davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
Boy Seasick, but Game.

He was one of three diminutive mes
senger boys hired to remain aboard the
big ocean-going tugboat that followed
the yachts. There was quite a general
swell on when the tug got out about
the lightship and the wind, coming up
strong, made a nasty sea.
The dipping and rolling of the boat
made this boy more sick than the
others. He lay on the after deck, I'M
able to move and groaning at intervals
Once in a great while he raised his dull,
heavy eyes to note the positions of the
yachts.
All day he lay there, refusing to go
inside the spacious cabin. When the
tug pulled in at the pier he was so weak
he had to be helped ashore.
His face was haggard, and, supported
by his companions, he dragged himself
up the pier, eliciting sympathy from all
the yachting reporters.
Halfway up the pier he hobbled over
to the reporter who had been in charge
of the boat that day, says the New York
Mail and Express, and placed two blue
and trembling hands on the wrist of
the newspaper man. His wan face was
raised, and he said in a hoarse, tense
whisper:
"Hey, mister! If yer want boy agin
termorrer ask fur me, will yer, mister"
He was game.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03

ter season, when food is comparatively
scarce, and hence some of our birds eat
them freely. Now when robin eats a
cherry he swallows simply the meat
and fips the stone away. The seed Of
the mistletoe the bird cannot flip. 1t is
sticky and holds to his bill. His only
resource is to wipe it off, and he does
so, leaving it sticking to the branches
Of the tree on which he is sitting at the
time. This seed sprouts after a time,
and not finding earth-which indeed its
ancestral habit has made it cease want
ing-it sinks it's roots into the bark of
the tree and hunts there for the pipes
that carry the sap. Now the sap in the
bark is the very richest in the tree, far
richer than that in the wood, and the
mistletoe gets from it's host the choicest
of food. With a strange foresight it
does not throw it's leaves away, as do
most parasites, but keeps them to use
in winter, when the tree is leafless.-La-
dies Home Journal.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
UNCLE SANS POISONER
Not Generally Known that This Gov
ernment Maintains One.

Not Generally known that This Gov
ernment Maintains One.
In little house in South Washington
is located Federal institution without
which the Smithsonian Institution and
National Museum could not exist. 1t
is the department of the chief poisoner,
Joseph Farmer. The office of chief
poisoner was not unusual in countries
ruled by despots, but it may be sur
prise to many to learn that such an
Office is maintained by our own repub-
Hcan form of administra ton.
However, Mr.. Farmer, unlike his con-
temporaries in Turkey, Spain, Arabia,
ETC., is not engaged in putting obnox-
ious and eXuberant statesmen out of
the way, but in placing the objects on
exhibit in the institution and museum
beyond the reach of thieves, rust, and
cockroaches.
Everything that is received by these
institutions, whether it is rare book,
a Filipino bolo, or a stuffed and mount
ed animal, is sent to Mr.. Farmer to be
poisoned. He is an expert in the prep
aration and use of preservative COM
pounds. For stuffed animals and birds
he finds that arsenical compounds bring
the best results Every object of metal
receives a coating of something that
prevents rust, while fabrics, basketry,
silks, furs etc, are poisoned in much
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
CIotha woven from Rocts

The weaving Of stone into material
for clothing, the making of flexible and
lasting granite trousers, black marble
coats and fancy onyx waistcoats may
be possibility of the future, the weav-
ers say. They remind the Philadelphia
Record that already curtains are made
of asbestos and cloth manufactured
from chalk.
James McGuck, Manayunk spinner,
has an armchair covered with soft
and silky fabric of Titan red, which he
wove toilsomely out of rock, out of ''red
SHE'LL" the crumbling stone of which
Manayunk masons build cheap houses.
McGuck thus describes the weaving:
81 threw about a ton of the rock. in
Jumps as big as your head, into the
picker. The picker blades were dulled,
but the rock was crushed. and came
out good stock, with staple an inch
long like asbestos.
''This fluffy stuff l threw into my
carding- machine, and first it became a
soft, inch-thick rope, then a harder,
quarter-inch twine, and at this point
my mule took it and twisted it till it
was an ordinary thread, like that you
see on a spool of cotton. wove 1t on
a hand-loom then.
''This little piece of cloth-it's eigh-
teen inches square all got. 1t took
a ton of rock to make it, I claim it Is
the first cloth ever woven out of real
rock in the history of the world"
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03

| fersons, and SO on, In some instances
there is a postoffice of the same name
in each of the seven States. AS one may
average mind.
| Periodically the clerks are examined
at railway mail headquarters. Packs of
cards, each card bearing the name of
postoffice, are furnished a candidate
| for examination. He takes a position
in front of a case of pigeon holes label
ed with the names of different railway
postofices throughout the country. He
throws" the cards, distributing them
,, to proper routes, just as he would pack
| ages in a postal car. After he finishes
the examiner goes over the cards and
charges up the errors the clerk has
made and gives him his percentage of
correct distribution. The clerk also is
examined on general and standpoint
or station schemes at different times.
There are some features about the
der it impossible for a clerk to main
tain his lay of the States, which he
is expected to work He may have a
run which lands him in Chicago to con-
meet three leading railway postof1ces
running between Chicago and New
York. With but little notice he may be
taken off the run and be brought to
Chicago in the afternoon instead of
2:20 a. m. Notwithstanding this inter-
ruption, he goes on with his work with
but few errors.
1t is asserted at railway mail service
headquarters that there are clerks who
have reached the capacity of their
minds in the matter of remembering
names. They now remember so many
that it would be absolutely impossible
to learn another State or part of
State. 1t would seem that Of the mill
ions of cells in their brain machinery
none are left to fill, all having been
taken up in the prosecution of the ex-
acting duties imposed by their occupa-
ton.
Another queer phase of the work is
that not always do the clerks who
stand the best examinations and make
the best averages show the best rec
ords in the car. 4 man may have a
State in the most exact manner, but
lack ability in remembering railway
connections or something else which he
is required to remember.
The evidence of wonderfully reten-
tive memories is found in the general
run of examinations made at headquar-
ters. In one year at the offices of the
sixth division of the railway mail SER
vice in Chicago 2.427 examinations
were made. Cards to the number Of
nearly 100000 were "thrown" and the
average per cent of correct distribution
reached 9S.4S-Chicago Record Herald.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03

canteen. He offered them to his COM
panion, converted himself into prof.
for the wounded side, and the slow
painful journey down the trail began
Neither of them talked much. The
mist hung midway on the mountain
and when they emerged from it the
company's quarters lay on the ledge be
low. Already the camp was astir.
The two men upon the path paused
exhausted Langfeld eased the sick
man down and threw himself beside
him. He had not eaten since the day
before, and was weak and giddy. Fol
the first time Perry's helplessness
tempted him. Why should this man
have everything which he had been de
MED?
Langfield mechanically slipped his
hand to the sheath in his belt, stole a
glance at his companion, and saw that
his eyes were closed. He drew out the
knife and held it behind him.
Just then Perry gave stified moan
The sound brought Langfeld to his
senses. What was this he had intend
ed to do? A tit of trembling seized
him. He rose to his feet, though he
reeled as he did so. There was swift
movement of his right arm, and some
thing glanced in the light and fell far
below them in the brush.
No one needs me-" he thought, "and
Tom"
Come" he said aloud, we must get
you down for-your wife's sake"
The man did not reply at first. When
he did his voice was a trifie husky.
Il have none," he said.
Langfield stared at him. "Why-Dol-
ly-" he blurted out "She-" He
began and stopped again, but Perry un-
derstood.
No. he replied, with an effort,
she didn't want me-" He turned mis-
valley. There was someone else" he
said.
Someone else?" Langfield stupidity
repeated.
Yes answered the other, "and it
seems the fool couldn't understand
There was a moments silence. shes
waiting till the company's ordered
back" he added.
Langfield drew his hand across his
forehead. The snow, high up on the
mountains, seemed a swimming sea of
white; the little stream beside them
roared like a cataract in his ears.
Perry made an effort to rise, but fell
back in a spasm of pain.
She loves-my God. man. he cried
vehementIy, "are you an idiot? She
loves-your'-Ladie World.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03

fresh milk In cool place for from
twelve to twenty-four hours, and re-
moving the cream as fully as possible.
Half ill the half-pint cup with this
milk. or fill the smaller cup mentioned
two-thirds, measuring accurately the
gill of milk when possible; heat nearly
to boiling. add a slightly rounded tea
spoonful of butter or butter substitute,
stir with wooden rod, and continue
heating until the milk boils up.
Remove the milk from the heat as
soon as it has boiled up. and place in
the pan. which has been prepared, con-
tanning pieces of ice with very little
Ice water, the ice to be in pieces the
size of one to two hens eggs.
Fragments of ice melt too rapidly.
There should be enough of the ice to
cover two-thirds of the bottom of the
pan.
AS the ice melts the water will, of
course, rise to higher level Stir the
contents of the cup rather rapidly with
a rotary and a crosswise motion in turn
continuously throughout the test, ex-
cept during the moment of time requlr-
ed for the stirring of the ice water
in the pan.
This stirring should be at intervals
of one minute, and is accomplished by
moving the cup about in circle
around the edges Of the pan.
If the sample is oIeomargarine, says
the London Mail, by the time the STIR
ring has been going on ten minutes,
sometimes in very much shorter
length of time. the fat will gather in
a lump or soft mass, and will harden
quickly. If it does not gather it Is
either genuine or renovated" butter.
Either Of these two methods of testing
will enable you to find out what sort
of stuff you are buying for butter.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03

powers are adapted to its instincts. Its
beak is feeble compared with that of
the eagle The toes are longer, feebIer,
with huge hooked claws, and incapab BILE
of grasping heavy weight durin.
flight.
Where he finds his food, there he ban
quets, never attempting to carry it to
his haunts. Of powerful and robust
build, he has neither the bill nor the
talons of the eagle, the former being
elongated and hooked only at the top
and the latter comparatively small and
feeble. Nor has he an exclusive appe-
tite for blood, carrion and putrid ami
mails being greedily devoured by it.
This rare bird attacks lambs, kids and
the weak and sickly of the flock. The
strong limbed chamois is not secure,
nor, when rendered desperate by hun
ger, will the ravenous bird forebear an
attack on man. Children are said to
have often fallen a sacrifice to it's ra-
pacity.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03

ish the job. The cakes of ice are then
ready for the man with the crowbar,
who prizes them apart and sends them
floating down toward the point where
they leave the water on the way to the
interior of the icehouses. The cakes are
generally cut about twenty or twenty
two inches square, as the most con-
venient size for handling and transpor-
tation.
The houses for storing the ice are, Of
course, built so close to the water that
the elevator for hauling up the ice can
re0ch from the top Of the building
down to the waters edge. The build
ings are, as a rule, about the height of
three OF four story structure, and are
from 100 to $50 feet in width by more
than that in length. The walls are
usually double, with an air chamber
of about a foot between the two walls.
Sometimes the walls are treble, with
two air chambers for the protection of
the ice The interior is divided into
several great compartments, which are
as separate as if they were in different
buildings. This arrangement is made so
that it will not be necessary to expose
the whole of the interior to the outer
air when taking out load of ice for
market.
An endless chain system, more or less
like the straw elevator of a thrashing
machine, is used for carrying the ice
from the water to the building. This
chain is operated by a steam en-
CINE placed just underneath it and just
outside of the icehouse. The chain is
wide, fiat surface, wide enough to cas-
ily accommodate a cake of ice, or even
more. The chain dips down into the
water, and while it is moving workmen
push the cakes of ice upon it and they
are carried upward and into the ice
house, where they are packed evenly
together by ice showers. Nothing what
ever is placed about the ice, the old
sawdust packing system being quite
passe. When the house is filed hay or
straw is placed upon the top layer of
cakes and the packing is then complete.
Twenty or thirty thousand tons are
often packed away in one house.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
GETS OUT DIVORCE CHART.
Gives States of the Union Where tt

Gives States of the Union Where the
Law Is Lenieut.
An enterprising publishing firm has
put on the market rather unique docu-
ment. 1t is nothing less than divorce
chart of the United States, from which
unhappy couples can quickly learn in
what State they can get be separated
with the greatest celebrity and ease.
by mere glance" it explains, ''the
particular information sought may be
obtained. The form and manner in
which the laws are placed before the
reader are as simple of comprehension
for the layman as they are for the law
yer"
The chart, it is to be feared, will do
much to put damper on the divorce
industry of South Dakota. Idaho, Ne
braska and Nevada are equipped with
just as rapid-fire divorce laws as the
more widely advertised State. In fact,
they beat South Dakota ON one very
material point, for while the last-named
State does not permit the remarriage
of a guilty defendant the other three
lay no restrictions on either party. They
also require less notice of an action
than South Dakota, construe causes
just as literally and demand no longer
residence.
But easy divorces can be had in the
East just as we'll as in the West. Staid
old Connecticut, Maine and Delaware
bother themselves not about length Of
residence, so long as the cause origin
ates on their soil. They also provide
liberal number of causes for couples de-
string separation to choose from.
South Carolina is the most inhospita-
BILE State of all to the would-be divor-
Gee, says the Salt Lake Herald. The
laws there are strict, to the verge of
blueness. But in the majority of States
this interesting chart shows that to a
couple so minded divorce can be very
easily obtained and in some the untying
of the knot is not much more difficult
than the tying.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
THE DAWSON TRAIL.

Get down to your work. you dog of a
slave dog,
Get down to your work, | say!
It's a tough, hard trail we've come, dog.
An6i the camp is far away.
PDI for the life of us both, dog,
F'of dark is the end of day,
CD down TO your work, you dog of a
dog!
Get down to your work. l say.
Red is the sun in the southern sky;
Red is the trail behind the sleigh;
Red is the foot of the sled-dog gray:
Cold is the end of day.
Get down to your work. Shall a man
for a dog
Throw a mans life away?
The trail grows dim, and the tree trunks
gray:
In the northern sky the maidens play;
The goblins dance in the Milky Way;
Black is the end of day!
-Harper's Magazine.
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
RAILWAY POSTAL CLERKS UNDER EXAMINATION OF SCHEMES.

ODHINGs that railway postal
clerk must remember have in
- creased in such volume that one
would think every cell of his brain
would be filed with the name of a
postoffice or railway connection, and
the wonder is that the clerks mind
does not falter under the pressure. De
spite these facts, cases Of insanity
among this class of public servants are
rare. One Chicago postal clerk main
tanned for several years a record of
21 900 cards (Which take the place OF
letters in examinations with an aver
age per cent of correct distribution of
a fraction over 80 per cent. He knew
how to reach that many offices in sew
eral States by the shortest, quickest
route, and he knew the correct location
of each office in its State.
A clerk on the New York and Chicago
railway postoffice must know the cor
rect location of every postoftice in
group of States made up Of Illinois,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota,
South Dakota and Nebraska. In these
seven States there are 12,317 postof-
fees. Not only is the clerk required
to be up" on the general scheme,
which means the correct location of the
postoffices in each State, but he must
know how to reach the whole 12,OOO
postoffices from one or more stations.
A clerk running between Chicago and
Minneapolis underwent no fewer than
seventy-eight examinations in fifteen
years, learning 1906 offices in fifteen
different sections of the United States.
In some of these examinations he was
required to make a Chicago city distri-
button, which means that while rum
ming over the country at the rate Of a
mile minute he must distribute letters
to the carriers of the Chicago delivery.
He must know not only where every
public building and leading mercantile
house is located, but also how to divide
the numbers ON a particular street so
that he can ''tie OUT his letters to the
correct carrier, according to the route
of the latter. This same clerk made
thirteen examinations in ten months,
with an average correct distribution Of
99.SS per cent. In twenty examinations
he came out Of nine of them with a
clear 100 per cent each.
Think of such task, taking into con-
sideration the puzzling similarity Of
names that are used to designate post
Offices Then, too, must be considered
the fact that there are hundreds Of
cases where in each State is postoffice
of the same name. For instance, in the
States named above there are five post
offices named Hamilton, six Grants,
four Gartelds, four Genevas, four
Smithvilles, four Spartas and five JEFF
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
GATHERING THE ICE CROP.

Cutting System Now In Use L. More
Elaborate than Old Method.
In these modern days the cutting Of
Ice is a much more elaborate process
than it was fifteen or twenty years ago,
when workmen simply went out ON the
frozen surfaces of lakes and rivers with
a one-handled crosscut saw and cut out
the cakes, which were drawn up an in
cline into the icehouses by means Of
ropes. Nowadays each cake is handled
more or less by about dozen men be-
fore it reaches its place in the ieehouse.
In the first place, if the surface of the
ice is not perfectly clear it Is swept or
scraped free of all snow or anything
else that may be lying upon, it. Then
the marker, the man who is to scratch
the lines along which the ice cakes are
to be cut, begins operations. In a
frame, to which handles similar to
those of plow are attached for guild
ing purposes, are two teeth, one In the
rear OF the other. A horse attached to
this frame drags it over the ice while
it is directed by the driver who holds
the handles. The teeth cut into the ice
deep enough to leave a fissure that can
easily be traced. After cutting lines,
all running in the same direction, the
marker cross-cuts these with lines run
ming at right angles, thus marking out
the exact size of the cakes to be cut.
After the marking off is completed, or
sometimes before it is finished, the cut
ting machine is brought out on the ice.
This machine is somewhat similar in
design to the marker, but it Is of heav-
ier construction, stronger, and has teeth
about ten inches in length. Often both
this machine and the marker have an
extension arm fitted with teeth, the
stretch of the arm being the exact
width of cake of ice. The cutting ma
chine is driven up and down the ice
until the knives or teeth have cut into
it their full length. If the ice is over ten
inches in thickness the cutting is, of
course, not yet completed and the old
hand-saws are brought into play to fin
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
is YOUR BUTTER GENUINE?
No Need for Doubling When Ther
Are Simple WAYS of TestinpTt

No Need for Doubling When There
Are Simple Ways of TestingI 1t.
There are So many kinds Of butter
and butter substitutes on the market
nowadays that the housekeeper is Of
ten unable to ascertain if she has real.
ly got the genuine article or not. Here
are two tests that will enable anybody
to discover whether spurious butter
has been foisted on them.
One Of the best ways to learn lust
what sort of stuff is being spread upon
the family bread is known as the ..boil-
ing test" 1t was invented by a detec-
tive about ten years ago, and was, OF
course, used simply for the purpose of
discovering whether or not merchan-
disc being sold as the genuine article
was spurious. This test consists mere
ly in boiling briskly a small portion of
the sample and observing it's behavior
the while.
Melt the sample to be tested In an
old iron tablespoon, fastening the pro-
cess by stirring with a small splinter of
wood, as, for instance, match with
the phosphorus removed, or a tooth
pick.
Then, increasing the heat, bring to
as brisk boil as possible, and after
the boiling has begun, stir thoroughly
the contents of the spoon-not neglect
ing the outer edges-two or three times
at intervals during the boiling, always
shortly before the boiling ceases.
Genuine butter boils usually with
very little, if any, noise, and produces
an abundance of foam" Process
butter and oleomargarine sputter as
they boil, and produce practically no
foam" The composition article may
produce a little, but the amount is so
small that it can easily be distinguish
ed from the genuine article.
The utensils required for another
method of testing are one half-pint tin
measuring cup, common in kitchen use,
marked at the half and quarters, or a
plain one-half pint tin measure, or an
ordinary small tin cup, two and three
quarters inches in diameter and two
inches in height, holding about one gill
and a half; common pan, about nine
and a half inches in diameter at the
base, and a small rod Of wood the
thickness of a match and of convenient
length for stirring, and finally a clock
or watch.
This process for distinguishing oleo-
margarine is as follows: Use sw eet
skinned milk, obtained by setting
Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-03
Two Signs.

One who is on the lookout for curl
Gus signs and advertisements can easily
find them without going far from home
A dweller in a New England village
quotes two which appear ON carts that
often pass her door.
The first comes into sight accompa
MED by jingling of sleigh-bells which
summer and winter alike, decorate the
trappings of an old white horse. II
reads: Home Made Bakery. Mixed
Pickles and Brooms Speciality"
The second is in gold letters on the
sides of a gay red wagon drawn by a
pair of black steeds. This is it: "B
Ware. Tin Ware. Confectionery &
Crackers"