Docility of Birds — Parrots

Docility of Birds

1877

A parrot of some note, in Brook's collection, was notoriously dainty. If food was proffered which its instinct or caprice rejected, it would take it with its foot and throw it down with an exclamation which sounded like "There!" Food to its liking was carefully examined, tasted, and then conveyed to the bird's own tin dish, in which it was packed close by pressure with the bill. If any of the children fell or was hurt, Poll was the first to give the alarm, and did not cease clamoring till the case was attended to.

A gentleman taught his parrot to descend from its perch at the word of command and to stand upon his finger; then, on another order, it turned back downward and hung on the finger by one foot, retaining its hold although it swung about ever so violently. It was very vain, and enjoyed showing its wings. It would walk on the ground backward, if ordered to do so, walking in this direction with the utmost ease. It was extremely fond of music; and with movements of the feet along the perch, danced to all lively tunes, its wings also moving, and its head moving backward and forward in correct time.

By a peculiar working of the serratures of file which all parrots have in the upper mandible, against the lower, it diligently strove to imitate the noise made by a scissors grinder who weekly visited, the street; but finding that this alone did not quite serve the purpose, it had recourse to the expedient of striking its claws against its tin covered perch, and accurately observing the time of the turning of the wheel, effected so exact an imitation once or twice a day that the neighbors said the man had become a perpetual nuisance.

The Influence of Man Upon Climate

1877

The influence of man upon climate has been a favorite subject of late years, and it is now well known that, by cutting down forests and draining the soil, men can materially change the climate of a country.

Some recent experiments conducted in Germany confirm this belief, by showing the extent to which woods will affect the rainfall. Two observatories were established for the purposes of comparison — one over a clump of trees forty feet high, and the other over a bare sandy plain about three hundred yards from the forest. Both observatories, were built at the same height from the ground. Twelve months' observation showed that of the total rainfall within that period ten per cent more rain fell over the trees than over the bare sand distant three hundred and thirty yards from them. Further, the air above the wood was charged with aqueous vapor to the extent of ten percent in excess of the air over the barren open soil. The ground too, under the trees, retained far more water than the exposed earth, evaporation from the surface, thanks to its shade of trees and moss, being only one-sixth of that outside their friendly shelter.

These results are valuable in that they point out a possible means of improving the condition of sterile tracts, i.e., by planting trees.

The Duty of a Woman to be a Lady

1877

Wildness is a thing which girls cannot afford. Delicacy is a thing which cannot be lost and found. No art can restore to the grape its bloom. Familiarity without love, without confidence, without regard, is destructive to all that makes woman exalting and ennobling.

"The World is wide, these things are small,
They may be nothing, but they are all."

Nothing? It is the first duty of a woman to be a lady. Good breeding is good sense. Bad manners in a woman is an immorality. Awkwardness may be ineradicable. Bashfulness is constitutional. Ignorance of etiquette is the result of circumstances. All can be condoned, and do not banish man or woman from the amenities of their kind. But self-possessed, unshrinking and aggressive coarseness of demeanor may be reckoned as a state prison offence, and certainly merits that mild form of punishment called imprisonment for life.

It is a shame for women to be lectured on their manners. It is a bitter shame that they need. Women are the umpires of society. It is they to whom all mooted points should be referred. To be a lady is more than to be a prince. A lady is always in her right inalienably worthy of respect. To a lady prince and peasant alike bow. Do not be restrained. Do not have impulses that need restraint. Do not wish to dance with the prince unsought; feel differently. Be sure that you confer honor. Carry yourselves so lofty that men shall look up to you for reward, not at you in rebuke.

The natural sentiment of man toward woman is reverence. He loses a large means of grace when he is obliged to account her a being to be trained into propriety. A man's ideal is not wounded when a woman fails in worldly wisdom; but if in grace, in tact, in sentiment, in delicacy, in kindness, she should be found wanting, he receives an inward hurt. — Gail Hamilton.

Wretched Men Meet Their Fate at Hanging, Last Words Given

Pennsylvania, 1877

MURDER EXPIATED.

Eleven[*] Men Appease the Offended Law

How the Wretched Men Met Their Fate — Last Words on the Scaffold.

POTTSVILLE, June 21. — The weather this morning at daybreak was dull and heavy, and before long a drizzling rain began to fall, without, however, diminishing the crowd already in waiting outside the jail. The general suspension of business throughout the surrounding country in deference to the extraordinary events of the day, and the funeral quiet attending the preparations for the executions, served to make more impressive the tragic occurrence which marked this most eventful day in the criminal calendar of the State.

THE FAREWELL SCENE.

Meanwhile the immediate relatives of the condemned took their last farewell. The scene was a trying one. The brother and two sisters of Roarity were admitted at 6, and soon after the aged and impoverished father of Munley, who had walked to prison all the way from Gilberton, a distance of thirteen miles. Several of the relatives of others, not having applied at the proper time, were not admitted. To each of the doomed men had been assigned a clergyman, who attended his charge in his dying moments. The reverend gentlemen were in attendance at the cells of the men at dawn this morning, and afterward assisted in the celebration of mass in a private apartment.

All access to the men by other than the Sheriff and his assistants and the spiritual advisers, had been scrupulously avoided. They are reported as having passed the night well, and at the usual time breakfast was served for each, though this was barely touched by any of them. Carroll, Munley and Roarity expressed their eagerness to die, and were apparently calm and resigned. The last named this morning received a letter from his father, urging him to turn his thoughts heavenward, and while admonishing him of his parents' belief in his innocence, advised him to confess the truth before God and the world.

NEARING THE END.

After several hours of patient waiting, the witnesses of the execution gradually closed up around the outstretched rope extending from one end of the yard to the other, which barred intrusion upon the reserved space in front of the gallows. The relatives and friends of several of the men were allowed to witness the dread spectacle.

MOUNTING THE SCAFFOLD.

The entire party mounted the steps of the scaffold nearest in their coarse, and proceeded to the furthermost of the three, upon which only were visible the suspended nooses.

Upon taking their, places the Catholic service for dying men, which begun when the men left their cells, was continued by the clergymen, Boyle and McGeghan giving responses in firm and audible tones. The demeanor of Boyle, until the drop fell, was one of entire self-possession. His composure was not assumed, and as the services proceeded he occasionally inhaled the perfume of a beautiful red rose which he held in his hand. McGeghan's bearing was that of a sincere and contrite penitent. He appeared to realize his awful situation, and repeatedly looked appealingly to Heaven.

Both the men kissed the priests and shook hands with the sheriff. Boyle responded to a remark of his attending priest with, "I ain't a bit sorry." McGeghan, in response to an intimation that he was at liberty to say anything he desired, at once addressed the assemblage as follows:

THE SPEECHES.

GENTLEMEN: — I have nothing at all to say to you about guilt or innocence, nor about them that left me in here, or them that done anything else to me. I only ask forgiveness of the whole world, if I have done a wrong to them, and the Almighty God may forgive all Christians all them that He ever created in this world for the sake of forgiving my sins here." The speech here ended, its concluding portion having been delivered in a somewhat tremulous, though firm and vigorous tone, Boyle now addressed the crowd without a symptom of emotion: "I have nothing to say, gentlemen, only pretty much in the same way; nothing as regards guilt or innocence. I forgive those that put me here. I forgive them from my heart, and I hope they will forgive me. I forgive all this world."

McGeghan, with a supplicating look heavenward, here supplemented his remarks by fervently exclaiming, "I have done all that is in my power to save my soul; anything at all that I could do I have done, and I trust in God. If there is any sin on my soul that I have not cleaned off, God will make me suffer for it here now. I offer up this death that I have to die to God for the sake of Him to forgive my sins. I have nothing more to say."

THE TRAP SPRUNG.

With the conclusion of the speeches, an awkward pause ensued, the officials not knowing whether or not to proceed immediately. The last good-byes, however, were soon said, and the arms and legs of the men pinioned, both calmly surveying the preparations, McGeghan occasionally murmuring a prayer and gazing intently heavenward. As the noose was being adjusted around his neck, he exclaimed, "Christ have mercy upon me! Lord have mercy upon me!" The nooses were then adjusted, the trap sprung, and in a few moment the men were dangling between heaven and earth.

ROARITY AND CARROLL.

At six minutes after 12, the Sheriff, his deputy, prison keeper and prison physician, reappeared at the gallows with James Roarity and James Carroll, who were attended by Rev. M. J. Gately, of Pottsville, and Father Beresford, each of the condemned carrying a crucifix. Both seemed perfectly composed. Mortuary service was said, the men gazing fixedly at the crucifix, Roarity occasionally heaving a deep sigh, and glancing at the windows of the cells near one end of the gallows, where the juries of the Sheriff had been stationed. Bidding the Sheriff good-bye, Roarity added: "May God bless you." He then made a short address. He said: "Well, gentlemen, I want to talk a few words. It is only a few words. I stand to-day before the public, and I must say the truth for them. I don't know whether they are gone, whether they are to come after me or not; Thomas Duffy has been convicted for giving me ten dollars for the shooting of a man I never saw — shooting him at Tamaqua until I saw his name in the paper — Thomas Duffy. I hope I am going to my Lord, and Thomas Duffy is a man that (I won't say for fear that I might be lying) I never saw him. The third time I saw him in the Pottsville jail, and what I can say for him is this: I never heard him talking about Benjamin F. Yost, nor any other man. If they are to come after me let them say so. I am satisfied, and I hope forgiveness from the world, from everybody. I hope they will forgive me. That's all I have to say."

CARROLL PLEADS INNOCENCE.

The crowd looked to Carroll, who was calm, and in appearance more intelligent than his companions. He merely said: "I have nothing to say, gentlemen, only that I am innocent of the crime I am charged with."

Here Roarity broke in again with the remark, "Well, that is what I forgot; excuse me, gentlemen. That is another word I forgot, that I was going to die an innocent man. I forgot to put that in," [here Roarity's voice grew tremulous.] "but I hope it is good for me, and, as to them that prosecuted me and brought me to this place, I forgive them from the bottom of my heart. I hope God will forgive them and forgive me too."

Carroll made no attempt to resume his remarks, apparently interrupted by his associate. He only whispered to the Sheriff a few hurried parting words. Carroll was the only one who did not bear a flower of some color. While being pinioned Roarity, recognizing one his counsel, shouted, "Mr. Laville, I leave you my blessing, and leave it to all my employers." "God bless you, Jim," responded the lawyer.

The priests exhorted the men to turn their thoughts to God. The nooses were tightened, the caps adjusted, and the trap was sprung. After hanging nineteen minutes the bodies were taken down and deposited behind the gallows.

MUNLEY AND DUFFY.

At twelve minutes after one Thomas Munley and Thomas Duffy appeared with their priests and the prison officers. Duffy was kept to the last, owing to rumors of a reprieve, and he only of the six showed nervousness. Neither of them made a speech. At 12:21 the drop fell, and fifteen minutes later the two men were declared dead. Examination showed that all except Munley died of strangulation. His neck was dislocated. The bodies of McGeghan, Boyle and Duffy were given to friends; the others will be interred by the county.

When the hangings were completed Sheriff Werner was congratulated. Notwithstanding the crowds, only one arrest was made, that of a drunken woman. The removal of the bodies from prison was attended by some excitement, and conveyances containing the coffins were followed down Center street by men, women and children.

—The Indiana Progress, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Jun 28, 1877, p. 1.

Note: Munley's name doesn't have a "e" in a few references to him. A few other more obvious typos were changed.

[*] The article as presented here has only seven men who were hanged. The other four I have in a separate entry in this blog. Search for Pennsylvania, hanging, capital-punishment, 1877, one of those words if you're looking for it.

At Mauch Chunk, Four Men Hanged This Morning

Pennsylvania, 1877

AT MAUCH CHUNK

How Kelly, Doyle, Campbell and Donahue Met Their Fate.

MAUCH CHUNK, June 21. — The condemned men went to bed a little after midnight. This morning they arose at 4 o'clock, and dressed themselves with scrupulous care. At 6 o'clock the counsel for Kelly bade him goodbye. Kelly thanked him for his legal efforts. Donahue said he had nothing to say to his counsel, and said, "Get out of my cell."

The other two men shook hands with the counsel. The stores in the city were all closed. At 9 o'clock the Easton Grays, of the Fourth Regiment, with 35 guns, were stationed outside the jail. The prisoners passed the greater portion of the night in praying, and candles were given them to read their prayer books. Donahue prayed alternately with his book and rosary. Kelly and Donohue were dissatisfied with the sickly glare of the candles, and blew them out. Campbell and Doyle kept theirs lighted. Campbell said Captain Linden and the Shenandoah "Herald" reporters knew he was an innocent man, but they were afraid to admit it.

ON THE SCAFFOLD.

All the arrangements for the execution were made at 10 o'clock. Shortly after the Deputy Sheriffs, reporters and other assistants entered the corridor. The Sheriff adjusted the ropes and called his assistants to him. In a few minutes Campbell's cell door was opened and he appeared, accompanied by the priests. Campbell walked quickly to the scaffold, ascending with a light step. The priest read the prayers for the dying, the prisoner responding and repeatedly kissing the crucifix, and turning his pale face upward, his lips slightly moved in prayer. Doyle was next brought out. He walked upon the scaffold unassisted. John Donahue walked boldly out and up the steps of the scaffold. Kelly came last, and seemed quite strong. They were each attended by a priest. None of the four evinced very much nervousness. The priests prayed for several minutes, the prisoners kneeling and responding.

THE FATAL FALL.

After the priests left the scaffold Sheriff Raudenbush and two assistants adjusted the ropes. The Sheriff examined each prisoner carefully, and then asked if they had any thing to say. Campbell replied that he forgave everybody, and continued, "I have not an enemy in the world at this moment." Doyle spoke for some time, but his words were inaudible, except to the Sheriff and priests. Donahue had nothing to say, and Kelly recited after the priest a plea for forgiveness. The Sheriff left the scaffold, and in half a minute pulled the rope which let the trap fall.

The doomed men fell at 10:54. In a moment the bodies began swinging. Kelly, Doyle and Campbell died easy. Donahue drew himself up and struggled for two minutes. Doyle's heart ceased to beat in 12 minutes, Campbell's 14 minutes, Donahue's in 6 and Kelly's in 7½ minutes. From the beginning to the end there was not a mistake.


WILKESBARRE, PA., June 21. — Lanahan, the Molly Maguire, was executed here at 10:40 this morning.

—The Indiana Progress, Indiana, Pennsylvania, June 28, 1877, p. 1.

History of Roller Skates — First Used in Pantomime Act

1877

History of Roller Skates

Invented by a Yankee and First Used in a Ravel Pantomime.

The late ex-Mayor Winslow made good deal of money in skates, ice and roller, although he was a man of many affairs, says the Worcester, Mass., Gazette. His death naturally recalls the days when the rink was in its prime, and when the gallant and graceful Kynock, professor in the art of rolling about, used to promenade first with one pretty girl and then with another, occasionally darting off with vast outer-edge sweeps backward and forward.

Forty years ago the Ravels, French pantomimists of extraordinary cleverness, made great profit in the United States. One of their shorter pantomimes was Godinski, or the Skater of Wien. The last scene showed a Polish pond covered with gay skaters, who careened around merrily and threw property snowballs at each other. Godinski appeared with a chair learning to skate. This was the original act, and before the days of the Ravels nobody had ever seen a roller skate. The scene ended by the ice breaking, Godinski fell through, but was rescued in the end.

These skates ran on little wheels set squarely, in the place of the blades of an ice skate — the simplest possible form. They did not pivot and could not be used for figure-skating. Except they were low, they were like the high road skates lately put in use in Scotland and now on trial in Europe, they set Yankee inventors to thinking, why not a real skating party on boards as well as actors.

One day there opened in what was then upper Washington street, Boston, in the top story of Plympton's furniture warehouse, a school and practice ground for roller skaters. This was about the year 1867. Plympton's brother had invented a skate on which you could do the outer edge by leaning over, as on ice. The rollers were in pairs and on pivots. The boys and girls came out and found it easy to learn, but it was not advertised and few heard of it. The result was the closing of the place and the apparent failure of the invention as a popular toy.

The inventor went to Europe. Pursuing more liberal methods, he made a huge success. He planted rinks in every principal city, and gathered ducats in piles. Unfortunately they lasted nowhere more than a few years. New plants had to be constantly established.

When the Lalimes took up roller skating at the Worcester rink, which, by the way, was admirably adapted for the sport, and the skating craze broke out in this country, it was all over in Europe, but Plympton had made fortune out of it. Here, too, rinks were short-lived.

The Winslow skate, made later, brought out lawsuits with Plympton, who claimed an infringement. But Plympton's patent had not long to run, and the dispute was in some way adjusted.

It was an admirable exercise, and there was no end to the possible skill. It was a pity it could not last, but Americans overdo all amusements.

An Editor Who Loves Babies

1877

We love babies, and also anybody else who loves babies. No man has music in hiss soul who doesn't love babies. Babies were made to be loved, especially girl babies — when they grow up.

A man isn't worth "shucks" who doesn't love babies, and the same rule applies to a woman. A baby is a spring day in winter, a hot-house in summer, a ray of sunshine in a dark day; and if it is a healthy, good-natured baby, and if it's yours, it's a bushel of sunshine, no matter how cold the weather.

A man cannot be a hopeless case as long as he loves babies — one at a time. We love babies all over, no matter how dirty they are. Babies were born to be dirty. Our love for babies is only bounded by the number of babies in the world.

We also have sorrowful feelings for mothers who have no babies. Women always look down-hearted who have no babies; and men who have none always grumble, and drink, and stay out nights, trying to get music into their souls; but they can't come by it. Babies are babies, and nothing can take their place. — Atchison Patriot.


Oops

"No," said the smart boy-baby, when the pretty young woman wanted to kiss him. "But why not?" asked she. "O, I am too little to kiss you; papa will kiss you, papa kisses all the big girls." He was permitted to play with his toys.


Somebody, Meet Nobody

Nobody likes to be nobody; but everybody is pleased to think himself somebody. And everybody is somebody; but when anybody thinks himself somebody, he generally thinks everybody else is nobody.

Riches From The Skies — Giant Mass, Precious Metals Fell From Sky

1877

Riches From The Skies

THE GIGANTIC MASS THAT FELL IN DIAMOND VALLEY, NEV. — A QUEER STORY

[Eureka, (Nev.) Sentinel.]

About four o'clock on the morning of the 7th of January, an immense body, glowing with intense brilliancy, came rushing across the face of heaven illuminating the earth with the light of day. It traveled in an oblique direction, from the southwest to the northwest, and instantaneously a shock was felt that almost threw the few spectators at that early hour from their feet.

About ten days ago Mr. Wheeler, who cultivates a ranch in Diamond Valley, and who is also in the stock business, came into town and left a most remarkable substance with an assayer. Mr. Wheeler had a smattering of metallurgical knowledge and, it seems, had tested the compound with a blow-pipe and other means within his reach, and detected the presence of the precious metals, but was unable to determine the value.

The piece submitted to the assayer was about as large as a hen's egg, and immediately attracted his attention by its unusual weight and peculiar color, it being of a purplish-black shade, and where it had been broken off the main body presenting a luminated stratification that he failed to recognize. Mr. Wacke expended the whole night in a series of experiments, applying every known test to the article, and detecting the presence of iron, nickel, cadmium, lead, silver, gold, zinc, cobalt, silica and phosphorus. There was also a residuum to each assay, of which Prof. Wacke was unable to determine the properties, but he hopes by the use of the spectroscope to classify it.

A surprising feature of the ore is excessive malleability aud ductility, a small portion of it being reduced by hammering to a fllm not exceeding one-hundredth of an inch in thickness. He has sent a portion of it to the San Francisco Academy of Science, and also to Prof. Silliman of New Haven, and in the meantime is prosecuting his researches. Prof. Wacke has found that the substance will reach $887 in silver and $42 in sold per ton.

The strangest part of the story remains to be told; and, now that Mr. Wheeler has duly recorded his claim and perfected the title, we feel at liberty to disclose the facts. On the morning of the 7th of January, Mr. Wheeler was almost thrown from his bed by a violent shock. Getting up and looking out of the window, he observed at the foot of the mountain an immense mass glowing at a white heat and of intense brightness. Hastily dressing he approached as near as possible, and found that the object lay just at the foot of the Diamond mountain range, but the heat was so great that he could not go within 1,000 yards of the spot.

He kept his own council, and made repeated attempts to reach it, but did not succeed until the 14th instant, when it had cooled sufficiently to allow him to break off the portion brought to town. The main body will measure about sixty feet in height, eighty-seven feet in width, and is 313 feet in length. These are the proportions of the body visible, and it is probable that as much more is imbedded in the earth. Mr. Wheeler calculates that there are at least 2,000,000 tons in sight, and if it will work anywhere near the assay he will extract an immense sum from the mass.

Beauty – Calling a Woman "Pretty" is Merely Conventional

1877

Pretty women are spoken of as if they, of all others, were the elect; as if woman's sole claim to admiration rested on her possession of fine eyes or luxuriant hair. "Is she pretty?" is the first question asked concerning a new acquaintance, as though that embraced the whole subject.

If a man likes a woman he generally considers her "pretty," for the term is merely conventional. A pretty woman, in the private lexicon of masculinity, signifies a woman interesting from whatever cause. Who has not known women to be called pretty that could hardly boast of a single handsome feature? Who has not been acquainted with those enjoying a wide reputation for prettiness that had almost any other than a physical charm? She who has a distinctly graceful manner, or an elegant air, or fine tact, or a talent for conversation, or quick sympathies, or cordial ways, or a heart of listening well, albeit plain in face and of ordinary figure, is frequently styled pretty, and the adjective is repeated until it is fastened upon and constantly associated with her.

Merely pretty women do not rule society — never did and never will. When beauty is allied to pleasant manners, or accomplishments, tact, quick wit, then, indeed, it is all-powerful; otherwise a really plain woman who had conspicuous graces of mind and manner will prove more than a match for her beautiful, insipid sisters.



Jonah and the Whale

A naturalist walks boldly to the front and announces that the preservation of Jonah in the whale's belly was not a miracle. The throat of the whale is large, and is provided with a bag or intestine, so considerable in size that the whales frequently take into it two of their young ones when weak, and especially during a tempest. As this receptacle is furnished with two vents that serve for inspiration, it is claimed that Jonah could have lived there comfortably and, with reasonable amount of furniture, many years, provided he could obtain food and drink.



Emotions of a Mother's Heart

A mother may never find words in which to express the emotions which surge through her heart on finding her babe, just dressed in its Sunday best, stirring the contents of a bottle of ink into the coal ashes with the hair-brush but she will try to, and try with all her might.