davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07
House Boats on River That Have to Be Take

the crew work the sweeps or oars when they
are the means Of propulsion used.
The house is divided off into from one to
five rooms, depending upon the size of the
family and the size Of the boat. While
many are eheaply constructed, others are
equal to a well appointed land cottage. In
many instances rough hunks or berths are
constructed on the sides for sleeping quar-
tiers. A cooking stove is set up in the house
and its sheet iron pipe projecting through
the roof takes the place of a chimney. Some
of the boats are operated by power.
The better class are well equipped with
furniture, a few even having organs and
other musical instruments, but Of recent
years the graphophone and phonograph have
proved the most popular Of musical instru-
ments, and when two or three are moored
together the crews usually entertain each
other in the evening by each in turn placing
the instruments on the roof Of the boat and
playing their entire repertoire.
The crews Of these shanty boats, as they
are locally named, are well named river gyp-
sizes, as they are water nomads. Today they
may be found tied up at Wheeling, W. Va,
a couple of weeks later they may be at Ports
mouth. o.; a little later at Louisville, KY;
then at Cairo, ILL.,, whence they float out into
and down the Mississippi, stopping on the
way at New Madrid, Mo-; Memphis, Tenn;
hatcher and Vicksburg. Miss, and Baton
Rouge and Bayou Sara, La, winding up
finally at New Orleans. There the boat is
sold and the owner and his family return to
the Ohio by steamer, 70 repeat the trip again
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

the next year. There is a fascination about
the life which cannot be appreciated unless
one has experienced 1t. The houseboat
dwellers are not stihed by convention, for
such conventions as they have are of home
manufacture. They are a law unto them
selves; they pay no rem or taxes and. above
all, their life is utterly without RESPONSE
bility.
The shanty boat folks come from all
stages of society. Many are young married
couples just starting out in life and hoping
in a few years to acquire enough OF this
worlds goods to enable them to settle down
on land. Workmen in manufacturing sstab-
lishments located in the river towns live on
the water in order 10 save taxes and rent.
A few invalids seek health outdoors in this
fashion and there are some plain tramps who
have no higher ambition in life than to get
through 1t with the least possible e~xertion.
Among the tramps are found the rin-raff
Of the river, whose lawless practices have
caused them to be dreaded by shore people
and the better class Of shanty boatmen. Most
Of their time, when they are not stealing,
eating, drinking or sleeping. is spent in play.
ing cutthroat euchre. OF which they are inor-
dinately fond. Quarrels are Of frequent oe-
currence during these games and sometimes
a murder is hidden by the waters Of the
muddy rivers.
Many Of the tramps' boats are run down
by steamers in the night. owing to all the
crew being drunk OF asleep and no light be-
ing shown. Many are wrecked on snags or
CONTINUED on Page Four.)
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

get mixed up in the wrong combination there's bound to be a riot
among the elements.
DR.. senter also has a bellows that he operates with his trusy
right foot. Sometimes he initiates tubes by blowing through a test
tube, but he always maintains that he can blow just as we'll with his
foot as his mouth. Any student that doesn't appreciate Or. senterS
humor isn't out for a high grade.
There are 1870 young men and women studying chemistry In the
high school and there are 1870 hearty laughs in his classes every day
in the year. He likes his work and he teaches his students to like
1t, too.
A little journey to the physics or chemistry department Of the
Omaha High school may be taken most any time Of the day. Drop
into the chem lab and meet DR.. Senter. You'll know him when
you see him. Most of him is hidden behind a big rubber apron and
the biggest part of his face is covered with a beard Of the General
Grant variety. DR.. Senter will take you through his laboratory,
where he teaches 100 students every day the mystic secrets Of the
elements and will explain to you the internal workings Of his work
shop.
In that workshop is everything from the crude candle to a COM
plete electric light plant. 1t won't take but a moment for you to be
shown some of the phenomena of nature. A few things are mixed
together and then they begin to work, From a large glass converter
a little hydrogen is drawn off into water and little bubbles arise. A
lighted taper is touched to the bubbles and there's a report that has
the average giant cannon cracker beaten to a kazee. DR.. Senter says
the action is caused by the combustion Of the gases when H2 is added
to o, which gives the chemical equation H2 plus o equals H3 o,
whatever that Is.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07
Must Be Interest

In order to progress in any line Of human endeavor there must
be interest. Cut and dried methods Of study are tabooed in the mod
ern class rooms and laboratories. The students are allowed, or
rather encouraged, to investigate the unknown themselves.
The mere knowledge that there are four elements which, in a
class by themselves are known as halogens, is Of no use to anyone.
1t may as well be forgotten. These elements are chlorine, fuortne,
bromine and iodine. This knowledge is of no benefit, either. When
the students learn to make these gases in the laboratory and learn
the uses to which they may be put in commercial and industrial life
they have knowledge of some benefit to them.
In like manner they learn the power of magnetism and the many
uses to which 1t may be assigned. Their human interest is aroused
and they investigate these things for their own cause.
The students are first taught to observe the things about them
the environment in which they ive-then they penetrate the I'M
known principles. They study the mystic theory of gravity, the mag
neuc force OF the lodestone, the condition Of heat, lighting and the
application of electricity, the sources Of sound and the secrets of
light itself.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

1S@HN ASNe 1870 $685.
couple Of the Mississippi valley
states are again agitating the
IN question of taxing the households
found in their waters. Every
once on a while the question is brought up
in some state, but it always ends in the
housebost man winning. for when one state
gets too hot for him all he has to do is TO
slip his cable and float away to a shore
where the authorities do not bother to col
lect taxes from a man whose home is upon
the waters.
About 1901 Kentucky imposed a license
fee Of $3.50 on all houseboats, with the re-
quirement that the name and address of the
owner and the date the license expired be
exposed on the boat in a conspicuous place.
This measure was intended more as a police
regulation than anything else, as the more
lawless OF the river gypsies had become bold
In their depredatons upon other peoples
property. The houseboat men fought the
law on the ground that the Ohio being a nav
igable river, the m upon II cannot be
hampered by state taxes. The law was very
laxly enforced, however. and no cases were
ever pushed to a final decision.
The houseboats are usually scows or nat
boats abe at twenty feet long by ten or twelve
feet wide, roughly constructed Of two-inch
planks spiked together and ealked with
oakum and rags and the seams made water
is built upon the boat and covers about two
thirds or more OF 1t, leaving a cockpit or else
a raised platform at each end from which
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

N THE third floor of the Omaha High school are two great
workshops Of science.
In these laboratories Omaha students seek to release
the enigmatical secrets of the universe-the supernatural
laws which make the wheels of the earth revolve. These
students are doing things in the shops of chemistry and physics, for
they have been taught TO realize that the development Of miracle
working interchangeable contrivances that drive the wheels Of prog
ress-really began with the elementary principles of these mystic
sciences.
the nations is linked with one source of energy-hre. When man
first learned to build a fire be made his start on the long road toward
enlightenment. Prehistoric man learned to keep himself warm, to
cook his food, to get metals out of ores and to forge them into rude
weapons of defense by the simple application of fame. BY means Of
signal Ares on the hilltops he flashed his first wireless messages.
Today we have the steam engine, the electric dynamo and motor,
the power printing press, the power loom, the telephone, the wireless
a telegraph and the flying machine. By means Of these and countless
Nother inventions one man can do the work of hundreds, the CONT
nents are linked together, darkness is turned into light and time and
space are vanQuished.
\ Stories of these wonderful inventions, of the struggles of the men
Who brought them into being and OF the patient researches and brill
liant discoveries Of the men of science, who established the founda-
tion principles upon which all these inventions rest, have their hrst
chapters in laboratories similar to the workshops Of the Omaha High
school.
The students, It is true. are following the weIlbeaten trails of the
worlds greatest scientists. but they are learning for themselves. by
personal investigation and practical application, the profound secrets
that transcend the ordinary laws by which the universe is governed,
Truths, almost incomprehensible, are made known to them through
their own efforts. Some day they may learn things about physics
and chemistry that are now unknown to science.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

When the students get their chemical paraphernaia lined up ana
working they come about as neaI defying the laws Of nature as .
Wright aeropane. From the students workbenches astonishing re-
suits are shown in a remarkably short space Of time. Little demons
of fire, or even the devil incarnate himself, seem to aid In perform
ing the feats of the wizard.
Each student in chemistry at the high school has a large expert
ment table with individual locker compartment, supplies, etc. Each
table is supplied with bottles of acid, various elements, a sink, gas
for supplying heat to Bunsen burners, electric connection and run
ming water. Then in the laboratory are various supplies and me-
chanical contrvances for general use in the laboratory.
Nearly all experiments are performed individually by the students.
though there are some that have to be worked out by two operators.
Data is recorded and results computed by the students from their
personal observation. In this way they virtually learn the secrets Of
chemistry themselves.
DR.. Senter has a way of arousing intense interest among the young
folks in their work. He ian talk technical matter in such a way that
it is interesting even though it's plain facts and figures. The way
he talks sense in a funny way and emits humor and sunshine is Just
like a slap on the shoulders from a friend when you are feeling blue
Students are taught to work in his classes, for there is no place
there for the drone or loafer. He wants his boys and girls to work
and work hard, and he teaches them to work and to enjoy their pur-
suits. He makes the study of chemistry interesting for them.
In the department of physics It is the same story. The 1abora-
tory is the workshop where results are obtained. 1t is the shop
where students get the practical experience and from experiments
and deductions the students learn the science of physics.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

unfolded to the students within the walls Of the high school rooms.
The new twentieth century methods of instruction have brought
out the salient fact that, in their own way, boys and girls have by
nature and disposition the keenest interest in physical phenomena.
So far as the science is concerned itself, the most important result
Of this Introduction of laboratory work into the public schools has
been the development in the public mind Of a widespread recognition
of the fundamental principle that knowledge is real and living to the
individual, only when it is founded on personally observed facts and
personal experience.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07
Modern Methods of Teaching

In the Omaha High school, as in all other schools of learning, the
methods Of teaching physics and chemistry have been revolutionized
within the last twenty years. The reaction against the loose and
deEultory methods previously in vogue was started by the emphasis
given to laboratory work in the new text books which appeared from
time to time. The movement gained impetus from the influence
brought to bear by college entrance requirements, and this pressure
resulted in a demand for closer personal observation by the students.
Practical work Is what we demand from the student" says DR.,
II. A. senter, head of the chemistry department, mot cut and dried
text book knowledge. We try to teach the student to learn for him
self. to apply the book principles to actual and practical life. We
want results, too-not the accurate answers worked out to the sixth
decimal place by 'doctored' figures and copied data, but real, honest
results from intense, personal observation"
Let the uniniuated visit the third door of the local high school.
aHe may observe a lecture room with a large experiment table in
front. in full view Of the students seats, arranged in q slopng gal
leTy. This is the class room and a small part OF the science depart
ment Of the school. The real facts are learned in the laboratories.
In the chemical laboratory one may see a student, attired in a
rubber apron, bending over the blue fame of a BunseR burner and
watching the chemical changes taking place within the transparent
walls of a test tube. At another desk he may see a student working
with large glass jars. from which is occasionally emitted rank,
chloric fumes. Another student is busy Juggling the symbols and
figures of a chemical equation, endeavoring to learn for himself just
what action one element may have upon another when placed under
certain conditions
Then in the physics laboratory the visitor views SIMILAR scenes.
One student is experimenting with that strange. unexplainable, weird
magical science which unfolds the phenomena and laws Of electricity.
Two jars here, in which are placed zinc and copper plates in an acid
bath, give on the Juice" by copper wire conductors. From the
fundamental stages one may see the telephone. the telegraph and
even wireless instruments in actual operation. Great secrets are
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07
Problems of the Gears

The teaching Of physics has been a problem that has confronted
school authorities for years. Within two decades there has been
a complete change in methods. The students are not taught ao-
cording to the modern system, but they are aided in learning for
themselves. They are told how to set up an apparatus and are I'M
structed in the matter of conducting an experiment, but the actual
work in the laboratory is done personally by the student. the results
tabulated and the deductions made. Such a system gives the mental
training that need emphasis and it also inspires in the boys and
girls a living enthusiasm for the subject at hand, and develops IN
them the scientific habit Of mind, the ability to utilize knowledge
and a just appreciation of the significance Of natural phenomena.
DR.. Herbert A senter is head Of the department OF chemistry.
for the first time and told the crowd to watch him and do likewise.
of Nebraska at Lincoln and then decided he didn't know all there was
he came back from Germany he was Herr Dockter senter.
DR.. senter is affabIity itself To those who are entente cordiaIo
at his laboratory or class room-and this represents his students ana
all others-he radiates good nature and good cheer and wisdom and
logic. All the student. love their teacher, too. He treats them ell
alike and has no favortes. He is popular with all. Dr. senter lives
on the sunny side Of the street and leaves room for others.
Prof. Nathan Bernstein is head of the department Of phydcs
Nate" Bernstein is an Omaha High school alumnus. After his
graduation he went to the White mountains of New Hampshire and
matriculated at Dartmouth college. Along about 1902 he knew about
all there was to know about physics and came west He served q
good term under the azure skies Of Colorado at Trinidad, then came
back to Omaha. This was in 1897.
Prof. Bernstein teaches physics, or rather teaches the students 20
teach themselves. When they learn their lesson well he teaches
them that Dartmouth is the best college in the world. He can throw
verbal pyrotechnics about things physiological that show that he
knows physics from p to I. His greatest formula is "wah Hoo wah. "
He learned this while studying physics up on the Connecticut river
on the New Hampshire side.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

You take a few pieces of zinc,
And put in your generator,
Add water, then plug in the cork
And pour in H2 S o..
The action was not very brisk
When l put in H2 8 o.,
So / tried nitric acid to see
If the thing wouldn't bubble up more.
AS l wiped up the acid and zinc,
And swept up the glass from the floor,
l concluded I'd stick to directions
And try my own methods no more.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07
All Necessary Apparatus

On DR.. senter's lecture table are water and gas fixtures, oxygen
and hydrogen generators, a compressed air tank, a vacuum, storage
batteries and a hundred and one little bottles and tubes filled with
the elements and co-elements Of science. If these various things
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

This is the woeful melody of the college boy who did" three solid
hours in the chem lab" and wound up his days career by blowing
a perfectly good experiment to smithereens. 1t would have ended
well, but he didn't follow directions, which simply goes to prove
that a fellow can't monkey" with things in the chemical laboratory.
DR.. Senter further illustrates the monkey theory" by pointing to
the ceiling Of his lecture room. The ceiling is spattered and soiled
and besmeared with the wreckage and debris of experiments that
went wrong" So violent was one explosion that pieces of card
board have been imbedded in the pIaster-not exactly imbedded, but
they are on the ceiling just the same.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-07

ECENT news dispatches said that a
couple Of the Mississippi valley
states are again agitating the
question of taxing the houseboats
Rnnnd In fhalr waIara ENarv
Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1909-01-27
ISSUE Statement
AS To CAUSE Of
SEA DISASTER
(By Associated Press.)

NEW YORK, Jan. &C. B. Rich
ards and company, agents for the
steamer Florida, which collided with
the White Star liner Republic, to-
night issued a statement to the eff
feet that a dense fog existed at the
time of the collision. The Florida
was proceeding at moderate speed,
blowing her whistle frequently. The
captain and chief officers of her navi-
CATION were on the bridge and the
quartermaster was at the wheel, and
the lookout was doubled on account
of the fog. AS soon as the Republic
heard the Florida she reversed her
engines. When the Republic became
visible she was crossing the bow of
the Florida from starboard to port
and running at high speed.
Published statements to the effect
that there was a misunderstanding
of orders on the bridge of the Flor
ida is untrue The orders given by
the captain were promperly executed
There is no foundation for the story
that any member of the crew was
struck or reprimanded by the cap
tain.
Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1909-01-27
OFFICIALS UNABLE
TO DISCHARGE
THEIR DUTIES I?
(By Associated Press. J

WASHINGTON Jan. 26.-"Under
the control of the speaker of the
house and the enormous power with
which he is armed, can an individual
member properly discharge ris du-
ties to the nation?" This query was
propounded today by Representative
Victor Murdock of Kansas in
speech in the house. Murdoch made
four concrete propositions. One
cites a case which 1t is said secret
service agent under the congressional
commission was paid $2S per day;
second, in which for twenty-three
years the president of the Michigan
Central railroad was paid $1,000 per
year as mail messenger to make up
pay for transportation of mails on
railroads wrich Murdoch said could
not be done under the laws. The
third instance charged that excess
payment of $4,000 per year was
made to Eads bridge at St. Louis for
mail charges. Fourth, payment by
the house of representatives itself
of $500 per year for trivial clerical
duty. -
"And, now" he said. 81 challenge
any member of this body who is not
chairman of the appropriation COM
mittee, to secure correction through
congressional action of these four
items cited over opposition of the
speaker, or without his consent, or
that of any of the chairmen.
Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1909-01-27
(By Associated Press.l

CARSON, Jan. 26.-The morning
session of the Nevada legislature
passed several local measures. The
most important bill introduced came
from Senator Mack. The bill pro-
vides for a general raise of state Of
ficers' salaries, the governor heading
the, list, making his salary $17,500
a year, and the salaries of other
state officers to average $4,000. At
1850 the senate took a recess until
12 o'clock, when the first ballot on
United tSates senator was taken.
Senator Boyd placed Francis New
lands in nomination, and President
Pyne seconded the nomination He
referred to him as the home-builder
and the pride of Democracy. Sena-
tor Syprus also seconded the nomi-
nation. Senator Woodbury. stated
that from the fact that he was elect
ed two years ago on platform OPP
posed by Newlands, he refused to
vote.
Senator Brossemer was absent.
The vote in the senate stood seven
teen for Newlands, two not voting.
In the assembly a bill regulating
stock exchanges received minority
report from Neil. A bill was intro
duced to provide for an exhibition at
the Yukon exhibition. In the assem-
bly, Senator Folsom, of Washoe,
placed Newlands in nomination, and
Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1909-01-27
BOHEMIAN, CLUB WAS
ORGANIZED LAST NIGHT

Last evening in this city Bo-
hemian club was formed by num-
Der of people who have in days gone
by been prominent in the affairs of
the Bohemian clubs in Denver, Chi
cago, New York and Paris. The OBJ
ject of the organization is to instill
Bohemian life into the resident of
this city and from time to time en-
tertainments will be given. The
high nomad of the club was for sew
eral years prominently connected
with the Bohemian clubs of Paris
and under his direction all entertain
ments will be presented in true Bo-
hemian style. The club intends to
give a grand masquerade dance
sometime during the month of Feb
ruary at which many novelties will
be introduced which will make the
ball the event of the year.