davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

be killed b. thunderhoit; eleven times
more likely TO be shot dead. through
malice or accident twelve times more
likely to die of heat or sunstroke. TWEEN
ty-eight times more likely to die OF burns
or scalds. thrty-four times more likely
to be drowned. Only about go people In
our land are annually put TO death by
Jove's fiery darts. OF course. the death
rate from this cause varies from
year 10 year. 1t was above the aver
age in 1909. and even heavier in 1906
Some astronomers believe that the sever
ity of thunderstormS Is increased by sun
spots others that ii varies with the
phases o. the moon, but meteorologists
generally deny these theories
They agree that Your danger from the
celestial artillery depends principally upon
the locality in which you live, and your
shelter at the time of the storm ne
weather bureau by careful observation
and tabulation discovers our zone OF
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

Abraham, ITO years old, and Isaac, $50,
living among their flocns, in tents. ate
cheeses. milk products. sweet dried figs
and dates and quantities of fruits. The
earth was less crowded, and bad microbes
lived less close to man-who kept moving.
How initiate them-and live to be no
years old?
We cannot all keep moving in tents;
and Prof. Metchnikoff points out that the
exceptionally favorable conditions under
which the early patriarchs attained
physiological old age in their tents and
among their flocks did not endure after
the settling of the Jews In the cities of
the land of promise.
I'VE cannot all cut out our great intes-
tine" says Prof. Metchnikoff. Perhaps
In a far-ofY future 1t will be accomplished
but in spite of the immense progress of
surgery. we cannot at present dream of
thus relieving each citizen No. the ra-
tional course is to fight the great intes-
tines mass of microbes"
of Prof. Metchnikoff's friends imi-
tating the regime he sets them-and hope
to live to be very old indeed.
No joking.
regime for the past ten years appear
to keep the spring and flush of middle
life beyond their fellows.
Is 1t difficult?
First beware of all unlocked prod
ucts Of the microbe- infested earth
salads. artichokes, Strawberries. mel
ons. onions, cucumbers, celery, radish-
es and so forth Unless thoroughly
cooked Ito destroy their microbes with
intense and continued heat), do not
touch them on your life
Raw fruits-always technically dan
gerous-must be immersed few
moments in bubbling. boiling water
before eating.
Fight constipation like the demon.
Take frequent Turkish baths. follow
ed by tepid douches. turning cold
They are best and cheapest done in a
home sweatbox and bathroom. They
clear the system of mass OF vague
toxines and relieve the stomach, kid
neys and liver of extra work.
Metchnikoff is not a vegetarian, but
those following his regime must al
ways be great eaters of well cooke 4
vegetables, less for their nutrition than
to furnish the great intestine with the
considerable quantity of waste matter
which its healthy functiOning requires
And sour milk? We see American
headlines: Sour Milk Good" Nothing
has angered Metchnikoff more. The
, particular tactic microbes which fgh
against putrefaction may certainly b.
found in sour milk all right-but ar
regularly accompanied by SO man!
8 wild yeasts' that collie and sour stom
: ach are to be expected.
No. the Bulgarian bacillus which Prof
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28
WET Weather Bureau Is

WET Weather Bureau Is
j Able Now to Deduce
Some Rules Protecting Pub
lie From Danger-Although
Causes Fewer Violent Deaths
Than Any Other Foe of
Americans, It Is Feared Most
Object of Terror Due Part
ly to Depression From At
mospheric Conditi o $
Freaks OF Ball Lightning
Among Natures Sphynx Rid
dles-Some Surprising Ex-
amples-Cases Where Thur
derbolts Will Strip Victims
Naked Without Harming
Their Persons-Sometimes
Completely Incinerates Per
sons, Leaving Them Weird
Statues Of Ashes Which
Crurnble When Touched.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

he sa,d YEARLY To the reporters, but IL
will reduce the discomfvrts OF advancing
year,"
Bot,r statements are perfectly true. yet
they perfectly conceal Metchn.koff's real
thought
MetcA.l.koT's real thought. today as
yesterday. is that man Is 10 I've 40 years
When he IS auong friends. sure not to
have h.s wo-Gs garbied. he tells how he
began Tie erea, search IN which the world
Is so painfully Interested
ZIP 10 recently science had not oc-
cupied Itself al all with the phen onena
OF ol3 AZ" SayS Netchntkon on such oc-
castO..s Old age seemed natural. Every
one ac erted L Then one day II struck
me that there right ne Interesting matter
for Investigation II the subject. and you
Will see that I was not deceived. IL came
10 ne from this reflection Life being a
function like any otaer. II we should de
normally Ne ought 10 die with joy. with
To desire To c e. When We nave e;ten
We are no longer hungry: amer the labor
II tn. day Ne wish to sleep. How Is II
that old men, with rare exceptions, cling
ia %? Because, generally. We are forced
TO 20 before the inSt'nc: 10 Gle IS Weakened
in u Death either takes Us too soon. or
elSe old age weakerS US 10 the point or
not permitting tais desire tcf ctdt.i 10
Old men go off from "old age" at sew
enty Queer nd OF old rnen. says Metch-
nikon
You have never seen real old man,
says MetctsnikoT. though, as WI appear
Tokarski met one 1Oi years old. who re-
jo'cCd At death and ''felt the need OF IL.
But imitation old men. dying al eighty
fiNc or ninety. are really ack men, anG
Metchn kofr has invented name Tor their
dlxease-pa biological old age.
Real old men full OF days" lived in old
Bible times Abrah?m m. having lived IL.
years, died in a good old age, an old man
and full OF years or days At the age OF
$50 Isaac gave Ep the ghost, being old
and full of days. Job lived 10 years after
his trial and died old and full OF days.
That full OF days is not a common
formula is proved by the fact that the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

harming him passed into a nearby house.
where, after avoiding nine persons. 1t
merely ignited box Of matches before
making It's way to the barn, where 1t
killed six COWS.
One of the most remarkable vagarles
of lightning Is that Of shaving people as
clean as razor and in some in
stances sparing their lives One Of these
cases was that of DR.. CATER. who. when
struck upon the head. had his hair and
WHISPERS RACED completely away. never
to grow again. Although it Is said that
his head after this ordeal swelled up to
enormous size-one account being that It
measured yard and half around-he
survived.
Two men during a storm took refuge
in a windmill which was struck by light
ming. Both We're rendered deaf. and one
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

Metchnikoff imports so continually and
with such care is not wild but =
domestic" yeast, cultivated through
centuries by the grazing, fiock-tending
populations of the Balkan penins ula,
whose way of living and longevity re-
call the biblical patriarchs.
Metchnikoff considers the right Bull
garian bacillus important that he
continues TO lend his name to money
making company that imports, pre-
prepares and retails the Tactic ba-
cillus''
Only Metchnikoff would dare do IT.
His disinterestedness has been proved
a hundred times. He might take enor-
nous fees for treatments. yet refuses
all Rich for Pasteur Institute re
search in the millions of the Osiris be-
quest. he is content with clerks in
come for his simple private life.
On It's side, the ferment company
binds itself to furnish Metchnikoff and
the world with fresh lacto baciliine in
two forms lait caille. or curdled milk,
in sealed glass Jars. and dry COM
pressed tablets of the living yeast in
tin boxes.
Doubtless the 'curdled milk is the
surest. 1t is a perfect field of culture.
while on several recent occasions in
fdTlS the Ddcllll u LAG dAs eooASNS ''N~
been found dead or dormant. one chem
ist discovered living ferments only IN
four tablets out of an entire box. Metch-
nikoff made a great row with the COM
pany, whose experts were as troubled as
himself. The boxes had been kept too
long by retail druggists. In the future
there will be some dating device. For
the rest, 1t is easy to tel by the lack OF
results IL the baci Ii be dead. After
two-week course Of taking, general
feeling of facility and freedom in the
entire human tube is manifest. Faithful
renewals of the flora dring several
years, obviously relieve the patient OF
p,mples, blotches. obesity and constipa-
ton.
Shall we continue TO take lacto hacii-
line after the glycobacter ferments come
on the market:
Probably yes; the united action OF the
two is the more effective. even thougn
the giycobacter be the stronger. Both
fight putrefaction. and SO prevent the
formation of those .'old-age" poisons.
How did Abraham, Isaac and jacob
nrevent them? Doubtless. by some SIM
ole trick of diet and hygiene which the
Jews lost in cities. Part OF II may nave
been the sugar of their dried hgs ana
dates, but we have not their active out
door life to burn up SO much rapidly ao-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

IAN UNCERTAIN FOE, GIVING NO
QUARTER"
found his hair. beard and eyebrows COM
p'etely shaved off. There are also cases
of women whose tresses have been COM
pletely removed BY the same cause. In
some of these cases the locks return,
while in others the victims remain per-
manently bald.
Even more remarkable are some well
established cases where lightning stripped
it's victims naked without disfguring
their bodies. Miss Jennie Martin lately
had this experience in Pennsylvania
village known as Bird-in-Hand. She had
ran to the barn to close the door while
a storm was breaking. While she was
in the buiEiing a bolt ripped off part Of
the roof, struck her apparently on the
head whence after shaving off her hair.
1t passed over her clothing. which. like
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

ERROR of Ii & il I
ming is mostly NOR
bid. II YOU are
obsessed with such
g. fear, Uncle Sans
statisticians C a n
comfort you with
the q assurance that
the average citizen
of the L n ! I e d
States is ten times
more likely to be
murdered than TO
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

a pair Of shears. it cut into shreds ana
dropped at her feet. Her shoes were
also ripped from her feet. In fact. she
was stripped entirely. yet she suffered
no serious injury.
Nine years ago, at Nice one Nine.
Blanc was similarly stripped completely,
but although her body was uninjured she
was rendered mute and when last hearo
from had not recovered her speech. IN
another case a man was struck while
standing by willow tree. His boots
were found at the foot of the tree while
he was picked up six feet away, absolute
ly naked save for part OF one sleeve Al
though conscious, he was badly burned
and his leg was broken. The field around
was strewn with fragments of his clothes.
Similarly, three women were struck
while standing by reaping machine IN
France in 1898. One, whose clothes were
undisturbed. was killed, and although the
two others We're stripped absolutely
naked, even OF their shoes. they were I'M
injured Flammarion reports the case OF
Frenchwoman who while walking
through the country disguised as a man
was completely stripped by lightning and
compelled to wrap herself in a sheet while
escaping to the nearest village All OF
her clothes as well as her shoes We're
by what some might suppose to have been
supernatural force designing to expose
her disguise.
X X
In some such cases the clothing is
halved exactly and merely dropped or
folded back from the body. Such an in
stance occurred in a chapel near St.
Michael de Bellechasse, Quebec. Here.
while kneeling in prayer. an old man
named Polette was struck by lightning
and dazed. His clothes were evenly
bifurcated all along the line Of his spinal
cord and the two great nerves which
forked therefrom and ran down the back
Of his legs.
But the most weird of all these light
ming pranks on record is that Of killing
q man and leaving him standing erect,
as In life Such a phenomenon was late
ly reported by Canadian observer. {.
Baillarge who near Beaumont saw man
struck by thunderboit while walking in
a field. Although dead. he remained
motionless, standing with one foot in
front of the other in the attitude Of TAX
ing step.
A similar case, and even more grue-
some, is reported by British divine, the
Rev. Mr.. Butler, who at Eyerdon, Eng
land. Saw lightning strike dead four OF
ten harTesters who had sought refuge
under u hedge during a thunderstorm
All four We're left as If petritied. One was
holding in his fingers the snuff which he
one hand on the head of dead dog. rest
ing on his knees, and in the other hand
a bit of bread with which he had been
feeding the animal Another sat with
his eyes open, staring at the storm cloud
More astonishing still is the now quite
famous case of the three French soldiers
who. after having been struck dead by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

Morbid fear Of lightning results not
only from knowledge that il Is an uncar-
tain foe. giving no quarter and behaving
without rhyme or reason. but from tho
awe spiring enormity OF the thunderhead
with its fiery, forked tongue and from the
randi increase of barometric pressure pre-
ceding a gust As intimated. thunder
heads are the giants Of the cloud family.
The weather bureau has Is aid Of sur
Veyors' Instruments measured some
high from base t. summit as Mount Ever
est. tie tallest mountain in the world. But
even a person who i both deaf 10 the
crashing challenge Of an approaching
gust and blind t. the spectacle OF the
rising thunderhead and its ominous pyro-
technics viii feel the depression caused
~ the sudden addition OF hundreds .,
pounds of atmospheric pressure 70 his
blood vessels Such depression is fuel
for morbid fears. In III" course az a
census Of terrors made some time ago by
our noted psychologist. - Stanley Hail.
il was discovered that lightniES excited
the chief fear of the majority 81 the sub
jects examined. Yet. according to tie
governments statisticians. II causes less
violent deaths than any other ency
upon whose rayageS they keep tab
Copyright 1912. by John Elfreth watkins)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28
strikes Wi&h@ut Rhyme or Reason

hand IN the presidential campaign %
l>.S In that year the barn 81 A3n.s
Milikan Was decorated with lithograpis
of Mckinley and Hobart. During a fierce
thunderguSt the bars was several times
struck by lightning and seemed 10 bs
wrapped in flames But after the storm
had subsidized Milkan Was amazed %
discover that. a,thoGsh his barn was IL
tact. the two candidates Autographs had
been reduced To ashes. Silhouettes OF
both Mckinley and Hobart were. how
ever. found burned into the barn, just
where the pictures had been.
Thunderboits frequently measure them
selves upon the ground. leaving a record
of their diameters In the National Nj
scum Is a collection OF glass tubes which
lightning has made upon striking In SAND.
The holes through these. representing tho
thickness OF the bolts. vary from the SIZE
OF quill to three inches IN diameter.
Such tubes have been followed thirty
feet into the ground.
Records of the vagaries OF lightning arc
replete with accounts OF tattoo marks
left by thunderbolts upon the skins of
victims AS these are almost invariably
in the form OF branching trees or other
vegetation. there was formerly an erro-
neous notion that they We're lightning
photographs OF such objects. IN the path
OF a flash But experiments upon photo
graphic plates PROVE that when power
ful electric current dartinE through the
ar comes in contact with fiat BODY II
branches into myriad forks. resembling
not only the limbs and twigs OF trees. but
The details Of the most delicate sea
MOSES.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

,sTCHNihOFr does
not tell all.
T h e .llustr.ous
disco.erer OF the
glycobacter /. q $
been SO m.srepre-
serted and jealous
Gd that he no
longer wears his
heart on his sleeve
"Of course. the
glyccbacter Will no;
give eternal outh.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

There is also the historic case Of Prof.
Richman OF st. Petersburg. He had
rugged up tan iron rod to attract light
ming into his laboratory for experimental
purposes. but during violent storm stood
too near the apparatus. While he was
explaining an eIectrometer connected TO
the conductor a bell of blue fire the size
of mans fist feared from the rod 10
his head and killed him instantly. After
leaving a red mark on his fore 1ead. where
ii entered. smuggling his clothing and burst
ing open his shoe, where it escaped, the
fatal globe knocked his companion sense
less and tore open panel OF the door,
where Ii made it's escape
Another lightning ball. described as like
an orange, came bouncing through an
open dinng-room window in CONSTANT
nople in 1885. After spinning. about the
chandelier it bounced up and down on
the table, whirled about the heads Of
the diners. and. without injuring any Of
them, leaped through the window again
into the street, where it exploded with a
fr.ghtful crash
In another instance such a ball, fol-
lowing an awful thunder clap. fell at
the feet of young man and without
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

her dog. alarmed by an approaching
thunder-gust ran 10 her for protection.
She took her pet upon her lap and was
trying to calm him when there came
fash of lightning and a ball Of fire when
traversed the veranda from end to enc.
and disappeared across the lawn. Wnen
she recovered from her surprise she round
the dog dead, although unmarked by the
electric projectile. She was unframed.
Three of the most interesting freaks OIL
this category have been reported from
France. During q thunderstorm gloDe
of fire the size of a billiard ball was seen
gliding along field until 1t touched the
bare toes of peasant girl Ihence II
rose. opening her skirts like an umbrella
and came out the middle of her bodice
to bound into the air with great din. AS
the girl fell backward two witnesses ran
to her assistance, but found her unin-
tured. save for a superficial erosion ea,
tending from one knee to the middle OF
her chest, where the ball had passed out
at where her clothes had been cut
through
Another French girl who had such an
experience was kneeling in her home in
Marseille while cringing in terror of the
storm A ball Of lightning described as
the size OF a dinner plate entered the
room, struck her feet, rebounded to the
ceiling, struck her feet again, then the
times with perfect regularity until, to the
amazement Of other occupants of the
house. il escaped through the keyhole
The girl suffered cramp in her legs
which prevented her walking alone for
two weeks, but otherwise was unhurt.
The third French case occurred at Sc
condigny. Two boys playing in the street
saw a ball of lightning like an orange
rolling toward them. and when one kick
ed 1t it exploded. killing him Instantly:
His playmate was felled 10 the ground
but uninjured.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28

EY JOHN ELFRErH WATKINS.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28
e o, TIE sta..

PARIS. July Is. 1912
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-03-28
Sandstones Differ Widely.

Either by great pressure or by
the injection of cementing ma
terials the products of rock de-
composition may be reconsoli-
dated. Thus sands, are formed
into sandstones, clays become
shales, and, calcareods deposits
yield limestone. The sandstones,
aside from their cementing ma
terials, differ in composition ex-
actly as did the sands Of which
they are composed. According
to ''The Data of Geochemistry, =
by F. W. Clarke bulletin 491 of
the United States Geological Sur
vey), sandstone may be nearly
pure quartz, or quartz and field
spar, or micaceous, and it can
vary in texture from the finest
to the coarsest. Some rdstone
is so coarse that it will hold 6
quarts of water to the cubic foot
Such sandstone constitutes an
excellent reservoir and may yield
a never-failing water. supply. An
arkose sandstone from the quick
silver region of California made
up of granite detritus was found
to contain quartz, orthoclase,
oligoclase, biotite, muscovite,
hornblende, titanite, rutile, tour
maline and apatite. In short.
all the rock-forming minerals
which can in any way survive
the destruction or grinding up of
a rock may be found in sands,
and therefore in sandstones.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-03-28
Mecca's Polluted Well.

A scientific analysis has been made
of the Zem-Zem water from the sacred
well at Mecca, which, according to the
Arabs, is the well that the angel show
ed to Hagar and whose water saved
the life Of Ishmael. After reading the
results of the analysis one cannot won
der that pilgrims who drink the water
frequently are attacked by cholera.
The specimen examined contained six
ty-nipe grains of chlorine to the gallon.
Water which contains so little as nine
grains of chlorine to the gallon is ordi-
narily regarded as scarcely fit for hui
man consumption. Moreover, in the
case of the Zem-Zem we'll it Is believed
the chlorine originates from the Gus
tom of pouring the water over the pill
grims and allowing it to run back into
the well. The sacred water was found
to possess an extraordinary degree of
hardness" three times as great as that
of average water. 1t also held twenty
times as much ammonia compounds as
drinking water should contain.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-03-28

in many states have been mad
equate. Accurate information
in regard to the action of differ
ent kinds of explosive materials
is necessary for efficient legisla-
ton, and such information has
been nowhere available. 1t is to
remedy this condition and pro-
vide accurate data in regard to
explosives, that tests of coal
mining explosives are being made
by the Bureau of Mines. These
tests serve to show which ex-
plosives are safe and which are
dangerous for use in coal-mining
and to determine such other
properties of explosives as are of
Importance in the safe and eff
cient use of these materials.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-03-28
A Touch of Human Nature.

The doors which open from the side
walk into the lobby of big building
are heavy ones and are very hard to
open. Yesterday a little hunchback
stepped out of an elevator on the first
floor, followed by a great big man.
The hunchback reached the doors first
and threw himself against one. AL
though he pushed with all his might,
he couldn't open it. Chagrined, he STEP
ped back, and the big man stepped up.
Noticing the look of humiliation on
the face of the little fellow, the big
man said:
"I've got sore wrist. Come on; let's
see if we both can't open it."
The hunchback and the big man botf
pushed on the door, and of course il
opened. The two went out smiling.
The big man had no sore wrist at all
Two or three people looking on felt
like cheering for him.-New York Tele
graph.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-03-28
How to Walk.

There is no virtue in a dawdling
saunter. The slow and languid drag
ging of one foot after the other which
some people call walking would tire
an athlete. 1t utterly exhausts a weak
person, and that is the reason why
many delicate persons think they can
net walk. To derive any benefit from
the exercise 1t is necessary to walk
with light, elastic step which swings
the weight of the body so easily from
one leg to the other that its weight
is not felt and which produces a
healthy glow, showing that the slug
gish. blood is stirred to action in the
most remote veins.