davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
HUMAN SACRIFICES.
Tho Brutality That went.witb War In
Former Times.

Former Times.
Before n battle in former times the
priests solemnly devoted to the gods
the whole of the hostile army then in
sight, and, If possible. no man Of 1t
was left alive. When Hermann de-
coyed the great host Of varus into the
forest depths all the Romans that es-
capped death In the battle were cap
tured and led into the dark recesses.
where every man of them was sacri-
feed upon hastily erected affairs.
Latham. In his edition Of Tacitus,
quotes six contemporary authorities to
show that this practice of concluding
victory with human sacrifices was
customary among our Teutonic ances-
tors. Some crucified their prisoners,
others hung them up to trees for arch
cry practice. but in general captive
was either slain on the spot or else re-
served to be sacrificed to the gods.
Even when the progress of agriculture
Induced them to keep a majority Of
the prisoners alive to be slaves they
appeased the gods for this indignity
by increasing the tortures inflicted on
the small remainder.
Gibbon describes how, before the
blazing altar. every hundrcdth mans
arms were hacked of him and. before
his eyes. thrown into the flames. All
that red Indian would have done
in the eighteenth century was freely
practiced by our ancestors of twelve
centuries ago. And the highest ideal
of man then included, as n duty, dark
cruelty and grewsome revenge against
all his enemies.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
DEAN swIFT's CHANCE.
His Marrias. of a Country coupl,
Caught In a Storm.

His Marriage of Country Couple
Caught In Storm.
1t is related Of the whimsical Dean
Swift that OH one occasion when
caught in n shower of rain he tool,
shelter under wide spreading tree.
where he found party of young peo.
pie waiting for the storm to cease.
One. a girl, was weeping, and the
dean learned that she was on her way
to church to marry n young fellow
who was with her
The party were walking. as was
then the custom In country districts,
but owing to the storm 1t seemed very
much as If the ceremony would not
take place that day.
Never mind" said the DEAN "I,u
marry you"
He took up his prayer book and
there and then performed the ccre
mony. At the finish he tore a leaf out
of his pocketbook and with a pencil
wrote and signed certificate, which
he handed to the bride. Besides the
names and the date, there was the fol-
lowing:
Under tree In stormy weather
married this man and woman together
Let none but him who rules the thunder
Sever this man and woman asunder.
-Reynolds' Newspaper.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
ASCENSION ISLAND.
One Place In This Busy World wher.
Money Is Useless.

One Place In This Busy World Wher.
Money Is Useless.
Now and then one hears of out OF
the way places where the conventions
of life. ms they are understood. do no,
exist One of these is where money il
useless. This is Ascension island. il
the Atlantic.
This island is the property of tho
British admiralty and is governed b.,
a captain of the royal navy. There l.
no private property in land. so there
are no reuts, taxes. etc. The fiocks
and herds are public property. ant
the meat killed is issued In rations
So are the vegetables grown on tn,
farms.
When a fisherman makes Il catch b.,
brings 1t to the guard room. where ii
Is issued by the sergeant major. The
only private property are fowls and
pigeons. Even the wild donl;eys are
under government control. They are
listed on the books of the paymaster
and are handed over ut stock taking.
The population consists of n few
bluejackets. company of marines and
some Kroos from Sierra Leone.
There marine can do anything.
The muleteer is a marine; so are the
gardeners. the shepherds. the stock
men. the grooms. the masons. the car.
penters and the plumbers. Even the
island trapper.' who gets rewards for
the tails Of rats. is a marine.-Ex-
change.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
ATOMIC WORLDS.
There May Be . Billion of Them in

There May Be Billion of Them In a
Speck of Dust.
How would you like to live in an
atomic be one of the millions of in
habitants of n world so small that you
cannot even see it beneath micro
scope?
The scientists tell us that each atom
Is Il solar system, with its central sun
and revolving planets In their orbits,
and that little atom people live and
love and fight and die there and never
know but what they are just the big
gcst and most important folks that
live. There are military atomites
there, no doubt, who strut around and
get tangled up in their swords and
give orders in gruff voices; actor atom
ties who star in atomic theaters and
are adored by lovely atomite maidens
and criticised by the trenchant pens of
the newspaper men.
There is every reason to believe that
life in the atom is much like life in the
earth and that the kings and emperors
there make war on their distant enc
mics and have their peace conferences
and their periods of financial stringen-
cy The joke of it is that they prob
ably takes themselves seriously, and,
though there may be u billion atomic
worlds In speck of dust, there is
never an inhabitant of one Of them
that knows how small he is and how
much he misses by not being man
instead Of an atomite. = New York
World
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
PET ANIMALS IN WILLS.
Fortune to "My Red Horsen-Parro,
Bequeathed to Queen Victoria.

Fortune to any Red Horsen-Parrot
Bequeathed to Queen Victoria.
A. L. Neabold, the Stafford brewer,
who has left his greyhound, Wildfire
H., an annuity Of EOS. is one of many
testators who have remembered their
pet animals In their Wills.
A farmer near Toulouse who died n
short time ago left his entire estate to
my red horse" One John Spooner
of Chicago bequeathed faOO to his dog
"in recognition of his sympathy and
tender nursing when l was seriously
ILL.," and the will of Mr.. Garland
contained this clause: ~ bequeath to
my monkey, JACKIE, the sum of f1OO
per annum and to my faithful dog,
Shock and my well beloved cat, lib,
a pension of e."
DR.. Christians of Venice left 10000
forms. for the maintenance of his
three dogs, a Mr.. Harper settled f1OO
on his young black cat" and
Frenchman named Souchat left his
entire fortune to his tortoise.
A good many years ago an old lady
bequeathed her pet parrot to Queen
Victoria, with 100 guineas a year for
its keep, on the amusing condition
that cher majesty publicly exhibits 1t
before her court twice year TO prove
that the person intrusted with Its
care has not wrung its neck."-West-
minister Gazette.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
SOLVED THE PROBLEM.
The Simple Secret of Blowing the Big
Glass Globes.

~
Glass Globes.
Emperor Nicholas wished to illuml-
nate the Alexander column In grand
style. The size of the round lamps to
he used for the purpose were indicated
and the glasses ordered at the manu-
factory, where the workmen exerted
themselves in vain and almost blew
the breath out OF their bodies in the
endeayor to obtain the desired size.
The commission must be executed
that was self evidens-Dut how?
A great premium was offered to the
one who could solve the problem.
Again the human bellows toiled and
pulled. Their object seemed unattain.
able, when at last long bearded Rus
sian stepped forward and declared that
lie could do 1t; he had strong lungs;
he would only rinse his mouth first
with little water to refresh them.
He applied his mouth to the pipe
and pulled to such purpose that the
vitreous ball swelled and pulled nearly
to the required dimensions, up to them
beyond them.
Hold! Hold" cried the lockers oil.
You are doing too much. And how
did You do 1t alp
THE matter is simple enough" an-
swered the loag beard, "but. first.
where is my Premium"
And when he clutched the promised
bounty he explained.
He had retained some of the water
In his mouth. which had passed thence
into the glowing ball and then, becom-
Ing steam, had rendered him this good
service.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
Slow Mental Ripenino

Not infrequently those mentulities
that rlpen the slowest last the longest,
and often the history of these great
men has been persistent neglect and
worldly GOODNESS until forty or more
years have passed before their great.
ness has been conceded by their con
temporarles. Truly "the life history
of great genius is almost invariably
one of sad and somber tone, a walk
apart from the beaten path" Such
are the words of one who should know
what the doors of deeds" must en-
dure. Be this as it may, it is now
recognized that many of the finest
achievements in business, statesman-
ship, literature and in all activities
haNe been wrought by men long past
sixty Writes one, mo strong man
Will accept sixty as the arbitrary limit
OF MS ambition and working abillty."-
W. A. Newman Dorland in Century.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
Marriage by Halter.

Among ignorant people of English
birth 1t was once the belief that wife
bought with money or goods was legal
ly married if the purchaser led her oil
the way home by halter.
Mr.. Barring Gould. the English anti
quarian. told Of village poet known
to him who bought wife for half
crown and led her twelve miles to his
cottage. The squire and the rector pro.
tested to the village poet that he was
not legally welded.
"why. yes. l be-" he replied. I'm
take my Bible oath l never once took
the halter off till she'd crossed TIE
doorsill and the door was shut"
The latest instances Of such wife
sales occurred in 1858 and 1850, when
women were sold in Little Horton and
In Dudley. In these cases blue rib
bon took the place of the straw halter
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
WORSE THAN KISSING.
'stone Throwing Was Habit In Ths4
aters Of Ancient Greece.

aters Of Ancient Greece.
Getting the bird. writes CORE
spondent, need not always prove q
source of woe to the unfortunate actor,
for there are still some nations that
express their applause by kissing. The
Basutos, for instance. and the natives
of the New Hebrldes employ this meth
cd of expressing their admiration.
Even among ourselves any Interrupt
ton of the actor who grips our atten-
ton is quelled with the kissing "HushW
which is intended to silence the inter-
rupter and show our admiration for the
interrupted.
On the whole. authors and actors of
today have reason to congratulate
themselves upon the disuse of many OF
the ancient Greek methods of showing
dissatisfaction in the theater. The
worst that a playwright must reckon
with now is an ironical cry of "Au-
thorr followed by booing demon
stration. But 1t Is on record that the
Athenian audience at least once forci-
bly, elected an unsuccessful comic poet
from the theater. The pelting of bad
actors with vegetables and questiona-
bic eggs is rare now even in the re-
hottest pSvinces. But the Athenians
did not draw the line at figs and olives
as missiles. Aeschines was said nearly
10 have been stoned to death during
his stage career, and there is a story
of 4 second rate musician who bor-
rowed a quantity Of stone from a
friend to build house with, promising
to repay the loan with the stones col
lected Mt his next performance.-Lon-
don Chronicle.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
The Bath of the Future.

1.-THE bath of the next century," says
I. Baron Russell in his book, "a Hun
dred Years Hence" Twill lave the
body speedily with oXygenated water
delivered with a force that will render
rubbing unnecessary. and beside it
will stand the drying cupboard, lined
with some quickly moving arrange
inent Of soft brushes and fed with
highly desiccated air. from which, al
most In a moment, the bather will
emerge dried and with skin gently
stimulated and perhaps electrified, to
clothe himself quickly and pass down
the lift to his breakfast, which he will
eat to the accompaniment of sum-
mary Of the mornings news read out
for the benefit of the family or whis-
pered into his ears by talking ma
chine"
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
A Bridge of Collins.

When the British forces were march
ingto Peliin in 1850, after the capture
of the Taku forts, one of the rivers be-
came SO swollen with the heavy rains
that 1t was rendered almost impassa.
bic. While in this quandnry bright
idea suddenly struck one of our Off
GERS. Being well aware that the Chi
nese generally order their collins years
In advance and keep them on the
premises and also that they are per
fectly air tight. he consulted with his
brother officers. with the result that
orders were given to search all the
houses of the village and collect every
coffin. With the aid of few empty
casks the soldiers constructed a non
toon bridge of collins sufficiently
strong to bear the artillery. and the
river was thus passed in safcty.-Lon-
don Standard
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29

long arm shot nigh above his head
and descended swiftly. They We're
close to the rail, and II roll of the ship
sent Armitage off his feet and away
from his assailant Shirley at the same
moment threw out her hands, defen-
sively or for support, and clutched the
arm and shoulder of the man who had
assalled Arnituge. He had driven a
knife at John Armitage and was pois-
ing himself for another attempt when
Shirley seized his arm. AS he drew
back Il fold of his cloak still lay in
Shirley's grasp. and she gave a sharp
little cry as the figure. with quick
jerk, released the cloak and slipped
away into the shadows. a moment
later the lights were restored, and she
saw Armitage regarding ruefully n
long slit in the LETT arm of his ulster.
Are you hurt? What has hap
pened?" she demanded
ut must have been n sea serpent"
he replied, laughing.
The deck officer regarded them Curl
ously as they blinked in the glare Of
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29

him in detail. : ~ s. y =.
e'Big fellow, bullet head, bristling
mustache, small eyes,
"That will do" said Armitage, grim
ming at the ease with which he identi-
fed the man.
You understand that it is wholly ir-
regular for us to let such a matter pass
without acting" said the purser.
ut would serve no purpose and
might do harm. / will take the re-
sponsibility."
And John Armitage made memo
randum in his notebook:
"Zmai -; travels as Peter Ludo-
vie"
Armitage carried the envelope which
he had cut from Chauvenets coat pin
ned into an inner pocket of his waist
coat, and since boarding the King Ed
ward he had examined it twice daily
to see that it was intact. The three red
wax seals were in blank, replacing
those of like size that had. originally
been affixed to the envelope, and at
once after the attack on the dark deck
he opened the packet and examined the
papers, some half dozen sheets of THU
linen written in Il clerks clear hand in
black ink. There had been no mis-
take In the matter. The packet which
Chauvenet had purloined from the old
prime minister at Vienna had come
again into Armitage's hands. He was
daily tempted to destroy 1t and cast
1t in bits to the sea winds, but he was
deferred by the remembrance of his
last interview with the old prime min
lister.
"Do something for Austrla-some-
thing for the empire" These phrases
repeated themselves over and over
again in his mind until they rose and
fell with the cadence of the high, wa
vcrlng voice OF the cardinal archbishop
of Vienna as he chanted the mass of
requiem for Count Ferdinand Won
Stroebel
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
Related.

Persons prosaically concerned with
the present perhaps lack sympathy
with those genealogists whose souls
are obsessed with worship of an
cestry. A Number of these unregener-
ates found amusement in the remarks
Of two clubwomen with n long line of
forefathers. The two women We're
cousins. They were discussing new
acquaintance.
"By the way" said one, what did
Mr.. Blank mean by saying lie is re-
lated to US? How is he related to us?
Is it near relationship"
"Oh, yes" answered the other in
deadly seriousness; I'VE are both de-
scended from the Plantagenets."
Several heather near by actually
snickered. but the daughters of the
Plantagenets couldn't see anything to
laugh at.-New York Times.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
A QUICK TOUCH.

She Needed Money and Sent Mes.
sage That Would Fetch II.
A day or two ago woman entered
suburban telegraph Office and said to
the receiver of messages that she de-
sired to telegraph her husband, who
was away In the country, to ask him
for money. He pointed her to the
counter supplied with blanks and told
her the rate for a dozen words. She
struggled away for quarter Of an
hour and then handed in the follow.
ing:
won't you please send me f5 by
next post?"
81 don't know whether that will do
or not" she said us she felt for her
purse. 'If you were to receive such
telegram from your wife, would you
forward the money!"
"Well-well. might" he replied in
doubtful tones.
Now, you wait. don't like the
telegram at all, because l tried to keep
1t within twelve words. I'll write an
other"
She tore 1t up, walked over to the
counter and in three minutes handed
In a new one reading:
IAN out of food and fuel and want
f5 as soon as you can get 1t here. II
you can't spare 1t I'll pawn the parlor
carpet"
"That would bring the money from
me-" said the counter clerk as he read
the lines and marked the number of
words.
"Then it will from him. Send It
quick."-London Tit-Bits.
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29

l "A totJ oIbp c'aob fttDG OooCC ittc it<ud
| and descended s,piftly.
light and asked whether anything was
wrong Armitage turned the matter
off.
81 guess 1t was sea serpent" he
said. ut bit hole in my ulster, for
which am not grateful" Then in a
lower tone to Shirley: "That was GER
tainly strange proceeding. am sor-
ry you were startled, and I am under
greatest obligations to you, Miss Clai-
borne. Why, you actually pulled the
fellow awayv'
ooh, no." she returned lightly, but
still breathing hard; at was the In
stinct- of self preservation. was I'M
steady on my feet for moment and
sought something to take hold of. That
pirate was the nearest thing, and
caught hold of his cloak. Pm sure 1t
was cloak, and that makes me sure
he was a human villain Of some sort.
He didn't feel in the least like sea
serpent. But some one tried to injure
you-it is no jesting NATTER
"Some lunatic escaped from the steer
age probably. shall report it to the
officers"
Yes; 1t should be reported" said
Shirley.
ut was very strange Why, the deck
of the King Edward is the safest place
In the world, but it's something to
have had hold Of sea serpent or
pirate! l hope you will forgive me for
bringing you into such an encounter.
but IL you hadn't caught his cloak"-
Armitage was uncomfortable and
anxious to allay her fears. The Incl
dent was by no means trivial, as he
knew. Passengers on the great trans
atlantic steamers are safeguarded by
every possible means and the fact that
he had been attacked in the few min
utes that the deck lights had been out
of order pointed 10 an espionage that
was both close and daring. He WAS
greatly surprised and more shaken
| than he wished Shirley to believe. The
thing was disquieting enough, and 1t
could not but impress her strangely
that he, of all the persons on board.
should have been the object of SO I'M
| uSu'ti uH assiuit. lie WAS III tne us
agreeable plight of having subjected
her to danger, and rs they entered the
brilliant saloon he freed himself of the
ulster with It's telltale cash and sought
to minimize her impression of the in
| cident
Shirley did not refer to the matter
again. but resolved TO keep her own
counsel. She felt that any one who
would accept the one chance in thou
sand of striking down an enemy ON a
steamer deck must be animated by
very bitter hatred. She knew that to
speak of the affair to her father or
brother would be to alarm them and
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
Investigating Grandpa.

Investigating Grandpa.
A grandfather, well known in the
English house of commons, was chat
ting amicably with his little grand
daughter, who was snugly ensconoed on
his knee.
"whnt makes your hair SO white.
grandpaY the little miss querled.
81 am very old. my dear; was in
the ark" replied his lordship. with q
painful disregard of the truth.
"Oh, you are NoahY"
mo"
"Are you Shem, then?"
'.No, am not Shem."
'.Are you Ham?"
mo"
"Then," said the little one, who was
fast nearing the limit of her Biblical
knowledge. you must be Japheth."
A negative reply was given to this
query also. for the old gentleman in
wardly wondered what the outcome
would be.
But, grandpa, II you are not Noah
or Shem or Ham or Japheth you must
be q beaSt!"
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29

name on The pdSscl,- found Armitare
ger list unnrenorod ond
off guard, but with swift reaction his
Wits We're at work. He at once sought
the purser and scrutinized every name
on the passenger list 1t was unlikely
that steerage passenger could reach
the saloon deck unobserved. A second
cabin passenger might do SO, however,
and he sought among the names In the
second cabin list for clew. He did
not believe that Chauvenet or Durand
had boarded the King Edward. He
himself had made the boat only by a
quick dash. and he had left those two
gentlemen at Geneva with much to
consider.
1t was. however, quite within the
probabilities that they would send
some one to watch him, for the two
men whom lie had overheard in the
dark house on the Boulevard Froissart
were active and rcsourceful rascals, he
had no doubt. Whether they would be
able to make anything of the cigarette
case he had stupidity left behind he
could not conjecture, but the impor.
lance OF recovering the packet lie had
cut from Chauvenet's coat was not n
ti'ifie that rogucs of their caliber would
ignore. There was. the purser said.
sick man in the second cabin, who had
kept close TO his berth. The steward
believed the man to be a continental
OF some sort, who spoke bad German.
He had taken the boat at Liverpool,
paid for his passage in gold, and com.
planning of illness, retired, evidently
for the voyage. His name was Peter
Ludoyic, and the steward described
Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-07-29
81. Peters In Roms.

From the beginning of the founda-
ton to the time when the great church
of st. Peters in Rome could be said to
be complete three and half centuries
had elapsed. eighteen architects had
been employed and forty-three popes
had reigned. The cost of the great
church can never be known with ex-
actness. AT the end of the seventeenth
century 1t had cost $5O,O0O,O0O, with
out including the sacrlsty bell, towers,
etc. The last important work on the
edifice was done by Pope Plus IN, on
the four hundredth anniversary of the
birth of NIichelangelo. = New York
American.