smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1878

I am no teller of stories, says Hazlitt, yet there is one belonging to Barleigh House of which I happen to know some of the particulars. The late Earl of Exeter was divorced from his wife, wo- man of fashion and of somewhat more gayety of manners than lords who love their ladies" like. He determined to seek second in an humble sphere of life, and that it should be one who, hay ing no knowledge of his rank, should love him for himself alone. For this pur pose he went and settled incognito, un- der the name of MT. Jones, at Honet, an obscure village in Shropshire. He made overtures to one or two damsels in the neighborhood, but they were too know ing to be taken in by him. His man. ners were not boorish {; his mode of life was retired; it was odd how he got his ivelihood and at last he began to be thought highwayman. In this dllem- ma he turned to Miss Hoggins, the eld- est daughter of small farmer at whose house he lodged. Miss Hoggins, it would seem, had not been used to romp with the village clowns there was some- thing in the manner of their quiet but eccentric guest which she liked. Having inspired her with that kind of regard which he wished for, he made honorable proposals to her, and at the end of some months they were married, without his letting her know who he was. They sat off in postchaise from her fathers house and travelled across the country. In this manner they arrived at Stamford, and passed through the town without stopping till they came to the entrance of Burleigh Park, which is on the out side of it. The gate flew open, and the chaise drove down the long avenue of trees that led up to the front of this fine old mansion. AS they drew near to it, and she seemed surprised at where they were going, her husband said:

 "Well, my dear. this is Burleigh House; it is the house I promised to bring you to and you are the Countess of Exeter ?"

 It is said that the shock of this dis covery was too much for the young crea' ture, and that she never recovered from it. It was sensation worth dying for. never wish to have been lord but when think of this story.
Year: 1878

POSTAGE STAMPS. Postage stamps are said to have been suggested to Rowland Hill by the following incident Thirty seven years ago he chanced to reach the door of an inn in the north of England just when a postman delivered letter to young servant girl. She turned it over and over on her hand and asked the postage, sighed and said that the letter was from her brother, but that she had no money. MT. Hill paid the shilling and the postman went on his way, but the girl seemed much embarrassed, and presently confessed that she and he1 brother, being very poor, had devised 6 plan of communicating by some signs on the outside of the letter. MT. Hill did not stop pondering on this until he had resolved on the penny stamp.
Year: 1878

Raspail, the late French deputy, was
a great lover of coffee. In his descrip-
tion Of the joys Of cup of pure Mocha
he rose to poetic eloquence. 1t must be
Coffee" he wrote, made in the ancient
fashion-before the FIRE and in an earthen
pot, smoke-colored by long and honorable
service, and consecrated solely to this
preparation-coffee of a golden blonde
In tint, that leaves delicious bouquet
in the mouth and in the throat-a sort of
after-taste, sauve and exotic. You
might as wei! make your coffee in an ink
bottle as in an iron pot. All those pretty
appliances for cheapening or expediting
the preparation are swindles that amuse
the eve at the expense of the taste OF
the stomach. Coffee! The Deity surely
created it on the eighth day, the day on
which he rested from his mechanical
labors and worked only by the spirit and
the mind. l have never tasted ambro-
sia, but have no doubt it was coffee un-
der a different name,"
Year: 1878

Recent Honolulu papers announce the
death of w. p. Ragsdall, governor of the
Leper Settlement, on the island of Mo-
lokai. Ragsdale was native of Hawaii,
born of a native mother and American
father. A lawyer by profession, he was
held in high esteem by the people and
government. His discovery of his lep-
rosy is thus described: One night he was
studying up law case in which he was
deeply interested, when the chimney of
his lamp fell on the table. Although the
chimney was hot as fire, "Bill," in his
excitement, picked it up and &c. it in its
place without experiencing the least in
convenience, such rs would naturally
result to a really sound person handling
a red hot lamp-chimney. He reflected
for moment, looked at his hand, but
could not discover the least sign that it
had been burned. He then took of and
put on the chimney repeatedly, and
with the same result. This experience
convinced him that he was among the
afflicted, and he lost no time in communi-
eating with the authorities. An
examination was made, and med
ical authority declared that he
was afflicted with leprosy. The police
did not arrest him, however, owing to
his exalted position, as was common with
those suspected of being lepers, 70 he
voluntarily delivered himself up as a
victim of the terrible disease. He was
then sent to Molokai and installed AS
Governor of the leper settlement, which
position he held for numbsr of years up
to the time of his death, last month.
Soon after his isolation from the world
and his friends the disease made itself
more apparent, and there were none 90
incredulous rs to believe that he was not
forever afflicted with the leprosy. Dur
ing his administration of affairs he was as
successful as he was popular. There
were and are about eight hundred lepers
in the settlement, but by his tact and
kindheartedness, Ragsdale made the ex-
traordinary and saddest community on
the face Of the earth as cheerful and
happy as the unfortunate could be. BY
his advice the government made many
reforms, and the lepers recognized him
as father.
Year: 1878

The Maine legislature has passed a
bill permitting husband and wife to
maintain actions against each other.
This is the area of freedom gradually
widening, and emancipated woman will
soon be placed upon a plane of perfect
equality with the tyrant man.
Year: 1878

SOME of the smaller stores in New York
keep for sale new linen handkerchiefs
unmarked, but that have been washed
and ironed, and so are soft and smooth,
for the convenience of people who have
gone out and left their handkerchief
behind them.s
Year: 1878

The postmaster general has received
numerous complaints that merchandise
packages are taken from the mails. In
vestigation of the cases show that they
were stolen before they were deposited
in the department. The postmaster gen.
eral is now in correspondence with
Eikcll, an official in the London post
office, who has prepared a system of
checks which he thinks will prevent
these losses The postmaster general
will recommend that congress authorize
an experiment.
Year: 1878

A LADY living in Washington, who
lost valuable gold chain at the Cen
tennial exhibition one year ago, had it
returned recently with letter saying
that the person who stole it was not a
professional thief, but took the chain in
momen: of great temptation, and, soon
reronting the rash act, had been ever
since trying to learn the address of the
0Wnar
Year: 1878

The New PARTY MovExENr.-An
interview lately took place at Wash.
ington between Ben. Butler and
Dennis Kearney, sought by the for
mer and carefully written our for cir
culstion is, of course, expected to
furnish material for the platform Of
the third party. The difficulty with
all new parties comes from attempt
ing to deal with too many questions,
rather than too few. Restless, dis
putatious, impractical men leave one
old party and find no rest in the 9TH
or. They Join a new one and the
same peculiarities that made them
distasteful to their old party associ-
ates makes them dangerous to the
new party. What made the Repub-
lican party successful was the fact
that two tremendous questions filled
the Northern mind from 1856 to
1865, and the schemes OF visionary
men, who focked to the new organ
ization, were withheld by their
authors, suppressed in conventions,
or disregarded at the polls. It may
be, though it is not likely, that the


Ational Greenback Labor party or
parties may .salaQt oae aNstnHnsnnx
jects on which the members can unite
in sufficient members and over ter
ritory enough to give them great in
fuence in our politics. Butler evil
IDENTIFY sees the necessity of this,
and in the Kearney interview touched
on only those questions on which sub
stantial agreement is possible.


The PArAHA FLArs.-These flats
are magnificent district of agricul-
tural country; for miles, in fact as
far as the eye can reach, is one un-
broken, rich, fertile, and splendidly
watered country; it is one of the
most attractive portions of Washing
ton Territory. The tide of immigra-
ton is noticeable everywhere; the
grant of 100 acres of land offered by
Government to each settler encour-
ages the immigrant; he can pay a
nominal price for it under the home
stead act. or by the later act in re-
lation to planting timber trees he
can have his land for about the cost
of making out the papers. Eastern
Washington will yet be the granary
of the Northwest, and Columbia will
be the banner wheat growing county
OF the Territory. A wheat region
will attract immigration more strong
ly than a tropical region; and this
country is too vast for any land
monopoly to control. Immigration
will probably be checked this Sum-
mer by designing schemers. who are
making money by getting up ON In
dian scare; but it will not be per-
mauently arrested because there is
no other region ON this continent
which presents SO many advantages
to the industrious immigrant.
Year: 1878

perhaps have the pleasure OF look
ING at them in the British Museum,
unless Kaiser Wilhelm or the
Khedive of Egypt should secure
them for their national collections.
The first man that | hear talking
about public spirit in New York, ]
will send the fool-killer il search OF
him, and if he does not brain him
on the spot, pll have him deposed
from his office.


You know it used to be consid.
cred as rather uncompiimentary to
call a man after that gentle animal
which assisted Joseph in his fiigh,
into Egypt. don't know that the
objection is entirely done away
with yet, but if any man wants to
call me a horse, [ should rather
esteem it compliment. saw
some horses up at the Aquarium
that could do everything but talk.
such feats as never were perform.
ed by any equine before. And as
for dogs, why the next man who
calls me a puppy, | shall think he
is trying to compliment rae; for
these dogs are able to do, in these
hard times, that which many a two
legged puppy is not, aud that is, to
earn their own living.


The second murder within a
month at Owney Geoghegan's rum
hole, 1o3 Bowery. 1t is true that
the murdered men are just Of the
kind that save US tie expense of a
gallows, but | can't say that I ad-
mire this means of putting them out
of the way. If We could only get
up sort of general prize-fght, ard
induce them to keep at it till, like
the Kilkenny cats, there should bs
nothing left of them, it would be
an untold blessing to society. But
now they endanger honest citizens
with their miscellaneous shooting,
and, as there are very few Of us left,
so it behcoycs society to be careful.
Three murders, four suicides, and a
couple Of disastrous fires, have
tailed to make ps comfortable; IN
fact l begin to doubt if there is
such thing as unqualified happi-
ness. Hoping that you, MIR. Editor,
aud your readers, including myeelf
may each get d share of what little
is stirring, I am, Yours truly, B.
Year: 1878

Many a congregation made it part
of their religion to twis. their necks
out Of joint to witness the entrance o 1
every person who passes up the aisle
of the church.


Being worried one afternoon by this
turning practice in his congregation,
Mr.. Dean stopped in his sermon, and
said:


"Now, you listen to me, and I'll
tell you who the people are as each
one Of them comes in"


He then went on with his discourse
until gentleman entered, when he
bawled out, like an usher:


Deacon A, who keeps a shop
over the way"


He then went on with his sermon,
when presently another man passed
into the aisle, and he gave his name,
residence and occupation; so he con-
tinued for some time.


At length some one opened the door
who was unknown to Mr.. Dean, when
he cried out:


"A little, old man, with drab coat
and an old white hat; don't know him

look for yourselves"


The congregation was cured
1Cleaveland Leader.
Year: 1878

No woman likes to he ugly, aud
she who is born a beauty is fortunate
indeed. But LET not the plain or even
the ugly girl despair Of acquiring a
sufficient amount of beauty TO render
her attractive.


When n woman loses a desire to
please she loses half her charms.
Nothing Is more conducive to beauty
than cheerfulness and good humor,
and no sickly or unhappy woman can
be good humored and cheerful. Eve.
ry woman ought to understand that
nothing short of deiormity can make
a woman utterly unattractive, Provi'
ded she will study her points; and
points Of attractiveness every woman
has. go


A thoroughly refined, graceful man
ner can be acquired by any woman,
and is a powerful charm. The besI
grace is perfect naturalness. Still,
you must study yourself, and form
your manners by the rule Of that art
which is but a carrying out of thu
Law of nature. But if il is your ma
ture to he forever assuming some un
picturesque, ungraceful attitude, pray
ihelp nature with little art. II yot
are stout, avoid the smallest chair il
the room. II you are thin, do no
carry yourself with your chin protru
ding and your spinal column curvinl
like the bowl of spoon. DO no
wear flimsy materials made up with
out rufiie Or puff or aounce to I'll
up the hard outlines of your bad fig
ure, 50 cruelty defined by the tightly
pulled.back draperies. Study the ar
of dress.


We once knew very plain womal
who dressed so tastefully that il wa
an absolute pleasure to look at her
II you have been moping until yo'
are sick with the thought of your owl
hopeless ugliness. be up and doing. -
l[Young Woman's Journal.
Year: 1878

At a late exhibition in Falmouth,
England, a patent check till was
exhibited, which is certainly remarka-
BILE, if it does one-half Of what is
claimed for it. According to the Off
cial description of this friend of the
shopkeeper. "it will check every pen
ny taken and paid better than keeping
a cashier and using check books. II
occ Ipies no more time than the ordi-
nary till. IL an assistant should take
money Of a customer and tail to put
il in the till il can he detected at once.
If only part Of the amount is put in
il will show hom much has been with
held. II any cash has been taken out
il will show the amount. The till can
not be opened without its being known,
and the number OF times. 1t will
show how much money there ought to
he in at any time. Any amount Of
change can be left in for use, and yet
none can be taken away without its
being known. 1t can be left any
length of time without being cleared,
and will show the amount there ought
to be in without counting the cash. Ii
can be used as desk, or let in level
with the coun,er-top II required. IL
shows the number Of customers waited
upon by each assistant; and if a line
is drawn across the paper close to the
glass every hour, it tells the number
of customers at any given time And
all these advantages are wound W
with the brief statement, "interest on
outlay and cost of working, one half
penny day .-l.
Year: 1878

Pride Is running the young men in
this broad land of ours by the thous.
ands. Il is sapping the foundations
Of society, nine.tenihs Of the people
you meet being afflicted more or less,
in some way or other, by this serious
malady. IL keeps young men out Of
basiness and callinss that might prove
to he iucrstive. Many young men
WIN strike on, on their own hook take
more pride than money, and after
wandering about few months, come
back with oil the pride they started
with and no n oney. A young man
who works for his board no matter
what honest work he does, has no rea.
son for shame. While on the other
hand, the young man who eats the
bread Of idleness, no matter how much
he has, is disgraced. There is always
something for willing hands to do.
Young men starting in life ought to
aim. fret of all, TO find where they can
earn their bread and butter, with hoe,
AK. spade, wheelbarrow. wood saw
no matter what, so il is honorable. In.
dependence first. Dependent mortals
are the veriest slaves on top Of earth.
They r. at the bidding and come at
the calling Of their benehctors, and
find themselves powerless to remove
the shackles that keep them vassals.
The bread and butter question once
settled, let the young man perform his
duty so faithfully as 10 attract atten-
ton, and let him constantly keep his
eyes oIeh fur chance to do better. II
he does the hest he can under the cir
cumstanoes, is faithful to his trust, the
Opportunity togo up higher will come
round sfter while. Perhaps not
quite a. soon as expected, but merit
viii NOT long 60 unrexarded. About
half the poor, proud young men are
always out of work. Whenever you
run across a young man who is accu.
mulating wealth, or climbing the lad
der Of fame, you will find that he is an
incessant worker. lie pockets his
pride. carries an upper lip as stiff as
a east iron door step scraper, frowns
upon discouragements aud makes life
"A success.
Year: 1878

BRrGHT HOURS AND GLOOMY
All this beautiful worldl Indeed,
know not what to think of it. Some.
times it is all gladness and sunshine,
and heaven itself is too far off; and
then it suddenly changes, and is dark
and sorrowful, and the clouds shut out
the day. In the lives of the saddest
of us there are bright days like this,
when we feel as if we could take up
the great world in our arms. Then
come the gloomy hours, when the fire
will neither burn in our hearts Eor on
our hearths, and all without and with.
in is dismal, cold and dark. Believe
me, every heart has its secret sorrows,
which the work. knows not; and of.
tentimes we call a man cold when he
is only sad.-[LOngfellow.
Year: 1878

A countryman drove into xenia,
Ohio, the other day with some friends
to meet a train. Arriving at the de-
pot. a freight train was standing on
the side track, and the countryman,
not seeing any convenient place to tie
up, deliberately hitehed his horse to
the rear car of the freight, and pro
ceeded to promenade the walks around
the depot while waiting for his train.
What was his surprise when he saw
his hitching post pull ont for Cincin'
natl, with his horse and wagon bring,
ing up the rear in not the best of or
der 1t would not be proper to rec
ord the remarks OF the young man on
the subject.
Year: 1878

A StauntOn, Va, huckster bought
forty ducks from a farmer who lived
forty miles from that city. He turn
ed them loose in his yard that night,
and next morning every one of them
was gone. He supposed that they had
been stolen, but in due time he receiv-
ed a letter from the farmer informing
him that all the ducks had returned to
the farm.
Year: 1878

The instantaneous photographs of
trctting horses, taken by Muybridge,
of San Francisco, furnish the first Wis
ible demonstration Of the much dis
puted tact that the top of wagon
wheel, when running along the ground
moves faster than the bottom. II is
obvious that an instantaneous photo
grapn of a wheel, revolving upon its
axle in the air, would show all parts
of the wheel with equal distinctness.
But if the wheel have progressive
motion, and any one portion has a
greater motion than its corresponding
part, above or below, there must be
liability to blurring in that part of the
picture.


These pictures are taken with so
brief an exposure that the horse, tho
moving at 2;24 gait, is sharply out
lined. The wheels OF the drivers
sulky, however, have different tale
to tell. The lower thipl of each
wheel is sharp and distinct as if alb,
solutely at rest. Not so with the top,
that part of the wheel showing a per.
eeptible movement during the two
thousandth part of second of the
exposure of the plate. The upper
ends of the spokes are blurred, and
the rim likewise, thus giving a physi.
cal demonstration of the truth which
mathematics establishes. - Scientific
American.
Year: 1878

In China they behead a physician
who loses a patient. If this custom
could be introduced in the United
States a large number of young men
who are now hanging around medical
colleges would Immediately turn their
attention to agriculture or some other
useful and harmless pursuit. -[Rome
Sentinel.
Year: 1878

The character of the young men OF
community depends much GU that
of the young women. IL the latter
are cultivated, intelligent, and accom-
plished the young men will feel that
they themselves should be upright,
gentlemanly and refined; but il their
female friends are frivolous and silly,
the young men will be found dissipa'
ted and worthless. But remember al.
ways that the sister is the guardian OF
the brothers integrity. She is the
surest incubator of faith IN female
purity and worth. As daughter
she is the light Of home. The pride
of the father often oOnlOrs in his sons,
but his affection is expended on hi'
daughter. She should, therefore, be
the sun and centre OF Ill Anon.
Year: 1878

BALTIMORE, Oct. 24-Captain Barker,
of the steamer Express, which left here
Tuesday for Washington. reports that his
vessel foundered in the gale at the mouth
of the Potomac, the passengers and crew
were probably lost The captain was res
cued while drifting with the fragments Of
the boat Captain Barker describing the
wreck of the Express says the sea was
running at great hight, every wave wash
ing the boat from stem to stern; shortly
after o'clock, on Tuesday morning, there
came a terrific crash, and the joiner work
started from the stanchins; the spassen-
gers and crew had hardly time to realize
what had occurred before the wave tore
the saloon deck like so much paper work
and the following wave swept it off to Sea
and with it nearly all on board.
Year: 1878

A Yankee out west, conceiving that
a little powder thrown upon some
green wood would facilitate its burn
ing, directed small stream upon the
smoking pile; and not possessing a
hand sufficiently quick to cut off this
at desirable moment, he was blown
into pieces. The coroner thus reas-
oned out the verdict: at can't be call
ed suicide, because he didn't mean to
kill himself; it wasn't visitation of
God, because he wasn't struck by
lightning; he didn't die for want of
breath, for he hadn't anything left to
breathe with. It's plain he didn't
know what he was about, SO l shall
bring: Died for the want of common
sense"
Year: 1878

Atpresent Philadelphia can boast of
more monuments of decayed intentions
than any other city in the q. States,
and one especially that would put to
shame the mass of marble in Wash
ington's monument. The public build
ings remain in such an unfinished
condition that strangers look upon
them as the remains of a large fire.
Agitating the question Of levying spe-
cial tax for a fund to continue the cree
ton has had no definite result. The
new post-ofice building gives Ninth
street as dismal look as one would
wish to see in the depths of forest.
Year: 1878

The hanging of Chambers and Col
Inns excited more interest here than
could possibly have been expected, and
as the newspapers failed to give cor
rect account of the outrage for which
they were executed, public opinion
was against Governor Cochran for al
lowing the sentence to be executed.
To any one who was present at the
preliminary hearing given Chambers,
in front of the National Hotel, it is
plain that the law was justly fulfilled,
though the additional evidence addu-
ced through Collins confession was
more strengthening. Smith and his
supposed wife were tramps, and not
only that, but miserable ones, upon
whom the average negro would look
upon with Unborn contempt She was
probably an outcast Of the worst kind,
but the laws of Delaware even then
gave her the same protection against
such an assault as they would to any
lady resident. In time, Gov. Cochran
will have gained the respect of all
those who were so embittered against
his strict adherence to a conviction
based on the result of fair trial.