davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Checkers.

The German name for the game Of
checkers or daughts Is "damenbrett"-
ladies' board-probably "damen" for
short Some form Of dame" is used
in almost every country where the
game Is played, except the English
speaking countries, and the Scots still
speak of the "dambrod." Danes"
was the name in England for a time,
and we find it In an English book to-
ward the end of Elizabeth's reign.
The first use Of the word draughts In
existing literature is about 400. At
later day checkers" became another
name, and this went to America with
the early English emigrants and there
became the usual name. In England
In the sixteenth century the game had
three names-"dames," "draughts" and
checkers" At an earlier period ''check-
erie" "chekar," ETC., had been English
names for chess.-London Mirror.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
How the MiIIiner Got Even.

A local business man. who has a
friend in nearby town who is mil
liner, told story Of how the latter
once got "even" with one of the lead
ing social lights Of the place after she
had tried to be unfair with him. The
husband Of the woman in question had
had a bit of hard financial shedding,
and during the Reconstruction" period
she had to go light on clothes. So one
day she had the milliner send up some
Of his best hats on approval, which he
did. She sent them all back, but in a
few days appeared on the street with
a duplicate Of the most expensive one
Of all, which she had evidently made
herself. In that town there is a mid
die aged woman of uncertain mental
qualities and unquestionable poverty
who is more or less of town charac-
ter. To her the milliner gave the orig
inal of the duplicated hat, much to the
discomfort of the social queen, who ap-
parently saw the point - New York
Times.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
conversino With "chosts. -

Some scientists of real eminence
have accepted the pOstulate of the IL.
diyiduality and self consciousness Of
the soul after the death Of the BODY
and have attempted to demonstrate
their belief 10y asserting communica-
ton with these disembodied spirits
Sir William CroOkeS. a profound dely.
er In chemistry pertaining to radio-ac-
tivity, asserted years ago that he had
communication with souls Of dead
friends, but for several years he has
been silent anent this matter Camille
Flammarion. IL rather speculative and
sensational astronomer. declares thar
he has seen and conversed with the
ghosts Of dead friends. Professor
William James, brother of Henry
James. the novelist, promised before
he died that if possible he would COM
municate with his friend Professor
HyslOp. both eminent psychologists
but at last accounts the soul of Profes.
sor James had not spoken.-Exchange
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Euclid'a Lost Books.

Il was very much amused at the
comment Of young friend who recent
ly went up against the board of exam.
liners for the naval service" said q
Philadelphia man. Speaking Of the
questions in geometry which were pro-
pounded to the boys, this youngster
said in dry way:
History tells us that the old dis
coverer of the science Of geometry,
Euclid, who lived 300 years before
Christ, wrote something like twenty
books. which he called Elements" and
that Of this number seven were lost
The examining board Of the marine
corps has found those books, for the
questions 1t put to us two weeks ago
clearly demonstrated that it dug up
some theOrems which had not been
seen In the last 1000 years. Pitts
burgh Dispatch.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Life struaaIs Of the 1rsss

\. An interesting light is thrown I'm -.
longevity of the trees that grow alone
the timber line of the. Rocky morp
tains by Mr.. Enos A. Mills in 81,
Rocky Mountain Wonderland" a.
says:
A few timber line trees live n thor.
sand years, suit half this time Is a RIM
old age for most of the timber linz
veterans The age Of these trees can.
not be judged by their size or by tbai,
general appearance. There NAV he
centuries Of difference in the ages ~
two arm In arm trees of similar sizo
l examined two trees that were grow.
ing within few yards of each other
In the shelter of a crag. One was
fourteen feet high and sixteen inches
In diameter and had 337 annual rings
The other was seven feet high and five
inches In diameter and had lived 400
years.
One day by the sunny and Sheltered,
side of bOwlder found a tiny seed
bearer at an altitude Of 1880 feet
How splendidly unconscious it was OF
its size and its utterly wild surround
ings! This brave pine bore a dainty
cone. yet a drinking glass would have
completely housed both the tree and
its fruit
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
PATTI and Her Partners.

The novel manner in which the IA
nous prima donna Patti on one occa-
sion chose her partners at a dance is
related by Mr.. Leslie Ward In his
"reminiscences Mr.. Ward went to
certain dance at Lancaster Gate.
Patti" he says. was sitting In the
middle OF the room looking angelic and
surrounded by host Of admiring men
We were each given a miniature bugle.
Patti had one also. on which she sound
ed a note. and whoever repeated 1t ex-
actly was to gain her as a partner in
the dance. The men advanced In turn.
Some blew too high and others too low
until one and all gave up In disgust.
At last my turn came. was trem-
bling with eagerness and excitement
and determined to dance with Patti or
die. | hit the note and gained my
waltz, and the applause was great as
l carried off my prize"
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
1hs POUNDING of Frankfort.

The beautiful German commercial
city Of Frankfort on the Main is said
to have had curious origin.
When the Emperor Charlemagne
contended with the Saxons tbs for
tunes of war were often against him.
On one occasion he was forced to retire
along the banks of the Main. At the
time there was q thick fog, and he was
unable to find his ship or any place
where his army could cross.
He was almost in despair when a
doe, carrying a young one, sprang from
a thicket In alarm, leaped into the
stream and swan over. Charlemagne
followed the example and crossed at
the same place. The fog concealed the
army, which escaped detection.
When the emperor reached the shore
he stuck his spear into the earth and
exclaimed:
"Here shall a city arise, to be called
FrankenfordP'
In consequence Of crossing the
stream he overthrow the Saxons. He
then built the town, which afterward
became the scene Of imperial corona
tons and later of great commercial
mportance.-London Answers.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
hothina Blu. an American.

When | look back on the shifting
scenes of my life. If am not that al
together deplorable creature. a man
without country. am. when 1t comes
to pull and prestige, almost equally
bereft, as am a man without state.
I was born In Indiana, grew up In I'LL
nois, I was educated In Rhode Island.
and II Is no blame to that scholarly
community that | know so little
learned my law In Springfield and my
politics in Washington, my diplomacy
In Europe. Asia and Africa. | have
farm In New Hampshire and desk
room in the District Of Columbia.
When | look to the springs from
which my blood descends the first an
cestors | ever heard of were Scotch
man who was half English and Ger
man woman who was half French OF
my immediate progenitOrs my mother
was from New England and my father
was from the south. In this bewilder
ment OF origin and experience | can
only put on an aspect of deep humility
In any gathering of favorite sons and
confess that | am nothing but an
American. From THE Life and Let
tiers of John Hay" In Harper's Maya
zine.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Edison's Incandescent.

According to a friend. Thomas A.
Edison Is Of the opinion that 1t was
anger that first turned him toward In
venting the incandescent light, reports
the Newark News. How 1t happened
Is related by the friend, who says:
THAT was, of course, in the early
days, and Mr.. Edison was then quite
the inventor that one reads of-pOor,
enthusiastic, never sleeping. He lived
In a small house, innocent Of any
thing approaching a laboratory. Scien-
tific devices were in every room, and
all the money went for experiments
Then one day came the crisis In the
guise OF the collector for the gas COM
pany. He had been in the house Of
ten, but Edison, hardly needing his
calls, had waved him away. saying.
Don't bother met
ION this last call the collectors in
structions were peremptory. He must
turn off the gas He did so, and that
act started Edison on the road to the
incandescent light"
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Riqht, but Wrong.

The late Professor Thomas Il. Louns-
bury Of Yale, speaking at Cambridge,
England, on the proper use Of Eng
lish, according to the Philadelphia
Bulletin, said:
But precision can be carried too far.
The ultra precise, even when logically
right, are really wrong.
IAN ultra precise professor went into
a hardware shop and said, Show me q
shears, please
"'You mean a pair Of shears, don't
your said the dealer.
"'No,' said the professor; 1 mean
what | say. | mean a shears
1.-THE dealer took down a box OF
shears.
look here, professor he said,
aren't there two blades here2 And
don't two make pairT
"'Well, you've got two legs. Does
that make you a pair Of menr And
the professor smiled at the dealer tri-
umphantly through his spectacles.
He was logically right" said Pro
fessor Lounsbury, "but really he was
wrong"
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The Soft Answer,

Eyes, I'll take Jim's note for hum
dred any time" said a banker when
an offer to sell note to the bank was
made.
81 want to warn you, though" said
the man in whose favor the note had
been drawn, that Jim is q good prom
User. but a poor payer. 1 don't want
you to have anything against me be-
cause of this note"
"Jim's honest, and I'll take his note
for a reasonable amount any time"
said the banker. 81 had some trouble
with him once over an overdraft, and
it turned out that the bank was at
fault and that he had not actually
overdrawn I'll admit I was pretty
nasty in my talk to him about it, be-
cause | was so sure the bank was
right The average man under those
conditions would have 'cussed' me out
at least. but all Jim said, although he
was madden than thunder, was, 4
don't see why your wife ever married
your indianapolis News.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Eanqs of q Snake.

Examine the finest cambria needle
under high power microscope and its
point will look rough and blunt. A
snakes fang similarly inspected ap-
pears perfectly smooth and sharp. In
each fang is groove which connects
by tube with sort Of bag-the poison
gland-just beneath the eye. When the
snake strikes muscular contraction
simultaneously forces the venom out
OF the bag through the tube and along
the groove into the flesh of the per-
son attacked. Snake poison, generally
speaking. has two distinct effects. It
destroys in some mysterious way the
1brin of the blood. thereby causing the
latter to behave as If diluted and to
filter through the walls of the veins
and arteries In addition, it paralyzes
the nerve centers and so affects the
heart, sometimes bringing death by
suffocatiOn
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Pantomime Performances.

Most pantomime characters were
originally borrowed from the Italians.
The first real English pantomime was
produced at theater in Lincoln's Inn
Fields in lI20. Ii was called "Harle-
quin Executed" and its subtitle was
"a New Italian Comic Scene Between
Scaramouche, a Harlequin, a Coun-
try Farmer. His Wife and Others"
The performance was very successful
About the middle of the eighteenth
century the character of pantomime
performances was completely altered.
chiefly because Of the genius of the
famous Grimaldi. who made the clown
the first figure In the pantomime. Gri-
maldi first appeared at Sadler's Wells
theater. where>he played the part Of
monkey. he was actively engaged on
the stage for forty-nine years.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Girls In Korea,

Girls In Korea have no names or
what would be considered names In
the western world. There are no
Marys or Mabels or Ruths. The little
ones are given pet names at their
birth, and these they bear until they
are ten years old. after which they are
no longer used. After her tenth birth,
day the young woman is known as
"Mr. Kim's daughter" or "Mr. Kim's
girl baby" The latter title Is consid.
cred the more honorable.
IL there are several daughters In the
family they are distinguished by such
words as big" flor the eldesb, sec
ond," third fourth" etc. After
marriage they are known by their hus-
bands name and title, with the word
"house" affixed They may also be
distinguished by the name Of the place
from which they came when marry.
ing, as Mrs. of the House of Kim,
the young lady who came from Kong
Jo."
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The CAPITOL Dome,

The capitol dome at Washington is
the only considerable dome of iron in
the world 1t is a vast hollow sphere
weighing s,OOO,3 300 pounds. How much
is that? More than 1000 tons, or al
most the weight of 10000 full grown
persons, or about equal 10 1000 laden
coal cars Of four tons each, which, If
strung out one behind the other, would
occupy a mile and half Of track. On
the very top Of the dome the allie
gorical figure America" weighing 49,
9S5 pounds, lifts its proud head high in
the air. The pressure of this dome and
figure upon the piers and pillars Is Il, :
AT pounds to the square foot 1t
would, however, require a pressure of
755, 2S6 pounds to the square foot to
crush the supports.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Il.inn IN. Exprsssion ~ Think

A man was referred to as one VINO
In his conversation never says Il think
so and so The think" Is mere e2-
pletive. A positive. clear headed man
saws what he thinks without saying ne
thinks. Besides. when person premises
with an e! think" 1t weakens his as
sertion because thinking is by no means
an assurance of truth If one should
say II think 1t will rain tomorrow
the very expression carries doubt be-
cause mere opinion Is lame matter
and the world is chock full OF opinions
IL. however. he should say 1T will rain
tomorrow" il carries some assurance
even If il is. after all. an opinion. so
the man referred to in the first place
doesn't say Il think" for II Is entirely
supertiuOus. and he adds force and
dignity TO what he says in emitting II
entirely. And then when one looks at
the situation calmly he will conclude
that think" Is much under cloud since
very few people think exactly alike.
There are ten thousand instances or
this character Ohio State Journal
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Curious Golf Shot

The late lord chief justice, Lord Al
yerstone. being one of the judges at
the Birmingham assizes, In the inter
walls of business had several rounds OF
golf on the Edgbaston links On one
of these occasions he was playing with
the local professional and got rather
badly bunkered at the second hole.
1t was necessary, in order to get the
ball out, to make 1t rise almost per-
pendicularly into the air, and for this
purpose Lord Alverstone. or Sir Rich
ard Webster. as he then was, took his
niblick and made mighty stroke. No
conjurer on earth could have done
trick more neatly. The ball not only
leaped into the air. bit dropped as
clean as a whistle into the judges
baggy right hand pOcketI - London
Mail.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Beauty In the mexican,s Voice.

Next to the love of dress. was most
struck with the tineness of the voice
and the beauty of intonations Of both
sexes (of the Mexicansl. 1t Is pleas
ure simply to listen to the sound OF the
language before | could attach any
meaning to it. They have a good deal
of the creole drawl. but 1t Is varied,
with an occasional extreme rapidity of
utterance, in which they seem to skip
from consonant TO consonant until,
lighting upon a broad open vowel, they
rest upon that to restore the balance
of sound A common bullock driver
delivering a message seemed to speak
like an ambassador at an audience. In
fact. they sometimes appeared to me
to be a people on whom curse had
fallen and stripped them Of every
thing but their pride, their manner and
their yoices.-''Three Years Before the
Mast" by r. q. Dana
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
jefferson Was a "SIoppyp Dresser.

In dress President jefferson was
governed by comfort rather than by
elegance. Pride costs more than hun
ger, thirst and cold" he used to say.
and as he lived In an epoch that wit
messed mighty revolution in mems
clothing as well as in mems govern
ment, monarchy's cues and velvets
giving way to short hair and the use
ful, ungainly pantaloon, only the
watchfulness of his body servant saved
him from unbelievable anachronisms
OF costume. Indeed, In later life, at
Monticello, where this democrat ruled
absolute king. he often wore the gar.
ments of several different periods to-
gether. like superimposed geologic
strata or the historic remains In the
Roman Forum.-Helen Nicolay in Cen.
fury Magazine.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Home Is

Where you wish you were about
twenty times a day when you are
away from it
Where you got three square meals a
day and didn't appreciate them.
Where you can use the shower bath
any time you want it.
Where you can step across the hall
wearing a Turkish towel and q cake
Of soap without fear OF seven or eight
people seeing you
Where you don't have to dress for
dinner.
Where you don't have to tip some
one every two hours.
Where the view isn't much. but the
food and beds and company and gen.
eral environments have got it all over
any other sp0t>On the map.
Where you 90 when all the other
places are closed Boston Herald
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
f3epeIIino Fire With a Drum

A fire of strange nature appeared
In Wales in 1893. According to the
most Ineligible account concerning it
now I'm existence. 1t came up from the
sea near Harlech. At several places
near that place and all over Merioneth-
shire it did much damage, burning
hay, houses, barns, etc. A person
writing Of 1t said: The grass over
which 1t moves kills all manner Of
cattle that feed upon II. But what is
most remarkable is that any great
noise, such as the beating of a drum
or sounding a horn. effectually repels
1t from any house"
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Asphalt Pavino-

Asphalt as paving is the commonest
commercial use Of the mineral today,
and yet its successful employment In
the field of road making is of compare
lively recent date The first compress
ed rock asphalt roadway was laid in
Paris In 1854. while 1t was 1876 be-
fore the first similar type Of road max.
ing was used on Pennsylvania avenue,
In Washington.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Odor of lodoform.

1t Is said that the odor Of iodoform
can be removed from the hands and
utensils by mustard. While the hands
are wet (moisten them with cold wa
teri place small quantity of dry mus
tard powder in the palm and rub it
well over the hands and then wash off
with soap and water. For utensils the
mustard must be made Ike a paste
and allowed to remain spread on them
for several hours.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The Soft Answer.

The saving sense OF humor! 81 am
filled with disgust and indignationP'
began an angry caller on a business
man.
well, WELL" interrupted the bust
ness man, sit down and We'll talk It
over. You will be just as full seated
and a lot more comfortable" How
could disgust and indignation continue
In the face of such a greetingP-
Youths Companion.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Appropriate,

Lord Dunraven In his younger days,
when he was known as Lord Adare,
speculated In theatrical enterprises, but
his success in this direction was not
unfortunately equal to his enthusiasm.
One day a certain well known wit was
asked to give title to one of his lord
ships plays.
"Well." he answered. why not call
It Robin Adair?"
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
No, He Wasn,t Sick.

The ocean liner was rolling like a
chip; but, as usual In such instances,
one passenger was aggressively, dis
gustingly healthy. sick, ehY he re-
marked to a pale green person who
was leaning on the rail- The pale
green person regarded the healthy one
with all the scorn he could muster.
"Sick nothingr' he snorted weakly.
I'm just hanging over the front Of
the boat to see how the captain cranks
itT-Argonaut
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Russian Wolfhounds,

The swiftest dog in the world, the
borZoi, or Russian wolfhound, has made
record runs that show seventy-five feet
In a second, while the gazelle has
shown measured speed Of more than
eighty feet second, which would give
It speed of 1890 feet In a minute If
the pace could be kept up.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The Needless Needle.

Now. ma" said the young man who
was showing his visiting mother the
wonderful sights Of the city, would
you Ike to go into the park and see
Cleopatra's NeedleY'
u didn't know that hussy ever used
a needle. She didn't spend much time
sewing, from the scanty wardrobe she
had In all the pictures Of her that
ever saw Judge.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The SculptoPs Art.

Bowls-Yes, 1 know I'm ugly, but
there Is one great consolation Biggs-
What is that? BOwls-If ever should
become great and the people should re-
solve to erect a statue to my memory
they won't be able to make me out
any uglier than ] am.-London Tele-
graph
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
His Excuse.

Uncle Nose. your first wife tells me
that you are three months behind with
your alimony"
"Yes, jedge. Ah reckon dat am 40.
But 20 see. it's jes' dis way: Dat sec.
ond wife Of mine amt turned out {
De the worker that Alb thought she
was gwine { be."-Detroit Free Press
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Shapes.

purchased lovely round oak din.
ing table this morning." said Mrs
FLASHER.
fnat being the case" rejoined the
star ooarder. Il suppose we need on.
pect no more square meals"-Ind,sn.
apolis Star
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Excuaahla.

Judge-Why did you hit this gentle
man? Defendant-Well. Judge.
haven't had q vacation for six years,
and this boob has been sending me
picture pOstals from Palm Beach.
Thousand Islands, California and the
orient all these yearsl-New York
GlOhe
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Preparedness on the Farm.

To my way Of thinking. that's the
best thing about farm work-you've
got to be prepared for all manner of
emergencies that you can't possibly
prepare for. Maybe that sounds like an
absurdity. but 1t isn't-william r.
Lighton in Happy Hollow Farm"
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The unf.iIlno asnssx-

Anxious Father-Can you tell what
ais my daughter? Doctor-She does
not take enough outdoor exercise. Fa-
ther-She does not feel like It Doc.
tor-True, so she needs toning up.
Father-What do you recommend
Doctor-A new hatl-Exchange.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Precept and Example.

Johnny lat the window)-Oh, ma, an
automobile just went by as big as a
barn. His Mother-Johnny. why do
you exaggerate sof I've told you a
million times about that habit of yours.
and 1t doesn't seem to do a bit Of
good. Boston Transcript
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Mantal lXsnensla.

Reading maketh full man." quot.
ed the philosopher.
mo doubt that's true" replied the
cynic, "but the result is not always
satisfactory"
"Why not"
"I've met a great many people In
my time who were crammed full Of
undigested literature" - Birmingham
Age Herald.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Four Countiaa inn.

In the Four Counties inn, In Eng
land. It Is possible to eat In Leicester
shire. sleep In Staffordshire, drink In
Warwickshire and smoke In Derby
shire without leaving the building.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Old Fashioned

mo; she has never gone out much"
How do you known"
why, when she Joined our SEWING
club she actually expected to do some
sewingT-aouston Post
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
Reversing the Usual ordar.

do you know. Jones does some Mn.
commonly queer things-anythine to
De ainerent from other people"
Like what. for instanceY'
why he's just put a mortgage ON
his limousine to have repairs made on
his house. "-Baltimore American
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
System All Riuht.

II used to think | would know just
how to manage my wife when I got
her"
HAS your system proved to be a
failure2'
mo; the system Is all right, so far as
l. know. She has never let me try it.
STRAY Stories.
The broad ax., 1916-01-01
The Superior Humorist.

Ii Is the mark of the superior hu.
morist that he arouses thought as well
as laughter. and George Meredith held
this to be the test Of true comedy of
the loftier type Brander Matthews in
Harper's Magazine.