smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1874

General Jackson, when President, said
TO one of his fercest newspaper oppo-
nents, "Send me your newspaper.


know that you are opposed to me, but
then should like to see your paper
every day. / want to see how many lies
you can tell of me-" General" said
the editor. az think do right in op-
posing you, and 1 shall continue to do
30 with all the ability of which l am
MASTER" Here was a man after Jack
sons own heart, and he replied
with an oath, "Sir, send me your paper,
it is a good one. Besides never saw a
newspaper in which 1 could not find
something worth reading. just so. No
man can pick up newspaper withou,
finding something of interest. You
may take the paper and tear Il into ffag-
ments, and in each fragment you will
see something to amuse or instruct you
Year: 1874

If there is any Of the reconstructed
States where The people are literally
tax'd out of house aud home, Ar
kansas is the one. In order to be
sure tat the assessors shall not per-
init any undervaluation Of property,
they are paid a commission Oh tic
amount assesscd,so that tho higher
the valuation they return the larger
will be thoir own share of the plum
der. The idea of paying assessors
by commission is novel, and it, na-
tural effect obvious. This plan is
SO brilliant that it is almost safe to
say that it must have originated in
the prolific brain Of Grants partitcu-
lar friend, Senator Clayto to whom
the people of Arkansas are deeply in
debted in many ways If a tax on
personal property. is not paid, tho
collector may seize it and sell enough
to cover tho amount due with costs
and fifty per cent. on the whole, be.
sides paying himself for his trouble.
IF a real estate owner fails to pay
his taxes, his property is sold at
auction under provisions which render
it almost impossible that he can over
recover it. In case no purchasers
como forward to bid for such proper
ty, then, in order to mako suro that
the owner is properly punished for
his poverty, the State steps in, buys
it, and gives it away to certain rail.
road companies. And yet, strange
to say, there arc very few white mon
to be found in this bcnightcd State
who are able to. properly appreciate
tho blessings of living under repub-
lican form of government.


The committee appointed by tho
meeting Of the taxpayers Of Marion
County are quietly waiting the action
of the Legislature. A bill b ,s been
introduced into tho House to give
the remedy desired. 1t is at the
end Of the calendar, and will not be
reached in some time, unless taken
up out Of its order Meantime, Mr..
Fillebrowne, chief clork in the
Comptroller''s office, has gone over
to Marion, to make an examination
of the tax collectors books, and to
look into the matters complained of
carefully. -PhGnin.
Year: 1874

The country will be startled by the sn.
nouncement in our columns this morning
Of the probable resignation at an early day
in the future of the Vice President of the
United States. This rumor reaches US in q
manner entitled to credence, and at once
raises several questions of paramount inter,
est To whom will Mr.. Wilson tender his
resignation of the second Office in the Gov
eminent? To the Senate, upon which de.
wolves the selection of his successorH Does
the election of Mr.. Carpenter as President
pro temp0Ts of the Senate at its last session
hold good during the vacation and consti
tute him the successor of Mr.. Wilson in
such an event? We believe, II our recollec.
ton of historical events is correct that this
will be the first instance in the history d
the Government Of the vacation of thin
office by resignation. We hope that oul
informant may be in error, or that the Vict
President may change his mind and recon
slider his purpose.
Year: 1874

! TIE Baltimore Gazette is scared out Of
its wits at the position of some of the South
ern Journals and politicians upon the third
term question. 1t assures them that they
have g solemn duty to discharge toward
their white brethren in the North o. well
as in the South. and begs them otao lose
sight of or forget it. Southern Democrats
may remind them somewhat forcibly that
when they were in trouble their Northern
brethren gave them only chicken hearted
support-about one half of what they had
promised to give. 1--.s
Year: 1874

The fact that General Beauregard has been
made president of base ball club is bringing
him prominently into public notice. One
exchange says; "He will now probably not
except the position offered in the Argentine
Republic"
Year: 1874

A Western man set FIRE to the prairie for
fun, but after he had run seven miles and
climbed tree, with his pants about all burned
of, he concluded the sport Was a little too
violent exercise to be INDUCED in oftener than
once in q lifetime.
Year: 1874

IF the time ever comes for the explanation
of the mysteries Of this world, we shall be glad
TO know why the young man who remarks on
leaving church. Il can preach better sermon
than that myself" is content to wear out his
life over q counter at $50 month.
Year: 1874

Several years ago hopeful young minister
left these shores for the Csnnibal Islands as
missionary. On arriving at the end of his
journey the natives weighed him and cut .
silver off his leg as q sample. He came home
by the next boat, and is now the travelling agent
of a circna
Year: 1874

One OF the the mesnest little thing on earth
is to throw q small watermelon aud HE poliai-
cal speaker in the pit of the stomach just aa he
is explaining the Drsd Scott decision. Detroit
Free Press.
Year: 1874

tits proposed in Tennessee to remove
the remains of Andrew Jackson, to-
gether with those of his wife, from
their present resting place at the
" Hermitagen to the northern terrace
of the State capitol at Nashville, where
a mausoleum Could be erected over
them. Legislative sanction and an
appropriation will be necessary, and q
movement is on foot to request both.
Year: 1874

There is bird In New Guinea called
the Megapodius, which, in the size of
its eggs and its manner of Matching
them, must be considered extraordi-


nary. u is not lsrSea elsnSsa &C
inches long by two and halt in diam
eter, 1t does not attempt to sit on
them. A colony of birds lay their eggs
together in large mound in the hottest
part of the year, from September TO
March, and leave them to be Matched by
the sun. The mound is made of sand,
loose earth, and sticks and leaves,
which latter by their decay increase the
heat. The mounds are wonderfully
large, being ten feet high and about
sixty feet in circumference at the base.
The young birds come out at hole in
the top. The mother birds wait on the
trees around till their chicks are
Matched, and then each leads off her
own brood. How each knows its own
is mystery, The eggs are much rel
ished by the natives, but not at all by
Europeans A native of Cape York ven
tured one day into nest fot eggs, and
while he was exploring the hidden
riches of the large mound the upper
part fell in and he was smothered.
Year: 1874




A correspondent, writing of Turk
ish harem, says: Each lady had three
rooms to herself, and the furnishing of
them was generally left to her taste or
caprice. They were arranged very well,
and the furniture was very handsome,
but curious in form. A regular Turk
ish bed is something quite different
from ours. There is no bedstead or
mattress, but about thirty very thickly
padded quilts, covered with silk or sat
in, laid one on top of the other on the
floor, until they are about two feet
deep. The sheets are invariably of silk,
embroidered, and the coverlid is a mar
vel of gold and silver embroidery on
satin or velvet. The pillows are of pink,
blue or yellow satin, covered with beau
tiful lace. From the ceiling hangs a
large jeweled and gilded hoop, and
from this rich lace curtains, which en-
circle the bed. To hold their robes they
have innumerable brass-nailed camphor-
wood trunks, and as one of these alter
another was turned out for me to see
the contents, began almost to lose my
head in the confusion of colOrs and
beauty of materials.
Year: 1874

On a ranch ON the Carson river, eight
miles below the mouth of Six-mile can
on. is to be seen herd of twenty-six
camels. all but two of which was born
and raised in Nevada. But two OF the
old herd of nine or ten brought here
some years ago are now living. 1t
would seem that the original lot fell IN
TO the hands of Mexicans. who treated
them very badly, overlooking and abus-
ing them. The men who now have
them are Frenchmen, who had formerly
some experience with canels in Europe
They find no difficulty in rearing thenS
and can now show twenty-five tine
healthy animals, all of Washoe growth.
The camel may now be said to be thor
ouphly acclimated in the state. The
owners of the herd find it no more diff
ficnlt to breed and rear them than would
he experienced with the same number
of coats or donkeys. The ranch upon
which they are kept is sandy and sterile
in the extreme yet the animals feast
and grow fat on such prickly shrubs ana
hitter weeds as no other animal would
touch. When left to themselves their
great delight, after filling themselves
With the coarse herbage of the desert,
;s TO lie and roll in the hot &nd. They
ire used in packing salt to the mills on


he river. from the marshes lying In the
desert some sixty miles to the eastward,
thev have animals that easily pack
seven hundred pounds.
Year: 1874

The Territorial Enterprise thus de-
scribes the Piutes of Nevada What
ever may be the case with other tribes,
the Piute has no notion of passing away.
They are remarkably healthy people.
They are seldom sick, and there appears
to be about 100 births, to one death:
Hardly squaw that is over sixteen and
and under sixty years of age can be
seen who has not pappoose slung on
her back. What shall be done with
these people will one of these days be
a question that must be answered III
some way. as ther, seems to be no like
hhood of their dying off. Among the
Piutes to work is considered no dis
grace, and their biggest brave is not
ashamed to be seen handling an axe or
saw. The women are quite industrious
and the men are always ready to work
when coin is shown them. Their great
est vice and their ruling passion is
gambling. They play among them
Selves. and when they have money cards
are never ont of their hands.
Year: 1874

penter, you will permit me to take your
things for you and see you into a carri-
age, will you not


''As ne stopped and took her pack
ages from her, he asked in low tone


Have you ever thought, Miss
Evans, that it would be well for the
revisers of the New Testament to omit
to state that Christ was q carpenter
You know some people might feel so
much greater reverence for him if they
did not know that humiliating fact.


She stood like one transhxed and
neither answered his questions nor OBJ
jected to his taking all of her bundles.
Then she meekly followed him out of
the ears. Her face was so crimson and
she looked so utterly crestfallen that
your tender-hearted aunt said that she
could not help pitying her, richly as
she merited the lesson. But I could
not pity her, Alice, she had shown such
n thoroughly selfish and disagreeable
spirit. Aud l wished that the white
headed old man had remained in the
car long enough TO witness her discom-
titure. | think that he would have said
again: That is just what she deserved. ,
And told your aunt SO, and she said
that she hoped that the poor girl would
so profit by that days experience that
she would never deserve to be so hui
inflated again.


And I hope, Uncle John" said
Alice in a softened and subdued tone as
Mike came up to the door with the
that L never again shall merit
the rebuke conveyed in your story. -
" y. Independent.
Year: 1874

The Templar Social Club gave their
first reception at Grange Hall last
night. The attendance was not so
large as might have been expected
for an affair in measure connected
with so popular and numerous an
organization as the Good Templar
Lodge. Enough were present, how
ever, to make the reception very
pleasant, and the company enjoyed
the dance to their hearts content.


We shall have all the school ma'ams
in the county here next week.


Chas. Miller, the man who was found
in possession of lot of clothing and
jewelry stolen from the boarders ut the
U. S. Hotel last August, had his trial
in the County Court yesterday. De-
tective Officer Harris, who had the
affair in charge from the outstart, did
not stop with the simple detection
and arrest of the thief, but succeeded
in weaving such network of evidence
around him that escape from justice
was impossible. Miller was found
guilty by the jury of both charges
brought against him-petit larceny
and housebreaking-and he will re-
ceive his sentence to-day.
Year: 1874

stantly about her person; Mr.. Buck
could not endure it. Notwithstanding
these and many other differences,
however, they were never known to
come to blows, and the tenderness
with which the old man regarded his
other self had even a touch of pathos
in it. When on his death-bed and
over seventy years of age, he sum-
moned Judge Cushing from Jefferson,
twenty miles distant, to make his
will, assigning as reason: "The
Judge is the only one of my acquaint-
ances who never spoke an unkind word
of Mrs. Buck.n He died in 1872, on
the same little farm which he had oc-
cupied for more than half century.
or his early history little or nothing
was known, but tradition said he came
from Pennsylvania and that he had
lived the same dual life from boyhood.
Whether it was some inexplicable
hallucinasion, or, what is scarcely
conceivable, twin souls alternately
controlling and sinking into allegiance
in the same body, is an enigma we
leave as we found, unanswered.
Year: 1874

We see In one of the papers a para


graph from Washington letter.


which says that it costs the govern.


ment two thousand dollars to bury a


congressman who dies at the capital.


we should not have noticed the state


ment but for the fact that we have


come across another statement To the


1Oil0W1ng effect: Recently an ec-
centric Engiishman died and left
hity pounds in his will to a London
gas company on condition that n
should convert him into gas in one of
Its crucibles. Now, If IL is really
practicable to make gas out of an
ordinary human being, imagine how
enormous would be the quar- tity that
could be made from an average Con-
gresham, who Is chiefly composed of
gas Therefore instead of SPENDING
SO much money for funerals, we i'm,
sist that hereafter every defunct Con-
gresham shall be turned over to the
gas company to be worked up and run
through a meter and be sold by the
cubic foot. 1t would bo an UNUSUALLY
exhilerating experience to read a
newspaper by the light of a yapor-
lzed Congressman, and turn that
statement out when we get into bed
There are great many Congress-
men who never will throw light ON
anything unless they are put through
crucible and emitted from the burn
Adeler.
Year: 1874

The sensations of an editor on first
glancing over his paper and detecting
errors in 1t are somewhat different
from those experienced by the reader


on making like discoveries. The
latter Is either amused at the blunder


or incensed at the carelessness which


causes 1t, and In both cases arrives at
the conclusion that the trouble Is
avoidable, and that the editor is to
blame for not avoiding 1t. He never
saw an editor take his first glance
over a copy of the edition. Perhaps
the edition is worked off when this
opportunity Is offered the weary man.
He has either trusted the proofs to
some one else or read them himself,
but the feeling of dread Is just great
I'm the latter as In the former case.
The proof-reader may not consult the
copy, and so perpetuate the blunders
of the compOsit0r, and perhaps the
compositor may neglect to undo the
wrong he has done, although his at
tention is plainly called to IL on the
proof. When about to make this
preparatory survey the editor does
not take a cigar In his mouth and ele-
vate his heels to the desk, rs Is the
popular tradition. Dying men don't
do that way you know, and we have
come to the conclusion that an editor
examining his paper feels very much
like man who Is about to pass into
eternity. He reads along carefully
and slowly, like a man feeling his
way across q doubtful piece OF ice.
Suddenly his face becomes distorted
with an awful pain. He doesn't cry
Year: 1874

The following, by correspondent
of the Christian Era, suggests that
many studies dreaded by the young
and commonly supposed to be hard
and unintereSting may be made as
easy as fun:


l told the boys to 90 over and
measure the height Of the flagstaff on
Georges Hill, in FairmOunt Park,
and they looked at me in astonish-
ment, asking at the same time how
they could do it-fOr both they and I
knew they could not climb to the top.
So l explained to thom how they
might do it, without going to the top
and they made the instrument
themselves with which to do it.


They got a square rail, about four
feet long; then, at one end, they
nailed to it, at right angles, a straight
stick three feet high; exactly one
foot distant, they nailed another
straight stick four feet high, then an
other, one foot distant, five feet high.


The instrument was complete and
they all started over to the fiag-pole
with it. When they got as near to
the pole as they thought the pole was
iiSh, thCy IuuLiOCit ~ NY IIOlulIS d
string, with a stone tied to it, at the
top of one of the sticks; the stick was
made to stand just as straight up and
down as the string.


Then they sighted, or looked along
the tops of the upright sticks, at the
flag-pOle. BY moving the instrument
just to the right place, they made the
sticks Grange" with top of the pole; !;
that is, while looking over the top OF
the three sticks, their eyes, seeing the
end of the sticks all the while, saw
also the very top of the flag-pole.


BY measuring then, from that spot
to the fiag-polc, along the ground,
they were able to tell me that the
flagstaff was one hundred and twelve
feet distant from them, and so the
flagstaff was one hundred and twelve
feet high.


Now this was a simple application
of geometry, lesson that looks
"awful" hard to boys at school, but
was only fun learned in this way.
Year: 1874

1t is difficult to keep fannels from
shrinking, wash them as you may.
Here Is good way to cleanse them.
Choose a clear day when it does not
freeze. Take soft warm water, no
warmer than you can bear your
hands in; throw In soda, then wash
briskly ON the washboard with soap.
BE careful to keep the water all the
time as warm as you can bear it, and
be as quick as you can in washing out
the dirt; then wiring out the dirty
suds and put in again clean water of
the same temperature, but with less
soap and no soda, and move the flan-
mel again right lively over the wash
board, to get perfectly clean. Wiring
out the suds again immerse in clean
warm water, In which put a little in
digo blue and whirl round rapidly i'm
the tub. Let the water drain off and
pass through the wringer, after which
shake out well and stretch on the line
as much as possible, to hang up to
dry. The flannel must be gently
stretched and ironed with only mod
erately hot irons, before 1t is through
ly dry, and the more the flannel is
pressed out with the fiatirons the less
1t will shrink.
Year: 1874

A writer i'm the Washington Ull.)
Herald gives the following account of
the mild winter of 1923 and the hard
winter of 1929:


Forty years ago the appearance of
the country in this vicinity was not
at all as It Is now. Washington did
not exist, except the lower part of 1t ;
and only few cabins stood where
now is Peoria.


In the fall of 1923 few pioneers
came and settled at the foot of the
bluff between here and the river.
They had heard of the delightful
climate and mild winters in Illinois,
and came here to escape the rigOrs of
OhiO's cold. The first winter was all
they anticipated. The stock ran in
the woods all the time, and kept in
good condition. The grass continued
green, and snow was almost unknown,
never falling in sufficient quantity to
whiten the ground. Under these cir
cumStanceS, no preparations were
made for the following winter; the
corn was ungathered the stock un-
housed the cabins open and barely
comfortable in the weather, about the
last of November, 1929.


AT this time a light snow began to
fall. The people were surprised, but
thought it would soon be over. They
were mistaken, however. The snow
continued falling for several days, un-
til it was SO deep that the fences were
no longer visible. Quite number
perished, and all suffered severely
from cold and hunger. One young
gentleman started ut the first of the
snow i'm hastily constructed sleigh
for Galena. No tidings came from
him, in the spring his hat and a few
bones told the sad but not strange tale
of OyerpOwering cold and ravenOus
wolves. Another started to get some
corn ground, but perished on the
way.


These men my informant was per-
sonally acquainted with.


Not long after the snow it grew
mild and rained little, then sudden
ly frOze so hard that a crust strong
enough to bear up teams and wagons
was formed, and it remained this
way until late in the spring.


More like tales of some fan off land
than events that happened right here,
seem the stories of the hOwling
wolves, and prowllng Indians, and
the fearful cold of that winter.


1 don't see why they did not all
perish. Their food was corn dug
from the snow, and made into homi-
ny, corn bread, ETC., and meat.


Very many wild animals died.
The deer and other timid creatures
grew so tame that they could be
knocked over without difficulty, but
their flesh was not good.


Late in the spring the snow melted,
and when the country was all a duck
pond the weather grew cold again,
and the ice was thick enough to bear
horses and sleighs.


An old lady told me ofa sleigh-ride
she took then, on tho edge Of the
bluff. The horses were going rapidly,
and when they came to a sudden turn
the sleigh hung over the edge of the
bluff, and it was with difficulty their
horses drew them up.


Ever since that winter the weather
has been severe from December to
March, and it was not before. Why
this is so wish was wise enough to
tell. At any rate, j am given to
signing because did not live i'm the
"good old times" of my ancestors.