The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, November 07, 1878, Image 1
RI-WEEKLY EDITION.} 'WINNSBoRo.TS.C..,THURSDAY, NO'VEMBER 7,t 878 (L.2 . 119
BEN BUTLER'S BIOGRAPHY.
-0
WEKnB 11. VAMB noBr--INCI
DEVT8 IN111 CAt1EE.
What a Reporter Learned iu a Wide
With the Essex Statesman--Ben Tells
His Own Story.
[Nitom the New York Sui.]
The weary way was enlivened by
General Butler relating many re
miniscences of a varied and . active
life. I picked up, in this way, some
scraps of biography. General But
ler's grandfather and father were
seafaring men. His grandfather
served, however, as a cavalry officer
in the revolutionary army until be
was rendered unfit for duty by a
broken leg. He then fitted out a
privateer and captured an East
Indian so large that he hoisted his
little craft on deck and sailed into a
port of Portugal. His grandfather
on his mother's side was also . a
privateersman.
General Bittler was
BORN IN NEW IIAMPSHIRE.
His father died six months before
at St.- Christopher, in' the West
Indies. "The piece of land on
which I was born," General Butler
said, "was so stony that in driving
the cows a mile to pasture I often
jumped from one stono to another
the whole distance." When he was
nine yeans of age his mother re
moved to MassacIusets, whUre an.
old uncle lived. There wer but
few houses at Lowell then.
"I have shot squirrels in the
,woods on the hill where my house
stands," General Butler said. "I
have lived in that house twenty
eight years. There all my children,
and Sue and Blanche were born."
With some emotion, after a pause,
he added: "For more than forty
years I have lived among the people
of Middlesex county, coming in and
going ont before them. A man is
known by his neighbors. I do not
believe you will find one of mine
vho will i.ot tell you I have been
a good citizen, a good husband t.nd
a good father-"
General Butler's uncle assisted
him to prepare for college at Dexter
Academy, and to go through Vater
ville College. "I was a wild boy,"
General Butler said, "but not a bad
one. I did not lead in all the
schoolboy pranks, but I was well
up with the foremost. It was an
orthordox Baptist institution, and
the Rev. Mr. Smith, the same, by
the way, who wrote 'My Country,
'tie of Thee,' was our chaplain. We
had to get out of bed at 5 o'clock
in the morning to attend prayers,
and were obliged to go to church
twice on Sunday and lectures once
a week. It is true," the General
said, laughingly, "that I helped put
a horse in the chapel one night, and
I learned then how to make a horse
go when he doesn't want to go, a
.trick that served me more than
once in the army. After the boys
had tried in vain to lead or drive
t the old horse, I took him by the
bead and backed him down the
'stairs. I often showed my men
'how to get horses on a boat during
the war by baoking them along a
plank."
"Another of our
PRANKs AT coLLEGE
was breaking up an abolition meet
ing. T'he English philanthropist
'who dlied the other day, George
.Thompson, was to speak in the
college town. The students shared
the common feeling against the
good man. 'We thought he was
abusing Americans, and our patriot
ic pride rebelled at tie. We did
aiot want to get into a serape ; so,
after debating the matter for sever..
al nights, we hit upon the following
plan: We went .into the country
and p aid an old farmer fifty cents
to allow us to cateh In his barn all
the swallows we wanted. WVe got a
dozen or so, and the night of. the,
meeting a number of us were pres
ent, distributed judioiously about
the room, each boy with a swallow
in his poceot. The 'church was
lighted. by old.fashioned chande
liers, holding -each threoe or four,I
whale-oil lamps. At a given signal,
when tlre exercises were well under
wAy, the swallows were let loose,
-and in the tyiokling of an eye ont
went the lig~hts. '.the birds, of
eourse, went straight for the. lights,
and the rush of aff~ catsed ty 'their'
wings pyt ytpe l.hyp 9. ,~ , .
kissed a girl or, two, aend tliey, of
course,.shrie1 d. 41 wasbo
Then
silence ; said that some unaccounta
ble accident had put the lights out,
but the audience must sit quiet and
preserve order, and the lamps
would soon be lighted.
"The sexton hurried away for a
torch-there were no lucifer matches
in those days-and presently back
he came with a lighted candle. As
he came into the church, holding it
in front of his face and shielding it
with one hand, tho swallows, of
course, went for the light, and one
of themt struck the candle, knock
ing it out of the old man's hand and
into his face. Ho tumbled back,
gave a yell of fright, and gathering
himself up took to his heels, vowing
there were spirits there, sure. The
crowd, now frightened in earnest,
the students leading, got out of the
church in a hurry, and the abojition
meeting was at an end."
THE WATER WHEEL STORY.
"Is 'the popular story true about
your attaching the great wheel of
one of the factories in Lowell to
compel the payment of wages to
some of the foiale oper'Ativos ?" I
asked General Butler.
"No," he replied, "that is a fiction,
and one by the repetition of which
I have gained credit among the
ignorant for great shrewdndss as a
lawyer. There are many other
fictions current by which I have
gained credit for something worse,
and none -of them have as much
foundation as this story about my
attaching the great wheel. Not
long after I began to practise law
at Lowell, the factories n.de a rulle
that if their employees qait service
b-1fore the ond of the month they
could not be paid until the first of
the next month, the reglar.pay day.
There was probably ;some excuse
for this rule, as help was a great
deal more independent then than
now, and by leaving in the middle of
the month or earlier could seriously
embarrass the mill owners, as well
as put them to great inconvenience
to settle a multitude of little bills.
But, of course, all rules ought to
have their exceptions. I was on
friendly relations with some of the
mill owners, and saved them ~many
a moyances by paying the employees
who quit before the end of
the month, and came to me to have
their employers sued. I kept an
account of these payments, and at
the next pay day sent around the
items by my office boy and got my
money. One or two mill owners,
with whom I had no relations of
this kind, once undertook to treat
me cavalierly, but they soon learned
better. Well, one day an old spin
ster, whose parents or relatives
lived in Now Hampshire, came to
my office and told Ier story. Some
body at home was sick ; her presence
was required; it was absolutely
necessary for her to go, but her
employer would not pay. She
needed money; she must go home;
she could not wait till the first of
the month. 'But what can I do for
you, my good woman ' I. said. 'I
want you to see them,' she replied.
'But that will not suit your purpose.
You can't wait. You nmust go, and
if I bring suit, it can't be tried in
your absence.' '0 yes, but I know
you can make thern pay me right
*away, this yery day.' -'How so 1'
I asked. 'Why, by attaching the
great wheel ; of course .that will
stop the milL' I rather liked that,
and so I thought I would humor
her. I told her to come back later,
and I would see what could be done.
I sent around a note to the mill and
asked if so and so had quit
work, and how much wams due
her, and if I should piay as
uanal. In a little while the re
ply came. 'All right.' The ac.
count was all right, but the rule
could not be broken.
','When my New Hampshire spin.
stor returned, I gave her a receipt
to sign and paidsheo thie hmount of:
her wages. She was triump)hant
and said : 'I knew ydu would bring
them to terms. when you attached
the great wheel.' Of course ehe
told how I attached the groat wheel
all the way ft'om Lowell to her home
in New Hampshire, and thu~ -the
story got started."
FRanser, IGNoIANOE Ni NEw YORK.
-It is a pretty serions fact that in
this city of New Yorig t,here are ig
day 20,532 gi'own.-..i ja and wor,
men who can 'neither read nor write.
Itia is till; Iai seri 9that,
while a per contago of favored lads'
and misses are, getting, t rsua.tger ng
of the "higher Eiglishi b'rAnchds" at
the expense -of the whole agly1,ot
taxpayers,"thodsand 'of l',ttle ones
rea fo erey p$:n i n
fit pulic hoos. This. must
We'amhdedwNew ork on '
SING ULA.1 S UPBRSTITXONS.
How Some Miners Think They are
Forewarned of Death.
There are wonderful things to be
studied in the vast laboratory where
nature has stored her treasures.
The men who toil in 6e caverns of
the ground and tread' the endless
windings of the drifts have their
presentiments of corWng calamity,
and at times feel the touch of death
in the very air. A Virginia (Nov.)
Uhronicle reporter was talking with
an old miner a few days ago who
implicitly believed that no death
over took place in the mines with -
out a warning of some kind. "You
see," lie said, "death never comes of
a sudden upon the mon in the mines.
You reporters write up accidents
and tell how something gave way or
fell quick and killed somebody.
Now, this ain't so. There's always
some warning. When I see my
lantern begins to buin low down and
blue, I know there is danger ahead.
If it keeps on for a few days and
then begins to waver and flicker, I'll
watch it close to see where it points.
Now, yon may set me up for a fool,
but What I'm tellin' is the gospel
truth. When the flame loans over
(as if it was being worked by a blow
pipe) and points to a man, death
has marked him. Some years ago
when Bill Hendricks was killed in
the Savage, the flame of my lantern
pointed right to him for over an
hour, and when he moved the flame
would turn, just as if Bill was a load
stone au. t:o fiine was a mariner's
nedile. I kti-av he was gone, and
tol1 him to be careful about the
bLA. \Vei, n g.,t througa that all
rignt, and got wi tilto ctgo. As we
went up, the canilo kept acting
strangely, and at tines the flame
would stretch out long and
thin towards Bill. At length it gave
a sudden flicker, and Bill reeled
to one side and was caught in the
timbers. I hard his drcadful cry
as he disappeared down the shaft,
and while he was bounding from
side to side, dashiug out his brains
and scattering his flesh down to the
bottum, mny light went out. I
never lit that lantern, again. It
hangs up in my cabin now, and it
always will. There's more in a
candle flame than people think. I'd
rather gee a cocked revolver point
ed at me than a candle flame; a
revolver sometimes misses, but a
candle flame is sure to kill when it
starts towards a man. I must start
for my shaft now. Don't give my
name to anybody. There are some
who would laugh at me." The man
here picked up his bucket and
walked away. There are plenty of
miners on the Comrioei who have
just such superstitions. Some be
lieve that bad and good luck come
in streaks, just us quartz and
property. For three years past
there had been no accidents in the
North Consolida ted Virginia until a
few days ago, when Champion had
his thigh crushed. The miners
said at once that a "bad streak" had
been struck, and mere accidents
might be expeeted. Yesterday two
more men were injured by falling
thirty foot into the sump. This was
caused by the breaking of a two
inch plank that seemed able to boar
a, dozen men.
"Handle it carefully, Marier,"
said an economical citizen, as his
wife was l'amming his old shirt into
the rag-bag. "That shirt repre
sents capital I It may be turned
into a million dollars' worth of
Butler's cheap rag money when the
old man fixes things, ar.d .capital
should be treated with respect. .No,
Ma;rie;-, don't sell it to the junk man I
Lay it carefully away as flat money I"
2'aunton GazetUe.
The Nevada inventors aspire to
rival the wonderful achievements of
Edison, and perhaps the greatest
triumph yet recor ded by them is the
tinvontion ., of a combined buids
er churn and accordeoni.' 'The
cream is p laced in the lower part of
the accordeon, and while the player
is dk'awing "Sweet Spirit, Hear My
Prayer" out o.f the instrument,
wooden attachments to the keys are
churning the butter..
'Fhere is so muciih destitutin, in
New York that men have become
de.spbrate, and don't care what they
do;to.mtake a living. There 'wei-mo
less tha .,ve canadidat4e for inayor,
llUof-thiginey wo he. heretofore
been regarded as highly res?eta..
ble.
With pe.rfedt, fruth t ha been
remarked the the avenes.. leading'
to an e ily grave asy ltten aboon
opnd e o
thoa
Who ran to catch m'e when I fell?
The sheriff.
In former times the man :ate the
cream, (if the cat didn't ant4eipate
him,) but now they crematg the
man.
This promises to be a very cold
winter, and all of our young I;en
are wearing the heaviest kiud of
canes.
Putting a bent.pin in. a 4hsir ij a
very .amusing praotical joke. It
never fails to excite a man's rise,%
ability.
A pretty girl down Eat is a
"mind-readeh" She said to a bash.
ful beau the other night : "La I I
believe you are going to kiss me."
She was right.
Professor Edison is inventinq '
machine to turn over the festive
slapja6k while the hired girl sitiin
the corner and reads the latest I
novel. Move on, great 'army of 1
progress
Alabama has 6n iuti-eu strian i
society, based on the be0ief that f
horses were never made to carry
burdens on their backs, and' that- it e
it is extremely cruel to ride thein.
Prince Henvy, second son - of - the
Crown Prince of GerMnay, -is. a
lieutenant in the navy, and set o -t I
recently from Kiel for a two-years' 0
voyage on the Prince Adelbort. t
A
"A beam upon the fact 6f our
Democratic watrs-a perfect .sky,
acraperI in all our elections"-is
what a Kentucky paper calledits pet ;
candidute for lieutenant-governor. r
Rev. Josiah Henshaw, said to be e
the original "Uncle Tom," recently .
visited a Detroit theatre and for
the first time witnessed the perfor
mance of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." L
"Ganeral Sherman says the stories i
about the supposed unhappiness in a
his family are lies." But Sherman' r
is such a liar that nobo.dy can r6di
anything he says.
We are fickle as a people in our
love fo popular . songe. We first
admire, then run the thing in the
ground. Finally we wind up by
abusing the author.-Nyouns AY.
vertiser.
Henry C. Work deserves a first..
class funeral after he is dead. He
wrote "Grandfather's Clook." He
ought to have about sixty days in
the workhouse now.-49to Pos4
The late Mr. Vanderbilt's lawydr
will swear to the old wan's alling
him a scoundrel, a fraud, a vulture,
just before he died, thus establisp..
Ing the old g6ntleman's sanity.
Napoleon seems to have had an u
instinctive dread of the literasL
Besides his persecnUtio of Madame
ds Stael and others, he attributed
the whole of the Revolution to
Rousseau, and pronouAced h,An a
very bad man.
It frequently happens that the a
United States troop can't oyAr&%ak
the Indians, but, on the other hand,
if the United States tiagofl gget'a
fair start the Indians qaa' tartake
them either.
Gambetta has created a great en
thusiasm in France by his upsees.
Some of our eagle orators could
also create a great deal aOf enthu.
siasm (in this country) by iaakiing '
speeohes in France.
The flre *fteen minutes following
a marriage engagemnent may be '
turtned from ecstatic blast bitter
gall by tg gir4 rernarkciu that asa .
can tell-a Brasilika peb W fre6i &
diamond in a ring with her dyes
shut.-F'e Pree,.
It miakes a youn nian- feel very' ,
much as if some hig,ntpwo4d
dow, and then happen to see a sign,
"To Let," on the door.--inejrnagl
BIreakfast- Table.
If the !iew York banksval
give their safe combinaations direct
to the burglars instead of Iempartang
them 11r h..jst - lsght a
saufe the vos ago of pre.
ezoue: time and taske esbey
much lesaf nptaie4 Ag4gi.
Abou6thtist4nq ohe
of,. which hisWwife ls~a 4
A pgreite companf~ i1 iM Was
quai-ried .'hie'd'*rdhie said tb' 4
ranuent In Ohio, whuih will coat
* 0,000.
l9vem Bat beneath the shade,
ktkd 1 unS the other said:
*Row 14 8 that you be9
ath. rIP- upon this suit of mine,
S. r,'palpa 4 o
V*0W 6 idue meloiy-..
is 7. to be thy loved 1, 2-.
Oy-nymnpb, wilt marry me I"
Ir enlisdsh4 soft, "Why,131y 1"
-St. zouis fo'nal.
Two Genoose reontl (ought a
199l in small boats on l high, se,
nit 6d1Md of their native port.
Without witnesses, they fought with
'Uives till one of therp, the lover of
he other man's wife, was killed,
ad sop to. the. bottom with a
ight "ro nd hip npoo, tied by the
oooi or. The latter then
aute into pqrtk jnd gave himself up,
4 prayer.rmeeting was in progrem
inp churoh in Mount Vernon, Ind.,
wud apitio) prooeasion, mistaking
h'l'H44 edico for the hall in
rhih bW, ass Peting was to.,bo
.eld, apreb.4 in with. banners fly
ng, to tpe usio of a full band, and
rve thrQe.obeprs for its Candidate,
,h olergyma invited the politi.
inns to .tay "for their souls' sakes,"
ut thky deelied.
A.fo ephant in the Phila..
0L0phia . Qarden . was
reatl h4ued by rentgale,
otweisp p0ut o4 of her feet on
tw glss tf a brokej window her
Drxar s. opl6te. She sat on
er ha,tiehe 'hpld np har wounded
01, And'bo1Qw ld a'id Ibig.
Vhan the keer ehtered her male
Mpatif had his - trunk wound
cund her fodf, as though trying to
Doforthar.
"VEGETINE,"
i.ya a Boston physician, "has do equal as a
4o oraWky.. ;t 1 A c NIId islt of
yt nh~.mho~h~ f r o
:t adher1s,maoh :ot V c is highly enee.
ve ,andi hy orn-glo,1QU4d In nuol) a mz4-J~
= a I to Ing resulti."
egetine
I tuga B100d rqrtqor.
Vegetine
Fill cure the Vo-t ease of Serofut,
Vegetine
ronended by physicIaUs 4nd apotlee4.
Ve6etine
soie Maryllous ures 'in cases ot
Vegetine
ege tine
sets with wondertlancoess in MercurlM, d1s.
Vegetine
Wlaraipgttgmnin fro,: $40 syst0im.
Vege tiae
:OWL Pimps gd,hymos,tres the tace.
Vegetine
tresO0autttsp $ egut1q%s $bho Bowols,
Veget ine
* valuable remedy for Neadache.
Ve etine
s sthe entjro arowes a h*<y Lendi.
Vegetine
Sta0Tes thepoS 0r1
diess ya tese .tys q4
Ve etine
1'arananthm