davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
FLOWER-P0T AS BRIDEGROOM
Unique Ceremony Which Transforms
Chinese Girl Into Full-FledQed
and Privileged Widow.

China Is still land of strange Gus
toms, one of the most curious being
the ceremony of a fower-pot mar
riage.
When the man whom a Chinese girl
IS TO marry dies shortly before the
date liked for the wedding, the grief
stricken bride-elect sometimes takes
a VOW never to marry. Should she
do so, she goes through the ceremony
Of wedding an ordinary t1ower-pot.
She is now considered a widow, and
upon the parents of her intended hus-
band falls the responsibility of main
tanning her Usually she goes to live
Alth them.
n many cases. especially where the
."fr'Iy is poor. great sacrifices are nee
ASsary in order that the daughter-in-
~ tas she is now regarded) may be
properly cared for But the parents
have no option In the matter. And,
actually, they have no desire to shirk
their responsibilities, for the faithful
ness Of the widow" brings great
honor to the bridegroom's family, It
icing considered quite a disgrace
should the bride-elect not wish to
60 through the ceremony of marrying
the tlower-pot-
In the days before China was re-
,oublic the emperor. upon the facts
aing brought to his notice, had a
andsome monument erected In com
emoration Of the widows" faith
lnesS
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
GOWN WORN BY JOHN WESLEY
English Wesleyan Body Receives GIFT
OF Robe That Belonged to Found
er Of Methodism.

The Wesleyan Methodist Connexion
has just received from one of its lead
ing laymen a gown that belonged to
the founder of Methodism, according
to the London Daily News. John Wes'
ley died in 1871, so that the garment
is more than 100 years old.
Time has, of course, left it's marks
upon the gown. Some parts are dis
colored and others are worn and
patched. The material is heavy, and
upon it, worked In black, are flowers
and prancing horses. AS the great
preacher was little man, the gown
must have hung about his heels.
1t is claimed that the gown was 8
preaching gown, but it is very dis
similar to the ecclesiastical garment
that, according to authentic records.
John Wesley wore in the pulpit. This
one possesses an ordinary sleeve, and.
generally speaking, it seems to accord
with the style of black study-gown,
The donor of the gown has also pre-
sented pair of slippers belonging to
Wesley. These are in good condition,
and are of the kind that he would
wear in his study.
Wesley, of course, travelled through
out Great Britain and Ireland in all
veathers on his preaching tours, and
it was suggested that he wore this
heavy gown as a protection against
atmospheric conditions.
The Wesley museum contains a
large number of interesting relics Of
John and Charles Wesley. 1t possesses
the study chair of John, and presently,
as a gift from the donor of the gown,
Charles Wesley's study chair will be
placed there.
large proportion of the visitors to
the museum come from the overseas
dominions and the United States,
where the interest in all that relates
to the early history of Methodism Ia
very keen,
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Allbis Always Ready.

In India. where stealing Is prac-
ticed as an art by whole bands and
tribes, the thieves owe obedience to
the naik, or chief, Of their tribe, who
directs most Of their operations but
usually does not engage in them. It
10 his duty to prepare the alibis, and
he 10 always the chief witness when
one 10 arrested. Convictions are ma
turally hard to get. but when 1t ap-
pears that the police have evidence
against tribe. the nalk will decide
which members shall surrender them
selves and plead guilty. There IL no
appeal from his decision. and It Is
usually the less expert desperadoes
who are selected as sacrihcial goats.
While they remain In prison their
families are well taken care Of. and
their grteving wives provided with
temporary husbands.
Should these prisoners give informa-
tion to the police they had better never
return home, for a certain fate awaits
them. At any rate, any Of them would
rather spend biz time In prison than
= manual labor.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31

The year 1921 was so taken up by
interest in the Dante SeXcentenary that
most persons failed entirely to note
the fact that the year was the four
hundred and tiftieth anniversary of the
death of another Of the worlds i'm
mortals, Thomas a kempis, the au-
thor of the Limitation Of Christ"
A quarter of a century or so ago
a discussion with regard to the worlds
greatest books WAS precipitated by an
ingenious London editor who asked the
question If YOU We're TO he marooned
on desert island for life and could
take only a dozen books with you.
what books would YOU select?' In the
lists Of answers Dante and kempis
invariably occurred in fact KEN
pis was omitted from almost none
Of the lists of university men. and was
included by many scientists, even Hux-
ley himself selecting it,
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
TEST FOR WRITERS OF PROSE
One Who Can Describe Clearly Proper
Way OF Tying Knot 10 Master
of Language.

Ropes more than any other subject
are, I think, test Of mans power
Of exposition in prose. II you can des
cribe clearly the proper way Of making
this or that knot then you are q
master Of the English tongue. You
are not only a master-you are q
sign, portent, a new discoverer an
exception among your fellow men, q
unique fellow.
For no one yet in this world surely
has attained to lucidity in this most
difficult branch OF all expression.
find over and over again in the pas
sages of those special books which
talk of ropes. such language as, This
is very useful knot and is made as
follows: blight is taken in the stand
ing part and is then run over right
handedly, that is with the sun, then
under the running part, and so through
both times and hauled tight by the TIVE
ends
But II any man should seek TO save
his life on a dark night in sudden
gust Of wind by this description he
would lose it. He would drown.
Take the simplest Of them. Take
the Glove hitch. Write a sentence in
English which will expalin without
a picture) how to cast Glove hitch.
do not think you will succeed.-H.
Belloc in the New Statesman.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Barley Basis of Weinhf.

During the reign of Henry VIII
standards of length and weight were
established with actual grains Of
wheat and barley as basis. Three
barley corns were an inch, and from
that was built up our table of inches,
feet, ellis (yards), perch and acre.
one restriction was that the barley
cora must be dry and taken from the
MiuLIe of the car and laid end to end.
Under this same system 80 grains of
wheat made a pennyweight, and from
that as basis they worked out the
Troy pound in which II ounces still
make pound. Originally the sizes
of shoes were based upon grains of
barley, and it is said that these are
the same today as in the early days.
There were Ii grains of barley to each
size. "Furlong" is an old English word
meaning "furrow long" and is based
upon the length a furrow would be
in a square ten-acre field.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
THOUGHT NOT REALLY RAPID
Mind Moves Comparatively Slowly.
Notwithstanding Expression That
Has Become Common.

GAS quick as thought" Is an express
sion much used to denote the acme
of speed in action, but, like so many
popular expressions, this one is mis-
leading Thought, or at least the men
tai registering Of a sensation. is not
an exceedingly speedy process, the
thought impulse moving at the COM
paratively slow speed of no feet a
second, or rs miles an hour. Light
travels nearly nine million times as
swiftly. Thought would be hopelessly
beaten in a race with motorcar.
Perhaps a good Illustration Of the
comparative slownesS of thought
waves is TO assume that q man had
an arm rs miles long and that, when
he was not looking friend should
grasp his hand Before the owner Of
that arm became conscious that his
hand had been touched the friend
would have released 1t, and had time
to walk four miles or eat very ex-
tensiye dinner-Kansas City Star.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Old krook,

krook Is the name of a rather prom
lnent but most uncanny character In
Dickens novel, BLEAK House." which
has much to do with the then dilatory
procedure Of the Court of Chancery.
The system Dickens describes ceased
70 exist many years.
Krook Is the proprietor of rag and
Done warehouse, where everything
seems to be bought and nothing sold.
He s d grasping drunkard, who even
tually dies of spontaneous combustion.
that is, he Is SO saturated with liquor
that he takes fire and is consumed
In a note to this chapter of BLEAK
House Dickens cites a case Of spon-
taneous combustion that took place
in Paris, France, and which, he said
VAS well verified by medical authority.
1t was probably from that case that
Dickens obtained the idea which he
made use Of In describing Krook's won
derful death.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
To Utilize Waste Time.

a system in vogue in a few New
York department stores to utilize the
spare time of their employees when
customers are few rs to hold meetings
of a semi social character, in which
part or the whole of their forces can
participate. One Of the most popular
and beneficial of those systems, from
the viewpoint of the employers and the
employees, is to assemble the forces
and sing songs and hear short address
es delivered on general subjects by
store executives or others. A daily
use of that system, according to one
store manager who has had the system
in practice for considerable time, is
to infuse greater enthusiasm among
it's employees for their work and to
inculcate a spirit of cooperation be-
tween the employer and his employees
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
He Was Stumped.

Back In an inland town in Illinois In
the early days there was a justice of
the peace who was very nearsighted.
One sumner day he made out some sub
poenas to be served on witnesses, and
dozed off. A fy lit in his inkwell, ex-
tracted itself after some difficulty, and
crawled onto one of the subpoenas.
The constable, who was something Of
practical Joker, picked up the paper,
and pointing to the fly tracks, said !:
Judge, what is that name?"
The judge held the paper close to his
eyes and squinted at 1t for few min
utes. Then scratching his head in per
plexity, he answered:
Looks like my handwriting, all
right, but darned If l can make out the
name."-Wall Street Journal.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
IN CHRONIC STATE or FEAR
Observing Author About Eight When
He Describes Conditions Under
Which All Live,

In his book, 1.-THE Conquest of Fear"
Basil King says:
LOOK at the people you run up
against in the course of a few hours.
Every one is living or working in fear.
THE mother is afraid for her chill
dren. The father is afraid for his
business. The clerk is afraid for his
job. The worker Is afraid of his boss
Or his competitor.
There is hardly man who is not
afraid that some other man will do
him bad turn There is hardly a
woman who is not afraid that things
she Graves may be denied her, or that
what she loves may be snatched away.
There is not home or an office OF
factory or school or church in
which some hang-dog apprehension is
not eating at the hearts of the men,
women and children who go in and
out.
Il am ready to guess that all the
miseries wrought by sin and sickness
put together would not equal those we
bring on ourselves by the means which
perhaps, we do least to counterfeit
1--WE are not sick all the time; We
are not SHINING all the time; but all
the time all of us-or practically all Of
us-are afraid of some one or some
thing"
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Future Mona rch Reared Simply.

In an article describing the train.
Ing Of the fourteen year-old prince Of
the Asturias. King Alfonso's heir, the
Madrid Heraldo says he Is being
brought up In the atmosphere Of home
life that his parents love. Queen
Victoria, az we'll ~ King Alfonso. dis
likes all forms Of ceremonial. and
the prince 10 being trained as simply
as possible. He has many tutors with
whom he visits factories. dockyards.
engineering works, Newspaper Offices
museums and all centers Of culture
and activity. The customs Of the
Spanish court have prevented him
from entering a university or military
college, but he will probably be sent
later on to 4 military academy.
The prince IL fair with blue eyes.
and for this reason he has the ap-
pearance Of 4 foreigner" for Spain
10 4 country Of dark-eyed people. But
those who speak Of his foreign ap-
Dsarancs maintain that 10 y thorough.
y Sanish. He spsaln nnelish and
yreodA An1ntiy4 ana stG1s1e IN active
lso8 = seien0 ~ osk-Lsadaa
as4 ssSgst
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
FAMOUS WRITER'S Of HuMoR
Csiebt ated Were Essentially Men
OF Highest Character.

''Bill Nye," our own Edgar Wilson
Nye, leaped into fame while writing
humorous sketches for the Laramie
Boomerang, of which he was editor
The name Of "Bin Nye" was bestowed
on him by his office associates. His
book, "Baled Hay" was very popular
for a time, but, like much humorous
writing, its popularity was ephemeral
"Bul Nye" was much loved by all who
knew him. He was considered 1.-THE
greatest American liar"
William T. Adams was the noted
"Oliver Optic" who wrote more than
thousand stories. He died much
mourned by young readers, for whom
most of his books were written.
Under the name Of Artemus Ward,
Charles r. Browne made worldwide
reputation as a lecturer and humorist.
He was an inimitable wag; his humor
was irresponsible and kept all about
him In a constant state of merriment.
He was the first writer to adopt
phonetic spelling. He died in 1859.
ELI Perkins" was contemporary
with "Artemus Ward" and it was
Ward who bestowed the nom de plume
upon him. Melville D. Landon was es-
sentially funny man." but not truly
a humorist He was a gentle, kindly
man and one who loved his fellows.
Henry W. Shaw was the Josh Bill
ings" of humor and homely phi
losophy. He was kicked into fame by
his "Essa on the Muel," which netted
him $3.50, his first money earned In
literature. He travelled and lectured
extensively on THE Probabilities OF
Life; Perhaps Rain, Perhaps Not"
He said There's cheats in all things;
even plzen is adulterated." He was a
delightful man and never did mean
thing in his life, and never had an
enemy among good men. Josh Bill
ings" died Of apoplexy in Monterey.
Cal
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
ERRoR COMMITTED By MANY
Position In a General Cloud OF
Unpleasant Feeling.

The man or woman Of small am
bition and smaller achievement feels
that 1t Is his privilege and pleasure
always to leave a position he Is quit
ting" In a cloud Of unpleasant feel
ing. So long as he remains in his
position he puts up with unpleasant
ness, stiles his dislikes for the men
over him and does his best to grin
and bear things. When he realizes
that he can take his destiny in his
own hands, and ask to have his name
stricken off the pay roll, he takes
intense satisfaction in airing his preju-
dices and showing every one In the
place just how he feels about things.
He undoes in a day all that he has
gained in the months or years that he
has worked there.
The man or woman with ambition
knows that the world Of business is a
small place. Merely from selfish
point Of view 1t is essential to main
tain pleasant relations even with those
who, you feel, have treated you I'M
justly. If you have put up with their
Ill treatment while working for them
surely you ought to be more willing to
do so when you have the inner salts
faction Of knowing that you are going
In fact, you can stretch point and
forgive and forget old rancors. 1t may
be, you know, that in another shuttle
up you will be placed in position
where one of the persons for whom
you have the most spite will be placed
in position where his friendship will
mean great deal to you. So do the
well-bred thing, which is to stifie your
own petty animosities and exercise
your self-control to the extent OF
leaving the old place with handshake
l-round.-Exchaage
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31

The business Of making fireworks
and the business of setting off elabo-
rate displays are sometimes called
1.-THE art Of pyrotechny," the word 'py
rotechny" being compounded of two
Greek words meaning fire art" There
Is an extensive literature on the sub
ject-
References may be found in the
writings Of Manilius and Vespicus to
the fact that fireworks were set off in
connection with the circus in ancient
Rome, and Claudianus, who wrote in
the Fourth century, mentions "whirl-
ing wheels and fountains of fire" in
connection with the celebration of GER
tain festivals. Fireworks, and which
should not be Confounded with mere
bonfires, were set off as spectacleS and
ceremonies during the reign Of Henry
VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth and other
English monarchs. In those early
English days dragons spouting fire
were a popular form of fireworks. In
a book written on the subject in 1913
there is a reference to trees and
fountains Of fire sent high up into
the air"
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
.ucaI doosiar Town.

Jimmie Blue, former Hoosier, now
Of Denver. says Mount Comfort, Ind,
Is the ideal town. A hungry tramp
dropped off In Mount Comfort one
bitter cold day. \ diligent house to
house canvass awaited him nothing.
Cold and hungry, he walked to the
intersection Of the Big Four and Cum
berland pike. He looked east, west,
north and south, then cast his eyes
on the ground, forlorn expression
on his face.
The constable noticed him and, walk
ing over, ventured to ask what the
trouble might be. The tramp an
swered, "Well, I've been in about
every town in the country. but derned
II this amt the first place I ever saw
that was Observation-Disclosures
News.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
A Note by Wordsworth.

Treasures are never exhausted; only,
sometimes, there is q painful dearth Of
treasure seekers.
Not long ago a book buyer. rummag-
ing in a second hand store at Oxford
unearthed copy Of ColeridgeA
Geographic Literaria, which he bought
for S4.31. A little later, examining his
purchase at his hotel, he found on a
blank page some notes initiated "W."
Reference to the Bodleian library re-
vealed that the notes we're by Words
worth He sold the book back to the
dealer the same day for f12 $780,
which to the true book lover will be
the only painful part Of the story.
A curious illustration of the en-.
HANGED value that an autograph gives
a book is to be found in volume that
turned up at Dobell's. London, not long
since. 1t cost Thomas Gray Is Sd
(34 cents) which the poet no doubt
thought dear enough. he wrote his
name In it, however, and now it fetches
E4.10 (S22.50).-From the Living Age
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
nnurr men Have Defects.

If the man who measures you for
your next suit calls out IN. F. R. B."
to the assistant who jots down the
measurements, take care 1t Is
warning that your physique Is not all
shat it should be-in fact a great deal
less, 1t stands for mack forward
round back"
It's the commonest fault in the
physique of our customers" explained
q tailor. Most men have fiat chest
and round back. The army straight,
ened some of them up for a while but
they've begun slulnping back again.
About one man in ten has bow legs,
the bow running from 112 to 4 inches.
Practically every mans shoulders are
uneven-one higher than the other.
But that's SO common that you
wouldn't call it a defect.
Here's another thing I've noticed
All the athletes, the professional
strong men. have sloping shoulders.
The fellow with the straight. heavy
shoulders whom you'd take for an
athlete usually isn't." -Mllwaukee
Journal
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Bad Trend of the Times,

One feature of the home which has
become grave question with the so
cial workers IL the threatened break.
ing down OF the relation between par
ent and child.
1t Is In the home that the natural
affections are awakened In earliest
years and developed into habitual
feature Of the growing character Lack
OF affection Is one OF the greatest
bllghts on human character; so much
so that st. Paul. when enumerating
the woeful condition into which men
bring themselves by devlating from
the laws OF morality, wind up by way
OF climax with the phrase, "slne affec-
tone" which means without affec-
ton. Exchange.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Haiti's Scrappinu Boosters.

BOOSTERS that crow day and night
and never seem To recognize the differ.
ence between day and night were re
Gently described by William Almon
Wolff In Golfers. Mr.. Wolf visited
Haiti while he was serving as IL
sergeant in the marine corps reserve
when II comes to cock fighting In
Haiti he writes, 1.-THE rooster plays
very important role. Sunday after
noon Is the great time for that, and
all day Sunday you may see sporting
lIaitians going about with game
cock or two under their arms. There
are two rings In Port au Prince;
thousands of men gather there every
Sunday afternoon and bet on their
fayorities. Haitian cock fighting Is
not very brutal affair; the birds
aren't spurred. 1t is the custom for
the owner Of the losing rooster to cry
quits before much damage Is done"
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
How Man SpoiIs the Air.

"Windows open more would keep
doctors from the door," A very large
quantity Of fresh air Is spoiled and
rendered foul by the act of breathing
A man spoils not less than a gallon
every minute. In eight hours breath
ing a full-grown man spoils as much
fresh air as seventeen three-bushel
sacks could hold. II he were shut up
In q room seven feet broad, seven feet
long and seven feet hign. the doors
and windows fitting so tightly that no
air could pass through, he would die
poisoned by his own breath. in a very
few hours; in twenty-four hours he
would have spoiled all the air con-
tanned In the room, and have eoevsvt.
- It into poison.
Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1922-03-31
Tyranny Of Clothes Customs,


Three hundred years ago Shakes.
peare could make Polonius say, with
some measure Of truth, that loft the
apparel doth proclaim the man." Ger.
tainly this sort Of proclamation has
bsen made less and less loft" a. the
three intervening centuries have gone
By. Almost before Shakespeare laid
down his pen the doublet and hose,
the swinging mantle, the jeweled
sword and the huted ruff Of his time
were sobered out OF existence by the
steadily growing Puritan influence. In
the age OF Queen Anne the apparel
proclaimed not 10 much the man a.
he mans tailor, remarks q writer In
the Christian Science Monitor. A
century later still we have Charles
Lamb brooding rather querulously
over the mystery that q mere melan-
choly ninth Of . man." q tailor of
Fleet street., should be able to tell
him how many buttons he would
wear - his coat, and tell him with
. authority not to BE- gainsaid. Since
IL tine Of Lamb inch BY inch and
gn1meat b. garment the clothing q
- ne19a nan has bsen taken cut
= - 11aGo q hie own ne ccaerel
- 1n111 sssE = ~ lynnanv =
lW - 1np1o1n