smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

forgotten, the guilty in ninety-nine cases
out of every hundred go unpunished, and in
a few weeks or months the disasters are re.
peated and the death role extended. There
is bubble and gfoan, and society, forget
ing the past, learning absolutely nothing
from experience, rushes forward to death by
cremation. by scalding steam. by the torture
one when some old rotten bridge gives
way beneath the weight of a pass
ing train. Public opinion is too weak
and vacillating to find remedy. Legisla
lures omit the task of creating statutes en-
bodying preventive penalties, and in this
matter of guarding life old things do not
pass away.


We are inclined to the opinion that new
departure will be. .inaugurated, and that the
time is not distant In the construction of
all public buildings the authorities will 0sve
something to say, and there will be found a
method by which responsibility will be
lodged somewhere. Hotels will have to be
constructed in such a way that in Case of fire
the inmates can be rescued. We do not pro-
pose to indicate how this shall be accom-
plished, but as it is a necessary reformation
in hotel architecture, We believe that it
will be insisted upon, and that hotel propri-
etors will be compelled to meet the largest
possible demands for security. 1t would be
an easy matter now to guard against some of
the terrible features of the st. Louis horror
by having in every room rope by which
persons could be rescued from the burning
building. Steamboats, are required to carry
life preservers, and hotels might have vari-
Gus appliances at hand to save life in case of
fire. 1t is evident that there should be
stringent laws regulating the management
of hotels, as well their construction, and
unless it is done and reasonable assurances
given that life is safe, sane
man or woman will take rooms in
the upper stories of the buildings.
The matter should not be permitted to rest,
nor should the agitation cease in regard to
finding remedies for the wholesale slaughter
of people by what are ordinarily known as
accidents" the responsibility of which is
generally charged upon divine providence,
but which in a majority OF cases could have
been avoided by prudence, foresight and an
honest regard for the lives Of the people and
an honorable fidelity to important trusts.
Year: 1877

ANOTHER cheat has teen unearthed, this
time with the money appropriated for the
benefit of the seamen OF the United states
IA gift of congress of SOC, ZOO. to purchase
clothing for the sailors, In the same way
Ii is given to soldiers-but the late secretary
simply transferred the entire sum to the
general fund. TINS not benefitting the men
at all. The attention Of the present secre-
tary has been called TO this matter by the
naval Officers
Year: 1877

MISS GEUkDr" says that Joaquin Miller
ID In love with a pretty western girl. He in
tends to come west TO grow up with the
country. Probably the stock of poetry Min
ME Myrtle wrote for him being exhausted.
70 keep mp his reputation he will take new
wife and 60 back to the old stamping ground.
Pity the girl, though
Year: 1877

land scene, with large trees and . quiet
brook The work is unaffected. natural and
truthful, and the result is pleasing in the
extreme. 1t is silence on canvas, and the
effect upon the heart is sense of pensive-
ueae and quietude. 8
Year: 1877

THERE is an old German proverb to the
effect that great war leaves the country
with three armies-an army of cripples. an
army of mourners and an army of thieves.
The latter are now In power in the United
States
Year: 1877

II Is said that Hayes has such remark
able memory that he readily calls men by
the right name whom he has not seen for
years. II this is true it is astonishing how
soon he forgot the Leroy transaction.
Year: 1877

KINDNESS TO AN1MA1s.-Van Amburgh
could handle his lions and tigers with impu-
nifty. No animal will fail to respond to kind
ness and uniform good treatment. And es-
pecially will the noble horse respect and con.
fde in and faithfully serve master who
deals gently and kindly with him. We have
ourselves taken a spirited Morgan mare
which had been rudely handled and became
entirely unmanageable through harsh treat
ment, and, by appealing to her intelligence
and respecting her needs,in three weeks time
made her entirely safe and reliable for wife
and children, and all who would treat her
kindly and handle her gently and we have,
after five years, seen the same mare resume
her old vicious habits when again under the
control of one who resorted to arbitrary or
brutal treatment Always appeal to the bet
ter instinct of the horse, the OK, or COW, as
we'll as the dog and other domestic animals,
and they will never become vicious or unman-
ageable.- SEMI Tropical. H
Year: 1877

1t was no doubt formerly true that the ex-
perience of actual war was necessary to make
good soldiers. In battles, when short range
firearms were used and in which the sabre
and bayonet played an important part, each
man naturally shrank from the personal con-
hicts which the use ofsuch arms rendered ne.
cessary. Experience in the use of their arms
and familiarity with such conflicts, were ne.
cessity before men could, with any certainty,
be brought to face them. But the invention
of breech.loading and long-range arms and
general education, have brought about a
change. Personal conflicts on the battlefield
are now of rare occurrence, and each soldier
feels confident that, understanding the use of
the modern weapon with which he is armed,
he Is the equal Of any opponent he may be
required to meet. The consciousness of power
which this individual self.reliance causes in
an army, needs no explanation. Recent Prus.
sian history affords an admirable example
that it is wise in time of peace to prepare for
war, and that the best soldiers can be made
of citizens who have never, perhaps, heard q
hostile shot, It teaches US, also, that by q
wise system of legislation, this preparation can
be had without the slightest Inference with
the business interests Of the country, and that
the citizen is made better citizen by being
taught the military duties be owes to his
country. A belief formerly existed that a
military organization was dangerous to our
liberties but that such belief has any real
ity now can scarcely be credited. The army
of the United States is in reality its volunteer
force cOmposed of its own citizens, and to be-
lieve that such an army can become danger
Gus to its country, is simply to believe that
the citizens composing it are no longer worthy
of the right of suffrage and incapable of eyer
cising the right with either patriotism or f.
deity. Ifthe institutions ofthe United States
are ever changed, so that our liberty is dimin-
ished or destroyed, such change will be
brought about by the corrupt suffrages of our
people, and this corruption will not be due to
any military organization which may have
been adopted, or previous military instruction
they may have received.-Galasy.
Year: 1877

We had been out to the graveyard to bury
Mrs. Pigeon, and we were riding home in the
carriage with the bereaved widower. While
he sopped his eyes with his handkerchief, he
told US about her:


"In one aspect never saw her equal. She
was manager. I've knowed that woman
that's lying out there in the tomb, to take an
old pair of trousers and cut them up for The
boys. She'd make a splendid suit Of clothes
for both of them out of them old pants, get
out stuff enough for coat for the baby and a
cap for Johnny, and have some left over for
rag carpet, besides making handkerchief
of the pockets and hustle for herself out Of
the other lnings Give her an old garment,
and it was as good as gold mine. Why
she'd take worn out sock and make brand
new overcoat out of it, I believe. She had
turn for that kind of economy. There's one
of my shirts that bought in 1S47, still going
about making itself useful as window curtains
aud pantalettes and plenty of other things.
Only last July our gridiron give out, and she
took it apart, and in two hours it was rugged
on the side of the house as splendid light
ming rod, all except what she had made into
poker and an ice-pick. Ingenious? Why,
she kept our family in buttons and whistles
out of the ham bones she saved, and she made
fifteen princely chicken coops from her old
hoopskirts, and pig pen out Of her used:uP
corset bones. She never wasted solitary
thing Let a cat die around our house, and
the first thing you knew Mary Jane'd have
mutf and set of furs, and I'd begin to find
mince pies on the dinner table. eNe'd stuff a
feather bed with the feathers that she got off
one little bit of a rooster, and she'd even util-
ize the reaches in the kitchen, so they'd run
the churn-had a machine she invented for
the purpose. I've seen her cook potato par
ings SOS you'd think they were canvass back
ducks and she had a way Of doctorng up
shavngs 80 that the pig'd eat 'em and grow
fat on 'em. ! believe that woman could build
four story hotel if you'd a given her SIN
gle pine board or a steamboat out of q wash
boiler, and the very last thing she said to me
was to bury her in the garden SOS she'd be
useful down below there, helping to shove up
the cabbages. I'll never see her like again"
don't believe he will either Philadelphia
Bulletin.


nE- Swinging is said by the the doctors to be
good exercise for health, but many poor
wretch has come to his death by it.
Year: 1877

The art of forgetting is blessed art, but
the art of overlooking is quite as important.
And if We should take time to write down the
origin, progress, and outcome of few of our
troubles, it would make us so ashamed Of the
fuss We make over them, that we should be
glad to drop such things and bury them at
once in eternal forgetfulness.


Life is too short to be worn out in petty
worries, frettings, hatreds and vexations.
Let us Danish all these, and think on whatso-
ever things are pure, and lovely, and gentle,
and of good report. ..
Year: 1877

MEN WITHOUT OccuPAT1oN.-Them man
who has nothing to do, is the most miserable
of beings. No matter how much wealth q
man possesses, he can be neither contented
nor happy, without occupation. We were
born to labor, and the world is our vineyard.
We can find field of usefulness almost any
where. In occupations We forget our cares,
our worldly trials, and our SORROWS. 1t keeps
us from constantly worrying and brooding
over what is inevitable. If we have enough
for ourselves, we can labor for the good of
others; and such task is one of the most
delightful duties worthy and good man can
possibly engage in.
Year: 1877

We CAN IF We W1LL.-Men say they
cannot afford books, and sometimes do not
even pay for newspaper. In that case it
does them little good they feel so mean while
reading them. But men can afford what
they really choose. If all the money spent
in selfindulgence, in hurtful indulgence, was
spent in books or papers for selfimprovement,
we should see change. Men would grow
handsome, and women too. The soul would
shine out through the eyes. We were not
meant to be mere animals. Let US have books
and read them, and sermons and heed them.
Year: 1877

certain degree, we are the arbiters of our own


destiny. If words have the power to make
life, happiness and character, man has the
greater power to give or to deny them utter
ance. "Before speak, 1 am master of the
word. After speak, it is the master of me"
Year: 1877

10r The other day New York policeman
in making out q charge against an arrested
party, wrote: "The prisoner set upon me dis
orderly, and called me an ass, and precious
rufian, and an idiot, all Of which certify to
be true"
Year: 1877

"What Georgis needs" says the Atlanta
Consitution, 'is more Colonels." That paper
proceeds in this way:


We want it distinctly understood before We
proceed any further, that We are friend to
t..e Colonel-that is to say, that we are
friend to the Colonel if he isn't military
Colonel. A military Colonel has no right to
the title. He may have earned it in the war,
right in front of the cannon's mouth, but more
peaceful days have dawned upon US, and now
we have the insurance Colonel, the sewing ma
chine Colonel, the dry goods Colonel, the com.
mission Colonel, the grocery Colonel, the
newspaper Colonel, and the lawyer Colonel.
You may pick your Colonel from any pile
you choose, and we'll stand up promptly
and say We admire him. There is NO honor
in the title, and we take pleasure ia bestowing
it upon friend and foe alike. To be man
and not to be Colonel (unless, indeed, you
were not promoted during the war; is some
thing preposterous. We can conceive of no
such misfortune as that which prevents man
from becoming Colonel in his own right.
There is no law on the statute book against it,
and if there were, it would be dead letter.
Every county, every community and every
family, would cry out against the injustice of
an enactment depriving them of their usual
quota of Colonels. For our part we think
that there ought to be law passed comforting
the title of Colonel upon every male child
over twelve years of age, without regard to
color or previous condition. In that case all
men would be Colonels, and all the women
would be Colonelesses. Here is the true line
of progress. While Colonels are in fashion,
let US make the most Of them. Let US utilize
them as it were, for the purpose Of advancing
civilization. It is idle for men who have no
titles, to sneer at those who have. What would
Georgia do without her 100000 Colonels? I?
Without its Colonels, what weak and vapid
body the legislature would be. Ah no; let
US cling. to our Colonels. Instead ofweeding
them out, let US endeavor to nurture those we
have, and invite others through the medium
of immigration agents.


TRANSIENT TRouBLEs.-Most of Us have
had troubles ell our lives, and each day has
brought all the evil that we wished TO endure.
But if we were asked to recount the sorrows
of our lives, how many could we remember7
How many that are six months old should We
think worthy to be remembered or mentioned ?
To.day's troubles look large, buts week hence
they will be forgotten and buried out of sight.


IF you would keep book, and every day
put down the things that worry you, and see
what becomes of them, it would be Q benefit
to you. You allow q thing to annoy you,
just as you allow fly to settle on you and
plague you /; and you lose your temper (or
rather get it; for when men are surcharged
with temper, they are said to have lost IT,;
and you justify yourselves for being thrown
of your balance by causes which you do not
trace out. But if you would see what it was
that threw you of your balance before break.
fast, and put it down in little book, and fol.
low it out, and ascertain what becomes of it,
you would see what . fool you were in the
matter" -
Year: 1877

A San Francisco young lady received
an invitation to attend the theatre the
other evening just as the Chinaman came
for her wash. She hurredly made out
a list of the washing, and answered the
invitation. Then she sent the list to the
young man and kept the answer to his
note. There was soon very much con-.
fused yougn man, and very much NOR.
titled young woman, but no theatre.go.
ing for either Of them that night.
Year: 1877

A Baltimore policeman found a fam
lily in an awful plight. Every member
had been stricken with scarlet fever, and
three children had died, not of the dis
ease, hut of starvation. There was not
morsel of food in the garret. Every
available article of furniture or clothing
had long before been pawued. The vile
was abed, unconcious, and the husband
had stretched himself on the floor to die.
This case melted an organized effort to
succor the destitute persons of that city.
Year: 1877

nation, and without even the semb.
lance o. opposition. He has been tried
and approved by ;hc people, and needs
no introduction st our hands.


Hon. Sylvester Gwinn, OF Lawrence,
is comparatively stranger 10 us, but
10 we'll known in South Mississippi.
He is of the highly respected family of
Gwinn, who are among the oldest and
most influential citizens in that section
Of the State. He Is man Of great en-
ergy and fine business qualities, and his
name was presented to the Convention
with q very strong and forcible en-
dorsement by his county.


In the nomination OF Hon. Thos. e.
Caichings, we take a particular pride
and interest, not only because he is q
highly esteemed fellow-townsmAn but
chiefly for the reasons that he Is one Of
the most brilliant and promising young
men in the State, and that Il opens to
him career TO which he is entitled by
talents and attainments second TO none
Of his age in Mississippi. He has fine
legal mind, thoroughly cultivated in
all that pertains to the practice and in
depreciation OF the law and adorned by
all the accomplishments OF the general
scholar and literateur. He will bring
to the Office the enthusiasm and energy
Of an honorable ambition and give to
the discharge Of its duties abilities Of
the very highest order,


Gen. James Argyle Smith iS one of
the most remarkable, as he Is also one
Of the best men on the ickei. He re-.
signed a sword and epaulets in the
Federal army to cast his lot with his
brethren Of the South; carried out q
company soon reached the grade of
Colonel, and was promoted to a Brigs-
der General for gallantry on the
bloody field of Missionary Ridge,
where he was desperately wounded.
Since the war he has been holding
the plow, gaining an honest and
hard-earned livelihood in the good old
sCriptural way. So little aspiration
had be for Office that he neglected to
apply for the removal Of his political
disabilities until a year or so ago. lie
Is q "West Pointer" and will conduct
his Office with military order, rcgulari'
ty and precision, and exact the same
from all subordinAtes. The Conven'
ton could not have made a better Sc
lection for Superintendent. OF Public
Education.
Year: 1877

Tue prospects on Tuesday were very bright for grand time in sAnford' Hall, at night, but owing to tho near approach of Thanksgiving, and the Issue of the BKR, on that day, we could not give the result of the entertainment this week Printers are fond of turkey, like other people, and of course they must have day off. Our readers will excuse the many omissions of this week.
Year: 1877

The Newtown Rife Association held their weekly meeting on Saturday last, on the West Avenue Range.

 Although there was strong south east wind some good shots were made. Darkness came altogether too quick for the boys. and stopped what promised to be fine scoring on the second round, The interest manifested In their contests is evident from the number of visitors present, as well as the distinguished ones.
Year: 1877

f L. SrANToN.-We copy the follow
ing from the Washington correspondence
Of the Hancock County Courier: ave
regret to chronicle the death Of this tai.
ented young man. We have known him
ever since he was private Secretary at his
fathers desk in the War Department,
and while he did not possess that high
order Of talent and energy which made
Mr.. Stanton the greatest War Secretary
Of the world, yet he inherited sufficient
Of those qualities together with an indie.
faIigable industry which would have en-.
abed him in time TO make his mark here
in the future. His death was due to
inflammation Of the brain, caused by expo


sure in his recent visit to the mountains,
where he went to recruit his health, bro
ken down by intense application to his
duties. lie has held several honorable
legal positions and was rapidly acquiring
competency as well as rank as lawyer.
He leaves widow and one child and a
large circle Of friends TO mourn him."
Year: 1877

The Board Of Trade met at noon to
consider the so.called daylight r rsolu-
lious.' The matter was discussed for
some time, when the following was read
as a substitutes:


''Resolvcd, That The Board of Trade
recommend to the Common Council OF
the city OF Cincinnati the adoption of
the resolution known as the "Daylight
Resolutions" with prOviso specifying
that II, at any time in the future, the
canal bed should be abandoned 10 rail-
road purposes, then and IN that case
the rights granted under this
resolution 10 cross Broadway on
grade shall terminate and cease, and
the road shall be + CURED to cross said
street below grade III such manner as
Year: 1877

1t is sad reflection, when the whole
people of the Country sought to effect
the organization of a tribunal which
could forget partisanship in patriotism,
and love of Office in that of the Union,
that the body thus organized and in
vested with authority at once loses
popular respect and confidence. How
absurd it seems that such body of
men created for such lofty purposes
and invested with such hopes and ex-
traordinary powers becomes unworthy
of itself and of the age and country
aud even forgetful of the position it
must occupy in history. Ptiable to
the last degree become jurists and
statesmen in such a place when they
vote and act and speak simply as parti-
sans. 1t makes men blush that they
are Americans, and we constantly hear
it said by hOnest,patriots: 'Have we
not reached the lowest depths of pol
luton when a court can not be created
which may forget itself while defining
the fortunes of the whole country2"
OF Morton aud one or two others, of
whom less is known, assigned to places
on the commission, nothing more or
less was expected. We supposed that
Norton would vote for any proposition
that Radicalism commended; but it
was deemed impossible that this great
court of ''claims" would present itself
before the worlds expectant eyes in the
pitiable attitude of Republican ward
meeting. 1t is shameful to see each
member of this supposed illustrious
tribunal voting simply as partisan ne
cesslties suggest. In fact, the decis-
ion of the commission upon any given
question is already known when the
question itself is announced and since
majority Of the commission consists
of Republicans, the chances are, though
the people elected Tilden, that Hayes
will be the President. Nothing can pre-
vent.this result, we greatly fear, unless
such startling knaveries be developed
that the counting of Louisiana for
Hayes will be impossible. When Dan
Voorhees, said that it was only "a
knock-down scored for RadIcalism" he
did not tell half the truth. The ruling
of the commission was against Tilden,
but the worst aspect of the facts
effect neither Democracy nor Re-
publicanism as such. Patriotism weeps
when it sees how incapable of
greatness our greatest men, jurists and
statesmen, have become, when there are
none who can rise above the passions
and prejudices and selfshness of party
and expound laws and facts for the
whole country-for the Union of to-
day and for the Centennial Union of a
hundred years to come.


The people will be wiser and honest
er than the great court they have in
stituted and approved. However un-
worthy it may be of the purposes of
its existence, and however imbruted its
partisanship, the people, having made
it the arbiter of the country's fortunes
and of the rights of parties, will ac-
cept its DEGREES as final. But if these
be plainly wrongful and plainly parti-
san, the commission and It's appointee
to power will be alike and forever in
famous and impotent.