smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876

storm would burst, and the ice would
break, and all who were upon it would
be lost without remedy. They could not
hear me, and l could not come out to
them. Oh! if could only bring them
ashore! Then kind heaven inspired me
with the thought of setting fire to my
bed, and rather to let the house burn
down than that all those people perish so
miserably. l succeeded in lighting up
a beacon for them. The red flames
blazed up on high, and escaped out of
the door, but fell down exhausted on the
threshold and could get no further. The
flames rushed out toward me, fiickering
through the window, and rose high above
the roof. All the people on the ice yon-
der beheld it, and ran as fast as they
could, to give aid to the poor old woman
who, they thought, was being burned to
death. Not one remained behind. L
heard them coming; but | also became
aware of rushing sound in the air; |
heard rumbling like thesound of heavy
artillery; the spring was lifting the
covering Office. which presently cracked
and burst into a thousand fragments.
But the people succeeded in reaching
the sea-wall-I saved them all! But l
fancy l could not bear the cold and
fright, and so came up here to the gates
of Paradise. I an told they are open to
poor creatures like me-and now / have
no house left down upon the rampant; !;
not that l think this will give me ad-
mission here"


Then the gates of heaven were opened,
and the angel led the old woman in. She
left straw behind her, straw that had
been in her bed when she set it on fire to
save the lives of many; and this straw
had been changed into the purest gold
into gold that grew and grew, and spread
into beautiful leaves and flowers.


"Look, this is what the poor woman
brought" said the angel to the critic.
"What dost thou bring? l know that
thou hast accomplished nothing-thou
hast not made so much as a single brick.
All, if thou couldst only return, and
effect at least SO much as that! Probably
the brick, when thou hast made it, will
not be worth much but, if it were made
with good will, it would at least be some
thing But thou canst not 60 back, and
l can do nothing for theep


Then the poor soul, the old woman
who had lived on the dixie, put in pc
tition for him. She said: "His brother
gave me the bricks and the pieces out OF
which l built my house, and that was a
great deal for poor woman like me.
Could not all those bricks and pieces be
counted as single brick in his favor
1t was an act of mercy. He wants it
now; and is not this the very fountain
of mercyW


Then the angel said: "Thy brother,
whom thou hast regarded as the least
among you all, he whose honest industry
seemed to thee as the most humble, hath
given thee this heavenly gift. Thou
shalt not be turned away. 1t shall be
vouchsafed to thee to stand here without
the gate, and to reflect. and repent ot
thy life down yonder; but thou shalt moi
be admitted until thou hast in real
earnest accomplished something"


81 could have said that in better
wordsr' thought the critic, but he die
not find fault aloud; and for him, aftel
all, that was something"
Year: 1876

Some months ago, in examining a
specimen of cream of tartar, l found two
or three per cent. of gypsum along with
a considerable amount of rice flour. l was
at loss to understand how the gypsum
came to be there. 1t was not in sufficient
quantity to pay for its addition as an
adulterant. and the adulteration was evil
IDENTIFY rice -four. On looking the mat
ter up l found that an adulterated ar
ticle of rice, containing from fifteen to
twenty per cent. of gypsum was on the
market. This at once accounted for the
gypsum in the cream of tartar. The
manipulation, wishing to buy his rice
-four as cheaply as possible, had bought
the adulterated article.


Powdered sugar has long been noted
for its adulterations, but granulated
sugar is generally supposed to be all
right. 1 was recently, however, shown
an article prepared from rice, which was
not to be distinguished from granulated
sugar by color or general appearance. 1t
was said that this article was used for
adulterating a particular grade OF
granulated sugar that was sent West to
be used by the confectioners for manu-
featuring the powdered sugar.


Rice -four seems to be an extremely
useful article in this branch of business.
Hassel gives list of no less than ten diff.
ferent substances in which it has been
detected, and yet his list is not a full one
1t has the great advantage over the COM
mon -four that it does not cake when
packed and becomes clammy. 1t thus
more nearly resembles the various spices
and other articles with which tits mixed


This adulteration can only be recog
nized by the microscope. The starch
grains of rice are very small and angular
they polarize very slightly.


The adulteration of bread with alum
has attracted great deal OF attention il
England, and it seems also to be prac
ticed to some extent in this country
Numerous methods have been given fol
the detection of the alum, but none o
them seem to be as satisfactory as tht
analysis of the ash. All the other meth
DDS are liable to error Journal of Chen,
/ iSfy1J
Year: 1876

lam told that our breath poisons the
air, and that the trees have to keep 1t
pure by sucking the poison out. 1t seems
to me that a great many people are put
into this world for nothing but to make
hard work for the trees. do under
stand it,
Year: 1876

FRENCH polish for furniture can be
made by putting half an ounce of shellac,
the same quantity of gumlac and quar-
ter of an ounce of gum sandarac into a
pint of spirits of wine. Put them all to-
gether in a stone bottle near the fire,
shaking it very often. As soon as the
gums are dissolved it is ready for use.
Now make roller of woolen rags-soft
old broadcloth will do niceiy-put a
little of the polish on it, and also few
drops of linseed oil. Rub the surface to
be polished with this, going round and
round, over small space at a time, un-
til it begins to be quite smooth. Then
finish by second rubbing with spirits of
wine and more of the polish, and your
furniture will have a brilliant luster.
equal to new.
Year: 1876

SOME time in October last the Missis-
sippi river began eating into the Illinois
shore two or three miles above Cairo.
and the process has continued until the
city is threatened with serious danger.
The authorities could not or would not
do anything to arrest the ravages of the
river, at the time when little labor,
promptly applied, might have proved et-
fectual; and now the abrasion has gone
so far that it is only about quarter of a
mile across the narrow neck from river to
river, and this distance being gradually
diminished by the unobstructed pressure
of the Mississippi against the soft allu-
WON. 1t is feared that if some prompt
action be not taken the Mississippi will
eet its way to the Ohio, making an
island of Cairo, and that this island will
then be gradually washed away. Some
of the railroads that enter the city are
having trouble already with their ap-
proaches, and others are threatened.
The difficulty is too great for the town
authorities, with their limited resources,
to meet, and they have determined tc
call on Congress to save their city by
building dixie to reclaim the area that
has been lost, and protect the shore from
abrasion. The estimated cost of the
work is about one hundred and fift,
thousand dollars.
Year: 1876

PLACE man in a position that will
fearfully tax him and try him, posi-
ton that will often bring blush to his
cheek and the sweat to his brow, posi-
ton that will overmaster him at the
time, and cause him to rack his brain for
resources. Place him in position like
this. But every time he trips 60 to his
rescue; go not with words of blame or
censure, but go with manful words of
encouragement; look him boldly in the
eve and speak to him with soul and en-
phasis. This is the way to make man
of boy and giant of man. Ifa man
has pluck and talent, no matter whether
he ever filled a given position or not,
put him in it, if worthy, and he will soon
not only fill it, but outgrow it. But put
none in a position with faint heart.
This is the way to kill him. Put him in
grandly with most unmistakabie conf
dence. Drop no caveats, but boldly
point the way, and then stand by with
the will and countenance of true friend
Thus try twenty men, such as have beer
named, and nineteen will succeed.


Irhas been asserted by some scientists
that animals do not suffer so much undel
parallel injuries as man. Horses some
times are SO badly hurt, their leg bone
have been found protruding through thu
skin, and actually in contact with th'
ground as they walked along, having
been known to begin to Craze almost a
soon as they were left to themselves. o
course in such a case the horse must fee
some pain; but it must be immeasurabl,,


less than that which 4 man would suffe


in a like condition. We can not, for in


stance, believe it possible that ma
could sit quietly down to dinner jus
+ after having his leg broken; yet tha
, would be parallel case.
Year: 1876

In the Senate, Mr.. Sherman has sub
mitted concurrent resolution proposing
the common unit of money and accounts
for the United States and Great Britain,
which was referred to the Committee on
Finance. The resolution requests the
President to propose a treaty convention
between the two countries to establish
the dollar as the money of account in
both of them. 1t is to be represented by
a coin formed of standard gold of nine
tenths pure metal and one-tenth copper
and silver alloy. Five of these new dol
lars are to be the equivalent of one
pound sterling gold. Coin of the various
denominations conforming to this stand
ard are to be received and be legal
tender within each country.
Year: 1876

There is no word which has done the
Southern States more harm than the word
carpet-bagger. Its meaning in the South
is clear enough. 1t is intended to apply to
adveuturers from the North who went
South after the war for the purpose of
plundering the inhabitants and returning
home with their plunder. 1t is regarded IN
the North as a term of reproach, and has
had the effect of deterring from the
Southern States thousands of honest
Northern men who would have been
glad to 90 South, on account of the
climate and the natural richness of
the soil. The Maine citizen may go
to Colorado and California and be welcome.
1t is no reproach to him that he was born
in the East and votes the Republican
ticket. Let him go to Georgia or Carolina
and carry with him his principles, and
his fate is social, personal, political os-
tracism. He can assert no indepen-
.dence of judgment without mourning
the worst forms Of reproach. Some
thing of this may be due to the soreness oc.
casioned by the war. But while this was
natural it should not last always. The word
carpet-bagger may serve the purpose of a
fiippant politician like MIR. Cox, but it
should have no place in our literature. If
we 90 into the matter deeply we shall find
that we are all carpet baggers, with the ex-
ception of Sitting Bull and his people-Neu
Iork Herald.
Year: 1876

The following extract from private let
tor to the New York Tribune. and published
in that paper on Thursday, July ID, removes
ali doubts about the position assumed in the
present canvass by Carl Schurz:


There is striking contrast between the
hard-sOtt money mixture in the Democratic
platform and candidates and the strong.
financial paragraph of Governor Hayes
letter Of acceptance. The views he ex-
presses about the civil service form
the mos. comprehensive, most clearly
defined. ard il every respect most sat
isfscto-y civil service reform programme
l ever saw uttered in few words: and
that programme is accompanied by the
pledge of an honest man that, if he is
elected, il shall be faithfully carried out in
it's com mpletentss. and that no personal am
bition shall interfere with the work. Never
had civil service refOrmers better oppor-
tUnity to fight with a chance of real sue
cess-I mean the success of the cause, and
not only the success of a candidate or q
party. | shall support Governor Hayes
heartily and actively, and l have never felt
more clearly conscious of doing the right
thing for the best interests of the country.


10 its comments on the letter the Tribune
says:


We believe there are very few of the
gentlemen who have been more conspicu.
Ously associated with ex-senator Schurz in
the public mind in movements for political
reform from 1872 down to this time who
will not be found now taking substantially
the same course"
Year: 1876




Near the centre of the upper story OF the
Western Union building, W here over 200 en-
Iloyess are busy around their clicking in
s.ruments, four two and One-half inch
brass tubes rise close together through
dark walnut table to the height of about
ten teet and arch down in two double
semicircles. The tubes are the pneumatic
tubes just introduced to connect with the
branch offices at the Stock Exchange, in
Broad street, and at the Cottage Exchange,
in Pearl street. The message is encased
in sole leather tube, covered with felting,
about six inches long, like an ordinary
leather dice box, but with broader tiange
of foting at one end, which tits tight in the
brass tube. The other end is open for the
reception of the rolled up message, save
that broad elastic band holds the con-
tents in place. Each tube can be made at
will either receiving or Sc nding tube. Each
has two valves regulated by stop-cocks, by
means of which the air is eth ar turned on
or exhausted. The time of the transmits
sion of a message is twenty. five seconds.
The brass tubes run down to the basement,
and thence three feet under ground down
Broadway, where one turns into Wall street,
and thence to Broad and the Stock E4-
change; and the other, by way OF Maiden
Lane to Pearl street and the Cotton Ex-
change.


At the point where the brass tubes enter
the basement trem Broadway are IRON pipes
laid above them, through which the West
ern Union Company will lay their wires
encased in gutta percha, for the subter
raneau service that they intend to substi
tute for the wires that now stretch along
telegraph poles in the streets of New York


Yesterday morning at eight O'Clock twt
of the pneumatic tubes were first opened
for business, and before four o'clock aSou
l2G0 messaget had passed through them
Tubes are soon to be extended to the Pro
duce Exchange, and ultimately to the Fifth
Avenue Hotel and to all the importan,
points in the city at which the Western
Union has it's principal agencies Yorl
Year: 1876

The South newspaper warns the people of
the Southern States that they have little to
expect from Democratic victory. Speak
ing of the Democrats, it says: Indeed, it is
difficult to see what they can do. The
Southern States have equal rights and privi-
leges with the Northern, and the inequality
is numerical strength. which can only be
balanced by large emigration into the
Southern States of settlers who will become
citizens. There are no legal impediments
in the way of the South to become as pros
porous a section as the North, nor can
Democratic President cause any laws to be
enacted that would help the South to be-
come more wealthy than the North. The
Southern people themselves must use their
coming s0."
Year: 1876

old song Tommy took up the tune
and sung softly:


God rest you, merry gentlemen,


Let nothing you dismay,


Jesus Christ our savior


as born upon this days


That W all he could sing he let the
bells say the rest.


He was not a. very merry gentleman
The poor old cat was dead, and the fire
had gone out. That was not all
There were no Goals, nor any break fast,
and up stairs-ah up stairs in the
cold and dark lay his mother, sick,
feeble, poor and old before her time.


Let nothing you dismoy.


For Jesus Christ our Saviour"
How the chimes rang out Oh the frosty
air (! 1T must be nearly time to 90 to
church" Tommy looked at the clock.
1t only stared at him, with both hands
lifted up in mute despair.


Tommy spread a rug over the poor
old cat, and, putting on cloth cap
ond faded coat, he prepared to 90
aut Of doors


He could do nothing more. The
world seemed to be quite upside down,
and Christmas Day all out of place, as
if the year had stopped with the clock.
He could do nothing more. The dis
pensary doctor said he would call soon.
He would not wait for breakfast, for
there was nothing to eat in the whole,
house At least, he could get warm
at the church, and, by the time the
service was over, perhaps something
would happen. What might happen
he could not guess 1t would be some
thing better, for things were quite as
bad as they could be.


All 1t was pleasant to getinto the
warm church, out Of the cold wind
and the snow. The choir were nearly
all there and the service was about to
begin. Tommy hung up his poor old
hat aud carefully crept into his white
robe. One of the alto boys buttoded
it up behind for him, and gave him his
music book. There was a little stir
among the white robed men and boys,
and then they formed in a procession
and marched two and two through a
small door into the great church
How the loud organ pealed The
music seemed to thrill him through,
and he took his seat in the choir with
trembling knees. How full the church!
Every seat seemed to be taken, and he
looked around on the great company
in kind of dull surprise It was in
all the papers, but Tommy didn't know
it, that the famous boy soprano, Thom-
as Sterry, would sing that morning,
and many had come to hear him. AS
for Thomas Sterry, he knew there was
a solo somewhere in the service; he
had studied it carefully, but now he
almost forgot where it came or what it
was about.


Small time for thought. The choir
stood up, and in a moment away they
went in the opening anthem. How
Tommy's voice rolled out the sonorous
Latin:


'Gloria in excelsis Deo!''


1t was delight to spring through the
lively measures of Mozart's great
Twelfth Mass, and Tommy took up the
high sustained notes in the soprano
part as if he were really an angel, after
all. There was great picture of an
angel, standing on golden cloud,
with trumpet in his hand, in one of
the windows, and one lady in the con-
gregation thought it looked just like
Tommy. After the anthem. the SER
vice began and went on in the usual
fashion. Tommy forgot all about the
Year: 1876

He was very small. Only ten years
old, and just as tall as the top of the
chancel rail. When he put on his
white robes and stood up to sing ne
looked like young angel with blue
eyes and very bright brown hair. He
had no wings. This some people
thought a pity. 1t was not, for then
be might have flown away. Besides,
a clever boy is better than two angels
in picture book.


On this particular morning he had
no white robe, and he did not feel
much like singing 1t was cold and
stormy out of doors, and one couldn t
be quite sure whether it was night or
morning. The clock on the wall said
five minutes past eleven, but that was
a mistake. The clock had stopped.
And the fire was out, and the water
had frozen in the teakettle, and the
cat was dead. Poor old blind pussy !
She had just died. Tommy looked
at the cold stove He looked at the
heavy frost on the windows. He look
ed at his hands red with the cold, and
he wondered what would happen next


Far away over the snowy house-tops
came the sound Of bells. The chimes!
How merrily they rang He listened
to the jang ling music. Such queer
old song Tommy took up the tune
and sung softly:
Year: 1876

away again in her sleigh, This time
the organist was at home. and then
and there explained to Tommy how
selfish the church people had been in
refusing to pay him anything for sing
ing so long. and that now it was all
changed, and he was to be first So
prano in the boys choir at ST. Mary S,
and that they would pay hlm a fine
salary, and that he was to sing at
morning service every day in the year.
He even paid Tommy a part of the
salary in advance, that he might help
his mother.
Then they went to the piano and
lang Christmas carols-''The Manger
Throne," Il Saw Three Ships" 1.-The
Holly and Ivy, aud many others quite
as beautiful Then they told Tommy
how in England on Christmas day the
children dressed ia thick shoes and
warm clothing, go from house to house
and stand out in the snow singing
carols, and how the good people open
their doors and invite them in to par
take of good cheer. Last of all, Tom
my started to walk home alone. He
had not gone far before the bells In
ST. Mary y's-his church now--began
to chime, and, with happy heart, he
sang alond with them:


God rest you, merry gentlemen"


Then he turned hack softly till he
came to the good organist's house,
and there, all alone in the snowy street,
he sang good old Christmas carol,
for his heart was full OF peace and
gratitude.


"God bless the master of this house,


Likewise the mistress too,


And all the little children


That round the table go.


And all your kin and kinfolk


That dwell both far and near,


/ wish you merry christmas


And happy new year"
And the. people in the houses round
about heard the music in their dreams
and said:


clark! The angles are singing !"
But the watchman in his big coat
knew it was only Tommy, the soprahd.
ST Nicholas.
Year: 1876

There was farmer who owned a
little scraggy, cantankerous bull. that
could not be kept insile of any lot that
was ever fenced in Connecticut. One
day. just after the railroad between
Hartford and Springfield was made, he
broke out Of his pasture and made for
the railroad. His owner saw the tip
end of his tail disappear over the fence,
and put for him the best be could
Just as be reached the railroad along
came train at full speed, and there
stood his bull on the track, with head
down. and ready for a fight with the
locomotive. The old man swung his
bat and shouted at the top Of his voice !:
"Go it. you little brute. l admire
your pluck, but despise your judge
ment"
Year: 1876

A great sensation is in store for this
quiet little town. A marriage is on
the tapis. A laborer is about to be
welded to one of our wealthiest young
ladies. Secret: This man buys his
clothing at the great Important, under
the Lafayette hotel. Do thou like
xuioo
Year: 1876

M. P. Walker VS.. G. W. Clark.-The
above case was tried in Judge Traf-
fords Court on Saturday. This action
was brought to recover on a promis-
sorry note which Clark had given as
part payment of premium on Life
Insurance policy. The defense set up
was "want of consideration" in this,
that the defendant had not received
the kind of a policy for which his ap-
plication was made, also general mis-
representation on the part of the
agents. On the trial the defendant
testified as to the character of his pol
icy, and investigation disclosed that
in no respect was he in error, nor had
he been deceived in any way. The
company had issued such policy as
the agents promised, and as Mr.. Clark
desired, the only difficulty seeming to
be Misunderstanding on the part Of
the latter, helce the jury decided that
the note given must be paid. Life In
surance agents are but human, and
may at times do wrong, yet the above
case shows that if those who think
themselves their victims would take
a little time for reflection there would
be much less complaint about this
sort of business.
Year: 1876

~ strong effort will bc mado ut The
present Session Of Congress TO praeIio
ally restore The double standard Of gold
and silver by tho coinage Of the full
valued silver dollnr, to be unlimited
tender with gold. except No TO tlebts
specifically payable in gold coin OF tho
present standard.