davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
Value of Punctuation.
WHAT 4 MISPLACED COMMA DID.

a
The comma {, that little dot which is a
very insignificant thing to the eye, some
times plays very important part III Ian
guage. Though the rules for its use, like
its relatives, are somewhat obscure, never
theless its function in some cases is very
clear and of considerable moment, as has
been discovered in law or Congress pass
ed in 1872. In the tariff bill which went
into effect that year there was large addi-
tion to the free list. and among the articles
added were, '.fruit plants, tropical and
semi-tropieal, = designed to encourage their
importation and cultivation. But i'll the
process of engrossing or transcribing the
bill to be officially printed, comma was
interpolated between fruit and plants,
whereby all fruits were put on the free-1ist.
The custom officers, if they minded their
FPS and q's," did not mind the comma,
and went on collecting the duties. AT
length some lynx-eyed importer discovered
the comma, and demanded that it should
be recognized, and the customs officers had
to stand on the order of Prosody and pass
fruit free. The result has been that
about $4,000. 600 have been illegally col
lected through the interpolated comma, al
which Uncle Sam will have to stop and
count more than one, and refund. Tho
Ways and Means Committee win report d
bin TO expunge the comma, and thus re-
mand fruit back to the list Of dutiable
articles. This will prove 4 most expensive
! comma.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
Charles Dickens on Brooklyn.

In the third volume of Forster's "Life of
Dickens y is published the following letter
from Mr.. Dickens:
cat Brooklyn am going to read in Mr..
Ward Beecher's chapel, the only building
there available for the purpose. You must
understand that Brooklyn is a kind of a
sleeping place for New York, and is sup
posed to be Il great place in the money way.
We let the seats pew by pew, the pulpit is
taken down for my screen and gas, and
appear out of the vestry i'll canonical form.
These ecclesiastical entertainments come off
on the evenings of the 18th, 18th, Goth and
21st of the present month";
His first letter after returning to New
York made additions to the Brooklyn pic
ture:
''Each evening an enormous ferry-boat
will convey me and my state carriage (not
to mention half q dozen wagons and any
number Of people and a few score of horses
across the river to Brooklyn, and will bring
me back again The sale of tickets there
was an amazing scene. The noble army of
epeosstatere are now furnished {ths is liter
ally true, and I am quite serious), each
man with straw mattress, n little bag Of
bread and meat, two blankets and a bottle
of whisky. With this outfit they lie down
in line on the pavement the whole Of the
night before the tickets are sold, generally
taking up their position at about 10. It
being severely cold at Brooklyn, they made
an immense bonfire in the street-a narrow
street of wooden houses-whieh the police
turned out to exiting suish. A general fight
then took place; from which the people far
thest off in the line rushed bleeding when
they saw any chance of ousting others near
er the door, put their mattresses in the
spots so gained, and held on by the iron
rails. At eight in the morning Dolby ap-
peared with the tickets in a portmanteau.
He was Immediately saluted with roar of
/" Halloa, Dolby So Charley has let you
have the carriage has he, Dolby9 How is
he, Dolby? Don't drop the tickets, Dolby!
Look alive, DolbyH' &c, &C., in the midst
of which he proceeded to business, and
concluded Gas usuaD by giving universal
dissatisfaction. He is now going off upon
little journey to look over the ground and
cut back again. This little journey, Ito
Chicago is twelve hundred miles ON end,
by railway, besides the back again!'
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
Napoleon and Josephine.

A lady correspondent discusses in the
February Ltppsaseott the relations Of jose
phine and Napoleon. She thinks that
Josephine will be immortal in the hearts Of
women by the triple appeal of moral excel
lence, intense suffering and heroic submis-
sion to her fate. She married Bonaparte in
1896, being then thirty-three years old and
he twenty-seven. The marriage was for
tunate onefor him, as his own words testify.
"The circumstance of my marriage with
Madame Gle Beauharnais, (" he says, "placed
me Oh a proper footing with the party
necessary to my plan of fusion, one of the
first principles of my administration.
Without my wife I should never have
established any natural relation with that
class" Another declaration of lis agrees
perfectly with this idea: ssI win only
battles-Josephine wins me all hearts,
It was proud boast of Josephine that
she never kept any one waiting halfa minute
where punctuality depended upon herself;
but this quality of fine breeding was sigaally
wanting in Napoleon. When the establish
ed for dinner at Malmaison was six O'Clock,
and, though etiquette forbade anyone to
approach the table before the announcement
of the head Of the house, he often failed to
apper before seven, eight tor even ten OK clock.
A chicken or some other article was placed
on tue spit every fifteen minutes, by ord er
| of the cook, who knew well the habits of the
Emperor. The table manners Of Napoleon
may have been those of the hero; they were
certainly anything but those of the gentle
man. lie completed the process of cram
ming-it could scarcely be called eating
in six or seven minutes as a rule. Ignoring
| the use of knives and forks as regarded his
own plate, he did not stop there, but
helped himself with his fingers from the
dishes nearest him, and dipped his bread in
the gravy Knowing the time for the
Emperor to dine, the shreWder ones took
care to dine in advance. Josephine once
confessed this at the dinner table, much to
the amusement of the Emperor. The En-
press always quilted the table with Napo-
leon, but, with her never-failing considera-
/ ton for the comfort Of others, she colnman-
ded the rest, by a gesture, as she rose, TO
i remain.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
How the Queen Dissolves Parliament.

I The following is the text of the official
proclamation by which the Queen Of England
recently dissolved Parliament:
"V1cToRIA, ,R.-Wherea we have thonght
fit, to dissolve this present Parliament
which stands prorogued to Thursday, the
fifth day of February next, we do for that
end publish this our royal proclamation,
and do hereby dissolve the said Parliament
accordingly; and the lords spiritual and
temporal, and the knights, citizens, and
burgesses, and the commissioners of shires
and burghs Of the House of Commons are
discharged from their meeting and attend
ance on the said Thursday, the fifth day of
February next and we, being desirous and
resolved as soon as may be to meet our
people, and to have their advice in Parlia-
ment, do hereby make known to all our
loving subjects our royal will and pleasure
to call a new Parliament; and do hereby
further declare, that, with the advice of our
privy council. we have given order that our
chancellor ofthat part of our Kingdom called
Great Britain, and our chancellor of Ireland
do, respectively, upon notice thereof, forth
with issue our writs in due form and accord
ing to law, for calling a new Parliament;
and we do hereby also, by this our royal
proclamation under our great seal of our
United Kingdom, require writs forthwith
to be issued accordingly by our said chan
cellors, respectively, for causing the lords
spiritual and temporal and commons, who
are to serve in the said Parliament, to be
duly returned to, and give their attendance
in, our sad Parliament: which writs are to
be returnable on Thursday, the fifth day of
March next.
"Given at our court at Osborne House,
Isle of Wright, this twenty sixth day of
January, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and seventy four,
and in the thirty year of our reign.
"God save the Queen
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
TEST OF SPEED.
Thad Stevens" Again in the Field
Challenge to the World.

The success of California S favorite in his
great race with True Blue and Joe Daniels
has inspired renewed confidence in his
speed and bottom. As an evidence of the
estimation in which he is held, his owner,
George Treat, has authorized the publica-
ton of a challenge to the world:
Mr.. Treat will match his horse, Thad
Stevens, against any other horse, mare, OF
gelding in the United States or the world,
aface of four miles and repeat to rule, for
$4,000 gold coin.
Mr.. Treat also proposes to match a horse
of his for $5, 900 against $25, 900 that he will
beat the best recorded time ever made in
tie United States, by any running horse, to
1rllle, from one to four miles. The parties
Accepting this banter can name the race to
be run.
The tasted recorded mile was made by
Alarm, three-year-old, with 9Opounds up,
at Saratoga, July 1872, in :42$. The fast
est two miles ever made was by True Blue,
as four-y -year-old packing 1oS pounds, at
Saratoga, in 1878, the time being 3:32aa.
Norfolk has the best three-mile record. He
ran at Sacramento ON September %, 1865,
as four-year-old, carrying one hundred
pounds in5:271a and 5:29k. All horse-men
will recolleet the fastest four-mile time. It
was in New Orleans, April 2, 1866, by Lex
ington, against time. He was four years
old, and ran with 103 pounds up, in 7:193.
It is reported that the horses True Blue
and Weathercock, the property of John s.
Chamberlin, will leave Immediately for New
York, in charge Of Tim Robbins, who came
out with them.-S. f. Bulletin.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
The Champion Pie Biters- Everything
Fair in Mince Pie
From the Denver News.


The people in New Mexico originate some
curious societies. In Mesilla and Las
Cruces they haye-or it is said they have
what are known as the ssPie Biters,'' COM
posed Of persons passionately fond of pies.
So strong has the rivalry grown between
the two societies that challenge resulted,
and the contest is reported to have resulted
as follows: ssThe pies were to be mince and
one inch thick, Mesilla to bite first, and no
bite to count unless it reached the center
of the pie. Mesilla piled up nine pies and
shut down on them without an effort. Las
Cruces elevated the top of his head and
closed his jaws over eleven. IGreat enth,l-
siasm among his friends.l Mesilla came
to the scratch or bite manfulIy and Topped
his lips over dozen successfully. IO0ds
offered on Mesilla.l Las Cruces at this
point said Well, its time to stop this non
sense hand me fifteen They were given
him he smiled, laid the back Of his head
on his shoulders, and came down on the
bundle of pies like an alligator oila mouth
full of flies. But his teeth did not come
together. He struggled and iarkad, but it
was no use. Three of his teeth broke and
his hold gave way. On examining, dog
collar was found in the center pie, and Las
Cruces had got his teeth tangled iii the
buckle. Jack Martin, the referee, decided
in favor Of Mesilla, on the ground that
everything was fair ID 4 minca pie.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
A Gem from Whittier.
From the Boston Commonwealth.

From the Boston Commonwealth.
To appreciate the truth and beauty Of the
following lines from the pen Of Whittier, it
is necessary to know the circumstances un-
der which they were written. \ friend of
Whittier's youth who had spent most of hls
life on the Illinois prairies,, called on the
poet at his home i'll Amesbury, and together
they recalled the scenes Of their childhood,
and briefly Eecounted the course of their
after life, and Whittier seemed much af-
fected by the allusion of his friend to his
prairie home, where wife, children and a
grandchild {" Constance y awaited his re-
turn, and, on being asked for his autograph,
replied: "Call on your way to the cars,
and I will hand it to YOU" The friend
called, and received the following. The
lines show the delicate texture of the poets
heart, the tendrils of which were evidently
stretching after something beyond his
reach:
The years, that since we met have flown.
Leave as they found me. still alone,
Nor wife, nor child, hor grandchla dear
Are mine, the heart to.cheer.
More favored thou; With hair less gray
Than mine, canst let thy fancy stray
To where thy little Constance sees
The prairie ripple in the breeze.
For one like her to lisp thy name
Is better than the voice of Fame,
J. G. WHITTIER.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21


TIsE Boy WHO WANTED TO KNow.-The
following is strictly true. A lady coming
to this. State recently, stopped at one of the
Chicago Hotels with her son. The boy was
not perfectly satisfied with matters and
things at the dinner table, and expressed
himself frequently to that effect. The
mother finally arose, and remarked in an
uiidertone to the youthful offender: = Come
with me up stairs, and Twill attend to your
case The lad understood at once what
"attending to his case Z meant, but there
was an important matter of detail which he
was painfully anxious to have more fully
explained; SO pulling backwards on the
hands Of his mother, he blubbered out in a
voice loud enough to be heard over the
well filled dining room: Say, mother, are
you going to take your hand Or your slip
per p The enthusiasm with which this
brief address was received was unbounded.
Poor little fellow, how often have VIC
wanted to know that same thing ourself.
! With brief season Of waiting we general
II found out, as be undoubtedly did.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21

A feminine duel has been fought in Mex
leo.
A Milwaukee woman recently conducted
her own case in a suit for divorce, and OBJ
tanned verdict in her favor.
"Anonyma," the ambitious correspon-
dent of a Chicago paper, says women love
most in quantity at twenty-five, and in
quality at forty.
Fourteen fathers in Quincy, H., have
signed pledge not to allow their daught-
ers to take music lessons until they know
how to make good bread.
A Topeka lady sums up the first three
years of her experience in married life, as
follows: "The first year he called me
DEAR the second year, Mrs. A. and the
third year 'old sorrel top"
A young woman in Montgomery county,
KY, recently ate roast pig, a turkey an
opossum, and ten corn dodgers, and yet she
has not found her affinity!
The newly reported sashes are of the
most magnificent description. They are
very wide, of the heaviest watered silk, and
have long fringed ends.
Douglas county, Oregon, boasts of a lady
who has been married nine times, has eight
husbands living and is living with neither
of them. More than this she has daugh-
ter who is 30 years of age and living with
| her third husband
| London will shortly have a sorosis, with
husbands hall attached, where the
coarser sex may smoke his cigar until his
particular charge is ready for his company
home. ..
Doctor-'I am pleased to say, Mrs. Fitz-
browne, that I shall be able to vaccinate
your baby from a very healthy child of your
neighbor, Mrs. Jones'" 'Oh, DEAR doc
tor, could not permit that. We do not
care to be mixed up with the Joneses in
any way"
! The attachment of some ladies to their
lap-dog amounts, in some instances, to in
| fattation. We have heard of a lap-dog
biting piece out Of q male visitors leg,
| lcI lllStlCSS tutS cApICsSlAS 4lci Colu pas
sion: "Poor little creature! I hope it will
not make him sick!' s-
A new freak of fashion consists of birth
announcement cards. They are exceedingly
small, and the announcement reads, "Com-
! pliments Of Mr.. and Mrs. Blank, and son
Or daughter, as the case may be. February
| 10, 3 p. NJ"
A philosopher remarks that there is some
thing peculiarly instructive in standing on
a street corner in a large city and watching
the men all rushing around trying to make
money, and the women all floating around
| trying to spend it
Princess Mary, of Cambridge, now the
Princess Teck, and cousin to Queen Victo-
ria, is-ungallant as it may be to say it
extremely fat. A story has just come to
light that during her maidenhood negotia-
tios were entered into for an alliance for
her with Victor Emmanuel. That poten-
tate visited London and was introduced to
his charmer. Afterward, when the subject
was broached, he electrified the English
with the remark: 'sWhy, that woman
would sit on all the seven hills of Rome at
once'' -...a .-EF
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
An Indiana Romance.

She couldn't see it in that light She
didn't want to marry him, but he was
bound she should. They both lived
couple of miles from the city and near
neighbors. She refused to listen to his
eourting, and he grew desperate So he
went off to the West, and while out there
persuaded a friend to write a letter, saying
that he was dead, and asking as his dying
request, that she might, if she ever went
out that way, stop for a moment and toss a
weed, Or perhaps a flower OF his lonely
grave. This was tender, but it didn't take
worth a cent, and she wrote back letter
to the friend saying if he had any consider
alton for her feelings at all to send her the
dead lovers watch and chain, his money
and all his valuables. To carry out his
plan the dead man sent home his brass
jewelry and other effects, and she immedi-
ately proceeded to don the trinkets and
start to singing-school with the chosen
sfeller'' of her heart. On their way back
home the pair Were startled by the appari-
tion of the dead lover, clad i'll ghostly
white but with the old lineaments intact.
The young man fed, but the girl stood
still, and, putting up a paw which resem-
bled an elephants S foot, naively inquired if
the ghost wanted to be kicked to death by
mule. To which his ghostship replied
thus 'sLord Lord Jerusha, hev I come
all the way home to find you false? stYou
bet, I replied the fair one, laughing hearth
ly, for she had discovered that it was really
the person of her dead lover. The fellow
had played Q nice game, and had followed
his goods and chattels back to the place of
his nativity very quickly. The damsel was
so disgusted with the other fellow for run
ming at sight Of the ghost that she immedi-
ately made preparations to marry the
ghost.--T Terfe Haate E.rDfess.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
The Porch of the Temple.

In the heart of London, where every inch
of ground is worth fabulous sum, there
has for centuries existed large plot of
ground which, owing to red-tape and old
tradition, has been of no use whatever.
Every visitor to the British capital will re-
member the tagged courtyard in front of
St. Paul's Cathedral, guarded from the
street and separated from the basiliea by a
heavy iron railing. In the middle Of this
inaccessible space stands a weather-stained
statue of Queen Annie, under whose reign
Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the Cathe-
dral; other occupant or ornament there is
none.
But at last this forbidden ground has
been made public. Tie cathedral author
tiles, on payment of a goodly sum by the
corporation of the city. have thrown open
this waste place. The heavy old ratings
have been torn down and sold at the rate
of forty dollars a ton. The low stone par
apet which supported the railing is left
standing, and in place of the gates there is
an open pathway into the new plaza. A
tesselated pavement has also been laid
down; so that now the approach to St.
Paul's is worthy OF the noble structure
itself
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21

A MANS HEAD Ctr Orr IN 4 FIeHT.-
We learn that on last Friday. 3oth ult., a
difficulty took place between a man by the
name of Gus. Woody, and two brothers,
whose names we did not learn, living about
five miles below Point Pleasant. We have
been unable to learn any of the particulars
other than these: 1t seems that Woody had
hired himself and wife to these two broth
ers, himself to work on the farm and his
wife to do the cooking; every thing went
on very smoothly up to last Friday, when
Woody got into fight with one of the
brothers, and got him down and was cut
ting him with a knife. At this stage Of the
affray the other brother ran up, and seeing
the situation his brother was iii, ierked up
an AK which was lying near BY, and struck
Wooley across the neck, completely sever
ing the head from the body. We understand
that Woody was considered d bad character,
as be had done something about year ago
in Southeast Missouri for which he had to
flee this State, and had but recently return
ed. Our Informant doesn't know whether
the parties who did tile killing have been
arrested Of not Nesa Madria Record.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
TOPICS OF THE.TIMEs.

The new epizootic in New York is not SC
fatal as that which ragged all over the coun,
try several years ago. The symptoms are
that the animals first refuses to eat. They
soon become swollen about the eyes, which
weep and discharge yellowish matter cop
iously, the eyes in some instances become
ing entirely closed and very much infamed
and the legs swell. This is followed by a
stupor, but good veterinary surgeons can
usually induce reaction, when the horse
generally RECEIVERS. The surgeons attri-
butte the disease to over work and ill-venti-
lated stables.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
Clothing for the Neck.

The good sense of the following is appar-
ent, and it comes to us from high authority:
The clothing about the neck should be
very moderate in quantity, and 50 loose as
to prevent the slightest compression. The
great errors frequently committed in wear
ing such an amount as to overhead and
weaken the throat, and thus render it easily
susceptible to cold, or IN wearing it SO tight
as TO retard the circulation of tile blood to
and from the head. Great care should be
exercised upon this point as the arteries
and veins leading from the heart to the
brain are situated near the surface in the
neck that slight com preston there serves
to check the flow of the blood.
Many cases Of eongestion dc the brain and
headache are partially or wholly caused by
! too tight DOLLARS and crayats.
The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1874-03-21
/" OUT WEST" /"
The residents of Winnemucca (Neyada)
are wrestling with the measles.

The residents of Winnemucca (Nevada)
are wrestling with the measles.
Two young ladies have been elected No
taries Public by the Utah Legislature.
San Diego boasts of having camelias in
full bloom in the middle of February.
Travel is largely increasing, and a pros
porous season is predicted for Arizona Ter
ritory the coming Spring.
There are 110 Oranges organized and in
working order in the State of Oregon, and
81 in Washington Territory.
Thomas Gardiner has sold to II. W. Lar
kin his one-sixth interest in the Sacramento
Union (daily and weekly for S25, 900.
California has 269 grist mills, the product
Of which, last year, was 100000 barrels
of flour and the meal from $50, ,214 bushels
of corn.
It is stated that there are stacked between
Greeley and Green City, Colorado 5000, 900
tons of hay almost worthless on account of
there being no means of getting it to mar
ket.
"Billy" Wilson, pioneer stage man of
Nevada, and who drove the first stage that
ever made a trip between Carson and Vir-
ginia, died at the former place on the night
of the 23d.
Mike MeCluskey, fa,niliarly known in
the State of Nevada, has fitted I'D an ele-
giant refreshment and recreation establish
ment at Brooklyn, n. Y, recently, at an
expense of $4,000.
In the City Council, Kansas City, a horse
railway bill, providing that "no single per-
son" should pay as fare more than five
cents, was amended on motion of Alder
man Black, to include also married people,
and passed.