smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1876

The late Samuel Wollaston informed
Treasurer Vincent not long before his death
that the ground on which the City Treas
urer's office now stands was in his youth an
apple orchard. A school house at that time
stood where the Hanover Street Church now
stands, at the northwest corner of Sixth
and King streets. 1t was afterwards re-
moved to the opposite side of the street,
upon the ground now occupied as part of
the City Hall yard, where it stood for many
years, until pulled down. Sixth street was
then called Hanover street, hence the name
of the church.
Year: 1876

H0s0 It u Done-HOsU Many Man May


Open.


How many ladies as they cit at the table
with luscious oyster impaled upon fork
In pleasant contemplation of its taste, know
how 1t is gotten from the corrugated shell
that 1t occupies. There are but very few,
we will venture to say, who do. At the
establishment of Mr.. Albert Ainscow, on
Shtpley street, the operation may be wit.
messed any day, under the manipulation of
two expert openers. The oyster is laid in
thetpalm of the left hand, with the mouth
or thin part toward the opener, who has .
long steel blade made expressly for the pur-
pose. This he inserts between the two
sldep OF the shell, but not without some diff
r4oN)ty, and then by dextrous movement
.of NE hand the shells are separated, and
thsNyster is laid bare to the gaze. There is
considerable skill required to be successful,
for unless the opener knows exactly how to
perform the operation the oyster will be
mutiiated, and Its sale destroyed, for 1t must
oe Known that the appearance of an oyster
has ss much to do with recommending 1t to
9 cuftomer as it's flavor. The epicure goes
tnt9Eaptures over the size Of the bivalve as
mu4h as be does over the delicacy with
which it will tickle his palate.


Two gallons an hour is considered excel
lent work for an opener, and Mr.. Ainscow
has hands who will accomplish this for
hours. This is necessitated by the large de-
mand which Is made upon him for supplies,
andNto witness this quick manipulation is a
sight not without its satisfaction to certain
degree Of curiosity that all feel in such work
In the large canning establishments down
the Peninsula the openers are paid five cents
per quart for their work, and if they work
industriously can make good wages, but
the openers in these places, as rule, are
generally not very deeply attached to work
| and after they have been at the occupation
for while are very much like road horses,
| they get down to certain gait, and the
spur Of urging is necessary to get them out
oft. In one of these establishments down
near the Maryland line there is said to be q
man who has been at the business of open
ing oysters for many years, and he has
struck gait Of rapidity which he maintaans
y and has so well preserved that he has out
distanced all others in the accumulation d
money, and has quite snug pile laid up fol
that time which we are told by the prudent


must come to ALTA rainy day"
Year: 1876

Every laborng poor man should
buy himself a town lot, get that paid
tor, and then work to make the nee
cssary improvements. A little here
and little there will in due time
produce you home of your own,
and place you out of the landlords
grasp; remember, that fifty dollars a
year saved in rent, will in a few years
pay tor your home, and the money it
costs you to shift about, without any
loss Of furniture and time, pay the in
terest on five hundred dollar iudg-
ment, until you can gradually reduce
it to nothing. You can all buy that
way-why do you not risk it? If
you fail you are not worse off-if you
succeed, as any careful man is sure
to do, you have made a home and es-
tablished basis equal to many an.
others, which will start you in busi-
ness.
Year: 1876

A young lady in Morristown, VT,
put small piece of wedding cake
under her pillow and went to bed in
the happy,belief that she would dream
of seeing her future husband. That
evening, however, she had eaten two
dishes of ice cream, about pint OF
Strawberries, several sweet cakes an !
two large pickles, and now she says
she would rather remain single all
her life than marry the man she saw
in her dreams.
Year: 1876

DO not visit the sick when you are
fatigued, or when i'll state of per,
spiration, or with the stomach empty,
for in such conditions you are liable
to take the infection. When the dis.
ease is very contagious, take the side
of the patient which is next the win
dow. When you come away, take
some food, change your clothing, and
expose it to the air.
Year: 1876

A political orator, speaking OF a
certain general whom he admired,
said he was always on the field of
battle where the bullets were the
thickest. "Where was that?" "In
the ammunition wagon"
Year: 1876

A professor of Cornell University
has made application for the body Of
the noted trotter, American Girl, in
order that the skeleton may be placed
in the museum of that institution,
and preserved as a specimen OF the
bony structure OLA typical American
trotting horse.
Year: 1876

As the case stands now, it would
have been better il the House had not
impeached Belknap. The Senate has
consumed great deal of time in pre-
liminary discussions of jurisdiction,
which could have been more profitably
spent on urgent public matters. 1t is
at this moment, uncertain whether the
Senate will declare itself competent to
try q man who had quit Office before
Impeachment. And, should he be tried
his conviction is not to be confidently
predicted. For vote of two thirds
of the Senators present when it is ia
ken is required to convict Govern
ment officer under impeachment. -
There are number of Republican
Senators who could be trusted to give
q just verdict in the case without the
least regard to its effects on the Prcsi-
dental campaign; but the Temptations
to clear Belknap, on some bubble or
other, will be very strong upon those
who put party before everything, and
deem all measures justifiable which
save it from injury. At this time party
feeling runs high all over the country,
and nothing in the way Of tactics is



The fate of Belknap before the Sem
ate does not depend, therefore, wholly
on the evidence, but in part on the In>
terests of the Administration, its heirs
and assigns. Partisanship, which was
so unjustly anxious to convict in Pres
sident Johnson's case, may be equally
eager to acquit in that of Belknap,
with as little regard to proof in the one
as in the other. While failure to
convict would not restore Belknap's
old reputation by any means, it would
unQuestionably be of service to the
Administration and its supporters.
From such failure, an abandonment
of the proceedings against the Ex-Se-
cretary commenced in the courts
would naturally follow. This rests
with the Government; and having seen
what exertions it made to save Bah
cock, we cannot suppose that it would
scruple to shelter, as last resort, an
ex member of the Cabinet as well as an
old, intimate, confidential friend of the
President. Had Belknap not been im-
peached, this risk, now serious, would
rot have been so great. The Govern.
ment would hardly have ventured on
its own responsibility to postpone in
definitely trial demanded by honest
public opinion in both parties. WLile
the case is before the Senate, the Go.
vernment has good excuse for wait
ing; and it will have still better one
for doing nothing should Belknap, by
the intercession of his powerful
friends, escape conviction there. The
proper tribunal for Belknap is regular
court, where fine and imprisonment
can be imposed, and a suitable example
made Of him if guilty; and any step
which-like these doubtful Impeaeh-
ment proceedings has defer
red or possibly prevented his appear
ance al the bar of justice, was unwise-
ly taken.-Journdl of Com.
Year: 1876

The Chester Daily News of Wednes-
day has the following announcement:
"We understand that Mr.. John Roach
is disposed to transfer to Chester the
men and tools of his New York es-
tablishment-the Morgan Iron Works.
Its accomplishment will be hailed with
pleasure by every class of our citizens,
and If there is any obstacle IN the way
that our City Councils can remove
that body should not hesitate to act )"
The municipality of Chester has the
reputation of not throwing impedi-
ments upon the course of industrial
enterprise, and Mr.. Roach maybe as
sured that he will be permitted, at the
least, to extend his iron-ship mauufac-
tory on the banks of the Delaware.
There does not appear to be any good
reason why lie should have two estab-
lishments. one in New y ork and anoth
er considerably more extensive and
better situated, at Chester. Persons
desirous of his constructive aid car
seek and have it quite as easily on the
banks of the Delaware as on the East
river.
Year: 1876

There are many of our readers who
have known MIR. Bayard for years and
cherish for him warm friendship
and who will be glad to hear tina, his
health Is still good. In recent visit
to Wilmington we spent few hours
with the venerable statesman and law
yer, and enjoyed with him game of
his favorite frog" a game similar TO
quoits. The contest OF science and
luck amuscs him while the open air
exercise is beneiisial to his health
Though Mr.. Bayard is n years of age
he is in good health and his eyesight is
only slightly impaired. He is re-
markablly well preserved old gentle
man and enjoys company and social
intercourse. His long life of mental
labor, the tastes and habits of the STU
dent have stored his mind with en- ac-
cumulation of knowledge which, aided
by by his pleasant manners and easy
flow of language make him most
agreeable companion to those who
wish to listen TO the deductions of o
great mind and long experience.


He IS an ardent democrat, though
possessed of conservatism duo TO
years of experience and knowledge of
men and things. He says that for him
| there arc but few more years, and in
his home, surrounded by family and
friends, away from public life, changes
in politics can be of little moment ex


cept so far as he desires to leave to
those who come after him the heritage
of constitutional government. Like
all those men who lived in the better
days of the republic Mr.. Bayard clings


to the safeguards of the constitution
and venerates the laws of the land; he


fears the consequences of the rule of
passion and prejudice. There is no


partizanism in his patriotism, and no


bitterness in his words. Standing


above political ambition, above the


struggle for place, with a past record


above the breath Of suspicion, On the


threshold of that other life, his words


fall upon us as the voice Of warning.
Year: 1876

finish that vanquished as we'll rs victor may
be congratulated on their efforts. A more
game or more plucky race--a race won by
seconds and inches-was never rowed on
English or American waters. From start to
finish it was a race all the way At no time
during its progress was there any marked
difference between two of the crews, and
even the third had good position ut the
close There was no let up from the word
"Go," and this makes the victory the greater
for the Beaverwycks. 1t would have been
much more satisfactory, however, to all had
the struggle been made over the three mile
straightaway course of Saratoga Lake instead
of the heat racing on the Schuylkill, and if
it had been there is no reason to doubt but
the same skill, strength and pluck which
brought American colors to the front at
Philadelphia would have achieved q similar
victory over the same waters on which in years
gone by the Ward brothers beat the famed
oarsmen of old England.
Year: 1876

ence the cooler westerly winds that rush
along this line before they take northerly
direction along the eastern margin OF the
area of low pressure. These winds will have
the effect of condensing the moisture in the
air and converting it into rain in the more
northerly portions of the State, but it is
possible that we may receive some of the
welcome rainfall during its drift eastward.
The short term Of hot weather will in day
or so give place to lower temperature,
which will probably usher in the Indian
summer. Threatening weather in tho
Southern States and the Gnlf of Mexico now
prevails, and rains have generally fallen
from the lakes to the South Atlantic coast
A storm is probable over Florida during to-
day, which will also pass over the Bahama
Islands Heavy rains will fall in the Lower
Missouri Valley, where high winds may also
prevail. The weather in New York will be
hazy or partly cloudy and slightly cooler
Year: 1876

The Turks deserve much praise for the
business-like facility with which they dis
charge their incompetent rulers. Indeed,
in this regard they must be credited with
taking the lead in Europe and showing an
excellent example to their Christian neigh
bors. The late Sultan Abdul-Aziz was dis
missed for being drunk and disorderly, and
his successor, shrewdly guessing that he
might prove troublesome customer even as
a deposed Sultan, took steps to have him
quietly entombed with his ancestors in the
crypt of an imperial mosque. But no sooner
did Mourad Khan, as he is officially styled,
take his seat on the throne than he settled
down to the enjoyment of a prolonged
debauch, which soon reduced him to
the common level of those mortals who
think they have snakes and other unpleas-
ant things in their boots. The Sultan of
Turkey Commander of the Faithful, &c,
got the delirium trenens and the faithful
have accordingly discharged him from their
employ. The new Sultan, Abdul Hamid, is
now taken ON months trial. If he proves
to the satisfaction Of his people that he is
more ard-headed than his predecessors and
possesses bloodthirstiness of character
suited to the present condition of public
opinion in Turkey he may retain his place.
But if, on the other hand, he gets intoxicated,
then keeps SO and gets the D. T., we predict
for His Majesty very short official term.
Year: 1876

WALL STREET GAMBLERS. idiots who
are deceived by bogus drafts, or the no
torious ''saw dust" game or by ''three card
monte men," or by the Elusive bottom of
roulette (Which the gambler controls with
his foot), or the game of rouge ct noir, or that
of keno or faro, or any of the plainly
gambling sports, in which the professional
player has ninety-nine per cent of
the advantage-these idiotic players,
who readily accept oil these terrible odds,
are nothing compared with the madmen of
Wall street who risk on bonds they never
knew and stock they do not own the happi-
ness of themselves and all who depend upon
their success. What do such people mean
as they crawl between heaven and earth
1t is the old story of fraud on the one side
and of faith on the other.
Year: 1876

nomination Of Mr.. Seymour and the de-
ceptive representation that he had accepted
when, in fact he has absolutely
declined, puts the democratic party of
the State in the most humiliating plight.
The democratic party enters the canvass
without candidate for Governor, and it is
exposed to the danger of all sorts of stum-
bling and blundering in substituting NOM
inee for Governor in the place of the ono
who has declined. The democratic party of
the State is at sea, without helm or rudder,
and nobody can tell whittier it may drift.
Year: 1876

Professor Iyndall does not believe IN the
power of prayer to alter the material laws
of the universe. and very probably he is
right. We do not indorse him, for the rea-
son that our knowledge of the universe is
limited. But when Romeo prayed That the
sun might not rise and separate him from
his beloved Juliet the sun rose all the same
and divided the lovers forever. What
million Of men pray for another million of
men pray against. One man wants rain, but
another wants sunshine. How can local
interests affect the wisdom of Heaven? Is it
possible that Providence hesitates between
its clients and says to James, whose arid
potato field is whitening for want of water,
"Dear James, it will rain tonight" and to
Smith, whose hay is not yet stacked, "Dear
Smith, your hay will all be soaked" No;
these are effects of prayer which are not
logical in the mind, and so far the challenge
of Professor Tyndall, to have one hospital
prayed for and the other prescribed for,
must be held to be likely to result to the adj
vantage of bis theory.


Prayer, however, while it cannot infu-





spiritual laws which have SO much to do
with our mysterious nature. Who has not
prayed for some desired end? dying
child dying wife, relief, perhaps, from
some trouble. There is q story of n poor
woman who prayed for loaf Of bread, and
her prayer was indirectly answered by a
drunken party of men, who in sport, threw
loaf down her chimney. No one can solve
these mysteries, for there are men Of this
world and men of the next world. When
the entire Christendom Of humanity kneels
every Sunday in church and implores
Heaven for especial blessings is that cere-
mony farce? If it is useless supplication
then one-half of our religion is mockery.
People say that every wish is prayer, but
that statement is mistake. A wish is only
the desire for result prayer is a request
for reply.


We want rain badly now. The earth is
dead with drought, and the crops will suf-
fer from the lack of water. Shall we pray
that the heavens may be opened and tho me-
chanical laws of the universe be suspended
for our particular benefit? Certainly we
have the right to demand, but it is doubtful
if we possess the reason to expect compli-
ance. In our churches on Sunday prayers
for rain will be probably offered, and if the
rain comes the eloquence of the clergyman
will be held in high estimation by his con-
gregation, and if it fails then Providence
must take the responsibility. Our own
humble opinion is that if we look for rain in
this unhappy drought we had better study
the weather reports, which at least indicate
probabilities. When we kneel in reverence
to that inscrutablo Power, which is above
us all, let our supplications be for spiritual
blessings more than for earthly gains.
Year: 1876

The TREATMENT experienced by Captain
Van Dusen's policemen at the hands Of
Theodore Allen was disgraceful in itself,
but it was not undeserved. An order for
policemen to bivouac in any house, even q
gambling house, is such an Outrageous usur-
patton of power that it admits of neither
excuse nor palliation. The stupidity of the
thing is only equalled by its disregard of
private rights.
Year: 1876

Another of the apparently innumerabls
means of plundering railway companies has
just been exposed by the present efficient
management of the Erie Railway. 1t appears
that a ring was formed in this corporation
between the persons intrusted with the duty
of selling the old iron and other waste and
the persons whose duty it was to buy sup
plies 1t was estimated that at one time the
Erie Railway Company owned quantity Of
old iron that could hessold in the market for
a million dollars--a fact which will indicate
that the sale Of this waste material is not a
small affair, and that it may cover very large
frauds. But it seems that in every sale of
this old stuff the dishonest servants of the
company shipped in with the rubbish good
new material of various sorts, and that as
alleged, this sequestrated material was re-
purchased for tho company by its own agents.
1t would be queer catalogue if any person
should put together in one list the devices
resorted to for the mere theft of railway
property or money and in the presence Of
such list people might naturally wonder
rather that any railroad survived than, as
they now do, that so few are solvent From
the original draft of charter to the disap-
pearance of the whole concern in the Office
of some crafty lawyer the history Of rail-
way seems to be one constant story of in
genious knnvery and theft.
Year: 1876

CuDA-We do not suppose for moment
that any sensible person attaches the slight
est credence to any Information regarding
the condition of Cuba coming from the lips
of an avowed adherent of the Spanish gov
ernment. Therefore the opinions of General
Don Sabas Marin on this subject cannot be
regarded as convincing The statement of
Consul Young, which we publish on another
page, is that of man who is thoroughly
conversant with the condition of the Span
iards and the natives in the Island of Cuba,
and who, being q neutral observer OF the
progress of the war, cannot fail to recognize
which side is winning.
Year: 1876

It is fact that would never have been
guessed at by the unassisted mind of ordi-
nary man that the great coal combination
was an expression of the benevolence of the
men who made it This wonderful truth is,
however, made plain in the various pub
lished interviews Of reporters with the coal
magnates owners, heavy dealers,
railway men and spectators. These gen.
tlemen shake their heads sadly over the
dangers that menace the public because
coal is cheap. They have no difficulty, how
ever, in showing that the low price of coal
at the sale on Tuesday will result in bring
ing about precisely the same condition that
the combination always endeavored to
secure. That is to say, the combination
endeavored to prevent over-production, and
the price being lower than the mines can
deliver coal at, with profit, will also pre-
vent production. If the two cases come out
SO nearly even the unprejudiced might be
puzzled to find any reason for preference.
Why make q combination if it only pro-
duces the same result produced by sale
which greatly gratifies an enormous public,
or why weep over n sale which produces
precisely the same result that was aimed at
by the combination whose rupture you
deplore? 1t is at this point we find the
benevolence. The combination is the
benevolent institution that keeps the
price at certain definite line of
exorbitancy. Sometimes coal might be ten
dollars ton and sometimes two, and
the combination kindly keeps it always at
seven-losing three dollars when it goes up
and pocketing five dollals when it goes
down-always on its own account. AS 1t
would go up for three months in a year and
down for nine, this benevolence has it's
pleasant side to those who practise it, and
virtue is it's own reward. 1t is the admis-
sion, therefore, that the combination has for
its great purpose to prevent the fall of tho
price Of coal by preventing production, or, in
the slang of the spectators, preventing over
production. In Great Britain the yearly
yield of coal is just three times the yearly
yield of coal in tho United States, though
the coal fields of the United States are moro
than thirty times great as those of Great
Britain. Here is at once a sufficient reason
why the average price in England is about
half what it is with u.s. There is about the
same demand in both countries, but in
England the supply is equal to it-in the
United States it is unequal, and the price is
consequently kept high, and those who
cannot pay it are stinted or frozen. 1t is an
infamous admission that in so-called
enlightened age a ring of great capitalists is
formed to prevent tho production of a CON-
modify that is necessary to life, and thereby
to enrich themselves by the misery they
cause. These gentlemen, who are weeping
crocodile tears over this calamity of cheap
coal, pretend that the production will be
stopped if the price is cheaper than they
care to have it; but if production is thus
prevented naturally in the course of trade
how was it that it became necessary for them
to organize their great conspiracy to prevent
production