davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Heslrh Ind Heiuht Count.

Every flying man in the United
States air service has to undergo a
strict medical test periodically in or:
der that he may be classified in one OF
four grades. "AA" men are the few
who can stand air work at attitudes
above 10000 feet. "a" men can stand
the strain between $4,000 and 10000
feet. while the 'B" class consists Of
pilots for. duties between 5000 and
1900 feet, and the "C' group includes
all airmen fit only for service between
ground level and 5000 feet. It has
been found that airmen of most robust
physique cannot stand the sudden!
changes ef air pressure entailed BY
diving and rapid climbing for any
leugfh Of time. Hence the frequent
medical examinations carried out by
experts who have drawn up a care.
fully calculated standard OF efficiency.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
COULD NOT DlsL oDGE ROCK
When Nature Placed Freak on serk-
shire Hills, She Evidently Put
II There to Stay.

The famous balanced rock near
Lanesboro, Mass; IL the historic Berk-
shires is one Of the strange sights OF
this region of hidden mountain caves,
snow-capped hills and fofk-ioEs rnat
rivals fiction. This rock, which weighs
several tons, IS apparently in pre-
carious position on the sheer edse OF
another rocky formation beneath II
One would think that very slight
push indeed would dislodge It 1rom
it's position.
BALANCED rock" Is located on Con
stftution hill, the eIninence ne med
after Constitution Smith, who was
instrumental in ratifying the Ameri-
can Constitution. An old farmer OF
Lanesboro thought he could pub pal
anced rock" from its position :by bar
Messing up several pairs of oxen, at
taching a chain to the rock and hav-
ing the animals strain on the rock
together. The experiment failed. The
rock could be rocked back and forth,
but could not be dislodged.
The ice flow OF the glacial per1od
is believed to have been: responsible
for placing the huge rock in its pres
ent position.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Probably Envlous.

"After a few months in other states,
I was returning to Indianapolis, !" re-
mar. Il a travelling salesman, "and I
don't ind telling you was glad to
be getting back home. AS [ sat down
beside the stranger I told him how
good # was to be back in the land OF
cornfields.
$50: we started to talk about the
beauty spots Of Mother Nature. 1t
is nothing more than natural for any
Hoosler to talk about his own state.
And had to ask him whether he had
ever been in Brown county.
"The stranger looked out OF the.
car window minute, saying softly to-
himself: Brown county, Brown coun-
tv., When he looked around at me
again he said:
eyes, / have been there. That's
the place where the squirrels have to-
carry q lunch with them when they &c
across the county, is 1t not? III
dianapolis News.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
NO NEED FOR FURTHER TALK
Argument Had Convinced Man That
Arctic Expedition Was Just the
Place for Him. .,

a middle-aged man, with what ap-
peared to be. a load on his mind, visit
ed the arctic steamer just before it
started on the expedition, and seemed
greatly interested in what he saw.
t1Say," he said to the officer on deck,
.I'd like to- go with you on this ex-
pedition of yours
Its awfuily cold up there" re-
marked the officer, discours gingly.
81 don't care for that"
"You have very little to eat, and
you might starve to death"
'.That wouldn't be pleasant" OBJ
served the visitor.
81 should say not" returned the
officer. .And you might be eaten bE
your comrades. p
aAnd then," continued the officer,
..you wouldn't see your wife for three
years, and possibly longer. You know
you can't take her with you"
"Oh!" returned the would-be ex7
plorer, after 9 long pause, 'sthen you
can put my name down on your books.
Your last argument captures me-"
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
France Seeks Mauritius.

There is movement in France to
ask Great Britain for the return OF
Mauritius, the Beloved Isle of France,
which was lost in 1910. It is contend
ed that, in spite of being under Brit
ish rule for over a hundred years, the
island is still essentially French, and
that the people desire union with
their mother country.
Great Britain has no particular rea-
son for keeping the island, says the
Newcastle Chronicle. It has no strar
tegic or economic importance, nor has
it any sentimental associations. SO far
as Great Britain is concerned. For the
French, on the other hand, it is the
place to which many Of their mobiles
emigrated, and is the island which
Bernardin st. Pierre immortalized in
his idyl, Paul and Virginia"
The islanders. gave proof of their
feeling for France by sending many
of their sons to fight in the French
!, army
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
TAKE THREE DAYS re- WE'D
Arr -:ian Couple Must Be Patient in
lie Matter of Tying the Mar
riaqe Knot

In Armenia everybody has good
time at wedding except the bride
groom. First of all, the friends as
sembIe. and an entertainment, with
dancing, takes place. The bridegroom
is exuected to arrive when the enter
tainment is at its height and it is
considered good form for him to ap-
pear with his face covered with pow
der to simulate pallor induced by the
solemnity of the occasion. Friends of
the bridegroom then shave him pub
licly and fall upon him and strlp MN
of an his clothes, after which he is
supplied with new set OF garments
and completely dressed again: Nmle-
they are performing the ohces OF valet
TO the groom the young men present
are supposed to hold hgnteo candies
in their right hands.
The day AFT er this opening marriage
feast the BRIDE rides to church, and
the bridegroom walks. The priest VINO
receives tne1n In the porch reads
short sermon on their duties in the
matrimonial state, and then the wed
ding party proceeds toathe altar, Whefe
the foreheads Of the high conrractins
parties are bound together with goid
chains. The wedding festivities con
tinae for at least three days after thls'
and the couple are not regarded as
married until the ceremonies nave
been concluded. The social ceiepra-
tion of the wedding is carried through
as conscientlousiy as the rel1sious
part.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Alcohol From Moiasses.

Several large concerns are making
alcohol from cheap molasses brought
from the West Indies This molasses,
which is uneatable, Is known as
"bfack strap" The internal revenue
chemists have been able, however, to
fermenr it and to obtain not only al
cohol but 10 so use the residue that
they get giycerin.
Four lots Of "black strap" sof 1,ooo
gallons each subjected to the new PFC proc
ess turned out e. very excellent qual-
iry Of gIycerin. There are 100 gallons
Of this clear dynamite glycerin, as It
is called, now ON exhibition in the
treasury departments. Samples OF it
treated with nitric acid by a we'll
known firm OF explosive makers at
the request Of the government, pro
duced as good a nitro:giycerin as the
market affords.
Nitro-glycerin when Incorporated
with pulp or other inert substance
becomes dynamite. Thus out OF the
simple sweets Of the sugar bowl comes
forth the strength which win rend the
rock.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Powerful Lens of English Make.

The most powerful lens used IN
aerial photography during the war, it
is said, was made in Birmingham. Eng
land. It was 61a inches in diameter
and had focal length of 36 inches.
The power and clear definition OF this
lens we're such that when used in an
airplane it gave good visibility and
detailed information Of what was hap
rentng five miles below it. 1t is said
that the photographer could easily de-
tect the presence of barbed wire from
= height of three miles. and movements
of troops that had been effected under
cover of darkness We're likewise trace
able by the experts. Birmingham man
ufacturers have been so successful IN
making lenses that they believe they
can comrete with German:, which has
long had monopoly of hish-grade
manufactures Of that kind.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
WHEN RAILROADS WERE NEW
Engineers IN Charge Of Construction
Work Had Ideas That Now Seem
Little Peculiar.

Light on strange ideas of pioneer
railroad builders was thrown by Ed
ward S. Jouett, general solicitor OF
the L. & n, in a talk before the Ro-
tary1 club at Louisville.
.sThe Eexington-F Frankfort line,p said
he, was built with longitudinal stone
sills capped with, q strip OF iron, and
the numerous curves, which sou have
all noted, are said to have been pur-
posely introduced upon the theory that
they were an advantage in enabling
the conductor the more easily to see
the rear Of his train. The coaches
were two-story affairs-won1en and
children below and men above and
the motive power was mules to the
top of the hill above Frankfort. The
train was let dcwn the hill into the
city upon an. incl4ne operated by q
stationary engine.
.sYou may be interested, In passing,
to learn that with the exception of a
few miles near New Orleans, which
antedated It about week, this line
from Lexington to Frankfort IS tile
Oldest railroad in fhe United States
south of the Ohio and west OF the
Alleghenies. It was chartered in 1880
very early in railroad history, when
we remember that the first railroad
in the United States was r'lt In 1925,
and the first locomotive engine was
operated In 1929"
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
RECALL LEGENDS OF HAWAII
Two idols Recently unearthed, Bring
60 Memory Folklore Tales Almost
Lost To- Memory.

of the two old Hawaiian idols, lately
found concealed in the earth at Hook
ESaupu, Paukukalo, one, a female IDOL, is
ss5n a fairly good state of preservation.
The idol is supposed to be that of ki-
;Shawahine, the Undine of Maui myths.
Her haunts are the springs at Pauku-
8 skale, the Kauaha pond, and the match
less pools in the wooded glens
saround Pilholo, Makawao.
Tie legends about her compare with
5those of the German fairy folklore,
sssnd around the charms of her person
as She sits combing her wealth of
golden tresses at the edge OF some
bathing pool is woven many a half
forgotten Mauri folk tale.
S. In some of the latest. ones she is
reputed to have Iured two haoles at
different times on merry chase only
TO see her disappear in one or another
of the deep, clearwater pools among
the wooded glens Of PiIho1o. One, a
doctor, ended his aimIess wanderings
to her gIenwood haunts by becoming
"a paralstic the other, q woodcutter,
never ceased to describe the charms of
this wonderful woman with the goi-
den hair" always able to elude his en-
brace, but ever beckoning him on to
her lair among the vines and trees
and pools and crags of the glens about
Pilholo. o.-Wailuku (H. u Times.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Labor and christeninss.

w. Wallace Alexander, associated
with the Elklns estate and. leading
light in the Orphsus club. at a camp
fire gathering was humorously de-
scribing his troubles at a Pennsylvania
coal mine which he was seeking to put
Oh a paying basis.
"The miners We're getting ont coal
two days week-the other five days
were devoted TO chriStenings.
For every christening the whole
neighborhood took day to prepare,
a day to celebrate and q day to re-
cover.
Finally the problem was solved by
hiring brass band, arranging a pa
rade and having all the christenings
take place on the same magnificent,
uproarious, welllin-ringing day.
Who says business man has no
need for the creative imaginatioa?-
philadelphia Public Ledger.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
She Did.

She was fourefusher, particularly
rs to her abilities in various sports.
'Do you golf?" he asked.
"Oh, love golf" she answered. u
play at least SO holes twice. week" ;"
"And how about tennis?
81 won the woman's championship
In our state"
"And do you sw1m?"
"The best I ever did was halt
mile straight away" she replied.
Somewhat fatigued he changed to
literature. 'And how do you like Kip
ling?" he asked. =!
"I kipped an hour only yesterday
was her unblushing reply.-Journal Of
the American Medical Association.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
REVENGE TAKEN By ANIMALS
Story on Record of Huge Mastiff That
KILLED. ThoughtIess Groom at
/. First Opportunity.

Careful observers have put on rec
ord some very extraordinary instances
of dogs and other animals which have
remembered injuries put upon them.
and have eventually retaliated.. says
London Answers.
There is a terrible story on record
of a dog, a huge mastiff, kept as a
watchdog by a Staffordshire gentle
man. The great brute was kept
chained in the stable yard, and during
the yery hot weather one of the
greoms, noticing the creature painting
with heat, threw a bucket Of cold wa
teroyer him.
A week later the dog was loose
when the same man entered the yard.
He sprang upor> him and caught him
by the throat and killed him.
A touching little episode happened
a few years ago in Worcester VII
Iage. "A boy was the proud owner Of
a very handsome pair of fox terriers,
named Mick and Jerry. Jerry went OFF
one day into a wood near oy ana
tackled badger, which killed him.
Raymond, his master. went out to look
for him, but could not find him. But
two days after Mick was found mourn
ing over the dead body of his COM
panion.
He was brought back One day he
did not return. His master searched
and found him laying dead, his teeth
in the throat of the badger, which
was also killed.
An amusing incident was that of an
Indian elephant whose revenge on a
new nahout whom he. took dislike
to was rather funny. He picked him
up and deposited him in the branches
of a thorn tree.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
The cynicai Actress.

The late Oscar Hammersteln be-
neved that the actresses should lead
pure life.
aGynical, disillusioned actresses are
no good he once said at a dinner.
81 remember an actress Of nine some
years ago who fen down, badly in a
part I'd given her. ..sa -
Look here, 7 said the, morning
after she fell down. AL the critics say
ycu don't show half enough emotion
in the scene where your husband
leaves yeu,snsversYo return
''The cynical disillusIoned creature
gave a tart laugh.
.oh, i don't, don't Ig she sneered.
wen, Took here. Mr.. Hamnersteins
I've had SIX husbands leave me never
TO return, and guess / know how
aueh emotion ought to be shown in
such circumstances as well as any
hody.'.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
: Good Roads meetings

It has been decided TO hold four
additional meetings next week IN the
interest Of the s2,S00,00o bond issue
for a main highway system ofs-roads
at the following places
Concord School: Tuesday night,
May 4th, at 8 s. m.
Graham School. in Concord town
ship: wednesday night, May 9Th, at
8 p: m.
Pleasant Grove school. in Shiloh
township: Thursday night, May 9Th,
at 8 y. m:
os:yy=s,o sc;.ool; Friday night. May
11th.s at s p. m: 80. l... l.sssssS 4 s-S...
Selected speakers have been des'g-
mated to talk at these meetings The
con, nirtee hopes that those who are
opposed to the bond issue or who are
considering the proposition with open
minds will be sure to attend these
meetings as well as those who are out
and .out in favor Of the bondsissue.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
OFFERS EVERYBODY 4 CHANCE
PhiIanthropie Seattle Man Throwe
Open Hall for Absolutely Free
and Uninterrupted Speech.

A phiIanthropic fight promoter
OF the enterprising gentlemen who has
been in the habit Of putting On box
ing match every week or two-ls much
annoyed at the spasmodic interference
Of the officers Of the law in his busi-
ness affairs. and Is proposing to throw
open his hail for weekly forum of
free and uninterrupted speech, In
place of the boxing bouts.
II want every guy that has anything
to say to come over and say it." said
the promoter, according to the Seattle
Post-Inteiligencer. land III give him
ten minutes to spiel, and then he must
shut his trap. I don't care what he
Is; any kind of a nut can come over
and say right out what is on his chest.
Ny luck has been SO bad, and my
spirits so depressed, that ! want
laugh, and believe nut gathering
of this kind would equal anything the
Orpheum circuit or Pantages or the
best Of them ever put on: You know,
nature keeps playing jokes on human
ity all the time; she mixes together
some queer patterns In heads. and a
lot Of fellows can't help what they
think; some have a huncb for one
thing and some for another; I suppose
we could get a few startling facts on
anything from religion to chess in
these verbal tournaments. And 1t will
sbe absolutely free;I rntght pass the
hat around at the close of the enter
tainment to square me on the hall
rent, but for the rest I wouldn't want
a cent to pay outside of the entertain
ment / get out@of it. AS soon as I
can pull jazz band together to fit in
with the speechmaking will announce
the details, and we viii be sure in, for
a summers entertainment, If the
sheriff don't close us up"
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
.HoMEsfeK FOR ARCTIC SHOWS
No Affectation About the Longing for
Far North That is Experienced
by Explorers.

: II you are Of ordinary health and
strength, # you are young enough to
be adaptable and independent enough
to shake of the influence of books nd
belief, you can find good reason to be
as content and comfortable In the
North as anywhere on earth.
IF you remember that all of us who
have spent more than year living On
the country" are4quite Of the Eskimo
opinion that no food On earth is better
than caribou meat, and IL you have any
experience in your life as a hunter any
where, you win realize that in the eve
nfngs when we SIT in these warm snow
houses, feasting witt. keen appetites on
unlimited quantities OF boiled ribs, we
have all the creature comforts.
What we lack, II we feel any lack
at;5all, will be possibly the presence OF
friends far away, or the chance to hear
opera or see the movies. At any rate,
1T IS true that today in the movie in
tested city I long for more snow
house evenings after caribou hunts as
I never in the North longed for clubs
or concerts or orange groves. And this
is not peculiar to me- The men who
nave hunted with me are nearly all
Of the same mind they are either in
the North now, on the way back there
by whaling ship, or eating their hearts
out because they cannot go.-Vifhjal-
mur Stefansson In Harper's Magazine.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Large Market for Rabbit Skins.

There is q market for rabbit sklns.
Before the. recent war an enormous
trade was carried on abroad. 1t IS said
that Great Britain and Ireland alone
produced about thirty million skins an
nually. Most rabbit skins are sold In
bales, by weight, the fur from them
being used for felting purposes, and
the skins for making glue. The war
interrupted the importations from Eu-
ope and Australia to such an extent
tlat the price has greatly Increased.
The better skins are sold by. the dozen.
When dressed they become the 'cony"
OF the fur trade. often sold under fan
ciful names. American breeders are
raising all kinds Of rabbits that pro
duce the best "cony" Of the fur shops.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05

fAMiL Y MARKED By f)DDITY
London Newspaper Tells of Strange
Fate That Pursued Group Both :,
in life and Death.

Ther lived at Ipswich In the reign
ssof William III a family known as the
.sodd family" a most appropriate
,same, as the following facts prove,
5 London Answers states:
lSesv event, good, bad or .indiffer-
s ens came to that family in an odd
: year or an odd da, If the month, and
every person was odd in manner or
behavior or appearance. Even the
letters of their Christian names al
ways amounted tosan odd number.
The father and mother were Peter
and Rahab; their seven children tall
boysl bore the names of David, Eze-s
kiel, James, Jonas. Matthew, Roger
Solomon. The husband possessed
only one leg and his. wife only one
arm Solomon was blind in his left
eye and Roger lost his right in an
aecsdent James had his left ear torn
sofsin q quarrel Matthews left hand
had but three fingers.
Jonas had a stump foot, David was
hump and Ezekiel was 6 feet 2
inches at the age of nineteen. Every
sone Of the children had red hair. not
vifhstanding the fact that the fathers
hair was Jet black and the mothers
white
strange at blsth, all died as
strangely.
The father seli into a deep sawpit
md was killed. the wife died five days
after from starvation. Ezekiel enlist
ed, was wounded IN % places, but re
covered Roger, James. Jonas, David
and Matthew died in 171S. in six diff
ferent places on the same day; Solo
mon and Ezekiel were drowned in the
Thames IN 1923.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Death Took Old and Young.

During the war the london Times.
either Willingly or unwittingly. pub
iisaed innumerable items about the
sery old men and women in the Brit
lsh empire who were dying Off Their
great age, their longevity. formed
melancholy contrast to the slaughter
of youth then going on in Europe. Dur
ing six months in 1918, 80 persons
over one hundred years old died in the
British isles, but the figures OF young
u.en who fell during that time before
the guns of the enemy and who diet'.
sith iaii.enza mounted toward q mil.
I lion. Net one OF the old, be it said
Ii rassing, died from FLU"
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
LIBERIA IS REACHING OUT
Tribes Of That Country, It is Said, Afs
Accepting the Teachings OF The
Missionaries.

Plenyono Che Wolo, a Liberian Of
the Kru tribe, who graduated from Co
lumbia university, says:
There never has been a scientific
census OF Liberia, but the population
is estimated at from 100000 to 1890
0O0, and not more than $1,000 are
America -Liberians, the descendants OF
liberated slaves. The remainder be-
long to tribes which speak four differ
ent languages and offer only nominal
submission to the government. The
Krus elect their kings by the selectios
OF the most available man OF the royal
house: In the 1Jarroway tribe the king
is an absolute monarch for the reign
of six years, and is then put to death.
Other tribes also follow different Gus
toms.
The tribes do not acknowledge the
government Of Monrovia, because they
feel that it does not protect them. By
treaty the United States governments
is required TO hep the Arnerico-L -Libe-
rians against the tribes, and in 1917
this country helped put down rebel.
lion of the krns.
The constitution Of Liberia has q
literacy test, which has heretofore ex.
Guided most of the natives from yot-
ing, as the central government is I'M
able to undertake their education. The
Girbas are being taught by Episcopal
missionaries, and the Fulingos, who
are Mohammedans, are also gaining
the franchise. The krus are very am
bstiousand are also catching up. There
are more than so Liberians of the ma
tive tribes studying in the United
States.
The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-05
Saw Cuts Steel BlIi.ts.

!, The largest Of number OF power
hacksaws in one Of the British naval
factories is stated to weigh three and
one-half tons and is driven by three
horse power electric motor. 1t cuts
through square billets Of steel 2a
inches thick. Even a cut like this
does not wear out the blade, which is
suitable for further work after the
cut has been made. This machine is
estimated to reduce the expense OF
saving to one-sixth OF the former cost.