davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
FIND HIDDEN SPRINGS
WITH "WITCHES' STICK"
What Is the Explanation of the
Use of the DOwser?

/ am half ashamed to confess that !
do not know whether the witch stick
used by the New England countryman
to locate water for digging a well is a
superstition, or whether it has actual
value in divining water under ground.
In New England they call thiss Gu
rious thing witch stick; among the
Catskills they simply call it the will
low stick; countrymen in other parts
call it the dividing rod / have act
ually seen a grave 'countrYman cut one
of these sticks, twist in in a curious
fashion in his two hands and walk
a about holding it close to the ground,
until suddenly some unseen power
twisted the stick almost out of his
grasp. Then he stopped and announced
that there was a spring underneath
that spot, at such and such depth.
Digging there revealed the spring at
the depth at which he stated water
would be found. This was in Massa-
chusetts. ] have seen exactly the same
performance in the Catskills.
A number of intelligent persons
whom I have met say that they have
witnessed this thing, but none of them
seems to be able to explain why a
twisted stick can locate a .subterranean
stream or spring. They all speak about
it pretty much as | do-as If they had
been to a seance.
One or two have spoken about the
law of attraction, but have merely re-
ferred to il academically without eX-
planning the thing I'll wager that
there are thousands of people who are
uneasy over this business and would
like to know something about it.-New
York Sun.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
WOMEN WILL REFUSE
TO PAY THEIR TAXES
League Organized to Further
the Suffrage Agitation
[SpecioI Dispatch to The Cali

tOPCCiot LDt1fJGtIii ~ 4 HS NHttI
CHICAGO. Feb. 12-'TaXation with
out representation is tyranny" This
slogan has been adopted by the lead
ers of a new movement to gain the
rights Of women to the ballot. The
first step was the discussion today of
plans for the organization of The
woman's non tax paying league"
Mrs. Winona s. F. Jones, who is
active in the work of organizing the
league, said that its members are to be
bound by a pledge that they will re-
fuse to pay taxes until representation
in the government is granted to them
When the jails are filled with mem
bers of the league and when the men
begin to realize that the taxes paid
by women are no inconsiderable por-
ton of the total something viii be
done.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
MODERN DISPLAYS OF
JEWELRY ARE VULGAR
Speaker Decries Tendency to
Emulate Opu.ent Romans

BY the time she had finished her lee
ture on Jewels" before the members
of the League for Political Education,
Miss May Morris had convinced her
audience that "Jewelry is not the
strong point of the modern western
world" says the New York Tribune.
The opuient Romans, she said,
"discarded the intimate and tender
simplicity of the Greek jewelry and
adopted barbaric-or merely vulgar
heaviness. Their rejection of dignified
tradition for sheer display is a danger
to which we are running today
1t was not her intention, Miss Morris
said. TO criticise modern work. but she
could not.refrain from pointing out that
such things as pigs done in fine dia-
nonds. dumbbell cuffbuttons and tor
pe6o watch charms were most intoler-
able. and that they were put on the
market by inartistic traders, who could
sell anything to public that dldn [
know what it wanted.
Miss Morris particularly admired the
OPAQUE enamel of the old jewelry much
more than the translucent enamel OF
today.
at is so loud she said, Il would as
lief wear a tea tray around my neck as
one of these highly polished enamel
brooches"
When the picture of one Of Holbein' S
women was flashed upon the canvas
Miss Morris showed how we'll the
women of the Renaissance wore their
family jewels. They didn't wear much
but what they had was good" She
also pointed to the -jeweled sleeve and
wished that modern women would
adopt the style.
Miss Morris herself wore a heavy dog
collar of silver baubles, q large glitter
ing brooch of many varied stones set
in silver, and a chain of silver with a
heavy blue enamel pendant.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13

tributaries are the Aube, Yune, Loing
and the Marne.
From its mountain source to the city
the Seine follows a direct course, Keep
ing to its broad main channel. Enter
ing the city, narrowed between hlsh
masonry, it begins a series OF wlndlngs.
Thus the concentrated floods of all the
wide damage area in central and east
ern France pile up till they leap over
into the low water front streets or the
city, flood and burst its sewers and SUP
ways and undermine buildings. Add TO
these conditions the numerous ISLANDS
that block the stream during its course
through the city and banks at Its mouth
and the tidal bores that back up from
the sea, impeding the onrush In the
channel and the conditions OF disaster
are complete.
The sewers of Fx..s, mado famous by
Victor Hugo, since thS seventeenth CEN
tury, despite their great service, have
complicated flood perilS. The city S
foundation is literally honeycombed,
and under flood pressure these vast
tunnels burst and undermine the foun
dations Of the buildings, The main
sewers are is feet in diameter ana the
total length of this network OF drains
is 800 miles. AS these tubes also con
tain water conduits, gaspipes, tele-
graph, telephone and power wires, and
the pneumatic postal tubes, the effects
of bursting sewer are greatly compli-
Gated
Another phase Of underground Paris
is the catacombs, extending under a
considerable part of the left river bank.
a modern addition to the underworld
and the part in which there has been
the greatest flood damage at present is
the subway system. This began with
the opening OF the Metropolitan under
ground railway in 1900 and has been
continued till the city has been inter
laced by a network of tunnels.
The main line runs east and west
through the center of the city from
the Porte de Vincennes to the Porte
Maillot distance of seven miles. An
other more northerly line from Place de
la Nation to the Boulogne makes a loop
of eight miles. The new line under
construction, in which there have been
had caveins during the last week, eX-
tends under the Grand Boulevard from
the Place de la Coucorde throug the
Rue Royale TO the Place de la Bastile
Boulevard Saint Germain to the Cham
Der of deputies. The Orleans road also
enters the city by subway.
Paris altogether covers 10000 acres
of which the Seine occupies 1,760 The
| river averages 200 or 900 yards in
width and its length in the city is seven
miles Paris at its lowest levels is
only so feet above tide water
The present flood began with heavy
storms January II. Besides Paris, the
towns of Billancourt. Argenteuil AS
| Troyes. Montereau, lie Saint Denis
Ivry Vitry, Maisons-Lafitte. Poissy
Tourssur Marne, Juvigny and many
! others were severely affected.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
IN ELIZABETH'S REIGN
Sheets of Horn Used to Protect
Pages From Dirty Fingers

The earliest English book for chill
dren was The Babies Book, or Lyttl
Report of How Young People Should
Behave" The horn books existed in
Eliza beth's reign. The writing was
covered with sheet of horn in order
to protect the lettering from contact
with dirty fingers.
The chap books contained most of
the failiar nursery rhymes and stories
which have appertained to nursery lore
for generations. They exhibit very
crude wood cuts, often daubed with
Inappropriate color, and the commonest
paper as a rule was used. They were
hawked about by the chapmen or ped
dlers and cost only a few pence apiece.
They served to perpetuate such
familiar ditties as Sing Song of Six
pence, which dates from the sixteenth
century; Three Blind Mice, in, use,
with music, in 1900; The Frog and
the Mouse in existence in 1880, and
Girls and Boys Come Out and Play"
which was sung by the villagers in
the time of Charles H. Little Jack
Horner, we know. is older than the
seventeenth century, and last, but not
least, Lucy Locket," the tune from
which originated Yankee Doodle
A few of what were called battle
dore books" have been handed down to
us. They were three leaved cards which
were folded up into oblong pocket
shaped volumes. These taught read
Ing and numerals in the dame schools
in town and country. The little gilt
books, as they were called, adorned on
the outside with gilt Dutch paper
colored flowers, We're much priced gift
books of that period
According to the queen, children We're
employed coloring such picture books
by hand, one child doing all the red in
the series of Illustrations, another all
the blue, and so on. OF course, they
gained precision by repetition. but we
very often find the tints overlapping.
rs II carried out by an inexperienced
hand
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
WfINSTOCk PLEADS
CAUSE OF LABOR
WOrkmen in Countries Without
Unions Have Little Skill
and No Ambition
Especial Dispatch to The Call


Los ANGELES. Feb. 12.-In an ad-
dress before fhe City club today Harris
Weinstock of San Francisco made a
strong plea for labor unions, declaring
that in countries where workingmen
are not organized there are found little
skill and no ambition.
Weinstock said he had taken his idea
from that of Sir Samuel Boulton of
London. which had been in effect in
England II years and had proved a
success. He continued:
The buyer the world over seeks the
market where he can buy the cheapest.
and the seller the world over seeks the
market where he can get the most TOR
his wares. If la Dor is a commodity as
ural for the employer, who is the buyer
of the commodity. 10 strive 10 obtain IL
at the lowest cost. and for the worker.
who is the seller OF that commodity. to
strive to get the most for his toll.
Where the buyer and seller OF labor are
ieft unrestricted the law OF supply and
demand operates
Workers are more abundant than
work, hence the employer has more
often been able 70 exploit the worker
than the worker has been able To ex-
ploit the employer. This has led labor
In most countries to unite for its com =
mon protection against the exploiting
ttHutHcleS OF the wage payer. The or
ganiZation of labor has carried to the
employer advantages and disadvan-
tages. On the one hand IL has robbed
the employer of the executive voice in
fixing wages. hours and working con-
ditions. IT has clipped his privilege to
be the sole arbiter of the conditions
under which his workers shall toll and
live 1t has compelled him 70 take into
account in his reckonings the attitude
of his workers and to realize they must
have a voice in all things affecting their
welfare.
On the other hand the organization
of labor has made for higher intelli-
gence on the part of the wage Garner.
1t has brought about higher wages.
shorter hours and better working con
ditions, which have uplifted the toiler
and made of him more valuable and
more efficient worker
If it We're possible TO wipe out labor
organization progress would be set
back decades.
The sooner employees realize and ac-
cePt this situation the sooner they
direct their thoughts to the question
of how most wisely and most equitably
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
0ver-Eating Worse
Than Starvation
Seven Deaths Arise From This Cause
To One OF Lack OF FOod.
Trial Package of Stuart's Dyspepsia
Tablets sent Free.

Tablets sent Free.
An English medical observer claims
that for one death due 70 Starvation
there are seven from overeatinz
His tnyesttgst tiOn is appalling and
leads one to believe that am0ng fhe
tfonaI crime.
This investigation proves Overeat-
ing to be the cause in ten cases out
stomach trouble.
These diseases bring on decay and
decline OF the other organs ana death
ensues because OF an inability Of rbe
system 70 furnish proper nourishnnenr
TO the dying and afflicted parts.
When one oVereats. one eNhausts
the gastric fluids, throws undigeste(l
food into the intestines, where it ere
ates poison and germ life and is finally
absorbed in a putrid state or thrown
from the system in z decaying form
Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets will over
come the i'll effects Of glutLODv and
irregular eating. They Will digest an
abnormal amount OF food and VIII not
leave the stomach until everything has
been digested.
A single one-grain ingredient Of
these tablets will digest 5000 grains Os
food and In this proportion is seen how
even gluttOny can be overcome or Al
least its most harmful effects removed.
Make up your mind 20 try Stuar+' ,
Dyspepsia Tablets for one week. Take
a tablet after each meal and upOn re-
firing at night Every druggist car
ries them in stock. price soc. If YOU
Send US your name and address and
we will send you a trial package free
by mail Address F. 4 Stuart Co 80
Stuart Bldg. Marshall. Mich.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13

here but always delayed. l intended
to go away the night that the ex-
plosion took place. but again he failed
10 give me the money he promised
That night ] put the baby to bed and
then went and took my BATH after
which l retired. 1 remember distinctly
that it was Is minutes after s o'cl~ck
beca use / looked at the clock before
eNtinguished the light. ] fell asleep
soon after and did not realize any
thing until after / had partially re-
covered from the effects CT the eXplo-
sion"
Asked If she suspected any one in
connection with the attempt TO muir
der her and her infant son, she stated
that she had told the names of those
she suspected to the district attorney.
Miss Smh told of her studies of phi
losophy in Berkeley and elsewhere and
professed a fondness for serious lttera-
ture many books Of which occupy the
shelves OF her library.
REMAINS CLOSE TO HEAR
During the interview Miss BenoX,
who has been head nurse at the hos
pital since Tuesday, entered Miss
Smiths tent and By her action in stand
ing close TO the canvas wall so that she
could overhear every word that passed
between the patient and the newspaper
men typified the course which the hos
pital authorities have pursued ever
since the investigation began.
Although the action of the purse
added 10 the suspicious of the news
papermen regarding the sincerity of
the sanatorium officials in refusing TO
permit an interview with Miss Smith.
il did not prepare them for the con-
duct resorted TO by Attorney Frank j.
Golden of San Francisco and a brother
of Mrs. Alfred Burke. who has been
acting as legal counsel for Doctor
Burke and his associates.
why. ! spoke to a newspaper re-
porter yesterday said Miss Smith in
reply TO a. request that she would give
details and as Il was the first statement
that the press had been able to secure
from her
HE came into my tent yesterday
afternoon and questioned me for almost
an hour regarding everything, until
became exhausted I could see very
quickly that he was hostile to me, al
though he pretended he wanted to be
fair
IDENTIFIES GOLDEN
Miss Smith was asked TO describe
the man who had interviewed her. and
as the description did not At any OF
the press representatives she was
asked if she could identify the man tc
whom she referred. She said she
could. At that time there were al
least Is men standing within radius
of 40 feet of the tent. but in none OF
them could Miss Smith recognize hel
interviewer.
There is the man." she exclaimed
suddenly. pointing at Golden, who was
passing about 20 feet away. At the
same instant the attorney glanced
toward her and placed his left hand
over the side of his face, obscuring his
features, and continuing on his course
as if he had heard nothing.
Are YOU sure that is the MANI" she
was asked.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
EAGLE OWL ATTACKS
WOODMAN IN SWEDEN
Mate of Captive Bird Worries
It's Jailer

A correspondent of the Swedish pc
riodical Fran Skog och Sjo states that
in the part of Vermeland to which he
belongs there was an eagle owl which
became well known for its repeated at
tacxs on human beings who chanced
to come near its abode.
While cutting timber man was
assailed by the bird, which drove its
claws into the upper part of, his body.
He managed to get rid of it. but it at
once came on again, when a blow from
his ak put an end to its further atten-
tionS.
A peasant in the parish of Stam-
mar, Nerike, had a similar experience
in April last. He was fetching water
from lake close by his house, when
an eagle owl suddenly flew at him. \
kick made it retire a few yards when
it came into contact with the fence.
This seemed to irritate it, for it re-
turned to the attack, but the man
seized it by the neck. tucked it under
his arm and carried it off home.
On the way the Owls mate kept fly
ing round in unpieasantly close prox-
unity Ultimately the captor had to
dispatch his prisoner, his wife and
children being much scared at its for
midable aspect
stem winding watches were the in
nf IN
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
PARIS ALWAYS II
PERIL OF FLOODS
River nIitions and Sewers
Endanger City

Two circumstances combine to place
the city of Paris peculiarly in peril of
fioods-its situation and its vast system
of underground architecture. Nor is
this disaster by any means rare one.
Overfows of the Seine have several
times assumed the proportions of wide
spread calamity. Not in 80 years. how
ever has the flood proved SO serious.
The country in which the city lies is
a shallow alluvial basis, much of it like
the lower Mississippi valley below the
river level. Through this plain winds
the Seine a concentration of several
large tributaries rising in widely sepa
rated mountain regions and uniting in
the Seine above Paris. 1t, therefore
takes comparatively. little rain or melt
ing snow in the uplands to swell the
Seine to flood in itsslower course. When
there is an unusual rainfall. as now,
this becomes an uncontrollable torrent.
already greatly augmented by flood
conditions at its own source in the
mountains Of Cote dor Among these
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
WILL CONDUCT SERIES
OF POPULAR CONCERTS
Musical RecitaIs to Be Given at
California Street Church

The first of a series of popular con-
certs will be given next Tuesday even
ing at o'clock in the California
street NJ e. Church, corner of Brod-
erick street.
Vocal solos viii be given by Mrs
Nitalie Douillet and Miss Jane Crow
ley and piano solos by Miss Nellie
shank and Dean Pierre Douillet and a
reading by Miss Bertha Lillian Miller
Miss Mary Cole as the young aunt
Miss Alice Lindsay as the young niece
and Miss Gertrude Reichardt as the
Irish maid will present a one act farce
entitled The Smith Mystery
The pastor, Rev. George Adams, to-
night will begin a series of character
studies, speaking this evening on Lin
coln.v next Sunday on Washington
and the three following Sundays on
the first three kings of Israel, SAUL
David and Solomon.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
BEWARE OF WIDOWS IS
FLORENTINE'S ADVICE

Another cherished idea shattered. A
correspondent points out 10 the elias
gov Herald that Weller ST. ia his re-
marks on Widows. was fOFestalled by
some recently discovered rnanrscrir.
eounsels OF the fourteenth century
F1orentine "lf thou art able. beware
OF taking a widow woman for thv wife.
because thou wilt never be able no
satisfy her, and every time that thou
refuseth her anything she NAV ask of
thee she Will say. Ny other husband
did not treat me thus The opening
words or this counsel-"tf thou art
aoie marx not unimportant reser-
vatiOn.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
Objection by Southerners

Los ANGELES. Feb. 12.-Local rep
resentatives of the Daughters OF the
American Revolution have as yet re-
ceived no official report of the result
of today's meeting in San Francisco
and still maintain that they will pro-
ceed with the nomination of regent
al the annual state conference to be
held here next Thursday.
Teh name of their candidate, Mrs.
w. w. Stilson, probably will be sent
to Washington with the request that
she be given an equal chance with
Mrs. Laird for election.
All proceedings at today's meeting
will be considered illegal and the con-
ference, so far as the southern dele
gates are concerned, will be conducted
as though Mrs. Laird's nomination had
not taken place.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
ELEANOR ROBSON WILL
MARRY AUGUST BELMONT
Noted Actress Quits Stage for
MiIIionaire's Household
Speciol Dbpotch TO The Call

Especial Dispatch TO ne GALL
NEW YORK, Feb. 12.-Formal an
nouncement OF the engagement of Miss
Eleanor Robson to August Belmont was
made today 10 a wide circle of inti-
mate friends.
With the fall of the curtain in the
Majestic theater, Brooklyn, tonight Miss
Robson closed her artistic career and
viii be seen no more on the stage She
has been playing this season the role
of Glad in Mrs. Frances Hodgson Bur-
netts drama of cheerfulness, The
Dawn of Tomorrow" Without any for
maIity or ceremonies she bade goodby
tonight to her company.
The marriage viii take place some
time in March at Miss Robson's home
here.
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
lust FAKE, SAYS
COLONEL OSBORN
No Bunch of S0reheads" Can
Kick Him Out of the
Job
Dep0sed President Will Call a
Real Meeting of the
Club, He Declares
Continued From Page II

the purpose of promoting prize fights
and various sporting enterprises
In the statement issued at the con-
clusion of the meeting 1t was set forth
that the good cause for which the
association was formed was being lost
owing TO the high handed manner In
which they We're trying to conduct and
rule the organization for the purpose
of gaining financial benefits there
from; that they were unmindful of the
humiliation the businessmen members
We're made to suffer by having it said
that the Metropolitan club had absorbed
the association; and that all this made
it absolutely necessary for the MEM
bers, in order to protect their own
good names ia act
The San Francisco call., 1910-02-13
KING LEOPOLD HAD
DISLIKE TO MUSIC
Too Much Piano Practice Under
the Late Queen

Leopold II, we are told. had dislike
to music. His first lesson as child
was his last. Until his later days, from
the time Theodore Solvan essayed to
instruct him, the king hated the sight
of instruments, and kept as far away
from these objects of dislike as possi-
bic. Toward the end of his life the
king relented somewhat, and at the
palace at Laeken sometimes received
pupils from the Conservatoire and en-
tertained them at tea. At these gath
erings they played light pieces or Sc
lectlons from operettas or ballets. A
Paris contemporary from which we take
the foregoing suggests that this tardy
conversion must not be attributed TO
love OF music, but the fact was the
king had too much piano under the
late queen.