davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
The Prince Who Wants a Pulpit

Of all the members of our royal family
perhaps the one with the strongest intel
lectual bias is Prince Leopold. Unable
TO mingle much in society, in consequence
of a malady which has troubled him now
and again all through his career, he has
naturally been thrown back upon studi
GUS pursuits. He is very fair scholar,
and is certainly possessed by great en-
thusiasm for learning and the arts. A
few days ago he attended great meeting
in the city of London, called by the Lord
Mayor. and spoke on behalf of the extern
sion of universal education. He was
placed at a disadvantage by having to fol-
low the greatest orator Of his time Mr..
Gladstone, and vet, Notwithstanding this,
he acquitted himself with marked ability.
Mr.. Gladstone congratulated the Prince
upon his speech, and was evidently as
ionishcd both by his fluency and the
cogency CT mis- arguments. Prince Leo.
pard has long desired to adopt the CHURCH
as profession, and the matter has been
discussed a: court very recently-so it is
confidently affirmed. He certainly has
strong leaning to clericalisin, but what we
should do with a Prince OF the blood in
the church do not know. He would
prove such sensation that there would
be no place large enough to hold audIen-
ces, unless Mr.. Sturgeon agreed to give
up the Metropolitan Tabernacle for his
use. ! am inclined to think that the
Church Of England would fined great
influx Of candidates for confirmation if il
became known that the Queens son was
willing 10 lay his hands upon them.
London Letter to New York Pss..
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
England Fifty Years Ago.

In those days there were no envelopes
for letters, and postage was calculated by
distance pence in the metropolitan
district, 10 pence to York, shilling and
2 pence to Edinburg, shilllngs to John
o'Groat's House, and something almost
prohibitive to the Continent OF Europe.
" Franks" were in great request; and
members of beth houses of Parliament
we're daily, if not hourly, besieged by let
ter-writers, to obtain the privilege of their
names on the corners of epstes, which
would moi have been sent through the
post at all unless they could have been
sent gratis. When Sir Rowland Hill pro-
posed his scheme of a uniform rate of
postage, he was considered daring rev.
olutionist, destined to ruin the country,
even when he fixed the rate temporarily
at 4 pence. When, after quite interval,
to accustom the panic stricken public TO
the great change originally contemplated,
the rate was reduced to penny, elderly
people held up their hands in dismay and
predicted the collapse, not only of the
Post-oillce, but Of the Empire Of Great
Britain. When l was youth, women
wore patterns. Are such articles ever
seen in our day. A. that time it was con-
sidered vulgar for gentleman to wear
Gotten shirt or silk hat. The shirt OF
fine lipen and the hat of beaver were de
rigueuT. Watches had double cases, be-
tween the outer and inner of which it was
the custom to irsert what were called
watch papers, on which were printed or
written texts from Scripture, moral max
inns, passages from the poets, or tender
love illusions purporting 10 be original.
Still more recently, and when in my prime,
l remember that i, was considered contra
bonos mores and all the prophecies for
a lady to ride in hanson cab, or for
gentleman to smoke in lady's presence;
and worse still, if possible, for lady to
be seen in the streets with a gentleman
who had a pipe or cigar in his mouth.
| rem cmber- and it is scarcely men,
DRY Of older date than thirty years-when
a gentleman in full dress was not COM
PEELED by fashion 10 attire himself like a
clergyman or tavern waiter; when the
fashionable evening dress was blue coat
and gilt buttons and colored or embroi-
dered vest, and when bright colors in the
wsistcoat were not considered the exclu-
sive right OF the loo,man or the coster-
monger ! remember, too, when ladies
were not ashamed 10 be economical in
their attire, and did not allow their silks
or satins to tail on the ground, but wore
their gowns" as they we're called, OF a
length that just reached the ankle, and al
lowed the dainty little feet and a portion
of the leg to be seen. This fashion pleas
ed the gentleman and did no harm to the
ladies, conduced greatly TO comfort in
walking, besides saving a considerable
sum in the dressmaker's account All
the Year Round.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
Paris Newspaper Men.

Partisan journalists, says a British journ-
alists are peculiar race of men who
write what they think, and when they
think little write nonsense. They have
no fear of editors before their eyes, for
they make their dignity consist in accept
ing no editorial re.ouches whatever to
their articles. When Frenchman finds
that he is "getting too big for his par
ticular journal, and is making its columns
crack by the excessive exuberance of the
matter which he puts into them, he starts
off and POUNDS new daily paper Of his
own. He can always find an accommo-
dating capitalist ready 10 lend him mon
ey in return for the social prestige which
The proprietorship of newspaper confers.
The bargain between the pair is summar-
lily this: you hand over the funds and
will supply talent; you content yourself
with being the Snowman of our firm,
and | will do the hard hitting. For the
the rest your position as owner OF the
journal will be grand one, for you will
play orders for nothing, and be able to
vent your animus against sany enemies
you may have in singing little paragraphs
which l will touch for you" There are
about foriy-ive daily newspapers in Paris,
and they lave mostly been started by brill
liant but impecunious journalists who con-
cluded some such treaty as the above
with men of capital-mostly bankers,
merchants or retired tradesmen. Itgan-
orally happens. after time, that the jour
nalist and his financial patron quarrel; then
the n(Sspaper is put up for sale, and the
journ;t list, having become rich IN his turn,
buys out the capitalist and devotes the re.
mainder Of his literary career to abusing
him
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
Chaldean Account of the Flood.

One of the most remarkable of the
recent Assyrian researches and discover
les of George Smith, is a new and more
complete account of the flood, found
upon Chaldean tablets at Konyuniik.
There were twelve of these tablets, and
the inscriptions upon them are known
as the "IZdubar Legends" probably
composed during the early Babylonian
Empire, more than two thousand years
B. c. OF these inscriptions Mr.. Smith
says:
"lzdubar, the hero Of these legends,
probably corresponds with the Biblical
Nimrod. He is represented as giant
or mighty man, who, i'll the early days
after the flood, destroyed wild animals,
and conquered number of petty kings,
uniting their dominions into one mon
archy, which stretched from the Persian
Gulf on the south, to the land of Btani
or Bachtan, near Armenia, on the north.
He Nc a representative Of the beginning
of the empire, and type of the great
conquerers who succeeded him. lzdubar
has Il court, a seer or astrologer, and
officers, like later sovereigns and these
tablets are of the utmost value, as show
ing the manners and customs and re-
ligious beliefs Of his time 1t appears
that at that remote age the Babylonians
lad tradition of 4 flood which WAS a
Divine punishment Tor the wickedness
of the world and of holy man, who
built an ark, and escaped the destruc-
ton; who was afterwards trans
lated, and dwelt with the gods. They
believed in hell, place of torment
nnder the earth, and heaven place of
glory in the sky, and their description
Of the two has, in several points, a
striking likeness to those in the Bible
They believed in n spirit or soul distinct
from the body, which was not destroyed
on the death of the mortal frame, and
they represent this ghost as rising from
the earth at the bidding Of one of the
gods, and winging its way to heaven.
This history Of Izdubar appears to have
national poem to the Babylcnians,
similar in some respects to those of
Homer among the Greeks. The center
OF the story Of Izdubar is the city of
Erech, now represented by the ruins
of Warlla, on the eastern bank of the
Euphrates = = = Erech is one of
the cities mentioned as the capitals of
Nimrod, in Genesis X; 10. In early
times, according to an inscription which
| recently discovered at Nineveh, it was
called Unulz or Anak, the giant city,
perhaps from its connection with the
giant hunter, Nimrod. Erech continued
great town down TO the twenty third
century before the Christian era, when
it was captured by Kudunanhundi,
King of Elan, b. G. $3.50, who carried
Off the famous image of Ishtar or Mana,
which was in the temple there. After
this, the city passed through the same
changes as the rest of Babylonia, and at
a later period formed part of the empire
of Assurbanipal.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
The Inventor of c Champagne.

The wine OF Cham payne was originally
red, but at the close of the sixteenth cen.
tuary began 10 assume a yellowish hue,
and did not much differ from that pro-
duced in the adjacent province of Bur-
gundy. In the memorable year 1858 a
certain monk named Perignon was made
"celerer" of the Benedicline Abbey OF
Hauntvillers, a little hamlet of the banks
of the Marine, about five miles distant
from Epernay. No man was ever better
fitted for the post be held, and discovery
after discovery rewarded his Jealous toll.
He was the first to marry the produce
of one vineyard with that of another to
find out that white wine could be made
from the blacklist grapes which would
keep good instead of degenerating like
that obtained from white ones; and to
substitute cork as stopper for bottle
instead of flax dipped in oil, which had
hiterto been used. Nor was this all, for
just at the close of the seventeenth CEN
fury he achieved his final triumph of
making an effervescent wine. Why 1t
sparkled he did not know, for the con-
nection between sugar and carbonic acid
was as yet undreamps oil ; but the secret
soon spread over the country, until in
1873 the official return of the maDuiact-
urer's stocks in the Champagne district, as
given by the Chamber of Commerce at
Reims, is 7oIS3,I63 bottles. 1t is inte-
resting to observe how long ago England
asserted herself against the luscious tastes
of other nations. In 1890 M. Meets
traveller writes from London:
How the tastes of this country has
changed since ten years ago! Almost
everywhere they ask for dry wine, but at
the same time require it so vinous and
so strong that there is scarcely any other
than the wine of Sillery which can satisfy
them.
This is maintained to the present day,
for the high-class English buyer as rule
demands dry champagne; the Russian a
wine sweet and strong, and the French
man and German Il sweet light wine.
The sweetness is of course add ID in all
sparkling wines, except in the case OF 81.
Peray, whose grapes contain so much al.
ready that any addition would be deeter-
Gus. The fertilization should be by gen.
uine liqueur consisting OF nothing but old
wine of the finest quality, and the best of
the wins btuls' now exported receive no
more than from one to three per cent. Of
liqueur. Sparkling Hooks are much
less pure, for as much as one-fifth of syrup
is sometimes added to four ff.hs of wine !;
the Moscllcs, too, are often scented with
elderilowers for the English market, and
even in themselves The sparkling wines
of Germany possess greater body than the
heaviest champagne, so that they cannot
be drunk with equal freedom. Great
Britain alone consumes two million bot
ties annually, against one million drunk
at home-London Academy, April eth.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
Curiositles From Japan.

The Smithsonian Institution at Wash
inglon has jus. received collection Of
one hundred and thiriy-four species Of
Japanese fish. being very nearly COM
plete collection OF all the known species
in that empire. The specimens are
beautiful arranged, and are correctly la
beled both in Latin and English. They
come under the exchange system so wide
ly pracliced among the scientific societies
OF The world. Not long ago the Smith
sonian institution sent 10 The Toxic mus
cum 4 collection Of North American
birds, equaled by only three similar COL
lection in this country, and to the Museum
of the Educational Department a collect
ion, also very complete, ofSouth Ameri-
can birds.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05
How a Toad Undresses.

\ gentleman sends to an agricultural
paper an amusing description OF How a
Toad Takes of His Coat and Pants"
He SAYS he has seen ore do it. and friend
has seen another do the same thing in the
same way.
"Abort the middle OF July / found a
toad on hill of melons, and not wanting
him to leave, hoed around him. He
appeared sluggish and not inclined TO
move. Presently l observed him press.
ing his elbows against his sides and rub
bling them downward. He appeared so
singular that | watched to see what he was
up to. After few smart rubs his skin
began to burst open straight along his
back. Now, said l, old fellow, you have
done it; but he appeared to be uncon-
cerned and kept on rubbing until he had
worked all his skin into folds on his sides
and hips. Then grasping one hind leg
with both his hands, he hauled off one leg
OF his pants the same as anybody would,
then stripped the other hind leg in the
same way He then took his cast-off Gu.
ticle forward between his fore legs into
his mouth and swallowing it; then, by
raising and lowering his head, swallowing
as his head came down, he stripped OF
the skin underneath until it came to his
fore legs, and then grasping one of these
with the opposite hand, by considerable
pulling, stripped OF the skin; changing
hands he stripped off the other, and by a
slight motion of the head, and all the
while swallowing, he drew from the neck
and swallowed the whole. The occupa-
ton seemed an agreeable|one and occu-
pied but a short time"
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05

The contemplative doctor strolls
through the cemetery, and sees his pa
tients on monument.
A little girl, on looking at picture
of ship in thunderstorm, remarked
that God was sticking crooked pins
into the bad man"
Akron (O.) has had fourteen elopc-
ments within year. and married men
there are taking the precqution at night
to chain their wives to the bed.post.
lie came in late the other night. and
was rolling into the bed, when his wife
woke up and said Don't forget your
night-cap dear" ''No--a; hadzh two
night-caps already"
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05

why" said she, as they stood watch
ing the prisoners eat dinner on Black
wells Island, "why," she asked, as she
violently famed herself and pulled Der
seal skin sack more closely around her,
''why are those soldiers standing around
the tables like Paradisel" She raised
her parasol triumphantly and moved
toward the stove. One by one they
took a guess at it and gave it up. "Be-
cause, said she-''giye itl-every one of
you,- because they gardin' a-feedin'."
And they wept with modification.
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05

Now doth the Brazilian jobberwock,
a beast more ravenous and ferocious
than a jaguar with soie head or sho-
wolf deprived Of her young, escape from
its cage, bound into the woods, devour
whole fields of live stock, dozens of men,
women and children, and make a first
class advertisement for the Great -
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05

A little girl in one of our public
schools the other day had occasion to
parse the word "Angel." Coming to
the gender she stopped dismayed, and
asked her teacher il there "are any men
angels"
The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-06-05

An Irish sailor visited a city where,
he said, they copper-bottomed the tops of
the houses with sbeet-lead
.'Its only spring opening, me, ex-
claimed that awful boy, as be exhibited
his torn trousers after leap over picket
fence.
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16

Cincinnati Commercial.
Mrs. Wilcox was present at the
generals death, one bright and beau
tiful Sabbath morning in June of
l845, and she describes it as a scene
never to be forgotten. He bade them
all adieu in the tenderest terms and
enjoined them, old and young, white
and black, to meet him in heaven.
All we're in tears, and when he had
breathed his last the outburst of grief
was irrepressible. The congregation
at the little Presbyterian church on
the plantation, which the general
had built to crafty his deceased wife,
the morning service over came fock-
ing to the mansion as his eyes we're
closing and added their bewailment 10
the general sorrow. Shortly after this
mournful event Mrs. w. encountered
an old servant in the kitchen who was
sobbing as though her heart would
break, "Ole missus is gone" she
brokenly said to the child, and now
old massa gone, dey's all gone and
dey was our best frens, An ole massa
not satisfied teachin' us how to live
has now teached us how to die" Tn,
poor unlettered creature did not know
she was paraphrasing one of the mos
beautiful passages in Tickell's elegy
upon the death of Addison"
lie taught us how to live, and (oh, too high
The price for knOwledge!) taught ua how t,
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16
LOUISVILLE.
Second Day of the Southern Presby-
terian General Assembly.

LOUISVILLE, May l6.-The general
Presbyterian assembly met again to-
day in morning session at 8 o'clock.
The moderator announced list of the
standing committees.
The annual report of the committee
of sustentation was read by the Rev.
Richard McIlvaine, of Baltimore.
The report recommended that the
name Of the committee be changed to
the Home missions on account of the
word sustentation conveying but
little intelligence to the public. Re
ferred.
The report of the committee on for
eign missions was read by Rev. j. L,
Wilson, of Baltimore, and referred
when he had finished. The report
submitted is a thoughtful memorial
on the subject of foreign missions to
the assembly.
The report of the committee on
education was read by Rev. John n.
Waddell, of Memphis, and referred.
The report Of the committee on
publication was read by Rev. James
X. Hosen, of Richmond, and referred.
Five more commissioners we're en-.
rolled this morning.
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16

WHEELING, May 16.-River 4 feet
4 inches and rising slowly.
EVANSVILLE, May l6.-River sta.
tionary with 7 2-1O feet on the gauge,
Weather cloudy. Mercury 740.
PITTsBURG, May l6.-River l foot
8 inches and rising slowly. Weather
cloudy and cool.
CAIRO, May 16.-Arrived-Grand
Lake and City of Alton, New Orleans,
2 am; Baltic, St. Louis, 4 Andy
Baum, Memphis, 4; Scudder and
Maude, St. Louis, 8; Clinton, Cincin-
natl, 10; Belle Memphis, st. Louis,
10; Golden City, New Orleans. De-
arted--Anderson, Nashville, 9 pm,
Grand Lake and Alton, st. Louis,
am; Guiding Star, New Orleans, 4
Andy Baum, Cincinnati, s.; Clinton
St. Louis, II Golden City, Cincin.
natl, II. Cloudy and cool.
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16
A shocking arishnnelnr.

ST. LOUIS, May 16.-A Boonville
Mo-, dispatch says: John |. West
for the murder of tramp last 0cto.
ber, was executed to-day at the
old fair grounds near this city
The drop fell at fourteen minutes
to II o'clock. The rope broke and
the body Strengthened out and turned
over, when he was picked up and an
other rope retied. His neck was moi
broken. He died at just twelve
o'clock. Vests father, from Chaplin,
Illinois, was present at the execution.
There were about eight thousand peo-
pie present.
A Post Dispatch special from
Bonneville about the hanging of John
l. West this morning, says: when
the trap was sprung, the rope broke
and West fell to the ground on his
back, but was too weak to rise
His groans and gurgling sounds
of strangulation were terrible
to hear. He was picked up as
speedily as possible, raised on to
the trap again and while being held by
four or five men was dropped a second
time. This time he swung, and in
eleven minutes was pronounced dead.
After reaching the platform of the
gallOws Wost spoke for nearly half an
hour to the crowd present, reiterating
his confession Of the murder of Shinn,
reviewing his past life, and appealing
to the young men and women to take
his fate as a warning.
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16
Death of a Railroad Man.

Little Rock Democrat, l2th.l
Colonel r. 5. Carnes, after months
of suffering, died quietly this morning
at the residence of DR.. X. II. Skip
with. He was attended by loving
friends, his brother, Mr.. Sam Carnes,
of Memphis, being with him at the
close.
The deceased was about thirty-fve
or forty years of age, for years past
general freight agent Of the Memphis
and Little Rock railroad, an efficient
officer and thorough gentleman. He
leaves one child, a daughter, who is
with his mother-in-law, at Macon,
Ga. His wife preceded him some
thing more than one year ago. He
was an honored member of the Royal
Arcanum and Knights of Honor, and
the benefits Of each will fall to his
child.
No more shall we see his welcome
face never more shall we hear his
ringing laugh. Gone At rest.
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16

GALVESTON, May 16.-Cotton is
firm ;niddling, 12c. Sales, 237 bales.
Receipts, 577 bales. Stock, 6338
bales.
New ORLEANS, May 16, 11:30 a.m.-
Cotton strong; middling, 12sc. Sales
500 bales. Receipts, 54S bales.
LIVERPOOL, May l6, 1870 pm
Cotton opened firm; now 1-l6d
higher, Uplands, 7td; Orleans, 73-16d.
Estimated sales, 10000 bales; for ex-
port, 1000 bales. Receipts, $500
bales. American, 200 bales. Total
stock 566,00O bales. Futures opened
l-16d better, the advance afterward
being partly lost; now quiet and firm.
Deliveries for May, Z 5-32d; May and
June, Z 5-32@7Bd; June and July,
Z 5.32@7 3-17d; July and August,
I 7-32d@7 3.16d; August and Sep
tember, It'd September and October
It'd; October and November, "a
6 81 -32d; October and November
shipments, 6 ll-16d. "
Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-16

THE Royal Arch degrees were con-
ferred last night upon B. Bingham, j.
W. Caldwell and J. s. Drake in Mem
phis r. A. Chapter No. So, with i'm
posing ceremonies. There was large
attendance of the chapter and Of vis-
iting companions from other chapters.
Hon. John Frizzell, of Nashville, the
most excellent general high priest of
the United States B. +. Haller, of
Memphis, grand high priest Of the
State of Tennessee; and j. M.
Howry, of Oxford, past grand mas
ter and past grand high priest
of Mississippi, were among the visi-
tors. There was an attendance of
perhaps one hundred and fifty, and the
exempli6cation of the work in the
Royal Arch degrees by w. s. Matthews,
past high priest of Memphis Chapter,
No. %, was observed with great inter
est by the visiting as we'll as resident
companions, After the ceremonies
were over, all present were invited
into an adjoining hall where a sump-
tuous banquet had been prepared,
This was highly enjoyed and some very
happy and eloquent speeches were
made by those already named and also
by companions Poindexter, Of Texas,
r. G. Williamson, R. j. Morgan,
Rabbi Samfeld and others. 1t was an
exceedingly enjoyable affair, and it
was feltaround that there must be a
revival of the spirit and workings OF
the Masonic order, especially in the
higher degrees,