smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1873

In Washington township resides
man by the name of Wurzef, who is the
owner of large, well-improved farm,
with two-story house. In one corner
of the house, in the upper story, is
little den eight by ten, in which is
box feet inches in length and %
inches wide. There is nothing else in
the room but dirt and few rags. A
living human being has lain in that box
for more than fifteen years. girl 70
years of age, the daughter OF Wurzer.
His neighbors knew he had daughter,
but when asked "what had become OF
her." he would give some evasive reply.
Last week one of his nelghbors made
information that she believed the girl
was not receiving proper treatment, and
she had heard sobs and moaning,
which she supposed came from the girl.
Sheriff Thompson, from whom we learn
the facts, found the girl lying on her
elbows and knees upon a little straw in
the box. She had nothing on her per-
son whatever but piece of dirty
blanket, not fit to cover horse, across
her shoulders. Her head and hands
were as small as those of child 10 years
old. Her hair was cut short. OF course
she was in an idiotic condition. She
actually ate her own offal in the pres
ence of the sheriff, thus showing that
she was not sufficiently fed. She was
crippled SO that she could not stand up
straight. The place was so filthy, the
air so foul, and the whole scene so sick
ening that the sheriff could remain in
the house only long enough to make
the proper orders for the future care of
the wretched being who, for more than
fifteen years, has been confined in that
earthly hell.


The father makes but little excuse for
not taking better care of her, saying
that he could not be with her all the
time. He has been living with his
second wife ten years.-Pott8UiHe (Io'0d)
Re1ietD
Year: 1873

Writing to the London Times, nau-
teal correspondent thinks the error of
Captain Williams in allowing the At
lantic to veer so far out of her course,
though at first sight objectionable, was
not without some excuse, and details
what was almost wreck of the Delta,
of the Cunard line, in 1867. writes:


" In August, 1867, 1 was passenger
from Newfoundland to Halifax in the
Cunard steamer Delta, one of the YES
sells that went to the relief of the pas
sengers of the Atlantic. She was at
that time commanded by a man who,
besides standing high as a sailor, was
considered to have more experience in
the navigation of that coast than any
man living, and who had been employed
on this particular service for years. The
usual fog prevailed throughout the
voyage, but all went we'll till the day
before arriving at Halifax, when, at
about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the
captain having just come off duty, there
was sudden shout of breakers ahead,
and, on rushing on deck, o mass of rock
loomed up about fifty yards ahead, just
on the starboard bow. The first officer
had given the order to reverse the en-
gines, but the moment the captain saw
the state of things, he, with presence
of mind and GOODNESS that / shall never
forget, gave the word to drive full speed
ahead, and though the men hesitated at
first to pass the order, he was obeyed,
and putting his helm hard up at the
same time, he actually succeeded in
pushing the ship over lower ledge of
rock that ran out from the main BODY,
and though she struck heavily, there
was by that time sufficient force to carry
her over into clear water beyond. She
was of course good deal shaken, but
the sea being pretty smooth, she struck
upright on her keel. The captain told
me afterwards that if the ship had been
stopped or even reduced her speed the
swell would have carried her broadside
on the higher rocks, and she would
have gone to pieces in moment.


cit turned out that the Delta had
struck on a reef off Country Harbor,
about eighty miles north of Halifax,
having gone eighteen miles out of her
course. I should add that the lead was
kept going the whole time.


" Now, in tits instance, here was an
officer who was as familiar with the
coast as any one could possibly be, but
even he was deceived by these extra
ordinary and apparently unaccountable
currents. If, then, man of such local
experience could be carried eighteen
miles out of his course, is it to be won
dered at that Captain Williams, who it
appears had never been to Halifax be-
fore, should have been the victim of a
similar delusion ?"
Year: 1873

A writer gives this account of how
New York fashionables are reviving an
old theatrical custom of society: ga
lady invites a party to early dinner, and
then off they go to the theatre, after
dining, in full dress, making the usual
sombre-clad audience fairly brilliant
with their silks and jewels, and heads
which are the pride Of the hair-dressers
and the marvel of the uninitiated, who
regard with wonder and awe the mys-
terious structure of hair, flowers, and
feathers that adorns the head feminine
when the wearer is in full dress. Or
else, if the dinner party is dispensed
with, the theatre comes first, and after
that jolly supper and plenty of fun
until ever so much o'clock in the morn
ing. That is the way fashionable New
York is amusing itself nowadays, or
rather nowanights, and the new fashion
is success. At the Grand Opera last
night there were no less than six of
these parties, the largest of them num-
bering about fifty. They were in din
ner toilettes, and occupied seats in the
centre of the house. These are the
first really large parties of the kind
that have been given, but SO successful
were they that they may be set down as
an established fashion"
Year: 1873

The existence of religious sect call
ed "Derbists," whose adherents are
mootly recruited in thetwo departments
of the Drome and the Ardeche. was
scarcely known to the great majority of
Frenchmen until a soldier belonging to
this body was tried by court martial
few days ago for insubordination.
The tenets of this sect are principally
embodied in the doctrine that human
life is absolutely sacred, and that the
profession of arms is in itself crime.
In obedience to this teaching, young
man who had been sent to Join his regi-
ment refused to carry arms, declaring
that he was ready to submit to any
punishment, even that of death, rather
than repudiate his principles. The
Colonel had no alternative but to send
him before court-martial for breach
of discipline; and in the course of the
trial the schoolmaster, who had been
called as awitness, stated that, though
he had done all in his power to eradi-
cate these ideas, the prisoner had held
fast to his original purpose. When he
told him that, in the event of a battle,
he would always be able to fire in the
air, the young man declared that he
would not do that because it would be
an act of treachery towards the govern
ment, and he preferred stating the case
to his superiors when called upon to
join the army. On similar grounds he
refuses to purchase substitute, and in
reply to the warning of his schoolmaster
that he would render himself liable to
be shot for insubordination, he avowed
his readiness "to add another to the
three millions of martyrs who have
already died for their faith" His be-
havior at the trial was most exemplary,
and when questioned by the president
of the court, he confessed that he had
disobeyed the military laws, but had
acted in conformity with those of the
Gospel.
Year: 1873

Amongst our readers, may no doubt
be found many a newly-wedded pair,
Just entering upon an entirely new and
untried series of duties, to be found
solely in the cares of housekeeping.
To all such we would whisper an en-
couraeing Heaven speed you !" for we
know that in thus early forming a sweet
home of your own, you will meet with
many pleasures never 10 be enjoyed
elsewhere. ~


There is a quiet dignity clustering
around the Young matron, as she seats
herself ct the head of her own neatly
arranged table an Importance apparent
to herself, and to others, as she enters
upon a regular routine of wifely home
duties, nowhere to be found but in the
shadow Of well regulated household.
There is also smile Of genuine con-
tentment and heartfest to be seen upon
the countenance of the voting married
man, as be enters the door of his own
house, and finds that home frightened
by the efforts of his chosen one, and
made beautiful by the refinementof her
affection and her womanly tastes.


But in assuming Tie cares of domestic
life, we would beseech the voting house
keeper never to neglect the accomplish
ments that gave 80 much pleasure to her
husband in the days 0f their eourtship,
Had music for him charm then, &c he
visited you in the home of your child
hoodP Did those songs that issued from
your girlish lips, and those sweet notes
that arose beneath the touch of your
fingers, seem to link his heart TO yours,
by chords of purest sympathy ? Bring
that music with you now, into your o*d
home, and make your room gay with
the voice and the songs that will never,
though years roll on, cease to have for
him q charm.


Was painting d source of pleasure be-
fore marriage? Bring your box and
yotr brushes into brighte1 studio let
some of your leisure moments find you
bending over your card-bCaraj with
your husband watching the progress Of
your picture, and his enjoyment will
surely speed your fingers, while his
eyes will rest fondly upon the dfa~ings
thai fill your portfolio, if they owe
their beauty to the artistic skill of his
cherished wife. .....,


Had poetry and flowers, birds and
books, charm while watched and read,
with lover beside you? Leave them
not outside of your own dwelling, but
ornament your home-neat, with all
these charming companions-that your
husband may ever recognize in the
wife the same refined tastes that he
admired in the bright and blooming
maiden,
Year: 1873

No sign OF life was visible in the camp
when we entered, and all that gave token
of the presence of man was a faint
column of blue-gray smoke, curling
from the top of one of the tents or kataS,,
of which there we're two. No reindeer,
no cattle, no horseS, no dogs even, were
visible; the only moving thing being
the steady rain, which fell with as much
perseverance as if no moisture had been
known in the lahd for long age.


The site of the camp was barren
enough, few stunted birch trees beng
the sole representatives 81 vegetable
life, unless one includes the few patches
of bta-6ar and the scraps of moss, which
had been trodden as nearly as possible
to theconditiou of the meagte soil which
afforded them their existence.


This, scene of d66olation and unmiti-
gated dampness was the actual home of
the Laplander, and now were we to
make acquaintance with a family of
these quaint and interesting people.
They are true Mongolianb, We are told,
and much Of the poetical is often con-
nected with their names. The Arabs of
the north, the dwellers in tents, the
proud and ingenious people who are
vainglorious Of their isolated life and
contented with their peacefulness, who
have never known war with their neigh
bors nor feuds among themselves, and
rbpe lo -,,4,,ro1
of the country they inhabit that it
seems TO them the fairest the world can
boast.


The VdgUisare lifts the. flap which
serves as an entrance to the tent, and
announces our arrival to the family
within, II is an ordinary hata, perhaps
eight feet in diameter, with fire in its
centre, above which is hole in the
roof, to serve as a means of exit for the
smoke. We conjecture that such b tent
might accommodate two, three, per-
chance four persons, and we wait to see
how many shall emerge.


One comes forth, a man, dressed in o
garment of skin, brown and rusty, with
tall cap, also brown and rusty, which
has long projecting peak Spangles
of brass and other barbarous ornaments
adorn his person, and knife hangs at
his side. His face is tanned to the color
of his dress of skins his expression is
one of low cunning and arrant knavery,
and his bleared eyes, that are watering
from the smoky atmosphere in which he
has been sitting, lend to his hang-dog
face an appearance of dissipation that
is melancholy to see. Is there anything
of poetry about sais creature? Poetry
there is nothing but dirt.


But he is followed by another animal
of the same type-an old woman, who
grins, and smirks, and chatters an I'M
desirable, filthy old hag. Then follows
younger woman, another man, third
woman, two more men and there are
still an old man and two women in the
tent. We have been deceived by the
chroniclers of Lappish traditions, if
these are fair specimens of the people.
They are low and filthy herd, who are
not inodorous. Dirt is the only thing
remarkable about them, and that one
sees in perfection. Their clothes are
plastered with dirt, their faces are
smeared with dirt, their hands are
caked with dirt; and they are the princes
of dirt, the very personifcation Of dirt.
-1hOS. Sharp. r.
Year: 1873

During the grass season, says Gen.
Custer, nearly all Indian villages are
migratory, seldom remaining longer
than few weeks at most in any one
locality, depending entirely upoh the
supply of grass; when this becomes ex-
hausted the lodges are taken down, and
the entire tribe or band moves to some
other point, chosen with reference to
the supply of grass, water, wood and
game. The distance to the new lOea-
tion is usually but d few miles. During
the fall, when the bufa1oes are in the
best condition to furnish food, and
the hides are suitable to be dressed
as robes, or to furnish covering for the
lodges, the grand annual hunts of the
tribes take place, by which the supply
of meat for the winter is procured.
This being done, the chiefs determine
upon the points at which the village
shall be located if the tribe is large
one, the village is often sdbdivided,
one portion or band remaining at one
point, other portions choosing localities
within circuit of thirty or forty miles


Except during seasons of the most per-
feet peace, and when it is the firm in
tention of the chiefs to remain on friend
ly terms with the whites at least during
the winter and early spring months, the
localities selected for their winter re-
sorts are remote from the military posts
and frontier settlements, and the knowl-
edge which might lead to them carefully
withheld from every white man. Even
during moderate winter season. it is
barely possible for the Indians to OBJ
tain sufficient food for their ponies to
keep the latter in anything above a
starving condition. Many of the ponies
actually die from want of forage, while
the remaining ones become so weak
and attenuated that it requires several
weeks of good grazing in the spring to
fit them for service-particularly such
service as is required from the war
ponies. ....
Year: 1873

Romance in real life is by no means
rare, and a story is told of pair of
lovers which owes its chief interest to
tbe fact that it is strictly true. Years
ago, beautiful young Boston girl was
sent to the Vermont hills, to arrest, if
possible, the indications of approaching
consumption. She recovered her health,
and meantime inflicted cureless wound
upon the heart of an intelligent and
well-educated young farmers son. I'm
like Lady We're de We're, she did not
scorn his affection, but returned it
heartily, referring him to her father.
That traditionally unromantic parsonage
wouldn't hoar of it, having, as is Gus
tomary in such cases, selected more
suitable partner for his child. The
young man retired, went West, and
made large fortune, and the young
waman married the man prescribed by
her father. She went to live in France;
her husband died in two years, and, her
parents also dying, she remained abroad.
The memory of her first romance faded
with her as with it's object, who, though
unmarried, was too busy in making
money for tender thoughts. Last year
his business took him to Europe, and
one night found him on a little steamer
plying between Marseilles and Leghorn.
A storm came up, and lady, who had
risen from her seat on deck to go below,
was thrown overheard by a sudden lurch
of the vessel. The sometime farmer
jumped after her, and, though in the
dark the steamer drifted away from
them, they clutcheda a providential plank
and foated until morning, when they
were picked up by another vessel. Du-
ring that night, in the cold and the
darkness, they discovered in each other
the loved and lost of earlier years. The
old feeling came back in that fearful
hour, and on their arrival at Malta they
were married. End of the poetry. The
rest is prose.
Year: 1873


Behold, it is the time of birth,
The glad renewal of the earth,


The glorious resurrection day


OF every germ of life that lay
In the still darkness wrapped away
To the blue zenith of the skies
Behold sun of promise rise;
Look down upon the naked earth,
Crying unto the dead, Come forth,
And work the miracle of birth
Lo! up from every hidden place
They come before his shining face;
Not in that body which was sown-
Yet every body may be known,
And every seed may claim his own.
For all that seemingly had died
Are only changed and glorifed; u
For God hath given unto item
a body as it pleased him, ......
And that is bright which was grown dim
90 shall we stslld forth, every one,
New-risen Before the risen Son,
Ano in the body shall be known:
Eot in that body which was sown-
Yet every seed shall claim his own.
Ner shall the old within the ground
Long moulder ere the new be found
Here seed upon the earth we fling; z
Through the drear winter wait for spring
In heaven it is always spring.
Year: 1873

1t is rather late to resivefn the pres
ent year, and in the enlightened city of
Chicago, the medieval practice of tor
ture as legal proceeding. Yet here is
q Chicago Sheriff, SO local paper tells
us, who has deliberately put twelve jury
men to refined and cruel torture in
order to compel them to agree upon q
verdict and to so obtain their release.
This ingenious but inhuman Sheriff,
when he found that the jury were evil
IDENTIFY unable to agree, sent for two
Italian harpists, and placing them at
the door of the jury-room, compelled
them to play for an acknowledgement.
What that jury suffered no tongue can
tell, but their heroic bravery was proof
even against the torture which was in
ficted upon them. After O night of
horror the Sheriff visited them at morn
ing, but instead of falling on their knees
and Offering to bring in any verdict that
might meet his views, those pale and
haggard men nobly adhered to their
original opinions and declined to agree
upon any terms. Fearing they would
die were the torture to be resumed, the
Sheriff relieved them. Now, let us see
whether there is law enough in Chicago
to punish this cold-blooded torturer.
Year: 1873

AS the great Calcraft is determined
on retiring from official life, and the
rope is being called in to rid society of
gentlemen whose emotional insanity
takes a homicidal turn, the following
from an exchange may be interesting ::
In the Middle Ages the Office of exc
cutioner was, all over the Continent, a
glittering bait of which almost any pri-
vate citizen would have been proud, and
it continues to be esteemed as highly
honorable in those countries which re-
tain the method of decapitation by the
sword. The headsman was as proud of
his weapon and his skill as a knight
could have been of his address in the
tournay. 1t was his delight to sever the
trunk from the head by single blow,
and, when performed with grace and
celerity, the spectators invariably greet
ed the performance with warm applause,
in much the same spirit as a Spanish
audience greets the skillful thrust of
matador at bull fight, or Roman one
the death of a gladiator. To entitFe the
headsman to the nobility above men
toned, it was indeed necessary that
each of the nine mobiles should have
died by single stroke of the fatal
sword. The famous executioner of
Franco man with the physical beau
ty of Apollo, of elegant culture and re-
fined tastes, and face more repulsive
than that of q demon-was often heard
to lament the debasement of his profes-
sion, in which manual skill had given
way to machinery. In China, Persia,
and most of the Oriental countries the
public executioner is still an officer of
high standing, and as proud of his posi-
tion as the Lord Chamberlain of Eng
land"
Year: 1873

VIOLENT DEATHS. The number of
violent deaths in the city of New York
in one afternoon was as follows: Three
lives were crushed out by the fall of a
top-heavy stable which had been loaded
beyond its capacity two men narrowly
escaped the same fate in the ruins of a
dilapidated tenement-house which top
pied over Unexpectedly four men were
killed by steamboat collision at He'll
Gate and seven or eight violent deaths
occurred from other causes.
Year: 1873

dor those who prefer a Ma.
Il chine feeding the wOrk away from
the operator, We now have one OF
that description, quiet, easy.running
and having all the other peculiar ex.
eellcncieS Of the other style.
Year: 1873

Extra mails for Europe tomorrow, per steamship
Atlantic will close at lSO p. M. at the Merchants
Exchange, Nos. so and 81 Pine-st.


The money market was stringent during the early
part of the day but much less so than of Late. At
the start the ruling rate call 12 and interest
but the chief business until after o'clock was done
at 1-lG and interest After this hour the rate fell to
per cent coin, reacted to 1-G2 again, and at 3
o'clock the market closed at per cent. gold. The
highest rate paid tat equivalent to about 45i
per cent per annum. As yet there is nothing doing
in mercantile paper.


Government bonds were strong and a shade higher
both here and in the London market Fisk & Hatch
Year: 1873

A LADY in heading, Penn, who
put ont several pieces of lace on
the grass, was mys'ified by their
strange disappearance. They fin
ally were discovered in a tree, tc
which a robin had carried them TO
weave in his nest.
Year: 1873

1t will be gratifying not only to the citi-
zens of Nashville, but indeed to the people
of the State, that bill passed its last read
ing in the Legislature yesterday, by which
the Commissioners, the Governor and
others, who have control of the improve
ment of the Capitol grounds, can use the
penitentiary force to any extent to complete
the work around the Capitol at the earliest
practicable day. That uncouth hill has
been an eye-sore to every visitor for long
years. We now have prospect of having
it made "s thing of beauty" the boast and
pride of every Tennesseean. We owe


thanks to the Legislature for this act of
Justice to the State, if thanks can be due
for simple Justice. Let the work proceed.
Year: 1873

IIOIl Ju6 NEW 1OIh Ouu


Grants interposition in behalf of the
PROSTATE ColfaX bears striking resem
blance to the aid and comfort rendered to
the man overtaken in liquor and lying
helpless in the gutter by friend suffering
under the same in1liction, whose assistance
he implored in moving terms. "Help me
up," he cried; ''lend hand and get me out
of this disgraceful predicament. can al
most get up myself, and slight pull will
make me all right"


"My dear fellow" was the reply, 81
would lift you up with all the pleasure in
life, if it was in my power. But you see
have the greatest difficulty in maintaining
an upright position myself But if l can't
give you any effectual aid will do the next
best thing. l will lie down in the gutter
beside you. That is an act of disinterested
friendship. Helping you up would be
imple act of duty"