davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06
Johan Schmitt,
VisviSkontvg.
''''' . = - = = ' y - =
In United States that means:
John Smith.
Wise,
Wise County,


Wise County,
Virginia.
1t reached the man, the clerk in charge
of the work being something of a mind
reader. OF the registered mail that reaches
the office there are none of the letters that
are ever impossible of return to the sender,
though many of them never reach the per-
sons for whom they are intended by their
friends in Europe. They are sent back to
the office where they were registered, and
eventually find their way to the sender.
And, strange to say, there are not, out
of all the thousands of packages thai
pass through the Office during the
year. dozen inquiries for missing
parcels. They are sent by persons who
seem to pay no further attention to
them or are unacQuainted with the laws
governing the Transmission OF mail matter,
and that seems to be the last thought given
them. Thousands are sent to the office
after rejection by the rules of the parcels
post. Many Europeans who have settled in
this country send back to their friends mer-
chandise of varying value. To go by mail
this sort of matter must be certified by the
United States customs officer to be duty free
or to have had the duty paid by the sender
The seal of the custom house must be on it
or it cannot leave the country. Thousands
of packages that are not treated in this
way by the senders are eventually put up
at auction at the annual sale in this city,
and the senders evidently have poor opin-
ion of the United States mail service.
Thousands of Articles.
At the last auction sale, held on Deeem-
Der IA, 1903, the catalogue contained 1905
items, representing 122000 distinct articles
that had been sent to the Office, indexed
there. and which were unbelievable There
were 996 books, APT packages OF jeweiry
and nearly 5000 miscellaneous packages.
They sold for Sc 500. 9S the largest sum
ever realized from a sale of dead-letter
mail matter. which was placed to the credit
Of the postal fund IN the treasury. 1t 10
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06

sender does not reply. The merchandise is
then destroyed, sent to the annual auction
pile. or Other wise disposed of. \ food
company of New York has been sending "A
sample of its product through the mails.
In thousands of cases the addresses given
have no existence, and the package is on the
hands of the dead letter office. The law
requires that a notification be sent in ev-
cry case, arr this takes time. work, and
burdens the mails unnecessarily. The COM
pany has invariably ignored the nottica-
ton, and the product is sent to the
local hos pitfalls. Another firm sending mat
ter Trough the mails to people and ad-
dresses that have no existence in the pos
tai guide or directories is perfume COM
pany of New York. This concern has been
sending cut cheap jewelry, notably filgree
gilt hearts, with perfume inclosed as coax
ers for persons to sell their products in
accordance with a circular which IS sent
with the heart. More than one thousand of
these hearts, bearing addresses that did
not exist, Were received at the Office last
week, and the section where they are
stored, until the law is complied with and
they can be destroyed, reeks with the doors
of Araby, the bleSt. For some time this
has continued, and there are now n the
office many thousands of these redolent
hearts, mail sacks being piled full of them
and the corridors coming in for their share
of the aromatic burden.
Office Has Mine Branches
There are nine branches Of the office, each
one of which has its own mission and never
encroaching on any of the Others. The
opening branch employs a score of expert
letter openers, who sit at their tables and
with sharp knives open the letters that are
stacked before them. Any valuable in
closures are separated from the letter if
the latter has nothing by which the iden-
tity of the sender can be learned. Money
goes, with the letter, to the money branch,
ether articles to the branch having their
disposition in charge, and all are indeXed
as fast as they reach the clerk whose bust
ness it is to handle them. For instance
let lis suppose that a package has gone
astray. 1t was mailed by some person, I'M
known in Grand Rapids, Mich, to Clara
Jones. Everett, Mass. There was no such
person in the post office named. and the
package went to the dead letter Office
there to be opened Nothing was found in
the package that would give any clue to
the identity of the sender, and 1t was put
away, being labeled: Jones, Clara; Ever
cit, Mass: No. 427; Vol ~ The files be-
ing arranged according to the record. a
clerk could at any time and within a few
minutes go to the drawer that held the
package and hand it to any one claiming
it and proving ownership. Returns are
made to the dead letter Office from each of
the postal divisions once week, all the
mail handled in any one division going to
the headquarters, as, for instance. the
sixth division, with headquarters at Chi
cago, handles all the mail of a certain ter
ritory and all the matter that cannot be
cago to Washington to the dead letter Of
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06
Finding John Smith.

Some of the most wonderful specimens of
chirography come from Austria and Italy
the countries having the largest number of
illiterates in all of Europe, or anywhere
else. 1t is an ordinary matter to find the
entire address, save the name of the per-
son for whom the letter is intended, written
as one word, and misspelled at that The
following is a sample:
Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1904-12-23
Only One More Day to do Your Christmas
Shopping


You are probably wondering what you can get tina
will please your friends Gifts of furniture always ap
propriae and will always be appreciated by those who re
ceive them They will not only appreciate present
piece of furniture for it's beauty and WORTH but becaus
of it's usefulness; something they every day Com
I'D let help you select your presents from large stock
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
MistIctoe and Holly.

Hanging rooms with holly wreaths
and punches Of mistletoe is a time hon
ored custom which can be traced to the
days of the Roman saturnalia and even
early Persian customs. Our own custom
of decorating our rooms at Christmas
comes more Immediately from ancient
Germany, where evergreens were hung
in honor of the midwinter festival.
The Druids used to cut the mistletoe
from their sacred oaks with elaborate
ceremony. A golden knife was used
to sever the parasite from the tree.
During the ceremony two white bulls
were sacrificed, and music and process
sional formed part OF the rite. The
groves of Mona, once the favcrite re-
treat of the British Druids, were cut
down by the all conquering Romans
and have passed from the popular mem
DRY, but the mistletoe, which the old
Druids called "'all healing" is still an
object of veneration. In some parts
Of England berry is plucked from the
mistletoe for every kiss that is given
under it, and when there. are no more
berries left no more kisses are allowed.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
POe's Love of Richmond.

Poe loved Richmond as he loved TO
other place on earth. His happy child
hood was spent there-the only period
Of his troubled life which was free
from want. Here he found his foster
father, John Allan, who was proud of
the orphan boy, and the only mother
he ever knew, who was sweet and gen.
tie with him to the end. Here We're
the friends and playmates of his boy
hood, and here lived the gentle wo-
man who was the Helen of the most
beautiful of his early poems. Here,
after a first ceremony in Baltimore, he
was married by a second to the lovely
and youthful Virginia GLENN, and
here they spent the happiest year Of
their married life. Here. as editor of
the Southern Literary Messenger, he
did much of his best work.-Charles
Marshall Graves in Century.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Ingenious swindIe In curio.

The craze for antiques and curios is
responsible for some ingenious swim
dies, but it is doubtful if many could
surpass that which victimized an
american oman travelling abroad who
while in Holland purchased some al
legged Dutch pottery which proved on
close examination to be common gran
lite ware made in America in odd
shapes and decorated in Dutch fashion
to be sold in Holland as antique cook
ing utensils.
American enterprise is frequently en-
countered in various ways in Europe,
as, for instance, the experience of an
American gentleman in London who
bought pair of rubber overshoes in a
London shoe shop which were unusual
~ satisfactory. On examining them
preparatory to buying another pair he
made the discovery that they were
manufactured in Providence, r. l., by
an American firm, although they were
sold as English rubbers or gums"
The fact is well known that there is
a considerable industry in the manu-
facture of SO called Egyptian scarabs
in America which are sent to Egypt to
be sold to unsuspecting tourists as gen.
uine antiques.-Boston Transcript.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Saved by Quick Wit.

Isabel F. Hapgood, the translator Of
many of Tolstoi's books, once visited
the great Russian, and during her Wis
it he told her story of one of his an
cestors. This ancestor, an army Off
Ger, was an excellent mimic. One day
he was impersonating the Emperor
Paul to a group of his friends when
Paul himself entered and for some
moments looked on, unperceived, at
the antics of the young man. Tolstoi
finally turned and, beholding the en-
peror, bowed his head and was silent
$50 ON, SIR said Paul. Continue
the performance
The young man hesitated moment,
and then, folding his arms and initial
ing every gesture and information of his
sovereign, he said:
''Tolstoi, you deserve to be degraded,
but l remember the thoughtlessness of
youth and you are pardoned.''
The car smiled slightly at this
speech.
well, be it so,,''4 he said.-Cleveland
Plain Dealer
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
SAY A GOOD WORD FOR HEARST
Kansas Democratic Also Indorse the Chi.
cage and Kansas CITY Platforms Del
egation Is Uninstructed.

Wichita, Kan, April S.-The Demo
cratic state convention elected twenty
uninstructed delegates to the national
convention at st. Louis. The delega-
ton, according to personal prefer
ences, will stand six for Hearst and
fourteen against him. it is said. The
fight in the convention was over
Hearst, those opposing the New York
man being apprehensive of plan to
capture the convention, and there was
great disorder at times.
The platform indorses the Kansas
City platform 1900 and the Chicago
platform of 1896, expresses confidence
in William j. Bryan. and declares fos'
the nomination of men for president
and vice president who supported the
tickets of 1896 and 1900 and who were
in sympathy with the platform upon
which they ran. The platform also
says: In Mr. Hearst, of New York,
we recognize one of the foremost
Democrats of the nation" declares him
a friend of the common people and in
dorses his fight against the trusts
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
An odd Jewish Ceremony.

In the Jewish Encyclopedia is an ac-
count of the queer ceremony of the
taking off brother-in-law's shoe by
the widow of brother who has died
childless, through which ceremony he
is released from the obligation Of mar
rying her. The ceremony is described
as follows:
The yabam (brother-in-law) must
have his right foot, on which the shoe
is placed, washed very scrupulously,
and after he has strapped it On he
must walk four cubits in the presence
of the judges. Then the chief of the
judges reads the following passage,
which the yabamah (woman) repeats
word for word: MY brother-in-law re-
fuses to raise unto his brother a name
in Israel; he will not marry me-" Then
the yabam is required to repeat the
sentence, Il do not wish to take her."
He then presses his right foot against
the floor while she looses the straps
with her right hand, takes off the shoe
and throws it some distance away.
Then she places herself in front Of the
yabam. spits on the floor in front of
him and repeats these words after the
presiding judge: $50 shall it be done
unto that man who will not build up
his brothers house, and his name shall
be called in Israel the house of him
that hath his shoe loosed.'"
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
About Heads.

The head of the true Rhinelander is
wide at the temples. If the hat is the
exact length in nine cases out Of ten it
has to be stretched sideways in order
to make it fit. English heads are wide,
but not SO pronounced as those Of Ger
mans. There is more Of sliding
scale with them as to the relative
length and breadth. The Celtic head is
almost invariably round Or oval and
is without pronounced chronological
bumps.
For general smoothness Of the cranial
protuberance the Italian comes next to
the Celts, either of the two besting the
classic Greeks in that respect. Odd as
it may seem, anatomists declare that
the Turkish skull is almost identical in
shape, size, ETC., with that Of the en-
lightened inhabitant of the United
States.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
French Housekeeping.

A French cook turns any and every
thing to advantage, and many a Gull
nary chef d'9uvre is the result of care
and skill rather than rare or costly in
gradients. With just pinch of sa-
worry herbs and a clear fire cook will
turn shreds of cold meat into delicious
~ appetizing morsels, gastronomic dis
elimination on the part of her patrons
keeping up the standard Of excellence
If were asked to point out the lead
ing characteristic Of the French mind
I should unhesitatingly say that it is
the critical faculty, and to this faculty
we owe not only the unrivaled French
cuisine, but pleasures of the table gen
orally. Here is one instance in point:
One quite ripe melon to the uninitia ted
tastes very much like another, but a
French country gentleman knows bet
ter. Whenever a melon of Superlative
favor. is served he orders the seeds
to be set aside for planting. Thus the
superlative kind is propagated. The
critical faculty is ever alert in France,
warning with mediocrity and incom-
pleteness.-Cornhill Magazine.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Tying a Horse to a Hole.

1t has been discovered that the des-
ert Indians, who have never been &C.
credited with superb bundant wits, have
for many years employed method Of
tying their horses to holes in the
ground that is clever, unique and eff
fective. The operation of tying horse
to hole seems an impracticable and
impossible one, for there is something
decidedly intangible and unsubstantial
about the hole. The operation is per-
formed in this way: Kneeling on the
hot sands, the Indians dig with their
hands until they have made hole
about two feet deep. They then tie an
immense knot in the end of the halter
rope, lower it into the bottom Of the
hole, fill the hole with sand and then
jump and stamp upon it until the earth
over the knot is about as hard as sand
stone.-London Magazine.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Ex-Oueen Isabella Dead.

Paris. April 11.-EXQueen Isabella
of Spain. grandmother of King Al
fonso, died here at 9:45 o'clock Satur-
day morning Of influenza with compli-
cations The American embassy. which
is opposite the Palette CASTLE, on the
Avenue Kleber. the late queens resi-
dence, was early Informed of the
queens death, and Ambassador Por-
ter was among the first to call and
sign the palace register The Infantas
Isabella, Eulalie and Marie. daughters
of the late queen, were at the bedside
when she died.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Poison In Walls.

"As much as 46 per cent of organic
matter has been found in plaster taken
from the walls of hospital ward in
Paris" Statistics tell us that it is not
uncommon to find air in public assem-
bly, rooms and even in dwellings con-
tanning from ten to fifteen times the
amount of carbonic acid found in pure
air. OF this gas Tomlinson says: TT
acts as poison. If we attempt to
inhale it by putting the face over the
edge of beer vat the postrils and
throat are irritated so strongly that
the CLOTHS closes and inspiration be-
comes impossible" One need remain
but half an hour in an unventilated
room to have inhaled 600 times the
foul and poisonous fluid; the blood
will have carried it to every part Of
the body, and the entire system will
have become Exchange.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15

Would-Be Assassin Attacks Spanish OFF,
cial as He Enters Palace at
Barcelona.

Barcelona, April 12.-Premier Maura
was attacked and wounded Tuesday by
a would-be assassin. The man. armed
with a dagger, waited outside the
palace of the council general until the
premier entered. Then. rushing upon
the unprotected minister. he plunged the
blade in. The attack caused the great
est excitement and indignation among
the conservatives is running nigh
This is the second outrage committed
in Barcelona within week. The first
was the demonstration against Pre-
mier Maura when he was leaving the
theater with Alfonso.
The premier had just returned from
attending a requiem service cele-
brated for the repose of the soul Of
the late Queen Isabella. and was
entering the palace when a youth 10
years old, named JOaqin Miguel Artao,
approaced and, shouting Good day
Long live anarchy" struck the pre-
mier in the chest with dagger he
had concealed in handkerchief.
Artao was Immediately seized and i'm
prisoned. The premier was able to
send to Madrid the news of the at
tempt on his life.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Where the Camel Is Found.

The camel is found in Arabia, Per-
STA, Asia Minor, Afghanistan, Balu
chistan, Mongolia, western China and
northern India as we'll as in Syria,
Turkey, north Africa and parts of
Spain. The camel is known by the
same root word in nearly all these
lands. Not page scarcely Of an Ara
bic lexicon but has reference to the
camel. The language itself, according
to Hammer Purgstall, knows him by
5,744 names. The only reason why
Scripture is comparatively silent is be-
cause the topography of the Holy
Land is such that in most parts the
use of the camel is an impossibility
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Cats and Cattle.

In certain parts of southern Califor-
MIA it is absolutely necessary to have
cats to successfully raise cattle. The
cows feed on red clover which
makes superior quality of beef. This
clover grew very sparsely until it was
discovered that one farmer who had
raised a large number of tabby cats
always had fine clover fields. Investi-
cation proved that the cats killed the
field mice who killed the wild bees
who fortified the clover seeds by car
rying the pollen from flower to flower,
thus causing the seeds to sprout thick
~ every year. Now all the farmers
have many cats.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
Letters of Introduction.

Try not to ask for letters of intro
duction to your friends friends. 1t
often causes both embarrs ssment and
inconvenience If the letter of intro
duction is offered accept it and present
it dutifully. 1t will not be difficult to
ascertain whether or not the person to
whom it is addressed finds the intro
duction pleasure or bore. It is folly
to pursue acquaintance thus gained
unless each finds the other congenial.-
Exchange.
The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-04-15
CLOSE SHAVE FOR A CENsURE
House Only Defeats Cockran's Purpose by
a Majority of Three Votes,

Washington. April 1.-THE admin
istration came very close to a prac-
teal vote Of censure by the house
when COckran's resolution providing
for an investigation of the recent eX-
ecutive OrdS. relating to the age-limit
for veterans wasdefeated by only three
votes, one Of these being the speaker
Of the house The small vote had a lot
to do with it, there being few more
than 200 votes cast on both sides. Cock
ran had q large audience, the galleries
being packed.
Referring to the pension order Cock
ran chara cterized the presidents in
depreciation of the law as hollow
mockery and play on words" and
said that this was known by the man
who wrote it, as shown by the order
itself He declared that congress, On
account of its 'pusillanimous failure to
do it's duty to ITSELF had lost caste:
so much so that the newspapers of
the country outside of Washington
now print only a paragraph or two Of
it's proceedings. Cockran's speech was
in support of the proposition that the
executive department is usurping pow
ers belonging to congress. and the pen
sion order was only an aggravated
instance thereof.
The action of the president. he said
had been justified by the secretary Of
the interior by the precedent of Presi-
dent cleveland, but if that be So then
in Gods name let us condemn that
act of Mr.. Cleveland as vehe-
mently as the act of any Republic
an president" The disposition to justi-
fy everything because Mr.. Cleveland
did it," he said. was the highest COM
p1iment that could be paid to Il man by
congress. but the confidence which
Cleveland enjoys, he asserted, only
adds to the danger Of the act and does
not lessen it.
The president and secretary. of the
interior found warm supporters in Dali
zell, GroSvenOr, Gibson, Calderhead,
Lacey and Hepburn. The first named
maintained that it made no difference
how many millions Of dollars were in
volved in the presidents order be-
cause the secretary Of the interior dis
tributed the money voted by congress
pursuant to the rules of evidence es-
tablished by the pension bureau.
Grosvenor believed that the country
and the old soldiers would approve
the order. and that the money neces-
sary for putting it into effect would be
included in the Forthcoming deficiency
bin.
On the motion to table Cockran's res
olution three Republicans - Cushman
of Washington, Littlefeld of Maine and
Mccall of Massachusetts - voted
with the Democrats against tabling.