smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1878

If hens spur is hard and the scales OF
the legs are rough, she is old, whether you
see her head or not but her head will cor.
roborate your observation. If the under bill
is SO stiff that you can not bend it down, and
the comb thick and rough, leave her, no mat
ter how fat and plump, for some one less
particular. A young hen has only the rudi-
ments of spurs; the scales on the legs are
smooth, glossy and fresh-colored, whatever
the color may be, the claws tender and short,
the nails sharp, the under bill soft, and the
comb thin and smooth.


An old turkey has rough scales on the legs,
callosities on the soles of the feet, and long,
strong claws; young one the reverse of all
these marks. When the feathers are on, the
old turkey cock has long tuft or beard; q
young one but sprouting one, and when
they are off, the smooth scales on the legs
decide the point besides the difference in
size of the wattles on the neck and in the
elastic shoot upon the neck.


An old goose when alive is known by the
rough legs, the strength of the wings, par
ticularly at the pinions, the thickness and
strength of the bill and fineness of the feath-
ers, and, when plucked by the legs, the ten
derness Of.the skin under the wings, by the
pinions and the bill, and the coarseness of the
skin.


Ducks are distinguished by the same means,
but there is the difference that ducklings
bill is much longer in proportion to the
breadth of the head than the old ducks
COleman's Rural W071d.
Year: 1878

Extract from his Speech at Philadelphia


We have been told for some time past by a


certain class of political thinkers and teachers


that the southern question was definitely set
tied, and that patriotic duty required that its
agitation be stopped and the whole people
allowed to unite in fraternal embrace and
congratulations over the removal of all cause
of discord. The remedy of silence in the
North has, am sure, been we'll tried during
the years 1877 and 1878. This year we have
been engaged almost wholly in the considera-
ton of our finances, and the most radical
among US have made but incidental reference
to any other subject. Is the result satisfac-
tory? Are matters in the South progressing
as patriotic, fair-dealing men must desire
Let US see. There is in the Southern States q
colored population amounting to well nigh
five millions, all entitled to suffrage on the
same terms as the whites. To these States
there are apportioned thirty-fve representa-
tives in Congress and thirty-fve Presidential
electors by reason of their negro population.
The political strength of the great State of
New York in the North is offset by the
colored population of the South. And yet
this very population, by virtue of whose
numbers this great political strength is as
signed to the South, is rigidly excluded from
all effective participation in its privileges,
and the entire 5.OOO,OO of colored people
will probably be unable this year to elect a
single Representative IN Congress, even in
the States of South Carolina and Mississippi,
where the colored men largely outnumber the
white men. The result will probably be a
unanimous Democratic delegation in Con-
gress. By peryersity of construction and
refinement of cruelty, the colored men are
used only to give additional political power to
the very class and to the very party whose
principles and whose practice they have
most cause to dread. By destroying the
political power of the negro, the white men
in these States vastly increase their influence,
and in the two States have named the con-
federate soldier is to-day casting two votes in
the control of our national policy, when the
Union soldier in Pennsylvania and. New
England casts but one. With this state of
things the American people will not rest con-
tent. 1t is rankly unjust, not only to the
colored man in the South, but to the white
man in the North, and we will be compelled
in the end from self-interest and self-protec-
ton to resort to that which at the outset we
should have resorted to from principle. In
all the great financial and economic contests
of the future the North cannot and will not
permit the hostile Democratic power of the
South to be doubled by trampling under foot
the rights of colored citizens. Suffrage was
not gwen as mockery. and the people of
the United States will see the rights conferred
are rights enjoyed; and if they fail to see
that they will in the end find that the liberty
of one class of citizens cannot be trampled on
without endangering the liberties of all
Year: 1878

Let me give recipe in the Home for
making home happy. There is nothing in
the world so pleasant, SO tranquil, SO heart
resting as happy home; and nothing so
chilling, so depressing, so heart-palning as
an unhappy one God help US! how many
husbands, wives, parents, and children lack
that kind, considelate, forbearing spirit that
should dwell in the bosom of all who would
have happy home. How many husbands
and wives there are, who live in the same
house, eat at the same table, work and hope
for and love the same children, whose hearts
are starving, yearning, and crying for the
love they Withhold from each other through
pride, or bitterness, or uncharitable judgment
of one another All! wife, that husband
may have faults that annoy and provoke you
constantly ;but is there not much good in his
nature that drew your heart to him in other
years? And fault-fnding, bitter words never
righted wrong, or cured bad habit, or led
any one to truer, better life. Be patients
be forgiving, and let him see that you love
and cherish him as you did then; and when
necessity cOmpels you to show him an error,
do it in kind, sympathetic way, remember
ing that he has much to forgive in you, for
we are all full of faults. Remember. wife,
if your home is not happy, there is little joy
in this world for you, for where else can you
seek real, pnre enjoyment Therefore, be
real, true, loving, womanly woman, and
your husbands heart will turn to you ever in
love and confidence. And now, husbands,
word to you. All! what kind considerate.
manly man it takes to make good husband.
A wife's heart is ever turning to you for love
and sympathy, and alas! how often do you
chill and wound her with careless, unkind
words, with cold indifferent looks, or willfnl
trusted to your keeping, and, husband, re-
member that it is tender, trusting, yearn-
ing, loving thing, that can only be happy:in
love and.sympathy ;can only beat joyously in
the sunshine of smiles and kind approval.
Chill it, wound it, torture it, and it will fly
from you in fear and hatred, and your home
will be comtortless place, wanting in the
one thing needful to make home heaven.
And, husband can you not tell that while, in
words and acts, that you still love her, still
cherish her teDderly as life's best treasure?
Heaven have pity on the thousands of wives
that this night are feeling that no one cares
for them, no one notices that they are weary
and burdened with care; that their life has
little of pleasure and happiness in it; that
their little homework is empty and chill be-
cause it is not filed and warmed by the sun
light of love.


Husbands, wives, make home happy by being
to each other all that God intended you should
believing, devoted, cherishing each other
as life's best treasure-and home will be a
resting place where your weary spirits shall
find strength and contentment.- Fired
Dascson, Glendale n. T., ia correspondence
to Inter- Ocean,.
Year: 1878

PROF. HUBER, of the University of Munich
represents the whole body of German Social
lists as having embraced the materialistic view
of creation, according to which only blind
forces work in the universe. the world spring
ing from chaos returns to chaos again, mind
is but function Of the brain, freedom and
immortality delusion. And It therefore
s'requires Ill the resources of human wisdom
and love to ward of the danger with which
Socialism now threatens the interests Of
society and culture"
Year: 1878

The prime minister of the kingdom of
Sung consulted MenCius, and told him
that being convinced of the oppressive
character Of a tax that bore heavily upon
the people, he thought he should dimin-
ish it, and at the end Of the year abolish
it altogether. MenCius answered, ''Ihere
was a man who was accustomed to steal
every day the poultry of his neighbOTs,
and was reprOached for his dishonesty.
Well he answered, 4 viii amend little
by little. I viii only steal one fowl
month for year to come, and then l
will abstain altogether No. said Men
cius, no, when you know that what you
do is unjust, cease at once to do it. Why
wait a year?'


Men talk idly about empire, nation,
family. The foundation Of the empire Is
in the nation, Of the nation in the fami-
", of the family in the individual; IN
fine, government is founded on the peO-
pie, the people on the family, the family
on its chief


Win the people, and the empire is
won 4: win their hearts and their atteC-
tiOns, and you win the people; you win
their hearts bv meeting their wishes, by
providing for their wants, and imposing
upon them nothing that they detest


As the fish hurTies away from the OF
ter to the protection Of the deep waters
as the little bird flies to the thick for
est from the haWk-sO do subjects fly
from wicked kings.


You cannot reason with the passionate
YOU cannot act with the feeble or the
CapriciOus.
Year: 1878

From time immemorial love has been
The theme of all novels, rOmances, and
many other writings. No matter how
the story might be otherwise arranged,
through all its endless combinations
there has run one thread-that of love
and almost always there has been one
consummation-that Of marriage. Bow
Bells, itself-yOUr peerless and beautiful
queens framed on this model, and its
every story has for its burden-lOve!


Now, why is it that this is ever the
theme; that it so interests; that it will
bear such endless repetition; that it
never tires; and this all through epic,
song, story, drama, and the romantic
tale2 Is it because Of the intrinsic no.
bleness of the passion itself-is it from
a ruling bias in our nature towards that
PASSIONS it because of the ascending
degree Of the story, and its climax, as be-
ing a writing Of the most artistic kind
or is it because of the sensibility Of fair
readers, especially, and that they are
made up in a great degree of affection?
This were most interesting analysis,
and the abundance of such writing and
reading makes it also q most important
one think its main points have here
been limited at; perhaps they all come
in play in their several degrees. 1t Is
certain that this passion affords a ground
for fine and skillfuI writing; that it ex-
cites the curiosity; that it engages the
heart. Hence it has always lived hence
it always Will live; for every such tale
gives q little epitome of the life of man.


We then certainly cannot call such
writing unnatural. Nor need it, of ne
cessity, be dangerous. It is true that too
fiery and immoral writers may kindle a
flame that may destroy, and a taste that
will corrupt. 1t is no less true that the
imagination Of the reader, his or her not
UnspOtted heart, may taint and turn to
death the intense, yet pure and lofty
words of Milton, Keats, SwinbUrne, and
other masters of Loves language and of
love. Let writer's consider, and take
heed how they write and let readers
guard their hearts and their thoughts
when they read.


The passion ITSELF of love, when pure,
is most noble, and most worthy of the
highest descriptive art. This it is that is
the burden of Gods message to man of
His Book; of the visit of our Savior to
the earth; of His ever blessed and glO-
rious Gospel. Here is Loves climax
here its intensest flame; here its deepest
and its purest story; here are none of
its dangers, and all of its sweets. Touch
ed by so pure q flame, following so divine
a light, no writer or no reader can 90 as
tray.
Year: 1878

The Chinese probably illustrate in the
most extreme manner the length to
which loose views concerning currency
can be carried. The history Of their cur
renCy presents that mingling of the gro
teSque with the tragic which most Of
their actions have when viewed through
Western eyes. Coin money was known
among them as early as the eleventh
century before Christ, but their inability
to comprehend the principles upon which
Il currency should be based, has led them
into all sorts Of eXtravaganCes, which
have been attended with disorder, fam
inc and blOOdshed. Coins came at last
to be made so thin that 1000 Of them
piled together were only three inches
high; then gold and silver were aban-
dOned; and copper, tin, shells, skins,
stones and paper were given a fixed val
ne, and used until, by abuse, all the ad-
yantages to be derived from the use Of
money were lost and there was nothing
left for the people to do but to 60 back
to barter, which they did more than
once. They canQOt be said now to have
a coinage; 2,9O0 years ago they made
round coins with a square hole in the
middle, and they have made no advance
beyond that yet. The well known cash
is a cast-brass coin Of that description,
and, although it is valued at about one
mill and a half of our money, and has to
be strung in lots Of a thousand to be COM
puted with any ease, it is the sole mea-
sure Of value and legal tender Of the
country. Spanish, Mexican, and our new
trade dollars, are employed IN China !;
they pass because they are necessary for
larger operations, and because faith in
their standard value has become estab-
Iished but they are current simply as
stamped ingots, with their weight and
fneness indicated.
Year: 1878

The greyhound runs by eyesight only,


and this we observe as a fact. The car
rier-pigeon flies his two hundred and
fifty miles homeward by eyesight-name-
". from point to point of objects which
he has marked but this is only our con-


lecture. The fierce dragOn-tly, with
twelve thousand lenses in his eye, darts
from angle to angle with the rapidity of


a flashing sword, and as rapidly darts
back, not turning in the air, but with a
clash reversing the action of his four
wings, and instantaneously calculating
the distance of the objects, or he would
dash himself to pieces. But in what con-
formation of the eye does this consist ?
No one can answer.


A cloud of ten thousand gnats dance
uD and down in the sun, the minutest
interval between them, yet no one


knocks another headlOng upon the grass,
or breaks a leg or a wing, long and deli


cate as these are. Suddenly, amidst your
admiration Of this matchless dance, a pc
culiarlv high-shouldeIed, vicious gnat,
with long, pendant nose, darts out OF the
rising and falling cloud, and settling on
vour check, inserts a poisonous sting.
What possessed the little wretch to do
this? Did he smell your blood IN the
may dance? No one knows.


A carriage comes suddenly upon flock
Of geese on a narrow road, and drives
straight through the middle of them. A
goose was never vet fairly run over, nor
a duck. They are under theyery wheels
and hoOfs. and vet somehow they con-
trive to flap and waddle safely of. Ha-
bitually stupid, heavy and indOlent, they
are nevertheless equal to any emergency.


Why does the lonely woOdpecker,
when he descends his tree and goes to
drink, stop several times on his way, lis
ten and look round, before he takes his
draught? No one knows. How IS 1t
that the species of ant, which is taken IN
battle BY other ants to be made slaves,
should be black, or negro ant? No one
knows.


The power of judging of actual danger,
and the free and easy boldness which re-
suits from-it, are by no mems uncom-
mon. Many birds seem to have most
correct notion of a guns range, and while
scrupulously careful to keep beyond it,
confne their care to this caution, though
the most obvious resource would be to
fly right away out of sight, and hearing,
which they do not choose to do. And
they sometimes appear to make even an
Ostentatious use of their power fairly
putting their wit and cleverness in an /
tagonism to that of man, for the benefit
of their fellows. We lately read an ac,
count, by a naturalist in Brazil, Of an ex-
pedition he made to one of the islands
Of the Amazon to shoot spoon-bills, ibis
es, and other Of the magnificent gralla-
torial birds, which were most abundant
there. His design was completely baf-
fed, however, by a wretched little sand
piper that preceded him, continually ut
tering his tell-tale cry, which at once
aroused oil the birds within hearing.
Throughoutthe day did this individual
bird continue his selfimposed duty Of
sentinel to others, efectuaIIy preventing /
the approach of the fowler to the game,
and yet managing to keep out Ofthe
range of his gun.
Year: 1878

Quad Box" writes in the Anlericau
Newspaper Reporter


There are but few printers throughout
the country but what have seen or heard
of George Washington Matchett prOba-
bly, the oldest tramp printer on the road.
He says he has tramped across the cOntI-
nent seven times, and has visited almost
every printing Office in the union. The
following Is a story related by MN on
his last trip through this place:


He was on one of his long walks, and
had got as far west as Kansas, and had
found little work during his journey ;
but one day he struck a small town with
one printing Office in it. He went up to
the office, and found the editor scratch
ing away with his pen, and the "devil'
seated upon a stool. He asked the editor
how work was, and what was the chance
for sit" and upon being told that he
might have a Job for a few days, and that
he could go to work at once, he asked
where he could find the type and cases,
and was told that the type was up stairs
in a sack, and that he would have to
chalk his case out on the floor. He went
to work and marked out his case and laid
the type. He worked all that week, and
when Saturday night came he went to
the boss for his money, whereupon the
latter went up stairs and threw down two
coon skins. and explained to G. w. that
they were currency in that country.
George had to make the best Of it; so he
threw the coon skins over his shoulder
and started down town to a store. He
got some tobacco, paper of pins, and
some thread, and threw down a coon
skin TO pay for It. The storekeeper took
the coon skin and handed him back two
squirrel skins and one Opossum skin in
change.


Matchett told the story with a relish,
and after taking up a collection, departed
on his weary way.
Year: 1878

Has anybody ever written upon the
responsibility which rests upon hus-
band with regard to the education of his
wife d? Of course we know what yOuwill
say about her being supposed to have
finished hereducation" before marriage,
and all that; and yet you and We know
that she begins as new an education with
him as if she had never seen the alpha
bet. His views, his feelings, his ideas,
are they nothing to her if she loves him?
Years after, when they who 'knew her
as girl" come to talk with the matron,
do they not find her husband reflected
in every. sentence either for good or evil?
Of course, the more strongly a woman
loves, the more completely is her own
identity absorbed in her husbands. This
is point which is too much neglected
by married men. A good husband is
almost certain to have a good wife; and
if she be mot so good as he could wish"
at the comnlc. cement Of their married
life, he can soon educate her up TO the
proper mark; and, on the other hand,
he can so educate her down as to render
his home a purgatOry, and perhaps bring
upon himself and his family the greatest
agony and keenest pangs Of disgrace
which a husband and children can feel.
Year: 1878

'I dove once in Mobile bay, where I
put over three hundred chains under an
irUn-clad. The greatest annoyance we
had there was sharks. They didn't hard
" dare tackle US, because with our armOr
we looked more like scarecrows than
anything else. They would come sailing
along, and gradually swim towards US
with their great big mouths wide open,
but when within a few feet Of US they
would stop and lay there fappin' theIr
fms and looking, it seemed to me, like
the very devil himself. Finally we de
vised a way to scare them off that never
failed to frighten them so that they
would stay away an hour or longer before
they dare to come back, The armOr that
we wear Is air-tight, you know. Our
Jacket sleeves were fastened around our
wrists with an elastic, so that the air
could not escape. Byrunning my finger
under the sleeve of my jacket 1 could let
the air out, and as it rushed into the
water it would make a sort of kissing
noise and a volume of bubbles shoot up.
So whenever those internal sharks would
come prowling around me, / would hold
out my arm toward them and, putting
my finger under the elastic of my jacket
sleeve, I would let a lot of air out and
send a stream of bubbles into the sharks
face with a kissing noise like steam from
a guage-cOck. The way that those sharks
would 90 sCOOting off was funnytO be-
hold -
Year: 1878

Nature is industrious in adOrning her
dOminions; and man, to whom this
beauty is addressed, should feel and
obey the lesson. Let him, too, be in
dustrious in adOrniug his dOmain-in
making his home, the dwelling Of his
wife and children, not only convenient
and comfortable, but pleasant. Let him
as far as circumstances Will admit, be in
dustriOus in surrounding it with pleasant
Objects-in decorating it, within and
without, with things that tend to make
it agreeable and attractive. Let industry
make home the abode of neatness and
order-a place which brings satisfaction
to every inmate, and which in absence
draws back the heart by the fond assOei-
atiOns of comfort and content. Let this
be done, and this sacred spot Will be-
come more surely the scene Of cheerful
ness and peace. Ye parents, who would
have your children happy, be indus
triOus to bring them up in the midst Of a
pleasant, a cheerful, and q happy home.
Waste not your time in accommodating
wealth for them but plant in their minds
and souls, in the way proposed, the seeds
Of virtue and prosperity.


Teach them also that true benevOlence
inspires with the love Of justice;and
prompts him in whose bosom it glows,
neither to oppress the weak, to impose
on the ignorant, nor to overreach the un-
wary but to give every man his due,
and with steady and undertaking step to
walk in the hallowed path Of equity,
Deceit and dissimulation fraud andfalse-
hood, are far from the humble worship
per of God: integrity is enthroned in
his heart, truth rests on his lips, and an
enlightened sense of duty regulates the
whole of his conduct. He faithfully
performs every promise, and fulhls
every engagement. Others respect and
trust his word, because he respects and
holds it sacred himself His life is char
acterized by the simplicity of truth, and
the dignity of virtue; and in dealing
with him, they who have an opPor-
tunity of knowing his character place
unboundcd confidence in his justice-aad
GaithlulneSS.
Year: 1878

her brother she called him a traitor to
his name and birth, and to her maid she
declared in her native tongue:


"Cetts file lire donne daHS la-DiCU de
Uelit"


And surely Juniata had caught not
only his fancy but his heart, and the star
lost to the musical world proved a gentle,
loving wife, while the Bennetts and the
rest Of the gossips enjoyed a new sensa-
ton, and the wedding served for a seven
days wonder.