davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
The Maohete Not a weapon.

The machete; which played such an
important part in the Cuban revolu
tionary army, is not a weapon of war
according to a decision handed down
recently by the Board of Classifca'
ton of the United States General
Appraisers. The decision had TO dc
with one hundred dozen of these Inn
plements imported recently from Liv-
erpool to San Juan, Porto Rico. A
duty of forty-lve per cent. ad valorem
was assessed upon them as manufac-
lures OF metal. The importers pro
tested, claiming that the duty should
be only thirty-ive per cent, under
Paragraph 154, which covers swords,
sword blades and side-arms.
In overruling the protest the de-
cision of the General Appraisers says:
while 1t is true that in some coun-
tries such things have been put to
use as weapons of war, such use will
not change their classification. They
are not swords or side-arms. They
are made for and are most commonly
used as farm lmpleme nts, and a per-
verted use will not alter their classif-
cation. Record.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
Queer Rodents of the Black Canyon.

In exploring the Black Canyon Of the
Gunnison, in Colorado, a party Of
hardy adventures recently found sew
eral strange and rarely known animals
living in the perpetual gloom Of that
frightful gorge.
One of the most curious of the little
animals discovered is the kangaroo
mouse. This fellow is a highly dis
reputable member of the rodent fam
lily. The kangaroo mouse a stand
on his hind feet and make passes
at the intruder much In the manner of
the pugilist. He is a cunning little
rogue and has a voracious appetite.
Another member of the rodent fam.
lily is the pack rat, akin to the common
house rat. He is a born thief. He
carries away spoons, knives, forks and
other articles from the camps of trav-
elers. That is how he got his name.
The jumping GUS was also found
in the Black Canyon. This freak is
said to be a long distance jumper and
would put the jumping frog of Calav-
eras County-even without his dinner
OF shot-in the shade. The jumping
mouse of the Black Canyon is SO light
that his fall is much like that of a
feather, and he can leap from high
crags without injury to his anatomy
Los Angeles Herald.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
The Colorado Melon.

"There are two towns in Colorado
almost as well-known as Denver" said
Senator Teller. 'sThey are Cripple
Creek and Rocky Ford. Everybody
knows that Cripple Greek is in the
great mining district, and everybody
also knows that Rocky Ford is the
home of the finest, sweetest canta-
loupe that is grown anywhere In the
world.
ARocky Ford" continued the SEN
ator, "is a little town south of Der
yer, on the Arkansas River. 1t is the
center Of an agricultural region. 1t
was long famous in the State for its
cantaloupes, aud now the melons are
shipped to all cities In the United
States There is a certain popularity
In the soil which makes the melons SO
delicious. 1t seems to be full Of sweet
ness. Sugar beets grown in the same
locality produce an average of twenty
n per cent. of saccharine matter.
whereas fourteen per cent. is con
sidered high elsewhere. 1t was thought
at first that the c%antaloupe was OF a
peculiar kind, but this Is evidently
not the case, because the seeds planted
outside the sugary soil belt do not pro.
duce exceptional misunderstanding
ton Pos.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
WORDS OF WIsD I'M.

A scold chills.
Love leads to truth.
Exertion earns excellence.
Extraction is no. liberality,
Many good servants make bad mas.
tiers.
Evil Imagination Is the poison Of the
soul.
Courage is the cure for encourage.
ment.
Look out for the man who looks out
for himself.
He who climbs need watch where
the ladder ends.
The man who is but a fgurehead will
not cut much figure.
The fruits by which the heart Is
known drops from the lips.
Love worries about future re-
wards; it has its reward in loving.
AS faith without works is dead faith.
sc works without faith are dead works.
A boiling indignation against sin is
no good IL 1t stops short Of making
steam to do good work.
There is a good deal of difference be-
tween seeking to have the truth on
your side and seeking to be on the side
Of truth.-Ram's Horn.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

No satisfactory determination has
been made of the reason We wink.
Some suppose that the descent and re-
turn of the lid over the eye serves to
sweep or wash it off; others that
covering Of the eye gives it a rest from
the labor of vision, if only for an in
appreciable instant. This view borrows
some force from the fact that the rec
ord of winking is considerably used by
experimental PSYCHOLOGISTS to help
measure the fatigue which the eye
suffers. In another line of ~investiga-
ton Herr S. Garten has attempted to
measur the length of time occupied
by the different phases of a wink. He
used a specially arranged Photographic
apparatus, and affixed a piece of white
paper to the edge of the eyelid for a
mark. He found that the lid descends
quickly and rests a little at the bottom
Of its movement, after which it rises,
but more slowly than it fell. The
mean duration of the downward move
ment was from seventy-fve to ninety
JAN tASu6Q4ALL1S Va q SSNOALy InC ISSL
with the eye shut lasted variously, the
shortest durations being Is hundredths
of a second with one subject and seven
teen hundredths with another; and the
third phase Of the wink, the rising Of
the lid, took seventeen hundredths of a
second more, making the entire dura-
ton of the wink about forty hum
dredths, or four-tenths Of a second.
The interruption is not long enough to
interfere with distinct vision. M. V.
Henri says, in L'Annee Psycho1ogique,
that different persons wink differently
some often, others rarely; some in
groups Of 10 or so at a time, when they
rest a while; and others regularly, once
only at a time. The movement is mod
flied by the degree of attention. Pc
RODS Of close interest, when we wink
hardly at all, may be followed by a
speedy making up for lost time by
rapid winking when the tension 9s
relieyed-Appleton's Popular Science
Monthly.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

The owners Of certain game preserve
up in Pike county have had their own
troubles over the importation of wild
boars from Germany. There were five
of them, and they arrived on June 5.
The customs officials declined to en-
ter them as swine, CHASING them with
other live animals, on which there is a
duty of 20 percent ad valorem. Finally
after a bout with the board of apprais-
ers, they were admitted under the head
of swine. The animals were shipped to
Pike county, where it was intended to
breed them for game purposes, and
real German boar hunt were looked
forward to by the owners of the pre-
serve. These plans have been knocked
in the head by a flash of lightning. O.
g. Hampstead the custom house broker,
who had been retained by the owners
of the boars, said that the five animals
were lying huddled together under a
tree when it was struck by lightning
and all were Observation-Disclosures
Record.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
A PERIL Gus JOURNEY.
A Government Geologist Runs the Canons
of the Rio Grande.

of the Rio Grande.
N the Century, Robert T. Hill, the
yeologist, describes the successful nav1-
CATION and mapping of three hundred
and fifty miles Of the Rio Grande-
one Of Americas greatest rivers, hith-
erto deemed impossible.
At noon, October 5, 1899, we pushed
out into the river at Preside, and
started on our long journey into the
unknown. I do not claim to be the
only man who has travelled the tortu-
GUS and dangerous channel Of the
frontier stream; for one man, and one
only, James MacMahon has made at
least three trips down the river. Mine,
however, was the first exploring expe.
dition to pass the entire length nf the
canons and, with the exception Of Mac
MahCgs's, was the only attempt that
succeeded. Others, like Gano and New
lille, have passed the fearful twelve
miles Of the Grand Canon de Santa
Helena. The only Government expe-
dition, the International Boundary Sur
vey. pronounced the canon impassa-
BILE, and gave up the attempt to survey
them, except the lower hundred miles
of the course, which Lieutenant Mich
eler passed through.
MacMahon vas interested neither IN
science, exploration, nor travel. He
ventured the stream without knowl-
edge Of its dangers, and merely be.
cause, as a lifelong hunter and trapper,
he knew that the beaver probably
lived along its unmolested banks.
These animals alone interested him.
and a map made by him, If he could
make such a thing, would note only
beaver banks and dangerous spots. for
these We're all that he saw. Unguided
and alone, he loaded his boat with
traps, placed 1t in the stream, and
slowly drifted down to Del Rio, BRAY
ing a thousand dangers. and making
the first successful passage. This man,
whose name has perhaps never before
appeared in print, had spent his long
life In such exploits, and is one Of the
few old-time trappers still to be found
in the West.
The finding of MacMahon was toe
first Of the dozen fortuitous circum.
stances which made my trip possible,
and there was not a day that his
knowledge Of the stream did not save
us from loss and destruction. Always
kind and unobtruslve, he was as cau-
tious as a cat, being at times appar.
entity o~ver-careful. He was ever ON
the lookout for a safe channel In the
current. beaver slides on
the banks, aud border Mex:cans in the
bushes.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
Ten Million Letters This Machines Tas

Ten Million Letters Machines Task
Clerks in the general postoffice re-
Gently gathered around of the au-
tomato canceling machines and
watched it's performance, when the
computer showed that 100000 let
tiers had been stamped, and the indica-
tor went back to zero.
It was the first machine Of the
twelve in the postofice to reach the
extreme limit of the counting device.
1t was started on July 80 last, and its
work, technically known as 'back
stamping" consists in printing upon
the back of each letter the words
New York, N. T." and the date and
hour that the letter was received.
The machine is one Of two that are
used to stamp letters from out of town
intended for delivery in this city. The
other machine had handled that day
9.235,000 letters. One man operates
the machine, and merely has to feed
letters in at one end. The speed of the
machine is from $4,000 to 10000 an
hour.-New York Herald.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
Caterpillar Habit of the cuckoos.

The cuckoos were about the only
birds that were generally known to
feed extensively upon hairy and spiny
eaterpillars. until an investigation in
Massachusetts gave evidence that
many other birds were killing these
insects. The caterpillar habit of the
cuckoo became so well known in the
work on the gypsy moth that a gath
ering of cuckoos anywhere was looked
upon as a sign of a caterpillar out
break. 1t is a well known fact that
cuckoos eat SO many caterpillars that
their stomachs sometimes become
lined or felted with these hairs from
the bodies of the insects. The tent
caterpillar, forest caterpillar. gypsy
moth, brown tail moth. black spined
caterpillar, fall web worm and the
canker worms r ali greedily eaten.
New England Farmer.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Cows were the first street commits
sioners In Boston, but that city Is now
less pastoral than New York City,
The al~l-revealing census shows that
New York City had 1888 cows, or one
COW to every TAI inhabitants, whereas
Boston has but 495 COWS. or n COW
to every 1875 inhabitants. Chicago
has a brighter station in the milky
way. She has nearly 10000 cows, n
COW to every IS inhabitants. But
the real Boopolis or Cowtown is
Peoria, which has nearly $4,000 cows,
a bossy to every four inhabitants.
Peoria Is proud to be called the Cow
citv.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

The appellate court Of Indiana has
decided that a man and his wife are
not one. The decision was renderer
in 9 suit brought by Alvfra DALEY
against her husband. Alpheus. He
had made her @ verbal promise that IL
she would Join with him In a deed
conveying his farm. valued at $4,000.
he would give her his note for $1,000.
The deed was signed, but Alpheus re-
fused to make good the note, insisting
that he and his wife were one, and
that, therefore. the contract could
not be valid. The appellate court
held that while this was the old
English rule. 1t does not hold good In
Indiana.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Revelations made recently regard.
ing Bombay municipal elections show
that Hindu election agents can excel
the widest achievements in Europe
or America. 1t appears to be a com
mon practice to dress up lads to i'm.
~personate female ratepayers who are
either dead or are reluctant TO vote.
In many other cases women are hired
to represent such voters. Persona
ton by men OF male voters who are
dead or travelling is too common to
excite remark. The most amazing dis
covery III that there is now a class OF
men who call themselves profession
al vote brokers'" and openly under
take to secure votes at q fixed price
o haaa
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

The employment Of a woman as IL
brarian Of the new $50, 900 library at
Hagerstown. Nd. calls momentary at
tention to the admirable efficiency Of
the sex in this profession. It Is obser-
vable too that fewer slurs' are now
cast on the knowledge of the girls at
the book counters in the department
stores. Their acquaintance with liter
AZURE may not be as extensive as a
publishers list. but at least it serves
the purpose of selling a popular novel
at 9S cents and saving the impecun-
ious buyer the middleman's profit.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

The Washington monument is slow
iy but surely disappearing. Vandals
are carrying 1t away in their pockets.
The interior is constantly being de-
faced. In may places the inscriptions
on stones contributed by the various
states of the Union. as well as those
sent by organizations, have been great
ly injured. From the appearance of
ome of the marble it has been attack
cd with iron instruments. Letters
have been broken OF tablets. While
the great bulk Of the damage is doubt
less done by relic hunters, some of
the highly polished stones have been
injured simply for the sake of defac-
ing them.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
AN ITALIAN 3
About the Poet, the Brain, the Pen and
the inkstand.

About the Poet, the Brain, the PEN and
the lnkstand.
A poet obtained prodigious success;
seated at his table, he INDUCED in the
glorious idea of his triumph. This
love Of glory, common to all men,
klndled in his heart a secret fire. The
Idea of the praises bestowed upon him
made the blood circulate with violence
through his veins; JOY filled his entire
being. His brain, stung with jealousy.
thus addressed him: "You are indebted
to me for your success. 1t was | who
furnished the ideas which have gained
you so much honor. Surely, without
me you could not have written a single
word"
The pen overhead this claim to ex-
elusive praise, and, full of indignation,
thus addressed the brain: what van
ity! Without me what could you have
done with all your fine ideas and fine
i~maginations? 1t is to me he is in
debted for them; to me who have COM
.mitted them to paper"
The inkstand then put in its word:
without me you could have written
nothing. What could you have done
had I not bathed you in my ink?" The
poet, stunned by these clamors, which
would tear from him all the glory that
he had acquired, said to them: II am
equally obliged to you all; to you, my
brain, for suggesting ideas; to you, my
pen, who wrote them; and to you, my
inkstand, who supplied the mean to
do So" Thus the dispute ended.
A few days later the poet published
a new work; but its fate was the re-
verse of the former. Everybody
turned their back upon him; some
wrote satires, others made invectives
against him. In a short time he be-
came the laughng-stock of the world.
The poet then complained Of his brain
for having suggested the nonsense. He
flew into a passion against the pen
and inkstand for having contributed to
put it to paper; but they all denied
that any blame attached to them. The
brain said he did not know how to
choose among the ideas which 1t had
suggested. The pen and inkstand re-
preached him for being a bad poet,
alleging that they had done nothing
but obey his will, and written only
what he pleased. The poor, unfor-
tunate poet had no other resource but
to hold his tongue and weep over his
disgrace in solitude.
Moral.
Such is the common fate of man.
When an undertaking succeeds, all
are anxious to claim a share in the
event. But does it fail, everybody
abandons him; nobody admits that he
had any share in the business, and all
maintain that the fault was entirely
his own.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Inferior magistrates in Great Brit.
ain are subjected to much criticism
for the undue severity and also for
the undue leniency Of the sentences
which they impose upon offenders
against the criminal laws. Indeed,
Mfr. Labouchere In Truth publishes
every week . illegal pillory." as he
calls II. in which he contrasts in par
allel columns such extraordinary
m~agisterial judgments as fall under
his notice. None OF these is really
nor remarkable, however. than q
sentence rscently imposed By Mr. Jus
tice Brigham. one Of the. Judges Of the
high court Of Justice at the Penn
brokeshire assises. The offender was
q sailor who had quarrelled with q
feilow-passenger in q railway carriage.
He first tried to stab the complain.
ant In the breast with q clasp knife
and. failing In this. the prisoner got
his victims head under his arm and
cut open an eyeball. entirely destroy
Ing the sight Of mi eye and probably
that Of the other. Upon q verdict
finding the defendant guilty Of caus-
ing grievous bodily harm. he indigo
sentenced him 10 be- imprisoned fol. q
arna Of only nine months.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

The original Book Of Norman has
been found again. 1t Is pleasant to
e the third member of the immor-
tai trio turning up. The last member
Of the Light Brigade and the aged
slave who held George Washington's
horse have been overworked lately.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Maurus Jokai, who, when in his sew
entieth year married a young actress,
said the other day: II began a new
life with my marriage. We have made
for ourselves a small world which
quite compensates for the absence of
the great one outside" Not all aged
br~idegrooms find matrimony of this
sort an elixir Of life.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

The value Of a newspaper as an
advertising medium consists in
It's circulation.
When you can secure the corn.
bined circulation Of two papers
for the price of one, it is money
saved!
"EThe st. Landry Democrat
was consolidated ON the 3D. of
March, 1894, with /" The Opelou.
yas Courier" The advertising
rates have not been increased
while the price of subscription
has been reduced to % q year.
THE COURIER being By odds
the best paper in the empire Par.
lgh OF St Landry Ii therefore the
0aaage
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

John BENJAMIN Parsons. head Of the
Philadelphia Union Traction company,
has risen from a "S5-a-week job" to a
post that pays him $4,000 a year.
Surface car lines have furnished a
peculiarly profitable field for execu-
tive ability. and the TRACTION million
aire" is one Of the most interesting
OF his kind. as he is the newest.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
VIVA JOEL SANDOZ.
Attorney at-Iaw and Notary Public
~OPELOUSAa, La.

0PELOUSAs, LA.
VIII practice In ali Courts, Stats
and Federal, and before the Paseas ana
Pension Offices at Washington. D. 9.
Shorthand and Typewri*irg promptly
and carefully done. oAics over 81
Itsadey State Rank. Main StrssA
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Sicilian bandits and Greek noun
taineers have much to learn from the
superior Occidental method of the
Omaha k%idnappers In collecting q
ransom.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
A Good Work.

A plunging brigade has been estal
lished on the Seine under the Project
OF Police. Only good swimmers are,
accepted. and 1t is their business to
go up and down the river in steamers
to rescue drowning persons. They
have saved twelve lives.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Nearly every class of clouds attains
a loftier altitude between the hours Of
4 and s p. m. than at any other part
Of the day. whereas between noon and
1 o'clock they fall a trife below the
average.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

OF THE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION,

La
Uadsr the Direction Of the Sisters Hadaalta
Of Holy Cross.
Offers to young ladies every facility
for acquiring 9 thorough christian cd.
ucstion. Constant attention is paid TO
home and social culture. Lessons are
given in music, painting and other
useful arts. The sigters also have
charge of the boys school. The course
Of instruction is two-fold-Prepsratory
and Commercial. French 10 taught in
the two courses. For particulars, -ad-
dress SISTER SUPERIOR.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Opelousas Courier
u the advocate Of Democratic
principles and the friend Of the
people.
Their welfare 10 its welfare, and
it will ever be found defending
their rights with all Of its
ability.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

Finland loses $4,000 worth OF cat
de q year by wolves.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13

German surgeons have discovered
that the delicate membrane which COW
ers the contents Of an egg will answer
as we'll as bits Of skin from a human
being to start the healing of open
wounds which would not otherwise
heal. The discovery has already been
successfully tested.
The Opelousas courier., 1901-04-13
Two Hundred Complete Stories
BY Popular Authors.

This mammoth collection Of amusing and entertain.
Ing complete stories is comprised in o large and hand.
some volume Of 192 large quarto pages, printed ID
clear, bold readable type, and neatly bound In atrao.
tive colored paper covers. This great book contains
Tsco Hundred Coraplete Stories. each story being given
complete and unabridged, and they Gre written BY
such famous authors as Oliver Optic, Horatio Algefl,
Jr., Ned Bnntline, Sylvanus Cobb, IT., Josiah Aliens
Wife, Mrs. May Agnes Fleming. Mrs. Mary A. Dsniaon.
Esther Serle Kenneth, Ella Rodman Church, Mary
Grace Halpine, Clara Augusta, 4 New YORK Detective.
Mary Cecil Hay, George r.. Sims, Emma Garrison
Jones, Mary Kyle Dallas, N. +. Caldoor, Dr. J. q. Robin.
son. Arthur Z. Meserve, and many others. These
character as to please every taste embrscing Love
Stories. Domestic Stories, Detective Stories, Stories g
Stories, Stories OF Railway Life. Dramatic Stories.
Fairy Stories: etc, etc. We have space to snumsr as,
Story" "By a Hairs Breadth "a Dangerous we:
man :. a., Prom . Lying Death ~ Terrible e Tribe! a Ggn;t.
ship Adventure with . Panther, - "HuntsS %
. v "a Dark Night,s Work :, "a Struggle ME- ISs
ness. !" !" The Valley Flower - THE Hunters PeIl,'
etc, etc. A whole seasons delightful reading 10 com.
~ n uynw nan n~nN n -zHk ~z,,~ - Rnn nR FANNIE
La correspondencia de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 1890-1943, 1901-11-27
iP0R FIN :!

Recientes despachos recibidos
de los Estados Unidos, nos trasn la
grata nueva de que ell Preside nte
Roosevelt, ha frmado va la con &C.
sion hechs, !por nuestro Cons ejo
Eiecutivo, para Ia construction de
una red ferroviaria por toda la Isla,
de que es iniciador activfsimo ell
honorable General Roy Stone.
Dentro de sesenta dias, Sc nos
asegura que comenzaran los traba-
jos, dardose principle por la lines
de San Juan q Caguas.
La Isla estA de placemes con
este motive, y La Corresponds cia tie
ne gusto en- trasmitirlos, muy sim
ceros, q su amigo ell respectable Ge
neral Stone, alma de esta hermosa
idsa, que ha de transformer CO M
pletamente el desenvolvimientoa az RI
cola v comercisl de nuestro pals
Cuando esa red ferroviaria este
terminAda, Puerto Rico sera un So
10 pueblo y las distancias desapa-
rscsr6n.
Pueblo eminentemente agricul-
tor, no dejara un picasho sin cult
vo, y los productos vendran al Ito
raj con facilidad suma para ssr K
portados.
Ell porvenir es nuestro. 81 asa
red ferroviaria tiene cumpllda re a.
lizaciop; y asf 10 esperamos, aunq ns
Sc nos acuse de optimistas.