Non-Classifiable Books

INTRODUCTION The body of this little book consists of the personal diary of a young Quaker named Cyrus Guernsey Pringle of Charlotte, Vermont. He was drafted for service in the Union Army, July 13th, 1863. Under the existing draft law a person who had religious scruples against engaging in war was given the privilege of paying a commutation fine of three hundred dollars. This commutation money... more...

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. There is no instrument of music made by the hands of man that holds such a powerful sway over the emotions of every living thing capable of hearing, as the violin. The singular powers of this beautiful instrument have been eloquently eulogised by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the following words: "Violins, too. The sweet old Amati! the divine Stradivari! played on by ancient... more...

To record the woes of authors and to discourse de libris fatalibus seems deliberately to court the displeasure of that fickle mistress who presides over the destinies of writers and their works. Fortune awaits the aspiring scribe with many wiles, and oft treats him sorely. If she enrich any, it is but to make them subject of her sport. If she raise others, it is but to pleasure herself with their... more...

CHAPTER I. METHODS AND COST OF SELECTING AND PREPARING MATERIALS FOR CONCRETE. Concrete is an artificial stone produced by mixing cement mortar with broken stone, gravel, broken slag, cinders or other similar fragmentary materials. The component parts are therefore hydraulic cement, sand and the broken stone or other coarse material commonly designated as the aggregate. CEMENT. At least a score of... more...

CHAPTER I. Introductory. The object of the husbandman, like that of men engaged in other avocations, is profit; and like other men the farmer may expect success proportionate to the skill, care, judgment and perseverance with which his operations are conducted. The better policy of farmers generally, is to make stock husbandry in some one or more of its departments a leading aim—that is to say, while... more...

MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY RONALD DOUGLAS MACIVER ANY sunny afternoon, on Fifth Avenue, or at night in the table d'hote restaurants of University Place, you may meet the soldier of fortune who of all his brothers in arms now living is the most remarkable. You may have noticed him; a stiffly erect, distinguished-looking man, with gray hair, an imperial of the fashion of Louis Napoleon, fierce blue eyes,... more...

CHAPTER I.GENERAL INFORMATION. Foxes are found in all parts of America, but probably most numerous in the New England States and parts of Canada. The range of the red is from Virginia to Alaska; grey, Southern and Southwestern States; cross, Northern New Jersey to Manitoba; black, Alaska, and the territories several hundred miles to the South and East; swift, the prairies or Great Plains; white and... more...

INTRODUCTION In preparing this, his latest volume, the author found himself embarrassed from the beginning, because of the large amount of material which came into his hands, and the consequent difficulty of selection and condensation. There is not a chapter which might not have been extended to twice its present length, nor a fact stated, or argument used, which might not have been supplemented by... more...

PREFACE This book is an attempt to tell some of the stories of King Arthur and his Knights in a way which will be interesting to every boy and girl who loves adventures. Although tales of these old British heroes have been published before in a form intended for young people, it is believed that they have never been related quite in the same spirit nor from the same point of view; and it is hoped that... more...

CHAPTER I—THE ELEMENTS OF DISCORD: NATIVE The story I have to tell is still going on as I write; the characters are alive and active; it is a piece of contemporary history in the most exact sense.  And yet, for all its actuality and the part played in it by mails and telegraphs and iron war-ships, the ideas and the manners of the native actors date back before the Roman Empire.  They are... more...