smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1873

A correspondent of the Boston Traveller
gives the following summary OF the great
improvements which have been adopted
by this road to secure the safety of the
travelling public:


In the first place the employees of the
road have uniforms and badges indicating
the positions they occupy, enabling a
stranger to obtain all necessary iniorma-
ton as to baggage, starting Of trains, etc
etc. Passengers are not allowed, except
when they have started from the Boston
depot, the gate to the entrance being
closed as soon as the signal is given for
the tram to start thus saving the lives Of
belated travellers who oughtlessly rush
for cars when in motion. Each car has a
placard plainly indicating the place to
which it runs, which answers the question
in majority of minds, ''Does this car go
to such or such place ?"


The means adopted to secure safety on
the road. are worthy of special commen-
dation. The air brake, which enables the
engineer to stop the train almost instan-
taneously in case Of danger, is great
acquisition. The telegraph and automatic
signal indicating the position Of the DIFF
ferent trains on the road, insure, as fan
as human agency can, against collision Oh
disaster. The silent working of the latter
chronicling each mile of travel, telling al
every depot when a train is approaching
and indicating when it is mile away, is
truly a wonder.


The outlay for these improvements,
added to the cost of new cars which have
been provided must be very great. The
luxury of the Pullman cars, of which there
are q number we have not alluded to, but
liberality in expenditure in this direction
is sure in the end, to be a good Investment
The depot accommodations in B Dston are
too small and cramped tor the rapidly in
creasing business, but we learn every
ting possible is beng done to secure more
room and better accommodations.


A new depot is nearly or quite finished
at Somerville, and it is hoped the station;
on the road (many of them sadly need it,
will early in the spring be supplied will
new and commodious buildings Th,
travel on this road is enormous, and we ar,
| glad to find the management Of it is in
clined to meet the reasonable wants of th,
patrons of it.


The Eastern road is supplying their roa'
with steel rails as fast as the old ones ar
used up. Some twenty-five miles of TIN
rail were laid last year, and ultmatel,
the entire track will be thus furnished
These rails are twenty-eight feet ant
four inches in length, and weigh 60
pounds each. They will Wear four time
as long as the ordinary rail and cause les
jar and motion to the cars. The Savin!
by them upon the rocky portions Of tn
road bed over the old, is very marked
Year: 1873

Farmers who have no other returns than
from the growth of single year, are always
poor, and generally in debt.
The Amherst College weather record
shows that seventeen inches of snow and
21.74 inches of water fell during February.
The three winter months have been four
degrees colder than the mean temperature.


The State Legislature of Vermont pro-
vides that freight wagons carrying more
than three tons in weight, and less than
four, shall have the rims of their wheels at
least four inches wide, and if carrying more
than four tons, five inches.


The first mule ever taken into the Hoosac
tunnel was brought up recently after three
years residence in the bowels of the earth.
He began to kick vigorously as soon as he
reached the surface-a thing he was never
known to do before.


There were marketed last year in Chicago
100000 hogs and over Al 100000 bushels
of corn, at prices which the trade circulars
says, In their percuiar manner, were 'hard-
ly satisfactory to the producers, althoug
as good as could be expected


The California Farmer says the sugar
beet crop belonging to the Sacramento





profit will be very large per acre. They
have 1000 acres in beets in the bottom lands
of the American river, in the lower end of
Brighton township, and are cultivating them
closely.


Some horses In Hartford have been at
tackled by paralysis of one side, sometimes
involving merely the hind leg and some
times both. Cases have occurred where a
livery horse was taken out and had to be
left in the country on account of a seizure
by this disorder. 1t is feared that number
will perish.


series of experiments, instituted to
Test the average loss in weight by drying,
shows that corn losses one-f1fth, and wheat
one-fourteenth by the process From this
the statement is made that farmers will
make more by selling unshelled corn in the
fall at 75 cents than the following summer
at one dollar bushel; and that wheat at
$1.32 in December is equal to 81 so for the
same wheat in the June following. This
estimate is made on the basis of interest at
seven per cent, and takes no account of
loss from the depreciation of vermin. These
facts are worthy of consideration.
Year: 1873

THE DIGNITY OF LABOR. Here is what
Henry Ward Beecher said on this subject


Every man should earn his own living.
do not say it is a misfortune to be born
rich, but | do say that of one hundred
men born with money, and one hundred
men born without it, the chances to find
virtue and happiness are better in the last
hundred. He who is born in lite to rise
early, to work, to earn his living, is the
happy man A man who works is healthier
and happier than he who does not, and he
is, moreover, debarred from those tempta~
tions which spring from the possession of
wealth, and those pitfalls which have
ruined so many young men, 1t is not only
necessary to earn our own livelihood, but
we must rise with the sun in summer and
before it in winter, and work with our
hands. There is no degradation in labor.
1t exalts the man. 1t was not disesteemed
in earlier days. Only in Greece and Rome
it was despised because the Greeks and
Romans owned slaves. That nation to
which we owe so much, and from which
we have learned so much the Jewish
nation-always honored labor. The Jews
taught their children some little craft, and
they were not drudges. A drudge is
man who labors with his hands and has
no mind to control him, no conscience be-
hind it, no manhood"
Year: 1873

A woman at Omaha dreamed that
man would come along and sell her some
pills which would cure her dyspepsia.
Sure enough he came and she bought the
pills, took two, and was cold as a hammer
when her husband came home.
Year: 1873

A Macon woman was sent to prison for
six months, for daring her husband to
commit suicide. The Judge held her Of
tense very grave one. People who dare
each other to skate over thin ice, or eat
lobster, are in the same condemnation.
Year: 1873

Serenading is carried to such an extent
in Bloomington, ILL.,, that the old people
never think OF going to bed without taking
a loaded shot gun with them and stuffing
their ears full of cotton.
Year: 1873

Here is a true dog story: A family
down town having a false CRATE, in one of
the rooms of the house placed some red
paper behind it to give the effect of fire.
One of the coolest days this winter the
dog belonging to the household came in
from out of doors, and seeing the paper
in the CRATE deliberately walked up to it
and laid down before it, curled up in the
best way to receive the glowing heat as it
came from the fire. He remained motion
less for u few minutes; feeling no warmth
he raised his head and looked over his
shoulder at the CRATE; still feeling no heat
he arose and carefully applied his nose to
the CRATE and smet of it. 1t was cold as
ice. With d look of the most supreme
disgust, his tail curled down between his
legs, every hair on his body saying Elm
sold," the dog trotted out of the room, not
even deignng to cast look at the party
in the room who had watched his actions
and laughed so heartily at his misfortunes
That dog had reason as we'll as instinct
Troy Times.
Year: 1873

In Auburn, loveliest village OF tho plain, a
man lost package of money. He was a sensi-
BILE man, and at once put an advertisement in
the paper In the morning he found the money
In his boot.


An Alabama editor mildly aliudes 10 hi,
rival as "a reservoir of fasehood and an aque-
duct of mendacity'


learned seal In travelling menagerie This
summer is said to be making an excellent sim
pressiOn."
Year: 1873

In making pies of rhubsrb, don't forget
to add a handful of sraisfils. If you stew
the rhubarb first, and let It stand till cold,
it will not require as much sugar tosweeten
lit. ""' pa TEL 7'a SO =
+ In making pies, always mix your crust
with pure cold cold water, rubbing Just as
little lard into the flour as will do. Make
the undercrust only short enough to cut
easily it is more healthy than when made
rich and short, and the undercrust of pies
are bad enough at best. =
n For the top crust take the remainder of
your dough on the pie-board, roll very
thin, spread all over with little lard or
butter, then sprinkle on good bit Of -four
all over evenly, so much that you can not
see the butter or lard at all. iia 49,


Then begin at one side. roll up tightly.
let it lie few minutes, then cut crosswlse
per crust, tip each pieIupon the end, sprinkle
well with flour, roll out to desirable thick
ness and cover your pie.fn9


When baked, this crust will be white
and flaky, and will break when cut as
though very short. A nice-loOking crust
is made which is both economical and
wholesome. s.syss r,~n uEF@b EeaE


In rolling puff paste, always roll from
you. In making any kind of juicy pies,
have the oven. hot, by the time the pies
are made, else the lower crust will be
sodden.
? In baking bread, pies and cakes, IF they
are likely to burn or bake too fast, you
must lay piece of brown paper on them.
To tell If a loaf or a cake is done, thrust q
broom splint down through the thickest
place If it comes out perfectly clean and
smooth, it is done,
Year: 1873

A great many people are apt to hit upon
happy ideas in society, and when they go
home they write them out for publication,
and most of these good folks know how
hard it is to begin an article satisfactorily.
A word to them: commence with your
very finest writing and most beautifully
rounded sentences. Introduce your sub
ject in your most elaborate style, be poeti-
cal, rhetorical, didactic, as your mood may
be, and when you think fit, gradually drop
into the discussion of the subject
When the article is finished, begin at the
opening sentence, and read it until you
find you have commenced to say some
thing to the point. Stop at this place !;
strike, out everything before it, and let
your article begin just there. You will
then probably find that it opens well, and
that by collecting all your labored COM
position in one place where it can be read
lily stricken out, you will have saved your
self all the trouble that would have been
necessary had it been scattered through
the article.-Fronk r. Stockton, IN Serb
ner's for May.
Year: 1873

A telescope has been erected which
brings the moon within eighty miles of the
earth. The people up in Goshen. who
manufacture cheese for O living, are prop
erly alarmed at this, and have called a
town meeting.


Walt whitman is writing more of his
He intelligently observes:
What if that gift of gifts thou lack'st?
The perfect feminine of thee? The beauty


health, completion fit for thee?


The mothers fit for thee?


And here he stops. Not word of how
the battle resulted, but just drops down
and leaves the reader to imagine the result.
This is the secret of his success. His stops
make him popular. The more he stops the
more popular he becomes. If he should
stop altogether, the public would give him
monument, and perhaps horse.
Year: 1873

The Brantford (Canada) Courier
tells of a gentleman OF that town who
recently tried an experiment, which,
he says, has completely cured his wife
Of jealousy. He says he was subject
to nightly curtain lecture from his
better half, at time when he wished
to be wrapped in the arms of Nor
pheus, for returning an affection for
an old lady friend. He bore it for
several nights with Christian-like
resignation, but he at last devised a
plan for putting an end to it. He
procured piece/of wood formed in
the shape OF human being and dress.
ed it in some of bis wife's wardrobe,
and then placed it in the garden, sit.
ting in an iron chair. To this grayen
image he knelt down and poured
forth impassioned addresses. The
servant girl was standing at the kitch-
Ell door at this time, and overheard
these appeals. She Immediately in
formed her mistress of the fact.
Presently both OF them emerged
from the kitchen, armed with broom
sticks, and made an attack upon che
dummy woman" while the husband,
who had retired in good order, sat at
the back, enjoying the scene. After
knocking the image over, they pounc-
ed upon and tore the clothing in rags.
They soon discovered the cheat, and
rushed into the house terribly morti-
fed, The husband followed them
and said exasperating things. When
ever she shows any disposition to be
jealous be has only to mention that
little scene in the garden, and she
changes the topic. The servant has
since been induced to go to the
States, where "wages are hich,n
Year: 1873

That our people may form some esi-
mate Of the real state Of affairs In our un-
fortunate sister State of Louisiana, we
reproduce from the Picayune, the Mem o.
rial Of the Committee Of ono hundred citi-
zeps, appointed by the New Orleans Mass
Meeting to visit Washington and repre-
sent the state Of tho case. fairly to the
President md Congress.


We have never hoped that justice will
bo done to Louisiana, for I'm Executive
officer who can so readily pronounce upon
an issue without facts before him, and
who, in the blindness Of party passion, 50
promptly interferes in affairs SO entirely
out of the range of constitutional preroga-
tive, win, in our poor opinion, be slow to
correct the evil of his own act, therefore
We can but pity her unfortunate con-
dition
Year: 1873

| We often wonder that certain men and
women are left by God to the commission of
sins which shock US. We wonder how, un-
der the temptations of single hour, they
fall from the very heights of virtue and of
honor into sin and shame. The fact is, there
are no such falls as these, or there are next
to none. These men and women are those
who have dallied with temptation, have ex-
| posed themselves to the influence of it, and
have been weakened and corrupted by it.
If we could get at the secret histories of
those who stand suddenly discovered as
vicious, we should find that they had been
through the most polluting preparatory pro-
cess; that they had been in the habit of
going out and meeting temptation, in order
that they might enjoy its excitements; that
underneath blameess outward life they
have welcomed and entertained SIN in their
imagnations, until their moral sense was
blunted, and they were ready for the deed Of
which they thought they we're incapable.
! ! very oarnestly and, gratefully Believe IL.
the exercise of diyineiy restraining infu-
ence upon the minds of those who are tempt
ed; but l believe there is point beyond
which it rarely goes l do not believe that
God will interpose to prevent man from
SHINING who either seeks or willingly &C.
counters the temptation and the opportunity
to sin. When man finds charm in oppor-
tunity and delight in temptation, he has al
ready committed in heart the sin which he
shrinks from embodying in action; and God
rarely stands between him and further guilt.
We are to keep ourselves from opportun-
tiles, and God will keep us from sin. He
must be hard and irreyerent, or very ig-
norant and deluded man who can pray to be
delivered from the overcoming power of a
temptation into whose atmosphere he will
lingly enters. In fact, we are taught to pray,
not that we may be delivered from the pow
er of temptation, but that we may not be
led into it.


There is vice enough in the world of act
ual life, and it is there that We look for it;
but there is more in that other world of the
imagination that we do not see-vice that
poisons, vice that kills, vice that makes
whited sepulchres of temples that are deem
ed pure, even by multitudes of their tenants.
Sooner or later in their life will they find,
that from all willing daIiance with tempta-
tion and unresisted entertainment of unwor-
thy and impure imaginations, their charac-
ter has suffered an injury which untold ages
will fail to remedy.
Year: 1873

A Christian minister in N had a
neighbor who never attended church. Dis
tressed by this neglect, be resolved to visit
him and urge upon him the necessity of per-
sonal piety.


Before favorable opportunity for such
an errand occurred, messenger came hur-
riedly in one morning and said, "0h, sir,
come at once to our hoase; Mr.. H is
dying" 0beying the summons without de-
lay, he hastened to the residence of the very
individual for whose spiritual interests he
had become anxious.


Going up stairs, he was shown into a
room, where lay the occupant of the dwell
ing, apparently suffering intense agony of
mind and body, and approaching the end of
life.


"All unprepared, all unprepared" were
the first words he muttered, as the minister
entered.


"Oh, my dear sir, cried the dying man,





"you are professed servant of God, and |
have sent for you to tell you that now see
how the neglect Of religion is the greatest
folly in the world. Oh, have known what
serious thoughts are; 1 have known what it
is to hear the Bible read and explained,
have been kindly spoken to about my soul,
| have been prayed for, and have often said
l was resolved at some time to begin to be a
Christian, but never did begin. An, death
is now coming and am not ready to die
Oh, sir, whenever you preach, do bid your
hearers prepare for this hour


"Shall l pray with you-for notwith
standing all your sins and your rejection o.
His love, l assure you that the dear Saviour
of sinners will hear your cry even at this
eleventh hour, if you lift your heart peni
tenty and sincerely to him. Shall we moi
together earnestly pray?"


"Yes, pray for me. But wait till tel
you something of my past days.


Though my parents were not themselve'
pious, 1 lived for much of my youth Will
those who feared God, who priced his wOr(
and who neglected no Christian duty. I re
member now, when little child, otter
wept when hearing about Christ, his love fol
poor sinners, and his death to save us.
was taught to read the Bible and to pray
l saw some of my intimate friends begin
ming in their young days to be Christians
I knew, sir, we'll enough that they were hap
pier than I was, and l have sometime
wished that too was with them in the way
of life. Why did not use my religiOu
advantages to become child of God myself
Year: 1873

OUR INFLUENCE.-HistOry records the
account Of a heutenant-colonel who was
watching his men closely in the midst of a
most fearful engagement. The dead were
lying all around him. His attention was
riyeted on some christian soldiers. Several
standard bearers had been shot down. 1t
was certain death to pick up that flag. He
saw one of these christian men grasp that
flagstaff, and as he raised it up heard him
say to his comrades, IF fall tell my dear
wife that die with good hope in Christ,
and that am glad to give my life for the
country"


Said the colonel, 81 cannot forget that;
l want to become christian; know there
is reality in religion"


What convinced him? Not the mans
conversation. No; his action. There was
unconscious influence. That true christian
soldier, who was shot down with the flag of
his country in his hands, did not know that
the colonel, who stood a few PAGES in his
rear, was convinced of the reality of religion
by his action.
Year: 1873

DIVISIONS IN THE CHURcH.-You will
hear much to the effect that the divisions
amongst Christians are such that they rem
der it impossible to say what Christianity is,
and so destroy the certainty, all certainty,
in religion. But if the divisions of Chris
tians are remarkable, not less so is the de-
gree of their unity in the greatest doctrines
that they hold. Well nigh 1,5OO years,
years of more sustained activity than the
world had ever before seen, have passed
away since the great controversies of Chris
tendon, concerning the Deity and the Per-
son of the Redeemer were, after long ago
n.y.. determined. As before that time, in
manner less defined, but adequate for the
day, SO ever since that time, amid all chance
and change, it is mere matter Of fact to
state that more, ay, many more, than nine
ty-nine in every hundred Christians have
with one will confessed the deity and incar-
nation of our Lord as the cardinal and Gen.
trail truths of our religion. Surely there is
some comfort here, some sense of brother
hood, some glory in the past, some hope for
the times that are to come.-Gladstone.
Year: 1873


know not when but this l know,


That it will surely come to me,
The day which comes to all below,


Which every child Of earth must see;
For er his spirit none hath power
To keep it in that last dread hour.
know that l shall watch the sun,


As | have watched him many day
In gold behind the hills go down,


Gliding with splendor all the way;
l shall not see him set again,
Yet this | shall not know e en- then.
Some night, know, the shades viii gather,
The dusky shadows deeper grow,
The silent stars come out together,


The last that | shall see below;
No voice from out that distant sky
Viii warn me that my end is nigh.
Some Spring time shall mark the trees
Grow daily greener 0 o'er may head,
And IN the Autumn | shall feel


The dead leaves rustic meath my tread;
Nor know next Autumn's S winds shall come
To strew the dead leaves on my tou.h-
And there viii be a darkened room,


And they will catch my faintest breath,
And silence and gathering gloom


VIII fall from off the wings OF Death
l shall not hear the mufAsd tone,
The silent whisper, She is gone'
But ioheR this last great change shall come
is hidden from us-and tis best;
If be ready for my home,


1t matters not how soon | rest;
Death viii be but the end OF sorrow,
Dawn of an endless, heavenly morrow
Year: 1873

A GENTLEMAN who escaped from the wreck
of the Atlantic telegraphed to his brother in
a distant city the single word, "saved. -
Brief though the message was, it was one of
Joy, and so highly did the brother value it,
that he has had it framed and hung up in
his Office. Christ said to the man whom he
had healed, go home to thy friends and
tell them how great things the Lord hath
done for thee, and hath had compassion on
thee. And what joy such an announce
ment should bring to them who have been
anxious for the souls of their kindred?-
They are "saved' from a worse
wreck than that of the Atlantic, and to q
better hope than that of home and country
Year: 1873

In place of another article on this subject,
we present this week an extract from the
Report on Systematic Benevolence" to
the Synod in Baltimore, which was laid on
the table. j. w. P
Year: 1873

1t is possible for men to live in every
j3y lie according to the Higher law,


ihou gh great many sneeringly deny
it, Every one can follow Christ's teach
ug in the sermon on the mount. Our
ord and Saviour would never have Civ
cn us commandments that we could moi
eep; and yet there is general impress
son. especially in the business world,
that men ale obliged to follow the rule
TO do unto others as they do unto them.
Year: 1873

We printed, yesterday, graphic description
of scenes on the Jersey Coast in Winter, and
this morning. We have an admirable letter from
a correspondent at Port Deposit, picturing the
food in that town. Ono of the features in the
COMMERCIAL, of which We are proud, is it's cor