smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1873

1t IS a serious drawback to the success
OF many farmer, that he is always un-
certain in his calculations for the future.
lie thinks some of selling out, and NOV
ing west or south, or somewhere else, or
he may let his farm and do something else
for a living for few years, till he can
make little more money to farm with, or
he may give up the business entirely, and
go into trade or manufacturing All such
feelings of uncertainty make him careless
and negligent of the duties of the present.
He does not drain his wet land, clear off
the rocks from his mowings, set out trees,
or build or repair, because he may not
stay here. So many people live along
from year to year, in half hesitating, halt
60 ahead manner, using up the best period
OF their lives in doubling if they shall al
ways remain where they are or continue
in their present business.


Mr. Harris, in the American Agricultur-
ist, hits the nail on the head in the follow
ing, from "Walks and Talks -


The kind of farming which | advocate.
and which l am endeayoring to practice,
is applicable anywhere and everywhere
| want to drain all land that needs drain
ing-at least, all land that is under cult
vatlon. l want to cultivate the land
thoroughly. want to get the weeds un-
der control. l want to allow no weeds to
go to seed; and | want to cause the weed
seeds already in the ground to germinate,
and then | want to kill the Young plants.
Then, too, want to make good manure,
and good deal Of it. The richer it is,
and the larger the pile the better it would
please me-


This is my agricultural platform. Here
l stand; and am willing to argue the
questions involved with the high farmers
ON the one hand, and the negligent, weed
growing farmers on the other The Dea-
con does not like my position. He wants
to raise side issues. He wants to talk
about high wages and low prices; about
cold winters and dry summers. He wants
to discuss the general unprofitableness of
agriculture. Except for amusement. I do
not argue this question with him. He and
are both farmers, and we mean to con-
tlnue to be farmers. That is settled to
start with. 1t is no use arguing whether
l could make more money as lawyer, or
whether he could do more good as min
lister than he can as deacon. He and l
are both too old to change our vocations.
Farmers we are and farmers we shall con-
tnue to be. and the question for as to con-
slider is which is the best kind of
farming for us to adopt Shall we
plough and SOW and tdke our chance of
getting fair crop one year in five when
everything is favorable, with a moral cer-
tainty of half crops Of grain and full crops
of weeds in unfavorable season.


The Deacon lodged this question. He
knows that his system is not profitable
He is too intelligent man to believe
anything else. But still he does not
change. He keeps hoping for favorable
seasons. He is not willing to spend the
necessary labor to clean his land. He
keeps trying some method of holding the
weeds in check rather than of killing them
outright If he was poor, and could not
afford to wait. there would be some ex-
cuse for him.
Year: 1873

A SUGGESTION FOR PEACE.-It is related
that on New York Central Railroad train re-
Gently two old ladies sat on adjoining seats in
one Of the cars; one declared if the conduc-
tor opened the window she would die. and the
other protested against it being closed. for she
would certainly smother to death. The con-
ductor was in doubt when venerable gentle
man exclaimed, ''Open the window and kill
one of them, and then close it and kill the O.
ther, and then we shall have peace.
Year: 1873

Fl. A. WISE AGAIN.-In recent letter to a
friend in Washington this old renegade after
stating that he had publicly announced he
would not accept a nomination for Governor
from either the Conservative or Republican
Convention, he goes on to say:


''If either prefers my platform of princi pies
they can so declare. but it would be consistent
with neither my principles nor their policy to
nominate me at all if they desire my election
and prefer my platform. To. accept nomina-
ton by the Republican Convention would
make me its candidate and array against me
the Conservatives.


my aim is to extract the best personnel from
both organizations; to make peace between
the colored and the Caucasian races among
us; to bring the administration to strong
grounds on which all pure, patriotic and inde-
pendent men can stand, as set forth in my let.
ter; and to support the President in promo
ting the peace and prosperity of the Southern
people and the national welfare. If either
Convention, therefore, will abstain altogether
from a nomination | will defeat the nominees
of the other"


The President having been informed of the
contents of the above letter is represented as
being satisfied that Gen. Wise is now one o.
his supporters 1t is also claimed that Wise
will support in the canvass the nominee of the
Republican Convention.
Year: 1873

Destruction OF the Fourteenth Ward


Bell Tower-Narrow Escape Of the Bell


Ringer.


The Fourteenth ward bell tower, Williamsburg,
was consumed by fire yesterday afternoon and
William Irwin the bellrnger on duty at the time,
narrowly escaped horrible death.


Shortly before two O'Clock pun of smoke was
issuing from the base of the tower, which was
situated at the immediate rear OF The Fourth
street station house, and moment afterward o
volume Of name ascended. Those who saw the
fiery outburst were horriied to behold on the apex
OF the tower the terrified and imperilled bell.
ringer, Mr.: Irwin. He suddenly disappeared from


names had reached 'has h and T THAT al he 'has psrse es
at at his post; so,r Fortunately .lor lor him there
an from e Spe Of that naS been
years, and on this he risked his lie in making a
descent; descent i! Irwin Is man welghing over two
below looked on in trembling anxiety. When
about forty feet above terra frma q treacherous
would have undoubtedly succeeded but for the
presence OF mind exhibited by Officer Edward
ascertalned. Seeing his perilOus condition, they
took hold OF the END OF the rope that was lying on
the ground and pulled it so lar away from the
bravely reached terra ilrma. Twins hands were
terribly iacerated by the rope, TO which he cung
so tenaclously; but beyond that he sustained no
injuries. An hour alterward lie entirely recovered
rom the shock, and only gave expression to grief
at the loss OIL his valuable gold watch and chain,
coat, vest and sum OF money in the pockets of The
hurriedly abandoned garments.


The station house and the armory of the Forty
seventh regiment were IN peril during the fire. and
Captain Wo2lom removed the only prisoner in his
custody at the time to safer quarters and then
turned his attention 70 the fire. His command in
the station house at the time made preparations
Tor an emergency by placing everything portable
in position for immediate removal The prompt
action OF the police during the excitement showed
their efficient discipline.


Tue tower was s. leet in height, and was erected
IN 1863 at a cost OF $4,000. Hose valued at $1125
was also destroyed. as also quantity OF oasum
ana loose nay. The origin OF the fire Is not known,
but, as 1t broke out under the tower, where Chief
J. w. Smith stabbed his horse, IL Is probable that
the hay and oakum became accidentally ignited.


Tie armory OF the Forty-seventh was damaged
by water to the amount of $500 and the lodgers'
department OF the station house was rendered un-
tenantable.


The skeleton OF the tower with its enormous bell
still hanging, l0omed up grimly last night, but 1t
was believed to be likely to fall at any moment.
Year: 1873

An eccentric old gentleman named Patrick
O'Brien, residing at. West End, N. j., and the
proprietor Of much estate, both personal and real


persuaded police officer on Tuesday evening that
there was hidden treasure beneath the ground
near his house, and that he had made sundry at
tempts to uncover the same but was prevented
from SO doing by his wife. The policeman accom-.
panied the old man to the spot, whereupon
the latter set vigorously to work with spade
and shovel The manner In which he
Tor nothing he was delving with such vim. In q
short time he struck two old broken bottles, last
ened together, which he pulled forth. There was a
glove in the bottles and In the glove $500 in gold,
which O'Bren buried there twenty years ago. The
old gentleman then extended hospitable invita-
ton to his surrounding neighbors TO go and enjoy
pleasing to hts wife, and so the money was lodged
In bank. The wife evidently believed that the
treasure always lay where IL did the most good,
Year: 1873

Edward Cooper ofvan Brunt street, asked Judge
Nelson OF the City Court tor the possession Of his
infant niece, Ann Cooper, aged twenty.one months.
The mother is dead and the father Is away In Ire.
land. The petitioner states that the child was
given into his care and custody by the father but
that she was Kidnapped by sister OF the dead
Mrs. Clinton says that the child was given to her
to care for and educate The case will be heard to.
day.
Year: 1873

A report has been received in San
Francisco, from a French expedition
now on its way to the North Pole. From
this report it appears that the voyage
to the pole is as pleasant and easy as a
summer trip up the Hudson. The ex-
pedition passed through Behring's
Straits, and following the course of the
warm current of the Kuro silva, found
itself floating on the bosom of broad
river walled in by pleasant hills and oc-
casiOnaI precipices. All along the shore,
quantities of frozen mammoths were
found, which, having been dead only a
few thousand years, were so nicely pre-
served in ice that the crew of the expe-
dition lived entirely upon mammoth
meats, boiled, roasted, and baked.
When the report was sent (by a friend
lY whaling ship the expedition had
gone into Winter quarters, though why
it had not continued its voyage until the
pole had been reached does not appear.
Certainly there could have been no diff
ficulty in proceeding on its course, for
the polar river was free from ice, and
the frozen mammoths were waiting for
the table. Perhaps the crew grew tired
of an exclusive diet of mammoths, and
decided to wait until a new supply OF
pork and beef could be brought from
civilized regions.
Year: 1873

Our girls want more outdoor life, and
less reading novels and embroidering in
rooms darkened with green blinds. If
there is any one thing more beautiful
than another in a garden of flowers,
that thing is a beautiful girl, with sun
bonnet on her head so wide and capa-
cious that you have to get right square
before her, to see the glowing cheeks
that are sure to be there if she is accus-
toned at all to garden walks and works.
Physically, there can be nothing better
for daughters, and, indeed, for many
wives, than to take sole charge of a
small flower garden. The benefits de-
rived from early rising, stirring the soil,
snuffing the pure mountain air, are
freshness and glow of cheek and bright
ness of eye, cheerfulness of temper, Wig
or of mind and purity of heart. Conse-
quently she must be more cheerful and
lovely as a daughter, more dignified and
wOmanly as a sister, and more attractive
and confiding as a wife If you have
not the door-yard ground, then get a
pot and plant the seeds of flowers to
your taste. The care and attention re-
quired to rear and train the growing
plants, occupies the mind to the exclu-
sion oftentimes of senseless novel read
ing, a senseless waste of time. You list
less, pale-faced, fragile thing of a girl,
throw off your mock delicacy, put on


rI1-oe ;f ,,,,7, I-;I1 1,,,+ work n, tho Il Ho11-
er garden until your cheeks vie in color
with the blush of the rose which you
cultivate
Year: 1873

not a paradox The new plan is i'm
ported from England.


A JEALOUS husband at Canaan, New
Hampshire, placed beam in his attic,
provided with a bag of crackers, a jug
of frozen water and an ak, waiting for
the supposed destroyer of his happi-
ness. His wife on the second day called
in the suspected person, who was pass
ing the house, to help her discover the
cause of the noises she heard. The
husband, when discovered in his retreat,
playfully threw the axe at the heads of
the pair, but unfortunately missed his
aim.


A CHICAGO man had read somewhere
how to tell the time by cats eyes. So
he traded off French clock, belonging
to his wife, for a gallon of whisky and a
Thomas cat of the large, gray, expec-
tOring, swelI-tailed kind. The first time
he tried to discover the hour of the
day he was surprised to see the cat
claw him in the nose, scratch every bit
of starch out of his shirt-bosom, and go
through an So pane of glass. But he
had rather face a feline chronometer
than his wife any day.


THERE is nice little bit of romance
of the good old-fashioned kind just
come to hand. Miss Matilda Philips,
sister of Adelaide, has lately rescued a
young man from drowning at Genoa
It seems to have been a very brave
deed, and in writing to her sister she
says g We are great friends ever since,
and he can scarcely do enough for me.
I have had beautiful letters from his
mother and sisters, and feel so happy
to have done something to bring so
much happiness to any one" She
speaks of the grateful youth familiarly
as Walter, and the consequences are
/ evident
Year: 1873

The best mode of resting when ia
tigued depends upon the cause of the
fatigue, and the condition of the person
at the time. There is one thing, how
ever, which will always rest a tired per
son, and that is a sponge or towel bath
over the entire surface of the body, fol-
lowed by thorough rubbing and fric-
ton of the surface. OF course the tenn
perature of the water and the vigor and
amount of rubbing must be graduated
to the strength of the person. When
the fatigue is mental, arising from over
exertion of the brain, the muscles should
be called into action, as by walking,
horseback riding, rowing, playing ball,
pitching quoits, gymnastics, etc. Gen
eraI muscular fatigue is quickly reliev-
ed by lying on the face and having some
one rub and percuss the back vigorous
Iy. Also, but less readily, by lying fiat
upon the back upon a hard couch OF
bed, or upon the floor, with the hands
back or under the head, but the head
not otherwise raised, and taking full
deep breaths. Local muscular fatigue
may be relieved by rubbing and percus
sing the part, or by changing the posi-
ton and bringing other parts of the
body into action.
Year: 1873

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surIy, sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fed
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
o, if, say, you look upon this verse
When I, perhaps, compounded am with clay,
Do not so much my name rehearse,
But let your love even with my life decay
Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
And mock you with me, after I am gone.


iShdEsDedre.
Year: 1873

In letter from the Galapagos Islands
the writer remarks the wonderful tame
ness of the wild creatures that have
hitherto been unmolested. The seals,
he says, seemed to be fond of crawling
under bushes, just above high-water
mark, and sleeping two or three in more
place. Under one bush lay q mother
and her cubs, and so fearless was the
old one, that when one of the officers
held a piece of cracker to her nose she
smeIled at it as fearlessly as if she had
been a pet dog. The taIneness of many
Of the birds was also surprising, for the
fingers might be put within half an
inch of little yellow-birds, and within
six inches Of mocking- birds.
Year: 1873

PERSONS having occasion to drive in
the dark viii find the advantage of Sc
curing a lantern beneath the body of
the carriage, and not inside, as is gener-
ally the case The light Is thus thrown
several feet IN front of the horse, and
the usual nervous, uncertain step of the
animal Is at once checked.
Year: 1873

A COUNTRY merchant, having pro-
cured a new clerk, walked him mp IN the
morning after he was hired, at most
unreasonable early hour, by calling out
that the family was sitting down to the
table. ''Thank you, " said the boy as
he turned over IN the bed to adjust
himself for a new nap Thank you
but I never allow myself to eat any
thing during the night.
Year: 1873

Nature appears to have gifted him
with the melancholy talent of perceiv-
ing the wrong that he himself did, and
of generalizing the tortures which he
among the naked trees, a man without
a monument as he never created any IN
stitution or public measure. Night he
arise and look around his country now,
it would seem to deserve less of his ter
rible excoriation forty years ago. ''POv-
Year: 1873

The Government Directors Of the
Union Pacific Railroad report that the
company are selling lands at 81 SO an
acre, subject to the subsequent per-
fec'lon of title thereto by the Govern
ment, Notwithstanding the prohibition
OF sale on account OF non-payment OF
interest on the subsidy bonds. IF this
statement is correct, the purchasers
buy at a risk of never receiving e5od
title, and probably under misappre-
hension of the real state Of affairs.


A New York dispatch announces
the suspension of Doland & Butrill,
glove dealers In Pearl street 1t was
also announced that the millinery goods
house of William FL. Carpenter had
suspended. The amount Involved is
believed to be about 10000.


The testimony of all the passengers
of the Vile da Havre who have spoken
on the subject has been to the effect
that the officers and crew Of the steam
er, after the collision, looked mainly
to their own safety, showing an utter
disregard for the welfare Of the passen7
gers. Officers Of the Transatlantic
Company In Paris, to which line the
ill-fated vessel belonged. state in their
report that, SO far as their investigation
has gone, the conduct of the ships
company is shown to have been most
commendable that they did everything
in their power to save life, and that all
the officers and crew remained upon
the steamer till she went down They
also lay the whole blame Of the colli-
sion upon the officers of the Loeb Earn-
Year: 1873

SIcKAEs.-General Sickles, after
having behaven as badly in respons-
ible position as any man could we'll do,
and after having done his best to en-
broil his Government in war, has re-
solved to return home. We confess
that We are heartily glad the public
service is rid of him, and we earnestly
trust that we have now heard the last
Of him, or, at least, that he will not
be chosen again to represent the Amerl-
can people, or any section of them, IN
any capacity whatever. We may now
state that the recent negotiations with
Spain were carried on without reference
to Sickles in any way-his own BAD
Judgment and worse temper having
rendered it impossible for the Spanish
Minister to hold any intercourse VITA
him at very early day. We may al
most be thankful for this Virglnlus
affair ifit has been the means Of dig
glng a grave for Sickles.
Year: 1873

relations and sympathy with the
world i'm which he lives.


Instead of q single term of instruc-
ton in Chemistry, consisting of a
course of dry lectures, illustrated by a
few experiments, l would have at
least year with actual experiments,
performed by the student himself in
the labratory.


Instead of cleaning a meagre
knowledge of literature by spelling out
few pages of the ancient classics. in
the orr ginal, l would open to him the
richest treasures of Ancient and
Modern Literature in his moth
er tongue, with knowledge of
the classics of his owO tongue
together with those of the German
and the French, it is hardly probable
that many of his ideas would perish
for want of suitable garments to clothe
them in. Considering the pre-emi-
nent value of science to our modern
civilization it seems passing strange,
and almost unaccOuntable that 1t
should fill so subordinate place in
what Is called a liberal education.


Take away all knowledge of the
physical sciences, and you would des-
troy one of the main pillars upon
which our modern civilization rests.


Take away all knowledge of physical
science and Lord MacCaulay's figur-
ative New Zealander, standing on u
broken arch of the London bridge,
moralizing over the ruins of that great
city, would become an actuality in less
than half century. The only blem-
ish to the truthfulness of the figure,
would be in finding means to trans
port the savage to the scenes of his
moral cOgitations.


Take away all knowledge of ply
steal science, if possible, and you
would start every enlightened nation
on the down grade to barbarism. :.


Leave science, but take away all
knowledge of the language of Greece
and Rome, and still literature could
utter her thoughts, commerce expand
her sails, agriculture push her plow,
art ply her pencil, poetry weave her
images, andreligion breathe her pray
ers to God.
Year: 1873

The Pacific Extension Bill past the Texas Senate as it came from the House, giving 20 sections of land to the mile, and permitting reservation as we'll as an exten- sion of time for construction. The extension of time will hardly be used to delay the building of the road. The low water in the Red river has prevented the delivery of material at the base of the road, and the extension was asked for manly because a cer- tain amount of delay had been caused. by this condition, and be- cause the company could not af- ford to have it's iron shipped by way of Galveston and the Central Railroad.

 The road will be pushed on with great rapidity, and in three years from now the iron horse will be speeding it's way across the plains of Texas, from ocean to ocean, and freight and passengers from the Pacific to the Atlantic will be reduced to almost a nomi- nal sum. A barrier, too, will then be placed between our frontier and the marauding bands of In- dians who now shed the blood and carry off the property of our defenceless citizens. Austin Iec. Statesman.
Year: 1873

THE APACHE SITUATION-Gen. Crooks fighting force in Arizona was weakened by the withdrawal of five companies of cavalry, which were sent to operate against the ModOcs. Now that the Modoc war is over, it is presumed the Government will send these or an equal number of troops, back to Gen. Crook. It is ascertained that the Apaches are not by any means subdued, as was at first re- ported. A rowing portion of the tribe still continue to depredate upon the lives and property of the settlers, and it is feared that some of the reservation indians may again take to the mountains, when they shall have discovered that there are not enough troops in the Territory to keep them in check.-S. 4. CaW.