davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

for hawks; and crows is well known
1t never hesitates to giyeSbattles te4any
or these smarauaerS,v no matter. how
superior in size, and for this reason q
family of kingbirds is desirable as an
adjunct to the poultry yard.
In its. food habits this species is
largely insectiVorous. 1t is true fly
catcher by nature, and takes a large
part of it's food on the wing. IT does
not, however, confineN itself to this
method of hunting, but picks up some
insects from trees and weeds, and even
descends to the ground in search Of
myriapods or thousah d-legs., The chief
complaint against the .kingbird is that
1t preys largely upon honey bees; and
this charge has been made by both
professional beekeepers and others.
Many observers have seen the bird at
work near hives, and there is no rea-
son to doubt the 1h6hesty of their tes-
timony. 30
Fhe blue jay is a common bird Of the
United States east of the great plains,
and remains throughout the year in
most of its range, although its num-
berS are somewhat reduced in winter
in~the~ Northern states. During spring
and summer the jay is forced to be-
come an industrious hunter for in
sects, and is not so conspicuous a fea =.
ture or the landscape as when it roams
the country at will after the cares of
the nesting season are over.
Ornithologists and field observers in
general declare that a considerable
portion of it's food in spring and early
summer consists of the eggs and young.
of small birds, and some farmers ac-
cuse it of stealing corn to an injurious
extent in the fall. While there may be
some truth in. these accusations. they
have almost certainly. been exaooer-
ated. Ne doubt many jays have been
observed robbing nests of other birds,
but thousands have been seen that
were not SO engaged.
The results of the stomach exam
ination show that the jay eats many
noxious insects, that it's habit of rob-
bling the nest of other birds is much
less common than has been asserted.
and that it does little harm to agri-
culture, since all but a small amount
of the corn eaten is waste grain.
There are few birds so we'll known
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

able position. 81 think l should have
died If you had come a moment later.
Where am I?' he added gazing about
him at the unfamiliar scene.
Ten miles off Sandy Hook" 1 re-
piled, bound out. l hope you have
you sea legs on and are not prone to
seasickness, for it promises TO be a
bad night. The barometer has fallen
overheard to find room to drop in
'Ha, ha" laughed cornfuily
PIRATE not to me, who have suffered
the tortures of perdition on the sea Of
letters, of anything so comparatively
joyous as the ordinary qualms that the
rolling Atlantic imparts to our diges-
tive apparatus. A good, thorough at
tack of NAL de mer is just what 1 need,
for latterIy my diet has fallen upon
evil days"
looked at him inquiringly
You have noticed the dullness Of
my eye, the pallor of my brow, the SAL
lowness Of my cheek and the general
concavity OF my persona" he demand
ed.
Yes" said l.
well, all that is the effect of the life
l have been compelled to lead for the
last ten years. he observed. at is all
my owasfault; but, oh, sir, am bitter
ly repentent for my one great error,
and restore sme2to my home, whence,
like the-prodigal son of old departed
years ago.-Ittle dreaming of the dread
consequences of my act-would you
listen to my story?' ~
with pleasure,2 said L, @"That is, if
it is not copyrighted. 1 haven't any use
for stories that I cannot turn to ma
teria1 pf0fit. '1T~s9 " > a,.4 = =,
"Of course not" said he. In these
days, when the pursuit Of letters has
become a trade, why should you, an
aspiring mechanic in the field of manu-
script, waste your time upon an utter
stranger for nothing? My story shall
be yours with the proviso that when it
is told and you have it in hand you lift
me out Of the slough Of despond into
which 1 have fallen and restore ne to
the. home of my ancestors?''
Where is the home of your ances-
torso" I asked cautiously. TT might
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

particular species of insect, for it is
evident that a bird eats those which
by it's own method of seeking are most
easily obtained. Thus a ground-feed-
ing bird eats those it finds among the
dead leaves and grass; a fyeatcher,
watching for its prey from some van
tage point, captures entirely different
kinds, and the 'woodpecker and war
bier, IN the tree tops, select still 9TH
ers. 1t is thus apparent that a birds
diet is likely to be quite varied and to
differ at different seasons of the year.
In investigating the food habits of
birds field observation can be relied
on only to little extent, for 1t is not
always easy to determine what a bird
eats by watching it. In order to be
positive on this point it is necessary
10 examine the stomach contents.
When birds are suspected of doing in
jury to field crops few individuals
should be shot and their stomachs ex-
amined. This will show Enthusiastically
whether or not the birds are guilty.
In response to a general demand for
definite information regarding the food
habits of our native birds, the biolog-
1cal survey of the agricultural depart
ment has for some years past been
conducting a systematic Investigation
of the food of species which are belieV-
ed to be of economic Importance.
Thousands of birds stomachs have
been examined in the laboratory, and
all the available data respecting the
food brought together. The practical
value of birds in controlling insect
pests should be more generally recog-
nized. 1t may be an easy matter to
exterminate the birds in an orchard or
grain field, but it is an extremely diff
cult one to control the insect pests. 1t
1S certain fO0- that tho Ua1IIQ nf
native sparrows as weed destroyers is
not appreciated. Weed seed forms an
important item for the winter food of
many of these. birds, and it Is impos-
sible to estimate the immense numbers
of noxious weeds which are thus an
nually destroyed.
If birds are protected and encour-
aged to nest about the farm and gar
den, they will do their share of de-
stroying noxious insects and weeds and
few hours spent in putting up boxes
for bluebirds, martins and wrens will
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

happen, you know, that 1t would re-
qulre me to travel thousands Of miles
to do what you ask, and your story
might not bring enough to pay ex-
penSeS." w.
You are bound thither." said he.
Il was born in the third volume of the
Abbotsford edition Of Scott, in the
British Museum"
Great HeaVenS!" I cried How the
deuce did you happen to get to Amer
lea and in a blank book, leading the
life rather of starveling stowaway
than that of a bookworm of culture ?"
1t is the same old story" he sighed.
discomfort with the heavens in which
dWelt, ran away from home, and so
began the adventures which have left.
me as you see me, melancholy wreck,
broken in spirit, wasted in form and
compelled to throw myself upon the
tender mercies of a chance acquaint-
ance. This good, sturdy life l used to
lead, feeding upon the noblest pieces
des resistance of letters the mind Of
man has conceived, I thoughtlessly de-
serted in mad moment. For the flesh
pots of modern poetry and fiction I
abandoned the homely shelves whereon
was free to roam through the eff1ores-
cent fields of the classic. - Deliberately
nave deserted Homer for Maeterlinck,
Horace for Lang, Dickens for Davis.
Shakespeare for Bernard Shaw and Pr
nero, Thackaray for Marie Corelli, Scott
for Game and Sophocles for Andrew
Carnegie"
Poor. poor chap!" said I, show you
must have suffered"
1t was all the result Of a quarref
with my father" my little guest sighed.
He wished me to spend three weeks
on volume of Montague; 1, on the
other hand, preferred old Izaak Walton,
and refused to obey my parents re-
quest. He threatened, rebelled, and
when night came on fled from my
dear Abbotsford home, and next day
took refuge in the Baedeker of an
American tourist Ere I realized my
position 1 was on board an ocean liner
bound to the new world, and on my ar
rival in the United States found my
self no longer an innaterof a library Of
classical proportions, but in the book
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

1T was a curious meeting, that of the
Critical Bookworm and myself. That
there was nothing premeditated about
1t is shown by the place in which I
found him-not foraging luxuriously
away in the innermost recesses of one
of the treasures of literature on my
library shelves; not delighting his in
-ner worm with slices of some musty,
dusty tome in that prison house of let
-ters, the Lenox library; not reveling
IN a delicious morSel culled from the
pages of an early Ella, but in a plain,
wholly ordinary oilcloth-covered blank
book which L had purchased to hold
some random notes of a voyage I was
making over the sea. After a day Of
Strenuous order upon deck l had re-
tired to my stateroom, and, fountain
pen in hand, had started to put into
concrete form the impressions of TWEEN
ty-four hours of the panorama of life
s The blank book lay in my lap and
While l was formulating in my mind
sthe first of my paragraphs a wee, small
voice, like that of conscience, fell upon
my ears.
Hi, there!" it cried. open the door;
Il am suffocating."
l rushed to the stateroom door and
flung it as wide as its width would
permit, but as far as l could see MOTH
Wing was adEantaged by my act, for
Sneither witfhnSthe room nor without
was there aught that could be suspect
ed of vocal powers.
Not that door, stupid" came the
Avoice again, ENORMOUSLY, "the door of
athe book, and for heavens sake hurry
or I'll need an inquest more than air"
And then the strange little creature
-entered into my life. 1 opened the
blank book as had been urged to do,
and he stood, or rather crawled, be-
efore me, a very respectable bookworm,
If one might judge from the honesty
5ot his pleasant dark, purple eyes, but
Zone who had suffered much if his
emaciated frame and sunken cheeks
denoted anything
Thank you so much" he murmured.
gratefully, stretching his feelers and
yawning like a tired mortal suddenly
emerging from a cramped, uncomfort-
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

approximate my condition eat a dozen
Welsh rabbits. broiled lobster and a
quart of ice cream some night and the
effect will be the same"
+, But you recovered suggested.
'fOnly to fall into the miseries of Mel
chfzidek, by Marie Corelii,'' sighed the
Bookwofmj s'tfe which. when L had fin
ished it. left me PROSTATE for days. feel
ing as to my inner worm much as Mark
Twain's shot laden frog must have felt
when, not knowing he was loaded, he
tried to win the jumping championship OF
CalaVeras county,
= sit was a difficult beginning" said I.
Zone might as well feed Camembert to
children as start you in right off on Game
and Corelli You should have worked up
to it by degrees. Those two distinguished
authors are proper food only for those
who are tired of everything else"
How was to know?'' sighed the Book
worm You forget that this was my
first plunge into the modern. Well, for
tunately, I fell into the hands of an ex-
perienced physician in the shape Of
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

literary magazine, which next attracted
my attention, by whom I was advised to
spend week with certain Mrs. Wigs
of the Cabbage Patch and her sister,
Lovey Mary All. my friend, that was a
change, and to it 1 think 1 owe my life.
The sweet. simple refreshment of their
daily lives. the sincerity and truth Of
those two lovely women who nursed me
back to health and strength again, their
lack OF pretenSe or affection Of any
kind whatsoever the quaintness of their
run. the homeliness yet homelikeness Of
their environment-sureIy there is more
of the truth of life and soul refreshment
in the few pages Of the history of those
two ladies than one finds in a ton of the
ponderous fOrebodings of the other two
have named"
You are worm of discrimination,
said 1, pleased to hear this unreserved
avoWal of sentiment 1 have myself al
ways felt
Il think have become So" said he
And you We're Fortunate l went on
"to have fallen into their hands instead
of into those of the swash- bucklers, who
of late years have laid waste the public
taste and terrorized every library, public
and private, in the land"
Alas, he sighed. Il was not content
to remain in in the cabbage patch. and even
as you have suggested, did l fall into the
hands of the sWash-bucklers, and how
they swashed and buckIed! Familiar as
am from my youth up with the valiant
deeds of SCOTS heroes, used as l am to
the Magogian achievements of D. Artignan
and the rest of the goodly company that
We owe to the fertile pens of Dumas, never
have l been so shocked, terrified and pros
trated as by the heroes of modern ro-
nance. Such careless use of firearms :
such recklessness with spurs, pixies and
swords; such freedom with the great
names of history; such anachronistic ter
Mythology / trembled for my head
at every step as L trod my way. through
the preposterous pasturage Of your latter
you did not think much of them?" I
asked.
New wines in old bottles, sir, are not
to my taste observed my little guest,
Sententiously. when 1 seek silk 1 wish
silk, not almost silk. When ask for wool
take it amiss to be offered shoddy, and
l see no more reason why L should go to
Miss Sarah Sankey SkewbalI of Susque-
hanna, for my Dumas than that should
seek to purchase diamonds of pureSt ray
serene from dealer in window glass; A
hero with a French name and a keen
rapier and a reckless daring, no more
makes a successful romance than pile
of bricks makes a palace, and that fear
Is the misrepresentation under which the
most of your modern romantic novelists
are laboring And 1 have suffered much
by this recklessness. for the sword of a
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

collection of a New York society wom-
an: Alas! My s1fferings. began at that
moment. Finding Baedekef poor eat-,
ing, 1 started forth one. morning in.
search of more substantial food. One
cannot live sMhelly+ on. dates and dried
meat. Gazing across the table 1 espied
something that had an attractive look,
and 1 entered1upen it's consumption"
1T was"EzI began to inquire. 44e
"The 'Gloonsfer, by: Hall Came. y.
groaned thei Baekworm
4.,,"Good Lordaf I cried syfnpa theticallys
for 1, too, ha.fe gnaWRd my way.
through that fesEful work.
go. Starved upoH a diet OF Baedeker, it
seemed good aha substantial" said the
Bookworm, "and 7 devotifed it; but o,
the consequencSs! Gerged9 to the full
upon its periods, I lay, me down to
sleep and restsE but whAt rest. what
sleep, WHAT dreamsG :. From toe to
crown was infested,sW gloom, mis-
cry, hypocrisy ana Brine. For weeks
there was, no sun, no smiles, none of the
saving grace orFhumor IN my life, and
was like TO Edfe of II. IF you wish to
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25
Desperate Bulgarian Sacrificed Himself for His Comrades

my brother was with the band" he
said, hating in his English 1.-The
Turks, to the number of 500, had them
penned in in a cleft in the mountains.
The cleft was like a slice out of a
cheese. At the top it ran to nowhere
nothing at the higher end but walls
of rock running always upward, smooth
as the walls of a mosque; a goat could
not have climbed there; only a bird
penned in could have escaped See,''
he said, putting his hands together and
extending the fingers anglewise, that
was the position. There was only one
way out, and the Turks blocked that
They had driven the band in there by
force of numbers. They came on.
creeping from rock to rock, now crawl
Ing on their bellies, now rushing from
one cover to another, but always ad-
yancing 1t was when they rushed
that the band gave them something to
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25
.A-%-~--AD%-~-~-%-C~-%
BY the Hon. James H. Wilson,

2 Secretary of Agriculture.
1t has long been known that birds
play an important part in relation to
agriculture, but there seems to be a
tendency to dwell upon the harm they
90 rather than the good. Whether a
bird is injurious or beneficial depends
entirely upon what it eats, and in the
case of species which are usually
abundant or which depend in part
upon the farmers crops for subsist-
ence, the character of the food often
becomes a very practical question. If
crows or blackbirds are seen in num-
bers about corn fields, or if woodpeek-
ers are noticed at work in an orchard,
1t is perhaps not surprising that they
are accused of doing harm.
Careful investigation, however, often
shows that they are actually destroy
ing noX1ouS insects, and also even
those which do harm at one season of
the year may compensate for it by
eating noxious species at another In
sects are eaten at all times by the ma
jority of land birds, and during the
breeding season most kinds subsist
largely and feed their young entirely
on this food. When insects are unus-
ually plentiful they are eaten by many
birds which ordinarily do not touch
them.
Even birds of prey resort to this
diet, and when insects are more easily
obtained than other fare the smaller
hawks and owls live on them almost
entirely. This was we'll Illustrated dur
ing the recent plague Of Rocky noun
tain locusts in the Western states,
when it was found that locusts We're
eaten by nearly every bird in the re-
gion, and that they formed almost the
entire food of a large majority of the
species
Within certain limits birds feed upon
the kind of food that is most accessi-
bic. Thus, as a rule, insectivorous
birds eat the insects that are most
easily obtained, provided they do not
have some peculiarly disagreeable
property. 1t is not probable that bird
habitually passes by one kind of insect
to look for another which is more ap-
petizing, and there seems little evil
dence in support of the theory that the
selection of food is restricted to any
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

in the thick of the fighting, and his
body was torn with wounds, yet none.
was in fatal place. Courage, cour-
age, comrades!' that was his cry all
the time. Don't waste a bullet Shoot
straight, for the Turks are many and
the cartridges are few They did not
lose heart, not even when the last
cartridge was fired. They had fought.
side by side too often to be afraid to
die together. Half way through the,
hight the brave Gen. Stojanoff fell dead,
his body pierced by many wounds. He.
too, was Bulgarian, a man who did
not know what fear was. They laid
his body in the shadow of rock.
closed his eyes and folded his hands
across his heart, and left him, fighting
for every foot Of ground as they fell
back. Comrade after comrade dropped
and died, yet no man among the little
band spoke Of surrender. The Mace
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

remember. Yard by yard the band fell
back, and every bit of open ground was
marked by dead or wounded Turks.
Eth, what do you say? Brave? Oh,
yes, the Turks are brave. Only fools
who do not know them say they are
not. If they Mere not brave fighters
they would not be. so dangerous. The
men of the land were brave, too. One
by one they had been dropping until
only five and twenty were left, and
nearly half Of them We're wounded.
There was one man there a Bull
garian. He had been a comrade of
mine in the service before he threw it
up and Joined the patriots to help beat
the Turks. We do not speak of him
openly, not often, but we drink a silent
health to his memory always. We are
proud of him, and we revere his name.
1t will go down in history, that name,
the name of Sugaroff. He was always
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25


domains meant to die as boldly as their
Bulgarian leaders. Young Milef, who
had only just passed through the Bull
garian military schools with distinc-
ton, dropped and died with a smile of
defiance on his boyfsh face. He might
have become great II he had lived. for
nothing breathed that could daunt him.
He had laughed az the fight waxed
hotter, laughed defiantly when the
Turks had hemmed them in, and now
his face lived with laughter even when
the breath was out of his body and his
soul was with God. The cartridges be-
gan to run out. Those who had six
gave three to those Who had none.
Those who had butftwo gave one to a
neighbor whose bandolier was empty.
Not a shot was wasted. The Turks
Were too close for the bandsmen to
miss their aim.
Closer and closer the hated enemy
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

matter. See, 1 have two bombs, one for
each hand, In a moment the Turks will
have crowded the pass. l shall leap
among them and dash the bombs to earth
and blow away path for you. Charge
when the. stroke comes and win your
way to freedom. Let those who like
from cover as though he had no wound,
sprang upright, and rushing down the
mountain pass was right among the as
founded Turks before they seemed to
know that he had moved a hundred
rifles pointed at him then. A hundred
bayonets cleaned.
TURK pressed on Turk to be in at the
Staying. but no bullet reached Sugaroff no
bayonet touched him. Up went his arms
in the sunlight, up above his head, then
down again, and the bombs crashed on
the rocks In the midst of the Turkish SOL
diery. A yell of 'Allah.' broke from the
tyrant lips. great shout of wonder from
the insurgent bands. Flame that made
the sun look sickly leaped suddenly into
being. Men were ripped and torn asunder
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

came until patriot and oppressor could
look easily into each others eyes. The
Turks kept firing steadily, but now the
bandsmen's rifles were silent. The last
cartridge was spent; all that they had to
hope for was five minutes of fierce fight
ing, hand to hand, mountaineer's knife
against soldiers bayonet, and then death
and mutilation and the burial that the
vulture gives. 1t was then my old time
comrade. the gay, light-headed Sugaroff.
the man whose joyous jests had made our
camp fires ring with merriment, taught
the cursed infidels how a Bulgarian
soldier can die. They were waiting for
the rush of the Turks. waiting with barred
steel for the onslaught They had
smiled into each others eyes like good
comrades. and were ready for the worst.
Then Sugaroff. lying behind his rock.
spoke quickly: I am wounded and nearly
spent, my brothers. but hear me. One
must die; now or little later does not
The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

as though the lightning of the storm had
struck them. Rifles were bent and broken.
Steel snapped like straw. Human bodies
were wrenched asunder and limbs were
strewn around the pass. A mighty gap
was cut in the Turkish ranks. Terror
fell upon those that did not fall. and be-
fore they could rally from the shock the
remnant Of the Macedonian band charged
down and swept through them, striking
nercely to right and left as they passed
onward rush for freedom. The path that
Sugaroff had marked with his life blood
was the path that led to safety, and they
took it boldly and swiftly"
And Sugaroff?" 1 asked. What OF
him?"
The man in the saddle Strengthened HIM
hard on the lower lin. ''Suga ron" he
said, great Sugaroff OF him there was
not left so much as limb for burial He
was shivered to a thousand fragments
when the frst bomb burst. London
News.
Arizona republican., 1903-12-21
A GUARANTEED CURE FOR PILES.

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