davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
The A1ligatorS of Canada

Among the most common sights in
the streams and lakes Of the Cana
dian lumber country are alligat6s.
One cannot go up river in the woods
without seeing anywhere from two to
half a dozen of them lying on the
banks or floating in the water.
Nobody hunts these alligators, and
there is no instance known Of their
attacking anybody. Indeed, the lum-
bermen swim around right alongside
of them, and generally there are from
one to three lumbermen sitting on the
back of one alligator.
The fact is that the Canadian ALI.
gator is not reptile, but boat-and
boat as queer in the world of boats
as the real alligator is queer in the
world of reptiles.
The Canadian alligator boat is an
oval, fiat thing, with small boiler
and engine bolted to the deck, without
any deck house or other structure
over it. Two spidery iron paddle
wheels on the sides do the propelling.
They look funny enough plunging
along, with the skeleton wheels pad
ding like mad, and a great raft be-
hind them; but the funniest part of
the alligator is not seen till the craft
happens to get to a shallow place, or
till it becomes desirable for some rea-
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
S2.4O PER, YEAR.
Names That Are H00d00S

French, was lost in 1898. The second
was lost a year later, the third in 1877
and the fourth was recently lost in a
collision off Guernsey.
The Cobra, another British war ves+
sci, was lost recently at the same time
as the Viper. Among other vessels
similarly named and which met fates
ether than in battle are the Rattle
snake, in 1881; the Alligator, in 1882;
the Crocodile, in 1884; the Adder, In
1916; three Lizards, two Dragons and
one Basilisk. All of these were of the
British navy. The list could be made
larger by citing the records OF other
navies.
The Norsemen, who were so fond OF
naming their vessels against the laws
Of superstitution and using hideous
heads of dragons and reptiles on their
high prOws, were less unfortunate,
and these did not meet with frequent
disasters. They did have a belief,
however, that it was unlucky and
sacrilege to select such a name as did
Lord Dunraven for his first yacht to
challenge for the Americas cup, the
Valkyrle. And this belief was
strengthened when she was sunk by
the Satanita. The second challenger,
with the same name, gave trouble, and
she was broken up after only short
existence-Navy League Journal.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

If one should be so bold as to char
acterize the superstitious sailor as sill
ly he would at once declare that there
is sufficient reason for his belief and
would proceed to prove that war YES
sells named after singing and venom
Gus things have been unlucky, and
that the country should not be so in
different to. the men who follow "a
life on the ocean wave as to organ
ize a mosquito fleet.
That Snake is regarded as an IN
fortunate name for vessel is shown
by the fact that two Of that name
have been lost, one in 1881 and the
other in 1S47; but no vessel bearing
that name is known to exist now.
Serpent, which is only substitute
name for Snake, is al unlucky one
also, for the one wrecked in 1892 was
The fourth British war vessel of that
name to meet the same fate. Viper
Las been an unlucky name in the Brit
ish navy. The lirst~ one was wrecked
in 1880, but the Admiralty would not
swerve, and so kept the name on the
list, each vessel meeting it's doom, and
the fourth was lost only recently
The French navy has also been I'M
lucky with vessels so named. The
Viper, used in the British service
after she became a prize from the
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

Capt. Krech of the Hamburg Ameri-
can lines steamship Graf Waldersee
was called upon during the trip to
pass sentence upon thief caught
stealing aboard the vessel. His man
ner of conducting the case and his
Judgment were commended by all the
passengers.
Several steerage passengers on the
earlier days of the trip frequently
missed food and sweetmeats which
they had taken aboard. and nothing
was known OF the culprit until one
day a woman, going to her bunk,
found little, flaxen-haired girl busily
engaged in emptying pot OF jam
which had been concealed there. The
little one had the jam plastered all
over her face and hands, and in that
condition the woman who discovered
her led her to the chief steward. He
in turn took her before the captain
on the bridge. '.@--~. -.~~- -~~~t '>~""-
- Many of the passengers, seeing the
little girl being dragged before the
captain, gathered about to learn the
cause of the trouble. Capt. Krech,
who on his ship, like other captains,
is judge, jury and court of appeals,
listened to the charges with a stern
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
Disease q Dear Article

1t is this financial aspect unfortun.
ately that must be emphasized, and
which, long enough and loudly enough
reiterated, may at last bring about
some attention practical law-makin8
On the part of our legislative bodies.
Some philanthropist should give q
$1,000 prize for the best essay on
the subject, "The Expense of Disease
to the State" designed to show the
common people how much could be
saved by boards of health if made ac-
tive and powerful by public money and
support.
Such a pamphlet sent and repeated
ly sent to every voter should in tire
establish competent public health OIL.
GERS and then lessen the mortality
rate by half and the morbidity figures
by three-fourths. For every death
there are two years of sickness and
even with our present knowledge ut
least half of this waste of money
and life is unnecessary.-American
Magazine.
A~~>~>~~.~-~~~e~e~e
showed that II per cent: of the school
children there had never seen crow.
81 per cent. had never beheld frog,
20 per cent. had not seen butterfly.
81 per cent. did not know an elm tree,
rs per cent. did not know what season
of the year it was, and SO per cent.
could not say what butter was made
Of ssiE
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

son to warp a great crib of logs into
shore or fasten it to the bank. :.
Then the alligator proceeds to dem
onstrate why it is so named. It chug-
chugs calmly to the bank, goes
straight at it, up goes it's nose on
the shore, and the next mtKnept the
paddle wheels cease to. reN1lEe and
the queer boat trund1es ups6 sland.
Then the amphibian cAa0acter OF
the thing becomes visible. Under the
keel of the alligator are wooden roll
ers. When the queer craft has been
forced as far up the bank as the pad
die wheels can drive it,. chains are
run to, The nearest tree and brought
back to the rollers. The engine gear
ing is shifted from the paddle wheels
to the rollers and the alligator pro-
.ceeds to pull itself along over the
land.
Thus the lumbermen have boat,
locomotive and a stationary engine
combined in their alligators, and the
value of such a combination can be
realized when it is understood that
sometimes they bring down RATS so
huge that they will cover a square
mile; while the distances over which
they are foated are so great llat RATS
have been known to be three years on
the way from the far north to the
settled country.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

Quite recently, at Waterford, a
pretty and fascinating young lady, who
was very popular in the town, fell i'll
ana died. Her death occasioned gen
eral regret. She had many friends,
and a large number followed her re-
mains to the cemetery. The last rites
were said and all returned to their
homes, saddened at the loss Of one
who had been so dear to them.
An extraordinary sequel occurred.
A peasant farmer, living in the vicin-
ity Of the cemetery, rose early next
morning to go to his work. Happen
ing to look over the wall Of the ceme-
terry, he was astonished to see a man
on his knees beside the newly filed in
grave. The peasant watched and saw
him feverishly scraping away the
earth with his hands, not looking
aside for one moment
The onlooker remained with his
eyes fixed on the strange sight. To
lis amazement the mysterious visitor
continued his grewsome task with un-
abated vigor, until presently the coffin
was laid bare. Then, with the aid of
an iron implement, the man forcibly
wrenched off the lid.
The climax in the weird drama had
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
Tale Of a Mystery

Gov. Pennypackers;o of Pennsylvania
was reviewing the State militia at
Gettysburg. "A young staff officer de-
scribed to him in a. low voice some
unimportant error that had been
made. "But as to the cause of the err
ror, SIR" he said, that is a mystery"
Gov. Pennypacker Smiled.
IF it is a mystery" he said, lit is
like the picked pork disaster that be-
fell two Pennsylvania Dutchmen,
Hans and Fritz.
"These two men bought a lot Of
picked pork in partnership. They
put it in a barrel, and stored it away
in the cellar of Hans home. Now,
Hans, though a Pennsylvania Dutch
man, was dishonest. The combination
is rare.
. well, the morning after the deal tn
picked pork Fritz met Hans on the
road.
"'Good morning, Hans he said. is
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

THE 1njian Ocean sets an smiles
So sof', so bright, so bloomin' blue;
There amt a wave for miles an miles
The ship is SWEEP, the day is done,
The bugle's gone for smoke an play;
An back again the settin' sun
The Lascar sings, Hum deckty hal!''
For to admire an for to see,
For to beold this world SO wide
It never done no good to me,
But 1 can't drop it if I tried!
1 see the Sergeants pitchin', quoits,
Fear the women laugh an talk,
I SOY upon the quarter deck.
The OFFICERS an lydies walk
I thinks about the things that was,
An leans an looks acrost the sea,
Till, spite of all the crowded ship,
There's no one lef' alive but me-
The things that was which ave seen,
In barrick camp, an action, too,
I tells them over by myself,
An sometimes wonders if they're true;
For they was odd-most awful odd
But all the same now they are Ger,
There must be 'eaps O. plenty such,
An: if wait I'll see some more.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

+. sssssss@
evening" costume, Il he-ssss,- sssa-s.hlgn-
hat which brushes in You may. SIT
on it without injury to yourself or
hat. I know this by narrowing ex-
perience."
cone of the most extraordinary
features of American life is the dress
of women" he says. *'The Americans
make claim to being among the most
modest. the most religious, the most
proper people in the world, yet the ap-
pearance of the ladies at many pubic
functions is beyond belief. They wear
gowns in the French court fashlon,
with trains a yard or two in length,
but the upper part cut so low that a
large portion of the neck and shoul-
ders is exposed. At my fashionable
dinner I was embarrassed beyond ex-
preston: such an exhibition in China
could only be made by certain class.
This remarkable custom OF a strange
people, who deluge China with mis-
sionaries from every sect under the
sun and at home commit the grossest
solecisms is universal, and not
thought of as improper.
IF l should tell you how. many
American women asked me why chi
nese women bandage their feet, you
would be amazed; yet every one OF
these submitted to and practised a de-
formity that has seriously affected the
growth and development OF the race.
american women exchange their
fashions twice year or more. Fasn-
ions are in the hand of the middle
classes, and the highest lady in the
land is completely at their mercy; 10
Gisobey the mandates OF fashion IS 10
become ridiculous.
81 was told that one lady wore
$500 diamond in her garter. The ut
terly strange and contradictory Gus
toms of these women are best OBJ
served at the beach and bath. In
China if a woman is modest she is
SO at all times; but thisE MS not true
with some Americans. who appear to
have the desire to attract attention,
especially that of men, by an. appeal
to the beautiful in nature and art; at
least this lis the impression the un-
p"ejudiced locker on gets by sojourn
in the great cities and fashionable re-
sorts. If you happen to be riding
horseback or walking in the street
with a lady and any accident occurs
to her costume whereby her neck,
her leg or her ankle is exposed she /
will be mortified beyond expression;
yet the night previous you might have !
sat in the box with her at the opera.
when her decollete gown had made |
her the mark for hundreds of lorg- |
nettes. Again, this lady the next
morning might battle with me at the |
beach and lie on the sand basking in |
the sun like a siren in costume that |
would arrest the attention of a St |
Anthony.
LET ne describe such costume: /
A pair of skin-tight black silk stock
lings, then pair of tights of black
silk and a flimsy black skirt that |
comes Just to the knee; black silk |
waist, armless, and as low in the neck |
as the moral law permits, beneath
which, to preserve her contour, is a
waterproof corset. Limbs, to expose
which an inch on the street were a
crime. are blazoned to the world at
Newport, Cape May, Atlantic City and
other resorts, and often photographed
and shown in the papers. To explain
this manifest contradiction would be
beyond the powers Of an oriental had
he the prescience OF the immortal /
1 (
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

there any news about our picked
pork?'
"'Fritz,' Hans answered gravely,
there is news, and bad news. A
strange thing has happened. It is a
mystery. to me-
"'Well, Hans, tell me all about it, ;
said Fritz.
Fritz, my friend, it was like this,
said Hans. This morning l went
down cellar to get a piece of pork for
my breakfast, and put my hand down
in the barrel, and I felt around in the
brine, and there was no pork there.
It was all gone-all gone completely.
So then I turned up the barrel, and,
as true as you are alive, the rats had
eaten a hole clean through the bot
tom and dragged the pork. all out
Fritz was amazed and stunned.
"'Why didn't the brine run out Of
the hole?' he asked.--s - -, : ?,
3Ah, Fritz said the other, that's
the mystery. That's the mystery"
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

there wefe othersIwhich have escaped
me. Lincoln, theAstrongest American
TYNE she did not Iconsider in the gen.
tlemen class. and Gen. Grant, the ma
TONS especial pride, did not fulfil her
ideas of what gentleman should oe.
The -Four Hundred set is mercl-
lessly assailed aDegeneracy marked
some of their ATS he writes; "di-
vorce blackened their records, and:
shameless affairs marked them In
this ''set," and particularly it's iml-
tators throughout the United States,
the divorce rateSis appalling: Men
leave their wives and obtain a divorce
for no other reason than that a WON
an falls in love Hh another woman's
husband.
The dress of American men and
women, with the changing fashions
and servile obedience of all to the god
of fashion, is treated with the same
caustic pen. Evening dress is de:
scribed with considerable humor, and
the opera hat interested the Celestial.
"There is also hat to go with the
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
"F0r to ADMIRE

Oh, I ave come upon the books,
An often broke a barrick rule,
An stood beside an watched myself
Be'avin' like bloomin' fool
I paid my price for findin' out,
Nor never grutched the price I paid,
But sat in Clink without my boots,
Admirin' 'ow the world was made.
Be'old a cloud upon the beam,
An Jumped above the sea appears
Old Alden, like a barrick-stoVe
That no ones lit for years an years!
I passed by that when I began,
An, go 'ome the road I came,
A time-expired soldier-man,
With six years service to is name.
My girl she said, "Oh, stay with metz
My mother 'eld me to 'er breast
They've never written none, an so
They must ave. gone with all the rest
With all the rest which I ave seen
An found an known an met along,
I cannot say the things feel,
But still I sing my evenln' song:
For to admire an for to see,
For to be'Old this world so wide
It never done no good to me.
But I can't drop it if I tried!
-Rudyard Kipling.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
CELESTIAL OPINION or *.@- -. !: .s.>-
> sz AMERICA AND AMERICANS
Young chirpaman, Educated at Harvard, Writes
a Book of Scatl1ing Criticism of the
"%#5S People of This Country.

Confucius and the divination of Ma
homet and Hilliel combined.
BALLS are a feature Of American
life. The women appear in full dress'
which means that the arms and neck
are exposed, and the men wear even
ing dress. The dances are mostly
round The man takes a lady to the
ball, and when he dances seizes her
in an embrace which would be con-
sidered highly improper under or
binary circumstances, but the Etiquette
of the dance makes it permissible. He
places his right arm around her
waist, takes her left hand in his, holds
her close to him, and both begin to
move around to the special music de-
signed for this peculiar motion"
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
Novelist States Position,

George Meredith has at last fallen
victim to the interviewer, and appar-
emily a willing victim. There is some
thing a little reminiscent of the new
Swinburne preface in the great novel
lists pronouncement as to his work.
'sThe English people know nothing
about me-" he has confessed. There
has always been something antipa,
thetic between them and me. With
book after book it was always the
same outcry of censure and sdisap-
prevail. The first time or two mind
ed it. Then l determined to ,disre-
gard what people said altogether, and
since that have written only to
please myself.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
Drainage for Good Roads

and Telford base. It's cost is ap-
proximately seventy-seven cents per
lineal foot Of road less than construc-
ton with a Telford base and two
drains, and thirty-five cents less than
the same base with a single side
drain.
- This system of construction is d.
rectly opposite to that advocated in
most of the accepted manuals on the
subject. The old idea has been to get
the water off the roadbed just as
quickly as possible. TO accomplish
this the subgrade has been crowned
and rolled and the lower courses Of
stone are coarse and often of conslu-
cradle thickness. BY the new sys-
tenn of construction the water remains
on the roadbed and is collected by
the outlet drains at fifty-foot points,
the drainage not being distributed
along each side of the road, but con.
centrated at regular series OF points.
Engineering Record.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

*tbut ii you wanted crepe and couldn't
get it, wouldn't this tablecloth make
a good substitute?"- Portland Ore
gonian.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17
OF THE DIPLOMATS!

Charge of Neglect That Nettled the
:. Japanese Minister.
ssMr. Ambassador, did bow to- you.
1 did so in a most marked manner.
This was Minister Takahira's pro-
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

BY careful calculation the cost of
malarial fever in Texas alone is esti-
mated by DR.. Woldert to be at least
$5,OO0,OO0 year and probably nearer
$4,000. One person in twelve in some
places is down with the disease.
What a good business plan it would
be to save three-fourths or nine-tenths
Of this wasted money by preventing
the disease. No physician doubts the
possibility; the methods of proven
ton are well known and are easily car
ried out.
The public, however-at least it's
lawmakers-cannotb be brought to real
ize the wisdom of such economy.
Money can be found for "junketing
tours public buildings of a political
character, and hundred less neces-
sary measures, but nothing, or next to
nothing, for stopping the greatest loss
to the communicated from disease.
For every dollar spent to pay public
health officers and the expense of
preventive medicine there can be 500
saved. ; - ~
Ignorant Children. =
In class in a Manchester (Eng.)
school not one Of the children knew
what a bee was. This, statement was
made at Norwich the other day at the
conference of the Museums Associa-
ton by Mr.. Pritchard, OF Boston,
America. The ignorance in his own
town was even greater. Statistics
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-09-17

It is instructive to observe how
steadily the feeling is growing that
drainage and not thickness of metal
ing is the main essend in road-mak-
ing, However much we may respect
the memories of Macadam, Telford
and other great road builders who
first led public authorities toward a
sensible method of construction for
country highways, the fact remains
that many Of their recommendations
are now known to be misleading
Their advice was important at the
time when it was given, but it is not
in keeping with the broader knowl-
edge of the present time, gained by
careful examination of roads built in
strict conformity with well-knoWn
specifications. Years ago the theory
of thin roads, with a V-shaped drain
along the center, received favor.
This V-shaped drain is as effective
both for removing the water and sup
porting the metaling as side drains
.-~~~~.~~~-~~S.-~~
Death Was Suggested Subject.
Tom johnson of Cleveland was
spending few weeks at a small hotel
near Lake Michigan. Accommoda-
lions had been engaged in advance,
hut the service was not such as he had
expected. At each meal Mr.. Johnson
introduced the subject of death. So
persistent was he in discussing the
morbid theme that it had a depress-
ing effect on the other guests.
Cant you speak on anything else
hut death?" asked the landlord in des.
reration.
Conversation is prompted by sur
rounGings,' explained the mayor.
But there are no gravestones nor
kearses here protested the landlord,
swinging his arms toward the beau
tiful lake. Neither is there crepe on
the door" ~ s,z5 ~ gs-tz
NO" Sid Mr.. Johnson, painfully;
The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-04-12
MILK CARS ON
RAPID TRANSIT

A new feature of trolley expansion
may shortly be the transportation of
milk on certain of the Rapid Transit
cars. thus saving the contents of cans
from the jolting and churning caused
by the milk wagons being driven over
rough roads.
Senator Paul Isenberg. who owns the
Waialae ranch and sends the milk OUT
put into Honolulu every day. may
make arrangements whereby the
product of the ranch can be sent to-
town over the waialae or Kaimuki
branch of the system, as far as Sheri-
dan street near King, where the Dairy
mans Association headquarters are
located. Should his plan go through
the Senator would make arrangements
for wagons to meet The incoming cars
to take off the milk cans quickly. and
not delay the system