smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1859

ANTI-CURsING CLUB.-Several young gentle
ing Club, for the improvement of their language
and gentility. The Club has elected officers and
is fully organized Each member when he gets
off an oath is Immediately taxed twenty five cents
which must be paid to the Treasurer Immediately
Ncy0d1 NnfiOD1I
Year: 1859

BAD AIR IN SHAFTs.-A correspondent of the
San Andreas Independent says that tub of wa
ter thrown down a shaft will relieve any person
in it till time is gained for bis removal. The cor
respondent advises that tubs of water for that
purpose be kept by every shaft
Year: 1859

WILL we live to see the day when the journals
of San Francisco can discuss public measures
without resorting TO low scurrility and malignant
personal abuse IS. r. telegram.


We reckon not if you do you'll be the skinni-
est, little, old dried-up man ever seen on this
earth
Year: 1859

GRASS VALLEY QUARTZ MNEs.-Within the
last six months wages have fallen considerably.
Three dollars day for good hand is what most
of the large mining companies pay, and any
number may be employed at that rate.--Naional
Year: 1859

No city papers were received on Thursday. In
a little while we hope that daily express from
Sacramento to Shasta will dispense with this oft
repeated observation. The express from Shasta
10 Weaver is daily.
Year: 1859

to feel authorized to place an injunction
upon his Excellency, or issue mandamus
commanding him to dispose of it in aims.


1t is but just that we should again re-
mind our cotcmporaries abroad who have
had so many hard things TO say about de
troit justice" in connection with this Tyler
trial, that neither the people of Detroit or
of Michigan, nor any Of our city or State
authorities had anything to do with tho
matter. The Judge, Marshal, District At
torney and Jury, were all United States
officials, who, we hardly need repeat, are
in interest, officially, at least, no part Of
our people-have no sympathy with them,
do not recognize our laws, except when
they don't interfere with the policy or views
of the General Administration, and have
no very strong sympathies for anything ex.
cept the Union aud the necessity of saving
it, albeit they are all very respectable citi-
zens otherwise. This sentence is an out
rage, we admit but it should not attach
to the people Of Detroit or Michigan. Let
our cotemporaries put the censure whore it
belongs.-[Det. ADV.
Year: 1859

that honor ia dearer than life, were it not
that we keep in mind the difference be-
tween character and reputation. One is
intrinsic the other is external. One is
what Is, the other what people think or
say Of it. He who knows the falsehood
of an evil report against himself is sup
ported by bis consciousness and though he
would sacrifice much to make his external
position good, will never despair, though
he do not succeed. A friend of Socrates
wept that he was to be executed in inno-
nocence of the charges brought against
him. "Would il console you or me if l
were guilty" asked the sage.


Every community, and every man in it,,
owes to truth and decency, to candor and
honesty, the diScouragement of slander
and defamation. Printed or spoken, it is
monatrous evil; and it lies at the root of
all unhappiness and injustice. 1t impedes
all pleasant intercourse, and is most dan
gerous instrument in controversy, whether
legal or other. It lie more likely to plague
the inventor than TO produce the effect for
which it is Intended. The tongue cuts
like sword, and they who ply it in malice
may perish with their own weapon.


philadelphia N. American.
Year: 1859

The Cleveland National Democrat ia
responsible for the following:


"Thero is very good story told of
Judge W, of Detroit, which we
do not remember to have seen in print.
The incident occurred some years ago,
when his finc head, now so white and sill
very, had seen fewer frosts than it has now,
and when his form was unbent, by the
weight Of years. The Judge in those days
had become imbucd with strong temper
ance proclivities, and never allowed an op-
portunity to pass wherein he might impress
upon the Bar and Jury the desirable re-
suits which are sure to follow life of ab-
stcnicusuess. He was once trying a case
at certain town, in the District over
which he presided, and among the numer-
Gus witnesses was one of those huge, rud.
dy, and stalwart old men, we sometimes
see, who look as though they could almost
bid defiance to time and death, and his
appearance greatly impressed every one in
the Court room, particularly the Judge
himself. After the witness had concluded
his testimony the Judge expressed the ex-
treme qualification i, afforded him, to see a
man of his age in such glorious state of
preservation, and added he would like to
know precisely how old he was, and, if he
wouldn't consider tho question impertinent
would enquire what his habits had been in
regard to the use Of ardent spirits. The
old man replied that he was eighty-four,
and that he had never tasted drop of
liquor in all his life The Judge in glow
Of satisfaction turned to the the members
of the Bar and the Jury, and taking the
hale hearty man for bis text, delivered
most eloquent and effective temperance dis
course, in which he proved most satisfacto-
riy that nothing but total abstinence cod
secure vigorous old age.


The next witness was man very much
resembling the individual who had so hap
PLY suggested a theme for the Judges
temperance leeturej though, if possible,
much stouter and much ruddier in appear
ance. He proved to be brother of the
witness before him, aud two years his
senior. "You too, suppose" said the
Judge, at the conclusion of his testimony,
rubbing his hands and smiling very bland
ly, "you too, like your brother, have lived
a life Of strict abstcniousuess, have you
notGr


"Judge," replied the witness, swinging
his huge body back in his chair, and eye
ing him with comcal squint, IL han't
been to bed sober in forty years"


Call the next witnoss," cried the Judge
sharply, while there was very general
blowing Of noses in the Jury box, and sew
eral well defined snorts among the Law
yen.
Year: 1859

A Mr.. Dawson thus relates his experience
with the wheat fly:


II procured quantity of the larvae full.
grown and In that motionless and torpid
state in which they usually appeared when
the grain is ripe. A portion Of the Larvae
were p laced on the surface Of moist soil in
flower pot. In the course Of two days
the greater number of them had descended
into the ground, previously casting their
skins, which remained at the surface.


afterwards ascertained that they had
penetrated TO the depth Of moro than an
inch, and were of whitish collar, softer and
more active than they had previously been.
The fact is thus established, that those APP
parently torpid Larvae when they fall from
the ripe wheat in autumn, or are carelessly
swept out from the threshing floor into the
barn yard, at once resume their activity
and bury themselves in the ground.


The larve thus buried in the ground
were allowed to remain undisturbed dur
ing winter and spring. tho flower pot being
occasionally watered. About the end of
June they began to rc-appear above the
surface, in the wingey, form; the little
grubs creeping to the surface, and project
ing about half their bodies above it, when
the skin Of the upper part burst and the
full grown winged midge came forth and
flew of. This completes TIE round of
changes which each generation Of these lit
tie creature undergoes and we have actual
evidance of each stage Of its progress from
the egg to the perfect insect.


Mr.. Cawson has recorded also, that a
friend informed him that not less than four
bushels Of larvn had been obtained from
the wheat Of eight acres.


DR.. w. J. Anderson Of Canada, reports !:


"When the maggot has been hatched
early in the season, and finds the wheat in
favorable condition for its reception, it
arrives at maturity before the harvesting,
and according to Professor Hind leaves the
grain at the close Of a shower or heavy
dew, and griggles down the wet straw to
the earth"


so far as our own observation has gone,
it has satisfied us that the maggot rs soon
as it has reached maturity, dose not at
temdt to leave the car, but becoming stiff
and torpid either is shaken out of the ear
by the waving Of the corn by tho wind, or
by the process Of harvesting, and thus
reaches the ground.


On arriving at the ground it is enabled
10y wriggling or some other process to bury
itself there. 1t penctrates to tho depth Of
more than an inch. There is considerable
difference of opinion as the circumstances
under which this takes place.


Mich Farmer.
Year: 1859

LATE 1SyENTIONS.-The most noticeable
invention we have seen mentioned lately is
one for picking cotton by steam-that is,
steam is the motor of the machine 1t works
on the principle of atmospheric pressure, the
cotton being sucked, as it were, from the
bolls into tubes from which the air has been
exhausted. Perhaps labor saving machinery
is destined to effect peaccable solution of
the problem that has so long distracted our else
harmonious nation.


Another curious invention is termed a
pedometer, an instrument which the pedestri-
an can attach to the heel of his boot, like
spur, for which purpose it can be also used, J
and by means of which he can measure the
distance he travels. 1t consists of two small
wheels, toothed something like a spur, con-
nected with aspiring which so regulates their
motion that they can only make revolution
after a given humber of steps, one wheel
keeping register; so that the traveller has,
Only to multiply the length of step by the
whole number to get the exact distance he
has traversed.a 4a-t8 I-sa
Year: 1859

Where else can be found such a picture of
the prairies as is given in the poem of that
name? There is nothing like it, except in
Cooper's novel, which creates in the mind a
profound impression of monotonous vastness
alone, while the lines of Bryant combine the
idea of immense extent with the sentiment of
exquisite beauty. As we read about these
gardens of the Desert" these "unshorn
fields, boundless and beautiful" our heart
swells, like the poets, and
Year: 1859

New FERRY BoAT.-The Detroit and
Port Huron Railroad Company are nego-
tiating in Buffalo for the construction Of
a first class ferry boat to be placed on the
ST. Clair river, to connect the above road
with the Grand Trunk at Port Sarnia.--
Ofcourse, the boat will be of the best
description, which is saying a good deal,
as some Of the finest and most costly fer
ry boats in the world are now in use on
our waters by railroad corporations.
Year: 1859

Is there heart that never sighed2
Is there tongue that never lied
Is there an eye that never blinked?
Is there n man that never drinkcd?
If so, then heart and tongue and eye
Must tell a most confounded lie.
Year: 1859

- Just ms an auctioneer IN Hartford
was saying "gone y few evenings since
his audience went through the floor into
the cellar, but happily without hurting
one of them. The auctioneer, as soon as
he found his legs, remarked that the acci-
dent would enable him to sell LOWER
than before, and called for "bid," and
they "bid him good night This will
balance the case Of shop LIFTING Of the
day before.
Year: 1859

corR7s.-Ihe Superior Court hns adjourned
during the Fair. There is no Grand Jary sitting
this week, and most Of the public Offices arc
closed during part Of the day, aud every body is
ut tue Fair.
Year: 1859

ITO vindicate honor it is not always necessary
to kill, as was illustrated in the duel between
CLAW and Randolph. Terry was the challenger
and throwing away his fire would have settled
the matter instantly, because it would then have
naced Broderick in position where he could
have honorably retracted the offensive language.
1t was not necessary for David S. Terry to shoot
Mr. Broderck in order to establish his claim to
the reputation of being brave man. Those who
know him have never heard his personal courage
eoubted. The inference, therefore, is that he
permitted his feelings of revenge to overbalance
sdl other considerations"
Year: 1859

"No man in California had more devoted
friends, and as party leader he without an
equal in the State The man who could attach
to him so many thousands of our citizens in ar
dent and unseltsh devotion, must have been pos
sessed of qualities of no eo4amon order. We do
not yield to any of his friends in heartfelt regret
for his untlmely deeease in the very beginning of
a career so brilliant as that which dawned upon
disa two years since and how much soever we
may have differed in our political views, that
cannot prevent us paying a simple tribute of JUS
tce to his memory. May he have everlasting
restN
Year: 1859

There is dew in one flower and not in another be.
cause one opens its cup and takes it in, while the
other closes itself and the drop runs off God rains
goodness and mercy as wide as tie dew, and if we
lack them it is because we will not open our hearts
to receive them,
Year: 1859

is not small-the earth is but theatre Of
pain and sickness, sorrow and death. Joy
is abusive, pleasure a cheat, laughter
mockery, and happiness a thing impossible,
and not even to be looked for on this side
the grave. The performance of all duty is
the taking up of what they call "a Cross
They are actually afraid to be happy, under
an overshadowing impression that they have
no right to be happy in this life. They be-
lieve that there is something intrinsically
bad in the world they inhabit and all the
joy that proceeds from it. They have an
idea that the moral evil which aflicts the
human race has struck in. All the suffer-
ings of the brute creation-their throes Of
labor, and sickness of body, and pains of
death-are so many voices proclaiming the
fatal failure of Adam. Human nature itself
is an awful thing. God is great lawgiver,
an inexorable avenger, an awful judge, a
Being to be feared more than loved. Life
is trial-severe, unrelenting, perpetual
All that seems good and graceful and glori-
GUS in the world is hollow sham, for the
deception of the uuwary and the ruin of the
unwise.
Year: 1859

I was apprenticed to decorative painter,
but being Of bold, danger loving turn, |
ran away to sea before my time was out


After some years of knocking about, 1
got tired of maritime life, and having mar
ried and determined to stick to the shore, I
GOT work with builder whose peculiar line
lay in erecting tall chimneys. I had always
a cool head, and could stand on elevations
that made most men dizzy, and so I was
soon favorite hand with my master.


We had on one occasion to fasten light
ming conductor. which had sprung, near the
top of a very high chimney, and Mr.. Sta
ming choose myself and one James Colly to
do it, s.s the most daring of his men. About
half dozen of US went that morning with
hand-cart, containing the necessary ropes,
blocks, the kite, and box or cradle. Hav.
ing flown the kite, and dropped its line
across the top of the chimney, we soon drew
up rope, at the end of which was block,
through which ran the line whereby We
were to be drawn up.


Colly had only been married a fortnight,
and as we stepped into the cradle, the men
bauteringly asked him if he hadn't last
dying speech to leave for bis wife; and Mr.
Staining having shaken hands with us, and
bid us be cool and steady, we were drawn slow
" up. 1t was known all over the town
that the conductor was to be fixed, thoug h as
the day was not named, I did not expect We
should have had many spectators; but as
we got higher, and the view opened under
our feet, saw that the streets were throng-
ed with starers. Colly was very quiet; and
when I waved my cap to the people, he said
snappishly that this was no time for such
folly, and that he thought l might think of
better things than how to amuse these gap
ing fools, who he dared say, desired ND bet
ter fun than to see us meet with an accident.
had come up in the best heart, think
ing, indeed, nothing about the danger we
incurred but as we drew nearer and nearer
to the top, and had nothing, as it seemed,
belonging to this world nearer to US but
this straining rope, I begun to see the peril
of my undertaking. What Colly thought
of it, l don't know-he sat at the bottom OF
the cradle, never looking out, though told
him he would do better to keep his eyes a.
bout him, so that he might get used to the
height.


What What was this q? Here we were
within a yard of the top projecting coplng'
and still they we're winding away Without
Year: 1859

PEAcE.-A soldier was wounded in one
of the battles of the Crimea, and was carried
out of the field. He felt that his wound was
mortal, that life was quickly ebbing away;
and he said to his comrades who were carry
ing him: Put me down: do not take the
trouble to carry me any farther: l am dy-
ing"


They put him down, and returned to the
field. A few minutes after an officer saw
the man weltering in his blood, and asked
him if he could do any thing for him.
Nothing, thank you
Shall get you little water? said the
kind-hearted officer.


mo, thank you: I am dying


lis there nothing I can do for you? Shall
I write to your friends?


Il have no friends you can write to. But
there is one thing for which I would be
much obliged in my knapsack you will find
Testament; will you open it at the 18th Of
John and near the end of the chapter you
will find verse that begins with Peace ,
Will you read it?'


The officer did so, and read the words {:
peace I leave with you, my peace give
unto you: not as the world giveth, give l
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid


Thank you, sir said the dying man; d
have that peace; am going to that Saviour;
God is with me; I want no more;' and in
stantly expired.
Year: 1859

We hear no more of the clinking hoof,
. And the stage coach rattling by;
For the steam king rules the travelling world,
And the old pixies left to die,
The grass creeps o'er the ainty path,


And the stealthy daises steal
Where once the stage horse, day by day,


Lifted his iron heel.
No more the weary stager breads


The toll of coming morn
No more the bustling landlord runs


At the sound of the echoing horn.
For the dust lies still upon the road,


And the bright eyed children play
Where once the chattering hoof and wheel


Ratified along the way.
No more do we hear the cracking whip,


Or the strong wheels rumbling sound:
And no the water drives US on,


And an iron horse is bound
The coach stands rusting in the yard,


And the horse has sought the pillow,
We have spanned the world with an iron rail,


And the steam king rules us now!
The I'd turnpike is pike no more,


Wide open stands the gate;
We have made us q road for our horses to stride


And we ride at flying rate;
We have filled the valley and leveled the hills,


And tunneled the mountains side.
And round the rough crag's dizzy verge


Fearlessly now we ride.
Oh! on with naughty front


A puff, shrek bound
While tardy echoes wake too late


To babble back the sound.
And the old pike road is left alone


And the stagers seek the plow;
We have circed the world with an iron rail,


And the steam king rules US now.
Year: 1859

SNArcH1Na AT STRAws.-Standing in
shop door with a friend the other morning,
he wished to wager US that the next three
men that passed would bear straws in their
hands. is there bale of straw lyining
upon the side walk up the streetF we asked.
Laughing, he answered, There is True
enough, of the six persons who came along,
five had straws in their hands, which they
were toying with or nibbling between their
teeth. The sixth, occupied with his own
thoughts, pushed gravely on, paying no heed
to such triaes as wisps or spears of straw
Here, then, was decided display of charac-
ter. The first straw bearers were either men
at ease in mind and body, or they are easily
diverted from their course, by any chance
allurement that crosses their path. Number
six is more sure to look after number one,
and more likely to succeed in business affairs
of the world than either of the Others, but
he may not be so happy at heart. he Is
intent upon some enduring pursuit. He has
no thought of pleasure or the by play Of life
sud is looking strictly and straight forward
after the main chance. Straws, it is said,
show which way the wind blows, and the
Year: 1859

tian's duty to be careful 'lest he offend one
of these little ones?'


In the days of persecution for righteous.
ness sake, there was something to try the
Christian. Now, profession of religion is
popular, and all may be church members by
making apparently but little sacrifice for
Christ. Dancing seems almost the only
thing whereby the young Christian may
show spirit of non-conformity to the world !;
thing which even non.professors them
selves say is their portion, and with which
which the Christian should not interfere
And that young Christian girl who engages
in it, does so not only at the expense Of her
souls interests, but at the expense of the es-
TEEN and respectful regard of the very young
man who requests her hand in the giddy
whirl. And alas how sadly does the vir-
tuous maiden, Christian or not, compromise
her modesty in having her waist encircled,
as is too often the case, by some debauched
fop, who is her partner in the immodest
dance


In conclusion, Mr.. Brookes said he was
sorry that there had been church members
who had not been guiltless in this matter,
and hence the presentation of the whole SUBJ
ject. At recent meeting of this session,
the question had come before its members,
who deemed it their duty to advise the
church against such things, as being incon-
sisteut, not only with the welfare, but with
the discipline of the church.
Year: 1859

CRITICISM is well.known IA.
BILE told of an ancient painter who opened o
picture to public criticism, requesting that
every person who observed a fault would put
mark upon it. When the artist came, in
the evening, to take his painting home, be
found it one mass of marks of disapproba-
tion. Every critic had found in it some
thing to condemn. The next day having
carefully erased the marks, the painter again
displayed his work of art, requesting that
every beholder who noticed beauty would
put mark upon it. At evening, he found
the canvass was covered with signs of appro-
baton. Every part had found its admirers
in similar touches with those that had, only
the day previous, been condemned by the
critics Is not this fable true of the world
to day? Do not the majority of those who
criticise, either to praise or condemn, follow
each one, the bias of their own taste, rather
than any just standard Of literature or art?
Year: 1859

ATTEMPT TO Poison NAPOLEON ILL.,
We take the following extract from the let
ter of a correspondent of the Providence
Journal, dated Florence, June 10th. The
story may be true or may not-at all events,
it will be new to our readers, and we give
it for what it is worth:


A French officer here tells the following
story. He says it has not been printed in
the French journals-and certainly we have
seen no account-but the fact is known to
the army, and the story is true. On Good
Friday, if at no other time in the year, all
good Catholics partake of the communion.
On that day, the 21st of April last accord
ing to his habit, the Emperor was to receive
the consecrated wafer in the chapel of the
Tuileries.. Before going to the chapel, he
was told that he must not eat the holy par
ticle that was to be offered him, as it had
been prepared with a subtle and malignant
poison for the purpose of destroying his life.
The informant was party to the diabolical
secret, but horror of conscience and re7er-
ence for the Emperor, led him to betray the
conspiracy. The Emperor knelt at the al
tar during the mass, but did not eat the
bread. When the office was finished, the
officiating priest was invited into the apart
ment of the Empress to partake of COLA
ton, while the wafer was submitted to chem;
ical examination. It was found to contain,
as the informant had said, concentrated
poison. The priest is now in a fortress, in
Algeria. The soldier says that the priest
was an instrument of the Jesuits; but whc-
ther in Italy, Austria, France or England,
is not understood. So much for the story.