smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1873

James Greenwood has published
frightful account of the silent system,
which is in operation at the Holloway
Model Prison in London.


1t is an offense for prisoner to speak
one word, and he is never addressed ex-
cept in whispers, SO that he may be in
prison two years without hearing The nat
ural sound of the human voice. The eff
feet of this is SO terrible Oh. the mind that
prisoners will speak out in desperation,
at the risk of any punishment, rather
than endure that horrible silence.


The prisoners never see one another,
but remain ia perpetual solitude. One
poor wretch driven to desperation, by
nine D,onths' solitude and silence, reck-
lessly broke out in Mr. Greenwood's
presence: For Gods sake, Governor,
put me in another cell Put me some-
where else! | have counted the bricks
in the cell | am in till my eyes ache!o
The request of the tortured wretch was
refused.


Tbs re is fine hole in each cell, and
as the wardens wear shoes of India rub
ber soles, the prisoners can never BE- sure
of being alone. Those condemned to the
treadmill have to ascend twelve hundred
steps every alternate twenty minutes tor
six hours. And this in place so hot
and close that prisoners often lose in
perspiration three stones in az many
months.


Every day the prisoners are taken to
a chapel, so arranged that they can see
no one save the chaplain, and him only
through an iron grating. And thus is
the order of devotion. Wardens are
constantly on the watch, lest for sim
gle instant they, through the whole of
the service, depart from the rigid rule
of "eyes right" They must look stead
lily at the preacher, NUT raise and lower
their prayer book with the elbows
squared, and all at once, like soldiers
at drill. They may not scrape their
feet without having afterwards to ex-
plain the movement. They scarcely
wink an eye or sigh without danger of
rebuke or punishment. God help them,
poor wretches
Year: 1873

ANECDOTES OF JOHN BuNYAN.-To
pass away the gloomy hours in prison,
Bunyan took rail out of the stool be-
longing to his cell, and with his knife
fashioned it into flute. The keeper
hearing music, followed the sound to
Bunyan's cell, but while he was unlock
ing the door the ingenious prisoner plac-
ed the rail in the stool, SO that the
searchers were unable to solve the mys-
terry; nor during the remainder of Bun
yan's residence in the Jail did they ever
discover how the music was produced.


From old accounts of Bedford there
is an equally good anecdote. A man
came to Bunyan in Jail, one day, with
what he protessee to be message from
the Lord. after searching for thee"
said he, in half the jails in EDg,and,
| am glad to have found thee at last"
" If the Lord sent thee,' said Bunyan
sarcastically, lyon would not have
needed to take SO much trouble to find
out, for be knows | have been in Bed
ford jail these seven years past
Year: 1873

SUMNER PLAY. = Nothing can be


more cruel and nothing more foolish


than to place children where they must
be dressed every day in fresh and fash
ionable clothes and their freedom to
play curtailed for the sake of appear
ance. What childhood needs is perfect


freedom among the things of nature


freedom TO romp, TO make mud pies, to
leap fences, to row, to fish, to climb trees,
to chase butterflies, to gather wild flow
ers, to live out of doors from morning
until night, and to do all those things
that innocent and happy childhood de-
lights in, in cheap, strong clothes pro-
vided for the purpose. Exactly that
which childhood needs, manhood and
womanhood need-perfect liberty and
perfect carelessness. So, whether the
dweller by the sea 60 inland for his sum-
mer play, or the resident of the inland
go to the sea, he should seek some spot
unvisited by those devoted to fashiona-
BILE display, and employ his lime in un-
restricted communion with nature, and
in those pursuits and amusements which,
without let or hindrance, perform the
office of eereation.-ScribRer'S for july.
Year: 1873

A Providence woman was puzzled to
know Why she had attracted so much
attention during shopping expedition
the other day. An hour OF two earlier
she bad been down street" and return
ing had taken off her over-skirI," bot
LEFT the bundle of papers forming bus
tie still in position.
Year: 1873

On Sunday grand niece of the Pope
took the veil of the Tor di Specchi. This
convent is that founded by San Fran
cesca Romano during the lifetime and
with the consent of her husband. The
VOWS of these "oblate nuns are not
perpetual. They take them but for a
year, and may marry if they like. They
can also receive, and go out to church,
to see their friends when i'll, or even for
moderate amusement while in their
convent. Most of the noble families of
Rome have a representative among the
oblates of San francesca. Probably
Maria Pia Mastia will one day be the
superior of the house of the Tor di
Speech, lady who owes control to no
one but the Holy Father himself. The
young girl who took the veil on Sunday
was abeut twenty years Of age. She was,
of course, draped as a bride on her first
appearance, and invested with the usual
costume of the convent during the mass.
The Holy Father had sent his maitre
d'hotel to superintend the refreshments
which are always offered on such occa-
sions to invited guests, and certain bon
bons, with portrait Of his niece painted
upon them, were his gift. The guests
also received sonnet written for the
occasion, and after visiting the convent
took leave Of the newly made spouse Of
Christ.-Rome Correspondent
Year: 1873

How TO TREAT CLocK.-When your
clock stops do not take it to the repair
shop until you have tried it as follows ::
Take off the pointers and the face take
off the pendulum and its wire. Re-
move the ratchet from the " tick" wheel,
and the clock will run down with great
velocity. Letit go; the increased speed
wears away the gum and dust from the
pinions, the clock cleans itself. If you
have any sperm oil, put the least bit on
the axles. Put the machine together,
and nine times in ten it will run just as
we'll as if it had been taken to the shop.
In fact, this is the way that most shop
men clean clocks. If instead of a pen
aulum the clock has a watch escapement,
this latter can be taken out in an in
stant, without taking the works apart,
and the result is the same. 1t takes
about twenty minutes to 30 clean brass
clock, and saves dollar.
Year: 1873

The causes of explosions with steam
generators are numerous and diversi-
fed, but may commonly be traced to
carelessness, either in construction or
management. Of the former, the most
glaring is that shown in boilers so made
that no provision exists for the uniform
expansion and contraction of the parts
from changes of temperature. This
causes a slow weakening at one place or
another, which is sure to give way at
one time or another when the usual
steam pressure is exceeded. The con-
ti1rual boiling of water is likely to ex-
pel all the air therefrOm, in the event of
which it will remain quiescent mp to a
temperature as high as two hundred de-
grees Fahrenheit. when it suddenly
flashes into steam. Some writer's, Tyn-
dali amongst them, aver the possibility
of disastrous explosions from this cause.
Experiments made on a small scale with
special apparatus seem to show that
film of oil on the interior of the boiler
NAV sometimes produce like result.
On the other hand, the grace used in
lubricating engine cylinders frequently
finds it's way into the boilers, and few
or no authenticated cases of mischief
from this source are on record. The
idea sometimes advanced that the grease
is discomposed into explosive gases that
produce casualty is nonsense, because
the known volume of such gases even if
produced would be insufficient to pro-
tluce such result. Sometimes an accl-
dent, slight itself, brings death and dis
aster long after, as was the case with
the boiler of the steamboat st. John,
seven or eight years ago, in which the
corner of the cold chisel used in level
ling plate grooved the one below it
and led to the parting of the plate as
soon as a high pressure, otherwise per-
fectly safe, was had in the boiler.
Year: 1873

How TO START MANUFACTORIEs The
Indianapolis Sentinel, in speaking OF
building up a manufacturing town, uses
language which many of our citizens
should take notice of. 1t says:


1.-The secret of success is to begin,
not to wait and beg of somebody else to
como where there is nothing to extract
except space. In the west the property
owners generally stick to their lots, and
want somebody else to crowd business
and wealth upon them, while they sit
still and do nothing. There are two favor
ite methods of getting rich in the west.
One by holding real estate for an ad-
vance the other by loaning money at
extravagant rates. Neither of them
cOntemplates a particle of exertion, and
that is the darling idea of a western
capitalist-to do nothing. He will not
invest in manufactures because that in
wolves administrative labor and ability.
A bank suits him better than factory.
But it should be understood that the
question of locality is essential. The Sc
cret of making town the center of me-
chanical industry. is to select an article
of steady and constant. demand, and
then bravely begin, on small capital
If necessary, and the natural law of as
sociation will do the rest.
Year: 1873

Sue Blair of Fon du Lac, Wis,
played her lover a game of chess the
other day to decide whether the we'd
ding-day should be fixed for this year
or the next. Sue desired more time,
but lost the game, and must face the
parson before the coming January. In
the summer of 1874 they will be flip
ping nickles to fix the time of divorce.
Year: 1873

1t is said that women would never be
in a hurry to reply to the letters of
their friends if they only knew how
long their letters lie forgotten in the
pockets of husbands and brothers, to
whose care the precious epistles have
been consigned to post as they go
down to the office in the morning.
Year: 1873

You must elect you work You shall
take what your brains can, and drop all
the rest. Only so can that amount of
vital force accumulate which can make
the step from knowing to doing. No
matter how much faculty of idle seeing
a man has, the step from knowing to
doing is rarely taken. IT'S step out
of chalk circle of imbecility into
Year: 1873

The difference between going voluntarily
into bankruptcy under the National Bankrupt
law and being forced into that position by
creditors, Is. that the voluntary bankrupt, in
order to obtain discharge, must pay at least
fifty pee cent of his Indebtedness the invOl-
untaTy bankrupt Is freed from any such cOndi-
ton, and may be discharged on d full suTren-
der of his property, be it much or little.
Year: 1873

A remarkable case of hydrophobia
has been brought to light in Brooklyn.
Herman Schaurman, a German, forty
eight years of age, employed in the
Navy Yard until recently, returned to
his home one evening about two weeks
ago, and at the supper table amused
himself by playing with large pet cat.
Suddenly the animal, which had hereto
fore been regarded as very gentle and
docile, jumped up on his breast and
put her fangs through the nose of her
master, Schaurman. The wound be-
came extremely painful, and bled pro-
fusely. The day following the wound
testered, and the injured man killed
the feline author of his trouble. A
week later Mr.. Schaurman exhibited
symptoms of hydrophobia, his mind
wandered, and he became decided in
his aversion to water. The malady
grew rapidly in virulence, and his pain
and physical contortions are such now
that it frequently requires the assist
ance of his wife and two sons to hold
him down in bed. He is at times wont
to growl like an angry cat, and manifest
other indications of arrangement pecu-
liar to the terrible malady. Medical
aid was procured, but his condition did
not improve under the treatment. A
police surgeon visited the unfortunate
man, and ordered that he should be re-
moved to the hospital. When the am
bulance was sent to the house, Mrs.
Schaurman would not allow her hus-
band to be removed, asserting that his
family were fully competent to take
care of him,
Year: 1873

A Struggle with a Wounded Buck in the
water---The Hunter Diving for his


Life.


Curley Pete Quick, noted as a hunter
among a family of famous hunters, had
an exciting adventure with a wounded
buck in Big Log Tavern Pond, Penn,
He was on runway, and an immense
five prong buck ran into the pond, near
where he stood. Quick jumped into
his boat, and followed the deer, dis
charging both barrels of his rifle at the
animal. He says he shit it bad" but
it kept right on. Redoubling his eff
forts, he sent his boat alongside the
deer. 1t had got far out into the pond,
which at that spot is half a mile wide,
and very deep. Quick had dropped his
rife in the bottom of the boat, without
reloading. He thought the buck was
so badly wounded that he could dis
patch it with his knife. He seized it
by one of its horns and tried to hold it,
but the deer plunged at the same time,
and the horn broke of, throwing the
hunter backward, and almost capsizing
the boat.


Regaining his equilibrium, Quick
again seized the deer by the ehorns. The
buck whirled suddenly ndpulled Quick
out of the boat. He landed squarely on
the deer's back, still retaining his hold
on its horns. He was in a perilous po-
sition, long way from land, and his
boat lying bottom side up. He knew
from experience the danger of hand
to-hand contest with a wounded deer,
on land or water. If he could hold his
position on the deer's back, he hoped to
be carried safely ashore. But the deer,
by sudden ducking of his head, threw
the hunter over his head in front of
him, and the next instant struck him
with his fore feet. Quick saw that he
must fight for his life. Drawing his
knife he closed with the now frantic an
imal. He plunged the knife into the
deer's neck twice, and then it slipped
from his hand and sank, leaving him
defenceless.


The deer meantime had not remitted
in the least his mode of warfare, and
Quick's clothing was almost entirely
stripped from him. Finding that he
stood no possible chance with the buck,
he dove from it's sight, and coming up
some distance of, made for the nearest
shore, The deer did not follow, but
took the shore at another point and
lost no time in leaving Quick and the
pond far behind him. The hunter found
himself in most pitiable plight. He
was nearly naked and benumbed with
cold. Moreover, he was on the side Of
the pond opposite his cabin, and was
obliged to walk half way round, through
the underbrush, before he could reach
it. His wounds were painful, but not
serious. The buck was found dead the
next day quarter of mile away.
Year: 1873

A Judge in the Superior Court at
Baltimore has been explaining the
meaning of the provision IN lease
which requires that tenant shall keep
premises in good order and repair. The
word keep" he said, implied an obli-
cation to put the premises in repair if
they were out of repair when received,
and to keep them 80, for it would be
idle to stipulate to keep in repair what
is not in repair, and the covenant was
therefore equivalent to "put and keep
and deliver up" in good order and re-
pair. The words "good order and re-
pair meant such reasonable condi-
tion of fitness as belongs to houses of
the age, class, and condition, as good
repair for one might not be such for
another. The house must not be de-
faced, and must be used with proper
and reasonable care.
Year: 1873

What is q professional bondsman ?"
asked a New York reporter of Lud-
low street Jail officer.


"Why, bless me, dou't you know :?
There is lots of them in the city. They
hang around the corner of Centre and
Chambers streets, ready to Tgo bail for
any one who gets into trouble, and will
do it for any price according to the
mess a man gets into and the amount of
money he has at his commadd. The
usual tariff is fifteen per cent, but will
take less rather than lose the job. They
generally have middle-man, sometimes
two, so that the bondsman can swear
with clear conscience that he is not
paid for the service. Why, l have seen
batch of them together rigging one of
their number out so that he would make
a credible appearance in court, and in
order to do SO, one would take off his
coat for the bondsman to wear, another
would furnish the vest, another ex-
change pants with him, and others
various other articles until the best be-
longing to the lot had been selected.
Then he would march to court, and, if
rejected, hurry back to assist in dress
ing up another of their number, who,
perhaps, might be better versed in the
modats Operandi of bail l-giving, and in
his examination would steer clear of
the rocky questions his predecessor
split upon. They are usually middle
aged men who, in early life, have been
merchants, but now come under the
head of broken down, and are easily
told to professional eye by the shiny
gloss upon their broadcloth, and the
stove-blacking polish on their boots.
Oh, the sheriff's got 'em all down 'P.
B. on his books ; but sometimes when
one of 'em keeps away for long time and
turns up under another name, they
manage to squeeze him through. He
has to be awful careful. I remember
case that happened lately, where the
man is yet in the jail. Bonds were
given in the sum of thirty thousand dol
lars for the prisoner, the sureties swear
ing that they were worth seventy-fve
thousand dollars each, and everything
seeming correct, the sheriff was about
to accept them and release the prisoner,
when one of the old deputies came in
and recognized them as P. BIS. The
sheriff, with view to bring them within
the criminal law, never let them know
they were recognized, and proceeded to
administer the oath to them, but they
were just as wide awake on their part,
and had recognized the old deputy, and
fearing that he might give them away
as the boys call it, casually inquired if
residing in New Jerseymade any differ
ence in their being accepted, and on
being informed that it did, withdrew
from the bond without taking the re-
quired oath, and so saved themselves.
But for the chance visit of the old
deputy they would have been accepted,
and the sheriff made liable for the
thirty thousand dollars" "
Year: 1873

When the City of New York arrived
at Havana, says a correspondent, por-
ton of her passengers were arrested
Immediately on landing. Among those
thus arrested was niece of Albania,
who was searched for letters supposed
to be concealed on her person. Cores
pondence duplicating a score OF the
principal Cuban families in the island
was found. No attempt has apparently
been made to conceal the plans intend
ed to be conveyed in cypher. The
names and plans of the conspirators
we're all found. An expressman named
BambaIler IN Havana, who was in the
confidence of the Cubans, had gone on
board to obtain similar criminal cor
respondence and had also concealed
number of letters in his under-gar-
ments, but on coming up from the hold
to go ashore he saw what had been the
fate of the other extemporlzed post
carrier and endeavored to throw them
overheard. Some lodged, however, in the
guards, and were thus seen by the po-
lice, who rescued those that had fallen
in the water, and when Bambal1er ap-
peared he was arrested and hurried
away with the other prisoners to Fort
Cabana, which is fortress correspond
ing to the Moro Castle, at the other
end of the town. He was to have been
shot the next morning, and the writer's
informant had little doubt, so great was
the feeling against the insurrectionists,
that the order was carried out. What
especially embittered the Spaniards
against Bambalier was that he had al
ways been conspirator, and had only
lust been released from the Isle of
Pines, where he had been confined the
past eighteen months for offences SINH
lar to this last offence.


The arrest of Bambalier and the Cu-
bans who arrived on the City of New
York was the signal for the immediate
arrest of forty of the principal Cuban
citizens in Havana and vicinity who
were implicated by the captured cores
pondence. The arrests were going on
up to the last hour that the writer's in.
formant was in the city, and universal
terror and confusion prevailed among
the Cubans still left at large. None
knew how many names had been men
toned in the letters in the possession
of the authorities. Flight was almost
impossible, and any attempt would be
proof of guilt. Their only resource
was to possess their souls in patience
and await the fate that seemed certain,
Year: 1873

A new street pavement has been tried
in San Francisco. 1t is called "hydro-
carbolized brick, and is made of bricks
of soft, porous nature, which are
boiled in coal tar, which renders them
tough and nearly as hard as granite. A
road-bed is made by leveling the sand
and packing it with water. A layer of
prepared brick is then laid fatwise, each
brick being dipped in boiling tar as it
is put down. This is overlaid by a
second course of prepared brick placed
close together edgewise, each brick
dipped as before. The interstices are
then filed with boiling tar, and the
whole covered with thin layer OF
screened gravel. The cost is about
thirty-six or thirty-seven cents per
square foot,
Year: 1873

There are manymen in existence who
deem it no harm to speak slightly of
woman according to their idea, ii
Is quite meet that the strong should as.
sail the weak. One of these robbers of
reputation received severe rebuke on
a recent occasion. At a dinner at which
no ladies were present, this man, in re-
spending to toast, Women" dwelt
almost solely on the frailty of the sex,
exclaiming that the best among them
we're little better than the worst, the
chief difference being their surround
ings. At the conclusion of the speech,
a gentleman rose to his feet and said


trust the gentleman, in the ap-
plication of his remarks, refers to his
own mother and sisters, not ours.


The effect of this most just and time,
ly rebuke was overwhelming, and the
maligner of women was covered with
confusion and shame.
Year: 1873

The Denver NeaOS, in characteristic
Western style, tells the following
story:


Last spring party Of buffalo hunt
ers, six in number, were encamped at
Two Buttes, about twenty miles from
the present town of Granada, in Bent
county. A man, known only by the
name of Jimmy" was their cook.
Soon after eating breakfast on the
morning in question, all began to feel
sick, and in a short while it became
evident that the food they had eaten
contained poison. They had recourse
to tobacco tea, which caused them to
vomit the poisoned food. Jimmy"
was suspected and watched. Recently
he was seen to put some white powder,
which proved to be arsenic, in the
coffee. The scoundrel desired to poison
the hunters to secure their outfit. The
hunters made target OF Jimmy" "
and when they were done with him he
wasn't of much use to himself or any
one else. He was formerly New York
rough, and his bones are bleaching
upon the arid plains Of Southern
Colorado
Year: 1873

NEwTOwN.-TwO men and a woman were
drowned Saturday evening. in Newtown Creek on
Monday the boat found floating bottom upward in
the creek, and In the evening the body OF the woman
discovered On tho next morning that OF OF the mon
was also found, and yesterday morning the third body
picked up. The names Of tue men were Andreas
FrOme and Nicholas sldel that OF the woman could
not ID