davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Sharp County record., 1881-03-17
Land Sales.

The sale and disposition of land
in Arkansas during the past three
wears would almost surpasS belief,
especially when the fact is taken
into consideration that the state
government itself made no attempt
to advertise the resources of the
state. The following figures tell
the story:
1873. Acres.
State Land Commissioner. ....l5o,WOO
Little Rock and Fl Smith railway 34OlO
Iron Mountain railway y......... $4,000
1919.
State Land Commissioner 49,. 100000
Little Rock and TT. Smith railway 75uOO
Iron Mountain railway ,......... 6,OOO
Total otsl................l,3O9 l,3O9,0OO
The above does not include the
sales made by private parties or the
Memphis and Little Rock railway.
Add the number of acres sold by
these, TO the above list, and the
number will run up TO nearly two
million acres.
Take two million ACRES, and allow
$50 acres to each entry, and that
will give 12,500 as the number of
homes that have been bought in
Arkansas during the past three
years.--Exchanges.
Government lands purchased and
taken as homesteads are not includ-
ed in the foregoing. Estimated at
one third as much as all the rest,
these give over 1000 homes, which,
added to the above, show that nearly
1900 new homes have been made
IN Arkansas during the past three
years.
Sharp County record., 1881-03-17
EARS !i2 !EiE2: MILLION.

Foo CHoo'S BALsAN OF SHARKS OIL
Positirely Restores the Hearing ard is the only
.Ibs0lgie Cure for Deafness hHOrR.
This oil is extracted from a peculiar
species of small white shark, caught in the
Yellow Sea, known as Carcharodon Ron
deletii. Every Chinese fisherman knows IL.
It's virtues as a restorative Of hearing were
discovered by Ruddhisv priest about the
year l4lO Its cures were so numerous
and many so seemingly miraculous, that
the remedy was officially proclaimed over
TIE entire empire. Its use became so uni
vrsal that for over 300 years no deafness
has existed among Chinese people. Sent,
charges prepaid, TO any address, at one
dollar per bottle. Only imported by
HAYpOCK & CO..
Sole agents for America, I Dey ST., N. Y.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
Why Should the Devil Have
the Best Tunes?

Does any one know what were the best
tunes in the year ITO; when hymns be-
gan to be sung, and when in 1740 Charles
Wesley wanted them for some of his Pc
culiar meters? Some of the best of them,
we are told. appeared in the "Beggars'
Opera" 1927. The best were, perhaps,
those of Purcell. One thing is apparent,
the difference between sacred and secular
music at that time was not such as it is
now. The most popular airs were in a
minor key; when sung very slowly they
had a mostlugubrious and funereal sound !;
there, however, lay their great charm.
They were set to words full of bufoonery
and registering merriment; or, alas some
times covert, sometimes gross, indecency
The grave faces and tones Of the singers
gave pungency to the madness of the
song. fear that very few of them could
be used with safety at the society's
meetings. All who have studied the
history of music know that the close of
the last century was the very crisis of its
new birth. Dr. Watts lived Just before
the movement began, before the arrival
of Handel in ITO; he died so years be-
fore Haydn, who was the main instru-
ment of this regeneration. The Countess
of Huntingdon used her influence with
Giardini, the celebrated violinist, to get
one or two new tunes written, Moscow -
among the rest. Tomaso Giordina, an
other italian artist, composed several
tunes; the tune called Cambridge" is
mentioned as one of them. Miss Ford,
an accomplished Irish young lady of
great musical talent and skill as a
vocalist and composer, was also pressed
into the service. Most unfortunately,
she attended a drawing-room meeting at
Lady Huntingdon s. and, without warn
ing she witnessed the tones and gestures
OF her ladyship in prayer They were
acknowledged to be singular. The young
lady was so convulsed with laughter that
she made a disturbance in the meeting.
Peace was made at last by the compost
ton of tune for the difficult meter,
All we that pass by, to Jesus draw nigh.
Break of Day, IN the Eighteenth Century.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
Womanly Exercise.

Hindoo women and those in some
other countries walk very erect and
steadily, from the habit of carrying
water-jars or other burdens on the head.
This comes in part, also, from the full
development of the muscles of the arms
and chest. This can only be accom-
plished by exercise or work, and here is
where so many women in this country
and this generation fail. tits painful to
compare figure as developed a la fash.
template with the Venus de Medicis, or
any of the perfect forms of sculpture.
The body, where it is elastic and pliable,
is held IN and screwed down with corsets,
and even where they are not what is
called tight" there is an unnatural
stiffness. 1t is serious evil. Physicians
say that there is hardly natural figure
to be found, and that the ribs are often
SO bent as to interfere materially with
vital action. This to you, Christian
women-mothers and daughters
fering with the work of God, and hinder
ing its perfect development. The evil is
serious, inasmuch as it hinders woman s
usefulness, often makes her an invalid,
so called, and makes her unfit to bear
the burdens of life. And all to make
her form little smaller And it is all
relative; the same proportion remains
between all; the stout are only less stout,
and the slender more slender. Heaven
help those of the next generation who
are to depend upon these broken reeds.
SO many are poor, and feeble, and "deli-
cate" This is serious truth. Walking
won't help it much, except that fresh air
is good. Men may walk; women do better
to exercise the upper part of the body.
Christian Union.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
A Glasgow Factory Bow.

just above the wharves Of Glasgow, on
the banks of the Clyde, there once lived
a factory boy, whom l will call David.
At the age Of ten he entered cotton
factory as "piecer." He was employed
from six o'clock in the morning till eight
at night. HE parents were very poor,
and ne well knew that his must be a
boyhoocd of very hard labor But then
and there, in that buzzing factory, he
resolved that he would obtain an educa-
ton, and would become an intelligent and
useful man. With his very first weeks
wages, he purchased Ruddiman's Rudi
ments OF Latin. He then entered an
evening school, which met between the
hours of eight and ten. He paid the
expenses of his instruction out of his own
hard earnings. At the age of sixteen he
could read Virgil and Horace as readily
as the pupils of the English grammar
schools.
He next began course of self-instruc-
ton. He had been advanced in the fac
tory from "piecer" to the spinning
Jenny. He brought his books to the
factory, and placing one of them on the
Jenny" with the lesson open before
him, he divided his attention between
the running of the spindles and the
rudiments of knowledge. He now began
to aspire to become preacher and a
missionary, and to devote his life in some
selt-sacrihcing way to the good of man
KIND. He entered Glasgow University.
He knew that he must work his way;
but he also knew the power of resolution,
and ne was willing to make almost any
sacrifice to gain the end. He worked at
cotton. spinning in the summer, lived
fru1gally, and applied his savings to his
college studies in the winter. He COM
pleted the allotted course, and at the
close was able to say, with praiseworthy
pride, Il never had a farthing that 1 did
not earn
CHotterbor.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
The Peach Famine.

Ever since peaches became known to
civilized men the peach crop has been
annually destroyed by frost. Among the
earllst Of the fragments of manuscript
found at Pompeii, and deciphered by
learned men accustomed to read burned
newspapers and the ashes of private let
tiers, is letter to the editor of some
unknown journal, in which it is asserted
that the late severe frosts Just before the
nones of March have completely ruined
the Sicilian peach crop" Without doubt,
Sicilian peaches were abundant and
(. cheap that year, for hitherto the more
our own peach crop has been destroyed
the more plentiful peaches have been.
This popularity of the peach business
has always been mystery, and even
Socrates, in his labored explanation OF
the matter, failed to satisfy the public
mind, insomuch that Xenophon openly
says in that beautiful passage Of the
Memorabilia" beginning, E1ateuthen
egsetoa1aoa,' that the great philosopher
knew no more about p caches than the
agricultural editor Of the Athenta1a T-s-
6u1'e." Curiously enough, our peach
crop, which was totally destroyed last
spring, has, for the first time in the mem
DRY Of man, actually failed, and peaches
are not only dear, but they are so scarce
that few people have yet seen any. This
is an evidence that late frosts do NOT
inevitably assure large peach crop, and
thus an element Of uncertainty is infused
into the peach business.-N Y. Times.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
Recent Publications.

WORSHIP IN SoYG. A selection of HYMNS and
Tunes. By j. P. Holbrook. A. S. Barnes
d Co., New York.
Chors and lovers of sacred music generally,
Will find IN this new work volume containing
most of the old standard tunes of Acknowledged
excellence, together with large amount of new
matter not familiar to our congregations and
singers. The collection in general character
and merit is far above the average of the flow of
publications issued from the music presses of the
country, and it is gratifying evidence of the
advance of musical taste and culture that sucb
works should find demand DR. Holbrook is
known as the editor of other successful publica.
tons, and as the author of compositions that
have won favor wherever known. Among his
other contributions to this volume may be noted
his beautiful setting of the HYMN Just as T
am P. 4o7, an exquisite composition. A few
examples of arrangements from German male
quartettes-Kreutzer, p. III; Fleming, D. 30.
Otto, P. 999; show how well they are adapted to
sacred song and suggest the wish that those rich
mines OF melodious harmony were better known
to and more utilised by the editors of our musi
cal publications. The few pages of Selections"
at the end of the volume present number of
pieces that will be found pleasing and attrac
tlve and within the capacity of the average
choir The words are selected from favorite
hymn writers of all denominations. and the
hymns are grouped under appropriate subjects,
giving on each page two or three hymns to each
tune. The volume is well and neatly printed
and bound, in convenient octave shape Pr. 444
Price $3.50.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
King and MARTYR.

More than a thousand years ago En-
gland was conquered by the Saxons, who
divided the country into portions, each
ruled by its own king. The Danes, who
lived on the other side of the German
ocean, were fond of making incursions
into England, and on one of these occa-
sions they attacked the kingdom of Nor
folk and Suffolk, which was then gov
erned by Christian king, Edmund.
Edmund was brave man and loved his
country, but was very young, only twen-
ty-eight, and besides was no great gene
raj, and his army was small and quite
unable to resist the more powerful Danes.
On they come, and soon made themselves
masters of the Kingdom, and Edmund
himself was taken prisoner and brought
before the Danish king, Hinguar, on the
10th of November, about one thousand
years ago. Now Hinguar hated the
Christians, and so anxious was he to de-
stroy the Christian religion that he told
Edmund his life should be spared and his
kingdom restored to himself if only he
would deny Christ, hoping by this means
to root out Christianity from that part of
the country. But King Edmund stead
lastly refused, saying, How can do
this wickedness and sin against the
Lord ?"
Then Hinguar became very angry, and
ordered him to be tied to a tree and
scourged, and finally to be shot to death
with arrows. In wood in Suffolk was
an old oak tree, said to be the tree to
which King Edmund had been bound.
Some years ago this old tree was blown
down by a high wind, and when it was
sawn up they found in it an arrow, over
which the wood and bark had grown.
At st. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk, is a
beautiful church, one of the largest in
England, which was built over the place
where King Edmund was buried
Anon.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
Sturgeon at Home.

DR.. Theo. L. Cuyler writes to the
Evonqezist: Saturday afternoon was
the most thoroughly enjoyable one have
spent in England. Mr.. Hall drove me
through South London to the beautiful
villa Of Mr.. Spurgeon at Upper Nor
wood, near the Sydenham Crystal Palace.
Mr.. Spurgeon purchased it year ago in
exchange for his house in Chaplain; and
it is rural paradise. The great
preacher, with jovial countenance,
came out of his door with both hands
outsretched to give us welcome. Satur-
day afternoon is his holiday. For an
hour he conducted us over his delightful
grounds, and through his garden and
conservatory, and then to a rustic arbor,
where he entertained us with one of his
racy talks which are as characteristic as
his sermons. 1t may be no breach of
privacy to give his estimate of the New
Revision, which he pronounces most
valuable help to the study of the New
Testament, but needing to be itself re-
vised before it can come into universal
use. He emphatically approves of the
suggestions of the American revisers, and
regrets that they had not been generally
adopted by their English associates.
This feeling is expressed by many emf
nent clergymen whom 1 meet here.
"Mr. Surgeons study is charming
apartment opening out on his lawn; the
view extends for twelve miles to Epson
Downs. His parlor too is lined with
elegant volumes. He showed us with
great glee portfolio of caricatures OF
himself: and then by WAY of contrast
a series of translations of his sermons in
various foreign tongues. His comedy
wife-for long time suffering invalid
presided at the table with grace and
sweetness; their twin sons have already
entered the ministry, one in London and
the other now in New Zealand. 1t was
six o'clock on Saturday when we babe
him goodbye and he assured us that
he had not yet selected even the texts
for his next days discourses L shall
go down in the garden presently, said
he, and arrange my morning discourse
and choose a text for that in the even
ing: then tomorrow afternoon, before
preaching, I will make an outline of the
second one. This has been his habit
for many years; he never composes a SEN
tence in advance, and rarely spends over
half an hour in laying out the plan of a
sermon. Constant study fills his mental
cask, and he has only to turn the spigot
and droaO parted from him with
fresh gratitude for seeing once more the
man who by tongue and pen has brought
the precious gospel to more souls than
any man since the days of the Apostles. :"
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14
Gods Severity.

Is there not some danger, in the pres
sent day, of Gods love being presented
to sinners to the exclusion altogether of
his justice? The late Rev. F. w. Robert
son speaks well on this subject:
Here is an eternal truth with which
we would not part-God must hate sin
and be forever sin enemy. Because he
is the Lord of love, therefore must he be
a consuming fire to evil God is against
evil, but for us if then, we sin, he must
be against US in SHINING we identify our
selves with evil therefore we must endure
the consuming fire. o brethren, in this
soft age in which we live it is good to
fall back on the first principles of ever
lasting truth. We have come to think
that education may be maintained by
mere laws of love instead of discipline,
and that public punishment may be
abolished. We say that these things are
contrary to the gospel; and here, doubt
less, there is an underlying truth it is
true there may be severity in educa-
ton which defeats itself; it is true that
love and tenderness may do more than
severity but yet under system of mere
love and tenderness no character can
acquire manliness or frmness. When
you have once got rid of the idea of
public punishment, then by degrees you
will also get rid of the idea of sin where
is it written in the Word Of God that the
sword Of his minister is to be borne in
vain? In this world of groaning and of
anguish, tell US where it is that the law
which links suffering to sin has ceased to
act? Nay, so long as there is evil SO
long will there be penalty, and woe to
that man who attempts to contradict the
eternal system of God SO long as the
spirit Of evil is in the world so long must
human punishment remain to bear its
testimony that the God of the universe is
a righteous God.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14

HE London Truth says: "There is
no superstition so common among men as
belief in the maternal instinct of all wo-
men, unless 1T be that among women Of
belief in the physical courage of all men.
But this universally Of the maternal in
stlnct is superstition pretty and poet
lc, like many other fond fancies, ali the
same it is fancy and not fact and to
our way of thinking the recognition of
an ugly truth is better than the cherish
ing OF pleasant phantom. So far from
being universal, even that lowest form of
maternal instinct which makes the female
animal fight to the death for her young
IS absent from some mothers and II
would not be difficult to put ones hand
on certain well known women in society
who have no more feeling for their off
spring than they would have for so many
helpless kittens or puppies. Indeed, the
odds would be in favor of the beasts
This is a hard saying to men, but women
know that 1T is true and few of the
more straightforward and cynical confess
1t among themselves openly enough"
One consequence, perhaps not superb
clally apparent, is thus stated
" The whole modern theory and prac-
tice Of girlish independence, girlis6 lib
erty and the needlessness of watching
and overlooking is due to the want Of
maternal instinct. Since when has hu-
man nature changed so much that 10
norant youth may be left to itself u3-
guarded and undirected. 1t is still de
r1g~e'1r that a girl must be chaperoned to
a private ball, where, unless the tone is
slngularly lax, she cannot 90 far wrong.
But she may go out into the crowded
London streets and by the railway alone
and wander where she will unattended
and she may give such an account of her.
self when she returns home as best suits
her fancy, no one being able to verify or
disprove. Youth is needless; youth is
not always truthful when it has been
needless; and the kettle boils apace. We
see what we desire to see; and if it be
more convenient to ourselves that our
girls should have liberty, we give it to
them and refuse to believe in it's danger"
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14

Underlying the idea of prayer lies that
other great fact of the possibility Of the
human soul to have intercourse with the
Creator. This idea, so rational in itself,
was not recognized in any of the religions
of the world, until the revelation of God
made it plain. The Bible is full of it
from first to last, and the intimate rela-
tons between God and his servants, of
which we read that it existed between
the patriarchs, Abraham, Jacob, Moses,
Samuel, David, and many of the pro-
phets, of this the world knew nothing.
That ever a soul should utter it's hunger
ing and thirsting after God, in the Ian
guage Of the psalmist, was a strange
phenomenon in religious life.-Eveni191v
Messenger.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14

The WATcHFUL PILGRIM. A religious month
ly journal, devoted to the interest of the Men
monte Church, the exposition of gospel truth,
and the promotion of practical piety among
all classes. Published by Abraham BlosseT
Dale Enterprise, Rockingham county, Va.
We have received the first number of this
new publication. The Mennonites are quite
numerous in some parts of the Valley of Vir
ginia.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14

Ministers ought to remember during
the heated term that though it is tire
some to deliver long sermons it is verv
much more tiresome to listen to them.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14

The difference between infdelity and
true religion is this The infdel tries to
make the world useful to himself, while
the Christian tries to make himself useful
to the world,
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-14

1t is the part of the true philosopher
to ENJOY the prospect Of good to come
rather than to grumble over pain that is
The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1881-10-29
noes AS sENrHIEs.

When any one devises something sensi-
BILE every one wonders why no one ever
thought of that particular thing before,
and on this principle great many peo-
pie, on Learning that Russian senaies, or
outposts, are to be assisted by dogs, will
pronounce the change exactly the thing.
All harm 20 sentries, aud through their
death or capture, to the force Of which
they foIm part, comes from enemies WHO
approach steal.hily; the first shot is al
most invariably fred by the foe instesd
of the guard. Against an enemy who
has but one point to fix attention on, the
sentinel who must at night strain his
eyes ID every direction is at a great dis
advantage, whereas dog lying near him
or in advance of him would be quick to
note any movement in his neighborhood
aud thus put the soldier ON the alert. In
the United States at the present time u Q
dog might not be of much service to the
army, but it is strange that his peculiar
faculties are not appreciated by private
individuals who require guard. A dog
inside house is worth two watch-men
on the outside, for while the latter may
be bribed or surprised the dog cannot be
reached except by some one entering the
house. and before this could be done the
animal would have alarmed those inside
aud given them an opportunity to defend
their own. A lively dog. aud the smaller
he is the more satisfactory he will be fer
household purposes. win scare burglar
away as soon as he raises his voice; for
no matter how brave thief may be be
sees no profit in entering house where
the people are aroused in time to FIRE on
him from the dark. II, instead of cher
ishing huge brutes to lie out Of doors after
dark. make night hideous and go visiting
while they are supposed to be on duty,
the householder would devote his atten-
tion to Skye terrier and give him FREQ
range of the house at night, he miel
consider his property safe from molesls-
ton by thieves.