davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
USING A M1cRosooPE.
Value Of the Pocket Lens for Examin-
ing Lower Life Forms.

From success.
The season Of ,swarming life. vegetable
and animal has come. and a great joy
fills the heart Of every possessor Of a
good microscope. Man would not be worth
much as an intelligent creature IL he did
eyes and his ears and of all of his or
gans Of sense, in order to perceive and
comprehend more fully the secrets and
beauties OF nature.
The two great allies of the eye that sci
ence has given US are the microscope and
the telescope.
Every family should have a microscope
There Is no book more full Of instruction
ana few so full of delight. 1t need not
be large and costly instrument: indeed
1t should not be for beginners. They
might easily become confused and dis
couraged by complications. and. except to
expert hands, the difficulties of manipu-
latfng powerful modern microscope,
with its delicate accessories. are many.
A simple instrument is best. A very
high magnffying power is not needed. A
single cheap lens steadily mounted will
do wonders. even when it magnlfies but
a few diameters. / have often been as
tonished to find how few persons ever
use even a pocket magnifier, or know
how to use one IL it is handed to them I
have been accustomed for many years
always to have such a lens about me- as
1nseparable companion as my penknife.
Frequently have two or three, of vary
Ing powers, in my pockets. and 1 believe
could write a book full OF stories about
the interesting things I have seen with
my pocket magnifiers, and all of which
should have missed without their ready
aid
On a teeming summer day throw your
self on the ground beside an ant hill and
see what little lens costing perhaps a
half dollar or less, will do for you in
opening before your eyes a world whose
largest inhabftant is scarcely half inch
long, but wherein there exists a perfec-
ton or social organization and a mar
shaling of industry that may well amaze
a non-looking philosopher
For observation of minute life of
courses something more powerful than a
pocket lens is needed. But the shops are
power and price costing from S5 or SO
up to 800 or several hundred dollars If
you get microscope whose magnifying
powers run from ten diameters 1t will be
all you will need. Remember that the
superficial area of an object Is Increased
In apparent size proportionately to the
square or the given magnifying power
For instance, fiys wing, with a multi
tude OF delicate veins and it's simmer of
prismatic colors appears 10000 times as
large as life when magnified 100 diame-
tiers, because it Is magnified 100 times
each way. or course, you cannot see all
or a nyS wing at once, when 1T is magni-
ned like that, but you can move 1t about
on the stage Of the microscope and ex-
anime different parts Of it at your leisure
With little ingenuity and perhaps. at
observer. 1t is not difficult to see the
blood flowing in the semi-transparent
foot Of living frog without injuring the
animal.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
ANTIQUES FOR SUMMER TRADE.
Maine Men and Women at Work on
Next Years Supply.

Lamoine CIe.) Cor. New York Sun.
AS soon as the last summer visitor has
gone away those of the natives who are
artistic in any way begin to make fantastic
and antique articles of household utility
to sell to the crop of summer visitors
who will arrive next June.
There are a score of men and more than
two score women who will pass the winter
in such employment. Two years ago there
was organized a society of women who de-
vote their time on winter evenings to en-
broidering tides, scarfs, neckties and other
articles, all of which are sold to the city
callers at high prices.
The custom is to secure cheap crocheting
silks that have been damaged, and with
these to work out antique patterns of flow
ers and notices on coarse crash or I'M
bleached linen. The articles are then
srSeared with daubs of oil and spatters OF
anything about the house. Then the I'M
slightly spots are taken out by applying
benzine and the goods are folded while still
damp and put away in old chests and sprin-
killed. with floor sweepngs and other forms
Of dust, all of which Is done to give in
dication of great age to things which are
new.
On the arrival of the summer visitors
word is given out that articles of an adj
vanced age have been discovered in the
neighborhood, whereupon the old chests
are ransacked in the presence Of the pros
pective buyers, and much embroidered
lien that is faded and moldy is brought
forth and sold for fancy prices.
Meantime the innocent old farmers are
converting aged woods into spinning
wheels and fax wheels and hand looms and
ancient furniture and getting ready to sell
chairs that were made in the winter of 1905
as remnants Of family furniture that came
over in the Mayfiower. An estimate has
been made that enough Mayflower furni-
ture Is manufactured in eastern Maine ev-
cry winter to have loaded that famous old
craft three times over.
On Isle au Haul there Is an unsophistf-
Gated blacksmith who makes from a dozen
to a score Of antique andirons every winter
He Is man OF great verisimilitude, taking
pains to place dates on every andiron that
comes out from under his busy hammer
Most of them bear rude figures to Indicate
that they were made in England during
the wars between Charles / and parlia-
ment, and as result of their antiquity the
andirons are sold for prices that yield
handsome income to the blacksmith, who
by upright dealings and industry has be-
come the owner Of some of the best shore
front lots on the island.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Why We Grow Old.
ison SWEET Marden. In Success.

Or1son SWEET Marden, In success.
Bitter memories OF sinful life which has
gone all wrong make premature burrows in
the face, take the brightness from the eyes
and the elasticity from the step and makes
ones life sapless and uninteresting.
We grow old because we do not know
enough to keep young. just as we become
sick and diseased because we do not know
enough to keep WELL Sickness is a result of
ignorance and wrong thinking. The time
will come when man will no more harbor
thoughts that will make him sick or weak
than he would think of putting his hands
into fire. No man can be sick II he always
has right thoughts and takes ordinary care
of his body. II he will think only youthful
thoughts he can maintain his youth far
beyond the usual period.
II you would be young when DID," adopt
the sun dials motto, Il record none but
hours of sunshine" Never mind the dark
or Swallowed hours. Forget the unpleasant
unhappy days. Remember only the days OF
rich experiences; let the others drop into
oblivion.
It is said that Tong livers are great
hopers." II you keep your hope bright In
spite of discouragements. and meet all Diff
ficultes with cheerful face, it will be
very difficult for age to trace its burrows on
your brow. There is longevity In cheerful
ness.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
BILLIONS IN 1O-CENT INSURANCE.
The Vast Growth of So-Called "Indus-
trial" Life Insurance.

From Worlds Work
Thirty-three years ago. a New York in
surance mans attention was attracted one
day by a rather derogatory reference in
the Massachusetts Insurance report to the
work of an English company. which was
insuring the lives Of workingmen and chill
dren on a large scale. Today that man Is
president of one Of three similar American
companies. which stand pledged to pay in
the future more than two billion dollars to
more than ten million people. which are dis
persing half million dollars week to their
policy holders in sums averaging perhaps
a hundred dollars: which have assets stored
up Of nearly one hundred and fifty millions;
end most notable of all. which collect. by
hand. quarter of a million dollars a day in
ten cent pieces! Such growth within the
working life Of one man Is amazing, seven
I'm this age Of industrial miracles. and an
examination Of its details heightens the
wonder.
Strangely enough. though one family ous
Of every five In the United States has one
or more industrial policies on some men,
Der. the average well-informed man knows
nothing whatever about the system or It's
workings. But ask your household serv-
ants. and the chances are you will find
that at least one OF them is paying ten
antees her a hundred dollars or SO In case
of death-enough to pay for the funeral
expenses This was the foundation princi-
pie of industrial insurance. and is still the
dominant reason for it's existence: the
avoidance OF burial at public expense. or
of leaving a burden of debt upon ones FAM
fly. The average cost of burial for a child
under two years is from So to $25; the
average insurance on children between one
ana two years old is s194S. At the age
Of ten, the average funeral expense is $50--
the average Industrial policy, sJ994.
From this initial idea. however, the bust
ness has developed cash dividends' and
''paid-up policies" until now its payments
IF claims alone amount to twenty-five mil.
lion dollars a year. in sums ranging from
S15 to 81 600
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
RADIUK AND SOLAR HEAN
Latest Great Discovery Throws New
Light Upon Age Of Earth.

from the National Review.
The discovery of radio-activity makes It
necessary to reconsider our estimates Of
the time during which the earth can have
been fitted for the abode Of living beings.
Consider first the suns heat. We know
that the sun is incandescent-that 1t IL a
glowing white hot body. It has been Civ
ing OF heat for countless ages. Now, how
can this heat supply be kept upf Why
does the sun not cool down owing to the
loss Of its primeval heat?
The most obvious answer would be that
this does happen. but that the cooling OF
30 large a body is too slow to be noticeable
even in very long periods Of time. That
might seem at first sight to be plausible
solution enough. But calculation cOnclu-
sively proves that 1t is insufficient. The
would very soon be exhausted IL 1t gave
out heat at anything like the rate that the
sun does
The same reason prevents our supposing
that combustion can account for the out
put of solar heat.
Until lately the theory advanced by Won
Helmholtz has held the field. He showed
that If the sun was assumed to be steadily
contracting to smaller dimensions, IT, in
fact, the outer parts were assumed to be
falling down on the inner ones, enough
heat would be generated In the process to
account for the observed output for con-
would be necessary to postulate is too
| small to be detected even by the most care
full observations on the suns diameter
which can be made.
| 1t will readily be understood that calcu-
| latiOns of this kind are affected by con-
| siderable sources of uncertainty; but when
due allowances have been made for these
| it seems impossible to admit that this
source of heat can keep up the supply for
more than, say, fifty million years. Indeed,
very high authrity puts it lower than that.
Fifty million years is a long time, judged
by human standards. But there are strong
reasons for regarding it as an insufficient
allowance. These are partly geological,
partly geological.
The earth's surface is composed in the
main of stratified rocks-that is, of layers
| of consolidated mud, deposited one on top
of another These layers extend to an enor-
| nous thickness, as we are able to see
when we examine cases where some of the
lowest ones have been brought to the sur
face by upheaval. We can form some idea
of the gigantic period which the deposition
of these layers would take If We examine
cases where the process is now in opera
ton. The prevalent opinion is that fifty
million years IS quite insufficient allow
| ance of time. All but the very lowest Of
the stratifed rocks (and perhaps even the
very lowesD contain fossils; thus 1t is GER
tain that the earth's surface was fitted for
| the abode of animal life at the time they
were deposited. In other words it's temper
AZURE cannot have then been widely differ
| ent from what it now is, and the sun must
| have been shining then with much the same
brilliancy that it does now, so that geo.
logical evidence seems to require a much
older age for the suns heat than 1t has
| been possible to account for.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Flattery and Flatterers.
From the Spectator.

T
1--WE sometimes fancy We hate nattery,
when In truth it is the manner of 1t We dis
like" said La Rochefoucauld. Stripped OF
its cynicism. the saying comes to this: that
while praise is eternally pleasant, there are
fashions in fiattery. and those fashions
change very completely. Flattery Is inno-
cent or despcable not according to wheth-
er or not 1t oversteps the limits of the ao-
curate but whether or not 1T proceeds from
an interested or a disinterested motive.
There are moments when a true statement
of honorific fact made for the selfish pur-
pose Of the speaker may be gross fiattery,
while an exaggerated speech may be justi-
fed by it's good intention. The real qucs-
ton is not what was said. but why ii was
said. That is the only test by which we
can divide the contemplate from the HARM
less kind. Surely there Is less of the worst
sort than there was-or do We but datter
ourselves?
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
GODS AND HAIR
Divine Dedication Customs Practised by
the Ancients.

From the Fortpightly Review.
According 20 Lucian, youths as well as
maidens at Troezen were forbidden to wed
till they had shorn their hair In honor of
'Hfppolytus. and We gather from the context
that 1t was their first beard which the
young men thus polled. However, we may
explain II, custom of this sort appears to
have prevailed widely both in Greece and
the east. Plutarch tells us that formerly IL
was the wont of boys at puberty to go TO
Delphi and offer of their hair to Apollo.
Theseus, the father Of Hippolytus. complied
with the custom, which lasted down into
historical times. Argive maidens, grown to
womanhood, dedicated their tresses to
Athena before marriage. On the same oc.
casion Megarian girls poured libations and
laid clippings Of their hair on the tomb OF
the maiden Iphinoe.
At the entrance to the temple of Artemis
In Delos the grave of two maidens was
shown under olive tree. II was said
that long ago they had come as pilgrims
from a far northern land with offerings to
Apollo, and dying in the sacred isle were
buried there. The Delian virgins before
marriage used to cut off a lock OF their
hair. wind Ii on a spindle. and lay 1t on
the maidens' grave The young men did the
same, except that they twisted the down
of their first beard round a wisp of grass or
a green shoot In some places ii was Ar
tennis who received the offering Of
maiden's hair before marriage
At Panamara in Caria men dedicated
locks of their hair I'm the temple of Zeus.
The locks were inclosed I'm little stone
boxes. some of them fitted with n marble
lid or shutter, and the name of the dedica-
tor was engraved on a sunken panel In the
stone, together with the name of the priest
for the time being. Many of these inscribed
boxes have been found of late years on the
spot. None of them bear the names of wo-
men; some of them are inscribed with the
names, of a father and his sons. All the
dedications are to Zeus alone. though Hera
was also worshiped with him at Pana-
= q .aA.
youths offered of their boards and girls of
their tresses to the great Syrian goddess
and left the shorn hair in caskets of gold
or silver, inscribed with their names. and
nailed TO the walls of the temple. The GUS
tom of dedicating the first beard seems to
have been common in Rome under the
empire. Thus Nero consecrated his first
beard in golden box, studded with costly
pearls, on the capitol.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Recollections of Monticello, the Painter.

from Harpers weekly
Monticello painted several thousand pic
lures The local tradition has 1t that he
left 10000 francs in his mattress; but this
Is probably untrue. His had always been
a hand-to-mouth existence. He only asked
sufficient money to satisfy his enormous ap-
petite and to refill his color box.
The lonely and disordered life came sadly
to it's end. His besetting thought had been
of woman. but in his dreamland. before this
woman. he became a timid lover who saw
but grace and beauty. In the little church
OF Allauch. near Marseille. there hangs
the portrait of his fiancee, Rose Aubanel,
dead in her twentieth year. The panel rep
resents a glory in which a young girl In
white Is carried upward by contemplative
angels. The faces are said to be strikingly
like those of her parents and friends. Per-
haps here we have the secret of the two
lives-one that of the gay bohemian who
meets a busy man of affairs-one of his
friends whose face is somewhat long.
"Short of money" sympathetically inquiries
Monticello. The man of business acQuiesces,
and Monticello gravely offers him two
franc coin. The friend smiles and refuses
II. What" says Monticello. thou hast
not need Of forty sous. and yet thou art In
trouble. I. when have them. I am rich"
Such was the MonticelU whose unimport-
ant "Pecheurs'' alone Is held for $1,000.
which. by the way, Is much less than prices
paid for any number of recently sold WORKS
of his. This was the Monticello of the cafes
end of the Latin Quarter.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
The Baby Chrysanthemum.

From the Philadelphia Record
"You might think" said the florist, that
the pompon chrysanthemum called Baby
was case Of sour grapes. 1t certainly is
the limit in the way Of diminutive NUNS.
Most of it's gay, fiat little yellow blossoms
are quarter of an inch In diameter. Some
are even smaller. 1t has been quite the
fad for window decorations this autumn
throughout the country. and naturally the
great stunt has been to cap the climax
with as big q mum of the same color as
could be found in stock. Not all of US con-
stantly have on hand a Mrs. Thirkell or
an F. 8. Wallis. the golden giants OF the
year, but we do have plenty that look about
as big when these overgrown beauties are
absent. To return to Baby, 1t looks as II
it had, in the beginning. realized that 1t
would never be prize winner from the
all its energies upon being as tiny as possi-
ble."
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Gentle Hint to Restaurant Patrons.
From the London Chronicle.

FROM the LONDON ChrOnicie-
The necessity of tipping with a lavish
hand is strongly enforced in a restaurant
near the station at Pompeii. In a promi
nent position is placed a gaudily framed
sketch of the interior of the dining room.
with two clients taking their departure.
One of them, a cowed-looking individual,
is struggling into his overcoat, while two
walters stand near him, the one smiling de-.
risively at the other, who displays a tiny
coin with gesture of fierce contempt. On
the opposite side of the room a guest is
seen. surrounded by three walters one help
ing him with his coat, another brushing
his hat. the third bowling obsequiously and
holding his walking stick.
The moral Is obvious but allowance is
made for the proverbial obtuseness of
northern nations, and underneath the pic
ture is inscribed, in large letters, 1.-THE Re-
suits OF Benevolence."
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Child's Long Journey Alone.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.

From the P1ttsburg Dispatch.
After being separated by thousands Of
miles from her family, eight-year-old
Maria Majunsz met her mother for the first
time In four years at union station yester-
day. A tag. labelled with the tots name
and the Pittsburg address OF her family,
500 Shelby avenue. was her only identiica-
ton on her long journey by sea and land
from the interior of Hungary to the arms
Of her mother in Pittsburg.
Passengers and employees were affected at
the scene between mother and daughter,
and. although none could understand their
Hungarian EXPLANATIONS of JOY, all knew
the English equivalents. Seven years ago
the father came to America, and after
three years Of hard work sent for his wife
Both worked hard to bring the child across
the water. and about three months ago
the money for her passage was sent her
Off1cialdom met the child more than half
way. and her path was paved with kind
ness.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Five Hundred Children Apiece.
From Worlds Work,

One Of the federal judges has estimated
that. IL the stories told in the courts by the
Chinese about being born In the United
States were true. every Chinese woman who
was living in the United States twenty
five years ago must have had at least five
hundred children. One Of the wretched fea.
lures of this situation is that since wives
OK bona fide Chinese natives of the United
States have been declared entitled to adj
mission. each one Of these fraudulently adj
mitted Cinnamon may bring over q slave
girl incorporating as his wife. She COM
mands market price Of from two thousand
to three thousand dollars.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
The Cheerful Idiot.
From the Baltimore Anne

From the Baltimore American.
II see." said the Tired Citizen, that Mrs
Chadwick used Carnegie's name unauthor-
izedly In raising money"
YES" butted In the Cheerful Idiot, '.she
was rapidly forging her way to the front
rank of wealthy women"
And the silence was so dense the other
boarders almost strangled ON II.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Chicago Soup Plates Accompaniment

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Two New Workers were lunching together
at the Bellevue-Stratford.
''one hear, strange stories about Chica-
CO." said the woman In the chinchilla tri-
corne, 'but I never believed half of them
until went there while ago on q visit.
VIII you believe, my dear. that went to
dinner where there was q little silver
trumpet beside each soup platter
What were they for?' inquired the girl
with the violets.
81 didn't know at first. but found out
later that they were called soup coolers,
and were used for blowing the soup!' said
the travelled one.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
Wire Fences as Electricity Conductors.
From the Milwaukee Sentinel

THE number of cattle killed each year
by lightning has become considerably
larger since wire fences have come into
use In the west" said c. @. Cook Of Bis
marck. 8. d.
1.-The use of wire fences has become ex-
tensive. and there is practically little land
now that Is not fenced In. Many cattle are
killed In open fields surrounded by fences.
where there Is not tree or anything else
to attract the lightning. Most OF them are
found near the fences, and II Ii said that
the farmers insurance companies are con-
sidering a raise in their rates on this ac-
count The remedy has been suggested of
running wires into the ground every few
yards, and where this has been tried II
seems to have proved quite successful"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24

From Harpers Weekly.
A friend of the humorist tells story OF
the days when Mark Twain was a pilot on
the Mississippi which. IT is thought. has
never been published.
One day Mr.. Clemens missed his boat.
Instead OF inventinx an excuse. he report
ed to his superior officer as follows:
MY boat left at 7:20. I arrived at the
wharf at 5:66 and could not catch It"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24

I'm afraid. Johnny said the Sunday
school teacher. rather sadly. that I shall
never meet you In the better land
why? What have you been doin' now7'
Pick Ne Up.