smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

The situationin in the Pennsylvania coal
fields has been very serious. A cores
pondent of the Cincinnati Commercial in
that region, says that, with several thou
sand troops encamped in Luzerne County,
violence and successful intimidation
are every day occurrences. The last
instance is the stopping of the pumps in
some of the mines near Carbondale.
The flooding of the mines is one of the
most desperate resorts of the strikers.
1t not only entails great damage to the
machinery in the colleries, but renders
them practically useless for months after
the settlement of the disputed points
between the men and the company have
been accomplished, thereby increasing
the hazard by consequential damages.


Soldiers have been guarding the rail-
road tracks for miles, and yet it was
nightly occurrence that attempts were
made to throw the passenger cars from
The road. Volleys of shots were fired
into the passengers, and other forms of
outlawry committed at unprotected
points. Thus far the passengers have es-
capped with their lives but several have
been seriously wounded. One young
lady was confined to her bed several days,
suffering from wound received in these
attacks upon night train.


The last phase of the strike is unlocked
for, and as it affects the Western markets
and industrial pursuits, we will give the
details briefly: The miners in the employ
of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com
pany, at the inception of the strike of
the railroad employees, made it common
cause for an advance in wages. This
demand has not been acceded to, and
the works remain idle. Acts of violence
against the property of the company
have occurred, and the United States
soldiers have been called upon to disperse
the rioters and to guard the works. In
the meantime a number of the smaller
companies have encouraged their men
to continue work by making an advance
in wages of ten per cent. Owing to the
light production for the Western market
from the Wyoming region and from
which the Lehigh Valley Railroad is the
outlet, the demand has been brisk, and


the circular prices have been strength.


ened. The sympathy between men and


employers has most happily been aug


mented. But at this moment new OBJ


struction is thrown athwart the brigh
horoscope of the steady producers by
the issuing of new freight schedule OF
the Lehigh Valley road increasing tht
tariff eighty cents per ton to Buffalo.


The effect of this unexpected tax i


likely to work most disastrously, as a
the present price of coal the operator


are forced into losing business or mus
I discharge their men. The operators to
gether with the Western dealers VIII
are here, speak of the rise in tolls wit
no less emphasis of denunciation tha


it has been their won't to talk of refrac
tory miners. Every ton of coa
: that leaves this valley for the lakes
taxed to an extent that justifes the il
: ference that the Lehigh Valley Compan
y mean to control the market and the pre-
i duction, even though their extensiy
Ii works lie idle.
Year: 1877

The ideal perfect life thatmen imagine
is always one in which pain forms no
part, yet curiously, in all the life we
know, pain is ever the penalty paid for
superiority. The higher the organism in
the scale of being, the greater its ca
pacity for pain; this is the universal
rule. Mutilation, such as an insect
bears without apparent Inconvenience,
will kill reptile. A fish or reptile
disregard injuries that would be quickly
fatal to a mammal through nervous
shock. A savage laughs at wounds that
would rack the nervous system of a
civilized man with acutest agony. Thus
in every Instance capacity for pain is
the measure of development. Evolution
being attended by an ever-increasing
complexity and delicacy of nervous
organization, it is inevitable thatincreas
ing liability to nervous arrangement
must mark every upward movement in
the scale of being. Will the price of
elevation ever rise so high as to put an
end to progress in this direction? There
would certainly seem to be possibility
of such result, when we consider the
| fate of those most admirable persons
| who are. as we say, too finely strung for
this rude world The acuteness and
delicacy of their sensibilities make them
at once the highest moral and intellectual
types of humanity, and physically the
most unfortunate. And they rarely or
never leave behind them vigorous
| family.
Year: 1877

A trapper signing himself II. J. Kim
ball writes from Houghton, Mich, to
the editor of the Chicago Inter Ocean,:
In looking over one of your old numbers,
l saw where it mentions Prof. Donald
son as being lost in the pineries of Michi-
gan. / was on the south branch of the
Big Manistee River, some forty and
half miles east of the lake, soon after
he made the ascension that this paper
speaks of, looking for trapping grounds
/ found a piece of white ash about five
feet long, five feet of cord attached to it,
with canvas ropes onto it, the same as
ships sails, and made fast to the ropes,
and some other goods made fast to that.
1 don't know what it was. A short way
from that found corpse lying face
down, no coat or boots on undershirt,
/ think, was silk, and had been torn open
from the shoulder downward to the
waistband of the pants. Hewas so badly
swollen that / did not touch him.
supposed he had been murdered by the
Indians. There was near by an envelope
mailed at Detroit, Michigan, to some
one at Chicago; could make out the name,
with some figures on it, suns altitude,
and turn and direction of the wind. If
this is worth anything to his friends
they are welcome to it, and if there is a
reward for him and trap there next
winter / will try and find some of the
wreck. If this was the man there must
be some parts of the balloon near by.
Year: 1877

PAIL MALL Gazette: An interesting
experiment was made at horse-slaugh-
tering establishment at Dudley, with a
view of testing new system of slaugh-
tering cattle by means of dynamite, and
thus putting them out of existence more
speedily and with less suffering than by
the ordinary pole-ax. Two large, pow
erful horses and donkey disabled for
work) were ranged in line about half a
yard apart, under shed, the donkey
being placed in the center. A small
primer of dynamite, with an electric
fuse attached, was then placed at each of
their foreheads, and fastened in position
by piece of string under the jaw. The
wires were then coupled up in the cir
cult, and attached to the electric ma
chine, which stood about five yards in
front. The handle of the machine being
then turned, an electric current was dis
charged, which exploded the three
charges simultaneously, and the animals
instantly fell dead without struggle.
Year: 1877

The peach growers of Delaware have
a new terror which they expect will en-
hance the value of their fruit. They
announce that peach culture is so far a
failure that many farmers will cut down
their trees during the present year. A
gentleman living near FELTON,, after pick
ing this years crop of Hale's early
peaches, cut down an orchard of five
hundred trees. Though freights have
come down to about half what they were
few years ago, yet the prices realized
for the fruit have fallen much more in
proportion, and there is no profit in
raising fruit to sell at the prices it has
realized in New York for the past few
years. Cutting down all the peach tree,
will certainly raise the price of peaches
but it is difficult to see where the prof


of the operation comes in.
Year: 1877

STATE detectives in Massachusetts,
have been spending good deal of time
lately among the professional tramps in
that State, initiating their dress, man
ners and habits in order to obtain infor-
nation to be used by the authorities in
dealing with the tramp question. One
result of their investigations is that the
tramps have regular organization, that
most of them are thieves and the rest
beggars, and that the thieving and beg
ging business, for particular days and
localities, is assigned to particular
individuals, by order of the chief Hav-
ing made these interesting discoveries,
the authorities will now proceed to make
war on the nuisance.
Year: 1877

A HUNDRED thousand mad animals,
whose heads are covered with hats, ad-
vance to kill or be killed by their fel-
low mortals covered with turbans. By
this strange procedure they want to
know whether tract of land, to which
none Of them has any claim, should be-
long to certain man whom they call
the Sultan, or another whom they call
the Gar, neither of whom ever saw or
ever will see the spot so furiously con-
tended for; and very few of these crea-
lures who thus mutually butcher each
other ever beheld the animal for whom
they cut each others throats.
Year: 1877

PRINCE AMADEUS, of Italy, was so
much attached to his wife that even now
scarcely day passes without his spend
ing some time, often hours, in prayer,
beside her tomb, and his evening drives
are often directed to the spot, where a
monument is to be erected to her
memory; he keeps his children with
him as much as possible, teaching them
himself, and filling, as far as may be in
that way, the place Of their lost mother.
Year: 1877

AUSTIN ReueiIe: A Boston lady who
has recently arrived in this city, told a
young man who works in the mines
that she could indulge in the ecstasy of
osculation with an adult male of the genus
homo with feelings analogical to quaffing
the nectar of the gods; and after he had
consulted the authorities, he was mad
at himself because he had not kissed
her
Year: 1877

AN ingenious swindle is being
practiced in some parts of the country by
which one-dollar bills are made to return
a large interest to the manipulation. A
one dollar and five dollar bill, green
back or of some national bank currency,
are carelessly torn in two in the middle,
and the half of the one and half of the
five are pasted together. Unless closely
scrutinized they will be apt to be taken
for fives. Thus, with six dollars, the
swindler will make profit of four out
of the two fives which he manufactures
Year: 1877

who was one of the most accomplished
women in Italy. He has been applied to
more than once to furnish notes for
history of his brief reign in Spain, but
he prefers that it should be forgotten,
and has desired his aide-de-campto to keep
silent on the subject.
Year: 1877

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
has issued style of ticket long needed
by that large class of people who travel
hither and thither at short intervals.
The new ticket is good for one thousand
miles and one year. There are thou
sand one-mile coupons attached to it, of
which the conductor tears off as many as
the passenger travels miles.
Year: 1877

TO the Members of the Legislature
rom Ne'o Castle County AS one of


tne tax payers of said county, call your
attention to the alarming increase in the
expenses for holding inquests for this
county For the last few years the cost
OF inquests has risen from six to seven
hundred dollars a year to twenty-five


hundred or three thousand dollars per
year, and it is the opinion of large ma
Jorlty OF the Taxpayers, that an investi-
CATION should be made and the law for
the action of the Coroner more plainly
defined, or this growing evil may lead TO
The holding of inquests and post mortem
examinations on every person that dies,


and therefore require further increase
Of taxation. r.
Year: 1877

THE DIFFERRNCE.-The Republican
wants to know why it is that about 200
gallons less of oil were consumed in the
street lamps during the past two months
than during the two months previous.
The answer is easy. Since the weather
became cold, complaints have been pour
ing in upon the Mayor every morning,
Of the failure Of the lamp lighters to light
the oil lamps in the various parts of the
city. If the lamps were not lighted, of
course less oil was consumed
Year: 1877

The Fox INDIANS, who came to the city so
Unexpectedly last week, departed as suddenly
They left Washington on Saturday without an
interview with the President. being furnished
by the government with free tickets for the
Journey back.
Year: 1877

INFORMATION received at the Treasury de-
paTtment indicates that the determined stand
of the President against any interference with
the existing statutes on the finances will lead
to speedy resumption of the funding opera
tiOuS of the government
Year: 1877

Duty CT A PUBLIC JoUKNAL.-It is
the highest duty of public journal
to give TO its readers full aud correct
information on the topics ard ques-
tons of the day. 1t is to tell the
truth without fear or favor. It is TO
advocate the interest only of the whole
people and not of any party, faction,
clique or ring. Il is to have no
friends but the people, no favorites ex-
cept those who, like it, strive honestly
to serve the people. II is to calm evil
passions, TO defend the law, to de-
mand order aud frOwn down all at
tempts to create disorder or violence
Thus guided a journal cannot fail to
have influence and power, because it
Will possess the confidence of a con-
stautly increasing nrmber of readers,
who will look to it for instruction and
trust IFS statements of fact even if
they happen not 10 concur in It's Opin
ions oD any given public question.
Year: 1877

Costly WoRsHlP.-The New York
San mentions without apparent grief
the fact that the churchs of that city
have hard work TO raise money enough
10 pay current expenses. Passing the
plate is not now attended with :he
substantial results which were the rule
three or four years ago. A good many
people are so completely absorbed IN
pious meditation when the plate comes
round that they utterly fail to see il.
This, however, is not the most serious
diminution of the revenues OF the
churches. Regula. attendants, who
have been accustomed TO subscribe
annually considerable sums, have now
reduced them one-half, three quarters,
or omitted them altogether. Pews
do not rent so readily nor at such
good prices as formerly.
Year: 1877

UNEASY RUssA.-There is evidently conflict of
no trivial character in progress in the Russian Empire
because 0f that inactivity in the crisis of the late
negotiations which has somewhat surprised the world
at large. IL is held the one hani that RuSSa has
no longer any political function with regard to
Bu gar and the other provinces that her obligation
TO defend the people Of those provinces rested uplu
her before the Conference assembled hut that by
that body she relieved OF that obligation that
the case Was taken of her hands by Europe and that
nOw therefore, Europe and not Russia Is responsible
If the evils complained Of permitted 10 continue
This Is tue view OF the peace party, which Is very
well satisfied 10 hAve plausible ground on which TO
rest Its oi ections to 1t Is beeved that the En-
perOr Is IN full sympathy with this party. Ou the
other hand II Is held that the relations OF Russia to
the Slavic people such that her oblig ttOns are
perpetual; that Europe cannot come between and
that the national glory and pride involved and
that only the amplest concessions on the part of
Turkey or war can 1ll the occasion. Between these
two lines OF thought the Nation Is divided AMI the
collision of opinion likely to become of great
Inpor ance In countries where there no parties
properly speaking having constant existence, and
where they only appear IN great crises that stir the
passions of a solid people, they AIT with a power
proportonate 10 the brevity of their existence This
fact has been exhibited several times in Russia at
the expense, not Of the crown. but of the OF
the cTOwD and il Is not unlikely that another exhbi
ton of II in preparation now, for the agitation
revolutionary language.
Year: 1877

The postal officials believe that the
Government is swindled ia the aggre-
gate to large amount by the wash
ing and second use Of stamps. To
check the practice a new three cent
stamp, so made as to show any at
tempt TO efface the cancelling mark, is
soon 10 be issued.
Year: 1877




SCALING DowN. The process of
'scalng down. as the depreciation in
values is termed, still goes on. Last
year was tie third since the panic Of
1873, and the shrinkage was greater
than il. either of the preceding years.
There is reason TO believe, however,
that if the bottom has not been quite
reached by the general average of
property, IT is Yet so near that careful
business men are laying their toun
dations unon it with the utmost con
tidence in the future. The failures in
business in this country last year
were 9O92, which was 20 per cent.
more than'in 1875, and 40 per cent.
more than in 1874, the first year after
the panic. This, at the first glance,
would indicate that the scaling down
was still going on with accelerated
force but there ere circumstances at
tending this statement which show
that new life is being infused into the
business and manufacturing world
which, If not cure, is 2 compensation
for the numerous failures. 1t is stated
that during the past year there has
been more reorganization Of mauufac
turing companies and severe sealing
down of inflated capital to IFS actual
earning capacity than ever before in
the same time. This in itself is prom
ise for the future. The reduction in
the nominal value OF property leaves a
smaller interest account TO meet, and
thus enables the manufacturer to pro.
duce goods at less cost. This result
has opened markets hitherto closed
against Us By our inability TO compete
with foreign manufacturers. Business
has been burdened with fictitious
capital. Men would take shares in
. manufacturing company, pay per
haps ten per cent. OF The nominal value
of the stock subscribed for, aud call
for dividends on the whole amount.
The receipts of such dividends for q
year or two would Justify the owner
of such shares IN rating the stock with
It's nominal rather than lis cash value
In this way man Invests ten thous-
ahd dollars IN shares noniinally worth
q hundred thousand, receives divi-
dends on a hundred thousand, and
naturally calls the shares worth their
face value. But uintey thousand dol
lars of this capital is fictitious. and at
the first pressure of the times is swep;
out of sight. Within the past year
values have settled so nearly to COR
rect basis that capitalists are invest
Ing their money in the new organiza>
tons with view to fair interest on
the dollars invested.
Year: 1877

a. II. GARLAND, the new Senator
from Arkansas, is q man who will
make his mark in the Senate before
his term has expired. He is only forty
SIX years old, and has already become
the controlling mind in his own State.
He is the author OF the new consIitu-
tion of Arkansas, which is pronounced
model, and is credited with having
engineered the conservative govern,
ment into legal existence, even against
the influence of President Grant. who
sustained Garland's opponent. Under
his administration the State has made
a rapid advance in material prosper


ity, and still marked improvement
in the elements of greatness which re-
suit from mental and moral culture


Within the last two years an excellent
school system has been developed in
that State, in which the colored por-
tion of the population are fairly dealt
by. Garland is said 10 be fine speak


er, cool and forcible in debate, broad
and liberal in his views, and coSmopol


i;an i'll character, as a man is apt TO
be who is reared in sight OF the Attain
tic and goes West in early manhood.
Year: 1877

A young missionary made an address
here Sunday morning. was anxious 10
hear how he would Justify his conduct in
going away from his present congregs-
tion, his wife and three children. to be
absent three years on the fever stricken
West African coast. Although he did
not enter into all the particulars OF the
case, | knew that be had been over there
before, with plucky young wife. who,
however, was compelled TO leave. l
knew, too, that he had not asked 10 bo
sent, but had merely put himself in tho
hands OF the Board, who had thought il
necessary TO use him. | went to church
good deal preiudicea, bu. thought tie
young man made out strong case for
himself, il not for his superior officers,
and perhaps incidentally for them also.
Men accept equal dangers for the chance
OF a fortune, he urged. why not for the
sake of religion. The lists of European
army officers anxious to be sent out 10
military stations in that country are
crowded. SIMPLY because promotion is
more rapid. Shall a "soldier OF the
Lord" be less willing? The least con-
vincing part of his argument was in RET
erence to conversions" 1t was painful
to hear him make so much OF the mere
repetition Of the Lords Prayer by an ini-
tative old savage woman. lie brought
forth better instances than this, however.
and 10 his own mind seemed TO be well
satisfied with the results Of the work at
the station lie moreover laid special
stress on the doing away with certain
brutal customs, even among those not
fully converted"


As | walked home, said to myself:
Whether he is right about his mission or
not, he has builded better than he knew.
ii he spectacle of man who every one is
perfectly aware, would not swear falsely
about his income. or stuff ballot-bo1es,
log-roll in the legislature, or sell his
newspaper for an office, but who. on the
contrary. is leading, in this sordid and
selfish and deceptive world, a pure. ideal
and unselfsh llfe,- such spectacle ex-
erts a spiritual and enrolling influence
which it is impossible to estimate. A
talk like that calls the hearer ont OF him
self. 1t is an appeal to his imagination.
|. is like reading the ARABIAN Nights
Better still; it is like reading paradise
Lost" For not only the Imagination IS
excited, but the higher feelings and as
pirations are stirred; and TO many who
heard the young missionary that morn
ing. the grinding routine OF the week
days has tendency to deaden both mind
and spirit. Whatever that young man
may accomplish in Africa, it is evident he
has performed good work in the United
States. He has done his part toward
bringing about those days OF general
goodness when we may expect an inter-
national copyright, better understand
ing between labor and capital. and the
reform of the civil service; and when it
will be thought neither odd nor Infamous
Tor president TO keep his faith with the
people. .-"1he old CaJinet;" ScrtJner for
OeiOber
Year: 1877

Prepared as l was, was stunned when
another letter came TO revive me, which IN
formed me that Mrs. B. and Mrs. L.. would
call on me this morning, and also that they
had instructed their respective solicitors 10
commence immediate actions against me for
breach of promise OF marriage. That was
pleasant; but there was more trying sur
prise than all TO come next.


had Just finished my breakfast, and was
vaguely wondering how should face the
situation when the door opened, and my
servant-the rascal was grinning, and had
evidently been bribed-ushered in the two
Georgies


You have heard Of people wishing the
earth to swallow them but il The Maelstrom
had yawned before me then should have
taken header into it.


started up and gasped; 1 could do moth
Ing else.


Gfzing at me sternly and in complete
silence, they put down on the table together
the rings, lockets, photographs and othes
presents | had given them. Even in my
agony could have laughed to SEE how each
little pile contained exactly the same sricleA
and my letters, including the two fatal notss
had sent the previous night. Then they
slowly retired, all this time without saying o
word, while of course was speechless; but
iust as they were going out OF the door Geor-
cie Barstow-she was always an impulsive
little thing. bless her heart found her feel
in0c tnn much for hor. and siaHulatAd tho