Derring's Road to College and Love in a Tumultuous Tale
Richard Derring returns from winter in the woods to his mother's farm where his uncle and wife visit. Aunt Jerusha's questions reveal Emily Hutton will marry another, pushing Derring toward college. Seth Kinney mentors him in Greek, Derring excels, and four years later becomes a journalist in Chicago and art critic. He meets Helen Gordon, they form a companionship, illness widens their bond, and upon Seth's death Derring inherits a fortune and returns to Chicago.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richard Derring
Jerusha
Emily Hutton
Derring
Seth Kinney
Kinney
Emily
Chicago
Helen Gordon
Helen
Ito
Richard
The Distance Between Them After a Tragic Train Crash
Derring wrestles with grief after Helen Gordon dies in a Chicago wreck. A note from the dying woman leads him to a parting gift and a final farewell as he travels back toward Chicago, haunted by an unreachable beloved and a wall of sorrow.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gordon
Derring
Seth
Derring’s Despair Drives Relentless Work After Loss
Derring, grief struck and driven, throws himself into work to cope with beauty’s absence from life. He assists a surgeon during amputation rounds, clinging to purpose while memory of a loved one haunts him. He endures loneliness, questions the worth of life, and risks despair as the chapter ends with “To Be Continued.”
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Derring
Proper Way to Drive a Nail
An expert carpenter cautions that apprentices must learn to use many light taps rather than one heavy blow. He notes that gradual driving prevents rebound and weak holds and that slight diagonal nail angles with gentle taps create firmer joins than perpendicular placement.
Cardboard’s Metal Like Qualities in Fast Motors
An eighth inch cardboard disk spun at maximum motor speed becomes stiff from rotary tension and cannot bend. It emits a bronze like ring when struck. It can cut through cigar boxes and armor plate as a soft iron disk does. Centrifugal force causes strange effects such as a looped chain being hurled off the drum and bouncing to the ground.
Hogs Escape Via Cracked Pen Says Uncle Eph
Uncle Ephraim reports two razorback hogs vanished from a rear tile-lot pen. He doubts theft, noting no signs, and offers a theory that the hogs rose and crept through a crack in the enclosure as their escape.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ephraim
Uncle Eph
Uncle Ephraim
Absolute Silence Refused by Baltimore School Child
In a Baltimore colored school a new, inexperienced teacher demands silence. After failing to quiet the class, a small girl boldly proclaims that absolute silence is not present, saying the teacher has a toothache. The scene reflects humorous child wit in Lip Pinccott's Magazine.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Baltimore
Lippincott’s
His Broad Charity
Imogene defends her father as harsh yet capable of generosity. Philip affirms she is his best and urges balance in judging him by his better self.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Imogene
Papa
Philip
The World as Gates and Opportunities
A reflective quote by Emerson frames life as a sequence of gates and tensions awaiting decisive action. It presents opportunities as strings ready to be struck, inviting bold choices.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Emerson
Hard to drop but many drop it coffee to Postum
A California wife explains how quitting coffee for Postum eased her nerves and weight loss after months of insomnia and distress. Her husband slept better after returning to Postum, and she notes relief from aches. Read The Road to Wellville. There's a Reason.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Calif
Postum
Wellville
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!