davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Saved Friend from Bore

of those takers that never seem to
reach a period or to arrive at place
where you can interrupt, change the
topic and stand some chance of get
ting away. He held me with his eye
and his tongue ran on. When you ar
rived a diversion was possible, and
the warmth Of my greeting left no
doubt in his mind that wanted to see
You. At any rate he realized that the
spell which such men throw over their
listeners had been broken, and so he
fastened away"
Il understand the situation perfect
ly." observed his friend, "as I have
acted the role of life-saver before
this. Some men do not realize the
amount of good they can do by drop
ping in on an acquaintance who don't
seem to have the faculty of getting rid
of bores. There are, of course, some
men who can take care of themselves,
whether in their Offices or elsewhere:
But then there are others who fall
victims through some hypnotic infiu'
ence, and they need the aid of theiz
friends"
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

present through well authenticated
sources. Three other arguments in
favor of the story are also advanced;
no one has ever made a search thor
ough enough to disprove it, one man,
Keaton, is said to have recovered
SIS, 900 of it, and the wealth which is
supposedly on the island is known to
have. existed and IT'S disappearance
cannot otherwise be, accounted for.
Robert Louis Stevenson doubtless
knew the story and drew from it his
tale of "Treasure Island" although
he laid the plot in the seventeenth
century instead of the nineteenth in
order to carry it back to the age OF
the truly picturesque buccaneers.
Cocos island is a small bit of land
rising abruptly out OF the waters of
the Pacific 800 miles off the west
coast of Panama. 1t is but three
nautical miles in extent and is not of
sufficient Importance geographically
to claim a place upon any maps but
the most complete nautical charts. It
is doubtless of volcanic origin and is
uninhabited save for the sea birds
and herd of half-wild cattle. Po-
litically it is a part of Costa RIGA,
but as the commercial value of the
island, with the exception of the
doubtful asset of the pirates treasure,
is nil, the sovereignty amounts to lit
tie.
The cache dates back to the lib
Grafton of Mexico from the yoke of
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

Couldn't Write 1t Out


Illustrating the frequent ignorance
Of his own wares displayed by the
selling agent, the following (true)
story is told by H. w. Lanier in "HoW
to Buy Life Insurance" in Worlds
Work: -
There are to-day some thousands Of
varieties Of life insurance policies,
each of which has a technical name
and is capable of being made quite un-
Ineligible to the average man. Some
INSCRIPTIONS agents trade on this;
many do not fully understand the
meaning of terms themselves, but
have learned their lesson parrot-l;ke,
and most of them apparently find it
unnecessary to describe in plain Eng
lish to those about to insure what
they are contracting for. The result
is mass of transformation and con-
fusion about the whole subject.
For instance, an agent was trying to
insure an editor on some new plan.
The editor had theory that any fact
could be put into plain everyday Eng
lish if the man behind the fact really
knew what he was talking about.
After listening to an involved flow of
"premiums,' deferred dividends"
cash surrender values and "optior al
choices he said, gravely:
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Few Good Rea ding Gle rks

clerks, but the service was not at all
satisfactory. 1t was impossible to
hear the clerks short while after
they began to read. They would pitch
their voices m Il key SO high that COZ:
lapse vocally was inevitable. The
voices wCuld soon become husky and
the men could not be heard at all.
Another man would be pressed into
service with the same result.
On account of these difficulties it
required the services Of a number Of
men to get the platforms and resolu.
tons before the conventions. And at
that the reading was of most unsat.
isfactOry nature, for even the dele
gates who were required to vote on
the various propositions involved
could not hear and did not know
what they were voting for. Good read.
ing clerks are indeed rare and it
would seem that young men with am
bition might find it profitable to equip
themselves along this line, where they
are endowed with voices capable OF
being DEVELOPER
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

See here, l don't understand what
you're talking about But I'll tell you
what I'll do If you'll write that propo-
sition out in ordinary English, so th:t
an ordinary man can understand 1t,
I'll not only take the policy, but III
publish that explanation as an article
and pay 500 for it,
"Will Sure, I will" exclaimed
the overjoyed agent, thinking 10 had
indeed struck an easy job. And ne de-
parted, adjuring the editor not to for
get.
A week passed by. The agent call
ed up on the telephone to say that he
was working on the thing. There was
less exultation in his voice.
Two weeks more elapsed. The edl-
tor had forgotten the whole thing.
when the agents card came in one
day. 1t was followed by the man
himself
well" said the editor. Got my
article?''
"N-no," said the agent, shee., .shly~
'"The fact is, guess, can't do it the
way you want, after all. Let's call it
off,
1t is hardly too much to say that
this is typical.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Told Of "Pittsburg Phil

which he said was Wheelock's name
in Russia.
II should say his age at his death
was 81. remember that he once had
$4,000 on a 20 to 1 shot, his horse win
ming, only to be disqualified on a foul.
I believe his largest winning was OH
King Cadmus, when he was reputed
to have won from 100000 to 100000.
l think the real amount was either
little above or little below 100000.
Phil was cold-blooded and business
like III his methods. He wanted to
know things, not rumors. He didn't
want anybody to tell him. He went
himself to see. He was a man who
never dissipated. This plan of life
undoubtedly heightened his life. l
believe he suffered from tuberculosis
for over ten years. His life was like
his actions in the ring-quiet and I'M
assuming. There is no doubt but that
his huge operations were regarded
as a menace to the turf and that is
why the Jockey club warned him.
90 not think there was ever any dis
honest trick done by him. -.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

"Pittsburg Phil" and his character
istics have been discussed in nearly
every sporting headquarters by men
who had known him before his death.
Phil was. in a class by himself like
Jeffries," said Sam Summerfeld. HE
was quiet, unassuming and probably
has less Of a following than any big
better ever had. In his method of
going at it lie was different: He was
unlike Drake or Gates, who so it blind
ind OIL stable informatiolIom Riley
Grammar, Steve L'Hommedfsu or Davy
Johnson. Grammar would go through
the ring with punches Of money in
his hands. Phil always came in quiet
ly, walked from behind the book,
made his bet and walked away. Since
lis dispute over a marker twelve
"ears ago with George Wheelock,
president of the Metropolitan Turf
association, 'Pittsburg Phil in his big
cest operations never bet a marker.
In his way OF hating he was like an
Indian. He never forgot. TO vent his
feelings against Wheelock he bought
q cheap horse, named it Wheeloski.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Disrae1i and His Ancestry

Benjamin Disraell, of Beechey Park,
Carlow, a rich money-lender and no.
tary of Dublin, who died in 1914 There
is also to-day. in Vienna, a family
named Disraeli, but they rather tend
to confirm Lord Beaconsfield's hypoth-
esis, since they have only recently
adopted the name. Even in it's most
authentic form of Israeli the name
was not unprecedented in the 5th CEN
fury, for it had been borne with con-
siderable distinction by Jews 500
years before, and it was still current
at the time Of the Spanish exodus"
Mr. Wolf traces the obscure origin
of the family from the time when a
certain Benjamin D'Israeli was born
at Certo, Ferrara, the family having
probably come from the Levant: This
Benjamin DIsraeli emigrated to Eng
land in his 9Th year, and was the an
cestor OF Lord Beaconsfeld. Mr..
Wolf mentions incidentally the inter-
esting fact that Mr.. Pinero is de-
scendant of a collateral branch of the
family.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

Even in Old age, when he was jour-
neying to the grave full of honors,
Lord Beaconsfeld spoke proudly of
his Hebrew ancestry; but Mr.. Lucien
Wolf is at some pains to prove that
the whole story of the Disraelis, as
set forth in his memoir of his father,
is, to say the least, unreliable. Says
Mr.. Wolf:
THE statement that the name Dis
raeli had never been borne before or
since by any other family is only
true of Lord Beaconsfeld himself, for
he was the first Disraeli. His father
to the end of his days spelt his name
D'Israeli, and his grandfather, who
first adopted the nobiliary particle.
was known in his young days, like
his father before him; as simple Is
raeli. Nor is it quite true to say that
the name stands absolutely alone in
the worlds onomasticon. Throughout
the 9Th century a Huguenot family,
named Disraell, was resident in
London. 1t became extinct with one
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Lynx~Eyed Russian Spies

umbrella. The famous third police!
A stranger might fancy that, in an
open cab-talking French or English
to his friend-he would at least be
safe from surveillance; but his friend
will touch him significantly and speak
of the weather. The fat cabby on
the box, somnolent, with white hair
and good paternal eyes, may be a
spy, more skilled in the languages
than the travelling stranger; and If
the cabman has been found lettering
near the great clubs, the hotels, or the
embassies, the chances are strong
that he is. A subtler police than that
Of the third section-the akrana.
which has it's ramifications in every
capital in Europe and America-com-
plete this great system Of espionage.
It's mesh is over every man in Russia:
no one goes unwatched-save only old
Count Tolstoi.-Vance Thompson in
Success Magazine"
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

If the tale be true, and many there
are who say it is, chest on chest of
Spanish gold, more than Aladdin
found in the enchanted cave, more
than the tabled treasure of Kidd,
wealth to make the finder one of the
money kings Of the earth, lies await
ing the hand of a fortune seeker on
the little island of Cocos, in the Pa
cific. Failure and desperate fighting
have marked the last of many at
tempts to confirm the last line OF the
verse and "share all by the. rule Of
thumb" Although not in the extrem-
ity of Stevenson's pirate ship,
the Veronique, Capt. Morrison, fitted
out by Earl FitZwilliam and Admiral
Palliser, is returning to English
shores after a voyage filled with dis
aster; the common fate of every ex-
petition to the little bit of land which
furnished the scenario of "Treasure
Island"
The story of Cocos island and it's
vast treasure rivals upon the Pacific
Iu0 SLOly VI CdpI. hluu upOll (uc Az
lantic, and that of Lafitte upon the
gulf coast. The story of the amass-
ing of the treasure, what it cost in
good ships scuttled, in men walking
the plank, in fair maids dishonored
and thrown into the scuppers with a
dirk slot sheer through the bosom
spot" what fash of knives and shrek
of shot, what lies and lust of blood
and gain, will never be told. The
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Finding Warrant for War

On both sides Of the great contro-
vessy which took such fearful shape
in the middle of the seventeenth cen
fury, but especially on the Protestant
side. the minds of men were devoted,
not to seeking that peace which was
breathed upon the world by the New
Testament, but to finding warrant for
war-and especially the methods Of
the chosen people in waging war
against unbelievers-in the Old Tesla
ment. Did any legislator or professor
Of law yield to feelings of humanity,
he was sure to meet with protests
based upon authority of Holy Scrip
ture. Plumber and >pillage were sup
ported by reference to the ,divinely
approved "spoiling of the Egyptians"
by the Israelites. The right to mas
sacre unresistinS enemies was based
upon the command of the Almighty to
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

The meeting of congress reminds
me that it is one of the rarest things
in the world to find a good reading
clerk" said an old reporter, "and
there is, suppose, a very good reason
for it. AS matter of fact, it takes
peculiar type of man to make read
ing clerk. There are a great many
men who can read we'll for a while
But the man wanted by the large de-
Lucrative bodies must be able to sus-
tain himself, and in order to do this
he must learn how to control his
voice. In fact, he must be as careful
of his voice as the artistic singer.
Reading clerks in legislative bod
les often have q peculiar condition
to deal with on account of the charac-
ter of legislative halls. The men who
read for Congress also read under
difficulties. During the last national
conventions Of the Republican and
Democratic parties I had occasion to
appreciate the difficulties of finding
good reading clerks. Each conven-
ton selected & number of reading
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

Russia is re-eminently the land OF
SPIES. Democratic and socialist1c
France has raised the spy system to
state function, but in Russia it is the
very soul of the state. In Moscow, in
the streets, agents of the police are
stationed every five hundred yards;
III addition, secret agents watch the
houses day and night-one being al
,otted to every four houses, and in
every house is another spy, the porter.
60 where you will, you are never out
oil the watchful eye of the police. You
brush against spies in your hotel, as
in the theaters; in a restaurant, as in
the drawing room Of a friend. 1t is
riGiculously easy to recognize those
you meet in the fashionable resorts.
They have evidently been Instructed
to disguise themselves as gentlemen,
and for one Of them the livery OF a
gentleman is frock coat, silk hat,
and, always-by rain or sunlight-an
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Electric Power for P1oWs

horse power, which can safely be in
creased to forty-horse power. The
plow is pulled by the cables from one
side Of the field to the other, and
when it reaches the end of the furrow
it stops automatically, the current be-
ing cut off. It can be run backward
or forward with ease. One man man
ages the pillow, and each car is oper-
ated by one man. Thus three men do
all the work.
OF course, much depends on the
condition of the soil, but it is said
that from seven to fifteen acres can
be plowed in twelve hours. These
power cars are said to be as easily
managed as traction engines, and
their power can be applied to thrash
ing machines, corn shelters, pumps.
grain drills, utc.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

The Societa Elettrotecnica 1taliana
Of Turin has invented and constructed
devices for the application of electric
power to plows and other farm ma
chinery. writes Consul Cuneo from
Turin, Italy. The experiment OF plow-
ing by electric power was recently
made near this city in the presence OF
representative men from different
parts OF Italy, and, it is reported, with
gratifying success. <.--~ 49,.
The device consists of two power
cars, which are stationed at each side
of the field, and between which are
stretched cables attached to the plow.
The electric: current is taken from
trolley line: a current of about 500
volts is said to be needed. Each car
is sal. to communicate twenty-five
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

the Jews in the twentieth chapter of
Deuteronomy. The indiscriminate
slaughter of whole populations was
justified by a reference to the divine
command to slaughter the nations
round about Israel. Torture and mu-
tilation of enemies was sanctioned by
the conduct Of Samuel against Agag,
Of King David against the Philistines,
of the men of Judah against Adoni-
beck. Even the slaughter of babes
in arms was supported by a passage
from the Psalms. Happy shall he be
that taketh and dasheth thy little
ones against the stones.' Treachery
and assassination were supported by
a reference to the divinely approved
Phinehas, Ehud, Judith and Jael;
numbering the ministers of unap-
proved religions by Elijahs slaughter
of the priests Of Baal.-Andrew D.
White, in Atlantic.
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

Spain in 1921. Mexico was the rich
est of Spanish colonies on the west
ern hemisphere. The court of O'Don.
oju "a Spaniard of Irish descent) ri.
vailed in splendor that of the Monte.
zumas in the time of Cortez and in
elegance the courts of Europe.
When in 1921 Spain gave up the
long-drawn struggle to hold her col
ony and O'Donoju surrendered to
Gen. Iturbide there was a rush upon
the part of the nobility to, transfer
their wealth and their precious selves
to the Philippines, where they hoped
to re-establish the. vice-rega1 luxury
and license. Everything of value was
converted into bar gold and silver,
and the Spanish nobility embarked
upon a fleet of vessels and set sail to
the westward. .s
Piracy at that date was not what
it was during the two centuries pre-
ceding, and most of the great ex-
ponents of the profession, such as Sir
Henry Morgan, LATTE, Blackboard
and .Capts. Flint and Kidd, had long
since passed to their reward, but
some bold spirits still existed to
whom the expedition to Manila was a
tempting plum, and it had not pro-
ceeded far upon the voyage when the
dread command "Stand by to 60
about" was heard, their vessels were
boarded, and, presumably, although
history is silent upon the details, their
crews and passengers walked that
terrible journey OF the end of a
plank
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
ii TREASURE cas- '15jg w i
ON GWG@@ island

Masters of the gold, the pirates, So
the treasure and, knowing of the un-
settled state OF affairs in Mexico, re-
turned thither in search of further
loot
Two Of the pirates, Thompson and
Chapel, who were Englishmen, either
sickened by the bloody work they
had witnessed or from motives of re-
venge, deserted upon the landing in
Mexico. They made their way to
Valparaiso, where they laid Informal
ton of the plans and whereabouts of
the pirates with the English govern
ment.
England sent man-of-war against
them and laid the entire gang by the
heels They were all hanged in
chains at Jamaica. Some of the treas
ure in the West Indies was found,
but that upon Cocos island was I'M
touched, notwithstanding the efforts
of Liverpool company to recover it..
An expedition sent out by this COM
pany was unable to locate the island.
Thompson and Chapel died without
revisiting Cocos. They transmitted
to their descendants the story of the
treasure, together with all the maps
and charts necessary to locate it:
These charts are said to be still
extant and in the possession OF Capt.
August Gissler OF San Francisco,
Costa RIGA and wherever else fortune
may lead him. Capt. Gissler, who
styles himself lieutenant Governor
OF Cocos for Costa Rica," is the self
appointed guardian of the pirates
treasure. He claims to hold con-
cession from the Costa Rican govern
ment for the exploitation of call the
natural and acquired resources OF
the island. He has claimed resi-
dence on the island since 1888, and
lays claim to the cattle upon it.
Expeditions in search of the treas
ure are almost annual affairs, but
only a few of them have gone pre-
pared with the tools, machinery and
blasting apparatus necessary to an et-
fective search.
In 1902 the search took on some
unusual features which promised for
a. time to cause international friction.
Two expeditions started from the Pa-
cific coast, treasurebound for -Coeos,
the Herman. Capt. James Brown, from
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

fierce actors in the tragedy did not
live to enjoy their blood tithes on
the commerce of the new world, and
if tradition hold true it lies there yet,
$60,O0O,00O in gold coin, silver and
utensils, 100000 pounds of bar silver
in one hole, 1873 bars. of pure gold
each by 4 inches and inches thick,
jeweled swords of untold value, and
kettle on kettle of. Spanish dollars,
and pieces of eight. Yet although
more than hundred expeditions have
started on the quest, none Of them
has succeeded in overcoming the I'M
varied misfortune which has been the
history Of all, either to the extent
of finding the. treasure or of proving
conclusively it's nonexistence.
In many respects the story is more
authoritative and more credible than
the tale of the buried wealth of Capt.
Kidd. Did the latter exist it is impOs-
sible that the search which has ex-
tended to every nook and Granny of
the Atlantic coast from Maine to Key
West should not have disclosed some
positive evidence of it. Besides, it's
existence rested upon the word of one
man, about to be hanged for his count
less crimes, and with pirate bravado,
anxious to leave the world a legacy of
mystery in keeping with his calling
and wherewith to perpetuate his
fame. -. ~ - -
The existence of treasure on Cocos
island rests upon the stories Of two
men, members of the pirate crews
who buried it, transmitted to their
descendants and coming down to the
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04
Senate GaveI Lasts Long

Assistant Sergeant at Arms Stew
art of the United States senate has
ordered a silver band for the gavel
that Is used by Senator Frye in call
ing the senators to order. This gavel
is unlike most Of the symbols OF au-
thority welded hy presiding officers.
1t consists of a piece of ivory shaped
like an hour glass. Nobody knows
the origin or age of the gavel, save
that it has been used in the senate for
more than 100 years. It is yellow
with age and is slick and smooth as
the result of long handling. -
'The' history of this gavel," said Mr..
Stewart the other day, lis wrapped in
mystery. We have traced it back far
enough to know that it came to Wash
ington from Philadelphia in 1901, and
The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1905-03-04

I Thu Law Of Life
{ ]
. VOL. 81. NO. 9.

10! this is the law Of life;
A song of peace. and {, day Of strife;
A day OF strife. and song of peace
And the thunder of battles that never
cease,
And this is the law Of life!
From the morning gray Of the farthest
day,
Down the centuries there has come
To the clash Of arms. and the mad alarms
OF trumpet and fife and drum
This eternal truth: That the War God
ruth
Is akin TO the fercest hate;
Ihat Man, in the game, is as flax to
And the pitiful fool Of fate!
From the days forgot-and when time
=, And the first man stood alone
20 me Gays Of old hen barons bold
~, Bulit their castles Of oak and stone,
men 10 drink and fight in wild delight
was the order OF church and state;
ana man. IN the game, was the moth in
the flame
ana the pitiful fool Of fate!
From the days Of old-to the days Of