smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1870

GRANDMOTHER SPECTACLES- They had
done good work in their day. They were large
and round, so that when she saw thing she
saw it. There was crack across the upper
part of the glass, for many a baby had made
them plaything, and all the grandchildren
had at some time tried them on They had
sometimes been so dimmed with tears that she
had to take them off and wipe them upon her
apron before she could see through them at
all. Her . second sight" had now come, and
she would often let her glasses slip down, and
then look over the top of them while she read


Grandmother was pleased at this return of her
vision. Getting along so we'll without them,
she often lost her spectacleS. Sometimes they
would be for weeks untouched on the shelf, in
the red morocco case, the flap uplifted She
could now look off upon the hills, which for
thirty years she ha not been able to see from
the piazza. Those were mistaken who thought
she had no poetry in her soul. You could see
it in the way she put her hand under the chin
OF primrose or cultivated the geranium. Sit
ting on the piazza one evening, in her rocking
chair, she saw a adcr of cloud set up against
the sky, and thought how easy it would be for
spirit to climb it. She saw, in the deep glow
Of the sunset, a chariot Of fire, drawn by hor-
scs of fire. and wondered who rode it. She
saw vapor floating thinly away, as though it
were wing ascending, and grandmother ut
tered in low tone "A vapor that appeareth
for a little season, and then vanisheth away.
She saw hill, higher than any she had ever
before seen on the horizon and on the top OF
it kings castle. The motion of the rocking
chair became slighter, until it stopped. The
spectacles fell out OF her lap. A child hearing
it, ran to pick them up and cried Grand
mother, what is the matter ?" She answered
not. She never spoke again. Second sigh


had come Her vision had grown better anc
better. What she could not see now was no


worth seeing Not now through glass dark
ly grandmother had no more need of spec
tacles Rec. Thomas De VIZ Talmage.
Year: 1870

The editor of the Sacramen-
to Record, who has been doing
Californian Summer Resorts,
thus describes this magnificent
sheet of water:


standing in front of the
Tahoe House, on a summer
morning, the scene is beautiful
beyond conception. The broad
lake, placid as a mirror, stretch
es far away into the dim dis
tance, where the snow clad
mountains rise, clearly and
sharply defined against the
deep blue sky, their rough sides
scanned and Scared with a
thousand wrinkles. To right
and left a heavy growth of tim
Der covers the sides of the lofty
hills that hem in the lake, and
descends to the verge of the
water. The outlines of the
mountains are reflected upon
the calm surface of the lake
with such distinctness that the
unasSisted eye seeks in vain to
distinguish the point where the
distant shore line marks the
cessasion of shadow, and the
beginning of substance. In the
foreground a dozen boats dot
the lake, lying as quietly on it's
clear bosom as though it were
a sheet of glass, and they i'm
bedded in its crystal surface.
Scarcely a ripple on the pebbly
beach below breaks the deep
silence, and the only sounds
heard are the calls of the boat
men to each other, as they busy
themselves about their tackle
on the shore, and the occasional
hoarse croak of a dyspeptic
frog complaining of the warmth
OF the morning sun. The lake
is thirty-five miles in length.
by about fifteen in breadth.
The water is so clear that OBJ
jects on the bottom may be
seen distinctly at a depth of
from sixty to a hundred feet.
The greatest depth has never
yet been ascertained, but the
late Surveyor-General Hough-
ton, when employed in settling
the State line, took soundings
to the depth of 1,716 feet, and,
we believe, without finding
bottom at that great depth.
The lake never freezes, the wa
ter being kept constantly in
motion by numerous springs
which rise from the bottom.
But the visitor must go on the
water to realize the greatest
charms of this beautiful place,
and if he takes a trolling line
with him the pleasure of his
trip will be enhanced"


Thackery, on his first visit
to New York, was introduced
to a very fashionably dressed
young lady, the daughter of a
publisher noted for his piracy
of the works of British authors.
"Ah!" murmered the novelist,
'a splendidly bound edition of
HTha pirata'S nauUhtap
Year: 1870

FORCE OF HABIT.-Habit is
everything. We have all
heard the story of the man who
slept above q bakers oven for
twenty years, then changed his
lodgings, but had to go back
to the oven before he could go
to sleep. A case illustrating
the same principle occurred in
Ohio. A city, man accustomed
to lodge on one of the noisiest
streets, visited a country friend.
Too much quiet destroyed his
rest at night. His friend felt
for his distress, and said he
would try and relieve it. Ac-
cordingly he went to a neigh
boris and.borrowed a bass drum
which he beat under the fell
lows bedroom window, and
his boy run a squaking wheel
barrow up and down on the
porch, while his wife played on
the piano. and his servant
pounded on the chamber door
with tongs. In this manner
the sufferer was enabled to get
two or three hours of quite re
freshing sleep, though it was
heavy on the family.
Year: 1870

Are Two of the most common and virulent dis
orders prevalent on this continent to these the
Ontmentis is especially antagoniste, its n'odus OPP
erdndi is first to eradicate the venom aud then
complete the cure.
Year: 1870

Whether in the young or old, married or single
at the dawn of womanhood. or the turn of life
these tonic medicines display so decided an innu
encc that a marked Improvement is soon rerccpt
bic in the health Of the patient Being a purely
vegetable preparation. they a-e safe and relia
BILE remedy or all classes of Females in ever
condition of health and station of life.
Year: 1870

so swoop down upon him. IT was this
tame shrek that had startled him. He
had mistrIsted his hearing before, but
now he was certain that the cry that
rang out upon the wind a minute or so
previous was not of his imagining
Clutching his rifle in his right hand he
felt his way carefully though the un-
saerbrush with which the woods were
strewn, and slowly advanced in the di-
rection whence the cries had come
Every gust of wind brought the Shrek,


more and more piercing, to him, and
made him stride on all the more quick
ly; for he felt that there was somebody
in distress. He finally reached little
clearing in the woods, and through the
darkness, which was becoming less and
less obscure as the storm spent its
strength, he beheld, coming toward


him, figure in white, with its arms
wildly beating the air about, and ev-
cry once in a while giving vent to
that awful cry which had so startled
him at first. He brought his rifle to
position and gave the challenge. The
only answer he received was the blOod-
curdling Shrek, and the figure came
nearer and nearer. The soldier put his
piece to the ground and grasped the
form by the shoulder. 1t made no re-
Year: 1870

Spanish gentlemen speak with great
enthusiasm of the handsome behavior
in q recent duel of two naval officers of
high rank, intimate friends, who had
quarreled over their cups. They fought
twenty PAGES apart, to advance to a
central line and fire at will. One walk
ed forward, and when near the line the
other fired andhit him. The wounded
man staggered to the line and said, st
am dead. Come thou up and be kill
edp The other came up until he
touched the muzzle of his adversary's
pistol, and in a moment both Wen
dead-Iike gentlemen.
Year: 1870

sistance, and keeping fast his hold on
it he made his way to the barracks.-
The light of the guards lantern reveal
ed in she figure in white the form of
the cadet who had been called for that
day by the uperintendent I'm reference
to the anonymous letter. He was
stark mad.
Year: 1870

STRUCK THE LEAD.-A short time ago the Buck
eye mine, near Ophir, was Incorporated, the
stock being fixed at 100000 The Company
went to work under the management of F. Jones
as superintendent; the work was commenced west
of the main shaft some distance, in an old shaft
We now learn that at depth of some seventy
feet the workmen have struck what is supposed
to be the main ledge, which shows rich in gold
and bears every indication of being permanent
and paying vein of ore.
Year: 1870

DENY IT.-The two men that our neighbor and
his correspondent charged with finding and pack
ing off the LOG ID. nugget containing 81 lbs. pure
gold from this neighborhood where it had been
worked over often, called to see us on Thurs
day last and strange as it may seem they denied
the soft impeachment, and faced us right down
without a change of countenance, declaring it
false inspite of all our documentary evidence to
the contrary. AS the men left we thought how
internally sorry they must be that the story was
all a ie
Year: 1870

The condition of Arizona, as shown by the
reports Of Governor Stafford in our issue Of
yesterday, may well be considered by the
federal authorities at Washington. The min
eral resources Of the country, it is well known,
are enormous. From 1889 to the commence
ment Of the Apache war the sums realized by
the Spaniards and Mexicans were startling,
and the developments made during the short
time that the Americans could operate in the
Territory proved that the ancient reports were
not exaggerated. The neglect caused by the
war and the building of the Pacific Railroad
by the Northern route has drawn the attention
Of our people from the Territory and delayed
it's civilization and development. But all its
advantages remain. Aside from its mineral
wealth the best route for the next railway to
the Pacific lies through it, and the lines have
already been commenced.


Moreover, It's mineral wealth, while disre-
garded at home, has secured special attention
abroad. Foreign capitalists are making pur-
chases of land with the intention Of
putting large amounts upon the work Of
developing Its resources. Where the mineral
fields are of such vast extent single
success will induce further efforts and invest
ments, and the returns which must inevitably
follow will soon render assistance or protec-
Year: 1870

tion from the government supererogatory.
Governor Stafford and others assure us that
the agricultural resources Of Arizona are on
par with Its minerals. 1t surely seems, there
fore, short-sighted policy, for want Of such
additional protection as may be needed, to
discourage immigration or the Introduction OF
foreign capital. The policy Of all govern
ments has been to extend aid in the shape
of protection to new Territories and colonies,
until they may acquire strength enough to
protect themselves. In the early settlement
Of all our other Western Territories our gov
ernment has extended the needed protection
with an unsparing hand nor could the Pacific
Railroad, which has added SO much to the
wealth and glory of our country, have been
completed without this fostering care. Why
should the Territory of Arizona be set apart as
the only place within the limits of the United
States where the Indian may without restraint
rob, murder and devastate? The "Quaker
policy" will not do for the Apaches.
Year: 1870

AS already recorded in the columns Of the
HERALD his Honor Justice Bowling gave him
self the relaxation of saunter on that most
splendid street on this or any other planet,
Broadway. He there recognized nymph of
nimble fingers whom he had often seen before
him in the Police Court, and he even sur


prised her in the act Of abstracting the pocket
book Of an abstracted old lady who thought
her spectacles were stolen when they were
resting quietly on her venerable nose. His
Honor gave the nymph into custody and sub
sequently appeared as witness against her,
and thus secured her punishment. He also
took the occasion to present to the public an
opinion on police matters eminently worthy
the attention Of the Commissioners He said
that he felt convinced that the police of the
district in which this offence occurred connive
at this particular class of crime, that they are
in league with the thieves and shield them
and share the spoil. Now here we say is a
point for the Police Commissioners. This
opinion comes from man who is himself
honest in the discharge of difficult duties and
who has peculiar facilities for becoming
acquainted with the way in which things are
done among the .rogues. His words have
already been taken up in the Police Commission,
but challenge to prove charge not suscep-
tible of thorough proof Is scarcely an answer.
Year: 1870




length the statement Of the head manufac-
turer of leading Broadway confectionery
establishment setting forth gross adul-
terations in the manufacture of con-
fectionery in this city. That there should
be authorizations in this specially Of trade,
assuming these statements to be true, is
not to be wondered at. Adulteration
is one of the alarming features of our progress
sive age, and particularly that dominantly
characteristic phase of progress aiming at
large profits in business at any risks, saving
the risks of large capital. These adulterations
extend themselves to every branch of bust
ness-to liquors, food, literature, politics,
preaching and religion. Nearly every thing, in
fact, has to be taken on guess work. It is
difficult to discriminate what is genuine
and what bogus. Nothing is exempt from the
sovereign sway of show and pretence. Hum
bug is king, and he is monarch difficult to
dethrone.


As to the allegations Of authorizations in
candy manufacture, though given with elabo-
rate particularly, it is to be borne in mind that
they are er parte statements, and as such must
be taken cum grano sails. 1t is easy to be seen
that our leading confectioners will find 1t
greatly to their pecuniary benefit if they can
make it out that they alone make and sell
pure candies, and that the small dealers resort
to deleterious ingredients on account of
their cheapness as compared with the pure,
genuine and wholesome materials that sh ould
be used. If the fact be as stated the subject
is one that vitality concerns all classes Of
society-a subject that comes pointedly home
to every household subject that should
excite widespread alarm. The trade in candy
in this city is immense. The fondness Of our
American people, and particularly young
America, for sweet things is well known.
Every avenue and street and lane has its con-
fectioneries. Stands in the streets are loaded
with confectioned sweets. The plea Of cheaper
rents and less expenses, which with some show
of reason may be put forth by the small
dealers in explanation Of their selling their
candies at less prices than the larger and
more fashionable retailers, cannot satisfy the
public mind if it once gets thoroughly excited
and aroused. The charge is grave one. If
the statements to which we have referred are
true the health and lives of thousands are
involved and ruthlessly risked in the grasping
greed for gain Of the bulk of our city confec-
toners We can suggest but one remedy-the
appointment Of a commission to examine the
quality Of the candies Of all our confectioners.
Let this commission be honestly constituted
and do its work honestly, and the fact will soon
be ascertained whether these allegations are
true, and to what extent they are true, and
who sell pure and wholesome candies and who
do not, and then. with stringent law on the
subject, future adulterations and frauds may
be efectually prevented.
Year: 1870

TIE DEMOCRACY ON THE CUBAN QUESTION. -
They are beginning to move rather late in the
day. If our latest reports from Washington
be true the struggling Cubans are very near
their last ditch, and General Grant will have
either to put in for the purchase of Cuba or
consent to the re-establishment of the full
authority of Spain over the island. Our Secre-
tary of State has been afraid Of dana ing those
Alabama claims by moving in recognition Of
the Cubans but does he really propose to do
anything on those claimsp Doubtful.
Year: 1870

sigh for. In the bosom of the great republic
they will be free, prosperous and happy. No
other course can save the administration Of
General Grant from universal condemnation
1t is for us to make the offer. II Spain will
not open her eyes to facts and come to terms
the blame will be hers, not ours. Our course
will still be clear If Spain will not sell the
island we shall have right before all the
world and in spite of all the bubbles Of inter-
national law to give her timely but peremp-
tory notice to quit. Let General Grant and
his advisers think of these things and let them
act wisely and with becoming promptitude
The course we advise seems their only way Of
salvation.
Year: 1870

The report of the purchase of the so-called
French Atlantic cable by the other cable COM
pany and the Western Union Company is very
likely to be true. The men went to Europe to
endeavor to make that purchase. It was in
their interest, as purchasers, that has been
made all tho clamor against the French COM
pany; and it seems to have been In their
interest and by their procuring that the State
Department assumed an attitude hostile to the
new enterprise, and even that there was
inserted in the Presidents Message passage
calculated to dishearten the European owners.
All this was the job of the would-be buyers.
Their purpose was to cheaper the property by
showing to the European capitalists that itmight
eventually prove dead loss in their hands.
Now, therefore, if the report be true, we shall
hear no more of the movement to tear up the
French cable because France will not permit
an American cable to be landed on her shores;
we shall hear no more of all the ridiculous and
ingenious clamor against this enterprise, for
it no longer stands in the way of the gigantic
monopoly that controls our telegraphic system
to the injury and oppression of the people.


But we shall hear, we trust q great deal
more of Mr.. Washburns bill, for there is more
need for it now than ever. Our people, We
are afraid scarcely realize the importance of
the telegraph in the concerns of daily life, or
there would be general irresistible pressure
upon Congress to pass q law assuming abso-
lutte and specific control over this greatest Of
the agencies by which the multifarious opera
tions Of society are carried on. Before the
telegraphic strike is over, however, it is possi-
BILE that there may be change in this regard.
Just now the overwOrked and underpaid agents
of this great machinery are in rebellion.
Although the capital on which the telegraph
company ought to pay dividend is only fifteen
millions they call it forty millions, SO as to
hide their exorbitant earnings. They pay
dividend on the forty millions, and as the fic-
titious excess Of twenty-five millions takes up
nice slice Of the earnings they plead poverty
and cut down the wages Of their subordinates
Thus the operators are sacrificed to fction.
and as the employment is branch of highly
skilled labor they may paralyze the company,
and thus the country may to great degree be
left without telegraphic facilities.


In that event we are certain that the people
will have forced upon them some adequate
sense of the vital importance Of this means Of
communication in all commercial transactions;
and it is possible that their perception Of this
may induce pressure that will force the tardy
legislators at Washington to take such steps as
will no longer leave the telegraph in hands id
which it is subject to such abuses as those from
which the people suffer in its present manage
Year: 1870

ssWE WILL KILL SOMEBODY To-NIeHT. =
This was the utterance Of one of the city
bravoes the other night as he entered rum
shop, in which before he left he killed the pro-
prietor. This deliberate assertion may be
taken, therefore, as the settled platform OF
that party. In the old times when men were
full of whiskey row and broken head
cooled their tempers very well. But the times
are more intense, and nothing less than mur-
der will do now.
Year: 1870

The chief monopoly in this country, proba-
bly,, is the Western Union Telegraph Company.
Important correspondence from half our bust
ness houses passes through its hands. 1t fur
nishes in q great measure the telegraphio
news columns of the daily papers. 1t owns
large majority of the wires in the country and
holds the connecting links with the Cuban and
English Atlantic cables. With the confidence
of an assured monopoly 1t suits its own con-
venience in serving its customers. 1t some
times refuses to send dispatches. 1t assumes
q censorship over the news. The news is dis
agreeable to it is frequently withheld, even
from the Associated Press, its best customer


1t thus cripples newspaper enterprise. 1t
juggles with the stock market. 1t has tried
to stop the nineteenth century by crushing out
new Atlantic cables, and it holds whip hand
even over the great New York dailies them
HERALD to numerous petty annoyances,
because we would not countenance the great
wrongs it has inflicted upon the press and
the people. And there was not another paper
in the city belonging to the Associated Press,
partisan or independent, that dared to oppose
the monopoly, even In its efforts to turn the
age backward and interdict the landing of the
French Atlantic cable.


This monopoly has now come to grief Of Its
own volition. The telegraph operators along Its
duction of wages among the operators at San
Francisco. The strike has become general, and
communication between this city and nearly
every important point on the Pacific coast, in
Cuba, In Europe and in the interior is endan-
gered. In some minor instances communion
tion is already cut off. The detriment to the
business of the people can be comprehended at
glance. If this Western Union Company
were not monopoly we would have had other
lines running to these points, and we could
afford then to let the Western Union and the
strikers fight it out but the Western Union
will not permit the building of other lines.
They crush out or buy out the weaker compa-
nies who attempt to compete with them and
will not run their own lines satisfactorily.


Now lit becomes the duty of Congress
to take the matter in hand. The threat
ened upsetting of business communica-
tion, and perhaps Of government business
among the rest, calls for Congressional
interference as much as the gold panic did.
We ask timely and firm. Interference to
relieve the people and the press from the great
mogul, who sets up an independent despotism
of his own, as absolute as that of the Cgsars,
In land that ought to be full Of freedom.
Year: 1870

HARMONY Nor UNDERSTOOD. would
seem to be useless thing for the inhar-
monious republicans in this city to coalesce,
for their united strength can effect nothing
for their party and yet they attempted it at
the Twenty-second street headquarters last
night. The result was Kilkenny fight
between the two factions, ended only by
strong body Of police, who hustled them ell
Into the street.
Year: 1870

AN IMpRovEMENT.-The Fire Marshais
report shows the improvement OF million dol
lars in the last year over the former fn the
matter of losses by fire. This is q practical
testimony to the increased efficiency of our
new are department as it gets fully into
operation.
Year: 1870

In THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE yesterday
the question Of the postal telegraph came up,
and the genial old fossils comprising that
board, who have not had progressive idea
In their heads for 80 long that their brains are
rusty, secuted the idea. As their recon-
mendations have about as much effect as the
Popes bull had against the comet, it doesn't
mncb mattar
Year: 1870

THE QUESTION OF Doas.-There Is fero-
cious fellow who wants to kill all the dogs
obliterate the very race-because the scourge
of hydrophobia. Shall we 60 on, then, and
wipe out all the animals from whom we have
scourges? There is the hog, who, between
trichiniasis and the tape worm, has made
himself record infinitely worse than the dog.
Neither are the COW and horse innocent. Shall
we destroy them all
Year: 1870

WRITING ITSELF Down AN Ass.-One Of the
Health Commissioners declared the other day
that for the Board to adopt resolution offered
by Swinburne would be to write itself down an
ass. II the Board will write nothing worse.