smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1875

The conviction Of MARTIN, who killed a
man named GA1ENA in West Side saloon
last October, and his sentence by Judge
JAMESON to only t,co ytdrs IN the Penitentia'y
for ulc act, is certainly not very encouraging
outlook for the suppression Of crimes Of
deadly violence in this city. MARTIN pleaded
guilty to manslaughter, aud there was trial
without jury. The killing was committed,
it will be remembered, in sort Of drunken
row, in which MARTIN was mixed up in some
way or other: He was the only witness who
appeared in his own behalf, and his testimony
was in effect that he was SO much under the
influence of liquor that he did not know what
he was doing ~. 1lanslaughter is defined by
the statute as ''the unlawful killing Of hu-
man being without malice, express Or ina-
piled, and without my mixture of delibera~
ton whatever" and the punishment
is fixed at imprisonment in the Pen
itentary during natural life, or "for
any number of years" Now MARTINS
defense is materially the same as
that which, will probably be put forth BY DA-
Wis, the murderer OF WHz1AND, who has MI
along contended that he was SO drunk he did
not know he haa killed anybody. Is the public
to conclude from this that DAVIS is to be let
OF with q couple Of years in Joliet?
Year: 1875




This was the limitation outside of the pro-
vision for interest on the bonded debt and
borrowed money. Under the General In
corporation oct, however, there is no limita-
ton as to the specific rate for different pur-
poses, but only the general Limitation We
have noted.


There has been but one advantage in the
matter of taxation which has resulted from
the adoption Of the charter of 1872. This
act fixes the fiscal year beginning with the
annual election Of municipal officers, OF per-
mits the Council to FIX any other date by
ordinance. Awaiting itself Of this privilege,
and at the suggestion Of the Comptroller, the
Council hes fixed the fiscal year for the
future dating from Jan. i of each year.
This change will enable the city to do one of
two things, viz: either to pay OF part Of
the floating debt which has accumulated on
account Of the contested and unpaid taxes,
or to reduce the appropriations in the next
ordinance. The effect Of the change will be
to make one short fiscal year OF nine months,
instead Of twelve months and the difference,
though coming from the pockets Of the tax
payers, may be applied to relieve the city to
this extent from the embarrassment that has
been brought on by anticipating the collec-
ton Of taxes and the failure to collect part
Of tham-


The principal point to be. kept in view is
that the taxpayers OF Chicago are in the
hands of the Common Council 4 full City
Board Of thirty six Aldermen is to be elected
next spring, after the redistrictiug Of the city
It would be b'essing to Chicago Il the pres
mi Qonuc3l khuuld fail tn ha11 IN aIaotlnn or
Year: 1875

could become skilled workers, would not be
very great, inas1nuch as the classes now con-
Institute in the rooms of the former afford q
nucleus for the organization that is needed
The Importance Of skilled labor increases
every day. It is Of sterling value to the
community at large and to the individual
artisan. And the technical school is the most
powerful opponent of the short~sighted trade
union policy of unduly limiting the number
OF apprentices, and so denying children the
chance 10 learn how to earn their living.
There is plenty Of ';room higher up" in
every trade, but the room hes few occupants.
Tho bench of technical school is q good
place from which to begin to climb to the
Year: 1875

refuse to redistr;ct the city, or in some other
way so neglect their duty in the premises as
to permit the election of these thirty-six AL
degmen on general ticket, whereby thor
oughly reorganized Board could bs secured.
We fear that for once, however, the Council
will not be deralict in its duty, and the cleo
ton of the entire new Board will be by the
old ward system, with the difference that tho
wards will DO somewhat larger. The matter
Of taxation alone should suggest to all good
citizens, and all men who have private inter-
ests or the welfare and progress of the city at
heart, to give their time and influence to the
work of securing a Common Council that will
not abuse the extraordinary powers vested in
it by the charter under which the city is now
5rnycrnef1.
Year: 1875

The st. Louis Jury have expressed them
selves very decidedly with reference to the
attitude Of the President towards these whis
Ky cases. In an interview with Mr. Fox, q
prominent citizen Of St. Louis, and one Of
the Jurors, that gentleman said:


GRANT has exhibited splendid heroism in the stand
he has taken. His best friends were falling around
him those he had trusted for years WERE BY one
becoming involved in cine and dsgrace yet his in
structons were to let guilty escape. It
bitter thing to prosecute those WHO had been ones
best friends, but GRANT has Ainched from tho
painful duty. In spite Of this, the President las
beea subjected to all sorts Of abuse and insult and
every effort has been made to connect lis with
the Whisky King. The Grand Jury had ample oppor~
tuny TO test the truth Of these charges against tho
President. aud thu. theJ were unfounded, and
that Chief Magistrate OF the country, his conduct
above reproach- The Jurors, Democrats and Be
pubucans alike, unanimous In this opinion and
thought TINT under the crcunasa ances, the honor Of
the nation required that they should tender him an
assurance Of their confidence.


This Endorsement slows unmistakably what
the jury, composed largely Of Democrats,
think of the President aud his course, and it
shows elso very clearly what they think Of
the course of A1r. Henderson. The letter Of
the jury was written subsequent to the un~
generous stack, and is crushing reply to it.
While all men who wish to see this Whisky
Ring crushed, and its corruptions ferreted
out, will regret that competent prosecutor,
and one familiar with the cases, has been re-
moved, they will regret still more that he
himself should have made his removal imper-
ative by gross violation Of his relations
to the Attorney-General, the Secretary Of the
Treasury, and tho President. We can see
but one rational explanation of his remark
able conduct, and that is that he expects to
make q martyr Of himself for political pur-
poses. In this he will be disappointed
There is neither stake, fagots, nor torch
bearer. The vacancy, however, will be filed
by some one who is presumably competent to
conduct tho prosecution, and who, although
be may be Bourbon in his politics, will not
Use his position to crafty partisan resent
ments, or attempt to make martyr Of him
self. for political purposes.
Year: 1875

That portion Of Wabash avenue lying be-
tween Adams street and the southern limit OF


the fire of 1874 is still in comatose condi-


ton. The laying of the hors&railroad track
gave it one impulse, and there have been q
gQod many Improvements since the cars have
been running and the street newly paved !;
but there is still large amount Of idle prop
erty and stretch Of ruins that is unpleasant
to the eye and damaging to the city at large.
We think this is due to an erroneous policy
on the part Of the property-owners. Apolicy
might be adopted which would build up the
entire street within short time nnd bring in
a reasonable return on fair valuation of the
property. The proper thing to do with this
Wabash avenue property is to line it with
modest but substantially built residences or
compartment-houses. Houses Of this char
acter which have already been constructed in
that locality have been rented readily, and
there is such demand for just such houses
that, if all the vacant lots were occupied in
this way, the residences could oil be rented
before the 1st Of May next The accessibility
of the location, associated with the compare
tive retiracy from the buster streets, would
place such houses az we speak Of in active de-
mand.


The trouble about this Wabash avenue
property, We suspect, is that its owners expect
it to earn return on its ante-panic valuation,
and wish to force its progress as business
property. This is foolish and short-sighted
policy. There have been great, ta11 business
blocks erected on that street which do not
yield sufficient income to pay the taxes, in
suance, and interest on the money borrowed
to construct them. It is folly to repeat this
costly error, and also folly to let the prop
crty remain unimproved and unproductive
for years, bringing in nothing, simply because
it will not bring in rs much as the owners
desire. That portion Of Wabash avenue is in
condition where the owners must make the
to it. Meanwhile it may be rendered
reasonably profitable by the course we
have suggested. The cost Of building
is now so low thdt cheap rents
are profitable, and cheap rents, either
for small houses or for good apartments, will
be especially attractive for small families,
newly married couples, and people who must
live en- modest means, and are now forced to
seek homes two, three, and four miles away
from their business. The saving Of car-fare
Will enable such persons to pay little addi-
tional rent, and the advantages Of location
will be sufficient inducement to retrench in
other ways in order to secure residence in
such e location It would be to the common
interest Of the city to have Wabash avenue
at once, and it is only in the way
We have suggested that it can be brought
about, The buildings may be so constructed
as to be cheaply aud easily turned into retail
shops when the demand for them comes.
Year: 1875

during the war had left the world eager for
her manufactures. She sold her wares as fust
as she could produce them


Thus low tariff and sound currency
have enabled France to bear the enormous
burden Of her taxes and thrive at a wonder.
ful rata
Year: 1875

The Secretary Of two Societies represented 1t
the Methodist meeting in Boston, where Bishop
HAVEN nominated GRANT for third term, pub
fishes card in which he repudiates the Bishop
and his works. and aays that the two organiza-
tions aforesaid have nothing to do with politics-
The same thing might unfortunately ho said Of
most Christians. They would not serve their
God less By serving their country more.
Year: 1875

If man will do the best he can on
any kind of job he undertakes, he will
not only surprise everybody else, but he
will surprise himself too.


independence of character is what we
all brag the most about, and is what we
have got the least of.


l think that mankind generally take
more real pleasure Dragging of their bad
luck than they do of their good fortune.


The most meek and unpretending Great
ure on the face of the earth is the man
who has tried his best to get q thing and
failed to do it; if you will believe him,
he never wanted it, and wouldn't have
it at any price.


He who always does unto others as he
would have them do unto him is the only
really honest man we have, and how
many, my friend, do you suppose there
are of this kind?


Every truth in this world has at least
ten counterfeits.


Physical education is of just as much
Importance to human happiness as men,
tai is; it is just as necessary that we
know how to eat as how to think.


Laziness is terrible burden, and one
which man can't drop if he wants to.


There is great difference between re-
penting of sin and repenting of the
punishment that is due it.


No man who has got through this life
reasonably well can be big fool enough
to want to try it over again.


A mans failings are quite often more
amiable than his virtues.


If we could neither laugh nor cry we
would be infinitely worse OF than the
brutes.


Men are not generally obstinate be-
cause they are right, but because they
are wrong.


Laziness is as incurable as cancer,
and will eat man up about as fast.


We love those whom we can protect or
defend, and all love, however pure 1t
may appear, has large share OF SELF
love in it.


No one becomes suddenly vicious and
dishonest; like coal-pit, they may
break out suddenly, but they have been
smoldering and charring for long time.


It is not good policy to tell even our
best friends all of our secrets; no one
goes to a well after water that is pumped
dry.


l never have seen woman yet (bless
the dear creaturesD who didn't have
firstrate excuse for everything she had
done or made up her mind to do,-N 7,
Weekly.
Year: 1875

THE scene occurred in railroad car
on the Union Pacific Road, in which two
men were gambling, while the rest OF
the passengers looked on. One of the
gamesters was type of the profession
ais who "work" the road-a desperate
trickster, sleek and ugly; the other was
a rough, grizzled miner, not sham, but
? bona fde miner, fresh from the mount
aims, and carrying abundance of money.
The game-draw poker-was for large
stakes, and played silently and watch
fully. Finally huge pot accumulated !;
each man had evidently good hand and
was resolved to stand by it. The pile of
notes was huge. Each man raised the
other until finally the miner "called." :"
The gambler showed his hand-three
aces and two queens-at the same time
covering the money with his hand. The
miner uttered not a word; he merely
took two of his five cards and laid them
down; they were aces. This meant five
aces in the pack. The gambler had
dealt. The miner reached back like
lightning, drawing huge navy revolver.
He cooked it and placed the muzzle be-
tween the eyes of the gambler. Not a
word was spoken, but each OF the two
men looked steadily into the eyes of the
other Soon the gamblers hand upon
the money began to draw back, and the
gamblers form as well. The revolver
followed. The gambler stepped Into the
aisle, and at this point passengers in the
car seemed to lose their interest in the
game, most of them trying to get under
the seats The gambler backed down
the aisle toward the door, and as he
passed out the muzzle of that huge re-
volver still stared him in the face. Then
the miner put up his pistol, pocketed the
money, lit his pipe and was as other men.
Not word had been spoken from the
time the "call" WAS made. 1t was
merely one of the rare occasions where a
gambler on the Union Pacific mistakes
his man. 1t isn't always safe to fool
with an honest miner.
Year: 1875

Not colored person in Fort Dodge.


A Fort Dodge dentist reports curious
case. One of his lady patients had her teeth
pulled for temporary set and crop of eight
new ones have started, the third growth,
which will beat him out of job. Dentists
may well growl at hard times when nature
starts an opposition shop.


woodbury. County.


Sioux City is threatened with sensation,
and good one, too. A widow of no in
different charms has captivated boy of six
teen years of age, and the youngster wants
to marry her, and she is willing. The widow
is thirty y-eight years of age, and she threatens
to elope with the boy, and the boys father
threatens to knock the top of her head off
and send his love-sick son to the Reform
School
Year: 1875

How MANY of our readers will start out
this spring with determination to keep
an accurate account of their entire farm
operations? Twenty thousand we hope.
"When it rains l cannot shingle my
house, and when it does not rain it don't
need it," are words attributed TO some
shiftless wight. When the farmer gets
through the year with money ahead he is
apt to think that accounts are of no par
ticular value. If he falls behind he
cares little about seeing the figures IN
black and white. But such farming is
not business farming. There may be,
and in thousands Of cases are, men emf
nently successful at farming who never
know what it costs to grow any particu-
lar crop or to feed any particular lot OF
animals. And likewise there are men
who keep accurate accounts of these ex-
penses who fail. But the intelligent
man, the man Of tact and thought, by
his accounts is much more likely to be
able to tell why he failed to get good
return and to reach q successful change
than he who goes it blindly year after
year, losing where he least expects it.
The business method goes a long ways
in the education and discipline the
farmer needs, now that he is taking his
place in the law-making and law-enforc-
ing positions of the State and nation.
This hint is worth something to young
farmers who are to have a better field
and broader one for action than most
of their progenitors have had before
them pr0irie E1ru7Hr
Year: 1875

NATURAL GAS IN PITTsBURGH.- Pittsburgh
has fresh hopes. Two Of her largest iron
manufacturers have purchased one of the
Immense gas wells OF Butler county, and
propose bringing that material to the city, a
distance Of eighteen miles, without any loss
of inllmmable power. This is believed 10
be perfectly practicable by means Of tublag
made especially for the conduct OF the gas,
and if found to work satisfactorily it is
thought that in short time all the mills will
seek the natural fuel. The advantages which
will accrue to the city, it Is claimed by the
Dispatch, will be very great: for not only
will the smoke, for which the place
is celebrated, disappear, but, says that
paper, the cost of producing iron will then
be greatly reduced, and Pittsburgh will COM
pete with far more ease than heretofore with
the cheapest manufacturing points in the
country. Beyond this use there is little
doubt that ultimately this Datura gas will be
introduced into the street-malnS and be used
for light. That it could also be used gene.
rally as fuel in private houses, has long ago
been demonstrated at points near the supply,
and the feasibility OF doing so here hinges
only on the experiment Of conducting it the
distance without loss of power. Pittsburgh
first obtained its importance from the vast
supply of coal lying in the hills around it,
which assured cheap fuel to its varied man.
ufactores; now it will spring into new and
higher place from its still more wonderful
resources"
Year: 1875

They have paid the first instalment OF


the purcbase'money for the privilege, which


is $4,000, and they have two other pay ments


to make Of the same amount. When these
are paid they will have the right to buy the
assignment Of The patent for those six States,
paying for It one-half OF their capital stock.
sfhe buyers OF stock in these companies are
influenced solely by their contidence~in the
men who know what the motor is. They


have no knowledge Of it themselves, al
though private exhibitions Of it have been
given under great pressure from the stock.
holders. who demanded to be shown what
the thing was. An engine was shown work
ing by the new power, but 1t was impossible
Tor any one who saw. 1t to understand the
motor. There is no necessity for telling the
public about it, because we have plenty OF
money to follow it up ourselves, and ask none
from the public, and oJr great anxiety is to
keep the secret upl;i we shall have perfected
our system of working the power, so as to-
be able to take out ietters-patent that Will
protect US. 2 - '.I' Z, .Hs ..f.-t. 4


1t has been said that Mr.. Keely has re.
ceiyed large sums of money, and has been
raised from poverty to comparative afduence
by those who expect to benefit by his inven-
ton. The facts are that he receives 5000
month for his personal expenses, and his
machinist's bills are paid. This money is
advanced TO him, and If he receives other
money it must be from sale of his interest,
and don't think he would sell dollars
worth of that as matter Of principle, for if
he were to dispose of his interest it would
be demoralizng ia its effec; on his associates.
He works on his invention so constantly
that | have repeatedly taken him away
from it, and taken him out driving, fear.
Ing that his constant application would be
injurious. 1t is Of course uncertain how
soon his labors will be completed, but it is
probable that before long the patents will be
taken out. and the whole thing given to the
world. Until that tipe, Of course, we can
say no more than has been said. The stock
holders are impatient and, not being men OF
science, are unable TO see why we cannot pa
tent what we have, and then patent the i'm.
provements that we are able to make. !
have bad considerable experience in such
matters, and have taken out 80 many patents
that have learned that it is best to perfect
an invention before pstenting it. ...r
Year: 1875

We regret exceedingly to learn from
the Shreveport Na) Times that one of
the most distinguished colored theolo-
gians and politicians in the country.
It is curious fact amoung our colored
brethren that the best preachers are
usually the smartest politicians-has
been guilty of conduct which is to say
the least, unbecoming. The colored
clergyman we refer to is the Rev. ]


Sella Martin, devout expounder and
an earnest politician. He was former
ly valued member of the Administra-
ton party, otherwise he would never
have been placed on the rolls of the
Post Office Department, with free
pass over all the railroads in the coun-
try, and unlimited permission to go
everywhere free of expense and draw
a salary regularly for doing nothing.
; II the Rev. J. Sella Martin had not been
to shart, he might be travelling yet at
the public expense. The trouble with
the Rev. J. Selle Martin was that he
was ahead of the times, and too smart
for his own good. When the Cincin-
natl Convention met and nominated
DR.. Horace Greeley for President the
Rev. J. Sella. in the unsophisticated
innocence Of his soul, having no pre-
monition of the fraudulent counting in
North Carolina and Pennsylvania
which was to decide the issue of the
election, thought that DR.. Greeley
was certain to go in, and therefore
went around as usual in postal cars at
the expense of his countrymen, talking
| politics. only he talked Greeley in
stead of Grant. OF course this leaked
out, and the consequence was that his
prerogative from the Government
was suddenly cut of, and that without
remedy. After this the Rev. J. Sella
wandered around aimlessly fora while
and was reduced to the dire necessity
| Of earning livelihood as o preacher
of the Gospel. This was a terrible fall
for a colored man who had had the
privilege of sleeping of nights in the
hottest of weather in a close mail car,
litwith kerosene, in happy unconscious


ness Of the remarks his presence caus.
ed from the subordinate white route
agents, who worked hard while he
slept on superior salary. For long
time we had head nothing of the Rev


J. Sella Martin, except that he had
gone South and distinguished himself


as a revival preacher, a renewed con.


vert to the Administration party


and an advocate of the third term.


His professions were received will


favor. Kellogg appointed him t,


a lucrative Office, and everythin,


seemed favorable for the gentle


man, when, alas! the Louisiana Senat


refused to confirm his appointment


The consequence will be at once anti


pa,ec thp nec,'IIarit;es n Of T ,bs easa Mart;r ;r


sent challenge to the Senator main
ly responsible fol his rejection, ant
that not being accepted he descended
|. to something unworthy of his CLOTH
We are sorry to say that the Rev. ]


Sella Martin engaged in rough ant


tumble fight, but we must confess it


We are glad to know that he whipp'


his man -SMn.