smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876

INSIDE FIGHrINa TuRRrrSHlP.-I
once heard an old sailor who fought
in q monitor. describe the sound Of
the shots beating against the vessels
plates. You know what it is to be in
q long railway tunnel-how intensely
dark it is, far darker than a starless
night, and how yellow and feeble the
lights look. Well, it is much the
same in the bowels Of q turret-ship,
when all the hatchways are closed.
Oil lamps swing from the beams, but
they give no lustre, and each fame
seems like bit Of yellow floating in
the air. The men grope about and
knock against each other, some bear
ing ammunition to the elevator con-
Meeting with the turre,s, others carry
ing coal from the bunkers to the fur
naces underneath the boilers. The
engines groan and rattle, and at times
the captains bell rings sharp order
to slacken or increase the speed.


Meanwhile. if there has been a lull
in the firing, the men move about feel
ing very like a timid boy who is alone
in country lane after dark-not that
they are afraid. The boy looks at ev-
cry shadow, thinking there is robber
or kidnapper behind it. The men
anxiously await each moment, not
knowing what deadly surprise it may
bring forth.


And as the battle goes on. it is not
long before there is ringing sound
that is calculated to fill the bravest
and strongest of nerve with moment.
ary terror. 1t is a. though the inner
deck and walls were falling in upon
them. and for little while they are
unable to realize what has happened
uncertain that they are not on their
way to the bottom. Every ear is
stung with the awful sound, and ev-
cry nerve is thrilled.


The great mass of iron seems to
turn over on one side and moan with
pain before the vessel rights herself
again and stcadies herself for fresh
exertions. Then she returns the COM
plimcnts paid her with vengeance,
and her bulldogs in the turrets bark
and spit fire at the enemy until we
pity that unfortunate. ani wish she
would retire from the field.


The turrets are ranged along the
deck. They are about ten feet in d.
ameter, fifteen feet high, and each one
is fastened to massive upright pill.
lar Of iron passing through the center
and working in socket on the lower
deck. The pillar is connected by o
series Of cog-whecls with steamer.
CINE, which causes it to turn the tur-
ret in the direction the captain re-
quires.


Two small portfolios are cut in the
plates of the turret, and furnished
with small iron doors. When the
guns are to be fred, they are worked
on slides to the portfolios, which re-
mind Us Of the mouth of q dogs ken
mel. and their noses are pointed at the
enemy. A second after they have ut
tered their bark. they are dragged in.
and the doors closed, just in time, per-
haps. to avoid two return shots which
crack like thunder on the plates out
side. While the guns are being load
ed again, the men are hastened by the
whistle and crash of the shot and
shell. which strike the iron walls Of
the turret.


Above one Of the turrets there Is q
little iron.clad pilothouse, whence the
captain directs the movements Of his
vessel. II has no window, and the
only outlook is through Sits, about
Year: 1876

UNDER THE San SEA WAvEs.-The
Channel Tunnel scheme for uniting
England and France by a submarine
viaduct between Dover and Calais is
rapidly passing from the phase Of
scientific discussion into that of prac-
tical realization. A full description
of this great undertaking is published
in the New York Herald. 1t would
be too soon to say that it will be sue.
cessful, because the systems Of exper.
mental soundings and borings have
not yet progressed far enough to fur
nish reliable data whereon to base an
opinion. Up to the present nothing
has occurred to dampen the enthusi-
asm of the projectors, and much has
hccn demonstrated which will Le
regarded as highly favorable to the
ultimate success Of the project. The
chief danger lies in the possible ex-
istence Of faults in the chalk forma-
ton that underlics the straits of Do.
yer, but as none of these have yet
presented themselves to the investi-
eating engineers there are strong
reasons for believing that they will
not occur. The boring already in
progress on the French side have been
carried to a depth of two hundred
feet through the harder OVERLAPPING
formation. These operations will test
the porosity Of the chalk, and an esti.
mate can he made iherefrom of the
pumping power necessary to keep the
excavations clear of water.
Year: 1876

Pail Mall Gazette.-The Federal troops
have already been called in to aid the
State Government to keep order and Sc
cure freedom of election in South Caro-
lima. This state of things is what the
Chambers aud the Mortons and the Bout
wells and the Buffers of the Republican
party have been eagerly looking for. If
they can resuscitate the hostilities of the
civil war, they will have no difficulty in
diverting the Northern mind from the
less sensational question of reform, and
then ihe election of Mr.. Hayes will mean
simply the prolongation of the present
system with new figure head. The at
tempt to turn the drift of the campaign
aside in the question of Southern outrages
will not, we may hope be successful, for,
as the most enlightened Americans per-
ceiye, the decentralization of the Republi-
can party is due mainly, if not altogether
to the fact that politicians are able to
prove themselves 'righteous" at a cheap
rate by abusing the South and associating
the South with the Democrats.
Year: 1876

For the lower Lake region and Middle
State, rising and high followed by falling
barometer, cold northwesterly winds
backing to warm westerly or southerly
clear partly cloudy weather and heavy
frosts.
Year: 1876

EDITOR MORNING HERALD The follow
ing letter from j. c. Crubb, Secretary of
State, clearly demonstrates that the indi-
yidual who sent the letter in reference to
Delaware Insurance companies slandering
among Others the Clayton Fire Insurance
Company, to the New York Spectator, is
reckless in his statements, and that his re-
marks are not worthy of credit:


wilmington, May IS, 1876.
DEAR SIR: The communication in the
New York Spectator for May, 1876, does not
report me exactly. What have uniformly
written and spoken to all inquiries is this:
That can only state that the Sussex and
CLAYTON Insurance Companies have been
duly Incorporated by act of Assembly Of
Delaware, as appears by the original rolls
on file in our State Department at Dover.
That beyond this know nothing, of my
own knowledge, either good orbad OF them.
That it is no part of my official duty to
know anything more, as the laws OF our
State do not impose upon me any duty
whatever in reference to insurance compa-
nies on the conduct of their business. That
those wishing Information about them must
employ their own counsel or agents to
make the necessary inquiries for them.
That can not and will nat.


Very truly, IGNATIoUs G. CRUDE,


Secretary of State.
also state that any responsible gentle
mnn who wishes to examine into the assets
of the Clayton Company can do SO on call
ing OF my Office. A. u. WILLIAMS,


Asst Secretary.
Year: 1876

A business man in New Carlisle,


Ind, has issued a circular letter to


his creditors couched in the following


terms:


My DEAR SIR-I want to ask you a


plain question in all kindness and sim


cerity, and l would like to have you an


swer it honestly and candidly, not in


two or three years or months, but now.


this week, Supposing you we're as poor


as Jobs turkey and had invested ST.


600 or 5000 in an enterprise which


you designed to make an exclusively


cash business /; supposing, as matter


Of accommodation and good nature. you


had trusted it out all over the country,


from Carlisle to Jericho; supposing


you had kept adding to your means and


still putting it on the books until your


funds were played out; supposing you


had claims against you in the hands Of


business men who had accommodated
you in good faith and needed their


money; supposing you had some pride
in you. and meant to be square toed
and punctual, and hated to see the man
you owed when you didn't have the
legal tender in your trousers to pay his
just and lawful demands. worse than
you would to see an Indian. and sup
posing those whom you had accommo-
dated felt perfectly easy and contented,
shied the track when you went to see
them, and told the wife of their bosom
to answer mot at home" or come into
town and left without even paying
part; supposing that they held your
money and waited patiently for wheat
to come up to ninety cents or one dol
lar, or pork to bring FIVE or six dollars
a hundred, what would you do? Would
you let your debtors 60 and smile and
be villain, or would you sue every
mothers son of them that did not pay,
if it was the last thing you did in town?
If you were an honest man you would
do the latter, and that's just what I'll
be compelled to do if there is king in
Israel l don't want money to look at
| can earn enough for that don't want
any to salt down q never could make
it keep. but out of several thousands
trusted out l bumbly want few hun
dreds, and I'll be hanged if l won't
have it or an execution returned nulla
bona. | love you myself as mother
loves her first born, but love TO pay
my debts better than l love any man,
woman or child on the face of God AL |
mighty's green earth, and by the Great
Jehovah and the Continental Congress
I propose to do it, if / have to make
costs for every man in Olive township
Or in St. Joseph's county owing me-
Now. let us have the ''spondulix" and
see how sweet and pretty can smile
upon you. Yours, courteously.
Year: 1876

BY ADA CAMBRIDGE.
Bright faces come and 60, fair shapes
Dance up and down the wall
A presence in the crowded room


Takes precedence of all.
We see it night and day, howe'er


By shrine or shadow crost-
A little vacant spot, wherefrom


O1e little face is lost.
The sound Of music swells and falls,


And laughter fills our ears
A silence, followed out of life,


Is all our spirit hears.
That silence like hush of prayer,


Can drown the loudest speech,
And, piercing sharp through langh and song
Our inmost sense can reach.
No thunder Of the outer world,


No burning rage of pain,
No passion-storms of love or grief


That beat on heart or brain,
Beat down with such constraining strength
The vital forces there,
As that dull, soundless ache of loss


Which lonely mourners bear.
o little garments, in the drawer,


With such precision spread
o little chair against the wall
% little cradle-bed, s
Uncurtained in the silent room,
And pillowless and cold
o mothers arms and tender hands,
That have no babe to hold
We know full well the worth and wealth
OF which we are bereft;
But where are words wherewith to tell
The emptiness that's left
Wherewith to span that shoreless void
Sound its unfathomed dceps,
And picture to the common sense
The sacred thing it keeps.


Sunday Magazine.
Year: 1876

THE man that played the flute at ou1
house is dead" said Mr. Magufin, "is
dead and l boldly state that be fell .
victim to the malicious hatred of clique
of boarders who have no soul for music
He was harmless and most persever.
ing man. Had he displayed in any
mercantile pursuit the marvellous con-
tinuity that marked his performance on
the flute, be would doubtless have been
a light house in the world of commerce.
He was thin and not over strong. but
he would play the flute by the hour
and at last the same gang that objected
to the music of Zugenheimer, the bass
horn artist, determined to drive out the
Aute-player.


One night, after be had gone to led.
they captured his flute and took it down
town to a fire. work maker, who lined it
with fiery preparation SO arranged as
to 60 off after it bad borne continuous
pressure of one hour. The numer-
Gus little holes in the flute give ample
vent, and it was thought that the burn
ing would afford at once a warning and
pleasing pyrotechnic display. The
flute was safely returned to his room.
but the poor fellow fell sick before he
had chance to toot; and for a long
time he suffered patiently When at
last he did recover, his first thought was
of his flute; and last night the clique,
sitting in the parlor, heard him in bis
room above blowing away with zest
born Of long abstinence He was play
ing a lovely song that was popular
many years ago, Roll On, Silver Moon
1t has eighty-three stanzas, and it takes
long time to sing them properly. l
remember one night when was going
to the lodge, passed two youthful low
ers who were sitting on the front stoop
looking at the moon and grooming that
song, and when I went back that way.
early the next morning. they hadn't
quite finished it Some Of the lines are
very pathetic, but as interpreted on the
flute they are not so touching !; there's
a good deal of sameness to them like
this:


" 'Tooty-toot tooty tootlum tooty toot toot-


lum toot,


Tooty-toot tootlum toot tootlum too-oot,
Tooty-toot tootlum-toot tooty tooty tootlum


tooty,


Tootum-toot tooty too tootlum.toot.'


He began playing at about ten min
utes past eight, and at nine, after he
had executed about one-half of tbs mu-
sic, Maguffin and his friends went up
stairs and filed ito his room with pleas
ant congratulations on his getting
around again. and compliments for bis
playing 1t pleased him to receive
such unlooked-for attention, and he
played with redoubled vigor.


At eight minutes past nine the music
ceased. Fire crept out Of a keyhole
near the east end of the flute and burned
the players fingers. But it didn't 60
off as was intended His long illness
had given the powder time to cake, and
instead Of blazing with frisky playful
ness it acted like a last years rocket
a sharp siz, and before the player had
recovered from his astonishment, a
fierce bang! and the devilish deed was
done; he had futed his last flute r'
Year: 1876

A New IDEA "A retail dry goods
house in Chicago has discovered short
road to bankruptcy. 1t proposes to Ii
cense customers to examine the goods
on the payment Of a small fee When
ladies enter the door they will be met
by page, who will say: "Do you wish
to buy, madam, or only to shop ?" II
the reply is ITO buy" the customer
will be escorted to the department she
selects and the article she asks for will
be shown her, but nothing else. Ifshe
says ITO shop" she will havc.t, buy a
ticket for each member of the party, in
scribed "Good for one shopping. The
bearer is entitled to turn over all the
goods in this store. Not transferable.
Good for this day and store only
These tickets will be sold in packages
at reduced rates, and arrangements will
be made to accommodate people who
desire to commute by the month, quar-
ter or year.
Year: 1876

A foolish old bachelor says: young
men, keep clear of calico if you want to
do anything great Calico is baneful
institution A pair of sweet lips. a
pink vast. and the pressure Of deli
cate hand. will do as much to unhinge
a man as the mcasels and the doctors
bill to boot"
Year: 1876

MRS. HEATH has secently moved TO
LNL this place for the purpose of meeting
want which the ladies Of the town and
county have for long time known, that
OF having dressmaker of experience
among them. I am prepared to make all
Kinds Of dresses in the latest styles, and
guarantee satisfaction. Stamping for braid
ing and embroidery done in the best man
ner, with the newest patterns. All I ask
is fair trial. Residence on Water Street,
in the house formerly occupied by Jacob
Shriver. I4tf
Year: 1876

"Is married life preferable to single
life% was argued at meeting of an
Illinois debating society. Only one
married man appeared for the mega.
tive, and he came down to business the
next day with his arm in a sling, a
green patch over his eye, and = gsner-
al appearance of having slept out all
Year: 1876

Bottleberry will never dive into creek
to save another woman from drowning. He
saw red haired girl named Sparks tumble
in the other day off boat, and he instantly
plunged in after her, caught her by her
dress and swan to the shore with her. AS
soon as they were on dry land Miss Sparks
gave a hysterical scream, flung her arms
around Bottlebury's neck and tainted. Just
then the father came up, with the rest of
the family, and perceiving the situation, he
dashed up to Bottlebury, grasped his hand
and said, "Take her, my boy; take her It
is hard to give her up; it wrenches her old
fathers heart; but she is yours. Bless you,
my children-bless you !" Then Mrs.
Sparks cried, and she hoped Harriet would
be happy. The little sparks manifested
their emotion by climbing up his legs and
pulling at his coat tails. Then Barriet
came to, and laying her head on his shoul.
der whispered, kiss me darling |" Bottle
bury, amazed and indignant, tore himself
away and fed. He was arrested that after
noon on charge of breach of promise, and
on the trial the jury gave the broken-heart-
ed Miss Sparks two hundred dollars DANA
ges. Bottlebery has intimated to his conf
Dental friends that if any other warm
haired woman intends to fall overheard
near him, she will find it to her advantage
to learn to SWIM.
Year: 1876




A well known druggist, named Bernard
81. Remold, who keeps store in Third ave-
nue., disappeared from home on Saturday
evening, October 21st. He said he was go.
ing out to take walk, and would soon be
back, but that is the last that was seen Of
him alive On Sunday his dead body was
found floating at the Narrows. 1t was LAX
en- to the Brooklyn Morgue, where it has
been identified by watch which was found
in his pocket and the marriage ring on his
finger. There was no money in his pockets,
though he had considerable amount on
his person when he went from home. The
base of his skull was fractured, and the
supposition is that he was robbed killed
and then thrown into the river. But why
did the robbers leave the tell tale watch ?


1t will be remembered that it was on that
same evening Philip Ottaman, the wealthy
butcher, disappeared; ! but also whether there
is any connection between the two cases or
not, is matter Of conjecture. About one
thing, however, there is no conjecture, and
that is, these mysterious dsappearances
are coming to be fearfully frequent; so
much 30 as to make 1t almost proVerb
now that man who goes out into the
streets Of New York after dark, if he is
known to have any money on his person,
takes his life in his nds.-Dispdtch to
PhiLd. Ledger.
Year: 1876

To the Editor of the Commercial:


We call attention to the notice of Rev. p.
Ooombe's work in favor of Local Option in
this State. The simple object of this
movement is to induce the next Legislature
to give the citizens of the State an oppor-
tunity to vote on the question whether in
toxicating liquors shall be sold indIsorimi-
nately. Let the citizens decide. This is
the object and aim of Mr.. Coombe's effort.
Mr.. O has been employed by the Board of
Control, and also by the Ladies' Temper
ance Union.


By this arrangement, the cause of Tenn
perance is lifted out of the arena of poll
tics, and put upon the broad grounds of
philanthropy. The appeal is made to the
moral men Of the community and all moral
men and women, together with all those
who wish we'll to their fellow men, can now
unite in a rational, democratic, and radical
effort to rid the country of one Of the great
est evils Of the times. T.
Year: 1876

The railroad war sinks into insignificance
in comparison with the barbers' war which
is now raging fiercely in New York. So hot
is the competition that many artists are on.
ly asking five cents for shave, while sever
al offer extra Inducements in the shape Of
beer and cigars. ga good shave and a
glass of beer for five cents !" is announced
by one, while "a fashionable haircut and
a good cigar for 10 cents ~ is the challenge
OF another. If this terrible war goes on
much longer we shall hear of club rates,
a shave and beautiful chrome to club
of five for the low sum of three cents. The
chrome will come in with evident proprie-
ty, too, for as one generally gets shaved
get chrome when one takes a shave !?
Hey ?-Bu1dlo Express.
Year: 1876

FELL DEAD IN OHURoH.-George Wilson,
a worthy and well known colored man OF
the Neck district, fell dead in the colored
church near Beckwith's, on Sunday MORN
ing week, while in the act of giving out a
hymn. 1t is supposed that he was stricken
with heart disease, his death having been
almost instantaneous.
Year: 1876

The story is current that the Mormons are arranging to abandon Utah and take posses sion of New Mexico, and thus get into the rnion under the bill for its admission as a State. It is also said that initiatory steps have already been taken and ID short tune several thousand Mormous will start TOT New Mexico

 At the first glance, this has the appear ance of being a very improbable story pu, further investigation into the details oi the propramne proposed, as interpreted oy correspondent of the New York Times, ln- duces us to the belief that there may be \ more truth in the statement than we thnk for ard the indomitable energy of the Mor- mons in all matters of vital interest to the Church lends to this scheme probability pot at all unlikely.

 The programme is to proselyte the super stitious natives of that country, and to gain possession of large tracts of land by the purchase of some Spanish grants outright and of an interest in others, and then by placing several thousand Mormons in the State in time to vote at the election for the admission of the Territory as State in the Union, to overcome the present vote, which is understood to be largely against the State proJect.

 It is asserted that influential personages, in Washington are interested in the scheme, on the basis of division of the proceeds of the sale of lands to the Mormons, who, by getting possession of the land grants, will control nearly all the valuable land in the Territory, and can exclude Gcntiles by refus- ing to sell them any.

 Furthermore. the bill for admission pro- vides that the Territory may come into the Union at once, upon adopting the Constitu- ton, without further action of Congress, and therefore these people can make Con- stitution which will render them almost an independent sovereignty

 If the scheme succeeds it will turn New Mexico wholly over to the followers of Brigham Young and the long sought King dom of Mormon will at last be established under the authority of the Government of the United States. E#