smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876




Wonderful are the changes that have
been effe cted of late years in the man
ufacture of leather by the use of
chemicals and machinery, in place of the
old-fashioued tan-pits and the slow man
ipulation of the currier and tanner. If
some old leather manufacturers could
be resurrected-men who were accus;
toned to soaki ing their hides for years,
and turning them assiduously at certain
seasons-how they would stare to see the
present prOcessl But every day we hear
of something new in this direction. 4
Joint stock company was recently formed
in Detroit for the purpose of tanning
leather in one hOurl We give the inGOr-
nation for what IL is worth; but it Ger
taiHly does look like sleight-of-hand.
i he process is a chemical one perform
ed by the action OF certain inexpeG-
sive materials, the cOmpOunding of which
in the right proportion is a secret. t Is
claimed that robes tanned with the
hair on, are soft as the finest wool; hides
of the deer, horse, dog ETC., are smooth
and soft, while calf and kip show the
texture and grain which good shoemakers
most admire No bark is required ex-
cept little to give the proper color to
the leathe er. Bark is worth So to SO a
cord and about 200 cords are required
to tan l 900 hides By the common meth
cd. Two cords would be sufficient to give
the proper color to the same number of
hides, and the saving in this item will be
enormous. We understand that the COM
pany are turning out from 2,0U0 TO 3 600
hides per month. How the article is
wearing we have not been able to ascer-
tain. but shall watch the result with
interest.
Year: 1876

Mr. Nelfe, an educated Frenc hman,
says that the left hind-quarter of a sheep
Is much tenderer than the right, since
sheep invariably kicks his right leg
and hardens the flesh; also, that black
sheep makes much better mutton than a
white one, because black wool con-
ducts the offensive smell from them
better than the white wool In France
the butchers always cave a piece of the
black wool on the mutton of a black
sheep.
Year: 1876

Wessrs. Editors


The present canvass is remarkable
for the amount Of individual scrutiny
that is being bestowed upon the acts Of
Grants two administrations, and the
calm and intelligent manner in which
the great body of the people is oonsid-
ering what is best to be done in deciding
the destiny Of the country, for the next
four years. At no time, perhaps, has
there been so great desire, and so evil
dent an intention to lay aside ell per
sonal considerations, and put the action
of the two parties by the side OF each
other, ana judge them by theiV merits.
L cannot but be perceived that there is
every probability of the verdict bein g
rendered IN favor of the party which,
during its hold upon the House, has
made large reduction in our National
expenses, and has done so much to ex-
pose the impurities cf the Administra-
ton. This is a
Year: 1876

saw danger of Cwsarism long ago. but
but thinks all this is ever now. 1t is
not SO however. With Hayes as Prssi-
dent, it would be far more menaeing
than ever it was. Grant and the men
who, with him, have made the country
what it is to-day know well what they
are doing in working for the success of
the Cincinnati ticket, aud the thoughtful
among the Republicans know too. Hence
do the honest of the latter come out and
refuse to have a part in the villaiay.


We may as well acknowledge the posi-
ton at once, and prepare oursel Ves for
the emergency. Grant is desirous of
electing Hayes. Ualimited amounts of
money will be used to further the design.
If this be not effectual the military will be
employed. If be then succeed it may
be a long time before we again, by means
Of the ballot, name those who shall ruls
over us. Let US take warning in time
and prepare for the emergency.





The Republican nomination for Gov
ernor is made, and E. D. Morgan is the
man destined to bear the br ant of the
partys disappointment in November.
He viii make, perhaps, as strong a can
didate as could have been presented,
yet the only recommendation which he
poss esses is his wealth, and this is not
going to carry the election. Samuel J.
Tildeu Is not to leave the Executive
Chair feeling that he has been spend
ing his strength for nOught. Our next
Governor must be man who will pur-
sue the policy which our present one
has inaugursted, aud not man fully
committed to the most corrupt elements
Of the Republican party, as is Gov. Z.
d. Morgan.
Year: 1876

and is the element which will rescue
our country from the continuance of
ills which have been brought upon it
The condition of the country is so crit
ical, that the case has irresistibly forced
itself upon the attention of all Peo-
pie must bestir themselves when ruiz
stares them in the face. And it does
stare Us in the face now. The eight
years of Grants rule has brought one
calamity after another upon US, until
we are actually brought to the verge of
precipice, down which, unless we are
very careful, every vestige which is left
of our credit and our freedom will be
dashed into destruction.


1t is of no use to tell US that this is
all Imagination, that Grant is doomed,
and that under Hayes everything will
be changed. This is not the case.
Grant is not doomed. With his new
military position, and with his trained
minions still retaining the Offices they
now hold, he will be as powerful when
Hayes sits in the Executive chair, as
when he occupies it himself Grant is
now bending all his energies, although
ostensibly amusing himself at Long
Brach, to ensure the
Year: 1876

Young man, if you have been
inveigled into making an unhappy en-
gagemert to marry, you will not save
any money by going and hanging
yourself, though thereby you may re-
duce by one the number Of fools in
the universe. You will be simply
out Of pocket the cost of the rope,
and, according to the verdict of the
Iowa jury in the Davidson-Frederick-
son case, your suicide will be taken
as conclusive proof of your breach Of
contract, and the Court will 60 right
ahead aud render judgment against
your administrator for damages, for
the maiden's solace.
Year: 1876

No wr'nging Of hands and knock
ing the breast, or Wishing ones self
unborn all Of which are but the GER
emonies of sorrow, the pomp and os-
tentation Of an 4etfEe!minate grief, which
speak not 50 much the greatness Of
the misery as the smallness Of the
mind -Eomth.
Year: 1876

Madame Suzanne LAGER, good
actress but extremely stout, was one
night enacting a part in a melodra-
ma with Taillade, the original Pierre
Of The Two Orphans" and thus had
at one moment, to carry her fainting
off the stage. He tried with all his
might to lift he fat heroine, but al
though she helped her little comrade
by standing on tiptoe, in the usual
manner, be was unable to move her
an inch. At this juncture boy in
the gallery cried out, Take what you
can, and come back for the rest !"
Year: 1876

DO not let us lie at all. Do not
think OF one talsity as harmless, and
another as unintended. Cast them
all aside; they may be light and &C.
cidental, but they are ugly SCOT from
the smoke Of the pit, for all that; and
it is better that our hearts should be
swept clean of them, without one care
as to which is largest or blacklist
R,.skin.
Year: 1876

1t is we'll enough to talk ofeleva-
ting the tone Of social conversation,
but when a well-meaning young man
tries to introduce protoplasm as a
subject, at a little gathering, and finds
that every body thinks he is referr-
ing to new kind of plaster and con-
siders him indelicate in doing so. he
is apt to feel that the life of the re-
former is kind Of perpetual picnic
on an ant-hill.
Year: 1876

How absolute and omnipotent is
the silence OF night! And yet the
stiffness seems almost audible. From
all the measureless depths o. air
around us comes a hal'-sound, a half
whisper, as if We should hear the
crumbling of earth and all created
things in the great miracles of nature,
decay and reproduction, ever begin
ming, never ending, the gradual lapse
and running Of the sand in the hour
glass Of Time.-Longtellooo.
Year: 1876

The post office editor of the Rock Island
Union In an article on Bluford Wilson's
testimony says:


The honesty of the president is shown in i'm
mediately dismissing Babcock from The post Of
private secretary. and renewing his confidence in
Secretary Bristow and his able lieutenant Solicitor
Wilson.


The president did not Immediately dis
miss him. He kept him in the White
House as his private aud confidential sec
retary for some time, and until the indig-
nation of the people compelled him to put
him out Of there What did he DO with
him? He did pot deprive him of office
but Immediately gave him another Office
which he yet holds


And he not only did not renew his conf
dence in Bristow and Wilson, but he drove
them both out of Office,
Year: 1876

There is no way of diminishing the taxa
ton of the people but by reducing the
expenses OF the government, and prevent
ing wastefulness, corruption and plunder,
The Republican majority of the senate
continue to stand up for the largest ap.
preparations to every department and
branch of the public administration, re-
gardless of the evils that are thereby en-.
tailed, and the burdens that fall upon the
people. They keep up their struggle t.
maintain the heavy expenditure
Year: 1876

On q murk winters night, in the
olden time, when the fires from the
blast furnaces, and the lurid flames of
some ignited pit mound, were all aglow,
the music of the mailing hammers of
Birmingham, England, might be heard
all the country round. From the little
huts or sheds, dotted here and there
upon the broken landscape, with an
utter absence of order or convenience,
as though the mighty geological opera
tions underneath had shaken them into
the most unlikely places, the CLEAN of
the hearth fires would shine from the
open shutters, and the merry songs of
the workers, male and female, sung at
the very topmost pitch of their voices,
might be heard mile away. Up to ten
or eleven o'clock at night would these
sounds continue-no unusual circum-
stance in district where labor never
seems to rest, but where the roaring
furnaces and the great rolling wheels go
on increasingly day and night. Through
the open loophole, the whole art and
mystery of nail making could be wit
messed by any passer-by. The mailer
would have the ends of three or four
rods in the fire, and taking out the one
which had been in longest, after pull
or two at the bellows to bring it to a
Welding heat, he would taper down the
point upon his anvil, at the same time
making a shoulder for the head. He
would then hold it over chisel or cut
ting punch, stuck upright at the side of
his anvil, and, giving it one tap with his
hammer, cut it halfway through, an
iron stop in front of the punch giving
him the exact guage for the length.
He would then turn down the point of
the half-severed nail into steel instru-
ment called bore (the top of which


ormed mold for the head, and twist
it off, and then, with few smart blows,
he would beat it down until the head
was spread out sufficiently, and assumed
the required shape, the nail just turning
from red to black as he gave it the
finishing tap. As his rods got too short,
he would weld or "shut" two of them
together, and put new rod in the fire /;
and SO on, with the regularity of clock
work, probably, in thousand nails, not
one varying the number of blows upon
each,
Year: 1876




"The American people," said an
English writer on our politics, sis per-
petually voting for some election or
other" Somebody, it might be added,
has to bear the expense of these per-
petual elections. Just what the expense
is, in general canvass like that which
has Just drawn to close, it is difficult
to estimate with any approach to ac-
curacy for there are no statistics ex-
tant upon the subject, and the politicians
who plan and conduct campaigns are
naturally reticent upon such matters.
1t is plain, however, that there must be
a heavy outlay of money. The printing
and distributionof campaign documents,
the rental of public halls, the pay of
stump speakers, the purchase of ban
ners, torches, uniforms and other para
phernalia the expense of postage and
telegraphing-all these are necessary
outlays, and when the extent to which
they are carried throughout the country
is borne in mind it becomes very ap-
parent that the aggregate must be enor-
nous. A paragraph has lately been go
ing the rounds of the press, to the
effect that the strenuous campaign in
Indiana preparatory to the recent State
election consumed ten million dollars.
This is, of course, wild exaggeration,
based upon mere random guess. An
estimate that seems to us not far from
the truth places the average cost of a
Presidential election at about one mil
lion five hundred thousand dollars for
each of the great opposing parties, or q
total of three million dollars. Accept
ing this as within the bounds of prob
ability, it would seem that the expense
of putting a President into the White
House is fifteen times greater than the
whole amount of salary paid to the in
cumbent during his term of four years.
Calling the population of the country
about forty millions this would be
equivalent to tax of seven and one
half cents head for every man, woman
and child in the United States. The
maintenance of the court of France for
the first year of the second empire was
less than two cents per head of the popu-
lation. 1t appears that the cost OF
making President may be greater than
that of keeping prince.


The expense of our elections, how
ever, are borne mainly by voluntary
contribution. The burden falls chiefly
on wealthy partisans who expect to
share in some way the benefits ensuing
from the election of their candidate. 1t
takes the form of tax only in the case
of Office holders, who are assessed for
election expenses by the party in power.
The burden touches the people re-
motely and indirectly, if at all, while in
reality they derive an actual and i'm
mediate benefit. The various devices
by which their sympathy and support
are solicited awaken more active inter
est in public affairs, and the masses
thereby acquire the rudiments of politi,
cal education, instead of remaining in
apathy and ignorance of the condition
of the country and the administration OF
the government. Great as the costs OF
our elections may be, they cannot be
lamented as an unmitigated burden upon
the people. .-NesO York Herald.
Year: 1876

On, silence of the night, whose voice alone is
sweet,


When hers is lost to me
Mysterious ray that falls about the mossy
feet


OF yonder shading tree
Tell me if that her eye, when others soundly
sleep,


Rekindles soft its sun,
And il my darling friend, while my vigil


keep,


Recalls the absent onel
When in the blue aloft the moon foods with
her light


The forest and the sky
What time the bells that to the vesper prayer
invite,


Chime and vibrate and die
Tell me il that her soul to their sweet har-
mony


Responds in unison,
And if to her that chime of peaceful melody


Recalls the absent onel
Year: 1876

The Detroit Free Press reports that q
careful estimate by competent old ladies
shows that the number of Detroit girls
who daily go ont after autumn leaves is
AGO. The number who get any leaves
is nineteen; ;sthe number who find beaux
and forget all about autumn is 451.
Year: 1876




Good Words for Blaine.


New York, June 6.-The Tribune
says: Blaine has seized his opportun-
ity and is once more a man of the hour.
Patriots who have been parting his
garments among them may as well
half so near dead as his persecution.
There can be no concurrent judgment
of observers of all parties as to the
effect Of the dramatic scene In the
House yesterday. The division in
BiaiDe's favor was instantaneous and
overwhelming. If he was the strong
est candidate week ago he is stronger
now. What Blaine has done is far
more than simply TO disprove the al
legations against him that, indeed,
he had done thoroughly. The letters
about which the confidence man Null
ligan declared that Blaine was ready
to commit suicide are given to the
world and are seen to be harmless.
OF the conspiracy which their failure
exposes and breaks down. In war 1t
has always been held wise as rule to
do what your enemy does not want.
This conspiracy shows just what
Democracy does not. 1t does not
want Blaine to be the Republican
nominee. All other Republican can
didates it has let alone. Against
Blaine it has evidently exhausted all
its resources. twas willing to let any
man get the nomination. Blaine it
was resolved to keep Off the track.
Blaine has won the hearty admiration
of foes as well as friends for the right
manly way in which he has borne
himself through this most trying or
deal. Our political history shows few
instances In which a candidate not
yet before the people has been SO
numerously pursued, and none In
which persecution has peen better en-
durei or more successfully repelled.
Blaine may not be next President, he
may even fail of the Republican nom-
ination, though certainly for that his
prospects were never fairer.


The Enemies Of Blaine.


The Posts Washington special says:
In conversation with several Of the
Democrats who voted with the Repub-
licans yesterday, your correspondent
was informed that they had voted as
they had because 1t was we'll known
to the Democratic side OF the house
that the friends Of Conkling and of
other candidates were ut work secret
ly to prevent the judiciary committee
from making any report exonerating
Blaine, and that they were receiving
aid from tho Democrats who were per-
sonally hostile to his candidacy.
Year: 1876

not come from him. but was put up
by Blaine, his threats against whom
excite ridicule.


The universal feeling produced by
tue reading of the letters seemed to be
one of great disappointment. Blaine's
friends. who had not already learned
what the contents were. were surprised
and indignant that they should have
been made the basis of SO many unjust
insinuations. while his enemies mani
fest by unmistakable signs the disgust
which they evidently felt.
Year: 1876

of mot guilty and pleaded
guilty" to the first and eleventh
counts OF the indictment against him.
These charge him with unlawfully
and designedly permitting Pohlman
& Rusk to remove spirits. and with
conspiring as a gauger.
Year: 1876

THE AMERICAN MINING BOARD


The American Mining Board has under consideration
proposition to form the members into lie insurs
assocaona feature tha, may add largely to its
list OF memberships. A .ifc insurance company that
is subject none OF the customary commissions or
other enormous expenses incident to the business
conducted In this city must In time become . useful
and beneficial Institution.


The following the Official record Of sales to-day oil
Year: 1876

We received, about week ago, postal
card on which was written the inquiry:
% Why don't you give us the news? The
New York papers are filed with informa-
ton about stormy times and ruptures in
the Cabinet. Are you afraid to print
such matter in your columns: If so,


you compel us to go away from home to
" get the news" We submit that this in.
quiry is now sufficiently answered, and we
merely refer to it now as an illustration of
the unreliability of the news which is sent
"home" by imaginative correspondents.
Year: 1876

IRIS NOT improbable, in view of recent
facts. that the predictions OF the NATIONAL
REPUBLICAN about year ago, that the
White Lirers of Louisiana would ignore
and violste the Wheeler Compromise,
would prove to he mighty interesting
reading certain members of the minor
ity of the House. We refrain from saying
to Messrs Blaine and Foster 1--WE told
vaIr coi"
Year: 1876

AT the beginning of the war Daniel Marcy
told wounded Union soldier in Washington
that he was disposed to aid the men of his
State, but that he could have no sympathy for
the cause for which the soldier had been fight
ing. This is the same Daniel whom the Demo-
Gratis of New Hampshire desire to govern the
State.
Year: 1876

and hindfold him with black eye, and drop
him here and there as it might come con-
venient, he would probably conclude that there
is an easier capital punishment than even
changing on girls neck"
Year: 1876

According to Prof G. K. Gilbert, OF
Wheeler's expedition, the Great Salt
Lake of Utah anciently had an outlet
the overflow being carried to
the ocean by the Columbia River. But
the Great Salt Lake was then great in
land sea, as is evidenced by the exist
ence of an ancient beach go feet higher
than the Great Salt Lake Of to-day and
700 feet higher than Sewer Lake. The
subsequent changes of level are describ-
ed as follows by Prof. Gilbert in the
american Journal of Science: "From the
upper beach the waters slowly subsidized
by desiccation, recording its lingerings
in series of fainter shore-lines. When
it had fallen to the level of the divide
between the Sewer and Salt Lake Basins
it was separated into two unequal por
tions. In one of these the evaporation
exceeded the inflow from rivers and the
subsidence continued; in the other the
inflow exceeded the evaporation and the
surplus was discharged over the divide
into the former portion, just as the sur
plus of Utah Lake is now discharged in
to Salt Lake. In the course of time, as
the climate became drier, this overflow
ceased, but not until it had carved a
channel of some magnitude. This chan
mel is crossed by the old overland stage.
route and is known as the "Old River.
Bed" 1t is the opinion of Prof. Gilbert
that the humid climate which was mark
ed by this inundation of Utah was pre-
ceded by one as arid as the present, and
that the humidity was phenomenon o


the glacial epoch. A fuller statemen


and discussion ofthe facts will appear il


the forthcoming geological volume o


the "Reports of Wheeler's Surveys


Popular Science Monthly for Septem
bpr
Year: 1876

"He who boasts of being perfect"
says modern writer, sis perfect in his
folly. / have been great deal up and
down in the world, and l never did see
either perfect horse or a perfect man,
and never shall until see two Sun
days come together. You cannot get
white -four out of coal sack, nor per-
fection out of human nature. Of dead
men We should say nothing but good;
but as for the living, they are all tarred
more or less with the black brush, and
half an eye can see it. Every head has
a soft place in it, and every heart has its
black drop. Every rose its prickles,
and every day its night. Even the sun
shows spots, and the skies are darkened
with clouds. Nobody is SO wise but he
has folly enough to stock stall at Van
ity Fair. Where l could not see the
FOOLS cap, l have, nevertheless, heard
the bells jingle. AS there is no sunshine
without some shadows, SO all human
good is mixed up with more or less of
evil; even poor-law guardians have their
little failings, and parish beadles are not
wholly ofa heavenly nature. The best
wine has its lees. All mep's faults are
not written on their foreheads, and it's
quite as we'll they are not, or hats would
need wide brims; yes, as sure as eggs,
faults of some kind nestle in every man. s
bosom. There's no telling when mans
faults will show themselves, for hares
pop out of ditch just when you are not
looking for them. A horse that is weak
in the knees may not stumble for mile
or two, but it is in him, and the rider
had better hold him up we'll. The tab,
by cat is not tapping milk just now, but
leave the dairy door open, and we will
see if she is not as bad thief as the kit


ten. There's fire in the flint, cool as il
looks; wait till the steel gets knock
at it and you will see. Everybody car


read the riddle; but it is not every body


that will remember to keep his gun
powder out of the candle"