smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876

Every effort made in Congress to give
any relief is met by the money power
and resisted. These same bondholders,
in whose hands the wealth of the coun-
try has been centered, deny the South the
return ofthe money illegally taken as
cotton tax. A large portion Of our Ten
nessee bonds issued since the war were
issued to replace iron taken from our rail-
roads in the war, and which would have
been paid us before now, but for the in
reference Of the Eastern capitalists.


When we cry out and say if nothing
else can be done, we certainly are enti-
tied to a repeal Of the monopoly feature
in the National Banking law, so as to
let the States hayetheir own banks, and
we find even such pillars Of Democracy
as Mr.. Tilden standing by the money
power and denying us this right And
now where do we standg A thousand
millions of money withdrawn from cir
culation in ten years, leaving US about
Year: 1876

THE Way TO Become RIcH.-Pay
cash for everything you buy at the
time Of purchase. II this rue was
adobted, everybody would live well,
live happy and prosper. Everybody
wishes 10 buy cheap and sell high.
Nothing can please a man more than
getting a -cod round price for what
be has to sell. BIZ: supplies and de-
mand rule these things, The credit
system does more in keeping prices
high than any one thing save supply
To start out, the man that buys of the
producer for cash, can buy lower
than il he buys on credit. Then the
merchant bugs Of the importer for
cash, and saves another item Of cost.
Next the retail, from the retailer, from
the wholesaler, buys for cash, and an
other item is saved. The goods are
reraled 20 the people at large, and the
man who sells his time can sell at ten
per cent. less for cash than he could
on credit. Pay cash AMI yoG will be
independent. Pay ca.h ami save cash.
Pay cash and you viii not be comPeli.
Ell 20 paw high tariffs to pay other
people. Paw cash and you can buy
bargains. PAY cash and you can hold
Up your head aud look the world of
mankind IN tie face. Pay cash and
YOU will grow rich.
Year: 1876

In Scri6ner's for December is an inter
esting paper by Major Powell descriptive
of the province of Tusayan" in Arizona


We take from the article the following
account of Indian worship at daybreak;


"At the dawn Of day the governor of
the town goes up to the top of his house
and calls on the people to come forth. In
a few moments the upper story of the house
is covered with men, women, and children.
For few minutes he harangues them on
the duties Of the day Then, as the sun
is about to rise, they oil sit down, draw
their blankets, over their heads, and peer
out through little opening and watch for
the sun. As the upper limb appears above
the horizon every person murmurs a
prayer, and continues until the whole disk
is seen, when the prayer ends and the peo-
pie turn to their various avocations. The
young men gather in the court about the
deep fountain stripped naked, except that
each one has belt to which are attached,
bones, hoofs, horns, or metallic bells, which
they have been able to procure from white
men. These they lay aside for a moment,
plunge into the water, step out, tie on their
belts, and dartaway on their morning races
over the rocks, running as if for dear life.
Then the old men collect the little boys,
sometimes with little whips, and compel
them to go through the same exercises


When the athletes return each family
gathers in the large room for breakfast
This over, the women ascend to the tops of
their houses to dress, and the men depart
to the fields or woods, or gather in the kiva
to chat or weave"
Year: 1876

Countless accidents, as every one knows,
arise from the use Of matches. To obtain
light without employing them, and so
without the danger of setting things on
fire, an ingenious contrivance il now con-
trived by the watchmen of Paris in all
magazines where explosive or innammable
materials are kept. Any one may easily
make trial of it. Take an oblong phial
Of the whitest and clearest glass, and put
into it piece of phosphorus about the
size Of pea. Pour some olive oil, heated
to the boiling point, upon the phosphorus;
fill the phial about one.third and then cork
it tightly. To use this novel light remove
the cork, allow the air to enter the phial,
and then recork it. The empty space in
the phial will become luminous, and the
light obtained will be equal to that Of
lamp. When the light grows dim its
power eau be increased by taking out the
cork and allowing fresh supply of air to
enter the phial. In winter it is sometimes
necessary to heat the phial between the
hands, in order to increase the fuidity Of
the oil. The apparatus, thus prepared,
may be used for six months.
Year: 1876

The women Of Palermo are very lovely
with bright air in their carriage, and
their great black eyes They seem to love
the sun, and take DO precaution against
his ardent kisses, for they arc al dark, but
they are all beautiful.


The better class dress exquisitely, but
mostly in black. Lace and grenadine
form the material Of most Of their dresses,
and they almost all wear the black lace
mantilla over their heads instead of a hat.


This mantilla is the most graceful and
coquettish head-gear imaginable, and is
generally fastened to the head by flower.
Every lady carries fan, even the poorest;
and this fashion of carrying fan is not
confined to the women alone, for you see
hundreds Of men with fans in their hands.
One soldier on guard had his musket in one
hand and his fan in the other.


drove to see the suburbs, and can
truly say | never saw so many fine resi-
dences in my life. Every house was set
in the centre of beautiful park, where
every variety Of plants, trees and shrubs
added to the beauty. Statues cleaned
through the labyrinth of shrubbery, and,
in fact, everything combines to make
Palermo the dream Of poets. The deep
blue of the clear sky, the luxuriant yege-
tation, the grand and grim line of noun
tains to the rear, and the sea to the front,
leaves nothing out of the landscape that
would be pleasant to the eye.


The straight, wide streets have always
the sea or mountain for background, and
a delightful fresh breeze always keeps the
air pure and refreshing here. Every gar
den is enriched with statuary. The houses
enclosed in these gardens are the residen-
ces of the nobility, and also a large mum
Der Of foreigners who have found Palermo
so delightful retreat that they have set up
their household gods here for good and all.


After dinner we took carriage again
and drove to the long pier or bulkhead
along the shore of the harbor. This is
some two hundred feet wide and two
miles long and is used as q fashionable
drive. Almos; the entire population 60 to
this place every evening and walk under
its double rows Of trees, where gas lamps
illuminate the scene.


Thousands of magnificent carriages pas
sed and repassed, filed with beautiful wo-
men in superb toilets, and the men dressed
in the highest style of art, which means
like colored waiter, and the long double
rows of gas lamps, Of which every one had
four burners, made the scene one of ra-
vishment. Boys with bouquets Of orange
flowers and night-blooming cereus made
the air heavy with perfume, and the light
so brilliant and the sweet music, and gay
throng and the prancing horses, and the
rustling trees, all went to create in the
participation the idea that this was not real
but some sweet dream.


On one side was the water, black as
shadow and contrast with the brilliance
of the street could make it, and above, the
dark sky, where the stars ever seemed to
shine out family. y.-Olire Harper.
Year: 1876

iady, writing from Australia 10 the
Chicago Tribune, says Insects and rep
tiles thrive here. They are not quite as
venomous as in the tropics, but they are
poisonous enough, and their bite or sting
very painful, and, in some conditions of
the system, dangerous. The other morn
Ing, as turned my mattress, | discovered
between it and the lower bed. centipede
ten inches long. sacrificed it to the fire.
god Immediately by taking it up with the
tongs and throwing it on the glowing Goals.
We have here, too, the soldier-ant, famil-
iarly known as bulldogs" They some
times measure one and one-half inches in
length. They are very quarrelsome, and
have an ugly bite. If you poke one with
stick, it will make fight and chase you
when you turn away.


1t is safe not to meddle with hill of
them. The first night was in Melbourne,
after leaving the ship, slept in cottage
parlor. In the night | became nervous
and thought l would get up and strike
light. / stepped out of the bed and on
to something exceedingly cold and clammy.
| raised the unlucky foot up and put the
other down, and again felt the borrid thing
under my foot. / reached out to the ta-
Bile where had placed candle and matches,
grabbed them, and sprang back into bed.
When I lighted the candle discovered the
pretty velvet carpet completely covered
with silvory net work. I looked closer
and discovered, crawling back and forth,
hundreds Of brown, Shiny snails, that had
come in from the garden.


/ was disguised, but considerably re-
lieved that l had not found instead some
poisonous reptile. l ventured to pick my
way daintily to the table and put down my
light, but did not put it out for fear the
snails would take fancy to crawl over
the bed. l saw on the wall beside the
bed a monster that made my blood chill
through and through. 1t u all very well
to laugh at women's fears Of spiders, and
call it affectation, but l confess was
afraid of the thing saw on the wall.
There was great fesh-colored tarantula,
its body quite an inch and half in diam
eter, and covered with fuzz, and its hate
ful hairy legs extending out so that it could
scarcely have been covered with an ordi-
nary sized coffee cup.


You may laugh, but l felt like that un-
fortunate boy in the " Black Crook" |
wanted 70 ego home" managed to cap
ture him with the tongs, and this time
without ever thinking Of the poor, harm
less, Shiny snails, rushed to the window
and threw tongs and tarantula together
into the garden--and l didn't sleep an-
other wink all night. Since then I've got
used to tarantulas--triantelopes, the colo
nial people call them. There are several
species besides the kind I've just described,
two Of them particularly ugly; one black
and hairy the other black and hairy also,
with bright yellow spots or rings on IL,
They are all yenomous. When Isgo out
70 pick up wood or chips, or to gather
flowers, always wear long buckskiu
gloves, and | make my,skirts short enough
not to touch the ground
Year: 1876

CuRrosIrIEs OF LIFE.-Lay your finger
on your pulse, and know that every stroke
some immortal passes to his Maker; some
fellow-being crosses the river of death /;
and, If we think Of it, we may well won
der that it should be so long before our
turn comes. Half Of all who live die be-
fore seventeen. Only one person in ten
thousand lives to be one hundred years
old, and but one in hundred reaches
sixty. The married live longer than the
single. There is one soldier to every eight
persons, and out Of every thousand born
only ninety-6ve weddings take place.
Year: 1876

A New York paper tells this story of Barney Williams, the actor, who died recently: Twenty seven years ago Bar ney Williams, young actor who had won more or less of reputation as delineator of certain Irish characters, left the theater wherehe had been play ing to good audiences and went over to the old Olympic to try his hand in play called "Mose, or the New York Fireman" A large crowd gathered at the Olympic to greet him on his first ap pearance there, a good many of his old admirers having followed him up from the other theater. Barney had not spoken dozen words in his new role before the audience of boys, most criti- cal, saw that he had made great mis- take, and, as was the fashion in those days, they told him so on the spot. Barney did not heed their impertinent criticisms at first, for he thought he was acting the part nobly. He got through the first act and the second, but no more, for towards the end of the second act the audience became so noisy that the player was obliged to give up. They cried out, saying: Barney, you can't do the New York boy" "Go back and stick to your tools" etc. He was almost hooted off the stage. When the curtain rose for the last act the scenery had all been changed, and instead of continuing the performance of Nose" Barney ap- peared in one of his popular Irish plays in which he had previously been most successful. He was instantly greeted with thunders of applause. Those who had been loudest in their dcnunciations of the actor while he persisted in the role he had just undertaken now went almost wild ill their enthusiasm for him in his cid character. This was the turn ing point in the young actors career, and the beginning of the future suc- cesses which were for Barney Williams Cor Bernard Flaherty, his real name) a fortune of $500,0 ,0O0, besides an almost worldwide fame. The verdict of the youthful critics, though impertinent, was correct, as the actor was afterwards convinced, for he "stuck to his tools !" during the rest of his life.
Year: 1876

In the long list of eminent surgical and medical practitioners, not one is en- titled to higher stand than John Aber- nethy. He was a quaint, blunt man, earnestly devoted to his profession, and with but little thought of things which had no relation thereto. His ec- centricities of character have afforded humorists much material for pleasant gossip, and among his eccentric doings, his courtship is certainly not the least, and, unlike much that is printed of the celebrated man, this may be relied upon as true.

 One Sabbath, when Abernethy was very near, if not quite up to the middle age, he found time to go to church, and was shown into pew, where were two ladies-one of them young, and the other elderly. He had no prayer book, and the young lady handed him one. At the close of the services they walked out from the pew together, and found, at the porch, that it was raining heavily. Abernethy offered to take them home in his carriage, which was waiting for him. On the way he fell into conversation with the younger of his companions, whom he found to be remarkably intelligent and ladylike. He learned that they were mother and daughter, the husband and father having been an officer in the army, and killed in the Indian war with Tippoo Sultan; and he furthermore dis covered that they were in straitened cir cumstances.

 Abernethy set them down at their humble dwelling, and waited upon them into the narrow hall, where he handed his card to the daughter, saying, as he did so:

 "Young lady, I am MT. Abernethy, the surgeon. have never married, be- cause never have had time to spare for that sort of counting which girls of the present age seem to expect. I should like you to be my wife. If you will have h the goodness to write me note on Tuesday, saying whether you will have me or not, I will, if your decision be favorable, call on the following day and take you to church." And with that he left.

 The note came on Tuesday. On We'd nesday he took very pretty and happy her, and thence they were driven to the the honored mistress.

 My deaf, sald her husband, after he had introduced her to the friends as- sembled to receive them, "you must excuse me until three o'clock, as have to give my lecture at St. Bartholomew's hospital, which cannot omit on any ac- count"

 They were ahappy oouple-happy and true. When Abernethy died in 1881, he left the whole of his wealth to his widow, who survived him score of years, hon ored and beloved for her solid goodness, and her deeds of charity and Christian benevolence,
Year: 1876

The bloodhound is not peculiarly fe- rocious, as the name would appear to imply; and even when employed in the pursuit of man, they can be easily train ed to detain the person without offering to injure. They have received their present name for two reasons: First, he will single out herd and follow the track of any wounded whose blood may fall on the ground; and secondly, should fresh blood be spilled across this track, the hound will stop confused on the fresh blood, and follow the old scent no longer. They were used for many years on the frontiers between England and Scotland for the purpose of hunting fu- gitives from justice, especially those robbers known as '" Moss Troopers, who retired with their plunder through the bogs, sloughs and mosses (morasses) of that region-places that were pass able alone to those who were intimately acquainted with their intricate patbs. This lawful pursuit was known as "Hott- rod, and these dogs were often called sloughhounds. They were maintained by tax levied upon the people.
Year: 1876

A fond father sent his young hopeful of four into an adjoining room to get a book. The boy came back and said it wasn't there. "Yes, it is, my son, |" said the father sits on the table. 7" The boy went back and reported again that there was no book there. The father got impatient and sent another child for the book, and in the meantime the mother brought the book from differ ent room, with the remark: "Here's your book it was on the mantlepiece. " The gentleman composed himself to read, and about ten minutes afterward discovered young hopeful still standing by his chair and regarding him intently. AS he raised his eyes the boy broke out, solemnly: Father, there's a flo some- where and didn't tell it."
Year: 1876

The Boston Transcript tells of an old gentleman that comes down town on foot every morning, who appears to be great friend to dumb animals. When ever he sees dog scratching at store door to be let in he promptly opens it for the animal. The other morning he made mistake in the dog business. He let one in, and soon the same canine came rushing between his legs, nearly throwing him down, and covering the lower part of his pantaloons with paint. A man with overalls on was chasing the dog, trying to get line shot at him with paint brush he had in his hand. The old gentlemen expostulated with the irate painter, for such he proved to be, saying:

 "My good man, why do you wish to hurt that doga' - .- L

 "Because he hastipped over my paint and made an internal mess of every thing. Some blasted old idiot let him into the store when we were all trying to keep him out while was doing some painting; he jumped through the door, stuck his forelegs into the paint pot, and tipped 1t over. Brown paint on a marble floor looks we'll, don't it9 Iwish people would mind their own pusi- noaa |"
Year: 1876

A writer says of "ladies' darlings" : The creature is delighted if he can per suade himself that he has reason to think that score or so of girls are over head and ears in love with him, and there is ground for believing that he would become exhilarated to the last degree if he were informed that some foolish damsel had pined away and died of broken heart on his account. The fact that so long as his vanity is minis tered to he is indifferent as to what un- happiness devolves upon others affordsa not altogether agreeable but thorougl ly reliable index to his character. If he had any conscience deserving of mention he would not systematically make love-di- rectly or indirectly-with whom he is thrown in contact, but being, as he is, utterly reckless of the feelings of his neighbors, he does his best to enslave the fancy of nine tenths of the attrac- tive ones whom he meets under circum- stances favorable to Irritation.

 It would be injudicious to deny that he achieves success. It would be unwise to declare that he does not ob- tain many triumphs; for some girls are so silly and have such susceptible hearts that they would become fascinated with mop stick provided that itwas skillful- ly set up and dressed in male habili- ments, and called aman, and others, who are trife wiser than to be guilty of such stupidity, are still foolish enough to be- ieve nine-tenths of what every shallow pated noodle tells them.

 But though this is so, there is cause to hope that the career of the would-be ladies darling is not one of uninterrupt- ed success, and that he is not the object of so much admiration as he generally imagines. Occasionally he receives a prompt and decided check from ladies who have no wish to be made fools of, or to suffer in reputation, however slightly, in order that he may be glorihed; while not few females play up to him before his face and pour unmeasured con- tempt upon him behind his back. Nor is 1t surprising that they should do so, for he gives them every reason to think that he is shallow and egotistical fool. His conversation consists of 8 series of dreary insanities, ridiculous comph- ments, which are as insincere as they are in bad taste, and melancholy jokes which consist for the most part of ill natured speeches at the expense of some unfor tunate victim or other.

 He seldom assumes that his lady friends have brains enough to under stand anything except the most super fcial matters, and when he does ven ture to touch on the last new book, new play, new parson or new sensation, he merely repeats the cant jargon which is current in the set in which he moves, and which frequently condemns what is good and praises what is bad. Beside his manner is affected, he wears on his face continual grin, and he is dressed up in such fashion and has such a sinking way about him that he appears altogether as much unlike a genuine man as he could we'll do. For the rest, he lowers the moral tone of those with whom he associates, and scoffs at every thing in which people of correct feeling take an interest.
Year: 1876

The man who advertises his business, if what he offers for sale is honestly what he represents it to be, or what it ought to be, is constantly assisted in his business by those who have been attract ed to him and tested him. A buyer has read his advertisement, and gone to his store, or workshop, or warehouse, or whatever the place may be, and tried what was recommended. If it has satis- fed him, he is pleased, and recommends it to his neighbor, who is likely to go to the same place, and tell his neighbors in turn. And thus little rills started by his advertisement flow in upon him from all sides, and the current of his business grows stronger and wider, and more rapid, all because to strict atten- tion to business he added judicious ad- vertising. But for this he might have fingered on in the community for years, and his business would scarcely have been heard of.
Year: 1876

It was startling account of tho pre- valence of the crime of incendiarism that was given to the convention of the United States fire underwriters. The committee on the subject reported that thirty-five per cent. of all the fires of last year originated from incendiarism, and that fifty-five per cent. of the whole amount of property destroyed by fire was through incendiarism, or. ill other words, that the losses by this crime for the year in the United States and Canada ran up to fifty millions of dollars. The report did not suggest any very promis- ing way of dealing with this tremendous evil, but merely proposed the offer of small rewards for the arrest and con- viction of incendiaries. We should think that 8 properly trained force of capable detectives in the service of the board of fire underwriters would be more effective. The penalties against incendiarism are severe enough to be 8 warning to the guilty, if vigilantly ap- piled. A kind of crime that costs fifty millions year should be suppressed at any expense.