smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1875

Crabapple's boy had read that touch
ing Thanksgiving story about the chap
who ran away from home when a boy
and went to sea and was not heard of
for years and years and how every
Thanksgiving day the mother sat q
plate for the wanderer, and kept seat
for him at the table, and how the gray
haired sire, when he offered blessing,
prayed for his Wayward son-prsyed
that he might return in safely 10 the
paternal roof.


And then one Thanksgiving day, when
they had abont given him mp for dead.
although the plate and vacant chair told
the story of a mothers undying hopes,
just as the family had sat down to the
Thanksgiving dinner, there came a ran
at The door. Come in :" cried the
sire, and in bounded the boy in a sailor
Jacket and a tarpaulin bat Just home
from 3 wishing voyage Such rejoicing
as theEe was IN that house. How his
father shook both his hands, and how
his mother Hept over him and embraced
him, and how all the brothers and sis
ters, aants and cousins hung around
his neck and tugged at his sailor jacket.


It was worth Drawing the dangers Of
the sea TO meet with such q welcome on
his retu-n. He sat Lt the feast IN the
chair that q mothers deafhiess love,
and hope, and recollection had always
placed for him, and never was there q
happier Thankse wing since that cher
ishsd anniversary was invented


Crabapple's boy wept over that story
every time be read it, and he got to
wondering whether such a fuss would
be made over him should he run away
from home and then turn mp again
some THANKSGIVING day.


He thought about Il so much that he
finally determined TO test the business,
anyhow. He would see how the people
wonld act when he played the prodi
gals return, So ebout week from
Year: 1875

We ell converse-or, IN other words,
tax with each other-unless forbidden
by unkindly nature, as in the case of
deaf mutes, or compelled by arbitrary
force to maintain a silence we abhor.
We occasionally read of people who, IN
a fit of caprice, resolve never to bestow
upoR their fellow creatures the benefit
OF their discourse. But such, people
may be called phenomenal. Men and
women may be taciturD, Just IS men
and women may be loquacious, but
voluntary silence is never to be expected
OF any human being possessed of the
ordinary desire to secure information
supposed to be locked up In the bosom
of another, Of any one gifted with a
common anxiety to impsrt information
to others. Tons ues were made for vocal
purposes, and humanity is apt to regard
them, in its own case, as made for
speech. Whether the inferior orders of
creation entertain each other with con
versaiion or lot is a question we leave
to scholastic disputants; but that no
two of the human family will long re-
main silent if placed within sight and
hearing of each other, is an accepted
fact. IF they can think, as strangers,
of no other coDgenial point of interest,
they will dilate upon the weather, and
the way TO mutual discourse thus opened
upon neutral ground, the path to so-
c1ablltty becomes one of facility.


But, after all, mere speech is not con
Versation in the stricter sense, and of
those with whom We talk every day,
how few really converse well-how few
Of them so interest us with their con-
versation that we listen to what thev
utter with qualification, aud IN their
absence long to listen to them again.
Is conversation, then, an art? Speech
we know TO be q natural gift but is
conversation itself-the kind of conver-
satiOn that first wins and then fasci-
mates our attention. gift only ac.
quired by tuition and experience d? The
French think SO, we presume, for we'll
known professor in Paris adVertises to
give lessons in the art of converse
ton ;" and If professors teach ladies, in
youth, how to walk gracefully, why not
how to talk ia the same manner? For,
although everybody walks and talks,
not more than one in a hundred
do either, without instruction, in q
manner calculated TO earn an honest
compliment. The art of conversation
is realized as such In a moment by a
person unsccustomed to society, if sud
denly introduced to a gathering of in
tellect. However fluent in speech ard
selfp0ssessed in manner upon ordinsYy
occasions, even the boldest feel dis
mayed upon entering a sphere pervaded
by an atmosphere of mental culture.
They are at once conscious of their in
ability to rise to the level of their sur
roundings. They have language, and
they may have assurance, but they lack
the buoyancy inspired by familiarity
with the art of conversation-justa as the
untaught founderer in deep water sinks
becauee, with hands aud feet like his
neighbor, he lacks knowledge of the
art of swimming.
Year: 1875

Thanksgiving he ran away from home.
He didn't go TO sea, because the ses
was too far OF. and he couldn't make
much of voyage IN a week anyhow,
He got a Job IN = lanyard, grinding
bark, which answered ail the purposes,
for he coald imegine his g bark was on
the sea-" as he fade the old horse
around the circle. He called the mill
the world, and imagined himself sailing
around the world ct every revolution.


With a beating heart he approached
the paiernal mansion He locked in at
the window and saw the folks Just sit
ting down to the Thanksgiving supper.


A chill OF disappointment crept over
him as be saw there was no vacant chair
and there wasn't an Idle plate on the
table. He listened at the door as the
blessing was asked, but although several
prophets were h0nored with fietterinz
notice, his name wasn't mentioned.
This was little hard on the boz Who
had ran away from home and WIS liable
TO turn mp on that or any succeeding
Tbankselving day.


Recolleetions OF him didn't seem TO
cluster around the henrthstone to any
very great extent.


Repressing G chilling foreboding that
arose IN his breast. he flUng open the
door, rushed into their midst and ex-
claimed-'' Gather I mother 'tis I.
Sammy Crabapple home again homel
home I" and then threw himself on his
fathers breast, sobbing eonvulsiyelY.


What did that father do Did he hug
him and sob tears over him, and call
him his long I" lost bo-bo-boy p Not
much. He took him by the collar, led
him into the wood shed and worked
over him more thai an hour with bar
Fel.stave, his brothers and sisters dane
ing around on the back stoop ia an
ecstsoy of delight, while his mother
screamed, sThst's tight, Ambus give
it TO him Learn him bstter'n to ran
away from home again I"


Then he was sent to bed without any
Thanksgiving supper at all, and threat
ened with being deprived of both Christ
mas and New Years dinners.
Year: 1875

Despite all the croaking about hard
times, says a correspondent, New York
is very gorgeous this winter. The
turnouts on the avenue and in the park
are as brilliant as ever, and even more
so. Sales of extravagantly costly furni-
ture are as frequent as ever, and the
great jewellers and expensive dress peo-
pie are doing more than their usual
business. The fact is, the gociety
woman in New York refuses to recog-
nize the existence of hard times. She
considers it the duty of the man who
undertakes the contract of supporting
her to furnish her with what she wants
Just as freely one year as another. If
the poor fellow pleads embarrassment
and bad business. she answers, "What
is that to me? I know nothing about
your horrid stocks. I do know that
want that diamond necklace, and viii
have it" And she generally gets it,
for several reasons. A man always
stands IN awe of very handsome and
very fashionable woman, and besides a
great many New Workers have discov-
cred hat 1t is very good thing to have
$50 900 or 100000 diamonds an
such things, which belong to his wife,
to fall back upon. This is the secret of
very much of the extravaganza that is
seen in the public places of the city.
The poor feel the hard times, and those
supposed to be rich may also, but the
| latter don't show it if they do. The
| theatres are filed nightly; the parties


were never more brilliant or expensive.
| OF course smashes without number will


occur bat they are having a good time


while they can. This is the very center
/ of Vanity Fair.
Year: 1875

j" What No scandal about our good Queen
Elizabeth horef'- Told Plsy.


Every age has its vices, but ours has
more than its share. Il has all of its
own and nearly all of those ages that
have preceded it. One of the worst Of
these is the fundness for gossip and
scandal--a fOndness which is being
illustrated, we are sorry to say, 10 our
own city, and at this moment Is almost
assuming the form OF IN epidemic.
Neither court nor cottage can escape the
viper calumuy. Tt creeps in the palaces
of the kings, finds access to the hum
bic home of the peasant f; and often
nesiies its Shiny head IN the bosom of
Innocence and love. But few months
ago there was an indecent and cruel
story going the rounds of the American
papsTs, and reproduced In certain dis
reputable sheets of England, seriously
affecting the honor of the Duchess of
Edinburgh. The duchess had only
been married some six months, and one
newspaper said that an event OF some
interest to the royal couple was imme-
distely anticipated, which should have
followed more slowly and decorously,
in the ordinary course of nature and
another quoted with malicious zest the
words of Horatio TO Hamlet:


Indeed, my Lord, it followed hard upon.


The story was false, as subsequent
events proved, and yet, a scandal-loving
society had swallowed the entire calum.
ny without the preliminary preparation
Of greasing. There have also been
other scandals circulated, the victims
being in our own country aud selected
from some of the highest and most re.
spectacle walks of life. There are some
of the grossest in our own city.


We sadly need reform in this respect;
for the evil has gone TO an extreme OF
persecution and prescription which
rivals the atrocities of any other social
inquisition known to history. The
murder of a reputation Is worse than
the taking of life for what has a young
girl to hope for or live for when heI
character is stabbed at every turn by
subtle and invisible shafts cuDningly


fixed in her pathway and glimmering
with poison It is not necessary 10 say
this or that is so. There is language
known to the initiated scandal-mongel
which is far more fatal because less re.
sponsible, and because it affords the
broadest area for the play of the imaRi
nation of the malicious and evil-minded
Swift satirized the class with deserved
severity, saying, in one OF his bitter
epigrams, that they could


- read nod, shrug, look,
Far better than printed book;
Convey q libel in a frOwn,


And wink reputation down;


Or, by the tossing of a fan,


Describe the lady and the man
And another poet, who suffered by
the same brood of revilers, tells how
some hope things might rot turn out 81
they fear how some swear they car
not believe the half of what they hear
how some look perplexed, while other
look profound, and others pity viii
! sincere regret. It is this mendaeity o
hiuts that leaves the most ranking ant
\ incUrable wounds. Louisville COiLrie
/ Tq9fTanI
Year: 1875

The loss of memory during illness or
from some sudden shock has, no doubt,
been observed by every one; but some
curious phases of it not generally known
can be found in the books and journals
of physicians. A Scotch Highland wo-
man, long accustomed to use English
language, was placed under the care of
DIR. Macintosh at Edinburgh, during
an attack of apoplexy. She so far re-
covered as to look around her with an
appearance of intelliPe but the doc
tor could not make her understand a
word he said. At last it occurred to
him to have one of the attendants speak
to her in Gaelic, her long-unused native
tongue and to that she Immediately
and readily responded. When she re-
covered her health more perfectly, her
English came back to her. DR.. Rush
mentions the case of an Italian gentle
man, who died of yellow fever in New
York, and who underwent, during the
malady, a series of mental changes.


During the first part of his illness he
spoke English, which had for some time
been his familiar language in that coun-
try during the middle period English


was driven from his mind by French,


which he had learned earlier and on


the day of his death he spoke only his
native Italian. Abernethy, the great
surgeon, told similar story of a man


whom he attended, who was born in


France, but had spent the greater part


of his life in England, and had for many


years lost the habit of speaking French.
| An injury to his head brought him un-
der the care OF Abernethy, who OBJ
| served that during his illness the man
spoke only French, going back to his
| English as he recovered. We all know
how, to the very old and the dying, the
/ language of their childhood comes again
and the old scenes rise before the dying
eyes like pictures, 50 that from the re


covery of childish peace they go Ou


across the tide to the unknown, new life


beyond.
Year: 1875

The pencil marks ycu see around this
paragraph (thusl mean that your sub
scriptiOp Is cut or unpaid, and tina,
you are requested to pay up at once
We would take great pleasure in extend
ing credit to our friends and patrons
but cash alone win pay expenses, and
We are forced 10 adhere to a strict casl,
rule We hope you viii comprehend
and appreciate the necessity Of such q
course. and renew your subscription
without delay. We solicit your favor.


81 We enter no new names on our
books without $he money IN sd~l' ce
Year: 1875

An Iowa lady concludes an anti-suf-
frage lecture as follows You may
look Rt this matter in whatever light
You like, but simmer it down and 1t Is
but a quarrel with the Almighty thst
we are not all men"
Year: 1875

A GIRL was smothered to death while
on sleigh ride near Bangor, Me-, on
one of the recent intensely cold nights


A party of young people were out on a
frolic, filling a long sleigh. This glrI
grew very cold, and to keep her WtrI
her sweetheart wrapped her closely In a
huge blanket. covering her head and
face. Too drowsy and benumbed to
stir. she suffocated without her com
panions being aware that she was dying.
Year: 1875

The New YORK POLICE AND
STOLEN GooDs,-The New York
World publishes a table showing
the amount of property recovered
from the thieves in that city since
1850. The value of the stolen
property consisting chiefly of bonds,
jewelry and dry goods, amounts to
S63S934, and the value of the
property recovered by the police to
$2l ,59l. Goods to the value of
more than 100000 have therefore
been successfully divided by the
thieves, which is a reflection on the
efficiency of the New York police
Year: 1875

The trump card played by every locality
which invites immigration is sure to be its
climate. Whatever else it may lack, you
may depend on a heaIthful atmosphere and
comparative freedom from all known diseas-
es. In short, unless you plunge into the
widest eXcesses, you have good reason to
count on reaching a hundred years. If the
spot is in the northern region of Minnesota
you are grayely assured that the air is so dry
you experience no trouble from the cold land
even if your nose drops off. you will be con-
soled with the information that it is no fault
of the climate. If the spot is in the marshy
regions Of the South, you are entertained
with pleasing descriptions of the ocean
breezes which WOO you TO sweet repose. If
it is in the central States you are persuaded
how delightful it is to be midway be,ween
the extremes OF hot and cold Looking over
immigration circulars, home Biographies
and works published under State auspices,
we are tempted to wonder if there be any
spot in this favored land where the climate
is not simply perfect. In private lette,s,
hints crop out of rheumatism here, tevers
there, and killing cold or heat, rains or
drought elsewhere, but these furtive imputa-
tions rarely reach the public ear If a con-
gressional whitewashing committee had the
matter in hand they could not do better by
the climate in every square mile of this
great and glorious country. We have our


faults, but climatically we cannot be i'm
proyed.-PWs Itlegraph.
Year: 1875

"Will you not use your influence in trying
to deter large boys from contaminating the
minds of smaller boys2 Things which
should be told in a wholesome manner and
as solemn truths are distorted into vile shapes
and permanent injury is done to children's
minds, Would it not be better for the body
to be poisoned than the mind, that parents
might see the harm done, and thereby be en-
abled to use cures and antidotes? But | am
sorry to say that think the trouble lies
deeper than with the bigboys, have been
looking around aud am quite sure that it
does. A jury might acquit them with the
verdict, more sinned against than SHINING


1t is the men that am coming at, for just SO
long as they meet in groceries, ON street cor
ners and in shops, telling stories unfit fol
Year: 1875

the ears of mothers, sisters, wives and daugh-
ters just so long big boys will listen and
think it cunning to emulate the filthy exam
,ple. Is it not terrible thing to look into
young mans face and think of the impurities
his mind must be loaded with unless he has
strength to cast off the unclean thing and be
nobleman?"


No subject more vital in its bearing on the
morals of the young could have place in this
column, SAYS the New York Tribune, in reply
to the above letter. There are parents who
do not recognize among the duties they owe
their children that of instructing them with
respect to the origin of life. This is left
shrouded in impenetrable mystery, and all
manner of lies are told to the questions
which at very early age children will ask.
The mother leaves this matter for her daugh-
ter to be told about by any chance school
mate, who, with the few grains of truth she
may communicate, is more likely to SOW tares
that cannot be weeded out. The innocent
hearted learns from the rough companions
what his own father or mother should have
told him with perfect simplicity and ingen-
uousness, and learns great deal that they
would never have had him know. Truth is
sacred, truth is pure and never corrupts any
one. 1t is the vile admixture of falsehood
that contaminates. Every fact in human
physiology can be so communicated to pure
mind that its delicacy shall not be in the
least offended The time to make these
things known is when the desire to inquire
into them manifests itself, and the bestteach
er is the parent. As between husband and
| wife, so between parent and child there is
no place for shame. Where virtue reigns
shame cannot come.


A child thus taken into sacred intimacy
| with its parent will instinctively revolt from
whatever is vulgar and base and obscene.
At every period in the development of the
young life the parent should be before ev-
erybody else in preparing and fortifying his
son or daughter against the dangers which
| lie in his or her path. There is nothing that
so strongly binds child to virtue and honor
and chastity, as perfect and unrestrained in
| timacy between it and the father and moth
er. We are careful about the sewage of our
houses, about ventilatng them, and see to it
with diligence that every nook and corner
is kept neat and sweet. Let us carry the
same thing into character and open all the
doors and windows of the soul by total


frankness and transparent simplicity, that


the pure air and sunshine of heaven may
have access to them and keep them pure.


One word more If home is made so at


tractive that boys and men prefer it to the


corner groceries, an ounce of prevention


will be found better than many pounds of
| curp
Year: 1875

Young men should be deeply impressed
W ith the vast importance ofcberishlng those
principles, and of cul,ivating those habits
which will secure them tie confidence and
the esteem of the wise and The good.


A young man may be unfortunate, he may
be poor and penniless, but if he possess un-
bending integrity, and unwayering purpose
to do what is honest and just, he will have
friends and patrons, whatever may be the
embarassments and exigencies into which he
is thrown. The young may thus possess a
capital of which none ofthe mislortunes and
calamities of life can deprive them.
We have known men who have suddenly
been reduced from atlluence to penury by
some overwhelming misfortune, which they
could neither foresee nor prevent. To-day
they were prosperous, tomorrow, every
earthly prospect was blighted, and every
thing in their future aspect of life was dark
and dismal. Their business was gone, their
prosperity gone; but they have rich treas
ure that nothing can ,ake away, They have
integrity of character, and this gives them
1


influence, furnishes them with pecuniary
aid, with which TO commence life once more
under auspicious circumstances,


We cannot too strongly impress upon oul
young men the importance of abstaining
tIom everything which shocks their mora
sensibilties, wounds their cOnsciences, anc
has a tendency 10 weaken that nice sense o
honor and integrity so indispensable to {
good character. Integrity of character!
Who ever possessed it, that did not deriy
untold advantage from it2 1t is better thai
riches, it is of more value than diamond
and all precious stones;" and yet every maj
may possess it, The poorest may have il
and no power on earth can wrest it fror
them, Young men, prize integrity ofchal
acter above all other earthly gifts,
Year: 1875

BE fearful only of thyself and stand in
aweof nonemore than thine own conscience.
There is Cato in every man; a severe CEN
sor in his manners, and he who reyerences
this judge will seldom do anything he need
repent of.
Year: 1875

For driving fruit and vegetables in
considerable quantities, says the An1ert-
ran AdricuIt1friSt, a regular dryer, or
drvino-house is necessary, but thoie
who have no REGULAR apparatus can dry
quite large supply by using the heat
from the stove when that is moi other
wise occupied En- open oven, or the
warm closet with which the better stoves
are furnished, may be turned TO good
account, and by the use OF a frame the
drying capacity of stove may be grca. :
" increased. The size of the frame viii
be governed by that of the stove, per-
baps about four feet square will meet
most cases; it should be OF ID inch
stuff: the LEGS four feet long, or suf-
licient to lift the frame we'll above the
stove. and so arranged that they may
be folded up and put away when out OF
use. The frame may be covered by
stretching common wool tWfue from
side to side 10 make network to hold
;be fruit, but it is much better TO cover
tbe bottom of the frame with a piece OF
wire cloth, which may be had at most
hardware stores. The capacity OF the
DIVER may be increased by suspending
second and smaller frame below the
first. The fruit or other material TO be
dried should be so far above the stove,
or the fire should be so low, that there
is no danger of cooking or scorching;
With a very slight fire the drying will
90 on with surprising rapidity. Fruit
| dried by artificial heat is much better
than when dried by the sun, as there Is
no risk of partial fermentation, and II
is kept out of the way of flies and Other
| insects.