smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1878

For some time past the people have been
informed through the press that the Mill
tary Committee of the House of Repre-
sentatives has been at work during the re-
cess Of Congress perfecting bill for the re-
organization of the army, which would
greatly increase its efficiency and at the
SAME time save large amount Of money
annually to the country. In other


words, an equally good article would
be obtained at half the present
cost. We have not seen any of the com.
mittee, in fact we do not know single
member in this matter, we have not heard
personally from any one of them, but we
have seen numerous telegraphic dispatches
from Washington to some Of the principal
papers in the country, in which the
writers profess to obtain their in
formation directly from the commit
tee itself These statements are so
at variance with the popular belief as to
the efficiency Of our apmy and its man
agemcnt that we are almost inclined to be-
lieve that the Military Committee will not
father them. The number of regiments, it
appears, is to be greatly reduced; but the
rank and file will remain at about twenty
five thousand. This, 1t is true, does not in
dicate any great saving; but farther on we
find the great saving is to be in the staff


In fact, we observe the whole attack appears
to be aimed at the stan corps. II is stated
that our stalf is large enough for an army
OF a million of men-in fact, large enough
to run both the Russian and French armies.
As these two armies number over two mill
ions of men, and as our present stafi contains
at this date about four hundred and ninety
seven officers, nearly one-half belonging to
the medical and pay departments, we must
be permitted to have some doubts on this
subject notwithstanding the high
military authorities from whom these facts
are obtained. We know that the American
people are smart, hut we do not believe
that the handful of American staff officers
could feed, clothe, and transport these
armies, scattered as they are, over two vast
empires. In 1861, at the commencement OF
our civil war, our army OF some 10000 men
had in round numbers 3i3 staff officers
now the army Of 25,OOO has 497, not includ-
ing few officers of the Judge-Advoeate
Generals Department Inspector General
Department, and one signal officer, who dc
not properly belong to what /. considered
the staff of the ARMY E., the officers who
furnish the supplies and transportations tc
the army, whether in peace or war Of this
number of officers $50 belong to the Medi'
cal Department, 50 to the Pay Department


and lOs to the Engineers Department. Hu,
manity demands that every military post in
the country should have medical officer
Year: 1878

We take no stock in the sensational ru-
mors that have been sent broadcast over the
country, during the recess Of Congress, in
effect that move would be made on its re-
assembling to investigate the subject of a
bargain or arrangement by which President
HAYES received his election. We regard
the proposition Us absurd of ITSELF for the
reason that an investigation would amount
to nothing in the way of effecting
the validity of the election,
and hence would bear no fruits to reward
the efforts. The plan adopted to effect the
election was new and novel, and Of doubt
full propriety; but it was nevertheless
adopted and fully served its intended pur-
pose. If Democrats wero deluded into the
arrangement by any promises made by Mr..
HAYES or his friends, and that fact can be
clearly established, the proof is in fave; of
his having kept his faith In the premises,
and we do not see that any advantage can
be taken of it, or that it can be made SER
viccablo in oyerturning the election and
deposiug the President from power.


However, this matter has served the
purpose of afTording the qui6 nuncs large
field for gossip and speculation, all of which
will vanish into thin air when something of
more importance is interposed to engage
their attention. We presume nothing will


he heard of it after the return of Congress
ITO duty.
Year: 1878

THE Buffalo Morning Express comes to us
under new auspices, it having passed under
the control and management OF JANIS n.
MATTHEWS, esq, for many years managi ng
editor of the Buffalo Commercial AdrcrtiSor
The ErpTss appears in u new dress, and is
exceedingly neat, and somewhat unique in
its mechanical character. In politics the
Eaprcss will continue to be Republican in
principle, and will prove n valiant, able,
and just defender of the right. The con-
duct of the paper will be independent and
outspoksn, and will WELD power in the
political field rs an advocate OF Republican
principles We feel a pAternal interest in
the Express, for ii is our own child in news
papcrdOm, and We feel assurance that it
has now fallen into good hands, and will
take prosperous and able position among
the journals of the country.
Year: 1878

DID it ever occur to the Post that every
enterprise stands on its own pedestal of
merit, and that energy and hate with their
shrill trumpets constantly blowing their
own fame never can accomplish the pulling
down OF the fortunes off neighbor? The
Post may be rich in subscribers, and if so
we heartily congratulate it on its wonderful
success but one thing is very certain, it
does not exhibit wealth of modesty in its
bearing. However, we are inclined to let it
work out the problem Of its existence in its
own way.
Year: 1878

1T WILL he gratifying news to the country
that the Executive and his Cabinet have
ranged themselves on the side of the people
ut lust, and decided to afford them all pos
sible facilities under present laws and
favor other more liberal legislation for in
vesting their savings in Government four
per cent. bonds. This policy has long been
advocated by this journal. 1t will relieve
the people from the necessity of longer in
trusting their earnings to the savings
banks, and ths policy will gradually refund
the national debt in four percents in the
hands of our own working classes.
Year: 1878

How long will it probably take the Post
to learn that "it is not that which goeth in at
the mouth, but that which cometh out of the
mouth that deflcth the man" Its reproduc-
tion of the billinggate of which the New Or.
leans Democrat pours out upon the devoted
head of Senator KELLOGG evinccs a taste fit
for tlsh.house.
Year: 1878

THE Post finds it necessary to print an in
ventory of the contents of its preceding issue,
in order that its subscribers may know posi-
lively what they might have read the day be-
fore. We would suggest that its index should


appear in the current number, as such course
would not impugn the intelligence of its
readers
Year: 1878

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full OF trouble and full of care;


To stay at home is best.
Weary and homesck and distressed,
They wander East, they wander West,
Ana are baflled and beaten and blown about
By the winds OF the wilderness OF doubt;


To stay at home is best
Then stay at home, my heart and rest
The bird is safest in Its nest
Ger all that fiutter their wings and fly
hawk is lowering in the sky;


To stay at home is best.


February atlantic.
Year: 1878

the form of a live serpent, with
blazing eyes and rapid movements.
1t looked like a dangerous speci-
men, and one which no man in his
senses would like to approach.
Catching up this monster, the fel-
low coiled it around his neck and
fondled it, while it writhed and ex-
hibited the most venomous quail
ties. Throwing it high up in the
air, it fell to the ground the same
cane which we had handled at our
ease. 1t was this trick which Aaron
performed in Egypt when he turned
his rod into a serpent, and the
magician did the same thing in i'm
itation.
Year: 1878

rate care Of two race horses that
start not together, but one after the
other. 1t is repeater, and chimes
the hour, the quarter, the half and
the three-quarter hour, and also the
minutes that have passed of an un-
completed quarter, SO that a blind
man can tell the time of the day by
it to an exact minute. 1t is indeed
such an extraordinary watch that
1t is hardly surprising a wealthy
man was tempted to part with
$4,000, even in these hard times, to
become its posseSsOr.
Year: 1878

AhNOAAahAuR NoaeH Va SeS hOAJs
Troy Times.l


In Delhi, India, we saw the cele-
brated basket trick, which is some
times poorly initiated by proles7
sional magicians in this country.
A native produced basket and a
blanket, and, after permitting us
to see that they contained nothing,
inverted the basket on the
ground and covered it with
blanket. We paid no at
tention to his incantations, but
kept our eyes fixed on the basket
and the space around it, resolved
that no boy should be smuggled
into It or out of it without seeing
him. What made the feat still
more wonderful was the fact that
the performer stood in a clear space
and we could look down upon him
as he proceeded. He went through
the customary act of thrusting a
sword through the iuterstices of
the basket, when the cries of a boy
were heard, as if in mortal pain, is
suing from the basket. Turning il


over, there was a boy within, ap.


parently unhurt and seemingly en-


Toying the fun. Restoring the bas


ket, with the blanket over it, to its


former position, with the boy un


derneath it, the juggler weni
through with some incantahons,
and then running his sword undel
the blanket, tossed it away from
him, Turning over the basket NJ
boy was to be seen. So far as any
thing could be observed there was


no possible place in which the llttl'
fellow could be concealed.


Another feat quite us astonish


ing we saw performed in the streets
j of Gonstantinople. An itineran
Q magician showed us a cane whicl
. had the appearance of being WOO
< and very knotty. This he tossed i
2 the air as high as he could, an
} when it struck the ground it too.
Year: 1878

Crimes often seem to be epidemic. An
atrocious murder is almost always follow
ed by a half dozen similar crimes. A
man commits suicide, and dozen hasten
to follow his example. During the last
three or four weeks there has been an
epidemic OF another sort of crime-a kind
whi,h ought not SO much as to be named.
The daily papers have been full Of the
filthy and disgusting details Of these
crimes. a friend sends us two extracts,
each over a column in length, from two
influential papers published in the capi-
tai ol this State, with the request that
The Examiner will enter its protest
against this great evil We have said our
say on this subject before, but it is one
upon which constant iteration is necessa-
ry.


The well worn defence of the press is.
0! course, that the public is responsible
for he thing II people did not buy and
eagerly read the sheets whose columns
reek with tlthiness, their editors and
publishers would seek a different kind Of
news The publisher and editor of
newspaper, we are told, are simply cater
ers it is their business to find out what
the appetite of their readers demands,
and then to furnish it. And it may as
well be admitted that there Is an element
OF truth IN the defence. Publishing q
newspaper is commercial enterprise,
and those columns on columns of nasti-
ness would not be published if it were
not found to pay. No doubt the public
is guilty in Il measure, and that its desire
for scandal leads newspapers to publish
scandal.


But this is not the whole truth. The
daily press is not content with merely
satisfy the demands OF the public
appetite. The competition between rival
journals is SO keen that each strives to
outsirip the other in foulness. The APP
petite OF the public is whetted not mere
ly gratitied, and the newspaper helps to
increase the very evil 1t pretends to de
plore. Besides, the mission OF the press
is not merely to cater to the wishes OF
the public; it must do that to a certain
extent, or lack patronage, but it ought
to do more. 1t ought 10 aim at forming
Year: 1878

There is a touch of pathos about doing
even the simplest thing for the last
time. 1t is not alone kissing the dead
that gives US this strange pain. You feel
1t when you have looked your last time
upon some scene that you have loved
when you stand in some quiet city street
where you know that you will never
stand again The actor playing his part
for the last time, the singer whose voice
is cracked hopelessly, and who after this
once will never stand before the sea of
upturned faces disputing the plaudits
with fresher voices and fairer forms the
minister who has preached his last ser
mon-these all know the hidden bitter
ness of the two words "never aAain."


How they come to US on our birth days
as we grow older! Never again young,
always nearer and nearer to the very last
the end which is universal, 1.-The last
thing which shall follow all things, and
turn them, let US hope, from pains to
joy We put away our boyish toys with
an odd heartache. We are too old to
walk any longer on our stills, too tall to
play marbles on the sidewalk. Yet there
was a pang when we thought we had
played with our merry thoughts for the
last time, and life serious, grown-up work
was waiting for us. Now we do not want
the lost toys back. Life has other and
larger playthings for US. May it not be
that these too shall seem in the light of
some iar-of days as the boyish games
seem to our manhood, and we shall learn
that death is but the opening of the gate
into the new land of promise?
Year: 1878

We have had quite an excitement in
town on account of billiard saloon be,
ing opened There is no prohibitory law
in Ohio; but Oberlin has kept out all IL
quor saloors. Once, when one is opened
tie people rose en- maSSe had big meet
ing at the church, appointed a committee,
crusaded, and did everything to break up
the business, until the man left. Well,
this saloon was opened and the billiard
tables brought in week before last There
was nothing sold in it except cigars and
pop" Sunday notice was given in all
the churches that there would be a mass
meeting of all the Christian citizens in
t.ie Second church, Monday morning, at
9 o'clock. | went, of course, with the
rest. 1t was a rousing meeting. The
college professors, all the m inisters, doc
tors, and lawyers-everyb was there
The saloon was discussed, and its proba-
BILE influence on the youth of the town
and the college; and the probability, if
it gained toothold, of liquor saloon
being opened A committee Of seven Of
the best people was appointed to wait on
the proprietor and labor with him; and
another committee to examine the laws
in relation to the matter. A paper was
passed for all the ladies to sign who would
serve in regular appoin tments to sit, two
at a time, by the door of the saloon and
watch those who went in, thereby keep
ing out all young men who had any self
respect left The committee waited on
the man again and again. but nothing
could be done. During the week many
of the best citizens saw him and talked
to him in the kindest and most earnest
manner; but all to 70 purpose The
next Sunday evening all the churches in
town held a union service in the First
church, seating 400 people.


sermon was delivered on the sub
ject by Rev Prof Ryder, followed by
other addresses. The whole town was
aroused, and for week the saloon has
been guarded by noble Christian people
Large audiences collect there every even
ing, with songs prayers, and speeches.
| am busy during the week; but last Sat
urday night | went. | wish | was at
home, to tell you all about it. 1t was my
first regular Crusade" We ladies and
gentlemen were surrounded by large
crowd. The roughs came as close as
they could and puffed cigar smoke right
into our faces As it did not make me
sick, ! did not mind it. AS we began
singing, they shut all their doors and
windows and closed the blinds. As soon
as we ceased, they began to mock US and
to scream and howl. Sticks came flying
from some place in the darkness. One
hit me on the shoulder; but sang right
on. II was contest between Christ and
all his people and Satan and his people
There is one good thing about this place
The rich and distinguished people care
more for right than for appearances and
personal comfort The man may hold
out some time but we will hold out too,
and financially he cannot stand it long
We are to have another mass meeting
to day, to devise further ways and
means - Letter from Lady in Oberlin.
Year: 1878

cities where the strongholds of Satan are
found, and il follows that the great need
OF men Of power and untrammeled devo-
ton is there. We have observed too that
our layman, be he needed never so much
in his society, will not let a good chance
slip to trade off his farm though it may
take him into a society which has abso-
lutely no need of him.


The whole truth is, the law of supply
and demand holds good here as else
where. If man has anything people
want, there will be some one to pay for
and appropriate it. / does not follow,
either, that the brain power worth five
thousand dollars to a New York or Bos-
ton pulpit would be worth as many cents
to another society when compared with
some very ordinary man. And we con-
clude, therefore, that minister has as
much right to reap the commercial value
OF his brains as the layman has, and inf
nitely more right to get five thousand
dollars for his preaching if he can
than any church has to get it for
nothing; and further, we believe it a re-
llgious duty to do so. The complaint
that men preach for money under such
circumstances is senseless penuriousness
and all the more ridiculous when it is
remembered that of all the professions of
the world the ministry is the only one
which does not put a price on its own
work. Farmers, merchants tradesmen,
mechanics, doctors, and lawyers. all price
their work and their services, and people
must pay for them accordingly;, but the
church dictates what the minister shall
have. No no, brother; the people are
paying infinitely more dog tax in the
United States than for the preaching of
the gospel, while the religious tobacco of
the land would endow all the preachers
handsomely, support all their widows,
educate all their orphans, and leave many
thousands in the treasury. We have the
first complaint of preachers large salaries
yet to hear from man who had any true
liberality toward the church; but we have
heard 1T a few times from men who
puff and spit away during the year
five or ten times as much during the year
as they were ever asked to contribute for
the ministry
Year: 1878

the public taste, at elevating the public
morals, at leading public opinion In
stead of being lower in moral tone than
the average of its readers, as a newspaper
too often is, it ought to be little higher.
The press has a great mission, and it is
no defence for its failure to perform it to
say hat it is no worse than the public
1t ought to be better


Meanwhile, to our friend and to all
others who sympathize with him, q word
of advice. You can help to correct this
monstrous evil. Don't patronize the
papers that do this thing. Don't bry
them, don't read them. don't admit them
to your fa4lilies. There are papers that
are measurably free from this taint, and
lew have thus far escaped it wholly. We
cannot remember the time when any
thing Of the sost has appeared in the
columns Of the Evening Post, of this city.
AID seldom are the columns Of the Tri
brne soiled with it. There are similar
papers in other cities. If the journals
which offend most in this regard were
deprived of the patronage of those who
now Intellectually protest, they would
find that the publication of indecent news
would not pay them. The argumentum ad
P9cEetlm is often the most effectual of all
IrX it. friands
Year: 1878

Comparing the present market prices
OF all the articles of necessity and luxury
that 90 to make up the cost of living,
with the prices that obtained when wages
were higher, it will be seen that wages
have fairly held their own And if men
will make the same parison with re-
gard to mems earnings and purchases


twenty, fifty, hundred years ago, they
will see that-thanks to cheaper and
more rapid means of production and car
riage through mechanical inventions-in
every element of living, in housing, cloth
ing, food, luXuries and the rest, the work
man of today has infinite advantages
over his father, grandfather or great
grandfather. And he enjoys multitude
of privileges and benefits, in stable gov
ernment, personal liberty and protection,
gratuitous education for his children, free
medical attendance, pure water, lighted
streets, and other untaxed advantages
which his ancestors never dreamed of or
hoped for His wages are higher, and
his money will buy more, dollar for dol
lar, than his fathers would.


We do not say that the real as well as
relative cost Of living is not advanced by
every step forward in civilization For
ten day. work an East India Islander,
according to Wallace, can manufacture or
earn sago cakes enough to last him n
year; aud less labor will keep him sup
piled with the limited clothing he needs.
A man needs more clothing here and
greater variety of food yet when it comes
to the absolute necessities of men-the
minimum cost of living-a very small
portion Of mans yearly wages will keep
him alive and comfortable. Thoreau
built him shanty in Waldon Woods and
lived a year in it al total cost of twenty
seven dollars, and never approached
either squalor or starvation. The exper-
iment is Of value only in that it proves
it possible for man to get as much bare
living here for q given amount of labor
as a Polynesian can. If one wants more
and very properly most men do want
more-one must work for it, and our
civilization happily offers at once more
opportunity for labor and infinitely more
to be had for the proceeds of such labor,
than have been attainable in any other
land, under any other social or industrial
conditions. And we doubt whether
there was ever a time when industry and
cconomy--using the term in its true
sense, Of judicious management-would
or could have met with q surer or more
generous reward than in our own land
to day Scientific American.
Year: 1878

is so much rnconsumed matter, and of
course the Jackson coal having none OF
it, has so much an additional heating
power over the other coal; and | believe
the Jackson coal is not less than twenty
per cent. superior in its heating quality
to any Ohio coal ever in common use in
Springfield This coal also has much less
dust and smut than the other Goals, and
is so much the more cleanly for CRATE
purposes In the CRATE it burns freely
with a beautiful white blaze, and such are
its burning qualities that in moderate
weather, when little fire is needed, three
or four Jumps of coal will keep fire, and
continue burning until consumed. The
only care necessary is, to see that the
quantity OF coal put in the CRATE bears
proper proportion to the temperature
For the cooking stove, this coal is equally
good. Heating up speedily, less coal Will
do your baking, and you must learn to
put in a less amount if you would not
burn the bread. Here is the economy,
that a less weight of coal will do the
same service, the whole being consumed,
leaving no residuum of stone or slate.


Again, there is so much less dust and
SCOT from this coal that | believe, by its
general use, the roofs Of our houses will
be more cleanly and and our cistern wa
ter will be improved, and the walls Of our
houses less smoked and blackened.


Finally, I say, that by getting access TO
the coal mines of Jackson county, a
source of wealth and comfort is opened
up to this community far beyond what
any of US anticipated | write in the in
terest OF no coal mine company or coal
dealer, nor any one else, but in the inter
est Of our people, suggesting that they
try for themselves, and not take the word
of parties who may have an interest
somewhere. D.