davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
After the Battle

A single star came out beside the
moon-a tiny point Of light that
trembled timidly against the opalescent
west. So still was it that one could
hear the waters Of the river tapping
lazily against the stones. The boy
moistened his parched lips with his
feverish tongue. Then he felt about
for his canteen, found it and lifted it
feebly. 1t was empty and yet it had
never before been so heavy to his hand.
He let it fall despairingly and closed
his eyes to keep the quick hot tears
from escaping down his cheeks.
"Watah, massa-watah?"
He looked up. Standing beside him
was the wretchedly-clad figure of an
old negro bending under the weight of
a back-load of canteens. His jaws
were toothless, his gray wool protrud-
ed in tufts through the ragged crown
of his hat, he mumbled when he spoke
and his eyes rolled frightfully, but to
the wounded boy he looked very angel
Of mercy.
eyes," he said family.
The old man stopped with difficulty,
lifted the canteen and swung it upon
his shoulders.
wait" the boy whispered, 81 will
pay you"
He drew forth a little worn morocco
purse and tried to open it, but it slip
ped from his fingers. The old man I'M
fastened the simple clasp. Within were
folded paper or two, scraps of home
letters maybe lock Of silken brown
hair lightly sprinkled with gray and a
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Good Roads and Politics.

The political managers always keep
their ears to the ground and as soon
as they find the people in large num-
bers are demanding a thing they get
busy and advocate it. Good roads now
Is having It's inning. All three national
conventions have declared for good
roads and for State aid in building
them.
The plan that came in vogue a hun
dred years ago, when trade and COM
merce was a mere barter and exchange
between nelghbors and when the roads
were purely a local matter, and when
practically all farm products were con-
sumed within a few miles Of where
they were produced, worked very we'll.
Now Il food product of the farm starts
over these highways on a journey any
where from 100 to 5000 miles. The
roads are part Of a worldwide SYSTEM
of distribution. Their condition affects
the market of the world. Thus they
become Of State and National interest.
One by one the States are waking uD
TO the new condition and are demand
ing good roads and that the cost of
them shall be fairly distributed and
not practically all paid by ths farmers
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

The heat and passion and strife OF
the day had passed and now the cool,
gray twilight was creeping down the
Maryland hills and across the meadows,
stained and SCARED with battle. Along
the river the night-birds were already
Beginning to call in soft, plaintive notes
70 one another; the wind sighed wear
lly among the reeds and tall sedge
grasses.
Yet sadder to hear than wind or bird,
were the means Of the wounded whom
that last wild charge had left behind /;
Fadder even to see than the still white
faces Of the dead, were their pain-dark-
med eyes lifted in mute appeal to the
sky while they waited with keen ang-
aish o. mind and body for the sunrise
Of this world or the dawning Of the
next
The young spring moon hung low In
The west, where the last faint crimson
glow was paling and one who watched
her thought wistfulIy that even so she
must hang above the pine-clad mount
aims of his beloved Vermont.
He was only a boy. Something OF
The trusting innocence Of his childish
years still fingered in his eyes and
about his pale young mouth. But the
took Of joyous freedom that should have
been there too was lacking. Instead
were great WEAKNESS and pain and
longing.
Tint morning as they lay waiting in
The trenches, every faculty alert, life
Aad seemed so good, so desirable a
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
STAGE MAsCoTs AND JoNAHs.

Actress Chats of the SuperstitiOns
and Fancies of Her Guild.
"There are people who will tell you
that superstition is dead and that in
these mater-of-fact days there is neither
room nor time to pay heed to the
strange fancfes and beliefs so commonly
held many years ago." says Grace
George
''To a certain extent, perhaps, this is
true, though 1 am inclined to think,
all the same, that as far as actresses
and actors are concerned superstition
is still very much alive-and is thirty
ing uncommonly well, too. Indeed, first
night superstitions on the stage are
plentiful. The strangest one came I'M
der my notice last year in a certain
play in which I was starring A few
minutes before the cali 1 happened to
be standing in the wings, when l es-
pied the leading man engaged in tear
ing small pieces off a corner Of the
scenery, wearing the while an air Dis
if to say, 4 am doing a good days
work
""That is rather an expensive sort Of
amusement to the management, isn't
it.? said, as L saw scenery which had
taken weeks to paint being mutilated
" Expensive to the management? No,
I'm doing them a real good turn re
piled the actor, for there is no more In
fallible way in the world of making a
piece an out-and-out success than by
touching up the scenery in this way
believe me, know Whether this mu-
tilating process had anything to do
with it, 1 would not like to say, but
the piece was a big success. Denver
Republican.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

thing for those who were young ana
brave and strong. He had watched
their colonel ride up and down and
thought that some day he, too, might
sit n horse and wear a cleaning gold
eagle upon his shoulder and
now Ii was twilight and the battle was
fought and won and he was lying here
ON the damp, cool sod with a ragged
hole fl his breast, from which the
warm blood trucking down had stained
his blue coat darkly with crimson.
The gray-haired colonel had fallen with
q word OF command on his lips. Many
4 cheek had Laled as he went down
and for an instant the whole resiucmt
faItered visib;y Then On-oh rs ore
man. straight against the solid wall Of
gray. How they fought Like gods
rather than men. The boy felt q slight
stir along his feeble pulses at the re-
membrance. At first the enemy had
stood immOvable, sternly resisting.
Then little by little they fell back,
every inch of ground yielded a forced
accession. until. wavering. uncertain,
they broke into confusion and victory
was again in the hands of the north.
But, all, the hiss of the bullets, the
sullen growl of the cannon belching
forth fire and smoke and destruction,
The loud shouts Of command, the shrill
frightened neigh of the horses. the
groans of the smitten, and above all the
Tain. clear notes of the bugle lifting
themselves out of the confusion of
sonnds-cne moment to be keenly alive
To all this. the next to fall in the midst
Of sudden, rushing. overwhelming
darkness with a bullet iii ones breast I.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Tricky MaOriS.

There was quite a large influx of
Europeans at the opening of public
hall in one of the Taranaki villages.
The Maoris seemed to have developed a
craze for change" Visitors were an
preached by a Maori in this wise :
you got two single shillin' and tie
ikipenny for tie half crown?' And the
change would be given. Others wanted
two sixpences for shilling, shillings
for a form, and so on. BY and by
came dinner time. The visitors trooped
in and enjoyed their food. A collection
was taken up. Not soul of them had
anything smaller than a . shilIl.
piece. That's how the ''child of nature"
got home on the civilized product.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

spring night had settled noiselessly
down and the wind blowing lightly
across the water brought faint, cool, de-
licious odors from the fresh meadows
beyond. The boy lay with face up
turned to the sky, across which the
milky way tralled its f1lmy length. He
had been trying to count the stars one
by one, but the effort had made him
drowsy, and he now lay in gentle lam
guor that was neither sleeping nor
waking.
The day, with It's exciting scenes,
had faded from his mind. He saw
only the rugged mountains of Vermont,
and the pretty white village nesting in
the valley through which the wild little
river hurried on It's way to the sea.
Always splashing, foaming, bubbling,
and yet the boys knew Of many good
swimming hole along its banks in the
shadow Of the overhanging willows.
And the long quiet street where the old
men and children gathered in the cool
Of the day, and the brown schoolhOuse
with It's rosy-cheeked mistress and
flock of unruly lads and lasses. The
long wooden desks were covered with
names rudely carved by penknives in
restless hands. His name was there.
And the church with it's dim, cool in
terror, and the leaf shadows which the
naples cast through the blinds upon the
floor; and his mothers house, with the
o,.I ND fo
herself with her pure, pale face and
silken brown hair lightly sprinkled with
gray. Poor mother, how lonely she
must be tonight without her boy! He
could see her as Of old sitting in her
little low chair, with the shaded lamp
upon the table beside her and the Bible
open IN her lap. And Edith, his bright,
tall sister, whom he had always thought
more beautiful than anyone he had ever
seen, she would be kneeling at the win
dow with her folded arms upon the
low, broad sill and her head upon her
arms, gazing out into the night and
thinking of him. Now the years swing
suddenly backward, and he was a little
child again at home. The late north
ern springtime filled all the river val
| ley and the orchards were laden with
| fragrant bloom. Under the great apple
tree by the old well sweep he was be.
ing swung by Edith. How delicious it
all was-the sweet, liquid sunshine, the
perfume of the apple blossoms, the
weightless white petals drifting down
upon his head, the free, swift motion
Of the swing, and his tall, strong sister,
with her laughing brown eyes and
| bright, rebelliouS hair. How green the
grass was-no, is-and the skies, how
blue. Just look, Edith, there is never
| the filmiest rag of a cloud to mar their
perfectness Now higher-higher-
higher still, straight up among the
boughs, where the brown bees are hum
ming. All, he can go no higher. He is
sinking earthward slowly slowly
slowly. He shuts his eyes. His sisters
gay laugh rings in his ears.
Edith :" he cried. = Mother -
= And the star shine falls tenderly
upon his young dead face.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
WISE CALIFORNIA CROW.
Gets His Breakfast Every Morning
on a Fast Passenger Train.

Gets His Breakfast Every Morning
on n Fast Passenger Train.
Tales of the big gulls which accom-
pany the army transports all the way
in the long journey from San Fran
cisco are not infreQuent, but it has re-
manned for a California crow to wear
the laurel says the San Francisco Call.
If you pass Hornbrook any fine morn
ing at Z 80 o'clock sharp and crane
your neck out Of the Pullman window
up toward the sky you will observe
fine black devil of a crow sitting COM
placently in the topmost branches Of
an old pine, preening his feathers and
apparently half asleep.
But he is far from being asleep. On
the contrary, he is very much awake,
for he is keeping a bright lookout for
train No. II, whose smoke is visible
every morning at this hour as it comes
tearing along the road. AS the cars
approach the tree there is a subdued
stately f1utter of two black wings
Master Crow rises slowly into the air
and picks up No. II with the abandon
and ease Of a crow hobo as it passes.
He drops to the roof of the car as if
it were his rightful home, and though
the engineer has tried every day to play
joke on him by footing the whistle.
ringing the bell madly and making q
general racket, the crow solemnly re-
fused to be dislodged. He is an old
friend now and the passengers on the
Z 80 have learned to-look for him as
regularly as they do for their morning
papers.
Appetizers are thrown at him all the
way to Siskiyou, which is reached at
s 40 o'clock, where his ebony majesty
enjoys a royal meal, to which his acu-
men and perseverance have fairly en-
titled him.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Seven Times Four.


Heigh-ho daisies and buttercups.
Fair yellow daffodils, stately and tall i
When the wind wakes how they rock In
the grasses,
And dance with the cuclzoo-bird slender
and small
Here's two bonny boys, and here's moth
er's own lasses,
Eager to gather them ALL
Heigh-ho! daisies and buttercups!
Mother shall thread them a daisy chain;
Sing them a song of the pretty hedge
sparrow,
That loved her brown little ones, loved
them full fain;
Sing, "Heart, thou art wide, though the
house be but narrow
Sing once, and sing it again.
Heigh-ho! daisies and buttercups,
Sweet wagging cowslips, they bend and
they bow;
A ship sails afar over warm ocean waters,
And haply one musing doth stand at
her PROV.
o, bonny brown sons, and o, sweet little
daughters,
Maybe he thinks on you nowl
Heigh-ho! daisies and buttercups,
Fair yellow daffodils, stately and tall
A sunshiny world full Of laughter and
leisure,
And fresh hearts unconscious of sorrow
and thrall
Send down on their pleasure smiles pass
ing it's measure,
God that is over us all
Jean Ingelow.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Old Favorites
.OONN0ONONN
Cnsabianca.


The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but him had fed;
The flame that lit the battles wreck
Shone round him DER the dead.
Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the Storm
A creature of heroic blood
A proud though childlike form.
The flames rolled on; he would not go
Without his fathers word;
That father, faint, in death below,
His voice no longer heard.
He called aloud, "Say, father, say,
eff 1 may yet be gone!"
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious Of his son.
Speak, father!" once again he cried,
IF may yet be gone y
And but the booming shots replied,
And Fast the flames rolled on.
Upon his brow he felt their breath,
And in his waving hair,
And looked from that lone post of death
In still, yet brave despair;
And shouted but once more aloud,
my father must I stay?"
While DER him fast through sail and
shroud
The wreathing fires made way.
They wrapt the ship in splendor wild,
They caught the flag on high;
And streamed above the gallant child
Like banners in the sky.
There came burst Of thunder sOundi
The boy. Oh, where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the Sc.
With shroud and mast and pennon fair,
That we'll had borne their part
But the noblest thing that persisted there
Was that young, faithful heart.
Felicia Hemans.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
MoRNING-GLoRIES.

passion pung with the nails and thorny Cross
pansIes godenhead there asphOdes and
drop sunshine after rain,
they bloom for again?
piled
nd and laures unheeding by
the highway the windswep shore,
will bloom
hitops the moons red glare
smiles the quiet evening air.
sainted the music Of their strain
purple morning shall bloom for again
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

Eff l ever lives ter git thro' dis worl'
III be wlllin' ter risk de next one.
We thinks dat jedgmint day is only
fer de yuther Teller but it'll wake us
all up too soon.
Eff heaven is only Il place ter lay
down an rest in, m sho' be mighty
Observation-Disclosures Constitution.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
State Aid in Road Building Recon-
mended.

Both great political parties strongly
recommend State aid in road building
for the first time in the history Of the
country. This shows Estate Aid" is q
live topic and that it is coming to the
front.
The roads are public highways. Then
why should not all the public instead Cf
the farmers only be taxed to build
them? Some might say the farmers use
them most. Well, the lawyers use the
Court House most. Is that any reason
why they should pay all the taxes to
build it?
Sixteen States have found out and
more are finding out that the only way
TO get good roads is a State aid tax
that puts the burden where it belongs.
viz. upon every dollar Of property in
the State to cover at least one-half the
EXPENSE. This means that farmers are
relieved of from 20 to 40 per cent OF
the burden.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

single gold dollar. The boy put the
money into the negro's reluctant hand.
'"Cake it." he said, "and bring the
water soon-Oh, very sOon."
The old man shambled awkwardly
away and the boy dropped his head to
one side and closed his eyes.
Deep purple shadows began to drift
across the battlefield. The line of woods
beyond the river became little more
than q dark blur upon the landscape.
Another star came out, another and an
other still until the sky was all a-trem-
BILE with them. The boy stirred In his
slumber. moaned and awoke.
In the distance a shadow seemed to
detach itself from the other shadows,
to move forward, to become a distinct
shape. And presently one could discern
the rude outline of a human figure
bowed beneath a heavy burden. Near
er and nearer it came, and now there
could be no mistake. 1t was the old
negro with his backload Of canteens.
The boy waved his hand and tried to
shout. 1t seemed an eternity before the
old man saw him and hurried forward
Dat you, Nassau" he mumbled. Use
been a-lookin' TO yo'. Pears lax
couldn' des' recomember which uns wuz
yo', ennyhOw. Heah's yo' watah." He
fumbled among the canteens and finally
lowered one. The boy drank eagerly,
and while he was yet drinking the ne
gro moved on.
And now the star shine was the only
iirht IN the hattla field The sNanI
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

The roads are public property and we
have no more right to expect the farm
ers to pay all the road taxes because
he is the largest user of the roads than
to ask the lawyers to build the Court
House for the reason that they use tho
building more than others. The public
owns the roads; let the public pay the
bill on an equitable pro-rating Of the
expense. State aid does this
Sixteen States have already adopted
the new plan and find it works to a
charm, and ten more States are taking
steps to adopt 1t. 1t is strange that
among the States most backward in
road improvement are Illinois, Missouri
and Iowa. No States need good roads
more and none are better able to build
them.
The problem Of good roads must be
met and solved and the solution is State
and National aid. This should be the
goal of every good roads advocate
When sufficient public interest is
aroused relief will come through Con-
gress and the several States. The
farmer then will only have to pay his
fair proportion.
Advantage of Good Roads to Farmers
The time has passed when any sane
person will dispute the advantage Of a
road good every day in the year-one
not put out Of commission by rain or
frost. Everybody is benefited, as these
highways must be used in moving to
market the food products upon which
all depend. Bad roads make the deliv-
cry cratic and uncertain and increase
the expense. Good roads make short
miles; bad roads long ones. Distance
Is no longer measured by the yard stick,
but by the clocks tick
The farmers use the country roads
more than anyone else, but they do not
own them. They are public property
and used for the benefit of everybody,
hence fair proportion of the cost to
build and maintain ought to be charge
against the whole public. Throughout
the Middle West the farmers are paying
practically all the road taxes. This Is
unfair.
In the building Of good roads the
farmers at first usually overlook the
fact that good roads always add to the
value of the farms served by them.
Farm lands worth $50 to 500 per acre
with dirt roads will enhance in value
from 10 to % per cent by building good
stone or gravel roads Under the State
aid plan that has been adopted by all
the States east of Indiana, hard roads
can be built in the Mississippi Valley
at an average cost not exceeding $1.5O
per acre. In Illinois the tax will not
exceed 10 cents per acre per year for
ten years. Every dollar put into good
roads on the State aid plan will add
from $500 to $4,000 to the actual sell
ing value of the farm.
Sometimes farmers say, You can't
raise any more corn by building good
roads, can you" No, you can't raise
more corn if you build new house and
barn, but these improvements make the
farm worth just that much more. They
add convenience and comfort. So do
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Looking for Work.

"Why don't you go to work, instead
of begging and bOozing?"
81 will, boss, as soon as there's an
Openin' in my trade An | amt got
long to wait now. nuther."
"What is your trade?"
I'm a trackwalker for aeroplane
lines"
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

TO be a social success, you must pre-
tend you are having good time wheth-
er you are or not
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Tilted.

She Tilted him but he could not
Forget her; no poor man;
The gifts he'd made her he had bought
On the installment plan.
Boston Transcript.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16
Georgia COnvicts and Illinois Roads.

Georgia COnvIcts and Illinois Roads.
Whenever The Journal urges the en-
ployment of convict labor on public
roads, as it has often done, somebody
is sure to write asking if this newspa-
per would have the country initiate the
Georgia system Of working cOnvicts in
the open, with all the attendant cruel
ty Of which the papers have lately been
full.
Just now one correspondent sends us
clipping to the effect that the lower
house of the Georgia legislature has
passed a bill ending the present sys-
tenn Of convict labor on Jan. 1, 1911,
and wants TO know whether Illinois
and other States should take up a sys-
tenn repudiated thus in the South.
This and other indignant queries are
based upon misapprehensiOns Of facts,
for the Georgia system bears no resem-
blance to that suggested by The Jour
nal.
In Georgia, 1t is true, convicts work
in camps In the forest and in mines,
but the State has nothing to do with
them after they have been leased to
contractors, who are private citizens.
These contractors, actuated by no 9th.
er motive than greed, treat convicta
shamefuliy, forcing them 10 work to
the limit Of human endurance and
sometimes beyond it, using physical
means to urge the unfortunate men on
even after they are tired out
But conyicts worked on public roads
by the State would have no more rea-
son to fear abuse than they do now,
when they are shut up in penitentia-
ries. They would be treated humane
ly, and would be vastly better off than
now, confined in narrow cells of great
prison.-C Chicago Journal.
Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

And now the star shine was the only
light On the battle field. The sweet
The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-07-21
ABSCONDER IS
P|T|FUL SIGHT
Man Wanted in New Britain,
Conn, is Brought Back
For Trial.
BY Associated Press.

Los Angeles, Cal, July 2O.-WiIliam
F. Walker, the absCOnding treasurer
of the New Britain Savings Bank,
who was eXtTadited from Ensenada,
Mexico, departed for Connecticut to
day in the custody of Chief of Police
Egan, of New Britain.
Walker arrived at San Diego Sat
urday. Walker was rather a pitiable
object as he stepped ashore, stopped
and haggard- The newspaper men
who sought to interview him could
get little more than a shake o. the
head and the remark, 1T is a, very
fine day"
He returned no answers to many
pointed questions that were put to
him. The fugitive and his custOdianS
proceeded at once to the Santa Fe sta
ton and soon left for Los Angls.