Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 1896)
r THE AMERICAN. Another Great Cash Offer f WE WILL send THE AHERICAN to any address in the United States or Canada from now until JANUARY 1st, 1898, for ONE DOLLAR. CASH MUST ACCOMPANY THE ORDER. I you arc already paid in advance $1.00 will carry you one year from the expiration of the time for which it is paid, There will be no change from the present price ot $2.00 a year in advance, and all arrearages must be paid at the SJ.UU rate. This $i.oo Offer is Only Good Until January ist, iS9j. NO ORDER WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT THE CASH. fldcwss : MCRICAJ! PU3USf4IJ!Q COMPANY, Howard Street, TELEPHONE 911. -OMAHA, NEB. WHY MEN STAND. Cossplei iMkaln Bandera It Feasible bat Ikt Attltade la Mat Normal. From the Scottish American: We art o accustomed to standing upright m a natural attitude that few of as think What a special complex mechanism li required tor this purpose. A moment's consideration will ahow that the or dinary explanation of the erect posi tion (the center of gravity to be direct ly above the feet) la Insufficient. When a man It suddenly shot, whether from the front or behind, he drops on his face, for the truth la that there Is much more weight In the front ot the spinal oolumn than behind It. The fact Is that when we are standing a large number of powerful muscles (both front and back) are simultaneously at work, the effects of their action being to neutral ise each other. Thus, the legs would fall forward were it not that they art kept vertical on the feet by the strong tendon (the "Achilles") at the back ot the heel. At the same time tbe muscles at the thigh are tightened so aa to pre vent us taking a sitting post,? and ths muscles of the back are pulled tense so that tbe trunk does not stoop for ward. The head Is prevented from dropping on the cheat by the ligaments la the nape of the neck. That the up right la not Its normal position la eaatly shown by the fatt that a man nods as he falls asleep; for as soon aa the con trolling nervosa force is deadened the bead drops toward by its own weight, only to be palled baok in position again with a Jerk when the brain becomes suddenly aware ot an unusual attitude. BLOOMERS WILL NOT LAST. Sa Sara aa larentor of a Bicycle Coe tame. "Bloomers may, perhaps, be worn by a certain class of women cyclists, but they will not prevail," says Mrs. Alice Nash, a well-known wheelwoman ot Minneapolis, according to an exchange. "They are for the most part ungainly In appearance," continued Mrs. Nash, "and for that reason, as well as for the question of their strict propriety, they will not come into universal use. The Ideal costume is that which combines the convenience of the bloomer with tbe modesty ot the skirt, and this, I think, will be the future aim of dress reformers." Mrs. Nash has put her Ideas Into practice and has contrived a costume which combines bloomers and skirt Several Minneapolis women have adopted It and wear It not only for bicycling, but also tor skating and other outdoor sports. The costume consists of a short skirt, to the hem ot which beneath Is attached a short pair of bloomers extending Just below the knee. Tbe attachment of the bloomers to the skirt prevents the latter from blowing up, and the combination affords perfect freedom of limp. Leggings are worn over the stockings. Tbe costume is put on like aa ordinary pair of men's trousers, Is made of tweed or similar strong material, and is fashioned with side pockets. Waists and jackets of the prevailing styles may be worn and the same ot the hat That worn by Mrs. Nash has the shape ot a fried egg, but Is very neat and dainty withal. ARTISTIC HINTS. Good Taste Bather than Striking; Effects Mow In Vogue. The tables loaded with bric-a-brac, which had the effect of making a draw lng-room look very much like a china shop, are not to be the rage any more. There may be bits of bric-a-brac about, but those bits must be of some in trinslc value, and they need not all be grouped together as though offered for sale. The prettily bound books which ta now the fashion are allowable Vilngs In a sitting-room, and books m' Vs give a homelike air, even if the are not cut. The silver tables l reign, but these collections are r interesting in many cases, ana ,3ark plush or velvet on which the Iments are placed Is really a thing 01 oeauty as a general rule. Tbe tea table Is part and parcel of tbe furnish ings ot tbe room, but need no longer be In evidence. It must be placed be hind anma anfa nr lnunva and near enough to be brought forward at the proper time. Brocades and tapestry are used for furniture coverings, and there are many new designs, mow mat u is no longer a fixed rule that all furniture should match, different materials are Mmklnml In what would have been thought a few years ago a most Impossi ble combination. urocaae, piusn, tapestry, corduroy even, have all been massed together without looking badly. The Biamlne Was Catting. At a certain Cambridge viva voce ex amination a particular candidate had so far failed to answer any question whatever. After wasting a good deal of patience on htm the examiner la desperation finally tore tt-va a sheet ot paper a portion t" In.bes square, placed It In front ot tha luckless youth and cuttingly observed: 'Oblige me, sir, by placing upon this paper the whole ot what you know on any subject ot any kind whatever. "-i-Ex. Bleyala Crank Riding a wheel with one's hands la the pockets Is not ths fun that It la cracked up to be and yet there are many who do it, and they ceme from the ranks ot those who Insist that the street cars shall be warmed. Buffalo Com mercial. Mrs. Bedyard Kipling. Mrs. Rudyard Klpliag attends to all ot her husband's correspondence and carefully guards him against would-be Intruders. He Is said to be tbe most unapproachable literary man In ths world. Traa. "Maay er man," said Uncle Eben, 'marines dt he's a philosopher when he's Jes' plain laxy." Washington Star. Klnslre Fame. A critic who desires to be reckoned among the Inspired adulators ot Mr Sargent speaks of the artist's portrait of "one Coventry Patmore, Esq." And this is fame. The author of "The An gel In the House," the poet whom John Ruskin has been delighted to honor, the writer ot felicitous phrases that will live as long as the language described as "one Coventry Patmore, Esq.!" Well, the ages will see to it Concelv ably there will be a time when Mr. Sar gent will be more Indebted to his sit ter tor the preservation of his renown than the sitter to his Sargent Fun. Base Kaarlana, The Nile crocodiles are of the largest species, but they are now very uncom mon In lower Egypt, where one at the present time would be considered al most as great a curiosity as it would be In the Thames. Crocodiles cannot turn and are therefore frequently captured. Their bodies are covered with scales hard enough to turn a musket ball, The females lay from fifty to 100 eggs In a season. He Paid the Fine. An amusing incident occurred In tbe uindeford. Me., municipal court A woman was on trial for banging her husband over the head the night be fore. She was fined S3 and costs. In stead of paying the fine herself, she said he'd have to pay it, as she had no money. So the husband fished out a well-worn pocketbook and produced tbe necessary funds to pay the bill. Ill Dream Book. "Let me congratulate you on the suc cess of your dream-book, said Mr. Du kane to a rising young author. "My dream-book!" repeated the au thnr. in surnrise. "Well, I tell asleep while reading it and dreamed lota of things before I waked up." Pittsburg Chronicle-Tele- eranb. AMERICAN DESERT. Aa Effort to Make It Safe (or Travel a Mapa and Signboard. The great Mojave desert la no longer to be a trackless waste. Tbe loss ot hapless prospectors who have perished from year to year has finally moved the board of supervisors of San Ber nardino' county, which Includes within It 20,000 square miles of the desert, to take some action to make It possible for prospectors to travel that arid region In comparative safety. Recently a number of mining men petitioned that a complete map of the desert be made, showing the roads, trails, and sources ot water supply, and a committee was ordered to Investigate and report The result ot their Investigations has Just been made public, and they recommend all that was asked and more, mere are trails and roads leading all over the desert to ths various mining camps which dot the waste ot sand, and It is proposed to have maps made, with blue print copies, which will be supplied to desert travelers, with all Ce landmarks designated, thus enabling them to fol low ths trails with much less danger of losing thslr way. But In addition it is proposed to establish a system of sign boards and guide-posts at Intervals along ths trails, giving Information as to directions and distances, and, more Important than all, the nearest point where water may be found. Nine- tenths of ths people lost in tbe desert ale ot thirst Not Infrequently their bleached bones have been found within a short distance ot the spring they sought By ths new system which is planned the unlucky prospector will know how far he ts from water and will lay his plans accordingly. These in dices are to be put up at short Intervals along the trails, so that It will be almost Impossible for travelers to miss them. But, not to stop at pointing out tbe trails and sources ef water, new sources are to be developed and old ones better cared for. Rewards are to be offered to any one discovering new springs or developing any water at points where none is known to exist Springs al ready known will be cleaned out and the water protected from pollution by wild animals or by careless handling. Tbe mining men are intensely Interest ed in the proposed Innovation. It is estimated that in the thirty years in which mining has been followed In the desert not less than f 20,000,000 has been taken out while In that time scores ot men have been lost whose lives might have been saved had such a system been In vogue as Is now proposed. The desert is now fairly swarming with prospectors, and others will go out as soon as the weather becomes more tol erable. Queer Facta A boat Air. The celebrated chemist of the six teenth century who argued that It would be Impossible for us to lire on the earth's surface It the atmosphere should suddenly Increase to twice its present thickness could not have been tar wrong after all that Is, If the ex periments ot Dr. Arnott are to be taken as conclusive. In his observations on atmospheric pressure at tbe bottom of the deep mining shafts ot Europe, Prof. Arnott has found that the change be tween the readings of a barometer at the bottom of a 4,000-foot shaft and one at the surface is great enough to war rant htm in making the statement that air at the bottom of a shaft twenty miles deep would be as dense as water. Figuring on the same ratio he finds that if a bole could be sunk forty miles Into the bowels of the earth the density of the air at the bottom would be as great as that ot Quicksilver. St Louis Re public Cable Car Keenest Nothing. That the bump ot veneration Is singu larly absent in the average American was long since discovered and exploded by Mark Twain In his "Innocents Abroad." This fact Is nowhere more no ticeable than In the little happenings that go to make up the ensemble of life In a bis city. Coming uptown In a clanging Third avenue cable car, a fun eral cortege Interrupted for a moment the car's passage. It was tbe funeral of a Free Mason and the hearse was fol lowed by a band of musicians playing the dead march. Only for a moment the car slackened, then with a clang and start It sped along between the car riages of the mourners. A curious crowd lining the pavement on either side gazed at the procession. Not one of the assembly lifted his hat a custom ot respect observed In almost every city abroad. New York Herald. Tea Bablea Week. The town ot Fort Deposit, Lowndes county, Alabama, has broken the record on babies. A week ago Mrs. Lattimer, wife of a leading merchant, became the mother ot two boys and a girl. The next day her neighbor, Mrs. Hunter, gave birth to three babies. Mrs. Cham pion has now capped the climax with four children at a birth. All the babies are well formed and healthy and the mothers are doing well. Inexcusable Neglect. Great Editor We have no longer any use for your services, sir. Brlghtwltx Eh? You said that the article that I had In the paper yesterday was the best thing you'd ever published. Oreat Editor Yes, but you neglected to write a lot of letters from old subscribers and general readers, praising ths article as a brilliant example of this great paper's enterprise. A pretty sort of a nine teenth century, fin da slecle, metro politan Journalist you are! The Baling Passion, The sufferer slowly raised his eye lids. "Where am I?" he asked. "You were run into by another bi cyclist," answered the attendant Later, when he was about to breathe his last, he asked In a touching manner: "What was the name ot kls machine?" Exchange. A Cvcllst Lamplighter. Paris possesses a cyclist lamplighter. His route Is under the fortifications and be carries his long lamplighter's pole over his right shoulder and guides the machine with his left hand. He goes his rounds and lights all his lampr without once dismounting. A Patriotic Frenchman. A man in Bourges is still wearing the blouse he had on when the Prussian? entered France. He swore that he would never wear another, and by means of patches has kept his oath. The town council has offered him 100 francs for It for the town museum. Hardly. Cholly Chumpleigh Extraordinary thing! Champagne never seems to glvt me a head. Miss Coldeal Did you think champagne was stronger than na ture? New York World. The Missionary Movement. Who can bear the thought of one ret rograde step In the missionary move ment? Who would not sooner give hit last mite and divide his last loaf? Mary Lyon. The "Rubber Trust" must have or ganized for the purpose of furnishing consciences to the other trusts. Something Lacking. "There is one thing that Is badly needed In our post office," remarked Wheeler, as he opened another dun ning letter. "What's that?" timidly Inquired his typewriter. "A 'Post No Bills' sign." Truth. Mnttn't So Abroad., The lord chancellor is the only mem ber of the British cabinet who Is not allowed to go outside of Great Britain. This is because he must have the sreat seal in his personal custody, and to take the great seal outside of Great Britain would be high treason. AN OLD IRISH KINO. A Beat Peraonage Was Brian Bor Hla Harp Still Preserved. Brian Borolhme, or Bom, was a real personage and perhaps the greatest ot the old Irish kings, says the Brooklyn Eagle. He belonged to a celebrated clan known aa the Dalcasslans. He had a brother named Mahon and for a time the two worked together to drive out the Danes and extend their own power over other parts of Ireland than that to which their clan belonged. They were very successful. Mahon became king of a section of the country, but was soon after taken captive by some of his rivals and murdered. Then Brian rose In his might Gathering his clansmen together, he marched with great rapidity from point to point, sought out the men who had slain his brother, defeated them and took posses sion of their lands and, by means ot the deeds he performed with his strong right arm, became king of Munster. Then he marched Into Lelnster and ex acted tribute and homage from the kings there. It was a time when Ire land was divided up into separate king doms. But over all was ths ard-ree or chief king, and at tha period when Brian Boru began his great work ths leading monarch was Malachy, also a great warrior. Brian and Malachy be came Jealous of each other, and though for a time they agreed to aa arrange ment whereby Malachy was to be re garded as sole ruler over ths north of Ireland, Brian had the notion that all Ireland should be controlled by one man and that he himself was the man for the work. So he picked a quarrel with Malachy, and marching against that king at Tara, challenged him either to surrender or settle the ques tion of supremacy In battle. Malachy said he would not submit He would rather fight than do this, but he needed help and he told Brian that he would meet him fairly In the field In a month's time. Brian actually agreed to wait until Malachy got ready for fighting. Malachy, however, could not get tbe help he wanted and he therefore sur rendered to Brian, who was so pleased at this act that he bestowed such honors as he could on his captive and gave him his liberty. Brian was now master ot Ireland and for many years the coun try was peaceful and prosperous. Roads were made through tbe land, bridges were built over the rivers and houses and castles that had suffered during the time of conflict were repaired or re built Colleges and seats of learning were erected also and crime was scarce ly known In the country. HOW TO CLEAN LACE. Soma Useful Information Given by On Who Knows. As lace has never been more fashion able than at present a few hints In re gard to cleansing It may' not come amiss. Many persons find attar wash ing it once that it has lost Its beauty. Probably the principal reason why their lace does not look well after their clean ing process is that they have rubbed it, and the one thing to remember In cleaning lace Is to avoid rubbing It The best way to do Is to obtain a bottle or round stick or some other round, smooth article, and around It roll the lace, dampening It slightly as you do so. This will stretch it and make It smooth. Leave it on the bottle, or whatever you may use, until it is quite dry. then take It off and lay It in folds of five or six Inches long. The best plan is to tack the lace so as to be quite sure that the edges are even. Fill a basin with cold water and add a little am monia or borax. In this put the lace and let It soak, squeezing It gently every new and then until all the dirt Is out If the lace is very much soiled It may be necessary to change ths water. When it seems quite clean take It out of the water, press it so as to get rid of some of the water and put it to dry in the sun. Then lay It flat on the palm of one band and slap It hard with the other several times. The stitches may then be cut out and tbe lace re- folded In different creases and the slap ping process repeated. With the ex ception of torchon it is a mistake to Iron lace, but by treating It In ths man ner already described It will look as good as new and retain the soft appear ance which Is one of its chief beauties. Batterfllea for tha Hair. Jeweled ornaments In the hair are going to be much worn this winter. In the stalls of a smart theater, a few nights ago, I noticed that nearly every third lady wore a diamond butterfly or Star lightly poised with excellent effect A true lovers' knot of dtamonds caught la a fluffy, fair fringe looked well, but a ruby and diamond butterfly perched on a coil of dusky hair was still more pleas ing. Velvet bows, aigrettes and tiny plumes were also to be seen. The Prin cess. Tha Boat As some rare perfume in a vase of clay Pervades it with a fragrance not its own. So when Christ dwelleth In a mortal ' soul, . au nesven own sweetness seems ; about It thrown. Harriet Besehsr Stows. The Parti Kzpeeltloa lottery. Subscriptions will shortly be lavited by a number of Paris banks for 3,260,- 000 exhibition lottery bonds at 20 franca each, designed to form tha guarantee fund of tO.ooO.OOO franca, for tha ex penses at the exhibition to as held tha year 1900. Among the prises will be five of 600,000 francs each and twenty feur ef 100,000 francs each. la His Neck. "This thirst," gasped the Arab. Ha glared at ths parched desert at tha biasing sky, and cursed them. "Thai thirst" In despair he poshed forward, muttering: "I am always getting It la the neck." Detroit Tribune. Beady for Him. "Our side Is going to spring some un looked-for disclosures on you," said a lawyer to one of the opposing attorneys. "We've been expecting some unlook ed-for disclosures," was the reply, "so you'll not take us unawares." Oakland Times. Got Even. Wool On the excursion yesterday Mrs. Enpec fell overboard; in an Instant a man stripped off his clothing, dove In and rescued her. Van Pelt What did Enpec do tor him? Wool Reported blm for nude bathing. New York World. Utah's Constitution, One of the novel features of ths Utah constitution, Just adopted. Is a pro vision for trials by a jury ot eight mem bers. Utah Is the first state to establish a court-of-rocord Jury with less than the traditional twelve jurors. A Bear Farm Krperlmant. Frank Schwato was engaged In bear farming near Superior, Wis. Some of the live stock got loose the other night and ate Frank up. At last accounts tha - neighbors had assembled and were set tling the estate with their rifles. Bach Is Fate. Fortune comes once to every door, And usually comes no more. When she comes here I'll bet my hat The bell won't work that calls our flat . New York Sun. A Warm Welcome. Traveler (In a tropical paradise) I would Just love to live here, Forty, Million Natives (snakes, bugs and things) We'd Just love to have you stay. Gentle Hint. He (at 11 p. m.) "Well, misery loves company, you know." She (repressing a yawn) "Not at thif lour, I think." Detroit Free Press.