smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

THE HoUR OF TRIAL.-The HOrtd
puts il thus: That fearful ordeal for
a new Preside~ OF a first Congress
and of disappointed Congressmen has
not yet come for him. Soon all the
dogs Of discoutcnrment vii! be let
loose upon him, and in the stress aud
strain of that trying time, he will not
have the sanc'ity and holiness Of
legality TO sustain him he will not
have a majority of the people behind
him, and he viii not have the popular
branch OF Congress behind liim. Woe
TO him when that hour comes.
Year: 1877

TRE NEw YoRK CUsToM HOUSE,
TIE contemplated inquiry into The
conduct OF the New York Custom
House has already produced an unex'
smpled commotIon among the Office
holders in that institution. This in
vestigalion is in the interest of civil
service reform, and no doubt it will
be followed up by similar inquiries IN
other parts of the country; wherever
in short, complaints Of corruption or
inetficiency have been preferred.
Year: 1877

The earlier in the day fruits are eaten
the better. They should be ripe, fresh
and perfect, and if eaten in their natural
state, it is almost impossible to take too
much. Their helpful qualities depend
on their acidity, but if sweetened with
sugar the acidity is not only neutralized,
but the stomach is tempted to receive
more than it can digest, and if cream is
taken with them, the labor of digestion
is increased. No liquid of any descrip.
ton should be drank within an hour at
ter eating fruits, nor should anything
else be eaten within two or three hours
thus time being allowed for them to
pass out of the stomach, the system de
rives from them all their enlivening,
cooling and aperient influences. The
great rule is, eat fruits and berries while
fresh, ripe and perfect, in their natural
state, without eating or drinking. any
thing for at least two hours afterward.
With these restrictions, fruits may be
eaten in moderation during the day and
without getting tired Of them, or ceasing
to be benefited by them during the
whole season.
Year: 1877

How much time we fritter away with
out doing anything for ourselves or the
public good. For such omission it is
too much the habit with us all to excuse
ourselves on the plea of want of time !;
whereas, in truth, this is seldom good
and sufficient ground of justification.
Nothing is easier than to fritter away
time in matters of no use to themselves
or to any one else. The habit is readily
formed. It grows upon one unawares.
Keep strict account of every hour of
your own time for a single week, set
ting down correctly the exact manner in
which every hour is spent, and see
whether, when you come to review the
record, you do not find it full of ad-
monition and instruction. In this sim
pie way one can readily understand the
secret of his want Of time. He will dis
cover that he has given hours to idle
talk, to Incidence, and to inconsiderate
triaes, which have yielded him neither
profit nor pleasure. What is the
remedy? Arrange your work in the
order of its comparative importance.
Attend first to the things which are
essential to be done, and let the unes-
sentials take their chance afterward.
The difference in the amount of work
accomplished will be astonishing. Duty
before pleasure. Those who practice
this precept have plenty of time for
pleasure, and enjoy far greater satisfac-
ton tLan those who reverse this rule.
Year: 1877

Mr.. Charles F. Browne-otherwise
Artemus Ward-once wrote bright
letter to little eight-year-old friend of
his in Elmira, N. Y, and the Gazette of
that town now prints this letter for the
first time. He tells his "dear Amelia "
how much he misses her Why didn't
1 put you in bottle and bring you
down with me ~ he says. "But I am
always forgetting something. The
other day I went off and forgot my Aunt
Sarah, and she's good deal bigger than
you are. Mr.. Ramsey is also very for
getful man. He frequently goes off and
forgets his washerwoman. I
like you very much. should like you
just as we'll if you were twelve years
older. I am very singular about some
things. You spoke to me about boy
who is my rival. I should feel very
sorry to kill that boy, but he may drive
me to it. Lam in hopes that he viii
take himself into a premature tomb
that he may choke himself with large
slice of pudding-but if he does neither,
shall feel forced to load him with chains
and read all my lectures to him. That
will finish him. His boots may remain.
but the rest of him will have perished
miserably long ere I have got through n
Year: 1877

According to a New York Herald


correspondent, the season at Long


Branch this summer has set movement


on foot that may possibly result in a


code of etiquette to be used by mammas


for the governance of their daughters.


It has arisen from the meeting of


matrons from different portions of the
country, and q mutual exchange Of views
rs to the manner in which young lady
should be brought up and the amount of
liberty she should be given. At some
of the larger hotels it is quite amusing to
watch the girls and their mammas. Some
of the mothers Of the old school never
let their daughters out of their sight, and
sit on the beach and watch them through
opera-glasses while they are bathing,
while others, satisfied with the early
training that their girls have received,
are content so long as they know where
they are and what they are doing. The
of opinions on the question
between the mothers will very probably
result in definite settlement as to the
amount of liberty young lady should
be allowed. In the meantime the young
ladies themselves are very much agitated
over the question, and secret indigna-
tion meeting was held the other evening,
at which nine young ladies pledged
themselves to exert all their influence, to
at once remove their beloved mothers
from the baneful influence of certain
who we're promulgating doc
trine, in which they claimed it was highly
improper for young lady to accompany
q gentleman to the theater, opera or
german without chaperone. These
nine young ladies have constituted them
selves into committee ON permanent
organization, and are rapidly enrolling
under the banners all the malcontents
that they find. There are some hopes,
however, that before any open outbreak
can take place compromise will be
effected that will meet with the views of
both parties.
Year: 1877

A Long Branch letter has this:
have met here recently an old frient
who, a few years since, was one of the
most resolute and philosophic of bache


lors. He was grounded on reason, and
he had at his tongues end all the argu
ments that distinguished anti-matrimon'
ialists have used for centuries. He was
not fierce, he was calm and logical, and
I have often said: "f any man is safe
from connubial perils, he is safe beyond
proadventure." After exchanging greet.
ings with my friend, he blurted out,
"Well, I'm married. I confess it j.; but
please don't tell me that you knew
should be; that you had expected it
for I am no fool, and I have sworn loo
times that to me marriage was absolutely
impossible" Subsequently he gave me
his confidence. He was walking one
moonlight evening on the beach with q
young lady he had known for five or six
years. She was friend of his sister,
and he regarded her as kind of adopted
sister. He had liked her for her sound
Judgment, strength of character and
freedom Of sentiment. They were walk
ing quietly along, and discussing Her
bert Spencer. One of the last things he
remembered distinctly was that they
were illustrating the survival of the
fittest by examples within their own
knowledge. The next thing he knew
he had proposed to her, and she was
throbbing on his bosom like volcano
in eruption, and sobbing out that she
had adored him from the first moment
she had laid eyes on him. "Wasn't
that rather queer" he asked, "for a
young woman of extraordinary strength
Of character, totally devoid of sentiment?
Well, am very glad it happened,
though how it happened, to this day I
have no idea. But you know I'm always
looking for the cause Of things. Won
der still what put us into that passionate
mood-us, who had always been SO self
contained, in one another's society. Was
it the moon? Or could it have been the
sea "
Year: 1877

The village of Ivanorka may be taker
as a specimen of the villages in th'
northern half of the country. The chic


pursuit of the inhabitants is agriculture


Nearly the whole of the female popula
ton and about one-half of the men are
employed in cultivating the Communal
lane, which comprises about two thou
sand acres of light sandy soil. The
arabic part of this land is divided into
three large fields, each of which is cut
up into long narrow slips. The first
field is reserved for rye, the winter grain,
which, in the shape of black bread,
forms the principal food of the peasantry.
In the second, oats are raised for the
horses, and buckwheat, which is largely
used for food. The third lies fallow,
and is used in summer for pasturage.
The annual life Of the peasantry is that
of simple husbandmen, in a country
where the winter is long and severe.
The agricultural year begins in April
with the melting of the snow. The fresh
young grass begins at once to shoot up,
and very soon afterward the shrubs and
trees put forth their buds. The rapidity
of the transition from winter to spring is
astonishing to the inhabitants of more
temperate climes. On the twenty-third
cf April the cattle are brought out for
the first time and sprinkled with holy
water by the priest. They are never fat,
but at this period of the year their ap-
pearance is truly distressing. They have
been wintered on straw, cooped up in
small, unventilated COW houses, and
many OF them can scarcely rise to their
feet without assistance. Meantime the
peasantry are impatient to begin the
field labor. Flowing for summer grain
lasts till about the end of May. Hay
making commences toward the first of
July, and then cores the harvest, in
which the peasant may work day and
night and have scarcely time to complete
his task before the end of August. The
field labor is finished about the last week
in September, and the first day of Oc-
tober the harvest festival begins, Joy
GUS season, during which the parish .tetes
are celebrated.
Year: 1877




The wisest Of men is he who has tn
most civility for others. rr 100
II il the heart and not the mind thai
makes the true gentleman.


To be at once in any great degre
loved and praised is truly rare.


Greatness may build the tomb, bu
goodness must make the epitaph.


Everywhere cndeavor to be useful
and everywhere You will be at home.


Life is an outward occupation, al
actual work, in all ranks and situations


It is one of the most difficult things il
the world to persuade overselves thai
any one can love those whom we our
selves dislike.


The only way Of not being bored il
company is to say witty things yourself
or sit still and listen to the witty thing
Of other people.


However many friends you have, de
not neglect yourself. Though You have
a thousand, not one of them loves yor
so much as you ought to love yourself


No character will please long which il
uniform. To be always iocose il
buffoonery always pathetic. silly :; al
ways wise, sententious /; always grave
tiresome.


At the Sydney (Australia) exhibition
which has Just closed, there were one
hundred and twenty-nine thousand visi
tors, and the American exhibit was the
best.


The man who writes, speaks or medi
tates, without being well stocked with
facts as landmarks to his understanding,
is like mariner who sails along treach'
erous coast without pilot, or one who
ventures in the wide ocean without
either rldder or compass.


There are but three ways for a man
to revenge himself of the censure of the
world to despise it, to return the like
or to endeavor to live so as to avoid it.
The first of these is usually prevented,
the last is almost impossible ; the uni
versal practice is the second.


Who can explain the operations of that
sentiment, which creates around the
one object of our love halo of life and
beauty, which extends to all animate
and inanimate nature, and of that other
sentiment which, when we cease to love,
strips the object of our late passion of
all its adventiticus charms and reduce
it to the ordinary level?


Stand by your friends, let come what
may, is a good..motto. If you don't
stand by them you needn't expect them
to stand by you. So whether they be
friends OF high or low degree, in affluence
or poverty, stick to them and don't stop
to inquire whether it will pay Or whether
it will be popular. Whenever you prove
traitor and desert those who have stood
mp for you and helped your battles,
you will find yourself without any
one to congratulate You upon your
achievements, or comfort you i'll an evil
hour when misfortunes comes thick and
fast,
Year: 1877




THE employment of torpedoes in naval
warfare, which has so far been very dis
astrous to several Turkish vessels in the
Black Sea during the present war, is not to
be regarded as merely experimental and
hastily adopted. Over two years ago the
Gar, who looks after such matters himself,
witnessed series of experiments with a new
species of torpedoes which were unostenta-
tiously made at Cronstadt, the port of St.
Petersburg. After he had become assured
of the complete success, from their instant
and destructive operations, of the torpedoes,
the Gear ordered that a torpedo corps should
be formed at Cronstadt, and the manufac-
ture of the deadly mechanism be quietly
proceeded with. Originally, this corps con-
sisted of 20 officers and 40 picked men, who
were to be instructed in the making as well
as the management of torpedoes. Last
year the numerical strength of this body
was largely increased, and some of its most
efficient members are now attached to the
naval service in the Danube, where they GER
tainly have done good service in the war. 1t
is said to be the Cars intention still further
to adopt and encourage the manufacture and
use of torpedoes by the Russian navy. 1t
may here be added, that the British Admiral
ty has now under consideration the propriety
of adopting the torpedo as an instrument OF
naval warfare, and of employing little fleet
of small and rapid steamers in connection


with their use. 1t is anticipated that the
leyiathan iron-cads which were intended to
have an armament of eighty and hundred
ton cannon will get out of favor in
Europe. The cost of one OF these ranges
from two and half to three million dollars,
and they have hitherto been chiefly re-
markable for arrangements in their machine
ry, which make it too often necessary tC
return to harbor for repairs after they have
been at sea for short time on trial trips.
Armored gunboats of moderate and
manageable size will probably.be1 the war.
ships of the future, and that at no distant
day.
Year: 1877

The observance of the Fourth of July as a
holiday was instituted in commemoration of
that Declaration of Independence in which
for throwing off the rule of the mother
country. 1t is matter of record that for
some years the day was observed in this
spirit. But the American people soon
became !too busy for holidays, and the
Fourth in short time passed into the care OF
the only American who had leisure to enjoy
Its idle hours or keen enough sense of the
blessings Of liberty to honor the memory of
the Fathers of the Republic. This individual
was the Small Boy. He eagerly seized upon
the Fourth, and has made it entirely his own.
During the rest of the year his sway is
disputed by anxious mothers, by un-
sympathizing fathers, by tyrannical teachers.
But on the national holiday he seizes the
sceptre of power and holds it for twenty
four hours. The elders may be permitted to
listen for bad quarter of an hour to the
reading of the Declaration; but the Small
Boy draws the line there. All the other
minutes of the day are his, and he devotes
them to the liberty which he most dearly
prizes, the liberty of making all the
noise he can. To assist him in his
jubilee the resources of the world are
placed at his disposal. The ingen-
uity of the furthest East is employed
in making noisy engines for his delectation::
and the foremost of all sciences does not dis
dain to devote the resources ofits laboratory
10 the construction Of material which shall in
its combustion delight his color loving eye
and caress his barbarc ear. His tyranny ofa
day is not confined to the family circle. State
and municipality are powerless before him.
Revised statutes and city ordinances are set
aside and he has full liberty to burn and slay.
Nothing can withstand him. This year those
banded despots, the insurance companies be-
fore the approach of whose minlons the
strong man quails and takes out po!icy,ar-
rayed themselves against him. Their fight
was of no avail, and to day the Small Boy
fires his cracker and exploies his torpedo as
of yore. So little confidence have the people
in their ability to resist him that they are
fleeing in crowds to seaside and noun tain
resorts.


Well, one day at least is due to the jack
eted future of the country. Let us cheerfully
endure the noise for few hours, and throw
up our hats to the king of to-day as he passes
by encompassed by the terrible enginery of
war.
Year: 1877

WITH each succeeding commencement the
colleges also are learning wisdom, and some
OF the peculiarities which have cung to the
exercises from time immemorial are giving
way to common sense. At Williams half O.
the orators put on for commencement day
have resigned, placing the audience which
will assmble on the occasion under obliga
tions to them, and at Amherst the custom o
making the outgoing Seniors pay for the
Alumni dinner is also done away with. A
Senior who is about to graduate has enough
bills to pay without being compelled to sub
scribe his five dollars for this purpose.
Year: 1877

THE net result of several attemps to twist
pun out of "Dobrudcha" is very saddening.
Perhaps the worst instance IS to be found in
the Graphic, which refers to the muddy
character of the peninsula, and expresses
the opinion that it will be likely to Dob
russia pretty badly.
Year: 1877

THAT is indeed desperate suggestion
which comes from Cassagnac. He wants
MacMahon to announce in advance that il
the new Assembly is Republican he shall
demand its dissolution the same as he did
the old one. This is stark madness. But
the Senate will have something to say on
the subject, and it can't be bulldozed in that
manner.
Year: 1877

We do not read anonymous letters and communi
cations. The name and address of the writer are in
all cases Indispensable not necessarily for publication
but as guaranty of good faith.


We cannot undertake to return or reserve commu-
nications that are not used.
Year: 1877

THE British ministry are having hard and
perpexing work over the questions growing
out of the war, and the health of Lord Bea-
consfeld is seriously affected by the strain
upon him.
Year: 1877

We hauled in the blue beauties hand


over hand, and in a couple of hours caught


enough for our purposes, and then beat


up against stiff northerly breeze 10 the


shark grounds off Great Point. We an


chored in about eight fathoms of water,


with rapid tide and lively sea, and, rs


one of the preiiminaries, emptied over


board the bloody water from the barrels.


This, of course, runs down with the tide,


and the sharks, seeing it, follow up like
hounds until they reach the boat


The tackle used III taking these fish con-
slsts of long, three quarter inch line, to
| which is attached fathom Of chain to
prevent them from biting il of, as they
will often do without this precaution and
to this, in turn, is fastened aduarter-
hook, eighteen inches long and eight in
ches across the bend. This, baited with
bluetish, Is tiun9overboarA and allow, d to
sink as deep rs the tideway will allow. and
the boat end Of the line made fast to
something solid


We waited perhaps an honr, when our
skipper, who moment before was doing
in the stern, made a frantic leap in the
air, and failing to stop his line from run
ming rapidly overheard, called Justify for
help. Three of us laid holG with him,
and slowly, hand over hand, hauled in.
Now We could see the shark white belly
flashing as he turned on his side in his in
voluntary ascent, and then with gurg-
ling roar he broke water close to US. Now
he would attack the boat, his Jaws snap
ping together like bear traps, and leaving
numberless teeth sticking in her sides !;
then he would roll himself over and over,
biting savagely at the iron .llain, butsoon
We hauled him close aboard, when our
pilot, by repeated blows with a club soon
laid him stiff alongside.


Shark fishing can not be called sport ::
butchery is more proper name to apply.
Sword fishing is dangerous, and, conse-
quently exciting. Shark fishing lacks one
iota of danger; and the putting forth of
sufficient strength to haul one to the sur
face, and then to beat his head TO ielly,
can hardly be exciting. The sand shark
Is most frequently taken here, although
the blue dog or man-eater, shovel-nose,
hammerhead and river shark are also
sometimes caught. The fishermen fry
the oil from their lvers by letting them
stand in the sun sell the jaws to visitors
and the bodies to farmers for manure. l
forgot to mention the dodfsh, another of
the family, although much inferior in size
to the others, rarely exceeding three feet
In length. They are caught for their oil.
and the livers are also '.sun-driod." They
are fierce biters, two men often taking
nearly thousand per day. A hook with
out a barb is used, as they are ugly Gus
toners to handle, being armed with a
spike near the tail, which they do not
hesitate to strike into any one foolish
enough to handle them.-Porset d. Stream.