davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18
GUARD AGAINST DINASTER.

The burning of the Almshouse at Nor
wich, Conn.,, is almost an exact parallel of
the recent terrible disaster of the burning
Of the Home Of the Aged in Brooklyn, N.
Y. The scene that ensued seems to have
oeen perfect counterpart Of that at the
Homo Of the Aged, the aged inmates leap
ing from the windows and vainly seeking
escape by means Of the roof. This awful
disaster coming so close on one similar
in its circumstances and fatality, should
awaken the authorities in every town, city
and county in the Union, to the necessity
OF instituting thorough supervision of all
charitable buildings. The Norwich Aims
house was large brick edifce, three stor-
les high, and contained fi,y-four inmates
large number of whom were over sixty
years Of age, and the fire occurring in the
middle Of the night, before the fire depart
ment reached the spot, the sleepers in the
upper stories Of the building were deprived
Of the means Of escape, and fourteen fell
victims, all Of whom were persons of ad.
vanced age. In all such buildings each
floor should be traversed by long corridors,
and communication from top to bottom
should be secured by broad stone stairways
in the centre Of each end. 1t seems that
in such buildings, the inmates Of the upper
floors have no chance Of escape, at leas,
such seems to have been the ease in the
burning of the "Home Of the Aged" in
Brooklyn and of the Almshouse in Nor
wich. 1t is sincerely to be hoped that the
circumstances of these two late fatalities
will awaken the authorities Of Wilmington
and every city and county in this State, te
a thorough supervision Of all their char
liable institutions, and take care that am
pie means are provided for securing tn,
escape Of the inmates in case of fire.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

THIS St. Patrick's day, in Philadelphia
will only be observed by the Irish Catholic
societies attending Mass at their respective
churches, and in the evening will present
themselves at the lecture of Rev. DR.. Boyle
They have resolved to reserve their strength
in celebrating the day Of their patron Saint
until the Fourth of July, when combined
effort will be made to render the ceremon-
les of the Fountain in the Centennial
grounds attractive.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

ALTHOUGH the manner in which the
Presidents salary was raised to $50, 900
was not creditable to him nor to the Con-
gress that raised it, we question the propri-
ETY. of the recent action of the Senate in re-
ducing 1t at this time. If salary Of 5000,
600 were given to the President it would
curb his penchant for gifts and interest in
jobs. Should the present bill become law
it will not affect the salary of the present
incumbent. But it is not SO much the sala-
ry of the President that should attract the
Senate. If the economists of that honrable
body would scrutinize the contingent ex.
penses of the White House, which annually
costs double the amount of the Presidents
present salary, they could save more than
by the mere reduction of his yearly pay.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

A SILVER cake from the Potosi Silver
Mine of Mexico, measuring five feet nine
inches in diameter, and weighing four thou
sand two hundred pounds, will be ex.
hibited at the Centennial This man.
moth lump of solid silver, rare and curiout
on account of its great size, is owned by Pic
Berniezillo, and is worth $4,000. Thil
splendid silver cake, an article for the Cen
tennial, is now in temporary resting place
in New York.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

THERE is prospect of the women o.
Massachusetts, becoming voters. The Sen
ate of that State has passed a resolution
proposing an amendment to the State Con
stitution permitting the women to vote. Il
is to be hoped that the House and the peo
pie will approve Of this reform, as we think
the experiment of women voting can be triei
in that State under the most favorable con-
ditions. The State needs some intelligen
voters.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18
THE ooaGARssIONAL COMnlT-
TEES. M III


The subject Of reform IN national gov
ernment has awakened the country % a
deep sense the necessity and importance
Of the action Of high public officials being
better known te the people. There has
been entirely too much Of this ring work.
ing wherein the majority, Of the people
are not allowed to have knowledge.
When the House was entirely under the
control Of the Republican party, witt ali
the committees manipulated BY that party.
there was no opportunity for investigation.
In fact it has been stated, and that too
without contradiction, that previous e
the present House the very committee
which has diyulged the Belknap scandal,
was considered as one of the minor COM
mittees, and the Democrat members Of il
found it next to an impossibility to get the
Chairman to calla meeting. This shows
the necessity ofthe various committees
having perfect knowledge of the actions
Of all the officers undcr their surveillance.
II is only through them that the people
for whoru the Government was made can
be kept apprised Of the safe-keeping Of its
different institutions; and if reform can he
accomplished in any way, this is the only
one that it can be done. ... ss.r.
But if the whole power Of government
is to be placed in the hands Of a dominant
party, who are TO be the supreme rulers;
who are to be considered 80 far infallible
as to be beyond reproach; whose action
are not to be investigated the people sub
servient to that party's officers; then
nothing less is to be expected than such
state Of affairs as has recently been devel-
oped in the War Department, and the
stencil of waich is strongly emitted. from
other governmental departments, where
no one dreamed anything wrong was going
on until a committee led by Democrats
discovered one of the greatest scandals
that has ever besnirched our political his
tory.
After this it would be very mistaken
idea for any one to say that there is no
reform, as many Of the doubtful organs
are doing. Let the proper committees
have the matter in hand. Let public
officers actions be known to the people, and
not kept under the veil of party secresy,
and reform is possible. Strict watch anu
everything being known to the peoples
representatives there will be no need Of
reform. But it has been this placing of
high trusts in the hands of dishonest
party that has ruled and controlled 60
government, injecting dishonesty at will,
that has led to the need Of thorough
purgng Of certain departments, with the
skirts Of others considerably bedraggled
The need of Reform is begotten of dis
honesty in office, but if the committees are
under the direction Of the proper men
they must keep down such glaring fraud
as that Belknap practiced upon the gov
ernment.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

IT IS is very strange that we never heard
Of Belknap's Democratic proclivit!es until
he fell. The Republicans try to console
themselves by proclaiming that Belknal
was once Democrat. He surely could
not have acted with the Democratic part,
for many years, and could not have been ,
Democrat when Grant took him to his bosom
and he certainly was not Democrat wher
his itching palm took the bribe.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

The Commercial has lost nothing in in.
terest to its readers by the change in size
What has been lost in this respect has been
made up by increased industry and improve.
ments in all its departments. We welcome
It to the field Of penny journalism.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

IT IS comforting to know, that while the
shallow-minded partisans look approvingly
upon the course Of Blaine and other Repub-
lican leaders in their endeavors to thwart
justice, that all rejecting people view it In
different light. One of the great blundera
Of the minority in Congress is, refusal to
join heartily in the effort to bring Belknap
to proper punishment.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

Now WHILE the investigating Democrats
have their hands in, why don't they appoint
Especial committee to investigate the forcible
pulling Of that reportorial nose! This II
an important subject, and demands that ar
investigation of the great outrage be a,
once undertaken.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

The Philadelphia Pilgrims in their palm.
lest days would not have beaten tho Pitts.
burg ring of plunderers. The waterworks
of that city, which were estimated to cost
81, ,294 ,47S, haye already absorbed $5,OOO.:.
900, and two more millions are required to
complete them
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

The number of postal cards issued by the
Government since July 1. 1875, is 107, ,12s,-
500 which is an increase over the number
issued last year to the same date, of over
forty. one per cent. How did the people
get along in the days of no postal cards.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

BROTHER ORvILLE was quick to receive
golden opportunities and improve them, and
brother Ulysses was kind when he could mt
decently put brother Orville into position
where he would command big salary, but
did the next best thing he could find a nice
little bonanza, in post-tradership.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

Mayor stokely, of Philadelphis, asks for
an extra police force to protect that part of
the city lying about the Centennial grounds.
An additional force Of five hundred men
is asked for.
The Morning herald., 1876-03-18

The attention OF the Wilmington pub
lie is called to the large stock of Dry Goods
and Trimmings which Is kept constantly
on hand. All goods sold
Dec. lin.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01

The Express is mistaken. The STATES
MAN never denounced" John Hancock for
his idelity to the Union ''belIO fa9rdnte" or
at any other time. Moreover, Judge Trum-
bull was always Democrat and is to-day.
He went with Chief Justice Chase into abo-
litionism. la his theories of the American
system of government, even as was the great
Chief Justice, he - ever been g Democrat.
The absurdity involved in the nomination
of Horace Greeley by the Democracy con-
sisted in the fact that he was Whig. His
original abolitionism, when the negro
question was finally disposed of, signitied
nothing. Trumbull is the peer in intellec
tural greatness of any living American, and
we would have presidential ticket whose
strength does not lie in New York, Con-
necticut, New Jersey and in the South
alone. Trumbull perfects the line of policy
evolved in the nomination of Tilden, giving
the party Western as well as Southern and
Eastern strength. The Southern Democrat
ic States will vote for the nominees of the
St. Louis convention and there is no need
for a Southern man as an element of
strength, that might give force to the asser-
tion that the triumph of Democracy would
be the restoration of JEFF Davis's power"
But the EspreSs probably most objects to
the STATEsMAN's ticket because of its
strength.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01
WHAT DO THE CRANE ERS THINK
ABOUT ITa
Every prosperous agricultural community

Every prosperous agricultural community
it Texas is amply able to construct any
needful narrow gauge road. Iron becomes
very cheap and the cost of graduation is
lessened with the cost of labor and the pig
my road requires the least possible. Its
curves may be shorter and grades higher.
There is nothing accomplished by the cost
lier broad gauge which these cheaper high
ways cannot achieve, and statesmen and
civil engineers in Europe and America be-
preferred to roads which cost so much that
the people must ever complain, in spsrsley
populated or farming countries, of the in
sufferable cost of freight and travel.
We see it stated that the British East
India Company has commenced the con-
struction of 1000 miles of three feet six inch
gauge, and has ordered large portion OF
their five feet six inch lines changed to the
three feet six inches.
The Russian, Swedish and Norwegian
governments have adopted the narrow
gauge. In Prussia they have road of
thirty-one inch gauge. Its engines weigh
twelve and a half tons, and draw thirty-six
cars, with five tons freight, each, or total
of 1SO tons paying weight per train. The
cost of this line, including rolling stock, has
been about $4,000 per mile. In Canada,
about 400 miles of the three feet SIX inch
gauge Is under contract, and some fifty
miles completed and in operation. In Aus
tralia $50 miles are completed and $50 more
projected on this gauge. In Europe the
governments have directed their attention
to this subject, and appoint boards of com
missioners composed of their most cee-
brated civil engineers and practical railway
managers, to investigate and report the
cheapest plan of construction, with the view
of placing railways within the means of all
their people. Russian, Swedish, French
and English government boards of COM
missioners have decided in favor of and rec
ommended the adoption of the narrow
gauge. They are unanimously of the opin-
ion that the standard European gauge of
four feet eight and a half inches is unneces-
sarily wide and expensive, as we'll as costly
in operating, even for their heaviest lines,
and that gauge of three feet is ample for
all requirements.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01

NEWSPAPERS are appealing to the Legis-
lature to recover the magnificent domain
conveyed to the Texas and racific est. Louis
and Philadelphia) road, and Judge Terrell
has introduced resolution of inquiry into
Tom ScOtt's right of tenure of this broad
district of Northern Texas. If Scott get
the forty thousand dollars per mile asked
at the hands of Congress he does not need
the Texas land grant, and for the reason
that the average cost per mile of railway
building does not exceed eighteen thousand
dollars, and If Scott do not get the forty
thousand dollars per mile he cannot build
the proposed Pacific road. Huntingdon,
on the contrary, has built five or six hun
dred miles of his road from San Francisco
towards Ell Paso, Austin and Galveston,
and only asks Congress for the usual rail-
way grant. He proposes to give as security
tor the construction of his road to 81 Paso
first mortgage bonds of his California roads,
now at par, and asks nothing more of the
United States or of Texas. There is no
reason, therefore, why Scott should retain
his Texas land grant, especially if it has
been forfeited.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01

No ASSERTION of patriotism, no patient
endurance through ten years of intolerable
systems of local government, no popular
habits of persistent industry, no support of
candidates for Federal offices because they
fought for the old flag, no condemnation
of Ku-kluxism by the press and public opin-
ION of the South where all the vices of two
armies stuffed off in moral rottenness 20
plague society and organize knavery, no
apology of fact is seen in the North for any
outbreak of violence in the South. A not
in remote parish of Louisiana, where the
negroes are still Africans, such as came on
the Wanderer and such as were sold to our
fathers by the Dutch and New England
such riot, in such district, is pronounced
an illustration of the relations OF the races
everywhere in the South, and the bloody
SHIRT banner of Blaine and Morton is again
in the ascendant.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01

9 slowing the six per cent. gold bonds 10 be
fully worth six and one-fourth per cent. more
by the published statement..of the firm than
the bid they now make. These same figures,
too, show clear gain to the State of 1856,
$50 by steering clear of their proposition.
Accept the statement of the insncier
above referred to, who would pay 95 cents
for currency bonds, the margin on these
gold bonds will mount up to 10 pei
cent. This proposition is certainly q
nice one for the bankers, but
pitiable one for the State,
and We feel authorized to assert, that, with
such men as are to be found upon the
finance committees, no such proposition
will ever reach either house of the Legisla-
ture.
The State should force no bonds upon
the market, other than what is sufficient tC
meet the immediate demands upon the
Treasury, because it has been seen all the
while that the tendency is for higher
prices on all good State securities, and
shrewd observers say that the top of prices
has not yet been reached.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01
THE LEGISLATURE AND LIQUOR
DRINKING.

Whatever may be the action of the Legis-
lature in reference to the prohibitory liquor
laws, it is certainly true that such legislation
has availed nothing in States that have
adopted it and now that some asinine fellow
has sought to introduce this prohibitory
legislation into the Congress OF the United
States it is time that States reflected patient
Iy before approving the policy. No better
evidence of the unwisdom of an act can be
| adduced than Its acceptance at Washing
ton. Whenever a scheme is SO Objectionable
in States that Congress would fasten it on
the whole country, we should be slow to ap
prove it even when proposed by proper
authority. The New England States that
have tested the virtues of absolute prohIbi-
tion give no assurance that they were wise,
and it is commonly said in Maine, Massachu-
sets and Rhode Island, where the extreme
demands of ''local optionists" have been
tested, that the cause of temperance has been
more hindered than helped. Germany and
France are wisest of nations, and if their
example have value the substitution of ma
tive wine and beer for violent alcoholic
stimuants is more desirable than i'm
possible ''prohibitlon." 1t is quite impossi-
bic, every sane lsw-maker must confess, to
abolish an appetite as old as human history,
and we can only regulate and ameliorate an
evil which, confessedly, we cannot destroy.
Municipal lawgivers everywhere recognize
this principle in dealing with the ''social
evil, " and it is quite as applicable to the
fearful vice of popular intemperance. From
the dawn of the first sunrise of which bib
lical tradition tells, alcohol has poured
down a fiery flood through the heaped-up
ages, and mankind has quaffed and mad
dened. Eloquence, religion and law have
interposed to stay the internal tide in vain,
and they alone have escaped its direst ills
who would restrict and ameliorate its Ca
lamities. The education of popular appetite
| is easier than its extinction, and easier than
the demolition of dram-shops, and it is
truthfully and wisely stated that the extir-
patton of the appetite is the true objective
point. 1t Is very noticeable how, within a
half dozen years, light wines in many towns
and districts have come into use and taken
the place of strong alcoholic liquors. The
drinking habits of our people are undergo
ing a change, and though the quantity of
| liquors of all kinds consumed is greater
than ever before, the amount of intemper-
ance is proportlonately less. But there is
altogether too much intemperance for our
welfare and credit as nation, and every
wise and efficient means of diminishing 1t
should be brought into play
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01


Sam Harper is to run against all comers
at jerome Park in October, two and three
quarter miles. sa
The French have mutual aid society in
San Antonio. A ring Of politicians have q
mutual admiration society in Austin.
We read Of crack steamers on the Mis-
sissippi, but Sherman has steam cracker
company. II is no better. we imagine,
than the old-fashioned way Of making
them. f4 sas 81
The rain IN Dallas causes much complaint.
While IL strengthens corn il weakens whis-
ky, fact which the State Geologist should
explain, since it's tho juice Of corn that
Dallas is after. A lively buffalo. bilking
article on this subject would quiet the
nerves Of Dallas.
Newspaper people sometimes commit
queer biunders by confounding one paper
with another, or by writing and reading
hnrriedly. The Marshall Herald, an ably
edited newspaper, has a HerzegoYininn cor
respondent who writes up the Turkish and
Sclavonian war. Another psper reproduces
extracts from this correspondence, and con-
cludes that the battle Of Armageddon, as
foretold by prophets iof old, is about TO
come on IN texas ~ tuhy 1shuai'eAs snS
Legislature.
III W. H." writing from IndianoIa,
May 10, 1915, says: fse
EfitDgs Democratic StEtcsman- three
masted schooners, loaded with cattle and
sheep, bound for Mobile, passed over Sa-
luria bar to-day. which has had thirteen
feet Of water since the storm, which car
red away the greater part Of the narrow
crest Of land separating SaiuFia hnrbor,
which is six miles long, twenty-five TO thir-
y fest deep. upderlaid with sfiG blue clsy
from the veritable gsflf Of the Gulf Of Mex
ieo, rapidly deepening 10 400 feet, As per
chart. entitled United States coast survey
from Key West 10 the Rio Grande, A. o..
Bache, superintendent. Scale 1900. 1863
The foremost gentleman IN social life Is
the educated ssdoetori' whose sympathses
have never been blunfed, but ever indulged
and softened in the prelience Of poverty and
suffering. Therefore H'e can appreciate the
declaration Of DR. Yaiidell, Of Louisville,
who saws Of the physicians Of Texas: "A
splendid body Of men are those Texas doe
tors. EnserpTising. ambitious mens strong,
| hardy men; sbOunding In courage, self
reliant. full Of zeal in their calling; their
sheIves crowded with the works Of the
masters. and on fheir tables nEe the leading
medical journals Of thesley; with big brnins
/ and big hearts, they WI do much % mould
end dlsect the new civilization which 4 be-
| ing developed with sutlh marvellous rapid
| ity 70 this young but powerful commons
| wealth"
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01

THE contest between Morton, Blaine and
Conkling is SO fierce and violent that the
chances of Hayes, of Ohio, grow brilliant,
and our good friend, Guy Bryan, may yet
be gratifed by the nomination of his quon-
dam schoolfellow, Hayes of Ohio. Mean
while, the wealth and poverty of the coun-
try, the bankers and capitalists and press of
the East and the poverty of the South as
sert their preference for the vigorous re-
former, Tilden, of New York. He has been
thoroughly tired and found thoroughly
trustworthy. He obeys and executes the
oountry's laws, violates its theories in moth
ing and is the impersonatlon of practical
reform II Tilden be made President the
cost of living and clothing ones self in the
United States will be lessened one-half be-
fore his term of Office expires Then what
signifies it il she volume of currency be les
sened by its equalization in value with silver
and gold. Moreover, no people or govern
ment can be honest which is cursed with
an emascuIated, degraded currency. We
learned a lessen when Confederate paper
was steadily expanded till Confederate NOR
ais were well nigh exploded.
The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1876-06-01

Texas, through q long series of years,
has held out every possible inducement. to
citizens Of other States to become land
owners. These then become, necessarily,
active, earnest immigration agents, seeking
to sell part in order to give value to all their
lands. Having induced these people to buy,
the Constitution proposes to compel each
of them to employ a lawyer, at each county
towh ill the State, to pay there the
taxes In that county. 1t was part of the
contract with the State, by honest impi-
cation, when the land was sold by the State,
that the land purchaser might pay taxes
at the capital. The county can make as
sessments and be credited by the Comp
troler with sums paid on land lying with
in its confines, and honesty and fair deal
ing, it occurs to us, should be practiced
To force landowners to employ an agent
in each county will compel widows and
orphans and the poor and those who have
inherited land from soldiers to lose what
they have. The very rich can afford to
employ trustworthy travelling clerks to 60
from county to county and adjust their tax
accounts. The ignorant, the poor and wild
ows and orphans will lose everything and
not the Gland sharks" But it will be a
good thing for the court hous e lawyers.