davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-31

become more and more incOherent. ]
saw that his discovery was slowly
driving him insane. On this particular
night we walked along towards the
Seine, and as we neared the river his
talk became wilder and wilder. @
cursed Paris he said, shaking his
clenched hands at the housetops, i
will destroy theev
"Even then 1 did not divine his
fiendish purpose. When we came close
to the river he took vial of colorless
liquid from his pocket, similar to the
one he had used in my apartments for
his experiment. Holding it up to the
light of street lamp he said: In this
little bottle l possess power greater
than that of the Car of all the Russias
or of King Louis, or of all the kings
and emperors of earth ombined. Yes,
he screamed, even God himself can do
little more than this bottleful of LIQUID
can. By pouring this into the river
Seine l can destroy the whole world.
The moment this liquid touches the
water it will burst into flame and will
spread, and spread, until every ocean
and river and lake under the sun is a
raging furnace. And l will do it, he
yelled, Il will do it now, will send this
world out of existence
"With that he started to rush toward
the river. Without hardly realizing
what l was doing 1 grappled with him.
"'You shall not do this wicked thing,
[ said. you shall not sacrifice millions
of lives to your mad1ess.'
"'Curse you! let me co. he screamed,
and struck out at me iiercely. Then
my Gascon blood rose, Monsieur, and
with swift terrible rush hurled him
to the earth. The blood was singing
in my ears and the yellow lights on the
pOnt de Austerlitz seemed to whirl in
crimson circles, as / struck out at him
again and again.
"When came to myself he was
lying quite still. 1 saw at once that he
was dead. / left him there as you
found him, but without sorrow, for l
had simply slain one who would
destroy world"
Such, mes amis, is the story as related
to me by Francois Darcy. TO test the
truth of it told him to get me basin
of water. When he brought it took the
vial from my pocket, that l had found
by the corpse of De Florac Holding
it up to Darcy l said:
''Is this the one he had?"
YES" said he, with start, sit is the
same one"
poured its contents into the basin.
He had spoken truthfully, the water
burst into flame. After it had burned
out said, "That's the last of the great
discovery. No one can make any more
of that stuff, can they?"
"No," he replied, mo one has the
formula"
Then" said l, 1--WE will consider this
case closed" And 1 left the house
alone. LEO.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-31

gentleman from the same province as
himself. The friends name was
Francois Darcy, and he resided at
n. GA Rue Petit
OF course L set out Immediately to
see this M. Francois. After a short
wait l was admitted to his apartments.
AS soon as he saw my uniform he
started violently and turned deathly
pale.
"Mon Dien," he said, "you have come
for me then?"
eyes" said /, as an intuitive flash
revealed all to me, Eyes, I have come
for you"
81 swear to You l am innocent of
intentional crime," he said.
"There is only one course for you to
take," l replied, "tell me all about it,
and if we can exonerate you it shall be
DONE" And With that he sat down on
one chair, and 1 on another, and he
proceeded to relate TO me the following
tale, the strangest had ever heard. |
will endeavor to use his own language:
"De FlOrac and l." said he, "were
both from the same province, Gascony.
For over ten years he has been intensely
interested in the study of chemistry.
About two years ago he came to Paris
in order to be enabled to pursue his
experiments more easily and effectively.
What was the object of these expert
ments, did not know up to four days
ago.
During the early part of this year 1
came to Paris with my father, who, as
you doubtless know, is at the court of
his majesty. On reaching Paris l met
and renewed my friendship with
De FlOrac. | noticed that he was
thinner and more delicate looking than
when we last met, and at times he had
strange fits of Observation-Disclosures and
mental ALTERATION.
"And now comes the strangest part
of my story. Four days ago be came
TO my rooms in excitement, and with
blazing eyes and many gesticulations
he Informed me that his constant
labors had been crowned with success
at last. He had made the most inn
portant scientific discovery in the
history of chemistry.
"'Well,' l asked coldly, taking his
story with grain of salt, what is it
you have found?'
"I will show you,' said he. Bring me
basin of clear water and make sure
there are no chemicals or ingredients
of any kind in it,
"'That is easily DONE said L, and ]
went out and procured that which he
wished
"Now WATCH said De Florac, and
aking little vial of colorless liquid
from his pocket he poured its contents
into the basin. For an instant the
water bubbled violently, and then
as sure as there is living God above
me, it burst into flame-a flame without
smoke or odor-and after burning
liercely for fifteen or twenty minutes
went out, leaving thin grey ash on
the bottom of the basin, but not drop
of moisture.
"Now,' said De Forac, what do you
think of that?'
"Ma fol- l exclaimed, it is wonder
full, wonderful!'
"NOw comes the tragic part of my
story. Two nights ago went out for
stroll with De Florac. On the way he
babbled enthusiastically, as usual,
about his discovery. 1 had noticed
that for the last few days his talk had
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-31
>HREE months pay was tucked
away in my inside pocket,
leave of absence for thirty

days, and letters of recon
mendation, Ito whom it might concern
stating that the bearer, a conductor ir
the employ of the st. P. & D. II. R.
was hereby granted thirty days fol
recreation and amusement, any favors
shown him would be duly appreciated
by this company, etc. In those gooG
old days, when letters and travelling
cards were the equal of pass, started
away to enjoy myself.
Sioux City, Iowa, was my first stop
There was an unusual attraction there
in the nature of corn palace. Now
Sioux City was at that time a very
moral place; no drinking, no gambling
in fact nothing of an immoral nature
but Covington, Neb., just across the
river, was everything which Sioux City
was not. And, of course, had to see
COvingtOn; and that early in the season
of my vacation, too. Well, shall not
detain you long with description of
my career. ga fool and his money
but you know the rest.
Having no wish to face the laugh
that would greet me upon my return,
should it be before my vacation was
over, l turned my steps. toward Omaha
Fortune seemed to smile on me, for on
the train l met Supt. G. F. Mahanna,
of the South Platt division of the F. E.
& NJ. S. R. r., with headquarters at
Fremont, Neb., and Immediately Sc
cured situation from him as brake
man. Ugh! l begin to feel the chills
running up my back now, just thinking
of the terrible experience through
which passed few nights later.
Business was rushing and men scarce,
consequently those who were working
had but very few hours rest out of
the twenty-four Those of the rail
will know my feelings at that time, and
can picture the case for themselves.
Let it suffice for me to say that | had
not fully recovered from the effects of
Sioux City corn and Covington rye;
that in conjunction with thirty-eight
consecutive hours perched upon a
fireman's seat-box or exercising OH the
good old armstrong over new road,
left me in state bordering on coma.
We were chasing along at about
thirty miles an hour between Fremont
and Lincoln at 1890 this night. I
was just enjoying snooze, when that
short, fierce toot of the whistle, and a
shout from the engineer, caused me to
owe my life to the "Fireman"-
notice how write the word fireman. do
you not ?-He was just in time to grasp
my legs as went through the window,
looking for soft spot of Nebraska
soil, and to inform me-in words that
would not look we'll in print-that
was wanted out on top, not down on
the ground.
One look ahead after realizing my
position put me next to the reason. A
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-31
L CAME to pass that shortly after
the overthrow of the emperor at

CAME TO pass that shortly after
the overthrow of the emperor at
i Leipsic and his subsequent exile
to Elba, 1 found myself on the
streets of Paris, with countless other
veterans, short on funds and with little
hope for the future. Through the
efforts of my friends two offers of
honorable employment we're laid open
before me, cOlOnelcy in one of King
Louis regiments, or an inspectorship
in the police. Both were distasteful to
me and l utterly detested the idea of
serving under Louis, but-a man must
live, you know. 1 accepted the in
spectOrship.
One evening as l was seated in front
of cafe on the Boulevard Malmaison,
enjoying a cup of coffee and smoke,
one of the sub-prefects of my district
came running up to inform me that
the body of man, probably murdered,
had been found in my prefecture, close
to the river. Dead men were plentiful
enough in those days, so l did not
attach much Importance to the news,
supposing at the time that the un-
fortunate man was simply another
victim of the faubourg rowdies, who
made constant predatory invasions
into my territory after nightfall with
startling boldness, garroting passers-by
right under the nose of the police
department..
When l came to view the body 1
changed my opinion. This is why:
The man was lying about fifteen yards
from the Seine. and there were in
dications that desperate struggle had
taken place. On the throat of the
corpse were deep blue marks, showing
that he had met death by strangulation.
He was dressed in the rough garb
common to the upper class of working
men and the poorer class of students.
Near the body found medium. sized
vial half filled with some colorless and
odorless liquid. 1t looked like water
On the fourth finger of his right hand
the victim wore a ring with diamond
setting; the stone must have been at
least five carat one. The fingers of
both hands were stained with acids,
showing that he had been accustomed
to dabbling in chemistry. The pockets
were absolutely destitute of evidence
with the exception of small pamphlet
in Latin, on chemistry.
Summing up, reached the following
conclusions: The man was gentle
man; his personal appearance indicated
this, altho the rough clothing belied it..
He was student of chemistry, because
of the Latin pamphlet and acid stains
on his fingers. He was man
of means; for students do not generally
wear five carat diamonds. He had not
been killed by thieves or faubourg
rowdies; if this had been so they would
most certainly have taken the diamond
ring.
Of course this was not an infallible
hypothesis, but, nevertheless, took it
for the basis of my Investigations and
tWenty-four hours later had, with the
help of several agents, acquired the
following information: The deceased
was the son of Count de Florac, a
country gentleman residing in Gascony.
He, the deceased, came to Paris to
study chemistry; had been there over
two years; he was known to be of a
retiring disposition, made no friends
and did not enter society; he was only
interested in his studies. He had only
one friend and conidant, another young
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-31

We cannot Overstate our debt to the
past, but the moment has the supreme
claim. The past is for us; but the sole
terms on which it can become ours are
its subord;natiOn to the present.
Emerson.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-10-31

Duty is power which rises with us
in the morning and goes to rest with
us in the evening.-Gladstone.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10

part of 1t can be restored. They pursue,
accordingly. downward course toward
darkness. which is the death of suns and
plants. No arrest of decay Is possible.
To the naked eye stars are perceptible
only to the sixth magnitude, not more
than five or six of thousand being seen at
one time. although on certain very clear
nights the impression may be conveyed
that they are legion. After the sixth
magnitude the aid of a telescope is re-
quired. and hence the Importance of a
good instrument. Today the stars visible
from the first to the thirteenth magnitude
aggregate about A.. 900. 600. Of which nearly
10 coo, 900 have been photographed. In the
most powerful telescope even the fifteenth
magnitude has been revealed. and of this
magnitude perhaps 100000.0O0 stars are
expected.
In the Milky Way alone there are some
10000 stars, separated by vast distances
To the eye at the telescope the sky seems
no longer dotted with considerations, but
powdered with a silvery dust
Upon the improvement in lenses and
photography depend the probability of fu-
turo discoveries. II is universally adn,it-
ted among astronomers that the Twentieth
Century holds revelations, but to hazard
the bravest theory as TO what they will
be is said to be impossible Suffice it 10
say that the possibilities of astronomy in
the future appear TO be as limitiess as in
fnlty itself.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10

CFrom The New York Post)


In the old days. u favorite fad for trav-
elers in ancient lands was the collection
OF lanterns. These from ruined converts
decayed mosques, and poverty stricken
shrines were prime favorites. The fad is
not entirely dead. but the supply has run
so short that now enterprising firms in
birmingham. England, and in New York
turn out large numbers OF excellent i'm
itations-
The new ones are made by hand, and. 50
far as strength and durability are con-
cerned. are superior to the ancient de-
signs. which were handmade. but the
later in many instances were orramented
with inlaid work, as well as with carving.
and twisting of the most artistic type.
The machine-made goods can never repro
duce these latter characteristics so we'll
as to deceive the expert.
The material Of the lanterns varies from
fine woods and glass TO iron. steel. brass.
bronze copper, pewter, and even silver.
The simplest forms are cylinders which
are perforated with numerous holes. so
as to resemble the clumsy sieve. Then
come globes, cubes, octahdra. hagonal
prisms ovoids. and more complex solid
forms. The prettiest of all are the mos
que lanterns. Many OF them are OF bronze
inIaid with silver. pierced with little WIN
dows, and these closed in turn with white
or colored glass. With a lighted eanllo
inside they look like mass of jewels In
a dark room.
wealthy man on Brooklyn Heights.
who has Travelled great deal. has one OF
his rooms illuminated by lanterns Of this
type They range in size from small at
firs four inches in diameter to stately
lamps a foot in diameter and two feet high.
In place OF candles inside he imploys cleo
trio lights, one bulb to the smaller lar
trens and three. four. and dozen TO the
larger ones.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10
SHIPS THAT ARE UNLUcKY.
The UseIessness of Arguing Against
Nautical Superstition.


"Unlucky ships" in our navy have a
most unpleasant way of acting up to their
regulations. Any bluejacket will tell you
that the most unlucky ship in the navy
is the Thunderer-he is firmly convinced
that in the event of war she will come
to grief. The origin of this ships reputa-
tion is not exactly known, though sorry
exists to the effect that a workman was
injured or killed during her construction,
and his dependents scurvily treated by
the admiralty Of the period. His wife,
dying in childbirth shortly afterward,
cursed the ship. So goes the legend; pos
sibly enough like many another legend, it
was made later on to fit events. No doubt
whatever attaches 10 the Thunderer's i'll
luck-a fearful boiler explosion and ter
rible gun disaster marked her earlier
years Minor disasters have been many:
most things that could go wrong with her
did So and, though ii was recently stated
that she had outlived her bad luck, almost
Immediately afterward all her guns went
wrong-a matter under enquiry at the
present moment. She is being put out OF
commission and replaced by the Hood
and it is extremely doubtful whether she
will be employed again save as a harbor
ship-men do not Lille her.
Another unlueky shin is the Howe. She
went ashore ana sank at FerrOl Suisse
quently she was raised and relocated, but
her bad luck clings to her; she is the
worst ship OF her batch to manage. By
buejacket superstition she is doomed to
sink some consort or be sunk by her. one
OF these days.
Then there was the Inflated Victoria. \
horrible story absolutely without fOuuda-
tom about a man who was accidentally
fastened down to die to her used to be re-
lated In the early nineties. She met with
disasters. eliminating in the terrible ca
tastrophe that bears her name. The sad
dest of all Incidents in connection with
his catastrophe has never been made pub
lie When the order was given for each
man TO Jump a batch CT marines were not
ordered to fall out. All or nearly all of
those men we're drowned standing at at
tention. However, this incident does not
concern the luck OF ships.
TIE list Of unlucky ships could be ex-
tended considerably, but the above typi-
al cases will suffice. In fact, of them IL
is absolutely useless to argue against
nautical superstitiOns. The bad luck.
OF course. varies, in Tie majority OF cases
Il is confired to preakdowns and so forth.
nut whatever it be once the "unlucky'
reputation attaches 10 n ship 1t will last
till she ends her career. And since the
new royal yacht has thus got labeled.
nothing that may be said or left unsaid
will clear her. AS she has cost over G5OO,-
GOn something must be done with her. One
snecuIatIon is that royalty will decline to
use her. and that she will be handed over
IN the lords of the admiralty In place of
IN, Enchantres, the anything but seawor-
thy craft that now carries them around.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10
An OId-EashiOned Pistol.

(Frcm the New Orleans Times Democracy
Il recently came into possession OF a
curious old pistol" said a collector of
this city las far as l know it is the only
one of its kind in existence. 1t was prob
ably a model. constructed for exhibition.
and the principle upon which it works is
certainly unknown TO students of arms II
was made in 1914. and in general appear
ance II resembles the dragon holster pis-
toll of that period. From end to end il
measures about twelve inches. and the
heavy wooden stock extends clear to the
muzzle The hammer has the usual flint
Lock mechanism. but the popularity Of
the weapon lies in the fact that the barrel
IS divided some three and half inches
from the breech, and the rear piece may
be lifted out by pressing spring in front
OF the trigger.
"The detachable section Is a short iron
tube closed at the bottom, and it really
takes the place Of cartridge. II may be
loaded in advance and then slipped back
into It's place whenever desired. Original
ly there we're eight duplicates Of this place
and l have an old belt, which was made
to 20 with the pistol and il provided with
little sacks or pouches for carrying them;
but only two have been preserved.
when the whole eight were charged, the
owner of the weapon could IRE that num-
Der OF shots as rapidly as he could eX-
change the sections, and. while the con-
trlgance seems infinitely clumsy in this
day of automatic reviewers and seif-feed-
ing Mausers. il mast have been formula,
bic and deadly machine at the time Of its
construction.
Il ought to explain, by the way, that
the interchangeable barrels are pierced at
the side SO as TO afford communication
with the printing, and all the fittings are
finished with the greatest accuracy and
precision. / bought the queer old pistol
from a modelmf aer, who got ii with a
bankrupt stock years ago. and Its history
has been impS5sj>le to trace. There Is a
date on the stock, but no makers name
1t seems strange that the device never
came into practical use, but perhaps II
was regarded as too cumbersome and COM
plicated. The probabilities are that 1t
was the invention of some gunsmith here
in New Orleans"
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10
HUNTING TIE MANATEE.
How Winter Sport In Southern
Waters Is Carried On.


With the approach of late autumn to
many lucky people, both on this and the
other side come thoughts OF winter yacht
ing in the AntillaHo archipelago. About
the best days sport TO be got out of a
West Indian cruise is sea lion hunt, al
though the manatee' now frequents the ISL
ands in much smaller numbers than for
merry The American manGtee is not to
be confused with either the Steller or the
California sea lion. the game OF the An
tillano sportsman being the ManatiAus-
trails. of which there are only two species,
the one found In the Brazilian rivers, the
other freCuenJiug the estuaries of the An
TILES and the reefs of Florida. OF the
measurements of fall the species Of sea
lion grossly Munchausenlike tales have
been told. No account of West Indian
sea lion exceeding seven. or perhaps eight
feet has been authenticated: indeed. a
manatee that has attained this length is
freak Yet though the game be rare and
of less heroic proportions than in the days
of fernando de Soto when. on account of
its unpalatably fshy taste. the Franciscan
fathers of HaDana partook of 1t with pen
itential grimaces" on jours maigres. who
that mas ever caught up his spear under
the tempered glare OF the waning year In
the tropics and has strolled along the am
her sand that edges one of the river creeks
the stimulus to his sporting instincts of
the slow. low snort, as, lying at the bot
tom of a shallow. the manatee supports
himself by the extremity of his tail ra!s-
Ing only his snout above the surface at
intervals of two or three minutes, in order
TO breathe?
II may not. however. be the snort that
the sea lion hunter hears. II he be ex
perienced in the sport. his trained ear
detects the soft lashing, under the gently
swishing water. of the forelimbs, which
arc of great flexibility in swimming. and
which. from the handlike use that it
makes Of them. caused the early Spanish
colonists to christen the creature the
manali. From the shoulder joint the
mapatee can move these forelimbs in all
directions. the elbow and wrist permit
ting particularly free action. This strik-
ing Of its arms against the water is,
when the game is in midstream, almost
the only clue to find" since, tXcept-
ing the soft seal-like hleat of the COW
when gamboling with her pups, the
American manatee. unlike its relative of
the North with it's deep, grand roar" is
pretty nearly voiceless, and, therefore,
very difficult of location by the sports
man, whose season. in the Leeward ISL
ands. is from November to January. in
elusive, during which months the water
is generally tepid enough for the sport
for the creature is fastidious about tenn
perature. disliking extremes. Along the
coasts of Cuba and SaE Domingo the
cold winds blowing in
termittently from the north from Novem-
Der to February-interfere occasionally.
but these are seldom of more than forty
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10

many friends. and she left the court
room accompanied by her counsel and
Mrs. Abbey.
Not long elapsed after the trial, II Is
said, before Mary Harris went to st. Eliz-
abeth's Asylum, but her stay there was of
short duration. When she left the insti-
tuition, it was at the urgent suggestion of
Mr.. Bradley. and shortly afterward the
engagement between Mary Harris and her
defender became known. marriage fol-
lowed and Mr.. Bradley took his bride out
TO his country home, not far from Chevy
Chase. Md. At the death Of Mr.. Bradley.
about fifteen years ago, Mrs. Bradley re-
moved to this city. where she has since
resided, She is now about sixty years of
age. Only the Oldest residents know the
story of her past life; for Mrs. Bradley,
except to her few most intimate friends,
mover speaks Of the "forgntteEn tragedy.
The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-10
Contcntntcnt.

Ciles-A happy New Year to you. marin. and
Laiy-Oh. thank you very much, Giles; but
YOU surely forget that you lost your wife IN the
spring and broke your leg in the summer.
Giles-Yes, but t'other legs all right. and as
for paw soosan, it might have been to be took
instead