davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
MARRrAeEABLE AGES.

In Austria IMAM and "wo-
man" are considered to be capable of
conducting home of their own from
the age of ia fact which accounts
II, NO small degree for the spirit of
"child fatherhood of the man" so
prevalent in Austria.
In Germany the man must be I8
years of age, but the age of the bride
elect is left to popular discretion.
In France the man must be IS, and
the woman IS, while in Belgium the
same standard prevails.
In Spain the intending husband
must have passed his 18th year and
the woman her 18th. These figures,
in connection with the admitted pow
erty of Spain, socially considered, are
of the deepest meaning.
In Hungary for Roman Catholics
the man must be ID years old and the
woman IL for Protestants the man
must be Is and the woman IS.
In Greece the man must have seen
at least ID summers and the woman IL.
In Portugal boy of IA is consid-
cred manageable and woman of ~.
In Russia and Saxony they are a
little more sensible, for in both coun-
tries youth must refrain from matri-
mony till he can count IS years and
the woman till she can count IS.
In Switzerland the men from the
age of IA and the women from the age
of II are allowed to marry.
In Turkey any youth and maiden
who can walk and can understand
the necessary religious service are
allowed to be united for life.
To go further afeld, mere children
of 10. 9 and even 8 years of age, are,
by Indian custom, often married.
This applies to the girl only, although
native boys of from IL to "a become
husbands and the nominal heads OF
households.
In China, too, the custom is nearly
as senseless. Boys and girls who
ought to be on the school bench or
playing battledore and shuttlecock
set up their family gods.
It is curious to note that the "mar-
riageable age' standard increases in
cold or temperate latitudes, and that
the lowest point is touched in tropic
latitudes, lack of civilization also hav.
ing much to do with it t.-E*change.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
THE COUGHING STOPPED.

At a certain army post there was
sentry on duty near the hospital. The
surgeon was preparing to go to bed
inside when he was annoyed and
alarmed at the sentry's coughing.
His experienced ear told him that the
man had severe bronchial afliction,
needing a strong remedy. He de-
bated awhile with himself and then,
going into the dispensing room, COM
pounded a powerful mixture. This
he took outside to the sentry, with
instructions to swallow it at once.
The man refused. The surgeon in
sisted and finally commanded the
soldier to take the medicine, which
he did, with much grumbling. Then
the worthy surgeon went to bed,
pleased to hear no more coughing.
Next morning to his surprise the
commanding officer sent for him and
said that the sentry had complained,
declaring that the surgeon had forced
him to swallow something he thought
was poison. An investigation follow
ed and revealed the fact that while
the surgeon was mixing the medicine
the coughing sentry had been reliev..
ed and consequently the remedy had
been given to the wrong man.-L0n-
don 7St-BitS.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
SOME MISTAKES OF woxzH.

OuC Of -tt.~ mistakes yOf WOMEN 40
in not knowing now 70 cat. xf-~
man is not to be fed when she is, she
thinks cup of tea or anything handy
is good enough. If she needs to
save money, she does it at the butch
er's cost. If she is busy, she will
not waste time in eating. If she is
unhappy, she goes without food. A
man eats if the sheriff is at the door,
if his work drives, if the undertaken
interrupts, and he is right.
A woman will choose ice-cream in
stead of beefsteak, and man will
not. Another of her mistakes is in
not knowing how to rest If she is
tired, she may sit down, but she will
darn stockings, crochet shawls, en-
broider doilies. She doesn't know
how hard work tires. If she is ex-
hausted, she will write letters, figure
her accounts or read up for some cir
Gle or club. She would laugh at
you if you limited that the reading or
writing could fail to rest her.
All over the country women's S
hospitals flourish because women do
not know how tc rest. Another mis-
take on the list is the constant worry
ing. Worry and hurry are their
enemies, and yet they hug them to
their bosoms. Women cross bridges
before they come to them and even
build bridges. Women are not jolly
enough. They make too serious a
business of life and laugh at its little
humors too seldom. Men stop in
the midst of perplexities and have a
hearty laugh, and it keeps them
young. Women cannot, and that is
one reason why they fade away so
earlv.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
DIGGING FOR APPLES.

A man was laboriously digging in
the earth. He had already made a
hole in which half the length of his
leg disappeared and was making it
still deeper. Children were playing
near by. Born curious, they ap-
preached the man at work, and ask
ed, "What are you digging forl"
Apples" answered he.
Unanimously the youthful flock
burst into Homeric laughter. "He
is digging for apples What joke T!
Apples in the ground He must
be thinking of potatoes But apples
it is too funny Ha, ha, ha !"
Cant you see that he is laughing
at us?" said one of the more shrewd
among the company. "Let us go
along and leave ilim to his apples"
Laughing at your" answered the
man. Indeed not, children. What
I tell you is positive fact. There is
neither joke in it nor nonsense. am
digging this hole III order to have ap-
Piles, and, if you will wait moment
you will understand"
"Let us wait, then, and we shall
see whether they are crabs of leather
coats he will dig up"
After taking out few more spade
fuls of earth, the man thought the
hole sufficiently deep, dumped into it
a basketful of rich soil, went eff, and
returned, bringing a little sapling,
which he carefully planted beneath
the attentive eyes of the children.
The operation complete, he said to
them ''You see, I told you the truth.
In two or three years from now this
young apple-tree will blossom. The
following autumn it will bear fruit.
You shall come and taste the apples
with me-"
Those who work for the future are
often the butt of mockery. Their
efforts seem absurd and sterile. The
short-sighted call them fools, but
they are not troubled by this. They
know that, if they would one day see
golden, juicy fruit swinging above
their heads they must begin by Dig
ging hole in the earth.-Smnday-
.CchooI Times
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
THE WATCH AND THE HRART.

Does your watch persist in going
wrong, rnnning either too fast or too
slow! If so, look out. There is
something the matter with the watch,
or with the matchmaker who tries to
keep it in order for you, or with YOUR
self.
Nobody would ever think that
something the matter with him would
cause something to be the matter
with the watch, but matchmaker is
the cause of much uneasiness in an
East End family, and all because he
insists that he does his best with
certain watch, and that the reason it
does not keep good time is because
the man who carries it must have an
irregular heart beat.
It came about in this wise. The
head Of the family has gold watch
that cost him $500 ten years ago.
He has carried it ever since, but a
year ago it began to act queerly.
For some days it lost time, and then
it began to gain time; again it would
gain time mysteriously and then
strangely lose a minute or two day.
It had been to the watch repairer's
three times in twelve months, and
was still acting irregularly week
ago, when the mans wife took it to
the matchmaker.
81 think I know what is the mat
ter with this WATCH" said the crafts
man. "I don't believe that your
husbands heart beats regularly.
Now, don't get alarmed. 1t is not
necessarily a disease. He may be
just one of those men who can't have
a watch that keeps good time, sim
ply because Of their irregular heart
beats.
'You see, a watch has a regular
rhythmic movement" said the
matchmaker. "It is carried close to
the human heart, which ought to
have regular rhythmic movement,
too. Now, while the watch is beat
ing away, the heart is beating also.
If its pulsations occur regularly,
punctuating the rhythm of the watch
at specific intervals, the rhythm of
the watch movement is undisturbed ;
but let the heart pulsations occur ir-
regularly, now pulsating with the
tick of the watch, again stopped dis
cordantly, in between the ticks, the
watch is bound to be affected. Leave
this watch here, and let your husband
carry your watch, which, we know,
keeps regular time. Let him wear
it a month, and see if I am not
right"
So the woman handed her husband
her watch to note the result. She
wanted him to consult specialist
Immediately upon her return from
the matchmaker, but he compromised
by agreeing to try the test suggested
by the watch man. .--Ptts6wrg Ga
o1ffo
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

overjoyed mother. The old sow be-
gan to nose her offspring with grunts
of satisfaction, and 1 was left to pull
myself together and face Lydia.
She had run out and stood leaning
over the palings and surveying me.
She was laughing immoderately. I
thought it very heartless of her.
Jack, Jack, the piper's son,
He stole pig and away he rum"
''It is your pig, and found it and
was bringing it to you."
"You were bringing it in hurry,
too, and the old SOW with it, eh?"
Then she checked up second, and
said:
"I am sure I thank you very much
for bringing little Peter"
"Confound little Peter" NUT
tered TO myself. Aloud l said, GIVE
come to go with you to the picnic. "
"Oh, but you can't go like that p
she exclaimed.
can wipe off the mud-and--"
twisted my neck around and took
a rear view of myself. One Of my
coattails hung down nearly to my
feet and waved playfully in the
freeze. 1t was my cherished Prince
Albert that had felt the sow's teeth
in that encounter. I ought to have
given thanks that it was not more
vulnerable part of me. But l wasn't
in thankful mood.
''You will have to excuse me-" I
said. "I'll go home, and you"
ooh, don't worry about me-" she
interrupted cheerfully. 81 can go
with Albert St. Clair. He came
down from the city yesterday"
''I hope you'll treat him more
lady-like than you've treated me" I
retorted. II don't care about the
old picnic, anyway" And after
few more we'll chosen remarks, l
strobe from her presence with the
dignity of a victorious gladiator.
She shouldn't know how cut down l
felt.
recovered my derby and went
home a sadder and wiser man to
muse on the ingratitude of pigs and
women. And 1 think of all the
candy of my giving which that girl
had gobbled up!
She married dudish professor of
something or other, and had the au-
dacity to send me an invitation to
her wedding. I didn't go, however.
Neither have / ever since followed
Abraham Lincoln's illustrious exam
pie, and helped pig out of mud
hole.-Exchamge.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

know he's harum-scarum like,
An makes heap o. noise,
No matter whether here at home,
Or out among tn boys.
An yet. If little Tom want here
'Tw0uld be almighty slow,
Becuz he thinks pile o. me,
An'that's heap. you know.
'Twould be go sort o. lonesome-like
Without him round tn places,
/ know I'd miss tn smiles that play
About his roguish face:
I'd miss the questions he kin ask,
That ofttimes puzzle so,
Besides. I love tn little chap,
An that's heap, you know.
He minds me of his mother, too,
Her picter, so folks say;
He's growin' more to look like her,
see it ev'ry day
What If he's kind o. boist'rous like?
He's such cunnins little chap,
An that's heap, you know.
He'll climb up in my lap. an when
stroke his curly head,
git to wonderin' what I'd do
If little Tom wuz dead.
An when his little dimpled hans
Creep soft-like round me-so.
like to have him keep 'em there,
It means q heap. you know.
The neighhers. they COMPLAIN o. him.
An often / hev tried
To bring myself to punish him
Instid o. Jest to chide.
But when I'd see his sober face,
couldn't strike Gblow,
Her face Is pictered there in his,
An that's heap. you know.
He amt no bother. not Bit
That is, / mean to me,
Becuz in ev'ry act an word,
His mothers face see.
Folks say he's jest little scamp
Well, that may all be 80,
But II love tn little chap,
An that's enough, you know
-E. A. BrGinstO0I. In Good Literature.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
In his FATHERS FOOTSTEPS.

"I must look to the sheep of the field,
So. Jack, tell your mother to wrap you up well,
Though the snow Is deep and the weather cold,
You're not baby-youre six years DID,"
Two feet of snow on the hillside lay.
But the sky was as blue as June.
And father and son came laughing home
When dinner was ready at noon
Knocking the snow from their weary feet,
Rosy and hungry. and ready to eat.
"The snow was so Deep" the farmer said,
THAT feared would scarcely get through"
The mother turned with pleasant smile
"Then what could little boy do r.
II trod in my fathers steps" said Jack;
wherever he went kept his track"
The mother looked In the fathers face.
And solemn thought was there;
The words had gone like lightning fash
To the scat of noble care;
IF he treads In my steps, then day by day,
How carefully must choose my way
ssFor the child will do as the father does,
And the track that leave behind,
It will be firm, and clear, and straight,
The feet of my son will find:
He will tread in his fathers steps and say:
I'm right, for this is my fathers way"
o, fathers, treading life's hard road,
Be sure of the steps you take:
Then the sons you love, when gray haired men.
VIII tread in them still fer your sake;
When gray haired N N. their sons will say:
I'VE tread in our fathers steps today"
Plank and Platform.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
another. The boy quietly closed the
door and departed.

duOtuSA. 4AC wy 4uiCliy SAOoSu tAS
door and departed.
The man sank into an easy chair.
Helen occupied his thoughts. AS in
panorama the years of their welded
life spread before him, and he con-
trasted the last view he had of her as
he left the little country station with
that of the bride Of his younger days.
She was yet beautiful to him she
was yet his ideal of womanliness-
but he had become so accustomed to
things, life was so humdrum at home,
perhaps he had neglected some little
courtesies due her. He felt a hum
bic outlines.
Suddenly there came to him an
inspiration-he would write love
letter. They had never in all their
married life been separated so long as
this. OF course, at times he had oc-
casion to write to her-short messages
beginning "Dear Wife and ending
Yours aff.," but no love letters.
He pushed button and ordered
writing materials.
do not let anyone come to the
room," were his orders to the boy as
he turned away. Then he began:
"MY SWEETHEART" the open
ing ran. "You do not know how
much love you." Lawrence smiled
as he read over the words. 1t had
been more than fifteen years since he
had used such expressions on paper.
On and on his pen flew, coming lone.
someness into affection. Page after
page, reviewing all the days of happy
communion, pouring out his soul as
he had never done in all his life. It
was the sublime concentration of clean
living and pure love. He was at his
best there in the old bridal chamber,
the experience of lifetime illumi-
mating his soul.
When, with tears glistening in his
blue eyes, he signed, "Your husband"
to the long letter, he seemed to have
thrown off the burden of years.
Briskly he addressed the envelope
and hurried to the Office.
Gentleman in the billiard room
waiting for you, SIR" remarked the
clerk as he approached the desk.
eve sent the boy to your room, but
he didn't get any answer"
Lawrence paused an instant, with
the bulky letter held over the open
ing of the mailbox. In quick glance
he caught the brokers' form and a
familiar voice sounded above the crack
of ivory balls.
"You may tell him." he replied,
"that have gone to bed and do not
wish to be disturbed"
He dropped the letter in the box and
with a firm step mounted the broad
stairway.-Chicago Reco,d Her ,ald.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
THE FIRST STOVE.


The most important uses of FIRE
were taught by FIRE itself. AS the
primitive man stood near the flames
of the burning tree and felt their
pleasant glow he learned that fire
may add to bodily comfort, and when
the flames swept through a forest
and overlook deer and baked it he
learned that fire might be used to I'M
prove the quality of his food. The
hint was not lost. He took a burn
ing torch to his cave or hut and
kindled him a fire on his floor OF
earth. His dwelling filled with
smoke, but he could endure the dis
comfort for the sake of the fires
warmth and for the sake of the cook
ed meats. After time hole was
made in the roof of the hut, and
through this hole the smoke passed
out. Here was the first stove. The
primitive stove was the entire house,
the floor was the fireplace and the
hole in the roof was the chimney.
The word "stove" originally meant
ga heated room" So that if we
should say that people lived in their
stoves we would say that which is
literally true.-.St. Nicholas.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
A CASE IN POINT.

"Now, children" said the Sunday
school teacher, many of you have
heard how President Roosevelt went
out West and killed bears and wild
cats for amusement, and I want to
hear your opinion about it. Do any
of you think it right to take the life
of even wild animal without just
cause? What do you say, Jimmy
Taylor?"
"Was them bears and wildcats goin'
to do anything to the PresidentF
asked Jimmy.
"I don't understand that they
were"
"Was they jest looking at him !"
$50 have read. ;"
"Not even growing :"
ono"
"Well, now, teacher, there is big
humble bee on your shoulder and
crawling up to your neck. He hain't
growing nor nothing, and nobody
can say that he means to hurt you,
but what are you going to do in the
case?"
"a humble bee !? Get him off Hit
him with hymn book Give him a
swat and be sure to kill him Gra-
cious me, but what an escape AS l
was saying, children, we will drop
President Roosevelt and his bears and
wildcats and talk about Moses in the
bulrushes."
Jusr DRAW this mental picture for
yourself: A white-haired old mother
sitting alone in the gloom of the even
ing, her children all gone out into
the great busy world, the friends of
her childhood either dead or far away,
the sun of her life nearly set-just
picture this to yourself. Wouldn't
you rather hear that Christian old
mother singing
"Nearer. my God, to Thee,
Fen though It be q cross
That raiseth me"
than to hear any prima donna that
ever lived singing a classical compo.
sition of one of the "old masters OF
music?''
SHE-"We never hear of any wo-
men after dinner speakers.
He-"No. Women can't wait
until after dinner. They tell every
thing they know before dinner"
BE PATIENT with every one, but
above all with yourself.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

"IN THIS glorious country OF
ours" exclaimed the political orator,
"there is no north, no south, no
east, no west" No wonder some
of us don't know where we are at, "
came a voice from the outskirts OF
the crowd.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

TEAcHER-How many Command
ments are there, Sally?
Sally-Please, teacher, 10.
Teacher-Suppose you were to
break a Commandment Qm-
pressive pause?
Sally-Then there'd be nine.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
CHURCH SIDE" OF A HAT.

A milliner who works in large
city says that one day woman came
into the store very much excited and
wanted the trimmings on her hat
changed. She said that it had been
trimmed on the wrong side.
But" said the saleswoman, "the
trimming is on the left side. That
is where it ought to be-"
"It doesn't make any difference
whether it ought to be in front or
back, or right or left, it's got to be
on the church side"
"Church side? 7" gasped the aston
ished girl.
eyes, church side. I sit right next
the wall in church, and I'm not going
to have all that trimming next the
wall. want it on the other side, so
the whole congregation can see it."
The trimming was promptly placed
on the "church side" of the hat.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30
VALUE OF PINEAPPLEs,

The word engine does not appear
to have any connection with pineap-
pie, yet it is the name of the chemi-
cal that gives to the luscious fruit the
remarkably digestive property which
it possesses. The prevailing notion
that pineapple juice is excellent for
the digestion is supported by medical
testimony. Eat slice of the fruit
after dinner, say the doctors, and you
will not suffer with dyspepsia.
If you want to see what pineapple
can accomplish in the way of diges-
tion, you can easily test it on piece
of raw steak. The action of pineap-
pie juice on meat is to transform it
into jelly and then dissolve it when
in the human stomach.
meat as it lies on plate, and the up
per surface of the steak where the
fruit touches it will soon become gel
atinous. Engine, the active princi-
pie of the juice, can be obtained by
throwing salt into the juice, thus pro-
ducing precipitate.
A good sized pineapple contains
two pints of juice, fact that gives
an idea of what slice of the fruit
will do for digestion. If cooked the
pineapple loses its virtue in this re-
spect. 1t may be asked whether the
consumption of the somewhat woody
fruit itself is beneficial or not, for
that can scarcely be easily digestible.
Without doubt it is the juice which
does the good, not the flesh of the
pineapple, but the property of the
Juice is so effective that the eating of
the fruit itself can do no harm and
may even be beneficial, inasmuch as
it takes some of the strength of the
Juice to dissolve it and so prevents
the stomach suffering from the too
violent effects of the juice.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

"I'vE GOT to practice on the piano
FIVE hours day." said the disconso-
late small girl.
"What forP'
"Cause mother and father don't
like our new neighbors."
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

TEAcHER-Does the question both
er your
Scholar-No'm it's the answer
that bothers me.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

WERE you frightened when you
arose to make your first speech" :"
''What should frighten me?"
"The audience" :"
"The audience left as soon as my
name was announced"
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

JoHNNY-What's silence Freddy |?
Freddy-It's what you don't hear
when you listen.
The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-30

LITTLE WILLIE-Say, pa, what
was the first talking machine made
out of?
Father-WelI, my boy, the first
one was made out of rib.