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This newspaper page contains 29 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Bristol Phoenix
Location
Bristol, Rhode Island, United States of America
Date
Dec 23, 1876
Page
1
A poem from Christian Union reflecting on hidden desires and unrecognized holiness. It contrasts church windows and worldly veils with the sanctity of everyday souls, imagining a future of radiant peace for those unseen, destined for a perfect day in heaven.
In Oberville a postmaster and Charlie Gilbert, a reputed veteran with land and a farm, share a large cash haul after a debt payment. After a night ride to Cranton and a farewell to Sarah Denton, a dark patch of forest conceals danger on the road and hints at a looming crime or abduction.
Gilbert and Charley trap the wanted robber Curley Bill after he robs a shop, rides away on a horse named Hero, and crashes in a store roughing up John. Bill is wounded, arrested by the sheriff, and confession nets many gang losses. Gilbert buys a home and farmland.
A moral lesson condemns cruelty to animals as a mark of basest people and ignorance untamed by wealth or status, asserting virtue cannot erase this inherent vice.
A reflective essay contrasts the orator with the newspaper noting the orator persuades hundreds while the newspaper reaches millions. It asserts printing preserves arts and gives voice to dying words, making speech endure beyond the speaker’s moment.
The piece argues life mirrors one’s conduct. Pleasant people incur effort yet spread cheer, while grumbling souls expose selfishness. Tom Pinch and Pecksniff illustrate hypocrisy and kindness. Selfless thinking reduces grievances. self-praise inflates perceived flaws.
A well dressed stranger confessed to a long past theft in a Washington home. He explained hunger and a family of eleven, saying the stolen funds funded coal and survival. He returned a $20 counterfeit bill plus $7.35 change. the man’s hat and umbrella were later found missing.
A Christmas verse celebrates the birth of Christ with praise and devotion. Then a critique of how a local newspaper could misbehave if everyone dictated content, followed by a reflection on editors maintaining independence amid outside pressures. The piece ends with a travelogue note on walking fish observed in Ceylon.
The poem praises Christmas bells as they spread sweet music across landscapes. It expresses joy for Christ’s birth and returns thanks for gifts, with repeated imagery of bells echoing over lakes and forests and people singing in praise.
Mr Ticknor recounts Benjamin West and Admiral Nelson at a dinner where Nelson praised the Death of Wolfe. He joked about painting more scenes, and Nelson quipped he would die in the next battle. West fulfilled the promise in the Death of Nelson.
The tale credits Davy Crockett with inspiring the phrase Up Salt River after failing to meet his opponent on the stump. A guide allegedly landed him upriver, delaying Crockett and costing him the election. He later won re election by a large margin two years later.
An Eastern road conductor invites a penniless man into a smoking car and collects fares from others while overlooking a fellow in the group who turns out to be the superintendent. The man’s clothes mislead, but the superintendent explains the hatful joke about living within one’s salary.
An old doctor accused as a quack attends a council of physicians debating a critical case. After several opinions, one says the patient is convalescent. When Dr A speaks he quips that his own convalescence will occur in twenty four hours.
A reflective piece recalls conditions a hundred years ago, noting how wedding customs, farming, sewing, speed of travel, divorce, street etiquette, alcohol, lighting, marriage disputes, washday labor, medical practice, weather reporting, and transportation differed from today, highlighting shifts in society and technology.
A pine log at an Acton Ontario saw mill yielded a large toad embedded inside the wood. The creature occupied a hollow near a decayed spot, was blind, and crawled away when removed. The animal’s long-term presence suggests it had incubated there for generations, with the log originating fifty to sixty feet from the ground.
The article notes Egyptian mummies ground into asphaltum paint used by European and American artists. It claims ancient wrapping saturated with asphalt contributed to durable pigments, with dust from pharaohs possibly appearing on works by Vernet Millais or Church.
A sober penniless young man named B. Paul goes to a Baltimore police station asking for the shortest jail term. He admits no crime but seeks imprisonment. the justice directs him to simple larceny or other offenses for longer sentences and a month in jail for vagrancy. He thanks the official and prepares to work.
The article traces bread as humanity's base, noting early French physician efforts to improve bread for hospitals and public hygiene, praises Vienna bakers, and condemns American hotels for serving bread akin to inferior U S varieties. It argues bread quality strongly affects mental and physical health.
A failed blacksmith, aided by a friend with iron, faces creditors at the forge. Choate portrays sheriffly aggression as the arm of industry crushed, likening seizures to pirates at sea and leaving the craftsman with nothing but a blubbering shock at his treatment.
A humorous exchange shows a son correcting his mother’s phrasing as she asks him to move a log. The youth insists on formal wording, proposing a verbose but precise instruction about transporting the combustibles to the doorway.
A blunt criticism notes that American women seem to range between short stature and long dresses, reflecting the era’s fashion tensions and social expectations. This remark captures a broader clash over appearance and public decorum.
The article compiles precautionary fire-hazard guidance: keep doors and windows closed until firefighters arrive, cover mouths with wet cloths, crawl low in smoky rooms, open upper windows to vent smoke, and descend ladders carefully in theatres churches or schools. It warns against kerosene burning in a saucer, placing gaslight shades, sprinkling sand on oily floors, storing shavings near steam boilers, and keeping greedy rags away. It urges lights out when leaving, metal or earthen containers for matches, a rope kit in every chamber, and restricting access to fire areas. It also cautions against admitting visitors if the house burns, swinging gas brackets, leaving children unsupervised with matches, depositing ashes in wooden boxes, examining gas meters by light, drying clothes near fires, smoking or reading in bed, drying kindling on stoves, taking lights into closets, pouring inflammables near flames, or allowing smoke near barns or warehouses.
A widow misjudges her neighbor Newton as a lunatic for blowing soap bubbles, until a Royal Society fellow reveals the true scene. Newton studies light refraction on thin plates via soap bubbles observed through a yard glass.
A carpenter prone to foretelling doom slips on a wet five story roof. He falls toward the outhouse caves but catches an iron spout, kicks off his shoes, and saves himself. He quips that both shoes are gone and he knew it would happen.
A Poe era tale recounts a beautiful young woman who loses sight but regains it after marriage. The anecdote implies that marital union can awaken or restore perception, suggesting a belief in love’s transformative power over eyesight.
A London Times correspondent argues English brakes lag behind American systems. He says Americans stop trains in under two seconds with full-wheel brakes, while English trains require ten to twelve hundred yards and often end in collisions.
A tale depicts Frederick the Great plotting a clever trick on Voltaire. Voltaire reads a new poem, Frederick hides a memory savant behind a screen who can repeat the poem perfectly. After the reading Frederick claims the poem was not new and has the man recite it verbatim, leaving Voltaire enraged.
A Burlington Hawkeye account describes a Copenhagen party incident where a girl, described as bashful and modest, caused a scene by shrieking and scratching a man, overturning a lamp, and fainting after a kiss. She fled the next day with a lightning red peddler and six children.
The article argues against quack claims and defends Dr. Pierce who states Golden Medical Discovery is not a universal cure. It highlights its dual respiratory and blood cleansing properties and cautions against expecting miracles or cancer cures.
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