davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

gether of the danger. Once in awhile we
see an accident and hat makes US all
careful for a day OF two, but II is too
much toouble to think about for long.
What Is to be done? The public insists
upon getting manned and slaughtered, and
II anything Is ever lone to decrease the
number of street car accidents II must
be by the street car companies. Signs
with instructions as to the proper way
TO get off nave helped some. mirrors
which give the motorman a chanee to
look down the footboard and see that the
young woman who swings gracefully
around in a circle as she gets off is safe
upon the ground, but none of these things
have really solved the problem.
But relief Is at hand. Martin Meyer
Of Omaha, whose friends have doubtless
never before accused him of being an in
ventive genius. has evolved a device which
Will absolutely prevent accidents due to
getting on or off the car while IL IS
In motion, and. OF course. when a car Is
quiet you can Chamber off as you please
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

This device Is called the Meyer Safety
Guard" and it has been patented in the
United States and foreign countries. A
company known as the Meyer Safety
Guard company has been organized and
they will be manufactured in Omaha
The man who jumps from the car from
force of habit will be out of danger when
some hand stronger than himself takes
him firmly In its grasp and holds him on
the car. This is just what the Meyer in
vention will do. A strong rail is suspended
from metal standards so that 1t hangs
at about the level Of the passengers elbow
and holds him close to the car If he stands
on the footboard. 1t is impossible to
stand on the footboard outside of this
guard and it is impossible to get off when
It is down.
The conductor is the arbiter Of the proper
time for leaving the car and when he is
ready to let the passenger get off the foot
board or from the step in a winter car,
he moves the proper lever at little effort
and the guard is raised. 1t is so slightly
built that it requires no great expenditure
OF muscle for the conductor or the motor
man, who also has control of It, to raise
and lower the guard at every street corner
on a trip.
In the summer the guards will be used
as an excellent advertising medium. Cards
such as are displayed on the walls Of cars
at present can be placed along the outer
and inner surface OF the board and when
raised or lowered these will be before
the eye OF the people on the streets and
In the cars.
II 1t were not the custom for a man to
leap from a car at the first opportunity
as II his feet ached for the touch of solid
pavement and II fewer people slipped up
and had their heads aching from the touch
Of solid pavement. both the long suffering
public and the street railway corporations
would be much better off.
In the city OF New York II has been
the usual average for the street cars to
kill about two persons a day. Many of
these are the innocent victims of collisions
and such accidents, but on the other hand
mich Of the trouble could have been
avoided by greater carefuiness on the part
Of the victims and would certainly not
have occurred II the cars had been equip
ped with a safety device.
Mr.. Meyer invites the Investigation and
trial Of his scheme and Is beginning to
consider himself a benefactor Of humanity
and If the street car companies are able
through his invention TO lessen the number
Of street car tragedies he will be just that
"a benefactor 10 humanity. Women will
cease to climb from the cars with their
eyes toward the smokers' benches and men
will not want to wait till the car stops in
the millsnium-but not before In the
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

tom among tribes for both men and women
to have themselves shaved from head to
foot before marriage. Among some peo-
pie the hair is pulled out. This IL also the
custom among our Moros OF the Philippines
and certain tribes of the Amazon.
The Batoro, 8 tribe which inhabits the
country between Lakes Albert and Albert
Edward, shave and oil their brides before
the wedding. The girls head IL scraped
off by the village barber, and her own
sister uses the razor over the rest of the
body. After this she is smeared from
crown to toenail with butter and castor
oil, the stuff being well rubbed INTO the
skin.
The sesse Islanders pull out their eye
lashes, and babies nave their heads shaved
shortly after birth. The old Zulu men and
women pull out the gray hairs as they
begin to appear, thinking that gray hairs
make old age. The younger women there
rub red clay and oil in their hair, and they
often plat 1t into string-like strands.
When they trim their hair in Pondoland
the hair dresser puts a strap around The
forehead, and cuts the hair level with this
by means OF a knife, stopping at the strap,
which protects the skin. After they are
married they often train their hair into a
cone-shaped mass, stiffening 1t with red
clay and oil for the purpose.
In all African countries the native men
are almost as particular as the women as
to the dressing of their hair. In Zululand
the married men wear rings around their
heads, twining tho hair over them and then
smearing 1t with charcoal and oil so it can
be polished. 1t is a great insult to at
tempt to pull off a mans ring. In many
places the men shave their heads, and up
here IN Rhodesia there is one tribe which
puts the hair up so that a great spear
shoots out right above the crown. This
spear of hair is sometimes so long that
the man cannot stand upright in his hut
without -disarranging 1t.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

TO never witness again. While I was watch
ing the work OF the flames all around a
red glare shot higher and brighter than
the surrounding flame. and dimly through
the smoke and flying sparks 1 could see
that the train was all ablaze. The heat
from the burning cars became so intense
that once more we were compelled 10 seek
relief under the water. raising our heads
at brief Intervals to get q breath OF air,
so i-mpregnated with smoke and fire that
II was like poison TO breathe 1t and at
ford us but little relief"
How the women and children stood 1t 1
am at a loss to state. but there were
enough men to care for them, and as some
poor creature became overcome and
swooned she was supported and cared for
until the awful period Of heat mad passed.
sim il was too hot for US to leave the
water. and for four hours we waited in the
swamp, with water to our waists. for the
shore Of the lake to cool sufficiently to
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

a glass tumbler. These same girls have
holes all around the rims Of their ears,
which they fill with rolls of paper.
The Nasal women load down their ears
with Jewelry, fastening great weights to the
holes In the lobes so that they are grad
ually pulled down until they flop against
the shoulders.
In German East Africa there are people
who wear great rings and plugs in their
lower lip and in the upper lip as well.
Such nam e~longate the upper lip 30
that it extends several inches out over the
mouth.
Queer Ways of Hair Dressing.
Until 1 came to Africa / thought the
American girl could put up her hair in more
outlaEdish ways than any other maiden on
earth. She has many competitors and some
superiors among the ebony bellies OF the
Black continent. It is true that these
African maidens in most cases ave to
conquer the kink or corkscrew curl which
covers their pates, but nevertheless they
AVE many creations which surpass the
wonders of the marcel wave, of our mighty
p~ompadours and the other oddities formed
with the aid Of the rat, the curling iron
or curl paper. The SudAnese braid their
hair in long, even curls, so that ii hangs
out like the snakes of the Medusa. The
Zulus put it up in mighty towers, which
often extend a full foot above the crown
Of the head, and down in Natal a BRIDE
groom goes out to court his sweetheart
with a pair of real cowhorns tied upright
upon his head, so that they look as If they
grew there.
Along the eastern coast Of Africa there
are many natives who braid the hair in
little windows over the scalp, and farther
back there are many tribes in which the
women shave the head close. This is so
with the Baganda and the Nasal. Many
OF the native women of Omdurman, in the
Sudan, shave not only the head, but every
part Of the body, and 1t is a common GUS
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
OPEN CAR WITH GUARD RAISED.

face In the Shiny Cunning street half inch
layer Of mud, and slid like a coaster for
twenty feet. When they picked her up.
she blubbered through the mud. Il told the
conductor / wanted off at Twentieth
street"
No one would be bold enough to say
that the woman was irrational or with
out sense. she was simply another vic
tim Of the wild desire which gets into So
many people to jump from a car when
a. is on the wing, so to speak, without
properly gauging the fall thereof. 1t is
OF no use 20 tell mankind that street
cars resent IL when a passenger turns
his or her back TO get off. That has
been explained in fifteen languages, but
the women folks take IL as q Joke, In
the same way men laugh at warnings hat
they are assuming too great risks when
they hop nimbly on and off swiftly NOV
ing cars with a flourish which says very
plainly. Rather graceful, don't you
think" And In the meantime tue street
oars continue to XIII people at the rate
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
bridal Cosunmes.

HEtdal Costumes.
The question of dress is not a serious
one in most parts Of central Africa. II is
different north OF the Sahara, where II
pair of bridal trousers may. as l have
stated, cost $500 and upward, and where
breeches of cloth Of gold are not uncom-
mon. The lightest wedding costume 1
nave seen in my travels is that. which
the women wear at the end of the Uganda
railroad. The men so absolutely naked
and the married women have on nothing
but a sort of fly brush tail about twelve
Then long, which they fasten to a string
around the waist. The tail thus hangs
down behind on a line with the vertebrae
and flaps up and down as one walks. 1t
is indicate for any man to touch this
candal badge of matrimony, and even the
husband is warned to let it alone.
In this same country the women wear
no clothes whatever until married, when
they adopt the tail. A little change is
now beginning along the line of the rail-
road, but a few miles back nudity pre-
walls. notwithstanding this the Kavi-
grade Of morality than their neighbors,
who are more or less clad.
A little south of that region I came
upon a tribe where the ladies wear about
the waist fiber fringes Of the length of
my hand or longer. and on the opposite
side Of Lake Victoria l saw hundreds Of
girls clad all in grass. I say ALL" but
this means only a skirt which reaches
from the waist to the knees. The young
girls wear nothing.
The Uganda women wear bark-cloth
and cover the whole person. They have
great blankets which they wrap around
them, binding them in at the breast and
waist. Indeed. they are so we'll covered
tina they could go through an American
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
give us a footing.

give us q footing.
When that time arrived the male portion
OF the party compared notes. We found
that Mr.. Holt Of Duluth, Mr.. Anderson CT
Minneapolis and myself were the strongest
Of the party. and we arranged to set out
for relief. In my grip were a couple OF
dress shirts end a night robe. besides some
other articles OF wearing apparel. We tore
the shirts into strips and wound cloth after
cloth about our feet until they were pretty
we'll protected from the heat under foot
and the burning olnders, sto Than we
wrapped our coats about our heads, after
Saturating the garments Thoroughly In the
water, and with q godspsed from the ones
left behind we plunged Into the smoke on
the way to Hinckley. 1t was an awful Jour
ney through the stll burning woods. We
stumbled and struggled on against tea rful
odds, now running through a wall Ut flame
and barely escaping being crushed beneath
q falling telegraph pole or giant tamarao."
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

stand up were forced to stand between
the seats, I'm front OF those sitting down.
as the curtains were tightly drawn TO keep
cut the ~lntruding rain. Before the car had
turned east on Cunning from Fortieth street
one little woman who sat In a front seat
with her i0-year-old daughter began to ask
If Twentieth street had been reached yet.
She was assured that it would take some
time before her street was reached hut she
worked herself into a state of nervous ex-
element by bobbing w and dow every
halt block and shouting wildly to the bad
geTed conductor. making a manful attempt
TO collect the fares. He was annoyed will
her unnecessary anxiety, and everyone near
her Joined In a chorus Of protests, telling
her that she would be told when Twentieth
street was reached. At Thirty-third II
took little short OF violence to keep her In
her seat. but when at last the conductor
shouted Twentieth" she sat as II daEed.
A man told her that Il was her street. at
which she walked to the tootboard and
pesrsd into the rain BY that time the oOn-
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
When the Woods Burn
CONTINUED from Page ons,)

body else did likewise. I felt as
though 1 was burning up. My mouth got
dry and / could feel my tongue swelling.
My eyeballs seemed starting out of my
head, and for a moment. as / felt the
flames above and seemingly all around me,
! think l lost consciousness l don't know
how long l had myself completely sub
merged under water. ] suppose IL was only
a few seconds, but it seemed an age. When
l raised my head the flames were roaring
on at the south shore of the lake, having
swept completely across the shallow body
Of water to the other side. All around the
lake the woods were on fire. and a wall OF
flame, seemingly fifteen OF twenty feet
high. completely hemmed US in. It was
an awful, aWs-inspiTing sight which / hope
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
What Wives Cost.

Sixty sheep seemed to me a big price for
a wife, ard I asked the Germans whether
many girls were not sold at reduced rates.
The reply was in the affirmative, but 1t
was added that a good, lusty woman was
worth something as a worker and that the
women were the slaves of the family. They
take care of the stock, cultivate the crops
and also keep house. The men do little
but loaf. Besides 1t costs almost nothing
to keep an extra wife there, as the women
are not allowed to eat chickens or eggs,
even the necks and Eizzards being forbid
den to them. In the Kavirondo country at
the northeast Of the lake, I was informed
that the usual price for a wife is forty
iron hoes. twenty goats and a COW, and
that these articles can be paid on Install
ments. In Uganda the government price
is 50 per girl, but more is usually given
for the daughter OF a chief.
Among the Nandi tribes the richest men
have from ten to forty wives, ard the price
for a good maiden of IA is six COWS. Girls
are often betrothed as early as Z, and they
are married at II. The COWS are often paid
on installments, and II no child is born
within a year after the marriage the hus-
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
Tx on WiXea.

Down in Rhodesla the usual price for a
strong, good-looking girl IL four cows, and
II she is the daughter of a chief she may
bring as much as five or six. The govern
ment taxes every native s. a year for his
hut and family, and this includes a tax for
one wife. II he has more than one he is
charged 10 shillings for each extra wife.
The Kaffir girls are married at as early
as 13, and a girl is often engaged at 4 or
8 years of age. Such engagements are made
by the parents, and several cattle form a
part of the dowry. 1t is a custom among the
Kaffirs rot to allow a younger brother to
marry until each of his older brothers has
at least one wife, and the father often
helps pay for the brides.
About Lake Shire girls are often be-
trothed in their infancy and they are some
times actually engaged before they are
born. In such cases the prospective groom
or his parents are expected to clothe the
girl until she Is old enough TO be married,
but as the only clothing in her early life
is a waist cloth, and often not more than
a string, the expense is not heavy. The
people there have from one to twenty wives,
according to their wealth, and in times
past the chiefs had harems OF as many
as 100 women each. AS a rule the number
of wives is decreasing all over South
Africa. and with the demand for foreign
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

of about 1000 in the United states every
month and devote about 7 per cent of
their earnings to paying damage suits in
court.
A street car is a very dangerous and a
very everyday affair and the combina-
ton of everyday association with danger
is sure to make people lose sight alto
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

ductor, not noticing her indecision, had
pulled the rope and the car was starting.
The woman left her little girl. and while ten
men yelled wildly to her not to try to get
off, she murmured r~esignedly that she had
to get off at Twentieth street" and stepped
into the dark. 1t was a most ill-considered
thing to do. She was thrown flat on her
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

on. The second bridesmaid stood behind
the bride-carrier and held an umbrella over
her.
As the party neared the hut of the
groom a score of other women, the rela-
tives of the groom, rushed out and scat
tered rice over the bride and the escort
ing party. 1 peeped into the hut just be-
fore they arrived, and thus got a look at
the bridal chamber. 1t was a dark closet
shut in by bark-cloth, and the bed was of
cowskin. 1 was told that the groom was
not yet present and hat he would come
In and take possession after the brides
maids had arranged everything and fitted
the hut for the pair. He had already
given sixty sheep to his father-in-law
and one sheep to the brides sister.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
Old Beauty spots.

Our American bellies adore dimples, and
1t is said that their dlmples are some
times artificially made. They adorn their
white faces with black patches of court
plaster, and also comb their hair in out
landish shapes. l have seen an American
beauty with a diamond set in one of her
front teeth, and we all know Of women
who paint, powder and enamel.
The same effort to beautlfy ones self goes
on throughout Africa, save that the stand
ards of beauty are different. Among the
Banyoro, who live north Of Uganda, the
women knock out the six front teeth OF the
lower jaw and the young men do the same.
The Jaluo women rave a similar custom.
On the south side of Victoria Nyanza there
are tribes where the women file their teeth
sharp like a saw, and the Buvumas knock
out two OF the ineisors, the price for each
such operation being four cowry shells or
a fraction OF a cent.
Most of the African women scar their
bodies to b~eautify them. 1 have seen girls
with Persian shawl patterns on their
breasts and abdomens, and others with
great welts on their forearms and cheeks,
marking the tribe to which they belong. In
the Sudan there are scores Of such tribal
marks, and each tribe has it's own way Of
soaring. Mutilation of the ears is com
mon throughout Central Africa. The Swa-
hills enlarge the holes in the lobes until
they become mere straps which will inclose
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

band may stop payment. 1t is among these
Nandl, as with the Nasal. who are found
around the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro
ard also on the highlands OF British East
Africa, that the unmarried girls dwell with
the young unmarried men in the bachelor
quarters and until they are old enough to
get married. A Nasal man is not sup
posed to marry until he is 30. Among the
Buvumas the price of a wife is two cows
and five goats. OF these the father Of the
bride keeps one of the cows and a goat,
the other four goats being given to the
relatives.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

- DARK. stormy night in June.
after a sudden rain had spoiled
- the pleasure OF . picnic at a
- well known Omaha park. a
9R94M party OF the pioknicksrs was
GS returning home on a Cunning
street car. The car was disagrssably
crowded. and the people who a to
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13
CLOSED CAR WITH GUARD DOWN.

back platforms at the level OF a passengers
elbow when standing on the step and the
two sections. for front and rear entrance
will be operated by the same lever. This
lever will extend along the inside OF the
car just as the bell rope does so that the
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

city without being arrested by the police.
this would not be possible for a Kavinrondo
woman.
Down here near Broken Hill the women
wear a cloth which reaches from the
waist to the knees, and also a kind of
cotton dickey over the breast and black.
They are plump, lusty-lookng maidens,
and can use the native hoe and mattock
far better than the men. Indeed the men
do almost no work in the %cornfields. that
work being left to their wives.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

meantime something is necessary to save
their lives against their wills and Mr..
Meyers invention seems likely to do it.
The safety guard will work equally we'll
on summer and winter cars. On the closed
cars It will extend across both front and
Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-13

I'oo' UF trHnK O. Carpenter.)
tOkEN HILL, Northwestern
hhodesia.-(speclal Correspond
ence Of The Bee.)-Before I
leave the heart Of the black
continent. to start south for
The Mhlia mani ALL -
Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-04-08
Hancock Has Candidate.
to Times-Repuhlican.

Special to TimeS-Republfcan.
Britt April 8.-Political matters are
fast assuming proportions in this part
of the state The matter Of the state
senatorship has been hanging fire for
some time, with no definite move by
anyone until just recently, Mr.. Stew
ems being the aspirant in Cerro Gordo
county for the office.
Mr. John Hammill, of this town, has
also announced his candidacy and the
race will be between Hammill and
Stevens. This district is composed of
Cerro Gordo, Franklin and Hancock
counties, and Hancock claims it is its
turn. Franklin county has had 1t
eight years, Cerro Gordo six years. and
from present prospects Hammill
stands an excellent show of winning
out.
John Hammill has served both as
secretary and president of the State
Association of County Attorneys, and
served two terms as attorney for Han
cock county He is recognized as a
brilliant young man who would serve
his district with honor and credit to
the state TIe will receive unanimous
support from this county.
II is also rumored that Mr.. John A.
Senneff, of this place, a rising at
torney, is after Judge Clyde's posi-
ton, but of this there will undoubt-
edly be definite developments in the
future
Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-04-08
ROMANCE SOON ENDS
Cedar Rapids Society Girl
Repents of Her Hasty
Marriage
HUSBAND ARRESTED AT ALTAR
Now tho Bride Begins Action to Sc
cure Divorce from Charles Raymond
Jones, an Acquaintance of Two
Months-Grounds of Petition Not
Made Public.
to Times-Republican

Special to Times Republican.
Cedar Rapids, April S.-Cedar Rapids
social circles are once more agog over
developments In what proved to be one
Of the biggest sensations known here
in many years. Grace Russell Jones
has commenced an action in the dis
trict court against Charles Raymond
Jones, to whom she was married less
than month ago, for divorce. All the
papers have been withdrawn from the
files, and the grounds upon which the
divorce is asked are not known. But 1t
is understood that 1t is quite sensa-
tional in it's character.
Grace Russell Haas and her pretty
sister figured in double wedding at
their home, the grooms being Charles
Raymond Jones and Paul Franklin
Darr. AS the concluding words Of the
ceremony were being pronounced a
constable raped at the door, armed
with warrant for the arrest Of Jones
for defrauding the Montrose hotel of
this city. AS he stepped from the
door he was placed under arrest He
succeeded in adjusting the matter, but
an hour and half later he was ar
rested II second time, charged with de-
frauding a hotelkeeper at Dubuque.
Jones was taken to the police station
and his bride, who was just about to
step on a train to start on her honey
moon, returned home with her par
ents.
Since then the name of Jones has
been connected with several question
able escapades and 1t is said that the
petition for divorce teens with allega-
tons concerning his past life. He had
known Miss Haas but two months at
the time of their wedding.