davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Press., 1915-02-17
finesse.

F1nesse Is one of those wonderful French words which seem to mean so much and yet. when one hunts them right down to their Fundamental es sence, turn out to mean really nothing so very much at all.
 The word fnesse as originally intro duced into this country meant the maneuver in whist by which you take a trick from your opponents with a card lower than your highest-a card inferior also to one possessed by your opponents.
 Speaking generally. without chasing the word too near it's lair. fnesse means the art of doing things niftily-I find it necessary to refer constantly to American slang in order to get the best definition for subtle French ex- pressions.
 Now there is. sisters and brethren, an old saying which saith that it isn't so much what you do as how you do it. The thing has tang of the south about it. and l suspect that it really isn't much older than the Louisiana purchase; but. be that as it may. to lift an expression from the newspaper editorial writers finesse has to do with how you do things. Vaux Ra- con in Green Book Magazine.
The Press., 1915-02-17
NEWSPAPERS IN INDIA.
They Seem to Be Run In Happy go.
 lucky Sort of Way.

They Seem to Be Run In a Happy go-
 lucky Sort of Way.
 Americans, accustomed to the hustle and hustle of our newspapers that are enterprising to marvellous extent, would be amazed if not exasperated with the papers of India. One of these sheets recently published this explana- tion:
 "This is only the beginning of our paper. We were not sure how much matter was required to fill it up, and, thinking we had sufficient, we did not exert ourselves much to get any more. We therefore beg that our readers will excuse us for the space left blank and promise to do better and get more in the future"
 How many subscribers would that paper have in this country? Still more curious was the announcement of a paper that came out with two columns blank, the editor having the cheek to say that large quantity of exceeding ly Interesting matter has been left out for want of space.
 When the average East Indian editor wants holiday he suspends publica- tiOn until it is convenient to resume and. taking the public into his conf. dence. informs them plainly why the paper was not issued on the expected dates. With the consent of our read CTS we now propose to take our annual holiday. We are sure none of them will begrudge us our relaxation" St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
The Press., 1915-02-17
Ioui. the Maonif;cent.

As soon as he rose he was dressed. by his valet in a coat of blue cloth. Two little epaulets of gold cord were sewed to the cloth. Under the coat was white waistcoat. which was almost en- tirely hidden by the ribbons and wide sashes of his orders. His satin brooches ended in pair of high boots or gaiters of red velvet. which came above the knees and were more supple than leather. for the thickness of leather on legs that were often painful from gout would have created too much friction. He made great point of these boots. He thought that they made him look like z general. ready at any moment to spring upon a horse. though this was a physical impossibil- ity for him since he was much too fat and too infirm. He used powder with a view to hiding the white locks of age. and this gave his complexion an appearance of youth.-From 'The Re turn of Louis XVIII"
The Press., 1915-02-17
HORSEBACK RIDING.
It Is a Sport and an Exercise In Class
 by Itself.

It Is a Sport and an Exercise In a Class
 by Itself.
 When Oliver Wendell Holmes pro- claimed the trotter the coming horse and the steed of democratic useful ness. he did not foresee the invention of the automobile. Small blame to him. No one else dreamed of it for some scores of years thereafter. but the motor driven carriage has caused the learned doctors plausible prophecy to go askew. By all present signs the coming horse. or. rather. the lasting horse. the one which will survive any amount of mechanical aids to locOmO- tion is the good saddle animal.
 Horseback riding is at once sport and an exercise which is without a relative or competitor. It is like nothing else. and for one who loves it, it can be replaced by nothing else. It is one of the finest aids to digestion ever known. The dictum of the old English physician. The outside of a horse is the best thing for the insides of d man." remains true.
 With all these advantages the saddle horse is likely to last till we degenerate into a nation of button pushers. When that degradation is accomplished it won't matter greatly whether we have any desirable animal companionship or not Chicago Journal.
The Press., 1915-02-17
WHY SNOW HEATS THE HANDS
The Brain Calls to the Blood to Help
 the Chilled Skin.

The Brain Calls to the Blood to Help
 the Chilled Skin.
 1t Is very wonderful that our hands should become warm after playing with snow. for it must be perfectly certain that the cold snow takes heat away very quickly from our warm hands.
 The warmth of our hands is derived entirely from the blood. except at times when something hot is actually shining upon them. Therefore, for some req so or other, very much larger amount of blood than usual must be flowing through our hands. The blood is no warmer in itself. or the whole of the body would at once notice it, but what really happens is that the hands are getting richer and quicker supply of it.
 The effect is just the same. really, as the delightful glow that we feel after a cold bath. The brain has the duty of taking care of the skin. as of every other part. of the body. Now. when the skin has been chilled it's life has been heavily taxed. and it will suffer unless it is compensated. So the brain orders the small blood vessels in the skin, wherever it has been chilled. to relax and widen so that the warm blood is able to circulate quickly through them.-"The Child's Book of Knowledge"
The Press., 1915-02-17
WORDS THAT ARE AccURSED.
To Use Them Before the Yezidees ls
 to Invite Death.


 The Yezidees, a peculiar Turkish sect. are perhaps the only people in the world .who consider certain letters, words and phrases as being cursed and the person who pronounces them worthy subject for immediate destruc- tion.
 They attach no value to human life, and to these ordinary dangers are add ed thc-e arising from the embarrass- ing etiquette of conversational inter course with them. for if any one inad. ventently speaks the Rord devil" Satan" or anything with the same meaning he commits a mortal offense, and to cut off his head is a God pleas. ing act, sacred duty of the Yezidee, the fulfllment of which will insure him place in paradise.
 In like manner several letters are wholly banished from their language, chiefly those which contain the sound of "shun." The Arabian word ''nallet," '"Thou art damned" is also expunged because 1t is believed by the Yezidees to have been the word uttered by God when the fallen angels were thrown into hell.
 These and similar words and phrases are set aside and combinations which do not belong to any language used instead.-LOndon Spectator.
The Press., 1915-02-17
Actors and Their Teeth.

There is only one feature of an ac- tor which will give him away when disguised in perfect makeup" re- marks young actor, "and that feat ure is the teeth. Let man do what be will to his face, let him cover it with all kinds of paint, beard, whisk- CTS and what not, but the teeth will disclose his indubitable identity di- rectly he opens his mouth to speak a line or to raise laugh.
 'T myself, when sitting in the front of a house watching other peoples performances, have frequently been puzzling myself as to the identity of a cleverly made up player, but no soon CT has the said player disclosed his fvories' than I have at once recogniz ed him. provided, of course, he has chanced to be a man whose face know moderately we'll. Strangely enough, hardly any one is aware of this curious truth, but 1t remains an undeniable fact all the same."-Pear son's Weekly.
The Press., 1915-02-17
SEEING THE SUN.
A Travellers Experience Among tho
 Natives of Manchuria.

4 Travellers Experience Among the . Natives of Manchuria. . In Thirty Years In Mukden" Dr. Dugald Christie tells the following story of an experience that he and the Rev. John MacIntyre underwent on trip they took from Mukden to the riv- CT Yalu, the border of Korea. On their way back they found themselves to- ward dusk one day in sparsely in habited district several miles from the only inn. They reached it by fording a swift river swollen with melting
 alows and found poor hovel with only one common room and two old linen as innkeepers. ss There was neither candle nor lamp, but the end of tarred rope that hung from beam was burning, and by this dim light I looked at my watch" says MT. Christie.
 What is that toy?' asked one of the old men.
 1t tells the time,' I answered.
 "'What time? What do you mean by time?
 It shows where the sun is.'
 Turning to his brother, he asked in a puzzled way: But the suns down long ago. How can he tell where it is :? z "'Ai-yar said the brother. with awe. He can still see it in the glass. What can these foreigners not do?'
 Early the next morning we were astir, preparing to go on. As our horses were being saddled the old man questioned us again:
 "'How far away is your country? .s" Many thousand miles, , ".And did you ride all the way on that horse P"
The Press., 1915-02-17
soMERs.

Mrs Maude J. Kimball of Ellington has been recent guest of her brother, Chester W. Pomeroy.
 MT. and Mrs. Harry Cahoon of New Haven spent Sunday with their parents, MT. and Mrs. Elmer J. Worthington.
 Miss Evalene Smith has returned from visit to Miss Sarah Cushman in Springfield, and is now the guest of Miss Hazel Tompkins in Thompson. ville.
 Charles B. Whitlock of Mount Kisco, N. Y has been the guest of his sister, Mrs. A Vail Smith. Mrs. George E. Teed of Linoolndale, N, r., is also visiting in the home of MT. and Mrs. A Vail Smith.
 Mrs. Fred 0. Davis and little son George, have gone to the home of her parents, MT. and Mrs. Walter B. Whitlook in East Windsor where they will remain during the absence of MT. Davis, who has gone to Amherst college where he is doing literary work for few months.
 A valentine party was given in Piedmont hall Monday night by Miss Antoinette M. Cleggett to 38 of her friends from Springfield and Hartford. The decorations were appropriate to the day, the color scheme being red and white. After the supper, served in the dining room, the guests went to the hall, where they spent the evening dancing. One feature of the evening was a valentine post-office, from which each guest received valentines and gifts.
 The annual meeting of the Somcrs creamery company was held last week Tuesday. General Manager W. M. Oushman reported very success ful year, the gross sales of milk and cream exceeding those of any year in the history of the organization. The following directors were elected: 1: John B. Kibbe, Adolphus Chapin, Bert D. Cooley, Benjamin F. Pinney, Louis A. Gowdy, Walter M. Cushman, Ernest s. Fuller. Following the meeting the directors met and elected the following officers: President, Louis A. Gowdy; secretary, Walter M. Cushman; treasurer, Ernest s. Fuller.
The Press., 1915-02-17
cIearinq the Atmosphere.

In his capacity of dramatic critic Mir. J. Comyns Carr. the author. wrote a notice of the play of Charles L." in which Irving played under the man. agement of MT. Bateman. His criti- cism deeply incensed the manager. In order perhaps to find the opportunity of informing the critic of his disap- proval, the manager invited him to supper at the Westminster club on the second or third night of the produc- ton. When he thought the fitting mo
 ment had arrived MT. Bateman led the conversation to the point at issue and, emphatically banging the table with his fist, declared in the loudest of tones that he did not produce his plays at the Lyceum theater to please MT. Comyns Carr. There was moments awkward silence, which Mir. Carr con fesses he did not feel quite able to break. but which was released by a wit of the .companY with the happy re tort, Well, dear boy. then yot cant be surprised if they don't please him."
The Press., 1915-02-17
Birth of Music.

There are many legends concerning the origin of music. but it is impossible to say which is the oldest. By the old Romans the god Mercury was credited with the invention of music. Accord ing to Apollodorus. the belief was as follows: The Nile after an overflow left on the shore dead tortoise. It's flesh was finally dried up by the hot sun, so that nothing remained in the shell but the cartridges. which. being braced and contracted by the heat, be- came sonorous. Mercury, happening to be walking that way and striking his foot against the shell. was so pleased with the sound produced that the idea of Tyre presented itself to his imagi- nation. He immediately constructed the instrument in the form of tor toise and strung it with the sinews of dead animals. And so music began.
The Press., 1915-02-17
 Rension.

"Pension" is among the numerous cases of words of Latin origin spe- cialized to mean something which the original did not mean to the Romans "Pension" signifies simply payment in the broadest sense, and we are at liberty to draw the sound moral that a pension is not really something thrown in as a gratuity, but deferred pay. The word for soldiers pay was
 'stipendium," and here we have an other curious shift of meaning. No body speaks of a soldiers "stipend' now. It is magistrate or clergy man whose pay receives that name. The "stipendium" was paid in Jumps three or four times year, and the word came to be used to mean years term of serv1ce.-London Chronicle.
The Press., 1915-02-17
SUGAR MAKES YOU GROW.
That. It Seems, Is Why Our Girls Are
 Becoming Taller.

That, It Seems, Is Why Our Girls Are
 Becoming Taller.
 English and American girls just reaching womanhood. and the next generation in it's early teens. are un- usually tall. standing head or more above their mothers. This has been remarked on over and over again. and has been the subject of learned dis quisitions. Yet no generally accepted cause for the fact has been given up to this time.
 Now comes a London physician of note and says that it is simply case of heightened sweetness. By sweet ness" in this particular case the na- ture of the young ladies is not referred to. but their diet. In fact. statistics of recent years show that Americans and Britons of both sexes are increas- ing in height and weight. Why? The physician referred to says it is su-ar.
 Great Britain and America are the sugar eating nations of the world and have quadrupled their saccharine con sumption in the last score of years.
 This is now the best explanation of an accepted fact. and it will have to stand until better one comes along London Tit Bits.
The Press., 1915-02-17
- ~ &S4ts Rock Meadow.

The Helpful circle will meet with Mrs. Julia Castlos next week Thurs day afternoon.
 Leon Booth recently purchased a nice pair of horses of Adelbert Need- ham. Oscar Willis also has a new horse from the same place.
 Ralph and Grace Bradway were in Springfield last Saturday, and on their return they stayed with their uncle, Herbert Bradway at Foskett Mills over night.
 The Rock Meadow school observed Lincoln's birthday last Friday after. noon with an entertainment, oombin. ing Valentine, Linooln's and Washing toms birthday exercises by the school. Seven visitors were present and en- joyed the exercises.
The Press., 1915-02-17
Comets TaiIs and the Sun.

A theory to explain the tails of com cts is advanced by the French physi- cist, NJ. Houllevigue in the Revue Sci entifique. 1t Is natural to suppose, he says, that the incandescent nucleus of a comet Is throwing out electrons into the extremely rarefied atmosphere that surrounds 1t. The observations of George Ellery Hale, the American as- tronomer, prove that the sun behaves like negatively electrified body. Therefore he repels electrons. which are negatively electrified bodies. These particles so repelled would be driven to that side of the comet which is farthest from the sun, and by contact with the molecules of the gaseous and rarefied atmosphere would produce just the luminous appearance that we call a comets tail.
 Every comets tail always extends away from the sun. Arrhenius, the Swedish astrohomer, believed that the particles of the tail were repelled by the light of the sun.
The Press., 1915-02-17
ELLINGTON.

E. Tessier recently bought village farm in Killingly.
 Everett Cunningham has accepted a position on Edgar Aborn's farm.
 Mrs. H. L. Hayden entertained the woman's club Monday afternoon.
 A. W. Charter attended the tobacco growers meeting in Hartford wednes- day.
 The seventh and eighth grades of the center school enjoyed sleigh.ride to Broadbrook Thursday afternoon.
 Plans for the new church will be on exhibition at the library Tuesday afternoon and evening, and afterward may be seen at the home of K. F. Miller.
 Morris Finman gave the pupils of school No. a sleigh-ride to the home of their teacher, Miss Laughlin, in Enfield Wednesday afternoon. The children were entertained with games and music, after which refreshments were served.
 The Four-o' clock club met at the home of Mrs. E B. Kibbe Wednesday afternoon The following officers of the club were elected: President, Ellen Kibbe; vice. president, Catherine Clapp; secretary, Ruth Charter; Mary Davis A pleasant hour was spent in sewing, after which chocolate and waters were served by Mrs. Kibbe, assisted by some of the young ladies.
 Crystal Lake.
 A daughter (Hazel Edna) was born last Wednesday to MT. and Mrs. Leslie N. Dimock.
 A horse and sleigh belonging to Jew in Springfield ran from North to Crystal Lake last week and turned into the private grounds where the sleigh collided with a tree and the horse freed himself and ran onto the pond and broke through the ice in several places. The animal was found next by D. H. Curtis covered with ice and was cared for by Mir Curtis who returned him to the owner. The sleigh contained large load of chickens and was unharmed. The horse was only slightly hurt. It was a young and valuable horse and the owner was much pleased to recover the same.
The Press., 1915-02-17
ALcOR, THE DOUBLE STAR.
Much Brighter Now Than 1t Was In
 the Tenth Century.

the Tenth Century.
 The two stars, Mizar and Alcor. form a double star system which can easily be perceived by the naked eye. This was not the case formerly, us the Arab used the resolution of the system into its two cOmponents as a test for good eyes.
 It would seem. therefore, that this star has increased in brightness since the tenth century. supposition which is supported by the fact that it is not mentioned by the ancients.
 to astronomers when it was found in 1907, that Alcor is itself Il double star. It is now discovered by Harlow Shap- ley that Alcor varies in brightness, the variations having feeble amplitude and short period. The spectrum type of Alcor, which is Il star A5--:!A,t is to say, white star with hydrogen pre- dominating and the doubling of the nnes-announces variation of the AL gol type. by eclipse rather than con tinuous variation.
 It is supposed that there exists couple of elliptic stars very close to- gether and inclined on their orbit in such way that the mutual eclipse is feeble or almost nothing. the variations of brightness resulting from their marked ellipticity. Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Press., 1915-02-17
LINED WITH SPIDER WEBS.
One Has to Cut Ones Way Through
 the Roads of Paraguay.

One Has to Cut Ones Way Through
 the Roads of Paraguay.
 The roads of Paraguay are about five yards wide throughout. and the trees meet overhead at height of some eighteen feet thus forming tunnel or very uniform dimensions. In the clear parts of the tunnel-that is, where It is not choked up with the giant net Melt is full from roof to ground Of enormous spiders webs stretching clear across the road, the big trees usually being chosen as anchorages and the total clear span being thus more like eight yards than five.
 The main cables or framework of the nets are composed of five or six strands of thick yellow web and are almost as strong as cotton thread. The rest of the net Is made up of single and double strands of the same stout ma terial. which Is us sticky as 1t is strong. Every yard or so one of these nets ex- tends across ones path, making it nee essary to hold n cutlass or fairly stout stick at arms length in front as one walks.
 
 picturesque Instructions are large, highly colored. gaudy looking spiders with bodies that look as if they were about to explode. they are so blown out and glossy.
 At intervals in some more open space where the sky is visible one will mo- tice a different kind of web, far more irregular in shane. but far larger than the others. Not content with the space available in the tunnel, these webs are stretched in complicated mazes from the ground to the very tops of the surrounding trees, with clear spans frequently twenty or thirty yards from one tree to another.
 From these main cables smaller ones extend to the ground-a drop of fifteen or twenty yards-and the spaces in be- tween are filled up with mass of webs spun in all directions. - Wide World Magazine.
The Press., 1915-02-17
The Romance of oth.r Y.ar..

"One of the most beautiful smiles ever seen upon the face of mortal suf- fused itself on the countenance of Lord St. Orville as he fell at the feet of Julia in deathlike swoon." You probably suppose that this sentence is an extract from some schoolgirls novelette,, but, in fact. 1t comes from a novel which eighty years ago was seen on the ta. bles of most people of taste and cul ture. That Is the style which was de. lectable in the brare days of old.-Lon don Telegraph.
The Press., 1915-02-17

N ANTED-Place for light homework W Write Box No. 3S, South Wilmington
The Press., 1915-02-17
When Coal Fires Were Barred.

Fires were at one time great lux ury in England, and even the right to use the fire had been bequeathed Thus the will of one Richard Byrchett Q516) read:
 q will vt sayd Nell my wyfe shal have ye chamber she Ives in and lyb- erte at ye flyer in the house; all yese thyngs shal she have so long as she ys wido."
 Coal was first imported iato London at the end of the thirteenth century, but the smoke produced by burning it In improperly constructed grates caused such a prejudice against it that in 1906 a law was passed making it a capital offense to burn coal in the city. The Tower records give details of a mans trial and execution for the of fense.-London Graphic.
The Press., 1915-02-17

Mrs. Maude J. Kimball of Ellington has been a recent guest of her brother, Chester W. Pomeroy.