smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1869

| HIS TREATMENT OF A BUST OF LINCOLN.
| From the St. Louis Dispatch May 81
In the winter of 1862 or 1868, ]. Wilkes


Booth the assassin, was playing star en-
| gagement, at Mr.. Ben De Bars Opera House


in this city. Coming down one morning to


rehearsal. he had occasion to enter picture
| gallery and artist emporium for the purpose
OF procuring some paint or face dye, either for
himself or some other of the actors
After Purchasing what he wanted, he was
retiring from the store when his eye caught a
plaster bust of President Lincoln, which was
being exhibited for sale. The sight of it ap-
peared to rouse his indignation, and to stir
him up to high degree of rage, so much so
indeed, that he cursed both it and the orig
inal in the most violent strains. He worked
hiHseiI MtU ouolA d passion that walking over
to the bust, he struck it yiolant blow "a tL4
face, knocking off a piece from over its eyes,
and so severely injuring his own hand that it
bled profusely, and he was obliged to wrap a
handkerchief around it.


No notice was taken of the act, and Booth
left thesstore for the theatre, the owner of the
bust picking up the fragments which had
been knocked off, and gluing it on SO dexter
ously that the injury done it could not be de-
tccted.


Years passed on, and one morning in April
the country was shaken to its centre as no
other piece of intelligence had ever shaken II
before-that the President had been shot in
Ford's theatre in Washington by j. Wilkes
Booth. The nation went into mourning for
its Chief Magistrate, and, wherever the re-
mains could not be actually honored, mock
funerals were held. Such funeral was kept
in st. Louis; the city went into mourning,
and the Court was draped with black. A
bust of the President was placed in the court
house, and it was observed that from over one
OF the eyes a piece of the material had been
broken off. This bust was the same one
which Booth had mutilated, and the piece
which was at the same time replaced was
afterwards removed where the same hand
which struck it off struck down its original


We do not know into whose possession the
bust has passed, but doubtless whoever owns
1t would not now part with it for any consid-
Grafton. The above anecdote in reference to
it was recently related to us by well known
gentleman of this city, who was present when
Booth struck the image, and as we 90 NOT
think it has ever been told before, we publish
ii on his authority.
Year: 1869

The failure of the first attempt to build an
underground railroad in New York has prob
ably thrown back for at least two years the
opening of cheap and rapid transit between
our crowded marts of commerce and the homes
of the poor and the middle classes, and has
given fresh Importance to the problems of city
passenger transportation which grow every
day more and more perplexiug. The poor
mans difficulty in living in New-York has be-
come distressing. Rents increase, and the
home and the workshop get farther and farther
apart, until the labOreI is obligedltO spend lin
the weary journey to and from his labor the
hours which ought to he devoted to domestic
enjoyments and mental improvement. 1t is a
hard case, and many of the steam railway COM
panes are doing their best to make 1t harder.
Westchester County, for instance, ought to fur
nish pleasant homes for many more thousands
of our citizens than it now does; but the rail-
roads are doing a great deal to drive away
those who live there already. This is especially
true of the Harlem Road, which carries large
majority of the harder working people-men who
must be at their business early and late, and
to whom a quiet home in the fresh air of the
suburbs, with convenience and rapidity of ac-
cess, is more important than TO any other
class. The first difficulty with tins road is the
enormous rate of commutation-nearly double,
il we are not mistaken, the rates on some of
the New Jersey roads. A second is the insult
ficient accommodation for passengers A third


is the inconvenient hours of the trains With
reasonably good railway facilities, the villages
from Harlem to beyond Mount Vernon would
very soon double their population. But
a tired man, at the end of a days
work, is in no humor to scramble for a
place in crowded car. where the benches are
ranged lengthwise like the seats in an omnibus
so that passengers can be wedged in tighter
and where many can get no seats at all then
to be conveyed at a snails pace-t takes
so minutes to go 10 miles from Twenty sixth ST.
and for this accommodation TO be charged a
preposterously high fare If he is detained
later than $50 p. m, the poor man cannot go
home at all. If he oversleeps himself and
misses an early morning train he must wait
until late in the forenoon. Such railway policy
is not economy but parsimony. 1t dwarfs the
local traffic of the road, and, while
more liberal arrangements prevail on
the other side of the river threatens
to uri'e our suouioah Popui"'ion ho" "oS'
chester into NewJersey. Crossing ferry,
however, is serious objection to many peo-
pie, iand the villages north of us will probably
always be preferred if their inhabitants can
prevail upon the railroad corporations to make
better provision for their necessities mdivid-
ual remonstrance can do little, but something
might be effected by concert of action, and
before the Spring opens we hope the expert
ment will be tried.
Year: 1869

The contractors for stationery for the Patent
Office take the pains to furnish us with their
defense against the charge of having swindled
the Government 1t is not at all certain that
they cannot make out their case. The Gov
ernment seems without doubt, to have been
swindled, and they seem, without doubt, to
have profited by the swindle; but it is quite
possible that they have only exacted the letter
of the bond-in which case it would seem that
it ought to be the worse for the official VINO
made the bond. Some Jack Bunsby for the
Printing Committee Iucidly insists that, not
witbstandnc the contractors defense, the "evi-
:" dences of fraud are fragrant and need further
investigation!
Year: 1869

Four of the Malaga insurgents are reported
to have fired into party of refugees while
under the protection of the American flag.
The nature of this oflense will be better known
after the receipt of details by steamer; but
we deem it safe even now to say that the in
surgents, as a body. were anything but un-
friendly to the United States. The insurrec-
ton at Malaga seems to have sprung from
about the same causes as that of Cadlz; and
the insurgents of Cadz, like the Republicans
of Europe in general, showed an unbounded
confidence in the United States, some of them
even going SO far as to demand annexation to
the great American Republic
Year: 1869

We think we have somewhere seen a remark
possibly it has even been quoted once or
twice as an illustration in able newspaper arti-
cles--to the effect that the Greeks are to be
feared, even when bearing gifts We have a
Greek of the first water Cor perhaps we should
say of the best champagne) in New York. He
does MS the honor to hold the ornamental of
fee of City Chamberlain, but his real
occupation is to govern this city, in
Sire tile Erie Railway management, fur
rish brains to Tammany Hall, and manufac-
tre Governors. Now this first chop Greek
has been making us a gift, and that is the
precise. cause of our present alarm. 1t is said
that he has paid into tho city treasury a hund-
red and seven thousand dollars which there
Year: 1869

account for a decline in our Immigration OIL
29O23. But this diminution OF immlgratioh
makes even more remarkable the great increase
in our Democratic vote during the same year.
Our Code of Civil Procedure has been adopted
by sixteen States and Territories ana our
Criminal Code by ten. without having ye'
been adopted, in their perfected 1orm'
by our own State. Prompt action upon
them is recommended with g such re-
forms in the laws relating to trials Tor inui-
der as shall separate the crime into grades, Oh
which only the highest shall be punishable py
death.


The remainder of the Message IS devoted
mainly to attacks upon the Excise law, anu
the Metropolitan Police, Fire and Health laws.
Gov. Hoffman was elected by the votes, legal
and illegal of those determined to overthrow
those laws, and We cannot expect him TO 90
less than speak with reverence of the power
that made him. But in the government OF
the City of New-York the entire State at least
has vital interest. There are at all times IN
the City of New-York about 100000 persons
who are not residents here, and at least lO,OOO
persons who live by preying upon these non
residents. The former require some protection
and the latter special surveillance. There are
few men of any party who doubt that our Po-
lice has been less partisan and more efficient
under the Metropolitan Board than it ever was
before, or that during the riots of 1868 it saved
tho city itself from rapine and destruction.
Our Excise law has, for the first time given the
working classes of New-York "a day of rest
and has lessened by one-half the number OF
crimes and arrests The recent elections prove
that if tho State exercises no vigilance over
the city, the city will at all times roll up vote
that will rule the State. The only question is,
therefore, whether the people of the State will
aid us to maintain some degree of liberty, law,
and order, or whether we shall be given over
to mob laws and vigilance committees. We
propose the former course Mr.. Hoffman pro-
poses the latter
Year: 1869

The printed frank of the Hon. Lewis Selve
Member OF Congress from the XXVIIIth New.
York District, is used to cover the circulars of
a monthly periodical called The illuminate
the constant aim" of which is announced 10
be Progress" The best step in the path Of
progress which the proprietors of that celebrated
journal can make just now is to pay their post
age; and after that perhaps they will settle
this interesting question Does Congressman
Selye abuse his privilege for the benefit of
private business enterprise, Or do the Illumi
natl forge franks2
Year: 1869

Some days ago we were told that Turkey would
not take part in the Peace Conference unless
she were beforehand assured that the Cretan
question would not be touched. Now one of


the Constantinople papers that are in the pay


of the Government (La Turquie) intimates
that the Turkish representative will leave the
Conferenceif the barbarous order expelIng all
Greeks from Turkey is introduced If the
Turkish demands were taken into considem-
tion, there would be nothing left for the Con-
ference to talk about. La 7urq,tie threatens
Russia with another Crimean war, but it for
Year: 1869

The discovery of another Carlist conspiracy
is announced from Spain. About dozen have
been previously reported as discovered and
suppressed Nowhere has the party yet been
strong enough to excite revolt. Isabella must
have few adherents, for we hear nothing of
either an lsabelan outbreak or of the discov-
cry of IN Isabellan plot Most of those who
formerly were firm supporters of Isabella have
now probably joined the Carlists. But even
combined, the Bourbon party is undoubtedly
not SO strong as the Republican.
Year: 1869

No more sensible and just proposition can be
made to the Paris Conference than the one
which Greece is said TO have the intention to
introduce; namely, that the Cretans be allowed
to declare by a general vote whether in future
they shall belong to Turkey or Greece. We
are not without hope that a majority of the
Paris Conference may regard this as the best
solution of the Cretan question.
Year: 1869

The Republicans of the Michigan Legislature
are to select their candidate for United States
Senator. The Associated Press informs us that
Mr.. Chandler's prospects for becoming his own
successor are good. The country will recognize
in his reelection the determination to support a
tried and faithful man.
Year: 1869

was some sort of thieving precedent for put.
tins IN his pocket! We could have borne many
things from Sweeny without alarm, and wa
have borne this for now quite a number of
months, but the persistence in such unexpected
well doing, and the imposing aggregate the
figures have now reached, move us to inquire
what does, what can it all meant
Year: 1869

Mr.. JohnsOn's effort to get possession of the
Internal Revenue Bureau fares badly. Now
that the Senate Committee has decided against
bis last nominee, cannot the President possess
his soul in patience for the remaining eight
weeks of his Administration
Year: 1869

The Underground Railway scheme has fallen
to the ground, to be raised up again, we pre-
sume, in q somewhat different shape. The
charter of the company required that S3,OOO,OOO
of stock should be subscribed by the 1st OF
January, 1869, and 100000 deposited with the
State Controller, to be forfeited if the road
was not completed within the stipulated time
These conditions have not been complied WITH
and the charter consequently becomes void
Notwithstanding the clamor for an under
ground railroad, very few capitalists have been
found willing to invest in the enterprise
The incorporators were ready to subscribe
half the deposit money and about ST.
100000 of stock, but there the business
came to stop. Negotiations with GER
tain English capitalists who offered to build
the road and furnish the money, fell through,
and now the company are about applying to
the Legislature for new charter III which
they will probably demand various important
notifications of the terms agreed upon IN the
old one. We trust they will be listened to in
a generous spirit. for an underground road Is
a public necessity which we may well 20 great
lengths TO satisfy; but due caution must be
exercised 10 insure the speedy completion OF
the work in the most thorough manner, and
with the least possible interruption meanwhile
10 traffic and travel. The provisions of the for
mer charter were none too stringent; most of
them, at any rate, ought to be retained in the
Year: 1869

The prevalent velocpede mania has led to
the establishment, in New York and in seve-
raj other cities throughout the country, Of
amphicyclotheatrons gymnacycidiums, We
locipedromes and bicyclocurriculums by the
score, and also of numerous clubs. For tho
nonce the horse seems to be as much no.
where in the race for distinction as It was pre-
dictcd that this noble animal would be when
he was first exposed to competition with tho
railway locomotive. But the locomotive failed
to extinguish the horse, and it is altogether
probable that he will survive the rivalry of tho
velocipede, although it must be conceded that
the latter enjoys the economical advantage Of
not eating its own head Off at the expense of
Its owner.


This probability is strengthened by the en-
couraging fact that Mr.. Bruzzesi, one of our
most accomplished professors of horsemanship,
has started, with fair prospect of success, the
project OF establishing 'New York Riding
Club" His appeal to number Of ladies and
gentlemen in behalf of this project has been
very favorably received. We are glad that
this is the casc inasmuch as the contrast be-
tween the superior qualities Of the many
splendid saddle horses which may be daily
seen in the Park and the inferior horseman-
ship OF not few of the riders is often equally
amusing and lamentabe. Bad riders mako
the finest horses ungraceful, disobcdient, and,
finally, vicious. To be rider in the best
sense Of the term 1t is not enough to be able to
sit more or less gracefully on the horse with
ont falling of, and to let il carry one more or
less rapidly from one place to another There
must be correspondence and union between the
horse and the rider The two must be- as II were
one mechanism, each and every part Of which
harmoniously reacts upon the other, while the
will of the rider dominates all. Every move
mcnt and every step of the horse thus como
under the direct control Of the riders mind.
Tho equilibrium Of both rider and horse is thus
secured. Both attain grace and ease of action
and share in improved health, strength and
spirits. Thorough horsemanship Is not only
an elegant accomplishment, and, as such, an
indispensable part Of a complete education, but
IL is also the sole means Of preserving and i'm
proving saddle horses.


To promote thorough horscmaushp and lis
enjoyment under the most favorable crcum-
stances Is the object of the proposed "New
York Riding Club" The value of horseback
riding as healthy exercise is fully appro-
Year: 1869

The first session of the Forty-frst Congress,
beginning on the 4th of March last, ended at
noon yesterday. For the closing proceed
ings, embracing the very important resolution
passed by the House Of Representatives in
reference to the island of Cuba, we refer the
reader to our Congressional reports. Among
the principal bills passed at this session and
now laws Of the land are the modified
Tenure of Office bill, the bill defining certain
rules of practice in the courts Of the United
States and allowing judges of the Supreme
Court to resign on full pay If seventy years Of
age or more and if they shall have served in
the court for period of ten years, and the
bill for the reconstruction and restoration of
the three outside States of Virginia, Missis-
sippi and Texas. An immense calendar Of
Pacific Railroad land and bond jobs and
various other jobs is left among the unfin-
ished business, and will so remain till Decem-
ber next, unless ''great and weighty reasons"
may in the interval require, in the judgment
of the President, special reassenbling of
the two houses
Year: 1869

AFFAIRS IN WALL STREET.-The money
market has undergone the usual stringency
attendant upon the making of engagements
at this season of the year, and the banks
were taxed to the extent of their utter
most capacity, especially as the buoyancy Of
the stock market was not repressed by the
high rates of interest. Two prominent bro
kers failed during the week-one through
speculation in gold and the other from unfor-
tunate ventures in stocks. The latter had cal
culated upon the expected depression of the
market which has generally attended the
activity of money, but the rule was very sin
gularly reversed this year. A great deal of
interest was manifested as to the course of
New York Central in consequence of the
action Of the Legislature on the subject of
the scrip dividend. Government bonds were
much higher, and the 62's yesterday touched
1901, the highest figure they have ever
attained.
Year: 1869

column will be found some remarkable facts
Of the condition Of the city as to population,
police, &C., digesied in an article of more than
ordinary interest to dwellers here. In the
great increase Of our population, as shown,
will be seen the rapid growth Of the city, and


in the greater proportionate increase Of the
worst elements of population II must be ap-
parent to all that there is much TO be done be-
fore our city can hold the same rank for the
comfort and good conduct Of the people that
she holds for enterprise and commercial spirit.
Year: 1869

CoPYRrGHr LrarT.--Judge Barnard decided
the other day in favor of the English owners of
trade mark who sued for violation of their
right this side the Atlantic. There Is law for
the protection Of copyright in so small piece
Of intellectual labor as label, but not in q
great labor like history. The difference is
that in the history there is supposed benefit
TO the people by cheap sales. In other words,
the law asserts that we may thrive by theft.
Public decentralization has its very fountain
head in such law.
Year: 1869

RETRIBUTIvE JUsuoE.-That was high
tempered wife who, in argument with her hus-
band the other night, used such startling ex-
pressions as to cause her own death. She
evidently had exhausted her vocabulary.
She had no words equal to the requirements Of
her wrath, and so eked out her meaning with
the teapot, the stove lid and the lighted kero-
sene lamp. Striking her husband in the face
with this last 1t exploded and burned her so
thnt she has died since
Year: 1869

DEVELOPING A New PowER.-Napocon
proposition for abolishing the quasi slavery of
the real industrial classes In France gives him
again really strong hold in the gratitude of
the great mass Of the people, and this will more
than balance the discontentcd clamor of the
party that has always called itself the people,
though only an outcast scrap of loafcrs and
idlers, living on theories and isms like tho
long-haired fellows this side the water.
Year: 1869

TIE STONE BLOCKADE. During the war we
heard a great deal Of the stone blockade in
Charleston harbor, aud now we know how TO
feel for the sufferers. We have got q stone
blockade in Broadway. For block after block
the citizen Is aided in physical development
by the necessity of climbing over vast accumu-
latons of stone. All the roadway is taken
up and two-thirds Of the sidewalk. Worst Of
all is the fact that there is no probability now
that we shall ever have an open street again,
for the wear of this new pavement is such that
by The time the pavicrs are done at the upper
end Of broadway they will have TO begin again
al the lower end
Year: 1869

Orr BURDESsoME TAXATION is supposed to
have the definite object Of making a citizens
Life safe and agreeable in handsome city.
For these things we pay our money. The COM
plant is not that the price is high, but that
though the money is freely given the goods
are not delivered. We pay for It, but do not
get H.
Year: 1869

The managers of our principal theatres gave
yesterday ample opportunities to the ladies of
New York to display the spring fashions at a
dozen different matinees. But notwithstand-
ing the bright sunshine of the day March winds
prevailed, and most of the comparatively few
early blossoms of fashion appeared premature
alike at the theatre and on Broadway. We
must, therefore, content ourselves with refer
ring our fair readers to the description, by our
Paris fashions correspondent, Of the black
velvet casaques over black or purple poult
underskirts, and Of the black velvet trains with
which Partisan ladies rotated to their seats at
the cathedral of Notre Dame during Passion
Week. We hardly need to invite their atten-
ton also to the inquisitive Able Deguerry's
verdict against fashionable evening dresses.
The Emperor, it seems, was to attend solemn
mass in plain frockcoat, instead of his usual
uniform as a general of division, and the
Empress in black poult and black cashmere
tunic. But this piece of Lenten news comes
too late to be particularly useful, and one
novelty mentioned by our correspondents
tea table improoisatrice, who appears to be
an imtator (although ''of high birth') of the
vulgar singing girl Therese-is altogether un-
likely to be duplicated in the most rapid
circles Of our New York society. There are
some Partisan fashions which, it is to be hoped,
our New York ladies will never tolerate.
Year: 1869

MEM. FOR THE MAYORS MARSHAL, OR ANY
OTHER MAN.-Around the very head centre
and seat of municipal power-'o on the great
stone gateposts that open to the sacred pre-
cincts ofthc City IIall--we see an excmplihca-
ton of the way license runs riot In the city.
Certain Of said stone gateposts on Broadway
are covered from top to bottom with posters.
All the length of the stone base OF the Park
railing is in the same state. Thus to dcface
public property is misdemeanor; but the
offender evidently had not the fear Of law or
Justice before his eyes. lie knows what
toothlcss old creatures they are. He, the
said offender, is doubtless ward politician,
and to prosecute him would be damaging to
the chances Of party men next election In the
bil-postcr's ward.
Year: 1869

BRIBERY PREvENTIoN.-Senator Hale's bill
against bribery must be worthless-a bill that
promises complete immunity to offenders. We
judge this by the freedom with which the
legislators vote for it.