davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
Washington As Ar Athlete
COULD PITCH AN IRON BAR FARTHER THAN ANY OTHER
MAN OF HIS TIME.

"7ASHINGTON was the champion
Axv of athletic games, and the power
80 of his hand and arm was dis
playedi in several memorable instances.
He flung a stone across the Rappahan-
mock, and in 1772, when he was 40 years
of age, he could pitch an iron bar fur
ther than any man of his time. The
story of his throwing a silver dollar
across the Potomac lacks actual con-
tirmation, and it must have surely been
a feat of later years, as the silver dol
lar was ,ess common then than now.
1t might have been a Spanish OF Next
can dollar. The explanation that a
dollar went further in those days than
these is almost as old as the story.
Among the amusing stories of u
first president told in minor history
and in legendary lore are those which
endow him with miraculous powers of
endurance, a giants stature and hands
of such size that none other ever
equaled him, they being of gigantic
dimensions. A pretty story of his first
wooing, at the early age of II, writes
M. L. Rayne, in the Chicago Times-Her-
aid, introduces his hand with dramatic
effect.
The time was the year of grace TITS,
and the place was Mount Vernon, a
beautiful romantic site in Fairfax
county, Virginia, on the right bank of
the Potomac, and within Is miles of
Washington, d. c., as it now stands.
There it was that a small boy in
roundabout and knickerbockers saw a
gay cavalier exercising a pair of saddle
horses, while he talked in the sylvan
solitude, believing himself alone.
Twill you ride with me, Miss Mary?
Miss Mary, will you ride with me? May
l have the honor Of your company for
a ride this afternoon? Sweet Mistress
Mary, will you accept me for your gal
liant to ride at your stirrup. Peace,
Queen Bess, or IN larrup you with the
whip! Whoa, jade! Sweet Mistress
Mary, I I'M George Washington, at
your command"
The small boy of that day was no i'm
provement on his prototype of this.
He answered in a f1utelike voice with
a hooking cadence:
Marry now, sweet Mistress Mary,
may | ride with you, or will you ride
with me, or go alone at your own sweet
will? Ha! Ha! Ho!"
The youngster laughed wickedly at
the discontinue of the youthful
equestrian, who could not leave his
horses to administer punishment, but
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
HARD TO DECIPHER.
Post Office Clerks Are Given Much
Trouble by Foreigners Sending
Letters to his Country.

So many blindly addressed letters
come through the post office that in
the larger cities special clerks are
employed to decipher them. Each Of
flee has special pride in it's work, and
keeps up a wholesome rivalry with
the dead letter Office at Washington,
so that few badly addressed letters
are given up as impossible. Mr.. Evan
MCPHERSON, writing in the Boston
Herald, gives examples of some of the
lions.
Foreigners give the most trouble.
The envelope, for example, addressed
to spencer, ~Insea," where "Insea'
stands for the initials n. c., is not
likely to have been mailed by a ma
tive American; and the same is true
Of the envelope inscribed wv. Hobok-
My" in very bad German script, mean
ing West H~oboken;" and of that
marked "Ancram Lead, Kalambi
Coity," for 'Ancram Lead Mines, Co.
lumbia County, New York.
\ triumphant piece of blind read
ing reduced a trackless jungle of big
and little letters to ''192 North sti
Re Eli bostock Massa," and interpret
ed it as 1892 North street, Boston,
Massachusetts," One letter was adj
dressed to ''Fedvelteneszi," "Fayette-
vile, Tennessee" Another, from Tip
perary, was addressed to "Knongyto,
CON-" for "Naugatuck, Connecticut"
$40 and Over Street, Sailing" on a
letter from Ballymote, Ireland, meant
20 Andover Street, Salem, Massachu-
sets" Also from Ireland came
"Cranston Royal Irish" "Cranston,
Rhode Island"
An important point in solving the
problem of the foreign writer's in
t@ention is a knowledge of the sound
values which the characters he writes
would be likely to bear for him in
dividGally. A man who has become
accurately familiar with Italian
sounds sees at a glance that "Negio-
ST." with the Italian values to the
letters, exactly represents an illit-
crate Italians attempt at the sounds
which Americans write "New Jersey
On an envelope with a Russian
stamp "Kreenpoynp" Green
point" for the Russian mouth is apt
to substitute a labial for a dental con-
s%onant, and a X for a cultural g.
Again, there is the wonderful post
mark "PrzecXaw" on a letter to mis-
Karolina Janowska." One who has
listened carefully to either Russian
or Polish talk knows how a man of
PrzecXaw would read aloud the line
which follows the name: 'Tu woody
tn is Chandler Ten stryt;" it would
sound something very like 1.-TWO for
ty-two East Hundred Tenth Street.
which proved to be what was in
tended.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
BITS OF FEMININITY,
Various Items of Dress That Are Now
i'm Favor with Followers of
the Fashions.

Waists buttoning in the back will
be worn, but a majority of the 1902
models show the usual button fas-
tening in the front, says the Detroit
Free Press.
White nuns yelling, silky madras,
silk corded Scotch Bingham and wash
silk waists are none too light for
January wearing if a sufficiently
heavy wrap covers them.
Hats made of white tulle. with
brims of white fur, or of the new
material, which milliners call "fuzz,'
embroidered in gold or pearls, are
novel and almost invariably becom-
ing.
Huge fur collars decorated on the
inside with grilled cream lace, which
continues down the front in a iabot
or ties like a scarf, are very becolu-
ing. This decoration is also used on
jackets and muffs. and sometimes il
frill of lace is added at the wrist of
the coat sleeve.
White satin and white brocade
gowns are much worn. the white
satin embroidered with the new pail
lettes of mother of pearl or gold,
while the brocade figures are out
lined with paillettes also. ,
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

So ancient is the city of Damascus.
in Syria, that there is no record of its
origin in any written histories.
The ancient Mexicans had a species
of whistle which produced at least
three tones. 1t had two finger holes
and a mouthpiece on the side.
A Dublin paper, in a biography of
Robespierre, says: This eXtraor-
binary man left no children behind
him except brother, whowas killed
at the same time"
The custom in France of posting on
the dead walls of every commune
throughout the country the speeches
of ministers is to be discontinued.
Every time it is done it costs the gov
eminent $50, 900.
The Roman Catholic cathedral in
London, now in cOurse of erection, is
800 feet long and 156 feet wide. Apart
from the site it has already cost $780,
600. The material used is red brick
with Portland stone courses, and its
Oriental decorative features suggest a
mosque rather than a cathedral.
Archduchess Elizabeth relinquished
all claim to the Austrian throne, but
her wedding gifts included securities
valued at 81, SOC, 600, a yearly allowance
of $250,000, jewelry valued at $1,000
600, a gold dinner service and several
residences. A woman with a layout
like that can worry along quite COM
fortably without a throne.
The British wal office is sending
tons of old-fashioned fints to the
troops in South Africa to supply
smokers with a practical substitute
for matches, which, it is said, soon
become worthless because of the
damp. One result of this resort to an
cient methods of kindling fire is a re-
vival of the old industry of flint
knapping" in Norfolk.
The Palatine is one of the seven
hills upon which Rome is built,
and the only n which is now prac-
tically clear. The rest are cov-
cred with modern buildings, and
the diggers and filters and graders,
the superintendent of streets and the
architects of buildings have taken
such liberties with the original topog-
raphy that it strains the imagination
to see them as they used to be.-Cor-
respondence Chicago Record-Herald.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
Ambulance in Lamp Post.

An ambulance in a lamp-post is the
latest Partisan idea in street contriv-
ances. 1t consists of an ornamental
bronze box about Is feet high, with
a round, o~verhanging top resembling
that of a lighthouse, and containing
a clock-face barometer and three
transparent pictorial advertisements
revolving by clockwork and lighted by
gas from within. In the base of the
cylinder is a letter box, and in the
shaft is a folding stretcher with
printed directions for affording first
aid to the injured. In case Of a
street accident the stretcher can be
Immediately obtained by breaking a
small glass window just above the
letter box, taking out the key and UNI
locking the receptacle.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
THE FAITH OF
WASHINGTON

Washington was ~reverent of every
thing that was sacred. The impress
sion that the profane use of the name
of God made upon him is shown by this
order, issued while he was commander
in chief of the army:
Headquarters, Moor's House
West Point, July 20, 1779.
Many and pointed orders have been is
sued against the unmeaning and abomina-
BILE custom of swearing, notwithstanding
which, with much regret the general OBJ
serves that 1t prevails, If possible, more
thar ever; his feelings are continually
wounded by the oaths and imprecations Of
the soldiers whenever he is in hearing of
them. The name of the Being from whose
bountiful goodness we are permitted to
exist and enjoy the comforts of life is in
cessantly imprecated and profaned in a
manner as wanton as it is shocking.
For the sake, therefore, of religion, de-
cency, n order, the general hopes and
trusts that officers of every rank will use
their influence and authority to check a
vice which Is as Improbable as 1t is wicked
and shameful.
Words that ring as true as when they
were uttered more than a hundred
years ago.
Washington was not only a believer
in prayer, but a man of prayer, Many
instances of this are related. How on
one occasion he sought shelter from a
storm for the night at a house where
he was unknown, and where, owing to
the dangers of the war, he was received
with fear and doubling, but when, after
retiring to his room, the woman heard
him in prayer, she exclaimed to her
husband: snow I know that he is a
good man. and we are safe" The story
of the sufferings Of the little American
army through that darksome winter
at Valley Forge will be told % long as
our history endures. And as part of 1t
will endure the oft-told incident of
how as the good old Quaker owner of
the house Washington occupied as
headquarters was out alone one day he
was startled by hearing a solemn voice.
Going toward it he saw a horse tied to
a sapling tree, and then, half hidden
by a thicket of underbaush, Washing
ton himself on his knees in prayer. his
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

ommend this design. 1t is quite mod
ern and contains a fair share of the
modern conveniences.
There is a cellar under the whole
house. The foundation walls are of
stone and above the foundation the
building is of wood. In the first story
are handsome porches which will pro-
tect the entrances. From the front
porch you pass through the vestibule
to the stair hall, thence into the par
lor, bedroom or second story. To the
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

as he was the small brother of Sweet
Mary Gerrish' he accepted the bride
of an English deerhound to inform his
sister that George Washington had
come with a fine horse and sidesaddle
to ask her to ride.
At that period George was II years
old, and on this memorable ride the IA
Their of our country proposed after this
fashion:
Look at the hand, Miss Mary. It's
yours!"
Miss Mary, who was severa! years
older than her lovesick swain, gave a
merry laugh.
"Why, what in the world would l do
with that hand, Master Washington
l have two hands of my own!"
When he made his meaning clearer
she informed him gently that she was
already engaged to that Maj. Tren-
holm who afterward was arrested as
a traitor, pardoned by Gen. Washing
ton and sent back to England in a
sloop-of-war. Washington did this at
the solicitation of that "sweet Mistress
Mary" and the mammoth hand she had
refused and ridiculed received her
parting kiss as a benediction when she
thanked him and babe him farewell to
follow her husband to his own coun-
try.
When Lafayette visited Mount Ver-
non for the last time he said to Mr..
GUSTS, the stepson of Washington,
while recalling a former visit:
"You were then holding by a single
finger of the good generals remark
able hand, which was all that you could
do, my dear sir, at that time"
We are told of that wonderful hand
that if a cast of it could have been pre-
served to be exhibited in these DAYS
of physical degeneracy it would be said
to belong to a being of fabulous age.
His unusual size was not, however, a
distinction of the age in which he lived.
but, taken together with his breadth
of vision, his qualities as a leader and
his executive ability, it made him in all
requirements a great mar. Napoleon
|. was a pygmy when compared to
Washington, but he greatly admired
the man WHO could so successfully ad-
minister national affairs through a ter
rible crisis to a safe conclusion, and as
he lamented his own small stature did
he in proportion admire Washington's.
yNLo,,-,-n., l. -
men abroad he was certain to ask:
How is the greatest American, Wash
ington?"
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
EARLY Presidential Receptions.

At Washington's levees the president
always appeared as a private gentle
man, without the cooked hat of cere-
mony, and with no sword. All call
ers were seated, and the rich pound
cake and plum cake of the day was
handed around with tea and coffee and
wine, a custom that was imperative
in those days in good society. Every
Friday evening Mrs. Washington re-
ceived from eight to ten o'clock, and
the most elegant and refined people
attended those receptions, the license
which admits the general public not
having been extended. 1t was the day
OF a republican court, and rank, char
acter and full dress were necessary to
gain admittance.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

rear of the parlor is the dining-room,
and back of this the kitchen.
The parlor, hall and dining-room are
connected by wide sliding doors, en-
abling them to be thrown together on
occasion. The parlor and dining-room
have beautiful bay fronts, which add
to the c~heerfulness of the rooms.
There + also tireplaces with pretty
mantels in these rooms and the hall.
The china closet between the kitchen
and dining-room opens from both
sides. The base shelf is two feet six
inches high, and above this the closet
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

over all, except front porch and steps.
The height of the first story is nine
feet six inches, and of the second story
eight feet six inches. The outside
walls are sheathed and papered and fin
ished with half-inch siding. The
painting and plastering are three
coats. The house is trimmed through
out the first story inside with cypress
wood, and the second story in white
pine, all with natural finish. The
house is of the best construction, using
only good materials and workmanship.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
THE MAN AND 81 HOG.
How n Mysterious Killing Was Sat.
isfactoriIy Accounted For i'm the
Southern Country.

A few days ago l was guiding q
party of Kansas City hunters after
wild turkeys, says a writer in the
Kansas City Star. As we stepped
across Lafferty creek we stepped on
a dead man-ugh. \ hog lay by his
side, as dead as the man. By the
''razor-back" lay an unloaded gun. On
the mans coat was pinned a piece of
paper, and on it written these strange
words, the mysterious problem: Il
killed the hog, and the hog killed
me-"
We all read it over and over; we
looked at each other; we looked
around; we looked up, and we looked
silly. There was no solution. 1t was
nothing to joke about, standing
there on the bank of the White river
in the thin, high weeds and the low,
thick fog, over a murder. The silence
was oppressive. A posse to arrest us
for murder would have been some re-
lief.
As the mist passed away about a
dozen faded-looking men came into
view; like a photographer developing
a negative, from nothing outlines,
forms and faces appeared. These
people, with clothes the shade of old
lumber, long hair and boards, closed
in around us from all directions out
of the tall grass. Not a word was
said. They didn't appear to notice
us; we stood aside while they closed
in around the dead man and the dead
hog.
1t slowly seeped through III heads
that this was a c%oroner's jury. That
two or three minutes was to us like
two or three hours; that kind of
silence would try the nerve of the
bravest man on earth; what must it
have been to us city fellows? The
coroner, just out of the field covered
with seed cotton, said: Nov, the
law 'gainst totoin' weepins an you
know your duty" Just then every
n of them ran his hands down into
his pocket and pulled out a knife.
Then all squatted down on the
ground and, sitting on their heels,
picked up little sticks and whitfield
while the coroner read the law in the
case.
They buried the man and hog side
by side, and rammed the ramrod and
%gun-barrel down at his head and
made a headboard of the gunstock.
Their official duty having been per-
formed, they silently stole away, and
left us alone with the dead. Curtis
asked the old farmer that came up
just then for an explanation.
swell, I tell yer wot it is, mister"
said he, after getting out his knife,
hits this 'er way. You see, thar's
some orn'ry cusses roun' here watts
got 40 hogs, nor nuthin' else. Wen
they get out'n meat they goes out in
ter the woods an kill the fust hog
they come to; hits a pen'tentiary ack
to do hit, but yer can't catch him at
it. So wen you do, just shoot i'm an
nobody won't make nc fuss about hit.
So that's the way somebody done this
Teller, an writ that on the paper to
make it pear like he killed hisself,
an the coroner he took hit fur evil
dence, an that's the way ov hit"
Taylor got down on his hands and
knees to see what was scratched on
the gun stock with a knife, and read
this epitaph: 81 killed the hog and
the hog killed me-"
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
ART IN ARCHITECTURE
Designed and Written Especially
for This Paper.

is shelved TO a height of eight feet six
inches. Below the base shelf on the
kitchen side is a locker or pot closet,
and on the dining-room side is a case
of drawers.
The stairs to the second story lead
up from the front hall, and being of
a very pretty design, make an attrac-
tive feature to this room. The land
ing on the second floor is in a small
hall, from which are accessible the
three bedrooms.
The dimensions are Sc by 46 feet
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

The house has been built complete in
Illinois for So, 800, and would probably
cost from this sum to S 5000 in most
for a medium-sized family as a village
or suburban residence. If it should
be desired, the lower bedroom might
be arranged, with a slight change al
lowing more light, TO serve as a library.
a clergyman's study, or as a physicians
office, for all of which purposes it is
well situated in relation to the front
hall.
Z. A. PAYNE.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
Not Only a Believer in Prayer,
But a Man of Prayer.

cheeks wet with his tears. as solitary
and apart he prayed for help and guild
ance in that hour of extremity. 1t is
not strange that good Mr.. Potts should
have been greatly moved by the sight,
as hurrying home, with tears in his
W eyes, he told his wife of what he
had seen, adding: eff there is any
mar on earth that the Lord will listen
to it is George Washington; and / feel
a presentiment that under such a COM
mander there is no doubt but in the
n we will establish our independence,
and that God in His providence hath
willed it so."-Adele Z. Thompson. in
Chicago Advance.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
The Pillars of Happiness.

Of all the dispositions and habits
which lead to political prosperity, re-
ligion and morality r indispensa-
BILE supports. In vain would that
man claim the tribute of patriotism
who should labor to subvert these
great pillars of human happiness
these firmest props of the duties of
men and citizens. The mere politi-
clan, equally with the pious man,
ought to respect and cherish them.
Washington, in His Farewell Adj
dress.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
WHY WashingtOn Is HOnOred.

The hero whose memory we honor
was not a man of genius or of the best
intellectual culture, but he was a great
character-honest, simple, true, disin-
terested, incorruptible. He thought
not of private gain nor of personal
glory, nor of the aggrandizement of his
country, but, believing with all his
heart in the right of the people to gov
ern themselves, he gave his time, his
wealth, his life to make such govern
ment actual and permanent.-Bishop
Spaldinp.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
An Englishman's Tribute.

George Washington is as much one
OF our great English heroes as Alfred
the Great or shakespeare is one Of
yours. The robust nature, the ances-
trail speech, are the common preroga-
tives of our blood. And as the widest
dreamer in Great Britain cannot con-
ceive our two peoples being other than
independent nations to-day, we have
nothing but honor for the hero who
achieved the happy and inevitable sep.
aration.-Frederic Harrison.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
Only q Few Left.

Cumso-The recurrence Of Wash
ington's birthday reminds us that the
United States has attained to a re-
spectacle old age.
Cawker-Yes, indeed. Time flies.
I don't suppose that more than 40
of Washington's nurses, II 60 of his
body servants, are alive now.-Town
Topics.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
Gift of Prophecy.

Dick-I say, Harry, | suppose you
haven't a dollar you want to lend me ?
Harry--By George, you've guessed
right! Dick, with your ability to see
into the future you ought to be worth
your weight in money.-Boston Trans
scrips.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

TTERE is a very pretty little cot
tage, which has an attractive
appearance from all sides. The
plans show a compact arrangement,
while convenience has been the first
consideration in the designing. Sue
cess in this, combined with a neat, we'll
proportional exterior, gives us a COM
bination which goes to make it attrac-
tive to all, and suitable for erection
anywhere. For a person of moderate
means, wishing a pleasant home, with
the interior comfort and conveniences
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
A Real Friend.

Miss Rougenoir-So he said he didn't
like my eyebrows, Ell?
Miss Kraft-Yes, he said they were
too dark.
"The ideal"
eyes, but | told him they weren't as
black as they were painted.'-Phila.
delphia Press.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20
Picked Turnips.

Cold boiled turnips, sliced, make very
good pickles. Scald vinegar sufficient
to cover them; add spices; sweeten to
taste; let them become cool before
using them. Carrots, beets. cabbage
and beans can all be picked in this
way.-Ladies' World. New York.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-02-20

Will Llngtoo (refectively)-I tell
you, a man has got to take a good deal
on trust, in this world.
Elbo Zonte (gloomily)-Got to? He's
good and lucky If he can get it. -
Judge.