smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1861

CoFFINs MISTAKEN FOR FIREARMs.- The New York police. on Saturday last thought they made the discovery of ship ment of firearms on board of vessel bound for Mobile An officer at once proceeded to the station house, and stated that he supposed muskets were being shipped on board the Eliza A number of officers, headed by ser geant Snodgrass, were sent to the vessel, and informed the captain that they had orders to prevent the shipment of arms for the South

 and having a suspicion that part of the Elza's cargo was of contraband nature they would be compelled to examine her. The captain readily compiled with the request, and on a1 examination beingmade it was found that the boxes supposed to contain muskets, each had a metallic coffin. This discovery somewhat disconcerted the police, and making an apolo

 gy to the captain, they hastily retired. ::
Year: 1861

Ar party few evenings since, as young gentleman named Frost was eating an apple ill d quiet corner by himself, a young lady came up and gayly asked him why he did not share it with her. He good-naturedly turned the side which was not bitten toward her, saying, Here, take it, if you wish" !" No, thank you" she exclaimed, looking at him archly " I would rather have one that is not frost-btten." and ran off to join the company, leaving poor Frost with thaw in his heart"
Year: 1861

MARKED TRANSFORMATION NEW ENG LAND MILLs-At Lawrence, Massachusetts, among others are the Pacific mills, which consist of two buildings, each nearly nine hundred feet in length. Their full compile ment of employees is now two thousand one hundred and will be two thousand seven hundred as soon as the machinery is all set up in an extension of the main building, just completed. The raw cotton goes in in bales at ono end, and comes out at the other manu- facturcd goods, ready for the market Curious ladies, by strolling through the prints and de- laine departments, can learn what styles are likely to prevail several months hence One of the machines for printing delalne stamps the piece with sixteen different colors and shades of colors, in passing through once There is only one other like in the world.
Year: 1861

Y AM OFFERING MY ENTIRE STOCK OF | Dry Goods at Cost and ten per cent Every body is invited to call and see for themselves My goods are inferior to none in this market. and my object in selling off at cost and carriage is to enable to replenish with a stock which will be bought exclusively with cash

 nov3-tf LEVIN HARRISON
Year: 1861

There being a quorum at Olympia in both
branches Of the Legislature, last week, both
Houses were permanently organized, but we
have not learned that any business has yet been
transacted. Yesterday the two Houses ad.
journed over the holidays, after which they will
probably commence work in earnest.


We have at present no means Of knowing the
actual amount Of business before II present
Legislature, but, presuming it to be about the
average, members will have tie he dligent to dis.
pose Of it in the short time remaining Of the
sixty days allowed them. II is to be hoped that
important interests will not be made to suffer by
hasty legislation, in consequence Of the delay In
getting to work.
Year: 1861

No PAPEA-In order TO give our boys a
chance TO enjoy the holidays, we shall issue no
paper from this Otlce next week. The readers
Of the Herald are reminded that "all work and
no play makes Jack adull bOy;" and as they
can In no other way get IN opportunity to play,
this must serve Is our apology for suspending
work Ior week.
Year: 1861




WHAT MASSACHUSETTS HAS DoNE.-The fol-
lowing testimony to the glowing zeal and pa
triotc fervor of Massachusetts,, is from the
New York Herald, paper almost devilish
in its hatred of Puritanism, and of New Eng
land people and usages. 1t is the constrained
testimony of an enemy:


s'No one who has watched the course of the
people of Massachusetts, and of their G oyern-
or, since the commencement Of the present
struggle, can doubt their title to the posses
sion of all the qualities that distinguished
their Puritan ancestors. They have thrown
themselves into the contest with an earnest
ness and determination which are beyond
all precedent. Not only have they contribut-
ed larger number of regiments to the army,
but they have sent them to the field better
disciplined, better equipped and better organ
ized generally than those of any other State.
1t has been remarked of them, as they passed
through our streets, that they seemed to carry
the Union in their hearts, and tho Bible in
their hands, so earnest, so husiastic and so
determined was their aspect. Instead of re-
laxing her efforts after all this exertion, we
find the Old Bay State stranfng every nerve
to preserve the pre-sminence she has won.
The proclamation of Governor Andrew may
be taken as an index of the intensity of the
feeling which still pervades her people on the
subject of this rebellion, and of the sacrifices
they are prepared to make to put it down."
Year: 1861

A green one who crossed the Atlantic, told
a story OF storm when the rain poured down
in such torrents that the ocean rose six inches.
"There is no mistake" J" said he, "because the
captain kept mark on the side of the vessel"
Year: 1861

Plato asserted that if Truth were to
come down from heaven, and display itself
in all it's glory upon earth, all men would
instantly fall down and worship it, What
Plato stated as a hypothesis, inspired
history records as fact. Truth came
down from the skies, beauty and perfec-
lion: neither hell nor earth were able to
detect flaw in it; but so false proved the
prophecy of the learned and accomplished
philosopher that the world rose up against
it. aud shouted in voice Of thunder,
Away with himl cruelty him! Not this
man, but Barabbas!"
Year: 1861

But the sublimity and terror of the


northern winter are fully equal to its beau
ty. When the thermometer stands at 35
or 40 degrees below zero, the sky is clear,


and the air perfectly still, as it usually is
at such times, you sit comfortably wrap
ped in your furs and enjoy the music of
your sled runners on the snow. When the
sky is overcast and the wind blows
strongly at a temperature even many de-
grees warmer, the imagination can never
conceive anything more dreary. The fne
particles of snow-or rather powdered ice
strike you in the face like needle points,
seeming to prick through the skin The
moisture of your breath freezes and sur
rounds your face with solid lee. The cold
affects your hands and feet, and if not con-
tinualy ropellcd and driven back gradu-
ally advances nearer and nearer the cen
tire of life terrible drowsiness over
comes YOU. The white landscape appears
ghastly then, and nature looks ike stiff
ened corpse; all the life that is in you
seems to have 10 business in such place.
Our physical sensations, howeve, are en-
tirelv relative to their character. The a
mount of actual suffering from cold in the
Arctic region is in reality not much great
er. if any, than in our own latitude. A
difference of 80 or 40 degrees is not nicely
Year: 1861

like driving ilvel y sturgeon in rough wa
ter. AS soon as you are seated in vour
sledge, which IS like little canoe, be gives
a sudden start, and as the bottom of the
sledge is perfectly round and slippery, it
is no easy matter to maintain your balance.
If you are a raw hand your first expert
ence is head downward in a snow drift
The line by which he is driven is fastened
around your wrist so that you are dragged
for some distance by your arm. The OBJ
ject of having the rein fast to your wrist
is to operate as drag on the deer when
thrown out, so as to stop him when he
gets less than hundred yards But even
when you have learned to keep your bal
ance, which Is no easy accomplishment, you
can never prevent him, every now and
then, and always at the most unexpected
moment, jumping off the track. whirling
round and facing you, staring al you with
the most provoking coolnoss-as much as
to say, "What are you going to do about
it?" The Laps have an infinite deal of
patience. have known one start balky
deer fifty times day. The food of tie
reindeer is a sort of coarse moss which
grows all over the table land With bis
hoof be digs down and gets it-not with
his antlers as some have supposed, In
deed they shed their antlers about the be-
ginning of winter The attempt has been
made to accustom the reindeer to The use
of hay, in the North of Scotland, but it
failed. At the commencement of the sum-
mer the reindeer are seized with the de-
sire to come down to the sea-coast. and it
is impossible to restrain them, The Laps
therefore pick up and follow them The
cause of this secession movement is suppo-
sed to be the attack Of a small insect, or
perhaps the desire for salt


was much struck with the wonderful
instinct, or perhaps power of smell, by
which the deer found the hidden track un-
der the snow. On those exposed plains
the wind fills up the burrows of the sledges
in half an hour, and yet the deer driven by
the skillful Lap picks out the hidden trails
under the smooth even surface as easily as
a hound traces the scent Of the game
And behind him follows the caravan in
single file all silent, white and mysterious
as procession of ghosts-no sound but
the breathing of your own deer and the
crunching noise of your sledge. As you
sit thus alone, hour after hour, in the
strange half light and half darkness of the
Arctic winter sky, a singular sort Of men
tai halluciuation seems to have come
over You. You actually begin to doubt
your own personal identity, and even think
you are inhabiting another planet. some
times asked myself, is it possible that l am
really the same individual that once lived
in a country called the United States, and
do I still inhabit the same earth where
steam boats explode, oysters are opened,
and women's rights conventions are held?
Is not that fiery arch over my head the
ring of Saturn, or am | not journeying
over the planet Neptune?
Year: 1861

One of the profoundest scholars in Scan
dinavian history and literature says in ono
Of bis poems


''But It's the touch of fairy hand


That wakes the spring in Northern land


It warns not there by slow degrees.


The changeful pulse, the uncertain breeze,


But sudden on the wOndTouS sight


Burst forth the beams of living light.


And instant verdure springs around


And fiowery magic hides the ground"


The transition is really so quick, that
there seems to be no interval between the
season Of fruits and flowers In fact there
scarcely seems to be any spring at all
When the snow begins to melt, it melts all
day and night without cessation, and as
soon as the ground is bare it is instantly
covered with flowers which have. started
under the snow. The trees shoot out 3
whole years growth in few days, in order
that the young buds may have time to har-
den and mature before winter comes
again. Summer is nowhere hailed witt
such rapture. 1t is worth all other sea
sons put together.


saw in mans garden an ash tree
feet high, and expressed to him my sur
prise at its growing in latitude 700. He
answered me with evident irritation, %
assure you sir, we have quite forest "
yonder valley" I went to visit that for
est, and came near walking over the tree
without seeing it. The trees were four o.
five feet high, and for aught I know som'
of them were hundred years old witt
trunks as big as my wrist.


What moro impressed ne at midnigh
in midsummer, was not SO much the fac
of the sun shining as that the line between
morning and evening was just as clearly
defined as if the sun had really gone
below the horizon, At a quarter before
midnight you can see it, and yet quarter
past it was morning, and what you haC
said or done only bali an hour before be
longed to yesterday just as much as i
night had interviewed. You can read al
night. You do nothing in hurry, yoI
are never belated and something Of tht
burden and pressure of life seems at las
to be lifted quite off your shoulders. Bu
after few days you would be glad Of al
excuse to stop seeing and thinking. ant
even enjoying. There is 10 refreshing
sleep; you lie down to sleep in broad day
Every time you open your eyes, yol
think you are to get up. You are neve
asleep, but always tired. ! have neve
felt more delightful sense of relief, thai
when after months of daylight blessed q,
night came back again and covered me u
to sleep, as a mother covers up her rest
less child.
Year: 1861

higher than is the fact. An Illinoisau Who |
pays fifteen mills OF State and county tax
Is looked upon as an oppressed being by an
0hioan, who only renders unto Caesar
five mills, when the truth is, the former
only pays fifteen mills on one quarter Of
his property, while the latter is taxed on
all he is worth and really pays more than
the other in proportion to his means.
Many citizens are also deceived by the ap-
parently excessive rates and deem them
selves terribly oppressed when in truth
their taxes are quite moderate.


There is an additional reason why the
Constitutional Convention should decree .
uniform cash valuation as the basis of fu-
ture taxation, to be found in the war taxes
which for many years, must be levied On all
the States. Next year Illinois will bo
called on to contribute something over
million Of dollars to help pay the interest
on the National debt contracted in quel~
ling the Shareholders rebellion And if
the Tar be protracted, Illinois quota Of di-
rect taxes, may be much more than a NIL
lion q year. in view Of this addition to
our State taxes, the mode Of assessment
should bemads as equal as possible, SO that
every citizen may have to. Contribute his
due share in proportion to the amount Of
his property. The more nearly, this Is
done the less will the people complain, and
the lighter will the lead feel on their
shoulders. Selfish as men are, yet after
all they love equity. To accomplish this
end: equal taxation, it will be necessary
for the Convention to insert clause in the
Constitution providing for the election Of
a State Board Of Equalization consisting


OF, say, one member for each Senatorial


district, to meet at the capital as often as
real estate is valued, which might be once
in every four yea1a 1t would be the duty


Of this board to fix the grand aggregate


for the State, and equalize the returns o


the various counties, and also to adjust tht


relative value Of live stock, vehicles ant


other articles. 4, basis having been onc'


established; there would be little difficult,


in the future. A general provision IN th'


Constitution is all that will be necessary


The Legislature would furnish the detail


and reduce the idea TO practice. The sub


iect of a correct and equitable system Q


taxation, is one that the people should dis


cuss to the end, that they may be able Il


instruct their delegates in the Convention


as to their will and pleasure Oh this yer.
| important matter.
Year: 1861

Pennsylvania Is the only State in the Union
that gives to it, volunteer soldiers, who would
be entitled to vote ut home, the use Of their
franchise in distant camps. The law was first
made in the early part Of the century, and Was
revived during the Mexican waE; and there
being but comparatively few volunteers, no
great trouble Was experienced. But the pres
ent year the number is SO large, that the vol
unteer vote has worked great confusion and
in some instances wholly chauged the result
Of county elections. Not to speak Of the de-
moralizaticn produced in camp By these mimic
election scenes, the corruption which the
present {ea1 has Witnessed, must have satis-
fed all that the volunteer franchise is not only
wrcpg in principle but bad In practice Al
ready it threatens to lead to litigation be-
tween claimants for the same Office, one Of
whom had . majority by the people and the
ether by the rote of the soldiers. The office


Of county sheriff in Philadelphia, one Of the


most lucrative in the Slate, is in just this stu
ation. In view Of the troubles that Pennsy1


vania Is Threatened with, growing out Of it


volunteer franchise, other States may congrat
ulate themselves that they are not as she is
Year: 1861

the State an armed military force, Gov. PicAens
has issued his proclamation calling for volunteers"
If \ sufficient number do not volunteer in time
if is provided that the number may be drafted
bv the Executive into the service of the State
n compulsory system that strikes the community
with terror.


As feature of the revolution, / append the
form of allegiance prescribed TO be taken;


do swear for affirm that viii be faithful and rue
IN the allegiance bear TO the State Of South Carolina
SO long ar NAV continue citizen thereof do swear
Tor aflirm that do denounce and forever abjure all
ALLEGIANCE and fidelity TO every Prince Potentate State
or sovereignty Whatsoever except the State OF South
CssslSsia.


The grand idea of the ReyoutOnists is the
formation OF Southern Confederacy, consisting
of the Cotton States. They profess themselves
entirely confident of the immediate success Of the
scheme.
Year: 1861

Tota',..


West Point Fort Hamilton, Fort Adams and Fort
Independence could also spare some men; but the
above LET includes only those who might be sent away
at once without seriously interfering with the routine
duty of the Northern stations.


Relative to the Navy, very erroneous impressions
prevailed as TO what vessels would first be called on
The BROOKLYN, Macedonian and Dolphin, regular men
of.war are to be sure, in commission ara manned OUT
only the latter could enter Charleston in the harbor Of
which there are only - feet OF water as the Brooklyn


fitted out cannot float in ess than 10 feet or ID feet at
the least. while the Macedonian requires 20 From
This fact il would seem that the announcement OF these
shirs being ordered in readiness premature There
are however sufficient craft at the different yards OF
the reot,isite draft TO form somewhat formidable
Year: 1861

their madness in their present attempts al oecessoh-
still there can be no doubt that people at the NORTH
would gladly afford them any succor in their power
If the masses at the South could but understand tue
North, their views and feelings would be greatly
changed toward US they permitted TO see only Tue
siandeycrs of the North, such as are daily manuiae
tured by Tie Journal Of Commerce, Express, and
Herald. Why will not the Southern papers consent TO
let the truth be given to the masses tremoie Tor
the wivee and children and even the slave owners OF
the South in view of the famine which will, unless re-
lief be soon afforded, overtake them, what Will the
slaves do when maddened by famine


Cannot something be done to alleviate the distress
which seems inevitable


Compliance with the unreasonable demands OF the
South and Secession cannot be thought OF and would
not relieve their real wants if it We're What then can
be done. AN INQUIRER.
Year: 1861

ECONOMY IN Boors.-Economy in boots and shoes
is very desirable at the present high rates Of leather


To make them wear Is long as possible, therefore


should be the aim of each and every person. BY
making the following application to them, one pair
can be made to last long as three pairs ordinarily


II will not OILY preserve the leather but will keep
the feet free from wet Put pound Of tailow and
= half pound of rosin into pot on the fire, and,
when melted and mixed, warm the boots and apply
the hot mixture with painters brush until neither
the sole or the upper feathers will receive any
more. IL it is desired that the boots should take
polish, dissolve an ounce of oeeswax with an ounce
Of turpentine, to which add tsaspoonfth Of lamp
black. A day or two after the boots have been
treated with the tallow and rosin, rub over them
Year: 1861

SPEECH BY VICE PRESIDENT STEPHESs.-0n the
10th ult, there was large meeting at Crawfords
vile, Ga, to hear a speech from Vice President
Stephens. The Augusta Chronicle says that it "was
devoted to the encouragement of his hearers in sup
port Of the government exhibiting the necessity for
private economy and retrenchment Of every ex-
pense. He gave cheering hopes of eventual inde-
pendence, and of the establishment of our gov
ernment on firm and perpetual basis. He showed
that our resources for defence had scarcely begun to
be exhausted, and his speech. though unstudied
and only designed for his immediate neighbors,
ore which we would gladly have repeated in every
county The effect on his audience excellent
and they went away strengthened in their determi-
nation to resist subjugaton to the last man and the
last dollar and convinced that no peace was practical
BILE which was not based upon the complete indie
pendence of the South"
Year: 1861

RELIGION. Man, In whatever state he may be con-
sdered as well in every period and ycissitude Of
life experiences in religion an eficacious antidote
against the ills which oppress hiu-a shield that
blunts the darts of his enemies, and asylum into
which they can never enter. In every event Of
fortune, it exctes in his soul submity of ideas,
by pointing out to them the just Judge, who as IN
attentive spectator of his conflicts is about to re-
ward him with his intensible appreciation. Religion,
also, in the darkest tempest appears to man the
iris Of peace, and disspatiug the dark and angry
Storm restores the wished for calm, and brings him
TO the port Of safety.
Year: 1861

A Coon CnARAcTER--A good character in a
young man is what firm foundation IS to the archi


tect: whoever proposes to erect building on it can
build with safety; but let single part of this be
defective and he goes on a hazard amid doubling
and distrus and ten to the ediice he erects on
il will tumble down at last and mingle all that was
built on it in ruins. Without good character pow
erty is curse; with it, it is scarcely an evil All
that is bright in the hope of youth, all that is calm
and blissful in the sober Of life, all that is
soothing in the vale oyeas enters in and is derived
from good character. .|s -. ....
Year: 1861

CUMBERLAND GAP AND ITS APPRoAcHEs.-A cor.
respondent Of the Nashville Banner, writes as fol-
lows Of the defensibility of Cumberland Gap, oecu-
pied by the forces under Gen. Zocoffer:


"Cumberland Gap consider to be the strongest
fortifcation in the Southern Confederacy, and its
natural advantages such that with little labor
and expense, it may be made impregnable. do not
believe it will be assailed The enemy know it
too we'll For one hundred miles into Kentucky,
from the Gap is perfect wilderness of dense forest
and rugged mountain range, perfectly destitute Of
forage, and through which an army of any consid-
erable force could not be engineered successfully
Even to ascend the mountain road at the Gap seems
almost Herculean task, and the invader who climbs
it will certainly be in bad condition for fight after
the ascent is ccompshed-especially IN the face
Of rihed cannon and Minnie muskets The various
Gaps in the Cumberland mountain range are alike
difficult Of approach, account Of the condition
of the roads during winter season and any one
Of them, believe, could be easily defended with
force less than half the enemy will be likely to
bring against either one of them"