davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

CALIFoRNIA.-The newspapers are rean,,
their shares OF the gold, in hundreds of adyete'
tisements Of ships, every kind of merchandise
mining apparatus, and suitable clothing down
TO patent medicine, including Mrs. Tillev',
Cough Drops, and the Russia Salvel Tber
we have advertised, doors, windows" &r
ready made and glazed, and small temporarv
houses for removal in the gold country" and
frames and lumber, all ready 10 put IN for
dwellings In San Francisco. The amount of
provisions and -four is great, and domestic
goods 10 any amount for an expected inAuv in
the spring and summer Of 100000 men.
While all the official accounts. particular,,.
from Com. Jones, confirm the most extrara.
giant accounts, we have also the other side of
the picture-sickness, robberies, murders and
all the border evils, where there is no es,ab.
lished law, and every one does what he pleas
es. The only law is lynch law, and that is the
only terror to evil doors.
An officer on board the L. S. ship ST. Ma
rvs writes Dec. 9, that d" Nothing is talked Of
here but gold gold gold We see it all a.
round u.s. do not mean where we pick it up,
but IN the possession of every man about this
country. The mines are about $50 miles from
here, and men who 90 up there can pick up
OH an average, from 81 TO $4,000 worth OF
gold day; but the provisions and clothing
bring enormous prices $50 for pair of boots,
$40 for pair of shoes, So per pound for flour,
and every thing in proportion. Nobody does
any work nobody will work except for gold.
People go up there, pick up quantity, come
down, gamble it away for irolic, and then 90
back for more.-Another thing almost all
that go to the mines get sick, and sickness
from which they seldom recover-that is, il
they are not well provided with food and cloth
ing.-ln subsequent letter, the writer says
the cold and snow have driven the diggers
from the mines, and thereby reduces the daily
finding to "about 500 day
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27
you may dig for the dust" with hum
grv stomach and back as bare and ragged
as Brooklyn Advertiser.
THE GALAXY.
MlDDLEBURY, VT.
Tuesday, February 81, l849.
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR.

1t will be recollected that Mr. Secretary
WALKER, in his last annual Treasury Report,
recommended the creation of new Depart
ment of the Federal Government, to be filed
of course, by new Cabinet Member, to be
called -" The Department of the Interior
Acting on this suggestion, we presume, which
certainly commends itself at once to the judy
ment of practical men, as a desirable reform,
when the circumstances urged in its favor are
considered, bill has been reported in the
House of Representatives, (of which bill Mr..
VINToS, of Ohio, is the author and passed
in that body, after discussion, by the large vote
of Ill to 76. Whether this bill may pass the
Senate, and so give Gen. Taylor, the appoint
ment Of an additional cabinet officer, we car
hot at this moment speak confidently, though
it seems not improbable.
The new Department is to be confined en-
tirely to internal affairs, and is to be formed
by detaching various bureaux now belonging,
without much propriety, it would seem, to 9TH
er branches Of the public service, and uniting
them under the charge of new executive
head. 1t is proposed, says the Express. to sep
arate the General Land Office from the Trea-
sury Department; to separate the bureau of
Indian Affairs from the War Department; to
separate the Patent Office from the Depart
ment of State; to separate the supervision of
the Marshalls, District Attorneys, &C., from the
State and Treasury Departments; to discharge
the State Department from the care Of the
Censors, and to relieve the Executive from the
supervision of the affairs in connexion with
the Public Buildings and District Penitentia-
ry. The bill proposes to unite all these offices
under one general head, to be designated as
the Department of the Interior, and to trans
fer the clerks now connected with the existing
bureaux under the new organization. Very
little additional expense would be incurred by
the new arrangement, while great public adj
vaatage wouldresult from this judicious & me-
thodlcal concentration of the various bureauA
connected with the internal concerns.of the
among various departments. No increase of
subordinates is contemplated beyond chiel
clerk. The same bill provides for the creation
of an office, 10 be called the Assistant Secre-
tary of the Treasury, in pursuance of the re-
commentator made in Mr. Walkers last an
nual report 1t also provides for the creation
of the office Of Commissioner of Customs, and
proposes to separate the adjustment of all Gus
toms account from the First Controller of the
Treasury. This provision has been rendered
absolutely necessary by TIE increased COM
merce of the country, and by the long and
vexatious delay that now occurs in the Con-
troller's office in the settlement of claims and
accounts, owing to the vast accumulation of
business ard the utter inadequacy of the cler-
ical force. A chief clerk, in addition to those !
now employed on the customs branch is pro-
vided.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

place on the Statute book. 1t will be much
that it stands there. For there IS power IN
right Law beyond its immediate availability.
Like wisdom it standeth in the top. Of high
places, and its voice is to the sons OF men,
| Law is itself one of our highest moral means,
and has an educative influence on the popular
mind and heart. Letthere be right Law, there
fore, and we will apply and enforce 1t as we
can. Its restrictive energies will more and
| more develop themselves; and the time is not
distant when no Law will have easier operation
than this.
1t only remains to consider now the plausi-
Bile objection. that while the popular mind is
vet so divided AMI unsettled, it is premature
10 demand legislation. Wait, we are told, till
you are strong enough TO carry and keep per-
feet Law. Wait till this moral want shall have
become the undoubted will of the people, and
they shall have made up their minds so clear
" that there shall be none of this fuctuaton
and painful uncertainty.
We must decline such counsel. We cannot
wait-we ought not TO wait-and 1t would be
ruinous to attempt it. We cannot, for as by
Divine impulse the Temperance sentiment is
already everywhere assuming the shape oil
struggle for Law against the Traffic. We have
reached that stage CT this Reform. The pro-
gress of things has brought US TO this part of
our work. 1t is in vain to decline If. The
crisis has come and we must meet it. Nor
ought we to wait. Such is the character Of
this traffic, so fully is it now known to be the
fountain-heado of all the evils of intemperance,
that every just principle and every right emo
ton impel US to hold no terms with it but those
of resolved and uttermost opposition. We feel
it shameful and guilty thing that Law should
countenance it, that it should not prohibit it,
as one of the highest crimes among men. And
we must clear our souls from the guilt Of it by
Selling the first moment of our ability to turn
Law as decidedly as possible against it. And
we gain nothing by postponing the struggle
To wait until the work of right legislation shall
be easy, will be easy to wait forever. For while
we delay, tie Traffic retains its activity and
holds us back. We shall gain little increase
of strength while it remains in unimpaired OPP
Grafton. Defer the struggle long as we may,
there will still be the same intrinsic difficulty
from the novelty of Law, and the fluctuations
of popular feeling land equal incidental OBJ
structions would still embarrass the undertake
ing.
We are not premature, then, in our demand
for righteous Law. We know it is an arduous
struggle, but it must be made, and our strength
will not be relatively increased by delay. The
public mind will never make itself up for Law
until it is put resolutely to it as present ques-
lion. We have been able to begin the work
IN this direction, and we are able to carry Ii
forward. We are ripe for n movement in adj
vance, and it would be neither wise nor right
to defer it if we could-nor have we the DOW
er to defer it if we would. Il is begun, and
we cannot look back.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

VINO WILL VoTE FOR IDIoCr ?-The follow
ing extract from DIR. Howes able Report on Idi-
ocy in Massachusetts, is enough to startle all who
have anything to DO with spirit drinking:
Directly and indirectly, alcohol is productive
of a great proportion Of the idiocy which now
burdens the commonwealth. If, moreover, one
considers how many children are born of intern
perate parents, who, without being idiots are def
Gent in bodily and mental energy, and are predis-
posed by their vey organization 10 have cravings for
alcoholic slimulants, twill be seen what an i'm
mense burden the drinkers of one generation
throw upon the succeeding. Many parent, by
habitual stimulus applied TO his own nervous sys-
tenn, forms and fashions his child in such wise,
that he is more certain TO be made a drunkard by
the ordinary temptations of life, than the child Of
a temperate man would be, even if living from
his youth upward within the temptations of a
bar-room."
What curse is practice that tends to make
idiots and sensualists that dwarfs the mind and
corrupts the organization of men, throughout the
whole community Look about you, reader, and
we mistake if you cannot easily fix your eve on
at least one family of children deficient in intel
lect through the influence of the cause named by
DIR. Howe.-It. Chronicle.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27
CAUTION.

Our attention has been called to bank
note of the Commercial Bank, BurIing.
ton, of the denomination of Two Dollars
which has been ingeniously altered from
the genuine one dollar note issued by that
institution.
The altered notes can be easily distin-
guished from the genuine, by noticing
that there is no figure 2 on the genuine
bills, the word 1.-TWO" on the margin
being printed at length-and on the gen.
uine bills is vignette of Franklin on the
left, and on the altered bills there is head
OF Washington on the left.
The middle part of the bill, it will be
remembered, is similar to the one dollar
issue. with the exception of the letter
in the word dollars. By remembering
the facts above recited in relation to the
vignettes and the figures upon the bill,
there can scarcely be probability that
this imposition will be very mischievous
Free Press.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27
From the Ne,C Haren Journal.

| STRAIGHT FROM CALIFoRNIA.-We are
able, through the politeness Of a friend in this
city, 20 present to our readers, the following
extract from a letter Of friend and college
classmate, now at San Francisco, dated No
vember IS. The writer is the Rev. c. S. Ly-
man, graduate Of the class of 81. who, soon
after his settlement in the ministry, lost his
health, and made voyage to the Pacific. He
was there when the gold mines were discover
ed, and going to them, he is reported TO have
gathered, in the short time of six weeks, some
81 500 in gold. We place more reliance on
this letter than on any thing we have seen.
"The immense gold deposit in the Sierra
Nevada, has been the prominent object of
thought in California the last six months and
it will be for years. l have visited several diff
ferent parts of It,
1t is everywhere extremely rich. Its length
along the Sierra has already been explored
some 400 miles, and rich 'diggins' have been
actively worked. At moderate estimate prob
ably four or five millions of dollars, at 81 8 per
ounce, Troy, have already been taken out
since the workings were commenced. about
hhe mohlnS ago. most OF IL "ltnin tne last TOUR
months. AS the exploration proceeds the re-
suits become richer and richer; from four to
six thousand people have probably been dig
ging and an average, days work, for the
whole, would hardly fall short of an ounce
Five, six, and ten ounces are not uncommon
days works, and some individuals have taken |
out two, three, four and even ten or more
pounds of gold in single day.
" l design, at my earliest leisure, to write a |
pretty full description of the placer, and its
geological associations. Suffice it to cay that
the rocks ofthe Sierra Nevada range are prim-
tive and metamorphic, and that the gold &C.
ours, SO far as / have observed, solely in one
geological position, and that the stratum of
drift or diluvium, in places where the diggings
have been carried on. varies from half foot
10 several feet in thickness. The richest ex-
,avations have been in the bottom Of dry raw
mes, though gold IS found on the slopes, and
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27
FINALE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION.

Yesterday was the day appointed by the law
of the United States, passed March l, 1892
for opening:and counting the votes of the E
lectors of President and Vice President of the
United States.
BY the first section of the second article Of
the constitution of the United States, it is pre-
scribed that the President of the Senate shall,
in the presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the certificates, and
the votes of the Electors of President and
Vice President shall then be counted.
Bv the act of March 1, 1892, il is enacted
that Congress shall be in session on the sec
ond Wednesday in February, 1893 and on
the second Wednesday in February succeed
ing every meeting Of the Electors, and the
certificates of the Electors, or so many of
them as shall have been received, shall then
be orened, the votes counted, and the persons
who shall fill the offices of President and Vice
President dScertdned and declared, agreeably
TO the constitution
Under these provisions of the constitution
and the law, preliminary arrangements for this
ceremony having been made by the votes of
both Houses, the Senate having been previ-
"a.
tives. and took the seats prepared for them in
the circular area in front of the clerks table
The joint meeting being organized. the pre-
siding officer .the Vice President of the Unit
ed States, President of the SeBate) rose and
said
'.In obedience to law. the Senate and House
of Representatives have assembled on the
present occasion, so that may fulfil the duty
enioined uDon me by the Constitution bv on
ening, in their presence, the sealed certificates
of the lists of persons voted for, by the Elec-
tors in the respective States, rs President and
Vice President, cause the votes to he counted.
and have the persons to fill those offices ascer-
tuned and declared, agreeably to the consti-
tuition"
The Vice President then proceeded 10 break
the seals of the envelopes in which the votes
of the Electors were enclosed, commencing
wi hit c State of Maine; and, having merely
br 'ken the seal, he rose and handed the paper
20 the te les, (Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, on
the part OF Senate, and Messrs. Barrow. and
McCielIand on the part of the House of Rep
rcsentatives,) saying:
81 now open and present to the tellers cho-
sen by the two Houses, the certificate trans
mitted bv the Electors of the State of Maine,
that the votes therein recorded may be count
ed"
The same ceremony was observed by the
President of the Senate in opening and deliv-
ering 10 the tellers the votes of the Electors
OF all the States and the tellers having read
counted and made duplicate lists OF the votes,
they were delivered to The President of the
Senate, by whom they were read TO the Joint
meeting. The result was As follows:
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

The PRovIso IN WIscoNsrN.-Ont the
25th ult. the Wisconsin Assembly passed
the Wilmot Proviso. Instructions by a
vote of 81 to l. On Tuesday, the 29th
ult additional resolutions were passed in
the Assembly. by vote of As to Is, a.
gainst the Slave Trade in the District, IN
the very language of Mr.. Colts resolution.
In the Senate on Friday, the resolutions,
as amended, on the motion Of Senator
Boyd, were adopted by vote of Ia ayes
to noes. A resolution was also carried
in one of the Houses recommending that
Mexican territory be set apart for Colo
ny of Free Blacks, and portion Of the
public domain be appropriated to furnish
a fund of indemnity to all who liberate
their slaves and send them to the Colony.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27
"THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET. !"

The N. Y. Atlas relates the origin of
this famous ballad, written it seems, by
Samuel S. Woodwork, when Journey
man printer in an office situated at the
corner Of Chatham and Chambers streets,
New-York. Near by, in Frankfort street,
was drinking shop, kept by man nam
ed Mallory, where Woodwork and seve-
raj particular friends used 10 resort. One
afternoon the liquor was super>excelIent,
and Woodwork seemed inspired by it :;
for after taking draught, he Sc, his glass
upon the table. and, smacking his lips,
declared that Mallory's eau de uie was su-
perior to anything he had ever tasted !
" No. " said Mallory "you are mistaken;
there was one thing which in both our es-
timations, far surpassed this in the way Ct
drinking" What was that ;" obviously
asked Woodwork. The draft of fresh
water, that we used to drink from the old
oaken bucket that hung in the well, after
our return from the labors of the field on
a sultry day in summer The tear-drcp
glistened for moment in Woodworth's
eye. True-true he replied, and
shortly after Quilted the place. He im>
mediaiely returned to the office, grasped
pen, and in half an hour " The Old Oak
en- Bucket" one Of the most delightful
compositions in our language, was ready
in manuscript to be embalmed in the
memories of succeeding generations.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

C. To he hated by her friends is the
lot Of every good looking girl but to be
secretly cursed by the whsle neighbor-
hood is a JOY reserved for the transcen-
IDENTITY beautiful only. Without ever see>
ing young woman you can tell her aP-
pearance by just carefully analysing the
scandal in circulation against her. If she
be the constant theme # anImadversIon.
you NAV set her down as perfect Venus.
and fall in love with her accordingly.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

CALIFORNIA SHAKINGs.-Emieran, -
this country are likely 10 get pretty well 81"
ken up before they make their fortunes tbe-a
1t IS great place for earthquakes. At Mo-
terar. according TO Sir George Simpson NO
less than one hundred and twenty shakes xrro
noticed during two successive months in ~
summer of 1S41. Most Of these, as NAV ' ~
supposed, were very slight ones; but in nroor
that they are not always SO, Sir George speaSs
of his having seen, near the town, besides sew.
eral shattered churches 4" rent in the ear,b,
mile or so in length, and thirty or forty feet in
depth" the result Of recent earthquake,
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

WooDwoRTn's YoUTH's CABINET, for
February, is received. We have already ex-
pressed high opinion of the character of this
entertaining juvenile, and the present number
is not inferior to those which have preceded it,
in.variety of contents and embellishments, well
calculated to interest youthful readers.-D. A.
Woodwork, Publisher, Clinton Hall, 235 Mas
sau Street.-Terms, ST in advance.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

THE AMERICAN METROPOLITAN, for Feb
ruary, is good number. 1t has eleven spirit
ed embellishments, and articles by Mrs. L. F.
Elicit, Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, Mrs. NJ. f.
Hewitt, NJ. F. Upper, j. +. Headley, W. G.
Simms, w. T. Tuckerman. T. S. Arthur, and
and host of other popular writers-Israel
Post, Publisher, 259 Broadway. Terms, SO
ill ADVANCE copies, So.
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

even on the slmmits of Tie hills Single r;ooo-
have been reported as weighing rs ai,J ifV rs
pounds, bat the largest have seen is oro ~ :.
present in my keeping-It weighs leu a.
six and seven pounds Troy, being comr ,soh
of large proportion in bulk Of quatz roeL
will metallic gold interspersed the ve,ot.
Of the gold amounting probably to two and =
half or three pounds"
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27
REVIVAL OF MORMONISM IN MIS-
SOURI,

Z.on's HTbinger and BGneemys Organ is The IL
tie of n new Mormon paper published at ST. Lou
is Mo. The first number contains Bancemy's
Proclamation 10 the Latter Day Saints in which
this new Mormon Prophet predicts many wonder
full things-amOng others that The Lord is about
10 restore the Kingdom Of Israel, and commands
a Temple to be built in Independence Jackson
Co No. in which he will establish schools for the
remnant Of Joseph, (whose land the Geniies in
habir.) who are soon again TO he the prOprietOrs
of the soil, Baneemy says that if the President
elect, the Governors Of the several States and
other subordinate rulers will not compel the State
of Missouri 10 restore the lands wrongly wrestcd
from the Saints, they shall be cursed, cut off, and
cast out into outer darkness. He predicts also
Dissolution of the Union as n tOnscquen, of the
rejection Of these commandments, and that South
Carolina will first break cut in rebellion-ai.er-
wards the whole South, in fierce and bloody war
with the North. So intent will the South be. he
saws 10 conquer their Northern brethren. that they
will marshal the slaves for war, VINO will in many
instances turn their weapons upon their own mas
tiers. Then the South finding their weakness
will call on Great Britain for aid; the effect OF
the re ponse will be general European war; and
finally, If the people shall neglect and diSoGey-
the war will he continucd-pestilence. famine aud
desoaton will prevail-until few of the refracto-
nv Gentiles will be left in the land. The remnant
Of Jacob will then go through the land and tear
the remainder OF the GenilicS IN pieces. After
very terrible TRADE againstthe nations of the Garth,
Baneemy winds mp his long pronnnciamento by
modesty requesting and requiring all political AMI
religious Editors TO give il insertion in their
columns OF course this restoration of the Saints
destruction of disobcdient Gcntiles, and the re-
building of the Temple cannot be accomplished
without money and woikmen; therefore Banec-
my inserts provso in his proclamation. request
ing workmen to come, ard the people TO contrib
ute gold, silver precious stones, brass, iron, cop
nor and zinc
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

COMPLIMENT TO PowERs.-A little son
of the late Richard Menefee of Kentucky
fell from the cars on the road between
Lexington and FRANKFORT, and his arm
was terribly crushed, and had to be amPu-
taied. The Louisville Journal adds
" As soon as the operation was over, his
afflicted mother went to his bedside and
said to him, My poor boy, your visit TO
Louisville has been a dear one to you
{ All, mother, replied the little iei'o"'
The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-02-27

RADICAL LEGIsLATIoN.-A bill has
been introduced into the New Hampshire
Legislature TO restrict the dividends OF
railroad stock to six per cent. per annum
"a higher interest than six per cent. for
incorporated companies being regarded as
anti-democratic and approximating to Fed
eralism!