The new South. (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867, November 14, 1863, Image 4
I
I
A Strange Story.
fFrcm an article called "The Phenomena of Mining" in
Chamber's Journal.]
The saddest disappearance of which I remember
ttftvr to have react was that of Captain ltouth
of the Indian Army, "who came home on leave
from Calcutta, to be married to a Miss Ling in
llertl'ord-shire. Captain Routh arrived at South-!
suupion, and was identified as having been a pass- ,
enger by the coach from that place ta London.
But after having safely accomplished so many
hundred miles, he never attained that place, such
a little way off, where his bride awaited him. He
neither came nor wrote. She read his name in
the list of passengers by the Europa, and looked
for him hour by hour, in vain. What excuses
must not her love have made for him! How she |
must have clung to one frail chance after another,
until her last hope left her! How infinitely more i
teriible must such vague wretchedness have been
to bear, than if she had known him to have been
struck down by the fatal sun-ray of Bengal, or
drowned in Indian seas. Where was he ? What I
- - could have become of him ?
This youug lady had a cousin of the name of j
Penrhyn, about her own age, who had been j
brought up in the same family, and, although
much attached to licr, had not been hitherto con- !
sidered to entertain towards her warmer feelings j
tnau tuose oi K:nsnip. lint as month atter momu, ;
and year after year, went by without tidings of the
missing bridegroom, he began to court her as a
lover. She. for her part, refused to listen to his
addresses, but h<r mother favored them; and
plunged in melancholy, the girl did not take the
pains to repulse him which probably she would
4 otherwise have done. She accepted, or at least
she did not reject, a ring of his, wliich she even
wore on her finger; but whenever he spoke to her,
or tendered her in any service, she turned from
him, with something like loathing. 'Whether this
was remarked upon so much before the following
circumstances occurred, it would be interesting to
learn; but all who knew them now testify, that
whereas in earlier days she had taken pleasure in
lie- c msin's society, it seemed to become absolutely
hateful to her, subsequently to ber calamity.
About three years after Captain Routh's disappearance,
a brother-officer and friend of his, one
Major Brooks, having business in England, was invited
into Hertfordshire by Mrs. Ling, at the urgent
request of her daughter. So far, however,
from being overcome by the association of the
major's presence with her lost lover, Miss Ling
seemed to take pleasure in nothing so much as in
hearing him talk of his missing friend. Mr. Penrvlm
nimpfira to Tinvo fliis iti some rlnd^cnn:
* "'* ",,,v ? ? o~?'
perhaps lie grew apprehensive that a present rival
might be even more fatal to his hopes than the
memory of an absent one; but. at all events, the
two gentlemen quarrelled. Mr. Penrylin?who
lived in the neighborhood?protested that he
would not enter the house during the major's stay,
and remained at his own residence. During this
estrangement, the conversation between Brooks
and Miss Ling had Captain Routh for its topic
more than ever. In speaking of all clew to what
had become of him, the major observed: "There
is one thing that puzzles me almost as much as
the loss of my poor friend himself. You say that
his luggage was found ait the inn where the coach
stopped in London ?"
"It was," said the lady. "Iam thankful to
sav that I have numberless tokens of his dear
self."
" TWrA is one tbinrr fhnnoh. which I wonder
that he parted with," pursued the major, " and
did not always earn* about with him, as he promised
to do. I was with him in the bazaar at Calcutta
when he bought for you that twisted ring."?
"That ring," cried the poor girl, "that ring?"
and with a frightful shriek she instantly swooned
away.
Her mother came running in to know what was
the matter; Brooks made some evasive explananation,
but, while she was applypg restoratives,
inquired, as careless as he could, who had given
to her daughter that beautiful ring ?
" Oh, Willey Penrhyn," said she, that is the
only present, poor lcllow, he could ever get Kachel
to accept."
Upon this Major Brooks went straight to Penrhyn
* house, but was denied admittance; whereupon
he wrote to him the following letter;
"Sir:?I have just seen a ring upon the hand of
' * * 1 11 1 ?... I'lnAn.l XTn?Vinrf !
tne Deiroxneu wu? u* muiuucu mcuu, .hcaucaa .
Routh; he bought it for tliftt purpose himself, but
y >u have presented it. I know that he always
wore it on his little finger, and never parted with
i: bv any chance. I demand, therefore, to know |
by what means you became posessed of it. I shall
require to see you in person at five o'clock, this |
afternoon, and shall take no denial. Jas. Brooks.
The major arrived at ilr. Penrhyn's house at
the time specified, but found him a dead man.
He had taken poison upon the receipt of the above
letter; and so, as is supposed, departed the only
, human being that could have unravelled the mystery
of til? missing captain Bouth. Still, it is
*>
barely possible that ho may not have been his
murderer after all; if he {were, it was surely the
height of impudence to have given away a thing
so easily identified, and that to the very person
of all others from whom he should have concealed
it.
Names of Naval Vessels.?The New York
Journal of Commerce has the following sensible
remarks on tl^.<? >.met (,f names for the voice's
of our Navy. *
' Some of 'he Indian names selected by the
christening bureau of the Navy Department for
the new war' vessels, are very harmonoius and
pretty; some are very rough and unpronounceable;
all are unquestionably original, not to say aboriginal.
No natiou on earth has a larger and richer
mine of antique nomenclature to draw upon in
the naming of vessels. But there is too much of
a good thing?even of Indian?sometimes. Our
naval force h;t> now reached such a number that
all the better class of Indian names seems to have
been called into play, and only cacophonous ones
arc left. The Umpqua, Junxes, Squando, and
Wambanogue? specimens taken at random from
the last batc h determined upon?are harsh, hard
to pronounce, and hard to rememl>er. No human
being, but a native Indian, with an extensive
knowledge of the dialects of all the extinct tribes,
could recollect the names of the vessels christened
within the post two years. We aro glad to see,
therefore, if olfty for the promotion of that variety
which is the sqrVe of life, that, the Navy Department
lias introduced the plan of numbering vessels.
Thirteen new iron-clacLs have been ordered,
tvlii/Ui will h*? unmhered from 1 to 13. Simple
and advantageous as this mode ef distinguishing
vessels is, it has never, we believe, been used
before. When the Navy Department and the
Eublic become accnstomed to the usage, and see
ow easy it is to remember, and record, and keep
track of the numbers of vessels instead of their
names, we predict that this plan will supersede
all others.''
A Touching Letter.?A captain of the 13th
Regulars sends us the following expressive letter
from Mnjor-General Sherman. It is a sad episode
ia a soldier's life:
Gev#o House, Memphis. Tenn.. )
"Uct. 4?Midnight. )
Copt. 0. C. Smith, com\lg Bat. 13th Regulars.
My dear Friend?I cannot sleep to-night till I
record an expression of the deep feelings of my
heart to you, and to the officers and soldiers of
the battalion, for their kind behavior to my poor
child. I realize that yon all feel for my family
the attachment of kindred, and I assure you all of
full reciprocity. Consistent with a sense of duty
to my profession and office, I could not leave my
post,' and sent for mv family to come t > me in
that fatal climate, and in that si -xiy period ot the
year, and behold the result! The cliild who bore
my name, and in whose future I reposed with
more confidence than I did in my own plans of
life, now floats a mere eorp.se, seeking a grave in
a distant land, with a weeping mother, brother
snd sister clustered about him. But for myself I
can ask no sympathy.
Od, on, I must go till I meet a soldier's fate, or
see my country rise superior to all factions, till
its flag is adored and respected by onrselvs and
all the powers of earth. But my poor Willie was,
or thought he was, a Sergeant of the 13th. I have
seen his eye brighten and his heart beat as lie beheld
the Battalion under arms, and asked me if
thev were not real soldiers. Child as he was, he
had the enthusiasm, the pure love of truth, honor,
and love of country which should animate all
soldiers. God only knows why he should die
thus young. He is dead, but will not be forgotx?
*:il Kau- ln'rii 1*11 liffl frtllmvprl
It'll 1111 lUUfIC 11UU auvn ...
faim to the snme mysterious end. Please convey
to the battalion my hereafter thanks, and assure
each and all that in after years they call on me or
mine, and mention that they were of the 13th
Regulars, when poor Willy was Sergeant, they will
have a key to the affections of my fumily that will
open all it has, that we will share with them our
last blanket, our hist crust. Your friend,
W. T. Sherman. Major-General.
An Interesting Doccmext.?The following advice
to his country, the original manuscript of
which is now in posession of a gentleman of
Washington, was found among the papers of
Torra Afimsox. many veal's after his decease:
"Advice to my Country.?A3 this advice, if
it ever sees the light, will not do it till I am no
more, it may be considered as issuing from the
tomb, where truth alone can be respected, and
the happiness of man alone consulted, ^t will be
entitled therefore to whatever weight can be derived
from good intentions, and from the experience
of one who served his country in various
s atious through a period of forty years; who espoused
in h s youth, and adhered through lif ,
j to the cause of liberty, and who has borne u part
I in most of the great transactions which will con1
stitut*? an epoch of its destiny|
44 The advice nearest my heart and deepest in
I my conviction is that the Union of the States be
] cherished and perpetuated. Let the open enemy
to it be regarded as a Pandora with the l>ox open,
! nnd the ilisgnised one as the serpent creeping
I vitii its deadly wiles into raradise.
Gex. Thomas's Fidelity,- The National Intel igencer,
several weeks ago, said of bin; "He was
in the regular army for twelve years without beiDg
absent a day from his post. Just before the breaking
out of the war he obtained twelve months'
leave of absence, but before the expiration of
three months of the time Fort Sumter was fixed
upon, when he returned to duty, where he lias
been ever since, without being absent a single day."
The Philadelphia Press says: "An officer of
the regular service, who has long enjoyed the acquaintance
of Gen Thomas, states that he was
eighteen years in the army withent being absent
from his post The following anecdote, as serving
to show his rare fidelity to the claims of duty,
is eminently characteristic of the man. Whil?
our army was lying at Murfreesboro, Gen. Thomas
was asked when he intended to visit Nashville,
thirty miles distant. 4 Why,' he replied, " I have
been trying for some time to find an excuse to go
up there, but cannot do it. I ran not sick* have
duties here, and really don't know what excuse I
could otter for going awry.'"
ADVERTISEMENTS.
pHOTOGRAPHS:8AM.
A. COOLEY is now prepared to take
PHOTOGRAPHS,
CARTE Df VISITES,
MELAINOTYPES, Ac. Ac.,
at liis establishment's Beanfort, S. C., near the Arsenal, and- A
on Folly Island. S. C., near Headquarters.
Price; same as in New York lor name class of work.
Nov. 7-4w .
IRA C. PEATHE R,?
Military and Naval Photographic Gallery,
19 1-2 Sutler's Row, Port Royal, S. C.
Aug. 12, tr.
If ETALL1C COFFINS, for sale by
i\JL C. W. Dennis k Co.,
No. 4, Sutler's Kow
Dr. W. M. WALSH, Office No. 13, Sutler's Row. A full
supply of Drugs, Chemicals and Patent Medicines.
August 29, 1863.-tf
JUST RECEIVED AT THE NEW STORE, UNION
Square, next to the Post Office a large lot ofAtoiuii ij,
Books, Ac., in part as follows :
A miv Regulations. 18(13. , Vielle's Hand Book.
Webb's Pay Digest. j Monroe Cornp. Drill.
Ordronaux Hints, Schalk's Campaigns,
" Manual. " Art of War.
Gillmore's Limes, Ac. ' Taubert's Field Artillery.
Quartermaster's Manual. HalLck's Art and Science.
Benct's Court Martial. Est van's War Pictures.
Casey's Tactics. 3 vols. Szabads Modern War.
Barra du Parcq. Coppe's Battalliot. Drill.
Cullum's Military Bridges. Instructions Field Artillery..
Barrett's Naval Gunnery. Company Clerk.
Tottens Naval Text Book. Shoulder Straps, a Novel.
Roberts Hand Bouk. ! Scotts Military Dictionary.
Levy's Rules Ac. Ruling Pens.
Pocket Albums. Bivouac of the Battle field.
Neck Ties, Life on a Georgia P antatiom
Handkercbies, hemmed, Webster Dictionary.
Currency Holders. Social condition of Jho EnMathematical
instruments, glish people.
Ink^ black, red, carmine, Ac.
Pens, steel and gold in great variety,
Blank books, in great variety.
Wafers, sealing wax, law seals, 4c-,
Mucilage, court plaster, lemon acid, ic.,
I Penkuives, pocket books, purses,
Portfolios, bill books, etc.
I Pencils, crayons, etc., of various colors
: Lava, boxwood niatchsafes, tobacco boxes, bags, k?\.
Novels, song-books, hand books of various kinds .t t i
most oft he late publications of the day.
Maps of Cha rleston lilrbor aud vicinity, and ofSavi .?
nali river
ALSO, a tine lot of Military books of late issues?loo
j best selection ever brought hero.
Pipes, briarwood, china, gutta percha, Meerschaum.
Together with a now stock of stationery, Ac.
Photographs printed expressly for us by Anthony ot
Maj. Generals Gillmore, Strong, Hunter, and Mi clicll.
JOSEPH H. SEARS.
UNITED .STATES ARMY AND NAVY NIGHT COMPASSes.
Patented May 6th, 1862. The advantages of the?o
Compasses over all others in use are, that they can be roj.i
distinctly at night, without the aid of an artificial light.
For reconnoitering the position of the enemy, nig'it
?... ?On., o Hirht darn not ba used withoac
movement?, , , . ,
1 running the greatest danger, they are invaluable.
I UsedVy Major Generals McClcHan, Hooker, Burnside,
Hunter, Pope; Major Meyers, Chief of Signal Department
and others. Every Officer and Soldier should have one.
Pbicb : $6, $4, (3, $2 50, $2, and $1 25.
For sale by
JOSEPH H. SEARS,