davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-12-27
The Fires Work.

DETROIT, Dee, %.-M. Simon's dry goods
store at Manistee, Mich, was destroyed by
fire Thursday morning. Loss, $4,000; in
surance, $4,000.
ST.. LOUIS, Dec. 2T.--Fire broke @lt in
Benoist's building, corner of Seventh and
Olive streets, early Thursday evening caEs-
ing loss of between $4,000 and $4,000
The principal losers are Theodore Benoist
furnaces, tiles, etc, $40 900; Jordan, florist,
s., 900, and the Excelsior Laundry company
which company have a branch in Cincinnati,
loss unknown Fully covered by insurance.
DEsHLER, Ohio, Dec 27.-A fire broke out
in the dry goods store of John Voght, Thurs
dav evening and quickly spread TO several
adjoining stores completely destroying them.
Loss. 50, ,p00; probable insurance, $4,000.
DR.. J. w. Stark, Dentist, 1922 SeconC
avenue. d1yr.
The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-12-27
Hard Coal Market

Pea coal $3.50; CRATE and egg, $S.s5;
range, nut and No. 4 $3.50 per ton,
screened and delivered; all best quality of
Anthracite coal Blacksmith coal. Con-
nellsville coke and charcoal at 1908 Sec
ond avenue. diff E. G. FRAZIER.
The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-12-27
Paw Ynur Tayas.

The taxes for Rock Island for the year
1884 are now due and should be paid at
once to the collector at No 1919. Second
avenue. d. f. KRELI,
dwtf Township Collector.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW.
To THE EDITOR :

10 THE EDITOR
An occasion called me to a neighboring
village one evening last week. 1t was Dit
ter cold night. After seeing the horse well
cared for on my return, near midnight, and
about to enter my house, my attention was
attracted towards an object which at once ex-
cited pity and sympathy-a drunken man.
He repeatedly fell to the ground. Locomo-
ton seemed scarcely possible. After no little
trouble and many trials got him to his home
Home. drunkard's home. light was
burning-token of wifes priceless love not
yet died out. To that wife the hours OF the
night had been weary, painful ones. The
familiar step came at last. One glance at
her anxious face is enough. 1t would have
been better for her if she had never been
born than to live to become the wife OF a
drunkard This man, SO fearfully and Won
derfully made, was transformed into sense
less, and for the time being mass of lmbecll-
ity At last he becomes partly conscious of
his existence He told where he got his
liquor that when he quilted the bar-room
another man was there equally as drunk.
Yes he told aohere he got his rum. A human
being known" SO reads the license enact
ment, "for honesty and TEMPERANcE"-God
forgive the work who files bond that he
will not in any manner violate the license act,
furnished him, for few ten-cent pieces, the
vile stuff. Looking upon this specimen OF
the liquor-seller's workmanship, I thought [
would rather be a sneak-thief than one who
robs and becomes a party to the numbering of
the soul of my neighbor. Yea I would rath
er be pinched to death than to get bread for
myself and family by selling liquor. Some
of us kneel at our family affairs and pray
" lead us not into temptation" then go out
the same day and lead our neighbors into
temptation by going on a rumseller's petit
ton. HOME.
WOODSTOWN
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
AMENDMENTS.

Man is imperfect, therefore the works of
his hand are imperfect The workmanship
of to-day will not accord with the ideas of
the future. We must advance in every
thing. We reverence the old and the i'm
mutable but nothing which man has made
is immutable. We love the old homestead of
our ancestors. 1t was fashioned well, and
albeit, it is little inconvenient, we would
not change it for the world. Children, and
children's children grew up and passed from
those gray old walls, and we'll prop it up
while stone and mortar will cling together
But if in this old mansion there should be
some faw-some hiatus-it might be trap
door through which every generation has lost
some of its number by an unwary step on
that treacherous place, shall we of the present
generation perpetuate that error, and still car
ry to untimely graves the loved and erring
who have fallen through that snare? The
tenants of those premature graves would cry
aloud to US to save their unwary brothers.
We must amend that error. We must put a
new plank in the place of that trap-door, that
hiatus, that the future inmates of that old
home may be secured.
We revere our constitutions for our fathers
hands framed them; but if we can
improve them, if the safety of the citizen
is imperilled by any hiatus, any trap-door,
we are bound to demand that new plank be
laid, that those abiding under that constitu-
ton may be protected
Does not the constitution of New Jersey
invite such an amendment ? In the second
clause of the first article in the constitution,
almost the first thought it would seem in the
founders of the state, who foresaw the needs
of growing, progressive people, are these
words
Political power is inherent in the people.
Government is instituted for the protection,
security and benefit of the people, and they
ha0e the right at all times to alter or reform
the same, aohene0er tie public good may re-
qatire 1t. :"
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
GREETING.

To fathers and mothers we extend our
greeting The love of home, and the knowl-
edge that foe turks in every community
where liquor is sold, sapping the very founda-
ton of home and its benign influences, sends
us forth in the name of God and humanity,
to help you protect your sons and your
daughters from the snare that lies SO near
them. Familiarity with the evil begets in
difference and disarms us of fear, and tenn
perance is All old, old story. Like other vir-
tues, it must be instilled line upon line,
precept upon precept. That we may give
new life and vigor to these precepts, and
create new interest in a cause of vital import
ance that we may encourage our boys-your
boys-to become useful citizens and our
girls-your girls-to become noble women,
is our aim, and to this aim we ask your aid
To the boys and girls, to young men and
young women, we extend our greeting. We
perance; to use your influence with your
friends and companions, and help to create
sentiment on this vital subject. The foe
with whom we battle, if he has not invaded
and desolated your homes, has invaded the
home of your neighbor. AS you would 60
to the rescue of that neighbor if disease or
outward peril threatened him, go to him now
that more subtle enemy has tightened his
grip upon him. Save him and save his home.
We are our brothers keepers.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
THE VISIT OF MAJOR SCOTT AND
HIS WIFE,

A series of temperance lectures by Major
Scott held recently in Woodstown, has been
productive of marked good Through the cold
est nights of the year, through sleet and
slush, the citizens, before Indifferent to the
subject of temperance, filed intossthe different
places of worship where these meeting were
held, and listened with growing interest to
the eloquent discourses of this earnest adyo-
cate of temperance.
The visit of Major Scott and his wife
among us has been fraught with great results
To their efficient labor we attribute the pres
ent interest in the cause of temperance in
our midst. Many of the thoughts expressed
in this paper are gleanings from the eloquent
tongue of Major Scott in his recent series of
temperance lectures.
At meeting of the W. G. T. u Mrs. Major
Scott spoke of the necessity of reading
room for the young men of the place, and
although the idea was not new one it re-
ceived vitality from the forcible manner in
which it was urged by Mrs. Scott The next
day the ladies of the W. G. T.. Q. were pre-
sented with handsome room for the pur-
pose. We take this opportunity to extend
our thanks to the generous donor.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
REVEALS.

Some assume that degeneracy follows re-
vivals. It would be truer to the analogies in
nature to say that revivals follow degeneracy
or inaction, as spring succeeds to winter. A
revival shows that which its name signifies, a
re-awakening into life. The apparent mac
ton of winter is good, after the terminating
process of spring, the ripening of summer,
and the ingathering of autumn. But it is in
the revival of the year that we SOW our seeds.
If we fail to SOW in the spring time winter
of famine must follow. That we may have
fullness of life-that we may live while we
live-not as the epicure would say, but live
to God and the work we find to do, we must
SOW and plant SO faithfully in the spring time
that the autumn will scarcely suffice to garner
our stores, and the winter to distribute them.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
OUR POSITION.

1.-THE MONITOR" " will be published in the
interest of truth and morality, temperance and
righteousness Though catholic in spirit on
all questions in which truth is not in jeop-
ardy, it will be radical in its views on all
questions of right and wrong Its eye will
ever be upon the wrong doings of men.
Without regard to fear or favor, its steady
purpose will be to commend the right and
condemn the wrong. 1t will be the friend
alike of the rich and the poor, setting forth
the rights of men in the light of christian
truth and in the interest of the public good.
1t will be the foe to all oppression and monop-
oily. Its chief aim will be to throw light
upon all matters that concern the welfare of
the community, the country and the world.
1t will be made interesting to the old and the
young, and to all classes and conditions of
men. 1t seeks the patronage of the people
with desire to do them good. Nothing will
be allowed in its columns which is unfit for
the sacred circle of the family and the home.
Its editorials, communications, locals, adver-
tisements and notices will be pure in charac-
ter and reliable in fact. In brief, the design
is to make it such paper that all will feel
that they cannot afford to do without it.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01

The grand jury of Union county in this
state has made presentments against the au-
thorities of the cities of Elizabeth and Rah-
way for permitting unlicensed dealers to sell
liquors within their limits. This is step in
the right direction, and it is to be hoped the
grand juries of all the counties will make a
note of it, and when cases arise calling for it,
will do likewise
If borough and city governments grow lax in
their administration in protecting the inter
ests of the people, or in any way connive at
violations of law, the grand jury should take
them in hand and indict them for their remiss-
ness, which it evidently comes in their legal
prerogatives to do, as the body specially pro-
vided with inquisitorial powers for the pro-
lection of the peoples rights.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
=" MOTHER HILL"

At rest Gone home! Safe in Beulah land
Mother Hill " has gone to here reward.
She left us January Goth, 1884. We can do
no better perhaps, than to give to our read
ers the eloquent tribute paid her by q. L.
Scott, in one of his pen-pictures as sketched
for the Temperance Gazette last fall
'Ten years ago, when the womans crusade
of Ohio swept like tornado through the
land. the first W. G. r. u of Newark, N. j.,
sprang into existence under the leadership of
Mrs. Mary G. Hill. Not in Newark only, or
alone in New Jersey, out in every community
where there is a Woman's Christian Temper
ance Union, the name of Mother Hill is
familiar.
''She was its original founder and first
president When she entered the work she
was woman of seventy remarkable for
physical vigor mental activity, executive
force, relentless foe to rum, hindered by no
obstacle. fired with zeal and tireless energy
no effort could abate, withal with such good
Judgment, combined with an unalterable trust
in her Saviour that when she came to the
front she led this Union on from victory to
victory never retreating, always advancing
until to-day hundreds of homes where once
the serpent of the still lay coiled, rise up and
call Mother Hill blessed"
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
THE MONITOR.
NOTHING AND SOMETHING.

1T is nothing to me /" the beauty said,
With careless toss of her pretty head;
'sThe man is weak if he can't refrain
From the cup you say is wrought with pain
Tt was something when, in after years,
Her ewes were drenched with burning tears,
And she watched in lonely grief and dread,
And startled to hear staggering tread.
sit is nothing to me-" the mother said.
81 have no fear that my boy will tread
In the downward path of sin and shame,
And crush my heart and darken his name"
1t was something to her when her only son
From the path of right was early won
And madly cast in the flowing bowl
A ruined body and sin-wrecked soul.
"It is nothing to me" the merchant said
As over his ledger he bent his head;
"I am busy to-day with tare and tret,
And have no time to fume and fret"
1t was something to him when over the wire,
message came from funeral pyre
drunken conductor had wrecked train,
And his wife and child were among the slain
" 1t is nothing to me, the voter said,
"The party's loss is my only dread"
Then gave his vote for the liquor trade,
Though hearts were crushed and drunkard'
made.
1t was something to him when, in after life,
His daughter became a drunhards wife,
And her hungry children cried for bread,
And trembled to hear their fathers tread.
Is it something for US to idly sleep,
While the cohorts of death their vigils keep?
To gather the young and thoughtless in,
And grind in our midst grist of sin?
'Tis something, yes all, for us to stand
Clasping by faith the Saviours hand;
To learn to labor, live, and fight
On the side of God and unchanging right
Mrs. r. E. w. Harper, IN Sabbath Recorder
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
HIGH LICENSE.

One of the most despotic kings of ancient
times was offered, by certain bad counsel
lor, about seventeen million dollars for
license, under the terms of which he and his
agents were "to destroy, to kill, and to cause
to perish all Jews, both young and old, little
children and women and to take the spoil of
them for prey" Before the matter was
consummated, public Indignation was aroused
against the destroyer, and an amendment was
made to the law, giving the people a chance
for their lives. This acknowledgment of the
rights of the people was the noblest act of
that tyrants life, and it was done at the re-
quest of woman. The women of this state
have made their request to the tyrant who
sits at Trenton that our people, who have
been sold {" to be destroyed, to be slain, and
to perish" may have the right to "s stand for
their lives" against the liquor traffic. The
resolution to allow the people to vote directly
on the liquor question will come up in the
legislature shortly. 1t is almost too much to
hope for fair play in the face of the gigantic
influence of the liquor men, but we trust that
a majority of the legislators will act, at least,
as we'll as Ahasuerus. Let those who will not
listen to the voice of the people remember
the fate of wicked Haman.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
Temperance Notes.

Francis Murphy, the temperance advocate,
is in Boston for the first time.
The Woman's National Christian Temper
ance Union is the largest society of women
in the world. The membership now numbers
$1,000.
A temperance meeting has been held every
Monday evening for forty years at the Bap-
tist Bethel Hanover street, Boston, and for
fourteen years under the charge of Rev.
Henry A. Cook.
New York liquor men have united and
formed 'sThe Wine. Liquor and Beer Dealers
Central Association of the City and County of
New York" The delegates represented o44
rum shops A constitution and bylaws were
adopted, the preamble of which sets forth
that the organization is effected for the pur
pose of protecting the liquor dealers from the
enforcement of unjust and fanatical laws now
on the statute books, and the members of the
association pledge themselves to support only
such candidates as will aid them in obtaining
| this object.
bitter warfare has long been waged by
the temperance people OF Elizabeth and kah-
way to secure an effective enforcement of the
excise laws in those cities. On Thursday
decisive victory was won when the grand
! Jury of Union county found indictments
against the mayor and common council of
Railway and the board of excise of Elizabeth
! The presentment sets forth that these BODIES
have allowed the excise laws to be habitually
violated, that persons have been selling
liquor in those cities without license, and
that names have been forged to applications
on which licenses were granted; further,
that the whole management has been t1agrant
violation of law, and that fraud has been
winked at.
The Prohibitionists of the Fifth ward,
Camden, met last Tuesday night with Rev. B.
G. Lippincott as president, and Charles H.
Snyder, secretary. The following gentlemen
were placed in nomination for ward and d1-
vision officers City council, A. L. Mulford;
chosen freeholder, Charles Ayers; board of
education, George NJ Rice; ward assessor,
Charles White; constable, Lewis r. Stehr;
overseer of the poor, Lewis R. Stehr; justice
of peace B. F. Boulton; I'd division, judge
of election, Jacob X. Snyder, Jr.; clerk,
Charles Smith; Sd division, judge of election,
John Shellhorn inspector, Alex. Mills. No
election officers were nominated in the 1st di-
vision. and no clerk in the Sd division. These
will be filled by the executive committee.
Aconvention of the Prohibition Home Pro-
lection party met in Lewar's hall, at Ninth
and Spring Garden streets, Philadelphia, last
Wednesday evening, for the purpose of nomi-
mating candidates for the forthcoming cleo
ton. The nomination of DIR. Gilbert E.
Palen, of "A Harvey street, Germantown, for
mayor, was greeted with enthusiastic cheers.
For city solicitor, J. M. Washburn, attorney
at-law, of I'LL. Grard street, was nominated,
and Daniel L. Leeds, attorney y-at-law, re-
ceived the nomination for receiver of taxes.
The central executive committee has perma-
nently organized, with the following officers
President, l. N. Pierce; vice-presidents, E.
M. Kelley and DR.. G. L. Munns; secretary,
E. S. j. Patterson treasurer, Godfrey Stinger.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
Good Templary.

Quebec has over 5000 Good Templars and
about as many Sons of Temperance, with
equally as many more auxiliary societies
The Good Templars of West Virginia enter
upon the new year under cheering prospects,
The membership has recently much increased
and the future is bright before them.
The state of Maine has 20, 900 Good Temp
lars, who are alive to the work to be done in
that state next fall at which time the people
are to vote upon constitutional amendment,
the adoption of which is confidently expect.
ed.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
THE MONITOR.

A monitor is one who admonishes one who
cautions and warns Do we assume too much
in our title? Upon no hearts and hopes in
the land has the whitening blight of the rum
curse fallen with such crushing weight as
upon the hearts and hopes of the wives and
mothers. Does not this justify us in admon-
ishing the man who drinks Intoxicating
liquors, the man who sells them to him, and
the community that permits the traffic
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
PERILs OF OUR INLAND SEAS.

II would rather cross the ocean twenty
one trip from the st. Lawrence river to Chi
cago on the lakes" said Captain Ira Brown,
an old Lake Erie skipper. "The loss of life
and property is proportionally very much
you may always expect to hear of disasters on
the great lakes following the reports of every
severe storm. Lake shippers will take risks
that will appal the bravest ocean sailor. They
hardly seaworthy in the calmest weather, and
more of them are afoat during the most dan
gerous part of the year than during any other
time. This is because the months of October
sel-owners, cargoes then being plenty and
freight rates higher.
"Grain shipments are livelier as the season
draws to a close, and every vessel that will
float can command cargo The sailing sea-
son is very short on the lakes, as it is late in
the spring before the embargo is removed,
and early in the winter when it again closes
navigation. The shippers desire is to take ad-
vantage of every hour of his time, and not
withstanding the fact that he is liable to be
overtaken at any moment by storms of great
violence, he takes no precaution that will SUBJ
ject him to the least delay in port.
"This reckless disregard for life and prop
erty enlisted no interference on the part,
even of shippers, who are the parties most in
terested, until few years ago, when move
ment was made to have inspectors appointed
by the government to examine the vessels in
the grain trade of the lakes But from all
accounts there are many worthless hulks ply
ing between Oswego and Chicago.
"The dangers of lake navigation are SO
great that even the staunchest vessels are fire.
quently unable to escape them. Storms
sweep over the lakes without any warning
The November storms on Lake Erie are
frightful and the sailors depend to certain
extent on landmarks as guides in navigation
The binding sleet that nearly always accom-
panies the storms obiterates these marks
sometimes for days. and as the sea room is
limited, vessels caught in these storms are in
constant danger of going to pieces either on
the rocky shores or on some of the islands
that stud these inland seas.
Lake Ontario's shores are especially men
acing to lake craft during storms, but for
tunately this lake is not liable to be swept by
gales as some of the others in the chain. If a
vessel heaves to in a storm it is almost certain
to be drifted ashore; or if it runs down the
lake toward the st. Lawrence river it is en-
dangered by the many islands that abound
/ there.
Many shippers have wrecked their ves-
sells in the risky effort to make Oswego har-
Dor in a storm. The entrance to this harbor
/ is very narrow, and the vessel that is steered
! for it and does not make it is almost certain
to go to pieces on the rocks under Fort On
| tario."
The Monitor., 1884-02-01

Strong rays of light are day by day eating
out more and more of the ink in the original
parchment draft of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, which is kept in glass case in the
State Departments library. Few of the names
are now legible. Near the parchment is the
original, on foolscap paper. The ink is as
fresh as it was when it dropped from Jeffer-
sons quill. The many erasures and interline-
ations by Franklin, John Adams and others,
are still perfect as to color. The paper is
yellow with age, and worn through where it
has been folded.
The Monitor., 1884-02-01
WISDOM FOR BOYS.
WoODSTOWN.

Do you wish to make your mark in the
world? Do you wish to be men? Then OBJ
serve the following rules:
Hold integrity sacred.
Observe good manners.
Endure trials patiently.
Make few acquaintance.
Yield not to discouragements.
Dare to do right; fear to do wrong
Watch carefully over your passions
Fight life's battle bravely, manfully.
Consider well, then decide positively.
Sacrifice money rather than principle.
Use all your leisure time for improvement.
Attend carefully to the details of your busi
ness.-Selected.