davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

water lighted on the opal it will be remembered how the stone shot out a spark like falling star and instantly became lightless and coIorless as a common pebble. The baroness sank to the ground withaa cry of pain, and was carried to her chamber a dying woman. This mysterious lady, who had appeared so suddenly, disappeared as suddenly, for a few, hours afterward nothing could be seen of the late baro- ness except handful of light gray ashes.
 It may be considered improbable that so prevalent a superstition should be based on such slender grounds as a fairy tale in one of Sir Walter Scotts novels, but such appears to be the case, as it would be difficult to find an actual case where the successive wearers of an opal have ben dogged with hard luck. Such stories are frequent, but their origin, like that of so many ghost stories, is probably entirely mythical. It Is possible, however, that the so- called ill luck of the opal is due to the fact that teh stone is a soft one, and if exposed to constant friction is lia- ble to become loose and fs.ll out. It is very necessary that opals should be se- curely set, but, whatever the setting, 1t is always advisable to give the stones careful scrutiny from time to time, and not to expose them to undue wear and tear. If this is done, there seems to be no valid reason why the opal should be regarded as bringing ill luck to the wearer. Judging from history, the reverse seems to be the case.
 It is we'll known that the late Queen Victoria, who was blessed with prover- bial luck. was very fond of these stones and presented with parture of opals and diamonds. It cannot be said that these marriages have been otherwise than fruitful and prosperous. A lady in waiting once said to the late Queen: II am surprised, your Majesty, that you are so fond of opals, as they are known to be so unlucky." The Queens reply was as follows; Queen Eliza beth always wore opals, and I have found them lucky stones.' The opal, too, is a fayorite stone in the German royal family. The ex-Empress Euge= nie, on the contrary, steadily refused to wear opals of any description, and her life was full of vicissitude and disaster. s-.., If we go back to the times of the an- cient Romans. we find no trace what ever of any i'll repute attaching to the "opalus,' The esteem with which the stone was regarded by them was very marked. 'Of all precious stones" writes Pliny, the ona. is the most diff ficult to describe. since it combines in one gem the beauties of many species, the fire of the carbuncle, the purple of the amethyst. the green of the emerald, and t heyellow of the topaz" We learn from the, same writer that the Senator Nonius possessed a valuable ring, in the center of which was set an opal about the size of hazel nut. This ring was coveted by Mare Antony, and Nonius. sooner than lose his pree- ious jewel, escaped from the country, carrying the ring with him as the sole relic of his fortune. He preferred exile with his opal to living in Rome with out it.--St. James Gazette. .az.. <FI.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
A KICK SPOILED THE STORY.
The Liar Was Getting Along NObl

The Liar Was Getting Along Nobly
 Until His Friend Made Him Trim.
 There are people who maintain that Mir. Dash, the architect, is grossly un- truthful, but I do not hold with them. The gentleman is merely enthusiastic and imaginative, and his geese. not content with being swans, insist on be- ing rocs. He went out to supper one night not long ago with his friend George and capitalist whom he hoped to have for friend. It was Georges party, and George begged MT. Dash to confine his talk to yea, yea, and nav. nay, and so not prejudice the desirable capitalist.
 "Now, when you begin to exagger- ate,' said George, I'm going to kick you, and when you feel the weight of my foot for Heavens sake whittle your story down.
 MT. Dash promised. All went well till, in the mellow time after the SUD- per- the capitalist began to talk of his eNNS-N- AlIs 1dSll of his second cousins farm in Penn sylvania.
 Joe has one of the finest barns in the country, he said, warming to his tale. Indeed, it's one of the finest in the State, or in any State, It's 400 feet long'-here Geeorge delivered a well aimed kick and-and feet wide.'
 Naturally. next day there were mu- tual recriminations and back talking.
 You've killed yourself with that man for keeps" sneered George. -Four hundred long and six feet wide!'
 s Tt was your pigheaded tomfoolish- ness in kicking me at the wrong time" insisted Mr. Dash. You spoiled it all. If you'd kept your feet to yourself I'd have made a well proportioned barn of it, anyway."-Washington Post.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
OPAL sUPERsTITIoNs.
Origin in Scott's Novel-~Why Stones
 Are Often Lost.

If the average person waSasked his almost invariably be of this nature: "Opals are certainly very beautiful but, then, you know, it is unlucky to wear them, unless you happen to be born in October ,.....
 The origin of a superstition is always hard to find and no exception can be made in the case of the one concern ing the opal. It is not at all unlikely that the widespread feeling of distrust with which the opal is regarded ori- ginated with the narrative of Donner- hugel in Sir Walter Scott's novel, Anne of Geirstein." It will be re- membered how the mysterious and ill., fated Baroness Hermione invariably wore in her auburn tresses a golden clasp which was ornamented with a. superb opal. This gem, which she never removed except for a few mo- ments while her hair was being combed was possessed of a peculiar quality. When the baroness became animated the jewel displayed a twinkling and flashing gleam which seemed to be emitted by the gem itself and not pro- duced in the usual manner by the reflection of external light, When the beautiful wearer was agitated by hasty or brief resentment, dark red sparks seemed to flash from the mystic brooch as if it synfpathized with it's mistress emotions. The baroness was particu- larly apprehensive. when any water was brought near it, and when, at the christening of her child, drop of holy
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

ss3uent 5Hadley or Yale to the editor
 The Illustrated Sporting News says:
 Ehe idea that victory is the essential
 ling is one of the greatest dangers
 hich menaces the United States at
 le present time. Whatever you can do
 combat that idea in athletics or any,
 here else renders an invaluable pub
 < service.'
 In the Illustrated Sporting News of s hnuary [, copies at the Pease-Lewis
 o.s, the remainder of the letter from resident Hadley is given in full and
 of momentous interest to all who are aterested in clean sports. Also in the .Ahlaxy of writers on College Athletic 'si sl|cfl he same paper for 1905 are such men As Glen Warner, Charles Courtney, JameS E. Sullivan, Alonzo A. Stagg, WilliaN II. Reid, jr., Walter Camp, Walter Carter and others equally R''"'"s' ! athletics: -
 McClure's begins the new year with a strong number, in which the articles of most serious Import are "Tuberculosis, the Real Race Suicide" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, and "Lynching in the South,,, by Ray Stannard Baker. In tgresting and less painful are Frederic \ AErIand's sketch of James Madison, ''The fReporter Who Became President" and an account of a beaver colony at work by c. E. Williams. The story writers Represented are Henry Wallace Phillips, Stewart Edward White, Villa Gather, Charles F. Embree, N. M. W. Wood row, Grace s. Richmond, Mark Lee Lu- sSther, John Dwight and Seumas Mac jManus.
 Malcolm Strauss series of drawings in tint picturing '9The Social Game are the striking feature of an unusual fv we'll illustrated number of the Metro nolitan. Joel Chandler Harris offers a new Br,er Rabbit tale, and other short stories are contributed by George Gibbs, Agnes M. Cleaveland, Allen Kinross, Theodore Roberts, Porter E. Brown and Gelett Burgess. James Huneker re- views the theatrical season. A clever noonologue, q Love! Thou Lowest! He II T.oyesp, is signed by E. H. Sothern. Another interesting contribution IS Charles Livingston Bulls "An Artist in fRermrda." with his inimitable draw kings,
 sTn the Booklovers' Magazine colored Illustrations continue to hold consid- able place, and articles of general in lest are more frequent than those Hing with literature. A paper on the hdes students at Oxford, written by of them, is entertaining. "A City on Rubies" is description of the
 in Burma. Recent visits to vol
 are narrated; there is an illus
 account of the new Roman Cath hedral at Westminster, and the
 article on the international as- the eastern war is thoughtful stiye.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

INSPECTED THE .BERMUDIAN.' !. @ H. E. Sweezey, the well known steamship ticket agent, was in, New York yesterday and thoroughly inspect ed the fine new steamer Bermudian of the Quebec s. s. Co.
 This is a very handsome twin screw boat of about 5000 tons, .s beautifully fitted up with every convenience de- manded by the modern traveller.
 It will be a source of great gratifiea- tion to many people that now the trip to Bermuda can be made in comfort for coming across from Glasgow to New York the Bermudian proved to be ex- tremely steady. 5}
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
LOVE IN PHsRsPEcTIsY E.

=
 There is nothing like getting a good perspective on one's husband or wife as an aid to the adjustment of matri- moniaI difficulties. The young, man who is just now being sued by his third wife for divorce and who. in the unpleasant interim, is ardentiy and arduously courting his first wife and trying to woo to life the dead love she once felt for him, is - a beautiful ex- ample of the value of matrimonial per spective. He is not the, only example, however for there never has been q. time when there was so much remarry- ing of divorced couples as of late.
 It may appear paradoxical for man to turn around and pursue the wife whom he has just eluded, in the di- vorce courts, says the New York Press, but it is not. A wife is like a piece of fine broadcloth held too near to the eyes. The c1oseness of domestic 'ae shows every thread and wrinkle in her makeup. Curl papers, cold coffee, commonplaces and domestic difficult ties roughen up her exterior in way that the lover who wooed her in the front parlor under the softening radi- ance of the piano lamp never dreamed she could be roughened. Associated with the butchers bill and the cook, she becomes merely a household ad- junct Just as a piece of broadcloth held under magnifying glass appears dull and grainly, the wife held under the magnifying glass, of matrimony faulty and unattractive. Beside her, any piece of tawdry silk Haunted at a distance has a fascinating luster, and imitation ermine looks like the real thing. The husband wonders how he could have made such a bad bargain and wakes upNsome cold, gray morn- ing to find himself facing a divorce court
 From the moment his wife steps up- on the stand prospective grass widow. the husband sees her in a new light. Nine times out of ten he would take her in his arms and ask her to withdraw her charges then and their if pride and memories of the magnify ing glass did not buoy him up. Once granted her divorce, she is further away from him than any other woman possibly could be. His perspective on her is magnificent. Once more she shines with the satin-like luster of dis tant broadcloth, and it takes a, good many cocktails to convince him that he is perfectly happy without her. The cheap silk and the ermine, being near CT than the broadcloth, grow disgust ingly tawdry in his eyes-and hence the courtship of the divorced couple begins all over again.
 Why did the young man in question go back to his first wife instead of to the wife directly proceeding the one who is suing him? Simply because the perspective on No 1 was greater than the perspective on No 2. She was so far away from him that, as the stars did the small boy who wanted to play blocks with them, she dazzled him. Alas! for the lack of sentimental econ- omy that makes magnifying glasses of honeymoons.
 Will lovers never learn that econ omy in love is much more important than financial economy or political economy or even domestic economy?
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
THE NEW PUBLICATIONS.
2ME OF THE LATEST BOOKS OF
 THE SEASON,

AHA ASAAoONs
 he Christian Science novel ''Talitha ni in spite of the adverse criticism. he reviewers. is in its second edi-
 and a third printing will soon be
 fred, all of which emphasizes the {th of the cult rather than the
 e of the novel.
 Tat Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox is an nor of popularity in Canada is evil need by the fact that the demand for F new book "A Woman of the lorld, has been so great as to call for Special Canadian edition, which has len brought out in Toronto by ar Engement with her American pub fher.
 2John Lane publishes a little volume htitled Selected Poems Of John Da- fdson, which includes such favorite poems as "The Ballad of Hell," Bal lad of Heaven" Ballad of a Nun," 4 Ballad of Workman" Ballad of a YCoward,' Ballad in Blank Verse;" Ietc. There are several of the Fleet Street Eclogues," including the epilog. The Chinese classic known as "Shu King. supposed to have been compiled by Confucius, is published in a trans lation by Walter Goen Old. Blanche feur the Queene,"' is an epic of the time of Charlemagane, by Ashmore Wingate. The new edition of "The Spanish Conquest in America" by the late Sir Arthur Helps, is completed by the publication of the fourth volume. Memoirs of the Martyr King by Allan Fea, describes in detail the last two years of the life of Charles I.
 The popularity of Annie Fellows Johnston, author of the Little Colonel books, is receiving fresh confirmation in the great quantity of letters that are arriving from every state and ter ritory in the union in answer to an of- fer made by her publishers to send free of charge a photogravure portrait of Mrs. Johnston suitable for framing to any one who would ask for it by letter. 10. Henry, the name on the title page the amusing novel of Central Amer an politics called "Cabbages and ings, (McClure. Phillips & Col, is ally nom de plume, and the incog-
 of the author is as carefully guard
 possible. After many years wan
 g in the west O. Henry has joined
 yer increasing literary colony in with his eyes wide open, he tyS t is to be expected that the |, VculiaffaMs Of metropolitan life will \ ceive the same amusing treatment a &om his pen in the neaE future as the ddfties of western life have in the sst.
 The translation of Mr. Munsterberg' lie Amerikaner,'' (McClure, Phillips Co.) has met with a cordial reception i'd has received the serious considera- n in the literary world which such work warrants. The writer is a man
 unusually brilliant academic Movements, with the thorough train
 which is characteristic of the Ger seholarsA He was a student at the
 rEeneVa and also at Leip-
 e lie obtained his Ph. D. His
 s doctor of medicine he receiv-
 eidelberg in 1887, and in 1888 he
 assistant professor of philoso-
 the University of Freiburg. In
 was called as professor of psy-
 " and director of the psycholog-
 laboratory to Harvard. In addition
 $ many degrees he has been deco-
 q with the Red Eagle of the third
 by the German emperor.
 x
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
PROBLEMS IN INDIA.
Native Dignity Enters Largely Into . ":r:. Servant Question. @

Nearly all of thernf especially these hill people, write in Simla-eome from little homesteadings of the inter for; and exigencies sometimes arise there which call them to blow the fa- mily field, or to reap and to bind. There are mysterious marriages and funeral rites that make imperative de- mands, from which there Is occasion- ally no return for year or two. The other day I came down to find half the i. servants. unrecognizable, News had come that their raiah, the prince of their own microscopic hill state, had died, and one and all of them had shaved his head and face as clean as a billiard ball. It was court mourn ing" and they loyally oheyed the edict
 though nobody would have known if they had not. Sometimes, too, for un- dreamed-of reasons, they take offeaase
 and ask leave to go. We nearly lost an excellent groom because I told him to turn my pony out to. grass and hold the end of his rope while he cropped
 He obeyed, but next day there was sickness in his family and he wished to depart. We had to resort to diplo- macy. Certainly, we said, he could go in four days. and lectured him soundly for untidiness. There was nothing for it, we declared, nothing could keep so disreputable and trouble some a person from being a discredit to the house but one. of the sahibis own coats, which he got with the ser mon. The fourth day. came and went. but Tikkoo's izzat, his dignity, was re- stored-was he coolie that he should hold a horse while it walked where it liked and ate grass?-and there was no more talk Of sickness in his family. Good Housekeeping.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

he Christian Science novel "Talitha nf in spite of the adverse criticism. the reviewers, is in its second edi-
 and a third printing will soon be fred, all of which emphasizes the {th of the cult rather than the e of the novel.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

lat Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox is an Fhor of popularity in Canada is evil heed by the fact that the demand for r new book "A Woman of the |orld, has been so great as to call for special Canadian edition, which has en brought out in Toronto by ar ngement with her American pub her.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
sAFH INVESTMENT.

The Bridgeport Water Co. (Bridge- port Hydraulic Co., has made an issue of bonds which have been purchased by the Chas. W. Scranton Co.,, the in- vestment brokers of this city, who are offering them to investors who wish to purchase one of the safest of invest mtnts. Water company bonds are al- ways most attractive to conservative investors and this Bridgeport company is one of the best in the country.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07
] A :. MARINE POST OFFICE.
- al9 v ag- Work of Mall Steamer Florence B.,
 ~ of. Detroit.


 Everybody who has passed up or down the Detroit, river has seen. the Florence B. She is the pet and pride of the, entire post office department, while the little flag she floats bearing the familiar lettering. '.U. S. Mail.'' in vests each and every individual who follows the Stars and Stripes with a personal ownership in all that pertains to her or hers.
 All through the Summer season, when the weather permits. tourists on the passing steamer decks, loiterers on the river paviloas, boys and girls on the docks, sit by the hour and watch the Florence E.. Over and over again they see her. pushing cut into the stream, lodging the ferryboats, hurrying around tie port-bound steamers, breasting the swells, braving the dan- gers of collisions, yet her ventures are ever new, i life a story not devoid of the dramatic element
 Thousands of vessels pass Detroit every year; more. in truth, than enter any one Of the great ports of New York, London or Liverpool. For these hundreds of boats, there is always mail, as well as mail aboard them for delivery ashore, and 1t is to insure de- livery and collection of this important mail matter. that the Florence B. makes her continuous and times perilous trips.
 I1It letter carriers must be taken out to passing vessels, rain or shine, hail or snow, during the entire season of navi- gation; no matter what the speed of the passing boats, the mail must be delivered to them, and received from them, without tn vessel slackening pace for a moment and it often hap pens that the boats are running at the rate os 15 miles an hour.
 The post office employees on the yacht are thoroughly familiar with all of the vast fleets of lake vessels which pass through the Detroit river many times year, and they know exactly when each boat or fleet is due. Boats do not always achieve schedule time, however, and thus, the only way to make sure of a passing freighter, is to watch for it. Early and late, every day and all through the night until the ice closes navigation. the entire force is on the watch. Up stream and down stream as far out as the eye can reach, the never-ending vigil is for boats.
 AS soon as a vessel appears, the Flo renee B quickly tows the rowboat con- taining marine letter carrier with the mail to be delivered, directly in front of the vessel and then stands off from it.
 The immense steam freighter plunges through the water at its highest speed and its swell causes such commotion that 1t is necessary for the man in the small boat to exercise the greatest care to prevent the swamping of his little craft.
 Just before the big steamer reaches the tossing craft, the man in the row. boat, by dexterous stroke of the oars, sends his tiny shell under the bow. Then in an instant, a line is thrown from the boat to the deck of the vessel and made fast by the waiting sailor; the huge coil of ninety feet of line is then paid out and as it comes taut, the rowboat fairly leaps into the air; then on the swell until the boatman' S task is done.-The Pilgrim.
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

Irate Employer See here, you young Rip Van Wrinkle, I only hired you yesterday, and believe, on my soul, you've been asleep around here ever sincel" Sleepy Joe-'"That's what thought you wished, sir. Here's your advertisement: Wanted: An office boy, not over sixteen; must sleep on the premises. "--New Orleans Times Dem ocrat. s
The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-07

q must say I enjoy spice of dan ger,' said the man who affects brava- do. "Is that why you gave up your automobile?" asked the sarcastic friend. 'No; that's why so on foot in the streets, where other people run automobiles. "-Washingto Star ,