davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Active Life.

The trouble is, Barnum, the Snowman,
says, we do our work specifically; we
dash ahead to make fortune and retire;
that is a great mistake. About eight
years ago tried it. I had three muse
ums burned. After the second fire !
considered it q notice to quit. So l
bought house on Murray Hill, kept
my country seat and retired. I felt very
happy to think I had retired. Well, l
went along that way about two years,
till I got rusty. Ono day a physician,
brother-in-law to Baron Shurtz, came to
see me and said: 81 hear you have re-
tired2" eyes" "Well, you are going
to die" CT suppose so, sometime. "
"No, but very soon. When you Ameri-
cans retire, you always die; you work
and dig and are all business till you get
rich, and right in middle life you retire,
and your brain, hitherto active, shrinks
from disease; your skull don't shrink .
that creates o vacuum, and you die. y
Well, have no doubt there is great
deal of truth in that. I took his advice
and started travelling show; 1 got out
nv programme and told some pretty big
stories; then thought I ought to keer
to them and had to work pretty hard tc
do it. The doctor came to see me agai1
and said: "Well, you have got into
business again ?" Eyes" "Well, yor
die" I inquired why, and he said !: 81
did not tell you to work yourself te
death; man of your years (over fifty,
fiye) cannot exert his brain as much as
man twenty fve". The doctor YVES quite
r;-nt
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
A FelOn's Plea.

Tom Scott, who was convicted on the
charge of masked burglary at Utica, N.
Y, and sentenced to eighteen years in
State prison, was asked by the court If
he had anything to say. He made the
following speech:
have very little to say, your honor,
and perhaps that will be of very little
benefit to me. The verdict of the jury
does not surprise me, after the officers OF
the court had been sworn to take charge
of the jury and then to ohave gone of to q
dance, on fandango, and got into1i.
Gated! Who knows but the jury got
drunk? Who knows what was said &c
them or what was done while the officer
was intoxicated? I am convicted by o
Jury like this. I have very little to say,
but want to thank the gentlemen who
have so ably defended me. x =,
I shall go to Auburn, and may probably
never see you again. I may die q con-
vict, and be dragged to felon's grave.
want you and every man on this jury
aud all around me in this court house to
remember that I am innocent. You
(speaking to the jury and emphasizing
his words by rapping sharply on the
table) have decided my fate for lite; you
have murdered me. Is not eighteen
years lifetime for me9
The court, interupting the speaker,
suggested that he should not upbraid
the jury. Scott continued more calmly
Well, I'll stop here. As for your
self have nothing to say. I think you
charged the jury as we'll as you could.
But, your honor, I wish to say that you
must admit that it was wrong for the
gentleman placed in charge of the Jury
to get intoxicated. One thing more,
your honor. I am twenty-one years OF
age, and hope you will not lecture me
or give me any advice. All that you
have to say may not make me better
nor make mo worse. You can give me
what you please, ten, fifteen. twenty,
fifty or hundred years, and I'll turn of
like q man and say goodbye, but please
do not lecture me. have nothing more
To COW
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Cannot Touch His Money.

Probably the wealthiest young man in
Boston is Joshua Montgomery Sears,
son of the late Joshua Sears, who died
February 7, 1857, leaving his son heir
to his large estate. The heir reached
his majority on Christmas, but by the
terms of the will, which left the property
in trust, he now receives but small
fraction of the estate. The elder Sears
left property of the estimated value OF
81, 500,0 900. Alpheus Hardy, Horatio
Harris and Hugh Montgomery being
named in the will as trustees. Under
their management the property has in
creased in value until it amounts, accord
ing to the assessors returns of May,
1874, to 81, OPS, 400 in real estate in Bos-
ton, in addition to investment in mort
cages, etc., etc., of a like value. Young
Sears is at present o student in Yale
College, and has been educated under
the guardianship of the Hon. Alpheus
Hardy. He is a young man of intelh-
gence, and is said to be possessed OF
many of the characteristics Of his father.
By the terms OF the will the son was to
receive $50, 900 when he was twenty-one,
81, 900 annually from that age to twenty
five, 5000 annually from twenty-five to
thirty, and $40, 900 per year subsequent
". There seems to be no direct pro-
vision in the will that the son shall ever
receive other of the estate than the above
save in the matter of his education.
Who will inherit this vast property in
the event of the sons deceass is a qucs-
ton for the courts.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
The Morrill, Redemption Bill.

The following is the full text OF the
bill introduced in the United States
Senate by Senator Morrill,, OF Vermont:
To provide for the redemption OF legal
tender United States notes in accordance
with the existing law. Be it enacted,
etc., that to further enable the secretary
of tho treasury to provide for the re-
demption OF the legal tender United
States notes, in accordance with the ex.
istine law, he is authorized to issue, sell
or dispose OF, at not less than par In
legal tender United States notes, either
of the descriptions of the bonds OF the
United States, bearing interest at 9 rate
of not exceeding Jour and one-han per
cent. per annum, described In the act OF
Congress approved July IA, 1870, en-
titled can act to authorize the refund
ing of the national debt" with Like
qualities, privileges and exemption TO
the extent necessary to carry into full
effect the act of Congress approved Jan.
IA. 1876, entitled, can act for the re-
sumption of specie payments" and to
use the proceeds thereof tor the pur-
poses aforesaid; and the said legal notes
so obtained upon the issue Of said bonds
shall be held and considered as a part OF
the final redemption Of such notes pro-
vided for in the act of Congress herein
last mentioned, and shall be treated &C,
cordingly and cancelled; provided that
the principal of the bonds herein author
lied may be made redeemable at any
time not less than thirty nor exceeding
forty years from the date of issue.
SEQ. Q. That all contracts entered into
or made after the first day OF January,
1878, shall be payable in accordance
with the legal tender standard OF gold
and silver, unless otherwise provided at
the time of the contract.
SEC. 8. That all national banking as
sociations shall be and hereby are re-
quired to hold in coin as part OF their
lawful money reserve, on and after the
first day of January, 1877, one-tourtn;
after the first day Of January, 1878, one
half, ard after the first day of October,
1878, three -fourths.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Affairs in Cuba.

The Spaniards in Cuba claim that the
surprise of Jagua by the raiders was not
due to their daring, or to the negligence
of the military commander of the dis
trict, but to treason among the inhabit-
ants of the city, by whose assistance
alone the blow could have been attempt
ed. Some arrests have already been
made on suspicion of completely, and
among the prisoners is Spaniard, who
is stated to have always figured In the
loyalist ranks. The papers call for rig
orous investigation and exemplary pun
ishment in case of conviction. Arrests
upon similar grounds are being made in
most of the towns of the interior, AND a
correspondent writes from Puerto Prin-
cipe rejoicingly, that there are sixty odd
persons in the prisons of that city whose
conduct is being investigated in connec-
tion with charges of giving intelligence
to the enemy.
The Spaniards have derived much
comfort from cable dispatch announc-
ing that the British government would
probably defer answering for the pres
ent the circular note of Mr.. Fish, and
as they fancy they would have the sup
port of England in any conflict with
America, they may be expected to be
moro grandiloquent, now, in their patrl.
otic declarations, than ever.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Russia's Grain Trade.

The London Times, in financial or.
ticle, says : It seems from recent arti-
cles in the Moscow Gazette that great
stagnation prevails in the grain trade in
southern Russia. Russian agriculture
and commerce are threatened with q
collapse. Chief among the causes is the
keen competition of America. Since the
civil war in that country the British i'm
port of American wheat has increased
until it stands now where the Russian
importation stood in 1864. Then Rus
sia sent out forty-four hundredths of her
total imports, and the United States
only fourteen. In 1873 the United
States sent out forty-four hundredths
and Russia only twenty-one. This does
not represent decrease to that extent
of Russia's total exports; on the con-
trary, they have slightly increased, but
Americas have increased much faster.
The causes are declared chiefly to be
Americas superior transit advantages,
her virgin soil, and her more scientific
agriculture. The Gazette therefore
urges the Russian agriculturists to IN
corporate new lands, use better apph-
ances, and more skill; but says that
cheaper inland transportation is the
chief need. The Gasette's Odessa cor
respondent writes that the oldest inhabi
tants declare that Odessa was never at
such standstill since its foundation.
No transactions are effected, and bank
ruptcy follows bankruptcy. Houses
have fallen to thirty -hundredths of their
value, and wheat is lying In the store
houses. Repeated failures of the crops
in the southern districts of Russia are
partly the cause of the difficulty. The
Gazette, however, says the condition OF
affairs is largely Influenced by the mis-
placed activity of private banking
houses, which made credits absurdly
easy and cheap, which occasioned q
storm of feverish speculation and
created ephemeral undertakings. Now,
forced to curtail credits, they have re-
duced to the most awkward position
many who thought such a state of
things would last forever.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Dyspepsia from Eating Hot Bread.

General Clingman, writing to the
North Carolina Agricultural Journal,
tells some truths and offers suggestions
about the causes and results of dyspep-
sia and indigestion, with especial refer
encs to hot, doughy bread, which will
apply to all parts Of the country. Read
and heed: H..
It has been said that the frying-pan is
the great enemy to our people. There
can be no doubt but that it has slain its
thousands; but bad bread is the slayer
of tens of thousands. While travelling
in Europe for eight months, I saw moth
ing but cold bre ad, nor did I, while
there, see or hear anything that tended
to induce me to believe that anybody in
Europe had ever eaten piece of hot
bread. T invariably, however, found
the bread good, and the people I saw
appeared healthy and robust. Some, as
the English and Germans, were espe-
cially so.
With respect to the United States. the
condition Of things may be more strik-
ingly and pointedly presented by refer
ence to Individual cases. Many years
since I stopped at the house of an &C.
quaintance, and, on seeing him, I said:
"You are not looking as well as usual. !"
"No," he replied, ."I have the dyspep-
sia powerfully bad" When dinner was
ready, there was an abundant supply Of
meats and well-baked corn bread.
There was also, however, something
called biscuit, which was, in fact, rather
warm dough, with much grease in it. 1
saw that my host ate this freely with his
meats. I remarked that I did not Won
der that he had dyspepsia, for that I
could not live month in that way. I
suggested that if he would eat we'll
baked corn bread, or, better still, light
bread, he would not suffer as he was
doing. He answered vehemently "that
the would rather die than eat light
bread" I replied: "This is free;
country, and you have right to die in
this mode if you choose, and have no
doubt but that you will soon die. - I
then referred to cases in which I had
known people to die from such prac-
tices. Ny cool mode of discussing the
question evidently made an impression
on his wife. Next summer, Oh meeting
him, / said: "You are; looking, much
better" "Yes," he replied, bursting
into hearty: laugh, 81 followed your
advice, and took to eating light bread,
and I am as well as I ever was in my
life."' , - :. . d"
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
United States Navy.

In the United States navy there are
forty rear-admirals on the retired list,
who receive 81, 500 per year salary. Fol-
lowing the list of rear-admirals there ap-
pears list of thirty eight commodores.
Thirty-fve Of these commodores are on
the retired list and receive $3,750 per
year each.
There are thirty captains and COM
manders on the retired or pension list
who receive IN average Of So, 900 year
each.
After the captains and commanders
come the lieutenants, ieutenant-com-
manders, masters, ensigns, and even
midshipmen. A "starred," or retired,
lieutenant-commander receives 81, $50 q
year, a lieutenant 81, $50, master 81 500,
an ensign 1,l50, and a midshipman
$3.50. After these come the staff Off
GERS, ard the exhibit is somthing appall'
ing. There are twenty-five medical di-
rectors at $4,000 each, thirteen other
medical officers at an average Of 81, ,OOo
each. fifteen pay officers at an average OF
So, 1000 each, and thirty-eight engineers
at about the same average.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Celebrating the Centennial.

The centennial year was ushered il"
with a great deal of noise and excitement
in various parts of the United States.
In some of the interior cities the celebra-
tion was quite extensive. Midnight
professions and parades, illuminations,
fireworks, and salutes of one hundred
gnns, were freely INDUCED in. New
Yorkers were treated to promiscuous
serenade of fish horns, the bells were
rung, and one of the great railroad lines
kept up a tremendous blasEhalf an
hour long-from all its available steam
whistles. AS q FLIP to the enjoyment,
in the United States, the inhabitants OF
Quebec celebrated the repulse of the
Americans from that city hundred years
ago and the house where Montgomery
was taken to die was decorated and
illuminated.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
A Hero and o Martyr.

Few of those who read and wondered
at Charles Reade's thrilling story OF
James Lambert, as it was published O.
year ago, says the New York Tribune,
imagined that We had here at home q
hero in humble life whose achievements
rival if they do not surpass those Of the
now famous cotton spinner of Glasgo Y.
John Horn, the hero of this story, Is the
son of waterside tavern keeper at De-
troit. The list of men, women and
children whom be has rescued from
drowning numbers over one hundred:
Repeatedly he has barely saved himself
in the gallant attemptto save others, and
the reward which he seems to have gen
orally earned by his e1ertions is fit OF
sickness. It has not been mere falr
weather heroism. His most memorable
achievements have been performed on
dark and stormy nights, or when the
water was full of floating ice. We can
almost believe that it is a custom in De-
troit when anybody is drowning to post
pone other appliances for rescue and
call John Horn for this young man
seems to have been repeatedly summoned
from home to plunge into the water
while crowds of spectators stand sympa-
thetio but helpless on the bank. How
he has been kicked and bruised and
strangled and injured internally and
otherwise maltreated by the people he
has been trying to get out of the river
our readers can easily imagine.
Drowning men," us Mr.. Horn OBJ
serves, "are always crazy"
We do not find in his narrative an
exact parallel to James Lanlbert's most
remarkable exploits; but there is some
thing which comes very near it in the &C.
count of what he modestly calls "the
worst night he ever had," when he
saved no fewer than nine men. That
would be accounted rather good night,
We think, in most mems lives; but John
Horn is not boaster. The citizens OF
Detroit gave him medal for his gal
lantry, and he lost it while saving the
life Of q young lady in 1873. Last year
he applied to Congress for a medal, and
his claims to renown were made through
the agency of the Hon. Moses w.
Field, who represented Detroit in Con-
gress and was IN eyewitness of several
of the events which this letter records.
There can hardly be a doubt that John
Horn ought to have the little testimonial
he asks.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
The Europ an Grain Trade,

The Mark Lane Express, in it's re-
view of the grain trade, says 1875 has
unfortunately proved year of general
deficiency and ipferiority. Barley has
shown the best yield of the season, be.
ing only slightly below the average, but
its color has been so generally affected
that its value for mailing purposes is
greatly reduced, perhaps eight to ten
shillings per quarter. Sales have been
unusually dull. Oats and beans are he.
low the average, but better prices paid
for the latter compensate the defect.
Teas are considerably below the average,
having suffered greatly in size and quail
sy. The wheat crop has suffered most,
only one-eighth reaching the average,
while fvc-sizths sink below it. What
ever dullness now prevails, and may for
a period continue, our large deficiency
will crop up as the season advances
Should we have bad spring an import
ant advance must ensue.
The Corn Trade Association OF Liver
pool publish q statement of the estimated
stock of breadstuffs there on the 3lst OF
December, 1875, as compared with the
same time last year. The tables show
tha following:
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
UNITED STATES PUBLIC DEBT.
An Interesting statepent of tho Financial
Condition Of the Nation.

Condition Of the Nation.
The increase of nearlYtwo million dol
lars in the public debt of the United
States last month, a Washington dis
patch says, is attributable to the large
falling off in revenues, usual tor the
month of December. The receipts last
month from customs were less than eight
million dollars, and nearly three millions
less than in November, which was the
1ightest of the first five months of the
present fiscal year. Compared with De-
cember, 1874, which was the hghtest
month Of the last fiscal year, the receipts
last month fell off about one and one
quarter millions. The customs receipts
for the six months ending December
thirty-frst are nearly four millions short
of the receipts for the corresponding
period of 1874. For several years past
the debt statement for December has
shown an increase in the public debt.
In December, 1873, the increase was
SO, ,453, ,273; in 1874, s., ,659, 1868, while in
1876 it is 81, Ole, ,063, or about one-haf
what it was in 1874. Compared with last
year there is marked Improvement in
our financial condition. For the six
months ending December thirty. first the
public debt has decreased $3.50, ,531,
against "a, 0S9, $50 for the corresponding
period Of 1874. The internal revenues
show an increase over the month of De-
cember, 1874, which indicates that the
increased tax on whisky is being collect
ed, and that frauds upon the revenues
which have been checked have caused
serious loss heretofore. The debt state
ment shows that during December the
coin balance has fallen off 81, 000, 600,
and the currency balance nearly $500,
600. The coin certificates have increased
from $40, ,OOO, 900 to $31, 600, 900. There
has been decrease of legal tenders tor
the month of $644, ,552, and an increase
in fractional currency Of 81, ,079,967. b.,
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
THE WASHINGTONIANS.
How the Temperance Reform of the Last
Century Originated.


Century Originated.
Hon. Frank W. Miller, son of one
of the earliest and most consistent mem
bers of the Washington Total abstinence
Society, has contributed to the Ports
mouth IN. H. Chronicle brief history
of that organization. He says: On
tile second day Of April, 1910, six men
sat drinking in tavern on Liberty
street, Baltimore. Notices had been
published in the papers of that city that
distinguished clergyman (Matthew
Hale Smith) would lecture on temper
ance that evening in one Of the churches.
This subject was mentioned by one Of the
six, and, after some talk, it was agreed
that two of their number should attend
the meeting, and report. This was
done, and, after the report had been
listened to, and the subject discussed,
one Of them exclaimed: ''Let Us. form
temperance society, and make Bill
Mitchell president. With this under
standing, and after taking another drink,
they separated. On the next evening
they met at the same place---the matter
was again talked over, and they resolved
to form, and did form, society, naming
it after the Father Of their Country, as
it was quite common at that time to
name most organizations after Washing
ton. The names of those six individu-
ais were William Mitchell, David Hoss,
Charles Anderson, George Steer, Bill
McCurdy, and Tom Campbell. They
then voted to meet the next night in O
carpenters shop, and each agreed to
bring a new member. These meetings
were; held almost nightly, and for re-
marks each related his own experience
at the court of death. As might be ex-
pected, these meetings began to. attract
public, attention. John Hawkins early
became member, but was not one OF
the. original six, These reformed men
were soon invited to visit other cities
and towns, and who Of our older citizens
has not listened to the thrilling and
simple experience of John Hawkins as
he has portrayed the misery OF the
drunkard and told the touching story OF
his little daughter Hannah persuading
him to quit the drunkard's drink. This
new movement spread from city to city,
and from town to town, until there was
scarcely a place in the United States
that did not have it's Washingtonian
Total Abstinence Society. =" Men who
had been drunkards for years burst the
bands that had so long bound them; and
became temperance. reformers. The
name being quite long, it soon became
shortened by daily use, and these
organizations became known throughout
the country as "Washingtonians:" The
Washingtonian Society was originated
in Portsmouth in l841, and has been in
strumental in reclaiming more than
three hundred intemperate men, many
of whom kept the pledge till their dying
day. Others still live blessing to
their families and an honor to society.
They demonstrated the great fact that
the drunkard could be saved. While
nearly all the societies of this class in the
country have ceased to exist, the Ports
mouth Washingtonians have always
maintained their organization.
The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-02-16
Death from Hydr0ph0bia.

Hugh Murray, aged nineteen years,
residing in Brooklyn, was bitten by q
cat, whose anger he bad aroused in
some manner. The wound inflicted was
not serious one, aud no attention was
paid to it at the time. Six weeks after,
however, ,athe wound began to swell, and
Murray's friends becoming alarmed,
summoned physician. All was done
TO his relief that medical skill could
suggest, but to no purpose. He died in
great agony. The case is pronounced
one of genuine hydrophobia, and the
progress of the disease evinced all the
symptoms of that malady.