smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1865

great journey was begun. All the signals
nails from end to end of the wire came
distinct into the instrument
room of the receiving house at the head
of Foilhommerum bay, and at 4.30 the
flags on board the Caroline and Great
Eastern were hauled down to show that
all was ready. By that time the Great
Eastern, which had always kept moving
her paddles forged ahead of the Caro-
line some two or three miles, paying out
the cable slowly as she went on and leaving
the latter vessel the only float bywhich one
portion of the wire was kept above water


The instant, however, that the flags went
down, the last fastening which held it to
the Caroline were cast adrift, and with a
great splash the final joint of the Atlantic


telegraph, and the final 80 miles of its
length went down slowly into the blue
water and were out of sight. Long be-


fore this Sir Robert Peel and Lord John


Hay had returned on board the Hawk,


which at once steamed away, when the
splice was turned adrift, to overtake the


Great Eastern. This was very easily
done, for. while the latter was barely


steaming knots an hour, the former was


running IA. AS the tender came near the


thin narrow rope of cable could be seen


passing over the last wheel astern, and


sinking gently iuto the foam without


strain of any kind, as it seemed for mo-


ment or so to float slowly aft before it


disappeared under the swell that still kept


rolling deeply in. The after deck, spcn'


sons, bridge and paddle boxes of the


Great Eastern were crowded as the Hawk


came alongside, and it was easy from the


distance which the the tender held to dis


tinguish the faces of those on board al


they waved their hats and chccred. In


the midst the Great Eastern fred tw'


guns from her bows at $50 to mark tn


commencement of her journey, and 81


Robert Peel, mounting the little quartz


deck of the Hawk, marked time, Will


three small but hearty cheers were give


by the select company on board, to tn


success of the great enterprise. In returl


came back a swelling, hearty roar fror
all on on the cable ship, as with the las
salute of waving hats and caps and hand
kerchiefs the tender dropped astern, leay
the Great Eastern dipping slowly bu
: steadily ahead, at the rate Of about 81
. knots an hour Both the Terrible an
, Sphynx were close at hand contributin
little, and but little, to the huge vo
t ume of smoke which their gigantic col
sort spread far and wide over the sea, an
| which even appeared in the distance
: faint the blue mountains of Kerry, o
' shore. AS long as signs could be mad
. or hats waved, the vessel was anxiousl
r watched, but she soon hid herself in hi
< own smoke, and when the Hawk neare
the Irish coast = mere brown cloud
e the shorizoD was all that showed whe
!. the greatest ship in the world was stean
i ing away to endeavor to accomplish tt
+ realization of an idea even more ventur
r some and infinitely more important tht
n that which she herself embodies. Ma
L she be successful. .t... ..
;, TERRIBLE AccIDENr--FoSr Men Bu
Year: 1865




The present consumption of the whole
Union is fully as great as in 1860, and
if the excise of So per gallon could be
collected, the revenue thercfrom would
amount to Sl76.O00,000, enough to pay
the interest on the entire national debt
when all the legal tenders are reduced to
bonds and all the floating debt is funded.
But the revenue actually derived from
this source is not Que. tenth of this
amount. All the rest is lost by illicit
distillation, smuggling and the corrupt
and unfaithful conduct of the revenue of.
fcials.
Year: 1865

merely as bis clerk; and that the pow
ers of Europe would not permit the
United States to punish him for what he
had done. The most conclusive indica-
ton of insanity was his perfect tranquility
of pulse and demeanor thing impos-
sible to feign successfully in such circum-
stances and before men of experience
The full report Of the physicians was so
convincing as to the insanity of the pris-
oner that he was not even brought to tri-
al, bu; was Immediately placed in an
asylum. The man had been long out Of
work; and hearing on all sides the fierc-
est deuunciations of General Jackson as
the cause both of his own and the public
misfortunes, the project of killing him
gradually fastened itself in a mind pre-
disposed to INSANITY, aud shli further I'M
paired by broodDg over his unhappy
condition.


There was one individual in the United
States upon whom the physicians report
made no impression, namely, Andrew
jackson and there were not wanting
base creatures to confirm him in his in
credulity. The Globe itself, the organ of
his administration, did not scruple to in>
sinuate that "a secret conspiracy had
promoted the horrible deed A few
days after, Miss Martineau, in conver-
sation with the President, happened to al
lude to the affair as an insane attempt
He took fire at the words and declared
vehemently, ir the hearing of large
company, that there was no insanity in
the case, but there was a plot to assassin
ate him, and that Lawrence was the tool
of band of conspirators. The lady was
silent, and changed the conversation
The truth was, that General Jackson,
enfeebled by age and disease, worn down
by seven years Of ceaseless excitement,
had become so morbid on some points
as not to be himself of perfectly sound
judgment.
Year: 1865

A SNAKE SToRY.-Here is snaka
story, located in Brazil, which rather
stakes down" everything of home man,
ufactures. 1t is well known that snakes
are fond of milk. There was once a
snake not exempt from this weakness Of
his fellow-rep;iles, which hit upon the
following ingenious expedient to crafty
its taste. 1t visited a room in which q
black nurse and her nursling slept, and
every night his snakeship would creep
into lbe bed, cunningly insert the tip OIL
its tail in to the baby's mouth to amuse
it and prevent its crying, while the hide
Gus reptile substituted itself for the infant,
which it thus deprived of its natural food,
the nurse sleeping on, unconscious of hav-
ing such a monstrous nursing.


This went on for some time, until
the infant, being thus cheated of half its
allowance of food, became so thin that
suspicion was excited, and an old negress
was set to watch the nurse at night-the
delinquent was caught in the act, and
expiated its offence with its life, while
the poor baby, being no longer kept on
"short commons" recovered IFS strength
and grew fine and fat as before.
Year: 1865

The "DEAD LINE" AT ANDERSON
vILLE.--A writer in the New York
Evening Post. who passed through the
horrors of Andersonville, thus describes
the dead line the approach to.which,
often unconsciously, resulted in the shoot
ing of our men. They were shot under
the orders of the monster Wertz, for
whom some persons are trying to manu-
facture sympathy in the public mind to
affect bis trial. The writer says:


81 have heard much of what is termed
the dead line;' few, however, know what
is meant by it. After the completion of
the prison and its use, those confined
there we're accustomed to approach the
stockada and look thrnnph the openings
between the posts, or talk TO outsiders
After the assumption of command by
Major Wertz, he caused the prisoners to
be notified that if they approached with
in thirty feet Of the stockade they would
be shot by the guards upon the outside.
This limit of thirty feet was unmarked
by any line whatever; it was ideal, and
left TO the arbitrary determination of men
on guard, a majority of whom were as
incapable of judging of distances, or of
this distance OF thirty feet, as were the
poor prisoners who were doomed if they
transgressed it. The consequence was
that weekly, yes almost daily, the pris'
oners were shot down by the guards,
when these thought that they had trans
cended the imaginary line which separa-
ted thirty>seven thousand human beings
from eternity.


Upon one occasion, a prisoner who had
been confined there for more than year,
rendered desperate by hunger, want and
filth, perferring death to life so utterly
miserable, after writing last fond letter
to bis wife in Indiana, and bidding his
friends around him farewell, deliberately
advanced toward the side of the stockade,
and calmly received the we'll directed
shot of the sentinel, that released his soul
from torlures which be could not endure
and which his manhood sunk under.


The southeast corner of the interior OF
the stockade was the favorite spot for
this kind Of practice by the executors Of
Wertz's will for at this point the brook
or stream to which l have already re-
ferred entered the limits of the prison.
Here the water was less tainted and be-
fouled by the drainage of the bill, and
afforded a somewhat more pala:a5le
drink of course this point was sought in
preference to any other. But wo to the
unfortunate wretch who even reached
with his arm beyond the prescribed
bounds, to dip up cup Of better water
than the reeking current below him Of
fered A sentinel's bullet sent one more
spirit trembling to its God, while the
wretch's body lay prone and washing in
the very water that bis less fortunate
comrades must drink, until necessity
forced its removal. How many were
slain in this manner will never be known
until the records of a book uuscanned by
mortal eyes be made up in figures of liv-
ing light"
Year: 1865

A MAN DEFYING AN EMpIRE-Therc 20
about our world three or four curious people
who have no homes but will acknowledge no
master. One of these is Joseph Mazzini, a
conspirator ofliberty. who cannot find a niche
in the Alps to keep him. and whose refuge in
England is made precarious at every trouble
on the continent. A less eminent man in as
, piration, because more vague, theoretical and
pcetical, bnt a man more useful and more
torcetu, is Victor Hugo, whom the common
reader knows as q novelist only. but who is
cherished abroad as the greatest of literary
revolutionists. He has aimed lance at every
! department of letters and struck true in every
joist. Commercially his life has been very
distinguished stccesa, and his home in the
island of Guernsey. is simple as thought and
| complete MS art His career as dramatist
was not a growth in easy stages bit an over
throw and a stride; all conservatism Kissed his
plays and he raised e cheer that drowned their
opposition; his poems were glib and sweet,
and single volume of them. just published.
netted him 200, 600 francs. though the re-
soarces Of Louis Napoleon's government were
concentrated against them. His great move.
was grand in design, but he wrote so well
that its digressions made more talk than its
aim. And the Emperor of Franco cannot
make this man enter Franco nor cease his hos
tilty. lie is literary Moreau, but he will
not join the allies. He is the incarnation Of
heroic obstinacy, the most intense figure in
contemporary literature.
Year: 1865

But very few of the rank and file Of
the Republican party y the term rank
and file, we intend to imply that portion
who earn their bread by the sweat of their
brow-are aware Of what is transpiring
in our country at this time. o.


Their party organs publish nothing
which is calculated to excite their suspi-
cion upon the subject of taxation. but
use all their arts and sophistry rather, to
divert their attention from subject they
dare not discuss, by crying "copperhead"
and "butternut.p, Very few indeed know
that the Government is at this time an
.nually eypending, some thirty millions Of
.doaarsin support Of the liberated ne,
grOes, who are unable to provide for them
solves the necessaries Of life and yet
such is uhquestionably the fact rsaFE


Yes, thirty millions of dollars, of the
peoples money, are being expended each
year for this purpose an amount nearly
equal to one half the yearly expenses Of
the whole general government under the
old Wing or DemOcr attic rule. Who will
say that free ne grocs are not rather an
expensive luxury 80, -.
Year: 1865

Charance was one of the pages OF
King Louis XIV, and officer in lis
body guard. In early life he had
played some very strange pranks,
but had always met with favor and
protection from the King. He did
many clever things, but one IN
particular in which he was engaged
made everybody laugh. He had a
long and handsome avenue to his cha
teau in Anjou, in which a peasant had
a little house and garden which had
stood in the same avenue long before
the avenue was painted, and which
neither Clearance nor his father could
persuade the peasant to sell on any
terms. This, observes Saint Simon,
with proper disdain for 80 low per.
son, is species of obstinacy which
petty proprietors often show express.
ly to annoy people Of condition -
Charanc" pref nied to let the matter
drop; and tor long time said no
more about it. Al last, disgusted
that paltry cottage should intercept
the sweep OF his fine avenue, he con
celved scheme to get rid OF it. 1t
chanced that the owner of the cottage
was a tailor, and worked at his trade
whenever an opportunity offered
He lived alone, having neither wife
nor c!i!drer. .,.. ...l-',.g'


One fine day Clearance sent for
him, and said that be was suddenly
Year: 1865

ordered up to Court to Gil an office Of
great importance, that he was anx.
ious to get there as soon as possible,
and, as he had no liveries for his ser.
wants, he wished him to make them
forthwith. The tailor agreed, and
the bargain was struck on the spot -
Clarence stipulated, however, that
to avoid unnecessary delay he should
do the work Mt the chateau, and thai,
| if he promised not to quit the work
until it was finished, he would pay
him something over and above, be-
sides boarding and lodging him.
The tailor set to work on the spot
In ihe meantime Clarence got an ar
chitect to make an exact plan of the
house and garden, the rooms, the fur.
niture, and cen the kitchen unten
sils. lie then sent workmen to pull
down the house, take everything away
that was in IL, and reconstruct 1t cx
actly rs it had been, internally and
externally, at some distance from the
avenue, with every article in its &C
customed place; and the garden ex
actly rs it had been. They then
cleared away all traces of it from the
ground it originally stood upon, 80
that nobody could guess that it had
ever been there at all.


This was completed before the tai
lor, who was carefully watched, had
finished his liverics. When the liv-
cries were completed Clarence paid
his man well, kept him to supper,
and then dismissed him. The tailor
set out for his home at nightrall. He
found the avenue unusually long,
thought he had gone too far, retraced
his steps, and looked about for the
we'll known trees near which his
house stood. Tue night was dark,
and he groped lis way through them
rs we'll as he could; but was astonish.
ed to find his house nowhere. He
passed the whole of the long night
in this way When day broke he saw
that he had not gone astrav; but that
house and garden and ell had disap
peared, and he came to the conclu





evil spirit. After wandering about a
good deal, he thought he perceived
at a considerable distance from the
avenue cottage which resembled
his own, though he knew there never
had been one in the same place. He
approached it, examined it closer, and
the more he did so the more he was
struck with the exact resemblance.


He was curious to try whether the
key he had in his pocket would fit the
lock. 1t did fit the lock. He opened
the door, walked in, and was :hun-
derstruck on finding not only that
the rooms were the same. but that
every single article of furniture was
the same, and precisely in the spot
where he had left them. He was near
fainting with fright; he fell on his
knees and prayed, for he religiouslv
believed that the demon had played
him this trick. The following day,
however, he learnt the truth from the
knocking and laughing of villagers to
whom he told his story. He got
furious, went with his complaint to
the Intendent of the province, and
insisted upon getting satisfaction: but
he only got laughed at. The King
heard the story and laughed more
than anybody, and Clearance had his
avenue as he wished it. "Ah!" con-
cludes St. Simon, ''had Clearance nev-
ar done worse than what he did to the
tailor, he would have preserved his
reputation and his liberty"
Year: 1865

TIE EFFECT tF MARRIAGE - Doubtless
you have remarked with satisfaction how
the little cd lties of men who marry rather
late 10 life are pruued away speedily after
marriage. You have found a man who
used TO be shabbily and carlessly dressed,
with huge shirt collar frayed at the edg-
es, aud q glaring yellow silk pocket-hanker-
chief, broken of these and become pat.
tern of neatness. You have seen a man
with hair and whiskers ridculously cut,
speedily becoming like other human beings.
You have seen a clergyman who hal a
long beard, in little while appear with
out one. You have seen a man who used
to sing ridiculous sentimental songs, leave
them off, You have seen q man who took
snuff copiously. aud who generally had bis
breast covered with snuff, abosdon the vile
habit. ss5esaI s4|f


A wife is the grand yielder of the mora
pruning knife. IL Johnson's had lived
there would have been no boarding up oi
bits Of orange peel; no touching all the
posts in walking along the street; no eat
ing aud drinking with disgusting Voraci


J. II Oliver Goldsmith had been mar
ried, he would never have worn that mem
orable apd ridiculous coat. Whenever you
End man whom you know little aoont'
oddly dressed, or talking ridiculously, OF
exhibiting any eccentricily Of manner, you
may be tolerably sure that he is not
married man. - Fra GERS Magazine
Year: 1865

There is a curious custom at HAVANA
OF laying out bodies 10 state during the
night before burial. They are placed close
TO an open window fronting the street, on
o couch raised four or Ave feet from the
ground. The corpse is surrounded by high
wax tapers, and the whole room is ilumi-
mated. Frequently. when returning from
a fertulia, or ball, have been startled to
see the fixed and rigid features of some
old lady or gentleman dressed 10 their
best attire, and apparently reclining before
the window. 1t used to appear nnnscessa-
ry mockery of death. dressing out corpse
in new suit of clothes with tight patent
leather boots snd white neckcloth. | re
member one night in particular. / was
returning home through one Of the streets,
when seeing the lower window of house
Illuminated, and concluding that there was
q body lying in state, | went towards it.
There close to the window SO close that l
cou have touched it through the bars.
lay the body of o young girl about fifteen
years OF nge. She was dressed as for a
ball, with l1wers in her hair, and whi;e
satin shoes on her feet her hands crossed
on her breast, her eyes closed, and her
mouth slightly opened; aud altogether her
face and expression was enc of the most
beautiful
Year: 1865

A leading object with every young man
should be TO secure himself q permanent
home. And for its greater stability, it
should consist partly in land, and up TO
certain limit, the more of IL the better, if
paid for. The house should be com
Portable and attractive as one has
the means of making it. 1t should be one
that The heart can grow 10, and will cling
around more and more firmly with every
passing year. Its owner should desire and
purpose 10 keep possession OF it as long as
be lives and his children grow up, feeling
that there is one place fixed and stable for
them through all changes. Americans are
altogether TOO rowing in their habits. We
build houses cheaply, aud pull them down
without regret. Or we sell out and move
away half a dozen times in lifetime. 10
the vain hopes Of bettering our condition.
How much better to choose q homestead
early iu life, aud then lay plans with refer
ence to abiding there. Even though our
gains be less than are promised elsewhere,
a certainty should seldom he given up for
an uncertainty "a bird in the hand is
worth two in the bush.'


Only those who have experienced il
know how such family becomes attached
to their lopg,loved homestead. No chill
dren love home as well as those who have
known but one. AS the young become ol
marriageabe age, they should go out, one
by one, from the old homestead. feeling II
to be established, and knowing that this
will remain unchanged as long as their pa
rents live. place to which they can return
and ever be welcome. A pleasing writer
confirms our doctrine thus "There is {
great gain by being settled. 1t is two
fold. Each year accumulated about th'
former material by which labor is lessened.


The rough channels of labor, becom'
worn and smooth. A change involves
great loss, and rarely is thore a correspon
ding gain. Time is lost. labor ID expende'
money paid; the wear and tear of remove
is no small item :and above ell. the break
ing up Of old associations is often disa'
trous in the extremes Parents and chi
dren become unsettled in their morals.


"Let the man who has homestead kee
it, let him that has none get one, and Ii


Dor to render it a treasured remembrance
the absent, and constant joy to tho,


who abide in it," To all Of which ever
Intelligent, thought ful person mast give


hearty approval. r l
Year: 1865

RuzKy OF CHARLESTON. We are gratineu 70 sev u
the American Union Commission Ia already moving for
the relief Of the people Of Charleston long tram
pied to the dust under the iron heel Of rebellion Who
read without pity Of aged and helpless people rush.
ing ranticaly through the flames that designed by
the rcmorsecss rebel officers 70 their dwelhngsf
long engaged in Southern trade goes the gratutous
agent Of the commission with supply hastily gathered
Of clothing &C. TO supply the most urgent need Those
who wish 70 contribute in aid OF the work may send
money 70 A. y Stout Esq., treasurer Of the Union Com.
mission; clothing food &c may be sent 10 the office Of
the commission, IA Bible House.


The Police FORCE 70 BE REVIEWED By THE GOVERNOR -
Governor Fenton will review the Metropolitan police force
to-day, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel The parade,
It is thought will be Of the finest made by the
police Eight hundred patroImcn will participate In the
review, and will assemble at ten O'Clock A. at the
Washington Parade Ground Here they will go through
evolutions and from thence march to the Fifth
Avenue Hotel.