smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1874

EDITORS APPEAL-Will you print a
few lines containing the facts in re-
gard to the assassination of Robert
L. Dunn, at this place, about eleven
months ago? That time has arrived
when the tale of that horrible deed
may be told, without injury to
any innocent person. The matter has
undergone judicial investigation, and
the immediate perpetralOr of the
crime has been tried by jury of his
peers, convicted, and condemned to
toll and lauguish for thirteen years
within the gloomy walls of northern
prison. All the accessories, except
one, have fled the country, and he was
allowed the privilege of appearing
rs 4 witness against tie others
About all is now known upon the
subject that is ever likely to be,
and as all that has been hitherto pub


ished respecting it is full of error,
not to say misrepresentation, il is
high time that the truth should be
told. One morning in March, 1873,
John E. Gillenwaters, then Sheriff of
this, Acorn, county, and proprietor
of the COrlnth hotel, reported that,


during the preceding night, the sum
Of seven or eight thousand dollars
was stolen from him. The story he
told found crcdencc in the minds of
very few persons. The money alleged
to have been stolen was the property
of the State, aud was the aggregate
of collections he had made as tax
collector. His statement was that he
placed it in a wardrobe in his wife's


bedchamber, preparatory to starting
the next morning for Jackson, to pay
1t over to the auditor, and that the
thief forced the lock of his room door
and the door of his wardrobe, took
out the money and made his escape
without TOusing either him or his


wife. As there was a strong iron
safe in the office, which had been in
use there for several years, and which,
so far as known, no attempt has
ever been made to force, it was
thought very strange that he did
not lock up his money in this safe
instead of putting it IN his wife's
wardrobe. Aud this sentiment was
rendered much stronger by the con-
sideratiOn that this safe was protect
ed against thieves and burglars by a
double guard--a night clerk within
the office and night patrolman with
out. Then, his predecessors had
practiced the plan of transmitting
their collections to Jackson by ex-
press. Why, it was asked, did lie de-
viate from this so manifestly prudent
rule? Lastly, there was a bank here
where he could have invested the
whole sum in exchange on jackson
without the loss of a dollar, and of
this fact he was aware. Why did he
not do so? About a week after this
alleged robbery, Henry Bryant, a
mulatto porter in the employ of Gil
Ienwaters at the Corinth hotel, was
seized at midnight by seven or eight
disguised men, all armed with revolv-
ars, and dragged to a thicket about a
quarter of mile distant, and bru-
tally beaten, choked and otherwise
ill-used. They accused him of being
the person who stole Gillenwater's
money, and he was beaten because he
Year: 1874

3


a New THOUGHT FOR MY FRIEND
Some years since | was called tC
deliver a lecture in a town of Mid
dlesex comfy, and was lodged o.
the house of an aged gentleman
who was anxious that l make my
self at home, and be comfortable
| called him an aged gentleman be
cause he had grandchildren grow
ing up around him; and l thought,
in those years, that a grandfather
was an old man. But l don't think
so now. Really, he was in the
prime of life, and a man of power
and influence in his town. Ny lee.
ture was not 4 temperance lecture
though in the course thereof, while
treating upon the subject of health
and prosperity, alluded to tenn
perance as one of the necessary vir-
tues; and it so happened that this
was directed particularly to the
young. After the lecture, while
we sat before a cheerful fire in an
oldfashioned open fireplace, said
my host:


'Mr. c., liked what YOU
said on temperance. 1t is we'll that
the young should avoid the use of
Intoxicating drinks; but l do not
like the indiscriminate denOunciDg
Of the moderate use of spirits, as
some denounce It. We who belong
with the generation with whom the
habit was universal, may be par
doned for feeling sensitive on that
point. Temperance speakers would
do better, as a general thing, to let
US old people alone


/ knew that my host had been
one of the leaders of the movement
by which a worthy clergyman had
been recently discharged from the
pulpit l had that evening occupied
for preaching temperance, and L
was for a moment at a loss how to
reply. l did not wish to hurt his
feelings, nor did l wish even tacitly
to acknowledge that his example
was a good one. At length said:


Certainly, the young should not
drink intoxicating liquors.


Certainly not, he responded.


you would not have your grand
children, who are growing up a.
round you, addicted to the habit


no, sir, be answered, with strong
emphasis.


'At about what age l inquired,
would you advise them 10 COM
mence to drink


He looked ut ne wonderingly.


MY friend, I resumed, I'VE will
not discuss this matter further
You will think Of the questions I
have asked. Look about you
Call to mind your companions o.
the old generation; and think of
your companions of the present.
If yoH shall decide that it is good
for aged people to indulge in the
use of spirituOus beverages, try
and decide al what age you will
advise your grandchildren to COM
mence the habit


1t was evidently new thought
for my friend; aud as l saw that it
perplexed him, | led the couversa-
tioH tG other topics. But that was
not the end. Within a month from
that time 1 received a friendly let
ter from him, in which he wrote:


l have decided that my grand
children shall never contract the
drinking habit if l can help it; and
to that end I have resolved to set
them the example by showing
them that their grandfather can
get along without i.


And he was true to his resolu-
ton.
Year: 1874

NEw-0RLEANs, April 2l.-A dispatch from
the Southwest Pass says that Friday three In


boat from the ship Zimi outside the bar started for
the telegraph station, when sudden squail came
up and they were blown 70 the west
ward. The first officer noticing their helpless
condition Immediately dispatched the captains Gig with
six men to rescue them but both boats blown TO
and have not been heard from since. The revenue
cutter John A. DIX made yesterday an unsuccessful
cruise search OF them. Hopes entertained that
they may have oeen picked nv by passing vessel
Year: 1874

President WILL within day or two. return the p'i'
TO the Senate with his approval. The reha.o
Finance Committee has agreed 70 defer action on
the House Free Banking bill until it shall be known
whether or not the President will approve 'n'
Senate blll.
Year: 1874

The anticipated light run early in the
week caused prices to advance 10 te on
last week rates, the greater advance BE-
ing on the tOps, of which there were very
few in the market; and with the advance
there VA, little more activity I'll! near
Year: 1874

He was prepared to admit that his sky
WA, not as clear as it ought Ia be; there
were hnzy clouds on the horizon,
and these darkencd slightly towards


the zenith; hut the sun of truth would


in its own good time burst forth and
disipate them He was preparing his
Year: 1874

SUICIDE AND LIFE INsURANCE.-An
important life insurance case, in wich sui
eide was pleaded in bar Of payment, was
decided last week in the United States
Circuit Court at Canandaigua, New York.
The ifepolicy provided that, if the person
insured should die by his own hand, the
company sOuld not be held responsible.
The insured committed suicide, and the
Judge in charging the jury instructed them
that, if the deceased at the time of killing
himself was so far mentally unsound that
he could not appreciate the moral chalac-
ter the act of fselt-destmctiOn if not so
far mentally unsound as this-if, at the
time of taking his life, she was acting I'M
der an insane impulse" which urged him
to self-destruction and coerced his judg-
ment to such an extent that he could not
resist, although he realized both the mo-
raj and physical character of the act; if
either of these conditions were found to
exist, then it was not in law a death by
his own hand within the meaning of
the policy-and his heirs could recover
the insurance. Under this charge the jury
found verdict against the company for
the full amount of the policy.
Year: 1874

did not like the idea of not doing the
work by contract. He did not wish to
see the work commenced until there was
money OH hand for the purpose.


Mr.. Febiger replied with some acerbity
and questioned the motives to some
extent Of the opposition. He said the
basin on Eighth street was built by COLI
tract, and member of the Water Com
mittee was paid $4OO for experimenting
the work, yet the basin proved good for
nothing, and $1,000 had to be expended
10 make It secure. He gave the dimen.
sions of the new basin, showing that the
walls must be from five to 4S feet high.
He was for making the basin so secure
that it will stand forever. He was IN fa-
vor of doing all the work as far as posi-
BILE by contract. There were hundreds
of men who wished employment at this
time, and they were begging for work.
Ifthe whole basin was given out by con-
tract in one job, it would most likely be
awarded to some contractor from New
York or Boston. His object would lie to
make money,and he would most probably
hire labOrers from abroad. This how
ever may not effect members of Council,
az they did not suffer for want of work.
He gave description of the present pipes,
aud stated the proposed plan for furnish
ing South Wilmington and the Ninth
Ward. The whole cost would reach
S5OO000. As only 100000 had been
appropriated the basin could only be built
1t present. The work had not been
commenced sooner for the simple reason
thai the bonds could nos be sold. He
Year: 1874

WASHINGTON, Dec. ls. 1874.
King Kalakaua was so IN to-day that he kept
his bed almost all the time. He was able, how
ever to leave his chamber and go To his private
parlor, where ne remained about five minutes,
when he was attacked by the cough which q
symptom OF his illness, and was obliged to return
to his couch.


HIS CONDITION AND AILMENT


DR.. Turner, OF the navy, VINO is now his attend
Ing physician, made thorough examination OF
his lungs to-day, as some anxiety had been felt by
his intimate attendants lest the disease should
have secured firm and dangerous hold
upon his system. They were gratifed, there
lore. TO learn that the naval surgeon found
them to be In perfectly sound condition. On the
long journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ills
Majesty caught o severe cold. from the effect or
which he is now suffering, having contracted
very aggravated soreness of the throat.


SOCIAL FoRMALITIEs POSTPONED.


1t had been intended by the President to call
for him and take him to church. but this project
had. OF course to be given up, as His Majesty was
stil so much lndsposed 1t Is not probable this
evening that he viii be able to make his intended
call on the President 10 morrow morning, and the
evening reception has already been postponed.


HIS MAJEsTY's ETIQUETTE.
The President gracefully set the King ct ease TO.
day by sending him message by Secretary Fish
that If the King remained too III tomorrow TO 60
out the President would waive ceremony and call.
upon him at the Arlington. The King, however,
preferred to observe the strict etiquette py making
the hrst call himself


THE sEcRETARY's COMPLIMENTS.


The Secretary also conveyed to the King an ex.
preston OF his own sympathy with his afHiction,
and hope that he would soon recover his accus-
toned health.


HOPE FOR TOMORROW.


DR.. Turner to-day stated that the royal visitor
might be well enough for presentation to the
President tomorrow, but did not think It advisa.
bic that he should undergo any other fatiguing
exerston on the same day.


THE ENTERTAINMENT OF HIS MAJESTY.
The arrangement or the programme for the en-.
tertalnment or His Majesty will now depend en-
trely upon the state Of his health. 1t is HIS
Majesty's intention while in tins country, TO wear
In public simply q plain citizens dress OF bacx.
and on oficia visits probably the stars OF two for.
elgn orders OF which he Is member. The two
Governors, Dominis and Kapena will, however, on
Official visits, appear In the rather gorgeous uni.
form which the scotchman Wylie invented for the
Island dignitaries.


HIS FCTCRE MOVEMENTS.


The King will spend about ten days In Washing.
ton, but ne has not yet determined what city he
viii visit after departing hence.
Year: 1874

Keep good company or none. Never
be idle. If your hand cannot be use.
fully employed, attend to the cultivation
of your mind. Always speak the truth.
Make few promises. Live up to your
engagements. Keep your own secrets,
if you have any. When you speak to a
person look him in the face. Good
company and good conversation are the
very sinews of virtue. Good character
is above all things else. Your character
cannot be essentially injured, except by
your own acts, If any one speaks evil
of you, let your life be such that no one
will believe him. Drink no kind of
intoxicating liquors. Ever live (mis-
fortune excepted) within your income.
When you retire to bed, think over what
you have been doing during the day.
Make no haste to be rich, if you would
prosper. Small and steady gains give
competency, with tranquility of mind.
Never play at any game OF chance
Avoid temptation through the fear you
may not withstand it. Earn money
before you spend it. Never run into
debt unless you can see your way to get
out of it. Never borrow if you can pos
sibly avoid it. Do not marry until you
are able to support wife. Never speak
evil of any one. Be just before you are
generous. Keep yourself innocent, if
you would be happy. Save when you
are young, that you may spend when
you are old. Read over the above
maxims at least once q week.
Year: 1874

DR.. Brown-Sequard, in lecture at
Boston the other night, said: The
application OF heat to children is ex-
ceedingly useful to help their develop
ment. If the air they breathe is cool,
and heat is applied to their limbs, but
not so much to the body, they certainly
grow faster. There is no question that
in northern climes, children who are
not well clad, and are not well cared
for, in regard to the heat surrounding
their body, do not grow so well as child
rem who are submitted to the influence
of heat. There is one thing which in
this country especially is most hurtful
and dangerous, and that is heat applied
to the lungs. 1t is perfectly well known
that the mortality of children in this
country is enormous in the summer
months, and that chiefly through the in
fiuence of heat on the lungs and on the
belly. Digestion and respiration are
disturbed, and death comes, as yon know
too frequently. More care could easily
be obtained in that respect"
Year: 1874

A gentleman was one day stoutly
asserting that there were no gold fields
except in Mexico and Peru A nugget
dug up in California, was presented to
him as evidence against his positive
assertion. He was not in the least dis
concerted. "This metal, sir, own, Is
extremely like gold; and, you tell me,
that it passes as such in the market,
having been declared by the assayers to
be indistinguishable from the precious
metal. All this l will not dispute.
Nevertheless, the metal is not gold, but
auruminiuna;; it cannot be egold, because
gold comes only from Mexico and
Peru" In vain was he informed that
the geological formation was similar in
California and Peru, and the metals
similar; he had fixed fn his mind the
conclusion that gold existed only in
Mexico and Peru; this was law of ma
ture-he had no reason to give why 1t
should be so, but such had been tine
admitted fact for many years, and from
it he could not swerve.
Year: 1874

When a man has the painters faculty
OF recollecting faces, and with it quick
and retentive memory of small facts,
the combination gives him great social
power. This was Macaulay's case. He
never forgot the face of a man whom
he had met in society, and with the face
he remembered all the salient facts
connected with the owner of Il. Few
things are more fiattering to an ordi-
nary mortal than being thoroughly re-
membered by a great lion with whom
he has perhaps had brief interview
several years before. 1 doubt if this
faculty exists to any great extent among
our public men; indeed, have often
been surprised at the absence of it. A
Russian baron of the true divine-right
school once maintained to me that this
was an effect of republican institutions,
or, what came to the same thing, that
the opposite was the result of monar-
chicai institutions. He said that king
and princes were obliged to see great
many persons, wherefore Providence
had conferred on them various means
of being gracious to those persons, Of
which prompt recognition was one.-
E0T1TpJ
Year: 1874

The WRES's REoUIEM.-It was on q
morning early in the spring, few years
ago, that we heard an unusual twitter-
ing outside our bedroom window, above
which is deep thatch. On looking up,
we saw two curious festoons hanging
from it, apparently in motion. 1t was,
in fact, two half circles, composed OF
little wrens clinging to each other by
foot and wing, to the number of twenty
or thirty. They clung together thus
for the space of about two minutes. 1t
might be more or less for as We did
not mark the time by a watch, [ could
not with certainty say now. They twit-
tered mournfully all the while, so diff
ferent to their usual joyous little song,
then suddenly, as if by one consent,
they in a moment broke loose and flew
away. On descending shortly after
ward we found dead wren lying just
under the window over which these
festoons or wrens had been hanging a
few minutes before. 1t looked as if
these affectionate little creatures had
been singing a dirge over their dead
friend below-at least we could think of
no physical cause for the unusual ap-
pearance. From that time the wrens
deserted that locality for more than two
years. On speaking of this to one who
had made natural history his study, he
told me it was called the '-Wren's re-
quiem," and was an established fact,
though very rarely seen, Possibly some
one OF our older readers may be able to
throw light on the subject.
Year: 1874

The Doc AND THE BEEF TEA-Did
you ever hear of dog that tried his
paw at nursing? / have true story
for you of one named Plato that, while
his mistress was sick, busted himself
about almost everything, up stairs and
down, as if he thought nothing would
be done Just right without his superin-
tendence.


One morning he watched the lady's
mother making beef-tea he noticed
the whole process, from putting the
beef into the saucepan to dishing the
hot, savory soup with slices of toast.
The meat was given to him, and this
part of the proceeding he did not un-
derstand. He would have been glad to
eat it if he had felt satisfied that all was
right /; but holding his appetite in con-
troll, he sat looking at the meat as if
considering, and after awhile concluded
that the patient would be cheated out
of the best part of the affair unless he
concerned himself to see that Justice
was done.


With self-denial worthy of imita-
ton, he watched for an opportunity,
and as soon as possible carried the beef
in his mouth up stairs and into the
lsdy's room. She was asleep and
jumping on the bed so lightly as not to
wake her, he laid the moist, ragged
morsel On the sheet close to her face


But this was not enough. He thought
there was still danger that she might be
robbed of it, so he stationed himself at
the door to bar out intruders.


Soon some one tried to enter. "Woof !
woof !" said Pluto, in such tones of de-
termination that he woke the lady. She
happened to put out her hand. touched
the meat and screamed with fright.


Pluto was laughed at, but loved the
more for his self-denyiDg though mis-
taken kindness.
Year: 1874

1t is not very often in these progress
sive days that we find the ancient
methods of measuring time in actual
employment. The sun dial, it is true,
occasionally serves as an ornament
to some country lawn, but little depen-
dence is placed on its slowly creeping
shadows. The hour glass has disap-
peared from the pulpits of parsons; for
twenty minute sermons, instead of
many-headed dissertations prolonged
through hours, are now sufficient for
the spiritual needs of their flocks. The
divided candle exists only in history,
and is linked with the story of good
King Alfred. But the water clock re-
mains; not in this country, to be sure,


but where it was used thousand years
ago. Julius, Cesar, tradition tells us,
found by its aid that the summer nights
in Britain are not the same length as
those in Italy. Cicero relates that the
length of speeches made by Senators
was regulated by clepsydre Kept in the
Senate Chamber; and the same parlia-
mentary practice, which now holds In
our own parliamentary halls, of men,
Der yielding the floor for certain mum


Der of minutes of his time to another
speaker then existed, for grave Sena-
tor often gave so much of the water as
remained in his clepsydra to colleague
who was thus enabled to obtain a lon
ger or an extra water time for his
speech than would have been otherwise
at his command. If legislator in those
davs however. was interrupted by alb
surd questions something after the
fashion which occasionally appear
when our learned representatives in
dulge in discussions on patents-or was
embarrassed by the somnolent habits of
his associates during a lOngwinded
speech, he did not ask permission to
have the latter printed and distributed
at the country's expense, but simply
stopped the flow both of his water clock
and his rhetoric, and calmly waited till
the house became ready to listen to his
further remarks. The clepsydra of
antiquity, in fact, while really very
useful and ingenious invention, of
course was very crude in form. and Of
not of very nice construction. The
clock stands in a pond in the Pincio,
the latter being very elegant public
park. located on the summit of the Pin
clan Hill, one of the famous seven emf
nences on which Rome is built. The
grounds are q favorite resort for the