smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1869

The ingenuity of the American me-
chanic has found an eccentric interpreter
I'm w. /. Trafton, of Manchester, New
Hampshire, who is making the smallest
possible specimen of an engine, Every
mart of it is constructed out of a. silver
half dollar. The boiler is to hold about
eight drops of water; but with four drops
the engine can be worked for several min
utes. When finished it is TO be placed
under glass case three-quarters of an
inch in diameter and an inch and one
eighth in height. Some Of the parts will
be so fine and delicate that they cannot be
made without the use OF magniiying
Qlass
Year: 1869

A CALIFORNIA lawyer recently. after
please your Honor-I'Il bet hundred
dollars and stake the money. that what
I say is good law" The attorney on
the other side declined to bet, and the
argument was admitted by the Court
to be nnanRYerable.
Year: 1869

ANOTHER SwINDLING INvEHTIoN En-
rosEr.-Thc last dodge OF the scoundrcls
who plumber farmers is thus commented on
by the Journal Of Chemistry:


"Thc need Of the diffusion Of more prac-
tical scientific information among all classes
is clearly shown in the readiness with which
people becomc victims to some OF the most
absurd tricks and schemes which the brains
Of cunning men can invent. The last OF
these tricks SllrpaSses in audacitv all others
which we have heard of. A patent butter
company have opened offices in this and
other cities to show people how to make Il
pound of good butter out of pint of milk,
and to sell them rights to make, and also Il
little white powder, which is the agent uSc'.
to perform the magic work.


{. At the office of the company they do
not ask the eager purchaser to believe their
statements but they churn the butter be-
fore his eyes. a pint Of milk, with half Il
pound of good butter, is put into little tin
churn with spoonful Of the powder; the
whole is warmed, and then five minutes,
churning brings out one and Il half pounds
of good butter. Here is demonstration
What can be more convincing: No one
suggests to the entcrpriSing company that
nearly ninc-tcnths of the milk used is water,
and, if they perform what they allcoe, they
are changing water into butter. This would,
indeed. be Il miracle equal to that Of the
Saviour, who changed water into wine.
We have been asked several times by intel
ligcnt gentlemen how this thing can be en-
planned. Very easily. BY the process the
whole of the pint Of milk (mostly composed
of watcr) is driven into, or blended with,
the half pound Of melted butter put into the
churn.


:'Thcre is no important increase Of real
butter in the churn, although the watcry
mass, which looks like inferior butter,
weighs more. Put the mass into Il dish and
heat it. and the true butter will separate
from the milk or water with which it is
blended. This is the method by which but
ter and lard are greatly adulterated. Nearly
all the lard sold by grocers contain from
TWENTY-FIVE to forty per cent. of water. The
adultcrers have not been able until within a
wear or two to combine with genuine lard
more than twenty-five per cent. of water ;
but recently, by the use of alkaline carbo-
mates partly Saponifying the lard, they force
into association more than forty per cent.
What shameful fraud this is! And how
hard it falls upon poor people. who mostly
consume the attcnuated fat We shall wage
1lnceasing war upon these wickd frauds and
schemes and we ask all honest men and
women to aid us i'll exposing, and thus pre-
venting, the evils"
Year: 1869

A young author, fred with the smbi-
ton to see his pieces acted on the stage,
was in the habit of sending an endless
mum Der of manuscripts to the manager of
a well-known theater. This manager was
q good-natured gentleman, who did not
like to be too hard on the unfortunate au.
thors whose works he could not accept,
so he always returned this particular
young gentleman productions, with the
assurance that they really we're not bad,
but that the subject was, perhaps, not
quite so well chosen as it might have
been, and that the dialogue was scarcely
telling enough. At last the ambitious
youth became suspicious that his plays
were really never read at all. Accord
ingly be one day sent the manager q
parcel which looked like scroll of man
uscripts, carefully wrapped in white pa
per and tied with a red silk ribbon. In q
few days be called for an answer. My
dear sir, said the manager, in his usual
way, "your work is really charming, and
have read it with the greatest interest,
but regret to say must return it to you,
for the material -" "What," inter-
rupted the would-be dramatist, :" is it too
old ?" "Oh, dear, no" was the reply;
"its only fault is that it is rather too del
icste and tender in it's character for my
theater." Indeed" exclaimed the au-
thor, shat is really astonishing" Where
up On the parcel was opened aud an excel
lent fresh sausage was unrolled before
the eyes of the absshed manager. II
was particularly CAREFUL, continued the
gentleman, ITO get one with garlic in it,
as was most anxious that it should not
be too tender and delicate"
Year: 1869

A Cook in New York has given no.


tice to the family in which she is en-
ployed, that she has made up her mind
to 60 to Newport this summer, and II
the family will go there she will stay
with them; otherwise, she must leave.
Year: 1869

If the brokers are serious in their discomfort
with their present quarters it may lead to an
important translation of the money centre Of
the city. New York has been undergoing such
changes for many years. but the lowering feet
of business must soon light permanently some
where. Our metropolitan island has only
certain extent, and its real centres will be dis
covered ere long. The Royal Exchange of
London and the Bourse OF Paris have SEEM
ingly found solid resting places. Our Stock
Exchange has moved about in Hanover, Bea-
yer, William and Wall streets, to settle, as it
was thought, in its present situation. The
brokers are quarrelling with their landlords,
however, about exorbtant rent. Their build
ing does not belong to them, as it should
With over quarters Of a million in their
treasury, they are able to erect and pay for
stock exchange of their own. The opportunity
ton Of dwelling houses in the lower wards we
have often wondered what use st. Pauls could
be put to- Here is an exact one for its site.
The block on Broadway between Fulton and
yesey is the real centre of the metropolis.
Here concentrate all the railway lines from up
town and all the streets that conduct from
Brooklyn, Jersey City and Staten Island. The
new Stock Exchange would then confront the
Post Office, the Astor House, the Park Bank,
the HERALD Building, and, with the City Hall,
complete a picturesque group of architectural
adornments of the Empire City.
Year: 1869

Custom HOUSE ABUsEs.-In the reports
of the Custom House abuses that Mr..
Grinnell proposes to remedy 1t is stated
that systematic extortion is practised upon
the clerks by persons pretending to have
power to get them removed unless they will
pay blackmail of fifty or hundred dollars,
or even more. We suppose there is no doubt
that in many cases where clerks have refused to
pay the money the blackmailers. have been able
to show their power by promptly securing the
threatened removal. 1t will be good news, there
fore, to persons in the Custom House that the
Collectors attention has been directly drawn
to this subject But while he is about it we
trust he will go little further, and give some
thought to an evil not different in its nature or
effect This is that semi-ofiicial party extor-
ton, practised at election times, when the
subordinate finds the ''striker" side by side
with the paymaster, waiting to take his per-
centage on every salary for ''party expenses
No man would ever pay this striker cent if
he did not fear the loss of his place as a con-
sequence. Here is an abuse that Mr.. Grinneu
may quite eradicate,
Year: 1869

CoRBIS WANTED AGAIN AT WASHINGTON
The Committee on Banking and Currency of
the lower house Of Congress have been in
structed ito investigate the causes that led to
the unusual and extraordinary fluctuations in
the gold market of the city OF New York from
the 2lst to the 9th Of September last, with
power to send for persons and papers
Fisk, Gould, Corbin and others of the bull
ring may therefore expect shortly to be called
upon for pleasure trip to Washington at the
expense Of the Secretary Of the Treasury.
Year: 1869

The letter in which General Butler replies
to the invitation of the editor of the Tribune
to make full, public expression of his opin-
ions on the momentous question Of reconstruc-
ton, not only abounds with ingenious exam
Piles of the argument,tm a0 hominem directly
applicable to the author of the sOn to Rich
mond" cry and sponsor and main prize of the
arch traitor of Richmond" but also forcibIy
presents many facts in Illustration and support
of his own views of the reconstruction question
in its actual phase. General Butler explains
why he is careful to advocate only such mea-
sures as he believes will secure the enforce
ment of the fifteenth amendment as well as its
passage He earnestly disclaims being identi-
+. fed with policy which ''prolongs indefinitely
the prescription and disfranchsement of a
large portion Of the men of the South for their
part in the late rebellion" He repels the
assumption of Greeley and others that because,
for party purposes, he has been the object of
vituperative attack, slander and calumny on
the part Of some Southern men. therefore he
must of necessity retalate that wrong upon the
communities which they disgrace. But he
advocates policy which he deems the only
one effectnal for making reconstruction perma-
nent.
Year: 1869

The PapaI Bull and the EcumcnicaI


Council.


Thanks to journalistic enterprise and to the
account the latest Papal Bull has been can
vassed in New York before it was properly
known in Rome No Pope ever had SO large
an audience as Pope Plus the Ninth, but, like
many others not noted for wisdom or graft
tude, the good Pope spurns the ladder which
gives him place and power. Our despatch of
yesterday was a triumph of journalism and of
modern progress.


In itself considered we have not much to
say In favor of the Bull. 1t more than justifes
That the Pope breads the light Of day to fall
upon his plans and the doings of the Council
no one henceforfh can deny. All the members
of the Council are pledged to secrecy. Until
the proceedings are ended and the DEGREES
promulgated the outside world shall know
nothing more Of this Council than that so many
bishops, with the Pope at their head, are in
solemn session assembled. What they are
doing no one is to know. So, at least, the
Holy Father orders, and so it must be if the
preates are faithful But we know what we
know, and could tell if we would; but we will
not Enough that in our opinion the Council
hall lie leaky vessel, and that in spite of the
Holy Father and his bishops facts will come
ont. This however, is not the main feature
of the Bull Like all other bulls,
ninIl. l.,Il "a &. HAL.
unreasoning and not little stupid. The
Holy Father cxhorts the bishops to live
in the practice Of charity, humility, sobriety
and pious contemplation during the session OF
the Councils" surely very unnecessary piece
OF advice to men who have arrived from all
the ends OF the earth to attend to the interests
Of religion Then II Is conceded by the Holy
| Father that the bishops have a right TO make
propositions. But as propositions made in
| open Council might beget debate, and as de-
bate, in spite Of the bad Latin, might excite
unholy wrath, the propositions are to be
written ont and submitted privately to COM
mittee of bishops named by the Pope. To
| make obstruction more complete, and the more
effecAally to preserve peace and good order,
propositions are to be conformable to the
spirit and traditions of the Catholic Church
to have for their object the general interests
of the Church, not the interests of particular
diocese, and, when presented to the committee,
they are to be accompanied by statement OF
the motives which have led to their presenta-
ton. Fathers who have desire to harangue
Year: 1869

tne assembly must OBTAIN permlsBlou irom sao
legate or presidents the day before. 1t may
thus be taken for granted that, II 1t Is found
possible to adhere to these rules, the Council
will be tame enough affair. We shall hear
nothing of IT. for to tell tales out Of school is
forbidden. There will be no discussion; for
subjects likely to provoke debate will not OBJ
tain the sanction of the primary committee.


We are not surprised to learn that majority
1t would be strange, indeed, If it were other
wise. A large, very large section Of the
bishops are liberal and opposed to despotism
in religion as much as they are opposed to des-
potism in civil government. But this Bull
breathes the very spirit of despotism. 1t is.
Capitalization with a vengeance. 1t is the
Pope and nothing but the Pope. 1t is the
Pope who names the committee, who appoints
the presidents, who does all. Liberty is
nowhere. When we read this Bull we seem
to be away back in the twelfth century. We
cannot realize the fact that such sentiments
have actually been transmitted by telegraph.
1t is the fact however, that this Papal Bull has
appeared in the age of telegraphs and rail-
roads and steamboats, and printing presses
and newspapers. Well may the liberal
bishops be angry; but what will tisy do?
They will not be allowed to speak in the
Council. They may not 60 home; for they
are expressly prohibited from absenting them
selves from the sittings. VIII they set up
rival council? 1t may not seem likely, but
who shall say it is impossible? In all serious
ness it seems to us in the last degree humiliat-
ing that SO many distinguished and able
churchmen and prelates should put themselves
to all the inconvenience of journeyng thou
sands Of miles to Rome for the good Of the
Church, and that they should find that there
was no higher role for them than that of dumb
dogs daring not to bark for fear.


If the bishops submit and abide by the will
of the Pope there can be no difficulty expert
enced in dogmatically affirming the Syllabus
and proclaiming the bodily assumption and the
personal infallibility Of the Pope. If these
things are attempted by the Council, as it is
now considered certain that they will, we shall
expect an outcry outside the Council but inside
the Church, which will be both loud and
emphatic. In France in Germany and in
Italy liberal Catholics are on the watch. 1t
is stated on good authority that Father
Hyacinthe has returned to Paris at the request
Of his numerous friends to speak from time to
time on the questions raised by the Council.
The fathers words will be echoed by thou
sands in all lands, and it is quite as reasonable
to presume that the Council viii bring to the
Church sword as that it will bring peace.
Another German reformation or the breaking
off of the Gallcan Church from Rome are not
impossibilities.
Year: 1869

THIITY THOUSAND DOLLARS DAMAGEs.-A
excellent example and good warning to rail-
road companies was the verdict Of that jury in
the Supreme Court at Buffalo, who awarded
thirty thousand dollars damages to man
injured by the Erie Railroad Company at the
terrible Mast Hope accident, some time ago.
This Is the way to bring railroad companies to
their senses. A few more verdicts Of this
kind will have nearly as much effect as the
remedy against railroad accidents once hnmor-
ously suggested-to put two or three Of the
directors on the locomotive. We hope that
the lucky plaintiff in this suit will accept no
compromise, but will demand from the COM
pany the last farthing that is written down in
the bond.
Year: 1869

THE NEW PosT OFFICE. hope there
will be no delay in the operations on the new
Post Office from the want of money. All
those engaged in the labor show commend
able zeal in making the most of all their


opportunities to economize time, and it would
be inexcusable if their foresight and ingenuity
in this particular should come to naught
through the failure of Congress to make an
appropriation forthwith. This Post Office has
claim upon the attention of Congress above
any other labor now in the hands of the
general government. Though nominally the
New York Post Office, it is in fact national
Post Office; for as this metropolis is the great
receiving and distributing centre of the
country in commercial and financial matters.


80 its Post Office is one in which every bust
ness man in the United States has a direct


personal interest This consideration alone
should prevent any delay that might arise
from sectional opposition to the appropriation.
Year: 1869

A SIGNIFICANT VoTE-That in the House of
Representatives the other day-one hundred
and twenty-nine to forty-two-on the question
of endorsing the Presidents opinion ''that
renewal of treaty Of reciprocity in trade
with the British provinces (the New Dominion
would be wholly in favor of the British pro-
tion be favorably considered. With this
beginning the prospect for dividend to the
Canadian lobby at Washington this session
looks rather blue
Year: 1869




It is well that Postmaster General Cres-
well has addressed communication to the
chairmen of the House and Senate committees
on Post Offices recommending the abollshment
of the franking privilege. We hope that these
committees will take up the Recommendation
seriously. The franking privilege is an abuse
and nuisance as it has been used heretofore.
We know by the reports Of the General Post
Office, year after year, that there is always
deficit in the receipts to pay expenses wnen
the balance sheet is made out or all depart
ments of the government the Post Office De-
partment is the most Improbable, and, in fact,
the most expensive, because it does not pay its
own way. The cost of transporting the mails
over our vast Territories Is no doubt very
large, and we cannot expect that every mail
route will pay for ITSELF But there is no deny
ing the fact that under the franking system
tons of mail matter are transported free for
every hundred letters that pay postage.
Members of Congress deluge the country with
political pamphlets, reports Of their speeches
and printed stuff of all kinds, circulated for
their own personal advantage. We have
known instances when several tons of this free
mail matter-more than baggage car could
carry-have accumulated at mail stations In
the West, even as far out as Kansas while
there were not probably hundred letters on
the same route paying three cents postage
each.


1t is against this abuse that the Postmaster
General protests. The department is bur
to pay expenses until the system is abolished.
We will not allude to the fact, often alleged,
that members of Congress have used tho
franking privilege to cover the transportation
of their linen to and from the hands of the
laundress. We believe this contemplate thing
has been established as fact, and therefore
we let it 60. 1t is enough to know that the
privilege has been grossly abused in many
ways, and that even if it had not been 80
abused it is radically wrong, because it only
serves as a means Of political propagandism
and is swindle on the Treasury. Poor
people have to pay postage on their letters.
Why, then, should members of Congress be
exempt? The deficit in the Post Office
Department has to be paid by the people in
taxes, therefore the franking privilege is not
only fraud upon that department, but it is
grievance to the public. In England the system
was abolished some time ago, upon these very
grounds. The Queen pays her own postage,
or her chamberlain pays for her; 80 do the
heads and officials of the government and the
members of Parliament. We think, there
fore, that Postmaster General Creswells pro-
test against the ''deadhead' system in the
Post Office Department is commendable and
oaght to be entertained by Congress.
Year: 1869

Oil and Benzine-The Rsdlners' National


Convention.


A thief, unless caught and sent to prison,
will continue to steal; cheat unless exposed
and punished will ply on his trade. And it is
not to be expected that men who sell to their
customers q compound more dangerous than
gunpowder for illuminating oil will stop the
traffic nnless made to do so by power
stronger than their selfinterest can overcome.
knows, and everybody's grandfather knew IL
before him. But when these ''trcks of
trade" result in wholesale murder it is about
time that some corrective be applied, and if
the 'tricks" cannot be stopped without the
trader, let him be weeded out also The
revelations made yesterday in the Petroleum
Refners Convention By member from Pitts
burg, are astonishing enough in this respect
He intimated that If oil be sold by weight
that is, II gallon of oil was to weigh GER
tain number of pounds and ounces, the lighter
oils, those adulterated by the dangerous
addition Of naphtha or benzine would
be detected by the purchaser and
their sale lessened to such On extent
that one-haf of the small reflners In
the country would be bankrupt This from a
man who ought to know whereof he affirms, is
suggestive. The murderous adulteration of
the lamp oil of the poor must indeed be
practised as regular trade in an enormous
measure If to decrease its sale only par
italy is to make half of the smaller refners
throughout the whole country bankrups


Whether the remedy proposed by him, OF
selling oil by weight only, instead Of by
measure, would prove effective, is question
able. That it would affect large dealers and
create healthier trade among them NAV be
true. But before the fluid reaches the con-
sumer in pints or quarts or half gallons it
passes through the hands of too many middle
men, all Of whom are tempted by the in
creased profit which rascalty yields to Nks
their chances of becoming murderers. Our
columns give evidence from day to day of the
work wrought through the influence of these
men and of the many lives sacrificed to their
greed, which stops at nothing to iilch an addi-
tional penny from the public. The enactment
Year: 1869

THE CoUNTERFErTERs. secret service
agents of the government are doing good
work in their active campaigning against the
counterfeiters. In all their recent discoveries
there is none in which they have uncovered so
much of q curiosity of crime as in their
descent on the establishment of Conrad
Fautzer This man appears to have carried
on an extensive and legitimate business as an
engraver and printer Of bank checks. He
was so reputed for good workman that he
had plenty of trade. One would have sup
posed that with the sure returns and ultimate
fortune of such pursuit he would have been
content. But no. He risks his whole trade,
his capital even his liberty, on the hazards of
very pitiful die. He counterfeted two
cents worth on every check and that two
cents leads him to his ruin. Surely this is an
avaricious rogue.
Year: 1869

THE SIXTEENTH STREET MARKEr.-The
stalls in this new edifce are soon to be
sold, and the market will doubtless be in full
operation early in the new year. Properly
managed this may become one of the best
markets in the city. 1t is the natural eastrepSt
for all the produce coming by boat from the
Sound and all the rivers that empty into it.
Everything from Connecticut and from the
Long Island shores of the Sound that comes
to this city on sale should be found at that
market, and will be, if proper accommodation
is made for it. Although Immediately sur
rounded by class of people not likely to be
very satisfactory support to market, it is
within easy reach Of an immense population
that is not by any means the least aflluent in
the city. 1t is, moreover, nearer to every
populous part of the city than Washington
Market is, and if the farmers up the Sound
see their own interest and concentrate their
traffic here they may successfully rival the
Jersey farmers, whose trade is concentrated in
the shanties at the foot of Fulton street, North
river.