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Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
The rage for short dresses
A song which Mme. La Mode is at present much engaged in singing is:
"If your foot is pretty, show it".
[OK I can’t resist sharing one verse of this wonderful 1857 ditty "sung by W.N. Smith, the great bone-player of Bailey’s Circus"
If your foot is pretty, show it,
No matter where, or when;
Let all fair maidens know it:
The foot takes all the men:
The face, so fair and lovely,
May charm the gazer’s eye,
But if the foot is homely,
He’ll quickly pass you by,
He’ll quickly,--He’ll quickly,
He’ll quickly pass you by.
See the rest of the lyrics at the Library of Congress’s American Memory site].
Dresses are growing shorter and shorter in front; to that extent it is almost as impossible not to know what sort of hose a lady wears. I cannot speak enthusiastically of this fashion. A woman’s charms are hightened [i.e. heightened] by their partial concealment, not their full exposure, and the poet who sang of a lady whose name I forget:
"Her feet beneath her petticoat
Like little mice stole in and out"
or words there or thereabouts, would perhaps have considered the lady’s feet regular full grown rats if he’d had a square look at them. [;-) ] And modesty - how about that? I remember at the time the short skirts, disclosing the very tops of boots, were worn in Paris. Eugenie, the lovely Empress, and Napoleon III went to pay a state visit to the sovereigns of Austria.
When Napoleon and Eugenie arrived at Vienna, they found Franz Joseph and the beautiful Empress Elizabeth awaiting them at the railway depot. Eugenia wore a delicious little short costume, in which she looked "ravissante", of course, but the Empress Elizabeth, unaffected by the latest French mode, wore the usual long dress of women. Eugenie sprang into the imperial carriage, making a display so lavish and beautiful of sky-hued hose of symmetrical proportions that such another would have secured an engagement to any ballet dancer on the spot, and then the lovely Elizabeth gathered up her skirts and placed her feet upon the carriage step.
Instantly Franz Joseph drew her drapery from her hand, and passing it closely about her, exclaimed "Take care, your Majesty, you might show your feet". Rather a smart speech, but I have often wondered whether such underhanded or underfooted slaps at guests were considered the correct thing in the Viennese code of gentility.
There’s no telling what Franz Joseph would say if he could see some of the women who prance up and down Long Branch piazzas. Might show their feet indeed! They do. And more. The first glance at these women with skirts so curiously short in front gives one an erroneous impression. Who says there’s danger of the American population fading out before the foreign cohorts’ prolific hosts, when __? Oh, no, quite the wrong tack - that’s the way they wear the dresses now. pardon, Madame! (Olive Logan’s Long Branch Letter).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 19, 1875
Bernardston
Week before last was one of picnics, emphatically so, at Sylvan Grove in this town. On Mon. the 5th, the Hibernians from Keene N.H. celebrated the nation’s birthday by a picnic, which was numerously attended, there being several car loads of men, women and children. They brought their favorite beer in great abundance, and their own police to preserve order and guard the festivities of the occasion from all interruption that might ensue from the "working" of the beer. The police were mostly of the Yankee blood, large and powerful looking men.
They brought along with them two fine bands of music, a brass band, and a string band, to stir the soul with harmony. National pride was quite apparent on this occasion, several of the leading ones wearing the green plume and other trappings of Irish nationality. Upon one large and beautiful banner, we saw the name of Emmett, a name dear to every Irish heart, and a name worthy to be revered by every patriot. Upon the whole this picnic appeared to be a very enjoyable affair, and well enjoyed by all concerned, giving no unfavorable impressions of the Irish character.
There were some very sprightly and amusing single jig dancing, both by males and females, which was almost "super" Yankee. [?] There was only one beer fight, and this was soon checked by the long, bony arms of a Yankee policeman. One of those combatants did not belong to the party from Keene. As soon as clear from the grasp of the policeman, he made tracks as fast as his ten toes could carry him, for fear of being handcuffed and tied to a tree, a summary, but very proper and effective way of treating the license loving public when inclined to pugilistic sentiments.
At a seasonable hour the party all left for their homes in sober good nature, all feeling they had had a good time, and honored the birth of their adopted country. The next picnic in order was that of the two Baptist Societies from Springfield, called the Sunday School Picnic, and was the largest gathering of the kind held at Sylvan Grove this season, there being 9 car loads of old and young, and was evidently a gathering of [?] first social rank of the place. They also had two bands of music, a brass band and a string band, and in addition they had a choir of male singers, whose vocal powers can hardly be beat if equaled.
We cannot recall the time when we have been so highly pleased with social music. And we were not a little surprised, but very "agreeably" so, to learn that the Baptist people can "trip it on the light fantastic toe", and call the same an innocent and sinless amusement, as well as other professing Christians. Truly old prejudices are giving way and common sense is gaining ground...
Thurs. July 8, a colored picnic from Springfield occupied Sylvan Grove, numbering 201 grown up persons of both sexes, and 31 children. They called themselves the Pilgrim Baptists, and during their stay here their conduct was very exemplary and seemed perfectly consistent with the Christian name and character. Their sense of Christian propriety forbade them to indulge in dancing exercises, which seems almost an instinct of the African race, consequently they had no music but vocal, some of which was exceedingly charming to the ear. They were scrupulously neat in appearance, well dressed, though not fantastically so, which is considered by many to be an African characteristic.
They were all shades, from a jet black to a light quadroon, many of them having the straight auburn hair and the Saxon blue eye. Many of them gave evidence of a good degree of general intelligence and learning, being able to converse with ease upon various topics, especially religious topics, to which they seemed much inclined. Their demeanor, through the day, was such as to claim the respect of every one present; and we were very willing to admit that they rightfully belonged to the great Christian brotherhood of man.
Several of the first class citizens of the place showed them marks of politeness and courtesy, by carrying them about town in their carriages. "A blessing on him who cheers the downtrodden".
Fri. July 9, the Unitarian Society from Northampton held a picnic at Sylvan Grove. This party numbered 150, a number highly respectable for the Society, which we understand is quite small. It was quite evident from appearances that this party was composed of people of both sexes from the first circles of refined society in points of politeness and moral culture. They were accompanied by a band of music of 6 pieces, called the Arlan Orchestra, T.S. Billings, leader, a gentleman highly distinguished for musical talents, as also were the others of the band. The music of this band probably cannot be beat by any band in Western Massachusetts. Mr. Billings is, no doubt, an amateur of music from birth.
Of course a dance followed the sweet strains of this music; indeed, they couldn’t help it, so bewitching is the power of music over the head and heels. Among the dancers first up on this occasion we saw an old gentleman, 83 years old; and had you seen nothing of him but the nimble and elastic step of his feet, you certainly would have said those feet were not more than 20 years old; a remarkable instance of green old age. This was no less a man than David Damon, a well known citizen in the first circles of Northampton society. [See the Google book "Early Northampton", 1914],
(Pardon us for calling names). Nothing happened in word or deed to mar the enjoyment of this pleasant occasion. There was no smell of ’license" stronger than good tea and coffee, with plenty of cool lemonade. Joy and social kindness shone in every countenance, showing the unspeakable advantages of refined society. Even the gentle bearing and graceful manners of the little children lent a charm to the occasion. Such a picnic we would gladly see repeated. Scribe.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, March 29, 1875
The hanging of the bandit Vasquez
The hanging of the bandit Vasquez [Tiburcio Vasquez] the other day in California, closed a career that in the romance of crimes deserves to be ranked with the stories of Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Claude Duval and Fra Diavolo. Vasquez had a spice of all these romantic villains in his composition. He joined the delicacy of a woman with the ferocity of a wolf and the courage of a panther. He had the manners of a Spanish don and the morals of a savage.
/ He had committed 37 murders, stolen some thousands of horses, and abducted a dozen or more women, who for the most part were willing to go.
/ He was a California Don Juan. The frontiersmen knew now whether to fear their lives, their herds, or their wives and daughters. Murders, horse thieving and love episodes alternated in the career of the bandit. He has been the leader of several bands of which he has finally remained the sole survivor. A thousand hair breadth escapes seemed to prove that he possessed a charmed life. His first murder was committed at 10, on account of a woman, and he was finally trapped through a fondness for their company. His life of crime lasted for 29 years, though he was but 36 at his execution. His name will be a household word in California for a generation.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 22, 1875
Insults to Sheridan
Insults to Sheridan - The people of New Orleans are polite and gallant. The http://fcit.usf.edu/...s/orlan/orlan024.htm St. Charles has for years been the hotel at which the elite of the people have been wont to assemble. As such its reputation had become almost national. A scene in the dining room which occurred not long since will give a better idea of society and politeness than anything which can be written. Gen. Sheridan lived at this hotel. In his party there were two ladies. The time is dinner. The place the dining room of the hotel. The parties, Gen. Sheridan and the 2 ladies accompanying him sitting at one table, and at another not very far distant several Southern gentlemen. Immediately upon the General and his friends being seated and beginning to eat their dinner, the gentlemen referred to produced opera glasses. And none of the little sort, genuine big ones and the largest calibre, and pointing them at the ladies look through them and watch them eat, passing the opera glasses from one to another, that each in turn in this novel manner might gratify curiosity and insult ladies at one and the same time. Though much annoyed at this impertinence, the General and the ladies were not deterred from finishing their meal and thus probably frustrating a part of the design of the chivalrous gentlemen. There is but one instance in thousands that have come to my knowledge and many through personal experience during the long years passed at the South. There is nothing like getting used to it, for it enables one to know accurately how much dependence is to be placed upon protestations of love and kindly feeling for you, and to appreciate the extent of such free will offerings. By their fruits shall they be known (New Orleans correspondent of the Hartford Courant).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 15, 1875
(Shelburne Falls) Mon. eve. Feb. 1 Dr. Hartzell of Middletown Ct. delivered an able address upon Sway of Manners to an intelligent audience at the Universalist Church.
(Shelburne Falls) Mon. eve. Feb. 1 Dr. Hartzell of Middletown Ct. delivered an able address upon Sway of Manners to an intelligent audience at the Universalist Church.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 18, 1875
(Bernardston) We also have an excellent board of trustees of our school, who, by timely visits, sound and judicious device, and a strict adherence to wholesome rules greatly assist the teachers in ma
(Bernardston) We also have an excellent board of trustees of our school, who, by timely visits, sound and judicious device, and a strict adherence to wholesome rules greatly assist the teachers in making the school orderly and successful. Some of our present trustees and executive committee have educated a family of children in the school, and now, though they have no children to send, yet they take a deep interest in the success of the school, and the progress of the pupils, from other towns as well as this. It will be difficult to find any locality where the pupils of so large a school, and the young people and even children are so courteous to strangers and to citizens, old and young, and so gentlemanly and ladylike at all times and places as in our quiet little town. This has often been remarked by strangers who spend a few weeks here in town.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 11, 1875
More Josh Billings
Hotels - by http://www.dailycelebrations.com/041205.htm Josh Billings . This seems tew be the whole thing and it is the whole thing in most cases. You will diskover the following deskription a mild one ov about 9 hotels, out ov 10 between the Atlantik and Pacifick Oshuns, akross the United States in a straight line. Your room is 13 foot 6 inches by 9 foot 7 inches parellogramly. It being court week (as usual) all the good rooms are employed by the lawyers and judges. Your room is on the uttermost floor. The carpet iz ingrain - ingrained with the dust ov http://sniff.numachi...LCRN;ttMUSSLCRN.html kerosene ile and ink spots ov four generashuns. There is two pegs in the room tew hitch coats onto; one ov them broken oph, and the other pulled out, and missing. The buro has three legs and one brick. The glass tew the buro swings on two pivots, which have lost their grip. There is one towel on the rack, thin, but wet. The soap is as tough tew wear as a whet stone. The soap is scented with cinamin ile, and varigated with spots. There iz three chairs, http://basketweaving...eat_weaving_site.htm kane setters ; one is a rocker, and all three are busted. There is a match box, empty. There is no kurtin to the windo, and there don’t want to be enny; yu kan’t see out, and who kan see in? The http://www.stairropes.com/bellropes.html bell rope iz cum oph about 6 inches this side of the ceiling. The bed iz a modern slat bottom with two mattresses, one cotton and one http://www.chicagohi...ody/Sheet/sheet2.htm husk , and both harder and about as thick as a http://ship25bsa.org...or/sea_biscuits.html sea biskitt . You enter the bed sideways, and kan feel every slat at once as easy as you could the ribs ov a gridiron. Your bed iz inhabited. You sleep sum, but role over a good deal. For breakfast you have a gong and rhy coffee too kold tew melt butter, fride potatoze which resemble the chips a two inch augur makes in its journey through an oak log. Bread solid; beefstake about as thick as a blister, and az tuff az a hound’s ear. Table covered with plates, and a few scared to death pickles on one ov them and 6 fly indorsed crackers on another. A pewterinktom castor with three bottles in it, one without any mustard and one with two inches ov drowned flies and vinegar in it. Servant gall, with hoops on, hangs round you earnestly, and wants tew know if you will take another cup ov coffee. Yu say "No mom, I thank you" and push back your chair. You haven’t eat enough to pay for pikking your teeth. I am about as self konsalted as it will do for any man tew be and not crack open, but I never yet konsaited that I could keep a hotel. I had rather be a highwayman than tew be sum landlords I hav visited with. There are hotels that are a joy upon earth, whare a man pays hiz bill as cheerful az he did the person who married him; where you kan’t find the landlord unless yu hunt in the kitchen; where servants glide around like angels ov mercy; where the beds fit a man’s back like the feathers of a goose, and where the vittles taste just az tho your wife or your mother had fried em. Theze kind of hotels ought to be built on wheels and travel around the kuntry. They are az phull ov real comfort az a Thanksgiving pudding; but alass, yes, alass! they are az unplenty az double-yolked eggs.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, January 4, 1875
Annual meeting of the Franklin County Agricultural Society
Annual meeting of the Franklin County Agricultural Society - there was a large attendance...The President, Imla K. Brown of Bernardston, called the meeting to order, and the first business in order was the reading of the Treasurer’s report...$3419.53. The report was accepted, and the society proceeded to a choice of officers for the ensuing year. It was voted on motion of Charles Parsons, Jr. of Conway, that the Secretary be instructed to cast a vote bearing the name of Imla K. Brown of Bernardston for President. It was then voted on motion of Almon Newcomb of Bernardston, that the President cast a vote bearing the name of F.M. Thompson of Greenfield for Secretary, which was amended to include also the Treasurer...
Gazette & Courier - Monday, December 28, 1874
An Indian monarch’s retreat
An Indian monarch’s retreat -Calcutta correspondence of the London Times - I sought out the political residence of the ex http://oudh.tripod.com/was/wastruth.htm king of Oude , whose kingdom now lies on the banks of the http://www.tiscali.c...hinson/m0014239.html Hooghly , at Garden Reach, about 3 miles from Calcutta, down the river. The permission to visit the grounds was at once granted, and I was accompanied by the political resident, Lieutenant http://users.rootsweb.com/~indwgw/88foot.htm Colonel Mowbray Thompson , who is engaging in administering political duties and magisterial justice within the four walls of the ex king of http://www.online-li...gaskell/cranford/16/ Oude ’s Mimic kingdom, in which however, save where the law of India is in question, there can be no interference on the part of the Indian government. Within the walls the king is supreme. His http://www.gutenberg.../16997-h/16997-h.htm kingdom , though small, is compact. His subjects are in all about 6000, and devoted to him. His court is perfect in form. His officers of state, several of the chief of whom accompanied us over the grounds, have their titles and gradations as they or those who went before them in http://www.sandcastl...erprise/voych06a.htm Oude . The king has 3 principle houses in his little kingdom, and has named them respectively "Sultan Khanah", "Azud Munzil" and "Zurd Kootee". Round the second of these is the royal menagerie, unquestionably one of the finest in the world. It contains about 20,000 birds, beasts, and snakes, ranged in the pretty order of zigzag disorder on the four sides of a magnificent tank, about 3000 ft. by 240 ft. wide, almost alive with every conceivable variety of fresh water fish that can live in a hot climate, and covered with broods or specimens of every known water bird which love or money have been potent enough to secure. The pigeons seem to be the king’s favorites. They number 18,000 arranged in thousands here and there in different parts of the enclosure, and are of every variety and color - I should say the finest existing collection of pigeons. Along the banks of the lake roam at will the ostrich and the pelican, mingling with swans, geese, and a host of birds known to ordinary individuals, with a host more known only to the naturalist or bird fancier. Around, or amid all these (for freedom of all but the wild animals is unbounded) are goats and sheep, representing many climates and species, camels, dromedaries, and I know not what. The snakes have for their house a mountain in shape like the dome of St. Paul’s, only not more than about 30 ft. high, and with perhaps an equal diameter at the base. This dome is covered with holes of different sizes, the homes for snakes of all ages and dimensions. Here the reptiles rule supreme; they are fed, housed, and allowed their own will and pleasure as freely as the king has his - within treaty obligations. Elsewhere in the grounds we find many of the beautiful grass snakes, and others of a like kind, in no case poisonous, but difficult to distinguish from snakes that are poisonous. Finally we had a fine collection of cobras brought out, and then all the native attendants, I am sure we must have had 500 crowded around to see the work of a short, thick set, muscular and rather grim looking man who has the snakes in charge. The little man, described also as a wrestler, was "under a cloud" in consequence of some offense, and he spoke perhaps more defiantly than he was wont to his superiors, but I should say he would at no time be very bland. When his assistants hesitated, he dashed his hand into the jar and pulled out huge cobras, whose touch is death. There was no charming or jugglery, but merely a dangerous exhibition of the king’s pets. One could scarcely, as one looked on the coolness of the operation, remove from one’s mind the impression that the reptiles had been robbed of their deadly poison, but they had not. The king would have no such shams about him. The charm is in the power to kill. All that the little man affected was downright hardihood, induced by long practice, and of course by a knowledge of the habits of cobras. Around the menagerie are those solid, picturesque little buildings with marble floors and stuccoed walls so much in request in the East. They are so constructed that the ex-king or his friends are able to rest, almost at any point, while walking among the pets of the menagerie. At night every part of those buildings and indeed the grounds, is lit up with innumerable lamps of different colors, whose light in the case of the buildings is also reflected from the ceilings by similar colored balls - very dear from their gorgeousness to the heart of an eastern potentate, as they are pleasing to the imagination of his people. The only other noticeable fact is that as in all eastern houses I have seen, especially where European habits are imitated, the gilt and display cover dirty walls, and are further set off by articles of furniture entirely misplaced. The ex king, on some ground of etiquette, never attends a government house, but he is visited by every viceroy on selected occasions, and the regular amount of honor is always meted out to him, with properly adjusted eastern scales of etiquette. He has an income from the government of 10,000 pounds a month, and a small additional sum from the rent of a native bazaar outside his territory. Inside these 4 walls he spends his entire income, and more. At all events, he saves nothing, and seldom seems free from a royal craving for money. This will not be wondered at when I say that in addition to two married wives, 39 Mahuls (that is, persons who bear children) and 100 https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no31245.htm Begums - who, I presume, do not. Fancy the amount required in London for 141 ladies royal in position at least. He has also living a family of 31 sons and 25 daughters, and he lost a son some days ago. He spends his days in his menagerie, and in drawing, painting, and writing poetry. His songs are said to be excellent, according in native taste, and some which are called after his name - "Huzrut Ki Thoongree", are sung by dancing girls all over Calcutta, Benares, and many other of the principal towns in India. His ex majesty’s evenings are spent among musicians and dancing girls. One of his 4 principle houses, all of which are furnished "in great style", is selected for the day, and there he passes the night - Calcutta meanwhile is as ignorant of his pleasure and he of its, as if he were still in Oude. Every avenue to the palaces is guarded grimly, and woe to the person who attempts to break the guard. All this cannot be maintained without lavish expenditure; in fact, the king maintains a little town, providing the elite of it with choice amusement, and the whole town with amusement of some sort, in adition to providing them with the means of living. The little camp is in its way royal - as eastern people understand royalty. The menagerie costs in feeding, $500 a month. The grounds are beautifully kept, and employ 300 gardeners, who of course must be paid. The people employed are more than feudal retainers; they belong to the ex king body and soul; and if an order had been given for the snake chief, with his grim, surly face and his well knit limbs, to spring upon Colonel Thompson and throttle him on the spot, the man would at least have tried to obey. Such is the life of one of our ex kings.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 23, 1874
(Greenfield) There was considerable excitement Mon. aft., occasioned by the escape of a prisoner from one of our Deputy Sheriffs. Charlie Dickinson, better known as "Charlie Dick", and Charles Mack,
(Greenfield) There was considerable excitement Mon. aft., occasioned by the escape of a prisoner from one of our Deputy Sheriffs. Charlie Dickinson, better known as "Charlie Dick", and Charles Mack, two Northfield roughs, had their trial before the Superior court, for breaking and entering and larceny from Pickard’s Hotel, and were sentenced, the former 8 months and the latter 7 months at hard labor at the House of Correction in Pittsfield. In taking them back to jail, "Dick" was escorted by Deputy Sheriff Buck, and Mack by Deputy Sheriff Johnson. When they reached Sheriff Wells’ establishment, Johnson and his man pushed in, but "Dick" made a sudden spring from the side of his keeper, and ran out on to Congress Street, with Buck in pursuit. Johnson, as soon as he had his criminal safely locked up, joined in the chase, but the light-footed scamp was already far enough out of range of the pistol ball which Johnson sent after him, and Buck was soon obliged to give up the race. "Dick" entered the woods on Rocky Mountain and was soon lost to sight. A number of men joined in the search, but were unable to catch the jail bird. A gentleman driving in from Montague saw him come out into the road on the other side of the mountain. "Dick" raised his hat, made a polite bow, and went on his way. Buck naturally felt a little down in the mouth to think the fellow had slipped through his fingers, but if the rascal has taken himself to distant parts, perhaps it is just as well; the County, at any rate, will not have to pay his keeping. He is described as about the medium height, smooth-faced, 21 years old, and a cunning rascal. He was the instigator of the robbery at Pickard’s and Mack only followed his leading.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 23, 1874
While a constable and posse of 4 men were bringing James M. League Jr., a horse thief, from Auburn to Troy, Mo. Saturday, they were attacked by 4 masked men, who shot League through the back and then
While a constable and posse of 4 men were bringing James M. League Jr., a horse thief, from Auburn to Troy, Mo. Saturday, they were attacked by 4 masked men, who shot League through the back and then tied him to a horse, which took fright and galloped through the woods, followed by a mob who kept up a rambling fire. League’s clothes were torn from his body, and he was horribly mutilated by the brush. He was rescued by the posse alive, and his wounds are not considered fatal, but it was feared the mob would hang him Sat. night.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 23, 1874
Woman's reputation
Woman’s reputation - We have all of us met with instances in which a word heedlessly spoken against the reputation of a woman has been magnified by malicious tongues until the cloud has become dark enough to overshadow her whole existence. To those who are accustomed - and not necessarily from bad motives, but from thoughtlessness - to speak lightly of woman, we recommend a few hints as worthy of consideration. Never use a lady’s name in an improper place, at an improper time, nor except with respect in any company. Never make assertions about her that you do not know to be true, nor allusions that you feel she herself would blush to hear. When you meet men who do not scruple to use woman’s name in a reckless and unprincipled manner, shun them, for they are the worst members of society, men lost to every sense of honor, every feeling of humanity. Many a good woman has had her character ruined and her heart broken, by a lie manufactured by some villain and repeated where it should not have been heard, even were it the truth, in the presence of those whose little judgment would not deter them from circulating the foul report. Respect the name of woman for your mothers’ and sisters’ sake, and as you would have their fair names untarnished and their lives unembittered by slander’s serpent tongue, heed the ill that your own words may bring upon the mothers and sisters or the wives of some fellowmen.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, November 16, 1874
The women of Europe by Mrs. E.B. Duffey
The women of Europe by http://www.geocities...ace20/etiquette.html Mrs. E.B. Duffey - In those nations of Europe which have attained the highest degree of civilization, women are found enjoying the greatest number of privileges, mingling freely with the other sex, most respected and honored, and most worthy of respect and honor. This is especially true of Germany, England, France, Sweden and Norway. Russia is just passing from a semi-barbarous state into a civilized one. With the reign of the present czar, the nation awoke to a new life. The serfs are already set free, and next follows the emancipation of women. In the higher ranks, women are already permitted to enjoy peculiar privileges, and the emperor has given his voice in favor of the higher education of women. In truth, many Russian women were allowed to depart from their country and become students in German universities, until for political reasons, it was deemed best (whether wisely or unwisely it is not for me to say) to recall them. Sweden and Norway have, until a few years past, presented a strange contrast in the condition of their women. Mayhew tells us that " http://odin.dep.no/o...ex-dok000-b-n-a.html women in Norway occupy a position of superior honor. They have, perhaps, more to do with the real business of life, and more share in those occupations which require the exertion of intellect and study than in England. They enjoy less compliment, but more respect, which all the sensible members of their sex would infinitely prefer. She indeed who provides for a household, under the peculiar domestic arrangements of the country, and presides over its economy, is held in higher estimation. Women, in fact, hold a very just position in http://www.likestill.../english/norway.html Norway , having that influence and participation in its affairs which develop their mental and cultivate their moral qualities. Yet it is far from true that they occupy themselves entirely with the sober business, paying no attention to the elegant arts of life. Many of them adorn themselves also in those lighter accomplishments which gracefully amuse a leisure hour; but they certainly do not exhaust on song or dance, or the embroidery frame, the most valuable powers they possess. The able and observant traveler, Laing, supplies a true picture of their character and position, observing that among the wealthier merchants the state of the female sex is less natural and less to be admired than among the humble classes, which compose the general mass of society. Generally speaking, therefore, women nowhere play a more important part in the affairs of social life, than in that remote and romantic part of Europe. Among the poor the division of labor between the sexes is excellent; all the indoor work is assigned to the women, all the outdoor labor to the men. With respect to the actual morals of Norway, we may assign them the highest rank. The same author from whom I have just quoted, gives the following as the great difference between the institutions of Norway and those of Sweden: "In the former, manners influence the law. In the latter, law attempts to regulate every detail of public manners". The position of women in Sweden has hitherto been an exceedingly inferior one. http://www-rohan.sds...n1/History_Page.html Fredrika Bremer uttered her heartfelt protest against the wrongs done her sex, and others have spoken and are still speaking, so that already these abject conditions are becoming somewhat modified. The present king and queen hold exceedingly liberal ideas and as a consequence, under their rule progress is more rapid. What the condition of women has been in Sweden, and what it no doubt still is, in some degrees may be discovered from the following quotation, also from Mayhew: "Men, says the public law of Sweden, attain their majority at the age of 21 years, but women remain in tutelage during the entire period of their lives, unless the king grants a privilege of exemption; widows, however, are excepted. Men cannot legally marry before the age of 21. Even to this rule there is an exception, for among the peasants of the north it is lawful for a youth of 18 to take a wife. Women may marry immediately after their confirmation, which never takes place before 14. A man may marry without the consent of any one, but a woman must obtain the sanction of her parent or guardian. The condition of women in Sweden is low in comparison with the other countries of Europe, and offers a strong contrast with that which we discover in Norway. Talks are assigned among the humble orders to the female sex, against which true civilization would revolt. They carry sacks, row boats, sift lime, and bear other heavy labors. Among the middle classes they hold an inferior situation; but among the higher, though little respected, they are comparatively free". I have had some conversation with a Swedish lady of intelligence concerning the present status of women in that country, and am gratified to learn that there has been a marked improvement in the condition of women during late years. Those women who show talents of either literature or art, receive great encouragement and the genuine respect of the community. This lady related to me a significant incident concerning higher education for women in Sweden which is really worth repeating. Upsala University [i.e. http://info.uu.se/fa...university.id5D.html Uppsala University ] was opened to admit women, and recently a woman bore off the highest prize which had been accorded to any student for years, if not a generation, whereupon it was immediately decided by those having control over the university that it was not expedient to admit women to its privileges in future. The lady said she thought the public voice would be so strong in protest, that they would be obliged to revoke this decision, especially as royalty was in favor of giving women the best educational advantage. There is a marked contrast in the condition of the women of Germany in the different classes of social life. In the higher classes they are intelligent, refined and exceedingly domestic in character. They show an aptitude for study, and since some of the universities have been thrown open to them, they avail themselves eagerly of the opportunity for thorough education. The present crown princess of Prussia, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, is, in that country, exerting a strong and most beneficial influence upon society in favor of the higher elevation of women. In the middle classes the women are notable housekeepers, and perhaps, more or less the servants of the men with whom they are connected by marriage or ties of blood. The peasant women are mere slaves and beasts of burden. In this lowest rank in life they perform all the drudgery, while their husbands sit idly by, smoking and watching them. Women in Germany may be seen carrying the hod, wheeling handcarts, plowing, hoeing, chopping wood and engaging in all the menial offices of life, from which they are exempted elsewhere. They are even harnessed to the plow and made to do the labor of horses and mules. A traveler in Austria tells us all this, but goes on to say that these women are strong-minded as well as strong handed, and that their nominal masters suffer in every respect in comparison with them; and that if ever the time comes when political equality shall be extended to the lower class, the women will demand their rights at the same time with the physically and mentally weaker men, and will know how to make a good use of them.In all social revolutions this lowest class is always the hardest and the last to reach, but we may hope for a speedy improvement. In the condition of the women of the upper and middle classes, so that Germany will not long stand behind other nations in this certain evidence of advanced civilization. It is difficult to give any definite idea of the condition of the women of France. It is in many respects most favorable and in others most unfavorable. The http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/salic.htm Salic Law , which rules in France, and which totally excludes women from the throne, or from any political power whatsoever, has worked disastrously throughout society. Women are unconsciously degraded in the minds of men by the knowledge of this seclusion, and the laws are in many cases unjust to them. As a further consequence, those women who have aspired to political power have been forced to seek it in unrecognized channels and by unfair means. Forbidden to be stateswomen they have sought to influence statesmen, and to acquire by craft that power which they were forbidden to seek directly. Thus, less than a century ago, we had the spectacle of France ruled by an unscrupulous woman through a weak and dissolute monarch. In business relations women in France stand on an exact equality with men. The husband and wife are partners in business, the wife usually the head of the firm, and evincing her capabilities by the superiority and discretion of her management. Nearly all avenues of industry for which they are physically fitted, are open to women. In home life, if we go out of that great, boiling, seething cauldron of immorality - Paris - we find great happiness and fidelity. Husbands live for the love of their wives, just as in certain other countries wives are enjoined to live for the love of their husbands without any hint of mutual obligation. The family tie is very strong in France, and domestic happiness is perhaps the rule. The education of women in not yet all that it should be. The girl is a prisoner by her mother's side until she is sent to the convent, from which she issues to go to the http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/rmn/rmn38.htm conjugal roof . Even the book education is narrow and superficial - a mere smattering of accomplishments; but of human life and the grand interests of science and the world, the girl knows absolutely nothing. She has been kept jealously from this knowledge as though it would contaminate her. Until this false system of education shall be superseded - until convents shall no longer be the training schools of young girls, and they shall find instead a broad life within coeducational institutions, we shall never know the full capabilities of the French woman. Until that shall be done, and young men shall be taught to look upon all women with respect and consideration, it will probably be found, as it is now, unsafe for any woman to walk alone in the public streets, in broad daylight even. Men and women alike need this education in fellowship. Among the peasant class, French women, like German women, perform much of the drudgery. Indeed this may be said, the world over, of that class which is the farthest removed from complete civilization. I have even seen, in this enlightened America, the wife of a farmer get up at daybreak on a summer morning, chop wood, build fire, draw water, milk one or two cows, and then get breakfast for three or four men who sat idly waiting, and never offered to help her in any way. When I have seen such instances, I have been forced to reflect that we would all be savages still if circumstances had not made us, and that these circumstances seem yet to bring no force to bear on some individuals. The position of women in Spain is one especially humiliating and false. They are kept in ignorance and under restraint, and regarded with suspicion. A recent English writer who has had ample opportunities for witnessing social life in Spain, gives the following account: "In the lower walks of life the Spanish maiden is absolutely a prisoner - the prisoner of her madre or 'tea' [i.e. tia] or aunt - until a kind Providence gives her a husband. No Spanish maiden, however poor, can ever walk alone in the street, even for a few paces; if she do so, her character is gone. She cannot go out to service unless her madre or tea be in the same service; and hence all the 'criadas' or maid servants, are widows, who are allowed to have their children in the master's house under their own eye; or unmarried over 40. The Spanish maiden has her choice of only two walks of life, until married life and a husband's protection become her own. Up to the time of her marriage she may, if her mother and father be alive, go to a tailor's shop each day, returning at night, thus earning a few pence a day, and learning a trade. She is escorted thither and homeward by her mother, whose tottering steps and gray hair often contrast strangely with the upright carriage and stately walk of the daughter by her side. If the Spanish maiden, however, have a mother who is a widow, or who has no settled home with her husband, and is for this cause obliged to go out to service to earn her bread, the maiden will probably be with her mother, and, receiving little or no wages, take an idle share in the household duties, and receive each evening - of course in her madre's presence - the visits of her lover. As to saying a single word, or at least, having a walk or a good English chat alone, the young couple never even dream of such a thing. The mother during this period treats her daughter quite like a child. If she does wrong - no matter though she be on the very eve of marriage - the mother administers a sound beating with her fists, and sometimes even a sound kicking. The Spanish mother has no idea of trusting her daughters, nor does she ever attempt the least religious or moral culture. Her system is to prevent any impropriety simply by external precautions. Mother and daughter, though constantly quarreling, and even coming to blows, are very fond of each other, and the old woman, when they go out shopping together, will carry the heavy basket, or cesta, under the burning sun, that she may not spoil her daughter's queenly walk. Her dull eye, too, will grow moist with a tear, and her worn face will kindle with absolute softness and sweetness, if an English senor express his admiration of her child's magnificent hair or flashing black eyes. The moment, however, that the daughter is married, all this is at an end. The mother, to use a vulgar but expressive phrase, "washes her hands of" her care. From the moment of the completion of the marriage ceremony, the mother declines all responsibility, seldom goes to her daughter's house, and treats her almost as a stranger. "Among the higher classes, although different in kind, the treatment of the young, unmarried maiden is almost as strict. She, too, like her humbler sister, can never have the privilege of seeing her lover in private, and very rarely indeed, if ever, is he admitted into the sala when she is sitting. He may contrive to get a few minutes' chat with her through the barred windows of her sala, but when a Spaniard leads his wife from the altar, he knows no more of her character, attainments and disposition, than does the priest who marries them, and perhaps not so much." With the above graphic description of the life led by Spanish women, and their total want of moral and intellectual culture and discipline, can we wonder that Spain, as a nation, is so degraded, so superstitious and so unstable? The mothers mould the men, and give character to the State. How shall I describe the condition of women in England? In many respects it is as similar to that of women in our own country, that it needs no absolute description, only an indication of points of difference. Among the abject poor, both women and men sink far below the level of degradation and suffering, common to the lowest class in this country. If women in that class have no respect paid to their womenhood, and become mere human machines, the same is true of the men also, with this difference, that between individuals of the two sexes, man is always the master and woman the slave. That is to say, there is always one step below the man which the woman occupies. I need not speak of the injustice which the English common law is guilty of toward women, in nearly all instances in which it recognizes her specially. Every intelligent reader is already familiar with its various details. Besides, public sentiment is fast outgrowing this relic of a barbarous age, and already acts of special legislation are doing the sex tardy justice. But woman's position before the law in England is far inferior to that in the United States. Among the higher classes, women have many social privileges accorded them, and many of them display rare literary and scientific attainments. Some of the choicest scholars, artists and literateurs of the age are English women, whose abilities and performances compare favorably with those of the other sex. The English woman, however, of average attainments, and in the middle walk of life, must lead, as viewed from an American point of view, a monotonous existence. Shut out, as she is, by popular sentiment, from all participation in active life, forbidden in the name of her womanhood to seek a career of her own, her mental growth is stunted, her moral nature developed in abnormal directions, and her energies paralyzed. If she is married, and living in the country, her life must be strictly a domestic one, which can only be varied by indulging in the frivolous pursuits of society, or in the highly enspiriting pastime of district visiting and almoner to the poor. I do not wish to speak lightly of the latter task, only, when viewed as the sole mental and moral relaxation in an otherwise humdrum and narrow life, it seems a little dull, to say the least. But the married woman is, after all, exceedingly fortunate tempered with her single sisters. The unmarried gentlewoman, if left unprotected and without means, has no choice whatever in regard to her future occupation. She must go out as a governess or starve. She would certainly rather do the latter than venture into the many occupations which her more independent and (shall I say it?) sensible American sisters adopt without loss of self-respect or esteem of friends. If she have a little means - even if she be an earl's daughter, or the daughter of a millionaire, she is not likely to have much, unless she is an only child, as the law of primogeniture secures all the real estate to the eldest son; the personal property is needed to start the younger sons in life, and the daughters are not supposed to need more than just enough to secure them from want - she settles down in a narrow home with her maid, and her cat, and her vegetables; becomes intensely respectable, and more narrowed in mind and contracted in ideas as the years roll around. There are tens of thousands of English gentlewomen leading this selfish aimless life, forced thereto by the false ideas of an artificial society, to whom a profession or even a trade, to take their minds and thoughts out of the mean center of their own little worlds and give them an objective interest in life, would awaken them to undreamed of energies, and add a vital force to the physical, intellectual and moral power of the nation. Yet England, with all her conservatism, has taken one step toward radical reform in advance of this country. I refer to household suffrage, in which all possessing a certain qualification, irrespective of sex, are entitled to vote in municipal elections. In these elections women have voted quite as generally as men, and no disastrous results seems to have followed. On the contrary, the positive advantages have been so marked that the fact has proved a strong argument in the mouth of the advocates of female suffrage. However, in a country over which a woman rules, it does not seem incongruous that women should take active part in politics. The strangest thing is that there should be any doubt about the propriety of it. Well, the world moves. What we look forward to today as a goal to be reached, may to a future generation be only a landmark of the past. One thing is certain, as the world goes round, and as nations move in ever ascending circles of progress toward perfect civilization, we behold women becoming freer and freer, and more and more completely recognized as her own mistress, the arbiter of her own fate, and as holding the destiny of the world in her hands. Free men must be mated by free women; and wise men descend from wise mothers.
Gazette & Courier - Tuesday, November 10, 1874
Some very amusing scenes took place recently in the trial of a dog stealer in Lower Canada, before a justice of the peace. The defendant was an old man of some 60 years, decently dressed, with snow w
Some very amusing scenes took place recently in the trial of a dog stealer in Lower Canada, before a justice of the peace. The defendant was an old man of some 60 years, decently dressed, with snow white hair and beard, and a most wonderful "cheek". At the hotel [possibly L'Hôtel Jacques-Cartier L'Hôtel Jacques-Cartier ] at http://saint-armand....-armand_archive.html St. Armand's , before the trial, he took his seat at the table beside the owner of the dog, and a stranger would have thought them intimate friends, for they fraternized in the most social way, conversing familiarly, and of the two, the culprit seemed the most unconcerned. The room was cleared after the dinner, and the trial took place at the same table, the "squire" being seated at the head, and the defendant pleading his own case, conversing familiarly with the squire, and interrupting the witnesses; while the "points" were taken up and discussed colloquially by all present. The loser of the dog said, "If you had taken my best cow I would not have cared half so much as for that dog", which sentiment was echoed by many of his hearers. On his being sentenced to one month's imprisonment, the prisoner thanked the court, and invited the whole crowd to "liquor up" at his expense in the adjoining bar-room, where he might have been seen for an hour, the life of the party. He then drove off to jail, bowing like some distinguished personage, and kissing his hand to the ladies on the hotel piazza as he passed.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, October 26, 1874
The Mount Cenis Tunnel
The http://www.catskilla...rrextra/mrcenis.Html Mount Cenis Tunnel - Charles Warren Stoddard, in a letter from Rome, gives the following description of the http://www.nls.uk/br...d/16411/transcript/1 Mount Cenis tunnel : "We were all curious and nervous - that is, only a little nervous - with the thought of it. One doesn't like to be buried alive even half an hour, does he? Every new tunnel we came to we made our arrangements for a seeming eternity of darkness, and when we had got well settled to our fate we suddenly emerged upon a landscape much like the last we had looked upon, only more so. It was growing tiresome, and we rejoiced when we stopped at a wayside hospice, where good wine, good bread and meat were to be obtained at a moderate cost - something like 40 cents - for the lot. It was still France; folks talked French as if they had not learned it from Ollendoff [i.e. http://digital.libra...etz/nietzbibl-idx.pl H.G. Ollendorff ]; they dismounted and did unutterable things with a refreshing, though shocking disregard of conventionalities of American society. Of course it was France or Italy, and we all knew that we were not yet in Italy. At this little station, consisting of a small eating house and an extensive landscape, I met two schoolmates, who recognized me on the spot, and I was forcibly reminded of a conversation I once had with Prof. Longfellow. He said "The chief charm of travel is the blessed sense of obscurity a man feels. You enter a town an entire stranger. You know that here at least you are secure from friends, and that you may wander where you will unobserved and unquestioned. It is as though you wore the cap of the invisible prince and that while you regard all things, no one regards you". The professor added that such was not always the case, for while this very thought was in his mind, he was passing on to a http://www.willkommeninkoeln.de/02map/map05e.htm Rhine boat , and there in the middle of the gangplank, he came face to face with an intimate friend whom he had least expected to see. My schoolmates met me in like manner. We were fortunately going the same way, and together we resolved to brave the tunnel. A lake lay on the one hand soon after we left our little station - a deep, blue lake, sheltered by glorious mountains and fringed with forests. We all agreed it was very like Donner, for it is the province of all Californians to see something Californian in every lovely object of nature. Again we played with tunnels. It was as if the considerate railroad company had arranged to test our nerves with tunnels of all lengths, and with every density of darkness before we came finally to the marvel of the age. We were never sure, therefore, that our time had come until we had been buried for some moments, and from time to time a blue light or a red light flashed on us at intervals from alternate sides of the tunnel. That certainly looked like business and we buckled down to it. No one spoke a word. I wonder why conversation is usually suspended when a train dashes into the bowels of the earth? Nothing was heard but the roar of the train rushing headlong into chaos; nothing but this and the faintest roar of the echoes that pursued us, as though another train were in our rear, dashing in hot haste and bent upon our destruction. Every light we passed came suddenly, unexpectedly, and was as soon gone. These lamps seemed to cry "bob" as though they would frighten us like children [!], and the darkness that followed was frightful and cold and clammy. We all tried to sleep, but the thought of the great mountain overhead, ready to sink down upon us at any moment, was worse than a nightmare, and refreshing or continuous sleep was out of the question. On we hurried, in the blackness of the darkness, till daylight seemed a thing of the past and the white mountains seemed to be revolving overhead while we stood still awaiting our dismal fate. It came at last. A thin, blue light glimmered on either side of the train; it broadened and brightened till the narrow grave we were in showed all its hideous angles, and then we were suddenly shot out into the bright daylight, with Italy around us and Italian signs over all the houses that had anything to advertise.. A momentary pain in the pupil of the eye; a brief chill, succeeded by the rash of blood to the right place and a silent prayer of gratitude - this is all that succeeded our 32 minutes in the Mount Cenis tunnel. But what more can you expect?" (Stove and Iron Trade Journal).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, October 12, 1874
(Buckland) Messrs. Editors: I have in my possession a few old relics which I propose at some future time to present to the P.V.M.A. Among them there is an old account book in which the first entry wa
(Buckland) Messrs. Editors: I have in my possession a few old relics which I propose at some future time to present to the P.V.M.A. Among them there is an old account book in which the first entry was made in 1770, 104 years ago. Also a sermon preached at Taunton in 1784, by http://www.metmuseum...ericanFolk/Folk9.htm Rev. Peres Fobes , pastor of the church in Raynham on the occasion of the execution of John Dixon, and a pamphlet translated from the original Greek of an old manuscript found upon the http://www.12net.gr/patmos/english/ Isle of Patmos , and printed in 1803, entitled "The Christian Economy". An excellent book that would do the rising generation no harm to read. M.F. Atkins.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 21, 1874
Gentleman who has stepped upon her dress: "A thousand pardons, madam". Lady pleasantly: "It's of no consequence, sir". What she said of him: "Awkward, stupid fellow! My gathers are all torn out, an
Gentleman who has stepped upon her dress: "A thousand pardons, madam". Lady pleasantly: "It’s of no consequence, sir". What she said of him: "Awkward, stupid fellow! My gathers are all torn out, and I’ve got to go home", What he said to himself: "Confoundedly ridiculous fashion, these trains in the street! Make a man look like a fool, cutting up such capers with them".
Gazette & Courier - Monday, April 4, 1870
Advice to girls
Advice to girls - Do not estimate the worth of a youth by his tact to talk nonsense nor by his mustache. Do not imagine that an extra ribbon tied around the neck can remedy the defect of a soiled collar or untidy dress. If your hands are brown by labor, do not envy the lily fingers of Miss Fuss and http://americanhistory.si.edu/feather/ Feathers , whose mother works in the kitchen while she lounges in the http://www.geocities...ce11/tour_house.html parlor . If a boy with a cigar between his fingers asks you if http://tobacco.harpw...p?page=0&imageSize=m smoking be offensive , tell him most emphatically "Yes!" Do not waste tears on the imaginary sorrows of Alonzo and Melissa, nor the trials of the dime novel heroines. Seek rather to alleviate the suffering of those you know. If your dress is long, and a gentleman steps on it, don't be angry, but meekly beg his pardon as you ought, for he is entitled to the right of way. Always cherish a partiality for the smell of dishwater, as more conducive to health and far less expensive than the "Bouquet of Eden"
Gazette & Courier - Monday, April 1, 1872
(Greenfield) Any one would suppose with the line of hitching posts around our Common nobody would be so heedless or thick headed as to fasten a horse to the iron fence. Yet it is done and some of th
(Greenfield) Any one would suppose with the line of hitching posts around our Common nobody would be so heedless or thick headed as to fasten a horse to the iron fence. Yet it is done and some of the ornamental work has been broken off. They are the same men who hitch http://www.horsekeep..._or_wood_chewing.htm "cribbing" horses to young shade trees, or who will stop their team on a crossing, obliging foot people to make a circuit half leg deep in mud.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 4, 1873
A young man in Hudson, Mich. asked to accompany a young lady home from church. She declined his company, and he walked behind her and spit
A young man in http://willett.org/michiganhistory/hudson.htm Hudson, Mich. asked to accompany a young lady home from church. She declined his company, and he walked behind her and spit tobacco juice upon her dress. Since then the police have paid him much attention.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 7, 1874
A POrtland man of excellent standing was walking in the street the other eve., with a small satchel in his hand, when, just as he was lifting his hat to some ladies, the bottom of the bag gave way, a
A POrtland man of excellent standing was walking in the street the other eve., with a small satchel in his hand, when, just as he was lifting his hat to some ladies, the bottom of the bag gave way, and much to his confusion half a dozen bottles of beer rolled out upon the sidewalk. He picked up the bottles and carried them off in his arms, and several of his friends were unkind enough to jeer at him.
- Fri, Feb 6, 2009
