davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The semi-weekly messenger., 1905-08-25


to fix one of the window cords. He
was about two months doing it, and
his bill was something like $500. I
don't propose to have another dawdling
around"
But you can't fit and hang a screen
door. It's a very particular job, you
! know"
s when did you first learn that 1
skcouldn't fit and hang a screen door?"
"But you never have"
"My dear r-oman, I was hanging
screen doors when you We're playing
with rag dolls. I've probably fitted and
hung a thousand of them In nv time.
I'll put up a Coor there tomorro, fore
noon that will MAXI tue flies tired. We
are not busy at the office, and l can
stay home half day as we'll as not
But you'll have trouble with it, and
then-and them
And then what? 1 s'pose you want
to say that I'll take the ak and brain
you. Don't worry yourself. There
will be no trouble about the door, and
you won't be murdered. my dear wom-
an, rest assured
IF paid the carpenter myself out
Of my pin money would you let him
fit the door?" she asked after q mo-
ment
What in thunder has got into you?"
he replied. you must think I've got
to be a regular fool that | can't do
little thing like fitting a screen door.
We will have no carpenter. If you've
got money to throw away III reduce
your allowance. I never knew you to
act quite so queer before"
Mrs. Bowser realized that he was
"sot," and she dropped the subject and
hoped he would forget it in sleep. 1t
was vain hope. He had dreams of
screen doors until he called out in his
sleep, and the first thing when he
awoke in the morning he said:
We'll have some fun with those flies
before noon today. I'm glad you
called my attention to the door"
He put On his working suit and all
through breakfast was talking about
the doors he had made in bygone days.
AS a last desperate resort Mrs. Bow
ser suddenly asked:
today?"
"Ive got that door to see to-
'Mrs. Taylor and her husband went
yesterday and caught string Of four
teen.''
"Umw
"And she said ,at least ten more big
ones got away. I'm just dying to
catch a fish"
"But the flies"
''They won't do any hurt for day
or two longer. The cook can shoe them
out with feather duster."
And the fish can wait day or two
longer to be caught. One should not
put off till tomorrow what can be done
today. You have doubted my ability
to dt and hang screen door, and I'm
going to prove that you are all wrong.
Besides, it isn't fair to the cook. She
has something else to do than shooing
flies"
That settled it. Mrs Bowser could
not pack her trunk and go home to
her mother, and neither could she go
fishing alone. She simply had to stay
ON and hope that Providence would
take a hand on her side. Mr.. Bowser
hunted around down cellar and found
the frame of an old screen door. It
had no aarmarks by which he could
identify it, but he assumed that it be-
longed to the kitchen doorway, and he
started for a hardware store to buy
wire TO tack on He, was whistling
blithely as he went. but the whistle
The semi-weekly messenger., 1905-08-25
BoWSer HANDS
Screen Doors
. But Fails to Foil the Fnsky Flies
That Infest His
Kitchen.
OVERLOOKS YARDSTICk
After Two Trips to Hardware Stores
and an Hours Saving He
Sees His Error.

copyright, 1905, by r. B. McClure.l
HAVE been trying TO tell you for
two or three days past" said
Mrs. Bowser the other evening,
that the flies are coming into
the kitchen in droves and that we ought
to have a screen door to keep them
out"
That's easy enough" was the an
swer
"Will you have a carpenter come to-
morrow"
NO, ma'am, l will not The last time
we had carpenter around here it was
The semi-weekly messenger., 1905-08-25

Eczema, scald head, hives, itchiness
Of theskin OF any sort. instantly re-
lieved, permanently cured. Doan's
ointment AT any drug stors.
The semi-weekly messenger., 1905-08-25
She Didn't Understand.

She was pretty. but unlearned.
II consider Tennyson,' said he, zone
Of the sweetest singers the world ever
knew"
rs that SOP" was the naive response.
why, didn't know that he sang
Louisville Courier-JournaI
The semi-weekly messenger., 1905-08-25


branch noticed the direction of their
eyes.
Would you like some of the flow
ers9" she asked. and reached her hand
toward the pitcher.
81 beg you do not touch ii, said one
of the correspondents; "you-Fou
were taught in Japan
The American girl looked very puz-
zled until another correspondent ex-
planned that quite by accident and with
a natural eye for beauty she had done
a pretty piece Of work in the japanese
art of flower arrangement which most
children of Nippon are taught in
school. She insisted on giving The
branch, arranged as 1t was, to the Jap
anese party, and it stood on their taola
at dinner.
SUMMER GUESTS A BIT INDIE
FERENT.
The day turned out little cold and
beautifully clear. One can almost see
the house on the Isle Of Shoals away
out to sea- The guests, who are get
ting a bit Indifferent to celebrities,
went back TO golfing again. This after
noon a postponed tennis tournament
was played at Rye Beach with team,
from the Wentworth. Many of the
guests went over to see that on the
back lawn. The children Of the hotel.
tired of rubbefing at celebrities, are
playing with the Wentworth's family
of Boston Terrier puppies. which are
now at the fappy. irresponsible, affec-
tionate, and chewing stage of puppy
life. A lively buddy is better than a
dead-to-the-world diplomat The hotel
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04

eyewitnesses have been preserved. There
Is almost unanimous testimony that her
eyes were blue: Mason calls them girls.
c,air; only one makes them brown, with
a BLUSH tinge in certain lights, To the
tint OF her hair the terms brown, chestnut
and auburn are applied. In the days when
she was still Grand Duchess she was de.
picted as having noble figure, majestic
gait, graceful department and royal
air Elm the union Of her head and neck
was wonderful beauty. Her brow was
large and open, her mouth was set of by
beautiful teeth, her nose was aquiline'--
Nine. vigee-Lebrun, the painter and
Poniatowsky described it as quite Greek
The English chaplain, Rev. w. Tooke;
who saw her ten years after her accession
to the throne, observed that "she was OF
moderate stature. but well proportioned.
and, as she carried her head very high
she appeared rather tall The Prince
de Ligne agreed that one scarcely noted
that she was short. His own description
Of Catherine as she was at the age Of 50
dwells on the characteristics Of her phys
iognomy, in which it required no Lavater;
he said, to find genius, justice, courage,
depth, equsnimity, sweetness, calm and
decision"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04
A Duck Hunters Luck.

From the San Francisco Chronicle,
If there is one thing OF which l have alb
solutely no knowledge. it is hunting and
fishing" remarked John q. Inglls Il never
caught fish or killed bird in my life. and
I suppose never will. couldn't tell you
the difference between striped bass and a
mallard duck, unless it came in on platter
But have friend who is a sportsman You
never saw such keen sportsman in your life
He has big roomful OF guns and fishing
tackle and all kinds of sporting paraphernala
He used to worry the life out Of me with his
persistent invitations to go hunting and
fishing. Finally ! agreed to go duck hunting
W it'll him. He provided all the regala
Among other things. he ordered lot of shells
from downtown gun store. and was 10
go and get the shells aud pack them in my
grip ! got the package from the gun store
and we went TO Alviso. We were proceeding
up a slough In a small boat In the cool Of the
early morning when we ran into a million
ducks. -.t
open up that package of Shells yelled my
y opsped the package. II contained
haven't been duck hunting since"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04
catherine tho Great or Russia.

For upward Of a hundred years French
writer's, recalling, doubtless, the sympa-
thetic attitude Of Volt ire Diderot and the
Encyclor o lists toward the Empress of the
North" have shown themselves keenly in
I crest ed in Catherine II. of Russia, sur
named the Great. AS lately as nine years
ago, NJ. G. dc Lariviere devoted volume
to Catherine, and claased her with Fred
erick the Great OF Prussia, Maria Theresa
and voltaire among the real masters Of the
eighteenth century. In England, on tho
ether hand, this extraordinary parsonage
has been much neglected. An att en,pt to
repair this neglect, 30 far as some OF the
aspects OF her life are concerned, Is now
made in book entitled THE CoGrfshipe of
Catherine I've Great. by PHILIP w. SERGEANT,
late scholar OF Trinity College, Oxford q. P.
Nppinoott Company. The author assures
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04

airy atmosphere Of moroseness. As mat
ter Of fact, she was far from being morose
1t Ia obvious, indeed, that, being destitute
Of physical beauty, and yet able to bend
men and women to her will as she did,
Catherine must have possessed some strange
fascination. &c. in truth, she did. Her
real indifference to the welfare OF others
did not betray itself socially. "She was
brilliant, acutely alive. She had French
wit and Italian perpe in conversation, and
she must have known how to amuse, or
she would not, in the early days OF her
marriage, have been the constant COM
panion OF the blase Francois I. Her wit,
salt and shrewd, was Of the broad, COLO
ouial kind, we'll suited to cheer faded
monarch
She understood how to laugh; not often;
but aptly. 1Then,' wrote Venetian
envoy, -she began to laugh q great deal,
as she always does when something takes
her fancy" Brantome also reports: She
would laugh her All like anybody else. She
loved to say the right word, and knew
how to meet people takingly." Our author
doubtless hits It when she says that Cath
crimes power lay not 40 much in what she
did as in her science OF doing. She knew
the right moment for laughing and for
weeping She was, indeed. intensely femi-
nine, and none grasped better than she
that a woman's strength lies In her weak
ness. It is not asserted in the book before
us that her tears and smiles were exactly
hypooritical; they were Always near at hand;
however. She was an Italian, and, there
fore, demonstrative. While conceding that
amenity was no doubt her best policy and
department part Of her creed, our author
thinks that there must have been real
social amiability about her, and that a
visitor at her court was probably truthful
when he records that she had "a most beau
tiful manner, and that both in her words
and her gestures she sought to please
everybody This need Of pleasing
brought her plenty Of work. The innumer-
able letters which she wrote to plead for
proteges or to get them suitable posts
were a work. II not Of kindness, at least OF
benevolenoe.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04
Dr, w. W. Keen's Addresses.

A much wider public than the medical
profession will be interest ed in DR.. William
williams Keen's Addresses and Other
Papers" W. B. Saunders Co.. Philadel-
phia). DR.. Keen, the leading American
authority in surgery, has had frequent oc-
casion to speak ON matters Of general con-
Germ connecte ed with his profession, on pub
lie occasions and in periodicals. and it is
these utterances that are here collect ted.
We find for instance, an entertaining ac-
count adorned with quaint illustrations
of the early history Of practical anatomy.
his surgical "reminiscences Of the civil war
and the remarkable article on the Progress
Of Surgery in the Nineteenth Century
that was published in The Sun Ave years
ago. Then there are historical and phio-
sophical views OF the medical profession de-
livered on academic occasions, and lighter,
popular expositions Of advances in science
contributed to literary periodicals. The
range Of topics is wide. the present alton
authoritative and the Addresses w. in this
form will be welcomed by all concerned in
the advance OF science. Opponents OF
vivisection will find it hard to get around
DR.. Keen's justification Of that method OF
investigation.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04
DR.. Nordeusk Jold in the Antarctic.

1t is a rafting good book Of adventure
that DR.. N. Otto G. Nordenskj6ld and Dr..
job. Gunnar Anderson with their cor
leagues have put together In 'Antarctica'
(Macmillans). The scientific results OF
the expedition will come much later, as it
will take time, naturally, to put them In
order. The geographical results may seem
rather meager, considering the risks run
by the explorers. Here we have the nara
tive Of the expedition during the two winters
it spent in the SHOWS. at the back Of Louis
Philippe Land.
The separation Of the expedition made
two narratives necessary. Or. Norden-
skiold tells the main story OF the party
that wintered in the south DR.. Anderson.
who Joined Ia the second year, tells of the
endeavor to reach his companions; another
oomrade relates the story OF the loss Of the
Antarctic, and still another the rescue by
the Argentine cruiser. There Is breez-
ness and picturesqueness about tho whole
story that distinguishes 1t from most MARIA
tives Of the kind, and the occasional quaint
ness Of the English adds flavor to It, The
illustrations are many and attractive.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04
Immortal Wiil.Atutudes,

Prof. Hugo Munsterberg in his small
book entitled 4The Eternal Life Z HoughtonI
Mifflin d Coz says that past, present and
future mean simply attitudes Of the per-
sonality toward it's object. Only ona
time, instant, is real, and the reality Of the
present excludes the reality Of everything
which precedes; the past must have become
unreal when the present is real and the
existence Of the presen Mt must have become
unreal when the future will be real ls
life worth living for two heart beats long
II all that we experience in the first has
become non-existent, and thus unreal,
in the second?
This seems to make out, as the pub
lsher's notice says, that there is no past
and no future, but an eternal now. We
trust that we may be allowed to continue
to say that there was past and will be
future, for the sake OF convenience. We
hesitate to ask whether 1t may not be that
there is a past, owing to the workings
of memory The Government weather
prophet has abundantly satisfied us Of the
unreality OF futures. We know no moro
efficient demonstrator Of the truth OF Prof.
Munsterberg's contention.
It ia further said here that what we call
human history is mighty system OF will
reference. The whole hist orical confgura-
ton Of our politics and law and science
and art and relie ion is system Of will
demands. History means the will-conneo-
tions Of free personalities. This definition
Of history we have quoted as likely to be OF
assistance in understanding what the pro-
lessor says OF life. He says:
my life as a casual system OF physical
and peychical processes, which lies spread
out in time between the dates Of my birth
and of my death, will come to an end with my
last breath: to continue it, to make 1t 60
on till the earth falls into the sun. or
billion times longer, would be without any
value, as that kind OF life which is nothing
but the mechanical occurrence OF physio-
logical and psychological phenomena had
as such no ultimate value for me or for you
or for any one at any time But my real
life as a system of interrelated will-attitudes
h. as nothing before or after, because 1t Ia
beyond time. 1t is independent Of birth and
death. because it cannot be related to the
biological events; it Is not born, and will not
die; it is immortal; all possible thinkaols
time rs enclosed in it; it ia eternal.
Such, then, are life, reality, immortality
and history A book conspicuously IN the
philosophical form and spirit. 1t has greatly
interested us.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04

There are those Who in view Of her null
titudinous love affair.". have suggested
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04


Of her hand being forced through her own
shortsightedness. She had made a mis-
take natural to her. She had moderated
Coligny and his power, which threatened
to vie with herown. From the point OF view
Of her own interest his removal became
necessary and the Guses were but too
willing to be her agents in the matter It
was when they failed to kill him and when
the rumor ran that the Protestants had
vowed an Instant and general vengeance
for this plot against their chief that parc
seized her. She ielt that she must effec-
tually forestall them, and the result was the
massacre. This terrible deed OF hers.
therefore, throws no real light upon her
nature, excepting that it proves that she
found no bar in herself to such business.
1t could hardly, however. have been the
result Of cold bloodei reconciliation, for
she herself who desired peace at almost
any price. would have been the first to
reject it as blunder. ....
II is pronounced unlucky. for Catherine
that she happened to have a taste for as
trology, and to have established an Italian
astrologer In q tower near her room. Moth
ing was more natural, however. Like all
her contemporaries, she had a profound
belief in the influence Of stars upon human
lives. In her day astrologer were con-
suited in as commonplace a way as doc
tors are now; but such consultations were
bound to take place in private, and love
potions and magic medicaments were
their normal accessories. These mys-
teries have surrounded her with Legend
Evening journal., 1905-02-24
The World Not Shocked.

From the Detroit Journal
To the act OF shooting down unarmed
men, women, and children whose sinister
mcuve was to tell him Of their grievous
sufferings, the Car has received his an
swer.
The deliberate blowing TO fragments Of
the Grand Duke Sergius, the duplication
OF Russian autocracy; the success with
which those who style themselves the
Central Committee OF Revolutionary So
cialsts." who try and condemn high OH
cials OF the Government and then assas-
slnate them, setting at naught the precau-
tons Of espionage, guards, and secret po-
lice, is disturbing to Government officials.
The greatest peril OF tho situation, how
ever is that the world at large is not
shocked at the assassination OF Sergius.
Nor was the world horror-stricken when
Won Plehve was blown to pieces, and Bo-
brikon was murdered. The despotism,
the brutality, the unhtness Of these men
10 rule disarm those who should condemn.
Il makes assassination appear almost JUS
tihabe That rs the danger Of it.
It was under the influence Of such 81
cold blooded reactionist as Sergius that
tho Car violated tho pledges Of his
fathers TO Finland and gave that unhap-
py people completely into the hands Of
brutal satraps This Grand Duke, who
died just as his father Alexander II had
died, courtod death by crushing with an
iron hand every possible measure for
emancipation of the Russian subject. 10
was this stanchest defender OF autocracy
who urged the Gear not 20 meet the
marching wo-Smen with their petition;
who was responsible for the killlng-ac-
cording to such high authority as the
American Review Of Reviows-of 2.l0O and
the wounding Of 5000 more. Il was serglus
who fomonted the feeling against the
jews who oppressed unhappy Poland
with a hand more brutal than all the
tyrannical Governors that have gone be-
fore.
The chaotic condition Of the Russian
people today is a menace TO all the world.
No matter what means the Russian SUBJ
iects may take TO shake themselves free
OF their intocrahle burdens, to what ex-
tremes they may so to win back the rights
that have been usurped all these dark
centuries, the people Of the world at large
Evening journal., 1905-02-24
FAILING EYEsIeHT
Caused By Improrer Food.

Writers who live sedentary lives and
who use coffee are apt TO be troubled by
faulty vision. which they usually attri-
butte 70 overwOrk. That they are some-
times mistaken Is proved by the fol-
lowing statement from am old newspa-
per man;
For nearly 40 years 4 have earned
my living with the pen. A few years
ago l began to suffer from occasional
blind spells My vision frequently be-
came obscured by what may be called
Kaleidoscope blurs, in which CONSTANT
" changing figures like wheels, stars,
ETC.. fioated before my eyes, making 1t
Impossible for me to work while they
lasted. They were usually followed by
dull, heavy headaches.
MY physicians, two OF them, advised
me that my eyes had become weaken
ed by overwork, 1 consulted an ocu-
| list, but he could not discover the cause
of the trouble. bought stronger
glasses, but they did not help me.
Last summer. while living Temporal
rily in a boarding house. | found the
very weak coffee "A thing to complain of,
tin suddenly j discovered that any blind
spells were becoming less frequent.
then satisfied myself by experiments
that is WAS coffee that was derunging
| my optic nerves.
"A friend advised me to try Postum
coffee. and although l had no faith in
| sc. began to use tt: In three days
/ time the blind spells completely ceas-
ed Going back 10 the old coffee the
blind spells returned. / aan entirely
satisfied that coffee was the cause OF
the ailment, and that Postum was its
cure" Name given by Postum Co.,
Battle Creek, Mich.
/ There's a reason. Coffee is a mar
cotic that breaks down the cells in the
nerve centres and unless mature sue
ceeds in REPAIRING the damage each day
disease and distress follows in some
one or more organs. II may be eyes
In one, stomach and bowels dn another,
heart or kidneys in another and yet
each effected from the same cause, cof-
fee. The Suro way TO certainly know
is to quit coffee 10 days and use Pos
tum. II the disease begins to dlsap-
pear you have the key togyour puzzle
Evening journal., 1905-02-24
Aaainst UnlinIted Eranehise.

From the New York Tribune.
New Jerseys state lawmakers are
pondeIing with great deliberation AS
semblynan Colby's bill prohibiting
governing bodies Of municipalities from
granting franchises for a longer period
than twenty-five years The motive
power behind this measure comes from
the Oranges, where the people have re-
Gently been playing against the Pub
lie Service Corporation in the matter of
trolley franchises East Oranges City
Council gave the desired unlimited
franchise for a line on Central avenue
but when IL came to getting permits
sion TO continue the road through or
ange the inhabitants OF the latter town
simply clubbed their aldermen into re
jecting an unlimited franchise, and the
company wouldn't have anything else.
But the Orange folks are not quite sat
isfied that they are out OF the woods.
They go to bed o. nights wondering IL
morning won't bring some new scheme
to satisfy the Public Service Corpora
tons demands. regardless of what the
citizens may think. Hence the Colby
BILL which Is intended to lock the door
and seal IL hermetically.
The corporation is not expected to re-
linquish its determination finally to win
am unlimited franchise for the Orange
section OF Central avenue, nor does
anybody assume that it will sit with
folded hands and see the Colby bill
pass. The Public Service Corporation
has not many avowed friends i'm the
Legislature, but there are n number of
distinguished SOlons who have discov-
cred numerous reasons for not sup
porting the principle embodied in this
BILL 1t violates home rule, ties the
hands of municipalities and so on and
50 forth, and the legislators who recite
these objections are apparently ag-
grieved at reflections on their serious
ness. However, there is to be a hear
ing on the bin next week, and much IL
Illumination may then be shed upon the
subject.