smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

A Newport (R. IL correspondent
writes: On my last day had sail and
fish all alone in the bay, and I i'm.
proved the occasion to pay my respects
to Miss Ida Lewis, the heroine who has
saved over dozen lives at sea amid
storms before which the bravest quailed,
and where stout-hearted men did not
dare to venture. Miss Lewis is no long
er young, and she has an honest wealth
er-beaten face, but her manners are
graceful and those of lady-quiet, na-
tural and unassuming. She converses
easily and only telks of herself when
questioned. I was sorry to hear from
her that her health was failing her. I
heard from other sources that she had
married not long ago and been disap-
pointed in her choice. I could not but
feel for her great pity united to the
greatest respect. The evening before I
had seen one of those silken, unnatural
rich women of fashion, such as they have
at Newport, sitting in her chariot array
ed in her laces, founces, ribbons and
diamonds, with puppy dog in her fair,
taper arms, the object evidently of her
tenderest solicitude, and, the day before
that, another woman in railroad car,
travelling about with cat. And here
was this good, quiet, brave little woman,
living the livelong year off in the rocks,
shut off for most of the year from
any society except her mother, yet con
tented and happy in the practice of duty,
keeping brave watch for the suffering
and putting out in her boat thu ough the
raging storm, periling her own life to
save the lives of those who were utter
strangers to her, and all the while bear
ing her honors as meekly as if she had
been some simple village maiden.
Year: 1877

A New York letter says: Asmoileus


was making some revelations the


other day about prominent men in


New York who never pay their debts,


and confess that he astonished me.


Having m intimate acquaintance with


literary aud professional people general


ly, he dove deeper into the heart Of the


mystery, and the result was that it was


infinitely more interesting than the peru


sal Of "How to Live on 81, 900 Year, "


or any Of those nice little brochures OF


impracticable economy. From his revela-


tions it appears that there is certain


literary man in our town who is notorious


for never paying any bills but those


which he is positively compelled to in


order to subsist. This gentlemen is re-.
ceived with courtsey both at home and
abroad, but it is certain that an instant
after he has grasped some great dignitary


by the hand he may hesitate to meet the
eye of his grocer. He never finches in


his course however he simply will not
does not pay. A jewelry house had a


bill of thirty dollars against him for
years no collector could obtain the sum
and the firm disliked to institute legal
proceedings for so trivial amount. At
last, however, the debtor sent in valu-
able clock to be repaired, and this the
firm promptly seized upon for liquidation
of the debt and retained. An even more
fagrant case is that of distinguished
professional man belonging to one Of the
best families Of the State. He lives in
handsome house, fairly encumbered with
works of art and objects of virtu, but
he lived religiously up to Pistols maxim,
"Base is the slave that pays!" He is
aided and abetted by a smiling house.
keeper, who, scenting creditor afar off,
opens the door herself, and with the
blandest possible grace answers all in
quiries to the utter defeat of the ques-
tioner. He may pay many visits to that
brownstone-front, but that little bill is
bound to 60 unsatisfed. This-pardon!
-aristocratic "dead beat has, withal,
the most luxurious and refined tastes
he will buy anything-provided that
immediate payment is not required.
For instance, let dealer call upon him
with some choice work of art. The host
will admire it and then say he would like
to purchase it but he feared it would be
impossible" the fact is, have no
money about me-" he would confess.
The dealer, impressed by the elegance and
taste Of the mansion and the name and
position. of its owner, cries that it does
matter; he will call again. He calls
many times again, but if he ever obtains
payment he is a noteworthy exception.
And yet my informant assures me that
the man who perpetrates all this wrong |
10 eilsuiarly hiuu-llearUeu, ana Is sur
rounded by dependents to whom it is
inferred he actually gives money, since
they are constant in their presence. "It
is possible that he gives them all he
has," suggested. But was assured
that he was wealthy man by byinheritance.
md, moreover, in receipt of handsome
income from his practice. He is simply
averse to paying anybody whom he can
"do." The world is his oyster, and every
month, according to him, has an r in it.
Year: 1877

This letter was in the handwriting of
Benjamin Franklin, and the transmits
sion of it was the first official act of the
United States after the Declaration of
Independence, the object of which
secured foreign recognition of the infant
Republic.
Year: 1877

Statistics kept by oculists employed in infrmaries for eye diseases have shown that the habit of some persons in facing window; from which the light falls directly in the eye as well as on the work, injures their eyes in the end. The best way is to work with side light or, if the work needs a strong illumination, so that it is neces- sary to have the table before the window, the lower portion of the latter should be covered wit: screen, so as to have top light alone, which does not shine in the eyes while the head is slightly bent over and downward toward the work.

 In the schools in Germany this matter has already been attended to, and the rule adcpted is to have all the seats and tables so arranged that the pnpil never faces the windows, but only has the side lights from the left; and as light simultaneously thrown from two sides gives an inference of shadows, it has been strictly forbidden to build school rooms with windows on both sides, such illumination having also proved injurious to the eyes of the pupils

 We may add to this advice not to place the lamp in front of you when at work in the evening, but little on one side, and to never neglect the use of a shade so as to prevent the strong light shining in the eyes This is especially to be considered at the present time with kerosene lamps, with intensely luminous flames, becoming more and more common.-fM Medical Jour- nal
Year: 1877

feel under increased obligations for the patronage so liberally accorded me as the successor of the old and successful house of Wm. B. Hooper & Co.,, and while ac- knowledging this fact, allow me to add that those dealing with me will find as complete a stock as was ever offered by the old firm with all that is new and desirable in addi- ton.

 JAMES N. BARNEY
Year: 1877

Gold, Silver, Copper or Lead, will be made at highest possible rates for account of owners. My long experience and con- ncction with buyers in the different mar kcts give me a very decided advantage over any one in the Territory in making such sales to the profit of those entrusting them to me. Correct and responsible assays obtained and submitted when desired.
Year: 1877

The pastor Of q church in one Of our
large cities said to me not long ago:


"lbsve oficiAted At forty weddings since
I came here, and in all cases, save one. |
felt that the bride was running an awful
risk. Young men Of bad habits and fast
tendencies never marry girls Of their own
sort, but demand = wife far above suspi-
cion. SO pure, sweet women, kept from
the touch Of evil through the years Of their
girlhood, give themselves, with all their
costly dover Of womanhood. into the keep.
ing Of men who, In base association, have
learned TO undervalue all that belongs TO
them. and then find no repentance in the
sad after years. There Is but one way out
Of this that l can see, and that il for you
the young women Of this country-to
require, in association and marriage, pur
ity for purity, sobriety for sobriety, and
honor for honor. There 10 no reason why
the young men Of this Christian country
should not be As virtuOus rs its young
women. and II the loss OF your society and
love be the prioe they arc forced TO pay
for vice, they will not pay for II. admit
with sadness that not all our young women
are capable Of this high standard for
themselves or others, but l believe that
there are enough earnest, thou ybtful girls
in the society Of our country to work won
ders II faithfully aroused, Dear girls
will you help US. in the name Of Christ
will you, first Of all, be true TO yourselve,
and God, so pure in your inner and outer
life that you shall have a right to ask that
the young man whom you marry shall be
The same The awful gulf Of disorder Is
close beside your feet, and in IL fathers,
brothers, lovers and sons are going down


viii you help US in our great work -
Harpcr's Mdgd-inc for Juiy.
Year: 1877

An uptown woman attempted to
gather some peaches the other day,
and putting on an old hat and coat
mounted step-ladder and began fill-
ing her basket. Emboldened by sue
cess she got into the tree. and the first
thing she knew the dog chased Q hog
through the garden, and, Of course,
knocked down the ladder. The sequel
is soon told-her husband found her
suspended between heaven and earth
by the tail of the coat, and the pale air
was streaked with white cotton and
calico AS she strove to mount onward
and upward. Some illusions could
have been made to peaches and scream
but it wasn't thought necessary.
Year: 1877

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Sep. 10,


Dear Register:-The desire to see
my name In print again, has at length
become irresistible; SO l am going to
satisfy myself by writing you of what
we have been doing these pleasant fall
days. It has been hard summer for
our students. SO much hot, damp


weather, when 1t has seemed hard
enough work to breathe, to say moth
ing Of study. But the lessons had to
be learned in spite Of the seeming op-
preston Of the clerk Of the weather,
and the boys and girls have done
bravelys


The Junior ladies are very much in
terested just now in their experiment
tai kitchen. 1t is carried on under


Mrs. Welch's direction in connection
with her class In Domestic Economy,
and SO far has been a complete success.
Saturday morning from nine O'clock
till noon and Monday afternoon from
three to five the girls gather in the
kitchen and have practical lessons in
cooking. The work of the first day
was preparing dinner for the Facul-
ty table in the dining hall. judge
that they were successful, for I heard
one of the Professors say afterward
that he had eaten enough of that deli
cious roast beef to last him q month.
One day they made biscuits and can


ned peaches, and at another lesson
these amateur Bndgets were initiated


into the mysteries of cake baking. !
ventured into the kitchen that after
noon, and will try to describe the
scene. There were some SIX or seven
young ladies', clothed in long-sleeved,
high-necked aprons and armed with
pencil and note book. They were
clustered about Mrs. Welch like SO
many bees about honey, catching ev-
cry word that fell from her lips and
slowing it away in their note books
for future use. Then down went pen
ellis and books, and dash was made
for spoons, cake bowls, and egg beat
ers. and soon nothing was heard but
the noise of beating and stirring. A


more enthusiastic set of young ladies
you never saw, and they worked like
beavers.


They were hot and tired when the


chapel bell rang, but thoroughly satis-
fed with the result Of their labors, for
am sure that no old housekeeper


ever made nicer or lighter cake than
they did.


Last Satudayr the same set Of girls
went into the kitchen and made anoth-


batch Of cake by themselves, without


aid from their teacher, and 1t was
splendid. To-day one division Of the
class will attempt bread-making.


Everything that has been made so


far has been disposed of at cost price
to the students, and since the proof Of


the pudding is in the eating, I think


that the eagerness with which the stu


dents send In their orders Is guaranty


of the success Of the kitchen. We are


going to send you specimen one Of


these days, Mr.. Editor, so you can see
how it Is yourself. MAuDE.
Year: 1877

Fifty or sixty years ago it was the
custom for gentlemen wishing servants
to visit emigrant ships as soon as they
arrived in port. Selecting the man or
woman who pleased them, they would
pay his or her passage money, about
seventy or eighty dollar~ to the cap
tain, agreeing to give thu ervant cloth
ing and board, and at the end of three
years service, twenty or thirty dollars,


One day, gentleman, man of for
tune, residing in Philadelphia, went on
board an emigrant ship to hire girl,
or purchase her time," as it was then
called. He selected one, and was shown
her father. The old man was anxious
to go with his daughter, and after some
persuasion the gentleman purchased
his time. "Well, now," said the old
man, "here's my old wife; take her
also." There was something so attrac-
tive in the countenance of the old
woman that the gentleman bought her
time.


Going together to the registers office
to complete the bargain, the gentleman
was surprised to find the name which
the emigrants gave was spelt and pro-
nOuncod like his own. Inquiries ended
in discovering that he had bought the
time of his own father and mother.


When six years old, son of the old
folks had been taken to America by
gentleman, and they had lost all knowl-
edge of him; indeed, they had almost
forgotten they had son in America.
They recolected, however, that their
boy had figure of cucumber on one
of his shoulders. The newly found son
was stripped in the office, and, to the
delight of the aged couple, there was
the birth. mark.
Year: 1877

These two articles have more con.


nectiOn in the mind of Cantonese thar
they have among people in this country


Here, the first is associated chiefly with
the noise and license of Fourth of July


when boys have the annual privilege OF


firing them off; and the second is
known for the convenience they afford
in lighting cigars. But among the
Chinese, fire-crackers and fireworks
are used in worshiping the gods, and
to drive off evil and hungry spirits
which may be prowling about the
house; while joss-sticks are lighted to
invite genial influences from the gods
by pleasing them with the smoke of
fragrant incense.


The names for fire-crackers, HANG
pGO, and pao chan, means sonorous
cracklings, and cracking bamboos
the latter term is given from their re-
semhlance in size to the little twigs of
that plant. There is a proverb among
the people, zone explosion OF fireworks
does away with the old Year." which is
explained by the following legend:


Ii Man lived in the hills, and the
house of his neighbor, old Chung, was
continually infested with elves. Man
sent him every morning and evening to
hall to burn bamboo sticks, whose
cracking alarmed them so that they let
him sleep in quiet till morning. On
this account people have since used
fireworks to terrify the spirits, 80 that
no malicious ones may mar the harmony
Of the coming New Year; crackers are
also let off whenever an enterprise, as
a voyage or a journey, is undertaken
not so much to get good luck to attend
it, as to drive away all evil from hinder
ing It,"


Fire crackers are made of coarse
bamboo paper rolled around a little
gunpowder and a match of paper rs a
fuse to fire it. They are always covered
with red paper, because that is the color
of joy among the Chinese, and are ex-
ploded on every festive or important
ocsasion. The bride steps into her gay
sedan, and gets out to enter her hus-
bands house, amid their cracking;
and when they both first bow before
the ancestral tablet, 1t warns malicious
spirits to retire far away. The sailor
burns them as he weighs anchor, and
invokes favorable winds. The annual
offerings at the ancestral tomb are pre-
sented amid their cracking, and its in
mates left In repose for the coming
year with the same salute. The public
courts are closed and the official seal
put away during the new year holidays
under the same auspices; while In each
household the god of the kitchen Is thus
Year: 1877

Walking along the streets with the
point of an umbrella stalking out be-
yond, under the arm or over the shoul-
der. By stopping suddenly to speak to
a friend, person walking in the rear
had his brain penetrated through the
eye In one of our streets and died in a
few days. To carry a long pencil in a
vest or outside coat pocket. Not long
since a clerk fell, and his long cedar
pencil so pierced an important artery
that II had to be cut down from the top
of the shoulder to prevent his bleeding
to death, with three months Illness.
To take exercise, or walk for the health
when every step is drag, and instinct
urges repose. TO drink glass of cold
water on getting up In the morning
without any feeling of thirst, under the
impression of the health-giving nature
of its washing out qualities. To sit
down at table and force yourself to
eat when there is not only no appetite,
but decided aversion TO food. TO take
a glass of soda on a summer day under
the belief that tits safer and better than
glass of water DR., Hall,
Year: 1877

cry out my overburdened heart upon
his bosom.


1t is not until afternoon, when we are
driving in a nice carriage to Minnehaha
Springs, near Minneapolis, the noise Of
st. Anthony's Falls in my ears, that |
venture to say:


"HOw in the world did you ever lose
that letter."


"Well, you see, sister took it from
the postman and put it upon the high
mantle, where it slipped up against the
wall and she forgot all about it, and,
being bit of a woman like yourself,
she never noticed the edge above the
mantle, nor any one else, until this
week two rather oldish lady teachers
came to spend few days with us, and
one of them, while looking for nick
nacks on this shelf, discovered and
brought to light your letter"


"Did she have red poppies in her bon
net and wart on her nose ~ | in
quired, eagerly.


"Yes; on the whole believe she had"


Heaven bless that old maid
Year: 1877

The most fallacious ideas prevail re-
specting leisure. People are always
saying: "I would do so and so If only
had little leisure. Now, there is no
condition in which the chance of doing
is less than the condition of leisure.
The man fully employed mag be able to
crafty his good disposition by impro-
wing himself or his neighbors, or
serving the public In some useful way !;
but the man who has all his time to dis
pose of as he pleases, has but poor
chance indeed of doing so. To do, in
creases the capacity of doing, and it is
far less difficult for a man who is in an
habitual course of exertion to exert
himself little more for an extra pur-
pose, than for the man who does little
or nothing to put himself in motion for
the same end.


Let no one cry for leisurcthat he may
be able to do anything. Let him rather
pray that he may never have leisure.
If he really wishes to do a good thing
he will always find time to doit, by
properly arranging his other employ
ments.


There is reluctance in everything
to be set a-gOlng, but when that IL got
over, then everything goes smoothly
enough. In fact, 1t may be said that to
ask for leisure or time to do an ordinary
thing, is equivalent to aconfesslon that
we are Indifferent about doing 1t,
Year: 1877

I dismissed on his journey to report on


the conduct of Its members to Shangli


the Supreme Ruler. But the demand


for this miniature artillery is greatest


on New Years Eve, when the Who'll,
empire resOunds with its deafenina


noise amid the lanes and streets of the


cities. In Canton City, their consump.


tion is so great that the streets are red


with the fragments which the farmer


sweeps up to use as manure.


The consumption of fire cracker:


among the Chinese as may readily be


inferred, is enormous, for they enter


into all their religious acts, and many
of the customs of daily life. The export
is more than 1900 tons annually, OF
which perhaps 800 tons come to this
country. How could American boys
get through Fourth of July without
them?


Joss sticks derive their name from
the effort of the Canton shopkeeper to
describe to his foreign customer the
incense sticks often seen burning on
the counter. He knew that idols of
every kind were called joss by the POr-
tuguese at Macao, derived from their
word diOS or God and corrupted in his
mouth to jOSS) aud so he summarily
called incense sticks, Gods sticks, as
the phrase most likely to be understood.
On the same principle, he calls temple
a joss house; the Sabbath joss day; for
eign or native priests, joss man; and
worship of any kind, joss pidgin. All
these words he supposed to be good
English, and therefore they will be
clearly understood by the foreigner.
Incense sticks are usually made of
needle-like slips of bamboo which are
covered with composition of sawdust
and clay in fine powder. The best kind
are made of sandal, garoo, or other
fragrant woods reduced to powder;
the cheaper and common sorts are of
fir, cedar, juniper, etc. On the altar
before every idol an open jar or vase of
bronze, crockery or iron, contains in
Cense sticks in one form or other con-
stantly burning. Another way OF max
ing them is to mix the dust with glu-
tinOus water and clay, and roll the
into quill-shaped strip,
uniform in size throughout. 1t is some
times ten or twelve feet long, and is
then coiled into a sort of conical roll
by wire; it burns SO regular
ly that it is marked off into certain dis
tances to indicate the hour of day; and
in fact one name for this kind means
"time incense" from its double use as a
time-keeper and an offering to the gods.
1t is only this kind which is exported
for the convenience of segar smokers,
but the native manufacturer probably
supposes that his foreign customers
burn them for the same purpose that
he does. Incense sticks are also made
of powdered artemisia mixed with clay,
and burned to drive away mosquitoes,
which the smoke does etfectually.-N.
Y. Observer.