smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1878

Of Kean's early skill as fencer one
anecdote must be recorded, as marking not
only his quickness of eye and dexterity of
hand, but also his calmness, intrepidity and
self-command. He was one day, when
quite STRIPPING, opposed in the academy
to a man who was celebrated for the
rapidity of his passes and the certainty of
his hits. Kean, however, bafled all his
attempts to evade or beat down his guard,
but, on the contrary, had the mastery. in
several passes, which so enraged his op-
ponent, that, in sudden paroxysm of
rath, he struck his foil on the ground, so
as to break off the buttons, determined,
by sudden and desperate assault, to in
flict vengeance on his conqueror. Kean
perceived the movement and at once saw
his danger, but with perfect composure he
awaited the attack, and, disarming hia
assailant, he caught the foil as it sprang
from his hand. Then presenting it to his
treacherous antagonist, unabated, as it
was, he bade him keep his own secret, and
turning upon his heel left the academy.
This circumstance he never mentioned till
years afterward, when the death of his op-
ponent, whose name he even then con-
cealed, removed all scruple as to the dis
closure of the fact itself.
Year: 1878


An Iowa Student Who Lives ON


self.


KeOkuk COnstitution.l


At the commencement of the
present term of the medical college.
young student from the West
started for Keoknk to attend. Ar
irving at Abba he found that his
means would not be sufficient and
he footed it the rest of the way to
this city. He paid in full for his
tuition, and then had just seven
dollars left. Three of these were
laid out for a quarters rent for a
room, in which was nothing but
his books. No bucket, no stove, no
furniture, no bed, not even a blan-
ket, and only four dollars to live on.
In a month or so he procured a
blanket, and considered himself
fortunate. His money was laid out
in corn meal, and twice week he
would go down by the pork houses
and make up a lot of corn bread,
bake it, and bring it to his room,
and on corn bread alone he has
been subsisting during the entire
term.


He has worked and earned five
dollars since he has been here, and
on this and the seven he had left,
after paying his college fees, twelve
dollars in all, he has subsisted.


During all this time no one has
known how he has subsisted, and
the only remarkable thing that has
been noticed about him is, that he
is one of the brightest students in
the class, and bids fair to graduate
with the highest honors. His con-
dition would not have been found
out had it not been that a gentle
man rented a room in the same
building in which the students was
located, and by making his acquain-
tance, ascertained how he had been
living.


The student is a bright, frank,
fearless fellow, who asks no favors,
has paid in advance for everything
he has got, is not afraid of difficult
ties, and if he proves not a bright
and shining light in his profession
If he is not heard from as an
eminent physician and surgeon, ere
many years roll around, VIC lose our
guess.
Year: 1878

From late Lecture Of Colonel lngersolrs.l


There is a thousand times more
good than bad in the world. To-
day the newspapers are engaged in
finding out all the mean things that
are done. Unless a thing is bad
thing it is not known. If all the
reporters of all the newspapers
would look through all the streets
and through all the houses Of the
country and find the name of some
man who had practiced self-denial
for the sake of wife and children ;
find some man who had given us
all the property he bad to pay his
honest debts who had gone oatof
his house; given up his pictures
Year: 1878

The Tribune says:


We appear to be only at the be-
ginning of discoveries in the line Of
the telephone and the photograph.
An entirely new field OF science has
been opened; the limits cannot
even be guessed. An instrument
has been devised that bears rela-
ton to our capacity for hearing,
similar to that which the microscope
or the telescope does for vision.
The new device magnifes sound.
1t is appropriately called the micro
phone. BY its means sounds so
faint that they have never before
been heard by human ears, may be
made Of any degree of loudness. A
feathers edge brushed over the
sounding-board of this instrument
has been made to crash upon the
ears of the listeners. The touch of
the tip Of a camel's-hair brush was
the occasion OF ga cracking noise,
of which the intensity was almost
painful to the ear" The faintest
whisper of the human voice can be
reproduced in the loudest tones.
"Ihe maiden's sigh may roar like
the cataract of Niagara"


Professor d. L. Hughes has
given a full account of the micro
phone to the Royal Society of Lon
don, and described the stops by
which he was led to the invention.
He is most widely known in Eng
land as the inventor of a ypeprint-
ing telegraph instrument which is
in general use in that country
Although he is an accomplished
electrician, the apparatus which he
has employed for his new expert
ments is Of the simplest character,
and the most triaing cost. With
1t he has made the footsteps of q
house-hy distinctly audible; aud all
these sounds, after being intensified,
are transmitted to any needful dis
tance by the ordinary telephone.
AT a recent exhibition OF these ex-
periments to a few scientific friends
in London, all the astonishing
effects that have been referred to
were easily produced, except the fly
performance. With great difficulty
the philosophers found a fly in the
house. With yet greater difficulty
they caught the insect. But the
final trouble was insurmountable;
the captured fly would stay on the
glass tumbler thatimprisoned him;
nothing could induce him to walk
Year: 1878

on the sounding board which the
tumbler covered. But a witness to
the scene, describing it in Nature,
found consolation in watching Pro.
fessor Huxley talking with great
solemnity to glass tube two inches
long, his grave tones being loudly
enunciated to a listener with a tele-
phone in distant apartment.


The philosophy of the new in
vention is more difficult to explain
than is the telephone itself. The
discovery has been made by Prof.
Hughes that the vibrations of
sound are reproduced With the
greatest delicacy and increased
force, by certain materials inter
posed in an electric circuit. The
reproduced sounds gain their in
crease of power, doubtless, at the
expense of the current. After a
large number of experiments, he
gives the preference to carbon for
this purpose; especially to pieces of
charcoal that have been heated to
whiteness, and then plunged into
mercury. These pieces, in one of
his experiments, he placed in a
glass tube, and brought a pressure
upon them that squeezed their ends
together. This apparatus was
made part Of closed electric cir.
cult of three small cups. A Bell
telephone was then introduced
into the circuit, and the whole
thing was complete. All that was
necessary to do was to talk to the
tube, even at a respectable distance
from it, and the telephone repeated
the sound, any distance yet tried,
with a loudness dependent only on
the pressure in the tube.


This disposes at once of the fear
that the telephone was nearing the
end of its usefulness as an instru-
ment for conveying speech. 1t is
only at the beginning. With such
means there will be no obstacle to
reporting apublic speaker or singer;
no difficulty, in fact, in hearing
whispers inaudible to unassisted
ears. All that has ever been i'm
agined as among the possibilities of
telephonograph or the telephone
seems now certain to be outdone.
Since the falling of a pin can now
be heard at the distance Of hun
dred miles, little will be needed to
realize Hoods metaphor, that
Silence herselfmay be making a row.
Year: 1878

Charles Hallock, the accom-.
plished editor Of Forest and Stream,
has a very humane and thoughtful
article on this subject. Not only
because it improves the quality and
flavor Of the fish, he urges upon
all anglers the duty of killing all
their fish as they catch them. Many
anglers do this, habitually but all
do not. We subioin an extract
from Mr.. Hallock's article;


AS boys, we were taught that
fish had no feeling, and we believed
that what might be cruelty to a
dog was harmless pastime as re.
spects fish, But autopsy and sci
ence have proved our belief and
error, and we discover that con-
tortions and gaspingS are evidences
of pain aud distress, though we
assume that their nervous system
Is comparatively of o low order.
That fishes have intelligence and
can be taught; that they have
memory; that they have discrimin-
alton and disoernment; that they
possess the five senses, each to u
great or small degree; that they are
to a limited extent sentient and
reasoning creatures -all these have
become evident. If it is or.
dained to us that we are
TO derive sport from the prolong.
cd apprehensions of the fish while
hooked mot from his bodily pain,
for the mere prick of the hook
gives little, and often none at all)
Year: 1878

and all there was of luxury, and
taken his wife by her hand and
gone down to poverty and penury
in hut; if they would tell the
names of::all the men who had done
generous. deeds, / tell you every
newspaper in the United States
would be crowded with the names
of men and women.
Year: 1878

After narrow escape from a faint
ing fit we hurried off to the train
for Seville, seeing it was impossible
for him to continue through an
other act of the sport. Other travel


ers express themselves similarly re-
garding the pleasure Of a bull fight,
and it is safe to conclude Spain will
never encounter rival in that
arena
Year: 1878

then let us handle him mercifullv
after the torment begins, and It
begins after he is withdrawn from
his native element. If he is small,
take him around the body and con-
siderately rap the top of his head
upon a stone or the thwart of the
boat ; if large, rap his head with a
heavy stick; or, what is more gem
teel and to the point, pierce the
cervical column at the base of the
brain with a sharp knife. This
produces paralysis, and almost i'm
mediate death. Itleayes the corpse
in shapely and seemly condition.
Admiration Of its unbattered beauty
is added to the pleasure of capture,
and your fish remains a proper sub
ject for the market or the studio.
Brother anglers, learn to be hu-
name.
Year: 1878

COMPLAINT is made that deer are
ruthle'sly slaughtered in the Adirondack
wilderness, during the fall months, by
the use of dogs, in defiance of the game
laws, which prohibit the pursuit of deer
with dogs at any time. IT is said that
at least four hundred deer have been
daily killed during the fall months
this year At this rate, soon the deer
will be wholly exterminated.
Year: 1878

The oriole, which has acquired the rep.
utation Of being mournful bird, is thus
spoken of by the observer Of a domesticat-
ed specimen:


AN old bird which should happen to
be trapped would probably quit singing
on being deprived Of It's liberty, but one
caught young and fed from the human
hand, will make most delightful and
tFaetable pet, and, hapEiest when sur
rounded ~ people, will sing marveloosIy
sweet notes aud trills. We know
of one Of this sort that, when liberated
from its cage will go to the hand
Of its owner, assist in threading a needle
or ripping seam, nestle on her shoulder,
stand on her hand, battle in bowl OF
water, and when it has had its liberty Of
the premises to its hearts content, it will
60 back into lis cage and sing its merry
tune. It will eat fruit, cake, bread and
nlilk, potatoes aud sugar, lean meat, nuts
and eggs. and is especially fond of house
flies and small angle worms and insects,
and will catch anything tossed to it just
as a smart dog will cracker Talk absut
that bird being mournful -
Year: 1878

Unselfsh people are always polite, be-
cause good manners are only the absence
Of selfshness. They are the doing unto
others as we would wish to BE- done unto.
A thoughtfulness for the comfort Of those
about US. a pleasant smile, kind word
these are the ingredients Of which good
manners are chiefly composed.
Year: 1878

Some time ago my husband used to


complain that his linen collars did not


set nicely in front There was always
fullness which, in the case of standing
collars was particularly trying to man
who felt good deal of pride in the
dressing of his neck, as it spoils the eff
feet of his cravat, and often left a gap
for the display of either the collarband
OF the shirt or half-inch of bare skin.
While talking with practical shirt-mak
er one day, he mentioned hisannoyance,
and inquired if there was any means of
relieving it. eyes, " answered the man,
"the fault lies with your laundress.-
While doing up yourcollars she stretches
them the wrong way. Damp linen is
very pliable, and a good pull will alter
a tourteen-inch into fifteen-inch collar
in the twinkling of an eye She ought
to stretch them croSSwiSe and not length
wise. Then, in Strengthening out your
Shlrt-bosomS she makes another mistake
wise, particularly in the nelghborhood
of the neck. A lengthwise pull draws
the front of the backband up somewhere
directly under your chin, where it was
never meant to go, and of course that
spoils the set of your collar. With the
front of your neckband an inch too
high, and your collar an inch too long,
you have a most undesirable combina
ton"


The speaker is right. As soon as my
husband ordered the necessary changes
to be made in the methods of our laund
ry a wonderful difference manifested it
self in the appearance of that most i'm
portant part of his clad anatomy, his
neck. Let me commend the shirtmak
er's hint to other distressed men.-N
y E1eHlng Post.
Year: 1878

HER wealth makes her an object of
public interest, hencsttIe cable sends a
denial Of the statement that Miss
Rothschild had applied for admission
to the Catholic church, previous to her
marriage with the Due De Duiche.
Americans will now breathe more
freely.
Year: 1878

New YORK, June 14.-The DaiJg Bulletin,
has an editorial tomorrow on business pros
poets, which, appearing in this conservative
and thoughtful journal, is of suggestive inter
est at this time. The Bulletin thinks the worst
effects of the commercial reaction have been
realized. 1t believes we have at last reached
solid rock, and the next thing in order is re-
covery. We have reached condition in
which the foreign markets act as break
water against further depreciation and afford
an important contribution towards the recOv-
cry of business. This period of maximum de-
preston Is really one Of great opportunities
Our material interests are suffering to-day as
much from want OF perception that now is
the time to invest as they suffered from the
ocver-confidence and imitation that produced
the panic. The real estate market is full of
bargains. The suspension of building for the
last fve years has produced a comparative
scarcity OF houses. Factory properties are
purchasable at prices which would enable
buyers to compete with the most successful
manufacturers. There are 10000 miles of
railroad property built in anticipation of the
needs OF the country, but since the construc-
ton OF which six or seven millions have been
added to our population. Most of this can be
procured at 30 to 40 per cent of its original
cost. Rarely has any country presented such
an opportunity for profitable Investment as is
afforded by ludictous selections from this
great mass OF bankrupt properties. The mer-
camille opportunities are also exceptional
Those who are first to comprehend the pres
ent opportunities and to put their long idle
means into employment will hold the best
chances for the future.
Year: 1878

The Supreme Court of this State has set it's
seal Of condemnation upon species of politi-
cal money contracts which have become
quite common in these days of trading In
public office. In 1876 there were discord be-
tween the Democratic leaders of Wayne
county about the legislative ticket. A. r.
Howe and William A. Smith had been NOM
mated for the Legislature by the regular
party convention, after the usual eIectioneer-
ing and manipulation before the primaries !;
and William M. Nelson was nominated by
the Taxpayers party, then a very formf-
dable concern. Nelson had to be accepted by
the party or the Taxpayers" machine
Mr. Smith finally sold out his place on the
ticket for $500 to a party committee,
three Of whom-Messrs Ham, Curtis and
Brown-gave their joint Judgment note
to Smith for the amount. Like most
political debts, the makers Of the note
preferred not to pay after election, and Smith
entered his judgment for execution. The
ton of the defendants, to hear their defense
that the consideration was unlawful because
against public policy and the purity of cleo
tions, but decided that the defense was insult
hcient and affirmed the judgment. The case
was appealed to the Supreme Court and JUS
tice Gordon has delivered the opinion revers-
ing the court below, declaring the cOnsidera-
ton of the judgment note to be unlawful,
and the whole transaction corrupt, immoral
and within the prohibition of the act of eight
eenth April, 1874" The learned Judge con
cludes by saying that such contracts Involve
the public welfare, and we certainly know
that the best way to suppress any public vice
the decision TO the political traders who buy
and sell the Offices which are presumed to be-
long to the people, Is that cash on delivery is
the only safe rule to observe.
Year: 1878

Especial TO the Democrat


WASHINGTON, June 18.-The passage of the
Eads relief bill to-day has inspired our Rep
resentatives with some hope OF being able to
suspend the rules tomorrow on the levee
bill.


Eads is In high feather tonight, and says
he will Immediately make his success felt in
New Orleans by enlarging the scope Of his
operations and Fastening the completion OF
his work.


The effect of his relief will be to increase
the amount Of circulating medium in and
about New Orleans during this summer and
fall, by about $1,5OO,OOO, not to speak of the
benefits to commerce, resulting from the more
rapid deepening Of the channeG It is really
a matter OF flrst-class Importance to your
community.


The passage Of Potter's claim bill by the
House Is also of advantage to the South gen.
orally, In that it takes the matter of Southern
claims out of politics, and puts it where it
belongs, into the Jurisdiction Of the courts.
In consequence Of the political situation In
Congress, it had become impossible to secure
the passage OF any Southern claim, no matter
how just or equitable, but If the Potter bill is
signed by the President and becomes law,
1t will give that class of claims an equal
chance with other claims against the govern
ment, on their merits. BUELL..
Year: 1878

An outcome Of the New Orleans DEMO
GRATIS fierce and persistent assaults upon the
Louisiana State Lottery is libel suit for
$4,000, instituted by Howard IL Go. against
Mr.. Albert G. JaDin, the moneyed man of the
firm owning that paper. The DEMOCRAT is
not to be bluffed by such tactics, however,
and continues to expose and denounce the
lottery with undiminished vigor making
that hitherto invincible and defiant monopoly
squirm like an angle worm undergoing the
process Of implement upon the fisherman's
barbed hook. The Lottery Company has sue
State Legislatures, and its influences have
pervaded nearly every branch Of the State
and city governments, but from q contest
with the free and independent press the auto
cratic concern Is bound TO come out Second
best, If it has the luck to come out at all,
Year: 1878

On the thirty-flrst Of May colored man
named Victor Joseph, employed on the plan
tation Of Mr.. Emile Bourgeois, In st. james
parish, near Whitehall, was shot and killed
In his cabin, at night, by some party un-
known, who had approached the spot and
committed the deed under cover Of darkness,
making good his escape.


Suspicion attached to one Duke, bright
mulatto, who, being arrested, denied having
perpetrated the crime, but said that he knew
dark griffe. The latter was at once taken
into custody, and at the preliminary exam
ination made full confession of his partici-
patton In the affair, which Is sensational
strange and horrible details of crime.


Although warned in the usual manner that
he was not compelled to make any confess
sion, and that anything he would say crimi-
mating himself might be used against him on
the trial of the case Williams declared that
he could not keep the terrible secret In his
breast; that he desired to tell 1t all and then
wanted but a short time to make his peace
with God, after which he would willingly
meet his fate upon the gallows.


He said that he was the murderer OF Joseph;
that he bore the man no ill-will, but killed
him because Duke offered him $25 TO do 1t. He
intended to commit the deed Thursday night,
the thirtieth utimo, and actually approached
the cabin and leveled his gun at Joseph, who
was sitting upon the gallery, but his heart
failed him and he could not pull the trigger.
Next night he returned and found the nerve
to fire the fatal shot. He gave vivid de-
scription of the circumstances from beginning
to end, and there is no doubt that he detailed
them just as they occurred. All the other
testimony in relation to the affair tallies pre-
cisely with his statement.


Dukes motive for procuring the assassina-
tion Of Joseph can be explained in a few
words. AS so frequently occurs, there was
''a woman in the case" The woman in ques-
tion had lived with Joseph number Of years
ago she left Joseph and took up with Duke,
but after living with the latter a short while
she returned 10 Josephs roof-tree, and the
pair were to have been married the day fol-
lowing the murder. Duke knew this, and
actuated by the spirit so Gptly termed the
demon of jealousy" he bribed Williams to
perpetrate the bloody deed, which his own
heart was wicked enough to conceive but too
cowardly to execute.
Year: 1878

then, the climate of Louisiana is very trying
to the virtue, and ruins mems morals as the
Indian climate does their hvers. This loca-
ton Of the zone of intemperance and the Iati-
tude for lies is very curious. We should like
to see the isothermal line of fraud laid down,
by which It could be judged how far north the
stealing Of an electoral vote would be called
regarded as something more than ian OBJ
viously improper proceeding" Perhaps If
the honest people Of Louisiana could have
chance In the matter they might tell US that
people like Anderson bring their own climate
with them
Year: 1878

There is distressing report from Atlanta,
that the colored people are so much absorbed
or swooped up in religious revival that no
one can get any washing done. II this state
Chinee, who is especially addicted to laundry
work, and eonstitutionally proof against
spasmodic revivals, will come in and devour
the subsistence heretofore enjoyed by the
sable population. Thus will an excess Of zeal
for Christianity inure to the benefit Of the
heathen If cleanliness is next to godIinessI
how can the latter initiate against the for
mer?
Year: 1878

NEW YORK, June 18-Three bows, aged
from ten to twelve, were arrested last night
charged with placing large paving stone on
the track Of the Elevated Railway, so as to
precipitate the train from the track. The es-
cape was miraculous, as each car of the train
Of passengers and much CONSERVATION pre-
yai1nd