smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1861

A CONGRESS WITH DECENT 1SDIcATIeNs.-
One of the very remarkable good effects of
the war against secession has been the ex-
traordinary facility with which Congress
was recently organized. Mr.. Grow, of Penn
sylvania, was easily elected to the Speaker
ship of the House of Representatives
Moreover, this organization of Congress has
given laudable proof of the non-existence
o. positive prejudice against Southern
men because of the fact of their being such,
in the election of Emerson Etheridge Secre-
tary of the Senate. lie was a member of
Congress, last year, from Tennessee, and on
going home opposed the separation of the
State from the Union, and left the State in
preference to the rebellions abandonment
of his political position. Perhaps the war
will place this Congress among the few de-
cent Congresses which have been honorable
to the American people.-F0lsom Tel.
Year: 1861

prise you that any demonstration of ap-
proyal or disapproyal of anything done or
said during your session, is in violation of
parliamentary decorum, and the chair would
also inform persons in the galleries that ap-
plause by them is a violation of good order
and breach of the rules of the House
The chair hopes, therefore. that any demon
stration of applause will not be repeated
In God is our trust, and the star-spangle led
banner forever shall wave


'O'er the land of the free and the home brave
Suppressed applause.l Those who regard
it as mere cloth, bunting, fail to appreciate
its symbollcal power. Wherever civiliza-
ton dwells, or the name of Washington is
known, 1t bears on its folds the concentrated
power of armies and navies, and surrounds
the votaries with defense more impreg-
nable than a battlement of wall or tower.
Wherever on the earth's surface an Ameri-
can citizen may wander, called by pleasure,
business OF caprice, it is a shield securing





soil of the land of his birth As the guar
dians of the rights and liberties of the peo-
pie, your paramount duty is to make it hon
ored at home as it is respected abroad. A
Government that cannot command the 10y
atty of its own citizens is unworthy the re-
spect of :he world, and Government that
will not protect its Own loyal citizens de-
serves the contempt of the world. APP
plause.1 He VINO would tear down this
grandest temple of constitutional liberty,
thus blasting forever the hopes of crushed
humanity, because its freemen, in the mode
prescribed by the Constitution, select a
Chief Magistrate not acceptable to him, is a
parricide to his race, and should be regarded
as acommon enemy Of mankind. The Union
once destroyed is shattered vase that no
human power can reconstruct in its original
symmetry. Coarse stones, when they are
broken, may be cemented again-precious
ones, never. If the Republic is to be dis
membered, and the sun of its liberty must
go 6ut in endless night, let it set amid the
roar Of cannon and the din of battle, when
there is no longer an arm to strike or heart
to bleed in its cause, so that coming gene
rations may not reproach the present with
being too imbecile to preserve the priceless
legacy beeueathed oy our fathers, so as to
transmit it unimpaired to future times
Again, gentlemen, thanking you for your
confidence and kindness, and invoking guild
ance from that Divine Power that led our
fathers through the red sea of the Revolu-
tion, | enter upon the discharge Of the du-
ties to which you have assigned me, rely 'ng
upon Your forbearance and cooperation,
and trusting that your labors will contrib
ute not little to the greatness and glory
of the Republic.
Year: 1861

WELL PUT-The San Francisco Times
says. This war is to be the architect o.
empire or the minister of ruin. The frag-
ments of a mighty temple lie all around
The foundation stone, the pillar, the archi-
trave, the niche and the statue, lie in the
dirt of public debasement. Shall we gather
them together; put each in its place, and
construct an edifce that shall be the pri lie
and glory of the coming ages, or shall We
nullify, and secede, and wrangle over pop
ular sovereignty, and the rights of the
South, and eat dirt and chase niggers, as
for sixtv years past
Year: 1861

HEART FoRCE.-A mans force in this
world, other things being equal, is just in
the ratio of the strength and force of his
heart. A full hearted man is always pow
erful man. If he be erroneous, he is pow
erful for error; if the thing is in his heart,
he is sure to make it notorious, even though
it be downright falsehood. Let a man be
ever SC ignorant still, if his heart is full of
love to the cause, he becomes a powerful
man for that object; because he has heart
power, heart-force. \ man may be def
cient in many of the advantages of educa-
tion, in many of those niceties which are
90 much looked upon in society, but once
give him strong heart that beats hard,
and there is no mistake about his power
Let him have heart that is right full up
to the 5rim with an object, and that man
will do the thing, or else he will die glori-
ously defeated, and will die glorious in his
defeat. Heart is power.
Year: 1861

The Shasta Herald says Northerner
seeks nc fight. lie always lodges one, if
possible, but when he gets into it he has
no superior as fghtiag man in the world
This is exactly the kind Of soldiers whom
the forces of the rebel States must meet,
and We have no fears of the result
No set of rebels charged with whisky can
stand before the sober men of the North
ragged by listening to tauuts of cowardce
stung by the memory of uncounted insults
and outragcs, and bent upon the annihla-
ton of treason.
Year: 1861

To any and all Postmasters and friends, sending
MS the Cash for five new subscribers to the weekly
or two to the Tri-Weekly, we viii send one copy OF
the Weekly gratis for one year.


Positively no subscription will be receivedfo for the
Weekly or Tri- Weekly UNION AND AMERICAN, unless
accompanied with the CASH
Year: 1861

A CURE FOR 1N-GRowING NAILs-Tt ia
stated by correspondent of the Medical
and Surgical Journal, that a cauterizaiion
with hot tallow is an immediate cure for in
growing nails. He says =


The patient on whom | tried this was a
young lady who had been unable TO nut on
shoe for several months, and decidedly the
worst case had ever seen. The disease
mad been OF long standing. The edge Of
the nail was deeply undermined the gran.
uiations formed high ridge, partly covered
with skin, and was constantly oozing from
the root OF the nail the whole Toe was
swollen, and extremely tender and painful.
MY mode OF proceeding was this / nut q
very small piece of tallow in spoon and
heated It over lamp until it became yery
moi, dropping two or three drops between
the nail aud granulations. The effect was
almost instantaneous. Pain and tenderness
We're at once relieved, and in few days
'ne granulations were all gone, and the
edse OF the nail exposed so as to adj
mt OF being pared without any inconven-
ience. The cure was complete, and the
trouble never returned l have tried this
repeatedly since, with the same satisfactory
results. The operation causes little or no
pam, IT the tallow is properly heated.
Year: 1861

A RAsCALLY TRICK.-We have before
alluded TO the ingenious faruds resorted tc
sometimes even by individuals and business


firms in good standing, to fix distrust and
suspicion on the post office, in the matter O.
money remitianees claimed to have been
through the mails. A case of this kind has
just been brought to light within the bound
aries Of the /" Nutmeg State (and outside
OF the counties with the exception, perhaps.
of old Middlesex) which in justice TO the
post-oiiice department and its employees i'm
mediately interested, ought not to be passed
over in silence. 1t was none of your COM
mon-place pieces of knavery, but cool,
wel-arranced scheme for fixing II criminal
charge on incocent parties connected with
the post-oilice. \ gentleman (?) doing bus
mess in M, was indebted to firm in
r Il, in the sum Of Sf20. The
money was TO be sent as other remittances
had previously been by mail The letter
was received minus the cash. Information
OF the loss was communicated TO one OF the
government special agents who investigated
the matter closely. The first question 10
be settled was, was the money actually en-
closed in the letter


1t appeared from the statement of the
merchant, that having previously written
The letter, lie sent his clerk to the bank to
obtain large notes, two fifties and one TWEEN
ty, which were folded into the letter in the
presence Of the young man, who took it
Immediately to the post-otiice. This was
fully confirmed by the clerk in question,
who with great apparent and no doubt real
honesty insisted that he Witnessed the whole
transaction--saw the money enclosed, and
the letter sealed. whi.h he carried directly
to the office, where he would take his oath,
both the letter and its contents were safely
deposited ia the hands of one oe the post
office clerks, of whom stamp was pur-
chased and placed upon the letter. There
seemed TO be left but slight grounds upon
which to base suspicion, outside the offices
at least. The thing had been beautifully
fixed up to be sure, and our slippery friend,
the merchant, thought the agent might as
well go about other business ii he had any
But certain indescribable evidences Of some
thing wrong in the merchants manner and
the trifiing affair OF three cents, led to the
final discovery. In separately questioning
the employer snd the employed. the former
stated that he gare the latter the money
with which TO buy postage stamp, while
the clerk was perfectly sure that he went to
the money-dfawer, some distance from
where the Two had been standing. for the
three pennies. Here was exacsly the re-
guired opportunity for the bank notes 10 be
Year: 1861

While the world is full of anecdotes Of the
dogs sagacity, it is singular that scarcely q
word can be said in honor Of cats, beyond
the natural instinct they display in the slaugh
ter of mice, and other prey. We .loremem
Der an old mouser which had learned to open
a door, by springing up and placing paw
upon the latch; but our praises Of grimalkin
extend no further, notwithstanding the ia
BILE Of the "meal tub: and the distinguished,
yet eccentric, "Puss in Boots" We have
read of cat. untimely bereft of her first
family, who took pains to hide her second
litter, where nothing human could approach
them; but it is not clear that she acted through
precautionary motives. Many persons pro.
fess an adherence Of cats, deeming their soft
tread and deceptive security unlovable; hut
If that plea held good we should have to
Danish great many Of our friends. 1t is .
curious question why cats await the shades
of night to 60 into the concert business, and
why lodger invariably precipitates his
boots and other moveables from the window,
when the voice of caterwaulng arises from
the window, when the voice of caterwauling
arises from the wood-shed adjoining. five
investigate this feline in al its intrcacies, we
shall be likely to conclude, as we do now
that cats Il cats, except in China, where
their normal appearance is in the form Of
soups and pies.
Year: 1861

That Mr.. Russell has left the South thor
oughly disguised, and shaking the dust Of
slave soil from his shoes, the tone of his re-
cent letters in the London Times gives every
evidence. But there is one point in his
Natchez letter which is important, and can.
not fail to set the English public, and possi-
bly, the English Government, to doing some
serious thinking. Speaking Of the mad rage
Of secession, and the consequences Of its
success upon America and the world, he
says:


"But threaten ing voices came from the
North-the echoes Of the sentiments Of the
civilized world repenting of its evil. pierced
their ears, and they found their feet were of
clay, and that they were nodding to their
fall in the midst of their power. Ruin ine-
vitable awaited them if they did not shut
out these sounds. and stop the fatal utterance.
The issue is to them one of life and death
Whoever raises it hereafter. If it be not de-
cided now, must expect to meet the deadly
animosity which is displayed towards the
North. The success Of the South-if it can
succeed mpst lead to complications and
results in other parts of the world for which
neither it nor Europe is now prepared. Of
one thing there can be no doubt-a slave
State cannot long exist without slave trade.
The poor whites who will have won the fight
will demand their share of the spoils. The
land is abundant, and all that is wanted to
give them fortunes is supply Of slaves
They will have that in spite Of their masters,
unless stronger power prevents the accom-
plishment Of their wishes.n
Year: 1861

Some of the advantages Of women yer
men are Ms follows:


A woman can say what she chooses with
out being knocked down fort


She can take snooze after dinner while
her husband soes to work.


She can go into the street without being
asked to treat at every saloon.


She can paint her face if it is too pale, and
powder il il is too red.


She can stay home in time Of war, and can
get married again if her husband gets Kill.
led.


She can wear corsets if too thick--o,he,
fixing il too thin.


She can eat, drink, and be merry, without
costing her cent.


She can get divorced from her husband
whenever she sees one she likes better.


She can get her husband 10 debt all over
until he warns the public by advertisements
not 10 trust her on his account
Year: 1861

Rev. T. B. Thayer of Boston, in sermon
delivered last Sunday, made the following
timely suggestions 1.-THE state of the times
demands lberaiity and generous expendi-
ture on the part of those who have the
means, whose income is greater than their
wants. Such as these should not study
economy, should not aim to save as much
and spend as little as possible. hear many
of this class talking of retrenchment of re-
ducing their expenses, of denying themselves
and families this and that to which they have
been accustomed. say no. This is .
mistaken policy. Why should you save p
You are in no danger of suffering. Why
should you spend less, you who have more
than enough, while thousands around are
wanting employment and bread, and have
nothingf What is to become Of this class if
every rich man, every family whose income
exceeds, by Ich or little, their current ex-
penses, begins economising and diminishing
expenditures to the lowest po int possible p
What is to become of these people without
work or money? They must live. They
must have bread Give them employment
and they will earn it. II you do not they
must still have bread. that is certain, and
somebody must furnish it. No, I say again
saving closely with these who have abun.
dant means is false policy in such times as
the present. Suppose your income has been
annually $4,000, and has now fallen to
$3,oos--and suppose you have lived at an
expense Of $4,000, is it wisdom, is It mercy
to reduce your expenses to $4,000 on tho
plea of hard times, 1t is not hard times for
you Better far keep on spending your
$4,000. Do not expect to save anything
while the war lasts and thousands are out of
employment. Live as you have lived
spend all your income, even ifyou never did
before. Every new hat or coat, every new
sofa or carpet, every new book or house hold
ornament furnishes work and bread to idle
men. Every new bonnet or dress gives enc.
ployment to needle. women who are strug.
Cling with poverty and suffering. How
much better to pay them the money and
leave them their self respect and independ.
ence, than buy and to give it to them as .
charity, humiating and painful"
Year: 1861

The Times Washington correspondence
says the refusal the Democrats Of the State
of New York to unite with the Republicans
on the nomination and election of ticket
caused some surprise here, Is it seems to
conflict with what was supposed to be plan
pre-aranged here at Washington and which
had for its purpose tho disintegration Of tho
Republican party. The same idea ofa Un.
ion ticket was broached in Ohio and has
been there rejected. These two ooinciden.
ccs, it is said among politicians, win now
cause the entire dissolution of the Democrat.
ic party.
Year: 1861

There will always be this weakness in
human nature we shall forever, in spite of
reason, take pleasure in doing funeral hon.


ors to the dead, and writing sacrednesss to
memory upon marble. Then why, If you
are 70 do this. If you are to put off your
kindness till death, why not, in Gods name
put off also your enmityp And il you
choose to write your lingering affections up
on stones, wreak also your delayed anger
upon clays This would be just, and in the
last case, little as you think it, generous
The true baseness is in the bitter reverse, the
strange ,niquity Of our folly. Isa man to
be praised. honored. pleaded for? It might


do harm tn praise or plead for him while he
lived. Wait till he is dead. Ts he to be
mal,gned, dishonored and discomforted p
See that you do it while he is alive. It
would be too ungenerous to slander him
when he could feel malice no more; too con-
temptible to try to hurt him when he was
past anguish. Make yourselves busy, ye
lying. ye hungry for pain. Death is near
This Is your hour. and the power Of dark


ness. Wait but for little while, for this is
not your rest. Well, but is it not indeed
ungenerous to speak III Of the deade since
they cannot defend themselves Why
should theys Ifyou speak i'll Of them false
", it concerns you, not them. Those lies
Of thine will hurt 80 man as thou art; assu-
rcdly they will hurt thyself; but that clay,
or the delivered soul Of it, IN no wise. Shield
Of Ajax, seven. folded, never stayed lance
thrust like that tnf with daisies pied. What
you say Of those quiet ones is wholly and
utterly the worlds affair aud yours. The
lie will, indeed, cost its proper price and work
its appointed work; you may ruin living
myrials BY it, you may stop the progress Of
centuries by it, you may have 70 pay your
own soul for it; but as for ruffling one cor.
nerof the folded shroud by it, think it not


The dead have none to defend thems Nay,
they have two defenders. strong enough for
their need, God and the worm. RusEin.
Year: 1861

The House Committee yesterday decided 10
make none other than clerical changes in the
present Tariff, except to make the Revenue
changes recommended by Secretary Chase. These
consist of an increase of tie duty on Raw Sugar
from 4 of cent TO 2i cents per pound, with
corresponding advance on Refined Sugar and
Moasses, and the imposltion of duties OF FIVE
cents per pound on Coffee and fifteen cents on
Tea, both hitherto Free These are stringent i'm
posts, but the Government mast have revenue,
and there are no reader or more certain sources
of ilcome than the duties above named; 80 they
will have to go on. They will no doubt reduce
somewhat the consumption of the articles so
taxed, yet they can hardly fail to add Twenty
Millions per annum TO the Revenue, and may,
alter peace, go still higher. That they will tend
to increase our Homo Product Of Sugar and
Molasses, lot from the Cane only but from the
Sorghum, the Maple, &C., We rejoice to bc-
lieye. And they are quito apt to lead to over.
lures from Spain and Brazil for mutual reduc-
ton of the duties charged BY us on their staples
and by them on ours espoctively-proders which
IL will be ample time to weigh when we shall
have received them.


We have been favored with various remonstran-
CO, against the imposition of duties on articles Of
such general and prime necessity as Tes, Coffee,
and Sugar; but they are simply waste Of ink.
Revenue must be had and ~ raise it the read.
lest means must be resorted to. 1t is sheer ab-
surdity to talk of Direct Taxes as q present
resource. How do you propose to collect them
In the States domineered over By JEFF. Davis
Or even In Missouri and Kentucky ! Who would
like to undertake their collection even in Mary.
land We do not strenuously object TO direct
taxes, though we prefer to raise money BY Excise
rather than BY an indscriminate Income or
Property Tax. Ten cents per gallon on Distilled
Liquors, for instance, would produce handsome
aggregate, FIVE cents per pound GU Tobacco
would raise another pretty sum. If we will
have wara We must pay for themi and an er.
else on these luxuries would bring home to good
many the wickedness Of conspiracy to subyert
the Government, breaking out at last into open
rebellion. This war. when ended, will give us
all something 10 chew upon for lifetime.


-we have from Washington absurd rumors
that the Tariff amendments will be 50 adjusted
ss TO allow tho Sugars now in bond to pass the
Custom.House on the payment Of the present
duty What ia the justice Of that Does not
every one know that these Sugars will be in.
creased in price by nearly the amount Of the
additional duty II 30. why shoald that amount
be given to the sugar-holdersl They ought,
Year: 1861

surely, 10 be sat sHcd by the advance they will
realize on their Sugars which have already
passed the Collectors and are now in the market.
The suggestion that vessels on their way hither
with cargoes Of Tea, Coffee, or Sugar. are to
be allowed to enter at the present rates. or no
rates, is probably thrown ont to place the abb
surdty Of the suggested discrimination in favor OF
Sugars in bond in colors still more glarIng. Tie
duties DOW to be imposed should take effect upon
the day following the passage Of the act, and
should be collected on every pound of the arti-
cles taxed that thereafter passes the Custom
House
Year: 1861

ever, that, to at least minority Of the Cabinet,
q refusal TO cOofrm that appointment viii be
very welcome, and that the member seemingy
most concerned in it will be glad to be relieved
Of a responsibility by no means agreeable to him.
Year: 1861

MINISTER WEBB IN CoURT.-Mr. James
Watson Webb, Minister PlenipotentiarJ, etc,
to the Court Of Brazil, produced his farch-
ment bearing the great seal Of the United
States, in the Marine Court Of New York city
the other day, to avoid suit for the salary of
his commercial editor on the late Courier and
Enquirer. We think he made slight mistake
in the court to which he was accredited.
Year: 1861

or band of thin rail laid on cut stone, run
ming semi-circularly all round, enabling
the gunners TO deliver and o5ligue rs well
as direct fire. Immediately below this,
separated by small mound or ramp, are
embrasures for guns calculated to sweep
the trench on either side. A gun is said
to be ain embrasure" when il fires thro'
an opening cut through the parapet.-
This fort, when in good repair and well
mounted, could be held by one thousand
good and true men against ten times the
number Of like material. ta' ai aotI


This furnace can hold at once and heat
about fifty balls. A person who has seen
"puddled or Railroad iron heated ip a
rolling mill, can easily comprehend the
manner of heating. To commence with,
il requires one hour and fifteen minutes
10 heat ball; after the furnace is once
heated, twentyfour pound shot is bro't
to red heat in twenty-five minutes
larger balls requiring their proportionate
few moments more. Cartridges for hot
shot are generally double bagged, one
within the other, to prevent accident from
loose powder. When loading, the muz-
zle of the gun is elevated sufficient TO al
low the ball 10 roll in of the fire shovel
dry wad follows the cartridges when an
other wad of wet hay, or clay, is insert
ed between it and the dripping ball. Nc
danger is apprehended by experienced
gunners by explosion; the ball could be
left to cool with safety, the powder alone
being injured by the smoke from the wei
wad. The penetration of hot and cold
shot into wood is equal under the same
circumstances. A red hot shot retain:
sufficient heat to set fire to vessel aftcl
having struck the water several times
Smaller charges of powder are used will
hot than cold shot, for its intent coult
not be accomplished did itpenetrate deep
er than from eight TO twelve inches. Once
more, and for the last time, adieu.


THos. G. FITzGIDDoN.