davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

TIL big trees of the United States are
not all in the show groves of California
by any means, although many people have
the idea that the sequoias are the giants
OF American forests. 1t is true that they
are the largest in circumference, but many
OF the red frs around Puget Sound grow
10 as great height, for specimens have
been felled which measured 1926 feet from
the point where they were cut to the top
most branch, They were really eight or
ten feet longer, because measured only
along the fallen trunk.
Such is the size of the red fir in some
parts Of the State of Washington that
timbers for bridges 15O feet in length nave
been sawed from a single trunk, while ship
spars more than 100 feet long are often
taken from them. They are far more
graceful and symmetrical than the ~sequoia,
their admirers say, for the reason that being
smaller around at the bottom they taper
upward more gradually.
The ~sequoia, such as is seen in the Big
Tree grove in Mariposa county, Cal. bulges
out for as or 100 feet from the ground up,
which gives it a bulky and ungainly APP
pearanoe compared with the fir. This
bulge is 30 large that some of the trees
have holes cut through them in the form
OF arches big enough to allow a two horse
team to be driven through.
When a fir is fifteen feet in diameter at
the butt it makes a pretty big tree. On
some of the islands of Puget Sound as well
u in the country north of Seattle trees
Of this size have been found among the
smaller ones.
The timbermen consider the Telling of a
tree of this sort something to brag about,
especially when the runk is so large that
seven or eight men can sit side by side
in the cut made by the axes without crowd
ing. AS already stated, however, the
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

stump is rotten, exposure to the weather
rapidly increases the decay, so that in a
few years it may become merely a shell with
the outside only a few inches in thickness.
Then it is an easy matter to cut q hole in
one end for u door and two or three small
holes for windows, to clean out the inside,
to cut down ar adjacent cedar and split
it into shingles for a roof, and the house is
ready for occupation when the stove, dishes
and furniture are put in. A trunk is feet
in diameter will give a surprising amount
Of room. Some of them contain nearly
$50 square feet.
If the stump is 80 sound that 1t would be
too big n job to cut away the inside Of it,
the settler sometimes uses one end for a
wall of his house. placing logs or planks
against it and making a sort Of roof lean-to,
which is covered with shingles or boards.
Then he nails some cleats against the sides
of the stump for a stepladder and it is used
for a variety Of purposes.
Children may take it for a playground.
1t is handy for the mother to spread out her
clothes to dry in the sun where she has no
other backyard. 1t also serves for a front
porch, the family sitting on it in the summer
evenings.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04
SECRETS OF THE WEATHER.
WIEN THE FORECASTS PROVE
ALL WRONG, THINK OF THIS.

Bother Made for the Observers by Lula
cleveland Gybing Ice FOg-Call to
Fnback a Bandyleg-Lungfsh and
Sea ~Nymph-"FIsh GaIlOp Daytime"
The men who are usually blamed for the
weather, winter and summer, inc who
take the blame very peacefully, have Il code
by which they transmit official secrets.
In all the weather Offices reports are re-
ceived daily from neighboring districts
and also from distant parts of the country,
30 hat the weather observers may figure
out the possibilities of the ensuing twenty
four hours. The transmission of these
reports in cipher produces some surprising
statements, though they are received with
that lack Of interest which seems to char
acterize weatherS observers in general
when the subject of discussion is their live
lihood, the weather.
So far as can be ascertained there is
no reason calling for secrecy to explain
why the weather men should telegraph
their reports in cipher. Nobody has ever
evinced a disposition to run of with the
visible supply of weather. But Uncle Sam
seems to like mystery, and his weather men
convey their pulsating thoughts to one
another in a fashion which often results
in peculiar phrases and information very
mystifying to the lay observer.
The New York weather observer daily
receives reports Of the weather In all the
large cities and many Of the smaller ones
beginning with Washington. the official
headquarters for all United States weather,
and moving down the line to that modest
but potent weather station, Medicine Hat.
In the office high up among the skyscrapers
the telegraph instrument ticks busily a
moment and produces the following bit OF
type written melancholy from the disturbed
weather man at Buffalo
Murder, Lula, saddest bibbitary upon
record
What the details of Lulla's crime are no
one seems to know. The Buffalo man Is
highly excited over the affair, because
shortly afterward another message over
the wire adds to the mystery, thus:
"Gambit Lula sunk babish."
This informant ion might be expected to
increase the dependency of the New York
weather man. An outsider might conclude
the telegraph operator had slipped up and
that the message should read, Gambler
Lula sunk baby" However, the observer
seeinS 10 I've III no way dnAlouS ABOUT tne
crime, so the explanation is received scorn-
fully,
The Binghamton man rushed to tn wire
and sent the following a little later:
"Meeken, kyhy forbore Eva subdolus
coal box"
The New York man read IL without a sign
Of emotion. IL he thinks the Binghamton
man has the DTS. no one can tell il by the
manner in which the message Is received.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

After the farmer gets enough ahead to
build a larger and more comfortable home
the old stump is generally preserved, for
it can be used as a shed, sometimes a stable
for the ponies or as a storehouse. One Of
the biggest stumps in the Northwest, up
near Sedro-Woolley is utilized occasionally
as a dancing platform. 1t is more than
fifteen feet in diameter and there is room
enough or the top for four couples to dance
q quadrille.
The deoayed wood is 30 rich and fertile
that plants will readily grow in it. and some
of the people who can find time to have a
dooryard and n few flowers will leave one
of the stumps after the lane has been cleared
to be turned into a flower bed, sometimes
planting vines which run up about the
base and make a very pretty effect.
The way they get rid of these ruins Of
the forest is by blowing them up or burn
ing them. Holes are bored to the roots,
dynamite oartrid ges are inserted and all
are exploded at the same time. If the holes
nave been bored in the right places and
deep enough the stump is shattered to the
roots and Is thrown out in such small pieces
that one will make a fine supply of kindling
wood.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04
THE SOUTH
THE PLACE TO DIE.
Down There They Show They Know
It When a Prominent
Citizen Dies.

Two Southerners now living In New York
were exchanging recollections.
Whatever became of -, who came
up here from Selma q few years after
reconstruction" asked the Kentuckian.
Went back, baggage and acooutrements;
about four years ago." answered the Georg-
ian.
Didn't he do we'll in New York;"
Better than he ever did before. But
Jim had a streak of that fool sentiment
which has kept so many Southerners down
at the heel. He was always pining."
If he was doing 30 well why did he pine?'
He always used to say to me that New
York was the best town on earth to live in
but he always got the blues when he got to
think ng about dying here. And what do
you suppose was the kick about that?
i was up at his house one n hight and he
as usual. l ade myself very inquisitive,
for l had got tolerable tir ed Of hearing him
or that topic.
"Ther eupon he dug up a bundle of South
ern newspapers. They were from several
States. Jim began opening'the file. Nearly
every paper he opened had an obituary Of
some prominent mar or woman.
Look at EN- said Jim in a forlorn sort
"'Well, Jim,' 1 said, what about emp
1'That's it, he replied. Every one OF
these obituaries has mourning rules at
the top and bottom and in some cases
the whole OF the page is in mourning. They
@ a as II the writers were broken hearted.
Some of the articles rave poetry in them.
Now and h there is some Latin
Il asked him il it wasn't all right for a
good man to have such a send of.
He allowed as | was right.
That's what l am talking about, he
said. That's what l want A fellow like
you and me has no chance TO get a notice
in New York. The other day one of the best
men in Alabama shuffled the coil and he
got less sever lines, and some of the
papers here don't know yet hat he is dead
When l got my batch of Alabama papers
they had left out the Sheriff's sales and
some Of the county news in order to make
a spread on my old friend. It's the same
whenever a good man dies down there
~ was a streak of sentiment in Jim. He
couldn't help II. 1t preyed on him until he
just quit a good business here and hiked1o
the back-yonder."
And he is waiting to die, | reckon, so
as TO get n good obituary"
-No, he died about a wear ago. ! got
an Alabama paper printed the day after his
demise, and all there was in it was the uslal
death notice that looked as il it had been
paid for. The last line in it stated that the
deceased had spent the best days of his life
in New York.
"In some parts of the South it is considered
a crime for a man who has lived down there
to go anywhere else. II he goes back he
never seems TO be as big as he was before
he left.
THAT was what allied jim. | reckon II
he had stood still in Alabama he would
have been good for at least a column in his
town paper
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04
IN DRINK.
Absinthe Frappe Made Popular by u Song,
Scotch Whistey by Golf.

SNN'S 'h'onSy W JUL
Strange things govern peoples taste
in the matter of drinks said the old
time, white haired barkeeper. Before the
'Absinthe Frappe' was sung in 'Nordland'
we very rarely had a call for absinthe in
that form.
THE tune and words Of the song were
catchy, people got to learning il, they
caught a little of the songs sentiment
and began to think about the drink. Then
they began to try it.
Few cared for the new decootion the
first time. 1t tasted like dissolved cough
drops, but like the olive habit, it doesn't
take long to get it. Tit 'absinthe frappe'
is now the most popular morning drink
in the Tenderloin.
Scotch whiskey came to America with
golf. Before the humping OF the little
white ball became a popular American
sport some Scotch whiskey was drunk,
but comparatively little. 1t was usually
taken hot as a winter drink.
Then came the highball and everybody
drank Scotch. Now Scotch is palling on
the public taste. After a man has drunk
Scotch for a few months he gets 10 that the
peculiar smoky flavor is lost, and he finds
he's drinking a strong, rather rough whiskey
without the smoke that was the redeem
ing feature when the habit was young.
Besides, so many things that are not
Scotch at all, that never crossed the ocean
and never saw a distillery are sold from
reflled bottles, that one hardly knows
what he is gstting. 1t is always that way
with a DRINK that Decomes popular.
The fad for foreign drill ks following
the introduction of Scotch led to Irish
whiskey, Kimmel whiskey, various bitters
and sweet cordials for the women.
But all these fads are dying out. and
we have fewer calls for unusual drinks.
People are getting back to good old Ken
lucky and Pennsylvania grades Of whiskey.
Straight red liquor with plain water for
a chaser is getting more popular every day.
and the men who stick to that sort of liqlfd
diet will live longer and die happier than
the fellow who follows fads and fancies
In his boozing,"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

how to handle their axes will soon open up
a cash in the trunk in which half a dozen
people can find seats.
As a result of this method of getting out
timber, the waste is Govern
ment forestry experts who have investi-
gated the logging industry in Washington
and Oregon calculate that only about 65 per
cent. of the timber available for building
and other purposes is actually sent to the
sawmill. Some 80 per cent. fit for lumber
is left in the woodland, either in the stumps
or the branches, which could also be cut
into boards and planking.
There is enough wood in some of the
larger stumps to build a small cottage, if
it were secured, but the forests are so vast
and the trees so large hat the loggers leave
much of the small timber or use it for skid
ways OF which to haul the bigger logs to
the railroad or timber boom. When a
settler clears his land for farming, there Is
a saying that he sometimes burns its cost in
the timber left on it by the loggers, which
goes up in smoke.
1t is due to these wasteful methods Of
cutting down the great forests, especially
in Washington, hat some Of the settlers
live in trees, SO to speak. Where the trees
have been cut off in the foothill country
and in the valleys near Puget Sound the
region is called the logged-off land,
The soil is fertile, so that it will produce
good crops of grain and vegetables, and
orchards can be planted on it. but as it is
dotted with stumps the problem Of clearing
it entails not a little labor as we'll as ex-
pense. Such land can be bought for a very
small price compared with land which is
entirely clear of the stumps and trees.
The people who are taking up the logged
off lands are usually accust omed to getting
along in a small way and do not mind liv-
ing in rather crowded quarters, 80 quite
frequently one of the biggest stumps will
kept for a temporary home. After the
tree has been cut down, if the heart of the
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04
WOMEN STILL BRIDGE MAD,
AND MOST OF THEN PLAY THE
GAME FOR MONEY.

Lent welcomed Because II Gives Them
More Tim for Cards-SOme Play for
High Stakes-SOcial Barriers swept
ri AWay--Amcrican Women Play Well.
3 It was two or three years ago that various
Flew York ~clergymen took to d~enouncing
from the pulpit woman's suddenly devel-
oped passion to gamble at bridge whist.
Sunday after Sunday women listened to
Recommendations of the bridge whist craze
and continued to play bridge. They have
kept on playing bridge, but the denun-
ciatory sermons have stopped-stopped
80 completely that of late many persons
have been curious to know if bridge whist
has had it's innings, if its popularity is wan
ing, if women nave transferred their affeo-
tions to some other card game like skat
or five hundred, for example.
Naturally the host Of bridge teachers
in New York laugh at such suggestions;
but then one would scarcely look to them
for an impartial view of the subject. More
trust worthy evidence is given by fashion,
l able New York women, who agree in saying
that BRIDGES grip on society is frmer than
ever and that its vogue during Lent this year
will far exceed anything achieved in che
mast.
Undoubtedly sooner or later a reaction
is bound to set in, but 80 far there is no
sign of it" one woman remarked. Bridge
is an old story now, consequently it is not
talked about 80 much as when it first was
taken up by fashionable society but it
Is played harder and more constantly than
ever.
Every spare hour is filed with bridge,
II seems to me. One ant get away from
it. There is scarcely a mail which does
not bring me an invitation to play at the
house of sope one of my friends-of a
morning, or following a luncheon, or from
( . to s or 0 O'Clock, or after a dinner.
Instead Of only the avowedly gay women,
the butterflies, playing, which was the case
at first, women who go in for the simple
Nfe, or say they do, home keeping women
who visit their nursery and their kitchen
once in a while and are inclined to frown
on acouaintances who love to gamble at
cards and at the race track even they
have taken to playing bridge like mad.
Young women, who at the outset u ther
looked upon card playing as a matronly
pastime, are taking lessons and studying
bridge harder than they ever studied any
thing else in their lives, One of the very
best bridge players in society is ar un-
married woman not yet 30
ooh, no., all the women in society do not
play for money. Certainly there are always
prizes Of some sort, but that is not playing
for money. l know Of Sunday afternoon
games where there were no prizes, even,
sThe bridge players Of society, meaning
practically every woman who is not para
Hued or blind, may be divided into three
elasSes those willing 10 play for high
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

When one of these forest monarohs comes
down in the wrong place it is liable to make
trouble, crushing down smaller trees which
may be in the way and hurting branches in
all directions by the tremendous force of
the fall. 1t is also easier work to cut with
the axe if a man has something springy to
stand upon instead of the solid ground.
Notches are made in the trunk and boards
driven into these upon which the axemen
stand while they are making the undercut.
Standing six or eight feet above the ground
on this frail support, two men who know
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

trunk Of a fallen fir does not represent
its entire length, for the stump left is so me
times more thar ten feet in height.
This is due to a custom which the lumber
men in the Pacific Northwest have of hewing
at a considerable distance from the roots.
II is done for three re%asons-for conven-
fence, for safety and to avoid hitting any
decayed spot which may be in the heart.
Sometimes the larger trees begin to decay
in the centre at a point near the roots. The
bad spot, as the lumberman calls it, may be-
come so large that perhaps only a rim of
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

sound wood a foot or two In thickness lie
left next to the bark, but the fir is so tough
and vigorous that this will support the
great weight above it.
When one Of these big trees is being cut
down, unless borings are made with aug ers or
other tools, the axemen cannot tell whether
the heart is decayed or not. If it should be
they may cut away so much of the sound
portion that the tree will fall before they
are ready. 1t nay also topple over in the
wrong direction and before the cutters and
swampmen can get out of the way.
Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-12-25
VAST SUM SENT B.. RAIL.

PostoHce Department Saved Thou
sands at Expense of the Treasury.
Some years ago the Treasury De-
partment desired to transport 25,00O,-
600 in gold from the subtreasury in
San Francisco to the subtreasury In
New York. The way they did 1t was
simple They sent a treasury postal
frank to the postmaster at San Fran
cisco, told him to stick 1t on to the
$50 100000 in gold and deliver 1t In
New York. This that unfortunate Of
fetal under the law was obliged to do.
No further effort or worry on the part
Of the Treasury Department was nee
essary.
Incredible as 1t may seem, the post
master at San Francisco carted the
SO, 100000 in gold under armed guard
to the Southern Pacific Railway sta
ton. There it was loaded on a spe-
cial train, each car Of which was
equipped with guards heavily armed.
This train was then sent across the
continent by a circuitous route and
with all information concerning it's
route and time sedulously concealed
from the newspapers in.order to avoid
the danger of an attack from highway
men. After a certain number of days
this train arrived at Jersey City.
The boxes containing the $25,000,000
in gold were taken across on the fer
ries, and New Workers were mystiied
by the extraordinary spectacle Of many
vehicles loaded with boxes upon which
were perched guards with rifles and
pistols. This procession finally ended
at the subtreasury, where the Postoffice
Department was released from the GUS
tody of the coin by the receipt of the
Treasury Department.
The little bit of treasury transpor-
tation cost the Postoffice Department
many thousands of dollars and cost the
Treasury Department nothing at ALL
San Francisco Argonaut.
Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-12-25

Of negotiating that point of mystery,
and 1t is quite possible that they be-
lieyed they might reach it in a ship.
They were without the knowledge of
Arctic geography now the property of
almost every reader, and, consequently,
had very primitive ideas about the sue
cessful method of attacking the Pole.
During the nineteenth injury the Arc
tie regions were fairly well charted up
to the eighty-third parallel and dur
Ing the last two decades Of the century
attempts to reach the Pole by various
more or less scientific and novel plans
were made.
These attempts, made at great sacri-
fee of life and at great expense, show
ed that man may get to the Pole, but
that the natural conditions must be
favorable. Sir John Franklin essayed
the northwest passage in 1S47, and his
whole expedition was lost; yet they
were 1000 miles from the North Pole.
Thirty search expeditions, costing
about $5,0OO.O0G. were sent out by Great
Britain and the United States during
the succeeding thirty five years to re-
cover the remains of the party. All
that was recovered were a few skele-
tons, some pieces of equipment and
Franklin's journal.
With experiences such as these oc-
curing far from the Pole it is not
Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-12-25
Tarin REVISION.


The evident growth of tariff revision
sentiment will perhaps spur the Con-
gress just elected to consider the bills
that will certainly be te-introduced by
the Democrats for tariff reform. But
the Republican leaders will be in this
dilemma-they must either stand pat or
stand up and be counted-and either
horn is politically dangerous. There is
not much probability of the Sixtieth
Congress, which does not meet until
December, 1907, seriously determining
to prepare and pass bill revising the
tariff. 1t would split the Republican
party to do So if the revision was made
to reduce the protection that the spe-
cial interests now enjoy, and nothing
else would satisfy even Republican tar
iff reformers. Speaker Cannon, the
leader of the majority, and the princi-
pal standpatter, has informed the conn
try, in his speeches before election, that
the present tariff bill is as perfect
measure as can be produced, and as he,
and the majority he represents, were
elected by the voters with that under
standing, the Republican majority is
justified in refusing to modify the tariff
law in any particular
To revise the tariff in spots is indeed
almost impossible, for SO many Repub-
lican congressman represent interests
Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-12-25

clerks and employees on small salaries
the republic cannot make both ends
meet, although practicing the greatest
economy. What has caused this great
advance in prices? Where is the boast
ed prosperity produced by the Repub-
lican party when one of the greatest
charity organizations of the country
finds it necessary TO aid a large class
of the community?
Under the present protective tarifr
system the committee will discover the
cost of living has not only advanced
nearly 80 per cent, but is still increas-
ing. Nor are the people of the cities
the only sufferers, for all consumers
feel the same pinch of these increasing
prices, although not to the same extent,
for their incomes Have expanded some
what to meet the new high range of
prices. The wages of organized labor
have been increased, though only in the
very well organized trades has the adj
vance been equal to the increase I'm
prices The average increase OF wages
of all labor being only about 20 per
cent while the increase must be 30
per cent to bring them out even
When this committee has discovered
how much it costs an average family 10
live, before attempting the task of In
ducing employers to pay higher wages.
it should bring It's powerful influence
TO work on the Republican standpat
Senators and Representatives to revise
the tariff that has fostered and pro-
tects the trusts in advancing the price
of their products so that while there
is prosperity for the corporations, there
Is restitution for many.