smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1872

The greatest of physical paradoxes
| is the sunbeam. tits the most potent


and versatile force we have, and vet


it behaves itself like the gentlest and


most accommodating. Nothing can


fail more softly or more silently upon


the earth than the rays of our great


luminary-not even the feathery
flakes of snow, which thread their


way through the atmosphere as if


they were too filmy to yield to the
demands of gravity. like grosser
things. The most delicate slip of
gold-leaf, exposed as a target to the
suns shafts, is not stirred to the ex-
tent Of a hair, though an infants
faintest breath would set it into trem-
ulous motion. The tenderest of hu-
man organs-the apple Of the eye
though pierced and buffeted each day
by thousands of sunbeams, suffers no
pain during the process, but rejoices
in their sweetness, and bIesses the
useful light. Yet few of those rays,
insinuating themselves into a mass of
iron, like the Britannia Tubular
Bridge, will compel the closely-knit
particles to separate, and will move
the whole enormous fabric with as
much ease as a giant would stir a
straw. The play of those beams upon
our sheets of water lifts up layer after
layer into the atmosphere, and hoists
whole rivers from their beds, only to
drop them again in SHOWS upon the
hills, or in fattening showers upon
the plains. Let but the air drink in
a little more sunshine st one place
than another, and out of it springs
the tempest or the hurricane, which
desolates a whole region in its lunatic
wrath. The marvel is that a power |
which is capable of assuming such a |
diversity of forms, and of producing |
such stupendous results, should come |
to US in so gentle, so peaceful and so
a guise.
Year: 1872

Prof. AgassiZ comes to the cOnclu-
sion that the continent of North
America was once covered with ice a
mile in thickness, thereby agreeing
with Prof. Hitchcock and other emil
nent geological writers concerning
the glacial period. In proof of this
conclusion, he says that the slopes of
the Allegheny range of mountains are
glacierworn to the very top, except a
few points that are above the level of
the icy mass. Mount Washington,
for instance, is over six thousand feet
high, and the rough, unpublished sur
face of its summit, covered with loose
fragments, just below the level of
which glacier-marks come to an end,
tells that it lifted its head alone above
the desolate waste of ice and snow.


In this region, then, the thickness
of the ice could not be much less than
six thousand feet, and this is in keep
ing with the same kind of evidence
in other parts of the country; for
when the mountains are much below
six thousand feet the ice seems to
have passed directly over them while
the few peaks rising to that height
are untouched. The glacier, he
argues, was Gods great plow, and
when the ice vanished from the face
of the land, it left it prepared for the
hand of the hUsbandman.


The surface of the rocks were
ground to powder, the elements of the
soil were mingled in fair proportions,
granite was carried into lime regions.
lime was mingled with the more arid
and unproductive granite districts,
and soil was prepared fit for the agri-
cultural use of man. There are ev-
licences all over the popular region to
show that at one period the heat of
the tropics extended all over the
globe. The ice period is supposed to
be long subsequent to this, and next
to the last before the advent of man.
Year: 1872

Be frank with the world. Frank
ness is the child of honesty and eour-
age. Say just what you mean to do
on every occasion and take it for
granted you mean to do what is right.


Ifa friend asks you favor you
should grant it if it is reasonable: ifit
is not tell him plainly why you can
not; you will wrong him and wrong
yourself by equivocation of any kind.
Never do a wrong thing to make a
friend or to keep one the man who
requires you to do so is dearly pur-
chased and at a sacrifice. Deal kind
ly and firmly with all men, and you
will find it the policy that wears the
best. Above all do not appear to
others what you are not. If you have
any fault to find with any one, tell
him, not others, of what you COM
plain. There is no more dangerous
experiment than that of undertaking
to do one thing to a mans face and
another behind his back. We should
live and speak olt of doors, as the
phrase is: do what we are willing
should be known and read by all
men. 1t is not best as a matter OF
principle, but as matter of policy.
Year: 1872

1t il hard to renounce an old pOliti-


cal friend, one whom you have trust


ed, sought advice from and in GER


tain degree, regarded as a leader. 1t


awakens feelings of regret, not so


much for the loss of u friend, as for


the loss Of that confidence which


made friendship possible. If there


was one man in the Republican party


whom we deemed more honest in his


convictions than another, thst man


was Horace Greeley. We know he


was eccentric, on some questions un-


reliable, but we never doubted his


honesty until now. We have been


forced to desert him, for when a man


deserts from himself how can he ex-
pect his old friends to remain by him


If we>ever believed in his honesty we
take it all back. We look in vain for
some grounds on which to justify our
past faith, but we turn unwillingly
from the search and confess there are
none. We can accept either horn of
the dilemma, and the result is the
same. If he was honest in the past,
he is dishonest now. If he is honest
now, he has been dishonest all his
life. Out of his own mouth he is
convicted of political dishonesty. He
advocated the elevation of the black
race; the granting of lands to freed
men; the necessity of passing laws
for the protection of southern loyal
lists; the absolute right of the Federal
Government to enforce these laws,
and the vital importance of defeating
Democracy, because its triumph
would defeat these wise measures.
Now he swallows his past record and
denounees the very acts he first sug
gested and advocated. The echampIon
of protection, a bitter, unrelenting foe
to free trade, he has left on record
more good reasons for making "pro-
lection" plank in the party platform
of engrafting the policy on the
administration-than any other pOlit- !
ical writer of our times. In his esti-
nation no greater calamity could be-
fall the nation than the triumph OF
The Democratic party, because the |
weight of its administrative and legis- |
lative influence would be in favor of
free trade. Now he ignores the past,
abandons the policy of protection,
shakes hands in perfect fellowship |
with free traders, and is willing to be
all things to all men, just to become
President of the United States.


Now he is at the feet of Democracy,
begging for political aid in his work
1f rule or ruin, doing his best to prove
hat his past life has been a miserable
Iham, q career of deceit and hypOcri-
", in the interest of his free trade
iriends.
Year: 1872

The accounts of the famine in Per.


sia which continue to arrive in


greater detail, bid fair to treat the


world to the spectacle of q calamity


the like of which has not been wit.


messed in historic times at least-the


sudden extietiOn of nation for the


want of food. This has really been


the fate of the great States which


once filled the great Valley of the


Euphrates, and it is fate which has
for centuries been threatening some


modern States-Spain for instance


Man has stripped the soil of trees the
absence of trees has brought drougths


has slowly diminised the productive


power of the ground, and finally de-
strOyed them-the population in the
mean time, dwindling in numbers
and vitality. Spain had forty mil
hons Of people in the time of the Ro-
mans. and flowed with milk and hon
ey it is now an arid region, only
half Oft under cultivation, with only
sixteen millions of inhabitants, and
if modern science had not come to its
aid, would probably go the way of
Babylon. Persia was one of the most
powerful States of antiquity, and even
in the fourteenth century was able to
the army of Tamerlane. who
without eOmmissariat or
baggage, during bloody contest. 1t
is now almost a wilderness, with a
of two milIions-about
half of them nomands, which are
rapidly perishing from famine
brought on by three years of drouth.
The worst of it is owing TO the alb
sence of either common roads or rail
roads, it seems to be impossible for
the charity of the world to reach the
sufferers, so that there is really
strong prospect of the depopulation
Of the country, The moral of this
horrible story is-loOk after your
trees.
Year: 1872

How CHILDREN SUFFER FROM


FEAR.-NO pain is more dreadful to


endure than fear. Few parents real


ize how much their children suffer


from this cause. "There is nothing


to hurt you" is an assurance which


does not allay the apprehension. An


underlined something, existing often
only in the imagination, is the oeca-
sion of just as real suffering as a most
tangible evil could be. This suffering
from fear has much to do with the
almost universal dislike which chill
dren have of going to bed. They are
left alone in some chamber away from
the family-a wise arrangement so far
as quietness is concerned, and Judi
cious entirely if the child exhibits no
fear. But only those who remember
what horrors possessed the imagina-
ton when they, as children, were
left alone in the dark can fully realize
the sufferings Of a nervous child. "I
don't mind you whipping me, father"
said little fellow who had been re-
peatedly punished for crying when
put to bed alone, "if yoa will only
stay with me. ."-RlrdL South Land.
Year: 1872

To PURIFY A ROOM.-Set a pitcher
OF water in room, and ia 3 few hours
IL VIII have absorbed all the respired
gases IN the room, the air of which
VIII become purer, but the water per
fectly filthy. The colder the water
Is, the greater the capacity to contain
these gases. At ordinary temperature
pail OF water will contain a pint of
earoonie acid gas and several pints Of
ammonia. The capacity is nearly
doubled by reducing the water to the
temperature of ice. Hence, water
Kept IN a room awhile is always unfit
Tor use. For the same reason the
water from pump should ALWAYS be
pumped out in the morning before
any OF 1t is used. Impure water is
more injurious than impure air.
Year: 1872

The house will be kept in continual
turmoil when there is no toIeration Of
taeh others feelings, no meek sub
mission to injuries, and no soft an
sWer 10 turn away wrath. If you lay
a single stick of wood on the CRATE.
and apply fire to it, it will go out: put
on another stick and they will burn;
and half dozen and you viii have an
effective blaze. There are other fires
subject to the same condition. If
one member of a family get into a
passion and is left alone he will cool
down, and possibly be ashamed and
repent. But oppose temper to tenn
per. let one harsh word be folIowd
by another, and there will soon ba
blaze which will enwrap them alln
i IS burning heat.
Year: 1872

INSECTS FIDDLING. THE ehirp-
ing and singing of the cricket and
grasshOpper are frequently spoken
Of; but they do not sing-they fiddle.
By rubbing wings and legs together
each in manner peculiar to the species
these insects produce the sounds
which characterize them. Perhaps
our best insect instrument performer
IS the "katydid." Each wing con-
tains a little tamborine, and by the
opening and shutting of the wings
these are rubbed against each other,
and produce the sounds of "katy did
she-did,n which. can be heard at such
long distance, and gives the insect
Its name. These sounds are supposed
to be useful in enabling insects to find
their mates or they may indulge in
them for their own qualification, and
to add to the general harmony of
nature.
Year: 1872

TREAT THE Cows KINDLY.-There


are too many who exhibit a roughness


Of treatment toward the COW; and vet


no domestic animals are more sensi-


tive, or more quickly feel the un-
Kindness shown them. They can be
made dOcile and mild in their dispO-
sitiOns, or timid and wild, lust in
accordance with the treatment thew
receive from the herder and mixer:
and it is well established fact thai a
cow will transmit her disposition in
great degree to her progeny. A
rough, quick tempered person should
never be employed as a milker; and
one who will on any pretense what
ever kick or strike a COW should be
kicked in return, from the barn-yard
into the street, and never be allowed
to return. Gentleness will increase
the quantity of milk, as has been
shown by a change of a cruel and
lraseible mixer to one who practieed
kind and gentle treatment. 1t is an
injury to cows to be driven faster
than an easy walk, to or from their
pastures. To be urged on by thought
less boys, and these perhaps on horse
back, is to produce a fever and heat
ing Of the blood which is sure to dry
up or lessen the flow of milk. Cows
should always be made as comfortable
as possible, summer and winter; it
pays to do it.
Year: 1872

FROM every quarter of the land
come words Of eneouragemeDt. The
Liberal movement is losing strenotb
as its design become better known


Inc grand old party Of freedom never
showed oolder or more united front
crippled its action in the past have
been driven from the camp. The
oummers and stragglers who retarded
Its glorious march of progress have
gone over to the enemy. They were
a source of weakness to US: they will
Impart no strength to our opponents.
Let our friends keep moving everv-
where. Organize every available
torce Canvass thoroughly every dis
trlet. We must make the victory OF
inc Republican party a triumph
greater than any yet achieved. The
battle of November next must be the
Waterloo of Democracy.
Year: 1872

The shoemakers are awl for Wilson.
The latter will keep pegging away at
the opposition until election day
makes a wax'd end of the motley
herd, whose hides the Galena tanner
will then take care of.
Year: 1872

-Ope man in hundred reads book
ninety>nine in hundred read a newspaper
Nearly a century ago. the American press,
which is now aspreading oak, was in its green
twig. Thomas, Jefferson said he.would rather
live in country with newspapers. and with
out government, than in country with a
government but without newspapers The
press instead of,being the fourth is the first
estate in the realm
Year: 1872

-Artemus Ward was on slow California
train, and he went to the conductor and sug~
gested that the cow-ketcher was on the wrong
end of the train, for, said he, You will never
oyertake COW, you know, but if you'd put it
on the other end it might be useful, for now
there's nothing on earth to bender COW from
walking right in and bitin' the folks =
Year: 1872

The atom of charcoal which hoated in tho
corrupt atmosphere of tile oldavolcanic ages.
was absorbed into the leaf of a fern when the
valleys became green and luxuriant; and
there in its proper place, it received the suns
light and the dew, aiding to fling. back to
heaven reflection of heavens gold, and at
the same time to build the tough fibre of the
plant. The atom was Consigned to the tomb
when the waters submerged the jungied val.
ley 1t had lain three thousand years and a i
month since was brought into the light again
embedded in block of coal. It shall be
consumed to warm our dwellings, cook our
food, and make moro ruddy and cheerful the
hearth whereon our children play; IL shall
combine with a portion of the invisible at
mosphere, ascend upward az curling wreath
to revel in may dance high up in the blue
ether, shall reach the earth again, and be en-.
trapped into the embrace of flower; shall
live in. velvet beauty on the cheek of the
apricot; shall pass into the human body. giv-e
ing enjoyment to the palate the health to
the blood shall circulate in the delicate tis-
sues of the brain !; and aid by entering into
some new combination, in reducing the
thoughts which are now being uttered BY the
pen. 1t is but an atom of charcoal: il NAV
dwell one moment in a stagnant ditch, and
the next be flushing ON the lip of beauty; 1t
may be a component of limestone rock, aud
the Dext an ingredient in field of potatoes
it may slumber for thousand years without
undergoing a single change. and the next
hour pass through thousand, and. after all.
it is only an atom of charcoal, and oecupies.
only its own place wherever it may be.
Year: 1872

ped in little beasts skinne made like a
baggc, with hollow piece of stone or
wood like pipe, then when they please
they make pouder oft, ahd thea put it
IN one of the said cornet rppe, and lay
ing cole Of fire upon it, at the other end
they suck SO long that they Gil their bod
les full Of smoke, till that it cometh out
OF their mouth and nostrils, even as out
OF the tonnel of n chimney. They say
that this doth keepe them warmb and in
healthi they never goe without come of
this about them.
Year: 1872

A Brazilian gaucho demanded money
of one-legged beggar. On his reply
ing that he was penniless the gaucho re-
torted that so poor man should not want
to live and coolly gave him several stabs
leaving him for dead.
Year: 1872




A FAMOUS SOUTHERN PKEAomER.-A
private letter from a former clergyman
of this neighborhood, who has spent the
past winter at New Orleans, thus sketch
es famous preacher at the South The
head and front, and great advocate of
the Presbyterians here, is DR.. Palmer.
l have heard him twice; first in his
toricGl lecture. and a mastery one, hold.
ing an immense and select audience in
fixed attention for an hour and a half.
The subject was-The Tribunal of His
tory. To my speechless surprise the real
point was that the innate justice in the
hearts Of men would ultimately vindicate
the righteousness, nothing more, nothing
less, of the southern struggle for the as
tendency He made not the slightest
allusion to the evils of slavery, but only
to the present sutferiugs of the good pco-
pie Of Louisiana He ignored utterly
the degradation and infamy Of system
over which should hope he often went
and Of which | learned anew aud lately
Of long arrears of cruelty aud -hame ut.
terly unmentionable. When | alterward
heard him he was in his own pulpit, and
| was tavorably seated with one of his
own people. His church, having CALLER
les all around, will hold many more peo.
pie than Trinity, and was crowded. His
text was "The entrance of thy word Civ
eth light" | have no time to describe
the discourse. 1t was entirely extern.
pore, nothing before him but the open
Bible. lie preached an hour and a
quarter, with beauty Of arrangement, a
majesty of conception, dignity, force
Of argument tenderness of appeal, a
matchless ease of expression and variety
and simplicity Of illustration, that l have
never known surpassed in my long expe-
rence. AT the same time | thought, with
painful, heavy sensation at my heart, of
his train Of thought on the Tribunal of
History, and almost regretted that pre-
viously heard it. Yet we must make al
lowance for his early training at the
South. On thinking over by myself the
doctors power, it seemed to me that it
consisted in his ability to invest the same
truths we all believe and love with the
light and power of first conception, or,
as it were, new revelation for the time
being


A Missouri woman recently eloped
leaving the following note to comfort the
heart of her husband: dear William
Good bye DO not mourn for the
children for none OF them are yours"


"Wife," said a man, looking for his
boot-jack, ii have places where | keep
my things, and you ought to know it,"
=" Yes, ! ought to know where you keep
your late hours-but don't"
Year: 1872

reached Frank he seemed more thought
ful for time but in an hour of tempta-
tiou he yielded. Before long his old COM
panions surrounded him az lin, and of
them he soon learned how to spend the
large fortune left him by his father in
the most reckless manner. In vain his
true friends tried to stop him in his wild
career ; and five years ago, Harry, Frank
died drunkard."


"Oh, father, how dreadful !" and Har-
ry shuddered as he thought the story
over.


"Yes it is dreadful, my son but there
are countless untold stories as dreadful as
this one. IF we were to visit prison,
and asked the wrctched inmates how it
was tina. they were first led into crime,
we should find that only this once
brought most of them there. One took
something which did not belong to him,
never intending to do it more than once
but the crime soon grew into habit
Another was once tempted to gamble, and
only that one game was the foundation of
all his crimes. Learn, my son, to dread
those three little words, and when tempt.
ed to use them think of all they may lead
to, and ask for strength to resist tempta-
tion 4; and Harry do you wonder now at
our refusing to let you, even once, visit
the billiard room ?"


"No, father [ see now that you were
right, and was wrong in supposing that
it could not possibly do me any harm to
90 only this once and if Jim does tell
the boys some silly story to make them
laugh at me, can take and tell them
about Frank Allen, and that will sober
them soon."


Dear young reader, 90 you think it is
a tri1ing thing to do wrong "only this
once ?"


If SO, stop and think of the countless
stories many wretched ones could tell you
ofits running power. Stop and pray that
God will change that careless heart Of
yours and then determine solemnly, with
his aid, to resist until death temptations
to do wrong "only this once"
Year: 1872

In digging a cistern at ST. Johns
bury, the workmen found two toads
some nine feet under ground. Three
feet of the top soil was loan, and the
bottom six feet solid clay. The toads
were in the clay, each filling hole
just large enough for its body and in
shape corresponding herewith. When
first found they were of the color OF
the clay, but the next morning they
had assumed the color Of toads living
above ground. After they were un-
covered they hoped about as other
toads do
Year: 1872

"A. M. Cook of St. Johnsbury,
recently raised Greeley flag, under
the impression that he had right to
do SO. Somebody probably think
ing that Cook had not the authority
under the laws of Vermont, to act his
own pleasure in this matter--cut down
the campaign banner one night last
week.
Year: 1872

Seihci'


Nelson Putnam of the westerly
part of the town was thrown from a
load Of hay, by the team suddenly
starting, one day last week, breaking
the bones Of his LEG in three places
Year: 1872

Nihasor'


The Congregational church at Wind
sor have given Rev J, g. Bailey of
Hyde Park, w., 4 call for one year
and it is understood he will accept and
begin labor there about the first OF
August.
Year: 1872

J. Henry Marsh, Of Sharon owns a
Minkery, or building erected for the
purpose Of breeding or raising mink
as a source of profit, either from sell
ING ,he animals to breed from, or from
selling their fur