Old Sib Cone

This catalog of Beadle and Adams dime publications lists instructional handbooks and fictional serials. The "Dime Speakers" and "Dime Dialogues" series (numbered 1-19) offer elocution, debate, and performance materials for public speaking. The "Young People's Series" comprises practical guides: letter-writing, etiquette, dream interpretation, fortune-telling, dancing, games, chess, croquet, beauty advice, and housekeeping. Family handbooks cover baseball, swimming, horsemanship, and medical care.

The serialized story "Old Sib Cone, the Mountain Trapper" by Ned Buntline opens in September 1841 on the western prairies near Santa Fe. Two hunters—Fritz, an experienced mountain man scarred on his cheek, and Mr. Norwood, a young gentleman of twenty-five—pursue a buffalo across the desolate plain. After a dramatic chase involving repeated rifle shots, the wounded buffalo tosses Norwood and his horse. Fritz skillfully diverts the animal's rage, eventually killing it with a fatal shot. Both hunters survive; Fritz collects meat while Norwood salvages his equipment, and they ride toward camp as darkness falls.