davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-11-01
WEST o~UILFORD.
Surprise Party for Homer Thomas.

A surprise party was given to Homer
Thomas youngest child of MI. and Mrs.
h. b. Thomas, in his home saturday
evening, the occasion being his 21st
birthday anniversary. over 100 were
present, a large number coming from
Brattleboro and West Brattleboro'
There was singing, and games were
played. Refreshments of ice cream,
cake and cocoa were served.
l.. A. Foster, in behalf of the West
Guilford people presented Mr.. Thomas
a purse of money and Miss Blodgett of
West Brattleboro presented a gold ring,
a stick-pin and other jewelry, a shower
of postcards, stationery and 81 large
carnations in behalf of the Brattleboro
and West Brattleboro people. Mr.. Thorn
as was visibly touched and responded
with appreciative remarks. =.
Mr.. Foster took occasion to congrat-
ulate those present on being guests of
so exemplary a Young man, Homer Il.
Thomas, and stated that the gifts were
but a small token of the esteem and
sincere friendship toward the host.
Mr.. Thomas's four sisters. Mrs.
George Allen, Mrs. Richmond Thomas.
Mrs. Erwin Holden and Mrs. Fred
Thomas, with their families, were pre-
sent from Brattleboro. His brother,
Charles, lives at home, the two young
men carrying on the farm.
III the mOTnlHB Il ldHlllN gathering OF
Il, parents, children and grandchildren,
sat down to the breakfast table.
Mr.. and Mrs. III. J.. Nichols spent
Sunday In Halifax with Mr.. Nichols's
sister. Mrs. Henry Pease.
Mrs. Cyrus Merrlfelj returned home
from Springfield Friday. The operation
upon her baby was performed success
fully Wednesday of that week. AT last
reports the child was as comfortable as
could be expected.
Richard Cox, third son of Mr.. and
Mrs. Charles Cox. narrowly escaped a
serious accident one day last week. He
and a younger brother were in the wood
shed, the younger child playing with an
axe. In some way II struck the older
boy on top of one foot, DR.. Miller was
called and dressed the wound. The child
is doing well. II the axe had been
sharp 1t would have cut OFF the boys
toes.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Toe That Rocks the Cradle

Unique and probably the most prim-
tive cradle rocking device ever seen
or employed in any part Of the world
is the one that has been adopted by
the matter-of.fact squaws of the Kwa-
huti tribe Of Indians now living on
Vancouver island, British Solumbia.
The mother performs the double duty
of spinning and rocking her infant,
snugly packed in followed out cradle
stuffed with cedar bark strips sus-
pended from the limb of a sapling.
This is about the most realistic rep
resentation of the old nursery song.
"Rock-a-by, Baby, in the Treetop" so
far known.
The most striking part, however, is
that the Indian mother uses her big
toe as the motive power. With a
cord attached to the bent limb and
the other end wound around her toe,
she swings her dangling offspring to
and fro, leaving her hands entirely
free for weaving.-Christian Herald.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
They Did Better Their.

I'VE are losing all our secrets in
this shabby age" an architect said
IF we keep on, the time will come
when we'll be able to do nothing well
Take, for instance, steel. We claim
to make good steel, yet the blades the
Saracens turned out hundreds of years
ago would cut one of our own blades
in two like butter.
Take ink. Our modern ink fades
in FIVE or ten years to rust color yet
the ink of medieval manuscripts is
as black and bright today as it was
700 years ago.
Take dyes. The beautiful blues and
reds and greens Of antique oriental
rugs nave all been lost, while in
Egyptian tombs we find fabrics dyed
thousands Of years ago that remain
today brighter and purer in hue than
any Of our modern fabrics.
Take my speciality, buildings. We
can't build as the ancients did. The
secret Of their mortar and cement is
lost to us. Their mortar and cement
were actually harder and more dur
able than the stones they bound to-
gether, whereas ours-horrors!"
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
COATING FOR PLASTER CASTS
Simple Treatment That the CHICAGO
Art Institute Has Found to
Be Effective.

According to the bulletin of the
Art institute of Chicago, that organi-
zation has been very successful in
keeping its plaster casts presentable
by means of simplest treatment.
The cast is first sized with an ap-
plication of linseed oil and turpentine.
This is put on with a brush, and it
is immaterial whether it is done when
the cast is new and clean or. after
1t becomes dirty, provided only that
it has not been painted or in any way
coated with foreign matter. The only
object is to make it impervious to
water, so that subsequent applications
will not sink in.
Then the cast is washed over with
coat of whiting ard water with a
little glue practically a fine white
wash, applied quite thin with a
brush, and stippled or bounced on,
so as not to show brush marks. A lit
tie yellow ochre is put into the wash,
so that it will not be blue or dead
white. This wash is perfectly soluble,
and when it gets dirty it is easily re-
moved and a fresh coat applied. It
is obvious that the cast is nc more
coated or loaded after the twentieth
application than after the first.
1t is surprising in fact how little
the modelling is obscured, even when
it is delicate and detailed. 1t is
doubtful if anybody, however, skillful,
can tell at a distance of eight or ten
feet whether cast has been whitened
o. not, and eight or ten feet is not a
great distance at which to view a
life-size statue. The larger forms are
not in the least affected by the process
Of whitening.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Kinulake on Port,

Kinglake, the historian. was polite,
yet frank. 1t is related that, upon one
occasion, while dining with old DR..
Marsham, the warden of Merton, he
was asked to give his opinion of some
port wine which was supposed to be
remarkably good. Il am no Judge of
port myself, Kinglake," said DR.. Mar
sham; but l know you are, and
should like your opinion"
Well. said Kinglake, 81 have three
ways of Judging port wine. The first
is by the color, the second is by the
cdor, and the third is by the flavor.
Now. the color of your wine, Mar.
sham"-holding it up and looking at it
critically-"is good; the odor"-here
he held the glass to his nose for a
moment. and then added, with some
hesitation-"is far from unpleasant;
the flavor is'-here he tasted it, and
put the wineglass down hastily.
Would you be kind enough to pass
me the sherry?-San Francisco Ar.
gonaut.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Potpourrl Of Peoples.

In this most cosmopolitan of cities
(Buenos Aires) the foreigners fore
gather in little worlds Of their own.
Most are represented by newspapers
published in their own languages,
most have clubhouses more or less
pretentious.
On the same evening one season re-
Gently The Merry Widow" was pro.
duced in Spanish, French and Italian
in as many different theaters. And
there are all sorts Of places Of amuse-
ment where foreigners can enjoy them.
selves each after his own fashion,
from an immense artificial skating
rink ia very fashionable resort by the
way) to tropical coffee house. from
a golf or race course to a poolroom or
bowling alley, from the most attrac.
tive and elegantly equipped Of modern
cafes to little French domino parlor
or German beer saloon, from magni-
fcent opera house to a cheap yaude-
vile or moving picture theater.-
From Through South America" By
Harry W. Van Dyke.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
INVENTOR OF CORN BROOM
Levi Dickinson, Native Of Connecticut,
Is the Man to Be Accorded
the Honor.

Although it is not generally
known" said manufacturer Of
brooms, the house broom, such os
the housewife uses, is comparatively
a recent invention, dating back to
1856. Before that time husk brooms
were used to sweep out the ovens and
splinter brooms, made of birch, were
used for everyday use. The present
broom industry might be said to have
had its beginning in Connecticut in
1876, when Levi Dickinson, a native
OF Weatherfeld, went to Hadley car
rying with him a new kind Of corn
seed which he showed his friends, say.
ing that when full grown It would
make better brooms than ever had
been made. The Hadley women
laughed at him, Int despite this, Dick
inson was not discouraged, but har-
vested his first crop of broom corn.
managed to scrape the seed from the
brush with a knife and a hoe, after
which he made his brooms. He made
the complete broom, including the
handles, and grew his own fax for the
Irvine, the whole costing him little.
Believing that his neighbors would re-
fuse to buy the new kind of broom,
Dickinson in 1898 peddled mis- brooms
in Williamsburg, Ashfield and Con-
way. The next year he carried them
to Pittsburg. The new brooms took,
for as soon as housewives found how
much better they were over the old
husk or birch broom they would buy
no other. Other men went into the
business and a new industry was born
in Hadley. Dickinson lived until 1913,
long enough to see the Hadley or corn
broom in use all over the country,
and the same broom, with improve
ments, is still in use"
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
BEAT STREET CAR COMPANIES
Standard Of Height Set fer Children
Does Not Always Work Cut
With Exact Justice.

'In cities where the street car COM
panies attempt to determine the age
Of a child by its height some pretty
complications ensue," said the travel
ing salesman. "Forty-one inches has
been established as the average height
of a child Of five years, but the injus.
tice Of that rule is frequently DEM
onstrated in cities with a large for
eign population.
Into the car Of a western city
whose street railway has adopted the
forty-one-inch gauge came a child
carrying three books. His mother re-
fused to pay fare.
"If that kids under FIVE what's he
doing with all those booksT the con.
ductor demanded.
"The mother was serene in her
right. Measure him and see,' she
said.
He marched the child up to the
door jamb. The youngster fell q
quarter of an inch below the topmost
notch. O.
"'Seven, If he's a day. the conduc.
tor growled; but she evades payment
because Of his nationality. He's Ital.
ian, and Italians run small. On the
measurement basis half the Italian
children could ride free till they are
twelve years DID,
in that same town they have a
large Bulgarian and Greek population.
They are mostly understood. A Swede,
on the other hand, would overtop the
mark so much that even a birth Ger.
tiicate would not entitle. him To- a
free ride"
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Trousseaux.

In ancient Greece the trousseau
were made by all the women of the
brides house. Later the Merovingian
chiefs exacted that their brides should
come to the marriage bringing all
their possessions. When the daugh-
ter Of the seigneur Of Convey married,
her trousseaux, or "trousses," includ-
ed mine servitors, thirty liegemen, a
chaplain, and an astrologist." The
customs of the seigneurs evolved
popular fashions" and, high and low,
the women multiplied their garments
and the fashions Of them.
Under the empire the trousseau
was composed Of Jewels, lace, fine un-
derwear, bonnets, and yeils.-Harper's
Weekly.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Rare Attraction for a sldeshbw.

81 next have the pleasure, lay-dees
and gentlemen" announced the side
show lecturer in orotund tones, indica-
ting a pale, wan, specialized person on
the platform, of calling your kind at
tention to one of the most remarkable
curiosities on exhibition. He"
Huh" hypercritically calculated
lobe Sagg, who had nosed into the
forefront Of the crowd around the ros-
trum. HE looks just about like the
rest Of US"
very true!" replied the orator.
But, despite that fact, he is, so far
as we have any knowledge, the only
specimen Of his kind in existence-a
country editor who worked and fought
and .labored for his party, with heart
and soul and might and main, merely
because he thought it was right and
not because he wanted the postof.
feet"
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
WHERE HORACE MADE SONG
Sabine Home Rendered Immortal by
Poet Still Retains All Its Famous
Beauty.

A few verses written two thousand
years ago have rendered the little val.
ley Of the Licenza one of the most
famous places within easy reach Of
Rome. Had Maeceas been less gener-
GUS patron, had he never given the
Sabine farm to Horace, had Horace
never told the world and his friends
how his days there were spent few
would now make the classical excur-
sion into the Sabine hills, though
time has not marred their beauty
q The villa Of Horace has disappeared,
but the hills are as lovely as they
were in his day. Now, as then, if one
goes from Rome to Tivoli. and thence
TO Vilovaro, there turning up the val
ley Of the Licenza and wandering on
by road, as one must, since there is no
railway, he comes, some few miles far
Their, to a great rock that springs abb
ruptly from the lower slopes and tits
over them at an interesting angle.
This is the citadel Horace had to
scale" to reach his house, and marks,
it is thought, the boundaries of the
farm. The only difference is that the
little village Of Roccagiovine rises on
top, where of old stood the Temple Of
Vacuna, already in ruins when Hor-
ace sat under its shadow to write to
his friend in Rome. The little town
had done its best to meet its classical
responsibilities, and has given the
name CT the temple to its piazza.
Here still are the olives that pay
the Sabine farmers best, and the vines
that yield the rough little Sabine wine
that Horace has made more renowned
than many rarer vintage. Here are
the hills where he wandered, and the
woods that gave acorns TO his focks
and shade to him. Here are the bah.
+. bling spring and the banks upon
which he rested during the hours he
counted his happiest-the Bandaiusian
spring to which he promised iElmor
tality in his song. And as he prom
ised 50 he gave. Not merely the
spring, but all that vast estate, which
the satirists of his time would have
men believe was but "a lizards hole,
he has made immortal.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
STATUE PUZZLES WISE MEN
English Scientists Unable to Place
Stone Figure Which Graees Hall
Of Westminster.

The lions Of Westminster are legion
some in the flesh and others in stone
or marble; recently there has been
an addition to the menagerie, around
which there is an agreeable halo OF
mystery.
In a gloomy niche half way down
Westminster hall there is dimly to lie
deserted gray stone statue Of i,irg
which has Just been taken out of the
Architectural museum and perched
alcft. There. is a heavy crown on his
head over long flowing hair, the beard
is rippled and majestic. In his left
hand he holds the cr5, but the scepter
hand is gone. The cid king broods
over the hall Of kings.
The experts are puzzled over his
history. He stood in Westminster
hall for many centuries side by side
with other stone kings and all were
tidied away by the government in
1856. Recently 1t occurred to Lord
Beauchamp TO try the effect of bring.
ing them back. Several Of the beauti.
full Gothic windows are blind, forming
inches suitable fer statues, and all
the cid forgotten kings may take their
places in them.
This first one is a beautiful person.
age. No one knows what king he is
or whether 1t is merely an ideal figure
of majesty, but it is certain that he
is the work Of some fine fourteenth
century craftsman.
The battered king is the grandest
statue in the hall. Below him lie il
obesity row the kings done with the
petty realism Of the modern age; i'm
mediately under his blind majesty!
gaze is the bread face, cynically fur
rowed. CT the merry monarch. The IN
known king towers ever these pecpll
like a visitant from ampler times
London Times.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Feeling for Death.

For week the self-appointed guide
to tie blind on their daily walks had
noticed that the two men who we're
her special charges felt carefully Of
the wall on either side of the door
Of the asylum when passing in and out.
Since she was there to lead them, that
precaution seemed not at all neces-
sary, and she finally asked their rea-
son for 1t.
II am looking for Grape on the
door," one old man told her. They
don't like to let US know here in the
asylum when any one dies for fear of
making US feel bad, but they put
Grape on the door, and by feeling for
1t when we pass in and out we can
find out for ourselves when one of US
has gone"
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
Household Maneuver,

"And what" asked the caller, uttet
he had been shown all over Mr.. Bobb's
new house, "is that pretty little article
hanging over the piano?"
Don't you know" answered Mr..
Bobbs, enthusiastically. why, that Is
q handy match receiver, made by
Mrs. Bobbs. scratch a match and
use It II must not be thrown on the
foor-there is the receiver. Holding
the burnt match carefully In my fin
gers, I move the piano away from the
wall to the center Of the room. Then
go down in the basement and get the
stepladder. l place the stepladder
against the wall, mount 1t, deposit the
match in the receiver, climb down
again. l then return the stepladder
to the basement, come back and move
the piano into its former position.
There's nothing Ike having these
handy things about the house. 1t
makes for neatness and discourages
smoking"
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
RIS HEART SET ON LUXURIES
Indian Brave Wanted White Mans
Appurtenances 70 Set Up
in His Tepee.

There is a small SiTash village
near Seattle where the squaws dc
bead work to sell to tourists, and the
braves make baskets, which they re-
tail from house to house. There is
one old Indian whose baskets are big
ger, brighter and better than all the
other baskets made in the village and
wear longer, aTi Crooked Bear never
comes back from his frequent trips
to Seattle with any Of his stock left
over. Nel,Hel uoes he return ioaued
up with fire-water like his brother In
dams, nor does any Of his basket
money 90 for gaudy trinkets and red
calico, and gambling has no charms
for him. He carefully saves all his
money because he wanted to own
three white mans Injuries, a tele-
phone, a bicycle and a talking machine.
Already he has had a telephone put
in his tepee, and though he never has
more than one or two calls in a year
on It, and then from some person or
dering baskets, It is a constant source
If pride and qualification to him. He
will sit for hours In silent admiration
LIRE i, end puts the silent receiv'
er to his ear a dozen times day. He
also has a bicycle, on which he rides
about the country with a load Of
baskets, and he n now saving up for
the talking machine.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
ALMA MATER ALWAYS LOVED
To the End Of Life College Man
Thinks With Joy Of His Golden
Student Days.

The phrase college life" is an
Americanism and 1t has no equivalent
in any other language but English. 1t
describes, 10 those who use it with I'M
derstanding and sympathy. an expert
ence out Of which grows a deep senti-
ment made up Of pleasure, friendship,
affection, loyalty and pride. 1t seems
to them "a tender influence, a peculiar
grace" that reaches out across miles
and years, drawing them back to their
Alma Mater, and the comradeship Of
their classmates. To most graduates
their college life seems their golden
age; through the mist Of years the
campus becomes an Island Of Utopia
whose very tediums grow bright in the
retrospect, the sting Of whose sins and
failures was always lessened by the
power Of the ideals and hopes that
filled its air. No campus ever was a
Utopia, and the most golden age of
memory has doubtless been much al
loyed with baser metal, but II there is
not something very bright and beauti-
full In American college life it is hard
to account for the feeling in thousands
of gray-haired men that long ago in
their youth, besides the education they
got or failed to get, they gained around
the knees of Alma Mater lasting joy,
strength and inspiration that was not
entirely contained in the books they
read and cannot be exactly measured
by the knowledge they acquired.-Paul
Van Dyke, in Scribner's Magazine.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
MOONS INFLUENCE ON HDEt
surtll Of oId-Tlme supsrstitioi
Which tias Been Found lmpossl-
sible to Eradicate.

The influence Of the moon upon the
weather was in ancient times ossun etc
in much the same way as the inhuen0
Of the moon upon the tides OF The Sc,
was assumed. There was no;prcpei
knowledge of the facts in eithdr case
and It was accepted in both casei
merely because the regular changes
Of the earths shadow on the moon
we're used as the great primitive tine
keeper, and any frequent changes
other things must happen after sCmt
one or other Of those regular changes
The barbaric guess, Pest hoe ergo
propter hoe" proved, when careful,
study of the matter was made and
Newton's law of gravitation was ap
piled to 1t, to be right in regard to the
tides. but wrong in regard to the
weather. The banking up" Of the sea
in a moving hood which passes, as II
we're, "over the face Of the waters1
twice approximately in the 81
hours is now known to be due to the
drag" or grayitational attraction ex-
erted on the heavy but mobile mass Of
the ocean by the moon as II circles
round the earth, with a returning
change in its relative position to earth
and sun, the phases Of which occupy q
month.
But II has no such action on the
flimsy vapors Of the air. An immense
number of exact numerical details, de
pending on the weight of the noon. its
position, and movements in relation ii
the earth at successive moments, con
seQuently of its action in producineI
the tides of the sea, have been ascerl
tanned with astounding accuracy. Az
the same time astronomers and me
teorologists Those who study the at
mosphere of our EARTH have come to
the conclusion that what we call the
weather" is not affected by the posi-.
ton Of the moon in regard to the
earth, either at any hour Of the day or
any part Of the month (phase or
quarter" of the noon, or at any part
of the year. 80.
Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-29
HOW ROMAN WENT C0URTING
Prospective Wife Had Nothing to Do
With the Match, Though Ac-
corded High Position.

When a boy had completed his
studies and had reached the age of
perhaps twenty-five or thirty, it was
his duty to marry. After deciding
upon lady whom he thought suitable
to be his wife he arranged the be-
throthal with her father, as the maid
en- was usually too young to be con-
suited in the matter, and, furthermore,
Roman women were always under
guardianship. The. marriage cere-
monies began with the feast and sac.
Ti6ces In the house of the brides IA
ther.
In the evening a procession Of
youths, torch-bearers, musicians and
guests escorted the bride to her fu-
ture home, where the groom carefully
lifted her over the threshold, as 1t
was an Ill omen for her to touch the
sill with her foot. In case the we'd
q ding was Of the ancient sacred form
termed confarreatio, the newly mar
ried pair, after entering the house, ate
together a sacred cake in the pres.
ence Of ten witnesses and of the chief
pontih and priest of Jupiter. The
ceremonies of the evening ended with
a bridal song by the guests, and on
the following day the husband gave a
marriage feast to his friends.
Though early custom placed the
wife in the power of her husband, she
went freely into society, attended the
theaters and public games, taught her
children, and sometimes aided her
husband in his political career. Her
position as mistress of the household
, commanded respect from government
and society.-EXchalge