davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
OSCARS RETURN.

Oscar Wilde has returned to America.
What the people OF the United States
have done to be thus punished by an over
ruling Providence, it is difficult to dis
cover. We must have committed some
great sin, which IN due time will be re-
veaied to Us. In the mean tine we must
put up with Oscar, but we are certain
that he will discover we are not the
credulous fools he first found us. The
compensation for enduring him has been
found in the sharpening OF our wits. As
poet, we have been led to conclude that
he is merely writer of pretty rhymes
about the lust of the flesh and the unut-
terable longing of such souls as dwell in the
Oscar kind of earthly tabernacle. Oscar
promised much, but he performed little. II
he continues as he began, he will grow to
manhood only to be forgotten. His is a
case where youthful precocity disappoints
maturity. 1t is possible that there dwells
in Oscar the true poetic quality, and that
study and due retirement will develop it.
Indeed, we incline to the belief, despite all
we have said in ridicule of the vealy rhym.
ster, that there is in him the possibility
still of future prominence with deserving.
If he will withdraw himself from the
world mortify the flesh, study diligently
and make the masters the texts for his
thoughts, he may develop into poetic ex.
cellenee.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
WAsHINeroNa BLRrupLAcR.

Another spot for piigrimsge will shortly
be added to the shores of the Potomac, the
Government having Just secured the title
to Wakefield, WestmorelalG county, Vir-
ginis, about eighty.siX miles from Wash
ington, and the site OF the birthplace of
the Father of his country. The estate,
comprising twenty acres, is near the mouth
of Pooe's creek and is q portion Of the
landed properly owned by the grandfather
of Washington, whOse remains, with those
of Washington's father and several uncles,
lie in dilspidated comb on the ground re-
ated S33 600 to mark the slte OF the house
where Washington was born. The de-
sign adopted by the Secretary Of State calls
for monumental building twenty feet
square aud about thirty feel iah, Within
the foundation, a least par'i.lly construct
ed of the old brick OF Washington's early
home, will be inferred the remains of his
ancestors and relatives.
A recent examination Of the premises
discovered at a depth e two feet eight in
ches the solid wall Of The old house in a
remarkable state OF preservation, the old
fashioned brick being As good as ehe day
they were landed there from England, now
nearly two centuries since. The chimney
pointed out TO tourists as all there is left
of the old home really belonged to house
of more recent construction, occupied by
the oVerseer OF sne prop, rty. Several
years ago party of distinguished gentle
men, among them Secretary Evarts and
General Sherman, visited the place and se-
cured number of the bricks from the
chimney, which were subsequently encased
in mahogany as relics from tie birthplace.
The old residents Of Westmoreland know
better, and when DR.. st. Clair, of the
State Department, was sent down to have
the land appraised and secure the deed,
the exact spos was des gnsted. With the
aid Of .ahosers the ground WA excavated
until the foundation wall vas discovered.
~ pIossus there is no lIndipg. The
shore is inaccsss.hle, owing 10 the length
OF the beach and the shsllowuess of the
water To proceed with the erection of
the handsome structure it Will frat be nee
essary to build wharf fully ope-hslf of
mile in length, which will reach thirteen
feet OF water, depth sufficient to allow
the Potomac steamers to land the material,
as well IS the naval vespes, which are
used bv Government officials to visit
Mount Vernon. The memorial odlice will
be about one and half miles from the
wharf, and the plans conter plate Ithe in
closure of twenty acres, which are to be
improved from year 10 year, Il is said by
old residents in the vicinity sb8t the con-
struction OF tie wharf viii open to eulti-
walton thousand5 OF acres Of the best land
in northern Vireiuis, redeem the garden
section of the State, and make a sacred
spot too long neglected by the people of
the country. IN. Y. Herald.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
ENLAReING THE PRIVILEGE.

An effort is being made in New Zealand
to reform the law of libel, but the Southern,
Cross, while impressed with the undeniable
justice of the proposed reform, expresses
but faint hope that it will be brought
about. The effort being made by the col
ony press is certainly a eommendable one.
In brief, it is proposed, and Mr.. Tole has
introduced bill to that effect, that malice
shall be shown where reports of pnblic
meetings are made and published, before
any recovery can be had. In other words,
that newspapers shall be privileged in max
ing honest and fair reports of the proceed
ings of any public meeting where the sole
purpose is to give the absent pu6lic
faithful and uncolored account of the pro-
ceedings. Thus the paper is not to be held
responsible for the libelous statements made
at the meeting. It is held by the advo-
Gates of this reform, that it is to the inter-
est OF the public and to the interest Of the
person who may consider himself injured
that they should be faithfully reported.
In the ease Of the latter the accurate re-
port of the injurious statement uttered be-
fore large assemblage is better for the in
jured party than to have them mouthed
about on the street and distorted and
magnifed and exaggerated with each
repetition. II the charges made are un-
true, he is thus enabled more easily to fix
the liability and sheet home their falsity.
Then, too, the knowledge that his remarks
may be safely published will render speak
ers great deal more careful in their state
ments, and so caution on the platform will
take the place of recklessness. for as it
now is, says the New Zealand Herald, the
rostrum by the license it encourages in pub
lie speaking is frequently power for evil,
as dangerous as the worst forms of reck-
less journalism. By the relaxation pro-
posed in the new bill the public will be the
gamer by having presented to it an actual
reflex of what has really occurred and has
really been heard by those present, in
preference to garbled account necessi-
tated by the fear of an action for damages,
or an arrest. While under the California
code malice is necessary ingredient of
libel, yet the proving Of negative is put
upon the publisher or writer-that is say,
he must show that his motive was iusti-
fable. The reports of legislative, Judicial
and other public official proceedings are
privileged with US, but go should be the
proceedings of speeches at all public meet
ings for the reasons already stated. In
this broad liberty the citizen will find his
best projection against injury from libel.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
SHOOTING AT SIGHT.

Judge James Jackson, in the North
American Rerieg, thinks that the two
things in America for which men quickest
fight are land and revenge. These
fights begin in our Courts, and all too
frequently end in shooting at sight. The
trial BY battle, once SO prevalent in Eu-
rope, has, he holds, but changed its form
with IS. This is certainly an extreme
view Of the subject, but there is some sup
port foE it, when considered only as iudi-
eating the spirit and passion for contest,
for victory, for acquisition and for revenge
which move people to litigation. But it
can have ne application to oar administra-
tion Of the law in adjusting difficulties
and settling disputes according to the
principles Of iuatice. And really what
the Judge means, is to illustrate
only the spirit of contest and sub
jugation which has retained among US yet
the duello and its eoarser substitute.
Great men, he points out, have ceased to
fight duels for either revenge or ruffied
honor-Cr at all. Public eminent has
nodded into law against the practice, but
not so firmly perhaps in the South as in
the North, but in beth Esections there has
spraGg up substitpte-the free use of the
pistol. the gun and the knife, there is not
such . disparity between sections in the
use of these weapons to right wrongs as is
generally supposed, and tie Southern peo-
pie viii feel grateful TO the esssyis. for
this defense, negative though it ie.
The reasons tina. made the South
more bloody ground for several
years succeeding the war, than the
North, are made very olear and are
obvious, After the war tbsre was
ga reign Of bedI2m at the South, which
had SO long been battle field, and every
man who could, procured and carried arms.
Tais habit has not yet been shaken of. but
il is wonderful taat it has not proven a
greater evil than it did. Now, without
any paIliating circumstances, the same
habit exists at the North--in fact, says the
Judge. the whole country is badly afflicted
with the awful plague" No obssryant
mar viii take issue with the writer ia that
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
MATRIMOhY,

In the spring g-time of life we are al apt
to think that love is the meat sacred of
heavens gifts, and that mstrimony may
still be q means of grace when it is as un-
happy as was the marriage Of that pair on
whose tombstone appreciative neighbors
sculptured for epitapb, Their warfare is
over " It is nowadays the fashion to dis
cuss matrimODy as means OF livelihood.
We are all OF US the constant subject Of
illusions in this respect. We forget our
disappointments and dissemble cur misery.
Nature intends US to found nome, wherein
to rear those who are to take our place
after our own lfe-work ig completed. And
this task requires long years OF unselhsh
effort from which many would shrink had
not nature surro Inded it with the most
elaborate network of illusions. The heart
bowa down with chivalrous devotion before
the one in whom the rest of mankind dis
Germ nothing quite divine. The touch
of the waxen, dimpled fingers Of
the babe draws from every fiber
OF the mothers being music
sweeter than any earthly strain. At the
bed Of sick child the most frivolous
mother becomes fervid in her devotion
Casting aside the bracelets from her wrists,
and the tiara from her brow, she passes
without thought of reluctance into the
mere nurse All the while, father and
mother and child alike. seen without the
glamour OF love, by the calm eyes of by
ISLANDERS, are of very ordinary mold.
They are probably as 80 hOmsly as ain -
but each by-stander suspects that in his
own home he owes something to the same
glamour, and is therefore indulgent to the
common illusion. When using the word
marriage" let it be understood that it
relates TO union of the affections. Men
and women who get parson to run through
a time-worn ceremony of words which
brings them together as so-called husbands
and wives, when really convenience is at
the bottom of it all, are not married.
Legal and ecclesiastical ceremonies have
nothing to do with the sympathetic
affections. A letter of Chief Justice John
Marshall to kinsman, just exhumed from
oblivion, gives a beautiful picture of his
welded life. He met his wife when she
was fourteen, married her when she was
sixteen, and after long life spent together
he pays her the highest compliment man
can pay to woman. A model wife and
mother, sharing his triumphs in health,
and although for many years an invalid,
never losing her sweetness of temper and
manners, Mrs. Marshall was SO tenderly
remembered that on every anniversary OF
of her death, which was on the 4th of
July, the grand old Chief Justice was in
sackcloth and ashes amid the general ju-
bilee Well, a great soul has great love.
Men who possess it hest know how to ap-
preciate a wife like Mrs. Marshall-gentle,
shy, unobtrusive, and yet of sparkling wit
and winning ways even in age. If woman
can find out what sort of soul a man pos
sesses, she will never make q matrimonial
mistake, and vice versa,-[Continental
Magazine.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

It cannot therefore be said that the Gov ,,
ernment right does not exist, and it GER
tainly could not be monopoly, as it would
not constitute an exclusive privilege. Nor
is it an unwarrantable interference In pri-
vste business, since neither the telegraph
companies nor any one else has the sole
right to engage in the business of sending
messages from one point to another, and
because it concerns the use for public ben.
eft Of means of letter transmission. On
the contrary, it is wise interference, if
any at all, because whoever holds in hand
the means Of public communication, who
ever stands in the gates and bars the way
opening into the avenues of Intelligence,
possesses a power Inconsistent with tbe
spirit of our institutions, and has the Peo.
pie literally by the throat. The power.
may not have yet been greatly made man
ifest, but its existence is obnoxious to the
spirit Of the day and the nation. sit will
lessen human ambition. By no means,
| for it has not been reserved to human am
bition that it shall have the telegraphic
field for its exercise, to the exclusion OF the
people in their collective capacity. Capital,
! instead of being deferred from Investment
by the proposed scheme, will be aided to
new and safe investments, since the postal
telegraph will free it from the possible
domination of private lines, and exclude
from the eyes of rivals matter which they
now have the power to illicitly use to their
own advantage. " Lastly, it will involve
a great outlay of public funds" We are
aecumulating a surplus of revenue that
could not be more wisely spent than in
constructing postal telegraph line. 1t is
likely else to be squandered in large part
by the politicians Nor will the expense
be 80 very great, since the highest esti-
mates for duplicating the Western Union
lines, for instance, fall below 500, 000 600,
and this is less than one. fifth of a single
years revenue surplus. Public conve-
nience is matter of the greatest import
ance TO be considered in this question. A
postal telegraph line as an adjunct to mail
service, it will be seen, must be of the
greatest public convenience, for it would
extend facilities to sections that private
enterprise ignores, because in private COM
panies the necessity exists for making each
section pay its own way, and it is private
profit, not public convenience, that actu-
ates the investment of capital.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

As result of the fires, ali kinds of wild
game and bssr are being driven into the open
prairies, where they are bsing slaughtered in
large numbers.
Yesterday two Indian children at. the
Washakie farm, Bear Lake, Utah, set fire to
the grsnsries OF the tribe, destroying Eve
thousand bushels Of wheat and oats, and de-
priving the baud of oil their winters supply
Eastern men of capital arrived in the city
yesterday, and are negotiating for q central
location on which to erect hotel, to cost
S506 eco.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

statement. We are cursed with too many
pistols; the concealed weapon is the bane
of the street. To our shame be it eaid
that our highways are constantly filed
with armed men, and we who boast that
we need no standing army GO out walking
arsenals to transact business in public
marts. Our people take the law into their
own hands with cecklessness That is in
creasing, and which causes the thoughtful
20 reflect upon the unquestionable Outcome.
II is phase of modern civilization that
indicates a retrograde movement and a re-
laxing of the restraints of law. Men man.
ifest the most icy contempt for the law
prohibiting the carrying of concealed
weapons, and at the same time disclaim OF
the necessity for such dead letter upon
the statute book. But Judge jackson in
clines to the belief, in which we cannot
agree with him, that there is promise of
better things. We see no indications of
it. The statistics to-day show that more
private arms are manufactured and
sold than at any previous period,
and that increase is out of
proportion to the increase of population.
But the Judge industrioasly labors
to show the rapid decrease of the
dueling spirit in the South, and the steady
decline of the disposition to shoot at sight
in that section of our common country.
He AYERS that life and limb and property
are held as sacred at the South to-day as
in any State in the Union, and that the
South extends her arms as wide as does
any country to welcome capital and labor
and insure them safety-she needs brain,
muscle and money to develop her rich re-
0ources. The day has passed by when
public men in the South who declined q
challenge lost their power and popularity.
1t is possible that the Judge has over
colored the picture. We do not yet forget
the outrages, which, under specious guises,
have been made the means to political ends
in the South, nor the terrorism which
reigned there but recently. But this we
must confess, that all the signs indicate the
decline of that state of affairs. Society
at the South 10 becoming the handmaiden
of its necessity; it needs new blood, and
has found out that, to woo it, it must lay
aside all fOrbidding aspects; and SO it is
true that what the Judge terms " the reign
of the grOg chop and the bowie knife, is
declining in the South, and it is not at all
improbable it will cease some time before
it will be unknown at the North, but in
both sections it still prevails, and shooting
at sight is more prevalent and less defense.
less that comports with our character as a
people, and to-day it shames our laws, tar
nishes our civilization and stains our ma.
tional reputation.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

Or KISSING The "mca nurquam salts
laudatus," as friend Desiderius Justly calls
it, certainly prevailed in England IN the
sixteenth aud seventeenth centuries to a
very pleasing extent There ia story-I
think it is retained in the Broad Stone OF
Honor" -- of an English knight riding
through France 10 the Fisld Of tae Cloth
of Gold. His horse oaat shce at a cer-
tain village, the seigneur whereof had de-
parted to the same repde zvous, but the
seigneur's lady Hospitality entreated the
Traveller. She came forth ol her castle,
attended by twelve damssls fair to see.
And, said the dame, "foreas much as in
England yo haye sueh custom rs that a
man may KISS woman, therefore l will that
ye kiss ne, aud ye shall also kiss all these
my maideDs. Which thing the knight
straightway did, and rcjoiced greatly
thereat, for tbey were "ny mpl n divinis
vultibus, " Gbough they were rot English.
At present the coed and ina0ce35 game of
kiss-in-the' ring preserves nr1ong the bum-
bier classes thar custom which was so dear
to the RsformeT, and in q rev book L have
Just read the reverend author cougrsi ulates
tha modern peasantrY of Devon for that
they live in "nore Oscula.0ry DAYS" than
their forheszs. IL is curious that among
negroes-who are so well equipped by na-
ture for this form of ealutasi0n-she "mos
laudatus" is not understood. A late dis
tiaguished African traveller oIce told me
that he offered kiss, under favorable cir
cumstances, to a young lady OF King NUM-
bos court, and that she ieeoiied in mere
alarm. observing that she was not yet
worthy to be eaten.-[Notea and Queries.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
SHAMEFUL EXPOSE.

Governor Hamilton, of Maryland, charges
his party that during his administration it
has stolen and squandred not less than
$500, 600 of the treasury of the State !; that
delinquent officers of the State now owe it
the enormous sum of $772, 73S; that the
money squandered has invariably gone into
the pockets of the followers of the bosses,
who are now seeking to crush the Govern
or because he exposes the rascality of the
Democracy, to which he owes allegiance.
But the brave man replies "Your De-
mocracy is not mine, and refuse to be
booted out at your command ;" on the con.
trary, it is the boss element that must
"go." As a solitary instance of the
steals the Legislature perpetrated he cites
the creation of the Office for pet politi.
clan" of superintendent of the House of
Correction Telegraph Line, +" with salary
of 81, 500 year. The line is mile and a
half long, and has never been used. The
detailed allegations of the Governor make
up an indictment that is shameful to the
whole country, and it is difficult to zee
how the bosses are to defend before the
people against it.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

BRAIx-WoRE AND FooD.-The notion
that those who work only with their brain
need less food than those who labor with
their hands has long been proved to be
fallacious. Mental labor causes greater
waste of tissue than muscular. According
to careful estimates, three hours of hard
study wesr out the body more than whole
day of hard physical exertion. Without
phosphorus, no thought" is German say-
ing and the consumption Of that essential
ingredient OF the brain increases in propor.
tion to the amount OF labor which this or.
gan is required to perform The wear and
tear of the brain are easily measured by
careful examination Of the salts in the
liquid excFetions. Tne Importance of the
brain as working organ is shown by the
amount Of blood it receives, which is pro-
portionately greater shan thst of any other
part of the body. One fifth of the blood
goes TO the brain, though its average
weight 10 only one-fortieth Of that Of The
body. This Tact alone would be sGlficient
to prove that brain.workers require mora
food, and even better food, than mechanics
or farm lsborers. Boston journal of
Chemistry,
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08
ARIZONA.
yellow Fever In the Lower Country.

TUCSON, September 7th.-Dr. Handy,
Health Officer, received telegram this after.
noon stating that three cases of yellow fever
were on the incoming express. He went
down to Wilmot on q special, and there
boarded the train, finding case of typho-
malarial. 1t is reported that three Mexicsns,
sick with yellow fever, crossed the line at
Nogales to-day Parties here from Magda-
lena report death from yellow fever in that
city on Tuesday last. A private telegram
from Guaymss states that Consul Willard is
down with the same disease. 1t is said to
have been taken to Gusymas by steamer
from Mazatlan. The authorities are reported
to be trying to keep the matter quiet.
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

WEBsTER'S RESTING PLACE.-We Webster q
first purchase of land in Malshlield was an
old homestead Of one hundred and fifty
acres, but he kept adding ffgm TO farm till
he bad an estate of nearly eighteen hun
dred acres, much of ;s consisting of the
wide, grassy downs Of the c1sst. The farm
extended north and south froin the home
stead, and was bounded by the ocean on
the east. The graveyard in which he was
buried is out on the sare downs il sight
and sound of the sea, and fully quarter
of a mile from ths highway, access to it
being had by a rude road through the
fields. 1t is one Of thcae nei9hoorhood
cemeteries common to country districts,
and holds the dust Of perhaps score OF
the neighborirg families. 4 moss-grown
wall of stone surrounds it on three sides,
the fourth side being inclosed 10y a modern
iron fence. The Webster plot is in the
southwest corner of the yard, near the en-
trance, and consists Of litlle cluster OF
eight or ten tombs. A large mound of
earth or the north side OF the plot, sur
mounted by plain marble slab, holds the
duet Of the seatesman. The stone bears
this inscription "Daniel Webster, born
January IS, 1872, died October q, 1852.
Lord, believe help thou my unbelef,' p"
and beneath this an appropriate phrase
from his published utteranees. Other
graves in the plot are those of Grace
Fletcher, his first wife julia, mis- favorite
daughter Major Edward. a son who died
in tie Mexican war, and Colonel Fletcher
Webster, tho second con, who was killed
at the head of his regiment N the war of
80 y aha ~, IN Post
Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-08

THE complete returns to the General Land Office
of public lands disposed of during the dscl year
ended June 3oth, show that 19,0S568S acres were
taken up in that time, increase of more than
100000 acres the total for the previous year.
OF the aggregate amount, S,l71, 1914 were taken up
under the Homestead Act: 3, 101 1888 under the
Timber Culture Act, and the remainder by cash
sales and other mears. Dakota leads the list Of
States and Territories with total of 1877 1893
disposed Of Minnesota comes next with 1,414, ,4s9,
followed closely by Nebraska and Kansas