smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

Panic is, of course, one of the things
against which it is most easy to preach
but which it is most difficult to preach
down. Still, if it could be got into the
heads of all people in their cooler hours
that, in case of an alarm of fire i'll a
theater, the principal danger to the all
dience comes from themselves and is in
their own control, it is probable that,
even under the influence of sudden ex-
element and fear, many who now would
show bad example might then show a
good one. Not very long ago a sudden
alarm took place in one OF the best OF the
Paris theaers. It was not ON alarm Of
fire, it was only a Gathering and crash
ing among the branches, chains and
lamps of the huge glass chandelier which
hung from the roof. Those who were
under the chandelier thought it was COM
ing down on them, and made wildly for
the doors. The theater was well enough
constructed, and had many outlets, but
in an instant some of the passages were
completely jammed and choked by ex-
cited people. Luckily a single In
slant was enough to allow one of the
performers on the stage to see and ex-
pia:n lie whole cause of the alarm, and
to convince the fugitives that there
was no danger. The whole stampede
was set going by the sudden pattering OF
hailstones through an open window
among the metal and glass of the chan
delier. In that instance the alarm was
but momentary, and in many parts OF
the house was unobserved. Yet it was
evident to all cool observers that had it
lasted only a few seconds longer and
been allowed to spread, the passages
and doors would have been hopelessly
choked by a panic stricken crowd, and
, some loss of life most infallibly have
occurred.
Year: 1877

Another very curious division OF the
Partisan post-office is that OF the poste-
restante. The passion for intrigue that
forms so prominent feature in Partisan
social life finds there an ample field for
its manifestations. Thither come wives
that write to other men than their hus-
bands, husbands that correspond with
other ladies than their wives, schoolboys
that hazarded declaration of their feel
ings to Theo or to Croizette, etc. One
strict law of this department is, that no
letter shall be placed in the hands OF any
one save the person to whom it IS ad-
dressed. Thus, if q jealous spouse comes
to find out if there are any letters for
his or her suspected wife or husband, the
only response obtained will be-: "That
is none of your business" A story is
told how, on one occasion, gentleman
violently excited entered the office,
dragging rather than leading with him a
young and very pretty woman, who was
pale as death and trembling from head
to foot. Indicating his terrified COM
panion by sign, he said to clerk in
attendance: "My wife, Madam ",
wishes to know if there are any letters
for her?" The impassive official took
down the packet of letters marked ",
ran them over and answered: " There
are none, SIR" evidently much to the
relief of the lady. An hour later she
returned alone, through still pale and
agitated. The moment she made her
appearance the clerk took from the packet
a letter bearing her name and presented
it to her. She commenced an eager
speech of thanks, which was cut short
by the simple announcement: "The
person to whom letter is addressed has
alone the right to receive it"


The poste-restante often serves as a
trap to catch the smaller class of male
factors, such as runaway wives or de
faulting bank clerks. Such gentry usu-
ally come to Paris as secure hiding
place. Their names are communicated
to the police, and through them are
placed upon a list, called the yellow
list, of the post-office. If one of these
persons ventures to the post-restante to
claim letter, the name giyenis repeated
by the clerk in loud tone-a very sim
pie and natural proceeding, and one that
awakens no suspicious. But its object is
to give warning to detective concealed
in back room, by whom the culprit is
Immediately followed. and soon after he
is in the hands of .tlltslaw. - =
Year: 1877

Writing from Paris of the Communist,
in Paris, Lucy Hopper says that it is to-


be hoped that the present crisis will


bring about some cessation of the perse-


cution of the poor wretches who took


part in the Commune Even allowing


that the Communists were wholly in the


wrong, surely they have been punished


enough. The number that were killed


by the versaillist troops after their entry


into Paris is variously estimated at from


thirty to fifty thousand, including many


women and little children. The execu-


tions that have since taken place amounts
ed to from fifteen to eighteen thousand
When 1 first arrived here three years
ago-that is to say, two years after the


suppression of the Commune was told


that they were still shooting prisoners by


squads on the plains of Satory. Recent
ly a fresh victim was condemned to


death, not one of the leaders of the rebel


lion, be it understood, but one of the


rank and file. And it must be remem-


bered that many, nay the greater part,


of these poor creatures entered the ranks


of the Communist forces not to rob or


murder, but in good faith, and to earn


bread for their wives and little children.


1t is easy to see how a workingman, re-
publican by principle, who had starved
and suffered all through the siege, and
who was offered thirty cents day to


serve in the republican forces, could


easily be induced to accept such an offer.


And the heroism, of some of these un-


happy beings was beyond all praise.
Not long ago / was told the story OF


young Swiss doctor who had charge OF
one of the Communist hospitals, and who


was greatly aided in his labors by


woman of the people, who, young, strong


armed and vigorous, assisted him to the


best of her ability, and who was at once
the most untiring and faithful of nurses
to the sick and wounded. After the entry


of the Versaillists the physician was ar


rested. As he was being conducted be-
fore the tribunal he met his former aid
and companion coming forth, escorted
by detachment of soldiers. "Ah, my
poor Adele" he said to her, are you
here? We have both fallen on evil days,
it seems" She looked him full in the
face. Monsieur, ie ne vous connais
pas" she said C"I do not know you,
sir ~, and was hurried away. The doctor
shrugged his shoulders. Evidently


am doomed man, he said to himself,
asssiuce TINT woman viii not reeognizeme
for fear of compromising herself" He
was brought before the tribunal, but by
the Intervention of 8 wounded Versaillist
whom he had attended he was released.
He learned later the true story of Adele's


failure to recognize him. She was being
led forth to instant execution when they
had met. Even in that terrible hour the


brave girl had turned away from the last


visage that would ever be bent upon her


in sympathy or kindness, the last hand


that would ever be proffered to her In


friendly greeting, lest such recognition


might involve her former comrade In her


own doom.
Year: 1877

Mr Wm. B. Terrill left at our office last week, sample of white blossom clo. yer, which was as sweet-smelling as the rose, and as fresh as if picked in June, instead of October Jack Frost must have taken vacation, and run short of cash far away from his abiding place, and having no uncle to help him back to business is the reason why there is so much doubling up of nature's gifts to man. Most everything has been on the blossom twice this year. Think of a man eating fresh picked peas in Octo- Der. We are afraid that the nld-time Millerites will take advantage of Jack Frosl's absence. and scare the people into purchasing linen Listers for an aerial flight, and just ss soon as they are ready for their flop Jack Frost will appear with his usual stock of winter goods and freeze the gizzsrds out of the whole county.

 MT. Frederick Sanford has pear tree with blossoms, which shows that this warm weather has it's influence all around us, and that thsre is no humbug about this crop of blossoms this season of the year.
Year: 1877

Governor Redstone has bought for his wagon large gilt umbrella, which he hoisis for the accommodation of the tra- yelling public on stormy dsys. It is of the stssi improved pattern. and the only drawback to the governors happiness. that we can see. is the labor and exer- ton necessary upon his part when he folds the umbrella, which for length of staff is only excelled by the liberty pole in Eewtown street. Shining the staff to fold the umbrella is rather difficult task.

 We.havs one word to say to the nu- merous hrrse buyers that have inquired of Governor Redstone, by mail, the price of his three minute aud half horse. upon the authority of the governor him
Year: 1877

One night last week, some one entered the residence of z $. Peck, our post, master by turning the key of the door, which was found open,a and as Mrs. Peck was positive that she securely locked the door before retiring, they were in doubt as to whether il was the result of acci, dent or design that the door was opened until Mr. Peck arose. and desired to dress himself, when 1t was discovered that his pants and vest were not where he had placed them A search for th'' lnissiug articles WAS instituted immedi- ately, and they were found in the yard, where they had been left by some one. There WAS nothing else taken or dls- turbed

 MT. Peck and family were fortunate in not being further harmed by the visit of these thieves. This escape should be warning to all our citizens to not only lock every dooi, but that they should put strong OOlls on them.

 Now is the time to secure your win dows and doors against proving tramps and thieves. The unprecedentedly fa- vorable weather has delayed the appear ance of the tramp to some extent, in many of the country towns, but just as soon as the cold weather sets in, New town and vicinity will have an army of them to feed and provide for Our sym pathies are W ilh the poor and unfortu. nate people who are deserving of help but for every simple deserving one there are ninety and nine that are nothing else but dead beats, too lazy to work, and to impudent to be tolerated outside of jail.
Year: 1877

RUTLAND. July 3.


The matter of the scandal In this town in
which the name of Gen. II. H. Baxter Is
connected came to an end to-day. The
woman Payson who had threatened to ex-
pose and give publicity to certain matters
duplicating Gen. Baxter, was before Judge
DuDton on writ of habeas corpus and her
counsel withdrew the writ and consented
that the judge should issue an order re-
manding her to the custody of the super
lntendent OF the insane asylum who was
present. After consultation with other
medical gentlemen it was decided that when
the woman was sent to the asylum. She
was insane. She was now so far recover
ed as to render it safe to commit her to the
care of her frieLds, which was done. 1t is
now admitted by all parties, 80 far as can
he learned, that the woman was insane at
the time she threatened to make disclosures
damaging to General Baxter, or was at
tempting to levy black-mail. She admits
there is no truth in the charges she has
made, and no one believes word of them.
o the ID day of June 1877, Mrs Payson
wrote letter to General Baxter in which
she demanded the sum of So 900, or she
would make damaging disclosures. Gen.
eral Baxter, of course, paid no attention to
the threats. 1t is but due TO him to say
that neither he or his friends had any part
in the proceedings taken to sepd this
woman to the insane asylum, nor in the as
sault made upon a correspondent of Bos-
ton paper for the report he made. Gen.
eral Baxter never had more fully the con-
idcnce of the people of Rutland than now.
There is sufficient in the threatening let
ter to GeAeral Baxter tp send Mrs Payson
to states prison If she was sane and re-
sponsible for her acs.
Year: 1877

And from the margin must be de-
Quoted the losses arising from the
carrying away of machines by dis
honest people.


81 tell yOu," said the gentleman
from whom the foregoing statement
was obtained, "this lease business
has got to be abandoned and will
be by almost everybody i'm the bus
iness this year, for prices are going
down % per cent, and we can't do
that kind of business except upon a
large margin"


The President of the Wheeler Il
Wilson company said: "We will
furnish our $65 machine to any one
who will take the number from us
which we sell annually for $40 each.
Nothing but the protection afforded
by patents has brought the sewing
machine to its present perfection" "
he added. "In other countries, like
Germany, where they have been
allowed to pirate our inventions,
they have never made single
original Improvement in their ma
chimes, but here there has been a
constant strife to improve them by
outsiders, and we inside have had
money to work on them. Is cost us
three years time and $500, 900 to
produce our No. 8 machine from our
No. 6. We have not yet decided
what will be done in the way of re-
duction i'm prices. We shall proba-
bly, put our $55 machine down to
S45, which was the price before the
war"


At the Singer Manufacturing
Company's office the President said:
''There was a time when a great
competition arose as to who should
sell the machines. The Singer out
sold the others largely, but there
was a looseness in the way i'm which
people who could not get trusted for
a bushel of coal were put in posses
sion Of a $75 sewing machine, which
resulted in many losses to the COM
panies and a great clamor from dis
honest people against the lease sys-
tenn. That system will have TO be
stopped now, as we shall have to
reduce our prices almost immedi-
ately. The lease system has been
the means of enabling many poor
people to buy a sewing machine who
would never have got one in any
other way. This change will un-
Year: 1877

Many man is rich without money.
Thousands of men with nothing in their
pockets, are rich. A man born with a
good, sound constitution, a good stomach,
a good heart and good limbs, and a pretty
good headpiece, is rich. Good bones are
better than gold; tough muscles than
silver; and nerves that flash fire and car
ry energy to every function is better than
houses and land. 1t is better than a
landed estate to have the right kind of a
father and mother. Good breeds and bad
breeds exist among men as really as
among herbs and horses. Education may
do much to check evil tendencies or to
develop good ones; but it is great thing
to inherit the right proportion of facul-
ties to start with. The man is rich who
has a good disposition-who is naturally
kind, patient, cheerful, hopeful, and who
has flavor of wit and fun in his compo-
sition.
Year: 1877

The Brunswick (Me.) Telegraph tells Of
lady in that town who thus expressed
herself:


II determined to get new cloak.
While Twas considering how much money
to take out of the bank for the purpose,
happened to think how wicked it was for
me to 60 Haunting around in new cloak
when there were so many poor starving
creatures in the world. So I concluded
one of Johns old coats altered over would
do and l could keep my money in the
bank"


There is something in this story that
will carry alarm to the husbands who al
ready have a herculean task to keep one
spare coat out of the clutches of the Italian
vender of plaster-Paris cats and cracked
vases.
Year: 1877

In the Small room on Tenth street,
whose window contained her modest
sign, Miss Hetty Parker, milliner, was
engaged at work on Friday evening.
She was sewing on baby's garment.
for Miss Parker's millinery business in
the strict sense of the world was, un,
fortunately, not extensive, and she
was glad to exc out a better livelihood
on work a little out of the regular
line. The world to her as she stitched
probably didn't seem just as it did to
the mother for whom those pretty
things were being made, for Miss Par.
ker was quite alone in the world, with
no hulking man to pet and nag and
scold, and love and depend on, and to
be all alone is a grievous thing for a
woman not strong.minded. She was
not strong-minded, this patient milli-
ner, and she felt her isolation, keenlv.
She was not very pretty, nor overwise,
perhaps, but her face had something
womanly about it, and, if she had
grown into some slightly old-maidish
mannerisms, and ways Of thinking, the
fact was due rather to the force of cir.
cumstances than to any natural bent.
She was musiDg about it all.
Year: 1877

no frigid, frosty New Years Day such
as the old songs tell of, could compare
with this, or be half as happy in any
way.


And more than the reader can have
dreamed of there is in the story, for
the foundation is on solid fact, and
there'll be plain wedding very soon.
No cards.
Year: 1877

WE must measure mans strength by
the power of the feelings he subdues, not
by the power of those which subdue him.
And hence, composure is often the high
est result of strength. Did we ever see a
man receive fragrant injury, and then
reply calmlyG This is man spiritually
strong. Or did we ever see man in an
guish, stand as if carved out Of solid rock,
as if mastering himself9 Or one bearing
hopeless daily trial remain silent, and
never tell the world what cankered his
home peacel That is strength. We too
often mistake strong feelings for strong
character. A man who bears all before
him, before whose frown domestics trem-
BILE, and whose bursts Of fury make the
children of the household quake because
he has his way in all things. we call him
strong man. The truth is, that he is a
weak man; it is his passions that are
strong-he, mastered by them, is weak.
Year: 1877

BURYING A FoRT.-Quite an original
method of taking fort is described in
BldckrOods Magazine. In 1896 large
Russian army besieged the Turkish fort
of Azof, which was situated on plain
strongly fortified, and had a small but
well disciplined garrison. No common
approaches could be made to it, as the
Turkish cannon swept the level with iron
hail. In this case the engineering skill
of the Russians was baffied, but General
Patrick Gordon, the right hand man of
Peter the Great, and the only one for
whose death it is said he ever shed tear,
being determined to take the place at any
cost, proposed to bury it with earth by
gradual approaches. He had a large
army; the soil of the plain was light and
deep, aud he set twelve thousand men to
work with spades, throwing up a high
decentralization of earth wall before them
in advance. The men were keptin gangs,
working day and night, the earth being
thrown from one to another like the
steps of stair, the top gang taking the
lowest place every half hour in success
sion. In five weeks the huge earth wall
was carried forward nearly one mile, un-
til it rose to and above the highest ram
parts, and the earth began to roll over
them. This caused the Turkish Governor
to hang out the white flag and give in.
Had he not done so General Gordon
would have buried the fortress.
Year: 1877

The Orleans Club on the Thames Is not
calculated to improve the morals of the
upper ten. The,names are before ME of the
ladies who were present at private party
given there by the Prince of Wales.
They were all married ladies, and their
husbands were not invited, and had not
the courage to resent the insult thus Of
fered to their wives. regret to say that
the ladies in question are members of an
amateur dramatic society which has re-
Gently added large sums to charitable
treasures. The ladies were entertained
by his Royal Highness so merrily that
the men in the regular club dining-room
had to complain of the noise. One of the
guests was specially invited by the Prince
ION account of her clever conversation"
The fair guests smoked cigarettes in the
drawing room after dinner, and one of
them sat upon two chairs in the most ap-
proved masculine style. The other day a
divorced member Of the club took down to
dinner divorced lady, at which some of
the leading members were greatly scan
dalized. "The Orleans Club is never
theless one of the "fastest establishments
in town, or rather out of town, for it is
beautifully situated on the Thames, its
velvet lawn and its dropping trees being
objects of admiration to boating parties
floating by Oh these pleasant summer
days. The house is furnished in the most
luxurious style, with sleeping apartments
for bachelors and rooms for married peo.
ple. The Prince of Wales has cast his
patronizing eye upon new lady, Mrs.
I'D, who is just now the talk, If
not the envy, of several OF the distin-
guished lady guests who dine at the Or
leans Club. If there is Count Gram
mont about making notes, our children
will have spicy book for their editica-
ton when time has put back the present
generation and scandal is dignitied by be-
coming historical.
Year: 1877

Much has been written against the
accordeon, but the first evening after a
young man who practised on one moved
into the second floor of a house on Union
street, a smile lit up the face of the aged
citizen who lay in sickness on the floor
above. He said that he was now recon-
ciled to death.
Year: 1877

PHYSICIANS Of high standing unhesitating-
ly give their Endorsement to the use of the
Graefenberg- Marshalps Catholicon for all fe-
male complaints. The weak and debilitated
find wonderful relief from a constant use of
this valuable remedy. Sold by all druggists.
$1.50 per bottle
Year: 1877




There is class of farmers, says an
exchange paper, who are constantly on
the lookout for a better place to 60.
Their farms are always ''for SALE" and
they dream of luxurient lands, in some
other part of the country. which can be
bought 'for song," where they imag-
inc they would be more prosperous and
enjoy life better than where they now
reside. Many of these men own mort
gagged farms and for such men to de-
sire to remove where they can own
free farm /; though it be far, far away.
is but natural manifestation to better
ones condition which the human mind
cannot resist. But where can those
men go, after selling their farms, and
be contented? ? This is serious ques-
tion, which no man can answer Of his
own knowledge. Suppose they can sell
out. and command thousand or fifteen
hundred dollars after paying all their
debts, and they start for "the West"
Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, or some other
State. Eighty acres of land, with
comfortable house or log cabin on it,
can be bought for from $5 to $40 per
acre. The land is all right, as good as
''lies out of doors;' but alas for the
surroundings. Neighbors are scarce,
society is myth; and the poor, frail
housewife, who follows her husband
without murmur. pines for friends.
The children have to go two miles or
farther to school 1; and in the winter sea-
son they cannot attend much of the
time in consequence of storms. Church
es are "few and far between" and the
people are generally mixture of va
rious nations; and the result of all is,
that many an Eastern farmer who goes
West is unhappy and wishes himself
back on his old homestead. So if one
goes South, or anywhere, he will not
find things just to his mind If one
thing is better than on the old place,
another is worse: and taking all things
into consideration, but few farmers
change their residence, who are able to
make living on the old place, that bet
ter themselves by removing to a distant
State. One may obtain rich lands at
low price where there -ia --~-l-Oe-
for what he grows; and he may get into
an unhealthy locality, and soon he may
bury his wife and children, and what
then Pa gloomy world for him.