smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1874

To the boy, the world beyond his inn
mediate surroundings Is only picture.
He does not know how real are the sor-
rows, the passions, the ambitions of men.
Its absorbing interests, its heroes and its
martyrs, are heard of by him without
understanding, or with indifference. His
sport, his lessons, his home life, are
alone real But there will come a
change. The ordinary slow growth into
manhood, with its business or profess
sional pursuits and widening relations,
or startling events, such as the death Of
a parent, or some intellectual or spirit
ual appeal, striking out the latent soul,
will make vivid and earnest what was
indistinct and uninteresting. Like a
stereoscope picture before it is put in the
stereoscope, the life of man has no body
or reality; but when the boy awakens, as
with the picture within the instrument
so with him, solidity and naturalnesf
will be acquired by the external world
and he will feel that it is henceforth tc
live and move amongst these grandel
and graver forms. Many mistakes will
he commit, false estimates will he form
of proportion and perspective, the earn
estness of his new conceptions will hur
ry him into extravagances and generous
errors; but if there is truth IN his ma
ture, and nobleness in his spirit, jus
views will be formed, and the day il
which it is given him to work will fnt
him not unmindful of the responsibilit,
which arises from knowledge of tn,
coming night.
Year: 1874

The Vicksburg Miss Herald of May
"a, says: The center span of the Nicks-
burg and Meridian Railroad bridge
across Big Black River fell early yester-
day morning with a tremendous crash,
and left that splendid structure an utter
wreck. The destruction of the bridge,
and the causes that produced it, are re-
markable. A solid mass of earth fifty
feet wide, several hundred feet long, and
more than twenty feet in depth, has act
ually moved bodily toward the center OF
the river, and dropped down eight or ten
feet below the original surface. By this
sudden subsidence of the immense heap
of earth a mammoth bridge pier of solid
masonry forty feet wide, fifteen feet
thick and seventy feet high was moved
bodily to the eastward, distance of six
or seven feet, where it now stands as
solid and perpendicular as the day it was
built. These piers were constructed in
1S39-40 by Mr.. Van Rensselaer,, very
skillful builder. A number of springs





always bubbled up from the bank of the
river near the middle pier of the bridge,
carrying out vast quantities of sand, and
thus undermining the first pier The
only plausible theory seems to be that an
arch was thus formed, and when the earth
became so deeply saturated with water
after six weeks of almost continuous
rains the arch gave way beneath the
pressure, and allowed the whole mass of
earth bearing upon it to fall and fill up
the cavity. At the same time the piles
have retained their relative positions to
the moving pier, preserving their per-
pendicularity, thus proving that the
moving cause lies deep below their base.
Even trees standing on the moving mass
ofearth were carried along without shak-
ing their foundation, or causing them to
lose their erect position"
Year: 1874

Multitudinous are the ways on record
for detecting thief, but there is one
species of sinner that often de6es detec-
ton. A light finger may be crippled,
but light tongue is hard to stop. The
blush of conscious guilt does not always
follow fib, and of all self-possessed men
the professional prevaricator is the calm
est. The tact of successful eoncealment
is often characteristic of the youngest
falsifer, and his precocious depravity is
often blank study to the keenest NOR
alist or physiognomist. 1t has been left
to the genius of the physician to discov-
er a sure way of detecting at least juv-
emile prevaricator. The discoverer of
this method is member of the medical
profession i'll Greene, Chenango county,
and his name is DIR. Williams.


The other evening several mischiey-
Gus boys broke into the school-house in
that place, built fire in the same, and
were preparing for hilarous time when
discovered that the Board of Education
was after them. Although the school
house was surrounded before they got
wind Of the danger, they managed TO slip
out of the building unobserved. Some of
them had been recognized in the build
ing, however, and were brought up be-
fore the physician mentioned for exam
ination. The first boy put upon the stand
"knew nothing about the affair."" and as
serted his innocence with all the man
festations of veracity ip his countenance.
The Doctor was not satisfied. He took
hold of the boys wrist and felt his pulse.
The pulsations were unnaturally fast
Looking into the boys unwavering eye
and imperturbable face, he said: "Young
man, you are lying! You have not ut
tured one word of truth about the mat
ter! Your pulse is now running as high
as 140, and no person enjoying good
health, and telling the truth, would have
as rapid pulsations as thatW The pro-
blem of centuries was solved; the boy ac-
knowledged that he had broken into the
school house. Although the heart sent
no tell-tale blood to the face, it throbb
ed its confessions in the tiny pulse; and
science had again triumphed where hu'
man ingenuity had been at fault Uticc
| Herald.
Year: 1874

"I'll master it," said the axe, and his
blows fell heavily on the iron; but every
blow made his edge more blunt, till it
ceased to strike.


"Leave it to me-" said the saw; and
with his relentless teeth he worked back
ward and forward on its surface till they
are all worn down or broken; then he
fell aside.


"Ha! hap said the hammer, "I knew
you wouldn't succeed: I'll show you the
way" but at his first fierce stroke of
flew his head, and the iron remained as
before.


"Shall try?" asked a soft, small fame.
But they all despised the fame; but he
curved gently round the iron, and en-
braced it, and never left it until it melt.
ed under his irresistible influence.


There are hearts hard enough to resist
the force of wrath, the malice of perse
cution, and the fury of pride, so as tc
make their acts recoil on their adverse
ries, but there is power stronger thar
any of these, and hard indeed is tina
heart that can resist love.
Year: 1874

Mrs. Battles suffers from cold feet,
and the other night she warmed up a
brick, intending to take it to bed with
her. She laid it down by the bedside
while she attended to the baby, and then
she forgot about it and turned in. Af-
ter awhile Battles came over to the room
and when he had assumed his night-shirt
he began to say his prayers. When he
was about half way through, he happen
ed to move his knee little to the left,
and it came in contact with the hot brick.
For an instant he thought something had
stung him; and, jumping up, he got the
lamp and came back to ascertain what it
was. He saw the brick lying there, but
it never occurred to him that that was
the cause of the trouble, az he picked it
up for the purpose of throwing it out of
the window. Then he suddenly dropped
it with a cry of pain, and after an indig
nant denunciation of Mrs. Battles, he
procured piece of paper, and in fur
ious rage hurried the brick through the
window sash. 1t hit policeman who
happened to be standing on the pave
ment below, and in less than ten minutes
Battles was on his way to the Station
House, where he was locked up all night
upon a charge of assault and battery
He was released in the morning after
paying twenty dollars fine. He has moi
finished his prayers yet, and Mrs. Bat.
ties now warns her feet with flannel
petticoat.
Year: 1874

The White Pine (Nevada) Negs re-
cords the following: "Near the banks of
a beautiful stream of water, not many
hundred miles away, lived in happiness
and comfort an apparently loving couple.
But the insidIous, gay deceiver was, as
uaual, a friend of the family, and in due
course succeeded in making captive the
wife's affections. An elopement was ar
ranged and carried out by a most novel
ruse The husband having been engag-
ed in his usual avocation all day, and
feeling tired from labor performed, was
induced by his faithless wife to divest
himself Of his garments and take bath
in tub of water already prepared. With
thanks for the kind feelings which SEEM
ed to prompt the request on her part,
the unsuspecting man proceeded to do as
bid. Scarcely had he completely un-
dressed himself, when the wife of his bos-
ON jumped upon horse near at hand,
and dashed away furiously. We are in
formed that the chagrined and outraged
husband refused to follow the faithless
one, and is now rather glad to be rid of
"A bad bargain"
Year: 1874

The New York Evening Post has
paragraph 10 the effect that Mr.. George
w. Childs, whose attention has been at
tracted by statements of the neglect in
which the grave of Edgar Allen Poe has
so long been suffered to remain, has taxi
en- measures to erect, at his own expense,
a suitable monument over it, and that it
is desirable that the money which has
been contributed from other sources for
the purpose shall be kept as fund to
preserve the monument and grave in
proper order.


Mr.. Childs could hardly put few Of
his many thousands of dollars to better
use. As every Baltimorean knows, the
grave of the most brilliant genius ever
born on American soil is in a secluded
corner Of the churchyard at the corner
of Greene and Fayette streets, in this city.
There all that is mortal Of the poet has
lain these many years, unhonored with
any distinguishing mark-lonely, neg
lected and forlorn. The world has not
even done him that posthumous honor of
Building a monument DER him when dead;


Who living, went begging for crust Of bread"


True, there was fund raised and a
stone purchased some few years ago for
the grave, but it met with an accident
in the yard Of the stone cutter, and en-
deavors to collect money enough to re-
place il have been few and feeble, and
have met with small success; and 90 pri-
vate generosity steps in to do the duty
of public spirit, and from a strange city
the friendly hand is stretched out to
plant fitting memorial above the ashes
of the dead. Mr.. Child's gift will be a
noble and gracious one, and the return
we Of Baltimore can mf Ike is to assure
him that it will always be cherished and
pointed ont in pride as one Of the chiei
adornments Of our city.
Year: 1874

Aspecial train of a locomotive and
two pullman cars, recently ran over sew
eral hundred miles of the Midland Rail-
way in England at a rate of nearly sew
enty-fve miles per hour.


It is often asked why an express train
can not be made 20 run at far greater
speed than is now customary. With a
little more cost in keeping the track and
road bed in good condition, and strict
care that car-wheels and axles are of the
best quality, vast increase of speed
ought to be easily attainable on lines like
the New York Central and the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad.


The two chief difficulties in the way
are the universal practice of using the
same track for passenger and freight
trains, and the frequency with which
"switches," made necessary for the ext
gencies of a crowded line, are met. The
danger of collision with freight trains is
too great to permit ofa very high rate of
speed on the part of express trains, while
the danger of running off track while
crossing switches" eompels frequent
slackening OF the speed OF our ordinary
trains.


Were We 10 hmFe separste tracks fo-
freight and passenger trains, and were
the tracks used for the latter 10 be only
rarely complicated with switches, we
could secure for our fast trains, an aver
age of even more than seventy-fve miles
an hour, with even less danger than the
usual speed now. entails. The journey
to Albany could be made from New York
in two hours, and the time between New
York and San Francisco be reduced TO
less than three days.


Is it not time that we determine upon
developing the full power of the express
train? Is there any reason why we
should be content to travel thirty miles
an hour when it is entirely possible to
travel al double the speed?
Year: 1874

The power Of money is on the whole
over-estimated. The greatest things
which have been done for the world have
not been accomplished by rich men, or
by subscription lists, but by men gener-
ally of small means. The greatest think
ers, discoverers, inventors, and artists,
have been men of moderate wealth, many
of them little raised above the condition
Of manual laborers, in point of worldly
eircuWstatces. 1t will always be so.
Riches are oftener an impediment than a
stimulus to action, and in many cases
they are quite as much a misfortune as a
blessing. The youth who inherrts
wealth is apt to have life made too
easy for him, and he soon grows sated
with it, because lac has nothing left TO
desire. Having no special object to
struggle for, he finds time heavy on his
hands; remains morally and mentally
asleep; and his position In society is Of
ten no higher than that Of a polypus
over which the tide floats.
Year: 1874

FOLLOWED SMITHsoN.-A Massachu-
sets farmer says: "My cattle will follow
me until leave the lot, and on the way
up to the barn yard stop and call for a
lock of had" smithson says there is
nothing at all remarkable about that.
He went into barn yard in the coun-
try one day last week, where he had not
the slightest acquaintance with the cat
tie, and an old bull not only followed
him until he left the lot, but took the
gate off the hinges and raced with him
to the house in the most familiar way
possible. Smithson says he has no doubt
that the old fellow would have called for
something if he had waited little while


but he didn't want to keep the folks
waiting for dinner, he hung one tail OF
his coat and piece of his pants on the
bulls horns and went into the house.
Year: 1874

The completion Of the great steam
hammer, at Woolwich Arsenal, is re-
garded by the English press as work OF
great national importance. The weight
of the falling portion is forty tons, but
the force is increased by the use of steam
to drive it down. It is considered to be
at least four times more powerful than
the great hammer in the works of Herr
Krupp, the German gun-maker. The
fall is fifteen feet three inches. The
hammer is forty five feet high. The
weight of the part above ground is
about 500 tons, and of the iron in the
foundations 665 tons.
Year: 1874

The German Reichstag is hereafter
going to do its voting by telegraph. The
wires are to be SO arranged that each
member can indicate his vote from his
seat In front of his seat are two but.
tons, one indicating yes, the other no.
A pressure on the button telegraphs the
vote to circular table in front of the
Presidents desk, upon which all the
names of the members are written down
so that Immediately after pressing th'
button each member can see a piece o
paper under his name with yes or no OF
-
Year: 1874

Nothing 30 vexes a physician % 10 be
sent for in great haste and end little or
nothing the matter with the patient. An
eminent English surgeon was once sent
for by a gentleman who had received a
slight wound. On his arrival ne sent his
servant back In great haste to set GER
tain kind Of plaster. The patient, turn
ing pale, said: "sir, hope there is 40
danger" Indeed there Il" answered
the surgeon, "for if the fellow doesn't
run like a race-horsc, the wound viii BE-
healed before he can possibly get back T"
Year: 1874

For escorting home from singing
school maiden twice his own age an
Iowa boy was forced to turn the grind
stone eixteen consecutive hours. And for
the fun the boys father got out of this
part of the performance the court invited
him to deposit twenty dollars.
Year: 1874

The following is credited 10 q veteran
observer LAST year saw q watch spring
a note run, a rope walk, horae ay, and
even the big trees leave. I even saw D
plank walk, and a Third avenue bank
run, but the other day saw a tree box,
cat fsh, and stone fence. Tam pre-
pared 70 see the Atlantic coast, and the
Pacific slops"
Year: 1874

With many people who are past the me-
ridian of life, it often becomes difficult to
obtain good nights sleep; indeed. the
habit of waking at a certain hour OF the
night and lying awake for several hours be-
comes fixed, aud one which is very diificntt
to throw off. There may be various causes
which will produce this effect, but there is
one very prominent cause, and that Is lndl-
aestion: and i, digestion is often caused by
the habit OF drinking too much tea or other
fluids at supper; the consequence is that
steady and sound sleep through the night
becomes impossible without the use ofsome
means which will over come this propensi-
ty to lay awake.


To do this and go to sleep in five minutes
is not a very difficult thing, and may be
done by applying friction TO all parts OF the
baly and limbs. To accomplish it take a
crasl, tnwcl and give il lively motion IN
rubbing downward from the head until the
blood will be put in lively circulation rub
bin. hardest upon the chest. II the towel
/ iS MT nj hand. the hand may be used for
| The purpose.
Year: 1874

General Lee had a sententious way of
saying things which made all his utteran-
ces peculiarly forceful. His language was
always happily chosen, and single SEN
tence from his lips often left nothing more
to be said. AS good an example of this as
any, perhaps, was his comment upon the
military genius Of General Meade Not
very long after that officer took command
of the Army of the Potomac, skirmish oc-
Cured, and none of General Lees staff of
ficers being present, an acquaintance of
mine was detailed as his personal aid for
the day, and l am indebted to him for the
anecdote. Some one asked our chief what
he thought of the new leader on the other
side, and in reply Lee said, General Meade
will commit no blunder in my front, and if
| make one he will make haste to take adj
vantage of it." It is difficult to see what
more he could have said ON OF about the
subject.


| saw him for the last time during the
war, at Amelia Court House. in the midst
of the final retreat, and shall never forget
the heart-broken expression his face wore,
or the still sadder tones of his voice as he
gave me the instructions had come to ask.
The army was in utter confusion. 1t was
already evident that we were being driven
back upon the James River, and could never
hope to reach the Roanoke, on which stream
alone there might be a possibility of max
ing stand. General Sheridan was harrass-
ing our broken columns at every step, and
destroying us piecemeal. Worse than all,
General Lee had been deserted by the tec-
rified government in the very moment of
his supreme need, and the food had been
snatched from the mouths of the famished
troops, that the flight Of the President and
his followers might be hastened. The load
put thus upon Lees shoulders was very
heavy one for so conscientious u man to
bear; and knowing, as every Southerner
does, his habit of taking upon himself all
blame for whatever went awry, we cannos
wonder that he was sinking under the bur-
den. His face was still calm, as it always
was, but his carriage was no longer erect,
as his soldiers had been used to see it. The
troubles of those last days had already
plowed great burrows in his forehead His
eyes were red as if from weeping; his cheeks
sunken and haggard; his face colorless. No
one who looked upon him then, as nc stood
there in fpll view Of the disastrous end, can
ever forget the intense agony written upon
his features. And yet he was calm, self
possessed and deliberate. Failure and the
sufferings of his men grieved him sorely,
but they could not dauut him, and his NOR
| al greatness was never more manifest than
during those last terrible days. Even in
the final correspondence with Gen. Grant,
Lees manliness and courage and ability to
endure lie ON the surface, and it is not the
least honorable thing in General Grants
history that he showed himself capable of
appreciating the character of this manly
| foaman, as he did when he returned Lees
surrendered sword with the remark that he
knew of no one SO worthy as its owner to
wear it.-From Egglestoss "a Rebet's Rec
olleetioas."
Year: 1874

A tolerable fair idea of the present con-
dition of affairs at Panamint may be formed
from the following extract of a letter which
we find in the Eureka Sentinel:


But few structures that can be dignified
by the appellation of buildings are yet erect
ed. Every one is too much engrossed pros
pecting to look much to worldly comfort.
Tents of cloth and poles, huts Of rock and
shanties of bark adorn the place. The
largest building yet constructed is the mill
of Jacobs Wonder mine. Dave Nagle's
new building is under way and will be of
considerable size. Many of the inhabitants
live in tunnels and natural cavities in the
rocks, but one and all seem entirely regard
less Of the luxuries and comforts Of home
and rushing pell-mell, singly and in groups,
are seeking the hiding places of the earth's
riches. One thousand people are here now,
and more are arriving every day, coming in
all manner of vehicles, on horse and mule
back and on foot.


The Surprise Company, Jones and Stew
afts ~ haVing anoJner new mill erected and
lntend TO soon haun tho er1lsl,ars at xrnrlx
Those not prospecting are preparing for
business, and one and all are decided in the
expression Of the future success of the
mines and town.


The character of the ore is mainly quartz
containing silver and copper, and some
times little gold, and assays from $1Ce to
81, 900 ton. One lot just assayed shows
value Of s., 900, but it is a small quantity
and would not do to base an estimate on.


A great scarcity of eating and lodging
houses prevails; one is satisfied to sleep in
a corral, and a dish of bacon and beans with
a potato thrown in sometimes is meal not
to be sneezed at.


All known lodes, town sites, and water
rights have already been claimed, and there
is no certain profit save for the skilled
capitalists who have money to invest, Or
for the mechanics and laborers who seek
employment. Not one of ten of the other
classes at Panamint will make money, and
many of the mechanics will fare worse than
if they had stayed away.


Panamint is fifty miles east of the sum-
NIT of the Sierra Nevada, 200 miles from
Wilmington, the nearest sea port, and 1000
feet above the sea, in the midst of a desert,
with very hot summer climate, and little
wood or water in the vicinity. The expen-
ses of living must be very great there, and
the mines must be rich to pay people for
living in the midst of such desolation. The
greater the excitement, the greater the pro-
portion of those who will lose money by
it.
Year: 1874

To Wed or not TO wed?-that is The question
Whether it is wiser in man to Danish
Inc tempting visions of domestic comfort
Or 10 lead some damscl Of our times 10 the altar
And by marriage, end them? To wed-to doubt
No more; and by that act 10 say we end
Inc heart ache and the thousand wel-planned tricks
vi enteiprising mothers-'ts a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To wed, to enrich
The tradesmen, and to feed bad servaptsl
10 wed, perchance a spendthrift!-ay, there's the


rub


FOR TO what sort of wife we may be mated
When we have shufied off our bacheorhood
Must give us pause-Thcres the respect
Ihat makes celibacy of SO much practice:
For who would bear the impatient thirst for bliss,
The yearnings for some gentle confidant,
ne amatory frcnzies of ones loneliness,
The loss of buttons and of joints of meat,
When he himself might his quictus make
With bare Wedding ring? Who would lodging


bear,


10 groan and sweat under extortionate landladies,
But that the dread of helpless and expensive wives
And makes us rather bear those Ills we have -
Than hazard being taken in and done for?
Thus women do make towards of us all
And thus the hopeful heart of many a bachelor
Is sicklied DER with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of good will and spirit
WIN this regard for marriage turn away,
And lose the name of Husband