smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1874

4 lady correspondent of the London
Times, writing from The Lodge, Kip
drift. Vaal River, South Africa" gives an
account of the eclipse of the sun which
took place on April 16, as follows:


At a quarter to four P. NJ. we first OBJ
served the moon in contact with the SUM- s
disc, but for three quarters of an hour
after the first contact there was no atmos-
pheric effect At length, on regarding the
eclipse through our glasses, we observed
the sun had become in form like new
moon. Three times mass of cloud
passed slowly before the eclipse. In each
interval the sun was like n still younger
moon; but Just before its totality cloud
sailed slowly in front of it. Darkness
had been gradually falling on the earth,
and now occurred the most magnlfcently
solemn spectacle / can ever hope to see.
All over the heavens, for full seven min
utes, were myriad of stars, and low
down on the horizon, south and east, was
a strange glow of pale yellow and GRIM
son like the earliest CLEANS OF dawn. L
cannot adequately describe this mysterious
lipht in the horizon. The nearest ap-
proach to an idea of it which l can recall,
is the attempt to represent the dawn after
the crucifixion in some of the works OF the
old masters; but even that is only faint
and meagre hint of the serenity OF color,
which was the more remarkable, as 1T was
a more brief transition than either sun
rise or a sunset, but had the calmness OF
both, and the awful beauty which gave us
the impression of rare mystery. when
the light came on the land again the ludi-
crous aspect of the effects of the phenom-
enon nresented themselves. The whole
of this small town was filled with the
Growing of fowls, which bad gone to roost
with the twilight but few minutes before,
and far and wide we heard the tinkling of
the bells on the goats and oxen, which
the Caffres were bringing home two hours
before their usual time.
Year: 1874

and boys may sell the news of the world
printed on visiting cards, which their ems
toners will read through artificial ewes.
Five hundred years hence musician NAV
play piano in New York connected with
instruments in San Francisco. Chicago.
Cincinnati, New Orleans and other cities.
and when fashionable audiences in San
Francisco go to hear some renowned sinp-
er she will be performing in New York or
Philadelphia


In the year 1900 man may put on his
inflated coat, with Il pair of steel wings
fastened to his arms, and 60 to Newark
and back in an hour. All the great bat
ties will be fought in the air Patent thun-
derbolts will be used instead of cannon.
A boy in Hoboken will go to Canada in
the family air carriage to see his sweet
heart, and the next day his father will
chasten him with a magnetic rebuker be-
cause he did not return before midnight
The time is coming when the II. raid will
send reporter to see Il man reduce one of
the Rocky Mountains to powder in half a
day. Skillful miners will extract gold
from quartz as easily as cider is squeezed
from apples. A compound telescope will
be invented on entirely new principles. so
'hi'ee oiAS Aii'y oNC 1hO plduelS us ulSllHctlN
as We now see Staten Island. Microscopes
will be made so powerful that particles of
dust on a gnat's back will appear larger
than Pixies Peak. And marvellous prog
ress will be made in psychological and
mental science Two men will sit in
baths filled with chemical liquids One
of them may be in Denver and the other
in Montreal. A pipe filed with the same
liquid will connect the two vessels, and
the fluid will be so sensitive that each man
will know the otner's thoughts. In these
coming days our present mode of tele-
graphy will be classed with the wooden
ploughs of Egypt. and the people will
look back to steamships and locomotives
as we now look back to sailboats and stage
eoaches.-NeU York Herald.
Year: 1874

GREEN Corn PUDDING.-Take one dozen
large ears of sweet corn, and with a sharp
knife cut down the centre of each row,
carefully scraping out all the milky pulp.
Put the cobs into cold water enough to
cover them; add a little salt, and boil for
half an hour. Add the crushed corn, and
boil another half hour. Pour in three
pints of sweet milk, and boil fifteen min
utes. Season 10 taste with salt and pep
per. Rub two tablespoonfuls of corn
starch or common wheat fiouer into three
tablespoonful of butter; add to it enough
of the warm soup to moisten it into i
thin paste, and stir it into the soup Beat
three eggs thoroughly; turn into soup tu-
reen, and pour the boiling hot soup over
them string rapidly, so they will not cur
die. One person must stir the sonp while
another turns it upon the eggs. The eggs
might be added while the soup is on the
fire, only they would be apt to curdle and
ruin it. This is very appetizing and
satisfying dish, going far toward making
a good dinner.
Year: 1874

Personal INFLUENCE the high
er Alps the snow is sometimes piled so
high, and so evenly balanced, that the
crack of whip or the shout of voice
may give sufficient vibration to the air,
to bring down the whole mass upon the
travellers below.


So in our moral world there are souls
just lowering over the abyss of ruin;
word, or even look, from us may cause
them to plunge down into the depths from
which there is no return; or a helping
hand stretched out to them in the mo-
ment of peril may lead them back to the
safe. sure paths of virtue and peace


Knowing that we have such power.
shall we not humbly pray, g Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil
London S. S. Times.
Year: 1874

\ joint commission shall be established
and maintained at Joint expense during the
operation of this treaty for advising the
erection and proper regulation ofall light
houses on the great lakes, common to both
countries, necessary to the security of the
shipping thereon.
Year: 1874

\ joint commission shall also be estab-
lished at joint expense, and maintained
during the continuance of the treaty, to
promote the propagation of fish in the in
land waters common to both countries and
to enforce the law enacted for the protec
ton of the fish and fishing grounds.
Year: 1874

Observation-Disclosures are more important
than money. A boy who is polite and pleas
ant in his maners, will always have friends,
and will no. often make enemies. Good be-
havior is essential to prosperity. A boy feels
we'll when he does we'll. Ifyou wish to make
everybody pleasant about you, and gain
friends wherever you 60, cultivate good man
ners. Many boys have pleasant manners for
home


We visited small railroad town not long
since, and were met at the depot by little
boy of about eleven or twelve years, who en-.
tertained and cared for US, in the absence of
his father, with as much polite attention and
thoughtful care as the most cultivated gentle
man could have done. We said to his mother
before we left her home, "You are greatly
blessed in your son, he is attentive and obi
ging." "'


"Yes," she said " can always depend on
Charley when his father is absent. He is
great help and comfort to me-" She said this
as if it did her heart good to acknowledge the
cleverness of her son.


The best manners cost so little, and are
worth so much, that every boy can afford to
have them.
Year: 1874

wandered in purposeless manner about the
streets, spreading contagion wherever they
went, till at length they dropped down. ana
diving in the street, remained there till the
dead cart came round.


One most perplexing popularity OF this
frightful disease was, that its signs were not
always apparent. In very many cases. 1t Is
true, its presence was evident to the observers
by spots, swellings and carbuncles, but IN
other instances the patient suffered little, and
was to all appearance in good health while
consuming with the disease which seemed to
cut him off in minute The ignorance and
credulity of the times is curiously shown IN
the tests to which it was proposed men should
be subjected, in order to prove whether they
we're plague.stricken. Some asserted that II
diseased person we're to breathe on glass;
the glass being condensed, living creatures
would appear, which seen through mlcros-
cope would be found to resemble snakes,
dragons, monsters Of hdeous shape, and
devils. AS no microscopes were used for this
purpose, however, the truth of this assertion
could never be ascertained. One learned
man gave it as his opinion that the breath
of pIague.infected person would prove fatal
to bird, even one Of the size of cock or
hen. A writer of that period observes that
he never saw the experiment made, but con-
siders it very probable that the breath of such
persons would have had the effect ascribed
to it. .


1t is pleasant to be able to record that
Florence Nightingales existed two centuries
ago. Brave ladies left their homes at the
West End to tend the sufferers in the East,
encountering far greater peril by so doing
than that to which the Sisters" of the present
day have been exposed in the very worst of
modern epidemics. In what manner these
good women of the past entered the red cross
houses is not recorded. Did they bribe the
watchmen? Did they nimbly climb in by
back windows? or perhaps become noble
kind of housebreakers or did they obtain
special permission from the Lord Mayor
No matter Enough that through the dark
clouds which enveloped the city some CLEANS
of Heavens light fell on the wretched inhab-
itants.


Toward the end of September the pestilence
began to abate, but when the circumstance
became known, strange to say, the people be-
came reckless, and went about freely among
the plague.stricken, so that the death-rate be-
came even greater than it had previously been.
Of one hundred thousand who sickened in
three weeks thirty thousand died, and when
the vast difference between the population of
London at that time and in the present day is
considered, it must be admitted that the NOR
tality was truly awful.
Year: 1874

Young Spriggles and his Aramantha Jane
had just been married, and we're going upon
their bridal tour They didn't know whether
upon their return they would board "with
the old folks" or take rooms at private ho'
tel Being only clerk, Spriggles's means
were limited, and he could not expect much at
first in the way Of living.


"Of course" he said to old Dodger, veal
thy member of the firm who had kindly
granted him three weeks leave of absence,
eve must be in style, you know. suppose
you took rusher when you we're married. l
mean yea took an extensive one, and showed
your wife the sights.


EYES," said Dodger, with nod. 81 made
long preparations for my bridal tour, and the
girl who was to become my wife helped me.
We had it at all fixed and every thing laid
out beforehand. I worked for it hard; and
she worked too. 1t was to be the grand event
of our lives, and we wanted that it should be
success. We felt that as the new life open
ed, so should it continue was earning five
hundred dollars year. That was good pay
for salesman 6ve-and-thirty years ago
better than three times that amount now, as
things 20. We we're married in the morning
at the house of my wife's father. Then we
rode two miles to the substantial cottage / had
secured as home My money had made
the first payment on it, and Mary's money
had furnished three rooms in it.


"And we ate our first meal thereafter in
our own house; and I thence went to my
work, and my wife set about her work. 1t
was new life, and we determined to succeed
if possible And in that effort was our Joy.
And in the success that followed was unalloy.
ed happiness. In less than three years my
house was paid for, and my home was my
own. Come storm, or come sunshine, we had
roof to cover us-a roof from which the
hand of man could not turn us.


II doubt young man, if ever bridal tour
was happier than mine; and | know the exer-
ciseof housekeeping upon her own account
was invigorating and healthful. But then,
we married for real earnest living and loving.
We believed we should find life's purest JOY
in the discharge Of life's sacred duties.


81 declare" pursued the old man, with
gistenihg moisturein his eyes, 81 should like
those first blessed days of my own home-life
to live over again. But it may not be. And"
he added, with regretful shake of the head,
II fear the young men fthe present genera
ton will not live them for my viewing"


Spriggles walked away, scratching his head.
He wasn't sure that he had really caught the
drift of the old mans remarks.
Year: 1874

SoANDAL.-The story is told of woman
who freely used her tongue to the scandal of
others, and made confession to the priest of
what she had dore. He gave her a ripe this
tie top, and told her to 60 out in various di.
rections and scatter the seeds, one by one


Wondering at the penance, she obeyed, and
then returned and told her confessor. To her
amazement, he bade her 60 back and gather
the scattered seeds; and when she objected,
that it would be impossible, he replied, that
it would be still more difficult to gather up
and destroy all evil reports which she had
circulated about others - +houghtless,
child, can scatter handful OF thistle seed
before the wind in a moment, but the strong.
est and wisest men cannot gather them again.
Year: 1874

In the State Of Ohio there resided


family consisting of an old man Of the
name of Beaver and his four sons, all OF
whom were hard pets" who had often
laughed to scorn the advice and en-
treaties of pious though very eccentric
minister who resided in the same town.
It happened that one of the boys was
bitten by rattlesnake, and was expected
to die, when the miaister was sent for in
great haste. Or. - arrival he found
the young man vry penitent, and anxious
to be prayed with. The minister, calling
on the family, knelt down and prayed IN
this wise "Oh, Lord, we thank thee for
rattlesnakes. We thank thee because a
rattlesnake has bit jim. We pray thee
to send a rattlesnake to bite John; send
one to bite Bill; send one to bite sam
and, Oh, Lord, send the biggest Of thy
rattlesI axes TO bite the old man; for
nothing but rattlesnskes will ever bring
the Beaver family TO repentance"
Year: 1874

The result Of the election in the Sec
ond Congressional District Of Vermont
shows that the people Of that State are
by no means wholly corrupted. The
power of party dictation was tested to an
extreme point when Luke p. Poland was
renominated. Even that process was
difficult; but the whole power Of the
Federal Administration was put forth,
and the Republican Convention was
forced to yield. The people, however,
were not so subservient, and their verdict
is eloquently recorded in the returns.
They abominate Poland's venality, and
they detest his gag law. 1t is time for
other public men to be setting their
houses in order upon this question. How
ever JEALOUS in their devotion to party,
the people of the United States are too
intelligent not to appreciate the necessity
of protecting against all partisan, mar
row, and unjust restrictions ofthe freedom
of the press. Upon this subject the ex-
perience of Poland affords an instructive
lesson which should be needed here in
New York and everywhere else.-Er.
Year: 1874

1t will now be Tor the Democratic party
to effect thorough organization in every
county of the State--not only in every
county but also in every city, borough,
ward and township. Without this we
have no good ground to expect success,
but with itand an honest election we con-
fidently anticipate an old-fashioned
Democratic victory. Our political op-
ponents are all under most rigid disci-
pline and can bring every voter belong
ing to their party to the polls. We must
ego and do likewise +" if we would enjoy
a triumph.
Year: 1874

The Centinela Land Company of
Los Angeles give notice that the
books for subscription to the capital
stock of their company, are now open
and ready for subscribers at the
Banking House of Temple & Work
man and at the Los Angeles County
Bank. 2t
Year: 1874

How is it that the Peoples Palace is
so popular with the public? Echo an
swers: Not alone do they charge very
low for goods at the Palace, but they
also offer an additional inducement by
presenting each customer buying SIS
worth of goods with q Christmas
present. In great many instances
the presents are more valuable than
$5, some ranging in value as high as
$50. dl1:2w
Year: 1874

two, while the mother takes her place in


the queve and looks out for herself, and


the rule is scarcely ever broken. II it


be said on the one hand that the mother,
having shuffled off the responsibility of


be satisfied with that, it may be urged
on the other hand that, in view of the


fidelity and regularity expected of a
German lover, the support OF the young
lady is in itself enough, and he ought
not to be asked to have the mother
superadded, at least until after the mar.
riage.


Young people engaged are expected to
pass three hundred and sixty'fve even
ing year in each others society. If
they belong to the middle or poorer
classes, this phenomenon is generally
witnessed at cheap beer houses and gar
dens, varied in summer by an occasional
rural excursion. If they have a more
exalted position in the social scale, there
will generally be facilities for entertain
ing the victim at the home of the inten-
ded; and for beer gardens they will now
and then substitute a concert or play.
But the full quota of evenings is always
vigorously exacted. Perhaps the most
delicate situation for an anxious suitor
is when the mother is Indifferent, or with
a little judicious matronly coquetry,
knowing that he is anxious, pretends to
be indifferent. This situation exscts
from the candidate the most careful
behavior, especially late in the evening
after beer, when the mother is likely to
be sleepy and tired, and irritable. One
false step then may ruin all.


1.-THE other evening a friend and / sat
under lime tree at fashionable resort,
amused at and in spite OF ourselves, in
terested in, the proceedings at an ada
cent table, where there was a family
party, consisting of father, three daugh-
ters, as many young men, and mother
calmly but unobtrusively directing the
course of affairs. One of the young
ladies, feeling cold, rose to throw shawl
over her shoulders, and, of course, all
the young men by a common impulse
plunged madly forward to assist her.
One of those young men will never be
seen again with that party. For he
carried in his hand as he went to aid the
young lady heavy cane, and, with
Characteristic awkwardness, he managed,
while drawing up the shawl, to thrust the
end of the cane into the eye of the
mother, and the shawl seeming to re-
quire a good deal of adjustment, as
have observed it often does when a young
man is drawing it on, and the shoulders
are those of young lady, the unlucky
wretch nearly ruined the maternal eye.
At any rate he seems to have become
convinced that it would never again look
favorably on him, for he comes no more
to the trysting place. My friend is a
philosopher, and he has his moral ready
After all, observed he, lighting a fresh
cigarette, yonder swain is no worse than
the rest of us; it happens to many of US
at critical moments to thrust a cane into
the eye of the desired mother-in-law, and
thus at one unlucky stroke to forfeit all
our chances.
Year: 1874




The following story of ssgacity Of a
dog is to be found in an old volume in
the British Museum


When Duke Robert and Richard, Duke
of Capua, besieged Palermo, which the
furious Prince Gisolfe defended, the
sufferiugs of the inhabitants through
hunger and misery are described by
Monte Casino as resembling those ex-
perienced by the Jews during the siege
of Jerusalem by the Romans. The in.
terests of humanity required that an end
should be put to the horrible rule of Gil
solfe, by winning the town, so that great
suffering seemed unavoidable. Two
young men.on this occasion, followed by
dog, contrived to escape from the be-
sieged city, and came to where the duke
was and begged bread, which was given
to them. The youths gave third part
to their dog, and the dog that evening
ran back to the city, carried the bread
to their fathers house, placed it at his
feet, and then returned to the lads.


The next day they had bread enough,
and gave more to the dog, though they
knew not what he had done with it be-
fore; and the next evening the dog car
ried it to their father, and the third even
ing likewise, and the father, believing
that Christian had sent him bread for
the love of God, tied label around the
dogs neck, on which he wrote: thank
God for these aims. and | cease not to
pray to God for him" With this the dog
returned, and when they had read the
card they carried the dog, leaving it still
hanging around his neck, to the Duchess,
but she would not believe their report.
However, she caused a little sack OF
bread to be fastened to the dogs neck.


He loitered about the place as if afraid
of the people until the setting of the
sun, when he passed out of camp and
made his way safely into the city to the
fathers house, who, on receiving the
bag, attached card to the dogs neck,
on which was written: Greater thanks
| render thee for these greater aims.
Bearing this he returned and was again
presented to the Duchess, who loudly
expressed her astonishment at the won
derful cleverness of the dog. Its fame,
however, led to its destruction. The
story of its marvellous feats reached the
ears of Prince Gisolfe, who caused a
watch to be set for it at the city gates;
it was captured by tie sentinels and
cruelty put to death.


The book from which the above is
translated was printed in Florence up
wards of two hundred years ago.
Year: 1874

furniture of the dismal cell that over
looks the river to the east is of French
walnut There is a cabinet washstand,
a desk, and three or four chairs, all of
the same handsome material. The or
dinary prison bed consists of straw
mattress covered with one sheet Mr..
Tweed is forced to lie on spring. bed
with two mattresses, hair bolster and
two feather pillows There is patch
work quilt and white counterpane. A
green rep sofa, which, when ordered
was found to be too large to be taken
into his room, stands just outside, and
serves as a convenient seat to lounge
upon, reminding his callers Of the old
elegance that met their eye while they
were cooling their heels in the anteroom
of the famous brown stone building on
Broadway. A selection of standard
books adorn the shelves of commodi-
GUS library, and the floor is nicely car
peted.
Year: 1874

In Sprinfeld, Ohio, there is deluded
hen who laid her eggs up in an apple tree,
and is now sitting on a bare bough in
bEssful ignorance that her eggs fell to
the ground as she laid them.
Year: 1874

William Skinner, proprietor OF the silk works at Skin
nesye and OF the stockholders Of the Reservoir
Company followed. He had nothing to do with accept
ing plans for the reservoir, which were taken after
general talk at Of the stockholders meetings nor
with the building OF the dam rnere had general
apprehension about IT, but latery they had considered
it ali rlgnt. He admitted that IL his custom TO
remove silk from the mill at times. fearing mat the
dam might break but In he thought that only
a large freshet would be the result. He dld not know
about the calling Of the County Commissioners He had
heard Messrs DmOck and Hayden complain bitterly O1
the contractors failing IN their work


The expert engineer Mr.. Raymond OF Fltchburg, was
recalled and repeated clearly his testimony with
regard the insecurity OF the dam WALL after which an
adjournment was made until Thursday.