davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
THE INVENTOR OF CHESS.
His Price Seemed Modest, but 1t Could
Not Be Paid.

An Arabian author, Al Sephadi,
relates the following curious anec-
dotc:
A mathematician named SesSa,
the son Of Dahar, the subject of an
Indian prince, having invented the
game of chess, his sovereign was
! highly pleased with the invention
and, wishing to confer on him some
reward worthy of his magnifcence,
desired him to ask whatever he
thought proper, assuring him that
it would be granted The mathe-
maician, however, only asked for a
grain of wheat for the first square
of the chessboard, two for the sec
ond, four for the third, and so on
to the last, or sixty-fourth. The
prince at first was almost incensed
at this demand, conceiying, that it
was i'll suited to his liberality By
the advice of his courtiers, however,
he ordered his vizier to comply with
Sessa's request, but the minister
was much astOnished when, having
caused the quantity of wheat neces-
sary to fulfill the princes order to
be calculated, he found that all the
grain in the royal granaries, and
even all that in those of his subjects
and in all Asia, would not be suffi-
cient.
lie therefore informed the prince,
who sent for the mathematician and
candidly acknowledged that he was
not rich enough to be able to comply
with his demand, the ingenuity Of
which astonished him still more
than the game he had invented.
1t will be found by calculation
that the siXty-fourth term of the
double progression, beginning with
unity, is 9,223,3 ,O36, 854, 775, 1903,
and the sum of all the terms of this
double progression, beginning with
unity, may be obtained by doubling
the last term and subtracting the
first from the sum. The number
therefore of the grains of wheat re-
CURED to satisfy Sessa's demand
will be 18,446,7 4,O73, 7O9, 551,615.
Now, if a pint contains 9,216
grains of wheat, a gallon will con-
tain 1928, and bushel (eight gal
lons) will contain 589,7S4. Divid-
ing the number of grains by this
quantity, we get 81 ,274, 997, Alp, 295
for the number Of bushels necessary
to discharge the promise of the In
dian prince. And if we suppose
that one acre of land is capable of
producing in one year thirty bushels
of wheat it would require / ,O42 ,499,-
913,743 acres, which is more than
eight times the entire surface of the
globe, for the diameter of the earth
being taken at 1880 miles, its whole
surface, including land and water,
will amount to very little more than
126, 437, 889,177 square acres.
If the price of bushel of wheat
be estimated at 81 the value of the
above quantity probably exceeds
that of all the riches on the earth.-
FollieS of Science.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
THE DOLLAR MARK.
Its Peculiarly In 8oir9 Written Before
ne Figures.

Did it cver strike you as being
at all peculiar taat We should use
the dollar mark o. before instead of
after the GgIrc5 in expressing the
sum OF ), ~, 20 or any other num-
Der Of dollars? We may say "25
dollars" plain enough for any one
to understand, but as soon as we
put the expression into figures and
characters it is dollars %" $3.50
instead of 25$, as it should be. Nor
is this all that is peculiar in this
connection.
In every country which has a
written language and a system Of
coinage the Authorization for the
unit of value precedes the figures.
In England the pound mark (f) is
used in the same manner that the
dollar mark is used in this country,
while the same popularity is notice
able in Germany, where the abbre-
Walton m. (for mark appears pre-
ceding the number, just as the
French abbreviation fir. (for france
is used in France.
If authorizations are not used the
legend is more apt to be correct.
We find that in Mexico they have
a ''212 pesos" instead of ''p. 212,"
as one might expect, and in New
foundland they have plain 2 dollar
piece. SO, too, in France, where
the abbreyiation is not used, We
find such pieces as "10 francs" "2O
francs" and 40 francs" In Ger
many they have a piece marked ok
thaler," which is all very plain, but
the moment a clerk, bookkeeper or
other person makes an entry or jots
down memorandum he tells YOU
that it is 9Th. X"
The English pound sign, which
is believed to be the oldest none
tary abbreviation now in use, is the
old initial letter by which the Ro-
mans expressed pounds" just as
we use the lbs" 1t has been sug-
gested that we use our money alb
brcviation backward because the
Romans in expressing pounds" al
ways said libra deem" instead of
''decem libra," the first being
pounds ten" and the latter "ten
pounds" When their initial letter
or character was used it always pre-
coded the figures, thus "e10," in
stead of the reverse. Thus the whole
world has got in the habit of doing
these things backward.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
He Had Remembered.

Hiram Bobbs was discontinued.
He admitted that himself. Still,
even he was occasionally surprised
by his own failings. One morning
he reached his Office unaccountably
late. Dear me-" he thought.
where can / have been %
The answer was not forthcoming.
Hiram sat down at his desk and
took out his pocket handkerchief.
1t was tied tightly in a knot.
"Now," he exclaimed, "what was
that for? Oh, yes! Marthy told
me to get my shoes soled."
With an air of resignation to the
whims of womanhood he put on his
hat, closed his desk, and went out
to the acknowledgements" cob
bler'S. He went in and sat down,
took off his shoes, and settled back
IN chair to read his newspaper.
What is it, Mr.. Bobbs?' inquired
the cobbler.
"What? Oh, er-er-er-why-
oh, yes! | want my shoes soIed."
Pardon me, sir" said the cob
bier, "but [ finished soling them
only half an hour ago. They can't
be worn out yet, sir"
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
THE AGILE TIGER.
Great Gtal.lor That Seems TO Be
"3hoa va Silence"
Most Wild anim.i. are specialist

Most wild aninr.is are specialists
that is TO say, r"e9 are highly de
veloped in ore par, IIar direction.
The tiger IS great as d stalker. His
feet seem to be "ahod with silence"
Il. II. Elliot, for many Years a resi-
dent OF India. cited an experience
OF one Of his neighbor. illustrative
Of this point. He had been much
annoyed by tigers and at last tied Il
bullock OFT in clearing and took
up his own position in tree to
wait till the tiger should come after
the bait. The ground was covered
with dried leaves, which in hot
weather are so brittle that even the
walking of bird over them can be
heard for good distance. In no
very long time large tiger slipped
out of the forest and slowly edged
toward the bullock. His method
was so elaborate and careful that
the man who saw it used to declare
that it would have been worth 1000
rupees to any Young sportsman to
have witnessed it. So carefully did
he put down each paw and so grad
ually did he crush the leaves under
it that not a sound was to be heard.
Between him and the bullock was
a stump about four feet high, with
long projecting surface roots. This
plainly the tiger looked upon as
godsend. He got upon one of the
roots, balanced himself carefully,
and so was able to walk quickly and
silently as far as the stump. He
approached so gradually and noise
lessly and his color against the
brown leaves was so invisible that
he was close upon the bullock before
he was perceived. Then instantly
the bullock charged. The tiger elud-
ed him and IN moment more had
his paws on the bullock's neck,
ready to drag him down. Then like
a flash he caught sight of the rope
by which the bullock was tied and
turned and sprang into the forest,
all so quickly that the man in the
tree had no opportunity to fire.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
TEN PAGES.
PAY EN- OR DON'T MAKE EN-.

A bill collector came into this
office a few days since, and after
getting what the bill called for
remarked: "Well, I've got to 60
see so and so. | sure hate to present
bill to him. You know why?
Well, III tell you. He's all right,
but he always says something to
make fellow feel bad. He will
take the bill, look over it carefully.
and then whistle long, low
whistle, like he was trying to signal
a ghost. About that time ne says,
you fellows get all the money /
make; it keeps me busy paying
you. I've got notion to make
my wife pay cash after this. Say,
bring that bill around next
month-I'm SO busy that | can't
take time to fool with it now ,
Then I'll go around the next
month and get stood off till the
10th and then 30 back again.
After he whistles that long, low
whistle and scfooches up his face
like he'd been eating green persim-
mons, be will pay it. We collec-
tors have enough to make the
saints mad, Ill tell you" Now,
there's a lesson III that nau 3 talk.
Men, especially men in business,
should pay bill cheerfully and
w:llipgly-just like it was their
greatest pleasure to do Sc. Either
stand it off pleasantly for a few
days, or pay 1t promptly with Il
smile. Nothing makes man
more unpopular than to pay bill
begrudgingly, and like he was part
ing with his wife, on her death
bed -McGregor Mirror.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
Man Responsible For the cor..s.

Curiously enough women are not
responsible for the existence of the
corset at all, for the first corset
mentioned in history was worn by a
man, the Greek poet Cinesias, and
ArlStophanes ridicules him for it
IN his comedies. Cinesias, who was
VAN to degree, endeavorcd to add
to the symmetry of his tall, slim fig
ure by wearing a corset of little
planks OF wood. The Emperor An
tonlus Plus adopted it later, and
then gradually Roman women af-
fected it. although it then only en-
circled the waist, leaving the bust
Tree, Gradually it extended down
ward and upward until it reached
modern n proportions. Catherine de-
Medlcl being the first woman to
wear the bust corset in France.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
WHEN STEVENSON DIED.
The Story IS Told by the Mother of the
Gifted Author.

Here is the story of the death of
Robert Louis Stevenson, told in the
words of his mother in one of her
letters from Samoa in 1891: "How
am | to tell You the terrible news
that my beloved son was suddenly
called home last evening? At 6
O'Clock he was well, hungry for din
Der, and helping Fanny (his wife) to
make a mayonnaise sauce, when
suddenly he put both hands to his
head and said, oh, what painp
and then added, DO | look strange p
Fanny said no, not wishing to alarm
him, and helped him into the hall,
where she put him into the nearest
easy chair. She called for us to
come, and | was there in a minute,
but he was unconscious before I
reached his side and remained so for
two hours, till at ten minutes past
s p. m. all was over"
Do coming events cast shadows
before? There is hint of it in
this. Mrs. Stevenson wrote: "For a
day or two Fanny had been telling
us that she knew-that she felt
something dreadful was going to
happen to some one we cared for,
as she put it to one of our friends.
On Monday she was very low about
1t and upset, and dear Lou tried
hard to cheer her. He read aloud to
her the chapter of his book that he
had just finished, played a game or
two of patience to induce her to
look on, and | fancy it was as much
for her sake as his own that the
mayonnaise sauce was begun upon.
And, strangely enough, both of
them had agreed that it could not
be to either of them that the dread
full thing was to happen, Thus far
and no farther can our intuition,
our second sight, 60"
Had Stevenson himself "vision
of the future 2" 'Iafaele told us
that when he was on his way to
milk the cows, very short time be-
fore Louis was struck down, he saw
him throw open the Venetian shut
ters of his window and gaze up at
the top of Eaea mountain. When
he noticed Lafaele he waved his
hand and called to him cheerilv."
Now Stevenson sleeps on that noun
tain top.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
GATES OPEN.
CincinDati's Big Fall Festival
Inaugurated
And Thousands Are Travelling to the
Ohio Metropolis.

CINCINNATI, o., Sept Sin carni-
val dress, with flags and banners afioat
in the autumn breezes, Cincinnati Is
just now about the liveliest city on the
American continent TIE Fall Festival
is on and the earliest outbursts of en-
thusiasm have swelled into q chorus Of
festal power. Ohio's big city is crowded
with visitors, who swarm the streets
and enliVen the hotels. Cincinnati is
lat home" to her neighbors. and the I'M
written Buckeye law Of lavish hospital
ity is now strictly enforced. This fifth
of Cincinnau's autumn industrial shows
Is already fixed as the greatest of the
latest serias-the successors of the ia
nous old Cincinnati EXpositions.
The halls are crowded with rare ex-
hibits. In the United States Govern
ment display is a coiIang machine from
The mint at Philadelphia ponderous
press weighing over twelve tons. Sou
Venir coins are "minted while you wait"
Uncle SANS display is a replica of that
made at st. Louis. and Lieutenant j.
Z. Waterman, Fourth Infantry is in
charge.
The shows about THE Circle" In
Washington Park are as varied as those
which made The Pike" famous. Gin
cinnati is enjoying her first view of that
wonderful electrical production Of THE
Jamestown Flood" One of the most
thrilling Of the Festival attractions is
the outdoor spectacle, Fighting the
Flames" One whole city block Is shown
ablaze, with fire engines. manned By
real flre-hghters, forcing streams of
water upon the towering walls of fire.
The Blue Moon" put or at Music
Hall by the Shuberts, has made a tre-
mendous Kit. For the first time in
theatrical history London success has
been given its first American presenta.
ton in the West. New Yorf's amuse-
ment eyes are on Cincinnati. James T.
Powers, Edward Favor. Charles Bow
ser, Templar SAKE, Arthur Donaldson,
Clara Palmer and Ethel Jackson are il
the big cast. The Blue Moon is a
Burmese idyl, with the book by Harold
Ellis, lyric by Percy Greenbank and
Paul A Rubens, music by Howard Tai
bot and Paul A. Rubens, staged by
Frank Smithson. over one hundred
Cincinnati girls are in the ballet The
story follows the fortunes of Chandra
Nil, Burmese for The Blue Moon"
an English girl kidnapped as a
child by a deserler from the English
army in BuEmah, who assumes the
guise Of native and calls himself
Moolraj. When this girl-Chaud.a Nil
comes to young womdnhood Moorai
makes her a singing girl, and an Indian
Prince falls in love with Ter Under
MoolraJs influence she promises TO
wed the Prince, but he IL all TO The
good, and when Mooiraj is unma sked
resigns his claim 10 Chandra and re-
stores her TO her titled mother ANA rnc
EngIishman who had gained her love.
The Fall Festival continues un I SEP
TENDER %, and excursion rates 10 Cm-
cinnati By ran and river ~ "esnltmS
IN vast crowds.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
anne.

Two Americans who were travel
ing in England made a devout pill
grimage to Standardization and
spent several days wandering about
the neighborhood. One dav they
met a countryman, and, pausing,
one of the pilgrims said:
"My friend, envy you your life
here amid the fields that knew the
great poets youth. What sublime
thoughts must come to YOU as YOU
tread the paths his feet trodw
The rustic simply stared, and the
American demanded if he knew of
whom he was speaking, receiving a
prompt negative.
"Why, of Shakespeare, man. You
must know of him." the pilgrim ex-
planned, stricken with horror.
After some coaxing the man final
" admitted that he had heard of
Shakespeare and believed that he
had wrote for summat."
And have YOU any idea for what
ne wrote-was it the Times ?" the
American inquired, with infinite
sarcasm.
"Oh. it warn't the Lunnon pa
per, the man said. Il know it was
summat solemnlike. l think it was
the Bible, belize. "-Harper's Week
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
Polite Reproof,

A lady once yentured to publicly
reproye a well known London So
ciety man for his overfondness of
good living. The gentleman made
himself conspicuous by the way he
gorged himself at dinner to which
he and Others of the upper ten had
been invited. To make matters
worse, he was sufficiently unwise or
thoughtless enough to attempt to
excuse himself with the remark that
lin eating well I praise the food"
thereby using well known quota
ton. 1t was an opportunity not to
be lost by the somewhat disguised
and witty lady sitting at'his elbow.
REALLY, sir" she observed, with
a sweet smile, you should not carry
praise to the point of flattery."
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
Horick In Tin

Edwin Booth was once nlavinc IN
a niue country town and was billed
iof Hamlet" In the grave scene
instead of throwing out a skull tho
sIa'eoigger threw out an old to-
t ,na'G can, This staggered Booth
o. out he determined to 60 ahead with
ms lines, and when about balfwav
through shooting cracker. WHICH
nad ,t been placed in the can, exni1Jl
co. 60, ms n broke Booth up completely
and the curtain had to be- r,Ir1
DOWN j n and the money refunded, It IT. :
needless nee to say that'the gravedio =
ger never acted in that canac;fr
again. "V capacity
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
OneXnhcted

The street car conductor neryed
himself MISE for the approaching battle.
Madam" he said, stepping along
side the elderly passenger with the
aggressive nose, thin lips and sharp
chln, you'll have to pay fare for
that boy"
certainly" she answered, open
ing her purse and taking out a
com. i expected to pay for him,
sir. Do l look like person that
Of 3 cents ?" '"'
-, Madam" he gasped, "you do,
that's what fooled me"-Chicayo
Tribune, =
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
John 9oNIo,s RattlA Run

John A. Boyle, a Massachusetts
man, took part in the civil war and
liked to tell about his experiences.
At a meeting one evening he told
about the experience he had at the
battle of Bull Run as follows:
Il saw the men drop their guns
and run, so dropped mine and ran,
too, but | was chased by one of the
enemy. who had his gun in his hand.
| ran the fellow a good race for two
~ les, and then | stumbled and fell
a.d was expecting him to come up
acd shoot me, He didn't come, SO
| looked around to see where he
was, AID to my surprise saw him
sPrAw'cd out on the ground about
two yards from me. | got up and
looked at him and saw that he had
died from apoplexy."
BoyIe's hearers asked what he did
next, and he replied, 81 wept for the
man that had run to death"
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
Rose TO the Occasion.

One day gentleman gave half a
crown to deaf and dumb" beggar,
who, quite taken off his guard by
such unusual munificcnce, ex-
claimed joyously: "Bless YOU, sir!
Bless YOU"
Hello" said the gentleman. 81
thought you were deaf and dumb ?"
$50 | was, sir" replied the beg
gar. but your extraordinary gcner-
osity was such il shock-such q
pleasant shock-to the systom that
1t has restored my speech ard hear
ing. Bless You again, sir, a thou.
s'nl time.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
For Left Handed Musicians.

Niolins are adapted for the use
of left handed players by reversing
the order of the strings and the To-
cation of the bass bar and sounding
post. Some left handed violinists,
however, play upon instruments
with the strings arranged in the
usual manner. There are no left
handed pianos. Guitars are made
left handed simply by reversing the
strings. With the banjo it is neces-
sary to change the form of the neck
on account of the short string. Left
handed flutes are made, the location
Of the keyholes and keys being
changed to the opposite side of the
flute. There are made left handed
comets and occasionally a larger
brass instrument, which are so con-
structed as to bring the pistons as
convenient to the player as they are
to the right handed player in the
instrument as ordinarily made.
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
row II impressed 49,

h., An Ola lady who, with her bns-
, oand t., had spent the winter in , .Ja.
pan NV was asked by one of her friend.
there. WI 'H9u"Ne while
a,n3 ! es, heard one" she answered
.h ana era rather gr enjoyed it, for i was W.
me me, i'rst thing that happened si va,
IN J'i', Z, ana ~ ! were married that 10
EXCHANGE. " '''''' 'or -
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
The Baron's Nan

Sir Frederick Pollock, chief baron
OF the English court of the ex-
chiequer, took a nap pretty regularly
about midday. His waking was COM
zeal, for when his forty wink8"
ended he would start to seize a pen
and' with imperturbable gravity,
say to the arguing counsel, "Whst
page was your last citation ?" The
harmless deceit was humored BY the
par, and only once did it provoke
tartness. This came when an old
sergeant retorted, did your lord
snip refer to the last citation made
before your lordship gave Somnus
a new trial or the citation | made
when your lordship produced a gap
N II my arSument?" Nothing nettied
baron Pollock imperturbabIv an,
sWered, "The one immediately nre-
ceding the gap" p''
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
Il Described III. ch....

The girl asked the polite sales
man if he had good cheese.
we have some lovely cheese. -
was the smiling answer.
You should not say lovely
cheese" She corrected.
why not? 1t is" he declared
"Beeause"-with boarding school
disnlty-"Iovcly should be used 70
alive" '"' .
well. he retortod "Iu stick !,
'a"c.' New Yorh prcss
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30
Their Range of Talk.

Challemel Lacour, the French
statesman, used to tell story about
Schopenhauer, the German philoso-
pher, whom he greatly admired. He
had an appointment with him one
day at a Frankfort hotel and found
him just finishing dinner at the ia
bic dhote. There were several Of
lioers at the table, and in front of
Schopenhauer lay gold piece. He
said to the Frenchman as he rose
and put the coin into his pocket: q
have had this gold piece on the table
every evening for a month, having
made up my mind to give it to the
poor the first time these officers here
spoke on some other topic at table
besides promotion, horses or \rom-
en-. | have the money still"
The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1906-08-30

One Of the leading insurance
companies has cut down It's ex-
pense account 100000 a year
since the great upheaval made by
the investigating committee. An
other company has reduced it's
expenses over half a million.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-11-30

The following bit from the editorial
page Of the Sioux City Journal, I'M
d~0ubtedly refers to McCieary who
was q standpater TO the extent OF de-
Tending the trust robbery Of the peo-
pie. II the trusts spent $50, 600 at the
primary, 1t was thrown away to the
boys" and it is only an evidence
that q corrupt use Of money at the
primary Is no match for voters who
want q square deal. The protection
trust nominated McCleary but they
could not elect him. There can be
no law enacted that will prevent a
trust from helping its brood Of agents
seeking . seat In Congress, but the
people have q right to say who shall
be elected.
There were . few other standpaters
defeated. This IS the Journal item:
Under the Minnesota primary law
II IS said 100000 was expended in the
campaign OF a congressman who was
defeated. That's another point for
Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska
legislators to make a note Of. II a
primary law is to contribute pnrer
politics some means will have to be
taken to guard against the lavish ex-
penditure Of money by candidates and
campaign committees.