davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

way"
.'You-you sold my old clothes. did you:
Woman, you have ruined me-"
And Mr.. Bowser jumped up and dash
ed out of doors and down the steps and
looked for the ragman. He was just
sued. He entered the house two blocks
below and Mr.. Bowser missed him. He
was running about like a dog seeking a
lost trail. when a policeman stopped him
or his wife was dying. Just then. the old
ragInan showed up a block away and Mr..
-Bowser broke from the policeman's
grasp and galloped away. The old man
heard the clatter Of his feet behind him
and looked around. and then started off
at his best pace. No old man can run
very fast with the big sack humping his
back At every jump. and Mr.: Bowser
sack in his possession.
What you fight me for?" was demand
cd OF him.
You bought some old clothes on Third
Place. half an hour ago. l want coat
you bought"
II no buy a coat there"
Don't lie to me. YOU old villain Where
is that coat?'
And Bowser was pulling the garments
out OF his sack and the old man was try
ing his hardest TO prevent. when the po-
uceman came up. In Response to his de-
mand two stories were told and as they
the station house. When tn. same two
stories were told to the sargeant at the
desk ne replied:
We will have the sack searched and
see"
1t was searched and there was no coat
in II.
He stopped somewhere and hid It,"
shouted Mr. Bowser
II no buy coat there. I no see wallet
! was some poor and honest man. pro-
tested the old man.
rs your wife at home" asked the
sargeant of Mr.. Bowser
She Is" was the reply.
Then step TO that telephone and ask
her TO come down here. You can wait i'm
the back room until she arrives"
But. man, I am Mr. Bowser,' roar.d
the hero OF the wallet and the old coat
That makes no difference to me II
your wife does not come down here, !
Will have you locked up and YOU might
later tell your story in court You seem
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19
A MEMBER WHO SAW 1T.

In the Wisconsin legislature Of thr-e
or four wears ago there was a ccrta N
member who had been elected by the
Changers with the understanding that hr
should vote against anything which par
took Of the nature OF a monopoly. trust.
or combine. and favor anout everything
whicn didn't Certain parties wanted to
dam a certain stream. and certain other
parties were bitterly op. osed to il. Each
had its lobbyist and opposition got hold
Of the Granger member first. They stuff
Cd him full of figures aa 20 the acrea l.e
Of land which must h, ovrrilnw"d. the
financial loss to farmers. and gave in an
estimate that the slack water would in
crease Tho. death rate along the stream
nifty pci cent. When the lobbyist for the
mill dam got the ear of the membrr nc
WIS very urgruciuUsIy received. but he
prorceG'd TO say:
Il don't deny that our dam will raise
the water and flood some EInd-perhaps
the two hundred acres claimed. In the
summer time the slack water may also
add a triiie To the sick list: but, sir
what inspires the opposition?
public spirit for public good, l be-
heVc."
Does it? Have they made you be-
lieve any such nonsense as that? Can't
you see through the sauze which wells
their Efforts
lis there any-any trickery here
rs there" Dead loads of it, sir, and
wonder that YOU haven't discovered IL.
These parties own Il big cat-tail swamp
half "A mile above whe:e the dam is TO
be- Our water viii cover the swamp.
They have discovered n way to mix cat
tail fuZZ and geese feathers together to
make feather beds. patented the idea.
and propose to bull the market and run
one-half the geese OF America out OF the
country
Mo-
That's the scheme: and even while
keeping il as quiet as they could, enough
has leaked out to boost the price of
goose oil 30 per cent
"Why, it's monopoly"
That's what 1t is-the biggest kind of
q nonopoly-a corporation without a
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

How many garments in all?"
Why, five or six. ! guess. There were
two old suits and parts OF two or three
more and some of them had been lying
around the house for two or three years" /"
But this coat was an old brown one
Il cutaway." put in Mr.. BOwseC.
Didn't tell you TO keep still" thun-
dered the sergeant About sixty DAYS
behind the bars Is what you seem to be
aching for
Il didn't sell that one" said Mrs. Bow
ser Il saw 1t hanging on the hook and
thought you would need il when YOU
were working about the house. No. did
not sell that one and ! I, IL in the puCk-
cts Of all | did Sell before | let them 20.
Besides this. ! knew your wallet was IN
that coat for | saw you hide IL there last
night"
You are evidently mean old hus-
band" said the sargesnt To Nj. Bowser
'l'n bet your wife don't get ten cents a
week for pin-money. ] will send an Of
ticer up with you to see If the story Of
the coat is true. 1t probably is. for l
don't believe such nice. little woman
would tell a lie about it.
And an officer accompanied them home
and went upstairs and saw the coat with
his own eyes. II was hanging there as
safely as money in savings hank. \
tail-poCket was investigated and tn" mis-
sing wallet was brought forth and open
ed to the broad light Of day.
That's mine exclaimed Mr.. EowSer.
he reached for IL.
You are a nice. old guy" said In" Of
fCer, as he handed the wallet over You
not only hide your money. for fear your
wife may get hold of a dollar. but You
20 away and forget il and then create
such a row that the whole county is ASK
ing who has been murdered in his bet
Say. old chap, YOU had better make
change or you will find yourself in a h"an
OF trouble GoOd-day. Mrs. Buws"r.
am sorry for you
And when the officer had left the house.
NJ I
ed at each other for long. long time.
Then Mrs. Bowser broke into a laugh
and said:
Mr.. Bowser. this IL th,. dead-lin,. w
will consult our respective lawyers and
procure a divorce as soon as possible
And something like a smile lowered
around Mr.. BowsCr's mouth as he replied
that being il was a broken day. h. ",
not go back to the Office. but would stay
home and fix, the lower hinge on -th.-
front
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

his advice. We were adding many
miles and days to our journey he said
by following the river. BY heading
more to the northwest we should,
after forty miles travel. strike a val
ley which extended almost TO Pixies
Peak. Grass. water and fuel were
plenty and he had been over it three
times without seeing an Indian
In those days the map makers knew
little of the great West. and what they
did locate was as apt to be wrong rs
right. None of Us had ever heard of
such valley, but 1t might exist for
all that Most of US were opposed to
making any change in our route, but
here the captain proved his iner--
cheney. The story of the valley charm
ed him. and Comstock piled il on un-
til it was finally decided to change
the route. Four of us held out until
the others decided TO go on without
us. II would have been folly for us
TO think of splitting off. weak handed
change of route was made on the
morning OF the eighth day. We struck
away from the river out upon prairie
and made a good twenty-five miles
but at night camped beside a creek
didn't say that ! suspected Comstock
Of any evil. for l believed that his
escape from the Indians was genuine.
but I did think 1t queer that he talk
ed so much. and, that he was so
anxious to break us off the regular
route. While he avoided the four of
us who had rebelled. he cultivated tn.
others and they soon came to take
much stock in him.
On the second day we found very
rough ground and got no water either
at noon or night. On the third day
We found water at ten o'clock in the
forenoon. Comstock led the way and
ii seemed to me that he selected the
very worst route. At noon on the
third day he said we were only fifteen
miles from the entrance TO the valley
We had to make a dry camp again at
night. and 1 had now begun to doubt
the man so strongly that 7 saw an
opportunity to ask the captain if he
fully believed in the stranger
why. bless yo1, yes" he replied.
Do you believe in the valley he
speaks Of"
Certainly; 1t cannot be over seven
or eight miles away
Captain. what Is a Valley" 1 asked
why. it's a level ground between
two mountains" he replied.
But do you see any mountains? We
ought to be able to see one fifty miles
away"
Say. you don't think there is any
thing wrong, do your"
Before l could reply he was called
away and Comstock took care that
should not get at him again. We
started on in the morning again and
found no water until noon. Then 1t
was brackish. filthy stun In q sink or
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

ditch crowded with redskins and we
both cried out together.
Shoot the villain, He has led US
into an ambuscade"
l don't know who killed him. Five
or SIX OF US fired together just as he
foppsd ls 9rsm hofss rise on saiop ahd he
the earth. The Indians seeing that
they were discovered sprang up and
made dash at us on foot. Although
Wltnout leader. we did just the
front leaving the rear of the train to
take care Of itself and we gave the
savages a volley which broke them
up and left nine of their number dead
on the ridge. The living sought cover
and ran down the bitches behind a
rise where their ponies were concealed
and made Off without firing another
shot; although there were eighty-four
strung out on that ridge every soul
In it would have been murdered with
In ten minutes. Baker was, as l
found out several years later, a native
DANTE. DANTE. and had led more than one
hundred emigrants to slaughter
What was for several years known
as Lost Train made its start from
Council BLUFFS and struck for the
piatte River. In Nebraska, and follow
wagons and sixty people. twenty four
OF these being full-grown men and
boys capable of handling a rifle and
standing guard. The Captain was an
Illinois farmer and pioneer and as
he had his wife and two children along
no one could doubt that he would do
his best to pull us through had
a wagon loaded with clothing. powder
lead, and firearms in the train valued
over 5000. and ] was greatly pleased
to hnd our train made up Of men
whose looks indicated that they could
be relied upon il a pinch came. Nearly
every man had two rifles intendin1
TO sell one In California. and many
OF them had revolvers and pistols as
wen. We had been out six days. and
had not yet seen an Indian, when
about nine o'clock on the morning of
the seventh day a white man came
riding into our train from the west
closely pursued by a dozen Indians.
They hung about us for an hour or
SO yelling and firing at long range
and then rode away. The stranger
gave his name as Comstock. He was
dressed as q scout and hunter and he
to belong to a train of seven
wagons which had entered the terri
tory from a point about twenty miles
below the Bluffs. This train was. he.
thought about thirty miles ahead of
US. He had left camp two days be-
fore to look for a valuable saddle
horse which had stampeded. had lost
bis way and the Indians had run him
for ten or twelve miles. He expressed
great thankfulness at reaching haven
Of safety and At once began Offering
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19
.BOWSER'S OLD COAT
And Why the Ragman Didn't Get 1t.

References have been made in these
articles to Mr.. Bowser's wallet and the
care he takes Of 1t O. nights. Mr.. Bow
ser inherited this prudence from male
ancestors. dating back hundreds of years.
Only about one man in ffty-that is, one
husband-leaves his wallet SO carelessly
about that 1t becomes a temptation TO
his wife.
Mr.. Bowser is neither a stingy man nor
q suspicious one. He Is simply prudent
man. He realizes that should Mrs. Bow
ser have a ferocious attack OF insomnia
some night at midnight, while he was
peacefully snoring away. she would get
up and walk the floor. Her eye would
catch the end of his wallet sticking out
of the vest pocket OF his coat. and she
would naturally withdraw that wallet
She would naturally also open that wal
let and count the contents. As a wife,
she would feel that third Of the wealth
belonged to her and she might take q
ten dollar bill and lay 1t aside for future
use. When Mr.. Bowser came to count
the contents in the morning and discov-
cred a shortage, he would be perplexed
as to whether he gave 1t to the Heathen
the day before or a burglar had entered
the house during the night.
Mr.. Bowser, like other husbands, has
been known to carry his prudence 80 far
as to hide his wallet under the front
steps just previous to bedtime. He has
hidden II IN the house IN forty olHerent
places and he has always heaved a great
sigh Of relief when he has found 1t safe
in the morning. The other day. while
hunting for an old hat In his clothes
closet. he saw one Of his old coats hang
ing on q hook. 1t had a tail pocket. The
wallet might be placed In that pocket
time after time and Mrs. Bowser would
never discover 1t. He made a mental
note of this and that night the wallet
rested in a new place.
Next morning as Mr.. BQwser was
yawning and stretching and preparing TO
arise and go down to his breakfast. a
dog fight took place in front of his house.
He jumped out of bed and yelled to the
smaller Of the two dogs to go in and
win. At the breakfast table he was still
excited over the scrap and when he
started for his office the wallet still re-
manned in the pocket of the old coat. He
had street car tickets and did not dis
cover the loss until he came to pay for
his noon-day luncheon. Then he could
not pay. He had neither change nor wal
let.
The waiter observed that no such game
could be played on the house, and Mr..
Bowser had to leave his watch as secur-
ity for thirty cents. He remembered
where he had left that wallet and he
started for home instanter. He did not
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

| 1t produces fever, chills, partial blind
ness. partial deafness and a constant
roaring in the head. In about half the
| cases it terminates fatally; in the other
half it leaves the victims invalids for the
| rest of their lives
| IF the doctor said that then he Is a
| fool.' said Mrs Perkins. Il shall go
and see him some day and tell him that
he had better turn to carpenter work"
Il should not hurt the good mans feel
ing, If / were you, but get another doc
| tor for our family If you wish to do So
| Ny face must have betrayed my doubts
when he talked to me as he did. for he
recommended me to seven different med
ical works which gave the same infor-
read them. Mrs. Perkins. could longer
doubt that the Strawberries was an in
cidious enemy of mankind? I did not
want to die nor did I want to lose you.
a second wife and marry a third. but !
do not belong TO that class. 1 want to
keep you with me to the end. 1 have
now given you the full explanation and
| hope YOU will be satisfied with it."
But I am far from being satisfied"
Il asked the doctor il the huckleberry.
the raspberry or the blackberry contain
ed that dangerous acid. He replied that
they did not. but were as safe to eat as
Long Island potatoes. He advised me.
by all means. TO lay in a stock of those
berries"
But did you get hucklcberries or rasp-
berries or blackberries," demanded Mrs.
Perkins. with a CLINT in her eyes.
Il did not. my darling. but there is also
an explanation as to why l didn't
''Oh. yes,> Explanation, Explanation,
Always explanations"'
BY the time l had got ready to order
four or five bushels the season for them
had departed Mrs. Perkins. can you
buy berries when there are no berries?
We will talk of it no more" was the
reply.
But I shall write in my diary under
this date that next year, If both of us
are living
But you won't be living. sir You will
have exhausted yourself by lodging and
twisting"
Mrs. Perkins, I am writing under this
date that next year. If We are both
alive. shall buy five bushels of peaches
to pickle. / shall also buy five bushels
of the incest kind of plumbs to preserve.
Likewise. l shall buy five bushels of
pears
But Mrs. Perkins was gone. She had
heard why there was no stock of straw
berry jam down cellar and there was no
use of talking about II any further. /
Il was going to tell her that ! would
buy five bushels of pears to preserve
whole" said Mr.. Perkins to himself, but
she would not stay to hear me out. Very
we'll No man who has a second wife can
tell what sort of notions she may get into
her head. The cat and I will now return
to our newspaper. a great load being of
our minds"
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19
IN PIONEER DAYS

men. women, and children. OF these
Twenty-Five wcre full grown men and
realized ths rerils which beset the
route. 1t would seem the height of
folly for q usband to invest his all in
a span of horses and wagon and set out
| 'nr Califorkta with a sickly wife and
three or four children, sut plenty Of
| them did 81. Indeed. there was no
train without its women and children.
and their presence always increased
the danger.
Previous to leaving st. Joe we had
to elect q captain of the train. a boss
whose word should be law until we
reached the end of our journey. This
eran. some hunter. scout or Indian
fighter who was posted as to the route
and ways of the Indians. Some such
man was always going out with a
tween two-one an old trapper of
many years experience. who looked
honest and seemed to have had ad-
ventures, and man who was a
his boasts of how many Indians he
had killed and what a brave, careful
man he was. / disliked him at first
sight. as | know he did me; but
him he was elected for the position
of Captain. He was a fellow with an
ugly look to his face. eyes which
WERE were constantly niEs rowing about about Ian, and
and in my heart l believed he meant
us i'll. / found one or two others who
entirely agreed with me. but the ma
jority were perfectly satisfied that he
was all right and it would not be pru-
dent to US to say anything until We
had a better foundation than mere
suspicion. 1t would have been open
rebellion to speak against him or to
refuse to obey his orders. and he aaa
the power to disarm us and put us
under guard.
At that date the train which pro-
gressed one hundred miles into Kan
sas was sure to find the advance guard
of the Indians. On the fourth day
out We sighted some at a distance ana
narrowly watched our Captain. He
closed the train up in good order. sta
toned the defenders where they couid
do the most good. and exhibited such
nerve and caution that began to feel
ashamed of myself for having suspect
ed his loyalty. But for one circum-
stance / should have banished all sus-
picion. We saw the first Indian about
two hours before sundown. None of
them came nearer than half a mile
seeming to be content with inspection
of our strength. An hour later and
when within two miles OF the spot
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

| where We proposed to camp. the Cap.
tain whose name l have neglected tc
| state was Baker. run a green flag W
| on one of the wagons. This flag We
afterwards concluded he must have
had secreted about HIS person. He ex.
a, planned that IL We run up flag the In.
dians would conclude that there were sol.
diers with the train and haul on, and
no one but me questioned the truth
| or policy of the proceeding. 1t struck
| me that he raised the flag for q
signal. and when l stated my suspi-
cions to two others Of the band they
agreed with me that he could have
no other object. From that time ~
watched his every movement with the
eyes of a fox. but he made no further
signs for manA hours; When we went
into camp he took all precautions the
most timid could suggest and / do not
believe he slept two hours between
dark and dawn.
The night passed without an alarm
and it was afternoon next day before
we saw Indians again. We had been
travelling for an hour after the noon
halt when We came to a singular bit
of ground. 1t was a ridge about fifty
feet wide, with eavy washout or dry
ravines on each side of it. This place
could be avoided by turning to either
the right or the left, but Baker. who
was mounted, as most of the rest of
US were. led the way right along the
ridge. l was watching him and I saw
that he was further ahead than usual
I also saw him make a curious sign.
He raised his right hand on a line
with his ear and held il thus for a
few seconds with the palm opened
and turned toward the horses head.
Looking ahead and to the left
thought i caught the brief glimpse of
a dark object, somethink like a black
head peering above the bank of the
ravine. I was close to the head wag-
on and l asked the man to halt, and
in twenty words made him understand
that / firmly believed the Indians had
prepared an ambuscade for us. / had
made him understand this where
Baker halted and turned to with this
query:
What's the matter now?"
THE route looks dangerous" l an
The route is all right. bring your
wagons"
why can't We go to the left or
right?' / asked.
, Look here" he began as he rode
back. is this train under my orders
or yours?"
Yours. sir"
len you be careful If you at
tempt to interfere with me Til order
you under arrest! Come on with the
wagons" -. =
He turned and galloped forward. As
he did 30. made to the right-apd a
companion to the left TO reach q point
where we could see into the ravines.
We both saw the same sight-ths dry
The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

1t has been proved beyond the shad-
ow of a doubt after the Mormons located
At Salt Lake they bent all their ener-
Eies to two things-making friends
with the Indians. and seeking to pre-
vent white people not Of their own
faith from penetrating into that coun-
try. They did gain the good will of sew
eral tribes. Of Indians with whom they
came in contact to such a degree as to
make IL safe for Mormon to go any
where Once in awhile one was killed
before he could identify himself, but
the man who proved himself a Mormon
need have no fear of the savages who
had been trained from infancy to hate
white man and take his scalp whenever
opportunity offered. This disideratum
was accomplished in various ways.
They made common cause with the red
skin against the remainder of the
white race. promising him all the scalps
and plunder. They made him arrow
heads, caused him to believe they were
prosecuted because they espoused his
cause. and in other ways got 50 firm a
hold on his affections that he became
the most powerful ally they could have
selected. They made him arrow heads
and lance heads: they provided him
with his first firearms and best toma-
hawks; they fed him when he was hun
CRY and helped him when he went to
war.
When the California gold fever be-
gan to push long wagon trains across
the country the Mormons saw what the
the rush. Left to themselves. the saw
ages would no doubt have attacked in
every case where there was hope of
success. but not one person would have
been killed where ten actually yielded
IN their lives but for the assistance of
the. accursed Danites. There were the
good men and true of the Mormon
Church-the enthusiasts and favorites.
who could be depended upon to carry
out any order and preserve the secrets
Of the church with their last breath.
They knew the country, the trails. the
streams and ravines and valleys from
Council Bluffs or st. Joseph to their
own doors in Salt Lake City. They
were strung out along the Overland
trail and in constant communication
with the Indians. They acted as guides.
were elected as captains of trains, and
sought to play them into the hands of
their allies and work destruction. This
was not even suspected. however. until
they had worked slaughter among the
gold seekers. No living man will ever
be able to give figures on the train
people murdered during the years in
which the Overland trafl was In daily
rse. The first train I went out with
consisted of fifteen wagons and fifty