davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Odd Form of prayer"
Brought Needed Rain

Desperate after q month Of
drought In what was supposed to
be the rainy season, the peasants
In Changhsintien recently dressed
up two men like fish and marched
them down the street, pouring wa.
ter on them all the way. This Is
Q new method Of praying for rain.
1t worked, too! For that night
Peklng and neighboring towns were
drenched in a frightful storm.
Nothing like 1t is ever seen In New
York. A peculiar sort Of light.
ming, flashing continuously here and
there and everywhere, and thunder
keeping up constant "put-putting"
sound feature the storm. Lakes
come into existence everywhere.
The storm seems somehow symbolic
of the approach of threatening Ma.
ti0nalist troops.
Strangely. the Pekinese prayed
for rain In earnest, too. In White
Cloud temple, outside Hsipienmen
temple and at Hsiszu Pailou, cool.
les, old men and priests burned
beasts and bowed necessarily. They
followed the ancient rain.praying
rites.
But the inhabitants of Changh-
sintien are believed to have found
q new method of rain praying In
the fish parade. People In Peking
had not heard Of It before.-BrO0k-
lyn Eagle.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Bones May Be Those
of Famous Drunkards

Human remains, buried under
two or three yards of debris which
had fallen from the ceiling of q
great underground grotto. were dis
covered seven miles north Of Jeru-
salem by Prof. William Bade. head
Of the American archaeological ex-
pedition which unearthed the huge
city wall, greater than that of Je--
rusalem itself, Pierre Van Paasseri
writes In the Atlanta Constitution.
It has been suggested that Tel
el Nasbeth is the site of the treas
ure city of Solomon. Professor
Bade discovered q natural lime
stone cave artificially enlarged to q
great underground chamber. The
entrance to the grotto was found
In the basement Of a large building.
From the entrance stone steps led
to the bowels Of the earth and to
the cave. The human remains
were apparently buried by ancient
earthquakes. Beneath the debris
was found number Of great wine
Jars of the Seventh century, B. c.,
indicating that the chamber, above
which was wine press, was q
store for the reputed drunkards of
Ephraim. ("Woe to the crown Of
pride of the drunkards Of Ephraim,"
Isaiah 28:1).
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Poets Glider Almost
Too Eager in Action

Long ago, In Algeria, a French
poet contributed unknowingly to
the advancement of aerial con.
quest, says the Air Station News,
biweekly publication of the naval
air station at Pensacola, Fla. Mouil-
lard was his name, and he con-
structed his glider from the study
Of birds.
Starting early, as is the custom
Of later-day pilots. he buckled on
his wings and started down the road
waiting for a favorable breeze. The
road down which he "took off, was
raised five or six feet above the sur
rounding plains and was bordered
on both sides by bitches some ten
feet wide. His wings felt light.
Running forward to test their life,
he thought to amuse himself by
jumping one Of the bitches. The
result is told In his own words
$50 took a good run across the
road and jumped. My feet did not
come down to earth. was gliding on
the air and making a vain effort
to land, for my airplane had set
out on cruise. I dangled only a
few feet from the soil, but do what
I could, I could not reach it, ard
was skimimng along without the
power to stop. At last, my feet
touched the earth. I fell forward
on my head and broke my wings
and all was over, but goodness,
how frightened had been"
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Odd Contradictions Of
Famous German Writer

Made miserable by fundamental
contradictions In character, Helm
rich Heine, genius best remem-
bered for his poems, cried: II am
tragedy am comedy" Though he
was probably the greatest German
poet of his century, the author OF
"The LOrelei" was c0n3tantly ap-
palled by the vastness of his vision
and sought firmer footing on
other paths of expression. When
he could curb his poesy he was a
splendid Journalist.
While he hated despOtism he was
an ardent admirer Of Napoleon. AS
a cynic his laughter still is remem-
bered for its hilarity at sentiment.
yet he was such a sentfmentalist
that his spurned love for his cousin
gave exquisite wings to many q
poem. He wrote history without
method and philosophy with no
crystallized philosophy of his own.
The capricious quality that per-
vades all his writings turks in even
his tenderest poems. He shifts from
intense passion to careless mock
cry.
His life, until his individualism,
was one of agony of being jerked
from poesy to materialism and back
again. Yet when he was made
helpless by paralysis this strange
man of contradictions, who had
been impatient and irritable In
health, showed an extraordinary en-.
durance and cheerfulness In the
long years he spent on what he
termed his mattress grave" He
died In 1856 and lies buried In
Paris.-Kansas City Star.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Stock Judging Honors
Won By Minnesotan

T. II. Christgau of Austin, a
senior in the Minnesota College of
Agriculture, placed second in a
field of more than 100 students of
agricultural colleges who competed
In the judging of general livestock
at the international Livestock Ex-
position at Chicago. Mr.. Christgau
scored 917 points as against 924,
the highest score, made by an
Iowa student, AMI 915 points made
by a second Iowa man and an Ohio
student who tied for third place.
Minnesota's team, composed of
Mr.. Christgau, C. c.. Chase of
Pennington, Charles Flugum of
Albert Lea, j. K. King Of Monte
video, Elmer Reike of New Ulm
and Stanley Morrill, of st. Paul,
placed eleventh among FL college
teams from the states and Canada.
Iowa was first, Ohio second, Kan
sas third, and Nebraska fourth.
Minnesota's junior club Judging
team placed third among teams
from 20 states judging general
livestock at the International. Okla
homa was first and Illinois second.
Only one point separated Illinois
:ad Minnesota. Ralph Horstman,
Gayl johnson, and Frederick
Bjornstad, all of Mobiles county.
represented the livestock clubs of
Minnesota in the contest, and
Hortsman was in tie with two
others for fourth place among in
dividual judges.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Easter Island Statue
May Be Earth's Oldesi

The worlds most ancient statue
Is to be found outside, not inside.
the British museum.
It is said that 1t took 200 men
from the crew of Fl. nj. s. Topaz,
and 300 natives, to drag the statue
from it's original site, although 1t
weighs only four tons. II is the
work of race of huge builders and
was one of many similar colossal
statues, some of them weighing as
much as hundred tons, scattered
over Easter island. In the Pacific.
These hideous images were Origf-
nally supplied with hats, in some
cases weighing another five or six
tons, which were red because they
were made of tufa or volcanic rock.
All the hats have fallen off now
and are found lying around the huge
statues as though there had been q
high wind.
This race Of ancient builders left
traces in the shape of immense
stone monuments right across the
Pacific, and many archeologists
think that the island on which
these monuments are found Is he
last remnant left above the surface
of q vast submerged continent.
There is nothing which fixes the
exact period of this achievement,
but 1t is possible that the statues
are at least as old as the pyramids
of Egypt.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Cabin of Naturalist
Far From the Crotud

John Burroughs, the poet-philOso-
pher, some time In the sos built
study of bark-a kind Of pavilion
in his yard at Riverby, his home on
q terrace that overlooked the Hud-
son river, selecting point where
he could sit at a desk and overlook
the valley. There he did much Of
his reading and writing. He kept
his books there.
From year to year the number
Of those who recognized the power
and beauty of his work increased,
and as his fame spread. his visitors
became more numerous. To be still
farther removed from the Interrupt
tions of his vineyard and his house
hold. he built with his own hands a
cabin In the hills about two miles
west Of Riverby, and there he did
some Of his writing, entertaining
now and again some distinguished
invited guest. He did his own cook.
ing and built his own fires In q
chimney constructed with his own
hands. He called this place Slab
sides. Theodore Roosevelt was
among the prominent men who WIS.,
tied him there.-Hamlin Garland In
the Dearborn Independent.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Animals Color Sense

The colorful world of green grass
and trees, red meat, brownish-gray
mice and yellow dogs is all just
gray to cats, according to Prof.
r. NJ. Gregg of Nebraska Wesleyan
university. who experimental with
the color scheme Of night-prowling
animals. Dogs and raccoons also
lack color perception, he finds. In
his experiments the--animals were
taught to recognize various color
combinations. They learned that
when certain colors were shown
they could come up and expect to
be fed. When shades of gray cor
responding in brightness to the diff
ferent colors were substituted for
the brilliant rainbow hues. the ami.
mails apparently noted no change
In the dinner signals. The dog. q
fox terrier, was quickest to learn,
the cat next, and the raccoon the
slOWest Of all.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Antiquity of "Gent"

A Croxley Green reader Is at
a loss to know why the learnId
Judge should have taken exception
to the abbreviation Scent" In legal
documents. ut is," he writes, "time
honored, even though nowadays 1t
may appear to be q vulgar cockney-
ism. Upon many monumental in
scriptlons 1t may be found In place
Of man." and he quotes one of 1854
in Shropshire church, which re-
fers to "Ye body Of ye worthy
gent" etc.
'The word gent here Is not in
tended to indicate his social status,
as it is followed by Esquire which
does place him." Nevertheless the
abbreviation has come to be re-
garded as not only colloquial but
vulgar. Was 1t not o. w. Holmes
who solemnly warned his country
men against using. such express
sions as "a gent in lowered vest'3
London Morning Post.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Teaching Lip Reading

For the benefit of children whose
hearing happens to be defective, 1t
is the custom at present in many
states to give those thus afflicted
the benefit of some special instruc.
tion in lip reading. The best way
Of handling this problem, 1t has
been demonstrated, is by having
teachers who are especially trained
to 60 from school to school for this
purpose. The classes are small,
usually not more than six or eight
students, and the advantage Of
the plan Is that 1t enables children
to continue their regular work In
the school classes, which suits the
parents better than sending them
to special schools. It Is also more
economical from the standpoint Of
the educational authorities.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Daddy Evidently Had
Some Things to Write

Willie livery seri0usly)-Papa, ]
had strange dream.
Papa-Indeed! What was it7
Willie-I dreamed, papa, that !
died and went to heaven; and
when st. Peter met me at the gate,
Instead of showing me the way to
the golden street, as I expected,
he took me out into large field,
and in the middle Of the field there
was a ladder reaching up into the
sky and out Of sight. Then st. Pc
ter told me that heaven was at the
top, and that in order to get there
I must take the big piece Of chalk
he gave me and slowly climb the
ladder, writing on each rung some
sin I committed.
Papa (laying down his newspa-
per)-And did you finally reach
heaven, my son?
Willie-No. papa, for Just as !
was trying to think of something
to write on the second rung looked
up and saw you coming down.
Papa-And what was I coming
down for?
Willie-That's what I asked you,
and you told me you were coming
down for more chalk.-After Din
ner Stories.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Eye Hops and Ships
Along Printed Page

When the eye runs along a line
of print in book, 1t does not
travel smoothly from left to right of
the page, but jumps from time to
time, taking in whole word or,
perhaps, few words at time, and
then, jumping on fresh group,
says My Magazine.
If the eyeball Is Illuminated with
a ray of light, which it reflects
back again on to a moving photo
graphic plate, the photograph will
show exactly, in the form of num-
ber of little stripes. or bands, what
movements the eye has made.
These photographs, made with q
special instrument used at the psy-
chOlogy laboratories at Stanford
university, have enabled those
studying the languages to make a
very fascinating discovery. That
Is, that the eye finds 1t much more
comfortable to read from the bot
tom of the page to the top Of the
page than from, the left to the
right. and so we find that the an
cient Chinese, some Of the earliest
people to invent writing. had the
wonderful sense to adopt the most
suitable style of writing, for they
started at the bottom of the page
and wrote upwards.
Another interesting discovery
from the study Of these photo
graphs is that the eye never bothers
to begin reading a line of print
from the very beginning, nor does it
ever travel right to the end. It
focuses itself on the second or third
word Of a new line, and takes In q
little picture Of the meaning, and
then skips on to the next stopping
place.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Vital Part of Tree

The stem of a tree, also called
trunk and bole, Is the main axis ex-
tending from the roots to the crown,
or to the tip In case Of an un-
brancbed stem. Tree stems range
from long to short, straight to
crooked, and from erect to pros.
trate. An examination Of cross
section Of stem will show bark,
wood. and pith, says the American
Tree association. In the central
part Of the stem is the pith. About
It Is the wood, which In many trees
can be divided into darker heart
wood and the lighter sapwood. Be
tween the wood and the bark Is
thin layer known as the cambium.
This Is the most vital part Of a
tree, for It Is here that all new
wood and bark are made up.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Agricultural Notes
Champions In Garden
Club Work Win Trips

Champions In Garden
Club Work Win Trips
The All club champion garden
er in Minnesota is Stanley Carlson
of South Minneapolis, according to
awards recently made in the office
of the state club leader at Univer-
sity Farm. South St. Paul again
furnishes the state champion gar
den club with Kathrine Solintzky,
Viorica Britoi, and Hubert Marston
the highest scoring members of
the club. The second best club,
Margaret Lukes and Clifford Rcb-
ertson outstanding members, halls
from Long Prairie.
These winners and seven others
distinguished for their excellent
work in garden clubs, either being
members of champion clubs or dis
trict champions, were given free
trips by the Minnesota State Horti-
cultural society to it's annual meet
ing at Rochester. The seven
Were: Harry Hard of Hahtowa,
Elmer Wallace of Cloquet, Flor
ence Quigley of Monticello, Robert
Koenker of Mankato, Dorsey Max
field of Lake Elmo, George Bah
uand of Winona, and Lloyd john
son of Caledonia. Robert john
son of Forest Lake also enjoyed a
free trip which he won by his good
work in the potato club project.
Members of the champion home
Identification demonstration team,
Margaret Meyer and Iris Edgell of
South st. Paul, were the guests of
the State Garden Flower Society
at the Rochester meeting. Janet
Radmann of White Bear Lake was
also an honored guest of the So
ciety as a reward for her consistent
good record in improving and
Frightening the home.
There were 2,459 boys and girls
in garden clubs this year. Members
Of home Identification clubs num-
bered 1909.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08

The above list shows mlleages OF
temporary routes as selected in
1921 and mileages of the same
routes as far as permanently locat-
ed and completed in 1927. Some
Of the routes shown above and sew
eral other routes will be further
shortened when all parts of the
system are permanently located
and graded. The distances through
st. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth
are not included in the above mile
ages.
When a trunk highway is relocat-
ed, the old road goes back to its
former status and remains coun-
ty or town road unless abandoned
by proper legal proceedings. Where
route Is merely Strengthened, the
abandoned portions 90 back to the
owners Of adjoining land.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08

Marie Antoinette's eventful life
in France began at Strasbourg, or
rather upon q small island In the
Rhine in front Of the Alsatian cap
ital. There, In a pavilion deco
rated with Gobelin tapestries, she
passed on her way to become the
wife of the dauphin, afterward
Louis XVI. She entered by q door
on the east side. After q com
plete change Of clothing, symbolic
Of her renunciation Of all connec-
tions with her native country, Aus
tria, she emerged on the west or
French side. Her Austrian escort
remained behind, replaced by Q
guard sent by louis XIV. The chief
magistrate Of Strasbourg addressed
her In German.
"Don't speak German" she said,
though she had just learned the
new tongue she was henceforth to
speak. "From today I understand
only French. City Star.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Shorten State Highways
Savings Several Millions
Many Miles Eliminated from State
Trunk Routes by Relocation
and Strengthening

A saving of $5,000.0O0 is being
made to motorists of Minnesota.
this year by elimination of crooked
and roundabout stretches Of trunk
highway, according to figures COM
piled by the Minnesota Highway
department. A bulletin issued by
the department gives some inter
esting figures on mileages OF routes
near Stearns county.
A total reduction Of 240 miles
has been made in the seventy
routes in the trunk highway sys-
tenn, according to the bulletin. In
some cases routes have been en-
tirely relocated between two points
while in other cases they have
merely been Strengthened by TAX
ing out long turns and sharp corn
ers. But since the average route,
as shown by the traffic census, car
ries q little over 1000 vehicles per
day, the department figures that
cutting out 240 miles saves road
users 240,000 vehicle miles every
day. Allowing for the dr"n in
traffic in winter, this still makes a
saving of 64,800.000 vehicle miles
for the year. At eight cents
mile, the cost of running the aver
age car, this means a net saving of
$5,184,000 year.
This saving, however, is be-
lieved to be small item compared
to the total saving to motorists
through improved highways. A
saving of two or three cents a
mile, the difference between the
cost of running a car on a good
road and on poor one, counts up
to lot of money in a year. Then
there is the saving in time, as well
as the safety factor, brought about
by making roads straighter, re-
ducing steep grades, removing
grade crossings and making roads
wider.
How a few of the routes are af-
fected by the shortening process is
shown by the following mileages on
some of the routes in 1921 and
1927, only those routes where re-
ductions of five miles or more have
-N
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Auspicious Meeting

"Yassum. said Callie, the negro
cook, II been engaged now for goin'
on ten days."
"Who is the bridegroom"
"Wellum, he's a mighty nice
man."
"Have you known him long?"
Eyes, indeedy. Don't you re-
member, Miz Aronoff, dat about
two weeks ago you lemme off one
day right after dinnertime SOS I
could get to the fun'el of a lady.
friend of mine."
Eyes, do"
"Wellum, de one I'm fixed to mar
~ is de departed's husband
Exchange.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Children at Play

The noise of children, playing
their own fancies--as I now heark-
en- to them by fits, sporting on the
green Before my window, while I
am engaged in these grave specu-
lations at my neat suburban re-
treat at Shacklewell-by distance
made more sweet - inexpressibly
take from the labor Of my task. It.
Is like writing music. They seem
to modulate my periods. They
ought at least to do so-f0r In the
voice of that tender age there is
q kind Of poetry, far unlike the
harsh prose-accents Of mans con-
versation.- Charles Lamb, In Es-
says of Ella.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
District 81

Teacher ....... Velma Hubert
Reporter Velma Quade
Editor Mava Shanahan
Florence frisco and Victor
Bromenschenkel were the "miss-
Ing" in our school this week. The
snow and cold weather must be
too much for them.
The third and fourth grade
geography classes are working on
an Indian village. The wigwams
were made from sticks and brown
cloth. Johnnie believes the Indians
have a difficult way to construct
their homes. He would like to
know how they keep them stand
ing up. The Indians were made
from clothes pins, and the animals
of the forest were made from
.spools and construction paper. The
class hopes to realize the joys OF
living in forest, before the pro-
ject is ended.
Everyone is enjoying the new
games and basket ball, that MISS
Hubert brought to school. We are
learning to add and subtract ac-
curately, during our play with the
game. Vernon and Erwin put d
barrel hoop upon the wall to use
for a basket, and we are getthng
to be quite successful In getting
the ball through it.
We have all been working on
our Christmas program and Christ
mas decorations, but everything is
far from finished yet.
This week has been spent in
writing examinations for our third
month of school. They were real
favorable this month and we ex-
pect better average.
Samuel Rosneau was down 20
the school house last week and
fixed our flag pole. We hope now
to keep our flag flying above our
school house when the weather is
favorable.
Everyone has helped US SO much
that we have more than enough
names to complete our quilt. We
are embroidering the extra names
in the center block with the sshool
house. We expect to tie the quilt
Friday afternoon during our In.
dustrial period. Then it will be
ready for our auction sale and
basket social, Dec. 23rd. We have
taken in about $24 from our quilt.
The success of this quilt project
show US the value of cooperation.
Everyone in the district was in
terested in it, and we all worked
together.
We are still working hard ii.
the Sauk Centre Herald contest
and the sale Of Christmas seals.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
As Yet. Unsee,,

In the Lambs club few eve
nings ago a Scottish actor, who
had hearkened to series Of stories
dealing with the alleged penurious-
ness of his race. was moved to re-
monstrate. He argued that thrift
was virtue and one Of which the
Scotch might well be proud.
"As a collector Of Oddities" he
remarked, Il have occasion to visit
pawnshops all over the city, and to
the credit of my race I wish to
state that I have never yet seen a
set of bagpipes in one of them."
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Heaters for the Ocean

Artificial heating of the ocean Is
to be tried out at Westerland. Ger
many, a popular seaside resort. In
order to provide all-the-year-round
bathing. Huge electric heaters will
oe Installed to raise the waters tenn
perature and rob winter dip Of its
chill. Heated bathing cabins and
covered ways leading to the water,
says Popular Science Monthly, VIII
be provided for the bathers' com
fogts
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08

The Joggins section Of Nova SEQ
tia has been recognized since the
days Of the great biologists, Logan
and Lyell. as affording the finest
example Of the world Of fossil coal
measure forests. The section Is now
represented In Canada's National
museum at Ottawa by q series Of
upright trunks with a background
Of carboniferOus landscape and q
panoramic view Of the J0ggins sec
tion. The stumps with their great
expanse Of root form what Is con-
sidered BY many familiar with for
eign museums to be the finest ex-
hibition Of its kind in any mu-
scum.
The Sauk Centre herald., 1927-12-08
Death to Mosquitoes

Efforts to find a poison that will
kill the mosquito larvae and not
harm fish have been successful In
France. Heretofore all poisons de-
signed to spread over breeding
places of mosquitoes has been harm
full to other life. but the new COM
pound will not only spare the fish,
but will be harmless to aquatic
plants or warm-blooded animals, It
Is claimed. It is a f0rmaldehyde
compound that can be applied with
sand.