smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

WOODLAND, CAL, April 7th, 1877.
EDITOR REGISTER:


There are 30 many things on this coast
that if properly presented would furnish
material for q letter of finterest to people
east of the Rocky Mountains that one
hardly knows what to choose to write
about or where to commence, more espe.
cially as nearly every visitor has tried
his hand at description of the many
wonders, curiosities and resources of this
truly delightful and prolific Pacific
Slope. have concluded therefore to jot
down few of the little things that are
usually overlooked and seldom men,
toned by most of the writers in their
more elaborate description of this coun-
try.


spoke of the climate in my last let
ter and to show you more fully what a
California winter really is will only add
that the office l occupy faces to the
north with large folding doors and dur
ing the whole of the first winter | was
here / had no fire while the doors were
all open from o'clock in the morning
until 10 o'clock at night. How is that
for winter weather? Sunny Southern
Kansas can't beat that much-ah! In
fact the weather is the most delightful
that one can imagine, with no thunder
and lightning to frighten women and
children and feel provoked all the time
to think that was not born here in
stead of being raiseb in country where
it was necessary to wade through mud,
slush and snow or be pinched up with
cold half the year at least.


DurinE the past winter we did not
have as much rain as usual and in some
parts of the State, especially the southern
portion there will be short crop except
where they have irrigating bitches, while
nearly everywhere the farmers are grum.
bling and think ruin stares them in the
face unless they get another good rain.
But California is about 700 miles long
and is little empire within itself and
without another drop of rain this spring
we would have a surplus that would as
tonish even Kansas farmer. In fact il
a Kansan could see the eight horse head
ers and steam thrashers that will cover
the plains next fall and then see the
string OF eight holse trains with two OF
three freight wagons each hauling wheat
to the railroad stations and then see the
piles of we'll filled sacks corded up like
wood at every depot in this village, they
would naturally think that the farmers
of the Sacramento valley had no just
grounds for complaint, but our farmers
never think eighteen or twenty bushels
to the acre worth harvesting; they want
and often get from forty to fifty. l saw
at our depot last fall acres covered over
with wheat sacks. In fact I believe
saw more wheat corded up in sacks al
this single depot than ! saw in Kansas in
The whole four years / lived there.


Reapers such as you use are seldom
used here except for cutting hay. Eight
horse headers that will harvest twenty
acres per day are almost exclusively
used for harvesting grain and nothing
but steam thrashing machines, no horse
power machines at all. Speaking of hay
reminds me that our hay would loot
rather strange to eastern people. Nearly
all the hay used here is either wild oat'
Year: 1877

Invite the young men into your
counsels. The country has more TO
expect from its youth just entering
upon the stage of action than from
its gray heads, that, however full Of
wisdom and experience, are soon to
pass away from earth.


The art of agriculture is in a trans
ition state; lis patrons are waking
up to a sense OF its possibilities, and
to the necessity of availing them
selves Of the discoveries Of science
and patent investigations.


Young men are more progressive
than older ones, they have less Of
prejudice and tradition to contend
with, and are more ready to accept ad-
vanced thought and experiment, inn
proved methods of cullure, tools and
implements. They are more hopeful
aud energetic. The sorrows and dis
appointments of life have not settled
as a black cloud over their bright and
sunny vision. They make the best
WOTkluS iuiNS ~ 1hy NohhpNbn.
Commence with the boys; educate
them to think, listen and reason
encourage them to attend yotsT-sneet-
ings and avoid the snares Of idle
companionship and aimless leisure.


How beautiful and how appropriate
that youth should commingle with
old age in the all.important work Of
mutual Improvement that the warn
ings and experiences Of a lifetime
should moderate and govern the fire
Of youthful zeal and retklessness !
that thought and action, wisdom and
energy, caution and hope, repose and
labor should go hand in hand solving
the great problem of human happi-
ness and prosperity.
Year: 1877

AFRICAN FISH. In Lake Nyassa,
In the far interior of Africa, is a kind
of black fish which every year builds
what the natives call "a house." In
the mud ut the bottom Of the lake 1t
makes hole two or three feet broad,
allowing the earth removed from the
hole to form little wall around it.
The depth of the hole and the height
of the wall measured together make
a small basin from fifteen to eighteen
inches deep. In this little lake with
in a lake the fish feels secure from all
enemies, and very quietly keeps
house until the eggs are laid, when it
becomes restless and leaves the house
as q nursery for successors, while II
roams about again at will.
Year: 1877

There are some men whose fail
ures to succeed in life is problem
to others as well as themselves. They
are Industrious, prudent, and econ
omical; yet, after long life of striv-
ing, old age finds them still poor.
They complain of i'll luck. They say
fate is always against them. But
the fact is that they miscarry because
they have mistaken mere activity for
energy. Confounding two things
essentially different, they have sup
posed that, if they we're always busy
they would be certain TO advance
their fortunes, They have forgot
ten that misdirected labor Is but a
waste of activity. The person who
would succeed in life is like mark
man firing at target; if his shots
miss the mark, they are waste Of
powder. So in the great game Of
life; what man does must be made
to count, or it might almost as well
be left undone. Everybody knows
somu one in the circle of friends,
who, although active, has this want
of energy. The distemper, if we
may call it such, exhibits itself in va
rious ways. In some cases, the man
has merely an executive faculty,
when he should have directive enc;
in other language, he makes oapi-
tai clerk, for himself, when he ought
to do the thinking Of the business.
In other cases what is done is not
done either at the right time or in
the right way. Energy, correctly un-


derstood, is activity proportioned to
the end" College Journal"
Year: 1877

A New UsE FOR Onions. A New
Hampshire paper states that the speed
lest way to cure the epizootic and make
the horse thoroughly happy IS to give
him onions. In proofwhereof the case
ofa Portsmouth horse is cited, which
had severe attack Of the disease, and
his owner placed half dozen onions
with his regular feed. The horse ate
three of the onions Immediately, and
by the time he swallowed them began
to cough and sneeze and prance about,
appearing quite indignant, and refusing
to touch the remaining onions. For
full FIVE minutes he wept at the nose,
and then-he was cured horse. He
has not had q cough, sneeze nor any
symptom Of the epizootic since, but he
had the courage to eat the onions re-
naming IN the crib the next day after
the cure.


NJ
Year: 1877

EDITOR STAR: As there are frequent
Inquiries made abont the public schools.
and why they are not In OPP rasion,
take occasion to say to all inter cd
that the county school tax collected 70,
the last fiscal year has or will be nearly
or quite exhausted in paying up the old
outstanding school warrants. TIE
amonnt received from the State ness
than one Thousand doIlars is INSULT
cient to establish schools to continue
any length of time. In viev of these
facts have thought it expedient no. to
establish any schools until fall. when
funds will have accumulated in the
treasury, and schools be made general
and teachers receive the cash for their
services. I hope all will concur with
me in the opinion that it is decidedly
the best policy not to put the county
further in debt but to pay the money
Ms soon as debt is incurred


Ii. w HOWE
Year: 1877

In The preparation of salads. America is
far behind other countries. No French or
German peasant could live without his
salad. If 1t tuce can not be obtained, a
few cold boiled potatoes or string beans,
with bit of onion or parsley, will do just
as well. Hundreds OF bits and ends,
which are thrown away by an American
housewife, could be compounded into
delicious salad with suitable dressing
In our cities the art of salad making is
rapidly advancing. and nearly every
housewife prides herself upon the compo-
sition OF creamy mayonnaise but in the
country, where lettuce and hundreds of
salad vegetables and grasses grow in per-
feclion. the art of salad-makng is almost
unknown. Many recipes for salads OF
fish, meat, and greens have come down
to us in Roman records, showing that the
people OF Olden time were not behind the
present day in their attention to that appe-
tizing addition to meal. 1t is almost
impossible 10 give exact directions for the
mixing of savory salad. This is some
thing which should never be left TO the
hands OF an ordinary cook, Tor no dish re-
quIres SO much delicacy of preparation.
Every cultivated man or woman should
understand this subtle mystery. The
salad is the aesthetic dish of the meal, the
reireshment and recreation after the more
solid plates which have satisfied the appe-
tite. and 1t should be direct offering from
the hostess TO the delicate palate of her
guests. II the salad is delicious, let no
one lear Tor the rest OF the dinner, for
that Is a direct index to the whole char.
acter OF the cuisine Helen S. C0nant in


Harper's Magazine for FeJruarg
Year: 1877

1t would seem, judging from the hero
inc of the following SKETCH that cleanli-
ness is not necessary to perfect health. A
wealthy English widow, of the first
Georges time, never allowed her room to
be cleansed, and the windows were so in
crusted with dirt as to permit scarcely
any light. She reasoned thus, when
asked for an explanation: If the room
were wetted she might catch cold; if the
windows were cleaned glass might be
broken and somebody hurt. She never
washed herself for fear of cold; as a sub
stitute she anointed her face and neck
with a little milk and hogs lard, finished
off with touch of rose pink on her
cheeks. She was methodical in her hab-
its, eating with one favorite knife, fork
and plate, and drinking out of one cup.
She had excellent health, abhorred physic
and doctors, and cut two new teeth at the
age of eighty-seven. She had no near re-
latiOns, and refused to see those more
distantly related. One pleasant charac-
terstic is recorded she had large, we'll
kept garden, in which she passed the
most of her time reading. Although she
lived entirely through the reign Of the
First and Second Georges, and far into
that of the Third, she continued to wear
fashions of the time of George First as be-


ing those Of her married life. Notwith.
standing this, she was everywhere treated
with respect. Perhaps her gold had
something to do with that, however. Her
household consisted Of one servant IAN
old mani two lap-dogs and a cat; and
these we're her only companions. She
survived until extreme old age.
Year: 1877

POISONS.


POisons either burn or give other dis
comfort in passing down the throat; these
are organic poisons, and are metallic, de-
strOying the delicate lining of the parts
along which they pass and causing in
tiammation more or less painful and dan.
gerous, including all strong acids. There
are other poisons which may be swal.
lowed unawares, as laudanum, paregoric
morphine and the like.


AS the time for saving life in case Of
poisoning sometimes passes within five
minutes or less, every head of a family y
and every intelligent person should have
some general principles of action, with
GOODNESS of manner, so as to give the
power to act advantageously in any emer-
gency.


If an alkaloid-as opium, or morphia,
or other anodyne-has been taken, all OF
which produce dullness of every grade to
stupor and insensibility, the first point is
to get it out of the stomach as instanta-
neously as possible; put a heaping tea
spoonful of salt and as much ground
mustard in half glass of water, stir it
and drink instantly. In a moment of
time violent vomiting takes place, which
should be promoted afterwards by drink.
ing warm water, which further dilutes
the poison. In a few moments drink
freely of strong coffee; this helps to an
tagonize any of the poison which may re-
main. If the patient seems dull or
sleepy, he should be taken under the
arms by two persons and made to walk
actively until he is fully walked up; if
that cannot be done, put him under the
pump and let the water fall on his head
while sitting up, from distance Of two
feet, from pitcher or bucket until he is
fully awake; for if you do not wake him
he dies. In case of organic or metallic
poisoning, scalding the throat in its pas
sage, the first great point is dilution; the
most accessible thing is warm water, but
warm milk is better, and liquid oils or
hogs lard are better still, for they not
only dilute but they soothe and shield
the parts in very grateful manner;
keep on drinking them until free vomit-
ing is induced; then swallow the whites
of several fresh eggs, which combine
with the most acrid poisons and form
chemical compounds, harmless and inert,
Of any remnant of poison which may be
left after the vomiting. But while these
things are doing, send for a physician,
and when he comes tell him all that has
been done and show him what has been
vomited.


For many poisons there are more
specific antidotes than the above; but
most of them are seldom at hand. The
points instantly to be arrived at are, in
painless poisons, to get them out of the
stomach instantly. If painful, dilute
first, cover the burned parts with some
soothing material, as oils, and then get
them out Of the stomach. Strong coffee
and whites of eggs are good for both
kinds of poisons.
Year: 1877

Though little bring,


Said the tiny spring,
As II burst from the mighty hill,


'Tis pleasant to know,


Wherever flow,
The pastures grow greener still


And the drops Of rain,


Ashley fall on the plain,
When parched by the summer heat,
Refresh the sweet flowers


Which dropped in the bowers,
And hung down their heads at our feet
Though the drops are small,
Yet, taking them all, =.
Each one doing all that it CAM


To fulfill the design


OF its Maker Divine,
What lessons they give unto man!


May we strive to fulfill
All His righteous will,
Who formed the whole earth by His word
Creator Divine!


We would ever be Thine,
And serve Thee, our God and our Lord.
Year: 1877

THE discovery Of the satellite of Mars
is owing to the fact that this planet is
many millions Of miles nearer the earth
at present than for nearly eighty years.
Take a good look at Mars now; you will
not see him so big and bright again for
nearly century to come-and it is a
trihe doubtful if you will then.
Year: 1877

WHERE screws are driven into soft
wood and subjected to considerable strain,
they are likely to work loose. In such
cases the use of glue is recommended.
Prepare the glue thick; immerse stick
about half the size of the screw and put
it into the hole; then immerse the screw
and turn it home as quickly as possible.
Year: 1877

Appleton's Journal says: On Long stone is the lighthouse which was Grace Darling's home. We landed, and were courteously received by the keeper of the house, a brother of Grace. He showed us all over the building, which was in excellent condition. So par tlcular was he with regard to cleanli- ness that he obliged us to take off our boots before he would conduct us up stairs. He informed us that, when the government inspectors paid their visit the last time, one of them had drawn g white handkerchief from his pocket and passed it along the top of the doors, to be sure that no dust had been allowed to gather there. Here we saw the little room that had been Grace's chamber. Everything is religiously preserved as it was when she lived there. Brave maiden, who knew well how to act, but knew not how to receive the praise that her act drew forth
Year: 1877

'Iis all very we'll that rubbing down and polishing off, provided it is done in moderation; "but let me tell you," says an old sage, "there is such thing as rubbing too hard" l have seen an American Indian rubbing two pieces rough wood together; after a little time they became great deal smoother, and had pleasant, warm feeling; but when he rubbed away some time longer they took fire, blazed up and cracked, and sputtered in all directions. Now, 'tis just the same thing in married life. Rub quietly. and only little at time, and all will go on smoothly, but if you stick to it, hard and fast. from morning till night. take my word for it, you will kindle up blaze at last that you may not find easy to put out.
Year: 1877

It would require man of wide and varied experience to describe how they ''play at carnival in Peru." The aim all have in view is to get as much wild enjoyment out of the three days of license as possible. A lady may receive little scented water from a delicate syringe, or she may receive the contents of bottle of pickles and the yolk of an egg on the crown of her head; she may stand ill her balcony and pelt the pass ers-by with egg-shells filled with sweet things, or she may find her house in vaded, and herself placed gently in her bath. To pass through the streets of Lima is to insure a drenching, either from those very convenient balconies, or from the brawny negress who cooly awaits your coming with bucket of water, which she empties right over you. In the country the object is the same, but the means sometimes differ. At Matucano poor little Chola, com ing along with few potatoes, is seized and laid lengthways in the stream which runs by the side of the railway. Another who has "played' oftener, stands knee deep in the same stream, with calabash, and to her decends a man with a wooden bucket, and for half an hour they dash water at each other, resting at intervals to recover breath. Here gentleman has hand full of bitter herbs, which he rubs into the teeth and mouth of his lady-love !; while that lady's friend dexterously

 nserts between his shirt and skin a handful of nettles. But she does not escape harmless, for, just as she has planted the nettles we'll home, her mouth is filled with blue mixed into a paste, They seem to enjoy it.
Year: 1877

A discovery has been made Aus l tralia which confirms with singular minuteness the theory that assigns to camel coal an origin from leaves. It is difficult to understand how leaves can accumulate free from dirt in suffi- cient quantity to form the beds of can- nel coal, now several feet thick and representing many times their mass in leaves. But in Australia just such a mass of leaves has been found, partially, but not completely, altered to camel The appearance and fracture of fresh blocks are the same as of this kind to coal, but after some years exposure if it can be separated with knife into thin lamina, which show that the mass is composed principally of leaves. The bed is six feet thick, and the Govern ment geolOgist calls it ''incipient lig- nite.''

 Another Australian curiosity is an igneous rock which has enclosed small stems and even leaves of plants without destroying them. The plants are found in a thin red clay lying on mass of volcanic breccia, and they sometimes penetrate several inches into an over lying mass of cellular basalt, and are not much altered, the woody matter be- ing almost natural. The red clay evil dently formsl the surface soil of the hill of old volcanic breccia, when new eruption occurred and covered the soil and its delicate plants with mass of igneous rock. But how the volcanic rock retained it's elasticity without heat enough to destroy a delicate leaf is mystery. The trunk of a tree two feet in diameter is also embedded in this basalt, which is pronounced to be of the newer pliocene age.
Year: 1877

N A woman is either worth . great deal
or nothing. If good for nothing, she
is not worth getting jealous for; if she
be true woman, she will give no cause
for jealousy. A man is brute TO be
jealous of good woman-a fool to be
Jealous of a worthless one; but is
double fool to cut his throat for either
of them. And the rule applies as forci-
bly, to men.
Year: 1877

THE cause of the fall of the roof at the
New York Post-ofice, whereby several
mea were killed, is being investigated by
the Coroner of that city. The superinten.
dent of the work Of alteration says that the
truss was not properly made, that it was
not fastened to the roof as it should have
been, and that its end was not propely sup.
ported, these defects causing the roof to fall
in when the temporary wooden shores or
supports were taken away. He made no
special examination of the truss or of the
work, either before or after 1t was set, but
blames the contractors for having neglected
to do their work properly, and defends
himself from the charge of neglect of his
duties of superintendent.
Year: 1877

THE Southern press is unanimous in
disgrace to the State and to the whole sec,
'ion. No attempt to pAlIiate it has come
to hand. The Vicksburg Herald thus
calls upon Governor Stone to- bring the
murderers to iustice:-"rhe people are
with him, and he may rest assured tha,
lie can secure all the aid he wishes to en-
force the laws. We hope lie will cause the
arrest and rrompt trial of those TO blame
iu this horrible affair, and if the officers q
the law meet with the least opposition we
hope the Governor will call out the mill.
tary to crush out all resistance"
Year: 1877

The promise is that public attention viii
be directed, shortly, to the Importance o
arranging for the organization OF wa
upon the traffic in improper literature ii
this city and its vicinity, and we neet
hardly say that euch an enterprise vii
have the earnest support ofthe press ant
the cordial sympathy Of all decent people
The field in which operations are de-
m ,nded is a wide one-much wider thar
most persons imagine; and Of the vita
Importance of the work TO individuals ano
to society there can be no question what
ever. There are two classes of pernicious
Literature against which combat ought to
be made; that which is publicly sold and
is not illegal, and that which is circulated
secretly and in violation of the laws. Both
classes present formidable obstacles; the
first because the law will not stop it, and
the second because of the silent, insiduous
and obscure processes through which it is
distributed. What those processes are is
little known to the general public, and
there would be obvious impropriety in at
tempting to detail them here.


The victims of the scoundrels who con-
duct this nefapious business are the young,
Boys and girls in seminaries and even in
their homes are reached and tempted to
purchase, with the result that teachers
aud parents, who think they have guard
ed every avenue Of approa ch, and unsus.
picious of the presence Of evil, while the
young minds entrusted to their care are
being poisoned to their deepest depths
There is nothing upon earth SO corrodipg
to the yonng as an obscene book; and these
publications of which we speak are the
yilest Of the vile. The worst indecencies
that'are Aaunted upon the stage are far lese
hurtful to youth than an infamous mar
rative over which he pores in secret. The
written story leaves an impression which
is ipdelible and Mhich,supplies an impulse
lnc''cuiaoie. 1he harm that u DeIng done
by the lewdness Of such base literature i,
appalling, and hastens the youthful mind
to the committal of the viIest crimes. Par.
ents, therefore, cannot be too watchful in
guarding against the entrance of this vile
trash into their hands, if they wish to pre-
serve the purity of their youths.