davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
FIFTY YEARS AGO.

The writer's elementary and primary
training In agriculture was before the.
era Of the chilled steel pillow and other
tools and with the OK team as motive
power. The grain was sown and the
corn planted by hand, the moving all
done with a scythe, the cutting Of the
grain with cradle, the thrashing eli
Their done with { fail or the grain
tramped out by horses on the barn
floor, the time when the hired man
had to be furnished with his ration Of
whisky in haying and harvest, when
the hunting and the fishing was Of the
best and when society was not both
cred with women's clubs and pink
teas, when the meat supply for the
farm was killed and cured On the farm,
when a supply Of maple sugar was
made every spring and q barrel or two
of sorghum molasses in the fall-the
good old days, we call them now, days
whose work, worry and privation we
have forgotten, only remembering
those things which modern progress
and. development have deprived us Of.
The years have robbed the farm Of
much of its slavery and in doing so has
destroyed much of it's sentiment.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
CHAPTER VII.
IN THE OLD wATcH-rowER.

LIN LIE oLD WAICH-IOWER.
~ RATION did not find the
Il ~ time of his Imprisonment
W hang heavily on his hands.
An only child, whose moth
er, like Anne de Rohan's, had died in
his infancy, he had been early sent to
sea. He knew but little of family life,
therefore, and even less of children
Through his connections and influence
he was not without some acquaintance
with the high life of the court of
England somewhat unusual privi-
lege for young naval officer-and he
easily moved in the first circles in
America when his duties permitted
him rare visit there. Mingling in
This good society he had acquired an
Ease and manner which, added to his
native breeding and instructive dig
nifty, enabled him to bear himself
gracefully wherever he found himself
but he had no experience with young
girls of the age of the young coun-
tess.
Fortunately his was sunny, lively
disposition, full Of LAUGHTER and hui
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
Copyright. 1901. by D. Appleton & Co., New York.

| NOR, which made it not difficult for
him to enter into the spirit of the
| play in accordance with his new
| friends fancies. He had been attracted
| in some strange way to the little de
| Rohan from the first moment he had
seen her-nay, from that morning hour
| when he had only heard her in the
which she had instituted between
them, and upon which he had entered
to please her and as pastime for a
prisoner, unconsciously assumed per-
manent aspect.
He took part in the play with zest
which surprised him, and the more he
was thrown in contact with the
strange and peculiar mind of the girl
the more she interested him. She
was a singular mixture of the young
and the old, the very childish and the
very wise. She stood, as it were,
poised halfway between the intel
lectual level of Josette, her playmate,
on the enc hand, and of the courtly old
marquis, her preceptor and guide, on
the other.
She was too old to play at dolls, he
thought, too young to play at love.
And yet she had done the one and was
doing the other, although the "ador-
able Toto" had been neglected of late
for the more adorable Philip. Shrewd-
ness, wit, and common sense mingled
in equal measure with unbounded
credulity and the most romantic imag-
ination. And her impetuosity and
abandon were as evident as were her
wisdom or her innocence.
Grafton kissed the little brown hand
so often that he rather grew to like it.
Every day brought him different
love-token of some sort and new
and imaginary task to be achieved.
But Mademoiselle Anne at last tired
of simulation-the most obstinate i'm
agination will weary in the end-and
determined to endeavor to .impart a
touch of realism to the pretty game.
One day, therefore, she took him
into one of the rooms of the high
tower, the keep or watch-tower, the
oldest part of the chateau, which he
had never visited before. There she
told him a tale of one of the ancient
ladies of Hohan who had lover who
came from an alien and antagonistic
family, who gained access to hel
chamber by climbing in some strange
way the wall or face of the tower
| until he reached the oriel window be-
fore them. He was finally caught and
killed by the lords of the house on
the threshold of the very room in
which they were standing, she said,
and she wondered If Sir Philip could,
or would have done that thing.
Let us go to the window and look
out, your little ladyship, and we will
see," answered the pseudo knight
gaily. II am sailor. can climb al
most anything that any one else can
ascend"
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
CHAPTER VIII.
THE END OF THE PLAY.

THE END OF THE PLAY.
TTHAT night he determined to
put in practice the attempt
d to escape, the first definite
possibility of which had come
to him that afternoon. Indeed, it had
grown upon him with each passing
moment. He lay awake for hours after
he had retired and Anatole had been
dismissed, waiting until the people in
the chateau, except the guards at the
gate and the watchmen on the walls,
had all gone to sleep. And for a true
knight his thoughts at least were re-
creant, since he dreamed not of the
Lady Anne but of freedom.
Toward midnight he arose, dressed
himself quickly. and softly stole
through the deserted halls until he
came to the unoccupied chamber in
the round tower. No especial watch
was kept upon him, no guards were
stationed upon the tower and but few
on the seward side of the chateau.
Moving circumspectly he had met no
one nor had he attracted the atten-
ton of any sleeper.
He stepped quickly through the great
room to the oriel. He stood for a
moment on the balcony looking out to
sea. 1t was bright moonlight night.
Away on the horizon twinkled the
faint yellow light of the English ships
Far below him in the shadow Of the
cliffs the waves were breaking in sui
len splashing upon the splintered
shore. He could hear the rhythmical
persistent beat of their tireless assault
upon the rocks, see the white water,
shot with phosphorescent sparks,
churned into foam over the reefs at
the foot OF the cliffs.
He hesitated as he surveyed the
scene; although his purpose was I'M
changed, he realized as he had not
before. that his undertaking was
fraught with the greatest danger. He
m1ght ranch tina foot of, tha cliff alixa
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
THE hoy ANn HIS ACRE.

The boy was given an acre of fairly
good land to work, he to have what he
could raise on it. What did he do
with it? dc worked mornings and
evenings until he had put twenty loads
of manure on the land as starter.
He then plowed and narrowed it down
until it was in as good condition as
garden. He then planted one-half
Of it with the very earliest maturing
potatoes he could find, and the other
half he put into blackseed onions.
The potatoes he cultivated thoroughly
with horse cultivator, the onions
with a hand cultivator, hiring some
boys to help him weed out the latter
CROP. The season was favorable, and
he sold sixty bushels of early pota-
toes at 81 i bushel and go bushels
Of onions later at 40 cents a bushel,
receiving for his crop total of $172.50
less SIS for help and 81 for seed He
will take in the worlds fair this year
and do the Pike to finish. Other
boys might do just as well If they
would
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
ascend

Together and hand in hand the two
looking the sea. Just outside the oriel
window, the wall of the castle, follow
ing the coast line, turned sharply,
making narrow re-entrant angle
where it joined the round tower. The
tower and the wall were built of rough
stone and their surfaces were much
broken by jutting projections. The
wall and tower sloped slightly inward
from the base to the top.
Philip gravely surveyed the stone
surface of the weather-beaten tower
sweeping below the little platform on
which he stood, and made up his mind
that daring climber taking advan-
tage Of the irregularities and pro-
jections in the stone, and favored by
the slope and the angle, might, if he
had cool head, gain the balcony, pro-
vided no one opposed his ascent. In
deed, since the Baron de Croisic, the
unfortunate lover of the legend had
done so, he felt sure that he himself
could accomplish the feat-given a
sufficient incentive, of course. At the
foot of the tower lay the little pay
spoken of before, and in the bay a
small boat was moored.
He looked again and more carefully,
leaning far out over the wall, and
with the trained observation of a
sailor to whom the minutest indtca-
ton may be of paramount value, he
took careful note of the several pro-
jecting stones, the slope of the walls,
and rapidly mapped out series of
movements by which the 5eat could be
achieved.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
SHE WON'T WALK.

There is little doubt that If the
American woman would take more
outdoor exercise she would be much
stronger and healthier. The American
woman does not take, kindly to walk
ing as does her English sister, who
makes as serious a business of her
daily walk as she does Of her church
going. Nothing like walk to drive
away the megrims and blues, to put
color in the cheek, to bring the sharp
appetite and the refreshing slumber,
The Englishwoman walks regardless.
Of any business to call her abroad; the
American will only walk when she
has somewhere to go or can't catch q
street car. But our women are great
on buggy riding and have found out
that walking develops large feet, ana
that settles it,
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
THE RURAL MAUI sERy1cr.

Reforms move slowly out on the
farms, but the rural mail service has
proved an exception to this rule. In
just few years, about five, 100000
country people have come to be served
with daily mail, and no greater boon
was ever devised for the farmers Of
the country. The first postmaster gen
eral who was intrusted with small,
appropriation to experiment with in
this line was so opposed to the scheme
on general principles that one of the
first routes he laid out was in the
mountain district Of a southern state
where the people make moonshine
whisky and can't read or write.
where Of course the rural mail was a
dead failure. Later it was tried in
more civilized communities with entire
success and has steadily grown into
its present enormous proportions.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

An old corn grower says that when
a crop Of 90 bushels an acre is secured
the corn costs 10 cents a bushel to pro-
duce, for so bushels 1t is Is cents, for
40 bushels 10 cents, for IS bushels ~
cents and for 80 bushels 30 cents.
These figures are not very far out of
the way, and 1t is thus easy to know
when you are selling corn below the
cost Of production.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

A horse never takes up meaner
trick than that Of pulling on the halter.
We would trade horse with this habit
for balky one any time.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

We never could see just why the
state should pay man $1,000 for doing
less work than he did in private ca
pacity for $1,000.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

The oleo fraud died hard; SO did hui
man slavery, but emancipation was Sc
cured at last for both the COW and the
colOred man.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Popcorn and peanuts are unknown
In every country save this. Here they
represent millions of dollars yearly.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

A woman who had our sympathy
was one who canned lot Of straw
berries only to find out too late that
by some stupid blunder the grocery
man had got salt mixed with the sugar
which he sent her. What this woman
thought was undoubtedly unfit to
print.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

A pleasing innovation for the resi-
dents Of the north country this season
has been twenty-five cent baskets of
fine Elberta peaches from Texas dur
Ing July.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
Men are a good deal like caDpages-
when they get the big head they burst
and become worthless.

Corrosion of farm tools and erosion
Of farm soils are two things which
have to be eternally watched. .
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23
THE SPECIALIST.

1t is always good thing for farm
er to specialize in one or two things, to
be known rs producer Of the best in
some line of crop or as breeder OF
some one line of improved stock. This
may be done without trouble on any
farm and in no manner interfere with
that diversified type of agriculture
which always insures the best results.
The best things are produced by spe-
cialists, the best stock by the man who
keeps to one breed. 1t is worth some
ty fair on any farm product. 1t set
the neighbors to talking, and they are
almost sure to want some of your seed
or your stock at good long prices. Then
there is the satisfaction Of it.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Because of the cold, the snow and
the ice there, are only about hundred
days in yedr when railway construc-
ton work can be carried on along
much of the route Of the Siberian rail-
way in Russia.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Stockmen with finished beef cattle
and fat hogs on hand, with fifty-fve
cent corn to buy to hold them. are not
feeling overly sweet about the strike
at the packing houses In Chicago.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

A reformed tramp giving a lecture
said that the worst thing he found con-
nected with hobo life was the good ad-
vice the women persisted in giving
him with handout.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

That redheaded, two pound young
rooster will bring 80 cents in June and
will only bring as much come Christ
mas when he weighs six pounds. What
is the use of keeping him?
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

We have friend who has horror Of
hot box or squeaking journal, and
only one thing he hates worse, and
that Is to climb his windmill tower and
oil up when the mill gets in this fix.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

There were 100000 cases of eggs in
cold storage in this country July 8.
Noting this fact, one can readily I'M
derstand how greatly cold storage
tends to equalize both the supply and
the price Of eggs.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Guinea hens are like politicians
useful for the noise they make and in
having no market value.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

When man finds himself with q
farm upon which the crops fail in an
ordinarily wet season, it will pay him
well to sell one-half of his land and
use the proceeds to thoroughly under
drain the other half. Three lost crops
will drain the land.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

There should be some way of taking
care of the first cutting Of the alfalfa
field in June in the silo. This first crop
it is almost impossible to save us good
hay.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

The attrachveness and salableness
of fruit depend much upon the pack
age and the taste displayed in putting
1t up. The same principle applies to
the ladies.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

In the year 1889 217 bushels of chem
ically dried corn was produced on an
acre Of land in South Carolina. This
crop won prize of $500 from the
State Agricultural society and $500
from the company which furnished the
commercial fertilizer used in it's pro-
duction.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Nothing should be watched more
closely than the condition Of the COW
pasture in August. that dry, hot time
which stops the growth Of the grass,
when the cows will put in most of
their time fighting flies. A milk. yield
then and thus reduced is never fully
regained later. If the cows must re-
main in the pasture, poor though it be,
the morning and evening ration should
be a liberal one-sweet corn, summer
silage. early cut hay and bran. The
month Of August is quite often more
Of milk shrinker thar the coolest
weather Of the winter.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

1t is typical Of the American that he
will always seek for the easiest way to
do hard things. The marvellous inven-
tive genius Of the country originates in
this trait Of character. Give Yankee
any job Of hard work, and ten to one
before he has 1t completed he will have
discovered some easier method Of do
ing it The foreigner will fudge along
in the old way, the way Of his ances-
tors; the Yankee never.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Macaroni wheat is growing greatly
in favor all through the semiarid sec
ton of the country. While the m.llers
are opposed to handling it, as it does
not grind well with modern milling
machinery, it still makes the finest of
bread, hardly distinguishable from the
best made from patent flour.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

We have been propping up some fruit
trees lately to prevent the breaking of
the branches with the load of fruit
which the trees are carrying. While
in common with others we'Go this, it is
still all wrong, for the fruit should
have been thinned to such load as
the trees could carry without support
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

We saw the girl in the cornheld the
other day-a sunbonneted, blue calf
coed, bright eyed miss of sixteen-han-
ding the lines over a nice team and
cultivating in good shape from six to
eight acres Of corn day. She looked
up as the train sped by, and we got to
thinking as we passed her how many
worse things she might be doing. Next
winter this same girl is quite likely to
be at some college trying to take a
place higher up.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

What can be done with the pond
hole that cannot be drained? If we
had it on our farm we would work at It
with seraper in dry time and make
good banks around it; then we would
plant trees all around it, preferably
willows, and have right pretty little
spot instead of an unsightly and worth
less swamp.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

II would be double blessing II the
dood waters Of the Missouri river
could DO captured and stored for irri-
cation purposes. 1t would make the
desert worth 500 per acre and save
millions Of dollars loss each year to
the jewellers Of the river low lands
from Fort Benton to st. Louis Some
day this work will be done.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

We have been renovating a three
year-old strawberry bed recently
Just as soon as the last berries were
gathered the bed was moved off as
close as possible to the ground. The
bed was then thoroughly worked over
with a six tooth horse cultivator, leav-
Ing only six inch strip Of the old
plants untouched. This will be follow
ed by repeated cultivation until fall
While not as good rs bed set this
spring with new plants, this treatment
Will insure fairly productive bed for
next year.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

Improved farm machinery begets a
new class of risks to life and limb. We
note this season men being chewed up
by moving machine, chopped up by
disk harrows. stabbed by falling hay
fork, blown up by exploding traction
engines, losing arms and hands by the
corn shredders Successful farming Is
today 80 much a matter Of knowing
how to operate and care for compncat-
ed machinery that every young man
who intends to make agriculture his
business should have course Of train
Ing along this line.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

II you have patch Of that measly
squirrel tail grass in your meadow or
pasture it will pay to get after it and
prevent Its further spread. The Sc
cret Of Its determination is to prevent
Its going to seed Now early and again
later If it shoves up second crop of
heads. 1t is a costly pest in the mead
ow, for its presence lowers the value Of
all hay which has it in.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

If man Is trying to make living
on a run down and wornout farm in
any of the eastern or central states he
should look up the alfalfa proposition.
If he can grow alfalfa, the way of his
redemption is clear. We certainly
would not give the old farm away I'M
til we had seen what alfalfa could do
for it. Near Rochester, N. T., is farm
which has been thus redeemed by cows
and alfalfa and raised in value from
$50 per acre to over 500.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

1t was agreed among the neighbors
of certain community that it should
rain on certain afternoon, and all
would be ready for it, but at the last
minute 1t was found that Farmer B.
had two tons of hay out, Mrs. G. was
to have an outdoor tea party, and
Neighbor Jones had not got his turnips
and buckwheat sowed, while Miss LIS
Sunday school class had planned for a
picnic, and they gave up the job Of
regulating the rainfall for their com.
munity in disgust.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

w hS uOIy Oh Hlllp. 1ou al q Ii cl q
yourself, you see," she answered un-
| suspiciously, approaching him and lay
ing an innocent hand on his arm and
looking steadily at him.
eyes. but come into the tower"
he said drawing her back through the
window into the room. How her eyes
cleaned in the moonlight! What
depths vera there. what unfathomable
! mysteries lurked within their shadows!
He had never seen them so before.
They startled him-those eyes so soft
ly tender, so deeply blue. And the ex-
quisite pallor Of that face framed in
the misty hlackness of her floatins
hair-the girl was beautiful.
Following him into the chamber she
stopped unconsciously where the moon
light streamed in through the window.
For the first time he noticed what she
wore in the bright illumination. APP
parently she was clad in her night
dress with loose wrapper hastily
thrown about her shoulders; her little
bare feet cleaned like marble on the
stone floor. One hand hung by her
side, with the other she instinctively
gathered the wrapper across her breast
with a movement at once modest yet
charming.
"Why, you are in your night-robe!"
he exclaimed in establishment, but not
raising his voice for fear Of attracting
attention. Your feet are bare and on
these damp stones! You'll catch your
death of cold NV dear child"
Continued in Next Issue.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-08-23

There is any amount of land in the
south-in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas,
Oklahoma and the Indian Territory,
which intelligently devoted to the cul-
ture Of vegetables. for the northern
markets and fruits will net the owner
500 per acre clean profit year in and
year out while the man on the good
corn belt farm thinks he, is doing well
If he gets one-tenth as much.