smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1874

The issue was made directly on the civil
rights bill at the recent election in Ken
lucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and
it can not be denied that it has resulted to
the present advantage of the Democracy.
The opponents Of Republicarism have
formed league on this issue, with the
watchword of "a white mans government
for white men," wholly ignoring the 20
htical rights of the negro, and it has resulted
in their temporary success An unusual de-
gree of bitterness has attended the canvass,
and blOodshed has followed in several
instances. The effect has been to fire the
Southern heart" and White Leagues are
now the order of the day in most of the
States recently in rebellion. Some of the
Democratic papers of that section 60 so far
as to say that the negroes ought to be driven
without her laboring population. To such
an extent has prejudice gone. that the situ-
alton to-day is fraught with more grave
perils than at any time since the close of the
war.


The white men, blinded by their passions,
fail to see that any disaster to the blacks
must be disaster to themselves, since their
material interests are almost identical. If,
unfortunately, blood should be shed, the
calamity could not be confined to one race
of men, nor would the North look coldly





the laboring classes whose value to the
country is full as great now as in the
palmiest days Of slavery. 1t is terrible
pity that the issue has been made. 1t will
be more pitiable yet if it is allowed to be
carried out to it's legitimate end. There is
now time for sober counsel and wise ex-
postulation. While the South is still striv-
ing to recover from the losses eDtailed by
the Shareholders rebellion, it is not an aus
picious time in which to invite the demon
of civil war to another feast.


No doubt there are serious and grievous
troubles connected with the emancipation
of race of slaves. They were born in ig-
norance, but that difficulty is rapidly mend
ing with the spread OF educational facilities.
Unused to political or social recognition as
the black men were, it might have been ex-
pected that there would be some friction
before they would adjust themselves to
their proper place. But the North has
never had any trouble in dealing with the
negro, and little OF it's hard common sense
applied to the situation would heal every
hurt. In any event, it is time that the
South understood that the North will never
consent to be made party to internecine
strife. Even the Democracy of the North
will never consent to be compromised by
the follies threatened by White Leagues,
and to have old wounds opened again. The
sooner this is understood the better it will
be for the interests of peace. A war of
races can not be permitted on free Ameri-
can soil.-Nem York Commercial Adrertiser.
Year: 1874

By HENkY wADswoRTH LoSeFELLow.
He is dead, the beautiful youth,
The neart OF honor. the tongue OF truth
He, the life and light of us ali,
Whose voice was blithe as bugle call,


Whom all eyes follower with one consent.
The cheer o; whose laugh, and whose pleasant


word


flushed all murmurs OF discontent.
Only last night, as we rode along


Down the dark of the mountain gap,
To visit the picket-guard at the ford.


Little dreaming OF any mishap,
He was humming the words of some o.d song:


1.-TWO red roses he had on his cap,
And another he bore at the point of his sword.
Sudden and swift a whiStling ball


Came out of the wood, and the voice was still,
Something ! heard in the darkness fall,


And for moment my blood grew chill;
l spake in a whisp er, as he who speaks


In room where some one is lying dead;


But he made no answer TO what said.
We lifted him up on his saidl again,
And through the mire and the mist and the


rain


Carried him back to the silent camp,
And laid him as If asleep on his bed,


And saw by the light Of the SCI Grgeon's lamp
The two white roses upon his cheeks,
The one over his heart blood redi
And saw in vision how far and feet


That fatal bullet went speeding forth,


Till 1t reached town in. the distant North,
Till 1t reached q house in q sunny street,
Till it reached heart that ceased to beat.


Without a murmur, without c-y:
And a bell was tolled in that far of town,
For one who had passed from cross to crown
And the neighbors wondered that she should
Year: 1874

AS people we are not particularly
given to sobriety of demeaner. Mirth-
fulness and jollity may well be reckon
ed as ameng our prominent character
istics. We cannot be said to be with
out certain amount OF dry humor and
wit of our own, and know the droll
thing when we see it. We are glad
when we are made laugh in spite OF
ourselves. The man who says funny
things week after week In the columns
of village newspaper, becomes sud-
denly a popular favorite; and, waking
up some morning, finds himself ia
NOUS. The darling Of the lyceum is
the man who successfully mimics the
foibles and fOllies of the times, with q
spice of fun dashing the satire Of de-
scription. The ballad that sings its
way into everybody's heart has q bunch
of drollery mingled with its Pathos;
and the preacher whose sermons are
touched here and there with an honest
good humor is sure to be sought BY the
masses. -


We all crave the rest and recreaeson
that lie in amusement, and bettK IA
a hundred prescriptions from ~ p1ezN
macopeia is the tonic that Hs2eFs ln Q
hearty taught


No one can deny this fact, that there
Is a blessing in fun; and, rs we are con-
stitutionally adapted to 1t, we see no
reason why we should not enjoy 1t, pro-
vided we do not carry the blessing so
far as to make il o curse.
Year: 1874

CURIOsITY.-Nothing is much no.
bier than the desire for knowledge
nothing more shabbier than low Curl
osity. What does it signify to US what
others do or have, and why cannot we
let them and theirs alone? No one in
the world likes to be watched and pri-
ed after; and it does not seem very diff
ficult to do to our neighbors in this
matter as we would he should do to
us. This curiosity is generally the
great sin of small societies. For want
of more healthy outlet for the dra-
matte instinct with which We are all
born, the dwellers in confined locali-
ties tura upon each other, likeso many
spiders in tumbler, and try to mask
the real starvation of this instinct by
the false nourishment of gossip. A
gossip pre-supposes curiosity, and, is,
in fact, the legs on which this very
rickety reading-desk OF the mind
stands. Yet the gossip and curiosity
of small societies are substantially but
the love of knowledge degraded,
the dramatic instinct demeaned; and
wider scope, a noble direction, and a
more fitting food would prove the truth
of this.
Year: 1874

There is Alfred Sutton home with
his family to live on the old folks said
one neighbor to another. st seems
hard, after all his father had done to fit
him for business, and the capital he in
vested to start him 80 fairly. 1t is sur
prising he has turned out so poorly.
He Is steady young man, no bad
habits, so far as know; he has a good
education and was always considered
smart; but he doesn't succeed in any
thing. l am told he has tried a num-
ber of different kinds of business, and
sunk money every time. What can
be the trouble with Alfred, / should
like to know, for don't want my boy
to take his turn


ALFRED is smart enough said the
other, 'anG has education enough, but
he lacks the one element of success.
He never wants to give a dollars
worth of work for a dollar of money,
and there is no other way for a young
man to make his fortune. He must
dig if he would get gold. All the men
that have succeeded, honestly or dis
honestly, in making money, have had
to work for it the sharpers sometimes
the hardest of all. Alfred wishes to see
his train in motion and let it take care
of itself. No wonder it soon ran off the
track, and a smash-up was the result.
Teach your boy, friend Archer, to
work with will when he does work.
Give him play enough to make him
healthy and happy, but let him learn
early that work is the business of life.
Patient, self-denying work is the price
Ofsuccess. Ease andindolencee eat away
not capital only, but worse still, all of
mans nerve power. Present gratifica-
tion tends to put off duty until to-mor-
row or next week. 1t is getting to be
a rare thing for the sons of rich men to
die rich. Too often they squander in a
half score of years what their fathers
were a lifetime in accumulatinG. l
wish 1 could ring it in the ears of every
aspiring young man that work, hard
work, of head and hands, is the price
Of success.-[ Country Gentleman.
Year: 1874

reputable people and doctrines, and re-
fused when l beseught him to sepa-
rate himself from them, and ascribed to
my agency the increasing ruin which
he was persistently bringing upon him.
self, and which l was doing my utmost
to avert. 1t was to do everything for
such man. 1 might as well have tried
to ill sieve with water. In the latter
stages of the history he actually enacted
and created difficulties apparently for
no other purpose than to drive me to
fresh eXertions. / refused to endorse
his wild views and associates. The best
l could do was to speak well of him,
mention those qualities and abilities
which still believe him to possess in
his higher moods, and keeping silent
concerning the evil things which 1 was
assured and believed had been greatly
exaggerated by the public report. 1
could not think him so bad as his friends
did trusted to the genius of good
which | thought still lived in him,
to Mr.. MoultOn's apparent power over
him, and the power of my persistent
self-sacrifice.
Year: 1874

THE HUSH OF NIGHT AND HOME
1t is night now, and here is home.
Gathered under the quiet roof, eld-
ers and children lie alike at rest. In
the midst of a great calm the stars
look out from the heavens. The
silence is peopled with the past-sor-
rowful remorse for sins and short
comings, memories of passionate
joys and griefs rise out of their
graves, both now alike calm and
sad. Eyes, as shut mine, look at
me, that have long since ceased
to shine. The town and the fair
landscape sleep under the starlight,
wreathed under the autumn mists.
Twinkling among the houses, a light
keeps watch, here and there, in what
may be a sick chamber or two, The
clock tolls sweetly in the silent air.
Here is night and rest. An awful
sense of thanks makes the heart
swell and the head bow as l pass to
my room through the sleeping house,
and feel as though a hushed bless
ing were upon it.-Ihdckerdy.
Year: 1874

The BoREs OF NEW YoRK.-The
New York " Dispatch says: There
is one genial gentleman connected
with the New York press whose
funeral we'd attend with pleasure.
He is a stout individual. Indeed
SO stout that irreverent men call
him cold Stomach" We don't
find fault with his fat. It's with
his ways. They're not at all fascin-
ating. He attends the opera.
When any particular melodious
song is being sung, or any bit of
harmony is being performed,
"Old Stomach" thumps his cane
on the floor wildly, and shrieks out,
" Bravop' We are not acquainted
with the gentleman. We have no
anxiety for an Introduction. But
we do think we would wax fat on
sausages or hash made out of that
mans carcass. He's the most in
sufferable noodle we ever met, ex-
cept the man who goes to the thea
tres dressed in a bald head, an eye
glass, and plenty of cheek. If
those two men were to meet, and
the fat man should eat up the
bald-headed man, and then he
should die of that dose, there
would be demoniac rejoicing
among the attendants of opera and
theatre. But those who should
meet with an untimely death unfor
tunately never do. We will have
to serenade cold Stomach with
the Dispatch" Minstrels. When
bore joins bore then comes the
death of both" And we await the
death with fearful anxiety.
Year: 1874

When Mr.. Millard Fillmore died the
other day. most of the notices which his
death OccaSiOned. mentioned the fact
that his early education was neglected.
and at the time when he began the study
of the law, at the age Of nineteen. he
had never seen a grammar or geography.
Yet Mr.. Fillmore. both in writing ami
speech. used the English language with
al ont the usual prOpriety; and, like most
OF our respectable public men. he never
lapsed into any very glaring solecisins.
OF his geography we are not so certain,
but his knowledge was probaly sufficient
for all ordinary emergencies. Ii i the
accuracy with which so many of our half
educated, or Self-educated linen write and
speak English which Is surprising: and
there Is nothing like ii, We suspect. any
where in the world. Yet this facility
does not come from the study of gram
mar. There are not ten men III the
House of Representatives who could
parse ten lines of Milton according TO
the rules Of Lindley Murray: yet these
gentlemen are never guilty of two neg
atives employed TO strengthen the ne
CATION, even when they are denying
charges of fraud or corruption. TheSe
are facts which may well lead US TO re-
wise our notions of the necessity of study
ing grammar as it Is usually taught in
our schools. Our American accuracy
does come of early drilling. IL Is to be
attributed 10 the general habit Of read
ing. II Is in this way that the majority
become tolerable grammarians by rOJe,
and speak correctly simply because they
sneak nj all The verbS are made 10
agree with their nominative cases in
stinctively, and as a matter of good
breeding. Small mistakes ara made. as
they are by the best writers; but nobody
notices them except professional teach
ers, who in their turn. make just as
many.-NeIC York Tribune.
Year: 1874

Third Officer Brady is in fair way TO
become famous lie Will be remembered
rs one Of the brave men who literally
deiicd death at the wreck of the Allan
tic on the Nova Scotia coast last year
After the vessel struck he swan ashore
with line and fastened it TO a rock. by
which means many persons were saved,
and his herOisn was the subject of praise
throughout the country.


On the 9th of last month he was on
board the Pennsylvania, eH route for
this country, to assume an important
position III the office of his company
At midnight a tremendous sea swept
over the vessel. waSlIing away the for
ward house and "a portion of the forward
wheel. and carrying overheard Capt.
Bradburn. Mr.. Sweetland, first officer.
Mr.. Ross. second officer, and two sea
men. all of whom We're lost. Brady was
at the time assisting the carpenter i'll
IasiIing down the matches of the after
cOmpaniOuway, and he had sent n man
on deck To ask the Captain of the vessel
if the matches below could not be trans
ferred above The messenger returned
saving that he could not find him. Brady
went up alone, and in n moment the
situation flashed upon him. The deck
was swept. and no one was left but the
men at the wheel. and they knew moth
ing Of the loss of the officers. Then he
went below. consulted with the chief
engineer and purser; saw also the third
mate. Charles Rivers. who was walking
up and down not knowing what to do.
The third mate said he could find no
mon tn tsn pu deck


Brady was then asked to take com
mamd. and he went above. He ordered
the matches to be brought up from the
middle decks and put on the main deck.
No seamen We're present To execute the
order. all having slowed themselves
away. The steward, quartermasier and
carpenter came forward, and with their
assistance the matches were covered and
the vessel saved from total wreck. BY
the request of the passengers, Brady
then took charge of the wheel and or
dercd the speed TO be reduced; and in
good season the steamer with her pas
scngcrS. was SAFELY brought into port.
Year: 1874

SPEAKING Of the wOman's crusade
against rum-seIling, Henry Ward Beech
er said TO his congregation, that history
would not show a parallel 10 the effort
making in the West TO suppress dram
drinking, which ne characterized as the
scourge Of the household Ii is an evil
that has defied legislation, but now, un-
der the providence Of God, there has
arisen a moral cyclone. perfect tenn
pest Of influence against it.
Year: 1874

''lF I'd only something to go by, said
an old topper who was trying to find his
way through difficulty, Il could get
out of this serape." The best thing for
you TO 90 by, is a rum shop, said friend,
Year: 1874

KING CHARLES-FIRST AND LAST
The other evening the well known
singer Madame Agatha States, now in
San Francisco, fell an easy prey to a
novel and bold device of an enterprising
psychologist. How should she suspect
that the well dressed, gentlemanly look
ing person, with the courteous address,
who bowed himself into her room, and
said in a pleasantly mOdulated voice,


madame States, believe" was other
than he seemedl And then the cap he
lifted with so eOurtly gesture bore upon
it in conspicuous letters the confidence
inspiring legend, Conductor" What
wonder that the lady lent eredulOus
ear to the pleasing intelligence, so bland
ly impaired, that there was at the rail
road office pOnderous package and
love of King Charles spaniel directed
to her and awaiting her Orderp The
package and silken pet had just arrived
from the East. There was a small charge
for freight and a small charge for the
expense of conveying the presents to the
lady's house. Should he, the gentleman
ly conductor, attend to the matterl Oh,
no; there was no trouble, he would be
too happy with bow to see to the bus
iness. And so the madam paid the
freight and the further expense and
forced an additional fee upon the oblig-
ing but reluctant official, who departed
with the assurance that he would see
that the articles were duly delivered
within half an hour" The half hour
elapsed, followed by long succession of
half hours, until their sum amounted to
two days, and still there came no pack
age, and no King Charles, and no tidings
from the gentlemanly conductor.
Year: 1874

1t is the custom IN Mexico for the clergy
to require 4 foreigner, wishing to marry
native, to bring proof that he is not already
married man. IN American, about to
marry Il scnorita OF very good family, was
required to furnish the proof Of his being
bachelor Not finding any Of his country
men who knew him sufficiently well t. tes-
tify to this fact, he determined to supply
the deficiency with the oath Of Il native.


Meeting :; Mexican in the street, whom
be had never seen before. our countryman
proposed to him that he should swear to
his being unmarried for the consideration
of five dollars. The senior, after moments
study, said to the lankcc,-


"Get down on your hands and knees and
creep about


Not exactly understanding what he was
at, our friend obeyed, much to the dctri-
ment Of bis unmentionabl.s. The other
party then told him that he was all right;
that he would swear that the American had
not been married since he knew him, and
that was since the time he crawlel.
Year: 1874

y night or two since, willie on lis beat
through b street, Officer $ found
q" inc3riatcd individual rcpo>ing on bench
IN front Of WiI~ou 4 Browns undertaking
establishment The officer Shook the fellow
until he awoke him trom his drunken slum.
Der, then explained to him that he would
be obliged to escort him to the station
house unless he hunted other quarters
The man told the officer that he was a
stranger in town, that he had bat four bits,
and the night being warm he Lad concluded
1t would be good economy to sleep out of
doors and suye Iii. four bits to buy his
5rraki@~t in the morning Not being u
hard hearted man, the officer told the fellow
that he might GHi,h his snoozc, provided he
would get up and move out Of sight before
the people We're astir ON the streets. Pass
lnS iiat way again III the course of an hour
or two, Mr.. $ found that his snoozcr
had rolled off the bench and was lying in
the empty case Of a Gia which was sitting
at the edge Of tie sidewalk. Rousing his
man again, the officer told him he must
get out of there"


"out Of what" @rumblcd the fellow.


coat OF that coffin .aid S-though it
was bat one Of tLo,c large coiIin-shapcd
eases in which collins are SHIPPED


"Who's in conin,'' said the fellow,
rubbing hi, eyes


"Why you arc" said s


"If am | don't know it,


"Wel, know it, and if You don't get
cut Of that it will be the end Of you. Don't
You know that if the undcrtakers get up in
the morning and find You snoozing in here
they'll clap lid on the coffin, nail You up
and bury you, and tucn send in bill and
make the county pay your funeral cypen-
ses."


Crawling out Of his narrow quarters, the
fellow stood and gazed upon. the coffin case
for time, then said


What sort Of unIertakers have YOU cot
up here in this country, that go and set coz
fms 'longside the sidewalks to ketch men ?''
and without waiting for an answer he shul-
fled away to find safer quarters.
Year: 1874

There lived in Paris, more than century
ago. an old dame, who kept shop in
house not very far distant from the Place
Saint Michael. She was reputcd rich, and
wa, supposed to keep her money in her house.
Her only servant was boy. who had lived
with hor several years. lie slept in the
house, but high up in the fourth story, Or
rather lort. which could only be reached by
4 staircase such A. was cpmmou in those
days, oatsde OF the house wall, the old lady
sleeping on the ground floor at the lacb, Of
the Shop. 1t was the boy duty to lock the
shop door at night, and to retain possession
of the key. One morning the nci4hbors
found the shop door open mach earlier than
usual, and as there was no one to be- seen in
the shop, some of them suspected that all
was not right, and went in. There were no
marks betokening Il violent entry of the
premises, but the old lady wa~ discovered
dead in her bed, having received many
wounds, such wounds, to all appearances,
having been inflicted with knife, and
knife covered with blood was found lying in
the middle Of the shop floor. One hand of
the corpse yet graspei thick lock Of hair,
and in the other was II handkerchief. 1t was
proved beyond a doubt that tie knife and
handkerchief belonged to the boy who had
been so long her servant, and the lock of
hair matched his exactly He was arrested
charged with the crime, and (probably under
torturc) confessed it, and suffered capital
punishment as IL murderer. lie was inn0-
cent, however. Not very long after his exc
cntlnn, another boy, Il servant in neigh
boring Wine shop, being taken in custody
for another oif.nse, and seized with the
pangs Of rc!norsc, confessed the murder of
the old woman. He had long been lamili-
ary acquainted with the shop boy who had
suffered innocenty, and had been in the
habit Of dressing his hair. He had man
aged by degrees to save up enough Of the
lads hair from the comb he made use of to
make into tolerabe stout lock, and tbs he
had pat in the hands of the dead woman.
He had stolen one Of the boys neck -haniller-
chiefs, and had also his knife, and, by taking
an Impression in wax Of the key, had been
able to construct another with which to gain
entrance to the shop. At the first glance
the evidence in the case seems at once clear,
natural and spontaneous; but the very COM
pletene-S Of the c,idcntial facts ought to
have aroused suspicion, and there is no
doubt TINT had right investigation been
set on foot the innocence Of the accused
would have been established.
Year: 1874

All the refuse Of house is stored in its
cellar, therefore look to your cellars occa-
sionally. Old boxes, bins and barrels, which
have contained vegetable matter, meat, fish,
ETC., need thorough overhaulinS. 1t is not
that standing in dark corner they look
empty; there may he enough poison LETT
sticking on tue sides and bottom to affect
the health Of the household. This work of
cleansing is often left to the women and
boys Of the family. a man had much bet
ter leave his work day, to make a thor
ough examination and puriication of the
cellar, than to I've unduly anxious about get
ting in his crops in extra season. After all
the garbage is carried out, let the ceilings
and walls be brushed with an old broom; if
this is done once month, the atmosphere
will be all the sweeter. Use plenty Of
lime, and, in dry weather, keep the doors
and windows open a part Of every day.
Old tin and wooden ware should be al
lowed to stand year after year upon the
cellar shelves. If it is not fit to be used,
throw it away The cellar should be kept as
tidy as the rest Of the house.