davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Hietfnns of Electricity.
y 4 Surprising Table

table has been compiled by the in
surancc companies of the losses by elec-
tricity during the nine months ending on
December l. Two hundred and forty-six
persons have been eIectrocuted during
these nine months. or an average Of Al
NEST thirty month; 5l5 have been MAIN
ed, li2 horses have been killed, and there
were 4I2 fires.
In this table no account has been
kept of the indirect accidents through the
use of electricity, such as the trolley car
accidents. electric mobile accidents. and
the like, but only where the direct cleo
trio shock caused the death or manning
or the fire
The Losses by electric fires alone have
averaged over a million dollars month.
These losses have become so serious that
the accident, life and fire insurance COM
panies are considering the advisa bility of
taking united action against them. The
insurance rate in these companies was
fixed before the great and increasing use
of electricity, ana the electrical risk was
not figured in. so that the rates are upset
and require a readjustment through these
additional losses.
The winter months show more damage
by electricity than the summer months.
During the summer there are fewer fires
and not so many electrocutions. while al
ter every winters storm there is long
list of casualties and losses from imper-
feet insulation, crossed and broken wires,
and misled currents
While on one side better sanitation and
medical and surgical care are tending to
increase the length OF the average human
life, the development of these new dan
gers acts as an offset to what would 9TH
erwise be clear gain.
II added to the direct deaths by cleo
tricity the indirect deaths We're included
the total is sufficient to make an appre-
ciahie change in the death rate. The
Brooklyn trolley lines alone are response
bic for about one hundred deaths per an
mum, and with the development of the
trolley system and the increase In speed
the number of deaths is keeping pace
One of the results is a great increase in
accident insurance. II is hardly a score
OF years since accident insurance was in
vented. and now it has become an extern
sivc and profitable branch CT the insur-
ance field.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Plan Provides for the Safe and Convenient
Transmission of Money by Mail With Only
Nominal Expense to the Sender, and Involves
the Issue Of New Sort of Money + +

fractional currency as the greatest boon.
1t is also stated that the postal revenues
would be nearly doubled by the adoption
Of the post check system. 1t is said that
the enormous sum of $1,000. 900. 900 passes
through the mails annually in small sums
Hon. Perry s Heath. in a recent letter
to Mr.. Post, advocates the adoption of the
new system in strong terms. He says:
Il have given considerable time and
study to your proposed post check. and it
affords me pleasure to say that l regard
IL with great favor. 1t is certainly a very
commendG Bile trait of the true American
character that one would work out SO
good Il solution of the problem before us
as you have. and then offer it gratis to
your country.
Fractional Currency Needed.
I'VE have for many years needed. and
now need more than ever, n fractional
currency for transmission through the
mails. 1t seems to me that you have de-
vised n most practicable plan-that OF
currency in various denominations from
five dollars down into the cents under a
dollar, which can be sareiy sent through
the mails. payable only to the payee
whose name is written upon it. upon the
of small fee. 1t appears to be
all that its advocates hope for. and my
varied experience as newspaper publisher
and in official life. where I have seen
much of the necessary need for a small
currency, impels me to regard your post
heck with favor, and to hope that Con-
gress Will adopt it,"
The Washington times., 1902-02-23

TE1E Committee On Pensions of the
House of Representatives a few
i days ago reported favorably a bill
granting pension of S25 a month
to the last surviving soldier of the war
of 1872. His name is Hiram Cronk. and
his home is at Lowell, Oneida county,
New York. Mr.. Cronk is 1o2 years of age.
When it is taken into consideration
that Washington. the fist President OF
the United States. had died only a few
months before Hiram Crork was born:
that Cronk cast his first vote seventy
eight years ago. and that since then there
have been tweuty-one Presidents of the
United States; that in the war of 1872.
during which Cronk was Il soldier. the
United States had $1,000 regulars ard
al .622 militia and volunteers. and that
he today is the sole survivor of that war
this veteran certainly is Il national figure
OF public interest.
This quiet old man was born in the
town CT Frankfort, Herkimer county. y.
Y, in 1900. Old as he is, he has a re-
markablc memory and. although quite
deaf. is ever ready when questions are
made plain to him to answer all. with in
tercsting anecdote by way of Illustration.
He is living in Il small hamlet a few miles
from Rome with a devoted daughter. who
is a widow. She. as rule, does all the
talking for the old man.
CroEk recently heard tne good news re-
garding the Pension Committees report.
He was greatly pleased and was not loath
to cnat as best he could about some OF the
interesting eyents in his remarkably long
career.
When he was a mere brat of Il boy. he
said. he went to n distant school in a
little place known as the Wright Settle
ment." about four niles north of Rome.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Interesting Statistics of
L the Colofed Population

Late census returns have proven that
there are twice as many negroes in the
United States today as there were when
Lincoln set them free. and they also show
a white population CT GT.GG0. 900 and ne
gro population Of $3.50, Geo. with about
100000 Indians. Chinese. and japanese.
The death rate among the negroes in
the cities, wherc they live in the con
gested districts, and where every law
Of nature and sanitation is defed," is
nearly double that of tine whites. and is
far in excess u the birtn-ratc; and this
high mortality mas led some to think that
the negro is dying out. This is not so.
The Increase Of negro population in the
rural districts more than makes up for the
loss in the cities, and the rural surplus
flock cityward in sufficient numbers to Eli
up the ranks.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
ANOTHER WAR FOR ENGLAND

by right OF might, and many have been
the conflicts on the barren shore when
ambitious usurpers struggled for suprem-
acy. The present King is a giant in size.
His name is Mclaughlin. So strong is
King Mclaughlin that he ran LiIl an OK
with his fist, according to popular report.
The Tory Islanders are chiefly fisher
men. a Sligo steamer calls once a week
to bear away their catch. Their are no
cats and no rats on Tory Island. Nor
are there aay policemen or pawnshops.
But the islanders have public house.
According to tradition. the island was
once Inhabited by a race OF giants. The
Book of Ballymote' says that it was
owned by the Fomorians. a race of pi-
rates and giants who inhabited Ireland
twelve centuries before the Christian era.
Their chief was Balor of the Mighty
Blows, and two of the rocks On the east
coast of the island are called Balor's
Castle and Balor's Prison. One of the
pirate giants erected 4 tower on the ISL
and which stands today in fair state of
preservation. It is built of undressed
houlders. with walls four feet thick at
the base.
Tourists seldom visit Tory Island owing
to the unconventional actions of the ma
tives. The latter resent intrusion from
the outside world. favorite trick of
the fishermen is to run alongside a
steamer or sailing vessel and ask the
lookout to heave them a rope. When
rope is thrown, the fisherman hawls in as
much Of it as he can, and then cut the
line. In this way the fishing fleet is kept
supplied with rope at a minimum cost
The Tory Islanders are evidently n
healthy race, for there is no doctor on
the island
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Tees of the United States
Z Patent Office

Patent Office fees must be paid in ad-
vance and are as follows: On filing each
original application for patent, SIS; on
Issuing each original patent, $50; in de-
sign cases, for three years and six
months. SO; for seven years. SIS; for
fourteen years, $50; on filing each caveat.
$40; en- every application for the reissue
of patent, $50; on filing each disclaimer,
SIG; for certified copies Of patents and
other papers in manuscript, 10 cents per.
each hundred words; for certified copies
Of printed patents, So cents; for recording
every assignment agreement power of at
torney or other paper Of 800 words or ur-
der, 81; of over 800 words and under
goo words, g; CT over coo words. g;
for copies Of drawings, the reasonable
cost OF making them.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
How OQercoQfs Cause Colds.

THAT
PLANTATION OF
by
the prevented
so taken
the o
sudden
Firstly
all
gradually
the
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
temperature of tie Eat6
4 and the Shells Thickness

". L. Cordies in his essay read 10 the
French Academy of Science. deduces from
his own observations and those of others
that the heat increases as we penetrate
from the surface toward the centre of the
earth a the rate OF one degree Fahren-
heit in forty-fivc feet; that the neat OF
boiling water is found in our ATTITUDES
about a mile and half below the sur
face; that at the depth of sixty miles
the heat must be so intense as to keep
such rccks as we see at the surface in a
state of fusion; that the interior CT the
globe. in short. consists Of a molten mass.
encoMpaszed by a solid crust or shell
about sixty miles in thickness.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
CuppLyifg Sermons for
~ Gergynaea of London

IN BaysWater, London. there lived 4 re-
tired clergyman who handsomely aided
an otherwise slender income by writing
sermons for other men OF the cloth. Tie
sermon writer died rather suddenly. but
left a good supply Of pulpit material.
This was about all he did leave, however,
SO his widow. clever woman Of educa-
ton, took up his work. She has been
carrying on the business" ever since
and the fact was discovered only month
ago.
Most Of her sermons are bought by
clergymcn Of the Church Of England, why
are under the impression that her hus-
band is still alive. The widow sees no
harm in keeping up the deception espo-
cially as it is fair to presume that the
sermons she furnishes are better than
those which her correspondents could
turn out
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
DaqUnbrokmg in Vienna
L a Royal PrerogatfVe

Except in Vienna, where the Emperor,
since the time OF Joseph ii, has been
pawnbroker general, pawnbroking in Aus
tria is in the hands of private persons.
The imperial pawning office has lately eX-
perienced a complete transformation.
Originally formed out of an ancient con-
vent and adjoining church, it had long
been far too small for the volume of
business and has been RACED and replao cd
by very fine Offices. with spacious auction
rooms Henceforth the interest en- loans
will never exceed 10 per cent.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
N/ben Fingers Were
~ Used Instead of Forks

In the year 1911 an Englishman travel
ing in Italy made the following entry in
his diary: 81 observe a custom not used
in any country l was in They use a small
fork when they cut their meat" He pur-
chased one and carried it to England. but
when he used it he was ridiculed by his
friends.
That little two-llne article of table fur
nture brought about fierce discussion.
1t was an innovation unwarrantcd by the
customs of society. Ministers preached
against its use, one minister maintaining
that as the Creator had given us thumbs
and fingers, it was an insult to Almighty
Cod to use a fork.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23

Z E rs ALLEN asked .flc TO como
mn over the night before the con-
l L cert and hear Sue Belle prac-
tice her piece" Poor, twelve
year-old little musician. That piece has
been her buGbear ever since Mrs. Allen
decided that il the honor of the family
was to he maintained in a musical way
Sue Belle must do it. And how proud
they were when the Professor" asked
the little girl TO play number at the
entertainment. Prizes were to be given
for the best progress among the Pro
fessors" pupils, which made the prac-
Using all the more a necessity.
Little Girls Task.
At first each hour of work resulted
in decided improvement. Mr.. Allen
told me when she came for some sew
ing (she is only hard-working needle
woman) that in week Sue Belle had
accomplished more than she had in a
month before.
she just sits down on the piano
stool as if she hadn't a thought but
music" said Mrs. Allen. Under such
conditions it is easy to see what lin
bering of fingers and correctness OF ex-
ecution will result, especially when
little girl is 10 play a piece for a prize
before a whole hall full of other scholars
fathers and mothers and relatives in gen.
eral
Then came time when Sue Belle
ceased to improve.
Il can't explain it." Mrs. Allen said
when she came to bring the sewing back.
''She looks z picture, sitting there so
straight and little, with her two long
braids. | don't care if l do say it, no
woman in New York has prettier girl
for her own
Which is quite true. Sue Belle is
beautiful child. In few years she will
be handsome woman.
For a month Mrs. Allen had been much
discouraged. Apparently Sue Belle was
standing still and the concert was creep
ing nearer and nearer.
So it was she who asked me to come
over and hear the piece played.
Sue Belle said Good evening"" very
precisely, and, after ] was seated, sat
down herself in a prim little way that
fully explained the slow Improvement.
Why She Lost Ground.
OF course, 1t was only a few minutes be-
fore Mrs Alien asked her to play. She
Strengthened up her slim little length,
fixed her small head in one place to stay
and marched over TO the piano. There
was no denying it. She had lost all the
roIlicking spirit the gay little mazourka
demanded. She sat there with her two
long braids hanging down her back. an ac-
curate picture OF a tweive-year girl
playing a piano; but it was 4 lifeless Sue
Belle.
Her mother stared in panied anxiety,
tears stood in her eyes, one rolled down
her cheek-Sue Belle did her best, but
her best was bad.
1t was finished at last, and she came
over beside my chair. shiyering little
as she stood took hold OF her slim,
thin little hand. 1t was rigid and icy.
all the rose-leaf color had gone from
her cheeks. But she did not forget how
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
p charitable Case of the
~ Mining of tie Races

In the Danish West Indies historic and
commercial forces have mixed races as
well as languages. II would take n
Smithsonian expert to determine all the
bloods and races which make up this
mixed population. Here and there are
descendants of Caribs and other red
types; the negro is largely in evidence
along with mestizo descendants, mulatto,
terceron quadcron. qnintsron. octoroon.
CRITIC and zambo; fair-ha Scandinav
ians, English. Scotch. and irish, German
and French; spaniards, Porto Ricans,
Ncnezuelans. Portuguese, italians, Dutch.
Eelgians. Swiss. and Yankees.
But this mixture has worked very well.
1t has destroyed all prejudice. racial. re-
ligious, national. or political.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
THINGS WORTH KNOWING

coo arc considered at the age of ten
years, each will have 4S.3 more years to
live. or course some will die before col
lecting their life inheritance, but the 4S.7
represents the average. AS natter OF
carefully ascertained fact there will be
149 deaths among the 100000 Lefore the
eleventh year is reached. This leaves
99,25l survivors, with a chance of 4S.1
more years in the land of the living. But
74G of these will die before lecoming
twelve year-olds
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Dhnomena Which Suggest
4 WsrUes In plant Kmqdom

Francis Darwin, an English scientist,
has published a lecture on plant move
ments. He finds in the vegetable king
dom u wide selection Of phenomena that
suggests forcibly that Plant sensitiveness
may be more nearly akin to the animal
nervous organism than We arc given to
believe.
1t is not enough lie thinks to say that
certain flower stalks are guided by grav-
itation" in their movements. for gravita-
ton viii only act upon what it finds in
the living plant. In the case OF the
"Sundews" and Venus fytraps," which
capture insects for focd as dr-t:y as do
the spiders, there is sensitiveness with a
purpose, and that purpose ana end the
same which meets the view in the animal
world.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
T HIRAM CRONK. VETERAN OF 1872

When I enlisted" he continued. my
father. James, and my two brothers, John
and Jeptha, also Joined the army.
Il was SO young and such a mite of
fellow that the other soldiers remarked
that in case CT a stampede my father could
easily pick me up under his arm and run
away with me-"
But neither Hiram nor his father ever
ran away. HIS war record. as well as his
fathers. shows that.
In the same regiment with Cronk, he
says there was young man named De-
pew.
THAT Depew," he added. became quite
q well-to-do man. Chauncey NJ. Depew is
his grandson"
After the war Cronl made his living
rs a repairer of shoes among the farmers.
Twice year he made tour among them.
supplying them with new footsear and
touching up the old shoes. When the
Eric Canal was being constructed he got
job among the Iaborers. and remembers
seeing Governor De Witt Clinton inspect
ing the work during an official visit. He
remembers, too seeing General Lafayette
when lie went over the canal in a State
barge, and Cronk says he had the pleas
IRE Of shaking hands with the famous
Frenchman.
MY first vote said the veteran. was
for Andrew Jackson"
Crcnk was married when he was twen-
ty-fve years old. His wife's maiden name
was Mary Thornton. She died in 1885.
The couple had six children. Three are
now living, and he has fourteen grand
children and four Er,at-granJchildren.
The pension Of SIS will be a great bless
ing to the old man, who has been re-
ceiyirg only IS 4 month up TO date.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23

IL to re-conquer an island whose in
habitants have 4 king of their own
and who refuse to pay tribute 10 King
Edward
By strange popularity of fate it is
known as Tory Island. 1t is bleak, DESC
late strip of land nine miles from the
storm-swept northwest coast OF ireland,
and contains a population of about FIVE
hundred, who have their own language,
their own government, and their own
costumes. as well as their own King.
Being in their own opinion a free and
Independent people, they refuse to pay
taxes to England, or rent to the landlord.
In fact. they have paid neither rert nor
taxes for half 4 century That is why
England has detailed gunboat to visit
the island This week and help regiment
of Irish constabulary evict the obstinate
inhabitants.
1t will not be the first time that an
expedition has been sent against the Tory
Islanders. Seventeen years ago England
decided that separate government On
Tory Island could not be tolerated, and
the gunboat Wasp was sent to uphold the
majesty Of the Crown. But the Wasp
was wrecked on the treacherous south
west coast and all her crew were
drowned. Tory Islanders regarded the
disaster as an Intervention OF Providence,
and gave thanks accordingly to their
patron saint. St. COLUMBIA.
Mr. King. of Tory Island, is be-
whiskered. unconventional individual. and
very prehistoric, but he has resisted the
British Empire successfully fer many
years and his people have a fine disregard
for everything English. The King is King
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Derstan Rngs Worth Ten
4 Dollars a Square Foot

Ten dollars is the value of square
foot Of the best Persian rug and it takes
a single weaver twenty-thrce days TO
complete it. This allows the weaver
about forty-four cents a day for her wool
and her labor. but three-fourths Of this
amount goes to pay for the wool Only
eleven cents a day is left for the weaver.
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Like Money Mutilated.

THAT any mutilated or soiled post
check shall be replaced or redeemed at
the United States Treasury or any sub
treasury in the same manner and subject
to the same conditions governing the re-
demption of other mutilated or soiled
money.
That the United States post checks
shall not be subject to the provisions con-
tanned in the sections of the Revised Stat
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
SCHOOLS of Porto RICO
~ ard the Philippines

In Porto Rico over loco schools are in
operation. with about so eco pupils. There
are 100000 of school age there. In the
Philippines there are registered 10000
pupils in the elementary grades, while
over 10000 adults are attending night
school to learn United States"
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
fans Chance in the
WI Geaf Race of Life

panies OF New York recently figured out
the chances of living, and naturally went
into the spirit Of the thing on lines the
reverse OF the sentimental. The experts
simply took 100000 human beings and
figured out percentage. just as if the
100, geo humans were chalk on a black
board.
Acting on the understanding that the
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
E7arly Predictions of Human
IL Flight Through the Air

In the year 1918 Friar Bacon predicted
that flying would shortly become general
practice" and Bishop Wilkins. in 1862,
said: 1T will yet be as usual to hear a
man call for his wings when he is going
on journey as it is now to hear him call
for his bccts"
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
GOVERNMENTS NEW SYSTEM OF FRACTIONAL PAPER CURRENCY

thereafter, be forwarded to the general
Postoffice Department, at Washington,
District of Columbia. and by said Post
office Department delivered to the Treas
ury Department. and n new post check
Of like denomination shall be issued and
exchanged therefor; and the Secretary of
the Treasury shall furnish the Postoffice
Department annually a statement of the
number and denominations of the post
checks redeemed
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Mr.. l1CN1jllaR's Bill.

The following bill was accordingly in
PRODUCED by Senator Mcmillan, Of Michi-
gan, and Representative John J. Lentz.
of Ohio. After the usual preamble it
provides: That all United States and ma
ticnal bank notes, silver certificates. and
Treasury notes Of one. two and five-dollar
denominations shall. when presented at
the United States Treasury. be replaced
with United States notes of like denomi-
nations and dimensions, payable in like
manner as the retired notes were payable.
the new notes to be known as the United
States post check notes.
That SD. 0G0, coo in United States notes
Of larger denominations than $40 shall be
replaced with S50,oOOC0O in fractional
notes CT the UniteI States. TO be known
as United States post-checl notes, in de-
nominations of >. 10, 10, %, and so cents.
The New Currency.
THE dimCI sions of the post-chcck frac-
ticnal notes shall be four inches long by
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
A Decided Innovation.
The Best RECIPE for a Sunday SNcrigtf Dish.

head lettuce small Break
lettuce wash dry and dish Peel
and slice the the cut it small
pieces the Mix well half
spoonful of teaspoonu pinch pepper
three tabsponu tablespoonful vinegar
o the
The Washington times., 1902-02-23
Michigan Man Devises and Presents Free to
the Government d Scheme Which Is Des-
tined to Fill d LoRg-FeIt Public Want With
Perfect Satisfaction J J + J

S. Heath. dated June. 1898. refers to the
present form OF money order as wholly
unsatisfactory. unpopular with the public,
fails to meet the expectation of the de-
partment, and costs double the amount
which should be expended for that pur
pose"
In his report of the following year Mr..
Heath asks that legislation be enacted in
order to relieve the present conditions.