davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily sentinel., 1901-07-11
JULY SHOE SALE.

Although our summer has but just
commenced. We will keep to onr usual
custom and offer all our regular sum
mer shoes at a discount of 10 per cent
during the month of July. This in
cludes our handsome patent leather
shoes of all kinds, for men, women
and children.
The daily sentinel., 1901-07-11

There is a great big class whom we
mean to include in that class who
should be made to suffer for carry>
ing a gun.
The daily sentinel., 1901-07-11
THE MAN WITH A GUN.


ing guns unlawfully in this city and
all through this section of country,
is a matter which is beginning to
force itself upon sober minded men.
If the carrying Of gun made a
man brave there might be some ex-
cuse, but Capt Chasteau, a former
captain of the Park guard in the
city of New York, a man who has
faced danger which would make
the ordinary bad man with gun
cover like a skunk, says that a ma
jority of the men who carry gun,
simply to be carrying it, are gems
orally towards.
There are men who are qualified
to carry guns These are officers
OF the law, although many do not
carry firearms, men whose duties
require them to be in places iniest-
ed by the worst element of society
and men who from the nature of
their business must guard them
selves against surprise or attack in
the dark or in places where crimi>
nails are supposed to rendezvous.
Why men whose occupation and
,,,hoca hurineSc pever corrv them
into the least possible danger, only
that which they seek themselves.
should carry deadly weapons and
become a menace to innocent peo
pie, is an enigma One halt the
crimes that are committed, are due
to carrying firearms. Half the dis
pules which oftimes result in death
might be settled amicably, were
not the individuals engaged there's
in armed with deadly weapons.
The just conclusion then which
comes to sensible people is that a
man becomes a dangerous animal
when armed with death dealing
instrument. He has little common
sense to back him in his judgment
and being a moral coward he takes
advantage of the unarmed man.
If law makers did not think that
the ordinary man had no business
with gun. they would not have
legislated against carrying firearms,
concealed upon the person. 1t is a
crime upon the statute books OF
the country, and those who have
no business with a gun should be
disarmed and pay dearly tor trans>
crossing the law.
There are a number of big kids
in this town, who are carrying
deadly weapons now. whose pants
should be well busted by their in
dividual daddies and sent home,
who defy their parents and loudly
boast of their ability to handle
weapons.
We know of a marshal in a
southwestern Kansas town in the
border days, who when apprised OF
a man who had no business carry>
ing gun or booby boy with
weapon, would so boldly and take
such weapon and in nine case, out
of ten would dust the breeches OF
both man and boy. His name, il
any one is anxious to know, was
Jim Sugru and he would do the
same in this town, it he were not
departed this life, had men or no
bad men and the f- CT would be to
clear up the atmosphere around
wonderfully. Sugru was contem-
porary with Bat Masterson and
that Individual had aboundlng re-
spect for him.
N "a l i
Evening star., 1901-09-07
A Marvellous Crystal Plain With
Mercury Up to l40 Degrees.
FORMED BY THE SUBSIDING WATERS
Effect of Simmering, SunIit Fields
on the Eyes.
GOVERNMENT WANTS II

Written for The Evening Star by Mrs. A. S. c.
Forbes.
One of the most curious pieces of real
estate in exietence is now the subject of
a suit brought by the government to re-
cover the property. 1t is a salt farm-one
thousand acres of solid salt, which is plow
ed and hoed and hiled up like SO much
earth It lies in depression, 264 feet
below the level Of the sea, in the midst of
the great Colorado Desert, just north of the
Mexican line in the state of California, and
the town which has grown up on it's bor-
der takes it's name, Salton from the crys-
tai deposit.
For many years salt has been taken from
this district, but on a small scale. In 1892
a temporary stoppage was put to the local
industry by the overflow Of the Colorado
river, forming what was known as the Sal
ton sea. In time the water receded evap-
Grafton followed, and there was left re-
siduum of almost pure crystal salt vista
Of unimaginable and almost unbearable
brilliance and beauty. From a distance the
effect was that Of a sheet Of the purest
snow glittering in the sunlight; but when
the first explorers ventured upon the newly
formed crust they were unable to endure
Evening star., 1901-09-07
"OlGo Mexico.

From Harper's Weekly.
A reader of the Weekly writes from Chi
huahua, Mexico, to protest against calling
our next-door republic Old Mexico. She
SAYS it is done so much that a great many
persons have come to think that Old Mex
leo Is the country's name. OF course It
isn't and Mexico Is called odd by some
Americans simply to distinguish 1t from
our New Mexico, just as Cambridge MAS
sachusetts) is very commonly called Cid
Cambridge to distinguish it from Cam
bridgeport. The Mexicans themselves, our
correspondent says, speak Of their country
as the republic, and to them and their fell
low-residents Mexico means the city which
Is the republics capital. 1T has been es-
timated that One-f1fth of the mail from the
United States goes to Mexico the city, for
want of better direction.
Writers can doubtless be broken OF cali
ing Mexico "Old Mexico" If that Is in
expedient, but the confusion arising from
the republic and its capital having the same
name Is less easily disposed Of. Names are
easily come by and there ought to be
enough Of them to go round without du-
plications that make trouble. The state OF
Washington seems very Ill named. 1t is
going to be a famous state, and Is surely
entitled to have name all to itself. But
Washington" standing by itself means,
and always will mean. Washington city.
When you want 1t to stand for the state
1t will always be necessary, as at present.
to specify that intention. The state ought
to change its name, and do so while it Is
still young and can grow up under a title
less ambiguous.
Evening star., 1901-09-07
Painting Tower Bridge.


The tower bridge is just about to under
go its first cleaning and painting.
Fnty-siX thousand eight hundred pounds
of paint will be required for .his little job,
well as 300 gallons Of varnish. The
work will take six months from the pres
ent time to complete, ana ali the eighty
men will be kept constantly engaged by
the contractors. Nobody who has not
Ecen conducted over the works can have
any idea of the magnitude OF the work set
the painters, and, what Is even more i'm
portant the scaffoiders
Some 140 feet above high water mark
wire rope has been stretched. tested to
bear a weight of fifteen tors. FROM this
rope Palmer's travelling cradles have been
suspended, enabling the PAINTERS to COM
mence work on the high level footways.
This is especially notewar Thy being the
very first scaffold of any description to
bc suspended by wire.
To give some idea of the he.2<at at which
the painters are working it may be men
toned that the topSctI Of Sir Thoma 5
Liptons Shamrock II would be just level
with the cradle suspended yesterday below
The high-leyel footway. The ordinary
method of painting bridges. as fI.le, is
to fix iron brackets in the treils work and
let the platform rest on them. That Kind
of scaffolding bids fair. however, to he a
be used for the tower bridge were used in
painting Battersea ana Southwark bridges
recently, and with saca success that the
city authorities resolved to adopt them
when the time came for painting London g
newest bridge.
Evening star., 1901-09-07

for long the fierce refraction Of the light,
and fled blindly with aching eyebalis from
that insufferable radiance. Equipped with
colored glasses, they returned, and soon a
company was working the richest salt
crystal field in existence.
All that was necessary was to plow out
the salt and grind it up. A salt plow was
devised and built. 1t has four wheels and
heavy and powerful steel beak, or break
er, and the motive power is steam. Then
grinding mill and drying plant were put
up, dummy line run up to connect with
the Southern Pacific railroad. and the work
of taking out five and half tons daily at
from $6 to $50 ton began. The great diff
ficulty, however. was to get labor. Proba-
bly, nowhere else on the earthS surface do
men work under such terrific conditions of
temperature as at the Saiton salt farm.
The normal heat of the Colorado Desert,
which is such that few white men can live
in that region, is enormously increased by
the refracted and reflected rays of the sun.
For weeks at time the temperature of the
field reaches 40 degrees every day.
Impossible for White Men.
Under these conditions, of course, no
white man can work. The salt plowing Is
done by Japanese and Indians, mainly the
latter, who seem to endure the rgors of the
climate without evil effects. To watch the
steady, stole performance of the red-skin-
ned toiler as he hoes. shovels and scrapes
the field or operates the engine that prepelS
the plow is to appreciate the qualities of
the Indian as worker under the most
trying conditions. Some of the Indian la
borers even work without glasses; but all
the JapS protect their eyes from the bane-
full glare with the darkest of Spectacles,
and even so they are often laid off with
optic inflammation In addition to the
other discomforts of the salt fields the fly
ing particles generate a peculiarly irritat-
ing and persistent thirst. The workers
drink great quantities. of water, and
this serves as a safeguard against
stroke, as it keeps them perspiring freely.
The deposit Of salt varies in thickness
from one to eight inches. 1t forms in a
crust, and the plow breaks this salt cover
ing by throwing broad but shallow fur
row Of salt Jumps up in parallel ridges on
either side of the machine. Here and there
underlying the crystal plain are springs of
water. When the crust is broken the
springs seep forth their dirty, brackish
water; and the Indian lads following the
plow with hoe in hand, knocking to and
Evening star., 1901-09-07
MOST COSTLY OF DRUGS.
Some of Them Sell at Retail for More
Than Their WefEht in Cold

Some of Them Sell at Retail for More
Than Their Weight in Gold.
From the Baltimore American
THE price of many drugs used in medt-
cine is astonishing to those who are not
acquainted with the, subject" remarked a
druggist. There are several that are
worth their weight in gold (about $50 an
ounce. while So 50 and $5 an ounce are
quite common prices in pharmacy. l filled
prescription the other day that cost So
But there is one drug that I can recall
which is worth more than it's weight In
gold. That Is pseudo physostigmine /
don't think that 1t has a popular name It
Is too rich for that. In the pharmacists
list it was quoted at 81 grain, or $437 80
an ounce The seed from which the drug
Is made grows in India and Brazil, as well
as In parts of South Africa. This seed ira
dftion says, was once used by native chiefs
as an ordeal The ordeal generally resulted
in the death of the man upon whom it was
tried, and so was considered a great truth
hnder The prepared drug is sometimes
used now In the prescriptions for the treat
ment of heart disease.
Another drug that takes the palm for
costl1ness Is, curiously enough. the one that
is perhaps the most widely known by name
or them all to the general public-musk.
Its retail price at the present moment is
about $50 an ounce. 5000 pound, apothe-
cary, or two and one-half times the value
of pure gold. "a karats fine. 1t is obtained
from the musk deer, a very rare animal,
and Is contained in follicle of which
there Is only one in each animal, so that
an ounce of the drug represents approxi-
mately one of these precious animals. AS it
is largely used for scent, the demand con-
stantly exceeds the supply and the price
has been steadily advancing. There is no
reason why it should not go to $3.50 or $500
an ounce during the next few years, as the
musk deer is gradually vanishing from the
face of the earth'
Evening star., 1901-09-07
Trusts In England.

FROM tne fOrtnlgntly review.
Whether or not we like to recognize the
fact-and willful blindness is one of our
national failingS-there is no diSputing the
truth, that an industry backed by the whole
strength of the government and the nation
stands better chance than an industry
which government and nation coldly de-
cline to assist in any way. No doubt to
back an industry, as Germany and the
United States support their iron and steel
trades, may involve q certain amount OF
temporary sacrifice on the part of the COM
munity. But that in the long run the COM
munlty suffers cannot be proved whatever
the disciples OF Golden say, and they are
very prone to substitute vague assertions
Lamennais, Human society Is based upon
mutual giving, and upon the sacrifice OF
man for man, or Of each man for all other
men, and sacrifice Is the very essence of
true society. For a generation we have
been limiting competition within the state
and restraining it's crude and cruel Vio-
lence BY innumerable laws and restric-
tiens We have raised the standard OF COM
fort and Of life. But we still refuse to re-
strain the competition which comes from
without, from countries where man Is re-
garded as a mere prOit-making mach1ne.
The cheap labor Of the southern American
states, OF Japan. Of Germany, of Belgium,
Is freely to be allowed to lower our stand
economic writer remark that industrfally
England has entered cul de sac from
which their appears to be for her no re-
treat. For We are on the horns OF d.
lemma-either our high standard OF living
or our free trade system must go.
Evening star., 1901-09-07
LoNGEvITr OF WRITER'S.
Literary TaskssAre Not IncomDatfble
With Long Life.

Literary TaskssAre Not IncomDatfble
WITH Long Life.
From the Hartford Times.
The general idea that literary production
of a high order is hostile to long life hy
reason of the nervous wear and tear it ne
cessitates would seem to be erroneous.
Scott wore himself out at the age of sixty
one by excessive work, and Dickens no
doubt lived at too high pressure-possibly
the same might be said of Thackeray-but
in the great majority Of cases literary men
possess that balance which avoids nervous
exhaustion and the literary life Is a whole
some and normal one. In our own coun-
try the average life of twenty-iline leading
writer's, from Jonathan Edwards down. is
sixty-six years. In nearly every case too
their productive powers have remai,.e ed un-
impaired by old age. The short life of
Edgar Allen Poe is, of course, not to be
attributed to the fact that he was 4 writer.
but to the nervous worry resulting from
false pride and shame at being unable to
resist temptation. Bayard Taylor worked
too hard and Lanier was broken by expo
sure in the civil war.
Dr. Holmes and Whittier snjoyeI the
longest lives of any one of our writer's,
each passing his efghty-sixth birthday
Emerson, Longfellow and Bryant lived
long and tranquil lives, and very few, per-
haps not one, of American literary men
shortened their lives by excessive devo-
tion to their natural pursuit 1t will be
noticed that the average length of the
lives of great American writer's Is greater
than that of their English counterparts by
nearly four years, though two Of the En-
glishmen, Carlyle and Newman, lived
longer than any one of the Americans.
This would still be true by a slightly less
figure even were the exceptional cases of
Keats and Shelley excluded from the En-
glish list. The reason is probably that lit
erary Englishmen drink much more beer
and wine than Americans do. The habitual
use OF alcohol even in moderation is sure
to result, in men Of sedentary habits in
liver and kidney disorders about the age of
fifty. At least, no other explanation of
the greater longevity of American writer's
suggests itself.
1t is but fair to add that the average age
OF American writer's would have been re-
duced nearly year had Stephen Crane
and Richard Hovey been included Both
of these, though young men of great prom
Use, had accomplished at the date of their
deaths hardly enough to warrant including
them In the category of great writer's"
The living American writer's who seem TO
have done enough to entitle them to ad-
mission to our literary Valhalla are Henry
James, Bret Harte, Howelis, Donald Mitch
ell, Weir Mitchell, Stedman Stoddard AL
drich, Fiske, Cable and Clemens. They
average now sixty-five years old. and
we hope that they will increase the gem
eral longevity materially There is every
reason to say that they will do So They
have already proved that devotion to the
wiid-eyed, consumptive, hectic literary
artist is thing of the past Did he ever
exist, except in the imagination Of senti-
mentaEsts?
Evening star., 1901-09-07
Throwing an, Old Shoe.
From the Philadelphisl Bulletin.

The origin of The Icur1ous custom OF
throwing an old shoe after newly married
pair for luck has, been traced back to
French peasant orfginIby young man In
terested in the folk fore and quaint GUS
toms. In southern France, after the we'd
ding ceremony, the girl Is escorted to her
new home by her girl friends and left
alone; the young husband. also In the hands
Of his friends, Is, next led to point
couple of hundred yards away from the
dwelling, where a halt is made. Then the
girls rejected suitor, H there be such q
one. arms himself, with an old sabot, or
wooden shoe, while the bridegroom. duck
ing his head. makes "a dash for the house.
The dfsgruntled slsitor throws as hard and
as true as possible. and the crowd cheers
or derides. according tor the success of the
shot. A wooden shoe Is a formidable mis-
sile In the hands OF an angry swain, and
the bridegroom Is justified In having some
misgiyings as he sees his defeated rival
practicing up In anticipation of the wedding
day. just think. says the searcher into
folk lore, how great relief 1t would be
even In this country to take a crack at the
fellow who had done you out OF your best
girl, without having the police step In.
Over in France the custom has wider
meaning. 1t signifies that the last Ill feel
ing Is thus thrown away, and 1t Is the
depth OF disgrace for the man who has
thrown the shoe. to harbor any further
malice against the young couple.
Evening star., 1901-09-07
An Expensive Sport.
the Cleveland Plain Dealer.


There Is no doubt that one Of the cost
lest of mans amusements Is fishing, and
yet your devoted angler will tell you that
it Is cheap at any price. In fact, he doesn't
count the cost. which perhaps Is the only
feature Of the sport that he never exag-
gerates. He buys the finest tackle. he
seeks resorts that are at expensive dis
tances, he hires guides and boats at ex-
orbitant rates and no matter what the
outlay or what the luck he never grum-
bles. The other day the fish and game
commissioners of Maine were petitioned by
prominent citizens of the state and OF Bos-
ton and other cities, who asked that strin-
gent measures be adopted to protect the
fishing interests In the famous Rang.ly
lake and the adjoining waters. In the
course OF an endeavor to show that the
number of fish in the lake was steadily de-
creasing 1t was stated that the number
taken by guests of the Rangely Lake House
In 1900 was 3,210. while In 1901 it has
reached only 2.310. a falling of OF 20 per
cent. These fish. trout and salmon. 1t was
further stated. averaged four pounds each,
and each pound cost the sportsman SIS,
which would average $50 per fish. or $4,000
per ton. This may seen just q little ex-
travagant, and yet is there true disciple
of the gentle art who will admit that the
outlay was foolishly incurredf
Evening star., 1901-09-07

air moved up from the torrid south, passing
like blight over the intermediate corn re-
gion. Such has been the intensity and du-
ration of the resulting heat wave that it
has absorbed from the earth such an
amount of moisture as to leave not enough
for plant life, which draws sufficient mois-
ture from below the surface, ordinarily, to
nourish it through weeks of great heat.
long after the surface crust Of the earth
has been parched and burned.
| do not say positively that irrigation has
brought to pass these long stationary areas
of low pressure, with their destructive con-
sequences. but 1 do say that 1t is most
significant fact that these depressions
should form and linger in those very locali-
ties where man has artificially provided a
supply of moisture tending to bring about
just such conditions.
Gains, hut Loses, Too.
We may ask why areas Of low pressure
have not the same influence in other Sec
tions, and the answer would be that the
warm air would be drawn toward their
centers in whatever part Of the country
they may happen to form or move over.
In other sections, however in the lake
regions. for instance, should they form
there or pass over that section they would
draw sufficient moisture to give them an
eastward without much delay, and the heat
OF the country over which they travelled
and to the south and east of their centerS
would be higher than the normal for the
season, but of short duration lasting only
so long the depression was passing. But
in the irrigated lands the moisture to tur-
nish energy to these depressions is not so
great, being only sufficient to give them
formation, while the surrounding country
for hundreds of miles is covered with
belt of dry air which practically forms
wall of resistance through which these
weak depressions cannot break. Thus they
are confined through their own weakness
for weeks at a time and finally drift off or
dissipate. 1t is exceedingly rare that they
are reinforced by storms crossing the
Rocky mountains, as such disturbances are
devoid of moisture, all the vapOr having
been condensed on the west side of the
mountains by the air having been forced to
such height that the moisture would be
condensed by the GOODNESS of the elevation.
There is no doubt but that artificial irri-
cation has been the means of bringing into
use land which for years had been an Idle
waste, but Is it not Of the utmost impor-
tance to estimate what further changes,
possibly of the direst effect, may be
wrought thereby in the development of
heat waves and other atmospheric phenom-
ena before we decide that the benefits de-
rived from irrigation are greater than the
evils which follow in it's train?
E. B. DUNN.