smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1875

A gentleman tells the following story
to illustrate the fact that drinking liquor,
in however small quantities, makes men
reckless: A proposition was made to
embark in q business enterprise, and I
agreed to meet the gentlemen interest
ed on the next Saturday evening.


According to appointment went, and
found the party assembling in private
parlor. There were four present beside
myself. The business was opened by
the gentleman who had waited upon me,
and the plan of proposed operations set
forth. It was q novel thing, and no one
seemed inclined to go ahead. All were
anxious to make money, but they didn't
want to run any great risks. In short,
they handled the subject warily-very
much as boy handles freshly caught
swapping turtle.


By-and-bye saw two of the gentle
men whispering together, and pretty
soon one of them went out. When he
returned he was followed by O servant
who brought bottles and glasses, which
were placed upon side table. The
gentleman hoped had no objection.
I told him, not the least. They must ex-
cuse me, that was all.


Three of the party indulged. One
Kept me company In abstalnlng. After
the first social glass the bibulous trio
lighted cigars and talked of various mat
ters. By-and-bye they took n second
drink; and very soon after this they
were ready for business. One more
drink-just drop-and the subject of
the speculating scheme was again
brought forward.


Prestol Those three men, only q
little while ago. SO timid and careful,
had become very heroes of business dar-
ing. Risk2 Pshawl Who cared for
risk ? Was ever great game won with
out risk9 They were ready to venture
any amount, and anxious to go ahead.


came away, leaving them making
the golden figures bigger and bigger;
and from that time I have heard no
more of the proposed venture. Honestly
and candidly, I believe that those two
OF three glasses of liquor upset what
might have proved profitable piece of
business. But, whether that be so or
not, certain it is, that it required only
those three social drinks to ,mpletely
demoralize the business forces Of three
good business men.
Year: 1875

The Llvus Insured by the Society are carefully
selected In different parts of North America and
Europe, furnishing, by this broad field of opera.
tons, an additional and exceptional safety to the
Policy holders. The assurances are made only on
the Mutual Principle. The Surplus Premiums are
returned annually to the Insured
Year: 1875

Tho State Board of Equalization is Just
now worried upon question which perhaps
never seriously agitated any other Board or
body Of intelligent men. It is whether in
assessing the value OF tho rond.bed Of rail-
way the cost Of grading should DO counted as
constituting part Of tha taxable property !!
That Is 10 say, whom road.bed Is
laid on route requiring heavy OF.
cavation, or through rock, or deep
filing, should the cost and loss Of this
extraordinary work be added to tho taxahls
value Of tho rond.bea! Tho State Auditor
has given his opinion that 1t should rot
be. The Attorney General has not been
heard from, but the anti-n,onopoliats Of the
State Board furiously assort their purpose Of
including the cost aud loss OF construction In
the taxable value Of tho road-bed In an un-
guarded or ironlcal moment the Supreme
Court used language intinating that tho
State Boarl was court unto itself, and the
members have ever since felt that it WAS no
use to be court unloss they can lay down
some aba,rd low. Hence 1t Is proposed TINT
this nondeacript "court" set asids The act
OF the Legislature Of The Inst sassion, and
decide that the ya!ue Of half mile OF rail-
road.bed, cut through rock. Is Of necessity
equal to the cost OF constructing III
Year: 1875

Will tho Mayor, Corporation Counsel, City
Attorney, the Comptroller, or my other per-
son in office or out Of Office, explain why the
person holding tho Office Of City Assessor and
his deputies are now travelling the city
making m assessment for 1876? Tho city
lat for 1876 is to DO collected upon the State
valuation. Why, then, is the Assessor
making an assessment for city ta1ation for
1R1Sp
Year: 1875

considerable p1uck and moro foolishncss.
The only reasonable excuse for their conduct
is TINT they grew go frightfully weary Of tho
monotony Of lifc In St. Louis that they ro-
solved to create senaation or try to perish
in tho attempt
Year: 1875




increase of State tax, fourteen hundred
per cent. Diminution in the value of
real estate, one hundred per cent. Re-
duction in the price of our chief staple,
one-half. Average annual increase of
the public debt, five hundred and seven
ty-three thousand two hundred and four
teen dollars. Increase of public debt
from two hundred thousand dollars in
1870 to two millions, two hundred and
ninety-two thousand, six hundred and
forty-eight dollars in 1876.


During these years of rapid increase of
the public debt, there has been collected
from the people in State taxes not less
than six millions of dollars. The money
- zone. A State debt of more than two
millions, bearing heavy interest, has
been contracted. For all this there is
nothing of value to show. Some public
buil ildings have been repaired a code of
laws, which incompetent and dishonest
legislators have tinkered with until they
are mass of deformities, has been
adopted.


DID any people on earth ever have
greater cause of complaint than the tax
payers of Mississippi?
Year: 1875

Candidates for office are numerous
almost innumerable. State, county


and township aspirants offer them
selves in platOons and squadrons. The
people have an abundance of material,
such as it is, to choose from; but we
are not satisfied with the quality of
the material. 1t has not been first
class for years, and the careful observ-
er cannot but have noticed that it is


becoming more common year by year
that as the quantity increases, in
proportionate ratio so does the quality
decrease. This is not because there
are not as many good and able men
now as at any time during the exist
ence of our Republic, but it is because
they are reluctant to become candi-
dates for office. 1t is worth the while
of the people to consider this condi-
ton of affairs-this seeming political
anomaly and if possible ascertain its
cause and determine on the means for
its removal. To our mind, the cause
may be summed up in these words:
Except in the fewest of cases, no gen.
ttenaan can become q candidate for
public office, a0ithout losing, to q cer-
tain ertent, his sef-respect. This is
harsh thing to say of a country and
under a Government where public
servants are supposed to be chosen by
a direct vote of the people. But We
do not assert that the candidate is
humiliated by those whose votes elect
him to Office. Every candidate is not
a CoRIoLANUs who says of his con-
stituents: "You common cry of ours,
whose breath / hate as reek o. the


rotten fens; whose loves prize as the
dead carcases of unburied men,, nor
are the people responsible for the re-
TRACY of worthy and capable material
and the thrusting forward of the
common article. Party and party
mendacity; party power and party
prostitution, is the ghost that has
driven men Of pride and self-respect
from the political arena. To become
candidate for office nowadays is to
become the equal and associate of the
Ward politician and professed politi-
cal hummer; to draw upon your
head the personal attacks and to set
yourself up as the object of the false
and malicious charges of party organs.
You must be party to dishonorable
combinations and submit to the bar
gain and sale programmes for your
only hope of success is through pa
tient submission to the manipulations
of the principleless jugglers who stock
the cards with which the people sup
pose a fair game can be played. Hen
orable men are ash amed the company
they are forced into during the cam
paign; they are ashamed of the acts
Year: 1875

THE Sacramento. Board of Educa-
ton have admitted a Chinese child
into the public schools, and there is
hue and cry in consequence. Chinese
residents of California who pay taxes
have right to have their children
educated, and where there are not a
sufficient number of these Chinese
children to require the services of a
teacher it strikes us that to seat two
or three little Mongolians who may
seek the rudiments of an English edu-
cation at desks in the public school
room will not change the color nor
affect the morals of the white children.
Caste Is one of the hardest things in
the world to rub out, 1t never has
been and never will be destroyed.
Year: 1875

The Northern and middle portions
of the State were favored with rain
faii-iight in some places and heavy
in others--on the night of the 9th
ult. The telegraph reports that it
rained from Siskiyou to Tulare, With
the exception Of sprinkle not heavy
enough to lay the dust, we had none
of it, and though an inch or two
would be very acceptable just now,
we are without even those signs
which always fail in dry weather. In
Colusa county half an inch of water
fell, which will do the farmers great
good. In San Joaquin county and the
lower portion of San Joaquin valley
enough fell to cheer the breasts of the
farmers and revive the grain. In
many other places the shower was a
blessing. The San Francisco papers
say enough rain has fallen to be worth
millions to the farmers.
Year: 1875

THE Artesia land examiners report
very favorably of what they see down
there. A great many intended pur-
cbasers have visited the tract within
the past week and all without excep-
tion are well pleased with both soil
and locality. The great artesian we'll
constantly throwing forth volume of
water sufficient to flood four or five
hundred acres is an attraction and ex-
cites no small amount OF favorable
comment. The fact that the soil down
there is proof against drouth and will
produce excellent crops in all seasons,
gives it additional value in the esti-
nation of new comers from the East
who find it difficult to understand how
a country can be any account without
rain every month in the year. If they
farm in Artesia, they will see how it
is themselves.
Year: 1875

THE people of Minnesota are coming
to California in d body. They have
had four monthsef cold weather-such
cold weather as keepsthe thermometer
away below zero most of the time.
Snow everywhere and mountains of
snow elsewhere. They are frozen
through and through and are coming
to the land of blue, skies and endless
Summer to thaw out
Year: 1875

~ Happiness seems to be the envied OBJ
ject of almost every ones pursuit. Why do
we so eagerly pursue day after day, and year
after year, the glittering baublc of money ?
Merely because we suppose that the obtain
ing Of it will bring us happiness. Why do
we read, study and toll mentally? Because
we believe that the acquisition of knowledge
will bring, with its possession, the envied
angel. happiness. Why do we mngle in So
ciety, waste the hours of the night in the
dance room? Because we ina yinc that, in
society. and. in the dance, we shall find that
happiness for which our minds crave. Are
YOU not often disappointed. Do not your an
ticipations oftencr exceed than equal your re-
alization? Have you not labored hard all day
in the store, IN the counting room. in the law
Office, or at your trade or occupation, to make
money, only to return to your home. at night,
with heart full of discomfort? Have YOU
not often mingled in society, when smiles
CLEANED from your face. and jests bnbbled to
your lips and to the merry crowd that sur
rounded you. you seemed the happiest of be-
ings, and yet all this hlarity be assumcd' ?
Did not your smiles and Jests give the lie 10
every throbbing Of your troubled heart?
Were you not cnvious of those by whom you
were surrounded. who received more atten-
tion, or possessed more Of this worlds goods
than yourself? Then were you unhap'J, for
envy robs the heart OF every vcstige OF that
blessed heaven-gift. Are you human! Then
when you behold the huge sea of woe that


flows by you on every hand; when poverty
and want stares you in the face on every side:
when sorrow and distress meets you at every
step. you will be unhappy. Then what 10
happiness? and who are happy9 The act Of
doing everything In our power to fulfil the
commandments Ito love God with all our
heart, and our neighbor as ourself;" and the
person who does this will be happy. and not
otherwise. Man Is, naturally, inhuman, and
therefore incapable Of happiness
Year: 1875

We never shall become weary of tell
Ing our people that it is positively necessary
to the growth and prosperity Of our town
that we should support, and that to the extent
Of a livelihood. our manufactures. We must
build up this interest, in order that more la
borcrs and people may be required. We must
have an increase Of all kinds of business, and
that happy ultimatum only can be reached by
an enlarged population. and that only can be
hoped for through the medium of an expand
ded manufacturing businesses Of the town
Then, do not let us buy anything abroad that
we can have made or manufactured at home,
and we shall be happy.
Year: 1875

OF the peculiar formation Of the police
brigade. On the other hand, the republi-
cans assert that this is an armed body Of
volunteers. existing for the purpose of
intimidsting blacks and overthrowing the
Kellogg government That it had any
considerable relations outside OF the city
Of New Orleans, or that il was intended
in any way to interfere With the rights OF
colored citizens did not appear Nor on
the other hand did it appear that there
was any extensive secret league among
the blacks Of any kind. That the white
league would readily cooperate in any
feasible scheme for oyerthrOwing the
Kellogg government, your committee do
not doubt SO will, substantially, all the
white citizens OF Louisiana. Such or
ganizaton may be dangerous and are
very rarely to be justified. The affair of
the l4th of September is an illustration
of this.


"rhe committee give detailed ac-
count Of the trouble at that time, and say
the conservatives Of Louisiana SO not
propose to fight the federal government.
They submit not because they want to,
but because they must, not because they
proclaim any enmity against the flag, not
because free labor has not been found
practicable. not because Of any hostility
to the colored people because they are
colorcd-but because they regard them
selves as def auded out of the election of
1872, yet more out Of the last election,
and because they think their state gov
ernment has been, to the last degree, de-
structlve and corrupt Indeed, in our
Judgment. the substantial citizens of the
state will submit to any fair determination
of the question of the late election. or to
anything by which they can secure firm
and good government What they seek
is peace and opportunity for prosperity.
To that end they will support any form
Of government that will afford them just
protection in their distress. They have
got beyond any mere question of politi-
cal party


The committee rccites at length the
facts relative to the attempted organza-
ton Of the legislature January 4th, and
concludes as follows:


"Your committee have not been able
to agree upon any recommendation but
upon the situation in Louisiana, as it ap
peared before us. we are all agreed


The report is signed by Charles Foster,
William Walter Phelps and Clarkson n.
Potter .t.r
Year: 1875

sB- A young ~ man was seated at the tea
table, in certain family the other night. In
a few moments the dining-room door opened
and two young girls entered, one Of whom
was member Of the family. and the other a
guest. The visitor was taken around the Ia
Bile, and seated facing the youth" He sug-
gestcd that there was never pretty girl came
to the house to eat meal. but she was seated
in front Of him at the festal board The Wis
tied lassie replied. in "a stage-whisper, 1t IS
for the purpose OF exhibiting the contrast"
The youth has not been real well since
that niyht.
Year: 1875

The dread effects Of the disastrous drouth
Of the last year Is now being felt. Want and
destitution prevail to an alarming extent.
Within the limits Of our own town, there Is
much more suffering than the majority OF our
people are either willing to admit or believe.
We are hardly able to realize the fact that
while we are seated Iound the family hearth
stone, enjoying the warmth Of the cheerful
fire. there are those, perhaps, within mile of
us who are huddled together in cold and
cheerless rooms. cvera few expiring coals,the
remnants of the LAST stick Of wood. As we
sit at the festal board, so plentifully bespread
with good and substantial food, while ming
ling with these whom association has made
beloved, it is hard to realize that there are
those whose craving hunger would make
them long for even the crumbs that lay seat
tered over our table Nor, when we lay down
upon our downy couches and nesting among
the soft feathers feel their warm caresses. we
forget that there are those whose couch is but
the bare floor, and all their cover the ragged
raimcrt in which they are clad. The half of
humanity hardly exists. while the other half
re,el II wealth and luxury. Why this Is so
we are not permitted to know. Was not 1t
perhaps. that those of us who were able might
contribute TO those of our fellow men who
were less fortunate than ourselves? The best
savings bank. and the one that pays the great
csti. the poor whom we help to buffet the
storms Of life. /" He that giveth to the poor
lendcth to the Lord There's the bank. How
many of us will deposit? 4
Year: 1875

tB- We stopped into Dr. Dechcrd's drug
gerry. in answer to the request Of that To-
quacious, vender Of medicines. He had on a
false facc-that's nothing strange; doctors
are bound to wear false face once in a while
and greeted me with an extended hand and
that captivating laugh that Is so little like
any other. He looked better in the masque
than we ever saw him before. Doc, please
wear it all the time.
Year: 1875

ty Perseverance Is the oil that makes the
Of life run smooth. 1t Is lack OF
this that makes so many men unsuccessful
Every young man that is starting In the
world. and who desires success, should write,
In golden letters. on the tablet Of his heart
" Try. try again. without perseverance he
can accomplish nothing.
Year: 1875

He looked like a Prince, or a retired
Major General, as he stepped out of
the Bazaar, corner of Main and Re-
quena streets, opposite the u. S. Ho-
tel, with new black beaver suit,
which he had just paid SIS for, and as
he walked down Main street the eye
of envy was OH him, and numerous
were the inquiries of where he had
that splendid fitting suit made; and
astonishment was depicted on every
cOuntenance as he answered that it
came from the Bazaar, and he had
only paid SIS for it. There are few
more left, so hurry up and get one be-
fore they are all gone. decl1-1m
Year: 1875

I rPirrsBuKc, Nov. ga lunatic in
the county hospital yesterday killed a
woman attendant by choking her till


insensible and then driving the small


end Of a broom stick into her brain.
Year: 1875

a CONVICT who had been sentenced to
Sing Sing for five years was married on
the day OF his arrival to II young woman,
who came to see him slowed away. She
at least will know where her husband
spends lis evenings.
Year: 1875

Among the most interesting of the
subjects considered at the Conven-
ton of Mining Engineers at Frank
lin. n. j., was the recent invention
of glass that is not brittle. Prof. Egg
gleston has been examining the sub
isct, apd demonstrated before the
meeting that the glass prepared by
the new process could be thrown on
the floor, or left on a red hot stove,
with as little probability Of breaking
as wrought iron.
Year: 1875

A man went into furniture room
at Mantoka the other day and sat
down on a wooden bottom chair. He
immediately arose and danced around
like a wild dervish. The proprietor
apxiously inquired if he had an at
tack fany kind. "a tack - yelled
the man, II should say so; and the
confounded thing stood on its head,
too"
Year: 1875

Here's a Yale College ditty =
"And if 1t is girl, sir, we'll dress
her up in blue, and send her out to
Saltonstall TO coach the Freshman
crew; and if it is a boy, sir, we'll
put him on the crew, and let him wax
the Harvards as his daddy used to do
Year: 1875

While the Sioux chiefs were at
Washington recently, they one day
took the precaution before going to
the Department of the Interior, to
leave their money at home; but du-
ring their absence, sneak thief en-
tared their rooms and carried itaway,
the loss of each great chief varying
from FIVE to nineteen dollars. The
New York World remarks that this Is
:he first time on record that the In
dians have been robbed at Washing-
ton in an unofficial manner, and the
first time that they have lost SO little.
Year: 1875

\ doctor, attending wit who was
very III, apologized for being late one
day by saying that he had to stop to
see man that had fallen down a
vel. Did he kick the bucket doc
tor% inquired the other.
Year: 1875

Rad Literature for the Young.
Alexander Strahan in the Contemporary Re-


view.l


In our own country the conditions of
the growth of this bad kind OF literature
for boys and girls are to be seen, some
of them at least, lying plain upon the
surface. There is the rapid increase OF
the population; the diffusion of the Ca
pacity to read among the classes whose
circumstances are in other respects most
unfavorable to the formation among them
of proper standards OF taste and good
feeling; and there is the fact that the
young have Of late years been turned
opt early to earn their livingS, and left
pretty MUCH to their own misguidance.
Wheher state of civilization like that
Of London and New York can exist with
out social deposits Of such kind
that these or similtr conditions will al.
ways be reappearing in some shape,
is 0 question on which opinions will
differ But we believe it is
certain that the existence OF this
vile literature, whether for old or young,
is comparatively recent phenomenon.
There appears to have been nothing like
it (of course the same thing could not
have then existed) when the late DR..
Kitto was engaged in those struggles
after something to read which he has so
admirably recorded; and there seems to
have been nothing like it when the Queen
came to the throne. At that date there
was much more broad indecency in carl
catures and in popular literature for
adnlts; but that is very different mat.
ter, Now a-days, we have hourishing in
vile luxuriRupe whole jungles OF litera-
ture, chiefly for the young, such as Mr..
Anthony Trollope and Mr.. James Green,
wood have, each in his own way, de.
scribed in magazine articles,


The alarming and dispiriting part oil
the case is the gradual spread upwards
in what is called the social scale, of this
sort Of trash. Any observant person
may notice low newspapers and low pc
riodicals in houses ofa pretension which