davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28

his paper after May, 1901, and will
abandon the use of kama" and Chinese
signs. He completes his course in Col
umbia this session, and will spend at
least two years in newspaper work
here before resuming in Europe his
travels and studies; and he is desir-
Gus OF promoting the adoption OF the
Romaji by using it in his paper and by
distributing the latter as broadly as
possible among the japanese in this
country and in Japan.
He thinks that nearly all of his coun-
trymen in the United States and Can
can easily read the Romaii. and
that there are at present at least 100
600 persons in Japan who understand
1t fully and nearly a million more who
understand it in part. Among these
more than million Of %Jacsnese tn
Romaji Kwai expects to transform the
inartistic, illegib,e script Of the Japan.
csc into the neat and clear Roman type
now used. by the great body Oh civilized
peoples. But Mr.. Hoshi has another
idea, worthy Of a true reforr,er o.
language. He thinks that the use OF
the Roman type for the japanese ma.
lead to still more extensive borrowing
OF English words. and that ultimately
the Yankees OF the east and the
Yankees Of the west, together with the
British. Canadians. Australians and
South Africans. will speak the same
language-English. the true lingua
franca Of the future.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Bible and Public schools.

The Times-Herald of Chicago, says
Of the action of the Chicago board Of
education in refusing to authorize the
use in the public schools OF a volume
Of selections from the Bible: Every
man sends his children to the public
schools with the notion that the train
ing received there will not only educate
them but will develop those moral at
tributes that will keep them out of the
p~enitentiary and make good citizens OF
them. How can the schools do this
If they are not permitted to draw upon
the Bible. which is the source of our
commonly accented code Of morals? In
%forbidding the reading of suitable pas
sages from the scriptures in our
schools the board has fool.shly pan
dered to a sentiment which does not
exist and has set itself against the
usage Of all but three or four states in
the Union"
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
- QNlR|I|x|II(lIEzIIIiHIzIl
s. al |l,|{|Ik@.sNz&EA!IklE[zI|lf44GSIalY

away who had been pegging away at
me. Every time he fired he would
stick his head out from behind the
tree to see whether he had had any
luck.
y waited my chance. The third time
ne did this I let him have it, and he
cropped. A few minutes later came
the order to advance. When I reached
the spot from which the Yankee sharp
shooter had been firing 1 stopped to see
what had happened to him."
The old fellow paused here n the
reporter broke In with the question:
Did you ind hint"
Yes, I found him. with . hole clear
through his head. His coat was open.
N I saw q half dollar ON = string
around his neck. It was Dick Notion,
and I had killed him. Just then the
Yankees charged in turn, and I was
forced to leave him there."-Louisville
Courier Journal.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28

The Greatness OF the Century.
We mark of centuries, and nx the
stakes,
Arraignins time to judge him by our
deeds;
First science writes with giant hand
her needs,
Then knowledge all the slumb'ring Sc
crets wakes;
Man stands supreme, the sceptre boldly
takes
Al conqueror of the earth. the world
old seeds
Have borne great fruit in things and
creeds;
Through these last years behold truths
dawn-like breaks.
Aye, read the splendid records Of on
race
But only in the light Of human hap
piness;
What matter if mans power control
the pace
OF wild-whirled stars be there n
Joy the less;
Search hearts and hopes before the
crown you place
Upon the century; then It's time to
bless.
Henry C. Rehm.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Knows as Much About
China as Do the
Newspaper Men

the public opinion of intelligent ma
tions sometimes hangs ON the presum,
ed omniscience OF a correspondent who
fits in one day and skips the country
the next. What did the ordinary eor-
respondent know or flnd out. about the
Chinese question? Nothing, and many
of them did not try hard to learn that
much. Yet these men have told the
general public. that the missionaries
did it all. They caused the whole row,
ETC., ad nauseam. The ordinary cor-
respondent who has written to the
United States. on this matter knows
no more about it than Tom Jones' cat.
Now l am not writing a diatribe ON
newspaper men. / have been thrown
in quite intimate relations with them
for one year and a half. but that does
not blind me to the fact that they don't
know it air and they can't know it
all in a week or two, and that much OF
their inflated verbiage is nonsense writ
ten simply to fill the bill for the edito,
who pays them"
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Com Jones'
Cat

Writing in Donahoe's Magazine on
the situation in China, Rev. Father Jo-
seph M. Gleason, who is with the Am
erican forces in Pekin, maintains that
the Boxer movement with all. its at
tendant horrors a not a result of the
presence of missionaries in China. 1t
was an anti-forefgn demonstration
rather than anti Christian. The rev.
erend gentleman takes the newspaper
correspondents, to task for attributing
the trouble. to the missionaries and.
says Of Them.
"a newspaper man rushes into a
country of which he hardly knew the
existence before his arrival. takes no
trouble to learn a word OF. the Ian
guage, n a few residents, and at
ter a few cigars, and more drinks,
closes the interview, and, writes for
his paper. He is paid a fancy salary
as special correspondent and must
write something for his paper, and
this something is, as a rule, superficial
~generalizing of the veriest rubbish. Yet
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Fire Loss Not So had.

According to reports received at the
bureau Of. construction and repair the
loss of plans in the recent fire at the
Norfolk navy yard was not as complete
as was at first feared It appears that
a the Satt tie ii TIE Texas. )ls seTs Raj al.
eigh and the monitor Amphitrite have
been rescued from the debris Of tho
fire, and with a little labor can be made
as good as new. The total number OF
drawings and blue prints recovered
from the ruins will be not far from
5000. The work Of replacing the de-
stroyed drawings will be commenced
at once, and will be completed within
six months.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Almost Human In
%telligence Shown
by This Insect.

hind her, until all the web-spokes are
In place. Before she weaves the a y
together with crossing-threads, she
must know that both they and the
anchor threads are dependable. So
she runs about, stretching, straining
every one, and If it breaks spinning
it over. Where there is pronounced
slack she either takes it up by splic-
ing a new thread next the center, and
fastening it outside. or by attaching
light weights, pebbles, bits of stick.
and SO on. to the webs lower edge.
Now begins the last work-running
round and rounds The crossing threads
are spun double-hrst very fine. then
with a coarser ply. At the middle
where the ray threads NEST and cross.
she either builds herself q snug sta
ton. or after everything is done cuts
away the tangle and leaves a small
clear space. This b the paElcr into
which the traditional ~ was invited
with disastrous results-but Mad
anne Spider does mot habitually sit IN
II. Instead she Turks out Of sight, am
pushed at the foot Of q ray thread.
When vibrations tell Of prey. she seeks
the parlor, locates the disturbance,
and straightway goes to see about IL.
A strong-winged insect, as a wasp or
bumblebee, left to himself. will soon
break out of her fimsy tolls, though
he ma so entangle his wings in doing
1t that he never nies again. So she
takes no chances. Ni1bly she runs
down the nearest ray thread, spinning
as she runs. When she is q little be-
yond her victim she dexterously loops
her new cable around him. draws it
taut, and fastens 1t. When this had
been repeated half a dozen times, the
prey bound wing and foot, Is ready
for removal. She fastened q new thread
at the parlor, loops 1t around the fly
or wasp, carries 1t back, and pulls It
as tight as she can. Sometimes she
moves her prey a whole half-fnch with
one thread. The next thing is to cut
away all the outer threads that hold
him. This she does quickly, then
spins a new cable from the parlor.
Thus spinning and cutting, unless the
prey be disproportionately big, she
brings it at last to the parlor, or very
close about it. and there stuck It's
juices in leisurely content. But II It
fss too big to be moved. she gnaws OF
a leg at "a time, sucks them, and after
awhile attacks the arcass Sometimes,
with ferce-stinging insects, she bites
them just back Of the neck so rs to-
paralyze them.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
what . Beaver 1,ll.

Mr.. A. D. Bartlett. son of the late
superintendent of the London zoo. has
an interesting story Of a captive Can
adam beaver. A large willow tree in
the gardens had blown down. A branch
about twelve feet long and thirty
inches in circumference was firmly
fixed in the ground in the beavers in
closure. Then the beaver was watched
to see what he would do. The beaver
soon visited the spot, and walking
around the limb. commenced to bite
off the bark and gnaw the wood about
twelve inches from the ground. He
seemed to put his whole strength into
his task, although he left off every few
minutes to rest and look upward, as IL
to determine which way the tree would
fall. Now and then he went to his
pond, which was about three feet from
the base of the tree. Then he would
come out again with renewed energy.
and his powerful teeth would set to
work anew upon the branch. About
4 o'clock. to the surprise Of those who
saw him. he left his work and came
hastily toward the iron fence. The
cause of this sudden movement was
soon apparent. He had heard in the
distance the sound Of the wh%eelbarrcw,
which was brought daily to his pad
dock, and from which he was a~nxiously
expecting his supper.
The keeper, not wishing to disap-
point the beaver, although sorry to see
his task interrupted, gave him his
usual allowance of carrots and bread.
The beaver ate it and was seen swim
ming around the pool until about half
past 5. Then he returned to his work.
In ten minutes. the tree fell to the
ground. Afterward the beaver cut the
log into three convenient lengths, one
Of which he used in the under part Of
his house.-Youths' Companion.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
was Too 1iter.l ~ ~.

Colonel Pew tells a story Of the
Tenth regular infantry that is pretty
good. One night in Cuba one Of the
sentries was a raw recruit from the
green isle and the officer Of the day,
on his rounds, was challenged by him
"Who goes there?"
"Ofhcer of the day."
Not a move on the part of the sentry
and the officer stepped forward and
again was greeted by Who goes
there?" and he again replied in the
same way. Not a move on the part Of
the sentry, but the officer Of the day
heard an ominous click.
What are your orders, anyway
he asked.
Challenge three times, then fire."
was the laconic and se%lf-satisfied a
swer, and the officer of the days hat
was raised on his hair as he realized
how near he was to being peppered by
the sentry. The latter was given a few
instructions before he went on sentry
duty again.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
The Spiders,
" " ~ Web

The spider is the original telegraph
lineman. Indeed, he is something
more. After his lines are stretched,
be establishes a CENTRAL to which he
runs as soon as any sort of vibration
tells him that prey is entangled my
where in his web. Once at. central, he
listens a minute, then having gathered
the direction glides away to weave
still further netting Of silken web
about the luckless wasp or fly that has
fallen into his clutches. HE" would
more properly be- written she" AS
In case of so many insects the female
spider Is ever 80 much bigger. more
powerful and more resourceful than
the male. In substance spider web is
nearly identical with silk. But the
spinners Of It are far to wise to reel
1t up into cocoons. which may be plum
dered by men to feed the desire Of the
eyes. and the pride Of life. Web spin
ming is very wonderful work. The
workers indeed deserve high rank as
civil engineers, and often deal with
knotty problems in ways bespeaking
almost human intelligence. as for In.
stance when they spin. loose threads
so deity and with such nice calcula-
ton of wind force that the loose ends
are carried exactly to the chosen spot,
often a couple Of yards away. and
there anchor themselves Of their own
motion. 1t is thus the fairy cables
which net trees and boughs, and
stretch across all summer paths, are
set in place. They are invisible save
where the full sun glints upon them,
or else when misty morning strings
them with dewdrops. None the less
they hold firm, and serve as aerial pas
sageways along which the spiders run
to and fro. safely and swiftly. Or
else they serve as guys to brace the
main. web. In spinning the spider
shows architectural genius to match
her engineering skill. First she sur
veys a site. then stretches across It
a strong thread. She is not particu-
lar about having this first thread very
taut-al1 that can be managed later.
She spins another thread from the, end.
Of this diagonally to another point,
whence she goes to a third anchorage,
a fourth. e q fifth. Now she, has.
a clear central inclosed at irregular an
giles. The incIosing threads have been
spun Of pure silk. The next thing is,
to go over, them jwfthsa viscidt exuda-
ton which will make whatever touch
es them stick. When that Is done, she
spins the web proper, running from,
side to side, with a thread trailing be-
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Our Neglected Feet.

What is the matter with Americans
feet? This question was asked last
week at the Brooklyn navy yard by
Capt. Casper F. Ficke, a veteran Of
the German army, now visiting this
country. do you know" continued
the captain, II think l counted a dozen
signs in various sorts of foot doctors
in three blocks as / was riding on the
Sixth avenue elevated road yesterday,
and / have noticed the same condition
on other streets. The chiropodists of
your city must live, and it must mean
frequently see men, and much more
often women, who apparently walk
with great difficulty, and would be alb
solutely unable to take a continuous
walk Of half a dozen miles. There is
no good reason for this, and it simply
means that their feet are neglected.
There is one place you can find good
feet, and that is in the German army.
I know all about it. and if it was fol-
lowed as a model we would not hear so
much about corns, bunions, sore and
tired feet and all that sort of thing.
In our army every private must battle
his feet once a day and grease them
thoroughly, rubbing the ointment we'll
into the flesh and massaging the soles
to keep them soft and flexible. Every
army man knows the Importance of
good feet, and if civilians would fol-
low that example you would not see
the sort of pe~destrianism that is ex-
hibited on your streets. The feet are
as important as the hair or teeth, and
yet they do not receive one hundredth
part Of the care. This is all wrong,
and humanity has to suffer in conse-
quence of it.'-New York Herald.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Sensation Of q Severe Shock.

The sensation of an ordinary severe
shock of electricity is familiar to thu
majority of people and is not especially
peculiar, but a Knockout dose of the
current is something entirely differ
ent. I was splicing a connection in a
power-house and mistook an arc-light
feeder, which had sagged down. for a
dead wire. I had a pair of pliers in
my left hand. and attempted to push
1t out of the way with them. So much
l remember perfectly. Then all Of a
sudden I had a most extraordinary SEN
sation. I felt as if my blood were ex-
panding and swelling every vein in
my body to the last pitch of tension.
The great arteries in my neck seemed
to stretch until they were as big
around as ship cables. and were suffo-
eating me with their pressure; and I
had the same bursting feeling in my
eyeballs, my nostrlls and even in the
roots of my hair. All this came over
me with. terrific .,swiftness. .Ibut it was
nothing like a stroke of lightning or
the twinkling Of an eye. On the con-
trary, several seconds seemed to elapse,
and the feeling was SO entirely different
from what l had always imagined it
would be. that IT never entered my
mind that l had been shocked by a
high. power current. Then, as nearly
as l can describe 1t. my overstrained
tissues appeared to give way, some
thing exploded in my brain like a hun
dred-ton gun, and everything became
black. Almost Immediately, it seemed,
l opened my eyes and found myself
on the floor, fully conscious, but very
weak. As a matter of fact, I had been
hurled a dozen feet. What I imagined
had consumed at least a tenth Of a
second had possibly occupied a thou
sandth part Of a second, and l had
been unconscious fully two hours. My
experience simply shows that we have
often observed in dreams. that under
abnormal conditions the brain loses all
conception of time. I am pretty posi-
tive, from questioning a number of
people, that everybody who survives a
shock from a current over a certain
voltage has an experience very similar
to my Democrat.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
A Wen Known Man In Town.

a Well Known Man In Town.
There is a man in u town.
Whom his neighbours view wit
doEbt.
Whenever he says he's going in
They know he's coming out.
If he should say it looks like rain
They know the sun will shine:
And when he speaks Of oaken wood
They know that it is pine.
II he asserts that black is black.
They know quite well it's white.
And when he says the sun is up
They'll swear that it is night.
II he should don q bathing suit
They know. as sure as fate.
That he intends to pass the time
BY going out to skate.
When he declares that he will eat
IT'S certain he will drink.
And every time he tells a tale
They hear 1t with a wink.
His name is Annanias Fihbs:
He wears the liars crown
He used to send the cablegrams
That came from Shanghai town.
Baltimore American.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Killed His Enemy.

How does it feel to kill a man in
battle?" was the question put to n
of Morgan's men the other evening.
Thank God, l e had but n ex-
p%erience of that kind" was the reply,
but hat was enough.
In Kentucky it not in%frequently
happened that boys from the same
town went into both the confederate
and the federal armies. When the war
broke out / joined Morgan's command.
My best chum, Dick Notion, went with
a regiment of federals.
Before we separated we swore to
each other that, whatever came, moth
ing should alter the affection we had
for each other, and that if either could
help the other he would do SO, no mat
ter what the cost. We even went SO
far as to cut a dollar in two pieces,
and each promised to wear his half on
a string about his neck.
zone day in September, in the Sec
ond or third year Of the war, our COM
mand was ordered to dismount and try
to dislodge a party of federals who
held a little wood in front of us. We
charged across the open and succeed
ed in getting a hold inside of the wood.
Then began a duel between 200 sharp
shooters on a side.
"At first I fired rather aimlessly.
Then I noted that VII ger l raised
my head above the rock ind which
I was hiding l was likely get a bu'-
let through my cap or one would pass
within a few inches Of my head.
II noticed that all seemed to come
from straight in front Of me. I began
to on nLeyes and "a able after a
VIII fellow about 200 yards
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
Tn. Language o, Soldiers.

An anecdote of Gen. sheridan. shows
the man in his true colofs better than
a volume of biography. Sheridan gave
his, orders in a mild toneto voice, but
his enunciation was so distinct that
he was never misunderstood. Once, in
the midst of a fight, an aide reported
that his flank was being demoralized
by . battery on a distant hill. Give
my compliments to Gen. Crook" he
said, "and ask him to clear it away"
His famous dispatch to Gen. Grant on
the day before the surrender at Apo
mattox was written on horseback, In
these terse words: IF things are
pressed I think Lee will surrender to-
morrow. SAnd Grants. answer, still
more tersey came back: Press things"
Such is the language Of such soldiers
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
81 bill Bearing only a stamp and

a 81 bill Gearing only a stamp and
no wrapper FOR a written communities
ton on mail, from Chicago. The bill
served as a wrapper from a written
communication on a card. and was,
sewed to the card. On the outside 1T
the bill was pasted a bit of whiteRa-
per bearing a two-cent stamp and the
address. Dues, ion was raised as to the
right of sending money in this manner,
but the bill i9>iene end was allowed t.
goearlsway
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
FAST STEAMERS.
New York Wants Them for the Beneai
OF suburban Residents.

of Suburban Residents.
Steamboats, that can go forty miles
an hour are soon to make several SUI
burbsa part of all-devouring New York
as Greenwich, Woolwich, Gravesend,
Hamilton Court, Chelsea, Kew, Csacton,
Winslor, Margate, Ramsgate, etc., are
part of London, says the New York
Press. The steamboats, on the Thames
are perhaps the vilest in the world.
Those in New York waters are the
most palatial. The st. Johns. Sandy
Hook and Monmouth have made the
approach to the Hook a long stretch OF
| the most delightful summer homes.
Similar boats will line Jamaica bay
with cottages as soon as Barren Island
is cleaned out. The proposed forty
mile boats on the Hudson will extend
New York thirty miles up the shores
| of the American Rhine in an incred-
IDLY short time. Many thousands OF
New Workers who now refuse to leave
the city on account of the crush OF
morning and afternoon travel on the
railroads will joyfully take up a resi-
dence in the country when they can
go forty miles an hour by boat, with
plenty of %unconfined air, plenty Of ell
bow room. n smoke. no cinders, nc
dust, no everyday train annoyances
The day will bring two outings Of the
most delightful and fascinating de
scription, with attendant health. In.
stead of breathing another mans con.
Eliminating breath in a close and foul
smelling car, the boat commuter car
fill his lungs with the pure ozone O
heaven. Instead of contracting him.
self twice daily into the smallest pos
sible space he may expand with ar
honest, fearless imitation. Even in thu
most inclement weather the decks viii
be free to him should he desire te
brave and breathe the elements.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-02-28
To Raise the Maine.

All that is left of the battleship
Maine is to be taken from Havana har-
Dor. This has been decided on by the
navy department on the representa-
lions of Gov. Gen. Wood, who says
the wreck is a serious obstruction to
navigation. The tangle of plates and
beams is sinking deeper and deeper
into the mud of the harbor, and delay
will only make the work OF its re-
moval more difficult.