davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
A Cultivated Memory.

E. C. Laston, who issued a chal-
lenge to the world for the memory
championship, although only a young
man of twenty-three years, is a verita-
BILE walking encyclopaedia, for he has
memorized 10000 dates of the princi-
pal events in the worlds history since
the creation. 1t was quite by accident
that he discovered that he had an
exceptional gift Of memory. He was
being trained as an army officer, when
an attack of rheumatic fever ~dispelled
his hopes in that direction. At that
time he happened to meet the zancigs
in India, who, noticing what a re-
markable memory he had for dates,
advised him to cultivate it. He then
purchased a copy Of Haydn's "Dic-
tionary of Dates" and sought to com
NIT to memory the dates of the most
important events in the worlds his
tory by writing fifty to a hundred
dates on a piece of paper, and re-
writing them three Or four times until
he had fully grasped them, with the
result that he has a repertory OF
thousands of dates, and can give the
correct answers without the slightest
Observation-Disclosures Tit-Bits.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14

they bNmbarded every spot that had
kiEllad into flame.
One by one the houses in the block
burned up and burned cut, until the
Old house stood alone. Every blaze
that had started upon its caves and
sides had beer eXtinguished save one.
There was II spot under the caves
at the northeast corner that could not
be bombarded successfully. Unless
the fire at that point was put out all
that had been done we're done in
vain.
The soldiers were equal to the
emergency. A squad mounted to the
roof. One of the men lay fiat upon
the edge. and while four of his COM
rades held him fast by the legs, he
leaned far out over the wide old
fashioned caves. Others passed to
him bottles Of the water charged with
carbonic acid gas. And there, hang
ing far over the edge of the roof, SO
that he might be able to direct the
stream Of water on the fire burning
fercely beneath the caves, he sQuirted
the fizzing contents Of bottle after
bottle, until the last flame and the
last ember @ere eXtinguished-and
the house rs saved.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Do Not Put OH Airs.

"I have not seen Mary lately; Is
she away?" a mothar asked heI
younger daughter.
ooh, no, she is only affected since
she came back from school I CAM
stand her. She rolls her eyes anc
her voice grows so die away you car
scarcely hear it, and she uses Che
broad A so hard, you'd think heI
mouth was full of mush. Sometime:
she forgets and then all of US girl:
punch m another.
and just think, mother, she will
not eve answer her father, unless he
calls her Marie! Isn't it silly? D.:
don't see why girls have to put or
such airs just because they've been al
boarding school,"
It is silly, but, unfortunately, al
girls don't get stuck that way. Many
of them come home from school as
unaffected as when they left. Theil
new friends and experiences do not
make the old life seem something tc
be scorned.
Don't do it, girls. Don't put or
airs" Your home friends are the
ones who will count most in youl
good times. If they get disguised
with you or think you think yourself
too fine for them they will soon drop
you.-New Haven Register.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
WORDS OF WISDOM.

Imagination is the disillusioner Of
realization.
The girl who appropriates a mans
love is liable to penal servitude for
life.
Fortunately the most imposing
family trees have their roots well out
of sight.
A woman gives her heart but once;
magnanimous man is more liberal.
Many a faithful" dog has. died at
his post after greedily eating the
burglars poisoned meat.
True love will u smooth while
the track Is we'll creased with gold.
A woman's love Is as the enduring
rock, a mans like the wave which
kisses each rock in succession.
A man can love and love again and
forget he ever loved at all.
The true rating Of many a Wanted
social position is covered by an inter-
rogation point.
Many a pleasure, like a mans pipe,
Is a solace to him though a nuisance
to others.
Which most pitiful? A sister with
younger brothers or a brother with
older sisters?
In leap year a girl gets him by
asking, thereafter she gets him with
out %bothering about asking.
The man with broad views of life
cannot condense them into the mar
row confines of the home.
Queer! Alcohol takes the temper
out of steel, but puts it into man.
BY the hands of the men in a sky
scraper shall ye know the age of the
manicure girl.
Before marriage a man asks but
for one little word, afterward he gets
a plenty without the asking.
The longer a man studies the
curves of a decanter the closer he is
apt to initiate them Oh his homeward
journey.-From "A Woman's Point
of View" in the New York Herald.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14

Jus to understand the sanctity which
hedges round the virgin daughters
of the Republic.
The amount of liberty allowed the
carefully reared French girl Is so
slight that "a young Frenchman who
is not bent upon marrying will very
rarely choose the society of girls who
are kept very much to themselves"
The observer whom we quote is un-
doubtedly right in advising his coun-
trymen that "the smallest intimacy
may be at any moment, If he is bad
ly off, put an end to the friendship,
and if he is we'll off expose him to
being asked what are his intentions.
The fastidious ideal Of the French
parent has results not altogether
happy. Marriages made in the
drawing room are not the very best
to stand the wear and tear of domes-
tic intimacy. But the French re-
spect for "covenance" is deep and the
stark and serious individualism of
the women of Ibsen or Tolstoy causes
the French woman Of refinement,
however divinely disconnected, to
shudder.
Yet a change is gradually taking
place, ascribed by the writer to our
country women
There is hardly a French family
that has not made some alliance with
America, and the introduction of the
American heiress has been making
a slow and gradual change. Many
of these Americans are extremely
adaptable and take up the manners
and customs of the country Of their
adoption with all the fervor of con-
verts. Some American mothers are
more particular in this respect than
French women, but the leaven is
bound to assert itself, and liberty is
slowly developing through the con-
tact of the daughter of these unions,
particularly if she has a mind OF her
own, with her American cousins
If the American democracy could
ever be introduced into the Faubourg.
and by a person so little consciously
| democratic as the average American
| heiress, there would be a triumph
much subtler than any of the usual
"entente cordiale." But one is pre-
pared to believe that the change will
be extremely slow.-Chicago Even
! ing Post.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Selling Gowns to Americans.

Grace Margaret Gould tells In the
Woman's Home Companion some OF
the ways the Partisan dressmakine
establishments sell their goods to
American women. Here Is one ruse
that she saw worked in n OF the
biggest establishments in Paris:
There was a sudden and evident
commotion among the employees. The
Princess! The Princess! She has
arrived they cried.
American eyes began to bulge.
"Out from a magnificent ~equipage
stepped a regally gowned grand lady.
attended by footman and maid, and
received by the whole bowling estab.
lishment, to the neglect of all Other
customers. She was in a gracious
mood this day, and easy to be pleased
praising their past efforts and select.
ing several of their new creations
without regard to cost. After she
had made her departure amid like
ceremonies there was no need OF the
saleswoman %bothering her head ovel
suggestions. Every American woman
present wanted a gown copied from
the one the princess had bought, and
she got it after much pleading and al
a price far beyond the limit she had
set.
And the point Of this fable is this.
The Princess was no princess, but ar
employe of the house.
"Every French gown has two
prices-an American price and g
French price. Il Is needless to say
which is the greater price.
Along about April the cry goes
up, The Americans are coming and
then the prices go up, too.
along about November, when the
Americans have left, you might al
most say they are giving away
gowns, only the Frenchman neVel
does give away anything. Then it is
that the Frenchwoman in general anc
the French actress in particular BE-
lects her wardrobe"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Sharp Dealing.

For one the American had discov-
cred something British that was bet
ter than could be produced across the
pond His discovery was a fine COL
lie dog, and he at once tried to induce
its owner, an old shepherd, to sell it.
"Wad We be takin' him to Amer
ica?" inquired the old Scot.
Yes, l guess So" said the Yankee.
Il thought as muckle," said the
shepherd. Il couldna part wi Jock"
But while they sat and chatted an
English tourist came up, and to him
the shepherd sold the collie for much
less than the American had offered.
You told me you wouldn't sell
him." said the Yankee, when the pur-
chaser had departed.
No." replied the Scot; 81 said |
couldna part wi him. Jock'll be
back in a day or so, but he couldn't
swim the Atlantic. "-Detroit Free
Press.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
A Woman's Hospital.

A woman's hospital has just been
opened in Berlin and has a staff COM
posed entirely Of women. Two Sis
:ers, Franziska and Henrietta Thur
.ius, both doctors, conceived the plan
and created the hospital. At present
1t contains nineteen beds, and any
woman doctor in Berlin can send her
patients there for attendance and for
surgical operations. The United
States has had such a hospital for up
ward of twenty-five years, the Telfair
Hospital in Savannah. This hospital
was built and is conducted according
10 plans set forth in the will of Miss
Mary Telfair, who left it the bulk of
her large property. 1t has in the
neighborhood of fifty beds.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
GalIOWs Work.

A curious note of Pepys' may be
compared with Count Tolstoy's refer
ence to the former u%npopularity of
hangmen in Russia. Commissioner
PETIT, who had travelled, told Pepys
how despicable a thing it is to be a
hangman in Poland, although it is a
place of credit, and that in his time
there was some repairs to be made
of the gallows there, which was very
fine, of stone, but nobody could be-
got to mend it until the burgomaster
or mayor of the town, with all the
companies of those trades which are
necessary to be used about those re-
pairs, did go in their habits with flags
in solemn procession to the place,
and there the burgomaster did give
the first blow with the hammer upol
the wooden work, and the rest Of the
masters of the companies upon the
works belonging to their trades, that
so workmen might not he ashamed to
be employed upon doing of the gal
lows work."-London Chronicle.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Mail Bag Was RObber.

"Ofice robbed last night. No clew
to thief. Loss about $500"
That was the telegram that came
skimming over the wires from Cerro
Gordo, ILL.,, to the Chicago postoffice
this morning.
Postmaster Campbell answered to
the postmaster at Cerro Gordo: WAS
the money in a cigar box, Bouquet
de Straw brandt"
When the wires had been used for
a brief time the down State official
came to, and then there were apollo
gies.
Through Cerro Gordo's mind there
slowly percolated the remembrance
that Just before he locked his office
last night he placed his cigar-boxed
treasure in an empty mail sack, fear
inc thieves. Then the last thing he
did was to send all the empty sacks
to Chicago.-Chicago Telegram to
the Philadelphia Record.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
New Way to Wear Ostrich Plumes.

Ostrich plumes are fastened in an
entirely new way. The dropping eff
fects are not dethroned, but the
straight positions that add so much
to the height of the hat are consid-
cred smarter, an. to obtain these the
plumes are .stiffened with fine silk
wire.
Another new trimming of charm
Tngly decorative value for miladi's
hats is a chou formed of four or five
layers Of chiffon or mousseline in diff
ferent light tones. The effect of this
flmy opalescent affair is absolutely
delightful and nothing more graceful
and dainty could be selected.
Something entirely new and just
as simple as it is pretty is the new
rravat bow used by French modistes
for holding in the desired erect posi-
tons ostrich plumes or brush effect
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
! 'SHZN GS
EBWO ORTIZ KNOWINGM
EeE@ss@Zs

No man ever ate himself to death
on a meal ticket.
The Government has just ordered
100000 yards of khaki for soldiers
uniforms.
The first recorded mention Of gold
Is in the second chapter Of Genesis,
4004 B. C..
A potato that is said to be disease
proof has been introduced in France
from Uruguay.
The shipping tonnage passing
through the 800" Canal so far this
year is 100000.
One of the fastest growing cities in
the world is Kobe, Japan; its popula-
ton increased from 100000 to $780,
900 in ten years.
Rejected by the British War Office,
an aerial torpedo, the invention OF a
Swedish artillery officer, has been
purchased by the German army.
Although but a few miles from the
mouth of the River Thames, noted
for it's fogs, the atmosphere of Horne
Bay, England, is rarely obscured.
Two monster whales have just
been killed on the Eden coast of New
South Wales, thereby furnishing a re-
hinder that the whale fishery was
once looked upon as the staple indus
try of the Australian continent.
The discovery of the Mammoth
Gave of Kentucky was due to a search
yor s~altpeter in 1907. Congress had
forbidden American vessels to sail for
Europe, and foreign vessels to land
cargoes in this country, and saltpeter
was needed for gunpowder.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
IN ONIONS.
New Branch of Farming Adds to
Texas Industrial Activities.

New Branch of Farming Adds to
Texas Industrial Activities.
The onion farmer is a comparative
ly new arrival upon the scene of in
dustrial activities in Texas, says the
Technical World Magazine. He is
now n Of the large contributors to
the wealth of the State. In a little
more than eight years the value of
the annual production of onions in
Texas for the market has reached APP
proyimately 100000. When the
fact is considered that this enormous
wealth is derived from only about
$500 acres of land, some idea may be
had Of the abundance of the yield
and the good prices that are obtained
for the product. Onion growing has
done another thing to help Texas. 1t
has been the direct means of adding
more than S2,5O0,0O0 to the intrinsic
value of her lands. Inasmuch as the
growers put a good portion of their
annual earnings from the industry
into property improvements in town
and country the increase of taxable
wealth from this source has also been
considerable.
The wonders which were wrought
by the magic touch of Aladdin's lamp
were no greater than the %transfor-
nation which onion growing has
brought to certain portions of Texas
during the last few years. Land
which, from the time of the early
visit of the Spaniards to the Rio
Grande border section, was thought
to be almost worthless, and at the
is now bringing in an annual net re-
turn of from $500 to $500 per acre
from the onions which it produces.
Before the Inauguration of onion
growing any of this land could have
been purchased at prices ranging from
81 to 50 per acre. 1t has now no
established value for the reason that
non Of its owners are willing to sell.
They will not fix a value upon the
land. Some of them are free to say
that land which has such large pro-
ducing qualities ought to be worth
not less than $1,000 per acre. Some
of the onion growers say they would
not be willing to accept less than
$4,000 per acre for their lands. Even
at that price the annual net return
will average nearly twenty-five per
cent. on the investment.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
THE VITOSCOPE..

P. F. (Stillwater)-Please explain
the mechanism of the v%itoscope. In
what does it differ from the kineto-
scope?
The v%itoscope, meaning, literally,
"the exhibition Of life," is a kineto-
scope enormously enlarged, showing
its subject in the desired colors and
without the i~ndistinctness that is a
troublesome feature of the kineto-
scope. AS put into public operation,
notably upon the vaudeville stage, it
consists as to its mechanism Of a lens,
such as is used in a small camera.
This lens is nearest the exhibition
screen. Just behind it is a metal
frame about one and one-half inches
square, over which the picture to be
reproduced passes. Behind this is a
large lens, and just back of this is an
arc light Of 1000 candle power. The
pictures reproduced have been pre-
viously photographed on kaleidoscope
films, and are in size about as large
as ones finger nail. The films, as pre-
pared for scenic production, are each
fifty feet in length, and contain sew
eral hundred pictures that go to make
up a panorama. In use, the film
passes over a series of wheels at a
very rapid rate, propelled by electric
power, and as the picture passes the
frame behind the small lens above
mentioned the light froms the arc
lamp, passing through the large lens
and being focused upon it throws the
picture through the smaller lens upon
the screen magnifed six hundred
times. In this manner the miniature
picture taken by the kaleidoscope Is
reproduced life size or larger, with
every minute detail of life and action,
on the screen. What to many is the
most surprising feature Of the VITO
scope Is that it throws in the picture
exhibited any and all colors upon the
screen. But the explanation Is quite
simple. The colors are not obtained
by any Photographic process-the
film produced by the kaleidoscope is
monochrome-they are painted on the
films later by hand, in such a way
that the color will not rub off as the
film passes over the wheels Of the
vitoscope.-New York Tribune.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
CONSUMPTION Of Coffee.

According to statistics published
in a leading coffee trade journal the
worlds consumption OF coffee in 1907
amounted to 16,S25,O0O sacks, of
which 6,9SO,OO0 sacks were con-
sumed in the United States, $780,
sacks in France. leaving $4,000
for consumption in all other
tries.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
THE LAST JOURNEY.

The little t~rarc,er set forth
With enc last smile OF sweet content.
There are n footprints. south or north,
To show 10 Us the way she went;
No tinv footprints in the snow.
No flower 10y token backward thrown.
Sweetheart" we Went, why must yos
go?"
Smiling, she went her way, alone.
The little traveller went her way
And lett lis all who loved her so.
She iourneyed forth At break of day
A long. long way she had to 90.
The stars. were paling in the sky
Their kind eyes Must have seen hel
start.
We could not see: we could hut cry.
Some back TO Us, dear heart, deal
heart"
The little travellers tiny feet
Have found a path that we must find.
She was so little and 50 sweet!
We cannot linger. left behind.
We stumble. seeking. day by day.
o little traveller! Who will send
"A guide to point us out the way
To find YOU at the journeys end?
Francis Ba;!ne. in Youths Companion.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
How the French Farmer Lives
By VANCE THOMPSON.

The French farmer, Pierre, whom
I visited that year, raised 1000 meas
ures of wheat; 100 were laid aside
for seed; $50 went for the family
-four; the remaining 1850 measures
he sold at sixty cents, for $3.50. His
rye, barley and fodder, after deduct
ing seed and supplies for the cattle,
brought in $420. He sells every year
a pair of oxen-the old ones; last
year he got $3.50. The sale Of other
stock brought him $210. Another
source of income Is the poultry yard,
But this and the dairy may be set
aside as equivalent to the many
taxes that weigh upon the peasant
farmer. In round numbers. then,
P~ierre's income in an average year is
$500. Over against this he places
his expense thus:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Railways in Canada.

Twenty-Five years ago there were
1000 miles Of railroad in Canada. To-
day there are $4,000, with three
transcontinental lines. The total
trade of this part OF the British n
pire has grown from s34,00e.0 900 in
1851 to $3.50, 900 at present. and
the great impulse has come in very
recent years.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Turpentinc in India.

The production of %turpentine and
resin developed rapidly in Naini Tai
forest division in India during 1906
I. The profits for the year amount
ed to $11,333. The Government hay
ing put the industry on a paying ba-
sis. the enterprise will be turned over
to individuals. The tapping of trees,
however. will be retained under Gov
eminent control.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Miss Peck Climbs Again.

Miss Annie S. Peck, Of Providence,
R. l., the mountain climber, who sue
>eeded in reaching an altitude Of 25,-
300 feet on Mount Huascaran, but
sater was compelled to return to the
owlands on account of the illness of
one of her guides, determined to start
IN the second attempt to reach the
summit. Huascaran is believed to be
The highest peak in the Western
hemisphere. 1t towers above a noble
group of volcanic SUBMITS in the
south of Peru.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14

aigrettes, and made of velvet or silk
ribbon. This charming and unusu-
ally effective triie is generally en-
ployed for the new one-side trimming
effects that prevail at present, and it
does not exclude the use of the popu-
lar bead Misunderstanding Dis
patch.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
Every Letter in One Verse.

In the t~wenty-irst verse of the
seventh chapter of Ezra can be found
every letter of the English alphabet.
1t runs thus: and I, even I, Artax-
erxes the King, do make q decree to
all the ~treasu-ers which are beyond
the river, that whatsoever Ezra the
priest, the scribe Of the law of>the
God of heaven, shall require of you,
1t be done speedily"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-14
New York Hciresses and Titles.

1t is inevitable that our comments
on the union of American heiresses
to titled foreigners should mainly be
patriotic. But the effect Of the inter-
national alliance is permanently reg
istered on European society far more
than on our own, and one OF the most
interesting phases Of it has been the
subject of remark in the London Sat
urday Reyiew-the introduction OF
the free and independent American
girl into the hushed nd protected
zone of the Faubourg, where the
"jeune file" comes into flower in hot
house innocence.
The jealous care with which the
French mother brings up her daugh-
ter is p%roverbial. But this particular
proverb, unlike most others, is found-
ed on existing fact. The 'jeune
file" remains "the most innocent
specimen of her kind on the CONT
nent of Europe" She knows more
than she is supposed to know, even
in France. Curiosity persists every
where. But the restraints put on un-
married girls in French society are
in no sense obsolete. 1t is typical
that mo carefully brought up girl is
ever alone with a professor" 1t is
typical that "%scriptural history is
much bowdlerized" and that the ex-
purgation of French history is still
more complete. One has only to re-
call the immense number Of prettihed
novels written by Frenchlnen of gen.