davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

Then you look for great growth out
west, doctor?" said ].
Yes 1 look for growth everywhere. We
are at the beginning Of our youth. As a
nation we are hardly out of our swaddling
clothes, and il will be 1000 years before
we reach the prime of manhood and be-
gin TO go down on the other side. The
American people have a great destiny.
They are the people of the future who
are 10 aid most in doing Gods win in the
world"
But doctor, many say that we are go
ing to the dogs. They claim that we arc
politically and socially corrupt; that we
have gotten beyond redemption and a good
way down ON the other side"
'I don't believe Il. We have scandals.
it is true. and there are tales and evidences
Of corruption unearthed. That is no rea-
son why we should despair or grow pessi-
mistic. Those scandals are only the out
ward evidences that we are still in the
rashness Of our youth and not that We
have lost sight Of ouf ideals. The country
IS all right and the people are all right
We are now having mud bath, which
smells to heaven hut from which in the
end we shall emerge with our social, po-
liticU financial and industrial bodies
healed Of their present sores and made
pure and clean. 1 am not afraid Of the
American people"
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
Development OF the Industry.

Early in the 7Os Murphy. Creighton & CO.
tested the sand banks from Ashland to,
Plattsmouth, on both sides Of the river, and
finally located the best quality about a
mile east Of Cedar creek. The bank cons
sisted of eleven acres, which was eXcavated
twenty-cight feet deep. Ii was twelve feet
above the water level and the method OF
working 1t was very different from that in
vogue today. The pit banks We're used
until about ten years ago, when it was dis
covered that one Objectionable feature could
be done away with by using the deposits
beneath the water level. The high bank
sand contained considerable silt, which
made II less valuable than the clear sand.
Consequently the next step in the develop-i
ment of the sand industry was taken andI
the source shifted to the pits which are
now in use. The deposits are limited prac-'
tically by the extent of the river bottom,
lands, though in certain places they arei
unfit to work owing to foreign material
mixed with the sand One effect Of tho
industry has been to give a decided value
to many acres Of land which were prac-l
tically useless for agriculture. AS a matterI
of fact, some of the Platte bottom land that
could hardly be given away few years
ago is now held at fancy figures as sand
mines"
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

mand for sand and a necessarily close mar
ket the profit is sure.
The extent Of the market to be served
is limited to the vicinity of the sand pitt
az nature has. been very profuse in the
depositing her sand in this part of the
country and as the freight rate IS usually
more than the original value of the material
distances cut considerable figure in the
sand business Omaha and Lincoln use the
larger part Of the sand taken from this end
of the Platte river. and the small towns
surrounding them demand the rest
No estimates of the amount of sand re-
moved from the lower part of the Platte
could be secured from dealers. but one
concern which operates four pits estimates
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
DR.. CoIIyer on ChiId Labor.

During the conversation I referred TO the
bell above mentioned and asked the doctor
10 tel me something OF his work child.
lie replied
Il began the hard labor of my life at
about the time the average American boy
starts TO school My father was black
smith and the wages of that time were
such that he could earn only about $3.50
week We had a large family. and the
children were put 20 work in a linen fac
tory near hoy as soon as they were able. I
went in az the age of s. our hours were
from o'clock I'm the morning until at
night. with an hour or az noon for dinner.
At 3 o'clock lhc great boll OF the factory
Was vrimg and an We children for miles
around wore aroused from our beds To pre-
pare for The day. That bell seemed TO ring
every morning before Z had been asleep ten
minutes and IFS sound was an Internal one
90 my ears. I can hear d sim as Il rang
then. iii remained in the factory until
iuruber az years ago. when the buildings
were torn down, 7 happened TO be I'm Eng
land az the time and the owners gave me
the hon and I shipped 10 here 90 Cornell.
Ii viii nercr call another child 20 work"
GLOW DID these louE hours affect your
hc1lthe"
'I don't know as Co that. but 70 seems
tn me- now that I could never ger enough
sleep in those days and tho lifc seems vcTy
hard. We worked soyeny-siV hours
woek. ana when Few years later, the
factory act was passed reducing the hours
Of child labor from thirteen TO eleven,
we considered IL great thing
How long DO you think a man ought 20
work?"
i think SiSht hours Is long enough for
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

the water seeps in and fills it. Consequently
the dredge is working constantly in water.
The level of the water in the pond that
is thus eXcavated is always. the same as
the level of the water in the river IT
rises and falls with the changing level Of
the stream.
This fact has operated to produce some
very fine fishing ponds along the river
and anglers in the neghborhood of them
well know. They are stocked by overfiows
and as the water is clear and pure they
make excellent holes tor the habitations
of fish. These ponds deepen as the work
progresses, until in some places the bot
tom is sixty feet below the surface of the
water. The dredge is moved as it becOmes
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
DR.. Conyer's First Book.

DO you remember the first book YOU
ever owned?''
Indeed 1 do" said the doctor, as hts
blue eyes lit up. TT was bought with tho
first money I ever had. L can remember
it perfectly. The coin was a penny Of tho
old King George kind II seemed as big
a cart wheel as 1 looked AZ It. and
smacked my lips as I thought of tho
candy 1t would buy. I took IL with me and
went 10 a little shop near my home where
confectionery and some notions were sold.
In the window was a great jar full oe
candy and beside IL a book labeled "rhe
Adventures Of Dick Wilmington; price L
penny / don't know how II was, but [
resolutely shut my eyes on that candy and
bought the book. And what book 1 found
IL, / can see Il now and no one shall
ever persuade me that the story told iu 10
was not true. Dick Wilmington and his
csti The boy who came into London with
only q cat and rose TO be the lord mayor.
7 have since hunted out tho stone on
which Dick SAT on his way 10 Tendon L
believe in IL ail-little Dick, tho cat tho
rats and the splendors Of tho lord mayor
ship. / have now 1900 volumes I'm my H.
brary, but none Of them is as interesting
aud as true as Tho Adventures OF Dick
Whiting; price, penny.
FRANK @. CARPENTER. (
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
Nature of the sand PIT.

The pits are not as many suppose in the
bed of the river. They are really large
deposits washed down stream years ago
and lodged in sufficient quantities to make
it pay to go down into them. They are
covered with from one to three feet Of
rich alluvial soil, which must be scraped
off before operations begin AS soon as the
soraper strikes the pure sand the "clam
shell" is put to work and the sand loaded
on waiting fiat cars.
As soon as the dredge has eXcavated a
hole the bottom Of which reached down
below the level of the water in the river
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
From the Anvil to the Pulpit.


During our CONVERSE lion DR.. Collyer told
me how he became a preacher. His father
was a Methodist, and ne was brought up
under the shadow of john Wesley He
was Is years old when he was converted.
and il was shortly after that that he
began 10 speak I'm meetings. TIE Metho-
disls thought well Of him and licensed him
as a local preacher. This was about two
years before ne came to America. He
continued his preaching while working at
his trade here, and I'm time began TO act
as a supply in the Unitarian church. II
was about then he discovered that he did
not believe I'm many Methodist doctrines.
lie would not preach total depravity nor
eternal damnation, and he was also shaNy
in regard to the trinity. The Methodlsts
learned this, and at one Of their quarterly
conferences took him to task for his loose
doctIinaI statements. They asked him II
he did not think he WAS out of place in
the Methodist church, and when he said
he thought no was out OF place they re-
fused TO renew his license and he ceased
to he a Methodist preacher.
Il was shortly after this that Dr. Collyer
became "a Unitarian. There was need for
a preacher Of that church In Chicago who
could act not only as a temporary supply,
but also labor among the poor and teach
a night school. The name OF this young
blacksmith was suggested, and the result
was that ne went TO Chicago.
DR.. Collyer says that his blacksmith EN-
ployer was disgusted at his leaving, and
that no told him he would keep his anvil
ready for him for one year. for he knew
that he would come back. Upon this
young Collyer replied that he never would,
and he never did
DR.. Collyer succeeded at once IN Chicago.
He began preaching there IN 1889. and soon
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

so after the Chicago FIRE. The strain of
that was such that it affected my constitu-
tion. and since then 1 have had TO work
more slowly and carefully. Still, my work
has been steady, and 1 believe that during
the greater part Of my life it has been as
good work as l could do. If a man can
sleep eight hours and eat three fun meals
every day, there is no reason why he should
not continue his work until three score and
ten, provided he uses common sense and
moderation"
Il heard you preach yesterday, doctor, -
said I. "and It seemed to me that your
voice was as clear and your articulation as
distinct as when l first heard you in All
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

and sharp--just the kind the contractors
likes to put into his cement or his paving
material
The Missouri river sand is made up OF
various kinds Of quartz Of different degrees
of hardness. The soft kind becomes
rounded aud smooth in its journey down
stream, while the hard variety does not.
disintegrato sufficiently and is too coarse
grained to be valuable. Neither of these
objections could be found to Platte river
sand. consequently the sand industry early
moved from the Missouri river to tho
Platte.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
DIR. ColIyer, the blacksmith.

when did you begin your work as a
blacksmith, dOctor?" 1 asked.
Il was kept in the linen factory until I
a trade. 1 was apprenticed to a blacksmith
at Ilyley and remained with him until
was q. That completed my apprentice
ship but 1 continued to work at the trade
much longer. My first work in this coun-
try was as a blacksmith. 1 came 20 Amer
lea when L was q. taking passage from
Liverpool to New York on a sailing ship.
From New York / went TO Philadelphia
in search Of work / saw an advertise
ment in the Ledger Of that city: Wanted
A blacksmith TO make claw-hammers' 1
applied and got the job. knew nothing
about making claw-hammers then but
soon got the hang of it and kept on at
that work for about nine years. / was
sun there when 1 was &c.
Were you a good blacksmith"
Il think l did fairly Well" replied DIT.
Collyer During a recent visit to the old
country / looked jat some gates in
chBrchyard which 4 had made about fifty
years ago. They were not very beautiful,
aud as I examined them I felt like buying
a new pair and substituting them for the
old ones. AS 1 looked closer however,
found that they were just as sound and
strong as when they were made, notwith-
standing they had swung back and forth
Tor more than fifty years. The lock which
had been put on by another person. had
broken, but of the gates themselves not
a riyet was sprung
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
word About immigration.

yes. doctor, but how about the for
eigners who are coming in such hordes
frum Europeg'
There is no reason to be alarmed about
that They will be swallowed up in the
great sea Of Americanism and I'm time
viii make good citizens. These immigra-
ton streams may be compared to those
which flow down the hills into the ocean.
Some or the streams are loaded with nth.
some tainted with corruption. but an are
swallowed up and the ocean itself is pure
Z know thar many OF our immigrants come
from the lower classes Of humanity. Some
are ignorant ana some vicious but our
great national body will absorb them and
stin maintain It's purity and individuality.
There is nothing ike the recTeative infu-
ences OF American liberty. The immigrant
begins 20 change the moment he resolves
10 come 70 us. When half way across th-
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

one side and the other on the other of the
sand pit; 500 or 600 yards of cable and the
dredge itself. The cable is part of a small
aerial tramway upon which the dredge runs
as il makes its trip from the near tower
out to the middle of the pit pond, down
fifty feet into the water that fills the pond
and back again after it has scooped up a
yard and a half Of pure sand to the place
Of beginning where automatically its inn
mense jaws open and the sand drops into
the fat car to be shoveled over by the
men who see that foreign matter, such as
stones and clay, are separated from tho
sand.
The "clam shell" is well named. It con-
sists Of two parts hinged together like the
shell OF the mollusk after which 1t IS
named. The shells are curved more than
the real article and when they come to-
gether form a scoop the shape Of half
cylinder, open at the top. The jaws of this
SCOOP open and close automatically. The
"shelr' goes down into the water wide
open. When they reach the bottom they
close digging deep into the sand. The
closed SCOOP comes up out of the pit fun
of sand and dripping with water 1t is run
back on the cable to point just over the
flat where the shell opens to let the
sand drop out. The open shell is then run
out into the water for a repetition Of the
process.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

cago was burned. but 1 don't believe that
God works that way. The judgments of
heaven arc not retroactive, but always per-
speclve. God disciplines without destroy
ing, and builds up without pulling down.
There was no reason why Chicago should
be made an example for the rest Of the
world. and there was no reason why San
Francisco should have been such. San Fran
cisco will rise, as Chicago rose. 1t has all
the geographical advantages which made it
a great city in the past. 1t will always be
the great city of the Pacific slope, the
Anglo-SaXon metropolis of the orient.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
Extent of the Business.

With average luck the ordinary dredge
with four or five men to work with it can
load from eight to fifteen fiat cars a day
the cars averaging 6OOOO pounds each.
While the sand is sold to contractors at a
low price, the fact high grade labor is not
necessary and most of the work can be
done by machinery, makes the industry a
profitable one. The invested capital is
small and the product easily and quickly
turned into money. With a constant de-
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
Robert Coyer Talks OF Past Present Problems OF Human Life

Souls church, over twenty-three years ago.
The sermon was equally good and your
reading Of the Bible was in itself SER
mon"
Il am glad you thought that replied
DR.. Collyer, and am glad you told mel so.
I want TO know how I am doing and to
avoid the mistake Of holding on after
should stop. I now preach only OCCASION
ally and am always looking for signs Of de-
cay.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
wants to Rest in WOODLAND.

still, my health is good" continued the
octogenarian preacher. and am hoping to
go 10 England, as 1 want 10 see the old
country once more. There is only one thing
that holds me back fear may die there.
] don't want TO do that This is my home,
my country; and it is here I want to he
buried My real working life has been in
the United states and for IL. Here my chill
dran were born and here my wife died.
When 1 pass away l want to be placed be-
side her in the beautiful cemetery at Wood
lawn"
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

- Lincoln, and yielding a good
profit to several firms that have been
quietly developing the sand pits Of the
bottom lands during the last ten years
Commercially, the industry is important
because it enables Omaha contractors TO
get a good quality of building sand close at
home at a low price and with small freight
rates to pay. The amount of sand used for
constructive purposes has been greatly in
creased in the last few years, not only by
the numerous new buildings that have been
going up, but also by the Increase i'm the
amount of asphalt and brick paving laid,
and especially in the development Of the
cement sidewalk industry, which eats up a
Platte river pits.
TO supply this demand there are now
four important firms engaged in the BUSH
ness of dredging the low Platte bottoms
They are Lyman & Co. which operates four
pits; Woodwork q Co., the Fremont Ice
and Sand company and holland & Atwood
The accompanying illustrations of the "clam
SHELF in operation were taken at the pit
operated by Lyman & co. near Meadow, on
tho Platte bottom, just across the river
from Louisville. Other important pits are
located at Oreapolis, Valley, Fremont and
Plattsmouth. They are all worked by prac-
tically the same method, the 'clam shell'
dredge having driven out for the present
al least other methods of delving into the
bowels OF the earth for the little grains OF
quartz deposited by the waters rushing
down from the mountains ages ago.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

anyone engaged in physical labor, and as
the world grows richer l believe the hours
will be cut down to six. As TO children,
they have no business in factories, and
they should be kept from hard labor until
they have finished their schooling"
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
Robert Collyer vs.. Or. O.Ier.

The conversation here turned TO the the
DRY of DR.. Osler that man should be chic
reformed at about 90, as his efficient work
ing life is then over, and asked DR.. Coll
yer as TO the years during which he was at
his best He replied;
II think 1 did well until after I was 20
I was in continuous work until that time
and have been preaching more or less ever
since. My best years We're from the time
entered the Unitarian church until a year
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25
Hi. rhou.nnd-DoIInr nor.e.Ioe.

Gould YOU mako a horseshoe TODAY doc
tore" I asked.
eyes You may have seen one here I'm
Curnoll which I made at the time OF the
Chicago fire. I was pastor there when
the city burned. reducing my church to
ashes. I made a speech on the ruins, urg-
In that the city ba ~ once rebuilt. and
prociaiulinE my faith in the future. Tho
sermon was widely quoted, and I received
"a letter from Cornell college. stating that 81
know 7 was a blacksmith and that IL
wanted horseshoe of my own making I
thereupon went 70 a shon nearby, ana got
them 20 lend me hammer and the use OF
the forge. I'm short time I had made ny
horseshoe IL was sent on here and the col
lego Paid mo N.o00 for a. and that money
went into my now church.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

To the spectator who takes the trouble to
visit a sand pit in operation the 'clam
shell" method is an interesting one. The
outfit consists of a small engine to run the
dredge, and located from 100 to 300 yards
to one side of the pit; two towers, one on
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

Tho conversation here turned to the great
fire az San Francisco, and I referred 10 a
statement recently made I'm sermon that
the city was burned on account OF its wick
edness. DR.. Collyer replied:
''The same charges were made when Chi
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

Atlantic he throws his apron and the
word master into the sea and remains
free thereafter"
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

HflL1IE1I Tor WnlCn the FACULTY pau 4liOJy,
49, 1t was maid by a blacksmith who
preached here last Sunday. One of the bells
used at the Sibley School for Mechanical
Engineers was present from that black
smith, and it was the same bell that called
him to work when, a boy Of s, he en-
tered the ranks OF labor in an English linen
factory. The blacksmith refer to is the
Rev DR.. Robert Collyer, who for the past
hfty years has been one of the leading
lights OF our American churches, and who
now, at SO, has a voice as clear. an eye as
bright and a mind active as amy man
who pounds the pulpit. His sermon this
week was fun of vigor. He held his audi
ence from the opening reading until the
benodiction and showed himself thoroughly
abreast of and in sympathy with the world
OF today, When he had concluded / met
him in the college chapel and then made an
appointment for an interview. I called upon
him I'm his rooms at Sage college this after
noon. and for an hour. I'm response 10 my
questions, he talked freely Of his life and
work
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

its average daily output at nifty car loads.
If all the other companies combined do as
we'll, the total output would be 100 car
loads a day representing q value of about
500. not a small sum when it is consid-
cred there is practically no cost Of raw
material to be considered.
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

city He remained there twenty years anuj
then went to New York, where he now
lives. While he was preaching in Chicago
one of his parishioners took a European
tour, during which he visited the black
smith shop where his pastor was apprcn-I
tced. He was shown the very anvil upon
which he worked, and was so delighted
thereat that he bought it and shipped il
to Chicago, where It was placed In tho
lecture room of the church
How Robert COIIyeE. Was Educated.
As we chatted 1 asked DR. Collyer to tell
me how he got his education. He is ono
OF the best-read men Of tho time: his
English is the purest OF Anglo-SaNon; his
talk is clean and clear cut as "A copper
plate engraving. and his prayers are poetry
in prose. He is, should say, one of tho
well-educated public men of the day. and
that Notwithstanding his life was begun
in a linen factory and his boyhood and
young manhood spent at the anvil Said.
Dr. Collyer:
Il went to school until I was 3 years
old and had the advantage Of two winters''
instruction at a night school when I was
Il and Is years old. 1 was born, however.
with bent for studying. My father was
an intelligent man. He was a reader and a.
book lover. He had but few books, but
he borrowed others. We owned a Bin-
vans Pilgrims Progress a Bible and two
or three similar volumes. Father bor-
rowed Shakespeare and Burns and other.
books from time 90 time. devourcd WHAT
ever 1 could get hold Of"
Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-25

yht, 1906, by Frank G. Carpenter)
ITHACA, N. Y, Nov. 22.-(Special
Correspondence Of The Bee.r-In
Cornell university is a horseshoe
for which the faculty paid $1,000
1t was maid by a blacksmith who
The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1906-02-14
BOOZE AS A RAT KILLER.

Corn Whiskey Is Said to Be Certain
Death to the Rodents.
From the Linconton (Ga) Home journal,
A we'll known citizen of Samuels
district recently accidentally discOv-
cred a rat exterminator that lays
rough on rats in the shade for effect
iveness. The gentleman in question
asked that his name not be published,
and it is withheld for that reason.
The exterminator is nothing less
than corn whiskey, and the only
trouble about its coming into general
use is that there are few people who
have it about them who are willing
to divide with the rats. Several
nights ago the aforesaid citizen hap
pened to leave a small quantity of
whiskey in a saucer on the dining
room table. Next morning he was
surprised to find the whiskey all gone
and the table almost covered with dead
rats. He then placed some whiskey in
his barn and the rats drank it greedily
and Immediately keeled over and gave
up the ghost.