smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1861

Nor Too Much FAMILIARITY are hu,
man beings whom, if you are wise you would not
wish to know too well. We mean the human be-
ing Gf such there should be) who thinks very high
ly ofyou; who imagnes you very clever and ami
able. Keep out of the way of SUCH Let them
see as little of you as possible. For when they
come to know you well, they are quite sure to be
disenchanted. The enthusiastic ideal which young
people form of any one they admire is smashed
by the rude presence of facts. We have got
somewhat beyond the stage of feeling enthusiastic
admiration, yet there are two or three living men
whom we should be sorry to see, We know we
should never admire them so much any more.
We never saw Mr.. Dickens we don't want to see
him. Let us leave Yarrow unvsited our sweet
ideal is fairer than the farest fact No hero is a
hero to his valet and it may be questioned wheth-
er any clergyman is a saint to his beadle. Yet the
hero may be true hero, and the clergyman a
very excellent man but no human being can bear
too close inspection. We remember hearing a
clever and enthusiastic young lady complain Of
what she suffered on meeting a certain great
Bishop at dinner. No doubt he was dgnfed,
pleasant, clever but the mysterious halo was no
longer round his head. He is a sad circumstance
in the lot of a very great man; we mean such a
man as Mr.. Tennyson or professor Longfellow.
AS an elephant walks through field crushing
the crop at every step, so do these Ten advance
through life, smashing every time they dine out,
the enthusiastic fancies ofseveral romantic young
neonle
Year: 1861

A FROZEN SIHP.-A whaling vessel which sail
ed from London in 1S4O found on the Polar Sea,
a ship EMBEDDED in the ice, with sails furled and
no signs of life on board. The Captain and some
of the crew decended into the cabin and found
coied upon the floor Newfoundland dog, appar-
emily asleep but when they touched it, they found
the animal was dead and frozen as hard as a
stone. In the cabin was young lady seated at
table, her eyes open as if gazing at the ntruders
in that desolate place. She was a corpse and
had been frozen in an apparently resigned and
religious attitude. Beside her was young man,
who, it appeared was commander of the brig, and
brother to the lady He was sitting at the table,
dead, and before him was a sheet of paper on
which was written; "Our cook has endeavored
since yesterday morning to strike light, but in
vain-all is now over" In another part of the
cabin stood the cook with the flint and tinder in
hand, frozen, in the vain endeavor to strike the
fire that could alone save them. The terrors of
the seamen led the Captain from the spot, who
took with him the log-book, as the solemn me-
mento of the ill-fated ship. 1t appears that she
also was from London, and had been in this place
over fourteen years.
Year: 1861

Henry Ward Beecher, for a clergyman, uses
some beautiful language. He recently said :
Slavery will go to hell where it came from. We
shall conquer the rebels, not in our own strength,
but the Almighty Lord will lay them over our
knees and we will spank them in the natural order
of Providence"
Year: 1861




MEssRs. EDITORS Having been frequently
asked why it is that we, in this high latitude and
altitude, have such mild winters, l have concluded
to give you my reasoning upon the subject
based upon several years acquaintance in this
valley together with careful and diligent study
Of tle causes of this peculiar climate.


Tle dryness of the climate will be the first
point to notice: And l will admit that the
present spell of weather" is rather an unfavor-
abletime to consider this subject Lieut. Maui
ry il his works on Navigation, Climate, &C., says
it isl fixed principle that all ranges of noun
taps have a wet and dry side, governed by the
diret and source of the prevailing winds
which blow over the range.


Every one familiar with the country and the
direction of the wind on the western side of the
Cascade mountains is aware that the wind in the
winter season blows from off the ocean. The re-
suit is that an immense amount of dampness is
collected about the western side of said range,
while the elevation of the range guards us from
experiencing its unpleasant, dreary presence.
Now, we can readily perceive why we have so lit
tie 4" falling weather" and | will here assert,
from actual measurement, that We have but lit
tie over one-hundreth part as much rain east
of the Cascades as falls upon the western side
consequently om country must be more or less
free from cloudy weather. You will then natu-
rally expect long, cold, dry winters and why
don't we have them? To understand this prop
erly, we must be made acquainted with the loca-
ton and quality Of the land on this side: The
Blue Mountains, branching off from the Cascades
Tor rether taking rise near the Cascades, nearly
opposite the Klamath lake country-run north
east, or nearly so, to Snake river, near the
mouth of Clearwater. Nearly all the country
| north and west of this range, between it and the
Cascades and north to the Simcoe mountains, is
low and sandy, covered in the most part, with
grass. But what, say you, has this do with the
warmth of this climate? 1t has vast deal to
do with it for you must remember that it is oven
this plain that we have our prevailing winds
and | will here remark that we always have warm
weather when the wind blows. This vast plain
Of sandy soil and sand deserts is kept warm by
tie almost continual presence of the sun, and
the short duration of cloudy weather is not sufh-
cent to allow the earth to become entirely
chilled, and consequently when we have breeze
from over these plains it is warm and melts ev-
erything before it. Such a wind would melt
by warmth, (not by force) two feet of snow on
the tops of the Blue mountains in "a hours
Now is it not evident to any one that if the coun-
try west and north of the Blue mountains was
covered with timber, or subject to much cloudy
weather-the sun not having chance to warm
the earth, that this whole region would be nc
better off than the frozen parts of Michigan and
the Canadas
Year: 1861

The following very happy and equally true
sketch is from the London Quarterly Review:


You see this lady turning cold eye to the as
surances of shopmen and the recommendation of
milliners. She cares not how original pattern
may be, if it be kward. Whatever laws of
fashion dictates, she follows a law of her own,
and is never behind it. She wears very beautiful
things which people generally suppose to be fetch
ed from Paris, or, at least made by French mil
liner, but which as often are bought at the nearest
town and made up by her own maid Not that
her costume is either rich or new; on the con-
trary, she wears many cheap dress, but it is al
ways pretty, and many an old one, but it is always
good. She deals in no gaudy confusion of colors,
nor does she affect studied sobriety; but she
either refreshes you with a spirited contrast, or
composes you with juaicious harmony.


Not scrap of tinse OF trumpery appears upon
her. She puts no faith in velvet bands or gilt
buttods or twisted cording. She is quite aware,
however, that all the garnish is as important as
the dress; all her inner borders and headings are
delicate and fresh; and should anything peep out
which is not intended % be seen, it is quite as
much so as that which is After all there is no
great art in her fashion OR her materials The
secret simply consist in her knowing the three
grand unites of her lress-her own station, her
own age and her own points. And no woman
can dress well who does not. After this we need
not say that whoeveris attracted by the costume
willno be disappointed in the wearer. She may
not be handsome nor accomplished, but we will
answer for her being even tempered, well-inform-
ed, thorougy sensible and a complete lady.


WASHINGTON AND THE CoBPoRA1s.-Some of
our volunteer officers show their unftness to com
mand by keeping aloof from their men, instead
Of setting them the example of manliness in toll
and endurance. The following incident is in
pont


During the American Revolution, it is said, the
commander of title squad was giving orders to
those under him. relative to log of timber which
they were andeayoring to raise up to the top Of
some military works they were repairing. The
timber went up With difficulty, and on this account
tut NOCe VI Tue lLlle man was Olteu Hedtuj III IeB
ular vociferations of "Heave away, there she goes
heave no." An officer, not in military costume,
was passing, 4and asked the commander why he did
not take hold and render little assistance. The
latter astonished, turning round with all the pomp
and spendor of an Emperor, said "Sir, am
a coporall" "You are, are you?" replied the
officer; 81 Yves not not aware of that !" and taking
off his hat and bowling, the officer said, 81 ask
your pardon, Mr.. Corporal and then dsmounted
and lifted till the sweat stood in drops on his fore
head


When the work was finished, turning to the
commander he said, ''Mr. Corporal, when you
have another such job, and have not men enough
send for your Commander-in-C Chief, and 1 will
come and help you a second time"


The Corporal was thunderstruck. 1t was Gene
raj Washington who thus addressed him.
Year: 1861

BREvET is a commission which gives ah officer
title and rank in the army above his pay, but fb
he exercises a command according to his bre
he receives the pay attached to his brevet ranecey
Year: 1861

THe Walla Walla valley is bounded on the
east and south by the Blue mountains and on the
southwest by high table land, connecting the
most eastern extremity of the Smcoe with the
Blue mountains, which table land is surrounded
by the Columbia river at the old Fort This
ridge is nearly two thousand feet high and very
steep its face fronting this valley and protect
ing it from any very severe winds.


Now it is an universal thing here when the
snow goes off by wind, which is usually the case,
that on the Blue mountains, from the height oil
about 1900 or 2O0O feet upwards, the snow, al
though much deeper, always disappears first, and
leaves the hill looking brown and grassy, while
the valley is yet white with snow; and it is fire.
quently two or three days before the wind reaches
the valley with its warming influences. This phe-
nomena is very common and contrary to the rule
anywhere | ever heard from before, and can on
ly be explained on the grounds above given.


A. B. r.
Year: 1861

WTHERED UEAET.-We mentioned the
other day the case of woman who died of
satrophy in San Francisco. The following
particulars are furnished 10y the San Francis,
eco Times:


The investigations into the cause of deoth
of Mrs Eleanor Pool have shown that she
died of a singular wasting away of t,e suh-
stance of the heart, the effect, as is snpposed
ofh her continual dissipation for a long period
CT time lIer native place was a town near
Edinburgh, in Scotland, but she came last
from Australia, and was 35 years Of age
She had four or five children, but all were
dead; and her husband is wandering some
place in the mines. To support herself she
sewed, but most of the time lay stepped in
liquor, and as long as she has been known,
her great failing has been rum When the
examination of her body was made, it was
found that the walls of her heart had been
so absorbed or worn away as to be little
thicker than paper-so thin as to be transu-
cent 1t became a source of surprise that
they had not burst, and the opinion is that
they became absolutely too weak at last to
force the blood any longer through the arte-
ries, and that consequently the woman died
OF stoppage of the current
Year: 1861

JOURNALISM AS A PRoFEssIoN,-Th expert
ence of all newspaper offices is alike in this
that a college bred edltor-apprentce is the
hardest to break into his business of any man
who ever tries it. lie insists in beginning at
the end, instead of the heginnng lie has
more things to unlearn than any other He
always lacks directness, is usually full of
offensive pedantry, and is commonly above
his business Though he may have read the
newspapers all his life, he has an idea that
the sole business of an editor is to write long
winded editorials. and these he feels compe


tent to write without any apprenticeship
whatever. He don't seem to have an idea
what people really road newspapers for
Most young gentlemen who graduate at our
literary institutions have the opinion that
editing newspaper is very simple matter,
and one for which they are competent al
ready. They would scorn the thought OF
learning the profession 10y engaging first in
its simplest details, and going through these
details for series of years helore they should
begin to show themselves as editors at all.
They will spend three years in the study OF
medicine, or law, or theology, and content
with it, yet they are just as well fitted for
law or medicine at the end oftheir college
course as they are to edit a newspaper; and
generally speaking, little better fitted, for
the college system of education was built and
Is perpetuated on the idea that all its gradu


ates are bound for one or other of these three
kinds OF buslness.-SpriaqfeM Republican.
Year: 1861

! THE TONsUGE. The t0nsIre had gradually


become the peculiarily in the outer man


which marked the clergyman. During lie
! first four centuries we do not read Of tie
clergy assuming any popularity of appear
ance, except when engaged in the offices Of
the church. They naturally avoided it, as
the adoption of distinguished habit would
have marked them for persecution. But as
the adoption of a Llack coat or white neck
cloth marks the clergyman OF these days, and
rs these clerical peculiarities OF attire came
in, we can scarcely say how or when, so it
was with respect to the clerical tonsure in the
middle ages. one of the fashions against


which some Of the clergy were wont to
preach was the wearing Of long hair 10y the
men, custom prevalent among northern ma
ions, but denounced as encoura gng efteni-
macy and vanity. Those who preached against
the long locks of tha laity were soon dstl-
guishcd from the laity by clipping their hair;
and the custom comnendel itself the rather
because black coat with Us is the sign Of
mourning, SO to shave the head was among
the natives of the East ceremony express
sive of atiiction. After a time different
fashions were adopted by the clerical tor
sorS, and minute philosophers discovered
something emblematcal in the manner IN
which the scissors were directed. The East
crn clergy were accustomed to shave the eu-
tire front of the head, leaving the hair on the
hinder part untouched; ana to this Gust, IL
the British clergy, true to their Eastern ori- |
gin, adhered. Whereas, the Italians shaved |
their heads according to what they called the
tonsure of st. Peter, which consisted Of cil-
Gle of hair round the shorn head, supposed 20
represent the crown of thorus, and call, d,
therefore the coronal tonsure So complete
ly was this considered party badge, that,
when Wilfred left the Celtic party for the
Italian, the first thing he did was to submit
his head to the scissors ola Roman barber
Lives the Archbishops of Canterbury by
DIR IIoni,
Year: 1861

THE MENDocGNo INDIANs-The Men1ocino
IIerald's correspondent says; The Yuka
tribe are those mostly within the valley, and
Immediately adjoining in the mountains
They number perhaps five or six hundred;
whilst the ThIackees, more warlike and
unluendly class, range within a scope of
country some ten or twelve miles around,
and number, perhaps, two thousand or more.
They have great dread of the Reservation,
and will not remain on it when taken there,
and seem even to take pleasure in killing all
kinds Of stock whenever the opportunity of
fers. They are particularly fond of mule
meat, which they usually kill in preference
TO the fated calf A few days since the
slaughtered corses of horses and mules were
found sen tered in all directions upon their
trail and large quantities of such supplies
laid up at their rancherias.


Where no good excuse exists for such OUT
rageous destruction of property, it is not
strange that our citizens should feel eXasper-
ated beyond endurance, and deal out summa
ry vengeance, their only remedy in such In
stances. Much fault has been found to our
present system Of treating the Indians; hut
he who complains OF the evil should cffer the
remedy. The young ones should be taken
and bound out in white families. where they
oo"'u always nave Soou MONIES ana IN the
course of time become useful to themselves
and to the community. But as for the bucks
and squaws, all theories fail when applied to
them They are grown up in their wild,
roaming and indolent habits, and every days
observation more clearly convinces me of the
oft repeated fact, that they must gradually
become extinct, else forever to be pest and
trouble to the white man. | refer paricu-
larly to the mountain Indian, and not those
brought up and living in the valleys.
Year: 1861

WEALTH AND Poverty RELATIVE THEMes -
Primarily. which is very notable and curious
| observe that men of business rarely know
the meaning of the word "rieh." At least
if they know, they do not in their reas Jning
allow for the fact that it is a relative word
implying its opposite, "poor, as positively a.
the word north implies its opposite, south
Men nearly always speak and write ns j
riches were absolutc, and it were possible, 10y
following certain scientific preeepts fol
every body TO become rich. Whereas, riches
is power like that of electricity, acting only
through inequalities or ncgatOns of itself
The force Of the guinea which yon hold in
your pocket depends wholly upon the default
of guinea in your neghbor's pocket. II he
did not want it, it would be of no use to YOU:
the power it possesses depends accurarely
upon the need or desire he has felt for it
and the art of making yourself rich, ia the
ordinary mercantile economists sense, is
therefore equally aud necessarily the art of
keeping your neighbor poor.


The is, however, another reason for this
habit of mind-namely, that an accumulation
of real property is of little use to the owner,
unless, together with it, he has commercial
power over labor. Thus, suppose a person
to tie put in possession of large estate Of
fruitful ldHu, viii Iicll Deus Ol SOiu Ill lu-
gravel. countless herds of cattles in its pas
lures, houses and gardens, and storehouscs
full of useful stores but, suppose after all,
that he could get no servants IN order that
he may have servants, some onein the neigh
borhood must be poor and in want of his
gold or his corn. Assume that no one is in
want of either, and that no servants are TO
be had. He must therefore bake his own
bread make his own clothes, plow his own
ground, and shepherd his own tocks His
gold will be as useless to him as any other
yellow pebbles on his estate. His sores
must rot for he cannot consume them. He
can eat no more than another man could eat
and wear no more than another man could
wear. lie must lead a life of severe and
common labor to procure even ordinary com
forts; he will ultimately be unable to keep
'ither house in repair or fields in cultivation.
-Rtykin
Year: 1861

THEY wANrA STRONG john
p King, nominated to the State Convention
in Georgia, thus expresses his views on the
secession question: The great difficulty in
the way of an eifectual accommodation is,
that many of our leading men don't wish it.
Our Government is too republican-to too free
and too week for them, because they will not
obey and submit to it Their minds filled
with visions Of strong and splendid Govern
ments with the whole country b'isiling with
bayonets. and glittering with armor and ep-
0ulcts, they wish the people humbled by be-
ing loaded down hy taxes, and the toiing
millions reduced to the use of meat once Il
week They are right in one position at
least. Such n Government would give us
peace. Napoleon with his six hundred thou
sand men would execute the Fugitive Slave
Laws Neutrality Laws, Slave Trade Laws
and all other laws, AMI without submitting
them to uries lie would also make short
work with some of our noisy conventions
anl public meetings and some of oar great
men would soon find themselves on the way
to Cayenne! | have no wish for such Cow
eminent myself, but if the people want
strong Government, because they will not
submit to a weak one-ift they want an cx-
rensive Government, because they will not
pay for cheap oue--if they wish to be gov.
erned by force, because they will not govern
themselves, in the name of peace let the will
of the people be done. | am Only one of them
and will submit to share their destiny. lam
n native of the South. All my ties and inter
ests are here-here | have long lived. and
here | expect to die.
Year: 1861

grave practical Joke was perpetrated a night
or two since on rustic individual who, under
the impression that he possessed remarkable keen
ness, entered into the detective business on his
own hook. Having heard about town, and read
in tha papers, about tue X. G C's-the knights If
the Golden Clrcle,-he con, eived the idea that he
was born to lead a crusade against that damning
iniquity. He communicated the fact to one high
in authority, and added that he was on the tract


almost ready to reveal. He was told to go
ahead for, sthough no sensible person entertained
the idea thst such an association existed In Chca.
90, there was q prospect Of fun ahead.


Unluckily for his scheme, 1t CHANGED that he
had fallen among q merciless set Of SVags, who
had played upon his crsdulity sufficiently to lead
him on, and he was now ready for the sacrifice
Having received the sanction Of authority, he de.
termined to 90 through with the initiation. With
this end in view, he was conveyed mys!eriously
to a private room on Randolph street, where he
was put through the preliminary ceremonies He
swore by all the saints to support the Southern
Confederacy, to act as a spy on the North, to com
municate at all possible opportunities with JEFF


Davis, and In all things TO conform to the seces


sion creed In letter and deed. He was then strip
ped naked, and, while the room was enveloped
posed Of equal parts Of molasses, coal tar, and
pounded glass, which was poured over his head
and suffered to trickle down in fragrant rivulet
to his feet.


next. The gas was turned on, and he found him
self vis-a-vis with female figure which LOOKED
so much like life itself that he turned a bacl
somerset from fright, and set up series Of yell
which threatened to bring in the police. Th
company scattered In a sudden panic, and tum
bled down the back stairs as well as they.cou
from laughter. The proprietor Of the premise
kicked out the devotee to profaRe mysteries
threw his clothes after him, and turned of tn
gas. The police found him on the stairs dis
Ea6ills and marched him of to the lookup II
managed to discern the point Of the joke tn
next morning -ChisagO Tunes.
Year: 1861

TRAVELLING JoKE.-A little joke was played
upon the Palmer Mass. boys about the time
MIR. Weston, the pedestrian was expected IN nass
through town. man who seemed disposed to
nave little fun out of the thing disguised him.
self with shawl about the waist, his coat collar
turned up, and his haI pulled down over his eyes
went out the village and came In on fast walk
measuring yard at almost every step. large
crowd Of youngsters and sporting men who ex-
Pected Weston, went out to meet him and did no,
discover their mistake till the pedestrian revealed
himself at the Antique House.
Year: 1861

III The increased number of workmen re-
quired at the United States Armory at Spring field


TO produce 400 additional muskets per month after
the present month, have all been engaged; and a
great many men have applied for employment be-
yond the number required. The machinery is 80
perfect and the arrangement Of the master armorer
so effective, that an increase Of 10 to IS per cent


In the help will sutice to produce 50 per cent


more muskets I