smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1866

A curions CUSTOM in connection with
marriage, prevailed at one time in Scotland
and, from the manner in which it was car
ried out, was called Greeting the Bride
groom. The mode of procedure in the vii
liage of Galashielas was as follows


Early in the day, after the marriage, those
interested in the proceeding assembled at
thehouse of the newly-wedded couple bring
ing with them ereeP or basket, which
they filled with stones. The young hus-
band, on being brought to the door, had
the creel firmly fixed upon his back, and
with it in this position, had to run the
round of the town, or at least the chief por'
tion of it, followed by number of men to
see that he did not drop his burden the
only condition on which he was allowed to
do so being that his wife should come after
him and kiss him. AS relief depended al.
together upon the wife, it would sometimes
happen that the husband did not need to
run more than few yards but when she
was more than ordinarily bashful, or wished
to have little sport at the expense Of her
Lord and master-which it may be suppos-
ed, would not unfrequently be the case
he had to carry his load considerable dis
tance This custom was very strictly en-.
forced, for the person who was last creel-
ed had charge of the ceremony and he was
naturally anxious that no one should es-
cape. The practice, as far as Galashielos
was concerned, came to an end about six
ty years ago, on the person of Robert
Young, who, on the plea Of illness, lay in
bed all the day after his marriage, and OBJ
stinately refused to get up and be creeled.
He had been twice married before, and no
doubt felt that he had enough of creeling,
Year: 1866

A SHREwD FEMALE SpECULAToR.-T
Amador California; Ledger tells the fol
lowing story.


"a short time ago q widow lady, re
siding in village not a thousand miles
from here, put up her house at rattle,
and soon disposed Of the tickets-all
feeling disposed to assist her. The eve
ming arrived for the rattle to come off,
and the house was won by gentleman,
who thought himself most fortunate in
obtaining a home 50 cheap. The next
day he applied for possession, and a title
to the property. What was his surprise
when he was coolly Informed that it was
unnecessary to have a written title to the
house-that there il was, and he could
take it; and the sooner the bet
ter, as she was anxious to build another
on the spot where it stood! The winner
found that he had drawn an elephant-he
had house, but no lot
Year: 1866

MEMORY OF AN ELEpHANT.--A female
elephant belonging to gentleman at
Calcutta, being ordered from the upper
country to Choytgone, by chance broke
loose from her keeper, and was lost in
the woods. The excuses which the keep.
er made were not admitted 1t was sup
posed that he had sold the elephant; his
wife and family were therefore sold for
slaves and he himself was condemned to
work upon the high roads. About twelve
years afterwards, this man was ordered
mp into the country to assist In catching
the wild elephants. The keeper fancied
he saw his long lost elephant in group
that was before him lie was dctermin.
ed to 90 up to it, nor could the strong
est representations of the great danger,
dissuade him from his purpose. When
he approached the creature she knew him
and giving him three salutes by waving
her trunk three times in the air, knel,
down and received him on her back She
afterwards assisted him in securing the
other elephants, and likewise brought
with her three young ones which she had
produced during her absence The keep
er recovered his character, and as rec
ompcnsc for his suferings and intrepid
| ty, had an annuity settled on him for life
This elephant was afterwards in the pos
session Of Governor Hastings.
Year: 1866

EE" A Texas paper Of late date says !;
"We have good authority for stating
that Gen. Magrudcr will return to the
United States shortly, and become q good
loyal citizen thereof. We hope the old
gentleman will make up his mind to set.
tie down with his family in Texas. Thou
saads of hearts would greet him warmly.
The State owes debt Of gratitude to the
old man which she never can pay. Had
it not been for his able management of
his little forces during the war, the re-
turn Of peace would have not found a
silver spoon, inger-ring, or silk dress
in the State; and It's whole vast extent
would have been ploughed with desola.
ton from stem to stern"
Year: 1866

A GENTLEMAN came to the health
officer ut an early hour this morning.
says the Chicago Post, and reported that
a whole family residing at No. IS Green
Bay Street were lying dead Of cholerain
their house. Officers were at once dis
patched to the place indicated, and there
bChcld one of the most sickening sights
that has been recently witnessed in our
city. In a small room, about sixteen
feet square, in filthy condition, and
bearing all the squalid appearance which
usually marks the home of extreme
poverty, lay the lifeless bodies of man
and woman, apparently about thirty
five years of age. The body of the man
lay upon the floor, black and distorted,
while the woman, his wife, lay upon
rude bed, in most frightful condition.
Sitting on the floor, in one corner, alone
seven years of age, the only child of the
deceased parents. Upon inquiry, the
little orphan stated that his father and
mother were taken sick yesterday and
died last night, just after dark. The
poor boy had passed the night in soli-
tude and sorrow, frightened by the So
lemnity of the scene, but UNCONSCIOUS of
his great loss. 1t was ascertained that
same relatives of the family, who lived
near by, had been informed oftheir sick
ness, but from timidity or neglect, had
never gone to their assistance. a
physician had been summoned by some
humane ncighbors, but, knowing the
poverty of the family, refused to attend.
The remains fthe unfortunate pair were
decently buried at one O'Clock this after
noon, and the little orphan was taken in
charge by his relatives.
Year: 1866

| SAW a rose perfect in beauty; 1t
rested gracefully upon its stalk, and its
perfume filled the air. Many stopped
to gaze upon it, many bowed to taste its
fragrance, and its owner hung over it
with delight. l passed again, and, be-
hold, it was gone-its stem was leafless
its roots had withered; the enclosure
which surrounded it was broken down.
The spoiler had been there; he saw that
many admired it; he knew it was dear
to him who planted it, and besides it he
had no other plant to love. Yet he
snatchcd it secretly from the hand that
cherished it; he wore it on his bosom


till it hung its head and faded, and,
when he saw that its glory was depart
ed he flung ii rudely away. But it left
a thorn in his bosom, and vainly did he
seek to extract it, for now it pierceS the
spoilcr, even in his hour Of mirth. An6
when | saw thatno man, who had loved
the beauty of the rose, gathered again
its scattered leaves, or bound up the
stalk which the hands of violence had
broken, looked earnestly at the spot
where it grew, and my soul received in
struction. And said, Let her who is
fuIlof beautyandad sitting like
the queen Of flowers majestically among
the daughters Of women, let her watch
lest vanity enter her heart, beguiling
her to rest proudly upon her own
strength; let her remember that sho
standoth upon slippery places, land be
not high-minded, but fear. ."--JirS. Sig
OhrRCH,
Year: 1866

W c cut from our exchanges a short para
graph stating that the wealthy parents Of
two young men of New York, who were
tired out BY seeing their boys do nothing,
started them in business with capital Of
$50, 600; and this paragraph further states
that In two weeks they had squandered all
their capital and few hundreds over, There
Is good deal in this story, so briefly and so
launuly told, that Is worthy Of earnest re-
heeetion on the part OF the aforesaid parents
t[st,e il, aI.4rs aa ,,5. 3iJTftg 9 y o1ets. &c.
It's, unfortunately, getting to be too much
the custom among men in this country, who
have made or inherited fortunes, to cherish
aud encourage the natural desire on the part
Of their sons 90 spend in a sort Of luxurious
idlencss the days that should be devoted to
learn some useful business, trade or profes-
sion, not only for the purpose Of earning
means to deiray the expenses OF life, but
through which they could be enabled TO con
tribute their share TO the production, work
and wealth Oft country. Such occurren-
eas as that noted above are to some extent
publie as well as private matters, because
wherever young men are brought up to lives
of idleuess there is so much abstracted from
the common stock of wealth by the loss Of
that which they would have otherwise crea-
ted. and because such idle lives are nearly al
ways sure to lead to vice and Generalization
of various kinds Even overlooking the
evil influences of such matters upon society
at large, and regarding them solely in a
money point of view, how much cheaper
would it have been to the fathers Of these
young men to have spent a few thousand
dollars of the twenty thousand squandered in
two weeks in having them so taught and
trained that money would have been safe in
their hands, so as to make both it and them
selves useful to their fellow men, In these
days, when so many men are becoming sud
denly rich, and when there are counter indi-
cations that so many of their posterity may
become suddenly poor, there is greater cause
than ever for impressing upon the minds of
parents the dangers of allowing their sons to
grow up with habits fidleness, and without
knowledge of any useful calings by which
they may be able 70 earn liyings for them
selves. Fbia. Ledger.
Year: 1866

Yes you do, and there no use in trying
to deceive yourself thesophistry of these
words.


The best and nobIest, the truest and most
generous part Of your nature does care for the
unkind, cutting words you have uttered to
one you loved, in moments of pique.


You may carry yourself ever so proud and
detantly, you may never drop by word or
look the dew of sweet healing on the wound
you have made in a nature as proud, as SEN
sltlve, and exacting as your own; but to
your honor be it said, you are better than
your words, and away down in your heart
Turk shame, and repentance, and sorrow for
them.


You may carefully hide them both, and
in little while they viii be gone, for oh !
1t Is very easy to make one S self bitter, and
proud, and cold-very hard to keep one
selt9sBsato me l95aK, an97a charitable: but there
fore you can do mean ungenerous thing to
one who loves you, and have your heart en-
dOrse your 1 don't care -


And how often these words are uttered.
when conscience sternly refutes them and
how often they harden the heart and keen
the feet in the way of evil


Be careful, reader, when you say, Il don't
care.
Year: 1866

who was engaged in gigantic scheme to
rend my tetrarchy in pieces and blot out the
stars from the imperial banner They was
a utterly powerless band Of infuriated mad
men, and the fact that they was only two
years old and under, made their crime more
heinous and abominable. 1t was well
known that | had forbid playing in the mar
ket place, and yet these innoeents came into
the market place with penny whistles and
flags a flying, and with such defyin airs.
that il could not be stood, and their mothers
actually had the brass to laugh at EN- and
cheer en- on. Who, my friends, has suff-
cred more from these babes than have?
sounded all the depths Of honor, I have set
in the CUB


at this moment, continues the manuscript
a scene of terrible confusion occurred. The
people refused to hear the tetrarch any more
and began to curse him up and down with
out ceremony, to jeer him aud insult him la
every way. The air was darkened with a
shower Of sticks and stones, eggs of every
degree Of staleness added their perfume to
the violet of his imperial robes, while the
dead bodies Of the smaller animals aud YER
min Of the district were hurled without ces-
sation, and with the most unerring aim at
his venerable head. One young Jew hurled
dead duck at him, another made missile
of coney, a creature which, though it is
expressly stated in the Bible to belong to a
feeble folk, proved on this occasion unpleas-
antly strong It is not recorded that a
tetrarch was ever so abused before. Herod
seems to have been utterly unable to defend
himself against the storm, and at last gave
1t up, retreatlDg from the platform amid a
WhlrlWlnd of ieeTs threats derisiVe cries and
voices that repeated uncessingly How
about the babiesI' until the Wretched
tetrarch was nearly mad with rage and
terror Not long after his return to Jerusa-
lem-and his friends hustled him back to
the capitol without ceremony-he was so
weighed upon with remorse and mortifica-
ton that he is actually said to have held his
tongue for q month, whereas he had always
been remarkable for the profuseness Of his
speech, and had never been known to 90
more than twenty hours without talk
Ing about himself But the sequel was,
that the Innoeents we're well avenged
Year: 1866

DELAYS in THE Road TO WEALTH.
Those who envy the merchantsof New York
little think how slow a progress they make
from the olerk 3 desk to the stately parlor of
the concern. The new house Of Grinnell,
Minturn & Co. has just been remodeled, and
two ofits former clerks are made partners
Both of these were fifty years of age and up
wards, and one Of them had been in the
house for more than quarter of century.
Both had been elevated over the heads of
other clerks, out of whom, numbering more
than one hundred employed at differen'
times,) only two have reached the pinnacle
of success. Such is the dubious prospect
held out to youthful ambition. A life of
drudgery, perhaps, to bring success when
age and habit have rendered it of little value.
And yet so great is the rush to obtain situa-
tions in such houses that clerks receive no
pay the first year, and but little even after
that. Hence many become wearied and
drop off, and only the tenacious hang on,
and of these not one in ten reaches the
prize.
Year: 1866

RECOVERY OF Mr.. PRENTICE. George
D. Prentice, senior editor of the Louisville
Journal, acknowledges the sympathy of the
press during his recent Illness, in the follow
ing felicitious manner;


''0ur heartfelt thanks are due to very ma.
ny Of our brethren OF the press for their kind
notices of US during our late illness. Their
sympathy soothed and cheered and strength
ened us. 1t seemed to throw calm and love
ly light upon the world, and make US wish to
linger still among our fellow men. There is
much that is beautiful and holy and hallowing
in sickness. Its influences are purer and
better than those of health. Indeed the fee
bleness of the body is often the health of the
soul. We see and hear what we may not in
the season of physical strength. Myriad spir-
its of the air hutter over the dividing fine
between two worlds, uttering to mortal be-
iDgs the tones they have learned in heaven.
As we move downward upon the sombre and
mysterious pathway that leads to the door of
the tomb, we behold, as from the depths of
a shadowy we'll and cavern, the pale sereni-
ties of floating stars, allinyisible IN the glare
and sunshine of the upper air, and their sa-
cred and blessed light need never fade from
the spirit.
Year: 1866

A writer-a physician-in the Agricultu-
ITSt, says apples are the most healthy fruit
producedin this country. He cites a good
many instances to prove the truth of this
system. And we suspect that he is very
nearly-f not quite-right. He says, in
substance, that there are but few articles of
vegetable food more widely useful and more
universally liked than the apple. Why
every farmer in the country has not an apple
orchard where the trees viii grow at all, is
one of the mysteries. Let every house
keeper lay in good supply Of apples, and it
will be one Of the most economical invest
ments in the whole range Of culinaries A
raw, mellow apple is digested in an hour and
a half, while boiled cabbage requires five
hours The most healthy dessert that can
be placed on the table is a baked apple If
eaten frequently at breakfast, with coarse
bread and butter, without meat or flesh of
aHy kind, it has an admirable effect on the
general system, often removing constipation,
correcting acidities, and cooling off febrile
conditions more effectually than the most
approved medicines If families could be
induced to substitute apples, sound and ripe
for pies, cakes and sweetmeats, with which
their children are too frequently stuffed,
there would be diminution in the sum
total Of Doctors bills, in single year, sufi-
cieEt to lay In a stock of this delicious fruit
for the whole season. use.
Year: 1866

A little girl had young cherry tree which
bore beautiful blossoms one spring. She
wanted flowers for garland one day, and
thinking the cherry tree blossoms very beau
tiful she plucked and wove them into gar
land. But wlIen tho tinlO of cherries came
the tree bore none. How could it? Cher
ries come from blossoms, and she had pluck
ed the blossoms and made them into gar
lands She could not use both blossoms
and cherries.


1t is Just so with the hours of young lives.
Hours are blossoms from which come the
fruit of success and happiness in after years.
Spend them in study, and they viii grow
into the fruit of scholarship by and by.
Spend them in useful industry, and they
viii grow into the fruit of prosperity when
you are older Spend them in prayer and
reading G DDS word, and they viii grow into
the fruit of ripe and manly piety. But if
you weave them into garlands for idle sport
they viii bring forth no fruit. Your life
will be a barren tree. Do you understand?
Year: 1866

The New York Tribune, of the Goth ult., says no
new cases of cholera had been reported
on the previous day to the sanitary superintendent


Four deaths were reported during the week END.
ing the 23d. Twenty weight convalescents were
transferred from the hospital ship Falcon to the
Saratoga, leaving nineteen still under treatment


The panic created by the presence of Asiatic
cholera seems to be disappearing in New York
Year: 1866

Although the Egyptians could preserve the re-
mains of the dead from decomposition, they could
not prevent the teeth of the living from becoming
decayed. In this respect modern science is ahead
of ancient art, for sozodont actually embalms the
molars and incisors and keeps them perfectly
white and spotless.
Year: 1866

The following letter published in the
Boston Journal some time since in reply
to Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, presents
so many facts for public consideration
on the subject of representation of the
Northern and Southern States in Con-
gress, as seen from the standpoints of
Congress and "my policy that we have
determined to copy it for the benefit of
our readers:


BosroN, Sept. 10, 1866.
Rev. Henry W'drd Beecher.


DEAR SIR Il have been accustomed
to look to you for guidance, but | can
not follow in your present course with
out more light upon the motives which
influence you. You, like all other true
Republicans, desire the restoration of
the Southern States to their practical
relations in the Union; you desire their
restoration at the earliest moment. and
in this again, you are not singular-so
do all good and true men. But in this
one thing you are singular, in that you
would restore the lately rebellious
States in such manner as to degrade the
loyal men of the North-the soldiers and
freemen who have fought our battles
to a position beneath that OF the late
slaves of the South. / mean this not as
a mere figure of rhetoric, but as clear
and undeniable fact.


Congress demands single condition,
precedent to the restoration of the late
rebellious States to their practical rela-
tlons in the Union, viz; the ratification
of the constitutional amendment. the |
main condition OF which is that repre-
sentation in the House of Representa-
tives and in the electoral college for the |
choice of President shall be made equal |
in proportion to the number of citizens
TO whom the right to vote is granted by |
each State. Congress demands that, if |
any State shall choose to limit the right |
TO vote to its white citizens, its white
citizens only shall be counted in esti-
Year: 1866

mating the number of representatives.
and consequently by adding the number
OF Senators thereto, the number of elec-
tors to which such State shall be en-
titled.


We have been accustomed TO count a
slave as three-fifths of a man, You
would count free citizen of Massachu-
setts as less than half man7 Do you
deny this2 If you re.admit the State
Of Mississippi with her representation
unaltered, so 0557 white persons in Mis-
sissippi will choose an elector, and it
will take l0l, ,7S9 in Massachusetts,.


Are you willing that your vote and
mine together shall be neutralized by the
single vote of the murderer Mayor Mon
roe of New Orleans?


Are you willing to see all the hard
work you have done to secure the rights
of the freedmen utterly lost by the re-
election OF the man who now disgraces
and dishonors the Presidency, and that
reelection secured by giving in the cleo
toral college two votes to the unrepent-
ant REBEL and only one to the loyal SOL
dier of the North? That such may be
the result you cannot deny; for while
the House of Representatives for little
while will prevent the admission of reb-
els among their number by feeble at
attempt to enforce the test oath, (an ef-
fort Of courage which can hardly be ex-
pected of them if they shall give up
their only power Of control,) yet
they cannot enforce the test oath in the
choice of electors-rebels and rebels
only will be chosen to that office, and if
rebels can now succeed in binding the
eyes of such men as you, it is hardly
to be hoped that they will not secure
the submission of a sufficient number of
fractional parts of men elsewhere in the
North, to re-elect the man who now
stands at their head and gives the word
OF command to them to begin the
slaughter of the few unprotected loyal
white men among them.


A business man like the writer often
thinks In figures, and give you some of
the results of my thoughts.


The present House of Representatives
consists of 242 members, apportioned
among the States upon the basis of the
census Of 1860, the slaves of that day
enumerated at three-ffths their number.


If their representatives are now ad-
mltted, 900 voters in Mississippi, Louisi-
ana, South Carolina and Alabamai will
have as much power in the House as
100 voters in Illinois, Indiana, Massa-
chusetts or Michigan; and when the ap-
portionment is made by the census to be
taken in 1870, when the blacks will be
counted in full, 1000 men in those States
Will have more power than 1000 men in
the Northern States, unless the loyal
colored men are allowed to vote, or the
number of Representative from the
South is decreased.


If re-admitted, as you propose, with
out any security for change in the ba-
sis of representation, the proportional
power of'some of the States in the pres
ent House of Representatives will be as
follows, with ten or twelve more repre-
sentatives to be taken from the mag
nanimous North and presented to the
rGpentant South by the census of 1870):