smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

An unauthenticated rumor, purporting to
be telegraphed from London, and stated as
originating in the latter place no one knows
how, declares that His Holiness Pope Plus
died yesterday at Rome. While we sincerely
hope that this s'strong rumor" is as destitute
of backbone of fact as many which have
preceded it from the same source, the
public is aware that man of the great
years and manifold bodily infrmities of the
Pontiff is, almost at any time, likely to pay
the debt of nature. More than any man of
his generation has Pope Plus furnished food
for rumors about his probable demise. He
has, however, been as persistent in living as
the rumor-mongers have been in kill
ing him. Six years ago he reached
'sthe years of Peter" which he had
been told at his coronation he need not ex-
pect to see. Plus did not die in Difference
to this time-honored tradition any more
than he did to please the ultramontane anti
Christ, Victor Emmanuel, or the apocalyp-
tic animal which all true sons of the Church
see under Prince Bismarck's pickelhdabe
But he is an old man who has borne a
weight of years, of ailments and of sor-
row, who has seen the Papacy shorn day by
day Of it's power, who has seen his friends,
his councillors and trusty champions fall
beside him, and the end must come at last.
Should it unfortunately take place at the
present time it could not fail to add an
other to the delicate complications which
exist in Europe. for the election of a new
Pope would bring many grave interests into
collisinn
Year: 1877

It is o great while since there has been any
extensive disturbance of the peace in a South
ern State that it was not sought for political
also great while since anybody's life has
been threatened on the neither side of Mason
and Dixon without an appeal to Washington
for troops. This mornings news from Ken
tucky will, therefore, appear as refreshing
novelty. 1t is pleasant to find that the
American people still have spirit enough to
get up an insurrection on other than
monotonous political issues, and yet more
agreeable to know that the Governor of q
State believes it possible to confront do
mestic foes with domestic force. The war
now actually on foot in Kentucky is one of
a kind that RACES from time to time in every
community of people where semi-savage in
habitants of remote mountain district are
in collision with an advancing civilization.


1t is the analogue of our anti-rent war and
of the whiskey rebellion and Of those
extensive collisions with highwaymen
and counterfeiters that have been so
common in the annals of all the Western
States. In Kentucky this sort of irregular
vitality was stamped out at one time. But
the war between North and South, and the
lessened energy of State authority as to
domestic difficulties incident toi it, have, per-
haps, furnished the occasion for the growth
of new generation of fellows who must
be taught by energetic examples the pro-
priety of restraining their personal impulses.
Year: 1877

Our pulpit topics from week to week are
a pretty fair gauge of the ecclesiastical at
mosphere. When the natural thermometer
is below the freezing point the pastors are
intensely topical but when those persons
are absent from the city who are supposed
to be able to pay for and to appreciate o
good pulpit play the actors do not indulge
in this form of treatment of their subjects.
Great minds can be appreciated only by
great minds, and anything is good enough
for the dog days--the lighter and more airy
the better Hence Herod's ballroom sug-
pestive of fun and frolic, interrupted though
it was by death and dlshonor-will
be opened by Mr.. Herr; the rights
of women will be considered histori-
cally and religiously by Mr.. Mccarthy,
who will also demonstrate that retribution
and punishment are inevitable and irreversi-
BILE. The history and power of word and
a sketch of Lot will be given by Mr.. Moment,
while DR.. Wescott explains the duty of
children to parents and shows what church
prosperity is and how it may be secured


A few extraordinary Christians will be ex-
hibited by DR.. Deems and the souls worth
and Gods faithfulness will be set forth and
enforced by Mr.. Hull. The temperance
people will have good opportunity alter
this to 90 into the whiskey manufacture, for
Mr. johnson will explain to them how the
Year: 1877

Some of the English journals are criti-
who have announced their intention to re-
lieve tourists from the annoying tax levied
upon them in the form of gratuities to SER
wants. The point of the criticism is that
the movement, while purporting to be in
the interest of the guests, is in reality in the
interest of the hotel employees and probably
of the proprietors themselves. Those
servants who do not come in contact
with the guests-the cooks, scrubbers
and others-grumble at being debarred
from the valued privilege of ''tips,"
and begin to demand double the wages Of
their more favored brethren to compensate
for the disadvantage under which they rest.
To get out Of the difficulty the hotel keepers
have hit upon the expedient of making o
small increase in the pay of their employees
and putting stop to the bestowal of ''gra-
tuities" by including them in the bill The
idea of making gratuity an established
charge is certainly a novelty, but mas
much as the guests will at least know the
extent of the tax, as the landlords will
make an additional profit out of it, and as the
servants will exchan @ an uncertainty for a
certainty, probably it ought to be satisfac-
tory all round.


great deal is said about this gratuity
business on the "grand tour" and English
men after Continental trip and Americans
after q European visit are emphatic in their
complaints Of the impositions to which they
have been subjected by the hotel employees
into whose hands they have fallen by
the way. Yet, after ALL neither Englishmen
nor Americans fare much better at home.
We should like to see the hotel in England
at which the magic potency of ''tip" was
not needed to obtain those substantial CON-
forts so much desired by travellers. Let
any American who has ever spent week at
q watering place at home recall the vacant
look with which he is received in the dining
room if he has not made things pleasant
with the head waiter; the difficulty he has in
finding a seat at table, and the impos-
sibiity of obtaining the same seat at two
consecutive meals. Let him remember the
| length of the service and the shortness OF
the side dishes if he has not oiled the palm
of his attendant the number OF times he
must press the knob of the indicator to
produce the presence of coored
gentleman, and the slowness of the ap.
proach of the ice water if he has
not evinced his appreciation OF the
ebony imps of the bell. We should like
to know whose children can get enough
milk to drink or good saucer of '.blood
gravy" until the outside requirements of the
second table" have been attended to-
"Tips" are necessary evils in all countries
and they bring their full value. If they
should be prohibited by a law of the land and
,'put in the bill, as it is proposed to do il
in Switzerland the ''gratuity' would still
be slyly slipped into the hands OF those ty
rants of the travelling public, the hote
'help."
Year: 1877

The GREAT FIRES that have desolated some
of our sister cities naturally suggest an inquiry
as to our own danger and the means at our dis
posal to grapple with large confagration.
That portion of New York peculiarly exposed in
such a contingency is mapped out in other col
nmns. The Chief Engineer of the Fire Depart
ment gives his views on the subject. The ques-
tion is of very great interest to n large portion
of our citizens and ought to receive more than a
mere passing notice. West Washington Market
should be torn down as soon as possible. AS
long as that rookery of wooden sheds is allowed
to stand that whole section Of the city is in con-
stant peril
Year: 1877

fashionable drinks Of the day are COM
will make spread" of this subject to-day
SO that no one will be likely to drink liquor
again until-the winter comes when it will
be needed, SO the topers say, to produce
warmth
Year: 1877

THE DETERMINATION of the Orange societies
to hold no parade the 18th of July will be
approved by the majority Of sensible people. 1t
ls far wiser to spend the day with their families
along the sea shore and in the country than in
foolish marching through hot and crowded
streets
Year: 1877

AN IDEA Of the financial and commercial i'm
portance of New York may be obtained from the
transcript of the transactions of the Post Office
for three months, which will be found elsewhere.
The steady growth of its postal business is the
surest evidence of the growth of the city.
Year: 1877

INFANT MoRTAIITY.-The mortality among
young children during the past week has been
unusually large-largcr than any week since the
beginning of summer. Fresh air is the best
medicine for the little ones. All who can 20
into the country will, of course, go; but there
nre thousands and thousands Of children whose
parents are too poor to take them out OF the
sickcning heat and dust. and there can be no
better charity than to aid some Of the societies
who are dcvoting themselves to tho little ones
In this way Perhaps the most efficient service
that could be rendered in the charity of caring
for the little ones wond be to aid the authorities
in the attempt to suppress the sale of swill milk,
by which the little ones arc poisoned to death
Year: 1877

The flavor Of butter that has been washed
is different from that which has not been
washed. When uuwashed there is always a
little butter-milk and sugar kdhering to the
butter that gives it q peculiar flavor in addi-
ton 70 that Of pure butter, which many peo-
pie like when It is new. Washing removes
all this foreign matter and leaves only the
taste Of the butter pure and simple. Those
who prefer the taste of the butter TO the for
eign Ingredients mixed with il like the wash
cd butter best


The assertion is often made and many peo-
pie believe that water washes out the flavor
Of the butter, but it only cleanses the butter
Of the buttermilk, sugar and milk acid, which
may adhere to it, just as clarifying sugar
removes from it the foreign matters which
modify its true flavor. The flavor Of butter
consists of fatty matters which do not COM
bine with water at all. and cannot therefore
be washed away byit.


The effect Of washing upon the keeping
qualities of the butter depends upon the pu-
rity of the water with which the washing is
done. If the water contains no foreign mat
ter which will effect the butter, it will keep
better for washing out than by working ii out.
But if the water is hard from the presence
of lime, or contains anything that would in-
jure the butter by contact with it, washing
becomes an injury instead of benefit to its
keeping Nothing but the best and purest
water should be used about butter. Very
hard water is always Questionable. 1t is
not, however, so Objectionable as the water
from wells which contain muddy sediment
so full Of organic matter as to become tainted.
Water standing over such mud takes in the
taint, and if used for washing butter is sure
to injure for long keeping. There is good
deal of water otherwise good which is rem
rendered entirely unfit for using about butter
by reason of sediment at the bottom of tue
well-Boston Journal Of Chemistry.
Year: 1877

Nothing is more absurd than the excite
ment which prevails about election times in
in regard the choice OF rulers; and when II
is all over, even those who have taken an &c.
tive part in these excitements wonder what
it all means


In the south We see particularly how ride.
ulous is the regard which people have for
politics. Whether A or b shall rule is Of
ten regarded as more important than the reg
ular pursuit Of life, liberty or happiness; /;
indeed, it is more than likely that the shrewd
politician has thoroughly imbued bis dupcs
With the impression that uRless A gets in
aud b gets defeated there is no happiness,
aud life and liberty n not worth having.
This sort Of feeling predominatiug, the south
is entirely crippled. A large proportion of
the time and means Of the southern people
are wasted in these pursuits, and we see and
deplore the results.


But though not perhaps so bad in the
north as in tho south, "pOlitcs" is a bad
disease even here, and ranks with the
grasshopper, the murrain, the hog
cholera and various other plaques in
keeping the farmer-as we'll as other classes
poor.


No one should ignore politics in the prop
or sense OF the word. There are scores of
public questions which affect the interest of
the cultivator Of the soil, and which il is his
interest TO understand and to act on wisely
when election time comes round but in
nine-tenths of the issues made at most cleo
tions there is nothing whatever involved that
SO materially concerns his interests as to
make it the exciting struggle it often proves
to be. 1t may be that the country or the
districts in the country are better under dem
ocratic or under republican rulers, in 30 far
as the principles Of these different parties
are concerned; but the main road to pros
perity lies more in ones individual industry
and business capacity, than in the abstract
principles of political rulers. If the rulers
be honest men. it may still be better in ad-
dition that they be of the opinion We think
best for the whole country. But what il
they are mott Why should we act as if all
were lost The spring will come. We can
plant and sow, we can cultivate aud care for
the crops, we can harvest our grain and
| onthar nur fruita and thouoh our mn II a ..
may perhaps not be quite as good, our taxes
be little more, our public works little
less remunerative than we think they would
are if our views were followed, it will not b.
so very bad for the industrious man.


Let us be thankful that our excitement i,
about over, and let US lie down to our farm
work like sensible men.--German ntoton Tel
eqraph.
Year: 1877

1t seems to be the general remark that the
New England states are preparing for their
seasons work in earnest determination 10 do
something to stop the leak which is going on
In our foraging department 1t is said that
the state of Maine alone is annually buying
three millions of bushels OF corn at cost Of
two and half millions Of dollars, and about


the same figures fol- -four in addition to her
own production. 1t would seem from this
that our state was fast going to the dogs.
Now it is proposed to raise this surplus at
home by an increased acreage and a better
system of husbandry, and the whole question
lies 10 one word--manure, and its application
to the soil. AT a recent meeting Of the
Maine board Of agriculture it was stated that
Maine had larger record Of corn and wheat
per acre than the west. Well, this is mol
surprising, as the western farmer uses no ma


nure be is only limited to the number o.


acres he is able to plow, while for US Il
plant or SOW without manure would be sim


pie folly. Thus We are limited to just wha


we can manure we'll. Twenty cords to th,
acre of good barnyard manure is the stand
ard for most agricultural writers. Butwher


have so much hungry soil l prefer to dis
tribute this amount over two acres. l cal
raise good satisfactory crops Of corn to to-


cords Of manure; but wheat requires Iii
Year: 1877

II is sometimes the case that special ma
nures do not seem to answer the purpose for
which they arc designed. Although made
after approved formulas they are not salts
factory to the buyer and reflect no credit on
the manufacturer. To many farmers this
fact seems to be abundant proof that the
whole theory Of special fertilizers is radically
wrong and that no reliance can be placed
upon them. But in this we think they judge
too harshly. They forget tho very impor-
tant fact that fertilizers should not only be
adapted to the crops which are TO be grown
but also to the soils to which they are ap-
piled. We are confident that the special
fertilizer theory is correct as far as it goes.
If we are TO raise corn we ought to furnish
the land with Just those materials which corn
takes from the soil while if wheat is grown
we need q very different kind Of fertilizer be-
cause wheat takes the elements Of fertility
from the land in different proportions from
the corn crop. So far SO good. But it
should be kept in mind that soils vary as
we'll as crops and that fertilizer which under
certain circumstances is just adapted to a
certain crop will, under other conditions,
prove imperfect. Some soils contain large
quantities Of vegetable matter aud are very
deficient in mineral elements, while others
contain the mineral matters to excess aud a :e
deficient in other respects. Now it is evi-
dent that manure which is just suited tc
produce a good crop Of corn 10 one Of these
kinds of soil will not be just right for the
other kind. One kind Of land will need the
application Of mineral elements almost to
exclusion of the vegetable, while others,
which already contain large quantity oi
mineral matter, require the addition of some
thing Totally different. So, let no one be
discouraged if his experiments with special
fertilizers do not, at first, prove all which
he desires. The fertilizer may be all right
for the crop but not adapted to the soil.
Whether this is the case or not can be de.
termiucd by experiment and if it be found to
be the cause OF the failure the mixture can
be modified for succeeding crops. We be-
lieve there is such thing as furnishing both
crops and soils with just the elements they
require and without the admixture Of large
quantities of useless materially E. Home
stead.
Year: 1877

In some districts there is probably no rem
edy for dry or empty wells, especially where
water is found Just upon or above granite or
rock foundation. When the usual supply is
exhausted. there is no other recourse but to
wait for the influx of water from heavy falls
of rain. Such cases, however, are exception
al, and in most localities tho simple remedy
for lack or scarcity Of water is to deepen the
wells. BY digging down to water in a time
Of drought, never-failing supply is usually
secured--ln fact it is almost impracticabe
to obtain it at any other time, as an excess
OF it prevents going to a sufficient depth.
The easiest method with which We are ac-
quainted for reaching water in well already
dug but dry, says the Portland Press, is to
sink barrel or hogshead its entire length
at the bottom Of the we'll This barrel or
hogshead should be made of ASA or oak, well
hooped and without heads, and Of such diam
eter as to allow easy descent inside OF the
bricks or stones OF which tho we'll is made
Tho earth and water can be removed in the
ordinary way, and as the amount will not be
large, without the use Of the more expensive
methods required in digging well from the
beginning. 40


The bottom of a well will not be found to
be the coldest and most uncomfortable place
10 the world at this season of the year, aud
we presume the entire job can be done with
less risk and suffering than is incurred il
some morning tramp to a distant stream with
a drove of farm stock. Wnile We recon,
mend and prefer this way on account of its
economy and simplicity, aud because it Sc
cures a present and future supply Of water,
we also advise as a temporary expedent the
substitution Of the iron pipej used in the drive
well system. These may be very readily
driven down in dry well to the necessary
depth aud connected with pump, aud sub
sequently upon the return Of high water arr
easily removed. We trust that uone Of ou
readers will be guilty Of abusing themselve
or their animals by unnecessary exposure tc
the cold in search OF water. Ii practicable
they should without delay test the plan
suggested, or any others that their ingenuity
may devise.-GermantOtoA telegraph.
Year: 1877

In the last number of the FARMER this
question raised by Mr.. Averil and answered
by Mr.. Hubbard is On important one now
that the price of this esculent rules so very
high that every tuber should be made to
serve the purpose for which it is best adapt
ed. So | will give 10 my testimony by way
of "experience."


More than 80 years ago while living in
Connecticut river town, plowed up a
small piece of pasture laud quito late in the
season, upon which flock of sheep!had made
1t their custom to take nights lodging. The
land was planted with the smallest potatoes
to be found in the celar-the largest, if l
remember, no larger than a hens egg-and
down to half that size The result was as
fine crop of good sized potatoes as | ever
raised. This success inspired me with the
belief that small seed was quite as good as
large. The next year another small field
was planted with small seed but the crop
was hOV uu'O SO hOoFJi hN tho buuOiS Se
large as in the former case, owing, partly al
least, to the land being poorer. At Other
times for a single year, or two, small seed
has been used without apparently diminish
ing the crop.


For several consecutive years after re'
moving to this town the experiment wa
tried of planting only small potatoes; ant
l have come to this conclusion, that tho crop
will not sensibly diminish for year or two
but if the practice is continued it will de-
cline and finally "run out" Large and me
dium sized tubers are now used and believe,
to be the best practice in the long run, Gu
up as is the practice Of Mr.. Hubbard.


s. Il. q.


WiimiaGtoA. AprH 30.
Year: 1877

In conclusion want TO say, when you 60
into your orchard to pruno don't try to sec
how much yon can take of from each tree.
But, on the other hand, see how much you
can leave on without deiriment to tho tree !;
aud don't cut an otherwise useful limb be-
cause tho head is little out of balance.
Time will usually correct that. Aud don't
try to make the heads Of all all varieties
equally open, If q tree is naturally dense
let IL be dense still. Don't try to make the
head of Red Astrachan like King Of
Tompkins County, nor reduce the number
Of branches in Northern Spy to as few as
the st. Lawrence naturally carries For
whom the bearing stage comes the weight Of
fruit opens them out, and by the foliage you
have retained you have gained the larger
amount of bearing wood.