smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1873


Only handkerchief, tied to the wall;
Man at the end of It, dsngling-that's all.
RIotionless silent, against the damp stones,
Hangs dark bundle of dead flesh and bones.
Through the barred window the light struggles
Touching his features and painting them grimly.
Backward the garish rays hastily fit
What has the sunlight in common with it,
Spiders are weaving their network about him;
Bluebottle flies buzz around him and hout him.
Spiders have caught the wrong fish in their net
Bluebottles never his dead flesh will fret.
Rats in the corner are winking their eyes;
What are they thinking that that is prize?
Cold-bodied vernin crawl over the floor;
Often they tasted him-now they want more.
Open the door! Give MS air Give us light
Sickens the soul at this horrible sight.
Cut the tense handkerchief there at the wall!
Useless to hold him just let him fall.
Many buffet he had in this world,
Many blow at that body was hurled.
He with his own hand has struck the last stroke,
Slipping his neck from the worlds heavy yoke.
Carefulness, tenderness now in vain;
Bullets and blows cannot hurt him again.
What was his namea Says the jailer, "a myth;
Here 1t the jail he was registered Smith,"
Relativesf 'sNone that could see"
Friends? :" They don't have 'em-such fellows


as he"


Yesterday Nobody-that was his name;
Now he is Nothing-and who is to blame?
Once was his childish cup brimming with Joy
What was that loathsome thing ever boy?
Gayly he started in lifes merry race
Look at the rat that has crawled over his faceI
Weak were his sinews-his nerves were unstrung.
Old did you think him7 The fellows quite young.
Never glimpse did he gain of hfe's crown;
Soon in the struggle fell helplessly down.
Helplessly, hopelessly. Sorrow and care
Drove his weak nature to despair.
Hunger and starvation then brought him to-what
Call it a crime; but it surely was not.
Openly, gladly, his guilt he confessed;
That was the key to his haven of rest.
Think of his dread of the world, and his fear;
Crazed for home, and then seeking it here!
Suicide7 That is the name of the act,
Yet he was long ago buried, in fact.
Buried his heart was, and buried his hope;
Little indeed was the work of the rope.
Bury his body, now, darkly at night;
Bury it anywhere out of our sight.
Year: 1873

"G1v1NG In" 1T is better to yield a
little than to quarrel great deal. The
habit of standing up, as people call it,
for their Qittle) rights is one of the most
disagreeable and undignifed in the
world Life is too short for perpetual
pickering which attends such disposi-
ton and, unless a very momentous
affair indeed, where other peoples claims
and interests are involved, we question
if it is not wiser, happier and more pru-
dent to yield somewhat to our precious
rights, than to squabble to maintain
them. True wisdom is first pure, then
peaceable and gentle.
Year: 1873

CURES FOR A FE1oN.-As soon as dis
covered take some spirits of turpentine
in a cup, dip the finger in it, and then
hold the hand near hot fire till dry
then dip it in again and repeat for fifteen
minutes, or until the pain ceases. The
next day, with sharp knife, pare off
the thick skin and you will find some
thing like honey-comb filed withs,clear
water open the cells and the felon is
gone. If the felon is too far advanced
for turpentine, oil of origanum, treated
in the same way, will cure. If too fan
advanced for either to cure, the felon
will still be benefited, as it will be less
painful. Never draw it.
Year: 1873

THE Pail Mall Gazette of late date
reports that sixty-seven bodies of the
victims of the Smyrna cafe and concert
disaster have been found, and that many
more still remained in the deep mud into
which they sank when the building fell
into the sea. The spectacle of the poor
drowned acrobats lying dead in their
stage fnery at st. Antoine's Hospital
was very pathetic indeed.
Year: 1873

money in aud kept II there for year, and with
drew only at the end of that time because the
same grisly spectre of publicity which Mortified
the others doomed up before hml lie certities
that he bought in December 1861, twenty shares
at par; and yet in that very month stock stood at
l66. and rose the next month TO 200, 225, 260.-
Was there nothing in his Ignorance OF the business
aud his knowledge OF its utterly abnormal and
astounding value to awaken suspicion or counsel
care.
Year: 1873




Br FRANCES KENBLE BUTLER.



What shall do with all the days aud hours
That must be counted ere I see thy fnce
How shall charm the Interval that lowers
Between this time and that sweet time Of grace :
Shall In slumher steep each weary scnsoi
Weary with longing, shall Zee away
Into past days, aud with some fond pretensc
Choat myself TO forget the presentday
Shall love for thee lay on my soul the lin
or casting from me Code great gift Of time
Shall I, these mists Of memory locked within,
Leave aud forget LIES purposes sublime
Oh how or by what means may contriye
Tobrng the hour that brings thee back nors near
How may teach my dropping hope 10 live
Until that blessed time and thou hrt neari
I'll tell thee for thy sake will lay hold
OF all good aims, aud consecrate 10 thee
In WORT deeds each moment thatts told
While thou, seloyed one art far from mo.
For thee will arouse my thoughts Z try
All heavenwafd hights, all high and holy strains
For thy dear sake will walk patiently
Through these long hours, nor call their minute


pains.
! will this dreary blank Of absence make
A noble task-tlme and therein strive
To follow e3collonce, and 10 o'ertske
More good than have wou since yet live.
So may this doomed time build up in mo
thousand grsces, which shall thus be thlnei
So may my love and longing halowed be
And thy dear thought an influence divine.
Year: 1873

NEW YORK, Nov. 12.-When the first
juror was called in the new panel in the
Tweed case to-day, the counsel for defense
objected to the irregular manner in which
it was drawn. After a long argument the
court decided the panel regular, and the
work of getting the twelfth juror proceed
ed.


The afternoon was spent in taking teSti-
mony upon the fitness of the eighth juror
named Luby, the charge against him being
that he had been in consultation with
Tweed's friends. Judge Davis finally de-
cided that the conduct of the juror was sur
rounded by suspicion, and that the public
would not accept any verdict rendered with
him on the jury, and Luby was accordingly
discharged. Only ten jurors remaining
and the panel exhausted without obtaining
any more jurymen, the court adjourned.
Year: 1873

A MINORITY PREsIDENT.-The New
York World arrives at the following con-
clusion. after an analysis of the vote
of last November In order to show
that Grant is minority President, it
cites the facts that over half a million
Democrats declined to vote; five million
one hundred thousand of the legal
voters of the United States did not en-
dorse President Grant at the polls, being
majority, active and passive. against
him of one million five hundred
thousand; President Grant carried but
one State (Vermont) by majority of
the whole number of legal votes; the
late election went by default, Grant re-
ceiving majority of the electoral vote
because there was no candidate in the
field upon whom the opposition could
unite.
Year: 1873

A special reporter of the London
Daily Telegraph has furnished that pa
per with an account of some manifesto
tiOns by certain mediums which they
are pleased to term esprit FORMS "
The reporter of the Telegraph relates
the following incident 1--WE arranged
curtains which separated the small
back drawing room from the large front
one, joined hands, sang until we were
hOarse as crows, and kept our eyes
steadily fixed on an aperture left be-
tween the curtains for the faces to show
themselves. The room was in blank
darkness, and, feeling rather tired of
the incarnation, 1 looked over my
shoulder into the gloom, and, 10! a
shadowy form stood self-illuminated
not far from me. At last had seen it,
a good orthodox ghost in white, and
visible in the darkness. It was the
form of the redOubtable John King
himself, who was, I believe, a bold
buccaneer in the flesh. but who looked
more like an Arab sheikh in the spirit
He sailed about the room, talked to us,
and finally disappeared. Eventually he
reappeared behind the curtains, and for
brief space the portiere was drawn
aside, and the spirit form was seen
lightning up the recumbent figure of
the medium, who was stretched on a
sofa, apparently in deep trance. 1t
must be borne in mind that We were
forming a Gordon round the passage
from one room to the other during the
whole of this time"


He continues: "I vas invited few
weeks ago to a very select seance, in
deed, where the same medium was to
of1iciate. This family, who spared no
expense in their Investigations, had ac-
tually got a large, handsome cabinet
standing in their dinning-room as a
recognized piece of furniture. It wss
only used, however, on this occasion,
for the imprisonment of the medium.
The evolutions of John King, who soon
appeared, all took place outside the
cabinet door. He was only materiali-
zed' to the middle and, to our utter
amazement, came up to the table, and
apparently through the table, into the
very middle of the circle, where he dis
ported himself in various ways, keeping
mp an animated conversation the whole
time, and frequently throwing himself
into the attitude of a person swimming
on his back. He also went upwards as
Year: 1873

The LIABILITY OF EDITORS TO THEIR
FRIENDS. is the liability of an
editor to his personal friends Strictly
speaking, he should have none; should
attack his own father if he disapproves
his speeches, or lash his wife's last book
If iie thinks it rubbish. This is, no
doubt, abstractly true, as it is also alb
stractly true, to steal an epigram from
an Australian who once wrote PAM
phlet on the subject, that an editor
should live in q cellar, but in practice
men will not comply with either condi.
ton, and such demands would drive all
the men with hearts and tempers out of
the profession. It is, nevertheless, ex-
cessively difficult to find rule that shall
be morally sufficient, for silence. though
it will meet the case of book, unless of
the first importance, will'not meet that
of grave political action. We suspect
that in this case the practice of parlia-
ment is still the best guide, and thatthe
Journalist is bound, as the statesman
would be bound, to do his duty and take
the consequences. He might be a little
more gentle in his language, little
more apoIogetic in his tone, bnt the at
tack must not be deprived of its eff
cheney for any personal consideration
whatsoever.-LondOn Spectator.
Year: 1873


Why are We impatient of delay,


Longing forever for the time to be?
For thus We live tomorrow in lay,


Yea, sod tomorrow we may never see.
We are too hasty; are not reconciled


To let kind nature do her work alone;
We plant our seed, aud like . foolish child


We dig 1t up to see il il has grown.
The good that il to be we covef now,


We cannot wait for the appointed hour;
Before the fruit is ripe, We shake the bouRh,


And seize the bud that folds away the flower.
When midnight darkness reigns We do not see
That the sad night is mother Of the morn;
We cannot think our own sharp agony


May be the birth-psng Of JOY unborn.
Into the dust We see our idols cast,


And cry that death has triumphed, hfe Is void
We do not trust the promise, that the last


O all our enemies shall be destroyed!
With rest almost in sight the spirit faints,


And heart and flesh grow weary at the last;
Our feet would walk the city Of the saints,


Even before the silent gate If passed.
Teach us to wait until thou shalt appear


To know that sll thy ways and times are just /;
Thou seest that We do believe, and fear,
Lord, make us sleo TO believe and trust!
Year: 1873

The United States census can scarce
ly be considered light reading, vet we
have found perusal of 1T quite enter
tanning. even in this hot weather. We
have been consulting its solid pages to
see what it had to say about the church
growth. of the last few decades The
census does not undertake to give the
humber of communicates in the several
denominations it only gives the num-
Der of local church organizations, the
number of church edifices, the number
of sittings, and cost of buildings. We
suppose that the church accommoda-
ton furnished by each denomination
bears a weary nearly constant ratio to
the number of its COMMITMENTS so
that the figures Of the census afford us
some measure of the numerical strength
of the various denominations. The
pnpulation of the United States and
territories increased from 1850 to 1870
about sixty-six per cent. The native
population increased during the same
period about fifty-seven per cent. The
number of sittings in all the churches
of the land increased during these two
decades about fifty-twO per cent, and
the number of sittings in the Protes-
tant churches only about forty-five per
cent. It will thus be seen that the in
crease of church accommodations does
not keep pace with the growing popula-
tion. In 1850 there was room in all the
churches for sixty ont of every hundred
of the people; in 1870 there was room
for only fifty-six in hundred. In 1850
the Protestant churches would contaiu
sixty-four per cent. of the native pOpu-
lation in 1870 they would nold only
sixty per cent. of it. The comparison
of the Protestant church accommoda-
ton with the native population is, how
ever, not very instructive for a large
number of our native population are
now Catholics, and about two-fifths, if
we estimate rightly, of our foreignbOrn
population are PrOtestants. The ratio
of the whole population to the church
accommodation of all the sects is the
only sure test of progress; and it shows
that in our facilities of worship We are
not quite keeping up with the growth of
the country. The case is not as bad,
however, as at first sight might be imag-
ined. Fifty-six out Of every one hun
dred of our citizens can now find seats
in our churches. But it has been shown
by careful investigation that m more
Year: 1873

and sugar fore Dem to pour ont and
sweeten to their taste.


This they did, and drank in q jolly
mood. each one having nine hundred
and fifty dollars in his pocket. But in
a few minutes the tables were turned.
One gave up the ghost where he sat at
the table in his chair, and the other got
up. staggered off few feet and tumbled
over into eternity. The good old lady
recovered her money, and on examining
the persons of the black burglarious
robbers they turned out to be the two
witnesses to the act of sale, both white
men, blackened for the occasion-both
her neighbors, and one was her cousin.
Ne,U Orleans Herald.
Year: 1873

The necessary basis of cnltuie e isnot
money, but content, content with out
ward things, inst as they are, content,
if it must be, with what you 80 plain
lively call subordinate social posi-
ton" It seems exceedingly trite to say
that perception of great thoughts and
great harmonies ennobles a simple no
less than a snowy life, but one would
think you did not believe it. If the
souls Of Mozart and Mendelssohn are
still alive and happy in blessing, and if
they minister to poor mortals sometimes
through the strains that sbundantly live,
as what music-lover does not love to
dream ?.do you suppose they are par
ticular about the locality of the street,
or the furniture of the room in which
they perform their angelic service? o
let us learn the grace to stand still, and
receive what is given Us, instead OF
crowding and struggling after the truly
boorish fashion of the day! 1t il this
selfish and unlovely strife to get up. up,
no, which leaves ms no time for thought,
no room for beauty, and no breath for
sonR.-Hdrriet Preston.
Year: 1873

In 1894 William III, who was then on the throne, was going to war with France, and he greatly needed money. Had it not been that the credit of the English government was so poor, the money might have been raised without appeal to what was then considered by many to be a desperate and revolution ary scheme. There was fierce opposi- tion to the bank on the part of the lords, who considered it & strengthening of the moneyed power at the expense oi the landed interests. But the money had to be raised; the need was so ur- gent that the aristocracy were compell- ed to sacrifice their class scruples and interests.

 The inventor of the scheme was William Peterson, Scotchman by birth the West Indies his friends said that he had been missionary, his enemies that he had been buccaneer. He was an ingenious ond ardent person gifted with greatpowers of persuasion. The scheme, which he had first proposed in 1891, he succeeded, three years later, in getting the great Montague to take up.

 The plan was simply that the govern ment should borrow twelve hundred thousand pounds at eight per cent, which was then very moderate rate, and which would have been very favorable to the borrowers. In order to induce capi- talists to advance, the subscribers were to be incorporated into company to be called "The Governor and Company of the Bank of England" There was much fierce opposition, but the dream of the obscure adventurer soon became solid fact.

 This was the origin of that great in. stitution which is now the greatest moneyed power in the world, and which was for many years the bulkwark of the English government. During those wars in which France was endeavoring to force the Pretender back upon the throne, it was the bank which supplied the government with money. Had France succeeded, of course the new king would have refused to pay inter. est on money which was spent in resist ing him. The bank was therefore great. ly interested in upholding the existing government. It was, through some generations, whig institution.
Year: 1873

During the recent building of a bridge in Holland, one of the traverses, 465 feet long, was misplaced on the supports. It was an inch out of line, and the problem was how to move it. Experiment. proved that the iron ex- banded Q small fraction of an inch for every degree of heat it received. It was noticed that the night and day temper ature differed about twenty-five de- grees, and it was thought this might be made to move the bridge. In the morn- ing the end out of place was bolted down securely and the other end left free. In the heat of the sun the iron expanded, and towards night the free end was bolted down, and the opposite end was loosened. The contraction then dragged the whole thing the other way. For two days this experiment. was repeated, till the desired place was reached. We find no record that the heat of tue sun has ever been employed in this way before, but the contraction and expansion of iron bars by fire heat has already been used to move heavy weights over short distances. Broken walls and strained roofs and arches have been brought into place by simply heat ing iron rods till they expanded, then taking up the slack by screws and nuts, and allowing contraction by cold to pull the wall or roof into place.
Year: 1873

Reports of brutal murder have reached here from Polk township, one of the back towns of Monroe county, Pa. The locality being so isolated, minute particulars have not been received. It seems that boy, aged ten years, named James Muffley, was visiting at his grandmother's, Mrs. Hawk, in Polk township. The old lady, going out in- to field at some distance from the house to dig potatoes, left the lad in charge of the house. When she re- turned toward evening she found the house locked up, and looking through the window saw that the place had evil dently been ransacked. She procured assistance, the door was forced open, and brief search discovered the body of the little boy lying in the cellar in a pool of blood, with the throat cut from ear to ear. A further search through the house revealed to Mrs. Hawk that a sum of money, amounting to S40 or $50 was gone from bureau drawer, and also that @ quantity of clothing was missing. The contents of the bureau drawers were thrown about the floor, and the whole house had been ransacked. It is SUD- posed that the crime was committed by two tramps who had been about some days. Search has been made for them without success.
Year: 1873

A. T. Stewart, of New York, recently sued Chris topher Martin to recover $154 66 of the defendant for Q bill of dry goods sold to his wife on the 23d of last May. Mrs. Mary A.. Martin testi- fled that she was the wife of the defen- dant, and resided at No. 159 Jersey avenue, Jersey City; that on the 18th of last April her husband abandoned her, giving her at the time $10, and that he gave her no more money until the Court decreed her SIS week during tho pendency of the suit for divorce i; that she received this amount from the 26th of May up to the 26th of August, since which time she has received noth- ing from him that her husband owned a house in Jersey City worth $9, ,0OO, one in Harlem worth $8,000, Central Park lot, and thirteen lots in Brooklyn, be- sides stand in Washington Market. The articles which she purchased from the plaintiff, she said, were necessary for herself and her child.

 The defence was that the articles were not necessary, as the term "neces- sary" is understood iu law, for the use of the defendants wife, it being proved that they lived separately, and that in a case where goods were sold to the wife without the knowledge or consent of the husband, he is not liable to pay for them.

 The Court instructed the jury that a husband is liable for necessary articles furnished to his family if he does not supply them himself with the necessar- ies of life, and in this case it was purely a question of fact for the jury to deter mine whether the goods were necessary for the wife and child at that time; and if they found that they were, the plain tiff wa, entitled to recover such amount as the jury saw fit to give him, with in- terest from the time the goods were sold.

 The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for the full amount claimed.
Year: 1873

Among the noteworthy incidents of the General Conference of the Evangeli- cal Alliance is the reception of friend ly letter from the Old Catholic Congress at Constance, detailing the objects of Old Catholicism, and thanking the Americans for their sympathy" It is signed by Bishop Reinkens, Won Schulte, and other leaders. The letter is a reply to proposition from the Rev. Dr. Schaff, of the United States, on behalf of the Evangelical Alliance, inviting the Old Catholics to send three delegates to the Conference meeting in New York. The invitation was declined on account of the shortness of the time intervening, and the difficulty of finding delegates sufficiently acquainted with the English language for the perform ance of such service,
Year: 1873

The Supreme Court of New Ysrk has just decided that man can pick all the fruit from tree growing on his own land, though it hang over on a neigh bor's land. The question is an old and oft-disputed one, and it may he added of incalculable practical value. But as 8 landowners right of property extends down to the centre of the earth, and up- ward to the zenith, may not the man whose possessions are overhung by @ few dozen of his neighbours apples lawfully bring an account against him for sky rent, which will enable him to appropriate the fruit to his own use?