davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
The Elephant at Bay.

Twenty years of experience tells me that a whole regiment of lions cannot produce the same moral effect as one twelve-foot African tusker when he cocks his big sail-like ears, draws him. self up to his full height and looks at you, letting of at the same time q blood-curdling scream; while in all probability others invisible to you are stampeding on all sides with the din and vibration of all earthquake. Sur rounded in n dense jungle by a herd of elephants they seem to block out the whole horizon. One measured was ac- tually sixteen feet from edge of ear to edge of car. No wonder my inslgnill- cant self seemed to shrivel and my huge express rife to dwindle into a mere pea shooter. Try as I will on such occa- sions, l can never overcome my sense of terror, and always feel inclined to throw down my elephant gun and run for safety till drop.-Success Maga- zine
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
The Cruel WOoing
~~@N~O~N@~N

Exchange! Exchange. Well, why don't you. then: SODA, Gerard, please. - Yes. S955A."
 Are you Macgregor & Wynne? Has Mir. Wynne gone? I want to speak to him, please, If you'll put me through. Thank you"
 "Is that you, darling; You're not gone yet, then! Oh, just dress ing now. Well. haven't I packed the bag beautifully this time? Not forgot ten the studs or anything - : Not al all, don't mind being left a bit. - , Of course not, sweetheart, know you can't take me to a mans dinner. = Now, you're to have a good time and thoroughly enjcy yourself. Yes, I've had mine-a all l want. - No; 1t wasn't an egg for tea, then; 1t was an enormous meal. . Yes, and I'm go- ing to have m uproarious evening alone. . You'll never guess. I'm going to rend some old love letters found to-day at the back of an old desk. Yes, letters I wrote years ago to a man. Never mind who, you don't know him. ''' Why, it'll be
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
Does a Vacation Pay.

What a difference there is in what two people bring home from a yaca- tion One comes back tired, disgusted, bored. He has spent his money and doesn't feel that he has much of any thing In return. Another comes back all radiant with the riches which he has drunk In and absorbed during ev- cry moment of his vacation. He comes back rejuyenated, refreshed. inspired, new creature, with a new grip upon life. The cobwebs, the brain ashes have been swept away from his jaded brain. He has been made over anew. Life means more than ever before. His dimmed ideals have been brighten ed and sharpened, his ambition renew ed. Ask him If vacation pays, and he will ask you, in turn, If 1t pays the grub to throw of its ugly shape and blossom out into butterfly; if 1t pays a rosebud 10 open up its petals and fling out Its fragrance and beauty to the world.
 When you go Into the country, make . Gods great gallery of charm and beau ty to enjoy yourself and to see what you can get out of 1t. Resolve that you will come home laden with riches that no money can buy; that you are going to extract from the landscape-from the mountains, the valleys, the fields, and the meadows-a wealth which does not inhere in the dollar.
 Learn to drink In beauty and health at every pore. Try to realize that the flowers, the grass, the trees, the brooks. the hills-the charm and beauty every where-are Gods smiles; that they are for him only who can appreciate them, who can respond to them, who can ap- propriate their message. They cannot be bought; they belong only to him who can enjoy them.-Success Magazine.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
SOME STATISTICS OF CRIME.
Figures of Prison Population that Furnish Food for Thought.

A bulletin issued by the Census Bu- reau contains some statistics of the prison population of the country that arc startlingly suggestive, says the In dianapolis News The statistics are of June 2O, 1904. when the total popu- lation of the country was estimated to be S1,S01 SIS. At that time the coun- try had 1887 penal institutions, includ' ing four United States civil prisons. sixtyseyen State prisons and State and county pcnitentiaries, fourteen reform atories for adults, seventy-one munich pal prisons and warehouses and 1,isl county jails. At the date named these various prisons contained SLIP in- mates. an average of 1oo.6 per 100000 of population. The average seems ap- pallingly large. but 1t shows an im- proyemcnt over 1890. when It was l3l.5 per 100000 of population.
 There is some consolation In the fact that, appalling as the aggregate Of crime appears. the percentage of crim- inals to population Is not increasing. This might be due to remssness in the enforcement of law. but we are at least permitted to hope that 1t Is not tho case, the moral trend of the times being toward stricter instead of laxer enforce ment of law.
 It appears that of the total number of prison inmates on June 30, 1o04, IT, e6a. or 94la per cent, were males, and 4.503, or 5l3 per cent, were females. As there Is no great difference in the num- Der of males and females in the coun- try. the figures indicate clearly that crime is much more prevalent among nen than among women.
 On June q. 1904, there were In the United States nlnetythree institutions for .juvenile deiinqueuts between the ages of and q years. These institu- tions. included reforrnatories, reform schools. trunnt schools-in fact, all kinds of prisons, places of detention ard religious agencies for juvenile de linquents Al the date named they con tained 23,O34 Inmates. of whom 2.568 were In the Catholic protectory at yestchester, \. '.
 The number of Inmates in all kinds of institutions for juvenile delinquents increased from 14.S46 on June l, 1S9o 10 23.O34 on June 30, 1904. This was a gain of s,1SS. or 55.2 per cent. On its face, this is not encouraging, though It may be due to the fact that there were more institutions for juvenile de llnquents in 1904 than there were In 1900, and more activity in arresting and nonfining them.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

writer for a service Journal (The Nayy) has aScertained that the effect of the gun fire upon every part of the lire control system located above the protected deck was disastrous. A six inch shell burst in the improvised fire i control top on the mast and carried away the range-dndihg station in the very beginning of the simulated con- bat. Most significant and important of all, splinter of shell-not a di- rect hit-went through the mast, and although the mast stood, every Ole of its fire control wires was severed Thus was the most important prob 'em solved in the first two minutes.
 Then was asked the question, wheth- CT the modern system of fire control, with its most important installation in cylindrical steel mast ahd Its obser- vatory placed at high elevation upon l that mast. could withstand for any l length of time the fire of a straight shooting foe. IL was realized at once that 1t could not-that with the in creased range and deadly precision of modern high-powered guns not only masts, but smokestacks and other su- per-deck attachments are more thai, likely to"be shot away at the very be- ginning of the battle.
 This brought naval administrations face to face with new conditions. The need of some method of carrying range finders high in air had been noted in the battle of the Tsushima Straits, where the initial advantage had been gained by the Japanese, who had con- centrated their fire upon the Souva- rolf. Rojestyensky's flagship. Accord ing to Semenoff, a Russian officer on board the flagship, the mast of that vessel was shot away almost at the beginning of the action. This not only interrupted all further efforts on the part of that vessel to get the range of her antagonists from her fighting tops. but 1t also iLterfered with the display If signals.
 The need of some new method indi- cated by that battle was accentuated and made urgent by the test to which the Hero was subjected. Some of our own very alert and progressive navy officers at once set about solving the problem. The result is the test to which the monitor Florida was sub jected few days ago. The Arkansas, sister ship, was selected to do the firing.
 The Florida Is one of the new type of single-turret monitors. For the pur- poses of the test she was lowed to the
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
ZURICH A MODEL MODERN CITY.
One of the Best Organized and Most
 Perfectly Equipped Towns.

Seventy years ago, as we may see In the national gallery cellars, Turner found at Zurich one of the most love ly subjects of his brush. says the Bos- ton Transcript. It Is no longer TO- mantle old relic of middle ages, but It Is one of the best organized and most perfectly equipped of European cities, Its magnificent situation and rare nat. ural opportunities have been used to the full by its energetic citizens. If one is interested In municipal orsaniza- tion. let him study the institution and Rdility of Zurich Tt boulevards, quays, electric tram lines, its water supply its public gardens, its lighting. its railways and its post office. Zurich is now a model modern city, in size, in construction and arrangement, the ideal of what city should be to live in and work in.
 But I wish especially to call atten tion to Its new national museum of To- cal antiquities. IL is barely ten years old. but as a monumental history of Switzerland for 5000 years 1t is far the most complete collection in Europe. Neither London, nor Berlin, nor Vienna, with all their splendid collections, can show anything at all equal in historic continuity for a single country as Swiss patriotism has done at Zurich. Its fifty rooms record the evolution of the na- tional life from the age of the lake dwellers to our own day. And the value of such systematic collection of national monuments. industry and art can hardly be overrated. The his- torian and the artist might spend weeks of study in mastering it's varied ccnfarfS
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

T-himble Light Shoal, of Old Point Comfort. and anchored about midway between Cape Charles and Cape Hen ". The Arkansas took a position about $50 yards westward, so that the shots, after passing through the Flo rida's military mast, would fall into tue open sea. The shots were fired at range of about $50 yards with a reduced charge. so that the effect was practically the same as q range of 1000 yards with a full charge of pow der.
 It was the first time in the history of the United States Navy that actu- al conditions of warfare were repro duced for experimental purposes. Three tests were ordered; one to de termine the effect of shell fire upon turret armor and turret fittings, ont for the purpose of showing the use fitness, if any, of crinoline nets as a protection against torpedoes, and an- other, regarded by naval men as the most important of the series, intended Ao bSSt lIic ieIdpse sdIStS Ol Atn type of skeleton mast.
 The mast is described as a mesh of steel, 96 feet In height, and carried near the stern of the monitor. It was built upon double spiral principle. each set of spiral columns running In an opposite direction. At the top was platform upon which were two dum- mics weighted and wired for record ing the shock of the projectile. The steel rods which form the mast are two inches In diameter at the base. narrowing at the top. The experts who had designed 1t had employed all of their mechanical skill to construct a framework that would still remain erect though pierced by many shot. The mast WAS subjected to a thorough test and emerged successful.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
Upholdfna Authority.

It was a score of years ago that W. J. Connors, now Chairman of the New York Democratic State Committee, se- cured his first great freight-handling contract, and when the work was ready to start he appeared on the Ohio street dock at Buffalo and called a thousand burly 'dock-wollopers" to order.
 NOW" roared Connors, '.yez are to worruk for me, and want livery man here to understand what's what. kin lick amy man In the gang"
 Nine hundred and ninety-nine swal lowed the insult, but one huge, double listed warrior moved uneasily, and, stepping from the line, he said: You can't lick me, Jim CoLnors."
 'I can't can't IT' beloved "Fingy."
 No, ye can't" was the response
 "Oh, well; thin go to the office and git your money" said "Fihgy." I'll have no man in me gang that can't lick."-Success Magazine.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
DOOM OF THE WANDLE.
The Stream Where IIaak Walton
 Fished Ia in Danger.


 That great River Wandle-"the blue transparent yandalis' of Pope-the stream where old Isaaz fished for trout marked with marble spots like tor toise"-the river which even now is the most perfect epitome in beauty and in filth of big brother Thames-may be doomed, says the London News. Its fate hangs upon mere hundred or two of votes. II can be killed or kept alive just as parliament chooses when the River Wandle protection bill comes before our legislature in the course of the present year.
 But while gentle fishermen and quiet gardeners have always poetized about the river, men of the world have fought about it, well nigh from time immerno- rial. IL 1909 a deplorable scheme was set on foot for taking one-tenth part of the water between Croydon and Waddon Mill and conveying 1t by ca nals and underground pipes to the city of London for the benefit of Chelsea College, but so loud WAS the outcry, seeing that at that date the river turn ed twenty-four corn mills, that the scheme had to be abandoned and by an act of James I. the necessary water was taken from Hackney marsh. Even at the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury there seems to have been none too much water in the river.
 Again in 1799 a determined attempt was made by certain financiers and en- gineers to destroy the river at blow tween WaLdsworth and Croydon. Once more, however, the Wandle escaped by reason of its great commercial utility and the quaint Surrey Iron Railway" with grooved rails and tiny trucks drawn by horses, took the place of the proposed canal.
 But the Wandle Is still force and a treasure. It may be neither quite so beautiful nor quite so useful as hun dred years ago, yet the man who has stood on the bridge at Carshalton and watched the crystal waters slip past the arches to spread below Into calm pools or soak silently through broad beds of cress, or who from the bridge In Wandsworth High street has watch ed the stained and sullen current glide slothfully toward the Thames must be lieve that the River Wandle has still a place in the world.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
LIFE.

Give me taste of life!
 Not the tang of a seasoned wine; Not the drug of an unearned bread;
 Not the grape of an untitled vine. The life that is really life:
 That comes from no fount afar, But springs from the toll and strife
 In the world of things as they are. Give me the whole of life.
 The joy, the hope and the pain, The struggle whose end is strength,
 The loss that is infinite gain. Not the drought of a cloudless sky,
 Not the rust of fruitless rest: Give me the sun and the storm;
 The calm and the white sea-crest- Give me the best of life.
 To live in the world with God, Where the seed that Is sown and dies
 Lifts a harvest over the sod. Where beauty and truth are one,
 Where the right must have it's way, Where the storm-clouds part for stars,
 And the starlight heralds the day. Give me the toll of life.
 The muscle and mind to dare, No lu1ury's lap for my head,
 No idly won wealth to share. Whether by pick or plane,
 Whether by tongue or pen, Let me not live in vain;
 Let me do a mans work among men. Youths Companion.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

1 1t dashed silly way Of spending an evening""
 She laughed softly. "Oh, Gerald, you dear old duffer; you're jealous. Well, that is funny. - All right, won't keep you any longer; you'll be late as 1 1t Is. . What? No. Of course, I'm not cross. No, of course. don't mind being left. You conceited old hubby, you think I can't get on with cut you. - Good night. darling; en- 1 Joy yourself. . |. All right, l will. ''' Good night, dear"
 Maisie put the telephone back on the receiver and came into the circle of the 1 freight. She was piquant and pretty enough in a curiously indefinite way Her soft cheeks and fair, fluffy hair were still those of girl, but her mouth showed lines of suffering and her eyes l held secrets--the kind of secret wom- an does not share with her husband. shrewd observer might have suspected a hint of carefully concealed tragedy lu her past life.
 But she looked happy enough tonight and strangely young in her white tea gown. Signing luxuriously, she settled herself in the big armchair before the fire, with the shabby little writing case on her knee.
 The letters were mostly rough copies In pencil-scraps begun and then dis carded; preserved heaven alone knows why, and forgotten long since! She had found them all together In the pocket of an cd plotting book. How many years ago was 1t, four. five, six? Yes, 1t was nearly six years since she and Harry had parted. How she had worshiped that boy. She recalled their first meeting at a dance at Monte Carlo hotel. They had sat out in the gardens. IL had been love at first sight. The next day he called on her aunt at their ho- tel in Mentone and invited them to picnic. His connections were fire proachable, and the girl let her thoughts rush out of that white circle of wifehood and motherhood-overt the barrier which a certain prlm prudence born of marriage had erected in her
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

A young professor of mathematics. who played good game of tennis and was hearty outdoor companion, used to amuse his fellow vacationists by spending the time between games and fishing trips lying at ease, with a Ger man work on calculus or some other subject in the misty attitudes of science. He enjoyed his summer reading fully, and looked forward to his vacation feasts of leisurely study. What one likes to read Is the best summer read ing, and as every class of book Is liked by somebody, the consumption of the worlds literature probably does not vary much in kind from January to De cember. There are no literary fannels to put away and replace with literary gauge. No one has yet invented type of novel that comes in with asparagus and goes out with green corn. Summer reading Is a superstition of the comic papers and the publishers who imagine the entire world of yacationists lolling in hammocks, drinking lemonade, and perusing Dainty Dialogues or The Exciting Adventure of Captain Montre- sol. Sometime Officer of the Pink Illus sars" But If you look over Toms shoulder after a day in the hay field, the chances are that you will find him reading a book which he began in mid winter, and did not have time to finish. Grandmother is probably going slowly through Adam Bede" for the nise- teenth time and Mary's book is Boy Travellers on the Congo" Pudd'n'head Wilson" says that October Is one of the peculiarly dangerous months in which to speculate in stocks; the others are July. Jannary, September, April, No vember May. March, June. December, August and February" By the same token a peculiarly interesting book to read in August is one which Is not dull in any other month.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
Nurse for Shoppers.

"I haven't had a regular case for three months" said a trained nurse, but three or four times week I have peculiar special calls. l go shopping with women who have weak hearts or some other organic trouble which makes them afraid to brave the perils of a department store alone. Shopping Is with these women too serious an un- dertaking to be delegated to friend or even a professional buyer. At the risk of dying on the spot, they insist upon picking out their own hats and their own dresses. The only conces- sion they will make to deranged phy- sical system is the companionship of a trained nurse. So far none of my GUS toners have fallen by the wayside, but In order that l may have the proper restoratiyes at hand in case any of them should keel over l go shopping nowadays looking and smelling like a peripatetic drug store."-Chicago Inter Ocean
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

killed him. Success. like healtA. lies not in outward things, but within. We must not wait until everything Is right" for IFS to do some particular thing. We rust and rot away, awaiting chances, which never can be ours until we create them ourselves. Conova at one time, having no clay, modelled one of his divinest figures in butter. See what Bret Harte got out of the barren sands and sage of California. It was a finer assay than gold miner ever dreamed of. But the riches lay within himself The one whose purposes are right has only to dig, dig-confident that the gold Is there and remains only to be uncovered.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

Coal-burning locomotives no longer draw trains into the Grand Central Station in New York through the long Park Avenue tunnel. The last steam locomotive ran out of the station on the night of June 30. Electric locomo- tives are now used, and make travel much pleasanter, as well as safer. It is likely to be long time before cleo tricity displaces steam for pulling trains long distances, but for suburban traffic it Is probable that It will be the exclusive power within the lifetime of men now past middle age.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

There are many elements that enter into succeSs-but 1t Is easier to cata- logue the clements of failure. We maiu- tain health by guarding against the causes of disease, and on the same prin- ciple we may attain success by knowing and guarding against the causes of failure. In the cemetery of Failure are many epitaphs. Here are some of them :: He lacked tact. Was too sensitive
 Could not say No" Did not find his place. Didn't care how be looked. Did not guard his weak point Was too proud to take advice. Didn't fall In love with his work. Got in rut and couldn't get out. Never learned to do things to a finish. Loved his ease and didn't like to struggle Was the victim of the last mans advice. Was loaded down With useless baggage. Lacked the faculty of getting along with others
 Could not transmute his knowledge in to bower. Tried to pick only the How CTS of his occupation. Knew a good deal, but couldn't make 1t practical. 4 little success paralyzed hin. Worry
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

In the long warfare between the spider and the fly, the latter has had the housewife for its auxiliary and friend. The flies have been tolerated. even fed and nurtured. while the spl- ders and their webs have been ruth lessly destroyed. This unremitting and unrelenting war against IL keeps the spider population down. while the files increase and multiply by the millions and tens of millions, almost unchecked. The spider is ugly and his web is un- slightly in the estimation of most peo- pie, but spiders hurt no human crea- ture. They feed on flies, which are the foes of mankind, and do mankind a serylce.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
Speech and Action.

(Which is better?" Inquired the young patriot. ITO be a silver-tongued orator or a practical politician"
 Tt depends" answered Senator Sor- ghum, lon your personal ambitions. Some people desire the last word and others are concerned solely about the first ballot. Washington Star.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

John Hennker Heaton has been praised in England because of the sue cess of his long campaign for the re- duction of the rates of ocean postage between Great Britain and the United States, but the Englishmen do not for get the efforts of Elihu Burritt, the Connecticut blacksmith, on behalf of cheap ocean postage.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

The latest song success Is entitled "What's the Use of Jumping if You Can't Stay Up?" The writer evidently never experienced the pleasure of jump ing on somebody he cordially disliked.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22
Keeping Up.

Ii Is said that South American news papers have to be printed on rotary presses in order to print accounts of the many revolutions down there. Yet, of Blade.
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

Why can't We have a society com posed of gentlemen who have positively declined to permit themselves to be nominated for the vice presidency?
Alaska sentinel., 1908-10-22

A University of Chicago professor de n!es miracles. How would he explain the case of pretty girl worth a million who falls in love with her fathers bald headed bookkeeper earning s65 q month?