davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
SHOE SIZES.
flow the OF Measurement
Was Established.

1t is most difficult for many persons
to remember the sizes Of their differ
ent articles of wearing apparel. Col
lars, shirts and gloves are easy
enough, because in the case of these IL
Is a matter of actual inches. But the
hat and shoe numbers are what puzzle
most people, to say nothing of the
mystery why a No. IL stocking goes
with a No. 8 shoe.
This last puzzle is, however. easily
explained. Stockings have always
been measured by the inch from heel
to toe, but the numbering of shoes was
fixed a long time ago by a French
The Frenchman permanently fixed
the numbers Of shoes for all Europe
and America. He arbitrarily decided
that no human foot could possibly be
smaller than three and seven-eighths
inches. So, calling this point zero, he
allowed one-third OF an inch to a size
and accordingly built up his scale. 1t
follows therefrom that a man cannot
inc out the number Of his W shoe
unless he be an expert arithmetician.
Even then he Is likely to &c wrong,
because all the shoe experts allow for
the weight of the individual and the
build of his loot before they try to de-
termine what size shoe he ought to
wear.
AS far as women's shoes are on
cerned the problem Is still more diff
cult. because many of the manufac-
turers instead of keeping to the regu-
lar scale nave marked down their mum
bers one or two sizes In order to cap
ture easily iattered customers. Fol-
this reason most dealers ask out OF
customers to send an old shoe
with their orders.
The system Of measuring hats is
simpler. Any man can tell what
size he wears simply by adding the
width and length Of the inner brim
and then dividing by two. Orders can
also be SEM to the shopkeeper by stat
Ing the circumference of the head
Globe.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
POSTOFFICE MASCOT DOG.
Had Headquarters Mt Albany, but
Now Poses in WashinStOn.

oAI
Now Poses IL Warrington,
1nclosed in a large glass case in the
gallery Of the dead-letter department
of the Washington postofice is the
stuffed body Of an unattractive mon
grel dog, whose history can but inter-
est every one, especially those who
appreciate the wisdom and fidelity of
these almost human animals.
"Owney," the railway postal clerks
mascot" is the name by which this
dog was known during it's very event
full career, proofs of which may be
seen in the hundreds Of tags andimed-
ais that are attached to the collar and
harness which almost cover the body
and the space around him.
During the winter of 1886, this dog,
a half-breed fox terrier, blind in one
eye, cold, starving, made his way into
the postofice at Albany, N. Y. The
clerks took pity on his forlorn con-
dition and arranged to feed and house
him. He became devotedly attached
to his uniformed friends, and one day
followed a mail wagon to the station,
where he boarded a mail car, in which
lis LII dlltI
the train started. Eventually he re-
turned on another train to Albany.
Having once learned the trick. he
made frequent trips to different points,
turning up again in course of time at
the home office. His travels became so
extensive that the Albany clerks pro-
vided him with a fine collar bearing
the inscription. "Owney, Albany P. O.,
N. Y" At the next postofice he Wis
tied the clerks attached to his collar
a metal tag bearing the name of that
office.
This attracted the attention of all
the clerks whom Owney visited, and
tags of all kinds, metal, paper, leather
and cloth, bearing the names of places
he visited, were added. On his period
zeal returns to Albany these were de-
tached and preserved. Owney contin-
ued to travel from one place to another
for eleven years, always using the mail
cars, looking upon every man who
wore the postal uniform as his friend.
At times he was assisted in his selec-
don Of . route by the clerks, Who
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
New way to swear on Taxes.

The best way of not paying taxes
on your personal property is to swear
them OF. BY swearing of" is meant
going to the tax assessor and making
a deposition that you really don't live
where you seem to live, hat you real.
ly don't own what you seem to own,
and that, while o appaer to be very
rich man, you are really overburdened
by debts which you have hitherto sue
cessfully concealed. Since personal
taxes began, SO many ways Of swear.
ing Off have been invented hat the
tax authorities had come to believe
that there was no new tax dodge un.
der the sun.
But the tax authorities were mis-
taken. A few days ago a man came
to the New York tax commissioners
and asked to be relieved of his per
sonal taxes. Il nave only $4,000" he
said, "and that money Is In city bonds
and is being held in trust"
"For whom?" asked the tax com
missioner.
The question was unexpected and al
first there was no answer but the tar
commissioners insisted. Finally, in q
stage whisper, the swearer-or explain.
ed:
The money is held In trust during
his lifetime-for my dog."-Succesa
Magazine.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

A baby born amid the floods a
A%lfortville, Paris, has been namet
Moses.
Attached to a tombstone in a Har
lesden (England) undertaker's shop il
a care which reads: You may tele
phone from here"
A cents worth of electricity, at the
average price in this country, viii
raise ten tons twelve feet high with q
crane in less than a minute.
No coal Is mined in this country
lower than a depth Of 1900 feet, while
several English mines penetrate $500
feet down, and there are mines in
Belgium four thousand feet deep
Eight-inch seams of o are mined
commercially abroad, while few veins
less than fourteen inches thick are
worked in this country.
A oma who likes to have flowers
in her window but finds it imprac,
ticable to do so in the city has arti
fetal one painted on the glass. The
windows are high up above the street
and the flowers are in bright eolors tt
enable them to be seen more easily
The apartment house in which the wo
man lives Is OF Broadway, and the
effect of the art is very striking.-New
York Sun.
Montreal Is said to be in a bad san
itary condition. The water supply has
been condemned in parliament, and the
method of sewage disposal is far from
satisfactory. A medical member Of
parliament declares that the Montrea.
water furnished on the ears of the In
tercolonial railway, where alcoholic
drinks are not allowed, is a distinctly
dangerous beverage, containing dis
ease and DEATH" Typhoid fever is
prevalent in the city.
The number OF automobiles owned
by farmers is growing rapidly. Gu,
Of ten thousand autos in Iowa, five
thousand are owned by farmers. Kan.
sas farmers spent s. 5000, 900 for auto.
mobiles during 1909, and $2,75O,O 900 In
1908. In n Nebraska town of eight
hundred population, forty autos were
sold last year to farmers neal the town
and retired farmers in the town. Care
full estimate of the number Of auto
mobiles owned by farmers in the entire
United States is $4,000.
Corn grows in 12O days from its
planting time. Out in the great corn
belt, during 1909, the corn farmers
made the ground give up to then
SIS, 900, 900 every day Of those 12O. In
other words. every day from the time
the corn farmers put the seed in the
ground, $15,0oo.00o were poured into
their laps until a grand total of 1920.
| 00O, 900 was rolled up! All the gold
and silver in the whole United States
to-day isn't equal to this corn crop OF
last year.-Travel Magazine.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
MARX TWAIN's WATERMELON.
E4ory of One af the Husns-iat's '.A!
keyshincs', in Hannibal.

keyshines' ia lambda
Going to Bermuda, is he? Well, J
can tell him a plan thatll beat that
Let him come over here and climb up
and down the old hills, chop holes to
fish in Bear Creek and smoke some
Old Fisherman cigars and ell forget
be amt feeling peart."
Thus spoke Joe Tisdale Sunday
morning when told that his old friend
and playmate Sam Clemens had gone
to the southern stands for the benefit
of his health, a Hannibal (Mo.) CORE
spondent of the New York Sun says.
Mr.. Tisdale had been out walking since
z, without gloves, enjoying the keen
wintry air, he said. 1t was hen IL,
and everybody but Mr.. Tisdale seemed
to be wearing a heavy outer coal and
thick gloves.
He is a small man, a trifle bent, but
active and vigorous as a school boy.
There is only a few years difference
between his age and Mr.. Clemens.
Are you the nan who used to make
those long three FOR a nickel stogies
for Sam?" Mr.. Tisdale was asked.
Il made cigars, sir, not stogies," re-
piled the old gentleman with some in
dignation. Began down there where
Tom Foster kept drug store alongside
the printing Office. That was long be-
fore the war--the big war, you know.
there now and hen and bought smok-
ers; used to say they were the best
be could get. He was a bit particular
about what he smoked, even when a
youpgster."
What did the people think of Sam
In those days?"
They thought he was a darn fool"
The response was made with such
promptness that no n could doubt
the old cigarmaker's sincerity.
He vas a joke, Sam was. 1 re-
member one time he got a big water
melon, the Lord knows how, but any
way he took it upstairs and laid it on
his stool near the window. l was COM
ling around the corner and as I looked
up l noticed Sam spying up and down
the street.
Presently John Meredith comes
along and when he was directly under
the window Sam drops that big melon
right square on Johns head. Gee, but
1t smashed him. l think Johns first
idea was that some building had fall
en-.
John saw me grinning n came in
my direction like he was going to take
1t out of me. but when he looked
around the street and saw everybody
was laughing I guess he thought 1t too
big a job to lick us all. OF course Sam
wasn't nowhere in sight, but John
found who did it and he never spoke
to Sam from that day till they met
years after at Pixies Peak.
In talking about it Sam said he
studied a long while which would be
the most fun, to eat the melon or drop
n, on somebody's head, and he tipped
a nickel to find u which he ought to
do. The head won.
About twenty years after Sam had
left us he came back. l met him and
told him when he wanted an old-time
smoke to ome around to my shop. 1
got up a box of the Old Fisherman,
and when he and John Garth came in
l made Sam q present of the box.
There were forty-six big cigars In
1t. John Garth told me before he and
Sam went to bed that night they
smoked the entire contents of the box
except two, which they saved for
morning. 1 don't guess there are many
fellows who could smoke like Sam.
That's the way he did about every.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
CoLDle. 5ITY ON EARTH.
How People Live in Winter In Far
thest Siberia.

How People Live In Winter In Far
thcst Siberia.
The coolest inhabited place in the
world is undoubtedly ~Verkhoyansk, in
northeastern Siberia, with a mean an
nual temperature of less than 5 de-
grees above zero, Fahrenheit, and a
winter minimum of So below.
Verkhoyansk is in north latitude 81
degrees, on the great arctic plain,
scarcely more than $50 feet above the
level of the sea. Probably there would
be no town there if it were not neces-
sary to Russian government purposes
to have an administrative center for a
region where many thrifty Yakuts, the
fur-trading Jews Of Siberia" carry
on their operations.
All It's Inhabitants, save a few on
cials and other Russians, are Yakuts,
This does not prevent Its being a place
Of some Importance, for the Yakuts are
the most progressive people in north
srn Siberia, exceliing the Russians
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

thing he went at. It was no trouble
If there was fun at the end of it. We
never supposed he was training for a
funny writer, though. If he'd have
stayed in Hannibal and wrote all them
pieces that's made him a great man
the people wouldn't nave paid any at
tention to him. They'd just say, oh,
that's some more Of Sans fool non
sense and let it sc at that. He sur
showed good sense by getting out Of
Hannibal if he wanted to turn his
mOnkey-shines into dollars"
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
INDIANS TO KILL WOLVES.
How Colorado Cattle Men Expect to
Put an End to the Past.

How Colorado Cattle Men Expect to
Put an End to the Past.
Tough times for timber wolves are
looming up in the future. The latest
scheme for Kidding the White River
cattle country of these four-legged
marauders Is to let the Indian do it.
And this appears to be the best notion
yet.
When it comes to trapping or shoot.
ing wolves and locating their lens an
Indian knows what a white man would
never find out, the Denver Republican
says, so now the plan is to invite the
Utes up from the reservation in the
southern part of the State and their
cousins from over in Utah and turn
them loose to start the wolf massacre
in Rio Blanco and Garfield Counties.
The idea originated with Charles T.
Limburg of Leadville, a prominent cat.
tleman and banker He has taken up
the matter with the Office of the State
game and fish commissioners, where
the possibilities of his suggestions were
recognized at once. Various schemes
have been devised for getting rid of
the big gray wolves which slaughter
so many yearling steers in the White
River country every summer and so
many deer in the winter.
The wolves of the White River tim
Der country are exceptionally large
and fierce. A head of one Of them
shows them to have heavy, %capacious
jaws and long, keen teeth which look
as if they could snap a dogs back
bone in with a single crunch. 1t looks
as If it were up to the Indians, and it
is believed that they will enjoy the
outing with great pleasure, particu-
larly since 1t means getting all the
food they want while they are AVA
from home. with the chance of bounty
money thrown In.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
THE CURSE OF NOVELTY.

any basis OF reason, Without any sense Of cOnVictiOn,
with no real feeling in the matter except a craving for
something new and Uncommon, is dangerous to the
health of the individual and harmful to the commun-
ity.
The fearsome freaks which fashion annually invents
to cater to this spirit among women illustrate in a home
ly way the tendency of the times. But fashion is not
alone in it's craving for the unknown. Art, literature,
music, the play, law, business, every phase of life is af-
fected. Religion, morals and even the home do not es-
cape. Everything seems to be in a constant state of
Everywhere and at all times turmoil and
unrest exist. Comfort. quiet, friends, the joy that comes
Of familiar friends, old books, surroundings that give
one the comfortable sensation of acquaintanceship, all
these are lacking.
The American nation is losing its sense of location.
its feeling of the permanence of conditions, the sense of
home, which exists in the brain of the carrier pigeon and
the family cat. Those who hope to enjoy life to the full
should have a care lest they mistake unrest for progress.
and the temporary and superficial things of life for those
that are abiding and real-Chicago Journal.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

A Tender Spot,

II acknowledge, you honor" said
the prisoner, that l punched this man
in a moment of Indignation"
II wouldn't nave minded the mo-
ment of indignation so much" put in
the complainant, had he not also
punched me in the face."-Baltimore
American.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
The Food Topic.

The lady from Boston looked bored
The hostess noticed the fact with some
anxiety.
My dear Mrs. Fannel,' she said,
Il want the Honorable Mr.. Bobstay
to meet you. He's such a gifted con
v~ersationalist."
The lady from Boston failed to look
interested.
81 have met seven gifted converse
tionalists this evening" she said. and
their only topic was the financial alt
tude of the edible animal tissues
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

When . boy expresses a willingness
70 climb . tree to pick cherries they
aro not for his mother to put up,
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
DiXnffyinE Her Guests.

One suspects the first lady or the
State" who figures in the little story
below of a rebuke tempered with Id
NOR. While Thomas Chittendcn, the
first Governor of Vermont, was dis
charging the functions Of an executive
he was waited upon one day, in an Off
cial capacity, by several gentlemen
from Albany, New York. The visit
ors were of the well-to-do class, and
were accompanied by their wives.
At noon the hostess summoned the
workmen from the fields and seated,
them at table with her fashionable>
visitors. When the ladies had retired
from the dining-room to an apartment
by themselves, one Of them said to her
hostess:
You do not usually have your hired
laborers sit down at the first table, 10
your"
why, yes. madam" Mrs. C%hittenden
replied, simply, 1--WE have thus far
lone so, but are now thinking Of max
ing a different arrangement. The Gov
ernor and myself hav been talking
the matter over a liL.-. lately, and
have come to the conclr that the
men, who do nearly - aard work,
ought to have t le, and that
he and l, who do 50 II, should be
content with the second. sui in COM
plisnent to YOU" the lady concluded. Il
thought l would have you sit down
with them to-day, at the first table"
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

money since 1892 to enable him, If he wished, to settle
the railroad problem once for all by buying every foot
of railroad in the United States,
Our new farmer, instead of being an ignorant hoeman
in a barnyard world, gets the news by daily mail and
telephone; and incidentally publishes 700 trade jour
nails. Instead of being a uoneyless peasant, he pays the
interest on the mortgage with the earnings of a week.
The railroads, trolley, automobile and top buggy have
transformed him into a suburbanite. The business now
swinging the whole nation ahead is not the traffic of the
stock exchanges, but the steady output of $50 1000 a
day from the fields and barnyards.
The American farmer has always been just as intelli-
gent and important as anyone else in the republic. He
put fourteen of his sons in the White Houses and did his
full share of the working, fighting and thinking all the
way down from George Washington to James Wilson.
He got no rebates, franchise, subsidies. The free land
that was given him was worthless until he took it; he
has all along been more hindered than helped by med
ling Of public officials.
the different states. For years Illinois and Iowa have
run neck and neck in raising corn and oats. Minnesota
carries the blue ribbon for wheat, with Kansas in sec
ond place; California has shot to the front in barley;
Texas and Louisiana are tied in rice, and New York
holds the record for hay and potatoes.-Amesican Re
view of Reviews.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

people think I'm smart because ]
never say much" said q man to-day.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

Do men who have cork legs 90 to
bed with them on?
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

~ o THE high cost of living nowadays Is add
TN ed the expense Of shaves at barber shop,
shines at the bootblack stand and cigars
at the tobacco store. Formerly these were
YW3GsEEY listed in the cost Of high living, to which
uHEyEASI few men aspired. Perhaps the housewife
~ is entitled to her part OF the blame for to-
days high cost of living (not now regarded as high lV-
tng), on account OF her poor management of household
expenses or bad cookery, but the husband who buys
shaves, shines and cigars is hardly qualliled 10 complain
or pose as a model.
A man in New York, who for thirty years shaved his
own face, shined his own shoes and escheWed cigars
tells the Sun, Of that city, that in that time he saved
81, 500 through these economics. With this money he,
three years ago, purchased for his adult boy the bust
ness of the boys deceased employer and the son has
wholly repaid his father out of the business and is On
the road to fortune. This is the way the father igures
his thirty years savings:
Shaving, three times weekly, at 15c, 45c; a year,
$225O; thirty years 90
Shoes, three times weekly at &c, 15c; a year,
$3.50; thirty years 20
Cigars, three a day (box price,. 15c; a year,
$3.50; thirty years 1,575
Gross saving $40
Therefore, when figuring the high cost of living, or the
cost of high living, do not forget the shaves, the shines
and the cigars. A great deal OF money goes into these
unnecessary luxuries, and they are not less wasteful
than automobiles, which many thoughtless persons who
buy shaves, shines and cigars foolishly Imagine are the
acme of extravaganza. Also should be included the cost
of shampoo, massage and tip at the barber shop. Many
men are throwing away fortunes every day, without stop
ping to figure their waste. And yet they think they are
skimping along without enough to live on constantly. A
good many of them talk about extravaganza Of their
wives, when they, poor things, are buying fewer luyuries
than their lords and masters:-Portland Oregonian.
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29

negie and the Steel Trust off the Industrial map. One
American harvest would buy Belgium, king and all; two
would buy Italy, three Austria Hungary, and five would
take Russia from the Gear.
With the setting of every sun the money box of the
American farmer bulges with new millions. Merely the
crumbs that drop from the farmers table otherwise,
agricultural exports) have brought in enough of foreign
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
THE AMERICAN FARMER.

f THE American farmer went out OF bust
ness this year he could clean up $4,000,
900, 600; he would have to sell his farm on
credit, for there is not enough money in
the world to pay him half his price. He
earns enough in seventeen days to buy out
Standard Oil and in fifty days to wipe Car
Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-29
THE TWINS SAMPLER.
1t Was Begun by al Girl and Finished
by Her Brother.

1t Was Begun by Al Girl and FINISHED
by Her Brother.
There is often comedy and pathos,
as we'll as family or historic interest,
attaching to the quaint samplers OF
old-time children, cherished now with
so much pride and care by their de,
~scendants. The impossible roses, the
birds as big as cows, the COWS that
may be dogs, the dogs that perhaps
were meant for horses, all inter.
mingled with numerals, the alphabet,
family facts, meaningless tlourishes, a
text or a moral verse-there is nc
other needlework quite sc fascinating
to a retrospective and imaginative
eye.
A sampler which a lady much inter.
ested in antiques recently reported
discovering in a remote farmhouse is
perhaps unique; for it is tie work
not of one child, but two, and n OF
the two a boy. 1t is not especially in:
teresting in design, although carefully
executed, but it has a story.
1t was begun by little Mary Holme,
aged II, who brought it, indeed, near
to completion. There were but a few
lines more to fill, and on the first OF
these she had already wrought the
Mary" which was to be followed by
her surname, n date Of birth.
She was seated before the blazing
hearth, busily stitching, when a spark
flew out and ignited her dress. There
was on one else in the house but her
twin brother, Stephen, who sprang to
her rescue. But the poor child, fran.
tic with terror, struggled with him as
he strove to beat out the flames, SO
that both fell and rolled together into
the hot embers. Mary died that night.
Stephen was so cruelty burned-he
was barefooted-that he was for two
years a crippled invalid, and limped
for life.
During the boys long and slow re,
covery his elder sisters, to keep him
occupied, taught him to knit and sew.
Tradition declares that he knitted q
pair Of stockings for every member OF
the family. and made q patchwork
quilt for his own bed; but the only
specimen of his work preserved is the
sampler, which he completed. It's last
lines, in faded blue and brown, are
still easily read:
Mary and Stephen Holme, born
Aug. 9, 176S. Mary died Oct. 2, 1879,
and Stephen finished this. In Memoir
ia,n.'-Youth's Companion.