davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

10 another way OF saying that there
was . warm time In the old town on
more than one night. Judging by the
imperial fddler's liking for splendid
orgies. That the goddess Of love en-.
toyed . special popularity among the
Ostienses, ~ the Inhabitants Of the
city were called, 10 shown by the large
number Of statues Of Venus. including
one particularly fine one. which have
been discovered there. There ID evil
dence. too. Of the cronistae. the re-
porters Of that time. that the life in
the season at Ostia was. in the words
Of Bill Nye. = continuous round Of
torchlight professions and Mardi Gras.
It IL pretty hard to say how many
years before the foundation Of Rome
Ostia was In existence and flourish.
ing a. the seaport Of Latium. Virgil
says that Aeneas. escaping from the
burning Troy. stopped with his fellows
at the mouths of tho Tiber, where he
founded the New Troy, afterwards
called by the simpler name Of ostia.
This poetical account Is not wholly
supported by historical Investigations,
however. But there is no doubt that
ANGUS Marcus. who lived some 400
years before the birth Of Christ. estab.
lished himself at Ostia after having
DEFEATED several Latin towns.
It was the foundation of Rome and
its rapid development that caused an
equally rapid and marvellous develop
ment Of the port Of Ostia. This, ow-
ing to the short distance from the
city. was often called the port Of
Rome. and 1t provided for the city the
greatest part Of tho many requisites
for Its existence. From the corn Of
Egypt and Sicily to the marbles Of
Greece and Asia Minor. from the
wines Of Falsrnus and Of Naples to
the gold Of Africa and Spain. every.
thing brought to Rome was landed at
Ostia and thence by the Tiber was
shipped to the capital. Ostia followed
Rome In its splendor and it's maRni.
tude: when the Roman empire was at
its zenith Ostia was also at the maxi.
mum of Its glory. Not only was 1t a
commercial center. but military base
for war expeditions. Claudius. the
emperor, sailed from Ostia to the CON.
quest of Britain.
Excavations at ostia had never
been successfully and scientifically
carried out until few years ago.
The world owes to Professor Ian.
c,ana. the Italian Archaeological, the
irst scientific research Of the ruins
of the town. This savant was also the
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

1t was not on tho floor. on the table.
anywhere.
Maybe you slipped 1t OF for fear
Joe would see you were engaged"
suggested Ladd hopefully and tact
fully.
Miss Carberry Indignantly denied
this, and called his attention to the
fact that she had been proud when
he introduced her a. his nancee. They
parted with increased coldness. Ladd
said he was glad the ring was lost, but
he did not say 1t a. II he meant It.
Another Misunderstanding that lasted
for weeks resulted. and then there
was 4 quarrel. and the engagement
was broken again.
The day after the breaking Of the
engagement the ring made Its reap
pearance. Miss Carberry found It in
an envelope ON her desk at home She
waited almost month before she mo-
titled LAdd Of the recovery OF the ring.
Although both had been 10 positive
that she wore II ct the luncheon, they
agreed they must have been mis-
taken.
AuAS um0 Alo8 OaIUotIy wore inc
ring exactly seven days. and was 10
careful that she placed 4 tight guard
ring above It on her engagement
finger. On the seventh day, q Sunday,
shs went to spend the day with some
friends.
0uara Ring Remains on Finger.
After dinner. late In the afternoon,
she went to . room upstairs with
three other girls to prepare to re-
turn to the city. and the ring disap-
psarsd. Oddly enough, the guard ring
was on the finger, and 10 far a. she
could recall, It never had been on.
She was almost frantic with anxiety,
fearing another break In her engage
nsnt
She determinsd to make every Il
fort to recover the ring. and mot let
Mr.. Ladd know Of IL third disappear
ancs until Tuesday evening. when he
was 70 call. He ia not cali Tuesday
evening. Instead there came . cool
little note asking her to explain Why
she had left the ring ON his desk and
u sAs was DESTROYS Of breaking the en-
nSsmsat Why she did not cay 20 and
have Il over with instead q INDUCING
II tSickeey with Tie ring.
TAs nsts nsle her angry. NE
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

the behavior Of comets while within
the range Of our vision suggests that.
for the most part. they recede from the
sun to distances prodigious enough
when measured In miles, but very
small indeed when compared with the
distance Of the stars. and that soon.
er or later most. II not all of these
comets. will be found coming back
again over the same path as before,
again to be seen for time and again
to disappear for another absence that
may be measured in centuries.
The grounds for q decision between
these rival views are simple enough In
theory. although hard to realize in
practice. 1t IL wholly = question Of
the kind Of orbit In which the comets
travel, and the law Of gravitation de.
termines that these orbits must be
either oval or v-shaped. with the sun
inside the curve. No other form in
possible. The oval II a closed curve
and however big 1t may be. the comet
that travels along It must some time
return to the place where It was first
seen: but the "v" has projecting arms
that never meet and the comet that
has once swept around the bend Of the
curve. which II always the part near
the sun and earth. can never return to
It and them.
When . comet 10 discovered II 10
the business Of the astronomer to fiud.
- promptly a. may be. the path it IL
pursuing. whether It 10 oval or '.
shaped, and here he encounters the
real dinculties Of the problem. He
must rely upon observations made
while the comet 10 visible, and this ps-
Rod 10 90 short compared with the
time taken to move over the whole or.
bit. that II 10 almost impossible to Dc.
eide from the little section Of the or.
bit covered By observations whether
1t belongs to the one type or the 9th.
or. In former days It was the general
opinion that the v-shaped orbit was
the one natural to comets.
whether the orbits BE- prevailing OF
one kind or the other. It 10 clear that
they are Of very different sisss, some
Of them approaching % close to the
sum that the comet 10 literally made
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25
sewing the Old prebIsm.

When Sir Thomas Upton was .
small boy In Scotland, no dropped into
q church one Sunday morning and
was put by himself in pew directly
In front Of the minister, who preach.
ID Q sermon ON the text. Am I my
brothers kssperf"
Ths parssa, who was unusually sio-
qusnt talked On this theme for about
forty minutes. and finally worked up
to the climax Of his remarks. He kept
his gaze hxsd directly on the little
Upton. who began to Midget and look
very sslf-conscious. At last. after an
overwhelming outpourfng Of long
words. the minister. his eyes bias
ing, made quick gesture and shoutsd
It the boy:
Am I ny brothers keepsrf"
Hptea could stand the strain No
longer. and replied, in . meek voice:
no. Ak."SThs Popular Magazine
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25
WHERE DO COMETS
COME FROM TO US7
BY GEORGE c. coMsrock.
Professor Of Astronomy, University Of
AsI~.nn~Ia

Wb8CVUBpUs
The popular interest In comets 10
doubtless due to their transitory char
acter, associated with the common be-
lief that they are rare and unusual ap-
pearances. Great comets certainly are
unusual and not more than once or
twice In . lifetime are there to be
seen such types ~ the beautiful comet
Of 1882. which was visible In broad
daylight. and whose tail was long
enough to bridge the space between
earth and sun. But little comets are
plentiful ~ great ones are rare
"as numerous n fishes in the sea-"
was Kepler's phrases three centuries
aso-and with the systematic use Of
the telescope in searching for comets.
their number has grown, until now
there Il scarceta night In the year
upon which one OF more Of these bod
les may mot be seen. But their stay
10 brief and within few weeks. or at
most . few months, they are gone.
never to rsappsar.' a. Ii often said
Of them. 1t H. well known. however.
that some Of them do come
back aftsr time. ~ Hal
ley's comet only two years ago.
and there are more than half hun.
drsd others which appear and disap-
pear. time after time. upon schedules
will known and regular.
Nevertheless the great majority Of
comets do disappear and have not
come back, and astronomers are d.
vidsd In opinion ~ to whether they
ever will return. one school holding
that they come to u from the depths
oe the interstsllar spaces. drawn in BY
the attractive powers d the sun's
gravitAtion. and BY that same power
are thrown out again TO stay." Anoth-
q school Of astronomers. while ID.
hitting that the process here d.
scribed 10 possible. and eoasistsnt with
knowa nschanie laws. eontsRds that
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

rious than anything else. The details
are not complete. because Mr.. Ladd IL
rather reticent in regard to the inter
mission in their courtship. It 10
known, however, that he met Miss
Mat MacCallum of Albany, that they
became engaged, and that he gave her
the engagement ring.
Probably he became engaged to
Miss MacCallum while piqued over
losing Miss Carberry. At any rate.
Miss MacCallum wore the ring for
nearly q month. Then 1t disappeared
az mysteriously as 1t had done before.
The girl either was deceitful or
rather frightened over the loss. and
instead Of confessing 1t she wrote
and broke the engagement and stated
that she never had cared enough for
him to marry him and that their en-
gagemsnt had been a mistake. She
did not mention the ring.
Ring Returns to Owner.
Three days after he received the
letter from Miss MacCallum he re-.
oeived . nice little note froA &iss
Carbsrfy. She thanked him for end-
ing the ring. showing her that IN
spite Of misunderstandings he stil1
trusted her. The ring. she said. was
left on her desk In the once where
she was employed. without q message.
but she understood It to mean that he
was weary of their foolish quarrel.
Puzzled and upset. over the affair.
Ladd called upon her. and after be-
ing convinced that there was no
danger he confessed everything and
was forgiven. They agreed to be
married in three weeks and Ladd
jokingly insisted that wedding ring
was necessary to hold that engage
msnt ring on her finger.
Ring Found on Ladd's Desk.
Two nights afterward the ring dis
appeared again, while she slept. Miss
Carberry insisted, and the following
day Ladd found it circling . twisted
spile Of paper on his desk. On the
paper were two words. "Ha! Hal"
written in large. bold hand. and
those two words furnish the only
clew to the mystery.
Instead Of writing Ladd went direct
to the home Of his nancee and de-
manded to know whetheN she were
trining with him. The result was
another quarrel and separation
more tears, and they parted. Miss
Carberry declaring she never wanted
to see his face again. He stood 1t
month. then wrote. begging forgive
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

first to draw the attention Of the ltal'
ian government to the treasures which
the sands Of Ostia were concealfng.
Some authorities on archaeology al.
most discouraged Professor Lanciani
in his flrst attempts. but short work
was quite sufficient to prove what an
important page of history Ostia would
disclose to the world II its ruins were
brought to light
The excavations at ostia have now
uncovered the two main thorough
fares of the town. the "decumanus"
and the "cardo," which. according to
Roman topography. marked the frst
foundations Of the city. The decu-
manus, the street leading to the sea.
was fanked by porticoes leading to
shops or private houses. Some OF tho
porticoes have been found in excellent
condition and most Of the walls are
also well preserved. These walls. are.
as usual in Roman architecture. rath-
or thick, thus showing that the heat
must have been considerable In the
town, especially az almost every house
bears traces Of an open space or
veranda which opens toward the sea
and is sheltered from the suns rays.
The theater. which lies close to the
decumanus. still bears its original
form and some of its columns. Its stat
ues and its mosaics are beautifully
preserved. The capitals Of the col
umns are Of remarkable workman
ship and Judging by their height and
by the size Of the statues which adorn-
ed the entrance of the theater the lat
ter must have been an exceedingly
large building to hold several thou
sand people. 1t was founded BY
Agrippa and restored by Caracalla at
the end Of the fourth centuryA In
this theater was found q large statue
Of Venus which IL now at the Lateran
Museum in Rome. while another. the
Venus Of the Sea. has been found bur-
led underneath the stage.
A great part Of the decumanus has
yet to be unearthed. the greatest
and perhaps the most interesting part,
as this is the portion approaching the
sea. where the famous port IL sup
posed to have been in existence.
Professor Vaglieri-who. in succession
to Lanciani. is now in charge Of the
excavations-thinks that he may not
only come across the walls of the
port and its docks, but that he may
also find the remains Of ancient ships
and at any rate archaeological mate
rial OF the greatest importance for the
reconstruction Of this old port.
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

more than red hot as II sweeps mast.
while in other cases the comet at its
nearest approach to the sun 10 far out.
side the orbit of the earth. From a
statistical study Of these orbits, 1t
appears probable that those comets
That are discovered and observed from
the earth constitute only a small frac.
ZION OF the total number that enter
or belong to the solar system. To be
discovered at all. a comet either must
be unusually big and bright or it mus,
come near the earth. an, with due
reference to these conditions and to
the average number Of comets that
are found year by year, It appears that
lor every comet that ever comes in
SIDE the orbit of the earth there must
be some As or so that never come an
near the sun and which must therefore
IN great part remain undiscovered. An
even more striking conclusion alons
.nese lines is that II we count the or
OIL OF the most distant planet. Men
tune. as fixing the boundary Of the aoi.
ar system, there are at all times nre..
emit within this spherical domain sev.
erai thousand comets. tho av.ra..
number being a tribe under 5000 but
o. tnese thousand there are visible
rom the earth at any one time hardly
more than one or two. It must not
oe inferred. however, that comets are
iess numerous near the earth than
else"nere. for quite the contrary i.
rue the number of comets per billion
cubic miles of space is greater ns.-
tne sun and diminishes somevh., ~
IDLY to the outermost counns. =, ~
syatem and 1t is only the imm.n.s
expsnse Of the solar system hevn,S
me earth's orbit that makes m. ~
tsi number of comets 20 sres. T. :.
.an same great space ayailahI. ~.
them to move in that m.t -.
me chance Of collision between oomse.
and planets 80 extremely small Th..s
u no known instance Of q head.o, ~. ~
.is,on between such bodies. o. ~ ~
falling Of comet into he ,nn ~, -. 81
though the mathematical chaptsr =, II
eidents contemplatss a. probsh,s - ~. ~
occurrences Of about one suct sv.n, ~
the latter in every century
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

vrota stating tAs fases q ne ease,
denied having bssa within tAree niIss
Of his e1lcs. aad asked him 70 g.
plata how 10 came IN possessioo q
Tie ring. They did not 80 each 9th
Or. because Miss CaTbsfTy was -
angry over his reply to her note that
she refused to 80 him
Renewal Of Alfairs Nest Curious.
That quarrel was 70 serious that II
was more than year before they
spoke again. and the manner Of the re-
nswal Of their love AFFAIR WAS more Gu
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

either Pompeii or Herculaneum, older
than Rome itself. whose seaport, ~
well ~ fashionable watering place.
the long-burisd city used to be.
The work Of unearthing Ostia has
now been going on for some years.
OF late. thanks to the interest that has
been taken in It by King Victor EN-
manuel and the parliament-the latter
having Just voted $4,000 toward new
excavations-it has made rapid head
way. The two principal streets Of the
city. ~ well a. its splendid theater.
having been brought to light. This an.
Gent town. the greatest center Of COM
merce and Of amusement Of Ruman
times, with its splendid buildings and
magnificent monuments, has been bur.
led since the fall Of the Roman En-
pire in grave of mingled sand,
stones and rubbish. which in places IL
20 and even 80 fest deep.
The upper ten Of Rome had their
summer homes at Ostia, which 10 only
thirteen miles from the capital, and
used to 30 there in April and stay un-
til September. during all Of which
time there was . lot doing. The
Maiumas. or May festival, was cels-
.bratsd 1t Ostia with crest .pomp BY
the emperor and his court. who drove
al the way from Rome in their gor.
Ssous state coaches. followed. say the
records. By the notables. which means
the 400 Of the day. and the matronea,
which may mean the chaperones,
though they had little use Of these In
those rapid days, and accompanied By
crowds OF people cheering to Castor
and Pollux. the presiding divinities Of
the place. These festivals lasted sew
eral weeks. during which there were
constant libations, which 10 Roman
for rounds Of drinks. and sacrifices to
Bacchus and Venus. the gods Of wine
and love.
Plutarch. Ivy and Cicero speak Of
ostia ~ having been place Of de-
light" and 'the favorite town Of en-
perors and nobility for several hun
dred years" Nero had special fond
ness for tho Roman Newport, which
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

Ladd stood On the end ol the
iron pier 1t Atlantic City the
other day With Miss Jeanette
Carbsrry and threw carat
and . half solitaire diamond ring -
far ~ he could into the waters Of
the Atlantic some Of the spectators
thought him insane. But ~ The ring
flashed and sank Ladd turned and
said. Thank heaven It's gone" and
Miss Carberry sighed happily.
The act probably dispensed for all
time with the hoodooed engagement
ring that four times caused Mr.. LAdd
to figure in broken engagements and
which I'VE times he placed upon the
finger Of Miss Carberry. where now
. new cut diamond flashes. Unless
some luckless loving couple dallying
In the sand at Atlantic City some time
dig up the solitaire the hoodoo will re-
main with the mermaids.
The story Of the Ill luck that has
followed the ring and its peculiar ad-
ventures leads toward the realm Of
uncanny mysteries. No explanation
yst has been offered. NO theory
evolved beyond that the whole thing
must have been the work Of some hu-
man enemy Of either LAdd or his
Aancee.
Nothing Extraordinary In Principals.
Nj. LAdd IL New Yorker: that ID.
h. has . business in New York but
resides In Brooklyn. down in the Pros
pect park south district. Miss Car
berry lives In the same neighborhood
With her parents, and until two years
ago was assistant buyer for big New
York Wholesale millinery establish
mont.
Mr.. IAdd has small apartment and
takes breakfast with family named
Brescher. consisting Of the father.
mother. and one child. boy OF
twelve. While on friendly terms with
the Breschers. 1t cannot be said that
Ladd IL at all intimate with them. He
SEES them ut breakfast. but seldom At
any other time, A. be lunches in New
York and usually dimes in town and
returns to his apartment during the
evening.
Their First Meeting.
Ladd met Miss Carberry In the fall
Of 1909. They fell in love with each
other and their engagement was an
nounced in January. the date Of their
marriage being set for June ~. Evil
IDENTITY Aadd felt tolerably certain that
h would b accepted even before he
made the formal proposal. ~ no ad-
nits that the week before they be
came engaged he gave IN order for q
pare white diamond solitaire and or
AsrsA It st In . high ring a old red
0uinsa gold.
Miss Carberry Hrst put on the ring
the evening Of January Z when she &C
csptsd Mr.. LAdd's proposal. She was
much pleased with the ring itself. b.
sides she seemed unusually happy and
wore the ring proudly. The following
Friday Mr.. Laid called to take her
to the theAter. She wore the ring
and distinctly remembered that after
Mr.. Ladd kissed her goodnight and
started away she turned out the light.
and a. she started to her boudoir she
stopped ON the staircase and kissed
the ring. The following morning the
ring was missing.
The Ring Disappears.
Miss Carberry made hasty search
Of her room and her bed. then sum
moned her mother, informed her Of
the loss, and told her to take every
thing in the room and hallway to
pieces and 'fnd the ring. ~ Mr.. LAdd
was going to call that evening and
she would not want him to know. Her
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

mother searched for several sholrs In
vain. Miss Carbsrry returned from
tie ONES and together they searched
tie sntirs house. The girl was NOR
tined and distressed.
Instead Of telling Mr.. Ladd. she TEL
sphortd him that she was sick and for
hin to come the following night. She
remained At home from the once and
searched the house again. That eve
ming Ladd came. She hoped b would
aot observe the fact that the ring was
missing. bat - luck would have II
~ tried n kiss her hand bseoee hs
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25

FTER being buried under
sand for fifteen centuries.
the remains of Ostia. the
Newport Of the ancient
Romans. have now been
largely unearthed. This
years American visitors to
the Eternal City will ind
them almost a. interesting
to visit as Pompeii itself.
Ostia 10 older, too, than
The Meeker herald., 1914-04-25
HOODOO RING
THAT PARTED
FOND HEARTS

Ew YoRK-whsa Frank \
Ladd stood On the end oe tn
iron pier At Atlantic City tn
other day With Miss JsAnett'
CarharrY and thrAN 4 cara
The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1914-05-21
WANTED THE STAGE FILLED
Theatrical Magnate Evidently Cared
More for Effect Than for Accuracy
of Production.

The production Of great dramas was
his business. His great talent was
success, and his weakness was that
he always liked tn show off" when he
was rehearsing a play. He was
In the habit OF sitting far back in
the darkened theater, and whenever
a stranger came in to see the re-
hearsal work he put himself in the
foreground by jumping to his feet
and bawling out the actors and act
resses. When he was putting on a
big production Of The Holy City
three friends of his entered the the
ater one afternoon to see the dress
rehearsal AS soon as they had sat
down the producer began to hdget
in his seat. He was consumed by the
old fever for prominence. He want
ed the visitors to see that he was the
boss of everything. There were II
men on the stage, which was unusual
ly large. Who are those men on
the stage?' he called out to his stage
manager in thunderous voice.
That's one of the big scenes of the
play the manager said humbly.
Those men are the II disciples. ,"
oh, we'll" shouted the impresario
! imperiously, "go out and get IL more
That's big stage. and we want to
| fill it up"
The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1914-05-21
TheHOllOW
- 8 Of Her Hand
~GeOr9e Barr MoCutCheOn

ment to inspect Hetty's wardrobe, os-
tensibly for the purpose of picking out
a gown for the picture. AS O. matter
of fact, he had decided the point to
his own satisfaction the night before.
She should pose for him In the dainty
white dress she had worn on that oc-
casion.
While they were going over the ex-
tensive assortment Of gowns, with
Sara as the Judge from whom there
seemed to be no appeal. he casually
inquired If she had ever posed before.
He watched her closely as he put
the question. She was holding up a
beautiful point lace creation for his
inspection, and there was pleading
smile on her lips. 1t must have been
her favorite gown. The smile faded
away. The hand that dangled the gar
ment before his eyes suddenly be-
came motionless, as If paralyzed. In
the next instant, she recovered her
self, and. giving the lace a quick f1llip
that sent its odor of sachet leaping to
his nostrils, responded with perfect
composure.
Isn't there a distinction between
posing for an artist, and sitting for
ones Portrait" she asked.
He was silent The fact that he did
not respond seemed to disturb her aft