The Sumter banner. (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, January 04, 1853, Image 1
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DEVOTED TO SOUTHERN RIGHTS DEMOCRAY, NEWS LITERATURE, SCIENE AN I AT
4r. . R I. F R W CiI, PYrop rieto rs. , T a . -
v ! s .1 1.0 S UMBIT 1611V ILL E, -.0a SoCoANUARtY 4, 18 s,
TEM'P E R AN CE,
To the ntelilons Pbile of
Sati Carolina.
Men and Brethren:
The Sons of Tempel-ance, at their
late annual meeting in Columbia, con.
stituted the undersigned, a Con.
- nittee to address you on the claims
of Temperance.
Is this necessary? Can it be pos.
gible that followers of the meek and
Jowly Lamb of God, have to be stir
red up to the great work of Teat.
perance? "Know ye riot brethren
that Temperance, is thefruit of the
%Vpirit?" Why is it then that ye
are idle? Do you dislike our plans of
labor? If so. point out other more
elofectual means, we are ready to
adopt them, an I to bear our part in
lustaining them!
At present however, persuaded as
we are that there is but one sure rem
*dy to prevent intoxication, that is
by stringent laws to prevent the
sale of intoxicating drinks. Except
for -Medicinal and Mechanical pur.
poses. We appeal to you to aid
us in obtaining them; our project
*would be sibstantially the enactwent
of the Maine Liquor Law!
What, it may be asked., is the
-necessity of such a law? Look a
round you upon society, and the an.
awer is plain and palpable! For
uear a quarter of a seentury the
friends of Temperance have been
the field, they have
-acnny ished much; but they have
failed to extirpate the ioce of Intem.
'perance. Thoy have exhausted mo
tral suasion; they have brought a ma
ority-a large majority of the peo.
pul to acknowledge that their cause
is a righteous one; and yet drunk.
.egpas in high and in low lilaces a
bonds. The 7reelaimed man, like
he, saw that was. washed "retur.ts to
her wallowing in the mire." Why
are these things so? the answer is
obviouq, temptation, in its most al
Juring for-ius is everywhere present.
edl. Your Cities boast of their Ex
,changes, your Towns of their
htouss of refreshment, your Vil
lages of their Groceries, and your
.Cross-roads and -Country places, of
1.heir Doggeries, everywhere liquor
is presented to the people, and some
.times it happens, that a -Grogahop
keeper ventures to call his establish
mnent, after a distinguished Temper.
-ance man. Who would suppose that.
a Grog shop could be called the
Vapper Ilmse? yet such -is the
fact, in one of the most flourish
ing Towns of the Interior! How is
the land to be rid of these pest hous.
e, these places of temptation? to
1alk to such men is "like singing
-psalhns to a dead horse," they must
be made to feel th3 strong arm of
ithe Law!
Our Biennial, local and Military
Elections, are other fruitful sources
of multiplying the evils of intemper.
ance as long as a candilate can
.have access to a Grog shop, and
buy the keeper's vote, and influence,
Pby buying his Grog, so long will
Ihe work of reformation be maimed
and destroyed.
~v ~'-- ~ Whence comes crimes? where are
your slaves corrupted and destroy
ed? where is blasphemy regarded ats
-an accomplishment-where is the
,Lord's day profaned? where are
.the young contaminated7 where
- comes the curse of women and
children? where do poverty, dis
,ease and death come forth as a
troop on the pale horse? Truth, an
aveors from the houses where intox
icating drink is sold.
Is it not time then! Wa--riors of
the Cross, that you should gird on
jdu' armour, and come to the
"hop of the Lord,-the help of
the lord against the mighty? to him
.espeeially .who stands betwoon "the
Porch and the Altar," the minis
ters of God's holy religion, may we
-rot say let us have your aid in this
g.reat work. 'Tell me not, you can
t' be a Son of Temperance! You
are, a 'pledged man to your holy vo
cation; .'u are a Nazarite, and you
must be s'warato from wine and
stron drink. Be so! and let us have
your powerful 'Vrd to the pee.
ple! say to them, "1'ome and go with
.:Point thorn to the voor drunk
aid in rags; covered with he blotch.
*8. ofo disease, trembling wt. the
,Vweakness of his Vico, or oromchm
with the fezl'rs and torments ol
Sthe damned,' already upon him,
Toint-them to him dyed withe -the
Llr tw f .hi-: fgll .an or .rb
under the lash for crimes against
property,-say to them see there
his deserted emaciated suffering wife
and children, reduced to worse than
widowed or orpbanage condition,
and tell them these are the evils of
intoxicating drink, and urge them by
their love of life, character, home,
wife and children, to be sober.-But
above all tell them, oh! tell them!
in voices of thunder, and with ton.
gues of fire, that the drunkard has
no part in Heaven; say! oh! say to
our suffering bleeding country, noth.
ing ought to deter from stretching
out your strong arm, to succor and
to save the people from themselves.
Be instant in season and out of
season, to warn and rebuke the mis
erable policy of shrinking to do what
is right.
Religious men of all creeds, sects
and denominations you can, you must
aid in this great moral warfare. Let
us have your example. Let us have
your prayers; the fervent effectual
prayer of the rigtcous man availeth
much. Let us entreat you to huwt
ble yourselves before the King of
Kings and cry mightily unto him
to bless the work.
To you all we would say the
Maine Liquor Law by simply pro
viding that intoxicating liquors
should alone be sold for medicinal
and mechanical purposes, and that
such sale sbould alone be made by
agents appointed for .the purpose, and
that all other intoxicating liquors
round in the State, after a giv.
en day should be as contraband and
destroyed has effected wonders. In
toxicating liquor has been banish.
ed from Maine. Sobriety pervades
every place, and the nane of Neal
-Dow as the benefactor of his race is
praised by men women, and chil
dren, throughout the length and
breadth of his north Eastern, gluri
ous home. Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Minesota, Vermont, and
Texas, have all adopted the pence
preserving, life strengthening. God
honoring policy of Maine, and bles.
sings will be showered down upon
them. Is South Carolina to be
behind! When Massachusetts war
cry of "Liberty" was heard at Con.
cord and Lexingtoi, South Caroli
na's guns of deliverance answered it
from Fort Moultrie! Will she not
again stand beside the descendants of
the Pilgrims, the sons of the Old and
noble Bay State? Will she suf.
for the lone star %f Texas to culmi.
nate in glorious effulgence in such
a warfare, and fail to throw her
Palmetto flag wherever it may
lead? We will not pursue this
address further; and yet we call up.
on you in the name of the living God,
to take your post, like the follow
era of Gideon, around the camp of
Midian, and be like them ready to
strike, and follow to glorious Vic.
tory.
WILLIAM LEWIS.
JOHN BELTON O'NEAL.
W. TIIURLOV CASTON.
"Committee."
MISCELLANEOUS.
TINE FIRST LOCONIOTIVE.
Dr oss Wno SAW ir.
The following capital story is from
the pen of Charles A. Davis, Esqjr.,
of New York. It wvas originally
published in the Knickerboeker Mag
azine, and transferred to the Hoama
Journal, from which excellent paper
we copy :
It is now very generally conceded,
that of all the inventions of man,
none holds any comparison with the
steambaat. T.ihe mind can scarcely
combine a calculation which may
measure its importance. Some vague
estlmate may indeed be formed of it,
by imagining what would be the
state and condition of the world, at
the present day, were there no steam
boats; were we to still find ourselvet
on board sleeps, making an average
passage of a week to Albany, ex
posed to all the disasters of flawv
from the 'downscomer,' and discom
fiture of close cabins; or ascending
the Mississippi in a keel-boat, pushei
every inch of the way, against itt
mighty current, by long poles, at the
rate of 'fourteen miles in six hours.
It is now just thirty years (writ
ton 1839) sinco the first steamboal
ascended the Hudson, being the firsl
practical application of a steam en
gime to water conveyance. Then
boat; and now, what river, capable of
any kind of navigation, has not been
bepaddled with them ? It is not my
purpose to enter the list of disputants
lately sprung up, striving to prove
that the immortal Fulton was not the
first successful projector of a steam.
boat. In common with the world, I
can but mourn over the poverty cf
history, that tells not of any previous
successful effort of the kink. Steam,
no doubt, was known before. The
first tea-kettle that was hung over a
fire, furnished a clear development
of that important agent. But all I
can say now, is, that I never heard
of a steambo,at, before the 'North
River, moved her paddles on the
Hudson; and very soon after that
period, wbe'n it was contemplated to
send a steamboat to Southern Russia,
a distinguished orator of that city, in
an Address before the Historical So
ciety of this city eloquently said, in
direct allusion to the steamboat :
ATie hoary genius of Asia, high
throned on the peaks of Caucasus,
his moist eye glistening as he glances
over the destruction of Palmvra and
Persepolis, of Jerusalem ard of Bab
ylon, will bend with respectful defer
euce to the inventive spirit of this
western world,;' thud proving, conclu
sively, that the invention was not on
ly of this country, but that no other
country yet knew of it. In fact, the
invention had not yet even reached
the Mississippi; for it was not until a
year after, that a long-armed, high
shouldered keel-boatman, who had
just succeeded in doubling a bend in
the river, by dint.of hard pushing,
and run his boat in a quiet eddy for
a resting spell, saw a steamboat gal
lantly paddling up agaiiist the centre
current of that 'Father of Rivers;'
and gazing at. the scene with mingled
surprise and triumph, he threw down
his pole, and slapping his hands to
gether in ecstacy, exclaimed : 'Well
done, old Mississippi ! May I be
eternally smashed, if you ha'i't got
your match at last '
But, as before binted, it is not my
design to furnish a conclusive history
of the origin of steamboats. My
text stands at the head of this arti
cle, and I purpose here to record, for
the information of all future time, a
faithful history of "The First Loco
.motive." I am determined, at least,
that that branch of the great steam
family shall knov its origin.
In the year 1108, I enjoyed the
never-to-be-forgotten gratification of
a paddle up the Hudson, on board
the aforesaid first steamboat that ever
moved on the waters of any river
with passengers. Among the voya
gers, was a man I had known for
some years previous, by the name
of Jabez Doolittle. lie was an in
dustrious and ingenious worker in
sheet iron, tin and wire; but his great
est success lay in wire work, espe
cially in making 'rat traps;' and for
his last and best invention in that
line, he had just secured a patent;
and with a specimen of his work, lie
was then on a journey through the
State of New York, for the purpose
of disposing of what lie called 'coun
try rights;' or, in othier words, to sell
the pr-ivilege of catching rats, accor
ding to his piatenlt trap. It was a
ver-y curious trap, as simple as it
was ingenious; as most ingenious
things are, after they are invented.
It was an oblong wire box, divided
into twvo departments; a tat entered
one, where the bait was hung, which
lie no Sooner touched, than the door
at which lie entered fell. His only
apparent escape was by a funnel
shaped hole in tho other apar-tment,
in passing which, lie nitoved another
wire, which instantly re-set the trap;
and thus rat after rat was furnishedi
the means of 'following in the foot
steps of his illustrious predecessor,'
until the trap was full. Thins it was
not simply a trap to catch a rat, but
a trap by which rats trapped rats,
ad infinitum. And now that the re
collection of that wonderful trap is
recalled to my memory, I would r
spectfully recommend it to the atten
tion of the treasury department, as
an appendage to the sub-treasury
system. The 'specification' may be
found on file in the patent-office,
number eleven thousand seven hun
dred and forty six.
This trap, at the time to which I
allude, absolutely divided the atten
tion of the passengers; and for my
part, it interested me quite as much
as did the steam engine ; because,
porhaps, I could mioro easily compre
hanid its mystery. To me tho tatmn
engine was Greek; the trap was
plain English. Not so, however, t6
Jabez Doolittlei I found him stu
dying the engirie with great avidity
and perseverance, inasmuch that the
engineer evidently becarme alarpged,
and declined answering any more
questisons.
'Why, you needn't snap pg so
tarnal short,' said Jabez; 'a body
would think you hadn't got a patent
for your machine. If I can't med.
die with you on the water, as nigh as
I can celculate, I'll be up to you on
land one of these days.'
These ominous words fell on my
ear, as I saw Jabez issue from the
engine room, fullowed by the engin
eer, who seemed evidently to have
got his steam up.
'Well,' said I, 'Jabez, what do
you think of this mighty machine ?'
'Why,' he replied, 'if that critter
hadn't got riled up so soon, a body
could tell more about it; but I reckon
I've got a leetle rption on't;' and
teen taking ine aside, and looking
carefully- around, -lest some one
should overhear him'. lie 'then and
there' assured- ine iteconfidence, in
profound secrecy, tIt -if lie didn't
make a wagon go bYViteam, before
he was two years then he'd
give up mvention. first ridi
culed the idea; bu thought
of that rat trap, ani d1WVbefore we
a man with sharp A ij*Ag gray
eyes, a pointed nose, y line
of his visage a charnW . estiga
tion and invention, c:'d Tesist
the conclusion, that i li e ver
did attempt to meddle: ' ^"Nvi t -wa
ter, we should hear 1..
Time went on. St h Wbatmdiul
tiplied; but none dre ,d To f a; tam
wagon; for even t 4Y
motive' was thAn a . 16.
cofoco.' WIlen, -about a year after
the declaration of tpliast war with
England, (and may it be the last')
I got a letter from Jubez marked
'private,' telling me that lie wanted
to see me 'most desparately,' and
that I must make him a visit at his
place, 'nigh Wallingford.' The din
of arms, and the destruction of insur
ance companies, the smashing of
banks, and suspension of specie pay
inents, and various other inseparable
attendants on the show and 'pomp
and circumstance of glorions war,'
had, in the meantime entirely wiped
from memory my friend Jabez, and
his wonderful rat trap. But I obeved
his summons, not knowing but that
son .hing of importance to the army
or navy might come of it. On
reaching his residence, imagine my
surprise, when lie told me, he be
lieved he 'had got the notion.'
'Notion ?-what notion t' I in
quired.
'Why,' says he, 'that steam wagon
I tell'd you about a spell ago;' 'but,'
added lie, 'it has pretty nigh starved
me out ;' and sure enough, lie did
look as if he had been on 'the anx
ious seat,' as he used to say when
things puzzled him.
'I have used up,' said ie "pla
guey nigh all thre street-iron, arid old
stove-pipes, and mill-wheels, and
trunniel-heads, in these parts; but
I've succeeded; and for fear that
some of these 'cute folks about hero
may hiave got a peep i~broughi thre
key-hole, and will trouble me when I
conic to get a patent, I've sent for
you to be a witness; for you was
thre first aind only nian I ever hint
ed tihe notion to; in fact,' continued
he, "I think tire most curious part of
this mycnition is, that, as yet, I don't
know any one about here who tins
been able to guess what I'm about.
They all know it is an invention of
some kind, for tha't moy business, you
know: but some say it is a thirashning
mrachime, some a distillery; andl, of
late the~y begin to think it's a shirt.
gle-splitter; but they'll sing another
tune, when they see it spinning a
long past tire stage-coaches,' added
hre, with a knowing chuckle, 'won't
thiey''
This brought us to the door of
an old clap-boarded, dingy, long,
one-story building, with a window or
two in the roof; the knot-holes aind
cr-acks all carefully stuffed with
old rags, and over the door lie was
unlocking, was wvritten, in bold let.
ters, 'No Admittance.' T1his was
his 'sanctum sanctoruma.' I cound
occuipy pages in description of it, for
every part exhibited evidence of its
uses. The patent-office, at Wash
ington, like your magazine, Mr. Ed
itor, may exhibit 'finished produic
tions' of 'inventive mini-'kn bu i yo
could look into. the port-folios of
your contributors, in every quarter of
the jJnion,-pnd see there the sketch
es of half-finished essays, still-born po
ems, links and fragment. of ideas and
congeptions, which "but breathed
and died,' you might form some 'no
tions' that were' presented to me,
on entering the workshop, of Jabez
Doolittle. But to my text again
'The First Locomotive.' There it
stood occupying the centre of all pro
vious conceptions-rat-traps, churns,
apple-parers, pill-rollers, cooking.
stoves and shingle-splitters, which
hung or stood around it; or, as my
Lord Byron says, with reference to
a more ancient but not more impor
tant invention:
'Where each conception was a heavenly guest,
A ray of inmortality, and stood -
Star-like around, until they gathered to a God.'
And there it stood, 'the concentrated
focus' of all previons rays of inven
tive genius--'The First Locomotive.'
An unpainted. unpolished, unad
orned. ovenshaped mass, of double
riveted sheet iron, with cranks, and
pipes, and trunnel heads, and screws
and valves, all firmly based on four
strongly-made - travelling-wheels.
'It's a curious critter to look at,'
says Jabez, 'but you'll like it bet.
ter when you see it in motion.'
He was by this time igniting a
quantity of charcoal, which lie had
stuffed under the hojler, 'I filled
the b'iler,' says he, 'arter I stop.
ped working her yesterday, and it
lian't leaked a drop since. It will
soon bile up; the coal is first-rate.'
Sure enough, the boiler soon gave
evidence of 'troubled waters,' when,
by pushing one slide, and pulling an
other. the whole machine, cranks
and piston, was in motion.
'It woiks slick, don't it?' said Ja
b ez,'. I' ''II. -".- -*, -''.
'But,' I replied, 'it don't move.'
'You mean,' said lie, "the travel.
ling w'heels don't move; well, I don't
mean they shall till I get my pa
tent. .You see,' he added, crouch
ing down, 'that trunriel head, there
-that small cog wheel? Well, that's
out of gear just yet; when I turn that
into goar, by this crank, it fits, you
Bee, on the main trovelling wheel,
and then the hull scral.e will move, as
nigh as I can calculate, a little slow
er than chain lightnin', and a darn'd
leetle too! But it won't do to give
it a try afore I get the patent. There
is only one thing yet,' he continued,
'that I han't contrived-but that is
a simple matter- and that is the
shortest mode of stoppin' on her.
My first notion is, to see how fast I
can make her work, without smash
ing all to bits, and that's done by
screwing down this upper value; and
I 11 show you-'
And with that. he clambered up on
the top, with a turning-screw in one
hand, and a horn of soft soap 'n the
other, and commenced screw'ing
down the valves, and oiling the pis
ton rod and rank-joints; and the
motion of the mysterious mass in
creased until all seemed a buz.
'It is nigh about perkfction, ain't
it?' says he.
I stood amazed in contemplating
the uobject before me, wvhich I confes
sed I could not fully unmdestand; and
hence, with the greate-r, readiniess, per
mitted moy mintd to hear ofT to oth
er maitters more comiprehenisible, to
the future, which is always more cilear
than the present, nder similar circumt
stanices. I heeded not; for the very
best reatsont in the world, because I uin
derstood not, the complicated descrip
Lion t~at. Jab~ez was giving of his still
more complicated invention. All I
knew was, that here was a machinie on
fouir good strd, wl-braced wheels,
and it otnly requj~ired a recorded pa
tent to authorize that small connect
ing co)g-whieel, or 'trmmnel-head, to
be throwvn '.into gear," when it wvould
move)V of, wihout eats, hay, or horse
shoes, and distance the mail-coaches.
As I was surrounded with notions, it
was not extraordinary that one should
take full possession of me. It dawn
ed upon me, when I saw the machine
first put into motion, and was now
full orbed above the horizon of my
desire; it was to see the first locomo
tive move oft. The temptation wvas
irresistible. 'And who knows,' thought
I, 'but some prying scamp may have
beeni 'peeping through the key-hole,'
while J ahez w~as at work, and, catch
ig the idea, may be now at work at
aomne cltimsy imitation?-and if he
do(es not succeed in tnrning the
first trick, may at leas-t divide the
honior's with my friend1'
'Jabecz,' said I, elevating my voice
above the noisa a'f the machine, 'there
is one thing wantig.'
'What is that? saya he, eagerly.
'Imumortalltv!' sid -. 'audl .vou
shall have it, patent or np patent!' A rid
with that, .1 pulled the crank thati
twisted the conniectin' trunnol-iead
into the travelling.nweels, *anrd in
un -instant away went tire machine,
with' Jahpe pp typ of it, Wvith the
whiz and rapidity of a fhuihe'd' par.
tUidge. The side of tie old build
ing presented the resistance 4f ivet pa
per., One crash, and the 'first lpppyno
Live! was usiered into tins brenth
ing world. I hurried to the opening,
and had just time to clumber to
the top of a fench to eatsh the last
glimpse of mv fastldepartg friend.
True to his purpose, I saw him alter
nately screwing down the valves, and
oiling the piston-rod and crank-joints
-evidently determined'thrt, altipugh
he had started off a little unexpected
ly, ie would redeem tihe pledgo be
had given, which was thrat whien it
did go, it ")opuild go a leetle slow
er than a streak of erains lightnin,' and
a darn'd leetle too!'
'Like a cloud in the dim diiarnce fleeting,
Like an arrow,' ,i flew awayl
But a moment, and he was here;
in a momeint ie was there; and now
where is .h.--.or, rather where is he
not? But that for the present, is
"neither here nor there.'
Tle vile Misleii riaiculed the be
lief so religiously cherished by the
Christian Don, that in all tie bloody
conflicts that laid the crescent low in
the dust, Eiaint lago, on a white horse,
led oi to battle, and secured triumph
to the cross; but as this has become
matter of history, confirmed, by
tie fict that on nunerous oceasion's
this identical 'warrior saint' was dis
tinctly seen "pounding the Moors,"
successfully and simultaneously, in
battle scenes remote fiom each other,
thus proving his identity by saint
ly ubiquity; so we may safey in
dulge the belief, hiat tie spirit, if not
the actual body and bones, of Jabez
Doolittle, stands perched on every lo
conotive that may now'be seen in ev
ery -direction, threading its. way at
tire rate of thirty riles an hour; to
tire total annihilation of space ai'd
time. The incredulous, like the Moors
of old, may indulge their unbelief; but
for myself, I never seen a locomotive in
full action, that I do not also see Ja
bez there, directing its course, as
plain as I see tire immortal Clinton inI
every canal-boat, or the equally im.
mortal Fulton in) every steamboat.
Unfortuhately, however, these, like
Jabez Doolittle, started in their ca
reer of glory without a patent; trust
ing too far to an ungrateful world; an~d
now the descendants of either may (i'
they pity their passage) in*dulge the
luxury that tie 'inventive spirit" 'of
their ancestor has secured to the age.
But my task is dpre. All I )low
ask is, that although some doubt and
mystery hang .oyer ghie first inven
tion of a steumboat-i-m which doubt.,
however, I fir one do hot participate
-none whatever niv exist in regard
to the prigip pf the loconotive branch
of thre great steam finily; and that,
in all future time, this fragment of
authentic history may enable the la
test Posterity *to retrace, by -back
track and "turn out,' through a long
railroad lire of illustrious ancestors,
tire first projector and contriver of
'Tie First Locomotive,' their m
niorpd progenitor, "Jabez D4 q!ittle,
Esq.,nigh Wallingfbrd, Connecticut.'
Inr the umber of tre Kniekerboek
er, succeedinrg tire one inn which tihe
above appeared, wte find thre follow-|
ings characeteristic letter from thnat'
golden-hearted genitlemran, Washuing
tori Irvimg, wich we also eopfo
the edificatiorn of our reaiders:-J
'Z To te .Editor* of the En~iickerbIocker,
Sir:--In your last immnber,'
read withr great interest air article, en
titled, 'Tire JFirst Locomotive.' It
throws light upon an incident ahrich
has long beenr a theme of miarvel in
tire f'ar WVest. You must know that
I was oine amrong the f~rst baird of
trarppers that crossed theo Rocky Moun
tains. WVe had encamped one nilght on
a ridge of thre Black Hills, arid were
wrappled up inr our blanlkets, in the
midst of' our first sleep, wvheni we
were roused by the man who stood sen
tine, who eried out, 'WVild fire, by
--!' We started on our feet, arid
behreld a streak of fire coming across
the prairies, for all tire world like
lightning, or a shooting star. We had
hrardly timec to guess what it might be,
whenrr t camne up, whrizzinig, arid clank.
ing, arid markirng a tremenrdous raek
et, arid we saw somietbing huge and
black, with whreels arnd traps of all
kinds; and air odd-looking being on
top of It, busy as they say tire devil is
in a gale of wind. Inr fact, somec of
ouir people throught, it was the old gen
tlemran imseif, tarking air airinrg in
0one of hris inrfernal carriages; oth
ers tirotighrt it, was tie oppgnjng of one of
the seals ini thre Revelations. Somre of
tire stoutest fellows fell on their knees,
and began to pray; a Kentuekian pluck
ed tip courrage enouigh to hail the
hiferal coachnman as )e. passed, aid
ask whither he 'vas 4 li~ng bus"th'b
sopeed whth "dih ha w-hrle4 ava
t e rattling of his machine, en
our catching more, than- theij4 4
words; Slam baaig to -strnalln ) b
Ina fve mi'n'tes pore, he was he'nsak
prviries, heyond the -Black "l
we -saw hitn shooting, uicepye
tern) over te Pocky Mounthn.
The next day we tracked hlou&
ie had cut through a great droye)d
bpffalo, sopie hundred or t pf 'ivhi
lay cut up as tughd il ntpers1'hIN
been there; we heard of hin affai
ward, driving throu'h a ile
Black Fee, apd sinaiiing the- 1i g
he chief, witj all lis OhilBe
yond the Rocky 34phtaips, 11 -1td
hear nothing more of him; sp tha,
we concluded he had ended : hi bruit
@tone pareer, by 'driving In'o one of
the craters that still smoke among
the peaks.
'This .cireprnstan.c~e, sir, a I said hai
caused much spreulation it the Fiai
Vest; but many set it doiwn as
'trapper's story,' w ich is about equiv
alent to a traveller's titl; neither
would the author of 'Asthria' and
'Bonneville's Adventure's admit it in
to his works, though heaven knowa hie
has not been over squeanish In such
matters. The article in your 1a6
number, above alluded to, -has n'6'
oleared up the matter, and, henceforli,
I shall tell the story without fear of
being -hooted at. i make no donubt,
sir, thIs supposed infernal apparitit
was nothing more nor less than Jabb
Doolih.tle, with his locomotive:op a
way to Astoria.
"Who knows, who knows what wastei
le Is now careering o'erf.':
as the song goes; perhaps scouring Cal
fornia; perhaps whizzing nayay to tho
North Pole. One 'thing is ertiiian
satisfactory; he is the first person'ties
ever crossed the Rppky ifouptainso0
wheels; his transit spows thatthbs
mountains are traversable with
ringes. and that it is perfectly eas
have:a railroadto tpo P l '
such road ever be eo
hope, in honor ti
'Who, 1edA Yh
'Doolittle Railroad;' unl"
should have been -given as;cha'ster
tie t6 snoe of the many railroad
already in progress. Yoiir hum bI
servalit,
IIhnAU* CRIAOENTTORRE, of St. Louis.
A SURE MARKSMAN.-We fiuwd'jr
the " Autobiography of Jerdan,
the following concerning Lord 'q
Tabley's shooting:
"Lord de Tably was the Iurcst
ghot I e.yer saw in the ?e]4. -i
piece was rarely raised bpt to kill,
and twenty snipes in SUCCeSsion havi
fallen in proof of hig acpcurgey of aiD:
And with the pistol he was still more
wonderful. The head of a pwallow
peeping over a corning in the olI
tuwer wais a sufficient object for q
bullet 4bout the sipe of g pe. A
wagtail hopping an alipping -pOa
the lawn was a gone bird if I ki
for another specimen of skill, thoug
he wag out of pr aptice since the time
he %Fred for a wager of a thousand
guineas, laid upon him by the princ *
regent, the evidence of-the wnppg
of which bet was testified by 'a car4
with wo holes in the centre, resein
blin, the ace of clubs, and wvhich b"
been perforated in that way P the
duelling distance of twelve pace.m
He wou!d have stood a pooi chance
in a duel who ventured to meet
Lord de Tabley. The loading of the
pistol was a bit of minute sdenop
which amused me. The gunpowdpr
was carefully measured in a ram rod
with a funnel end to receive it, and
smoothed by a fine Card; the pistol
was inverted over this, and.b. ding'
y-eversed every particle was deposited
in the breech. The rest of the lopd
img was equally precise, arid, as his
lordship never med I was bronght;
to the conclusion that three or foni
of the finest grains of powder, more
or less, mnad3 all the diflference in the .
hitting and missing.
There is a flourishing grape vino
growrng op a farm in the vicinity of
Elkton, Ala., with stae following in~
gular history : Thoe seed from which
it germinated, formed a .covered but
ton or clasp to a lady's kid glove,
which was imported frot paris,
among a lot of othierp, by a mierchant
of Philadelphia, who sold It to Em, pirr
chant in Elkton. A lady purcha~d
the gloves containing this grs~ee,
wore themi ouit, discoyer,
caused it to be plante, ad it
now a flourishing vine.
WoRTH TRYIN.-A 'lump o ,wet
palaratus applied to the sting of is
waspor beb, .will stop the paip a
one moment, and prevent it from a~'
ling. It Is ,a sure remidy forlait
'gde bltis i~f applied idicdiotel~