smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1873

TIE EARS OF WHEAr.-Age $


upon ages ago, when the ang els


used to wander on earth, the


fruitfulncss of the ground was


much greater than it is now


Then the cars Of wheat bore, not
fifty or sixty-fold, but four times
five c-hundrcd-fold. Then the
corn grew from the bottom Of
the stalk to the top; and so long
as the stalk was,. so long were
the ears. But as men always dc
in the midst of their abundance,
they forgot the blessing which
came from God, and became idle
and selfish.


One day a woman went to q
corn field, and her little child
who accompanied her fell into a
puddle and soiled her frock.
The mother tore off a handful of
wheat ears and cleaned her
daughters dress with them.
Just then an angel passed by,
and saw her. He becam. very
angry, and declared 20 her that
henceforth the wheat. stalks
should no longer produce ears,
for, said he, You mortals arc
not worthy of heavens's gifts
The bystanders who heard him,
fell on their knees, weeping and
him to leave the wheat
stalks alone, if not for themselves
yet for the poor fowls, who must
otherwise perish with hunger.
The angel pftied their distress
and granted part Of their prayer
and from that day the ears of
wheat have grown as they do now. >
Year: 1873

a useless Duluth nuisance 1t should not
have been put there, and would not have
been but for the obstinacy Of Duluth and
the North Pacific Railway. They have
fought against natures decree, violated the
Constitutional rights of sovereign State,
and damaged splendid harbor in attempt
ing to make very poor, or useless one, ex-
clusively for themselves. 1t is time that
every plank and timber of this nuisance was
pulled up by those who placed it there, and
taken away to their own territory. We
want no more of it.
Year: 1873

Those even who are cursed with the
most treacherous memories generally
retain pretty accurate recollection
where dollars are concerned. But there
are exceptions to every rule, and curl
Gus one recently occurred in Paris. One
Madame lie Brun, when leaving the
Vincennes railway station, saw little
packet drop from beneath O lady dress
She picked it up and gave it to her, but
the lady denied all knowledge of it, and
said that it could not be hers. Madame
lie Brun, much puzzled, spoke to one Of
the officials at the station. He opened
the mysterious parcel, and found that it
contained about $4,000. Madame LIE
Brun then rushed once more after the
lady, who came back protesting that it
wasn't hers; presently, however, the
recollection suddenly, flashed across her
that her mother, who had recently made
a great deal of money, gave her apresent,
a day or two before, of the sum in ques-
ton; but, knowing that her daughter
was going to pay several visits, took the
precaution of sewing the packet of notes
into her petticOats--an attention which,
had it been effectively carried out by q
more vigorous ply of the needle and
thread, would seem to have been by no
means ill-bestowed in the case of lady
who totally forgets in few houss a
packet of 81, 900. It is not every one
who, when losing money, has the luck to
meet with Madame LIE Brun.
Year: 1873

We bid you goodbye, with smile,
Old Year because II won't pay TO ory.
You are bound TO 60, and leave us. w
know, and we cannot but say goodbye.
We feel none the less that long.drawn
sigh. a culver OF lip and fearful eye.
wouid better express, we will confess.
our heartiest last goodbye.


You've piled upon M . heavy ioed
and many an ache, on an uphill rosa
yet enough for the day way the strength.
Away, and hence our smile 10 at best
awry with which we say, Old Year, good


To be sure, We have felt that the aches
and pains were often by pounds and the
Joys by grains and the screws seemed
turned with an extra pinch. - though
some malice had hold Of the winch; and
others seemed having much more d.
liQht, and we much less, than was fair
and right: that coin OF the realm and
bonds and stocks and real estate, In
squares and blocks and acres untold OF
prairie and hill and silvery stream and
dam and mill that these and moro Of
the coveted real, and desires fulfilled OF
beauty's ideal, we're the lot Of too few,
while we Of the many were often in
want of even penny. But then, slnco
we know, or at least don't doubt, that
the broods of care are swarming about
the hordes of manifold wealth that burn
and sink and leave by stealth that
"reumatic" loves to pain and twist tho
prasping heart and the gripping 6st---
we about conclude that We do not know
of one 80 fortunate here below with
whom we'd exchange what the year has
brought---though little Of profit our
hands have wrought --- and take his
share of trouble and pains, and also his
lot of regret and shame, and also tho
gaunt old skeleton grim that in cup
board or closet is grinning at him.


We cannot but feel, though load OF
care, that TO say the least it is hard TO
bear, it has been our lot all along tho
years, that nevertheless there is Joy in
life, in spite of sorrow, pain, and strife.
and hence we regret the old year gone.
and wish it's draft on time undrawn
that all to soon the new is old, too soon
the wondrous tale is told.


The stream of ime--Oh, woe is me


Hath current too strong and swift
II hurries me on to the silent sea,


Like ruuueTlcse, bouhooo "AoSA


adrift; .
Oh would that there we're some little


bay, ;.
Some headland, beneath whose tranquil


lea,


We might forever at anchor lay,


Or float when we would to the deep,


dark sea.


But a-truce to regrets let time roll
on: what matters what comes or what il
gone! It is joy to have lived, it is Joy
to live why care for the fight Of the
fugitive? II each have filed up the
fleeting days with noble deeds and high
essays, then no remorse or sad regrets
will cloud the years serene supset.
Year: 1873

The train from New York to Paterson,
N. j., got fast in drift at cut near
clifton, one night during the late storm,
and bid fair to stay there all night. The
passengers took the affair in all sorts of
humors. One man said his daughter
was to be married that evening, and he
would give two hundred dollars to be
carried through. One lady had gone TO
Passaic in the morning for nn hours
visit, and she was alarmed at the prob
able condition of the little nursing babe
she had left ut home. Another man had
wife who he expected wOuld want him
to 60 for the doctor before morning
After waiting for time, a number OF
the more anxious ones, including the fe-
male with the babe at home and several
other females, concluded, rather than
wait in the train all night, that they
would walk to Paterson.


1t was an awful walk. In places the
snow was above their waists. One mo-
ment they would be upon the track; the
next they wonld suddenly find them
selves precipitated into some ditch, -br
over some embankment. The woman,
with the babe at home, delicate and
sickly as she was, kept mp with the rest,
although she was occasionally helped
by the strong arm of some of the men.
When male member of the p, rty felt
discouraged, and like giving out, he was
kept up bya sort of pride, thinking that
if a woman could stand it, certainly he
ought.


Despite the situation, the cracking of
jokes never ceased, and good-humor
prevailed to such an extent that the
party had no time to get down-hearted.
Then somebody would disappear with a
yelp down some unseen cavity; all hands
would rush to the rescue, and the miss
ing person would be extricated and
threatened with being left alone if he
did such a thing again! And so it went
The party finally reached Paterson at
about II o'clock at night, having been
passed on the road by the train they had
abandoned, which had succeeded in
forcing its way through, but without
stopping to pick up the trampers
through the snow.
Year: 1873

Henry Ward Beecher says: "Aaron
Burr was keener thinker than George
Washington. He was far more inge-
NOUS man, more active man, and, If
he had been a moral man, and main
tanned normal relations with his fellow
men, and with the laws of rectitude, he
would have been an ADLER man. Wash
ington was a man of good sense, but I've
was not man of genius in any direc-
tion except that of conscience. He was
IA man of singular equity, great disinter-
estedness, and of pure and upright in
tent. Sagacious he was, by light
which came from integrity. He endur-
ed, having faith to believe that right
was right, that it was safe, and that
right in the end would prevail. That
which made Washington the only great
hero of our revolutionary struggle was
the light of the moral element that was
in him---not any intellectual genius
which he possessed; not any rare tact of
administration, or any remarkable exc
cutive power. And if you look back
upon those names in our history that
have stood the test, you will find that
they have been men who were fruitful
in the highest moral element. And as
time goes on, those men who lack these
elements sink lower and lower and low
er till they set below the horizon; and
those who possess them rise higher, till
they reach the meridian, with undying
splendor, to shine upon history and the
world.
Year: 1873

Little by little we are arriving mt an
understanding of the Mongolian's habits
of life. The introduction of the race
into Pennsylvania has given us new
insight into their " ways that are dark, "
and the Pittsburgh Post, which has
never ceased to wonder at them since
their pioneers reached Beaver Falls,
thus describes one Of their peculiar
amusements


"Among the many little diversions
employed by the Mongolians at Beaver
Falls, none are more popular than the
game called 'Chamie. 1t is played by
the pigtails with 'tseen, a copper coin
of the value of one-tenth of cent
The gamester is driven into reckless
profligacy by the necessity of throwing
awhole penny into the pool at one time.
The game causes the utmost excitement
and the most intent ardor among the
players. On the table is kind of dais
with holes all around it. Into this each
player puts as many tSeen or pennies as
he wishes, the number being restricted
within certain limit, and then a spring
makes all the pennies put in tumble
into heap. Each player then guesses
the number of pennies III the pool, and
the one who guesses the nearest obtains
the pool. At first sight the game looks
exceedingly simple, and one would i'm
agine that each player would put in the
smallest number of pennies possible
But this is not so for each one tries to
circumvent the others by his cunning
A player will put in sometimes great
many more pennies himself than the
other, and then guess in proportion,
The main amusement of the game to
an outsider is the manner of playing it
the many ways which the players en-
ploy to make believe that they are put
ting in many pennies by enlarging their
fists, or that they are putting IN little
by making them smaller when they may
be doing the very opposite. It is ex-
ceedingly comical and interesting, and
all the time the jabbering and chattering
goes on at a pace that would astonish
Confucius himself.
Year: 1873

When flea, under a microscope, is
made to appear as large as an elephant,
we can see all the wonderful parts of its
formation, and are astonished to find
that it has coat of armor much more
complete than ever warrior wore, and
composed of strong polished plates, fit
ted over each other, each plate like a
tortoise-shell, and where they meet hun
dreds of small quills project like those
on the back of porcupine or hedge
hog. There are the arched neck, the
bright eyes, the transparent cases,
piercers to puncture the skin sucker
to draw away the blood, six long legs,
four of which are folded on the breast,
all ready at any moment to be thrown
out with tremendous force for that
jump which bothers one when they want
to catch him, and at the end of each
leg hooked claws, TO enable him to cling
on to whatever he lights upon. A flea
can jump n hundred times its own
length, which is the same as if man
jumped five hundred feet and he can
draw load two hundred times his own
weight.
Year: 1873

-Four men, all of them whites, are now
lying in the County Jail of Burnet
County, Texas, under sentence of death
all to he executed at the same place
on January Is. Their names are Ben
jamin Shelby, Arthur Shelby, Ball
Woods, and William Smith. They were
all sentenced for the murder of Benja-
min Mckeever. Their case, taken in
all its details, is one of the most inter
esting in the annals of criminal trials
The evidence against them, though CON
elusive, was entirely circumstantial
Mckeever was shot from his horse nt
night near the residence of the Shelbys,
his throat then cut, and his body
carried on horseback three miles and
thrown into cave. A large rock was
placed on the bloody spot where his
throat was cut, but this precaution,
instead of concealing the crime, led to
the arrest of the criminals. The keen
eyes of a frontiersman saw that the rock
had been recently placed there SO it
was removed, and indications of blood
found. A closer search resulted in the
further finding of n paper-wadding that
had been fired from shotgun. On
examining a gun of Benjamin Shelby
paper wadding was likewise found in it,
and yet another wadding that had been
fired from a shotgun like the first, was
found under Shelby's doorstep. In his
house was found copy of the Chimney
CORNER, and by comparisons it was
ascertained that the three pieces of gun
wadding had been obtained from that
paper. Placed together the following
enigma could be easily read


With piece of paper or slate,


Sit around the fire both large and


small;


letter make, almost an eight,


And now You see what covers all.


There were several other circumstan-
ces pointing strongly to the accused men
az the murderers therefore the jury
that tried them did not hesitate to find
them guilty of murder in the first
degree. The verdict is generally APP
proved by the citizens of Burnet Coun-
ty,. and the latest advices from there
indicate that there will probably be no
nterferences by Superior Courts or the
Governor to prevent the decreed quad
ruple execution.
Year: 1873

The man lives i'll Philadelphia who
when young and poor, entered bank,
and says he, please, sir, don't you
want a little boy?" And the stately
parsonage said, "No, little boy, l don't
want little boy" The little boy,
whose heart was too full for utterance,
chewing piece of licorice stick he had
bought with cent stolen from his good
and pious aunt, with sobs plainly audi
BILE, and with great globules of water
rolling down his cheeks, glided silently
down the marble steps of the bank.
Bending his noble form, the bank man
lodged behind a door, for he thought
the little was going to shy a stone at
him. But the boy picked up something
and stuck it in his poor but ragged
jacket. "Come here, little boy, and
the little boy did come here; and the
bank man said, "Lo, what pickest thou
up?" And he answered and replied,
"A PIN And the bank man said,
Little boy are you good?" and he said
he was. And the bank man said, /" How
do vou vote? Excuse me, do you go to
Sunday School?" and he said he did.
Then the bank man took down pen
made of pure gold and flowing with
pure ink, and he wrote on piece of
paper, "St. Peter" and he asked the
little boy what it stood for, and he said
"Salt Peter" Then the bank man said
it meant "Saint Peter" The little boy
said "Oh!'


Then the bank man took the little boy
to his bosom, and the little boy said
"Ohw again, for he squeezed him.
Then the bank man took the little boy
into partnership, and gave him half the
profits and all the capital, and he mar
ried the bank mans daughter, and now
all he has is all his, and all his own, too.
Year: 1873

A Boston Gentleman who could not
waltz offered q young lady $4Oo II abe
would allow him TO hug her Just -
much as the man did who had luss
waltzed with her. It was . good oners
and showed that money was NO object
TO him, but they put him out OF the
house so hard that his eyes were quite
black.
Year: 1873

This beautiful extract, from DR.. Hollands
new book, Arthur Bonnicastle, will be
read with deep and tender interest by ma
ny whose experience il trutbfully portrays:


81 stand in darkened room before a lit
tie casket that holds the silent form of my
first-born. My arm is around the wife and
mother who weeps over the lost treasure,
and cannot, till tears have their way, be COM
foried. / had not thought that my child
could die-that my child could die. knew
that other children had died, but l felt safe.
We lay the little fellow close by his grand
father at last we strew his grave with
flowers, and then return TO our saddened
home with hearts united in sorrow as they
had never been in joy, and with sympa-
thies forever opened toward all who are
called 10 a kindred grief wonder where
he is to-day, in what mature angelhood he
stands, how he will look when l meet him,
how he will make himself known 10 me,
who has been his teacher! lie was like
me: will his grandfather know himH'
never can cease thinking of him rs cared
for and led by the same hand TO which my
own youthful fingers clung, and as hearing
from the fond lips of my own father the sto-
ry of his fathers eventual life. l feel how
wonderful has been the ministry of my
children-how much more have learned
from them than they have learned from
mellow hy holding my own strong life In
sweet subordination 10 their helplessness,
they have taught me patience self sacrifice,
selr-control, truthlulness, faith, simplicity
aud purity.


"Ah this taking to ones arms little
group of souls, fresh from the hand OF God,
and living with them In loving companion
ship through all their stainless years, is, or
ought to be, like living in heaven, for of
such is the heavenly kingdom. To no one
of these am l more Indebted than to tho
boy who went away from me before the
world had touched him with stain. The
| key that shut him in the tomb was the on y
key that could unlock my heart and let in
among its sympathies the world of sorrow
ing men and women who mourn because
| their little ones are not.


"The little graves, alas how many there
are! The mourners above them, how vast
the multitude Brothers, sisters, am one
with you. press your hands, weep with
you, trust with you, l belong to you.
Those waxen, folded hands, that still breast,
so often pressed warm to our own, those
Sleep bound eyes which have been so full
of love and life, that sweet, unmoving, ala
baster face--ahl we have all looked upon
them, and they have made us one and
made MS better. There is no fountain which
Year: 1873

A cry of distress comes from Comorn, In
Hungary, where, we are tod, the agricul-
tural population Is suffering from the con-
sequences of severe drought. Nobody
has money. The shops deal by barter-s
cup of meal costing string of onions. The
people at present are subsistins In great
part on potatoes, which are not expected to
last beyond the beginning of the winter.
Such is the brief and unwelcome news
which comes from this little town, famous
for its heroic resistance to tho Austrians In
the rising of 1850.
Year: 1873

Several hot springs of tho Yellowstone
region are situated so near to the margin
of the Yellowstone lax e that person might
stand on the silicious rim of the spring,
extend his fishing rod into the water of the
lake, and catch trout weighing from one to
two pounds, and cook them in the boiling
springs without removing the Ash from the
hook. Professor Hayden's now volume OF
western surveys illustrates the operation.
Year: 1873

The Postmaster General has decided
that postal cards may not be rendered In
payment of unpaid or short paid mail mat
ter, and that to affix printed matter, as a
slip from a newspaper, to a postal card,
whether with or without writing on the
same Is to make the card liable TO letter
postage.
Year: 1873

the angel of healing troubles with his rest
less and life-giving wings so constantly as
the fountain of tears, and only those too
lame and bruised to bathe, miss the blessed
innueucep
Year: 1873

NEW YORK, March 31.-A report from
Washington says that Postmaster Gen
eral Cresswell is to start in a day or two
on a southern tour in company with
Senators Howe and Cameron. His
principal object is to inspect the postal
service and postal-car difficulties.
Year: 1873

The following, which we copy from the
Scientific american, should be remem-
bered.


Three persons out Of four would rush
right up to the burning individual and be-
gin to paw with their hands without any
definite aim. 1t is usless to tell the vic
tim to do this or that, or call for water
In fact it is generally best not to say a
word, but to seize blanket from the bed
or any woolen fabrie--if none is at hand,
take any woolen matcrial--]hold the cor
ners as far apart as you can, stretch them
out higher than your had, and running
bodily TO the person make motion Of
clasping in the arms, mostly about the
shoulders. This instantly smothers the FIRE
and saves the face.


The next instant throw the person on the
floor This is an additional safety to the
face and breath, and any remnant of fame
can be put out more leisurely. The next
instant immerse the burnt part in cold wa
ter, and all pain will cease with the rapidity
of lightning. Next get some common
-four, remove from the water, and cover
the burnt parts with an inch in thickness
of -four, if possible, put the patient TO bed
and do all that is possible to sooth until
the physician arrives. Let the -four re-
main until it falls of itself, when beautiful
skin can be found. Unless the burns are
deep, no other application is needed The
dry -four is the most admirable remedy
ever proposed, and the information ought
to be impaired to ALL The principle of
its actions is, that ike water, it causes
instant and perfect relief from pain by
totally excluding all the air from the in
jured parts.
Year: 1873

Mothers! il you would train up your
children to be useful members Of society,
keep them from running about the streets.
The great school Of vice is the street.
There urchins learn the vulgar oath or
the putrid obscenity For one lesson at
the fireside he has dozen in the kennel.
Thus are scattered the seeds Of falsehood
gambling, theft and violence. Mothers
as you love your own flesh and blood,
make your children cling to the hearth
stone. Love home yourself sink the roots
deep among your domestic treasures; set
an example in this, as in all things, which
your offspring may follow 1t is great
error, that children may be left to run
wild in every sort Of street temptation for
several years, and that it viii be then time
enough TO break them in. This horrid
mistake makes half our spendthrifts, gam
blers, thieves, and drunkards. No man
would raise colt, or an OK, on such a
principle no man would suffer the weeds
to grow in his garden for any length Of
time, saying he could eradicate them at
any time. Look at this matter, parents !
See. more especially, that your children
are not out at nights, loitering about some
cofee-h0use or theater. Mothers make
your children love home, and by all means
encourage them to love you better than
all other human beings
Year: 1873

Money is good thing, especially in
these hard times, but there is something a
thousand-fold more valuable. II Is charac-
ter--the consciousness of pure and honor
able life. This il should be mans first
aim to preserve at any cost In times Of
commercial distress, while some are proved
and found wanting, others come forth tried
as by FIRE. Here and there one comes out
Of the furnace far more Of man than be-
fore. Amid the wreck of his fortune he
stands erect--a noble specimen of true
manhood. Wehave occasionally witnessed
an example Of courage in such crisis, of
moral intrepidity, that deserved all honor.
Let it be the aim of every business man,
above all things else, to keep his purity
uns;ained. This is the best possession
this is capital which can never bo taken
from him--this is the richest Inheritance
which he can leave to his children.