davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

THE GENIoUS OF PoE.-At a course of
lectures recently given in Baltimore bv
DR.. McCabe, the following tribute to the
genius of Poe, was strikingly and impress
lively read:
"He was presented as strange and
wonderful man of our own times and ac-
quaintance-mighty in his weakness, and
weak in his mightiness. A subtle mind,
a wizard of the pen, combination of the
worm aud the god, of dust and the deity
a modern Prometheus chained to the rock
of fatal malady-a man who came an age
before his time, and passed away like light
ming upon scroll-who conquered ere he
fell from the topmost round of fame's lad
der, but fell ingloriously; from the ark of
whose spirit the dove went forth to bring
back no olive branch from the subsiding
deluge of sorrow; in whose window came
the dark and ominous bird of yore," )"
croaking its nevermore," forbidding the
cup of Nepenthe, and staring with its wild
and fiery eyes into all the convoluted lab
yrlnths of the past, plunging its beak into
his proud, sensitive and bleeding heart !;
child of sorrow and of song, whose death
robes were put on in kennel, and whose
last sigh was breathed out in hospital
Misfortune seemed to mark him from the
cradle to the grave. The house of stran-
ger was the home of his infancy; he never
knew mothers love, and like the wan
dering Jew, his restless spirit seemed ever
crying for surcease of sorrow" and when
in the deep and passionate eloquence of
despairing grief, we hear him shrieking to
the dark impersonation Of destiny
"Tel me truly, implore,
Is there, is there balm in Gilead? Tell me truly,
| implore
Tell this soul with sorrow laden. if within the
distant Alden,
1t shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels
name Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the
angels name Lenore?
That sad, solemn, hopeless response
" NEvERMoRE!" !" tells that not only did
he nurture the cypress for his grave, but
that no voice from out that distant
Alden" whispered of peace beyond the
portals of the tomb
All that "nevermore !" How sadly ii
strikes the soul as we call up the circum.
stance of Poe's death lie died a drunk
ard !! What a comment upon the pow
erlessness of the highest genius, unaided
to struggle against the demon of vicious
habit! There acaS "balm in Gilead," anC
there was "physician there" and ht
might have been "hcoled" But no-ht
did not, would not, apply to him--he dice
-miserably and sadly he died Youne
man, read his doom, and beware. !"
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

PROBABLE Policy OF THE New AD-
MINIsTRATIoN IN RELATION TO NIcAR-
AGUA.-The Washington Union of Feb.
2lst., has an article relative to the Cen
tral American question, which occasioned
considerable excitementin Washington
1t strongly denounces all partnership or
cooperation with Great Britain in relation
to Central America; declares that the right
of England to interfere in the affairs of
those States, is based on her usurpation.
that the Clayton-Bulwer treaty has been
the source of all the accumulating difficult
ties in that quarter, and under the entan-
clements created by it, England is pursu-
ing an insiduous policy, to the success of
which Walker is now almost the only OBJ
stacle; that the policy of Great Britain,
though not amounting to actual war; is di-
rectly hostile to the interests of the United
States, and is more insiduous and insult
ing from being coupled with friendship, (?)
and that open war is better than secret
hostility, and the duty of decisive stand
upon our part is enforced Mr.. Appleton
being in Washington, it is surmised that
the article may foreshadow the policy of
the new Administration.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02
THE ToLL-GATE OF LIFE.-We are al

He 1OLL-GAIE Of I1FE.-N t are dll
on the journey The world through which
we are passing is in some respects like a
turnpike-all along which, Vice and Folly
have erected tol[gates for the accommod,.-
tion of those who choose to call as they 90
land there are very few of all the hosts
of travellers who do not occasionally stop a
little at some one or another of them-and
consequently pay more or less to the toll
gatherers. Pay more or less, we say, be-
cause there is a great variety Is well in
the amount, as in the kind of toll exactcd
at these different stopping places.
Pride and Fashion take heavy tolls of
the purse-many man has become beg
gar by paying at their gates-the ordinary
rates they charge are heavy, and the road,
that way, is none the best
Pleasure offers very smooth, delight
full road in the outset; she tempts the
traveller with many fair promises, and wins
thousands she takes without mercy; !;
like an artful robber, she allures until she
gets her victim In her power, and then
strips him of health and money, and turns
him off a miserable object, into the worst
and most rugged road of life.
Intemperance plays the part of sturdy
villain He's the very worst toll -gatherer
on the road, for he not only gets from his
customers their money and their health,
but he robs them of their very brains.-
The men you meet on the road, ragged
and ruined in frame and fortune, are his
visitors
And SO we might go on enumerating
MANY others who gather toll of the unwa-
ry. Accidents sometimes happen, it is
true, along the road, but those who do not
get through at least tolerably well, you may
be sure have been stopping by the way at
some of these places The plain, common
sense men, who travel straight forward,
got through the journey without much diff
fculty
This being the state of things, it be-
comes every one, in the outset, if he in
tends to make a comfortable journey, to
take care what kind of company he keeps
in with We are all apt to do a great deal
as companions do-stop where they stop,
and pay toll where they pay. Then the
chances are one to ten but our choice in
this particular decides our fate
Having paid due respect to a choice of
companions, the next important thing is
closely to observe how others manage; to
mark the good or evil that is produced by
every course of life-see how those do
who manage well; by those means you
learn.
Be careful of your habits; those make
the man. And th4y require long and care
full culture, ere they grow up to second
nature. Good habits we speak of: But
habits are most easily acquired are
spontaneous weeds, that flourish rapidly
and rankly, without care or culture.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

That cen tortoise with his moping gait,
Would pass it in the race."-Old Play
Some young men are susceptible-fall
in love and are constant in their affections,
but through timidity are backward in dis
closing the state of their feelings, to the
only object who would take deep inter-
est in the subject. Gases have occurred
where young and blooming maiden, after
waiting IA reasonable time for an eligible
but bashful swain to pop the question, and
finding him still standing aloof, has sud-
denly and very properly left him in the
lurch, and bestowed her hand and affec-
tions on rival, who if not more meritori-
Gus in every point, knew how to act prompt
ly, and had tongue in head. A young
lady, who possesses tact and presence of
mind, can sometimes help her silent lover
amazingly, in bringing these tender mat
ters to crisis-and without even viola
ting the conventional rules of propriety, Or
maidenly delicacy.
The course adopted by Laura Glencoe,
to secure a husband, who was decidedly
SLOW is case in point. She was pleased
with James Dewson, and he worshipped
the ground she trod upon-but the poor
fellow, had never dared to tell his love !
She gave him every reasonable encourage
ment to speak right out'-but he confined
to sigh, look foolish in her company, twirl
his thumbs and 'hold his peace 7 Mat
ters might have remained in this unsatis-
factory state for years, if Laura, who was
smart as well as good girl, had not
seized golden opportunity, and made him
pop the question, without knowing it.
They were taking sentimental walk in
the country-but she was not hanging on
his arm as is customary among lovers
They came to muddy spot in the road,
and the instructive politeness of James
prompted him to offer assistance to the
lovely girl who was with him. He turned
towards her with kind look, and said in
rather an earnest tone, Give me your hand,
Miss Laura, and" But she did not al
low him to finish the sentence. ooh
James said she looking confused, do you
really mean it? Well, if it must be so, l
will give it freely, and my heart, too.-
But, dear James, you must ask pas con-
sent-only as a matter of form you know /;
and you had better do it at once
And SO the matter was settled to their
mutual satisfaction Oliuc Branch.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

THE YOUNG MANS LEIsURE.-Yo oung
man after the duties of the day are over,
how do you spend your evenings? When
business is dull, and leaves at your dispo-
sal many unoccupied hours, what DISPOSE
ton do you make of them? have known
and now know, many young men, who, if
they devoted to any scientific OF profess
sional pursuit, the time they spend in
games Of chance, and lounging in bed,
might rise to any eminence. You have
all read of the sections son who became a
fine astronomer by spending a short time
every evening in gazing at the stars after
ringing the bell for nine o'clock Sir
William Phipps, who at the age of forty
FIVE had attained the order of knighthood,
and the office of High Sheriff of New Eng
land and Governor Of Massachusetts,
learned to read and write after his 18th
year, of a ship carpenter in Boston. VIM.
Clifford, the great editor of the Quarterly,
was an apprentice to shoemaker, and
spent his leisure hours in study. And be-
cause he had neither pen nor paper, slate
nor pencil, he wrought out his problems
on smooth leather, with blunt awl.
David Rittenhouse, the American AS
tronomer, when plowboy, was observed
to have covered his pillow and fences with
figures and calculations. James Ferguson,
the great Scotch Astronomer, learned to
read by himself, and mastered the elements
of astronomy whilst a shepherds boy in
the fields by night And perhaps it is
not too much to say, that if all the idle
hours wasted in idle company, in conver-
sation at the tavern, were only spent in
pursuit of knowledge, the dullest appren-
tice at any of our shops might become an
intelligent member of society, and fit
person for most of our civil offices. BY
such course the rough covering of many
a youth is laid aside; and their ideas, In
stead of being confined to local subjects
and technicalities, might range the wide
fields of creation; and other stars from
among the young men of this city might
be added to the list Of worthless that are
gliding our country with bright, yet mellow
! light.-Rec DR.. Murray.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

The humors Of the rural Press are ex-
ceedingly amusing, says Harper's Mog-
o@ine, and the best of them that has re-
Gently fallen into the Drawer, was the trap
that the man of the Elmara Gazette laid
for his brother typos, whom he suspected
OF stealing his items of news instead of
making them for themselves. So the hero
of the Gazette embellished his columns
with the following savory paragraph:
" HoRRIBLE.-We learn that man
named John E. Kake, an Indian, was, on
Thursday, burned to cinder in an oven
in the town of Southport, near the State
Line. How he came into the oven is un-
known, but he is supposed to have been
drunk, as he had alcohol about his person
at the time of the occurrence"
They took. Both the rival papers cop
led the item, and thereupon the Gazette
man explains:
" As both our contemporaries have copied
the above item from US, it behooyes us to
say that the cannibals who live near the
State Line actually ate the remains OF
Johnny-cake after they were taken from
the oven. Like all New Englanders, we
always loved Johnny, and hope he'll reap
pear on earth. H is cousin of Mush."
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02
Wishing.
BY JOHN G. SAKE.

OF all amusement of the mind,
From logic down to fishing,
There isn't one that you can find
So very cheap as wishing "
A very choice diversion, too,
If we but rightly use it,
And not, as we are apt to do,
Pervert it and abuse it.
| wish-a common wish indeed
My purse was somewhat fatter,
That might cheer the child of need,
And not my pride to fatter;
That might make oppression reel,
As only gold can make it,
And break the tyrants rod of steel,
As only gold can break it
| wish that sympathy and love,
And every human passion
That has its origin above,
Would come and keep in fashion,
That scorn and jealousy, and hate,
And every base emotion,
Were buried fifty fathoms deep
Beneath the waves of ocean.
| wish that friends were always true,
And motives always pure;
| wish the good were not so few,
| wish the bad were fewer;
wish that persons ncer forgot
To heed their pious teaching;
| wish that practising was not
So different from preaching.
wish that modern worth might be
Appraised with truth and candor;
wish that innocence were free
From treachery and SANDER;
wish that men their vows would mind
That women neer were rovers
wish that wives were always kind,
And husbands always lovers.
| wiSh-n fne-that JOY and mirth,
And every good ideal,
May come erewhile throughout the earth
To be the glorious real.
Till God shall every creature bless
With his supremest blessing,
And hope be lost in happiness,
And wishing be possessing.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

MAY-Mav is considered an unfortu-
nate marrying month. A down East edi-
tor says that girl was asked, not long
since, to unite herself in the silken tie to
brisk lad, who named May in his propo-
sails. The lady tenderly limited that May
was an unlucky month for marrying. -
Well, make it June then,' honestly re-
piled the swain, anxious to accommodate
The damsel paused moment, hesitated,
cast down her eyes, and said, with blush,
Wouldn't April do as well 2
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

YNl1S POPULAR AND COMM0DIOUS HO-
IL tel situated in one of the most pleasant and
convenient localities in the town. is constantly
open for the reception of TRANSIENT T and
PERMANENT BOARDERS. The rooms are
spacious, thoroughly ventilated, and furnished
with view to comfort The dining hall is the
best in the place, where the patrons ofthe house
may depend upon finding the table spread with
the choicest edibles the market affords.
The Bar is furnished with the choicest brands
of Wines Liquors and Cigars.
BOARD AND LODGING
Per Week, single rooms, $1,000
Per Week, double rooms, ,................ 800
Without Lodging, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 100
Single Meal, .............................. rs
Meals at regular hours.
Bssy- Payment to be made invariably in ad-
vance. nov %, '56-tf
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

A lawyer having some legal business to
transact with a widow lady, took occasion
to inquire her age. The matron, who had
long since doffed the swidow's weeds"
to look primp, and much youn-
ger than she really was, as she replied,
"Thirty-fye, sir" Then, turning to the
daughter, he said, May | be so bold,
Miss, as to inquire your age {" Ger
tainly; am a little past thirty-two-most
three years younger than mother -
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

The best capital that young man can
start in life with, is industry, with good
sense, courage, and the fear Of God. They
are better than cash, credit, or friends.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

Productive IsLAND.-Lieut Gatesby
Ap. Roger Jones, an officer on board the
United States steam frigate Merrimac,
writing home to his family from Barbados,
under date of the 26th of February, says,
in speaking of the productiveness of the
soil, &C., that the island is twenty-one
miles long, by fourteen wide, produces an
nually $4,000 hogsheads of sugar, and the
land sells at $500 per acre. 1t will be re-
membered that this island was the rem
devious for the negroes stolen from Vir-
glnla, IN the late war with Great Britain,
by Sir Admiral Cockburn and his confed.
crates. The lands of the island have been
cultivated by those slaves and their de-
scendants from that time to the present
day.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

THE SPERM WHALE.-Sperm whales
belong to the polygamy class, and arc not
mated, or 90 in pairs, as is the case with
the right whale. They are Of chocolate
color, and when undisturbed are found in
large shoals, which are generally COW
whales, protected ON the outskirts, about
two or three miles off, by two or three
enormous male whales, called "old sogers."
These sail in among the shoal alternately,
at railroad speed, and sometimes meet with
queer reception from harpoons lying in
wait for them. 1t is said that there are
some of these old sogers which are dread
to all whalemen, and which are Stunned
on the least suspicion The tonnage of a
grown whale, is enormous. When car
case of one is disposed to sink, no cable of
iron or rope has ever been known to sus-
tain it. When harpooned, and not badly
hurt, they settle down generally, about one
thousand fathoms before they move off or
rise to the surface, hence all the lines of
the boat are required for paying out. The
head OF large sperm whale will weigh
about thirty-fiye tons, and forty-fye bar
rels of pure spermaceti have been taken
from his cease" which is mere vein in
his head, compared with the remaining
part, which consists of four-fifths of the
head. and it is called "white horse "a
senewy gristle, which is impenetrable to a
sharp axe. Large copper bolts have been
found embedded in the heads of some of
them, caused by their attacks and destruc-
tion of vessels on the surface, or in plung-
ing at wrecks on the bottom of the sea-
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

At party one evening, abachelor made
the astounding assertion that every lady
IN the room made practice of taking off
her left stocking last One half denied
the fact; the other declared that if it were
SO he had no right to know it, and with
one voice they pronounced him :. no gentle
man. He was 50 buffeted that he was
glad of an opportunity to give the follow
ing explanation "Whichever stocking a
lady takes off first, the other unnecessarily
left, which must, of course, be taken off
last.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02
MAIN STREET HOUSE,
SoN
4. -AndNeea@.

vEVHE ABOVE HOTEL (the first established
Il in the camp has recently been improved
and reftted, in order to accommodate its large
and increasing custom.
The proprietor tenders his sincere thanks to
those who have given his house their patronage
and preference, and informs the travelling public
and the community generally, that he is pre-
pared to accommodate all, with Board and
Lodging, on as reasonable terms as can be had
in the camp. PHILIP I. PIPER,
mar II Proprietor.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02

Let not an injury or an insult corrode in
your bosom, for by so doing you increase
the injury hy your own act.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02
THE INDEPENDENT
ARMOR & Co., Publishers.
d ?. kocssR, Q. n. cLAYEs, GEO. ARMoR

IS published every SATURDAY MORNING.
at San Andreas, Calaveras County, Cal. Office
IN the independent Building, st. Charles Street,
above Main.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.-On year. in
variably in advance, $500; six months, $3 90
three months $500.
TERMS OF ADYERTISING.-0n square of
twelve lines first insertion, $3.50; each sub
sequent insertion, $l.25. 4 liberal discount
will be allowed to yearly advertisers. Bust
ness Cards, not exceeding four lines $500 per
month.
San Andreas independent., 1857-05-02
Popping the question.
BT TOM PIPES.
/. A coach 81 syo,r

That cen tortoise with his moping gait,
Would pass it in the ce."-Otd Play.
Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-05-09
TRIAL OF McKiM.

A correspondent from Hollidaysburg,
where the trial Of McKim for the wiful
and deliberate murder of Samuel 7. Nor
cross is taken place, after giving an account
of the commencement of the case, furnishes
the following particulars; 9
Norcross was originally from East Lex
ington, Mass. From there he went to the
West, in the capacity of music teacher.
After residing there some time, he return.
ed, to his home, and borrowed from his
sisters $1,000. This money he returned
with to the West, and invested it in lands
in Dubuke, Iowa, and Dunleith, Illinois. -
The property rose so rapidly in value, that
he commenced the study of medicine with
DR.. Burnhold, relying upon the interest of
his money to support him. In the mean.
time an abcess formed on his left side,
which became painful, and he determined
to go home McKim, whose, acquaint-
anoe he had formed, volunteered to ac-
company him. The Commonwealth ex.
poets to prove that Norcross sold his land
in McKim's preseuce-that the two star
ted in company on the journey-that
McKim treated Noroross with great kind
ness until he had won his confidence and
es eem and finally killed and robbed him,
on the morning of the 10th of January
last on the Pennsylvania Railroad track,
three miles West Of Altoona, where Nor
cross was found in dying condition by
some laborers oD the same morning, proba-
bly, two hours after the commission Of the
deed.
The circumstancial evidence that viii
be brought to bear against McKim, may be
summed up as follows: His departure
from Dunleith with Norcross-aprarantl,
having charge of him at the Eagle Hotel
in Pittsburg, and the story he told tn
landlord about Norcross' insanity; tn
departure from the hotel in company; tn
testimony of railroad employer of seein,
two men get off the train at Altoona, an,
60 up the track on the morning of tn
murder the non-appearance of McKim il
Philadelphia to claim his baggage hi
subsequent appearance in Pottsyile wit
two lewd women his reckless squanderiu
of nonsy, and subsequent disappearance
when suspicion was aroused.
On Monday. DR.. Burnhold, of Illinoi:
arrived; and several other witnesses fror
the West. The morning train brought tn
two lewd woman who accompanied McKiE
to Pottsyille, and the important witness
Bonner, in charge ofan officer.
Saturday, at 2 O'Clock, p. NJ, McKir
was brought into court to swear out a
! attachment for two of his witnesses, res
Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-05-09

NY Should the Main Line pass into the
hands Of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany what will become of the numerous
forwarding establishments from Philadel-
phia to Pittsburgh They will necessarily
be "crushed out" for it will be idle for in-
dividual enterprise to attempt compeu-
ton with that overgrown monopoly, whose
forwarding houses will, in very short
time, be erected at every available point
from one end Of the line to the other.-
Not only SO, but that company will also
erect their own hotels at oil the principal
points, and thus mouopolize the whole trade
and business to the exclusion Of everybody
else. And in addition to all this, they will
in few years, be able to control, not only
the politics of the State, but also its legis-
lation t, their own benefit and behoof.-
1t will, in short, be establishing an impert-
am IN imperio, sovereignty within a
sovereignty, which wi soon be too strong
for the people, and bind the great State
of Pennsylvania with adamautine choius
which never can be broken.
Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-05-09
Mr.. Collector Baker.

Col. j. B. BAKER, the newly appointed
Collector Of the Port of Philadelphia, who
has been lying sick of the National Hotel
disease, for several weeks at the Gap, in
Lancaster county, has so far recovered as
to be pronounced by his attending Ply
sician, comparatively out Of danger. ltis
believed that not less than seven hundred
persons have been seriously and danger
ously affected by the National Hotel poison
at Washington and some thirty or forty
deaths have occurred in consequence
Among others, Hon. ROBERT J. WALKER
is not entirely recovered from his severe
attack. Senator HALE, of New Hamp'
shire, has become thin, lean man, under
its ravages. 1t is now the opinion ofmany
persons that there was deliberate pur.
pose to paison Mr. BUCHANAN; and that
the diabolical scoundrel hazarded the live;
of thousands in the attempt.