smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1874

CONSTRUCTION OF Fisn PoNDs J..
wood whatever. have had Al extended
and expensive experience in regard TO
fish ponds. and have always found that
stone or brick Is cheapest in the end. In
building q dam first lay up = line OF brick
extending TO within an inch or two of the
line of the top Of the dam. Now pile your
dirt on each side OF the wall and you can
bid defiance TO th,muskrats, which have
often in one night destroyed the accumu.
lated fishes Of years. Do not trus: TO
plank, the vermln seem rather TO enjoy
eating their way through them. The pro-
portions of the dam should be as follows
Let the breath on the top equal height,
and the base be three times the height
Thus if your dam is ten feet high. let the
width OF the top be ten feet and that Of the
base thirty feet. Face the sluice way with
stone or brick ard let 1t extend TO the bot
tom OF the pond. Place at the outlet two
sets Of screens OF galvanized iron wire,
the uppermost being for the purpose OF
catching leaves, sticks, etc, which NAV
ind their way into the pond, the lower 20
prevent the escape of fishes. One inch
mesh for the upper and one-half inch for
the lower will be about right. Arrange
these so they can be readily removed and
cleaned. and then keep them clean.
Year: 1874

CHEAP EINkGAR--Take n qusnGIiy OF
common Irish potatoes. Wash them un-
til they are thoroughly clean, place them
in vessel and boil them until done. Drain
OF the water in which they were cooked,
straining il, II necessary, in order to re
move every particle of the potato; then
put the potato water into jug or keg.
which set near the stove, or in some place
where it will be kept warm, and add one
pound OF sugar to about two aid one hal (
gallons of the water. and some hop yeast.
will have excellent vinegar. at a cost OF
six or seven cents per gallon.
Year: 1874

TIE unfinished Washington monu-
ment ia a standing disgrace to the
nation, and we fully agree with those
who think it ought to be pulled down
or else completed. Voluntary subscrip-
tions and the receipts of the Mount
Vernon exhibition are insufficient to
put another course of stone on the mere
pediment that has been erected, and
there seems to be no other recourse
than to an appropriation by Congress
sufficient TO complete the under
taking. We know how mortiiy
ing this must be to the very
estimable ladies in the several
States who. more than ten years ago,
became Regents ofthe Monument Fund
and used all their persuasive arts to COL
lect the money necessary for the erec-
tion OF the splendid shaft contemplated
in the original design. But the gall
lautry, no less than the bero-worshiI
OF the people having sadly fallen of
during these latter years, an appeal to
Congress Is the last and best thing tha,
can be done. We hope that an APP
preparation may be made sufficient 10
complete the Washington Monument
without further delay.
Year: 1874

A boy borrowed tool from a car
penter, promising to return it at night.
Before evening be was sent away on
an errand and did not return until
late. Before he went, be was told
that his brother should see the arti-
Gle returned.


After be had come home aud gone
to bed, he inquired, and found that
the tool had not been sent to its
owner. He was much distressed to
think his promise had not been kept,
but was persuaded to go to sleep,
and rise early and carry it home the
next morning.


BY daylight he was up, and no.
where was the tool to be found
After long and fruitless search, he
set off for his neighbor's in great dis
tress, to acknowledge his fault. But
how great was his surprise to find
the tool on his neighbours door stone!
And then it appeared from the print
of his little bare feet in the mud, that
the lad had got up in his sleep and
carried the tool home, and gone to
bed again without knowing it.


OF course a boy who was prompt
in ais sleep was prompt when awake.
He lived respected, had the conf
dence of bis neighbors, and was
placed in many Offices of trust and
profit.


IfalI the grown folk felt as this boy
did, there would be a good many
tracks of bare feet found some ofthese
bright mornings; and what piles of
tools and books would be found lying
at their owners doors!-PhrenoIogi
cal Journal.
Year: 1874

The cid tradition Of the Upas tree,
blasting all Vegetation within reach
Of its influence, has had wide range
and found ready belief. But it is
now known that the harm comes not
from tree but from gas Of some sort
in its neighborhood. A California
paper says:


About one-half mile over q noun
tain from Bartlett Springs there is
what is called Gas Spring. This is
probable the greatest curiosity Of the
mountains. The water is ice-cold,
but bubling and foaming as if it boil
ed; and the greatest wonder is the
inevitable destruction Of life prOduc-
ed by inhsling the gas. No living
thing is to be found within circuit
of . hundred yards near this spring.
The very birds. if they happen to ay
over it drop dead.


We experimental with lizard on
its destructive properties By holding
it few feet above the water. 1t
stretched dead in two minutes. It
will kill a human being in twenty
minutes. We stood over it FIVE
minutes, when dull, heavy aching
sensation erept over US. and our eyes
began to swim. The gas which es-
capes here is the rankest kind Of car
bonic acid, hence its sure destruction
of life, also, quenching Of fame In
simultaneously.
Year: 1874

1t is a great mistake fora husband
to keep bis wife in ignorance Of bis
business affairs. In ordinary fami'
lies it is she who regulates the eut-go
and she ought to know what is the
income. Not long since | heard a
young wife, just in the early expert
ence Of house keeping say:


How shall / know whether We
are living beyond our meansY l can {
get an idea Of hat we have to spend;
and while try to be very careful, Of
course | might spend less On our Ia
bic il we were getting in debt.


Surely she ought not to be biam-
ed If the debt and credit account are
not prosperous. A loving and snx'
ious wife suffers untold imaginary
fears if she sees a tired or perplexed
expression on her husbands face, un-
less she is assured Of toe truest CONN
depce between them, and knows that
no great concern of his is kept secret
from her.
Year: 1874

In the first lesson the boy or girl
should not be allowed to take hold OF
the bride at all A good example in
this respect is presented by the prac-
tice of professional circus riders.
Their children, boys and girls, COM
mence their series of equestrian edu-
cation at about ten years ofage, under
the instructions of a strict, sometimes
very severe teacher. have had
the advantage at the Agricultural
Hall of watching the whole course Of
instructions of the children of profes-
sional circus riders, from day to day,
from the first elementary lesson to
the finishing touches of lehaute ecole.
The circus children are of course
taught to ride entirely by balance
The lessons are given in the circus
ring, on pony trained to canter at
an even pace. Sometimes soft pad
is used, sometimes the animal is bare
backed but in either case, until the
pupils are far advanced, they are not
allowed any bride The poney is
fastened down with flap-reins, the
inner rein-that is, the rein near to
the inside OF the cirele-beiDg buck
led shorter than the outer rein, so
that it can only canter slowly, while
the teacher restrains the pony with
a lunging-rein, and urges it when
necessary with driving whip, The
child, whether boy or girl, CON-
mences by riding astride, is taught
to sit in an upright, easy position,
| just like the Greek equestrian statues
in the Greek Court at the Crystal
Palace, with the shoulders well
thrown back, each hand resting on
each knee, or with the arms crossed
over the breast. Thus no trick of
holding on by the bride or leaning
forward over the pommel can be &C.
nnired
Year: 1874

Beauty and style are not the sures.
passports 70 respectfully. Some Of
the noblest specimens Of womanboo5
that the world has ever seen have
presented the plainest and most nm
progressing appearance. A womaDfs
worth is to be estimated by the real
goodness Of her heart, the greatness
Of her soul, and the purity and sweet
ness Of her character and a woman
with kindly disposition, and well
balanced temper, is beth lovely and
attractive, be her face ever so plain
and her figure ever so homely; she
makes the best of wives. and the
truest of mothers. She has a higher
purpose in living than the beautiful
pet vain and supercilious woman.
who has no higher ambition than to
faunt her finery on the street, OF to
crafty her inordinate vanity by ex.
tracing aatery and praise from sOcis.
ty whose compliments are as hollow
as they are insincere.
Year: 1874




The excitement that existed in
Philadelphia concerning the case of
the kidnapped child extended to all
classes and every mother was so
wrought up upon the subject that
she could hardly be induced to per-
NIT her children to go out of her
sight Gillespie lives on Tenth street,
in the same house with Mrs Magin-
mis-. He moved few days ago, and
Mrs. Maginnis had not had an oppOr-
tunity to become acquainted with
him. He is very near sighted, and
when be came home the other after
noon be thought be saw his boy play
ing in the gutter, and he approached
the youngster with the intent to pick
him up and carry him into the house.
The fact, however, was that 1t was
Mrs. Magginnis' boy, and that esti-
mabIs woman was watching him
with one eye, while the other one
rested upon the second story window,
which she was washing.


When she saw Gillespie seize the
child she knew at once that the kid
napper had come, and as Gillespie
walked off with the booty under his
arm, q red haired woman in a condi-
ton of frantic excitement, might
have been eeen shooting down starts
and through the front door with the
velocity of light. Gillespie discoy-
cred his mistake just as he caught
sight of the infuriated Maginnis ap-
preaching him, and apprehending
trouble, dropped the child and ran.
By the time they had gone around
the block twice, Gillespie had not
only Mrs. Maginnis and six poliee-
men at bis heels, 1900 other people
and half hundred dogs At last he
darted no an alley and endeavored
to Jump over his back fence, but just
as he reached the top the avenging
Maginnis arrived and caught him by
the legs, and before be could explain
himself the policemen had hammered
him considerably, and four Of the
dogs had bitten chops out Of his legs.
He is in bed yet, and will probably
not be around again until the bumps
subside and the dog bites heal.
When be does get out again he will
wear glasses.-MdG Adler.
Year: 1874

No one can settle down in a Euro,
pean city or village Cor month. and
observe the laboring classes, without
noticing a great difference between
their aspirations, ambitions, and hab-
its, and those of corresponding class
es in this country. He may see great
poverty in continental town, and
men and women Iaboring severely
and fairing meanly, and hopeless
gap existing between classes be may
see the poor virtually the slaves Of
Year: 1874

Among the deaths recently re-
ported in Paris is that of Madame
Cavignac, the widow Of the ccle-
brated General Of that name. She
was only forty-three years old, be-
ing many years the junior Of her
distinguished husband. The story
of their marriage is a real romance
The lady was only eighteen when she
first met her future husband. Ex-
tremely pretty, she fell desperately
in love with General Cavaignac, who
was quite old enough to be her faith
er, and who remained perfectly un-
conscious Of the passion of which he
was the object, till one day at the
dinner party, where his future wife
was present, the conversation turned
on the marriage of an elderly gen.
tleman with very young girl, where
upon General Cavaignac, expatiated
warmly on the folly and abomination
Of such marriages, and ended by de-
claring that no power on earth could
ever prevail upon him to commit such
\ foolish act. The young lady,
whose agitation had been increasing
throughout the whole discussion, on
hearing his announcement was seized
with 50 violent a nervous attack
that, after vain!y striving for some
moments to conceal her emotion, she
was forced to quit the table. NJ.
Cavaignac, though anything but a
conceited man, was tempted to inquire
into the cause of her sulferings; like
Othelio, "on that hint he spake,' but,
unlike that dusky general, he proved
a kind and faithful husband to his
adoring young wife.
Year: 1874

CALuMNY.-The rules Of polite
ness are never ct variance with the
principles of morality. Whatever
is really impolite is really immoral.
We have no right TO offend people
with our manners CT conversation.
We have no right to deal with or be
influenced BY gossip about the people
We meet. Their private affairs are
pcue of cur business. Ii we believe
man to be unfit company for us we
must not invite him; but if we meet
him where he has been invited by
others we must treat him with civ
ilitv. If VIC know a man or woman
to be grave offender, we cannct use
that knowledge to injure him or her,
unless it is absolutel Y needtul for the
protection of others. The greatest
and best men in the world have been
assaied with calumny. The purest
and noblest do not always escape it.
We cannot investigate--as a rule we
must disrcgard-all ISLANDERS. Where
great offenders must be excommunl-
Gated. In all other cases we must
give every one the benefit of a
doubt; apply charitable constructions,
hope for the best and consider every
one innocent until he is proven gull
~
Year: 1874

0rR Social LlFE.--Some people
never make acquaintances, but shut
themselves up from their kind as does
an oyster in his she'll; while others
and by far the happier-are never
at loss for cheerful companionship.
It is not hard to make acquaintance
if we set about it in the right way;
but it is useless to hang lack and
wait FOR every door to be opened; we
must Push them ourselves. Said
a lady to us the othr day: Il never
make acquaintances in travelling; /
wish I could" Said another: II get
acquainted with everybody. l talk
to the women who sweep the ferry
boats, and to any decent person who
happens TO sit by ME in the cars. I
find every human heart is human,
and that [ cAn learn something I
didut know before from every new
acquaintance, or communicate infor-
nation that may be valuable to her
We are, most of us, too apt to stand
on our dignity and wait for advance
from others; to indulge captious dis
position, and oriticise where we
should commend. The cultivation of
genial, charitable, benevolent spirit
will not injure any Of us, and will
certainly benefit the community in
which we live, and add constantly to
the lumber of our friends.
Year: 1874

Henry Ward Beechar draws
the following beautiful parar.
lei:


"Oyer the beauty Of the
plum and apricot there grows
bloom and beauty more ex-
quisite than the fruit itself; a
soft, delicate flush that over
spreads its blushing cheek
Now if you strike your hand
over that and it is once gone,
it Is gone forever, for 1t never
grows but once. The flower
that hangs in the morning i'm.
pearled with dew-arrayed
with jewels-once shake it, 50
that the heads roll off, and you
may sprinkle water over it as
you please yet it can never be
made again what it was when
the dews fell lightly upon it
from Heaven. On a frosty
morning you may see the panes
OF glaeS covered with land.
scapes, lakes, trees, mountains,
all blended into q beautiful
fantastic picture. Now lay
your hands upon the glass, and
by the scratch OF your finger
or the warmth of the palm, all
the delicate tracery will be OBJ
liberated. So is there II beau.
ty and purity of character
which when touched and de.
filed can never be restored; a
fringe more delicate than frost
work, and which when torn and
broken will never be re-em-
broidered. A man who has
spotted and soiled his garments
in his youth, though he may
seek to restore their color can
never wholly do it, even were
be to wash them with hit tears.
When a young man leaves bis
fathers house with the bless.
ing of his mothers tears still
wet on his forehead, ii he once
loses that he can never make
whole again. Such is The con.
sequence of crime. Its effect
can not be eradicated; 1t car
only he forgiven" 4, 10
Year: 1874

pends entirely upon the period
Of life when the task is under
taken. The typical English
woman who has stood by the
beer diet until she is more than
forty years old, is too tat to
walk anywhere easily out Of
doors, or gracefully within.


During our late civil war
this matter of drinking for
health's sake was thoroughly
tried. A stock of experience
and observation was acquired
that ought to have lasted for a
century. Again and again,
thousands and thousands of
times, was it proved that the
man who drank nothing was
the better man. He endured
more, he fought better, he
came out Of the war healthier
than the man who drank. Moth
ing is more easily demonstra
BILE than that the liquor used
by the two armies, among Off
GERS and men alike, wac an un.
nitigated curse to them. 1t
disturbed the brains and viii.
ated the councils Of the off
GERS, and debilitated and de-
moralized the men. Yet all
the time the delusion among
officers and men was, that there
were both comfort and help in
whisky.


The delusions of drink are
numberless, but there is one of
them which stands in the way
of reform so decidedly that it
calls ior decided treatment
We allude to the notion that
it is nice thing to drink nice
liquors or wines at ones home,
to offer them to ones friends,
and to make them minister to
good fellowship at every social
gathering, while it is a very
different thing to drink bad
liquor, in bad places, and in
large quantities. A man full OF
good wine feels that he has a
right to look with contempt
upon the Irishman who Is full
of bad whisky. 1t is not a long
time since the election of a
professor in a British universi.
ty was opposed solely on the
ground that he neither drank
wine nor offered It to his
friends; and when, by a small
majority, his election was ef.
fected, the other professors de
cided not to recognize HIM so
cially. There are thus two
men whom these sticklefs for
wine despise-viz.: the man
who gets drunk on bad liquor,
and the man who drinks no
liquor at all. Indeed, they re-.
gard the latter with a hatred
or contempt which they do not
feel for the poor drunkard.-
The absolute animosity with
which many men in society
regard one who is conscien-
tiously opposed to wine-drink
ing, could only spring from a
delusion in regard TO the real
nature of their own habits
The sensitiveness of these peo
pie on this subject, however,
shows that they suspect the
delusion of which they are the
victims. They claim to be on
the side OF temperance. They
deprecate drunkenness, and
really don't see what is to be
done about it. They wish that
men would be more rational in
their enjoyment of the good
things OF the world, etc, ETC.;
but their eyes seem blinded to
the fact that they stand in the
way of all reform. The horri.
bic drunkenness Of the larger
cities Of Great Britain, with
which no hell tina: America
holds can compare for a mo
mont. can navar ha raiormad
Year: 1874

send you herewith plan for the
destruction, or rather one to proven.
the borers from destroying my trees


As far as the trial | have given it goes,
| am satisfied with the result. IL is
worth the trial by those who have
peach orchards and can afford the risk
on few trees, if they are doubtful in
regard to the efficacy OF the plan. |
would not hesitate one instant in ap-
plying it to every one of them. The
remedy is as follows: Scoop out the
ground, funnel shape, some three OF
four inches from the base of the tree
70 the depth of first surface roots, aud
clear out all gummy ooze with knife,
and kill borers in sight, and then fill
the space you have dug out with coarse,
dry salt-rock salt, if possible, or that
from refuse fish brine is good and
cheap. The weather will dissolve this
gradually, and what is made liquid
there will enter worm holes in sufici-
ent quantity to "salt out" the borers
without injury to the tree, which takes
its nourishment at the extremity of its
roOtlets and tar away from the trunk
where the salt is.-RuraL World.
Year: 1874

The American Grocer has opened a
vigorous warfare upon the system of
swindling known as short weights, and
which consists of putting less into a
package than the marks on the outside
represent.


The uninitiated public have but lit
tie idea of the extent to which this is
DONE Everything that is put in pack
ages is cut short-sOshort, in the case of
oysters, that one packer in New
York confesses that it is quite com
mon to put up six, five and even four
ounces for pound. All canned goods
are put up in the same way, and the
public get but about half the quantity
of goods they bargain and pay TOR, and
take the balance in water.


This affects the people-the consul
mers; but there is another class
of goods where it affects the re-
tailers, who have much more power
of correcting it. This is in the
case of packages that have to be broken
and retailed from, as in raisins, pork,
&c. The Grocer has found a number
Oh Ttldll6IS WHO nave QuiI sclliuS id1 Ci
raisins altogether, BECAUSE they found
the packages so short of what they are
represented to contain thatit is impos-
sible to avoid loss in handling them.


1t is useless to attempt any list of
the articles that are thus packed short;
it would be about co-equal with list
of packed articles. The evil is one OF
fearful magnitude, and has continued
to grow until endurance can endure no
longer.


The Grocer recommends as RENE
dy that retailers and consumers weigh
or measure everything they buy, and
that national law be enacted cOmpell-
ing every packer to put his own name
upon all packages packed by him, forbid
short weights under heavy penalties,
and make every packer responsible for
his goods. This would undoubtedly
remedy the difficulty, provided such a
law were enforced. but there is reason
to fear that it might fall at that point
Year: 1874


If we knew the woe and heartache


Waiting for us down the road,
II our lips could taste the worm wood.
If our backs could feed the load,
Would we waste the day In wishing
For q time that nefer can be2
Would we wait in such patience
For our ships to come from sea?
If we knew the baby fingers
Pressed against the window pane.
Would be cold and stiff Tomorrow
, Never trouble US again,
Would the bright eyes of our darling
Catch the frown upon our brow?
Would the print OF rosy fingers


Vex US then as they do now?
All, these little ice cold fingers


How they point our memories back
To the has v words and actions
Strewn along our backward tracki
How those little hands remind rs,
As in snowy grace they lie,
MOI tr scatter thorns-but roses
For our reaping by and by.
Strange we never priced the music
Till the sweet-voiced bird has flown:
Strange that we should slight the violets
Till the lovely flowers are gone;
Strange that summer skies and sunshine
Never seemed oDe-half SO fair,
So when winters snowy pinions
Shake the white down in the air.
Lips from which the seal of silence
None but God can oiiaway,
Never bio somed in such beauty
As ad0rns the mouth to-day;
And sweet words that freight our men,


ory,


With their beautiful perfume,
Come TO US in sweeter accents
Through the portals of the tomb.
Let us gather in the sun beams
Lying all around our path;
Let us keep the wheat and roses;
Cast out the thorns and chaff;
Let us fiud our sweetest comfort
In the blessings of to-day,
With a patient hand removing
All the briars from our way.