well present a
universal character. 1t is a country of
extremes throughout, or at least of a
high range of temperature, hot sum-
mers alternating with cold winters,
though, of course, the extremes are
! much greater in the north than in the
south, where part of the surface lies
within the torrid zone.
1.-THE area comprised between the
| twentieth and forty second degrees of
north latitude is naturally divided by
! the thirty-fifth degree of north iati-
| tude into two zones--the northern one.
that of variable temperature, and the
southern, that of rains. These two
zones, however, present the greatest
Imaginable differences of climate, since
IN both of them are found mountainous
regions where the peaks reach beyond
the limit of perpetual snow.
"The zone of variable temperature
comprises the valley situated to the
north of the Hoang-Ho and the noun
famous region of northern China
There are four seasons there. The wa
ter freezes in November and remains
frozen until March. Fogs, snow in in,
considerable quantities and the aurora
1 borealis accompany the winter. which
is comparatively severe for the lati.
ltude, having an average temperature Of
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

will give no approval or support, phys
ical, moral or sentimental, to the dis
memberment of China or the extinc-
ton of her sovereignty by the acquisi-
ton of spheres of influence by any Eu-
ropean power"
Assuming this to be statement ex
cathedra, the United States troops will
have to share the fortunes of their for
eign colleagues, for, though our gov
eminent has thus far kept itself clear
of international complications and has
treated China as if entitled to the high
est consideration, that "bone" will need
watching.
Russia has declared in favor of with
drawing the allied commands from Pc
king and even from China; but, then,
she has only to retire to the near
ports of Port Arthur and Talien-Wan,
where her watchdogs will sleep, if at
all, with one eye open for chance to
pounce upon the desired object the mo-
ment it is left unguarded The British
can retire to -Hai-Wei and the
Germans to Kiaochau; but Manila, to
which the Americans must retreat as a
base, is rather far away in case of an
other uprising, which is sure to occur,
those best acquainted with the Chi
nese declare, the moment the lega-
tions are abandoned and the foreign
residents left unprotected. To exact
reparation and indemnities, to set up
the emperor. Danish the empress dowa-
ger and punish Prince Tuan. will ne
cessitate the retention Of a strong force
! at Picking as well as at Tien-tsin aud
Taku. Russia knows this, and it is
presumed that her secret ally, Ii Hung
Chang. knows it also. at least that is
safe as working proposition, and ii
will hardly be well to depend upon the
willy viceroy's impudent assurance that
he will be responsible for the safety OF
& the life and property of all foreigners.
1t will be safe, therefore. to assume
that General Chaffee will occupy the
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
!: Chaffee, Wilson, DaQQett;;
A Gallant Trio In China.


king which has crowned with laurels
all who took part therein.
The mutable fortune of the soldier, to
which allusion has been made, was
emphasized by the arrival at Taku six
been appointed Chaffees second in COM
mand, Brigadier General James H. Will
son. Unlike his colleague, General
Wilson had at the outset of his career
the advantages of a technical educa-
ton, having graduated from West
Point in 1860 at the age of 90. He was
1862, a brigadier general the following
year and was in command of a cavalry
division under Sheridan in 1864. In 1866
he ranked as brevet major general of
volunteers, with commission as lieu
tenant colonel in the regular army.
Like Chaffee, he also was drawn into
the Spanish American war, being one
of the four major generals appointed
by the president to commands in Cuba.
He served gallantly in that island and
in Porto Rico. In 1899 he was selected
as military governor of Matanzas prov
ince. The very same week that Cen
|eral Chaffee reached China General
Wilson arrived in New York on his way
to report as a subordinate to the man
who was a private during the civil
war when he was a corps commander
thus strikingly illustrating the ups and
downs of a soldiers life and the stern
discipline TO which the military man
must subject his ambitions and his
preferences
- wos IN tho 1et,, Of lost r,n. th,t
rr,i+a, s+otas tnoo,,e ,,,a,. ou,,aras So
Man;1a ~ rhina TIC srs+ ~ 80 ha,na
49, aa,a,t MI, nar;,,,t o.;
49, ne tha ian,antsa Iiso, -
mas I,,,Iaa o. TianNts;, a,,I1, fa, aa,.s
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

was equally
bashful. Finally he went for advice to
an old woman in the neighborhood who
makes living by telling fortunes, and
she counseled him to go during the next
full moon into the large kitchen where
his bread was baked, and when the
clock struck IL midnight to open the
oven and look into it. She assured him
that he would then see the face of his
future wife.
Henry went home we'll satisfied, not
knowing that Minna had consulted the
same old woman on the previous even
ing and had been told that she would
surely obtain her hearts desire # she
would only get into the oven in the
! kitchen a few hours before midnight,
during the next full moon and keep her
face turned toward the door. Minna
did so, and, though the oven was un-
comfortably warm, she lay as still as
mouse until the clock struck midnight,
when, 10, the door opened, and before
her appeared the we'll known face Of
her beloved Henry. Even then she
| hardly stirred, but stared at Henry
who, utterly amazed at the sight Of
her, speedily retreated, evidently under
the impression that what he had seen
was some ghostly vision. The old wo-
mans ruse, however, succeeded admi-
rably. and in fortnight from that
memorable night Henry and Minna
were made man and wife.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

OF real campaigning, they will be pro-
vided with double walled tents, and
probably all will be furnished with
sheepskin garments like those used by
the Russians, with which our marines
were provided on another occasion
when they landed in China. So far as
keeping warm is concerned, the men
will have to depend mainly, it is feared,
upon the natural warmth of their bod
| les, sleeping spoon fashion at night
and enveloping themselves in extra
furs when exposed to the biting winds
that sweep across the plains.
Those so unfortunate as to be as
signed to duty at Tien-tsin and its
port will probably go into those pecul-
lar winter quarters constructed on the
plan in vogue in the arctics. AS the
Pei-Ho is frozen over portion of the
winter, any vessel that is caught up
river by the ice has to stay there until
the opening of spring. In such cases 1t
has been the custom to inclose the
stranded craft within walls of mud,
which freeze solid and afford complete
protection. An American gunboat was
once caught that way by the ice, and
the jackies aboard built a most elabo-
rate system of mudworks ten feet high,
with bridges and sally ports, using lay
ers of straw between the courses and
behind their ramparts quite contented-
L ly babe defiance to the blasts of the
Chinese boreas.
If our soldiers can endure the mo-
notony of life behind mud walls, with
an occasional sally upon the frozen sur
face of the river, a turn at skating OIL
ice boating over the flooded plains and
a foray now and then for fresh provi.
sions, they may pass the winter with.
out any great privations. The natives
of Pe-chi-li at one time regarded for.
| eign soldiers and sailors as amphibious
animals, but more at home on water
than on land. Just before the Taku forts
were taken by the French and Eng.
posed to them, Sankolinsen, explained
to his cousin, the emperor, that he haG
purposely allowed the barbarians t.
land, because all foreigners were aqua
tic creatures and, though formidable
on board ship, We're helpless on shore
His plan, therefore, was to "entice
them from their ships and then over
whelm them when thus deprived o.
. their support" He "enticed" then
ashore without any difficulty, but al
the overwhelming was done by thu
Europeans The gallant Sankolinser
took horse and did not stop until SAT,
behind the walls of Picking. So hi
fate will probably serve as a warning
to his successors.
WALLACE j. wILCoXSON.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

perience was almost the same as that
of his superior officer. A native of
Maine, born 6S years ago, Aaron S.
Daggett went to the front in 1851 as
second lieutenant of the Fifth Maine
infantry. He became a major in 1858,
and at the end of the war when the ar
my was reduced to a peace footing he
was commissioned lieutenant colonel
in the Fifth United States veteran re-
serves. He remained in the service after
the civil war and eventually reached
the grade OF lieutenant colonel in the
regular army. Going to Cuba with that
rank, his valor and faithfulness gained
him the title of brigadier general of
volunteers. After the Spanish war he
was promated to the colonelcy of the
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
THERE seems to be no longer any
doubt that most if not all of the
= allied troops are destined to pass


allied troops are destined to pass
the winter in China, but whether
in active campaigning or comfortably
Struggled in cozy quarters remains to
be seen. Through all the obfuscation of
diplomatic maneuvering this one fact
appears: That, SO long as one great Eu-
ropean power remains on guard at Pc
king or Tien-tsin, no other great Euro
pean power will dare withdraw it's SOL
diers from Chinese territory Interna-
tional comfy is one thing; internation-
al jealousy is quite another. The dogs
of war, says one well versed in the
wiles of diplomacy, have dug up the
Chinese bone of contention, and unless
they can manage to divide it they will
all hold on and not allow any one of
the pack to have it to himself.
The policy of the United States as to
China" declares one who has been
trusted by this government in an en-
bassadorial capacity, Should, in my
opinion, be this: 1t must rescue it's citi-
zens; it must exact indemnity for all
injuries to their person or property: it
will insist that China shall observe all
treaty stipulations, and that, under any
and all conditions of sovereignty, pos
session or foreign ascendency, the open
door shall remain.
1--WE covet no Chinese territory, and
we shall acquire none. We desire no
territorial sphere of influence We
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
rT IS acknowledged on all sides that

TT IS acknowledged on all sides that
Americans have good cause to be
4 proud of their soldiers in China,
for not only have their gallant
deeds been recognized by their own
countrymen, but they have been prais-
ed by the military representatives of
all the allied powers. Especially may
we congratulate ourselves upon the
choice of commanders there, who from
the first have upheld the high standard
of their predecessors and maintained
the prestige of the army in a manner
that has won universal commentator.
Where all alike, officers and privates,
are entitled to unstinted praise it
might be somewhat invidious to select
for special prominence any soldier or
group of soldiers, were it not that the
subjects of this sketch have won dis
tinction by the very traits that are
supposed to be embodied in the typical
hero and have made themselves con-
spicuous by their fighting qualities.
Attention is directed anew to the
spirit of camaraderie that prevails
among the old soldiers by the recent
act of self abnegation ascribed to Cen
eral Chaffee. the leader of the Ameri-
can forces in China, in recommending
for promotion to a grade to which he
himself was technically entitled his
gallant subordinate, Colonel Daggett.
The vicissitudes of military fortune
also are notably exemplified in the trio
of mmanders-Chaffee, Wilson and
Daggett-each having begun at the foot
of the ladder and worked himself UP
by sheer pluck and tenacity of purpose
to his present high position. There
would seem indeed to have been sim
ilarity of circumstances by which
though each strove independently OF
the other. the fortunes of all have been
interlinked, to find their probable Gull
mination in the Chinese campaign.
What may be properly termed mil
itary romance, with material for q
three volume novel, is to be found ir
their careers. In order to prove this il
is only necessary to glance at theil
records. The American soldier at pres,
ent in supreme command in China, Ma.
jor General Adna r. Chaffee, entered
the service boy of 10 in 1861. winning
by his four years of fighting lieuten
ancy only in 1865. Promoted to a cap
taincy in 1857, he spent the next nint
years in chasing Indians, having al
sorts of wonderful adventures and ac
quiring reputation as an Indian fight
er. 1t was not, however. until 1883 tina
he became major, and the year 1879
arrived before he was made lieuten
ant colonel. Promotion in times o
peace comes slowly, but the Spanish
American war accelerated the pac
somewhat, and in May, 1898, he wa
commissioned brigadier general o
volunteers, in July. being raised to tn
rank of major general, from whicl
grade he was honorably discharged i
| April. 1899. After, serving as chief Q
staff to the governor general OF Cub
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
d habits of thought

their centuries old habits of thought
are opposed to both.
Like the agricultural peasantry of
most countries, the Chinese regard the
merchant and trader with suspicion or
contempt. Naturally an outsider who
comes to trade is particularly an object
OF suspicion.
They are also, as regards the ruling
classes, a learned people. deeply im-
bued with the sutficiency of their own
ethical system, which is based on the
teaching of Confucius. The missiona
aries come to overthrow this, and all Of
the official class regard them as dam
gerous to society, as we might here re-
gard the propagators of some new reli-
gious or social system.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

Is degrees F. at Picking. A very short
spring is followed by a hot summer,
during which the influence of the ocean
causes abundant rains. The autumn is
short.
THE zone of rains is divided into two
regions. The northern one, comprising
the most beautiful and temperate coun-
tries, extends as far as Nanling, in
about rs degrees north latitude. There
in the southern valley and in the less
elevated mountain regions the regular
succession of two wet and two dry
seasons, corresponding to the four sea-
sons in the north, announces climate
approaching that of the tropics, but on
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
THE spoRTs OF YOUNG CHINA.

Outdoor amusements for men are few
and not popular in the Chinese empire.
They fly kites, carry birds on perches
and throw seeds high in the air for
them to catch or row boats in a lazy
fashion on the lagoons or rivers.
They pitch coppers, fight crickets or
quail, juggle balls and play games with
jackstraws and snap sticks.
Active, manly sports are not in keep
ing with the notions of dignity of the
Chinese, and If they were they could
not be INDUCED in because of the in
convenience of dress.
Instead of rowing, ball, tennis or golf
young men prove their muscle by lift
ing beams with heavy stones at each
end, like huge dumbbells, or play shut
tlecock, using the thick soles of their
shoes as the battledoor.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

he was attached to the adjutant gener-
ais office in Washington. The Chinese
war was another opportunity, and In
the search for a man to command in
China, one who would combine high
military qualities with diplomatic dis
erection, the choice fell upon Chaffee.
He was promptly dispatched China
ward to take command of troops al
ready ordered thither from Manila and
the United States. and on July rs, 1900,
he touched at the port of Nagasaki,
Japan, where he first received intelli-
gence of his promotion to the major
generally in command of the Chinese
expeditionary force. Four days later
he arrived at Taku and began prepara-
tions for that memorable march to Pc
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

same relation to China next winter that
General Washington, according to a
negro historian, did to certain battle
he will be thar or tharabouts." If
all reports are true, however, we need
not waste our sympathies in lament
ing the lot of Chaffee and his men,
for, according to the best authorities,
a winter sojourn in China has at least
its redeeming features. Leaving out
the question of possible scrimmage
now and then with the malcontents,
the considerations affecting winters
tarry are chiefly climatic. and, as con-
trasted with the sweltering atmosphere
of the Philippines or even the bracing
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
Fourteenth regiment of the regular

Fourteenth regiment of the regular
army.
And these are the soldiers composing
notable triad in China, brought into
prominence by their military merits and
particularly by General Chaffee's recent
act of remuneration in favor of Colonel
Daggett. But for his own volunteer
rank, Chaffee urges, the honor of being
retired as a brigadier in the regular
army would by all the canons of mill
tary precedence first fall to his subor-
dinate. Daggett, as the latter was made
a colonel March 81, 1899, while Chat
fees promotion to that rank dates only
from May of that year.
TRUMAN L. ELTON.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
A sNUB FRoM THE popE.

An amusing tale is told of Pope Leo
XIII. His holiness very kindly gave
audience to young English priest and
in the course of conversation took out
his snuffbox and offered tito his guest.
The young priest declined the snuff.
taetlessly saying, II have not acquired
that bad habit IF 1t were a bad hab-
it," said the pope, II have little doubt
that you would have acquired it,"
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
CHINESE ExcLus1vENEss.

1t is mistake to assume that the
hostility of the Chinese to foreigners is
due to mere stupidity.
They are a people of very deeply
rooted convictions, and this hostility
is the result of reasoning, even though
the reasoning is bad. The foreigners
they know come among them either as
missionaries or as merchants, and all
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02

them. Mimi a
had been keep
ing house for
Henry for the
last few years.
and gradually
the two had
fallen in love
with each 9TH
err. Minna, how
ev er, would
have died soon
er than let Hen
ry know how
she felt toward
him, and Henry
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
now HENRY WON M1NNA

A baker of Nuremberg, in Germany,
recently proposed marriage to girl III
a singular manner. Minna and Henry
are their names, but as to their family
names there is no clew, since the Ger
man papers which tell the story con-
siderately refrain from publishing
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-02
FAMINE coMvALEscENTs CUTTING TIMBER IN INDIA.

u horrors by the the natives reduced
They willing work. but aside
hearth