smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876

regular meeting OF the Board Of Aldermen was
held yesterday afternoon Mr.. Samuel A Lewis in the
chair.


A resolution was passed requesting the Commissioner
OF Public Works to state what armories va
cant the city.


A resolution providing tor the establishment OF q
ferry from Liberty street TO Communpaw referred
to the appropriate committee


AFTER THE COMPANIES


Alderman BRYAN REILLY offered a resolution request
ing the Corporation Counsel to give opinion as to
what power II any, is vested In the Common Council
control the manufacture and supply OF gas furnished
by the different companies for public and private use
and II it is within the province OF the Board compel
a certain quality and supply The resolution was
passed


THE NAVIGATION HARLEM RIVER


Alderman MCCARTHY offered the following resolution,
which was passed.


Resolved That the Representatives in Congress from this
they may consider best calculated 70 prevail
work of Improving the navigation Of Harlem River and
spuyten Duy Creek so as to adpt the passage Of heavy
other parts this be they hereby respect
Of the the great and much needed facility


the NS, sna s and
Ss no OF es Of the % .enSnss all claims
break @ ALI Of the late war; and now amounting to nearly
| RELIEVING THE TAXPAYERS
| Alderman HEss offered the following preamble and
| resolution, which were passed unanimously


Where's large amount taxes on real and person
whereas IN these hard and oppressive times producing
much misery in daily life and stagnaton in business circles
Il impossible for In for taxes
the under the oppressive laws and whereas
under the present law the penalty for the nonpayment
taxes at the rate OF twelve interest which
almost runous Of best and respectable
citizens and taxpayers and whereas Il would be
paid within short time and whereas IL the duty
OF the lie gsature relieve the overburdened
the emergency far reasonably be done
| therefore.


Resolved That Legislature be respectfully requested
enact law providing that all back be discharged
on the payment Of the at per interest
within year after the passage OF said law also pro
vding for discount rebate of ve paid within
six months after the passage Of said act.
| DISTRIBUTING MONEY


The subject set fort in Alderman Coles resolution
calling the Commissioners OF Charities and Correc
tion 10 furnish why they have not distributed
moneys allowed by the Board Of Apporonment for sup
| port Of the outdoor poor was again brought up
motion to discharge the Finance Committee from fur
ther consideration OF the matter An had bee
In TO the Board by the Comm issioners In the
shape OF tabulated statement but Mr. Cole contended
| that a sufficient explanation had not been given


Mr. Isaac II. Bailey, President OF the Department OF
Charities and Correction, was present. and sad that II
| Mr. Cole had carefully examined the documents no
would have received all necessary Information.
The following are the principal figures Of tho long
| tabulated statement alluded to-
Year: 1876

Last Wednesday afternoon, at three O'Clock, the body
OF an unknown picked up at the foot Of pier
IS East River The deceased was about thirty ave
years OF age eve feet inches high had blue eyes
light hair, nustachc and full beard. Ha was dressed


In black frock coat corded vest ani pants white mus
lin Shirt gray ribbed drawers woolen socks and laced
shoes In his pockets we're found bunch Of keys an
oval blue agate sleeve button sir bread tickets for
steinbcrg No 20 HAdson street. and brass night key
Tho body sent 10 tho Morgue where Coroner
EIlineer will hnd INQUEST
Year: 1876

0nd. The errors of both these Obser.


vers between actual visual occurrences


and the precise time when the passage
Of star was noted, were as much as 8
quarter OF . second. Summing up


these errors, the period when we are
conscious Of receiving an impression
shows us to be as much out of the way
as from the fifth to the tenth of a sec
Ond. Again; the effect of the impress
sion or its distinguishing character,
acts on US differently. Another term is
employed for this personal equation,
which is called physiological time. Now
this time varies with the various sense,
and whether the effects are single or
double. The physiological time for a
single sound Is 15S-l0O0 of second, but
when two sounds are received it is 203-
1000 Of q second. OF course it is evil
dent that, when there is the expectancy
Of any known effect, such as of light,
sound, or touch, the mind being pre-
pared for some impression, the physiO-
logical time is very much lessened. One
very curious portion of this study would
be that Of discovering whether modifi-
cation in the human brain, brought on
by medicines or disease, did not cause
differences IN this physiological time.
Do the insane have quicker or slower
physiological time? When DeQuincy
asserted that to live q thousand years in
single night was quite possible by
simply increasing his dose of opium, he
inadvertently touched on the problem
Of physiological time.
Year: 1876

Doctor Moore, the metaphysician,
thus speaks of the effect of light upon
body and mind: "a tadpole confined in
darkness would never become a frog,
and an infant deprived of Heavens s
free light will only grow into shape
less idiot, instead of a beautiful and
reasonable being. Hence, in the deep,
dark gorges and ravines of the Swiss
Valais, where the direct sunshine never
reaches, the hideOus prevalency of idi-
ocy startles the traveller. 1t is a very
strange and melancholy idiocy. Many
persons are incapable of articulate
speech; some are deaf, some blind, some
labor under all these privations, and are
mis-shapen in almost every part Of tho
body. l believe there is marked diff
ference in the healthiness Of houses, ac-
cording to their aspect i'm regard to the
sun, and those are decidedly the health
lest in which all the rooms are, during
some part Of the day. fully exposed to
the direct light. Epidemics attack in
habitants living on the shady side of
the street, and totally exempt those on
the other side; and even in epidemic's
such as ague, the morbid influence is
often thus partial"
Year: 1876

This is the war between labor and
capital: Capital continually withdraw
ing itself from healthful work because
it is afraid Of losing its price, continu-
ally at difference with its one FREUD,
without whom it must perish; Labor
striking, demanding shorter time, more
wages, debating imperiOus rules about
piece-work and apprentices, quarreling
with its one friend, without whom it
must die or seek the pOOr-house. To
adjust these differences is the problem
of the day.


One way out of the difficulty is to
make the labOrer capitalist. The saw
ings bank is the chief aid in this direc-
tion. Let the worker put part of his
earnings in bank, and he becomes a
capitalist i'm small way. He learns to
view the subject of interest and divi-
dends with the eyes of lender, and he
is straightway Jealous of his capital and
its rights. He joins the other party,
and, belonging to both, he the more
readily sees that it is for the interest of
both to work together. Education is Of
fered as another solution. Give a work
ingman business education, and he
learns to see and understand the laws
that govern the movements of wages
and interest. Finally, comes the idea
Of co-operation-the giving the laborer
share in the guidance and profits of
Of the work, the union of capital and
labor in any particular undertaking.
Cooperation is, in theory, the most
sensible and the most just solution to
this question that has been offered.
In practice, 1t has been attended with
every imaginable degree of success and
failure. 1t has been repeatedly tried In
every branch of business, both here and
in Europe. In q certain way, it is al
ready in active operation through the
agency Of savings banks, loan, friendly,
and building associations, and insurance
companies. But, as these are usually
managed, they are not wholly cooper
ative i'm a commercial sense. In the
case Of savings banks, the laborers con-
tribute to the capital and have no con-
troll over it, while capitalists manage
the funds for a salary, or an extra divi-
dend, or other consideration, over and
above the interest paid to the real own
ers Of the money.-Scribner for Nay.
Year: 1876

1t is so hard to do right always! So
hard to walk with bare bruised feet over
the ragged pathway! While, all the
while, you hear the song Of birds,
catch the flash of brilliant plumage, the
fragrance of flowers on the other side,
and know that only a little way off lies
a smooth, green sward, whose dewy
freshness would be so grateful to your
weary wanderings! Sometimes you
catch your breath at some new burst
of melody, and are almost tempted to
turn aside; but the voices in the invisi-
BILE beyond plead with you, and you
stumble on In pain and weariness, over
the first road. unto the end. But you
look back, oftentimes through tears,
over a life of battles and skirmishes,
and you find the scars of many wound
on your nerveless body, and you almost
ask: sis it worth the while?''


Ave, but when the goal IL reached,
and the crown won, when standing on
the summit and looking back from the
farther shore we shall be able to say,
81 did what could" then will all the
Iuster have faded from the brilliant en-
ticement of pleasure, then will we for
get the weariness and pain, the strug-
gles and temptations Of the siren, and
the rugged pathway will look 80 smooth
and even, that we will wonder that
ever we could have thought 1t hard to
walk. Let us have courage then and
tread on in the path Of duty to the end.
Year: 1876

l witnessed the other day one Of the


celebrated sights Of Paris, Of which


had often heard before, but never before


had seen. Crossing the Tuileries gar.


den, my attention was attracted by an


intense comm0tion among the sparrows


which abound in that locality. They


were chattering and flying to and fro


and finally collected in swarms at q
single point. There saw the cause OF
their agitation, the well-known bird
charmer Of the Tuileries garden. She
is person about thirty years of age,
pale, with very black hair, dressed in
the deepest mourning, and wearing no
bonnet. She was surrounded by birds
that hoped and perched right at her
apparently without the slightest fear
She would hold out bit of bread, and
instantly three or four would hover
around it with rapid whirling wings,
like humming birds around a flower,
some perchiDg on her fingers, while
others would peck at the coveted morsel
on the wing. Then she would throw
crumbs into the air, which would be
adroitly caught by the swiftet-winged
birds before they reached the ground.
A shower Of crumbs brought the little
creatures to their feet like chickens, nor
did the presence Of the bystanders that
soon collected in great numbers appear
to terrify her proteges in the least.
They seemed to feel perfectly secure
while in the presence of their benefac-
tress. She walked slowly on, followed
by hundreds Of the eager, fiuttering,
birds, and lost sight Of her
in a distant walk. 1 am told that she
sometimes sits down, and that the SPAR
rows will then perch all over her, and
will get into her lap to eat bread from
her apron. No one knows who she is;
she never speaks to any one, and pays
no attention to anybody or anything ex-
cept to her beloved birds, which she
feeds daily throughout the winter.
Year: 1876

Many ocean steamships have been lost,
and left no trace behind to reveal the
cause of their sudden fate. We can
understand how some may have gone
down by the thrilling story told by the
Quebec Chronicle of recent voyage of
the MordVfan:


"a passenger who had left the SALOON
and come on deck prior 70 retiring, thus
describes What occurred: was on the
point of walking forward in the direction
of the bridge, when the sailor stationed
in the bow called out, "Ice aheadp


The captain, who was on the bridge at
the time, instantly called out, very dis
tinctly, "Ice ahead !" and simultaneously
gave the orders to the engineers through
the electric wires to ease, stop and reverse
the engines; he also wired the signal to
the man at the wheel. "Hard-a-portln


His orders were-immediately acted
upon, and a signal to that effect was
sounded on the bells, so that he might
know his instructions were promptly
obeyed. This action, of course, only took
few seconds to carry out, when the pas
senger, on looking towards the prov of
the boat saw large iceberg directly in
the ships course, and looming up through
the darkness as high as was the lower
yard on the foremast.


Immediately after, spite of the shifting
of the helm and reversing of the engines
she struck the ice mountain with a
tremendous conclusion.


The MoraVidn is provided with a stout
bowsprit, some twenty feet in length, and,
under Providence, its bearing so well the
the first brunt of the shock the hull was
not completely STAYED in. This tough
timber pierced the ice in an oblique up-
ward direction, and was for half its length
shattered and splintered in a most strange
manner to within few feet from the
bulkheads.


The hull next came in contact with
this dread of the sea, and with such force
as to bend and twist several of the vessels
ribs, and bulging the outer plates in such
a manner that they were forced in and
out until they looked like undulatinR
waves Of the ocean.


The strain on the rivets was terrible.
and had it not been for the unusual
strength and excellence of the construc-
ton, hole big enough to have sunk her
immediately would have been the result.
As it was, the leakage commenced i'm.
mediately. The engines being uniniured.
the vessel slid of the ledge Of ice, on to
which she had thrust herself, and backed
into deep water.


The effect of the conclusion on the
berg was to entirely demolish it; it was
split in two, and the passengers on both
starboard and port sides could see and
hear the fragments as they crumbled past
the statero ON windows.
Year: 1876

At a reception to an excursion party
of Mississippi editors, at Buffalo, n. Y,
Mr.. S. H. Stackhouse, of the Hazelhurst
(NIiss.) Copiahdn, made the following re-
ply to the address of welcome =
'When the Queen of Sheba visited old
Solomons dominions in the ancient time,
flew over the hills and dales in his lightning
railroad trains, sailed over his great lakes
in his big steamers, rode upon his keel
boats as they plowed his canals, examined
critically his farms and his machine shops,
she finally made her way to the head
quarters and formally interviewed the
thrifty old autocrat of all the Jews; and in
that interview candor constrained her to
acknowledge that although she had heard
much of his greatness and magnifcence,
yet the half had not been told her. So
it is with us, fellow-c citizens of Buffalo,
in reference to this tremendous country
you have got. We have heard great
deal about you. We have read much
concerning you in your big newspapers,
of your thrift, your push, your genius,
enterprise, wealth, progress and irrepres-
sibility. But now since we have traversed
a considerable scope of your grand
domain, we are, like the Queen of Sheba,
forced to acknowledge that the half has
not been told us.


"We are not going into any war with
you fellows. If we had known how con-
founded numerous you were-what vast
resources you had-what nation of get
up and gitters you are-we should never
have been guilty of the absurdity of try
ing to whip you in the first place. Now
that we have seen for ourselves, and gotten
some sort of an idea of the magnitude of
the job of cleaning you out, we consider
that another war on our side would be
prepOsterous and ridiculous, and we are
for peace. Yes, fellow-citizens of Buffalo,
we are here in the interest of peace-God-
like peace. In the glowing language of
the inspired psalmist, Peace had her
victories no less renowned than war.
We believe in peace. We are quite ready
to be harmonized And l am glad to be
able to say that everywhere we have been
in the North and West we have met with
cordial welcome and kindly greeting.
Nobody has made faces at us. We have
felt o. K. all the time. The railroads
have dead-headed us and given US the
finest drawing-room cars to sleep in. The
hotels reduced their rates and some Of
them didn't have the heart to charge us
at all. We have been fed at all your
eating institutions where we have stopped
In some places they wined US and they
dined US, rode us out in carriages and
showed US the sights, made speeches to
US, serenaded US with their brass. bands,
ETC., etc. We have had justa splendid time
of it. The ladies GOD bless 'em, always)
have smiled upon US, and the men have
sometimes even gone to the extent of ask
ing US take drink. That last is the cap
stone to the climax of reconciliation.


Hear, hear The true road to a Missis-
sippi editors heart is to invite him to take
a drink with you. If that don't harmonic
him-if that don't capture him-if thai
don't bring peace to the land and save the
country, nothing else on earth will"
Year: 1876

There we're only ffty-fve murdeEScom-
mitted in New York in 1872, phd that
was her best year for ten years.


Punch says it rejects al average of
fifty contributions per day, and several
persons remarked: "Thys what ails the
paper J.


Living and rents are very cheap at Bar
bersville, Virginia, and it is the town
where three murderers were lynched in
one day.


In the opinion of the Boston Globe sit
is more than half the fun in going skating
to see the maneuvres ofthe ladies in pull
back dresses"


Most any sensible American girl will
rather marry an Italian beggar with a
titled name than a moderately we'll of
but humble American.


A Halifax letter carrier was saving a
firms letters until he could get dozen
or two and thus make a call an object.
He doesn't carry letters any more.


The Sultan of Turkey frankly admits
that he doesn't know how many wives he
has. That was what allied the late Mr..
Singer, but he didn't brag about it.


There are many Massachusetts, people
who believe in witches. For instance, if
a husband gets upin the morning and finds
his money five dollars short, who took
that wealth. Wasn't his wife asleep all
the timel


1t has not yet been decided whether
any one will be allowed to sell molasses
candy on the Centennial grounds. Gen
tlemen, your hesitation may prevent the
State of Michigan from taking any active
part in the great exhibition.


After man has been around circus
all day, and seen the big animals and the
snakes and the double-performance, and
eaten gingerbread until he is happy, how
it discourages him to go home and find
that some one has got to saw wood before
supper can be had.


Chicago is growing. She says so. And
after man has hung around there for a
week and met a bunko man on every cor
9er, and a confidence man in the middle
Of the block, he will agree with the Chi
eago papers. It's big town and not a
foot of real estate is under mortgage.


Step up to citizen and tell him that
his father and grandfather were lunatics
and see how quickly he'll crook his
elbow. Yet let that citizen shoot some
body, and he'll bless you if you help him
prove that all his ancestors were not only
crazy but the biggest fools in the neigh
borhood.
Year: 1876

No mocking in this world ever sounds
to me so hollow as that of being told to
cultivate happiness. What does such
advice meant Happiness is not potato
to be planted in mould, and titled with
manure. Happiness is a glory shining
far down upon US out of heaven. She Is
divine dew which the soul, on certain
OF its summer evenings, feels dropping
upon it from the amaranth bloom and
golden fruitage of paradise. Charlotte
Br0Rte.
Year: 1876

]


! DR.. Frederic r. Marvin gave the


library club last evening q physician S


view of death, his subject being " The
Physiology of Death" The history Of
death embraces three periods, the fabu-
lous, the superstItious, and the philo-
sophical The fabulous was in mytho-
logical times, in which death was per
sonided Rs goddess Mors, the glance of
whose eye was fatal the supsrstitious
era was that long period in which death
was regarded as an instantaneous change;
q stroke that came and cut of life from
he whole body at once. Ours is the
philosophical age.


The lecturer had experimental on
dogs, to discover the order Of time IN
which the senses die. To one dog he
gave arseneous acid The second died
instantly upon his introducing a needle
into the medulla o5lOngata; and the
third he bled to death. In the last, the
order of death was, sight, taste, smell,
hearing, touch; which established the
fact that senses disappeared in the same
order as they do in sleep.


The human body IS an aggregation Of
cells. Life is the augmentation of these
cells death their disintegration. Each
cell dies for itself Every moment cells
are springing into life. Every moment
cells are dying. Our bodies are COM
posed Of these little points. Take them
a#ay and there is nothing left of Us but
the connecting shreds. There ere dead
cells in your body, and when you are
dead, there viii for some time continue
30 be living ones. We shaIlssH at some
time be resolved into carbonic acid,
water, and the mineral elements.


The whole surface of our globe, said
the speaker. has been dug over one hun
dred and twenty-eight times to bury its
dead, even not reckoning the long age Of
the world which is given it by modern
science; and re inhale, we feed upon
elements, the very atoms, that have been
living human beings before. The desd
he continued, live again, and we greet
them in the perfume of the city, in the
thousand leaves of the forest.


Death, the doctor says, is painless
There is no moment in our lives in which
molecular death is not going on in us.
The last words of n multitude of persons
indicate that mere disintegration is pain
less. 10 die of cold, after the first agony
is over, is luxury. 20 IS drowning.
The smile of death, the placidity of death,
comes to all features after the rig0r NOR
tis That is over in three days.
Year: 1876

DANIEL DREwhas been interviewed in
his retirement, and yielded, under gentle
pressure, the following: .Pve retired
permanently from business this time.
which ought to have done years ago
under different and happier circum-
stances. | never dreamed that the time
would come when l should have to go
into bankruptcy. There never was lust
such a case as mine ever heard on 'afore


No man was ever SO rich as was. worth
az one timeeightor ten millions of money.
and then made to lose every dollar of it
IN so short time" Referring to the
late A. 7. Stewart, he said that even
that prompt business man had DELAYED
his charitable schemes too loEg, and now
they would have to be carried out bv
some one else, if at all. In allusion to
Stewards wealth, he said he never esti-
mated him at over forty millions; but
Vanderbilt was surely worth a hundred
millions OF money if he owned dollar
Year: 1876

THE Boston philanthropists have been
indulging their sympathy for murderers
by getting up a petition to save Piper,
convicted of the murder of the little
girl, Mable Young, last summer, in the
tower of one the churches of that city;
but Piper has just made confession of
that bloody deed, as well as of others in
which he was supposed to have had a
hand. The murder was very atrocious
one, and Piper asserted for some time
that he was innocent, but subsequently
stated that the girl had been killed by
the trap-door of the belfry falling acci-
dentally upon her. He now. ccnfesses
that he killed her, actuated by an in
sane desire for blood.
Year: 1876

THE Paris fashion inventors are deter
mined to make woman's life burden to
her. One OF the journals of that city
says that no glove will be tolerated in
good society this season with less than
twenty buttons, while another declares
that in less than five years knee breeches
and six-inch skirts VIII be the fashionable
street dress for ladies.