davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
ROAD and EARN
IMPROVEMENT
FARM NOTES.

Any farmer can make his farm
model with time, planning and work.
Getting along with anything that
viii do is not making the most of con-
ditions
With corn, as with animals, do not
forever be mixing and crossing breeds.
By fertilization, cultivation and Sc
lection, try to improve the breed. and
seed corn to sell.
1t is best to manure corn ground in
the winter and pillow or disk it under
in the spring.
Every beekeeper needs one or more
books on bee culture, dealing with the
keeping of bees.
Farmers in general now are build
ing in more substantial way. The
use Of concrete is responsible for a
part of it.
New corn as part ration is good
for horses doing fall work, and it is
excellent for fattening beef cattle.
Corn should not be planted on sod
which was broken up this spring for
the first time until late in the season.
The barn set on a concrete FONDA
ton looks substantial, and it is so,
and will last longer than the one set
on wooden posts or blocks
AS soon as the corn plants are tall
enough SO the driver can see the rows,
go into the field with a disk cultivator
and disk the ground twice
On a hard and shallow soil white
clover does not ordinarily last more
than two years, but on the richer and
moister lands it will grow for many
years without reseeding.
Many farmers are so intent on ma
king money for the moneys sake that
they take no thought of the great pos
sibilities of perfect living in the coun-
try.
Alfalfa is SO unlike any other forage
crop that it requires method of curing
altogether different from that used in
curing timothy, clover or any other
meadow grasses.
prolific queen bee will during her
life lay 100000 eggs, each one-four-
teenth of an inch long Put together
they would make a chain 1874 miles
long.
Bees are worth all the trouble they
require to fertilize the stigmas of the
flowers in your orchard The yield
of honey is clear profit
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
look His Nerve.

The big man put on his red slippers,
lit his meerschaum, and opened his
afternoon paper.
Him." he soliloquized, ,glancing
over the foreign news. 'If was the
president of Nicaragua I'd put down
these puny uprisings the have every
day or two"
Then he turned to the sporting page.
"And if | was Jim Jeffries I'd put
down all these reports about being a
has BEEN"
The next page was the news from
Washington.
And if 1 happened to be Bill Taft
I'd put down the trusts In short or.
der"
Just then his wife came in with
tiny hammer and box Of tacks.
John" she chirped, "as long as
you are getting so anxious to put
something down, suppose you take
this hammer and box of tacks and
put the mating down"
But John beat it to the club.-Chi-
cago News.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Dredging Foreman Could Pass Away
With the Consciousness of
Victory Won.

An army officer, who had been in
Panama recently, tells this story, says
the Washington Post, of Laurent
Roquebert, who was general foreman
of dredging at the Pacific entrance to
canal for 20 years. He went to the
isthmus under the old French COM
pany, and had remained on the job
ever since.
A short time ago he was badly
crushed in one of the dredges, and lay
In a critical condition in the Ancon
hospital One of the engineers went
to see him.
How many yards?' said the injured
man, feeDly, referring 10 the dredging
account for the month. When told
that they had taken out more cubic
yards than In any previous month, he
smiled and whispered:
And the Gopher, what did she do?"
The Gopher, like the dredge-master,
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
RANCHER'S ODD WATCH CHARM

A splinter of bone an inch and a
half long will be the watch charm
worn hereafter by D. L. Maupin, own
er of large bee ranch in Inyo county,
California. The splinter of bone was
removed from the lumbar portion of
his spine In an unusual operation per-
formed by Doctor Weliborn of Los
Angeles and Drs. w. H Newman and
E. P. Bailey of Long Beach. For years
Maupin had been an almost helpless
invalid, and physicians had no way of
diagnosing his trouble. Recently he
told physicians that number of years
ago he slipped and fell while rolling a
big stone and that he suffered what
he supposed was a sprain. Taking
this clue. the physicians suggested an
operation. 1t was found that a piece
had been broken off one of his verte-
brae and interfered with the muscular
attachment. Today Maupin Is feeling
like his old self.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
CURIOUS FUNERAL

The Viscomtesse de Vaugelet, who
recently died in Frances at the age of
seventy-seven, left the bulk of her
fortune, estimated at 100000, various
minor legacies being deducted, to the
town of Riom on certain curious con-
ditions, which were all, or nearly all,
complied with. She insisted on an en-
tirely white funeral, with white trap
pings, white flowers and white horses.
No white flowers were discovera BILE in
the country, but in other respects her
wishes were obeyed The late Wis
comtesse seems to have been particu-
larly musical, for she bequeathed 5000
to the local band on condition it play
ed Chopin's Funeral March" contin-
uously during the obsequies all the
way from the house to the church, and
from-the church to the graveyard, a.
distance of 16 miles. The result was
that the band played Chopin's Flu
neral March" 81 times, and then re-
tired almost inanimate to a village
inn, where portion of the 5000 was
consumed in drinks.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
DOG Is A MAIL CARRIER

Uncle Sam has a mail carrier which
covers a definite route twice every
week day, rain or shine, in the noun
tains near San Bernardino. but re
because she does not receive official
recognition. The carrier is a dog be-
longing to J. H. Wagner, a county en-
ployee, who lives two miles up Wa
terman canon. She is half collie and
the other half of doubtful origin. Her
master has named her Topsy.
Wagner raised the animal from a
puppy. AS he was too busy to go for
his mail, he conceived the idea of
teaching the dog to do this duty for
him. He had a blanket, with pockets
on each side, made for her.
For several years she has carried
his mail. In the morning the blanket
is buckled on her. Without waiting
for caress or a word, she starts off
She covers the round trip of four miles
in a few minutes. She performs a
similar duty in the afternoon.
On one side of her blanket is print
ed u. S. Mail. Please Don't Bother
Me-" The request is needless, for any
person who attempted to modest her
would probably be taught a lesson.
She seems to feel the Importance of
her mission. She never gives another
dog a look as she speeds along.
The postmaster has grown so &C
customed to having the animal come
at an appointed hour that he worries
If her master has been a few minutes
late In starting her. She waits patient
ly while the mail is put on her back and
then dashes away. 1t would be use
less for the official to attempt to de-
tain her.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
ROADS NEEDED BY FARMERS
Those Leading From Farm to Rail-
road Station and to School House
Most Essential.
(By HOWARD H. GROSS

l. -
We are constantly seeing exploited
in the newspapers schemes of road
building that ought to be condemned
rather than favored. One wildly ex-
travagant enthusiast urged the build
ing of a boulevard 200 feet wide from
New York to San Francisco; another
a great macadamized highway. con-
Meeting all the state capitals. In Iowa
at this writing there is a great deal
of enthusiasm over a road from river
to river, not a irst-class permanent
road, but earth roads improved as
much as may be by dragging. A Lin
coin memorial road has been proposed
from Chicago to Springfield. The
above are not the highways that the
people need or the roads that should
be built Why should we tax our
selves to build a speedway from the
Atlantic to the Pacific? Or who would
want to travel from state capital to
state capital over a highway? The
roads that are needed, and the ones
to get are those that lead from the
railway station to the farm home, over
which the food products of the world
pass to reach the market. the doctor
to relieve the suffering, the children
to go to school These will in due
course be connected up and give us
network of good roads throughout
the land. These roads will increase
property values, make country life
better worth the living, add to our
joys and diminish our sorrows. and
help to make the farm home so at
tractive the boy and the girl will not
be eager to leave it. 1t will make the
township central school possible,
whereby the boys and the girls can
get a high school education and live
at home. These considerations are
fundamental and far-reaching, and
well worthy our effort The writer
has no objection to automobiles nor
does he question their right to use
the highways; but the larger interest
of the whole people is not best served
by building speedways for joy rides.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Fields Prophecy of Wireless

dressing for dinner But | am going
out to dinner, and must hurry. have
some important news to tell certain
men"
So, while Mr. Field shaved and 9TH
erwise prepared himself for his ap-
pointment, we talked. OF course, there
was much conversation about trans
atlantic cable communication, and Mr..
Field rehearsed for me many of the
now well-known difficulties that he met
with and surmounted in his efforts
to lay a permanent cable between
the two worlds. Then rather sudden
ly-and in the midst of a reminiscent
sentence, if l remember this little
detail correctly at this late date-he
broke off abruptly and stood gazing
out Of nearby open window. His
attitude was that of one in deep
thought.
At last he faced me again.
DO you know" he said in his char
acteristic quick stacatto utterance,
ION the last two or three trips that
l have made to Europe, | have been
doing good deal of thinking. Elec-
tricity is everywhere. All you have
got to do is to capture it and control
it. Now, If an electric current can be
carried by wire under the sea, why
can't it be carried by natures wire
over the sea? | don't know how it
can be done. The inventors will have
to show that. But l don't for the life
of me see any reason why we can't
have some instrument on this side of
the Atlantic, and some instrument on
the other side, that will capture the
electricity in the air and make it
send message. ] don't know wheth-
er it will be in my day or not-in-
ventions come thick and fast nova
days-but l am pretty sure that some
day somebody will show how messages
can be sent across the Atlantic,
through the air, without the aid of any
wires whatever"
A wonderful prophecy, you say, in
view of the world famous triumph of
Marconi, which came years after Mr..
Fields death? And yet at the time
that the father of the transatlantic
cables made the prophecy to me out
of his deep knowledge of things cleo
trical, it made very little impression
on me- In fact, | did not recall it to
mind until all the world was marvel
ing at Marconi's feat of sending cleo
trical messages through the air with
out the aid of wires.
Copyright, 1910. by E. J. Edwards.)
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Polly Told Importunate Callers and
Bores to "Shut Up and Saved
Actor and Playwright Much
Trouble.

L. was in the late seventies, about
three years before his death, which oc-
Cured in June of 1880, that | called
by invitation upon John Brougham
the famous Irish actor and playwright,
who is best remembered, perhaps, as
collaboration with Dion Roucicault in
the comedy, London Assurance" and
the author of what many critics still
consider the best American burlesque,
"Pocahontas."
The room in which the playwright,
then in the early sixties, received me
that evening appeared to be his IL
brary and study combined. 1t was
dimly lighted. The dying embers of
an open CRATE fire cast shadows but a
few feet into the room, and the only
other light was heavily shaded desk
lamp. Most of the room was in
deep gloom, my host, his desk and it's
contents being the only objects about
me that could be seen with any degree
of distinctness
Mr. Brougham gave me a more cor
dial welcome and then began speaking
AL q vel INV tOl1O vi FOlCC, 81 IAdI DIT
times it was difficult to follow him.
Finally, he asked mo a question.
started to answer, when, suddenly,
there came from out the gloom and ap-
parently not far from Mr.. Brougham's
elbow the brief but explicit com
mand: Shut up"
Nonplussed, looked at Mr.. Broug-
ham, but. apparently, he had heard
nothing. So, marveling greatly,
went on with my answer, only to be
told again, as l neared the end, to
Shut upi" fl tone of voice that was
even more shrill than that used in Civ
ing the first command.
Again, Mr.. Brougham apparently
heard nothing, for he took up the line
of conversation where | left off and
pursued it easily, as if nothing out of
the ordinary had happened. Finally
he asked me another question, | start
ed to answer, and for the third time
came that discourteous command to
me: Shut up! Shut up, | tell you'll"
Perhaps it was the extremely shrill
screech in which the final words were
uttered that aroused Mr.. Brougham to
take heed to my embarrassment. A
curious smile began to play over his
features, he wheeled around il his
chair, and addressed himself to the
gloom. Keep still, POLL" he said,
speaking in the same low key, this
is a friend of mine" Then he turned
to me.
Il must apologize to you for forget
ting to notify my faithful guardian
that he must keep still while you were
here. Had | said to him when we
came into the room: Poll, this Is my
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Photograph Sleeps and Wakes.

Changeable photographs of an un-
preeedented novelty, taken after
method perfected by the secretary of
the faculty of sciences in the Univer-
sity of Marseille, NJ. Estanave,' were
lately elucidated before the Academy
of Sciences at Paris, and are now Gre
ating a sensation in the scientific pa
pers. M. Estanave, it seems, pro-
duced what is called technically a
"dia-positive" on a glass of a sleeping
woman. BY inclining the picture ever
SO little, and then shaking it trifle.
the eyes of the picture apparently open
like the orbs of a porcelain doll. In
the photograph. however, the entire
countenance becomes radiant with the
most animated expressveness. When
the photograph is inclined to it's first
position, the eyes slowly close once
more.-Current Literature.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
HORSE EATS $1,000.

Hoke Scott. farmer of Seattle.
Wash, sold II acres of his Renton
farm recently for $4,000 He received
the money in greenbacks, which he
stuck in the breast pocket of his coat.
On his way home he stopped to tell of
his good luck sale to a neighbor, and
while talking the old horse he had
been leading reached over and pulled
out the greenbacks and masticated
them before the farmers could pry
open the horses mouth. The animal
swallowed good portion Of the
money, but the irate farmer saved
bunch of small pieces he managed to
pull off corner of the roll Hoke is
now wondering if the treasury depart
ment will redeem the money with the
aid of the few remnants he has col
lected.
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07

duced. From the stems and leaves
the fungus spreads to the pods, and
as many are rendered unsightly con-
siderable direct loss is occasioned.
The presence of the fungus is often
unnoticed until it appears upon the
young pods On these it produces
small brown or rusty spots, which en-
large and darken until they become
nearly black The affected tissues of
the pod dry, leaving sunken areas, in
the centers of which may be seen
small pink spots, masses of spores
which rapidly spread the disease
from plant to plant.
The spores by which the fungus is
spread from plant to plant are very
sticky when wet and are readily
transferred on the hands, clothing or
implements. On this account beans
should never be cultivated or gath
cred while wet with dew or rain. If
it is too much trouble to observe
these precautions for the whole crop
it could be done with little extra effort
for a small plat on which to grow seed
for future planting.
If the following recommendations
are observed but little loss will result
from anthracnose:
/. Plant seed free from disease.
2. Keep away from the plants while
they are wet.
g. Remove and burn diseased
plants as soon as they are observed
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
mas Decoration is Death to
the Trees.

Persons familiar with the mistletoe
only as a sentimental adjunct of
Christmas decoration will be sur
prised to learn that in many parts of
the country it is an injurious pest of
sufficient magnitude to lead advocates
of forest conservation to consider
ways and means of suppressing it.
Under the direction of the depart
ment of agriculture, William l. Bray.
forest pathologist, has made a care
full investigation of the havoc wrought
by this particular parasite, which
grows upon many species of broad
leayed trees throughout the southern
states, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona,
California, Oregon and Washington
He says that there are localities in
which mistletoe becomes so abundant
upon the trees, and so harmful to
them, as to make the control of it or
its determination serious practical
question"
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Parrot Protected Broughan1

friend, and l want you to keep still,
We should not have been disturbed.
Had he told you before to shut up?"
yes, several tines | replied.
THAT is too bad" said Mr.. Brough-
am; 81 hope you'll pardon me for my
forgetfulness. And yet" and he
smiled mischievously-"m parrot is
most valuable ally. You see, | am fire.
quently afflicted with unannounced and
unlocked for visits from importunate
persons and bores, and when such
person comes it makes it all the easier
for me to get rid of him if | do not
give Poll to understand that he must
keep still while the visit is on. Other
wise-well, unfortunately, you have
learned by experience how Poll tries
to help me when am in trouble"
For an hour thereafter | remained
with Mr.. Brougham, and during that
period the bird that, before being
warned, had tried to drive me out of
his masters presence maintained
most respectful and dignifed silence
out there in the gloom, somewhere
near to his owners elbow.
Copyright, 1910, by E. ]. Edwards.)
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Call Mistletoe a Pest

The species of mistletoe which has
played so important a part in the
worlds literature and romance is
found only in Europe, where it grows
upon the apple. hawthorn, sycamore,
poplar, locust and fir trees. 1t is &C.
casionally (but very rarely found up
on oaks. The oak, as is well known.
was the sacred tree of the Druids:
and when the mistletoe was found
growing upon an oak this strange
priesthood believed that tree to be es-
pecially designated by the gods for re-
ligious uses. Elaborate religious cere-
monlals were celebrated under such
trees, ending with the sacrifice of two
white oxen, after which the mistletoe
was cut down. The ancient Germans
also held the parasitic plant in super
stitious veneration, and the Celts re-
garded it as possessed OF magical
properties.
Probably the only way of getting
rid of the mistletoe, in regions in
which it is so abundant as to
be q real menace to the forests. is
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07

After swallowing indelible ink, Ar
thur Floyd, two years old, son of J. c.
Floyd of Austin, Tex, has turned blue.
His case is the first of It's kind to
come to the notice of local physicians.
The skin of the body turned blue with
in three days after swallowing the
ink and according to medical theory
will remain that color as long as he
lives.
The physician diagnosed his attic
ton as argyria, produced by a poison
ing of the skin with nitrate of silver
contained in the ink he drank.
The child was found playing with
a bottle of ink by his parents and the
physician called in. Soon he began
changing color and before night his
skin was a shade between blue and
black
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
| New NEWS =
Of YESTERDAY
~. % E0znQ<A~

swerved outward before it reached
the batsman. Then, when | had
thought about this a little. l said to
myself: That ball does not go in a
straight line until it begins to fall;
it curves outside of the horizontal
line, and that is the reason why bats
men cannot hit it.
Wen, / studied and experimental
until. at last, / found that if / held
the ball between my fingers and
thumb in certain way, and gave it
a certain twist of wrist just as l de-
livered it, then the resultant motion
that the ball took produced a curve.
| wondered how that could be, and l
made up my mind that the rotary mo-
ton of the ball created a vacuum On
one side, the outside, and the pressure
of the air on the other side caused it
to swerve. l had found out the secret
of the curved ball l afterwards
taught it to Tommy Bond, and he
could make a ball curve either way"
In this modest way the discovered
of the curved ball, which has made
modern baseball possible, narrated to
me the story of his great find
Copyright, 1910. by E. ]. Edwards)
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
In 1873 He Declared the inventors
Would Find the Way to Send
Electric Messages With
out Wires

In the summer of 1878 Cyrus w
Field, who gained lasting fame when
finally he had laid working subma-
rine telegraph cable between America
and Europe, returned from one of his
frequent trips abroad. He arrived
home in the early afternoon, and at
five o'clock l called upon him at his
home in Gramercy square, which was
then almost directly opposite that of
Governor Tilden, the very house in
which Tilden received the news, first,
of his election as president, and then
Of the doubt as to whether he or
Hayes was elected.
From the top of the stairs Mr.. Field
called out, bidding me to come up. He
received me at the door of his dress
ing room. His face was we'll lathered
upon one side, in his hands he held a
razor, and from his soap-whitened lips
came an apology: You'll excuse me
for asking you to come up while l am
Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07
Horse Reins for the Children.

Horse reins are ever a delight to
the nursery folk, and these can easily
be made either by crocheting or knit
ting. The reins should be about two
and a half or three yards long, and
about half an inch in diameter. A
thick cord should be run through the
crocheting when finished to strength
en- it, as many are the pulls these
long-suffering reins will have to put
up with Two broader pieces of work
are required to form the breastpieces,
and many tiny bells sewn on them.
One of these pieces should be at
tached to the reins by a loop, so that
they may be slipped up and down at
the wish of the wearer, to make the
neck piece short or long. The arm
holes should be attached to this loose
girdle