smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876

A TIED-BACK CREATURE IN VENICE.
She wore round hat put upon the
back of her head, like the aureole of a
saint, to which her sweet face gave her
an appearance Of kindred. Her bodice
was close fitting indeed, drawn tight
about the waist like the bark of a Young
slender tree. Her scant skirt pulled
tight in front so as to show her form.
and "tied-back," terminated in a shot
fan>like tail, like the tail of the mer-
maid. She was mounted on shoes sew.
en- sizes too small for her feet-indeed.
only her toes appeared to have accom-
modations in them, and the high heels
coming under the instep tilted her for
ward and completed the grace of her
carriage. When she walked she put
down one little foot after the other as if
each foot was as elastic as an iron rod.
1t was great pleasure to see her peg
gng along, thing of perfect beauty,
like one the drawings of chimera by
an old master. 1t is not by any means
every woman who looks well in this sin
gular costume, or who can put it on
with just that last touch of art that con-
ceals art. 1t needs certain p:quancy
in the wearer, and may say archness
and prettiness that all women-Heaven
forgive me-do not have. Everybody
knows that there is in the woman painted
by Ghirlandajo, notwithstanding a ri
diculous rigidity of outline and scanti-
ness of apparel, certain sweetness Of
face and purity of form which enchant
even tLis faithless generation. Let no
one suppose that am ridiculing this
costume or the woman who wears it
worthily. On the contrary, am trying
to discover. upon principles of art, in
what its quaint beauty consists. sup
pose that it is pre-Raphaelite. I only
know that j: attracts one in the street a.
the quaint figures of Giotto do in the
frescoes. and that one is tempted to fol-
low it and see the wearer of it in nc otion
"a new sort of angel, drawn in angular
lines, astray in the world. Few, very
few, attain to the high art of tying
themselves back in an artistic and at
the same time striking manner. Il





would be well if it were taught in our
schools of design.-Charles D. Warner
Year: 1876

A GREAT many farmers actually lose
from one to ten cents per pound on
their wool simply because the fleeces
are not put up in neat and marketable
manner. Dealers cannot be deceived.
The proper way to do up wool is to lay
the fleece on the table, turn in the head
and tail, and turn in the tanks and roll
it up, commencing at the tail end, tying
it with two strings to keep the roll in
place, and then with one string across
the ends. This is sufficient. A fleece
thus tied is Light, easily handled and ex-
amined, and can be felt all through. It
does not require . thorough examina-
ton to determine whether there is any
thing in it that is not wool.
Year: 1876

PooKEr-MoNEY FOR CHILDREN.-There
is no error more fatal than imagining
that pinching q youth in his pocket
money will teach him frugality. On
the contrary, it will occasion his rum
ming into extravagance with so much
more eagerness when he comes to have
money in his own hands; as pinching
him in his diet will make his appetite
only the more rapacious. II you put
into the hands Of your child more money
than is suitable to his age and discre-
ton, you must expect to find that he
has thrown it away upon what is not
only idle but hurtful. A certain small,
regular income any child above six years
Of age ought to have. When he comes
to be capable Of keeping an account, he
ought to be obliged TO do it; he will
thereby acquire habit of frugality, at
tention and prudence that will be of
service to him through his whole life.
On the contrary, to give q young per-
son money to spend at will, without ac-
quiring any account Of it, is leading, or
rather forcing, him upon extravagance
and folly.
Year: 1876

1t has been absolutely asserted that
in many cases tea is not tea, but some
thing furnished up to look and taste
like tea the prices charged for 1t being
little better than picking the pocket.
To make sure, as you imagine, against
imposture, you go to the length of buy
ing q chest. There it stands, a very
honest looking chest, studded over with
Chinese characters, and you are almost
certain that it has not been tampered
with. Quite true. The chest is Just as
it came from China. But there are
wheels within wheels. This honest look
ing chest is sham. 1t was packed with
rubbish in Chiua /; for the Chinese are
as dexterous in cheating and the art of
turning the penny as anybody on the
face Of the earth. To their adulterated
compounds they candidly give the name
of Lie tea. We learn on good authority
that this article, which is in all respects
lie, is an ingenious composition of the
dust of tea leaves, foreign leaves, sand,
quartz, and magnetic oxide of iron, all
skillfully united by a solution of starch
into little masses of various forms and
sizes, in imitation of different kinds of
tea. Here we are called on to use the
new verb Ito face" To make rubbish
look like tea of some particular kind, it
is faced, or disguised in some kind of
appropriate coating. Those teas, for
example, which are made to initiate Ca
per at Shulan are coated with plumbago
or black-lead and if gunpowder, with
Prussian blue, tumeric. china-clay. and
other white mineral powders So clever
are the Chinese in manufacturing this
lie tea, that it requires skill and prac-
tice to detect it. These iniquitous adul-
teratiOns are chiefly, if not altogether,
found in low-priced and much broken
tea, or in the lower qualities of black
and green gunpowder. What was
thought to be adulteration by iron fl
ings, is found to be the magnetic oxide
of iron derived from the soil, which
finds its way into the tea from the dust
on the leaves. The amusing reason the
Chinese give for dyeing their tea is !:
That as foreigners seem to prefer hav-
ing q mixture of Prussian blue and
gypsum with their tea, to make it look
uniform and pretty-these being the ar
ticles used for that purpose-and as
these ingredients are very cheap, they
have no objection TO supply them, espe-
cially as such teas always fetch higher
price !" They, however, take good care
never to dye or face any tea they drink
Observation-Disclosures Journal.
Year: 1876

CRANP AND CHoLKRA.-The indica-
tions Of cramp ill poultry are stiffness
and rigidity Of the limbs or neck and
Of cholera, profuse diarrhea with dis
charge from the eyes. When subject to
these diseases fowls may be destroyed
at once, as it is more trouble to attempt
a cure than the fowls are worth the
causes, which are cold, damp or un-
wholesome food, should be removed as
the best preventive.
Year: 1876

SUNFLowERs are rich in honey and are
consequently good neighbors for bees.
Oil, hardly to be distinguished from dive
oil by any one but an expert, may be
extracted from the seeds, in the proper
ton Of one gallon to one bushel. One
acre win produce something like fifty
bushels Of seeds. The seeds, too, make
food, not unpalatable by human beings,
and very good for animals and poultry.
The Portueese and the American In
dians make kind of bread from them,
and use them as q substitute for coffee.
The stalks may be used as bean poles
while growing. Dry, they make passa-
BILE roofs for sheds and the like, and
burn readily on the hearth. The ashes
are rich in potash. Altogether it is a
very useful plant. and to crown all, it
has q reputation which the scientists
have never disproved, for absorbing
malaria, and acting as an efectual screen
against that scourge Of low lying dis
tricts, fever.
Year: 1876

Nor BAD RULE.-The subject Of
giving was up in a church In the vicin-
ity Of Boston, lately, and ELECTED new
rule, which we presume, has not been
adopted to any wide extent. A gentle
man, we'll known for his benefactions,
was asked what part of his income he
was in the habit Of contributing to the
Lords treasury. ~ do not know" he
said; "I do very much as the woman
did who was famous for the excellence
of her rhubarb pies. She put in as
much sugar 90 her conscience would al
low, and then shut her eyes and put in
q handful more. 1 give all my con-
science approves, and then add hand
full without counting it."
Year: 1876

FORMING CHARAcTER.-Amos Law
renee, the senior member of the long
known house Of A. & A. Lawrence &
Co., was one of the most successful
business men of Boston. He won sue
cess by high character, industry and
business talent. His biography is worth
reading by every young man, as a help
to the formation of his own character.
When a clerk in a store it was the habit
of all the other clerks to mix little
liquor for drink, and to enjoy a good
cigar. Young Amos, though often
tempted to initiate the example, resisted
resolutely.


he says: During the rest of my
apprenticeship = five years. never
drank spoonful, though 1 mixed gal
Ions daily for my old master and his
customers. decided never to be a
slave to tobacco in any form, though
loved the odor of it then, and even now
have in my drawer q superior Havana
cigar, given me not long since by q
friend, but only to smell of. 1 have
never in my life smoked cigar, never
chewed but one quid, and that before 1
was fifteen. never took an ounce of
snuff, though the scented rappee of forty
years ago had great charms for me. Now
I say, to this simple fact of starting Just
right, am / indebted, with Gods bless
ing on my 4abors, for my present posi-
ton"
Year: 1876

How PARIS Is SUPPLIED WITH WA
m.-Paris has Just completed the gi-
gAntic works destined 10 supply its in
habitants with fresh water for drinking.
Some idea Of their magnitude (they
were begun in 1861 may be formed
from the fact that the distance to be
trsversed by the water before its arrival
in Paris is about 150 miles. Along the
whole Of the route it was necessary to 30
conduct the water that il should not
anywhere be exposed to the air, and the
gigantic acqueduct is thus very differ
ent in its appearance, or rather in its
concealment, from the vast stone chan
nels which brought the supply into an
cient Rome. During the years Of the
war the works were interrupted, and it
was not until . short time ago that the
immense pipes began to pour their con-
tenta into the new reservoir on the
nights Of Montsouris. They are now
working regularly, and discharge each
day . volume Of some 5000 cubic
yards Of water, or about ten millions Of
gallons. The huge reservoir is under
ground, covered BY q shield of turfed
earth, and nothing is to be seen exter-
nally Of the mysterious depths beneath,
which already furnish the fashionable
quarters, and will soon supply all parts
Of the capital with unimpeachably pure
water.
Year: 1876

A Lock Of Hair.
Nothing but lock of hair,
Yet treasure it with care;
Though often wonder why
1t SO speaks of days gone by,
For it seems little thing
From the past such things to bring.
Silent, yet it has voice
That can make the heart rejoice,
Or may weigh it down with care,
Sorrow deep. or black despair.
Long ago, with careless grace,
1t adorned a fair young face
That again shall never wear
This bright lock of soft brown hair,
Though the locks it lay beside
Now are far beyond the tide,
Yet thing of life it seems,
Not alone i'll fancys dreams.
As it 'ronnd my finger twines,
AS the light upon it shines
And it is joy to press,
10 my lips. in mute caress,
This memento, strangely fair,
Nothing but lock Of hair.
Year: 1876

| Boys OF ten or twelve, seen on the
street, appear heartless and without
sympathy, and yet you wrong them.
Among the houses on Clinton street is
one which has missed many a pane of
glass in its windows. Rags and paper
are used to keep the cold air out, or it
may blow in and whistle through the
desolate rooms without let or him
drance. A girl Of ten, whose life had
bsen one long period OF hunger, pain
and unhappiness, was taken sick one
day in March, and people passing by
could see her lying on miserable bed
near one of the windows. 1t was curl
Gus that any of the boys coming or GO
ing should have stopped to think or
care about 1t, but they did. One of
them, feeling sad at sight OF the suffer-
er's pale face, handed an orange
through broken pane, saw it clasped
by slender white fingers, and then
ran away He had told other boys,
and by and by there wasn't day
that some lad didn't halt at tine
window to pass in fruit or flowers.
None of them knew the family or
even spoke to the girl, and so they
gave her the name of Gertie and call
ed her their orphan. Boys went with
out marbles and the other things that
belong to boyhoOd sports that their
pennies might buy an orange, lemon,
or some simple flower for Gertie, and
their anxiety for her to get well was
| fully as great as the Doctors or moth
er's. Whatever present they had
they handed it through the broken
pane, waited for her to reach up, ard
never fingered longer than to hear a
soft "thank you" from her lips.
Days went by, but the boys did not
grow weary, nor uid they miss day.
{ was romance and charity so well
combined that it gladdened their
hearts and made them fond of each
other. Yesterday morning a lad's
hand, holding a sweet flower aud
a big orange, went to the window.
No white fingers touched his as
they grasped the offering. He waited
moment, and then with beating
heart looked through into the room.
The bed had been taken away. On a
table rested pine coffin, and on the
coffin was a bunch of faded flowers
which had been handed through the
window the day before. Death had
been there, and the boys no longer
had q mission.


You might net have seen the boy
hiding i'm the doorway anu wiping
tears from his eyes. He was seen,
however, and when asked the cause
of his sorrow, he sobbed out the whole
sad romance in four words, "Our
Gertie is dead. ."-DetrOH Free Press.
Year: 1876

A young man named Elias Wilson,
who resided with his widowed
mother on Campbell, between Fourth
and Fifth streets, brought himself to
the most exerueiating death that can
possibly be imagined. The young
man has been demehted for some
time past, but even under the infiu-
ence of his mania, which would be
worse at times, and then again al
most disappear, he wss usually tract
able, and apparently harmless to him
self and Others. On Tuesday, how
ever, he threatened the life of his
mother, but as night came on his
passions became pacified, and he re-
tired to bed as usual. About mid
night, his mother, who slept in an
adjoining room heard him moving
about in his room, and although the
circumstance caused her considerable
uneasiness Of mind, she thought it
best to remain quiet herself, hoping
that her son would soon retire to his
bed. Bot this was farthest from his
thoughts. He was then making the
awful preparations for his self-de.
struetiOn. The sequel showed that
he rose from bad, dressed himself,
and then saturated his clothing, hair
and entire person with kerosene oil.
Having done this, he lighted a match
and ignited his saturated clothing.
Instantly he became pillar Of flame.
His mother hearing him strike the
match arose also, fearing that in
crazy mood he might set fire to the
house. Her terror was indescribable
when she beaeld her sou rush out of
his room enveloped in column Of
seething fire, and she fed from him,
believing that he intended to carry
out his threat against her life Of the
previous day, and end the existence
OF both OF them together. It took but
a moment, however, for the tortnres
OF the flames to exhaust him, as in
his wild delirium he ran around the
house, and fell to the ground
blsekened, charred mass OF lifeless,
brOiling fesh.- Wilmington (N. c.
Journal
Year: 1876

1 found Governor Hayes busy sign
ing papers in his private Office, and
when / subsequently left him il was
with the conviction that for 3 Presi-
Dental candidate he was the most
uncOnoerned one / ever met. His
head aud face are good the former
bigb and expansive, the latter well
filled OOt by au ample light brown
beard. Judging by his eyes he has
studied long and hard. What part:c-
ularly struck me was his voice, its
fiber and resonance. / had heard
that in the war be was one of the
most dashing officers OF the Western
army, and that no bugle blast could
thrill the soldiers souls like the
ringing tones of Hayes voice
sweeping along the lines.
There was that quality ia it as he
spoke, that indicated the man Of grit
and resolution, and yet 1t was the
voice OF a modest, unpretentious man,
who. by unanimous report, wOuld de-
cline to cross the street, il it took him
out OF his way, to be President 81 the
United States There was none of
that nervous evasiveness about him
In the presence OF an interviewer
peculiar to most political candidates.
He talked of the situation as u6-
reservedly as If he had no more con-
eern in it than his questiOner, and
this was very refreshing. His delivery
was easy, clear and fluent.
Year: 1876

Is tns mary mary mOn OF May.


We got the pronunciation when we
were at school; merry was called
merry in any other connection. but
no one ever heard it called anything
but mary in a school girls compost
itOn on May.


This Is the month when YOU set the
house plants out doors. How clsdIy
the poor things drink in the warm
sunshine and inhsIe the mellow air,
and look up gratefully into the eyes Of
the woman, who. with her husbands
last summers straw has on her head,
and garden rake in her band, bends
tendeTly over the budding plants.
And how the plants snuggle up TO
each other that night when smiling
May puts on her ulster and draws
the cape over her head and throws in
line Of lot whisky, while a fDrtv-
horse power frost, with a breath like
an iceberg, goes waltzing around over
the fair face Of nature, smelling the
beautiful house plants. And the
next morning


Did you ever see q woman in a cali
co wrapper, aud her hair up in crimp-
ing pins, sit down on a wbeelbRrrow
aud cry over a large assortment of
house plants that h%d been out all
night without their listers? I? Her Un-
Gle GsOrge's funeral wasn't eireum-
stance.


You take down the sitting room
stove this month, also, and then
spend all your May evenings in tue
kitchen, and doctor cold in your
head until the middle Of June, about
which time it is driven AWAY. by the
bay fever, which stays with You until
November brings q hacking cough to
take its place,


This is the month when The ebii-
dreD go out into the woods after wild
flowers, and break the best set of
white handled knives by taking three
of them out to dig flowers with and
losing them in the woods. Thew also
leave in the woods the little tin buck
ct, one of the best goblets, an Old-fash-
iOned pie plate that had been in the
family thirty-eight years, the oldest
girl leaves her botany, the youngest
10y eats lot of wild mushrooms.
and has to be turned wrOngside out to
save his life, the Oldest boy climbs a
shellbsrk hickory tree aud ia eense-
quence has to stay in the woods until
after dark aud then clme ambIing
home sideways. They all catch terrific
colds and bring home somewhere less
than two bushels of wild flowers.
which die the moment they are put
in the ground and never revive
again.


Ia this month tree peddler comes
around and talks you To death, and
sells you a plum tree that bears frGit so
bitter that it poisons every eureuliO
that tastes il, and some cherry trees
that send up $50 sprouts tn the square
inch and will lift the house off its
foundations in two years growtb, and
come apple trees that neither sprout,
blossom nor bear fruit, and some
blackberry bushes that spread all over
8 ten-aere lot the first season, and
some gOOseberry bushes that have
thOrns on foot long and never have
anything else, and some peaches that
break out in bloom from the ground
to the top Of the tOpmost branch in
five days after they sre put in the
ground, and die as dead as a flint the
sixth day, and q climbing rose tree
that turns out to be Wild ivy and
poisOns every soul about the house be-
fore the summer il over. Wherefore
we call this the.merry month OF May.
Year: 1876

Why put windows in their houses
to let in the sunlight? Why don't
they have gasligbt d? The sun has
been shining so many years. Why
don't they say, sit is so old we don't
want it ?" Why don't they say, LET
us have a new light? Let US shut out
the light of heaven by boarding up
our windows ?' There would be just
as much reason in that as in their
talk about the good old Bible. We
have not outgrown It II is what we
need. Take all the books ia the world,
and that Bible VIII outweigh the
whole of them. Let these men who
talk about the Bible travel into some
country where they have no Bible.
and they WOnli not stay in such a
place. Take a town of 900 or 10000
inhabitants and no Bible and no min
listers, and see If these infidels in New
York who are talking about the BIZ
BILE will live there. They would get
out of it as Lot got out of SOdOm. II
is better 70 take the old way OF Knox,
Bunyan, Wesley and Newton than TO
be led Off into darkness and fog.
Christ is the way. am told thst
away in the frontier, men cut Off the
bark of the trees TO show the way TO
the cabin, and they call it blazing the
way. SO the Son Of God has been in
the wilderness and bIazsd the way
and gone up on high, and now He
Gays, "FOllOW me.n
Year: 1876

Tho patient Returning Board has at last
completed its laborr, and the result in part
will be found in another column. 1t will
be seen that We have carried the State for
Hayes by handsome majority, elected the
entire State ticket, and four out Of the six
Congressmen. We are informed unof6cially
that both branches of the General Assembly
will have good Republican majorities.


This is gratifying, though not unexpect-
ed result. If everything had been perfectly
fair throughout the State during the cam
paign and on the day of election, this result
would have been secured by at least $4,000
majority.


The election of Governor Hayes to the
Presidency is thus assured, as the vote Of
Florida has been Writ ually known for more
than week. He has been chosen too, by
as fair vote as any ever relied upon, and
it is morally certain that he will be inaugu
rated. Any attempt to defeat this will be
followed by the tramp of armed men-men,
too, who have marched before, and are no
mere holiday soldiers. But We do not an
ticipate any serious trouble. We believe
everybody but about one hundred thOus-
and Office seekers will cheerfully acquiesce
in the result, and that some Democrats in
both sections will be secretly glad that the
popular and entirely safe statesman of the
West has been elected.
Year: 1876

been praoticed upon them in many places
within the last eleven years, whole com
munities would have sought refuge In San
Domingo.


do not suppose the whole race would
have gone, nor is it desirable that they
should 20. Their labor 10 desirable, indls.
pensable almost, where they now are; but
the possession OF this territory would have
left the negro master of the situation by
enabling him to demand his rights at home
on pain of finding them elsewhere.


/ do not present these views now as q
recommendation for renewal of the sub
ject Of annexation. but l do refer to it to
vindicate my previous action in regard to it.


With the present Congress my official
time terminates; it Is not probable that
public affairs will ever again receive atten-
ton from me further than as q citizen of the
republic, always taking deep interest In
the honor, integrity and prosperity of the
whole land. U. 5. GRANT.


Executive Mansion, December 5, 1876.
Year: 1876

The tax collector of the First District has
advertised for sale to-day, for State taxes.
the Mechanics Institution property. 1t is
we'll known that this property has reverted
to the State, and that the charter of the
former owner has expired by limitation,
and is now in liquidation. To sell this
property of the State, worth probably
500 600, for taxes due the State, is a very
sigular proceeding, and either indicates an
intention to throw the valuable estate into
the hands of ring, or else the grossest
neglect of duty and ignorance of facts on
the part Of the law officers of the State.
The proposition to sell for taxes is certainly
q waiver by the State of it's rights of full
ownership. Perhaps Governor Kellogg
might find time to give this matter his at
tention long enough to stop the sale and
prevent the sacrifice of about the only
valuable thing the Democratic rings have
left to the State of Louisiana.