smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1869

The convention Of delegates from all parts
of the South and West, recently in session at
Keokuk, Iowa, had good many important
questions before it, but it does not seem, after
all, to have touched the vital points of interest
to the future Of the Mississippi Valley in o
tangible shape. The thoughts of the dele
gates were directed more to the eleemosynary
aid of Congress than to the self-reiance of the
great West. There is vitality enough in that
magnificent and productive region to take care
of its own interests. The convention asks
Congress to do many things which the people
of the valley might do for themselves; for ex-
ample, the holding of Worlds Fair there in
1871. Of what but mere temporary advan
tage would this be? Then they demand a
full share of diplomatic appointments, which
else no possible influence for good to the ma
terial interests of that section. They also
want the national capital removed from Wash
ington to st. Louis. They ought to pause
before they urge this demand, for we cannot
touch pitch without being defled, and the
u
Valley Of the Mississippi the better for the
morals and the eternal salvation of its inhabi-
tants. The convention ought to have known
this. but it is evident that greed for the flesh
pots overcame its judgment in this matter


With regard to the repairs of the levees on
the river Congress may probably be expected
to afford some aid, because much of the exist
ing destruction was created by the war but
after all it must be remembered that broken
levee is q chronic disease on the Mississippi
the river on the plantations from st. Louis to
Baton Rouge, and even for miles below the
city of New Orleans, have carried desOlation
over thousands of acres. There never was q
proper system of dikage adopted at any of the
weak points along the river fronts, which
might have been used if the owners of planta-
tions or the State Legislatures comprehended
the economy of moderate expenditure for
the protection Of the lands. Here in the North
we have not only shut off the ravages of the
tide upon our marsh lands, but have converted
thousands of acres from worthless and poison
Gus swamps in New Jersey, at the very doors
of the metropolis, into profitable pastures and
vegetable gardens by good and compara-
lively inexpensive system of diking and
drainage.


The Mississippi Valley Commercial Conven-
ton, taking it all in all, although wise in its
conception, was not much of q success, be-
cause it confined its deliberations too much to
important questions in a purely practical
sense.
Year: 1869

iature than on the roughs and rowdies and pot


house politicians who manage things pretty
much as they are paid for doing And there
Is very little use in making efforts to reform
and purify elections in the States when their


results are liable to be reversed by whatever
political party happens to be in the ascendancy
in the State or national Legislatures.


When the certificate of election, issued by


the legally constituted executive officer, is re-


spected and regarded as final and conclusive


by the body to which man is chosen by his
constituents, there will be first measure of
electoral reform. Until that measure be car
ried out all minor efforts to prevent election
frauds are utterly useless. 1t is no more salts
faction to q community to have itself cheated
out of its political rights by an assembly Of
gentlemen than by crowd of ragamufins and
rowdies. As things are now, where commu-
mites are subjected to this twofold system of
fraud, elections are the merest farce that SEN
sible men can play at; and it is not Of the
slightest possible interest or importance whe-
ther the franchise be or be not extended to
all who may care for having it. This is q rather
unpleasant picture to draw Of the difference
between the theoretical and the practical value
of that which, in other days, was the dearest
right of men. This is what professional poll
ticians have brought US to. The most hateful
form of olgarchy is that exercised by power
full but irresponsible political cliques and groups
And whether the votes of the people are
controlled, manipulated or annulled through
the influence of democratic clubs, loyal leagues
or partisan legislative bodies, the evil is the
same. Until remedy is found and applied,
souls in patience. They are only striving after
the impracticable.
Year: 1869

THE SEWING GIRLS INTEREST. now
and then the sewing girls have to appeal to
our courts for justice, to claim remuneration
for their hard labor from business men who
enjoy the profits of their work and deny the
workwomau the compensation honestly earned.
Too many of these fellows have escaped the
penalty of their hard heartedness and cruel
swindling. 1t is time that an example was
made of some of them. If there is class in
the community more deserving of protection
in the exercise Of their arduous occupations
than another 1t is the women who exc out a
miserable existence by the use Of the needle.
When the ''Song of the Shirt" Is heard before
courts and juries II ought to he regarded with
justice apd mercy.
Year: 1869

NAPoLEONlo RUMORs.-The Emperor Napo-
leon is fully restored to health. From Lon
don comes a rumor to the effect that he is'
about to abdicate and that the majority Of tho
Prince Imperial will be proclaimed on his next
birthday. This event will not occur until the
10th of March, 1870 Perhaps the Emperor
will employ the intervening time in contem-
plating his work and then declare the ''edifce
crowned" This is very doubtful, however.
He is more likely to sshOld on"
Year: 1869

EXPLOSIVE Ons.-It is to be hoped the pub
lie will see the point Of the publication made
on authority of the Board of Health of the
names of dealers who sell impure Kerosene.
Some of these dealers are to be prosecuted.
In The meantime the public has the chance to
leave them alone, with reasonable certainty
of explosions IL they fail to do &C.
Year: 1869

The DAILY HERALD will be sent to subscribers
for one dollar a month.


The postage being only thirty-hve cents 3
quarter country subscribers by this arrangement
can receive the HERALD at the same price it is
furnished in the city.
Year: 1869

ECONOMY is practised with some effect in
the national government, If it be true, as
stated, that the expenses for the last fiscal year
are only about half what they were for the
previous year.
Year: 1869

Per Head.


Probably no revenue law more unequal in
It's operation or more demoraliziug than that
imposing the income tax was ever passed by
Congress. 1t bears unequally upon the States,
cities, and different communities; taxes one
class least able to pay and leaves the way
open for escape to great many well able to
pay, and directly or indirectly leads to perjury
and all sorts of dishonest tricks to evade the
burden. To give an idea of its operation the
following table, based upon the official returns
from the income tax for 1868, is published
The sum placed against each State is so much
ho.A nf h. sl IL
Year: 1869

How stupid to walk along the street with


an umbrella or cane under your arm, the


point sticking out for everybody to run hi:
face into; for three ladies to walk abreast,
and move SO slowly that persons in hurry
must either go between them or get into the
gutter; to puff and blow, and we'll nigh faint
upon ascending stairway. with forty pounds
of fashionable cloak on your back; to go
late to church and annoy the minister and
congregation by your fussy entrance; to
wear dress four feet too long, and then
look daggers if any one steps on it; to walk
for exercise when you need rest not to
know What you want when you 60 into dry
goods store; to eat when you re not hungry
to smother the smell of your unwashed per-
son in musk or other disagreeable perfumes;
to think that people, opinion of you increas-
es in proportion to the cost of your clothes;
to refuse to sing or play when urged; or to
bore people to distraction by both singing
and playing when not asked.
Year: 1869

than fifty feet in length, and down a flight
of STAIRS into what was evidently an under
ground basement, stopped beside vault,
and removed the handkerchief from my eyes.


Here is the vault, open it, she said,
sprlnging open the door of dark lantern,
and throwing q beam of.light upon the lock.
/ seized bunch Of skeleton keys, and
after few trials. which the lady seemed to
regard with the most painful anxiety, sprang
the bolt. The door sprang open upon its
hinges, and my companion telling me not
to close it, as it was self locking, sprang into
the vault. did not follow. heard the
low murrrur Of voices within, and presently
the lady re-appeared, and leaning upon her
arm was man with face so pale and hag-
gard that l started at the sight. How he
must have suffered during the three long
days of his confinement in the vault


Remain here" said she handing me the
lantern. II viii be back in momen..''


The two ascended the stairs, and heard
them enter room Immediately above where
l was standing. In less than minute the
lady returned.


''Shal close it, madam Y' said plae-
ing my hand upon the door.


''No! nop' she exclaimed, seizing my
hand, lit awaits another occupant"


Surely, madam, you do not intend"


"Are you ready?" she inquired inpatient
ly, holding the handkerchief before my
eyes. The thought flashed across my mind
that she intended to push me into the vault
and bury me and my secret together. ''Do
not be alarmed, you are not the mani


l could not mistake the truth OF the fear
full meaning of this remark, and shuddered
as bent my head to the handkerchief. My
eyes were as carefully bandaged as before,
and was led to the cab and driven home
by more cireuitous route, if possible, than
before. Arriving in front of the door the
handkerchief was removed, and 1 stepped
from the vehicle. A purse of FIVE hundred
dollars was placed in my hand, and in mo-
ment the cab and its mysterious occupant
had turned the corner and was out of sight
l entered the shop, and the purse of gold
was the only evidence could summon in my
bewilderment that all had just done and
seen was not dream.


A month after that I saw the lady, and
the gentleman taken from the vault, walking
leisurely along Montgomery Street 1 do not
know, but l believe the sleeping husband
awoke within that vault, and that his bones
are there to-day! The wife is still a resident
of San Francisco.
Year: 1869




Harki hear the sleet against the pane
And hear the wild winds blow,
Itchills me with shuddering dread,
This heavy heaping SNOW
cannot bear that all night long,
The drifts should deepen so.
darling, that this storm should beat
Upon thy lonesome bed
darling, that this dancing snow
Should heap above thy head,
And not there to shelter thee,
And bear the storm instead,
trim anew the glowing fire
The flames leap merrily-
1 make the lamp-light bright and clear
Thou art not here to see
All, since sit there all alone,
What are they all to me?
o dreary hearth o lonesome life.
empty heart and home.
tits not home to me, wherein
Thy dear feet never come
There is no meaning in the word
Since thy loved lips are dumb,
all in vain the bright flames dance,
The ruddy embers glow
l shiver in the mellow light,
Because, alas, know
The snow-dritts heap above thy sleep
This heavy, heaping snow,
Year: 1869

How eloquently does Chateaubriand reply


to this inquiry: There Is God The herd


of the valley, the cedars of the mountains


bless him; the insects sport in his beams /;


the elephants salute him with the rising orb


of the day; the birds sing of him in the foil


age; the thunder proclaims him in the


heayens; the ocean declares his immensity; /;


man alone has said, There is no God |"


Unite in thought at the same instant the


most beautiful objects in nature Suppose
you see at once all the hours OF the day and
all the seasons of the year !; a morning of
Spring and morning of Autumn; night
bespangled with stars and night covered
with clouds; meadows enameled with flow.
ers and forests hoary with SHOWS fields gill
ded by tints Of autumn; then alone you will
have just conception of the universe.
While you are gazing on that sun which is
plunging under the vault of the west, anoth-
er observer ad,nires him emerging from the
gilded gates of the east. By what incon-
ceivable magic does that star, which sink
ing, fatigued and burning, in the shade of
evening, re-appear at the same instant,
fresh and humid with the dews of the morn
ing? At every instant of the day the glor-
ious orb is at once rising resplendent at noon
day, and setting in the west, or rather our
senses deceive US, and there is properly
speaking, no east, west, or south in the
world. Everything reduces itself to sim
gle poine, from whence the king of the day
sends forth triple light In one substance.
The bright splendor is perhaps that which
nature can present that is most beautiful;
Tor while it gives an idea of the perpetual
nagni6cence and resistless power of God, it
exhibits at the same time shining image of
The glorious Trinity.
Year: 1869

L. A. D., in the Scientific 4merican,
says that horseman sheuld never "shy''
himself when the horse SHES, or show
the least nervousness, nor notice it in
the horse, and far less punish him for it,
and adds: Allow me, having had a great
deal of experience in managing horses,
to add another bit of advice TO nervous
horsemen. Whenever they notice their
horse directing his ears to any point
whatever, or indicating the slightest
disposition to become afraid, let them,
instead of pulling the rein to bring the
horse towards the object causing its
nervousness, pull it on the other side.
This will instantly divert the attention
of the horse from the subject which is
exciting his suspicion, and in ninety
niue cases cut of q hundred the horse
will pay no more attention to the ob-
ject, from which he will fly away if for
chilly driven to it by pulling the wrong
rein.
Year: 1869

The Boston Transcript, evidently urged
to take a proper view OF the matter by
the loss of Radical votes the conduct of
the parties it censures will involve,
says:


"The men who are now running the
temperance machine in New York,
Maine. and Massachusetts,, will be sur
prised ere long at the havoc that their
own hands have wrought with statutes
they would not see repealed but
They are evidently do
ing more good, IN Il different direction
from what they desire, than it is posi-.
BILE for them to accomplish by years OF
continued prohibitive enactment. IN
less all signs are false, the Temperance
Alliance in this State, and similar or
CARNATIONS elsewhere, will he so soon
hoist by their own petard'-pollt!caliy ~
anuihilated by an apparatus OF their
own suggestiOn-that these scloilstlc
dabblers in morals and politics combined
may begin to realize that they nave
mistaken the method for advancing the
cause of temperance in the community.
Nothing short of an avalanche OF popu-
lar Indignation will, however, overthrow
the dOgged self.conceit and pride OF
opinion of the leaders to which we re-
fer, and bring them under the control OF
discretion and reason"
Year: 1869

a correspondent of the New England
Fdrme;' speaking of the difficulty of
swine-driving, ssys it is as easy as
whistling, after you know how,"-to
wit.-To the end of stout cord tie an
ear of corn: drop it in front of the pig.
TO within five or six inches OF his nose,
and commence walking away in the di.
rection You wish him to propel. If his
pigshiP shows evidence of blighted
hopes, or alteration of mind, from the
singular conduct of the corn, seduce
him into the belief that it is ali right"
by letting him have brief nibble at II
and then resume your line of march. In
this way the most obdurate pig may be
decoyed any reasonable distance.
Year: 1869

The New England mills that manu-
facture prints, having worked up their
stock of raw material, have, it is re-
ported, very generally suspended opera
tions until the new cotton comes into
the market. 1t is also stated that some
of the large mills in Fall river which
make this kind of printed cotton con-
template putting their mills on short
time until trade assumes more encour-
aging aspect in regard to this particular
business
Year: 1869

As the time for putting up peaches is
at hand, we have procured from lady
friend the following recipe for peeling
peaches, which we confidently recon-
mend-to our lady readers: Take a ket-
tie of very strong lye, and heat to bell
ing; take wire cage-similar to a corn
popper-fill it with peaches and dip
into the lye for moment; then into
cold water. With a coarse towel wipe
each peach, and the rind will peel off
smoothly; then drop into fresh cold
water, and the operation is complete.
You need have no fear of injuring the
flavor of the peach.
Year: 1869

These times are trying to the water
works of large cities. Philadelphis has
lot some time been in real crisis, and
now We hear that New York is becoming
concerned in view of the fact that the
Croton supply is lower than ever before
IA fact which may afford some consols-
tion to the Quaker City. These seasons
OF drought are mighty suggesters,
Year: 1869

Because Mr.. Hutchinson, of Parkers-
burg, in a resolution offered not long
since at public meeting at that place,
expressed desire TO do away with the
test oath, on the ground that in state
of peace, acknowledged by all parties,
universal amnesty should be extended
TO all classes OF ~ejtizens-quite num-
Der of newspapers and party men gen
orally, are krating upon bis position as
being tinctured with Democratic ma
laria.


The Vest Tirginia Netcs argues that
the position of Mr.. Hutchinson is sim
ply a proposition to the rebels that IF
you will help Us to amend the Consti-
tuition to allow the negro to vote, we
will amend the Constitution so that You
can vote" Now we deny, both for Mr..
Hutchinson and the Republican party at
large, any such intentions. In fact the
assertion of the Neirs is simply an ab-
surdity, from the fact that the 10Th
Amendment, which enfranchises the
negro, has already been adopted by the
Legislature of West Virginia, and will,
beYond doubt, become a law, as the
requisite adoption by three-fourths of
the States in the Union, is foregone
conclusion. And in this connection
we make the assertion, and We invite
proof to the contrary, that the 18th
amendment ,riH be adopted through Vest
Virginia had rejected it. And since
the 18th Amendment is not in issue,
we cannot see why it should or even
could be the intention of Mr.. Hutchin-
son to ask the rebel to assist the party
in power to pass an amendment when
it has already passed. Again, we claim
that it is not the purpose of the liberal
Republicans to enfranchise the rebels ia
west Virginia because it is the only
Year: 1869

track on the road leading from the Portland bridge
to Canal street on aigger drawn by pair Of horses
Plaintiff alleges that he was seriously and perma-
nenty injured, unable to attend to his regular busi
ness and that his jigger broken in piecesall Of
which he says was caused by the negligence of de-
fendants


Defendants deny any negligence on their part.
They say the usual warnings and signals were given
that they were running at over the speed OF six
miles an hour, and that if plaintiff received any in
juries they were from his negligence and care
lessness The plaintiff being deceased the admins
TRAITOR comes In and prosecutes the suit. On trial


Strout & Gage. Shepley g. Strout.
Year: 1869

In lumbugo they act like charm. In few
hours violent cough is relieved by a Plaster
applied to the chest. Many persons believe a
Geld cannot be taken while plaster Is worn
there this We no know, they greatly assist in
the cure Of neglected coid so often the intro
ducer Of Consumption


Cure Of Lesion Of the Liver.


a gentleman, after a severe sickness, had 10.
sion of the liver Every quick movement or
sudden jar gave him sevcfe pain, often laying
him up for days. Hence he was unable to follow
any occupation with regularity.


In this condition, he applied over the part
affected an Alcook's Porous Plaster. At frat,
it seemed to irritate, so it was taken Of. But
the marked improvement he experienced after
ward gave him oourGgo TO try again, and he
therefore applied another plaster. In few
days something gave way--"slippod, to use the
gentleman's own words. There was some sore
ness for few days after, then his health was
perfectly restored. Upon being sounded by his
the adhesion or lesion was found to
be gone.


Principal Agency, Brandrcth House, New
! lork. Sold by oil Druggists.


janl6dwlm.
Year: 1869

If De Quincy we're row alive, says an
English PAPER, he might write a compan.
ion essay to the one on Murder as one Of
the Fine Arts, taking for his theme, Muir!
der as Pastime, and illustrating it by
case which has just happened at Geneva.
A woman named Jcanncret, thirty-tvo
years of age, whose employment was
that Of nursing the sick, has just been
found guilty Of nine murders. She was a
clever woman, with a highly nervous and
excitabe organization. and she seems to
have had no ether motive for her crimes
than msrhid love Of the excitement oc
murder aud a grim delight in witnessing
the suircrings Of her victims. The unu.
sual fatality of patients nurscd by her
drew the doctors attention, and it was
found that she gave them atropine, the
active principle Of beladonna. She did
not deny that she had given the narcotic,
and CT course pleaded that she had done
so to produce sleep and lull restlessness.
But it was clear that she knew the sleep
she produced to be that which knows no
waking. Brought into the presence Of
the cxhumed corFses of her victims, she
showed no signs of horror, and went
through her trial with complete coolness
and self-possession..


Yet the woman was no mere monoman.
lac. She had all her faculties about her;
and the only rational theory of her crime
was that she had taken it for amusement.
A kind Of gambling passion had taken
that direction, and had gained entire mas
terry over her. The case is rare, but
by no means unique example of the pos
sibility that all feeling may be lost in one
ovcrmasteriug passion. Fortunately such
passion is generally some form of self.in-
diligence, and it rarely happens that any
human being is sufficiently callous to in.
dulgo passion for murder.