davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The river press., 1904-06-08

great Swedish chemist who discovered
thorium. 1t was in 1928 that Berzelius
made his discovery. Thorium is the
metallic base of the earth thoria found
by this chemist in mineral from Nor
way now called thorite. 1t consists
essentially of the silcate Of thorium.
The value Of thorium consists in its
radio active properties. In this it
stands next to radium, but while tho
rum costs only about 81 per pound,
radium is proportionately a million
times as expensive. AS artifcially
prepared the metal thorium resembles
nickel in color, and it takes fire when
heated in the air and burns with a
bright fame. Thus far it has been
used mainly for producing incandes-
cence in mantels used on gas burners.
The North Carolina professor held
back his important discovery for four
years to be sure he was right. No
sooner had he announced it than con-
gratulations began to pour in on him
from chemists all over the world. One
The river press., 1904-06-08

Gu. he uelu several responsible posts
during the course of the war and led
a regiment in number of notable en-
gagements. For gallant conduct in the
battle Of Fredericksburg he was
awarded medal Of honor by congress.
MIR. Quay's political career in the
years subsequent to the war is more
familiar to the public, but there are
plenty of people who do not know thai
the senator had an honorable war
record. A companion in arms relates
that in the charge upon Maryes
heights, where Quay was volunteer
aid-de-camp, an effort was made to
rally the breaking line. and Quay no.
ticed a backward movement among
the men.
Dash it, boys" cried the young Of
1cer, what are you lodging for? If
l can sit on my horse and the bullets
go over my head they certainly can't
hit you" This presence Of mind
stopped the panic. Senator Quay is
seventy years of age.
Mrs. William r. Hearst. who pre-
sented her husband. the congressman
and journalist, with a baby boy re-
Gently, was Miss Millicent Wilson of
New York. The marriage OF the pro-
prletor OF many newspapers to the
young woman who is now a happy
mother was one Of the most talked
about matrimonial events of April.
lSo}. The interest attaching to the
wedding WIS due not alone to MI.
The river press., 1904-06-08

~ announced that
t h o r i u m, which
chemists have al
" a y s heretofore
considered one of
the seventy primary
elements, is COM
plex in it's nature
and composed really
Of t WO elements,
one Of which the
professor has NAM
ed caroliniuln, in
honor Of his own
ftate, and the other
horZpIil1n) nftnr tho
The river press., 1904-06-08

years before. III
1864 he was admit
ted to the bar and
at that time began
his political career.
just a half century
ago. Quay's first
political attiliu tions
were with the Pro-
hiDitiOnists. His
civil war expert
ences soon follow
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

@Warrenton was a 10 to whiz at the
track, but the best the Covington people
would scrape on the board. In view OF the
all-hands-around tip, was to 1. ! took
that with all the change / knew, and figured
to put the room So 900 to the worse on my
own little ticket il Warrenton should con-
meet.
,-The room shut down on Warrenton
bets when the sheet writer's had written
500, 900 worth of the thing. The Covington
room was then one Of the biggest in the
country, but they knew when they had
enough Of a good thing.
"The operator hurled 1t at us that they
were of when the key began to fuss, and
named US the three cockroaches that had
sailed out to do the leading Those three
were still juggling for the front at the
quarter, when, after calling of their names,
the operator made a morgue of the room
and slab-stif OF me particularly, by
bowling:
-Warrenton was left at the post!
"The keno cracks that those Porkopolis
players let out Of their systems over that
announcement didn't serve to get me out
OF my stun. / was walking toward the
poolroom door, babbling to myself about
shoemaker starters and barrier bulldozers
on the knob to 60 out, I decided that might
as we'll wait a few seconds to find out the
name Of the winner, anyway.
-I'll let you fix up your own mental pastel
Of the kind OF a mob there was In that Gov
ington room when the operator, with a look
Of establishment on his chart and mouth
all drawn sideways, called out:
-'Warrenton wins, easy, by four lengths!
1T was the high kite, instantly, for every
man in the room, but yet 1t seemed unbe-
lievable. The operator himself didn't look
as IL he believed 1t.
"'Get that again! the proprietor OF the
room beloved at the operator. Cut out
the dosing and get 1t right
1.-THE operator began to hammer his key.
and in a minute he had the reply.
-It's all right he sung out. Warren
ton wins He was left at the post at that
and standing still turned the wrong way,
but he snags by the four lengths.
Nobody going out OF that Covington
room that afternoon looked as II he had
been made the Patsy except the proprietor
Of the plant.
in South Chicago poolroom five or
six years ago l saw a red headed natural
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

On her last trip the Pacific Mail liner
Manchuria brought from japan to this
country several war correspondents and
artists, chiefly English. who had become
tired Of Japan's policy Of keeping them
in the rear and Of preventing them from
sending comm unications to their news
papers. They were returning in disgust
and In bitter spirit toward Japan.
On the same vessel was one Of the great
bankers OF Japan, with his American wife
and several children. One Of these Japa-
se-American children is called Togo.
He is about 10, a sturdy. manly little fellow,
and soon became the general favorite
on board the ship. He speaks English
fuently. He is unusually well informed on
the war.
Togo, or the Admiral as every one
called him, took great fancy to the artist
OF an English weekly paper, who has made
pictures for his periodical in a score OF
wars and whose name Is known better than
that OF most English Generals. The artist,
like most OF the war correspondents who
have come back, was 80 angry over his
treatment that he was looking for revenge.
He had not seen any of the real fighting.
The war in Manchuria is not being waged
as a show for special correspondents. Many
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23
Shipwreck
OF the Bay
mans Dream
Of a Home
ALI His Own
II HOUSE RVHT
UPON THE SAND

SIS. Ispose I'll never have so much money
again at one time. I'm over 80 and amt
80 strong as used to be.
This ere is the oyster season and I'm
watchin' the oyster beds to keep the thieves
away. / watch nights and tong oysters
in the daytime. s'pose you never tonged
for oysters with tongs fifteen foot long
in a strong tideway?
well, 1t amt no child's play. A days
work ia boatful Of oysters, and you have
to Gull 'em after you've dug EN- up. You
don't do much dreamin' nights after you
have been tongin' oysters all day-you're
too tired.
1T took me two years to save that money
to build my house. l got permission from
an oyster planter to build house on one
of his bars had kind OF a feelin that
I'd like to own a house that was all my own
and that didn't cost me nothin' for rent
and when shut the door could look aroun'
at the stove and the cupboard and the hunks
and the dollar clock and say to myself
This ere house is all my own. built
II with my own hands, paid for 1t with my
own money. Laid every timber. In 1t
and drove every nail, from the cellar to
the tarred roof
"Of course, you understand, I'm only
jokin' about drivin' nails in the cellar,
cause there wasn't no cellar. At high
tide there was two feet o. water where the
cellar ought to be.
Il had that there house ali planned out
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

and pile IN in a ridge O. foam foot high.
"The etb seeTs to say: Git out O. my
way; I'm a-goin' out to sea- And the
flood humps itself and says: Don't be
foolish, Pm goin' all over the bars and the
meadows, and I've got the sea behind me
pushin',' and, Of course. the flood wins.
But twas the ebb and the flood and the
wind and the ice that wrangled together
and agreed to push my house of the bar,
and they did It,"
sWere you in the house at the time,
Bill?" said the visitor.
Sure" replied Bill Il was inside with
my three cats
"Three cats?' said the visitor. Il should
think that one cat would have been enough
for one man."
"One cat is enough for one man ashore,
but three amt any too many when you're
out here in the winter, four miles away
from solid ground, and nor'easter play
ing peckaboo with your winders.
"When got the house finished and o half
ton O. coal in the locker, went ashore to
Canarsie to get some groceries. When /
got there / saw a man comm down to the
shore with bag and inside Of it were three
kittens that he was goin' to drown.
ney IOOhel 40 IIle6tSIy anu tney TleOWeu
so sorrowful like that grabbed the bag,
cats and all, and took 'em over to the house.
bought quart O. milk for em before we
started, and that was the last drink O.
fresh milk they ever had, for there amt
any COWS or goats on Ruffle Bar.
Il named the cats after the three men
in the Bible that went through the fiery
furnace-Hayshack Meshack and Bendigo,
for l knew the cats was up agin 1t and
were bound to see trouble before they
got through with me-
How long was it after your house was
finished before it was swept away?' said
the visitor.
From August till March, replied Bill.
Il got along all right through the winter,
and the comfort them cats was to me in
the long evenin's was a caution. l used
to lay in my bunk and watch EN- rollin'
over each other, while the wind was
screeohin round the house and the tide
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

the key trouncer, big man with more
leathery throat than Jack Adler owns,
gave the They're of at Louisville bawl.
"Banastar was leading all the way by
four lengths, and when he was still four
lengths in the stretch the proprietor Of
the room petulantly tossed a paperweight
through the glass door of his pr vate office
and growled at his manager that he could
be hunting for motorman's work on the
morrow.
"The 800 chaps who had gone to the
Banastar twist-up with all the rags and old
iron and bottles coin they could dig were
Just rolling on the floor, lot OF them, with
the pure ecstasy OF the situation. The
watching the mouth OF the singer-out
as II he'd been a judge about to dish them
out their sentences.
After Banastar led into the stretch by
four lengths the key stopped working for
a few seconds. Then the sounder got to
trilling again.
winner. Banastar'' yelled the operator.
About half OF the 500 started to box
and wrestle and jump on each others
hats over the success OF the great thing.
But in the middle OF all this they heard the
on his platform to give his lungs full play:
"'Banished gets 1t by lipi' he shouted.
'Banastar secondP
aI've seen 'em rolling out Of the gate
and toward home with lot Of the baby
blue tint on their maps in my time. but I
before a CRATE fire like those 800 did. 1t
was the quickest transformation from
rapture to gloom that ever came under
my notice, and there's good reason why
the recollection Of 1t should stick along
with me- for l had gone to the Banastar
tip with the kitchen stove and the bathroom
oilcloth
Il went over from Cincinnati to Coving-
ton once to get bet down on Billy divers
horse, Warrenton. 1t was long distance
race on one OF the New York tracks.
.Warrenton didn't look the winner on
paper figures, but had heard something,
and decided to 60 to 1t with all the loose
junk then on me. When made the Cow
had the Warrenton steer. but that didn't
make it look any the worse, although 1t
put crimp in the price.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

TWAS Just twelve feet square,
measured it with a six foot oar" replied
the bayman. when / had all the piles
worked down solid in the sand ! sawed
of the tops 80 they were all even, and the
foundation was finished. There were
three rows Of piles, four feet apart.
Twas two months before got money
and time enough to get the floor beams.
They were six-inoh pieces Of hemlock that
I got from q second hand dealer In lumber
at bargain.
when / got the beams laid down solid
I laid some pieces O. scantlin' down on top
of the beams and did song and dance on
the floor, my floor, the only floor I ever
owned"
The look of reminiscent qualification on
the bayman's face was 80 real, 30 earnest,
that the cynical visitor was shamed into
quiet.
After that the cammin' was poor and
the oysterin' was worse, and twas six
months before / could afford to buy my
joists and weather boards When I got
my joists and boards up 1t didn't take long
to finish the house.
THE roof was made Of smooth pine
boards, tongued and grooved, and covered
with tarred paper. To make the house
warm put tarred paper under the floor
ing. When got the house finished had
four winders in 1t, with panes Of glass a
foot square, and two hunks in the corner
with excelsior mattresses in 'em.
.On summer nights / used to lay in the
lower bunk with the door open listenin
to the tide a-talkin' just like folks, a-bab-
bin and a-gurglin' agin the piles, and
a-murmurin' sleepylike through the grass.
But when the more casters blew ] shut the
door. That's when the tide got noisy and
quarrelsome.
1T spit spray agin the winders and
jumped up agin the floor as II 1t was jealous
that my house was finished and was snug
in my bunk. But, Lord bless you, wasn't
afraid o. the tide. The ebb and the food
are old friends O. mine
Did you ever see the tides meetf The
ebb runnin' out and the food runnin' INF
There's plaoe In the bay whore they meet
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

Those on hoard the Manchuria said the
boys grief was something Of a shock to the
artist, but he said he would send In the pict-
ure to get even with Japan.
This artists attitude toward Japan Is
similar to that OF one Of the best known
English war correspondents who came
back from Japan less than a month ago.
He was so enraged at being kept away
from the fighting that he caused despatch
to be sent broadcast that the Mikado was
about to recall Grand Marshal Oyama
and degrade him. Oyama's great victory
over Kuropatkin at the Sha River was the
reply to that.
An American who was a passenger on
the Manchuria's last trip westward had a
talk with Japan's Secretary OF State just
before he left Japan, about the war cor
respondents. The Secretary said:
1T is almost grief to US that we cannot
show the newspaper men the courtesies
they desire. Japan desires the good
opinion of the press Of the world.
IF we let the correspondents send news
from the front, however. Gen. Kuropatkin
would know all about it within two hours
after it was published in London or New
York We could not allow situation
like that to exist
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

The haze of lovely day in October lay
N Jamaica Bay. gentle southwest wind
Eirred the water into shining ripples.
Affair on the horizon the salt meadows
nsernled the Islands of the Blest. The
sind, blowing over thousand leagues
heavinE sea, was redolent Of salt and
feichtcd with stimulation.
Cravfish Bill is a bayman. He lives on
iLfl' Bar, four miles away from shore
s the crow flies, in the cabin Of an old
anal oat drawn up on bar and sur
oundod by piles driven into the sand to
rotect it from the ice.
say, jim" said Bill. az his visitor came
owl me cabin stairs this ere cabin amt
o Aston Hotel, with a French cook, but
can give you some oysters right out OF
he bay"
Fifteen minutes later the visitor drew O
rackcr hoS up to the table, The menu con-
lstod Of oysters on the half shell, soft clans
oasted in the oven with a slice OF bacon
Nei each, milk toast made Of bread four
avs old and condensed milk, and tea brewed
pot black as the stovepipe that pro-
ect"d from the top of the cabin.
After this meal was finished and tho cats
'ere fed, Bill lit his pipe and his tongue
egan to wap. Said he:
You amt been here since lost my house
ist Marchp"
Whero did you get money enough to buy
house'' said the visitor in playful irony.
4 saved IT,, said Bill. 1T cost me about
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

born financier take a chance and stand to
haul down large thing or to accept deep
dent on a twist that was going on several
hundred miles away at the old Fair Grounds
track in st. Louis.
"The town had been rocking with one oil
those go-to-it-the-first -time-out tips on
Tulla Fonso, mare that spent her days
Jogging around the st. Louis tracks and
such a crazy actor that during good part
Of her career she was barred In the betting:
There were about / 500 men packed in
the huge South Chicago room on the day
the Tulla Fonso mare went after long re-
tirement, and when the chalk showed her
to be so to grab they all loped for the
price until the book was filed to the gun Is
and the room refused to take any more OF it,
When the shutdown came around, the
room stood to get at least SIS 900 gouge
should the crazy mare connect first with
the tape line.
ashe connected all right. but Immediately
after the announcement OF the result the
operator gave the screech:
There's a kick on that st. Loo race.
Foul claimed against Tulla Fonso.
The red-topped fnancier hadn't bet a
dollar on the race: He was noted hand
book man, and still is, out in the big mud
mug town, and chance taker from away
back in the deep empowered.
He saw the Tulla Fonso people shrivelltng
under the announcement of the kick against
her at the track, and he saw some business.
i ney III uaIlu IL 10 "hclo DIG
wears the throat latch the bunch were
saying to each other. She's a bum and a
bug at the post and in a race, and probably
she's knocked eight or ten horses down.
Tulla's name is glue
at sure looked that way, at that. There
was no reason for anybody familiar with
the character and conduct OF Tulla to sup
posa that If there had been any kind Of Of
fence in a race Tulla hadn't been the Of
fender. But the red-h headed handbook
ltolya nd hD xuQ Ia
stubborn. He got up on chair.
4'All Of you fat-heads and quit-easy
gums that've got Tulla Fonso tickets that
you're a-skeart Of, listen to me. III give
you half of what your pasteboards stand
Tor, on the face of them, and stand for the
knockout myself II Tulla is set back. Get
busy
she was we'll known to every man in the
room as fellow whose word was as good
as his certified John Hancock, and they
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

"A friend Of mine who writes plays came
to me the other day and told me that he
wanted me to do little collaborating with
him." said an experienced racing man.
When he unreeled what he wanted OF
me, got in willingly enough, for 1t looked
kind of interesting.
Hes writing a horseraoing play and
he's making the big feature a poolroom
scene. What he wanted Of me was to get
the poolroom color.
"The work got me into a smoke dream
over some kinky call-offs that I've listened
to in poolrooms the country over since I
first found out what past performances
meant.
THE biggest dump that ever saw a
whole roomful of men stand for happened
in poolroorn in Sausalito, across the bay
from San Francisco, seven or eight years
ago. 1t wasn't the biggest in the bundle
that all hands dropped-though that was
heap item, too-but in the ornery way
that the skids were puliots from beneath
the bunch.
@There was . race at louisville in which
the afterward famous Banastar, then a
two-year-old, was booked to 60 for the
first time. The tip on Banastar was all
over the country, hilu particularly stronS
on the Coast.
There were about 800 mon in the room
when the first line came in on that race.
and when Banastar was chalked up at
to l they buffaloed each other to make
the dcket-writing counters. The favorite
in the race was tried trick named Ban
ished. that, later on, couldn't beat hair
in Banastar's hide. Banished was 4 to
thing. But the crowd was all for the Ban
astar soft money at S toll.
Il don't believe the room took in a IS
note on the favorite. But when post time
came around the room stood to disoonnect
the wires, turn off the electric fans, slap
up the shutters, and go right into sudden
and eternal liquidation in case Banastar
copied. .-'
And that's the way It was rugged when
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23

in my mind for q year before I started
to build 1t, even to the vinegar barrel
was goin' to have settin' outside the door
to catch the rain water from the roof, cause
you can't get Croton water in the middle
OF Jamaica Bay
Bill laid his knotty, brown hand upon
his knee and looked with unseeing eyes
up through the companionway. He was
aroused from his revehe by his visitor,
WHO said. with a grim
did you build your foundation Of stone
or Of brick?"
was built Of eight-inch piles. ten feet long.
There was u contractor drivin' piles over
on the Cauarsie side Of the bay, and he
had a dozen piles too short fer his use.
bought 'em for half whit he paid for EN-. "
How did you get the piles over to Ruffle
Barr" said the inquisitor.
made raft Of 'em and towed EN- over
behind my skiff Took me seven hours
to do 1t on account Of the tide, which carried
me and the raft down to Barren Island.
There were blisters on my hands as big
as walnuts when got over to RUNE Bar
How did you sink your foundation?'
said the visitor, seeking to disturb Bills
serenity.
SITS queer about that" said Bill SOn
them bars in the middle of the bay the tide
rises from four to five feet, acoordin' to
which way the wind blows. A nor'easter
would blow the water out O. the bay 30 there
wouldn't be foot O. water on my lot. And
then agin sou'wester for two days would
make q tide six or seven foot high. Con-
sequence is 1 had to sink my piles at dead
low water"
did you have a piedriver to sink your
foundation
None o. your guyin', son. said the
veteran. Il chopped one end O. the piles
wedgeshaped and worked EN- down into
the mud and sand. It's surprisin' how that
meadow sand does stick to n stick O. timber,
One man can work it down about three or
four feet and twenty men couldn't pull
1t up
How big was this wonderful house OF
yours, Bill''
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23
talkin' noisy in the cell ar.

talkin' noisy in the cellar.
Il think I'd ave gone crazy with lonesome
ness If it hadn't been for them cats. You
ought to have seen Hayshack sparrin with
q spider crab I tonged up one dayl A
spider crab, you know, is all claws and
bone and has no innards to speak Of.
"On the night before st. Patricks day
the wind was roaring around the shanty.
1t had been BLOWN from the norwest,
and it shifted to the southland and blew
the water tumblin' back in the bay. To
make things worse for the cats and me,
the bay was full OF float Joe six to eight
inches thick.
"The ice was foatin' back and forth on
the tide, and at low water it was stranded
on the bars ten foot high. Some o. this
ice came sailn' along and damned up In
my cellar, and 1t lay there groanin' and
grindin' agin the piles.
THE top OF big wave came slap agin
the house and thin stream O. water ran
under the door and over the floor. The
crab had been sparrn' with Hayshack
as usual, and got one Of his claws fast in
the cats whiskers, and when tho water
came in Hayshack and the other cats
jumped up on the table, and the crab was
still hangin' to Hayshack's whskers.
Things got pretty lively after that and
didn't have no time to see what become
O. the crab. The cats were meowin' with
fear. In about five minutes there came
another big wave that lifted one end o.
the house of the piles about a foot, tum-
bled the clock off the shelf, and sent pot
full Of boilin' potatoes rollin' over the
floor.
When the big wave rolled away the house
came down on the piles again with crash
that smashed all my dishes, put out the
lamp, and made big hole in the floor
where the ice and water came through.
This time the water was foot deep on
the floor.
Il jumped out O. the bunk, grabbed my
coat, and yelled to the cats. and I'm blamed
il them cats didn't jump of the table. swim
over to me, and stick their sharp claws
into my bare shins. I grabbed one OF EN-
In each hand and showed 'sm into my pook