Columbia phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865, May 13, 1865, Image 4
"brought out upon it, by the premature and
incessant use of those formidable little
instruments?
Is ray son a nutmeg that Vie is to be
-grated on the etifF edges of sharp frills?
Ami the parent of a muslin boy that his
yielding sui face is to be crimped and small
plaited!. Or is my .child composed of
paper or linen, that impressions . of the
finer getting-up ?rt, practised by the-laun?
dress. ?re to bc-piinte-d off,"a:l over his soft
irms and leg"?, as I constantly observe
them* Tho starch enters his soul; who can
wonder that he cries? Was Augustus Gaorge
intended to have limbs, or to be born a
Torso? T presumo that limbs were the in
tention, as they are t he usual practice. Then;
-*?rby are.my poor child's limbs fettered and
lied up? Am I to-be told that there is any
.analogy between Augustus George Meek,
and J ack Sheppard?.
Aiiafoze ca?tor oil nt any institution of*
chemistry that may be agreed upon, and
inform me what#eseinblance, in taste, it
bears to that natural provision which it is
at once the pride and duty of Maria .Taut
to administer lo Augustus Geoigel Yet, I
charge Prodgit (aided and abetted by Big
.by with systematically forcing,castor oil on
niy innocent son from the first hour ?f his
Irirlb. When that medicine, in ita efficient*
rtetion, causes internal disturbance to Au
-ustua George, I charge Prodgit (aided ard
abetted by Bigby) with insanely and in
ooBsistenUy adminisleriug opium to allay
^?e storm she bas raised! What is the
?neaninrr of this?
if the days of Egyptian mummies are
?riaat, how dare Prodgit require, for the use
pf my son, an amount of flannel and linon
that would cnTpet my bumble roolT^Do I
wonder that ?be requireaTt? Ned This mqrn
ing-within an hour, I beheld this agonzing
-ghi. I beheld my son-Augustus George
-in P?odgit"s bauds, aud on Prodgit's knee
being dressed. Ile was at tbe moment,
.comparatively spe?king. in a state of natura;
having nothing on, but an extremely short
shirt, remarkably disproportionate to tba
length of bis usual outer garments. Trail
. "agfrom Prodjjit's lap, on the floor, was a
ng-narrow roller or bandage-I should
say, of.several yards in extent. lu this, I
saw Prodgit tigbtly "tjOll the body cf my
unoffending infant, turning bim over and
over, now presenting his unconscious face
upwards, now the back of bis bald head,
umil the unnatural feat was accomplished,
and the bandage secured by a pin, which I
have every reason to believe entered the
body of my only child. In thia tourni
quet, he passes the present phase of his
existence. Gan ? know it, and smile?
I (ear I have been betrayed into express?
ing myself warmly, but I feel deeply. Not
for myself; for Augustus George. I dare
not interfere. Will any one? Will any
publication? , Any doctor? -Any parent?
Anybody^ I do not complain that Mrs.
Prodgit. (aided and abetted by Mrs. Bigby)
entirely alienate* Maria Ja'ne's affections
from me, and interposes an. impassable
barrier between us. I do not complain of
9
ceinp- made of no account. T do'not want
to Jje of any account. Bat, Augustus
Georg-? is n.production of nature, (I can?
not t'iink otherwise.) and .1 claim that he
should be treated with some remote refer
.enoe to nature. In my opinion, Mrs. Prod
gU is from first to last, a convention and
a superstitious, A*re all the faculty afraid
of Mrs. Prodgit? If bot, why don't they
take her in hand and improve her? -
?P. S. Maria Jaile's mamma hoists of
her own knowledge of the subject, and SAVS
sh??? broCight up seven children besides
Maria Jane. But how do I know that she
might not have *broueht them up much
better? Maria Jane herself is far from
strong, and is subject to headaches, and
nervous indigestion. Besides which, I
learn from the statistical tables that one
child in five dies within the first year of it
life; and one child in three within the
fifth. That don,'t look as if we could never
improve in these particulars, I think!
P. P. S. Augustus George is in convul?
siona.
<? ? *? -
A Remarkable* Dancer.
. "Donato, the one-legged dancer," is at?
tracting much attention in London, and a
paper there thus describes bis feats:
"When Senor P/onatofirst presents him?
self, bopping on from" the side-6ceues, no*
pleasucable emotion is Wt; on the contrary,
the immediate feeling rather partakes of
Ihe disagreeable. To see n -mao, in t\ie
very prime of life, with one leg, and one
stump, without support, coming forward,
smiling, and proffering to do, in a state ol
mutilation, what few tr?ale dancer-, perfect,
and wbole,- of the greatest art and expe?
rience, ever could do-'-.namely, afford un?
qualified gratification-seems to shock
one's delicacy, no less than to mock his
credulity.. Senor Donato, however, enlists
your sympathies pretty well, before you
have finished inspecting him. ' By his ex?
traordinary bounds and pirouettes, on his
entrance, he fixes your attention in a mo?
ment, and you are astonished at beholding
a dancer accomplish, on one leg, what
you cannot remember any professor of* the
Terpsichorean art having accomplished on
two legs. For wh6n astonishment" has
passed off,? your :nterest in Senor Donato
??chausted. On the contrary, you see some?
thing to be pleased with, in his perform?
ance, every moment, until at last you ac?
knowledge that he is hot. only one of the
rao3t surprising dancers you ever beheld,
but ono of the most erigagrug, and such is
the cas?. A person may smile at hearing
the word 'graceful' ?wed in speaking,^ a
one-legged dancer, but if ever the term
were applicable 4to a male Terpsichorean
artist, it is to Sen?r Donato, whose motions,
actions, gesture?, and general deportment,
are instinct with that natural ease and
propriety, which are the essentals of
grace. In short, the fact of Senor Donato
having but one leg, is forgotten by the
spectators, and their sympathies are en?
chained in following his marvellous feats of
agility and science; and these are bj no
means easy to describe. , ?
~ Senor L>onato entera, bounding on the
stage^o the tune bf some -Spanish dunce.
JLle'accompanies the tune with the castanet,
which he plays with more consummate skill
than any ono we ever heard. This may bo
a trifle, but it is a great gain for him. His
pirouettes are made with i acorn parable ease,
and the dexterous manner in which ha
swings his body round, performing two
revolutions, is beyond all belief. Among
the most difficult feats ho performs, is plac?
ing ? castanet on the ground, with his right
band, at right angles to Iris burly, and
taking ft up with bxs left hand, without
bending bis leg, all the time. 1*hc practi?
tioners in gymnastics wi li. understand the
difficulty of achroyinw^bTsfeat, standing on
two legs. . That p*?ri ??Senor Donato's per?
formance, however, which engages most at?
tention, and creates the greatest excitement,
iS?tn*? cloak dance. How the. dancer flings
the cloak around him, making it, assume ail
sorts of fanciful shapes-uow clothing his
body with- it, transforming it, as it were,
into a seashell-now waving the mantle
over him, likoa banner,-and now changing
it into a floating cloud, and making it de?
scend like a mist around bim-?must be seen
to be understood. Enough, let irs hope,
has been said to.show that Senor Donato is
tone oi the most remarkable performers ot
thia, or ?ny other age; aBd that London ia
about 1?> do his talents fulj justice, follow
the example of many of tb? towns anti
cities of the conti lent, is evident from the
crowds that attend Covent Garden nightly,
and from the immense enthusiasm his per?
formance creates.
j SKRMON^VS. DINNER.-A minister hav?
ing preached a" very long'sermon, as was
his custom, some hours after asked a gpn
I tleman his opinion of it;~ he replied, that
I 'twas good, but that it had spoiled a gooso
I worth two of it.'
The Yankees take good care-ol' their
dead soldiers. In each coffin a bottle is
?placed, containing within a record of his
name, rank, company, regiment, date and
cause ?f death.
State of South Carolina,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
COLUMBIA, May 8, 1865.
To the Officers of the Civil Government of the
. State: .
THE cessation of hostilities renders it proper
that the Civil Government of the State
should be restored without delay, and that the
functions of the several departments should be
at once resumed. To thab end, all officers of
the State, whose offices have b<en kept in Co?
lumbia, will with all convenient promptitude
return to that place, re-open their offices and
resumo their proper duties.
Bv the Governor. A. G. MAGRATH.
' Official: W. S. MULLINS, Lt. Col and A- D. C.