smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1879

BLIND RATS. Columbus (Ga) paper tells the following rat story Some years ago it's informant was living on a farm, the barn of which was burned and with it many rats. Some of the animals es- capped, however, with serious injuries, and took up their abode under pile of lumber, near a creek. At this place one ,me out, drank and returned with 8 straw in his mouth. Walking up to the lumber he pushed the straw under, and presently another came out holding the other end of the straw. The first then started for the creek, leading his com panion (which was afterward found to be blind) to the water. After the blind oue had drank they returned in the same manner.
Year: 1879

THE large railload companies keep as careful record of locomotive and its performances as ship owners do of an ocean steamship. The Pennsylvania railroad does not repair one if the cost does not exceed $3, 900. The engine is then marked as dead on the record, and is either sold or broken up.
Year: 1879

The report is current this morning that
the Ashley belt is missing, whether stolen
or lost is not known. The story reached
police headquarters this morning and in
vestigation fails to trace it.


The belt was known to be in Weston's
possession yesterday morning. All efforts
are now directed to find Weston. 1t is
thought he may explain and set at rest all
doubts on the matter.
Year: 1879

Fourth Edition.
TIL e L A T E S T
MEMPHIS MORTALITY.
Nine Deaths from Fever This


Forenoon.
Social Sensation Of a Startling


Character.
A Magdalen Becomes a Martyr in the


Cause.
Year: 1879

enough 10 supply his few wants he placed
in my keeping, for he was afraid of being
robbed. 1 kept all his money locked up
in my safe for him.


With him he always had keg full of
counterfeit hoJ dollars So that In case
robbers should steal from him, they would
obtain only those worthless coins. He has
been away for many years and must have
but just returned. Before he went, he in
formed me that, in case Of his death he
would send me the keg of cOuHterfeits, as
lac would rather they should not be found
about his premises. lie was afraid il
would make people think he had been "A
counterfeiter After his death was to ad o.
vcrtise for his sister He did not know
whether she was living OF not, but II found
her, was 20 give her his money which had
in charge This was the request he made to
me, and which promised 20 comply with.
IL was also arranged, that, II | did not hear
from him, or hear OF his death within twen-
ty years after his departure, was To keep
his money for my own use, and not trou-
ble myself To make any inquiries about his
sister. | eNpostulatcd with him ON this
point, but he had always been eccentric,
and he would now have his own way. Had
! not heard Of his death to-day, by to-mor-
TOW tne twenty years would nave cNplrCi
aud should have kept my agreement by re
tanning the money. hope you will believe
me when | say that am really glad of the
chance which has been afforded me of giving
it 10 the rightful heir


When he was gone Warren said 10 his
wife


"llow fortunate / did not WELD 60 the
temptation TO retain that keg Of coins. Had
| done 50 | would probably soon have been
arresteed for passing counterfeit money, be
sides which you would never have heard of
your fortune or have received penny OF
iun


True, said Mary "And Oh! husband,''
she added, embracing him III would
sooner have starved than have known that
you kept those coins! | am sure you
would never have thought Of doing it had
your mind not been weakened 10y care and
hunger combined"


81 believe my brain was nearly tnrncd
at the time he answered


week after Warren went into business
with some of his wife's money.


He is now ono of the most thriving whole
sale merchants in san Francisco.
Year: 1879

he dlAls OF earth may show


The length, not the depth Of years
Few or many they coms-fsu or many they GO
But our time 10 best measured by toirs


All not by the silver gray


That crseps through tho sunny hair.
And not by the scenes that We pass on our way
And not by the furows the fingers OF care


On the forehead aud face havs made


Not 80 do we count our years
Not by the Of the earth-but the shs 10
OF our souls-snd the fall Of our tears


Per the Nsung are oft mes old


Thou IA their brow be br light aud fair
While their blood beats warm their heart lies


cold


Ger thom the springtimo-but winter Is there


And the old sro ofttimes young.


When their hair is thin and white
And they sing in age - IN youth they sung,
And they laugh, for their cross was light


But bead by bead tell


The rOsary Of my years
From a cross 70 = crown they lead-tis woll
And they ara pleased with bl eAsing OF I. ars


Better day OF strife


Than a century Of sleep
Give me, instead Of long 8 roam OF NE.
The tempest and tears OF the deep.


thousand joys may foam


On the bilows OF all the years
But never the foam brings the brave bark home
II reaches the haven through tears.
Year: 1879

which makes them of uncertain vaIue. III u
was in the power of any creditor to refuse
the notes, in case they shodld depre-
ciate. it is certain that there wou'd
he no depreciation on the contrary, any part
If tbe notes that could not be readily circii-
lated at par in gold would immediately oe
reJeem.d Take AWAY the legal tender quality,
and the power Of the Nation to defraud l'S
creditors 10y an excessive issue vanlsheS NJ once.
Take away that quality, and every ground OF
complaint on the score OF national honesty VIII
be removed, for each United States note VIII
then represent, not forced loan, but
claim which remains due only because the
creditor refuses to ask tor payment IN gold.


The conscience of the Republican party will
reiterate the counsel which the President has
gwen. Like the wlIisperings of conscience,
his words do not urge that the right thing
should be done because it will help party in
votes, but because it is right. Yet there is
not shrewd Republican statesman who does
not know that the party has been strong
and victorious only because il has listened to
the conscience of the Nation Ii can hope to
prevail hereafter only if it obeys the dictates
of the popular conscience. In the Eastern
states, WHICH cOulesst'ly hoii tHc o'"""No VI
power. and without which neither party can hope
to succeed. unfaithfulness to public obligations
means sure defeat. The Democratic party
knows that it has no chance of success, save
by carrying New-York and other Eastern
States 1t Is warned. day by day, that 1t
cannot hope to carry either OF these
States unless it can gain the confidence OF
men who believe in public faith and sound
currency. The Republican party has had Its
warning in repeated defeats in those same
Eastern States, and if it has any wisdom, Will
not suffer any doubt to be raised as to Its
fidelity. Honesty is the best policy here
as elsewhere. The path of duty has
proved the path of safety to the Republl-
cans in many emergencies hitherto, and they
may rest assured that the duty to which the
President points them is one which cannot
with safety be neglected.
Year: 1879

Once in lifetime the opportunity comes to
a man to strike his best blow for right and
Justice Perhaps President Hayes may never
have a better opportunity than the one which
he has lust seized so manfully. In response to
all reports that he had departed from the po-
sition taken in his message, and in reply to
some objections by friend who dIssents from
the recommendations of the message in regard
70 tLe currency, the President sent Oh Thurs
day the following letter:


EXECUTIVE MANSION
WASHINGTON, Dee 4, 1879.
MI DEAR: You want money to be plenty. the rate
of interest 10 be low; at the time you the
money to he good You only have this state Of
,hIngs when there confidence the stability OF the
currency Capita will go where II Is uncertain in
what currency debts will be paid next month next
wear II the legal tender for debts depends the un
certain acton Of Congress there will be want OF conf
dence The only constitutional legal tender Is
gold aud silver. Depart from that and conf
dence a gone All the world now believes that in
vesrments In America likely TO be profitable
SOUND financial policy will bring money from all the


comm crcaI nations the earth. In good times prepare
for hard times in good times pay debts. The legal
tender debts Let them be paid by the In
the Treasury the coin that coming In rom abroad
and H. Will not the circulation Let ship
be he lded In the right direction. IL sound policy



time good times. Sincerely, Il Il. HAYES


Not even President Lincoln ever succeeded
in packing more sound sense into few words.
This short, unofficial and apparently hasty
letter. is worth more than dozen speeches
or messages of the ordinary sort. IL is the
best thing yet done by President Hayes, and
a better thing, in respect to the currency, has
not yet been done by any man. In these
few lines there is the true Gospel of
finance, which wall surely prevail because
il is the truth. The marvellous blessings
which have been showered upon this Nation
have been rewards of the Nations fidelity to
ITS pledges. If the Nation ceases to seek jus-
tice, if it ceases 20 keep its honor bright and
to tread the path of duty, it has no right TO
expect that bountful crops here and grow
ing demand abroad will continue to enrich
the land.


The urgent appeal of the President IL not
in conflict with the recommendations of Sec
rotary Sherman. The President points to the
end toward which an honest and wise nation
should move the Secretary defines the first
step in that progress Removal of the le-
BARTENDER quality of United States notes
is the natural and proper sequence of
the resumption already accomplished, as
it is the first step toward final
retirement OF as many of the notes as the
country may not need to retair - circulation.
1t will be noticed that the ..esident, with
rare discrimination, points out the fact that
it liz only the legal-tender quality of the notes
Year: 1879

Government repudiate its contract and' hi V,"-
laion of It's promise, las taxes upon those WHO
lent it money to help put down the re-
belion, in order that those who were
engaged in rebellion may 20 untaxeu'
That is nll. But they don't want TO RUE
the country. Oh, no! They just want 10
be let alone and given an opportunity TO
prosper. What would they do if they should
ever become ambitious of power and want to
10
Year: 1879

by his wife with attempting to poison
her with supposed medicine, which she
wisely tried upon cat and responder
with the statement that he had aiieady
undergone church investigation upon all
the charges made by his wife, who was
insane. A savings bank which is attempting
to recover money loaned upon mortgage u
met by the extraordinary defence that the
mortgageor who Is a woman, has been blind
for forty years and imbecile for sixteen years,
and was, therefore, incompetent to make the
contract, which was made only seven years
ago.


The discussion as to the anti-slavery record
of the Methodist Church, far from abating'
seems to glOw warmer as IL extends. lhere
was n lively debate over 1T III Brooklyn
church on Sunday. and the controversy there
opened was supplemented by proceedings III
private clerical meeting yesterday. NO
doubt the affair will go much further. Mean
while the Rev. DIR. Coggeshall, who leads tins
revival of the question. is apparently surprised
that The TRIBUNE declined to grant him the
use of its columns for a reply to Mr. Oliver
John son. This was because the debate was
already Joined in The TRIBUNE between Mr.





the Editor of The Methodist Quarterly Rer'er'
seemed to have good right to speak for his
denomination. We printed two replies from
DIR. Wbedon. and two rejoinders from Mr..
Johnson. OF course it would be impossible 10
take everybody into such controversy anu
we conceive that we do what is far when
we admit one on each side and give both the
same chance TO be heard.


The XLVIth Congress would have at
least one thing to be proud of If 1t should pro-
vide the needed regulations TO govern the
counting of the electoral vote. There
is little hope that it will 10 so now,
when the air is already vibrating with
the approach of the Presidential campaign,
and when four comparatively peaceful sessions
of Congress have been allowed to pass, since
the Winter of 1S76-'77, without anything
being accomplished in this direction. But one
step has been taken which may al
ford some encouragement to those who
still hope for legislation upon the sub
ject before the beginning of another
great contest. The House Committee specially
in charge of the question has reported a bill
which differs from that under consideration
by the Senate in one important particular.
The House bill provides that when the cleo
toral vote of State is in dispute the question
shall be submitted to the highest court of that
State, whose decision shall be final unless over
ruled 10y both houses of Congress. This latter con-
tingency, as our Washington dispatches sug-
eest, is not oveS-likely to occur. The Senate
bill provides that such question shall be SUBJ
mitted to that court of the State which the
State law shall designate. and that its decision
shall be final. 1t is stated that the Republican
members of the House Committee do not ap-
prove the new bill.
Year: 1879

A dealer IN counterfeit coin, having in his
employ at least thirty men who helped to get
kie money into circulation, must be one OF
the curlosities of illegitimate trade. The
police are congratulating themselves that they
now have this curiosity on exhibition, having
succeeded yesterday in adding it to theiI
already highly attractive collection.
Year: 1879

Senator Hoar appears as the sponsor of a
bill to create Labor Commission, whose
work is evidently intended to be the inteIli-
gent collection OF statistics upon the changes
wrought by labor-saving machinery, the present
condition of the aboring class. etc.. and not the
execution of any partisan or mischieyous pur-
pose such as the average proposition of this
kind means. Mr.. Hoar proposes commission
of FIVE persons TO hold Office for two years
and report to Congress annually through the
Secretary OF the Interior.


oI.a.a ara o,rotesnne shadous In the couri
Year: 1879

There was a genuine sensation yesterday in
the Lewis will case-that of the eccentric
millionaire who left all his property to
the United States Government, ard ig-
nored the woman who now claims to
have been his wife. Testimony was
given yesterday, seeming to disclose eOnspir-
scy between the would-be widow and Others
to manufacture evidence of q marriage, and
the process by which the marriage certificate
used in this case is said to have been forged
was described.
Year: 1879

The Southern Democrats are little
staggered when called upon to confront
their dogma of State sovereignty, and are
ready to plead an abb without proof to sus-
tain it, Even the Louisville COWier-JOurndl,
when the issue it has created is held up to
view, exclaims: "There is not party in
" the country which believes or asserts
" that the States are supreme" We assert
here and now that the Southern portion OF
the Democratic party-and that is about all
there is of it-during the late extra session
of Congress made the country by their ut
terances and acts believe that they believed
in State supremacy, and the country has
taken them at their word, and will settle
the account as presented and stated by
themselves 1t is too late, in the face of
recorded history, to attempt an escape now
from the full responsibility of the position
the Democrats have taken on this ques-
ton. The attitude assumed by that party
on the supervisors of election law, and the
right of the Nation to protect the ballot
boXin the election of National officers, even
in the use OF its own troops, if needs be, was
nothing less than u declaration that the
States are and shall be supreme, and that
the National power shall surrender its pre-
negatives to the States in the matter of the
election of its own officers.


THE COuricr-JourRdl cannot afford to say
that THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN has
"always been an organ of Napoleonism,'
unless it can afford to stand responsible for
palpable untruth. The NATIONAL RE-
PUBLICAN has stood fearlcssly by the Con-
stitution and the Union in their integrity,
aud unless that is Napoleonism, the charge
of the C-J cannot in any degree lie rgainst
it. 1t would be far better if our cotempo-
rary would get down to the work Of hon
estly sustaining this Government i'll its in
tegrity and supremacy in all matters re-
lating to the National welfare instead Of
skirmshing around under false colors, and
| like the waterman, look one way and row
the other There is no halfway house on
the road of loyalty to the Nation, and if the
C.-J. desires to secure for itself or its party
public confidence in their devotion to the
cause of National supremacy, they mus
make new and more consistent record fol
themselves ut the loyal end of the path
The people cannot be deceived any longer
| Int This mint
Year: 1879

There is no possibility of peace, or even of a
truce. until one the other party is utterly van
quished and either the Nation or the states de.
clared supremc.-7Hc National Republican.


Then there will never be any peace" if it
must come in that way. Neither the Union
or the States can possibly be supreme" as
compared to the other, aud all such statements
are bosh.-Montgomery (Ala) Adrertis,r.


Whether " bosh or not the men who
conquered the rebellion will never consent
to the doctrine that there is no supreme
power in the Constitution of the United
States over every inch of its territory, and
they will fight it out on that line if it takes
centuries. TO consent that the Nation is
not supreme over all its domain is TO con-
cede the right of secession and that the
bond of union may be broken at will by
any State combined within its compact. 1t
is the seed of secession and rebellion that
the South is now fructifying under the
banner of peace, and so long as that is at
tempted, rs we said before, there is no pos
sbilty of q permanent peace or even of
truce, until that question is settled by full
concession that the Nation is supreme, or
one or the other of the parties to the issue
| lS ullCIlg NduiuloASd' lAp illISlANy anu
supremacy of the Nation was the objective
point ofthe war to crush rebellion, and that
principle of right will never be yielded by
the loyal people of the United States until
| they and their children and their chldren's
children shall have been vanquished and
wiped out The South, if it intends to per-
petuate in this Nation the heresy of State
supremacy, did not reopen that question
one moment too soon for the National well
fare. The sooner the issue is made, the
sooner over, for the end must come some
time. That dogma will never be tolerated
| by the cOnquerors of the rebellion. They
will not resort to force in arms to resist it
unless, as in 1861, the unity and integrity
of the Nation demand it, but they will
meet it at the ballot-box and there COM
bat it until it is everthrown by popular sem
timent Their readiness to do this is
evidenced by the popular developments
since the late extra session of Congress. So
soon rs it became apparent that the doctrine
of State sovereignty was to be the rallying
centre of the late insurgent States, the loyal
people met it in every loyal State, and thus
far it has been literally crushed out by the
ballot This is and will continue to be the
absorbing and controlling question until the
South makes fulland faith full surrender OF
the heresies that led TO the war,
Year: 1879

country, and to cherish its strength, how
ever discouraging the attempt may be- in
every State, county, town and hamlet in
the Union, it will most assuredly render
itself liable to the charge that it cares only
for the North, and that it is engaged in ar
raigning the South for its misconduct solely
and simply to unity the Northern States.
Wherever as in Florida, North and South
Carolina and Tennessee, the chance is Of
fered to foster the growth of its principles,
there should this effort be especially made
and this encouragement be most willingly
extended. Besides, it must not be forgotten
that Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina
saved the Nation and the party at the last
election.
Year: 1879

GENERAL Arthur, chairman of the New
York Republican State committee, gives it
as his deliberate opinion that the whole
Republican State ticket will be elected by
from twenty to thirty thousand majority,
and that Mr.. CoRNELLs majority will reach
nearly one hundred thousand over ROBIN
son. With such margin and a vigorously
worked canvass, such as the Republicans
have in hand, there cannot be much doubt
of the success of the Republican cause in
the Empire State.
Year: 1879

Mr.. CLARKsoN N. POTTER, Democratic
candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New
York, declined, refused and repudiatod the
idea Of his being nominated for any Office
by the Syracuse convention in the most


emphatic language at his command. But


he accepted the nomination nevertheless,
and in his letter Of acceptance referred to
This emphatic denial, saying, in effect, that


be yielded to the superior power of the reg
ularly constituted authorities of the Demo-


cratic party His Inconsistency in this
Especial regard was all the more apparent
because he first declined denomination for


Governor and then accepted the candidacy
!or Leutenant-G Governor His Democratic
friends and supporters entirely ignore this
little crooked incident in his career but
lhey do not ignore the fact that General
GRANT has been reported rs having de-
,lned the Presidential nomination, nor do
lhey neglect any opportunity to remark
hat his probable acceptance of it, to save
The Government from falling into the hands
Of its enemies, would be an inconsistent act.
Mr.. PorrERs refusal, written as it was with
all the formality Of letter TO the delegates
of the convention at whose hands ho was
Year: 1879

ONE of the probable blunders of the
coming session of Congress will be an at
tempt to abolish our foreign missions. On
the bald pretense of economy, the Demo-
cratic majority in that body will essay to
further disgrace the Government by with
drawing its diplomatic representatives from
the courts and governments of the civilized
world. However strong this argument may
be, and however ridiculous the display of
American diplomacy may be made to APP
pear, there are many reasons, and good ones,
in support Of continuance of the present
system. Not the least of these is the fact,
conceded by intelligent and unpreiudiced
people generally, that the dignity and i'm
portance of the United States would suffer
by its abrogatiOn. AS an incentive to emil
grafton, alone, directly or indirectly our
legations abroad are worth more than they
cost, and as reliable agencies through which
to obtain accurate, intelligent and unpreju-
diced accounts of the progress of govern
mental affairs abroad they are invaluable.
And, as we have said before, the presence of
direct and vicariOus representatives Of our
Government is required at all times I'M
peratiyely required, for the protection of
our native-born and naturalized citizens
who may visit beyond our borders either
for business, adventure or pleasure The
faithful and discreet performance of this
duty has saved us in the past from bloody
and expensive wars, notably with Spain in
the Yirginius affair, and will be required
for similar emergencies in the future