davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
CoIchester's Oyster Feast.

Famous indeed is the Colchester oys-
ter feast, and to be invited Is consid-
cred the highest compliment the town
can confer not only from the impor-
lance Of the function, but because at
that meal is an unlimited supply of the
finest obtainable natives, of which
some sacks are consumed. Even from
the times of the Romans these oysters
have been celebrated, says the London
Chronicle. Exclusive rights to the oys-
ter fisheries were granted to the town
under charter of Richard l., and in
the reign of Elizabeth horse loads of
oysters were accepted as gifts by the
courtiers of the time. Massinger's
Justice Greedy commences his day with
"a barrel of Colchester oysters" a
statement that shows how altered are
the customs of today.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
TWO TON BlACKFISH.
A School That Was Driven Ashore
Mt Cape Cod.

One day In November, several years
ago, the good people living on the
Massachusetts bay shore at the north
end of Cape Cod were wrought to the
highest pitch OF excitement by the ar
rival Of an immense school OF black
fish which were on the flats chasing
bait, as the small fish they feed on are
called, and gradually working inshore.
The news spread like wildhre. VII
lage stores were hastily closed, school
boys deserted schoolrooms, and even
women focked to the shore. The flats
along the coast make out from half to
mile and n half practically level and
almost dry at low tide where at high
tide is four to eight feet Of water. No
school Of blackfish so large as this had
ever been heard of. And by good luck
the tide was ebbing.
Hastily the boats were launched,
each taking a half dozen men and
boys, those not rowing being armed
with sticks and pieces of board. In a
quarter of an hour they were In posi-
ton in half circle and to leeward OF
the fish.
"Close in now" came from the com
modore," land make all the noise you
cant! And they did, fairly churning
the water with boards and sticks. The
thousands of squid and herring on
which the blackfish were feeding as
sisted In this movement by getting In
to shoal water as far as possible so
that the blackfish could not follow
them. The result was inevitable. The
fast ebbing tide soon began to leave
the big fish in such shoal water that
It was difficult for the larger ones to
swim. Gradually the circle OF boats
drew nearer and nearer, and in two
hours 90 per cent Of the entire school
was stranded on the fats. For weeks
after the villagers were engaged In
cutting up and trying out the oil. The
total catch netted some 5000, many
Of the fish weighing two tons apiece
Outing.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05

In the year GA in London alone LOU
houses were blown down; in October
1901, a great number Of churches and
500 houses were destroyed; In 1873 II
Numbered for fifteen days consecutive
ly. The dreadful night during which
Cromwells spirit passed has formed
a theme for poet and partisan. And
the great storm that 'o'er pale Britain
mia passed" in November, 1903, the
most terrible in British annals, also
has its enduring record in poetry. II
did damage In London to the amount
Of f2,OOO,0CO; over 5000 people were
drowned In floods in various parts OF
the country; twelve men-of-war, will
over 1900 men on board, went down in
sight of land, and the Eddystone light
house, along with Winstanley, its in
ventor, was swept away.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
Proper Treatment of Pneumonia.

Pneumonia is too dangerous disease
for anyone to attempt to doctor him.
self although he may have the proper
remedies at hand. A physician should
always be called. 1t should be borne
in mind, however, that pneumonia al
WAYS results from cold or from an at
tack OF the grip, and by the proper
treatment of these diseases a threaten
ed attack of pneumonia may be ward
ed off. There is no question whatever
about this, as during the thirty years
and more that Chamberlain's Cough
Remedy has been used, we have yet to
learn OF single case of cold or at
tack of the grip having resulted in
pneumonia when this remedy was
used. 1t is also used by physicians in
the treatment Of pneumonia with the
best results. DR.. w. j. Smith, OF Sand
ers. Ala, who is also druggist, says
# it: II have been selling Chamber
lain's Cough Remedy and prescribing
it in my practice for the past six years.
| use it in cases of pneumonia and have
ALWAYS gotten the best results" For
sale by all medicine dealers.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
"SAND PAINTINGS."
Pictures In CoIored Earths USED II
gavafo Indian Ceremonies.

Pictures In CoIored ERrths Used In
Navajo Indian Ceremonies.
To paint picture in ordinary OILS
or water colors, with model to copy,
is q difficult task enough to suit most
people. but to paint picture by drop
ming pinches of colored earth or sand
on n smoothed ground surface and to
paint it from memory exactly as some
other artist painted it year or more
ago appears even more difficult. Such'
however, is the process by which some
tribes of American Indians reproduce
from time to time pictures that are
used I'm certain aboriginal ceremonies
and that are believed to be exactly
similar to original drawings that date
back an unknown number OF genera
lions.
In the Peabody museum OF Harvard
university there is a colored modei OF
one of these paintings that member
Of the museum staff had the good for
tune to see in process OF actual con-
struction, the picture being used In a
ceremony performed TO cure the III
ness of two members of small NaVa-
10 village. 1t represents the four rain
gods-one for each Of the cardinai
points of the compass-who are shown
coming from southern cloud, blue III
color. which rises in turn from a black,
white and yellow line symbolizing the
north, east and west. The god OF inc
north wind is black, of the south WIND
blue. of the west wind yellow ana OF
the east wind white, and each carries
highly decorated tobacco pouch, con-
tanning also a ray Of the sun, with
which he is supposed to light his pipe
The combination of the sun with the
rain. which the Indian Imagination
pictured the gods as sending, Is sym
bolized by rainbow colors, red and
blue. decorating the tobacco bags. From
the left hand of each figure hangs a
water bottle, a natural emblem OF his
office. while around the north, west and
south sides of the picture Is the rain
bow. personlfed by goddess.
The sand picture, which exists from
year TO year only In the memory OF the
medicine man, or shaman, who directs
the making of it, is drawn" on the
floor Of a sacred hut especially con
structed, with its doorway carefully
facing the east, from which direction
the Indians believe no evil spirit need
be expected. The medicine man has as
his advisers and memory assistants
several old men of the tribe who have
participated in many a former cere-
mony Of the kind. The actual paint
ers" are four young men Of the tribe
who first lay out smooth foundation
of brown sand and then, starting In
the middle, move outward in either oil
rection as the center Of the design is
finished. Each painter takes pinch
of sand of the necessary color and
drops 1t in the proper place by rubbing
II slowly between thumb and forefin-
ger. In this way, line by line, the pic
ture comes slowly into being until al
the end Of several hours a finished
painting about 0 by 10 feet In size
/ has been executed to the satisfaction
of the chief medicine man and his ex
perienced advisers.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
SAGAClTY OF MR.. SAGE.
His Reason For Refusing to Advance
Another Loan.

Another Loan.
One day a young man OF Russell
Sage's acquaintance-in fact, the grand
son Of an old friend Of other days-ap-
preached him on the subject Of loan
Of $40 for two weeks and-got 1t. He
promised faithfully to return the mon
ey at a stated hour, and the promise
was as faithfully kept. Mr.. Sage had
very little to say when he gave up the
ten and quite as little when he got 1t
back.
A week or ten days later the young
man came to see him again and this
time asked him for 500, making all
sorts of representations Of what he
would do with 1t. Mr.. Sage refused to
ante. The young man was surprised
not to say panied.
why" he exclaimed, you know III
pay it all right. Didn't l say Id have
that ten for you on Monday, and wasn't
| there to the minute with III"
Mr.. Sage beamed softly on the grand
son Of his old friend.
my boy" he said, with no trace OF
unkindness in his tone, you disap'
pointed me once, and don't want you
to do 1t again"
II beg your pardon. l did not" ar
gued the youth. Il said l would pay
you back, and did"
Eyes, my boy" purred Mr.. Sage,
you paid back the ten, and l never
expected you would. Now, If let you
have a hundred l should expect you to
pay 1t back, and you wouldn't. One
disappointment at my time Of life Ia
enough, my boy. Good morning. "-Col-
lier's Weekly.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
The WORD MElODhAMA.
II Has Drifted From It's Derivation
and Original Significance.

and Original Significance.
Nowadays "melodrama" is in general
use as denotlng a purely sensational
play, with an all but Impossible nero,
heroine and villain among the charac-
ters represented Formerly the word
kept more closely in It's signification TO
actual derivation. "Melodrama" is COM
pounded Of the Greek words melos,
song. and drama, an action, a play,
and was applied to two sorts OF per-
formances when 1t first came into use.
1t signifed play, generally or the
romantic school, in which the dialogue
was frequently relieved by music,
sometimes Of an incidental and some
times Of a purely dramatic character
On the strength Of his "Pygmalion" j..
]. Rousseau is credited with the inven-
ton of this style. Some Of the so called
English operas of the older school, such
as the once famous "Beggar's Opera
and the once popular mo Song, No
Supper" are In reality true melo-
dramas.
In the second place "melodrama' was
applied to a peculiar kind Of theatrical
composition In which the actor recited
his part in an ordinary speaking voice.
while the orchestra played a more or
less elaborate accompaniment appro-
pirate to the situation and calculated
to bring its salient features into the
highest possible relief. The merit OF
the invention Of this description of
melodrama belongs to George Benda'
who used 1t with striking effect In his
"Ariadne auf Naxos," produced at
Gotha In 1774.-London Globe.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
PfckwfcIks In Livery.

The dignity of some fat cOachmen
in New York Is very impressive. Their
development is outlined distinctly by
their coats They have swelled steadily
and persistently year after year, and
every now and then the coats have
been let out and the buttons moved to
accommodate increasing inches Of
girth. A coachman's figure has a great
deal to do with his success. The at
tempts of fat men to look lean some
times verge on the humorous. They
hold their heads high to escape the
imputation Of obesity and puff out their
chests heroically. But with all their
hauteur, pomposity and pretentious
bearing they look only like very fat
men in tight clothes, reminiscent OF
Pickwick in livery.-New York Press.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
Dogs In China.

Dogs in China are chiefly despised,
except as house workers or for Gull
nary purposes. A black dog with yell
low eyebrows is valued as first rate
house dog, but white one with black
eyebrows will bring luck to his owner,
while a black dog is the king of his
race. A Zion dog"-belonging to the
small, shaggy northern breed-will
bring good fortune, while the only real
Chinese canine pet Is the sleeve dog"
so called from being small enough to
lie in the capacious Celestial sleeve.
Retrievers are apparently unknown,
while greyhounds are lanky and slow.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
THE TOWER OF SILENCE.
BOmbay's GrewsOme Cemetery and
Its Well Fed Vu1tures.

Bombay's GrewsOme Cemetery and
Its Well Fed Vu1tures.
The Tower Of Silence on top of Nal
abar hill is the prettest spot In Bonn
bay. There is circle of concrete walls
twenty-five feet high. Inside this wall,
six feet from the top, is an inclined
floor Of concrete, divided into three cir
cles and surrounding a pit. The outer
circle is widest and is for the men; the
second circle Is little narrower and Is
for the women; the inner circle, sur
rounding the pit, is narrowest Of the
three and is for the children. The CEN
ter pit is deep and filled in the bottom
with sand and charcoal. There are
five Of these. When a Parsee dies he Is
laid in one of these. No one ever sees
the inside but those who bear the bod
les in, and they do not look around, but
walk right out. Overhead and perched
on the tops Of the walls are many vul-
lures. When a body is borne in these
vultures swoop down, and in two
hours they have eaten it clean. Then
the bones are swept into the pit, and
the rain washes the circles clean, and
the bones in the pit crumble to dust,
and the water drains off through the
sand and charcoal into the earth. The
vultures sometimes become SO large
and heavy they can hardly fly. They
allow no other birds near the place.
That is how the Parsees dispose OF
their dead.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
JAPANESE HOMES.
There Ere No Doors or Passages In
Typical Dwelling.

a Typical Dwelling.
The Japanese house consists In the
main Of q post at each corner and
roof. The roof may or may not be Gov
cred with heavy channeled purplish
tiles. 1t makes little difference In the
long run whether 1t Is or Is not, for IL
1t Is not tiled the first typhoon that
comes along removes 1t into some
body's garden anything up to quarter
of q mile away, and IL it is tiled heav-
ily enough to resist the typhoon so
much the worse for the people under
meath it when the first genuine earth
quake arrives. But the odds are that 1t
will be burned down before either hap
pens, as the Japanese use very cheap
lamps and very fiery petroleum ana
are regular children about fires. Or
course something else Is done to the
four posts and the roof before they be-
come q house In which births, mar
riages and deaths can take place. But
really remarkably little Is necessary.
Crossbeams are naturally added to
support the weight Of the roof, grooves
are made in the crossbeams and In
the platform raised foot or two above
the ground which constitutes the floor.
A Japanese house is all on one floor
generally-in fact one might say 1t Is
all one floor. Between the grooves In
the floor and the grooves In the cross
beams are run shutters with paper
panels to divide the houses into what
ever number Of rooms the owner may
choose, which depends on the number
of bedrooms he may require. There
are no doors or passages In a typical
Japanese house In It every room acts
as a passage into the room beyond IT,,
and for the door you slide back the
panel that happens to be nearest to
YOU. For this sliding there are little
bronze sunk handles in the wooden
frames Of the panels. The outside pa
per shutters do not come quite to the
edge of the platform floor; the grooves
along the edges are filed at night or In
severe weather with wooden shutters,
each Of which is held in its place by
the one that follows 1t, the last one
being secured with fimsy wooden
bolt
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
WHAT THE MOON CAN TELL
A clear moon indicates frost.

A clear moon indicates frost.
A dull looking moon means rain.
A single halo around the moon indi'
Gates storm.
If the moon looks high. cold weather
may be expected.
If the moon looks low down, warm
weather Is promised.
The new moon on her back always
denotes wet weather.
A double halo around the moon
means very boisterous weather.
II the moon changes with the wind
in the east, then shall we have bad
weather.
If the moon be bright and clear
when three days old, fine weather is
promised.
When the moon is visible in the day
time, then may we look forward tc
cool days.
When the points Of the crescent OF
the new moon are very clearly visible
frost may be looked for.
If the new moon appear with its
points upward, then will the month be
dry, but should the points be down
ward more or less rain must be ex
pected during the next three weeks
American Queen.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
TEETH AND SIGHT.
Decayed MOlars Cause Disturbance
of the Ocular Nerves.

of the Ocular Nerves.
MANY people who come to me to have
their teeth attended to complain Incl
dentally OF failing eyesight, and when
l tell them that bad teeth in nine cases
out of ten are the cause few feel in
clined to believe me-" said a well
known New York dentist.
bad sight is generally attributed to
overstudy, debilitated constitution and
hundred and one other causes. But
have you ever heard any one place the
blame on the teeth? Bad teeth are the
direct result of insufficient application
of the toothbrush, and bad eyesight,
resulting from the decayed molars ex-
citing disturbances Of the ocular
nerves, is the next inevitable penalty.
That is q fact which seems to be little
known.
"The other day I extracted four de-
cayed teeth Of young girl who was
almost totally blind. Her pupils were
dilated and insensible. A week after
l had pulled her teeth her sight was
practically restored. Two months pre-
vious to this cure the girl had been ex-
amined by an expert oculist, who,
after putting her to various eye tests,
designated the case as 'hysterlcal am
blyopia,' and 1 guess that's about all
the satisfaction the girl got, judging
by her condition when she came to me.
In saying this do not think for a mo-
ment that am in any way prejudiced
against oculists. 1 merely cite the in
stance.
I'm the course Of year 1 attend to
the teeth of scores Of people with i'm
paired vision, and in every case where
the teeth are drawn the sight is soon
after either greatly improved or entire
" restored. New York Times.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
The Headsman,s Defense.

Deibler, Jr., who has succeeded his
father as public executiOner Of France
has sent, through a process server
a letter to a journal by which he con-
siders that he has been Iibeled. The
newspaper had attacked the principle
of capital punishment in general and
the present guillotine operator In par.
ticular. Two remarks in Diebler's let
ter are quite worth quoting. He OBJ
serves that the journal has fallen into
the common mistake of coupling the
functionary with the function. II the
writer had taken the trouble to make
inquiries he would have found out that
in this instance the man and the In
stitution are to be considered apart
AS a matter of fact, Deibler himself
strongly disapproves Of capital punish
ment. But" he adds, with a yet more
sardonic humor, zone must live."-Lon'
don Telegraph.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
Who Nero Was.

In the days when Sir Charles Gavan
Duffy was a leading figure In Victo-
rian politics there sat in the Melbourne
parliament n wealthy but not we'll in
formed butcher The chief secretary
Of the day was deprecating the attl-
tude of the leader of the opposition,
whose conduct was, he declared, worse
than Nero's.
"Who was Nero?" interjected the
knight of the cleaver, with equal scorn
and sincerity.
"Who was Nero?" replied the delight
ed chief secretary. THE honorable
gentleman ought to know. Nero was
a celebrated Roman butcher"
NJ. A. L.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
LEFT HANDED WlCKEDNESS.
Results of an Unusual investigation
NV Professor LombrOsO.

Results of an Unusual investigation
by Professor LOmbroso.
Professor Cesare Lombroso, the ltal-
Inn scientist skilled in detecting traces
Of abnormality, explains in the North
American Review the imperfectlons or
the left handed.
People who are more agile win the
left than with the right hand are most
numerous among women, children,
savages and criminals" The percent
age is about 4 per cent among men
Operatives and soldiers, . to . per
cent among women and about the
same among lunatics.
But among criminals Professor Mar
70 found - per cent Of the men and q
per cent of the women left handed.
Swindlers offered u greater percentage,
no less than 80, and murderers ana
ravishers only from 0 to 10 per cent
Professor Lombroso also discusses
the far more complex subject of left
sidedness." Certain people are more
sensitive upon the left side than upon
the right. This condition has no con-
nectlon with left handedness and Is
highest in lunatics, Al per cent.
Parrots are left handed, and so are
lions. Rolet found In twenty-seven
monkeys the left shoulder heavier than
the right.
Women, children and primitive races
make gestures and simple movements
from right to left. This is why wom-
en- button their garments in a different
direction from men and why early
languages, like the Arabic, are writ
ten from right to left. Very old chro'
nometers were wound from right to
left, not from left to right, as at pres
emit
However, Professor Lombroso hedges
by saying: zone can without difficulty
find among good men real left handed
ness, as among the greatest evildoers
there are some who have not that char
acteristic do not dream at all Of say
ing that all left handed people are wick
ed. but that left handedness, united to
many other traits, may contribute to
form one Of the worst characters
among the human species"
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
Voices Made to order.

Voices made to order are the latest
things in surgery. Actual operations
have demonstrated that the larynx OF
vocal box can be successfully removed
and the patient may recover. In order
to restore speech to the patient an arti-
fetal larynx and vocal chords are pro-
vided. The voice artifcially produced
is incapable of infection, but although
1t is a monotone the patient is perfect
" able to carry on q conversation.
Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-03-05
HOW SLEEP MAY BE WOOED
Movements of the Feet VIII Quiet
the Nervous Brain.

Most of the mental devices for WOO
ing sleep have failed because they have
nearly always tried to resort to local
treatment" In other words, they have
made a homeopathic attempt to stop
thinking by thinking about something
else, a process which might also be
called elimination by substitution"
But all thinking, spontaneous or fore
ed. draws more or less blood to the
brain, prevents deep inhala1ons and
bars the gate to the kingdom of dreams.
Any device, on the other hand, which
will make one take deep, long breaths
spontaneously, the invariable forerun-
ner of sleep, may be counted upon as
genuine remedy for insomnia. Even
deep breathing which is forced Is bet
ter than any purely mental attempt TO
win sleep, but if the deep breathing
can be produced involuntarily one IS
sure of passport to Nodland.
After several nights Of experiment
10 this desired end the writer decided
TO apply the principle adopted by the
masseurs, who begin their manipula-
tiOns "at the point farthest from the
seat of difficulty" which in the case
of insomnia would be the feet Lying
on the right side, with the knees to-
gether and considerably fexed, the
victim of insomnia should begin TO
pedal both his feet slowly up and
down, with the movement entirely In
the ankles. The pedaling should keep
time with the natural rhythm Of res
piration and be continued until 1t IS
followed by deep and spontaneous
breathing.
Several people who have tried TINS
remedy report that involuntary deep
breathing invariably begins before
they have pedaled up and down q
dozen times. In obstinate cases OF In
somnia the patient may need TO keep
up the pedaling two or three minutes
or even more, with intermisSions, II
necessary. The treatment may also be
varied by moving the feet alternately
instead of simultaneously, though the
latter method has proved the more
speedily efficacious in the cases known
to the writer. The explanation of the
result obtained is probably simple.
The blood is pumped from the head
and with the removal of brain tension
a general relaxation follows, with a Sc
quent deep respiration and its result
ing sleep.-Good Housekeeping.