smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877




During period Of nearly ten days Il
terrible battle has been raging in the
Welsh collicry of Troedyrhiw, battle in
which death savagely fought on one side
and the brave miners of Pontypridd on
the other. The tale is one that will live
long in the homes Of the Rhondda valley.
It is story the details of which have
been given day by day and which has
stirred to the lowermost depts the SYM
pathies OF the English people, and en-
listed the earnest solicitude of the Queen
herself. Day after day since the strange
calamity occurred which closed number
OF hapless miners in a tomb, the first It'd
ings for which the newspaper was
searched at every household table has
been the latest report from that dreadful
Troedyrhiw mine. When the news had
been read that the miners were still
entombed, public sympathy and interest
gradually quickened into an absorbing
anxiety which converted the battle waged
so long and earnestly for life into nation
al event. It was on April IL, just as the
day-shaft colliers were quitting the
Troedyrhiw pit when the catastrophe oc-
Cured.


Some last incautious blow, or some ac-
cidental breach Of wall or vein, burst the
thin partition which held back a vast con-
cealed reservoir Of subterranean water.
when suddenly with a rush like that of
an angry incoming sea, black Cocytus
Of flood broke in upon the mine. Filling
the lower galleries and bottom of the
shafts, driving before it the atmosphere
from ~ H. :.
mysterious deluge cut off two parties of
men who escaped with difficulty from the
peril of immediate drowning TO find
themselves immured in the first and
second adits of the mine nearest the up
per shafts. No sooner was it known that
number of operatives were missing than
scores of brave, hardy volunteers were
forthcoming to rescue their fellows. Many
at once descended the shaft, which is 276
feet deep, and entered the workings. It
was then ascertained that all the work
ings within a few hundred yards of the
bottom of the shaft were filed with water
to the roof, and no hope was entertained
! that anyone would be discovered alive
While the explorers were consulting as
| to what movement should be made, faint
tappings were heard on the other side of
the coal, as was conjectured at distance
of thirty or forty feet. No sooner was
this discovery made than score of men
threw off their coats and with mandrills
commenced cutting through the solid
mass.


The imprisoned were also at work.
Throughout the night, relays of men
toiled with desperate, untiring energy,
cheered and encouraged by the tapping
and sounds Of labor of the imprisoned
men. The task was very laborious, it
having to be performed in deep water,
but such was the progress made that on
the following morning a mandril struck
through and a hole was made into that
part of the pit where five men were shut
up. The next moment terrific explosion
occurred and one of the imprisoned, a
miner named Morgan, was hurled into
the opening, where the resources found
him dead. The inundation had been so
sudden rs to imprison the air in the inner
workings, and the force of this had kept
back the water from the five mon in that
Year: 1877

Fletcher Harper, the last Of the four
brothers comprising the original firm Of Har-
per Brothers is dead, at the age of y. The
sons fthc brothers will continue the business
as usual
Year: 1877

ON Monday laSt, II brother of Mr.. Burr,
postmaster at Olympia, was brought to
this place to receive medical treatment at
the private hospital of DIR. Minor. He is
at present being taken care of at the Cen
tral Hotel. From the reputation OF this
justly popular house, and from what we
know it, we can safely bespeak for him
the best of accommodations and careful at
tention.
Year: 1877

be permanently fixed upon us and
then we begin to decay, even in youth.
Late hours are shadows from the grave.


If were boy again, would have
blank book in which could record,
before going to bed, every days events
just as they happened to me personally.
If begin by writing only two lines a
day in my diary, would start my lit
tie book, and faithfully put down
what happened to interest me. On its
pages l would note down the habits of
birds and animals as l saw them, and
if the horse fell i'll, down should go his
malady in my book, and what cured
him should go there too. If the cat or
the dog showed any peculiar traits,
they should all be chronicled in my
diary, and nothing worth recording
should escape me.


There are hundreds of things / would
correct in my life if l were boy again,
and among them is this especial one {:
| would be more careful of my teeth.
Seeing since l have grown up how
much suffering is induced by the bad
habit of constantly eating candies and
other sweet nuisances, | would shut
my mouth to all allurements of that
sort. Very hot and very cold substan
ces | would studiously avoid. Tooth
ache in our country is one of the ma
tional crimes. Half the people we
meet have swelled faces. The dentist
tbrives here as he does in no other
land OH the planet, and it is because
we begin to spoil our teeth at the age
of five or six years. A child, eight
wears old asked me NOT long AGO if |
could recomend him to dentist ''whO
didn't hurt ?" pitied him, but was
unacquainted with such an artist. They
all hurt, and they cannot help it, poor,
hard working gentlemen, charging, as
they do, like Chester.


| would have no dealings with tObac-
co, in any form, if were boy again.
My friend Pipes tells me he is such a
martyr to cigar boxes that his life is a
burden. The habit of smoking has be-
come such a tyrant over him that he
carries a tobacco bowsprit at his damp
discOlored lips every hour of the day,
and he begs me to warn all the boys OF
my acquaintance, and say to them en-
phatically, Don't learn to smoke ~
He tells me, sadly, that his head is
sometimes in such dizzy whirl, and
his brain so foul from long habits OF
smoking he cannot break off, that he
is compelled to forego much that is
pleasant in existence, and live tobac-
co-tortured life from year to yeaI.
Poor Pipes! he is sad warning to
young fellows who are just learning to
use the dirty, unmannerly weed.


Youths Companion.
Year: 1877

A dilapidated looking stranger came
into our office yesterday morning, and
with an air of profound mystery con-
fided to us the information that he was
quite wealthy, and great collector of
Centennial relics, but being tempOrari-
ly embarrassed and away from home,
he wished to dispose of a shirt that
Washington once wore for $4.75. He
showed us the shirt, but as it appeared
to have been the only one he ever had,
and that he had worn it with great
assiduity for couple of hundred years,
we hesitated about investing. The
man said:


"You won't give SAYS for shirt
worn by the father of his country 2"


We said no: at least not unless You
can bring us the atfidavits of John NJ.
Palmer and Henry WattersOn, to show
that the father of his country washed
his neck at least twice during the Rev
olutiOnary war, and that the tint on
the neck band of the relic was caused
10y its being used as a washer for the
lynchpin of the Centennial cannon.


"YOu can stand there,n the man said,
''and look at this priceless bit of linen,
venerable with the dust of ages and the
darkening stains of Times indelible
pencil, and not feel your heart burn
and throb and your eyes grow dim and
misty with the memory of Valley Forge
and Lundy's Lane and the battle of the
Nile You can stand there and refuse
to give S4.75 for this sacred emblem p


We blushed and felt very much dis
concerted, but the truth was strong
within us, and we managed to indicate
that we would even refuse to give d
much greater sum for it.


"Then" he said, "will you lend me
fifty cents on it, and keep it for me
until | send you draft for S35 from
New York ?"


We had to say that we would not
accept the trust. He tucked the sacred
emblem under his arm and closed his
eyes for moment, and then lifted his
hands to heaven. "My rebuke is Just,
he said solemnly, "and | am rightly re-
buffed and insulted. l trampled my
manhood and honor and conviction il
the dust when offered this talisman OF
liberty to alien hands for base dross.
go; l may starve; I may die in the
street but / never will part or offer tC
piIl Will thiS dSdlu VIII uIe WIFI IL
in my clinging arms and when | am
dead, you will find Washington written
on my heart"


He went. We watched him disappear
down the stairs, and then we went tC
the alley window and saw him go back
into an adjacent woodshed where he
peeled his closely buttOned coat and
inserted himself into the talisman Of
liberty and was seen no mOre.-Bur.
lingt0n HGUkeye.
Year: 1877

A person calling himself Charles j.
Jones, although he acknowledged this
to be an alias, was committed for trial
at the Tombs on Sunday. His game
was to advertise for "twenty sales-ladies
wanted )" applicants were requested to
forward their photographs; they would
then receive letters saying nothing of
employment, but limiting at social ac-
quaintance. A young lady who had re-
ceived four of these precious answers,
all from the same "office," made state
ment of the affair to the police, which
was followed, as above stated, by the
Imprisonment of the writer We do
not know that anything can be done
with him by way of punishment, but it
police and will be put under surveil
lance. Unless he is an arrant pOltrOOn,
which is probable, he is pretty sure of
a residence, more or less prolonged, in
the State Prison-if not now, at least
at no very distant day.


This is hard winter; great many
young women are out of employment,
and great many villains are on the
lookout to take advantage of their
necessities. AS rule, it is best to be
extremely cautious about answering a
certain class of advertisements. A we'll
informed girl would know that, about
this time, there is no demand for sales
women, and certainly no need of ad-
vertising for them. OF course a con-
siderable number of girls of this class
are too wary to be misled, and the
sharks who are upon the lookout for
them do not expect nor desire to cap
ture more than a few. We think it de-
sirable, however, to put the few who
are unwary and likely to get into trou


BILE upon their guard, especially at this
time. Distrust is wholesome under such
circumstances, and caution can hardly
be carried too far.-N. y. Tribune.
Year: 1877

There is true honor in the following
story: Once upon time there lived
an old gentleman in large house. He
had servants and everything he wanted
yet he was not happy, and when things
did not go as he wished, he was very
cross. At last his servants left him.
Quite out of temper, he went to "a
neighbor with story of distress. at
seems to me-" said the neighbor saga
ciously, "'twould be well to oil your
self little" "To oil myself?" Eyes (;
and will explain. Some time ago one
of the doors in my house creaked. No
body, therefore, liked to go in or out
by it. One day oiled its hinges, and
it has been constantly used by every
body ever since" "Then you think
that l am like the creaking door," cried
the old gentleman. Chow do you want
me to oil myself9" "That's an easy
matter" said the neighbor. "Go home
and engage a servant, and when he
does right, praise him. If, on the con-
trary, he does something amiss, do not
be cross oil your voice and words with
the oil of love.n The old gentleman
went home, and no harsh or ugly words
were ever heard in the house after
wards. Every family should have a
bottle of this precious oil, for every
family is liable to have a creaking hinge
in the shape of fretful disposition, Il
cross temper, harsh tone, or fault
finding spirit.
Year: 1877

If every one who could pay their bills
would do so. it would help matters
these hard times. A gentleman III
neighbOring city recently told the
writer that he had been 'put off" by
debtor as many as twenty times and
that he had that day been credibly in
formed of large deposit in a savings
bank, to the credit of the same obsti-
nate debtor. Every merchant in town
who trusted his fellow-man has on his
BOOKS a host of little accounts that
bother him infinitely more than the
large accounts. They send bills to men
who are "well off" and in few months
send another bill, and then another,
without response. They dislike to urge
the payment as the debtor is Gus
toner whom they dislike to displease.
The merchant needs his money and is
oftentimes obliged to borrow, and pay
interest, because those who can pay,
do not pay.
Year: 1877

In the pocket book of Hon. Stephen
Allen, who was drowned when the
Henry Clay was burned on the Hudson
several years since, was found printed
slip, apparently cut from Il newspaper,
of the following is a copy. 1t is worthy
to be engraved on every young mans
heart:


'Make few promises. Always speak
the truth. Never speak evil of any
one. Keep good company or none.
Live up to your engagements. Never
play a game of chance. Drink no kind
of Intoxicating liquors. Good charac-
ter is above all things else. Keep your
own secrets, if you have any. Never
borrow if you can possibly help it. Do
not marry until you can support a wife.
Keep yourself innocent if you would be
happy. When you speak to a person,
look in the face. Make no haste to be
rich, if you would prosper. Ever live
misfortune excepted) within your in
come. Save when you are young, to
spend when you are old. Avoid tempta-
tion, through fear you may not with
stand it. Never run in debt, unless
you see way to get out again. Small
and steady gains give competency with
tranquil mind. Good company and
good conversation are the sinews of
virtue. Your character cannot be es-
sentially injured, except by your own
acts. If any one speak evil of you, let
your life be so that no one will believe
him. When you retire to bed, think
over what you have been doing during
the day. Never be idle ; if your hands
can't be employed usefully, attend to
the cultivation of your mind.


"Read over the above maxims care
fully and thoroughly at least once a
week.
Year: 1877

There are some people who are never
willing to let by-g cones be by-gOnes.
If ever in the past has occurred some
lapse in conduct, mistake or blunder,
error or positive wrong, in the life of
their acquaintances, they take particu-
lar delight in telling them of it over
and over again. Whenever they see
an opportunity they bring it into their
conversation, and are only satisfied
when the whole depth of the sting is
felt. They are the people who say,
triumphantly 81 told you So" They
seem possessed with the spirit of carp
ing and fretting. Their judgment is
continual. AS the boys of the street
say, they never 'Egive us rest" Sup
posing we have made a mistake in
business calculations, which has lost us
thousands of dollars, and them single
hundred, we never hear the last of it.


Twitters are the mosquitoes of So
ciety. They represent that class which
are so small, that we can hardly con-
descend to scold about them. We
scarcely feel like waging war against
them. We rather prefer to let them
light upon us and suck the fresh blood
of our good nature out of us, than to
chase them about, and catching them,
burn them in the flames of our wrath.
Yet, like mosquitoes, they are a con-
tinual bore. They have exceedingly
small, but equally annoying sting
And they are able to reach the crisis of
aggravation by saying: "We mean all
this for your good" "We would pre-
vent you from making such mistakes
in the futnre.n This is the hight of
hypocrisy. The man who thrusts
needles into our flesh seventeen times
day, is the man who is thoroughly
given to cruelty. He takes advantage
of our pride. He knows that we are
too lion-like to turn against him. He
recognizes in us, intuitively, that great
ness of soul which will not retaliate on
any less than our equal.
Year: 1877

people OF the present day who have the
Bible and can read it. He shows that there
are ;3s4 conflicting sects, and gives soHe
amusing pictures of controversial situations
among them. Notwithstanding the quiet
humor which pervades many passages OF
the lecture, however, there is not word
that can offend q Protestsnts feelings-no
rideule, no contempt, no bitterness. There
is logic, there is dramatic situation enough
to give interest, there is zeal, but above all
there is charity.


We are told that Father Damen and the
other Jesuit Fathers who most ably second
him in the mission will continue its exer-
cisco throughout this coming week and for
two or three davs in the next No doubt
the attendance will continue on q scale at
least as considerable 40 heretofore, proba-
bly,, indeed, one Of increasing intereet and
pressure to the end.
Year: 1877

of tue Commission, hao eaten m'Rn'y Soo
breakfast.


Sill there are Indications, quite lrde
pendent of Washington gossip, that point TO
q coming reorganization of parties. rhe
South. lust like the North and West, con
taips q large white population which Is not
naturally Democratic, yet the "ho'e
white population is by force OF Repuollcan
Encouragement driven into q Democra'lc
alliance. People must either act with the
Democratic opposition or take RANK WIN
carpet bag thieves and ''nigger politician
Such being the case, it is absolutely hope
less for Eepublicanism to undertake TO con-
troll single Southern State hereafter, e&'
cept by continuation Of the same system
Of outrage, fraud and military inteFven'
tion which has already proved so damaging
to it ct the North and which grows dal'S
more and more difficult of application. In
fact, that system can never hope to carry a
single Southern State again.


What, thenf Shall Republican leaders
give up the struggle as hope'ess, or plant
their party on a new platform ls there
an opening at the South for decent party
opnosed to Democracy There are as
msuy natural anti Democratic elements
here now as there were IN the palmiest days
of Wbiggery. There is that inherent ten
dency to centralize power which has
always existed in this country in an organ
lied form, under the different names OF
Federalism, Whiggery and Republicanism.
1t ia the same tendency which IN other
countries goes little further and is called
Monarchy. Then to this nucleus attach
themselves various other tendencies and
pref ildices. The Know Nothing procilrity
is the most general of these and the anti
c ,tholic fluatcism the most violent.


The Know Nothing il an aristerrat. Fe
is opposed to the fortisuer because of his
alleged iguorarce. Your millionaire of
New Englaud ana New York cannot dream
of hen2 p Democrat because the litf raf
arc Democrats. Well, kid gloves are j1st
as popular, and nearly as illogical, South
as North Then the Puritan views OF NAL
ignant hate fer any thing that tends to
tolerate Cathoiicity, though not common
here as elsewhere, still exist in some
strength.


Make anti Democracy respectable in the
South and it wonld soon become strong.
The whites would divide, so would the ne
groes, and, especially if the Republican
party would consent to change its name,
the solid South would disappear. This is
the only chance for the opponents of De-
mocracy to keep in power they are shrewd
men, willy leaders, hard driven by impend-
ing ruin therefore we think that there
may be something more than bad whiskey
at the bottom of the "New Departure"
OF new party, rumors.
Year: 1877

pleasing Him, we are but poor hypocrites, un-
faithful Catholics and pharisaical Christians.


Lent is golden opportunity given us by the
Church in which to prove our Faith, our Hope
and our Charity. 1t is spring time of promise
in which we can renew our trust and our sim
cerity. 1t is q tournament of zeal where virtue
is our lady love; God, our judge; and the
testimony of our conscience, our great reward {.


Let all strive to be victors in the strife.
Year: 1877

Shipping fresh beef to England has grown almost too rapidly as staple branch of trade. So generally has the method of sending beef abroad in refrig erated apartments become that large proportion of the transatlantic steamers have been fitted with the necessary ap. pliances for the trade, and from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore large consignments have been sent forward every week. The trade in shipping live cattle has also grown, so that both in dressed meats and in beef on the hoof, England has been supplied with prodig- uous quantities, and the United States has disposed ot great numbers of cattle. It is to be hoped that the number is not too great. Everything can be overdone, and this business of foreign meat ship ment may be, and, possibly, has been. The enormous shipments have depressed the prices of meats abroad Hence we are not surprised to hear that recent con. signments of dressed beef from Philadel' phia to England have turned out loss, 50 that the trade bids fair to be some what restricted in the future. The busi- ness has evidently been pushed to the point of reaction, and this is not much to be regretted. Our own meat supply has gone up in price, the great foreign demand being urged as the reason for the advance at home, the butchers and drov- CTS declaring that it is stripping the coun. try of available cattle, and thus forcing higher prices. It is not certain whether these foreign shipments really cause the advance or whether they are availed of as convenient excuse, but the same should be true of meat as of grain. With the falling off of the foreign de- mand prices ought to decline, and there is no reason why we should not buy meat in this country as low as it can be bought in England. At present the pre- vailing quotations seem to be higher here than there, though we send them much of their supply.-Philadetohia Te10er
Year: 1877

A young mans interest and duty both dictate that he should make himself in- dispensible to his employers. He should be so industrious, prompt and careful that the accident of his temporary ab- sence should be noticed by his being missed. A young man should make his employer his friend by doing faithfully and minutely all that is entrusted to him. It is great mistake to be over nice or fastidious about work. Pitch in readily and your willingness will be ap- preciated, while the {" high-toned" young man who quibbles about what it is and what it is not his place to do will get the cold shoulder. There is story that George Washington once helped roll a log that one of his corporals would not handle, and the greatest emperor of Rus sia worked as a shipwright in England to learn the business. That is just what you want to do. Be energetic, look and act with alacrity; take an interest in your employers success work as though the business was your own, and let your employer know that he may place abso- lute reliance on your word and on your act Be mindful; have your mind on your business, because it is that which is going to help you, not those outside at fractions which some of the boys" are thinking about. Take pleasure in your work do not go about in listless, for. maj manner, but with alacrity and cheerfulness, and remember that while working thus for others you are laying the foundation of your own snccess in life.