smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1875

Paris Letter.


A FreHch journalist met with q
strange pet the other day when paying q
visit. While he was talking he noticed
something moving on the carpet which
was neither dog nor cat. On looking
again he saw that it was fine lobster,
dark gray, spotted with red, and thought
it must have escaped from the kitchen.
The lady smiled, and said, II must tell
you the history Of my pet. Some months
ago | bought lobster, and as it was not
wanted for dinner my cook left it in the
water in the kitchen. was going to a
ball that night, and being ready sat in
An easy chair and fell asleep. Suddenly
! sprang up from the pain Of sharp bite
in my foot and | saw the lobster biting
it. started up and ran to the kitchen.
No one was there, and a cloth in front
Of the fire had caught fire. 1t was soon
extinguished, but have kept the lobster
ever since out Of gratitude " 1t has its
basin Of cold water, and seems to recog-
nize its mistress, and is so fond Of music
that it is always drawn towards the piano
when ever she plays.
Year: 1875

Pacific Mail was the most active stock in
wast yesterday speculation bringing the probable
action OF Senate with respect to the subsidy The
price opened at "a, and on account Of favorable
dispatches TO the Company there strong advance
TO se but upon the receipt OF tho dispatch announcing
the OF the Senate the the House
repeating the subsidy thore . decline to 81, Q
break Of "A Dor osnt from the highest point Of the day
Year: 1875

In the State of Indiana, ]. r. Buell.
and Susan d. Gilbert entered into a
marriage contract, and being desirous
of attending to their own affairs, drew
up and executed the following docu-
ment:


''I here, in the presence of these wit
nesses, take by the hand Susan D. Gill
bert as my lawful, welded wife, and
promise to fulfill all the duties of kind
and faithful husband, in prosperity or
adversely, in sickness or In health, so
long as the union of love and life shall
last.


"WHEREAS, The courts of law have
decided that marriage is civil contract,
and governed by the same rules as
other contracts; therefore we hereby
agree that this contract exist and be in
force during our physical life, provided
our mutual natures ever blend as now,
but to terminate without prejudice by
the wish of either party if love shall
ever cease to be mutual, which event
we trust and believe will never occur"
Some of the people, thinking this not
q valid marriage, caused the parties to
be indicted for living as man and wife
without being legally married. The
case was brought before the Marion
criminal court, Judge Chapman presid-
ing. The main point of the counsel for
the State was on the proviso of the con-
tract that it should be in force only
while their mutual love natures blend
as now" The learned judge travelled
over the whole ground of the case, and
the evidence upon it, and summed up
his opinion in this conclusion "I con-
clude th&t-the defendants contracted a
valid marriage, such contract as can
only be dissolved by death or a decree
of competent court; that their agree
ment to dissolve the contract by their
own consent in case their 'love natures
fail to harmonic is in law void, and in
morals vicious; that if the parties
should act under this stipulation for a
termination of the marriage contract,
and thereafter enter into similar mar
riage contract and relationship with
other parties, they would be guilty of
bigamy, and that good morals and
sound political ethics, as well as the
statute law, require that they shall be
held firmly to the marriage contract
they have assumed, and to all the duties
and responsibilities the law attached
thereto, and therefore that the parties
are not guilty as charged in the indict-
ment,n
Year: 1875

"WIFE AND MoTHER." ."-The British
association for the protection of the
franchise against the encroaehment} of
women has its origin in the conviction
that we remember to have heard stated
with a great deal of unction, that the
duties of a woman are those of the wife
and mother. This assertion has at least
the fortification of one great truth,
which is that nobody but woman can
be wife and mother. That is cardi-
nal fact, upon which Mr.. Bouverie is
immovably planted. From that posi-
tion he cannot be driven by argument
nor seduced by blandishment. And
what, then, is his next step? Simply
that a woman ought to be wife and
mother, and nothing else. What could
be more logical? See how clear tits by
applying the same logic elsewhere. The
truth that woman only can be wife and
mother is no more evident or incontro-
vertible than that man alone can be
husband and father. Consequently men
ought to be husbands and fathers, and
nothing else. 1t is their heaven-ap-
pointed sphere, as is beautifully re-
marked in the case of women. When
Miss Smith says that she owns property,
and ought to be consulted in its public
disposition, the reply of the British as
ISOLATION for the projection of the fran
chise against the enfranchisement of
woman is that her true sphere is not
politics, but that of wife and mother.
And how if the shameless woman
should say in the town-meeting which
frowns sorrowfully at her encroach-
ments and struggles against nature,
that the meeting was composed Of men,
and that their true sphere was not poll
ties, but that of husband and father p
Eidttor's Easy Chair, in HaypeT's Mage-
zine for October.
Year: 1875

"What would you have me- to do ?"


"Sell. off large drove of cattle, take
the money and expend it in building
and furnishing a good house in the
prairie, and fix up a handsome farm.
Hire somebody to take care of those
children and teach them manners until
they are large enough to go to school.
Take pains to teach your wife and ele-
vate her mind. LoVe her, cherish and
comfort and protect her, as you vowed
before God and man to do, and you need
not long be ashamed to introduce her
to your acquaintance"


"If had begun this when we were
married, might have succeeded; but it
is too late to begin now."


SIT is never too late to begin to do
good, my dear sir"


Mr.. Willard went home an humbled
man, with good resolves beginning to
form in his breast. He actually held
the baby while his wife washed the din
ner dishes, and then brought two pals
Of water from the spring without being
asked, and when his wife, encouraged
with this unlooked-for aid, came out of
the kitchen attired in clean dress and
collar that Florence had presented, he
kissed her fervently.


A hard days ride brought the tourists
to Oregon City, where Mr.. Munson had
prepared a banquet in honor of the
nuptials of his son and neice.


Unavoidable business had kept him
from the wedding, which his wife was
unwilling to attend. He had ruled
about the complimentary feast, and
Mrs. Munson, with whose real character
few were acquainted, treated her hus-
bands relatives with apparent gracious
ness.


A week later, and the quartette were
in their new home. A Gothic cottage,
with Venetian blinds and trellised por-
tico, toorecently built to be vine-covered,
adorned gentle eminence in sight of
Valley Brook. The rich, unpretending
furniture Of the various apartments and
the elaborate hangings of the arched
windows threw a shade of luxury
around the beautiful dwelling, which
was reflected upon the glowing faces of
the four happy inmates, rendered
brighter still by the ruddy blazes of the
cheerful parlor fire, around which they
sat and sang, read and chatted.





1TO ba continued
Year: 1875

REPORTED ExPREssAT FOR rHE MORNING LEADER.
MIG HIT REP o X IT
Important from Washington.
President Grant on the Third


Term humbug.
He Never Was. nor. is he
now, a Candidate for


Another Term.


Decoration Day.
The Blue and the Gray Join
in honoring the Dead.
Year: 1875

We all have them, treasures that in
trinsically are worth nothing, but from
which We would not part for all the
Indies. l have them, and so have you
my friend. They may be valueless to
others, but they are OF priceless worth
to us. We keep them from stranger
eyes, we allow no profane hand to touch
them; no one but ourselves would ap-
preciate them, for we alone know the
memories that make them dear, aud
with what voices they speak Of dead
past.


Here is withered rose; how the
odor clings TO it still faint and sweet
though time has winnowed the years in
heaps since it was given You on an eve
ming in the beautiful long ago, by one
who is now but handful of dust be-
meath coffin lid. What a subtle power
turks in that rose; you gaze at it Till you
can almost hear the loved voice, and
feel the clasp of the dear hand, as first
you heard aud felt them in that vanish
ed time. And is not that faded rose a
treasure? All, priceless treasure.


But here is something else, package
of old letters, penned by a cherished
hand. They are yellow and old, but
even yet they contain "thoughts that
breathe and words that burn" Put
them away with the faded rose; they
are priceless. And you mi ght write
upon them Sacred to the memory OF
one We loved"


Let us open this drawer-it is filed
with little garments and childs play
things. How the founts of feeling are
stirred as You look at them! Here is a
little well-worn shoe, but the dear feet
that wore them, whose patter was the
sweetest music to your ear, are now
pressing the everlasting hills of Heaven.
All, what would you not give to hear
the patter OF those little feet again {!
But above all do you value this fair curl
Shorn from the bright head OF your
baby boy, whose golden curls were the
light of your life That little curl was
part of your darling, and as you twine
it around your finger and press it TO
your cheek, you almost fancy 1t 4 thing
of life. And are they not treasures, the
little garments, the worn shoe, and the
golden curl They are all that is left
you Of your baby boy, save the fadeless
light of memory and tiny mound in
the cemetery. And would you part
from theml No not for untold gold.
They are your treasures.
Year: 1875

Young men, when they fist 60
away from home, and young women,
at their first entrance upon society, are
apt to incur needless risks 10 character
and reputation from sheer foolhardiness.
They do not intend TO do wrong, but
they wish TO "use their freedom" They
feel strong and are wise IN their own
conceit. They would like to do so'no
daring deed and come out unscratched.
Just 10 falsify the predictions OF older
heads. We have known many youths
10 throw themselves in the way OF
wicked temptation, and TO walk pur-
posely on the edge Of some fatal pre-
cipice, for the mere purpose Of showing
their moral agility in escaping.


For such and tor al who have any
influence with sach, we have a message
worth considering. "Make straight
paths for your feet. lest that which is
lame be turned ont Of the way, but let
il rather be healed


Not even the Son of God would mako
a needless leap from the pinnacle OF the
temple. Angels will bear us up in
every danger, SO that no person doing
his duty shall suffer bruising; but he
who chooses the toughest and most
dangerous paths without being called
to tread them is tempting God TO leave
him to the natural results Of bis own
wickedness.
Year: 1875

Eighteen years is good while.
Eighteen years! The proportion Of the
human race who die before they are
eighteen is very large. Eighteen
springs, eighteen summers, eighteen au-
tumns, and eighteen winters-all to be
spent wearing coarse, striped clothes;
living on coarse food; at hard labor,
with no interest in its remuneration;
sleeping in narrow, cold, stone cell, at
night; is it not a dreary prospect, when
reduced to certainty, with no proba-
bility, at least, of change, to put be-
fore youth?


And yet it was to this that New
York justice sentenced young man
and Justly and properly sentenced him
"a few days ago.


Less than forty-eight hours before,
this young man was as free as any OF
us. The avenues to happiness and III
dependence, through industry and econ
omy, were open to him. He preferred
the precarious and atrocious undertaking
of making few dollars by knocking
woman down in q crowded street, and
robbing her of her purse. Eighteen
years in the State prison, at hard labor,
was the result.


Eighteen years He goes in young
man, erect and sinewy.. He will come
out, if he lives, to come out, middle
aged, and prematurely old. His chances
in this life will be virtually gone. Who
will know him? No one. And it would
only be the worse if any one did know
him. His youthful companions will be
dead or scattered. He will be stran
ger in a strange land, untitled by his
long incarceration to get on among his
fellow-mortals when he once more shall
be on the outside of the prison walls,
with his early hopes and sympathies
and sources of happiness all dried up.


Eighteen years in a living tomb! 1t
is dreadful doom; and yet l. is not
too severe tor a crime indicating such
reckless depravity. Fotmerly the pun
ishment for highway robbery was hang
ing. Of late years, in many instances,
the terms of imprisonment to which
robbers have been sentenced have been
too. brief Eighteen years! 1t is
good while, but not two long!


The young wretch who committed
this bold robbery made a most deter
mined effort to escape. We refer to it
for the purpose OF paying a deserved
tribute 10 the faithful and resulted Off
Ger who accomplished his arrest. In
the army such man would be prompt
ly promoted, and he ought to be on the
police. The robber fled to an alley-way
where he was surrounded by sympathlz-
ers of the most unscrupulous character
but the officer seized him by firm grip,
led him triumphantly off, while he kept
the depraved and desperate crowd
around him at bay at the mouth of
drawn reyolver-Ledger.
Year: 1875

Last Sunday, just as one Of our
straightest deacons was getting ready
to shake lines over his horses backes'
and say '.ge dap" his wife happened to
remember the calf hadn't been fed.
The deacon looked at his Sunday
clothes, and observed that he did not
deem it incumbent upon him TO suffer
for the negligence OF others; to which
the deaconess replied that language III
the presence OF the children on a Sun
day morning, and from pillar of the
church, was enough to shake the belief
in the professions that had been made
by some one she could name. The
deacon handed the lines TO his eldest
boy and climbed over the wheel with
out saying a word. lie went around
to the front door and took the door key
from under the mat, came around TO
the back door, and as he was trying TO
put the key in the hole, the key slipped
from his hand and slid down into the
snow. Finally he got into the kitchen
and started for the barn-yard with the
milk. He set the pail down on the
ground and called to the calf but the
beast whisked its tail in the air and
beloved at him. Then he captured
the animal and pulled it along
by the ears and jammed its nose in the
pail, but the calf gave spring, send
ing the milk in 4 cloud of spray over
the deacons shirt front In trying TO
re-capture the beast the deacon dropped
his hymn-book out of his pocket, aud
before he could rescue it the calf stepped
both feet on it and tore the cover off.
The deacon got mad He took a hoop
pole and belabored the calf One end
of the pole struck the shed, and bound
ing up, knocked the deacon's plug hat
off. 1t rolled under the calf, who set
bis foot through the tile, and then went
tearing around the yard with his tail in
the air, and that hat fastened just above
the knuckle joint. The deacon went
into the house and as he unbuckled his
shirt collar he called out, "Maria, you
90 10 church, and if anybody asks after
me, tell them ! staid at home to feed
the calf
Year: 1875

At the close of the last century, a
poor, awkward, uncouth boy entered
London, but he was so long, lank, and
ungainly, that he seemed fit only to be
the drudge of printing office; run er-
rands, bring water, sweep the floor, and
the like. Already had poverty and the
hardness of the world made him sour,
unhopeful, and despondent Under less
discouragements, many a youth has
abandoned himself to an aimless life,
having no higher aim to live but for
the day; or, worse still, has plunged
headlong into all The extravagances and
iudulgences connected with thriftless-
ness and crime. But the boy had Wig
orous health; this impaired to him a
mental vim, a moral power, which soon
showed itself to his employer. He was
prompt, persevering and painstaking;
and with these three qualities, in spite
of the fact that he was good at nothing,
in everything tolerable Only, he made
his patient way, step by step, to the
woolsack of England, and lately died,
(worth million of dollars,) among the
most honored men of his nation and
age-Lord Chief Justice Campbell. In
this case, vigorous health was mine of
wealth; better fortune than if lie had
been the heir of many thousands. And
certain is it, that the world would be a
happier world, and the men would be
happier, better, and greater, if one tithe
of the time, and care, and study which
parents bestow on the accumulation OF
money to leave their children, were
devoted to the physical education and
training necessary to secure vigorous
constitution. Of any two young men
starting on the race Of life, one poor but
healthy, the other rich but etfeminate,
other things being equal, the chance for
usefulness, honor, and well-remem-
bered name, are manifold in favor Of
the former. Who that reads this article
will lay down and resolve: Il will do
more to leave to my children vigor-
Gus constitution 2"


Another element in the success of
Lord Chief Justice Campbell was, that
his employer seeing his dull nature, but
noticing at the same time that when he
had anything to do, he went at it
promptly, and with great painstaking
kept al. it until the work i'll hand was
done, although done painfully slow, he
patted him on the shoulder, always
spoke cheerfully to him, and thus slim
ulated him to greater activities. How
many youth at school, how many an
apprentice in the shop, how many a
child in the family, has gone out in the
night of blighted life, who, with hui
name encouragement, might have lived
usefuly and died famous, let the pas
sionate teacher and master and parent
inquire, and do little more pattlng on
the eshoulder.-HaNs Journal Of HEALTH.
Year: 1875

YoUSG MEcuANICs.-There is no class
of the community upon whom the fu-
ture welfare of the country more essen
TALLY depends than upon the rising
generation of young mechanics. If they
are intelligent, sober, industrious and,
consequently, independent, able and ac-
customed to Judge for themselves, and
governed in their conduct by an en-
lightened view of this sort, the mechan-
les, and especially the young mechanics
will form, in conjunction with the
young farmers of the country, bull
wark against monopolies and corrupt
politicians and save the republic.


If on the other hand, they are igno-
rant, idle, dissolute and consequently
poor and dependent on those who are
willing to trust them-if our mechanics
should unhappily become such class
they would soon be converted into the
mere tools of few artful men, who,
having first stripped them of every
sense of self-respect and every feeling
proper to virtuous citizens, would use
them as passive instruments tor pro-
noting their own ambitious projects,
and for the enactment of laws which
are beneficial to nobody but the artful
few and base demagogues with whom
they originate. 1t is true of the me-
chanical arts, as Of any other profession,
that knowledge is power.
Year: 1875

A WORD IN SEAsoY.-Let every
young man whose appetite for drink Is
consciously growing, but whose con
science is not yet scared by confirmed
habit, adopt the plan of making an ac-
curate note of how he feels in the morn
ing after drinking too much the night
before. Let him analyze as nearly in
detail as he can his thoughts and rcfiec-
tions when he first wakes mp, and put
down in black and white plain, truth
full description of them. l do not refer
to the sense of physical pam or discom-
fort which always follows debauch,
but to his moral conditions in the early
morning, and in the absence Of the
fictitious excitement of conyiyialiiy.
Let this be done conscieDtiously, and
let the young man read. over his own
words carefully, and endeavor 10
thoroughly realize what he has described
Oh paper, every time he thinks of tax
ing a drink, and believe, that most
young men controlled by principle,
actuated by desire to do right, and
struggle against the inherent weakness
of human nature, would in a short time
come to the conclusion that the "game
is not worth the candle" and in many
cases eventually give up the desire to
indulge in so treacherous and delusive
a relief from ennui-so dangerous and
false means of excitement.
Year: 1875

A good character is the best defense
a man can have either in public or pri-
vate life, against the open or secret at
tacks of his enemies. There are some
characters SO grand and pure that the
breath of gossip or the tongue of SLAM
der cannot injure or disturb them.
They stand like the lighthouse on some
rocky ledge, the angry waves beating
around It's base, its clear, strong light
shedding friendly rays over the trou-
bled waters, the sign ofhope aud safe
ty to the tempest-tossed mariner. The
character of good man stands proof
against the shafts of malice, envy, pre-
iudice. The public know it, and are
quick to rally to its support in the hour
of danger. AS the strong foundation
upholds the structure and holdsit stead
fast when the storm bursts upon it, SO a
good character bears up the staucture
of manhood and shields it from the
trials and dangers OF life.
Year: 1875

IT is strange what deal of trouble we take,
What sacrifice most of us willingly make
How the lips will smile though the heart may ach
Ae We bend to the ways of The world for the sa]


ofits poor and scanty praises.
And time runs on with such pitless flow
That our lives are wasted before we know
What work to finish before we go


To our lohg rest under the daisies.
And too often we fail in a useless fight,
For wrong lie so much in the place of right,
And the end is so far beyond our sight,
lis as when one starts on chase by night.


An unknown shade pursuing.
Even so do we see, when our race is run.
That of all we have striven for little is won,
And of all the woik our strength has done,


How little was worth the doing
So most of us travel with very poor speed,
Failing in thought where we conquer in deed,
Least brave in the hour of greatest need,
And making riddle that few may read,


Of our life's intricate mazes.
Such labyrinth of right and wrong,
Is it strange that heart once brave and atrong
Should falter at last, and most earnestly long


For calm sleep under the daisess
But If one poor troubled heart can saw
- His kindness softened my life's rough way"
And the tears fall over the lifeless clay,
We shall stand up 10 heaven in brighter array,


Than ii all earth rang with our praises.
For the good we have done shall never fade,
Though the work be wrought and wages paid
And the wearied frame of the laborer laid


All peacefully under the daisies.