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This newspaper page contains 31 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Reporter Boyden
Location
Boyden, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Jan 27, 1910
Page
4
A Virginia oil well near a farmhouse kitchen raises risk when a farmer’s wife bakes dough by a Dutch oven near a smoking area. The driller recalls the moment, saying he prefers not to deal with women, fearing a destructive explosion if the well escaped.
A lingering old remedy, spider web, is noted as an effective styptic though dirty from neglected corners. References appear in medieval texts and Shakespeare, with a dentist reporting satisfactory hemostasis after tooth extraction using cobweb.
An ancient military dictionary notes rats used to trigger powder magazines with lit tails, a tactic Vauban countered with rules. The piece links Samson and foxes to similar practices, mentions a royal rat catcher with scarlet livery, and cites Pennant and Leicester’s paid mole catcher, illustrating historic animal roles in urban warfare lore.
The frigate pelican or man-of-war bird stands small when featherless yet spans wide wing tips. It soars high to dive on fish, often targeting flying fish, and its air cells and stern buoyancy support light weight. Legends say its appearance warns of ships amid storms, likening it to frigates seeking harbor.
The Koreans are inveterate smokers of green tobacco using long pipes. They store pipes down the back of the neck when idle. Drinking is not widespread but featured in many proverbs such as Heaven and earth are too small for a drunken man and White whisky makes a red face.
Fragmentary text from a Brooklyn Citizen item describes patrons drinking soda in a club. One man laments inability to break his daughter at bridge, while a younger woman in pink claims she broke someone last night.
The hand kiss is an ancient gesture likely developed from lower ranks kissing earth, garments, or foot. It appeared in early times alongside reverence to sacred objects and evolved with social hierarchies. Ancient sources including the Bible Homer and Pliny mention hand kissing among men and in worship of statues and gods.
A seventeenth century statue at Yarmouth Isle of Wight began as a Louis XIV likeness. Captured en route to France, Sir Robert Holmes ordered the artist to carve his head onto the king’s body, creating a unique naval memorial later linked to Holmes’ governorship of the island.
A 1569 London draw began England’s first lottery with four hundred thousand prizes in cash and silver. The craze spurred endless lottery shops and ticket sellers from tailors to tea merchants, spreading to shoeblacks and eateries offering odds on prizes as small as a farthing sausage.
An Englishwoman lecturer recalls two anecdotes from tours. In one town the chairbud introduced her as the grand old woman after mentioning Mr Gladstone. In another, a farmer dubbed her as a woman hired to speak about her rights and warned listeners they may leave if displeased.
The Bristol tower, a square early Gothic structure about 115 feet tall, leans five feet from perpendicular at the summit. No records confirm if the tilt stems from design, earthquake, or soil movement, yet no slope change has occurred for years.
A terse 19th century exchange suggests early engagement to actress Bilkins called off by the actress herself, who feared poverty from his laziness and canceled the match to avoid a poorhouse.
Fragmentary dialogue describes a confrontation about appearance and status with vague references to a Lady Plantaganet Ging ham and a maid, suggesting social class tension within a domestic setting. The garbled text limits clarity on characters or plot progression.
A visitor recalls a stage driver’s fear of snakes in the old days at Yosemite. The driver’s wagon was struck by a venomous snake’s spring causing the wagon to swell from the bite while the horses were spooked and the team was left by the roadside.
Jones and Smith discuss a social gathering at the aristocratic Goodman mansion. The conversation implies entrance requires wealth or genius, and Jones jokes about sudden wealth enabling a loan request of five pounds. The tone is ironic and observations on social exclusivity.
The water pump evolved from Greek devices during the Ptolemaic era 283 to 221 B C. Hero of Alexandria provides the earliest descriptions. By the 16th century the mining pumps changed. in the 17th century rotating pumps appeared, followed by plunger and double acting designs by Morland and De la Hire.
A judge condemns a defendant to ten years confinement in a self built reception room described as a small box with no room for books or storage. The defendant’s lawyers file an appeal arguing cruel and unusual punishment.
A lecturer asserts no man in the audience has prevented forest destruction. A modest man from the rear rises and admits to having shot woodpeckers, adding a surprising personal admission to the discussion.
Kingsley urged a friend to make a daily rule to improve at least one person. He advised praying for help to end each day with someone wiser happier or better. The reflection links daily virtue to personal peace and purpose.
A young girl on a train was chewing gum and pulling it into long strings. Her mother whispered a stern warning to stop the behavior and chew properly. The fragment ends amid the confusion and reprimand.
The Pittsburg Dispatch reports on how near pinhead viewing can render objects translucent while extreme proximity or darkness reveals a glowing halo. Observers see a retinal shadow from a candle forming a network and dim stars appear brighter when viewed obliquely through the yellow spot of keen vision. Some stars are visible only in indirect sight.
The article notes a Vishnu shrine perched above a sacred tank at Badrinath in the Himalayas. About 15 000 pilgrims ascend yearly, swelling to 50 000 during the Kumbh Melub every twelfth year. Pilgrims bathe nude in the tank, creating a seething crowd likened to wiggle tails in an emptied rain barrel.
A Utah prospector with a severe toothache rode 500 miles for relief. After a bystander pulled the tooth with a string, the man admitted he hadn’t tried it earlier because he lacked a string. The tale ends with the prospector dancing in relief and humor about his absence of string.
Goron, Paris police chief, received portraits intended for Lombroso that showed women criminals but were actually women who had applied for bucksters licenses. The error forced a new edition to correct the police mistake.
A noisy argument between two men ends in a brawl. A spectator quips that a soft answer turns away wrath and recalls a fat man joking with a bowlegged friend about riding a barrel. Jim retorts with a sharp comeback.
In a London Pick-Me-Up item Mrs. Nagger warns that one of the thirteen at table will die before the year ends. Mr. Nagger scoffs as Mr. Smith arrives, changing the table’s odd number and tension.
A playful exchange between Mr Meelkins and his wife describes how their baby smiles when faced. The merchant notes the child’s charm as the mother quips about politeness and humor in the growing child.
John Heemstra intends to take the examination for census taker. Several local residents visit, travel, or conduct business around town including Mr. Van Der Leiders of Stanton Nebr and A A Kuyper family. Peter Schreuner injures his hand while working in his corn shelter and requires stitches from Dr. Druet.
A Boston physician recalls a fall week drive through New England. He recalls meeting an elderly New Hampshire justice who joked about womankind and jokes about economizing with a line about shaving himself and cutting his hair.
A Louisville Courier-Journal item recalls a penitentiary meeting led by a minister who announced a hymn starting with The dying thief. A local church, facing debt, planned a special collection and even sang to cover the deficit. The suggested hymn line When we asunder part it gives us inward pain drew smiles.
Natives of southern Arabia mocked Christians for horns under hats while Europeans once believed Englishmen hid tails. Bale cites Edward VI era claims that English travellers were tailed. The Kentish Longtails legend, linked to Canterbury or Strood, mocked Becket and led to a curse of tails. Jestery and other versions cite St Augustine and Dorsetshire.
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