davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
SUNDAY, MARCH ., 1879.
= OnMERCE ON THE MIssIssIPPI
RIVER

We have frequently called the attention Of
foe business men of Memphis to the fact that
'ne opening of the Mississippi to the sea by
l.ads's jetties. and the facility with which
vessels Of great burden can now ascend to
New Orleans, is greatly increasing the
amount Of commerce on the river which
flows in front of this city. This is a subject
that should receive our most earnest atten-
ton, Tor, when a constant flow of commerce
Is perpetually passing up and down the Mis-
issippi, it cannot fail to bring active business
Memphis, and place this city in the on
ward career to prosperity, if we only are en-
,Crprising and active enough to improve the
opportunities it places within our reach.
3 roper effort will bring congress to the point
granting the necessary aid to put the river
:trm New Orleans TO st. Louis in a navigable
condition for the ascension of sea-going
@ its. Let that be accomplished and the
Jublcs Of Memphis are over, and a career
81 brilliant prosperity lies before it. The fol-
Living, from the New Orleans Times, is proof
filat we have said no more on this subject
tnan is warranted by strict and certain facts:
ave have noticed of late the progress of a
very important movement which is being
quietly, though successfully made. We
speak of the through shipments of grain
from st. LOUIS, and cotton from Memphis to
liverpool by the Mississippi Valley trans
poitation company. This trade has
already assumed immense proportions
and threatens seriously TO deprive
the Atlantic cities from Boston to
Savannah Of almost their entire quotas of the |
cotton, as well as grain, produced in the |
Mississippi valley, which. by their close rail |
road connections, they have hitherto been |
euabled to attract to their ports. The grand |
levers used IN this business are enterprise and |
cheap freights. The great transportation |
company, with its immense barges, are con-
{ acting at such rates as defy competition to
{ liver these freights on through bills of
lsding at Liverpool and other foreign mar
Acts, and thereby saves to shippers the ex-
lenses attending reshipment, brokerage,
Sharf-dues and drayages. The cotton is COM
p essed at Memphis, so as to be all ready to
20 on board of the ships here, taken on the
tilrRes which have already been freighted
n gram at st. Louis, and arriving here is
= ansterred Immediately to vessels already |
chartered by the company, without the loss of |
days time or being subjected to any hand
ling other than that required to twist out of |
the barGes into the ships. The great ad-
vantages possessed by this plan are obvious
mt glance, and that 1t must in time bring |
for shipment through our port all the cotton
grown in our valley, which hitherto has
sought markets through the Atlantic ports |
cannot be doubted, for there is no railroad !
That can be so cheaply managed as to be able |
TO compete with this through water route in |
transporting bulky freight over thousand |
nudes"
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09

building. Van NCss's first shot took effect
wound. The second bullet buried itself in
the partition between this room ami the
young women's dressing-room, and Mis-
Amy Howard declares that the bullet went
almost near enough to her head 10 scorch her
frizzes. The third shot was aimed directly
at the head of s. Levi, who was present in a
sort Of managerial capacity lucky up
ward stroke on the part of Levi sent the bull
let through his silk hat, and saved the en-
tirety of his countenance. the mad pedes-
trian fired four more shots, most of which
he aimed at his own head, but he hit moth
ing but the wall. The police rushed in and
Van Ness was subdued He had failed 10
make the required number of laps within the
half hour; but his trainers assert that
he was quoted and taken to the track
in time to complete his half mile.
After lying half an hour in a sort of
stupor. he was aroused and again walked
around the track until he had made the
necessary number of laps. At ten o clock he
was walking, and seemed to have recovered
his reason sufficiently to know what he was
about and where he was. Van Ness is
twenty-six years old and has once walked
against OLeary. He is a tall, wel-formed
man, but appears to be very much used up by
his twenty-six days tramp. The pistol he
used is a seven shooter with a pearl handle,
and carries a ball of formidable size. Seven
bullet holes in the wall bear evidence of the
introduction of this new feature Of pedes-
trianism. A very tall and wide German, who
was present at the time of the shooting, was
enthusiastic in his self gratulatiOns on escap-
uh11rf
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
THE VANDERBILT WILL CASE
Brought to n Close, Almost n Collapse.
after an Indulgence in Dirt and
Defamation Unparalleled in
the History of Lawsuits.

New York World: 'The close of the
Vanderbilt will case is a close by collapse.
People would abdicate their own intelligence
and insult that of Surrogate Calvin by affect
ing to doubt what the decision will be to which
the case was yesterday submitted. The World
has never concealed its opinion of the alb
surdity of the contention that Commodore
Vanderbilt was at the time the contested will
was made, or any previous time, of other
than sound and dlsposlng mind and memory.
The contention was reduced to palpable alb
surdity yesterday by the production of three
previous wills to the same purport as the con-
tested will, except that they were less favor
able to the present contestants. If this de-
monstration had been made earlier In the
case it is not certain that it would in any wise
have modified Mr.. Scott Lords opinion of
his duty as an advocate, although it
is credltable to his perceptions at
least that he apologized, when the demon
stration had been made for some of the wan
ton personal attacks that he had made. The
truth is really no palmer now than 1T has been
for months, that the will was an intelligent
adaptation of means to an end which was at
least Ineligible. Commodore Vanderbilt's
main object In making 1t was to Keep the
property together, as has been testified, and
to keep it in the family as has also been
testified If he had been a physician or a
lawyer who, out of professional pride, had
0eQueath6Q MS practlce TO q son VINO should
continue it and thus perpetuate his fathers
fame, no one would have called in question
such bequest. 1t is very common abroad
for banker to leave his business by will to
one person, and such provision by a mill
lIonaire is no moreeeccentric than when it is
made by a testator of limited means. It was
only the greatness of the booty in the Van
derbit case that inspired an attack upon
will the justice and reasonableness Of which
have been indicated by the contest. We fail
to discover in the testimony the least proof
of the original allegation that Commodore
Vanderbilt was of weak mind, and that he
was unduly influenced, rife as the speeches
of counsel have been with repetitions of
those assertions. 1t is to be hoped that the
very distinct expression Of public opinion
which Mr.. Lord hes evoked by the offers to
scandaiize, which he yesterday withdrew,
may be useful to other lawyers in like cir
cumstances, whether it is profitable to Mr..
Lord himself or not. 1t is equally to be
hoped that the fate of this case may supply
a wholesome admonition 10 the heirs atlaw
of other rich men who may be tempted to
contest what they know to be a good will.
Such contests, in such cases, are not carried
on for nothing, as the present contestants
have found, and they re in position to feel
that the proverb which exhorts families to do
the family washing a. home is founded in
prudence as well as in propriety."
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
HARE-K ARR.
What the Reputation Ring of the
Tennessee Legislature who go
AbOut AssasstnRtinE Char
acter. Ought to Do
An Example for
Them.

Nashville american: " The suicide of a
German consul IN the east, because of reprl-
nland from his government, IS another proof
of the tendency OF modern civilization to alb
serb from all quarters ideas which are valua-
BILE and worthy of a place in our progress.
Ii has long been known that, while appar-
emily just emerging from barbarity, Japan
has some ideas beyond her actual stage of
civilization. Philosophers have long regretted
that the wisely ordained institution Of hari-
kan did not exist in the newer civilization.
No doubt the method can be improved, but
the idea OF a condemned public officer hand
ing in MS checks with clearance of himself
is too good not to be adopted. The JaDanese
method Of ripping up the intestinal machinery
spoils the subject for scientific purposes.
For instance, it can never be discovered Just
how strong a stomach a chronic office
holder possesses, with the viscera despoiled
in that unscientifc manner. The adoption
Of this uUscientlhc disposition Of condemned
office holders will prove by far the best civil
service rule ever adopted. As it Is, an official
Is no sooner condemned IN one quarter than
he turns no in another, and, from the prac-
tce of our government, 10 be slightly dam
aged appears, as in the case of Limburger
cheese, to be the very highest recommended
ton. We have a great many at home and
abroad, who have been selected, one would
suppose, by smelling committee on the trial
Of damaged regulations. The malodOrous
Madison Wells. the loud-smelling Noyes and
the offensive Packard, for instance. would
have been excellent subjects for hari-kari.
For instance, under that system, when judg-
ment went against Packard in Louisiana, he
would have left only his cold corpse to the
doctors to examine and see what in the
deuce it was made of anyhow. Thus the
government would have been saved the
trouble Of taking care Of it on foot at an ex-
pense of seventeen thousand dollars per an
mum. We hail this incident as an indication
that this desirable feature of civil-service re-
form is travelling slowly Westward"
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
REECHER.
Who Is shortly to Lecture in Memphis.
sued for Damages to the Life OF
Christ"-SuppOse ali the
Preachers were sued
who Damage that
LIfeg

New York Times, 4th: Ever since the
time when Samuel WiikesOn, while wit
ness in the liltOn- Beecher suit, was quoted,
to the great glee of most Of the auditors IN
the Brooklyn city court, as saying that the
scandal knocked Mr. Beecher's Life Of Christ
higher than kite, there has been more or
less talk of q suit beng brought on the con-
tract for the work IN question As time
passed by, and the manuscript for the seCoud
volume was not forthcoming, 1t was openly
stated that the matter had been put In the
hands of counsel, with instructions to sue
Mr.. Beecher for damages. The counsel when
questioned about it, denied the truth of the
statement. 1t seems, however, that the mat
ter was not dropped, but that such a suit has
already been begun IL the superior court OF
this city. Mr.. Wilkeson figures as the plain
tiff and Mr.. Beecher as the defendant. The
summons and the complaint IN action were
served on Mr.. Beecher on Friday. Messrs.
Fullerton, Knox and Crosby appear for the
plaintiff, and Thomas O.. Sherman Will doubt
less represent the defendant. Mr.. WiikesOn
was a member of the frm OF J b Ford &
Co., with which Mr.. Beecher made the con-
tract for writing the Life Of Christ The
work was TO be IN two volumes, and
Mr.. Beecher's remuneration was to
consist of the payment of ten thou
liberal royalty on the sales of the work. He
was paid the ten thousand dollars from the
money advanced as claimed, by Mr.. Wilke-
son. The work was to be completed within
nineteen months after the signing Of the con-
tract. As soon as Mr.. Beecher began the
work of authorship the firm sent out its
agents to canvass Tor the work and expend-
ed about thirty thousand dollars in pictures,
plates, paper, etc, in anticipation of q ire
mendous sale. Subscriptions poured in from
all parts Of the country, and a well known
German publishing house bought the right
of translation for Germany The stirring up
of the Iltou scandal in 1878 followed speed
lily after the publication OF the first volume,
and the work went no further. The firm of
J. b. Ford & Co. became insolvent and its
assets were disposed of to Albert Wright
(the plates and an immense edition, I'M
bound, of the Life, going for a mere song.
Mr.. Wilkeson subsequently bought them in,
and proposed to Mr.. Beecher that the second
volume be finished and published according
to contract. MIR. Beecher refused, however,
to proceed, though threatened and impCr-
tuned for a long time. At last Mr.. Wilke-
son resolved to act in the matter and endeav-
or to enforce whatever rights he hal under
the contract. By the action he has brought
he seeks to recover, not only the ten thou
sand dollars advanced to Mr.. Beecher, but
also thirty thousand dollars to make good
the amount expended by the firm of J. B.
Ford &c Co., in the purchase Of plates, etc,
as well as exemplary damages in addition,
for the breach of the contract 10y Mr..
Beecherh
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
A WALKIST
Who Should be Turned Loose upon
the Tennessee RepudIatiOnIsts and
Defamers-Insane from Being
OVertasked, he Cleans out
an Audience with
Pistol.

New York Sun: ''On the twenty-sixth of
January, Van Ness, the pedestrian, began
an attempt to walk two thousand half miles
in two thousand consecutive half hours in the
Fifth regiment armory IN Hester street. At
the same time Ed Belden begane walk of two
thousand half miles in two thousand consecu-
tive periods of twenty minutes, which he is
said to have finished on Sunday evening.
Van Ness had yet to walk till next Sunday
afternoon. Several days ago he began to be
very nervous and betrayed symptoms of men
tai arrangement, but he was nevertheless
promptly hauled flom his cot on the ringing of
the bell, and propelled over the sawdust by two
Jealous trainers, acting somewhat after the
manner of side-wheels. Last evening at
eight o'clock there was small SQUAD OF
spectators In the hall, entertained by the
galts of two or three young womed In short
skirts who were pranclng around the hall In
pursuit of records as pedestrIennes In the
gallery a stunted Italian had a complaining
fiddle by the neck, and was torturing it in a
careless way. Another Italian of size
larger was rasplng his harp with his finger
nails. The young women retired from the
sawdust to their dressing room and Van
Ness was walked on to the track bv his
trainers. This was at the beginning of his
one thousand seven hundred and eiph-
teenth half mile. after walking one or two
laps he broke away from the trainers and
d
but he turned upon them with the look of a
maniac and defed them to lead him out. A
struggle ensued, and he was brought on the
track and started around. When opposite
to the door of his dressing-room, he again
broke away and lodged through this door.
slamming it after him. His trainer Bur-
goyne, and the assistant trainer, Rafferty,.
burst through the door, and were met by the
ravIng pedestrian with seVen-shot revolver
in his hand. He had every appearance of a
maniac. His eyes glared ferociously, and he
was muttering unintelligible words to him
self. When the trainers were hardly through
the door Van Ness fred on them. The spec
tators made rush for the door. The Italian
dropped their instrument, and
got down behind the railing. The young
women in their dressing-room made
several sudden laps around the apart
ment. and uttered about two thousand
in as many consecutive instants. The |
pop of the pistol resounded through the |
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09

legislature, member moved to translate all
the latin phrases in the statutes 30 that the
people could understand them. A Mr.. Up
age to have the people understand the law.
He said that they were not afraid of anything
they understood; that it was the latin words
they were afraid of. and proceeded to Illus
trate as follows: Mr.. Speaker, there was a
man in South Kingston about twenty years
ago, who was perfect nuisance, and nobody
knew how to get rid of him One day he
was hoeing corn, and he saw the sheriff COM
ing with a paper and asked him what it was.
Now if he had been told that it was a writ,
what would he have cared? But he told him
it was a capias sdtisfdeiendtm, and the man
dropped his hoe and ran, and has not been
heard of since
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
TrOubIe I'm Russia.

New York Herald: CDR. Botkiues state
ment that there was a case of the plague in
the city of st. Petersburg, was naturally not
agrees bic to the Russian authorities; bat if
the statement was true, as 1t probably was,
they should have been very glad to know the
truth at the earliest possible moment, in
order that they might take Immediately such
steps as were most likely 20 prevent the
spread Of infection. But the subject seems
not to have presented itself to them In that
light, and they have contented themselves
with denying the statement and declaring
that it originated with enemies of the gov
eminent. 1t Is now stated that the stories
that the plague Is in the capital originated
with the nIhlllsts, and are spread only by
them, and that DR.. B0tkine's assistants are
of this malevolent fiction. Apparently it is
supposed in the official world In Russia that
this Is a complete answer to Botkine's dis
tlnct and positive statement; but if this is
only intended to give the nihilists a bad
name and prevent the spread of panic it may
do no great harm. Should the authorities,
however, act ON their own delusion, and pro-
coed against the nihilists and not against
the encroachment of the epidemic, the re-
suits will be calamitous. Between the
plague and the nihilists and their own ian
beetle decisions, the Russian authorizes have
much to contend with,
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
Death of the Great Lead-Pencu Man

A New York dispatch says: "Eberhard
Faber, founder and head of the house of a.
w. Faber, In this country, died at his resi-
dence in New York, on Saturday, aged fifty
seven. He was the first to establish the
lead-pencil house of A. w. Faber here, and
from this city he has, within the last twenty
years, spread the business of the firm all
over the United States. He was born near
Nuremberg, Bavaria, December 6, 1922, the
youngest son of George Leonard Faber, son
of A. w. Faber, and grandson of Casper
Faber, who first began the manufacture of
Faber's pencils in 1921. IN 1849 Mr.. Faber
came to New York and opened a branch
house of A. w. Faber. The business was at
first conducted simply as an agency to the
main house IN Germany, the pencils being i'm
ported at great expense from the parent es-
Establishment. Mr.. Faber conceived the idea
OF manufacturing his own goods IN this
country. In 1861 he built the first lead
pencil mandatory in America. Labor-sav-
ing machinery was introduced to reduce the
difference between the price of labor in Eu-
rope and America. In this factory were
made all grades of pencils upon which an
excessive duty was charged. Mr.. Faber, as
years passed, enlarged his plans and manu-
featured penholders, rubber goods, and al
most everything connected with the station
cry trade. At the time of his death the en-
tire product of a rubber factory in New Jer-
sey was absorbed by him in the manufacture
OF rubber Materials"
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
Chicago Saturday Herald
4 PERFECTLY. AWFULLY LOVELY
STORY.

There was perfectly modern girl.
With perfectly modern ways,
Who saw perfection In everything
That happened TO meet her gaze.
Such perfectly lovely things she saw,
And perfectly awful, too,
That none would have dared 70 doubt her wort
SO perfectly, perfectly true.
The weather, she said, In summer time,
Was perfectly, aWfully warm;
The winter was perfect, too, when there came
Some perfectly terrible storm.
she went to a perfectly horrid school,
In perfectly horrid town;
And the perfectly hateful teachers there
Did things up perfectly brown.
Her lessons we're perfectly, fearfulIy long,
But never we're perfectly said,
And when she failed, as often she did,
Her face grew perfectly red.
The church she attended is perfectly mag
With perfectly heavenly spire,
And perfect crowds go here to hear
perfectly stunning choir.
The latest style is perfectly sweet
The last the perfectest out;
Tie books she reads are perfectly good.
Dust here we raise doubt)
ride she took was perfectly grand,
On perfectly gorgeous day,
With perfectly nobby friend of hers,
Who happened to pass that way.
The perfectly elegant falls she'd seen,
When on her way to the lake,
And the graphic description she gave US all
Was simply modern mistake.
The perfectly splendid foam dashed up.
In perfectly killing style;
And the perfectly terrible waves came down
In perfectly lovely pile.
might go on with this perfectly poem
And write to the end of time,
But fearing to wear your patience out
VIII bring to an end my rhyme.
Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-09
THY WILL BE DONE.
FRANCIS f. POPE,

Thy will he done! Not lightly be 1t spoken,
To fall like tinking cymbals on the air;
BeyOnd all other words are these the token
OF resignation conquered from despair.
Not all who say Lord! LordI' can tell what measure
OF heavy cost 1t takes their depths TO learn;
What loss of ease what sacrifice of treasure,
WHAT exile out of which is no return.
He who has proved this saying bears the traces
OF furnace fires that spare the gold alone;
His conversation is In heavenly Places
His life is lived as Gods, and not his own.
His soul In reStfnl patience he possesses,
Nor signs for hopes that vanished uufulfilled,
As one who meets with loss, yet still caTesses
Regretful dreams with spirit half Self-WIlled.
No more in things of time his heart is conferred,
For he has seen their preciOusness decrease;
HaS weighed the world ana proved it void and
entered
The upper chamber of abiding peace
Thy will be done! Oh utterance magnetic,
That thrills anew the souls divlner chords,
With deep compassion for that woe prophetic
Which filled the anguished chalice of our Lords
Behold in that sublime self-abnegatlon
What lOwly path the Man of Sorrows trOd,
And knows that out of Thy humiliation
Shall grow the grass to stand before thy God.
Then not with lip irreyerent be spoken
The hallOwed words OF Gods all-sufIering Son.
But say with cODtTite heart, and spirit broken
Through loss, through sorrow, Let Thy will be