davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
A Great Mind Wrecked.

As | drove down the avenue after
Garfield had been duly declared
elected, | saw at the window of the
National hotel mans face; a pale
face with strong jaws, shaven cheek s
and smoothly pared hair. The win
dow was closed and fastened, and
there he sat, who had four years
ago been one of the noted Electoral
Commission--poor, dementrd JUS
tice Clifford, his memory gone, his
fine mind so feeble that he is not
able to dictate his resignation. He
is kept n prisoner in his room
watched over by the dearest wife
that ever man had. They say she
is so changed that her friends would
not know her, she has aged so fast
since this aflliction has fallen on her
brilliant husband, ai'.-
A few days ago the invalid es
capped from the care of his nurse
and wandered out through the halls
Of the hotel, looking pitifully into
faces that he did not remember,
although they were the faces of old
friends. He was going to court, he
said, when one of them detained
him, and in a few moments his
nurse was after him and led him
back without resistance into his
room, and there he sits, occupied
with vagaries, while the endless
crowd surges through the streets,
dreaming, who shall ever know
what? the while q new leader comes
up to the Presidency; new race OF
giants possess the land ia which he
was an honored and marked public
man filling great place in the pa
:ion's history but yesterday.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
State of Man Before Death

A Danish physician, f. Horne
mann, has written an interesting
essay on the state of man just be-
fore death. Much experience and
fine insight have led the author to
conclusions which cannot but be
grateful to those who stand at u
death bed, to those who fear death.
Here is one statement out OF many:
sThe feeling Of deaths approach
changes and phrilies the inner
sense, while the outer sense, in
Guiding that of bodily pain, is made
dull by the gradual decrease of the
vital functions The experience
of others corroborates this. A slow
death usually prepares the mind OF
the patient for the final step, and
often makes the latter welcome.
Hence. so few people who are mors
tally ill are really afraid to die.
Persons who have for a time lost
the use OF their senses BY drowning
or sufincaiinn .ecnliim this oxpe
rienee, while persons in perfect
health shrink from death as they
do from eating an unknown drug or
from playing with unknown ami
mails. Death seems hard chiefly to
surviving friends.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
Recipe for Making Live Town.

j A Western paper gives the follow
mo recipe for making q live town
/, nd requests it's readers to awel
a., . -ticularly upon the third clause
pS pa ~ opposition No. 10;
% = sell your building lots at
-easenable price. o., - ID co
.ta q suilding lot to some large
don ,ing enterprise. ana 'herens '',; ~ e~ :,
pun" the saise OF town proper,
hance dnee business men TO ioca''
.. IN wn.
in your I, ,nize the business mer
OF you. I'VE omr sum up yoaf own ex
3. Aiways u visit places out
side of your '"
6. Speak we'll of "o''' ~
enterprises. d he under
token that may be Of ben w. 10 ath
town. town do not speak i'll Of it - - nre; nss
ops a~" because you happen to nc i''f'
udiced against it. o
8 Speak we'll to strangers
your tcwn and people. -,
8. If you have surplus ihone .
do not invest it in far of specnia.
lions but give yourself and town lne
hanefit OF it by establishing SONS
profitable factory.
10. Encourage your newspale'
by subscribing for, advertising -
and paying for It.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
The Family of Gen. Lee.

w. H. +. Lee, the oldest son of
Robert f. Lee, is living at present
in Faixfax county, on farm that
belonged to the estate of his aunt,
Mrs. Fitzhugh. 1t is a fine place;
the General is an attentive and snc-
cessful farmer, and he gets a com !
Portable living out of it. Curtis Lee
the next son, succeeded his father as
President of WashingtonIee Uni
versity, and lives in Lexington.
He is a bachelor and his two sisters
live with him. He has fine expec-
tations, Judge Hughes having de
#cided that the Arlington estate
now used as a Federal cemetery, is
his by right of law. The case has
been appealed, but the Judgment
will hardly be reversed, and the
place viii be appraised and pay
lnent made for it. Robert Lee lives
on the old Lee estate in Westmore
land county, where be is moving
along smoothly enough to suppl,
his wants. Gen. Ftzhugll Lee has
"a farm on the Potomac that be
loneed to his aunt, Mrs. Fitzhngh
and it is said Is showing considera
bic enterprise, though not amassins
money. He has a saw-mill in con
|nection with his farm.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
Quietness and Power.

The grandest forces in the world
are silent and unperceived. They
operate unnoticed, but yet with re-
sistless power. A child'$ tin
trumpet makes more noise than the
attraction of gravitation which
binds the whole universe as with
chains of adamant, but works so
quietly that it was thousands on
years before mortals discovered its
existence. A babbling brook, or a
little fountain throwing its jet into
the air, attracts more attention than
the hidden forces of nature which
.lraws millions of tons of water
from the earth beneath--spread it
out in heritage and foliage, clothing
the fields with beauty, crowning
the forest with green, and diffusing
fertility and life through all the
land. The forces of vegetation are
silent. No lightning flashes to
herald the swelling buds, no thnn-
der peals to tell us when flowers un-
fold their fragrant beauty; no
trumpets blow when spring unfolds
her leaiy banner to the breeze; but
in the sunshine Of the day and in
the silence of the night, the work of
nature goes noiselcssly on, until the
desert blossoms as the rose, aud
the wilderness becomes fair as
Eden's garden.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
The Wife of the Gear.

When Princess Paul Demidotf
was no more, Alexander yielded to
la raison d'etat and became recon
ciled to the Pincess Dagmar. lie
soon forgot his great disappoint-
ment. | saw him in Paris go into
convulse fits of laughter, the year of
1857 exhibition, at Mile. Schneider's
antics in "La Grande Duchesse."
At his wife's entreaty, he consented
to study, and took lessons, always
with her at her side, from professors
of history, mathematics and politi-
cal economy. He and she became
inseparable companions, and, in
deed, comrades. She went with
him in his hunting excursions.
When the state of her health ad-
mitted, she rode out with him,
mounted on a fleet and powerful
horse. He, on his side, accompa
MED her in her annual visits to
Denmark, where they cast state
aside, and lived a natural bourgeois
life. The czarina is slight and tall,
but looks mignonne beside her hus-
band. She has less regular featur-
es than the Princess of Wales or the
Duchess of Cumberland, but has
more expression and animation.
Her eyes are those of q song bird.
The face is oval, and her nose
slightly retrousse; the mouth is,
pouting, for this lady has full, rosy
lips. She has beautiful silken hair
Her hands and feet are small and
elegant. The figure looks to advan-
tage in a riding habit with fur
collar. | have seen portraits by.
Romney which were very like the
new czarina, who is imbued with
grace, amiability and it is said, the
faculty of divining spirits.
The vulnerable point is a horror
of what is vulgar, coarse, unrefined,
or democratic. She has never yet
been to the Elysee. The czarewitch
visited there when he sojourned at
the Hotel Bristol, but she could not
bring herself to go with him. Her
majesty is refinement itself, and to
some extent petite maitresse. And
yet she was brought up in very
Strengthened circumstances, and
taught to make her own dresses
and honnets. Her fathers income
did not exceed El205 year before
he ascended the Danish throne.
The czarina was at Copenhagen
during the last war of the Duchlcs,
and has never forgiven the Germans
for the evil they did then to her ma
tive land.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
MisfeMang.
New Orleans Capital.

We earnestly commend the fol-
lowing to the attention of men pos
sessing surplus capital in New Or
leans. 1t is taken from the st.
Louis Republican: ''fhe two cot
ton mills at Natchez, Miss, afford
another example of how profitable
cotton manufacturing in the South
is, when judiciously conducted,
Both are doing good business,
and one of them is so crowded with
orders that it is compelled to sus-
pend operations while enlarging it's
capacity and setting up improved
machinery. These improvements
more than double its capacity-a
sure sign that it is doing well.
While the people of the South
have all along claimed that, for man
fest reasons, the manufacture of
YARNS and the coarser kinds Of
cloth can he eearrfed on more cheap
ly, and therefore more profitably in
the South than in North, and while
the results of the well managed
mills IN Georgia and South Carroll
na strongly support their claim,
they have pleaded the lack of capi-
tai rs their excuse for having so
few manufactures in their secLion.
But it is gratifying to know that
they are learning that capital is
made by labor, and that an indus
trous people can make capital rs
well as import it. A small mill, if
economically conducted, will manu-
facture capital as we'll as cotton,
and thus grow into a large one
precisely as in the case ofthc Match
ez factory, which has made money
enough to double its capacity. All
the mills in South Carolina and Ga,
are accumlating capital every
year, and many of them are turning
it to the very best account by in~
vestlng it in additions. enlarge
ments and improved machinery.
There is no lack of labor in the
South. There is a great deal of
labor in that section which has
hitherto been idle, because work
was not considered altogether res
spectacle. The delusion is be
ginning to yield to 4 more enlight-
ed opinion, and when it shall have
vanised entirely, and all the whites
of the South engaged in varions
kinds of productive employment,
then every water-power district will
hum with industry, and the South
will exhibit a maryelous prosperity.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28

Henry Clay's favorite recreation
Tor many years was q game of whist,
to which at ono time he was pas
sionately addicted, not for the
stakes, but for the distraction and
excitement of the game. Mr.. Win
throp says that there is tradition
that while Clay was visiting Boston
in 1918, and lodging at the old Ex-
change coffee house iii Congress
street, a servant rushed into the
parlor in which he was at the whist
table with a few gentlemen of the
old school, and announced that the
hotel was on fire. sob, there will
be time enough, / think" cried Mr..
Clay, "to finish our game;" and
finish it they did before the hotel
was burned to the ground. A sim
liar tradition was current in Wash
ington at a later period, that, while
Mr.. Clay, was speaker, he and his
friends had passed whole night at
cards, and were still going on with
their game when the hour was close
at hand for the opening OF the
morning session of Congress,
...,yait a lew minutes, gentlemen" !"
said .Nr. Clay, 'sand ! will wash
nv face and hands, and run down
ii the house and call John Taylor
#,,, tha chair and then | will come
back and we viii have another
rubber
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
The Humor of SMALLPOX.

Generally speaking there is moth
ing overwhelmingly funny about the
small -pox, but the doctors who are
called to prescribe for patients oc-
casionally run on something that
tickles them. Not many years ago
doctor here was ,called to see a
man at one of the hotels, who lived
out in Iowa. The man was sick as
horse, and the doctor had his sus-
picions about what allied him, but
couldn't tell exactly, so he gave him
something to qniet him, and told
the friend who was with him that
he woGld call in the morning. The
friend said he thought as much of
the sick man as he could Of Il broth
er, and he would see him through.
The next morning the doctor called
and the sick man was alone. He
examined him and found that he
had the small pox. JYhile he was
dealing ont some medicine the
friend came clustering in, said he:
Doc, that medicine amt worth a
continental. THIS man is very
sick" The doctor said he had come
to that conclusion himself. Why"
said the friend, II rubbed him all
night. / think he would have died
if had not rubbed his head. When
man is my friend he can draw on
me for all that is out, and don. you
forget it," He said there was moth
ing more touching to him than pure
friendship between men, and he was
glad the sick man had friend that
would stick to him. "You bet your
life" says the friend.
4nd then he almost intimated
that the doctor did not understand
his business, and said something
had to be done, if there were any
doctors in Milwaukee who could
handle the case. The doctor was a
little hot and when the friend ask
ed. 'Do you know what ails him"
the doctor said he thought he did.
Then he pulled down the bed clothes
and pointed to . little swelling near
the little toe, and asked the friend
if he conld see it. IL sec it. of
course can. IL is only little
pimple." The doctor said there
was only one disease that showed
that kind of pimples. What is
that?' asked the friend, inpatient
ly. "Small pox" said the doctor, in
the most aggreyating way.
Suffering Noses, let me out of
that door, shouted the friend, and
the doctor said that You could have
played marbles on his coat tail.
The doctor fixed mp the patient and
when he went out IN the hall the
friend was leaning against trunk,
white rs a sheet, and weak rs a eat.
"Doc," says he, in a quivering voice,
''that man in there is nothing to me.
| wouldn't 90 in that room for al
thousand dollars. Is there any way
TO lumigate me? Say, Doc, | want
to be vaccinatel. Put y pint off
virus into me. Shoot itln with al
gun. Hanged if / ever go near a
sick man again"
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
Death of a Remarkable Dwarf.

Joha Lewis, the famous dwarf
who died recently at Watertown,
Wis, was born in the town OF
Ixonia, in 1855, and was the eldest
of a family of seven children. His
height was twenty-seven inches,
and average weight nineteen pounds.
He had web foot, and both of his
hands were without thumbs, but in
all other respects he was perfect
little man. lie had more than Or
dinary intelligence, and had a very
retentive memory. He was thor
oughly posted in farm topics, and
could recall incidents the occur
rcnces of which dated back more
than fifteen years, with wonderful
precision, Although his younger
brothers and sisters outstripped in
growth, he never permitted them
to domineer over him nor look upon
him in any other light than as their
superior in experience and intelli-
gcpce. iIewas an apt scholkf and
artady coi,versationalist IE. spoke
the English and Welsh langugnes
fuently, and could tell story with
a moral to it as cleaverly as
anybody. AS a member of the
Welsh Methodist Church, in his ma
tive town, frequently took part in
the meetings, often giving out
hymns for the congregation to
sing, and was especially prominent
and active in Sunday school exer-
cises. In giving out a hymn he in
variably stood on the top of the
pulpit, and read his lines with such
vim and distinctness as to be heard
in all parts Of the room. He tray
eled but little, and WAS always op-
posed to being placed anywhere on
Thousands of people |
visited him during his residence in
lXonia, and from them he received |
many gifts. About a year ago his
usual vivacity gave way to despond- |
cy, and for some months prior to
his death he conversed but little, |
and then only in a sad subdued
tone. The cause of his death was
of the stomach.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
The 9ireside.
How to Cure Exaggeration.

Some habits are so unconsciously
practiced that a movement to mend
them is the only way to detect them.
The beam in ones own eye is
less noticed than the mote in an
other persons eye.
A family, while at the breakfast
table one morning, pledged to OBJ
serve the strictest veracity for that
day. A member of the family tells
the consequences"
AS fist fruit of the resolve, we
asked the one who suggested it;
"What makes you so late at
breakfast this morningp"..
She hesitated, began with, "Be-
cause / couldn't"-and then, true to
her compact, said, "The truth is, i
was lazy and didn't hurry, or l
might have been down long ago."
Presently one of them remarked
that she had been very cold, adding,
II never was SO cold in my life"
An inquiring look caused the last
speaker to modify this statement
instantly with. 80, / don't think /
was so cold after allr'
A third remark to the effect that
Miss So-and-So was the homeliest
girl in the city," was recalled as
soon as made, the speaker being
compelled to own that Miss So-and-
so was only rather plain, instead of
being excessively homely.
So it went on throughout the day,
causing much merriment, which
was good naturedly accepted by the
subject, and giving rise to constant
in the interest of truth.
One thing became more and more
surprising, however, to each one Of
us, and that was the amount of
cutting down which our careless
statements demanded under this
new law
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
Trlte Maxims.

No man is wise or safe but he
that is honest.
Strength with men is insensibili-
ty, greatness is pride; and calmness
indifference.
How Independent Of money peace
of conscience is, and how much
happiness can be condensed in the
humblest home!
He who is false to present duty
breaks a thread in the loom and
will find the flaw when he may have
forgotten its cause. !.
One of the most effectual ways OF
pleasing and making ones sell
loved, is to be cheerful; joy soitens
more hearts than tears.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28

A mortgage for eighteen million
dollars has been given in this State,
on the Chicago, ST. Lonis and New
Orleans Railroad. The mortgage
bonds will be issued for $1,000 each.
rhe road mentioned assumes all the
liabilities of the Mississippi Cen
trail, and the New Orleans Jackson
and Great Northern Railroad, and
the mortgage was given to secure
this indebtedness.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
THE FORGED WILL.

| lb WIS IHl MS hioib " i<ohooi
since had taken up my abode and
entered on the practice of my pro
fession as solicitor of Southampton.
In London / had very dear
friend, my college chum, George
Dickson, and of course | lost no
time in looking him up.
Three years had passed since our
last meeting, bat ten could scarce
IL have produced q change more
marked than had taken place in the
appearance and manner of my
friend.
Our first greeting over, | longed
to ask the cause of my friends mel
ancholy. l felt sure in due time of
being made the confdant of the Sc
cret, provided no motive of delicacy
prompted its concealment.
That evening George told me
his story. He had formed an at
taehment for Il young lady, whose
graees Of mind and person he por-
trayed with oil lovers eloque1ce.
soc had returned his affections, but
: father had opposed his suit,
her set his heart on the mar
having rs daughter to a nephew
'iage Of /.
)f his. was a young sur
This nephew = character, my
seon of protligal> but that may
'riend assured me- So had long
nave been prejudice-w. his offers
yoed his cousin, to whom father
Ae rs repugnant as to hei
hey we're very acceptable. :,
Some months since Mr.. Parson
he young lady's father, had gone
nto hampshire on business, ac-
by his nephew. AT
southampton he had been seized
With sudden illness, which ter
fatally in three days.
On the day preceding his death
he had executed will containing
olemn request that his daughter,
0 whom he left the whole of his es
ate should accept the hand OF his
Iephew in marriage, coupled with
he provision that in ease she re
used within a specified period to
inter- into the proposed union, the
state should be forfeited to the
lcphcw.
To sacrifice her fortune to her
learts choice would not have cost
Julia Parsons moments hesitation.
But her fathers dying request, in
Iulia's eyes, was sacred. 1t had |
and stunned her, it is
rue, for in their confe renee on the
subject he had never gone beyond
lic most kindly reno ,srances, and
lad never limited ..s anything like
coercion.
Young Parsons, the nephew, had
,ot the magnanimity to foregn his
advantage. He might
layc been content with his cousins
'ortnne alone, but his right to that
depended on his offer and her re-
cclioa Of an alliance which she felt +
N conscience bound to accept. The
brief season of grace, which she had
been compelled to beg even with
ears, had already almost passed,
md q few more days would witness
The condemnation Of two lives tol
misery.
At the conclusion OF my friends
in which, for reasons that
may hereafter be developed, | felt q
peculiar interest, ] prevailed on
him to accompany me to a place OIL
When We arrived the performance
had already begun, but We slcceed
"a in finding a seat that command
"a fine view Of botll the stage and
Inc audience.
In 4 few minutes George touched
my elbow.
sObserye the gentleman near
y opposite, IN the ffQnt
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28

We must all have respect for the
aoed. if we wish them to like us.
Disrespect for old age is a sin, and
God will punish it. Be always
good and kind to the old, and we
will be loved by every one, and have
the favor .of God also. If it was
not for the old, we could not well
get along in this world. / have
heard some make fun of the old,
and also of their clothes. Old age
is honorable and should be honor
ed
When the children laughed at
Elisha the Lord sent bears to de-
YOUR them.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
what Mnkeg a Bushel.

The following table Of the num-
her Of pounds Of various articles to
make q bushel may be Of interest:
Wheat, so pounds; corn, slelled'
se no.nds; rye, 56 pounds; barley,
Il, pounds; huckwhcat, 5s pounds;
;r;sh potatoes, 80 pounds; sweet
notatoes. % 30; onions, 81 pounds
beans, 60 pounds; bran, ~ pounds,
clover seed, 60 pounds; timothy
seed, AS pounds; hemp seed, s S
Wounds: blue glass seed, "A pounds,
dried peaches, a pounds; II hax sesa. 3 .
Se mounds; eastor beans, 40 pounds 3
sd apples, "a pounds; salt oO
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28


Out of the long white dresses
And into the dainty frocks,
Little blue shoes with buttons
In the place OF the worsted socks;
No longer helpless baby,
Carried in arms all day,
But a restless, mischievous fellow,
Erimming with frolic and play.
Getting himself into troubles
That seemingly have no end,
Tearing "big holes" in his dresses
For patient mamma 10 mend.
Bumping his curly round noodle
Which mamma'ssoft kisses must cure
And meeting hundred misfortuncs
Which babies must learn 10 endure
Too soon shall lose my baby,
And do the b,st can
10 welcome the magical power
Which changes the boy to man.
OH that the years were slower
In rolling the months away,
And would that for many a season
Ny baby child might stay.
| wonder how he is dearer
As only Il babe ON my breast?
Or changed to this rosuish fellow
Whose feet are never at rcstl
Is rosebud any the sweetcr
Eeforc It's a full-grown rose?
Al! the love that is born with the baby
Must grow az the baby grows.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28
--s-1 @ %%---
Hone,


There is a star that shineth
Above the thickest gloom,
And the sorrowing heart divineth
It's light hey ond the tomb.
With steady, constant ray ii CLEANS
Upon the path OF youth,
And tins,th al its golden dreams
With colorings OF truth.
Far out upon the ocean
lis cheering light is shed,
Yet hath no mortal seen this star,
The living or The dead;
But in the heart and in the soul
Where death and danger cope,
Assuring with firm control
Doth shine this Star of Hope.
The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-28

We can sympathize even with the
self begotten sorrows OF our fellow
being without excusing or endorsing
their follies and faults.