smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876




Take sheet Of fstif' writing paper and
f6Flf II into tu6c IN Inch III diameter.
Apply ii TO the right eye, aud look
steadfastly through it, focusing the eye
on any convenient object keep the left
eye open. Now place the left hand,
held palm upward, edgeways against the
side Of the paper tube, and about an inch
or two above its lower end. The aston
ishing effect VIII be produced of g hole,
apparently Of the size Of the cross section
of the tube, made through the left hand.
This is the hole in which we propose to
materialize another and smaller hole. As
we need a genuine aperture, and it would
be inconyeuient TO make one in the left
hand. let q sheet Of white paper be sub
stituted therefor and similarly held.
Just at the part OF the paper where the
hole equaling in diameter the orihce Of
the tube appears, make an opening one
fourth in diameter. Now stare iutently
into the tube and the second hole, de-
fined by its difference OF illumination
win be seen floating in Jhe first hole, and
yet both viii be transparent. The al
lusion, for OF course it is one of those odd
pranks our binocular vision plays upon
Us. is certainly one of the most curious
ever devised. Besides. here is the actual
hole clearly visible, and yet there Is no
solid body to be seen TO define its edges
It is not a mere spot OF light, because, if
a page ofprint Dee regarded. lhe lines
within the boundaries Of the little hole
will not coincide ut all with those sur
rounding it and extending to the edges
of the large apparent aperture. Each
eye obviously transmits an entirely dif-
ferent impression to the brain. and that
organ, unable TO disentangle them, lands
u- in the palpable absurdity of q mate
rallied hole.
Year: 1876

1t is said that the print of female
foot eleven inches long was discovered
last week in the red sandstone Of Con-
necticut. How it was ascertained to be
female foot does not transpire, and
probably this libelous assertion was made
with view to making down-trodden
women angry. A veil known professor
there, and several other geological Ia
natics, have gone to digging, and 1t Is
popularity supposed that they iope TO
and the body belonging to the SOLE
Year: 1876

GHE ancient kingdom of Poland is now
for all purposes an integral part of the
Russian empire, the last remaining YES
tige of its semi astronomical character
having been swept away through the re-
cent abolition of the office of secretary OF
state for Poland.
Year: 1876

A soldier who served three years
under General Custer, relates the fol-
lowing incident which was characters
tic of his desperate and determined
manner:


sit was five or six years ago that we
had fight with the Chippewas on the
Washita river, the expedition being led
by Custer. For long time the General
had with him on the plains three magni-
ficent Scotch grayhOunds, by which he
set great store. and for which he would
accept no price. Twenty miles from
the Chippewa's village we struck the
trail. 1t was in the evening and before
proceeding on the march, Custer ordered
that the grayhounds be placed in the
wagons, which were not to accompany
the detachment. This was done. We
took up our line of march and found
the village on the Washita at midnight,
the inhabitants being wrapped in slum-
ber, and all about the camp silent,
Custer concluded to wait until daylight
to make the charge, and after command
ing silence all along the line. sat upon
his horse like statue waiting for the
first indications of dawn. While sitting
thus a slight pattering on the ground
attracted his attention, and upon look
ing down he perceived through the
gloom one of his hounds crouching at
his horses feet, the dog having escaped
from the wagon and followed his
master. The Indian village was swarm
ing with dogs, and Custer knew it. He
also knew that if his hound emitted the
slightest yelp or bark it would agitate
the entire canine force of the camp, put
the Indians on their guard, and proba-
bly, frustrate the object of the expedi-
ton. Slipping gently from his horse,
he grasped the dogs throat with both
hands, and slowly and quietly choked
him to death. So silently and quickly
was it done that in the gloom that pre-
vailed, only few soldiers, standing in
the immediate vicinity, preceived the
desperate action.


With the exception of his last fight,
this engagement on the Washita was
one of the most desperate ever fought
on the plains, and resulted in grand
victory for the Creeping panther, the
name by which Custer was known
among the Indians.
Year: 1876

The king of nuts for usefulness is the
fruit of the palm-the cocoanut-which
grows abundantly in all tropical re-
gions. The kernel, in its fresh state, is
very nutritiye, and when grated, makes
excellent cakes or fritters. The milk of
the cocoanut forms delicious beverage
in its native country; large nut, when
fresh, will give half pint of milk.
When tits very young the pulp is so
soft that it may be eaten with a spoon,
and the shell is so thin and transparent
that it may be used as a lantern. The
oil obtained by pressure from the kernel
is used for burning in lamps and for
making fine soap. There is no part of
the tree but is employed for some use
full purpose, though with respect TO
fruit, the cocoanut is one of the least
productive of the palm tribe. One tree,
in a good soil, produces about one hun
dred cocoanuts annually. Sweet
almonds are nutritive, but difficult of
digestion. The brown husk that sur
rounds the kernel is unwholesome, and
on account of its injurious qualities,
almonds should always be blanched.
This is done by simply pouring boiling
water upon the kernels. Bitter al
monds are poisonous to all classes of
animals. The chestnut is the most far
inaceous and the least oily of all nuts,
and, therefore, is the most easy of diI
gesti .n-though it requires roasting or
boiling. In Southern Europe they
form large portion of the food of the
laboring classes. The walnut is native
of Persia, and its fruit is much used in
the green state as a pickle. This nut is
very oily, and on the Continent its oil,
when fresh, is used in cooking as a
substitute for olive oil. In Switzer-
land, the poor people use the refuse
matter, after the oil is extracted, for
bread. In Norway and Sweden, acOrns
are boiled and mixed with corn meal to
make bread. Hazelnuts and filberts
are the fruit of the same tree, the for
mer in its wild, and the latter in its
cultivated state. These nuts are quite
free from oil. At dessert they are gen.
orally eaten with salt. Frest roasted
peanuts are very agreeable i'm their fla
vor, and quite nutritive. Instead of
being munched between meals, in all
sorts of places, if they were eaten at the
table as a part of the meal and
thoroughly masticated, they would
prove more wholesome. Eaten with
other food, as at the conclusion of a
meal, nuts are wholesome and agree
able, and might on account of the oil
they contain, well supply the place Of
indigestible pastry.
Year: 1876

OF all esculents the potato is the most
wholesome. In Ireland large number
of the population exist solely upon this
plant. 1t is due to Frenehman, how
ever, the discovery of improving upon
the plant, and assuring its supply con-
stantly through the year. An exchange
says: Luxury, indeed, can command
new potatoes at almost any time. But
the soapy, insipid root, which costs so
much, and is reared with so much diff
Guilty, is not proper potato, or at least
does not taste like one. There is
always disagreeable suggestion of the
forcing pit and greenhouse. A French
peasant has met the difficulty, grappled
with it, and conquered it. After trying
every kind of soil in which to SOW the
roots, he at last hit upon the notion of
employing salt, and found it to answer
admirably. He made his experiment in
secret, so as to be certain Of success.
That success is now attained, and notice
has been taken by the French authori-
ties of the new method. The roots are
planted in August, on thin stratum of
salt. each root having placed over it a
pinch of compost, and the earth heaped
over that. In September the ground is
dug again, and in October it is weeded.
In the middle of January the crop is
ripe, each root bearing seven or eight
potatoes attached to it. The success of
the new method has only just been an
nounced. Last August twelve months,
the inventor laid down his roots and
followed out the programme we have
given. The result was that this time,
t,celre months, he was able to produce
to the director of the museum of natural
history i'm Paris the first sample of this
winter growth, but the Partisan profess
sor would scarcely believe that the roots
placed in his hands had only just been
dug out of the earth. The peasent in
ventor stuck to his history, and was so
imperative that the experiment was re-
peated last August, several Witnesses
being invited to assist in the planting.
The result has been assured success.
The whole method has been laid before
an agricultural commission in Paris,
and the government has promised an
adequate reward to the peasant in
ventor."
Year: 1876

Everybody wants to live to be old. Ii
is one of the first promises to men as a
reward for honoring the father and
mother. The man who lives to great
age is considered fortunate, and in most
parts of the world is venerated, gray
hair being a crown of honor. The
question is an interesting one TO every
person: Can one by care preserve his
own age? and if so, there is second
growing out of this-what kind of care
will preserve life? There is a story told
of two travellers who were on journey
together through France. One Of them
had theory that by strict temperance
in eating and drinking life might be
prolonged, while the other held that
rational indulgence and enjoyment of
the good things of life were the most
favored conditions for longevity. One
day they came to village where were
two old men, each in his hundredth
year. One of the travellers visited one
of these patriarchs and his companion
the other. Each returned, acknowl-
edging that his theory was wrong and
his friends correct. The first had been
told by his centennarian that he had
preserved his life by always eating and
drinking what best pleased his palate,
and enjoying the pleasures of life; while
the second was told by the aged man
whom he visited that extreme simplicity
of diet and frugality in his manner Of
living had kept him in life and health.
The story may be true or not; 1t is not
improbable. Care and moderation in
all things doubtless tend To prolong life,
but they do not ensure to him who
practices them great age. An example
often cited is that of Cornaro, Venetian
nobleman, born in 1857, and until he
was 40 years old, intemperate in eating
and drinking. His constitution, natu-
rally infirm, was impaired, and from
that time he observed strict rules of
living, and so he lived on until he died
in his hundredth year. His temperance
was not exactly in conformity with
modern New England notions. He
took rather more wine than solid food,
IA ounces day, did not expose himself
to the heat of the sun nor fatigue him
self, his chief labor being, after he was
SO years old, when he wrote his 'Dis-
course on Temperate Living" This is a
little book which has been translated


into every written language and read


by millions, and yet the extreme length
of human life has not been extended
and the average increase is not greatly


indebted to his rules. Public sanitary


regulations have done more than private


methods in preserving life.


Sobriety is one of the virtues which


tend to long life, but does not insure it.


Neither does health. Cornaro was him
self an example of this. His natural
constitution was infirm and for the first
40 years of his life he did not nurse it.
The experience of most who have at
tanned great age, confirms the statement
Year: 1876

that robust health is not especially


favorable to long life. A delicate con-


stitution is often more lasting than the


most robust. The pale and sickly boy


may live to be a man of extreme age,


while the ruddy and robust youth is cut
down in his prime by some acute dis
ease or dies suddenly on the approach
of old age. Health and muscularity


also are not necessarily the possession
of the same person. The men trained


for prize fight, boat race, or any,
thing requiring great muscular exer-
ton, are not in high state of health.
This is evident from the fact that a
trifle upsets them. There is hardly a
boat race advertised but some one of the
several of the crews has to find a substi-
tute because he is ill from slight
matter which would be trifle to one i'm
really good health. The race of life is


not to the strong nor to the swift, and a
recent writer in the Lancet, DIR. r.
Southey, says that the three Oldest per-
sons he ever knew were women and


were valetudinarians, and had been so
for most of their lives. Nor are the


rules of health the same for all. COrna-
ro's rules may have preserved him and
might shorten the days of another. Rich
cakes and pastry and idleness are not
usually considered to be greatly con-
ductive to health, and yet we have


known an instance of lady who ex-
listed for upwards of 90years, whose
principal diet was composed of the food
mentioned and who scarcely took more
exercise than the removal from her bed
to her chair and from her chair to her
bed. Temperance and sobriety may be
favorable to long life, but they did not
insure it even to the most robust and
promising. The life insurance officers
ask, as the most important question, of
an applicant for policy if his mother
and father are living, and if not their
ages at the time of death. If the parents
are old or lived old, the expectation of
life of the children is great. If the
parents died young then there is no
great hope that the children will live to
a great age. The best surety to long
lived family is to have descended from
ancestors of great age. Unfortunately
this is not possible for all, and so the
next best thing is to live good life
while it lasts, and by temperance and


hr.1 % - f,,I
happy as possible, so as to transmit to
posterity better constitution than one
inherits from his ancestors.
Year: 1876

The correspondent of the London
Times in Servia gives the following de-
scription of a native carriage in which
he made his journeyings:


sour carriage deserves to be de-
scribed. 1t is remarkably like what we
might imagine would be gay ambu-
lance; indeed, one might well mistake
it for fantastic miniature hearse. 1t is
on four wheels, low in the body, and
with three windows on either side.
There is room for four persons inside,
with convenient well for baggage be-
yond the seat which faces the horses.
This, as well as the roof which covers
the passengers heads, is covered with
leather.


"A leather hood descending from the
roof falls down behind, and is attached
to the back of the carriage by straps. A
small verandah I'm front covers the dri-
ver's seat, on which there is space for
two persons. At the back of this seat
is window, through which you can
communicate with the driver. On each
side without is notification in Turkish,
Servian and German that the machine
is a. .facre which makes journeys through
Servia and Turkey. There is a scarlet
curtain inside, which may be drawn
completely across each window. Two
horses harnessed without collars COM
plete the equipage. The driver in
formed us at starting that in Turkey our
carriage is regarded with respect moth
ing short of what Christians would re-
gard as veneration, in as much as it has
frequently had the great homer of being
retained to convey the ladies of the Sui
tan's harem.


GAS we are not within the boundary
of Turkey proper, but only in territory
which is in open revolt against its Otto
man Suzerain, we thought at starting
that it would be rather dangerous fOI
us to have it supposed that the contents
of the wagon were ladies on the way to
the Seraglio, so we took care all day te
keep the windows open, and to salute
and acknowledge the salutatiOns of thos<
whom we met on the way. 1t is only {
becoming tribute to Servian hospitality
and politeness to say that the lattel
greetings were almost as frequent as th'
occasions Of our meeting any of the ma
tives Of the country"
Year: 1876

In many bleak Northern regions
these animals are the sole support of
the people. When liberated from har-
ness they go directly in search of food,
a peculiar species of nutritious moss,
which their instinct enables them to
find deeply covered with snow. Some
times as many as one hundred start off
foraging. there being nothing provided
for them by their exacting master.
Like camels under similar circumstan-
ces, when unladen they strobe off miles
in different directions. When they are
wanted again their seal-skin-clad
drivers get behind them in several di-
rections, and by halloOing, throwing
snowballs and making considerable up
roar, the deers are gradually driven in
to a smaller circle. The herd is then
encircled by small cord, the men
draw it nearer, until it strikes their
long legs. They neither try to leap
over nor break through it, but huddle
together as close as possible. Finally
the two ends meet, held py one person
while the others enter under line and
select the animals they want, siezing
them by their horns, bringing them out
and tying them to something strong
enough to hold them until harnessed
to sled. The remainder again scatter
in pursuit of moss. Strong, tall and
fleet though they are, able, with a
sweep of their antlers, TO NOW down a
score of sturdy Mortimer, they cover
at the voice Of man. Their masters are
rude, harsh and unkind to them. They
are so timid that the sound Of the
drivers voice sets them running at
such speed, that they will die before
hating. If their drivers continue to
urge them,
Year: 1876

The following illustration of the
power possessed by insects to CON-
municste their experiences to one an
other is given by a lady correspondent
of the London Spectator: 81 was stay
ing at the house of a gentleman who
was fond of trying experiments, and
who was bee keeper. Having read In,
some book on bees that the best and
most humane way of taking the honey
without destroying the bees was to i'm
merse the hive for a few minutes in a
tub Of cold water, when the bees, be-
ing half drowned, could not sting,
while the honey was uninjured, since
the water could not penetrate the
closely waxed cells, he resolved on try
ing the plan. I saw the experiment
tried, the bees, according to the recipe,
were fished out OF the water after the
hive had been immersed a few minutes,
and with those remaining in the hive
laid on a sieve in the sun to dry. But
as by bad management the experiment
had been tried too late in the day, as
the sun was going down, they were re-
moved into the kitchen, to the great
indignation of the cook, on whom they
revenged their sufferings as soon as
the warm rays of the fire, before which
they were placed, revived them. As
she insisted on their being taken away.
they were put back into their old hive,
which had been dried, together with a
portion of their honey, and placed on
one of the shelves of the apiary, in
which were five or six other strong
hives full of bees, and left for the
night. Early next morning my friend
went to look at the hive on which he
experimental the night before, but, to
his amazement, not only the bees from
that hive were gone, but the other
hives were also deserted-not a bee re-
mained in any of them. The half
drowned bees must, therefore, in some
way or other, have made the other bees
understand the fate which awaited
Them"
Year: 1876

There's word in our language, word of four


letters,


Which contains the great secret Of worldly


success,
And he who viii follow the pathway it opens,
VIII escape much Of SORROW and worldly dis


tress-
Around this great symbol, the wondrous ma


gician,


No ancient inscriptions, no mysteries lurk
But open and plain as the book we call sacred.
Is this powerful helper this simple word


work"
How many there are in our towns and our
Who are very reluctant their fingers to soil !;
Who are willing to take any genteel position,
But turn in disgust from the very word toll.
Some few of the multitude may be successful,
But a far greater number will certainly fail,
And many will turn to the ways Of transgres-


sors,


And some will find home in some prison


or jail.
The God who created designed us to labor;
He gave US the power to work il we would,
And If we but strive to accomplish our mission
Success will attend us-our work will be good
The labor viii seem to us almost appalling,
But He will sustain and help US to do;
Years may be consumed in it ere it is finished.
But cheerful endeavor will carry it through
T hen up and be doing hfe's moments are pre-


cious


Our time Will be short enough, brief at the


best,


Toll on and remember our work is before us !;
When it is completed, then we shall find


rest,


Press on to the goal there are others besides


us;


We shall not succeed if our duty We shirk;
But the prize is awaiting you. firm noble toiler,
So brayely INCREASINGLY faithfully work,
Year: 1876

1t is a rule of manners to avoid exag-
geration. A lady loses as soon as she
too easily and too much. In
man or woman the face and the person
lose power when they are on the strain
to express admiration. A man makes
his interiors his superiors by heat. Why
need you, who are not gossip, talk as
a gossip, and tell eagerly what the neigh
bors or the journals say? State your
opinions without apology.
Year: 1876

Last Tuesday over 1900 persons
were assembled at Lords to witness
a game OF cricket, the annual match
between Oxford and Cambridge, in
which Oxford came very decidedly
out OF the little end OF the horn. l
doubt whether the ladies took much
interest In the game, but they must
have found enough to admire in each
others "pull-back dresses, which are
certainly calculated to startle the un-
regenerate male mind. Some OF
these dresses are now pulled back to
that degree that sitting down in them
must be simply impossible. AS the
English woman is seldom constructed
on very slight or fragile scale, the
effect Of costume which reveals the
outlines of the whole figure is calcu-
lated to considerably astonish weak
nerves. I saw couple of young
girls coming out OF the Royal Acad-
emy to-day, and at first 1 really
thought that a brace Of statues had
been endowed with motion, and had
walked down from their pedestals
into the street. For the dresses were
OF very light and gauzy material,
and the pull-back was simply stu
pendous, and-but perhaps 1 had
better not enter any further into the
subject, for some people are rather
particular, and they might not like it.
1 may go so far as to say that the
streets of London, or the fashionable
evening parties, seldom presented
more to interest the curious eye than
they do at present. l should be
afraid to describe an evening dress
L saw the other night; you might say
that my letters had been condemned
as improper and that you had lost
several subscribers in consequence
II the next change in fashion is not
in totally different direction, artists
ill'find it unnecessary to go to the
statuary in the British Museum, or
elsewhere, to study the human form
| divine.-London World.
Year: 1876

TRELLISSES.


These Trellisses are acknowledged by all
who have seen them to be the neatest,
cheapest and best thing Of the kind in the
market


The extreme low price at which they are
offered brings them within the reach Of all.
and the general and increasing taste for the
culture OF plants and flowers ID continually
increasing the demand for them. For sale


SMITH 4 BREEN.
! n Fouth and ehapley ets.