Iowa Old Press
Van Buren Democrat
Bonaparte, Van Buren Co., IA
January 19, 1870
Volume 1; Number 1 [first issue]
HOME NEWS AND GOSSIP.
DES MOINES VALLEY
Its Early Settlement – Keokuk – The “Half Breed” Tract, Etc., Etc.
MESSRS. EDITORS - - I have had quite a pleasant interview with My esteemed friend, Dr. Roger Cresap, who is the oldest settler of the Des Moines valley above Farmington, and who was an early settler at the foot of the rapids where Keokuk is now situated.
The doctor can give information regarding the early settlement of this country that will certainly add material!y [sic] to the interest of THE DEMOCRAT. I have just procured from him some facts relating to the early history of this section for the publication in another paper, which I hereby furnish your journal.
He was born in Allegheny county, Md., September 20th, 1809. He lived in Virginia a short time; went to Tennessee in 1828; went to Chattanooga for a short time; went from there to Northern Alabama. From there he came to the foot of the Des Moines rapids, Wisconsin territory, where Keokuk is now situated. He landed there about the 1st of April, 1833. He was then on his way to Galena. His, as well as six other steamboats were delayed, to light over the rapids.
The delay gave him an opportunity to talk with some of the people who lived at that point.
Dr. Samuel C. Muir had lived there; was a well educated gentleman and a noted physician, a graduate of Edenburgh, and was a surgeon in the United States army. Dr. Muir died a short time before Dr. Cresap’s arrival. Several of the inhabitants advised and importuned him to locate there and take the place of Dr. Muir who was the only physician there. He concluded to do so.
He rented a cabin from a Mr. Neddy. John Gaines, Isaac. R. Camp, Moses Stilwell, Joshua Palon, and Paul Bissette each had houses of moderate dimensions. Madame St. Amant and her son-in-law, William McBride, lived in a log house about one mile above the landing, and near to a pretty, clear spring, that gushed from a ledge of rocks on the bank.
These were all the buildings he remembers, except the principal structure, which was one story high and contained six rooms. It was the business house of this section of county – or rather it became so after the fur company left it. A store and tavern were established in it. The rooms were used for merchandising, drinking, fiddling, fighting, dancing, and sleeping in, and much of the time, in the various departments, quite a brisk business was done in that establishment, which gained for it a wide-spread notoriety, and it was dignified notoriously by the appellation of “Rat Row.”
Money was tolerably plenty, and Rat Row was really the treasury department of this section. The general banking business of the “Row” was transacted between the hours of supper and breakfast.
While he lived there he noticed many hard cases and some quite depressed character. He left there in 1834 and came to this point, where he made his home, and has continuously resided on this quarter section, on a part of which is situated the town of Bonaparte.
Since he moved to this point he has made many visits to Keokuk, and has watched with lively interest the growth of that place.
The city of Keokuk is well situated, but it is on what is called the “half breed tract,” and that tract was cursed by “midnight decree” concocted on the 8th day of May, 1841, by a band of land sharks, and signed by Judge Charles Mason, about twelve o’clock in the night, which decree was, from its date, branded with fraud and infamy by nearly every man who had knowledge of the history of the case.
The decree title being the only one, legally recognized, to any lots or lands in that 119,000 acres, has been, and now is, a serious taint on the titles, and a ruinous clog on the improvement and prosperity of the city of Keokuk, as well as to the towns and lands of the notorious “half-breed tract.”
Here we have good titles, a remarkable healthy region surrounded by a very productive agricultural country, abounding in stone coal, find building rock, and good groves of timber, which with our water power and railroad facilities, gives us encouragement to hope that our village will grow to be a town, and, it may be, not very long hence, a city.
From the foregoing scraps, you can already see, that you may extract from the doctor considerable information to make your new paper interesting. M.
MOUNT STERLING.
One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars’
Worth of Stock Sold in 12 Months –
Town Gossip, Etc., Etc.
[From our Special Correspondent]
According to promise, I send you the and doings of this locality. We have been, until recently, cut off from the north side of the Des Moines and the “rest of mankind,” for a want of firmness in the ice; but we are somewhat like the boy whose mother would not give him a piece of bread and butter; he reminded her that the paw-paw season was not far distant, when he would be able to procure his own rations. So we console ourselves with the reflection that your place -------------------------- we shall have a railroad to Farmington – and, of course, a bridge at that place, so it will matter not with us whether the river is on the rampage and full of floating ice, or otherwise behaving itself unseemly.
We have has some big hog-weighings here in the last six weeks. Several thousand have been weighed for Messrs. Robb, Alcorn, Thorp, Blackledge, and Davis, and, I am informed by those professing to be posted, that over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars have been paid in this village. For stock delivered and weighed within the last twelve months.
Our sensation item is this: Some few months since, the wife of David M., whose age is seventy and three, darned up the old man’s socks, placed his things where he might find them with a little trouble, and, without one accusing thought of dereliction on the part of David, reminded him of the sublime sentiments of the poetry of “John Anderson my Jo John,” bowed her head reverently to the royal decree that all must die, and David was alone in the world – a widower. Now, the name of said David is a patriarchal one, and for aught we know to the contrary, his mother may have given him that particular name out of pure respect for that ancient celebrity. Yet, we hardly think she did, for there are many things in the history of the great giant killer that a woman of refined feelings could not help but condemn: such as looking over the fence into other people’s gardens; putting other women’s husbands into the hottest of the fight to make them widows; and, in fact and deed, all through his life he showed a want of just consideration for the sex. And if he lived in this sorosis age, he would be voted a residence in Calmuck Tartary. Now we could always find much to admire in a woman calling her son Joseph. Moral sentiment, the beauty of the name, the high consideration in which he held the sex, the grandeur of his career as a patriarchal ruler all prompt them to do so; and to-day we do not understand why there are not fewer children called David and more named Joseph.
Our man, David M., after the decease of his wife ___ youth, was thrown into the company of the wicked and ungodly, and while he was trying to keep up the family alter as he was want, they derided him muchly, laughed and made wry faces when he was calling down a blessing on the provender, and when he undertook to pray that they would not kneel down, but behaved themselves indecoriously [sic]
Now, David M., in nationality, belongs to the great sauerkraut family, and he got his Dutch up, and said: “I will have no more of this. My house always has been one of thanksgiving and prayer, and so it will remain until my days are numbered.I will un-domiciliate these [ungodly?] cusses, and domiciliate myself again. I will get a wife and run my chebang on the family plan, and that of the gospel dispensation,” So he gathered up his staff, and his horses and buggy, and went around and called a convention of his friends and advised with them, and the conclusion was that he must have a fraugh, and they, numerous of them: “Wilt thou be a wife unto the man David?” and one of them wilte___ to do. And they informed David __ of the result of their going round and he was greatly pleased, and he told all of them to call at his house on the following Sunday and he would have a table of viands spread, and the Rev. R. on hand, and they should see that is not often witnessed: an old man of seventy-three united in holy wedlock to a blooming widow of forty-eight.
And Sunday came ___ friends and the [line unreadable due to fold] took the trembling hand of the bridegroom and placed it in that of the blushing bride , and said, “Those whom God has joined together let no man put asunder”; and the guests went for the viands, and the preacher went home, and the bride and bridegroom remained to take unto themselves new hopes and fears, cares and responsibilities; and David is now enjoying the otium cum degnitate of age, and is as “happy as a big sunflower” S.
THE NEW BRIDGE.
Flattering Prospects of Its Early Construction
A company has been formed at this place, having for its object, the construction of a new bridge across the Des Moines river at this point. At a meeting held a few evenings since, at Entler’s hall, articles of incorporation were adopted, and a committee appointed to receive subscriptions. Several thousand dollars were raised on the evening of the meeting, and the committee report that they have every prospect of securing the requisite amount of stock before spring.
The structure is to be built of iron substantially supported by a sufficient number of stone piers, and its estimated cost is a trifle over $35,000.
The capital stock of the company is $40,000, which may be increased to $60,000, in shares of $50 each, thus enabling all, even those possessed of moderate means, to become stockholders.
Our citizens are fully alive to the importance of this matter, and are moving with perfect harmony of action towards completion of the work, which will be a credit to their enterprise and beneficial to their interests. It is scarcely necessary that we should urge upon every citizen of Bonaparte and the surrounding country his duty in this matter, for it seems that every man who has ever given the subject a thought, realizes the necessity and importance of having a bridge at Bonaparte. The fact that there is no bridge across the river from the mouth of the Des Moines to Eddyville; that at different times of the year its condition renders it impassable; that a substantial bridge at this point would open up a large and important channel of communication with the south side of the river, and thus draw to our town a large share of the trade which, under existing circumstances, goes to Alexandria and other points on the Mississippi; and that we are abundantly able to accomplish such a work, all seem to us to be matters well understood. Added to this, we know of no better plan to invest money than in stock of this kind.
There is no record of any bridge across the river that did not pay. The Eddyville bridge long ago paid the cost of construction, and its stock is now at a premium. The shares of stock are so small that they are within the reach of all, and, therefore, no excuse save a want of public spirit and indifference to self interest can with propriety be offered.
The board of supervisors at their recent meeting, granted a charter or license to the company, and the project is now on a complete legal basis.
The work will be commenced as soon as practicable, and will be pushed forward to a speedy completion. In the meantime, we shall keep our readers fully posted as to the progress of events as they transpire.
HORSES STOLEN.
The Thief Suddenly Discovers that “Distance Lends Enchantments," Etc. On Saturday, the 8th instant, ‘Squire Leach received a telegram from an officer at Farmington, directing him to arrest one John Rhodes, for the offense of stealing a span of valuable horses from some parties residing near Lawrence of this county. These horses, it seems, were taken from their owners some two years ago, and conveyed to that bourne to which all Iowa horse thieves resort – Missouri. At the time, due but unsuccessful search was made for them, and it was not until recently that any information could be obtained as to their whereabouts. Mr. James Bailey, of this place, recently went into our neighboring state on business and near Smithton, he found the missing horses, and speedily conveyed the information to the authorities. Rhodes had, by some method known to himself, got wind of the fact that he was wanted, and, “folding his tent like an Arab”, silently rode away in time to prevent any disagreeable consequences that might ensue to him from the course of events then about to transpire. He, it seems, had “been there” before, and would be well satisfied, no doubt, to allow the place which knew him once to know him no more forever.
STREET BRAWLERS.
MESSRS. EDITORS: I take the privilege of making a few suggestions to some of the heads of families living in Bonaparte. I have been observing the conduct of some of the rising generation, and think that the parents of many of our youth are accountable, to a great extent, for their actions. The manner in which they spend their Sundays is a shame to an community pretending to live in a Christian and civilized land. One cannot pass along the streets without having his ears saluted with language that should make the most degraded creature blush with shame. I have known several instances where strangers visiting our town have been shamefully insulted by some of our boys.
Every one is aware that such things speak very badly for any place. If they would try to keep them out of the streets on Sunday, it would add much to our little town. Should some of them go on as they have started, who can say what will be their end? I think I see an untimely grave for some of them, should they go on in the way they are now doing. I hope our citizens will soon see the propriety of an incorporation act. But enough for once. More anon.
MAD WILD.
SHALL WE HAVE A BRIDGE?
We are pleased to say to those interested in the bridge enterprise, that we have not stopped soliciting, and are now more encourage than at any one time to believe that it will be a success. This dull session enforces our arguments. Our faith in the "true grit" of Bonaparte, when it is fully awakened to the necessity of action, is unbounded. It is the "pull all together" than wins, remember!
COM.
Bonaparte, Jan. 18, 1870
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
We are collecting the materials for a history of Van Buren county, which we intend publishing for the benefit of readers of THE DEMOCRAT. These articles will appear in our columns, from time to time, as they are written, and will be full and complete in every respect. We intend making a personal tour of the county, for the purpose of obtaining information on this subject, and will consider ourselves greatly indebted to our old friends, the early settlers of this county, for such information as they may be able to give us. These articles cannot fail to prove interesting, as they will contain, not only a general history of each township, but all the leading incidents in connection therewith, together with biographical sketches of the principal early settlers, etc.
We hope to be able to commence publication of these sketches in our next issue, and trust that they will prove highly interesting to our many readers.
page 2
"PROTECTION."
The Burden Upon Our Farmers.
It is hinted by an exchange that the tariff question is to assume unusual importance during the present session of Congress. It is high time that it ceased to be a "question," and that some man of brains were informing that learned body that there is something wrong, and that the thing called "protection" is no protection at all. The president has come to the conclusion, we are told, that our farmers should be released from some of their burdens. This is a very sensible conclusion, for the agricultural interest is the basis of all of our industry. High duties on imports have reduced the price of everything the farmer has to sell, and increase the price of everything he has to buy. If such duties have secured high wages to mechanical labor, as is claimed; large profits to capital, and all that; the farmer has been temporarily burden, and deceived by the promise that it would build up a "home market."
Taxation by tariff adds to the cost of articles of universal use, and thus imposes a tax upon the people, not in proportion to their wealth, but bearing per capita upon all classes. The farming class pays by far the largest proportion of all such taxes, because it is by far the most numerous. After the war there was an opportunity for the reduction of taxes. Congress proceeded to remove taxes from almost all branches of industry, and increased the tariff duties. It thus remove the burdens from other interests; gave to some, extraordinary favors, and increase the load of the farmers. The process is still in vogue. When the speakers of the late campaign proclaimed that all taxes upon industry had been removed, we applauded the sentiment, because we did not pause to explain, that by "industry" was meant only mechanical and manufacturing labor.
So long as we continued to tax by duties on imports, so long, indeed, as taxes are levied at all, farmers will pay a much larger share of them, than any other class.
The farmer gets nothing for his crops above the cost of protection. He fails to get first cost for either his wheat, corn, or potatoes. He tells you that it does not pay to race week--that it cost more to realize crops than the market will return. If he has clothing, machinery, or comforts to buy, his crops are consumed in the purchase. If his crops fail to pay the cost of production, he pays dearly for his clothing. If it does not pay to race week, the salty bias cost four times the cost of production. This is "protection." Since the repeal of the last protective tariff in August, 1846, the majority of American laborers have never been in so poor a condition. Unless some of these burdens are removed from the farmer, ruin will come upon the entire commercial and industrial system. Who has been whispering this astounding fact in the ear of the president, it is impossible to conjecture. He may have heard that not long since, an agricultural society in Illinois decided that wheat was an unprofitable crop; that the whole farming interest is in debt; that while prices of crops are falling, higher duties are proposed in order to raise the price of iron.
The farmer knows that he can grow enough to eat. Satisfied that it does not pay, he will stop producing. He will then have no use for hired labor. He will stop buying, stop paying his debts, because he will have no money. The country merchant will consequently sell little and collect nothing. The city merchant, unable to collect from his country customers, will cease to patronize manufacturers and importers. Shops and factories will close and the artificial wages enjoyed by the working man at the expense of the farmer, will stop. In the meantime, the farmer having grown enough to eat, sits quietly upon his farm, until prices are adjusted. When the agricultural interest throw off the load born so long impatiently, the merchant and manufacturer may look elsewhere for his customers. If this does not bring about a business crisis, nothing can.
BUTLERIAN AMNESTY.
From The Constitution.
A short time since, Horace Greeley made a sensible and good-tempered appealed to Ben Butler to become the champion of a measure to grant general amnesty to those who were engaged in the recent rebellion. Mr. Greeley gave his reasons for preferring that Butler should be the leader of such a movement. Butler responded to Greeley's appeal, by a course, ill-natured personal assault upon Greeley, through the public press, which was a perfect feast to the malignants of the radical party. But not content, with his assault upon Mr. Greeley in person, he has followed it up by submitting a project of amnesty, which is peculiarly Butlerian in character. It provides that all persons seeking relief from political disabilities shall make application to that effect to the federal judge of the district in which he resides, and that notice thereof shall be given for the purpose of giving anyone who may choose to do so, an opportunity to contest the application. If the application is successful, the judge is to issue to the party a certificate restoring him to his political rights. Aside from the objection that this process is in direct opposition to the mode of relief prescribed by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, it is utterly impracticable in detail. How long does Mr. Butler, or anyone else with ordinary powers of comprehension, suppose it would take to remove the political disabilities of the two or three hundred thousand disfranchised white people of the South, by the slow, troublesome and expensive mode which he prescribes. Most of them would be dead and in their graves before they could, by any possibility, be restored to the rights of citizenship. Old Ben Butler in this displays his usual humanity and statesmanship. Unfortunately for the country, it is also the ____ ___ity and statesmanship of a large proportion of Congress and the radical party.
METHODIST BOOK SWINDLE.
Some time since a swindle to the extent of several hundred thousand dollars was perpetrated upon the Methodist denomination by the managers of their book and tract concern in New York. The affair has elicited considerable comment from both the religious and secular press. We clip the following sarcastic and biting review of the transcription from the New York Mercury:
The Methodist book concern affairs seem to have roused the sleepy virtuous indignation of the secular press. It seems to think that filching from the treasury of the Lord is a sin worthy of doubled-distilled damnation, and that by peculating from the contribution-box of the faithful is worthy of punishment exceeding that to be found in the most horribly imaginative hell with all of the Calvinistic improvements. The censors of the press, as they rub together their spotless hands in agony because of such wickedness in holy places, forget what religious book-concerns, bible-houses, tract-societies, and printing-offices are instituted for. They seem to ignore the fact that it is quite possible for the office-holders and employees of the book-concern to view the Methodist church as a very necessary institution, affording, as it does, poor man of pious proclivities positions to which are attached reasonably good salaries. The employees of such concerns may also be convinced in their own minds that if, owing to the penurious prejudices of the faithful, the institution does not afford a large enough share of the bread that perisheth -- together with beef, broadcloth, and pecket-money -- then it is the business of the humble laborers in that department of the vineyard to make (as worldlings would say) the thing pay. Of course it would not do to get up a vulgar strike: neither would it be suitable to allow the hard-working members of the Methodist, who from their property and the wants of their families snatch much-needed mites, wherewith to enable the managers of book-concerns to fly the Gospel, to know that there were gentlemen, very elegant-looking, well-dressed gentleman, who tithed the donations several times over. It would not do to let it appear to Jones, the back woods-tailor, and Hodges, the rural carpenter, and Mudge, the village blacksmith, that their hard-won, self-denying alms furnish purple and fine linen to city swells instead of clothing the sun broiled African with flannel underclothes, and serving up at the breakfast table of the cannibal religious literature that will make him forget the toughness of his missionary steak. Hodges, Jones, and Mudge, if made aware of such appropriating of their donations, would keep the money to help their own, not too well clad and fed families.
So what can be done? People in Methodist concerns must live, even if the benighted African should have to wait a year or two for his enlightenment. The only thing is to manage it so the employees are paid, well-paid, and the people none the wiser. Some may call this deceit; some coarse people may even term at dishonesty. Stuff! It is __ly strategy. Strategy without which patriots could not afford to serve the state, nor benevolent old gentleman act as trustees of savings banks, disinterested capitalists spend their time and experience for the benefit of moneyed corporations, and so forth.
Shall the children of light be more foolish than the children of the world? Assuredly not.
No real harm was done. A few most respectable persons, of good connections and first-class associations, had a good living; for which doubtless they raise their voices to heaven in grateful acknowledgment every morning and evening, extra on class nights, and double-extra on Sundays. The broiling African did not miss his overcoat, the cannibal felt not the want of his tract, and heathendom, foreign and domestic, lived as jollily as ever in intellectual darkness, unaware that Methodism's calcium light had been paid for to illuminate their procession through life to eternity.
Then why the fuss? Simply because somebody in the name of honesty wishes to make mischief. At least such as doubtless the view of the enterprising men who make the book-concern pay themselves.
People who are ready to join in the cry of "stop thief," should recollect that there are many ways of making a living, and that business should never be interfered with.
GAME LAW.
For the benefit of the many Nimrods of Van Buren County, who are usually so actively engaged in their vocation, at this season of the year, we publish the following items concerning the Iowa game law:
____________ shall be unlawful for anyone, except on his own premises, and for his own exclusive use, to kill, trap, or ensnare any wild deer, elk, or fawn, prairie hen or chicken, between the first day of January, and the first day of August in each year; and anyone woodcock between the first day of January in July in each year; any quail, ruffled grouse, or pheasant, between the fifteenth day of December and the twelfth day of September, or any wild Turkey between the first day of February and the first day of September: Provided, That, except on his own premises, it shall be unlawful for any person to net, ensnare, or trap any of said game, except in the month of December: and Provided, further, That, except on his own premises, it shall be unlawful for any person to ensnare, net, or trap any quail at anytime of the year prior to the first of December, 1872.
Sec. 2. It shall be unlawful for any person to buy or sell any of the above-mentioned animals or birds which shall have been trapped, and snared, or killed between the days above mentioned.
Section third imposes a fine of fifteen dollars for each deer, font, or elk, and three dollars for each bird of game above mentioned thus killed, trapped, ensnared, bought, sold, or held in possession."
WOMEN'S RIGHTS--WHERE THEY ASSUME THEM.
We clipped the following items from a Chicago paper, in reference to women suffrage. It will be seen that many of the countries of the old world are far in advance of hours on the subject:
In Manchester, England, eight women, whose names were, by accident, left on the registry, voted at the last election. Eight others, freeholders, voted in southeast Lancashire. In Ashford, East Kent, fifteen out of thirty-five who were registered recorded their votes. In Finsbury, the same number also went to the polls. In Dublin, one woman, and in London three women voted.
In Canada, as in several of our own states, women are allowed to vote and serve as school trustees.
In Pitcairn's Island, which is inhabited by mutineers of the Royal Bounty, the government, which is based on a written constitution, is shared on equal terms by men and women alike.
Ladies of the formerly occupied seats in the House of Lords, where they were entitled, as peeresses is in their own right, or when their lords were dead and their sons in their non-age. They also hold the office of high sheriff, which must be held by one possessed of the electoral qualifications and other dignities.
It has been stated that the late investigations tend to show that the parliaments were originally founded on the idea of universal suffrage, the manifestation of which was the showing of hands.
In the British Australasian colony of Australia, women universally assumed the right to vote, some four years ago, having found that the law had, probably inadvertently, been so framed as to permit them. It works admirably, according to all reports.
In Sweden, chiefly through the exertions of Frederica Bremmer, an indirect right of voting was, in 1862, allowed to all women possessing specified property qualifications.
By the Italian code, a widow or wife, separated from her husband, who pays taxes, is allowed to vote through such child or other relative as she may designate.
In Holland, widows and single women possessed of property, are allowed to vote on all questions of taxation, etc., likely to affect its value.
In 1867, Moravia granted the franchise to all widows who pay taxes.
In Austria, women can vote as nobles; in their corporate capacity, as nuns and tax-payers.
In Hungary, up to 1841, widows and single women who were landed proprietors possess the right to vote. They were deprived of it by the revolutionary government, and they are now petitioning the government, in large numbers, for the restoration of this right.
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The Council Bluffs Nonpariel [Nonpareil] of the 11th gives the following details of a little romance which lately occurred in this state:
About three years ago, a woman named Williamson left her husband in Chicago, and came to this state with a man named Saunders, bringing with her one child. They went to Keokuk, and shortly after removed to Des Moines; thence to Council Bluffs. The man was a plumber and gas-fitter, and, finding no employment at his trade, went up the river on a Montana boat, and last summer was killed by the Indians in that territory. During his absence, he punctually remitted money, but his death terminated this source of subsistance, and, for the balance of the period, her situation was embarrassing. After making various vain attempts to obtain employment, she sat down and wrote a penitent letter to the wronged husband, who came at once and claimed his own. It appears that, before Williamson married her, she questioned her face to Saunders, but that hurdle objections had been interposed and thwarted their honest and virtuous intentions. She has promised again to be a good little wife of Williamson, and he believes what she says.
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The following letter written by Thomas Jefferson during his presidency has recently come to light, and may be read with profit by our present chief magistrate:
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 1803. DEAR SIR: Monsr. d' Yrujo, the Spanish minister here, has been so kind as to spare me 200 bottles of champagne, part of a larger parcel imported for his own use, and consequently privileged from duty; but it would be improper for me to take the benefit of that. I must, therefore, asked a favor of you to take the proper measures for paying the duty, for which purpose I enclose you a bank check for 22 1/2 dollars, the amount of it. If it could be done without mentioning my name, it would avoid ill-intended observations, as in some such way as this, "by duty paid on a part of such a parcel of wines not entitled to privilege," or in any other way you please. The wine was imported into Philadelphia, probably about last spring. Except assurances of my great esteem and respect. TH. JEFFERSON. Gen. Muhlenberg.
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A Shower of Spiders
An extraordinary phenomenon was recently witnessed in Carlisle, England, consisting of a shower of what may be described as small spiders, resembling the ant in form, but of a much smaller dimension. They were of dark mahogany color and bright surface, and came down in countless numbers in the forenoon. Spinning upon an extensive scale was instantly commenced, and in a wonderful short time the railings in front of houses and all similar projections were festooned with glittering lines of Web arranged all horizontally and of many yards in length, and without the transverse lines usually seen upon spiders webs. The threads appeared whiter and more visible than the ordinary spiders' web and were evidently very glutinous, for the work of capture immediately began, and innumerable tiny insects forthwith fell prey to the invaders.
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American rocking chairs are among the social improvements in Italy.
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page 3
MASONIC DEPARTMENT.
[All communications and contributions designed for this department of THE DEMOCRAT, should be addressed to GEORGE F. SMITH, one of the editors of the paper.]
THE MASONIC TRINITY.
FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY.
BY MRS. SAM. WHITING.
When the clouds of earthly sorrow.
Hover o'er our pathway here,
from what sources shall we borrow.
Light, the dark some way to cheer.
Lo! celestial light is breaking,
While Voice of music saith,
Mortal, from thy sleep awaking,
See the angel form of FAITH.
See yon tempted, erring rother,
Bowed by sorrow, sunk in grief,
Strive the syren's voice to smother
With words of sweet relief.
Tell him of that home celestial,
Whose bright doors ere long, will ope----
Pointhim mid the storms terrestrial.
To the soul's sure anchor, HOPE.
Onward, brethren. "Tis our mission
Thus to soothe each others' woes;
Till "Our Master" grants" "Dimission,"
Till our eyes in deaths shall close,
Brethren! Let us fondly cherish
That supremest virtue here,
CHARITY, which ne'er can perish.
While our tenets we revere.
EVE GREEN.
MASONRY AND POLITICS.
From the Keystone.
Keep masonry and politics apart; let them have no connection, however distant! Remember when you visit the lodge-room, that "no private piques or quarrels." -- far less quarrels about national or state policy -- can exist there with safety to the order. At the door we lay aside all our differences -- let them rest in silence and forget them for the time, and mingle like brothers on the ground-floor, in the middle chamber, or the sanctum, on a common level, united for a great and noble object.
How beautiful and hard-cheering is such a sight! Brother! You, like yourself, can behold it and know its influence. From the fierce strife, man, all flushed with party rancor -- -- rivals and strenuous opponents in the political contest -- come up to the entrance of the porch; their flushed countenances become composed; the spirit of opposition manifested in the eye grows dim; the hands active in gesticulation but a moment before, as with the indices of opposing thoughts, clasp each other with a warmth which flows only from the heart; no angry debate is heard; no word of disrespect escapes the lips of any; all is tranquil and calm--a unity of sympathy and desires, and as each listens to the teachings of masonry, and feels there benign influence, he forgets that there is any strife without, all is so peaceful and harmonious within.
Such a scene is the strongest evidence of the benefits and purity of masonry. Such a scene is one of her proudest trophies. This state of things should be witnessed in every lodge. Where it does not exist, someone has been false to his trust; someone has disregarded the principles of the institution, and through ignorance, carelessness, malice, or misguided zeal, seeks to inflict a blow, when he should be actuated only by feelings of reverence and gratitude.
ANTI-MASONRY IN MASSACHUSETTS.
From Pomeroy's Democrat.
We learned from our contemporary, the Freemason's Monthly Magazine, that an anti-masonic meeting was recently held in one of its older resorts--North Wrentham, Mass. in speaking of it, our friend and brother thus portrays one of its leading members, the Rev. Moses Thatcher. He says: "An anti-masonic meeting was recently held in the meeting-house, formerly occupied by the notorious Rev. Moses Thatcher, in the neighboring town of North Wrentham, and from which he was dismissed soon after his expulsion from masonry. He was one of the meanest and vilest anti-masons in the state. Being a man of some popular talent, he managed, so strong had the anti-mason party become, to get himself elected to a seat in the state Senate, where he served one year, to the disgust of its most decent members, and the disgrace of the commonwealth. We had supposed that both he and his co--laborers, Samuel D. Green, had both gone to their own places; but it would seem that they have not yet accomplished all the evil for which they were originally intended."
In the account which follows of this ranting, canting, hypocritical, and at times blasphemous conventicle, we find the names of the following, with the clerical prefix: "Rev. J. Blanchard, president of the Calvinistic institution of learning in Wheaton, Ill.; Rev. Mr. Dickinson, of Foxboro; and Rev. J. N. Tarbox; all of whom, like bulls of Bashon, roared and bellowed about "the inherent ungodliness of masonry," and "with a violence and malignity characteristic only of fanatics and devils."
We of the Democrat have no language to express the deep disgust and loathing we entertain of such miserable fanatics, and can only exclaim in the words of the gifted Cowper:
"Ye clergy, while your orbit is your place,
Lights of the world, and stars of human race;
But if, eccentric, ye forsake your sphere,
Prodigious, ominous, and nerved with fear,
The coronet's baneful influence is a dream,
Your's real, and pernicious in the extreme.
Go, cast your roads at your bishop's feet,
Send your dishonored gallons to Monmouth street.
The sacred function in your hands is made.
Sad sacrilege--no function, but a trade."
MASONRY IN HUNGARY.
Only within a short time has it become lawful for Masons to meet, as such, in the land of the Magyars.
A lodge was opened in Pesth, last summer, we believe and now, as we learned from our spicy N. Y. Contemporary-- Figaro --a paper devoted to the drama, to music, and to masonry, and edited in its Masonic department by Bro. C. C. Northup:
A new masonic lodge was recently opened at Oedenberg, Hungary, by sixteen brethren, having at their head M. Vogel Statt. These brethren comprised representatives as various nationalities, viz: Hungarians eleven, Germans two, Poles one, a Slavonian and a Czech. When the symbolic lodge had been opened and the grand battery given, ten profanes, including three Magyar notables, were admitted members of the order, and were addressed by the orator on the mission of Freemasonry.
The nationalities above mentioned as being represented, are sufficiently numerous to give one a fair idea of the cosmopolitan character of the institution.--Evergreen.
- - - -
We clip from an exchange the following item, we find going the rounds of the press: "St. John's gate, the only remaining gate of the ancient city of London, erected A.D 1100, and saved from decay and restored in 1504, is constructed in a castellated form, with a large room overlooking the roadway which the arch of the gate crosses. This gate was 'ye work of ye Masons of ye olden tyme,' and is so much esteemed as such, that the large room before alluded to has been set apart as a meeting place for lodges, chapters, and encampments, more especially for the use of Knights Templar. Under the care of the fraternity, the old gate is expected to last for centuries to come."
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Epitaphs.
There is more human nature in the graveyard, we sometimes think, than anywhere else. "Even in our ashes live their wonted fires." The aristocracy of tombs, for instance, is something you will find in every burial place, little or big, country or city. We wot of a young lady in a certain town not far off, who, it is said, astonishes every new acquaintance, very soon after the introduction, by the inconsequent question: "O, Mr_________, have you seen our vault at Hillside?" It is a very pretty vault, we know -- for we have seen it--but we are not sure that the sleepers on its marble shelves rest any more peacefully than those beneath the humble mounds in the little valley near.
While we are among the tombs, let us read some of the wise old inscriptions, using our fingers amid the mosses is as blind men:
"To the memory of Thomas Birch, who departed this life 10th of March, 1795, aged 73 years. Also, Sarah, wife of Thomas Birch, who departed this life 6th of November, 1801, aged 73 years.
"A good husband, and father, too.
Such a one as the world scarce ever knew;
What God to Adam did testify,
He was resolved his children should come high;
For pride and pleasure he did not allow,
But made them get their bread by the sweat of their brow,
A good wife, and mother, and neighbor too,
Such a one as the world scarce ever knew;
Agreeabler couple could not be;
Whatever pleased he always pleased she;
Everything that a good wife, and mother, and neighbors should be.
And here is another:
"Whether in another world she'll
Know her brother John,
Or scrape acquaintance with
Her sister Soam,
Is not for me to inquire;
But this I know,
She once was mine;
And now
To thee, O Lord, I her resign,
And am your humble servant.
"ROBERT KEMP."
And this tells briefly the manner of death:
"The Apple wheel did roll on me,
And by its Iowa slaying;
But Christ is my deliver,
In Him I rise again."
Poor fellow!--the local traditions say he was killed in a cider press, instead of being classically drowned in a hogshead of wine.
- - - -
Thos. Jefferson and Tom Moore.
Tom Moore, 24 years old, had as yet publish nothing which had crossed the Atlantic but "Gentle Little's moral Song," and Mr. Jefferson had no idea that he stood in the presence of a young Catullus of his day. Standing in his height of six feet two and a half inches, the president looked down upon the perfumed little Adonis, spoke a word to him and gave him no further attention. Moore, after this unflattering reception, fell to lampooning the president and almost everything American. Some of the scurrilous attacks fell into the hands of Mr. Burwell, formerly the president's private secretary, who carried them to Mrs. Randolph. The gentle Martha was roused by such insults from a man who had been introduced into society and patronized by the British minister. They were indignant, and agreed that it was proper to place the matter before the president. This was done at Monticello, while Jefferson was reading in his library. He glanced through the obnoxious passages pointed out, looked at his daughter and his friend and burst into a clear hearty laugh, in which they joined after a moment of reflection.
When Maurice Irish melodies appeared years afterwards, and the book was put into Jefferson's hands, "Why this," he said, "is the little man who satirized me so!" He read on: he had always sympathize with the Irish patriots; and presently exclaimed: "Why, he is a poet, after all!" Henceforth the bard of Erin shared with Burns the house of the retired statesman.
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BONAPARTE HOUSE.
WATER STREET,
BONAPARTE, IOWA.
J. L. LEACH, Proprietor.
Bills reasonable.
- - - -
ASHLAND HOUSE,
FRONT STREET.
Bentonsport, Iowa.
J. F.. MASON, Proprietor.
Passengers carried to any part of the County. Charges of moderate.
- - - -
STATE LINE R. R. HOUSE,
FARMINGTON, IOWA
F. BROCK, Proprietor.
Good accommodations and moderate charges.
- - - -
O. GEORGE, M. D.,
Physician and Surgeon,
Office over C. L. George's Drug Store,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Thankful for the very liberal patronage in the past, the doctor respectfully solicits a continuation of public favor.
- - - -
L. W. PETTIT,
Attorney and Counselor at Law.
Post-office address,
Lebanon, Iowa.
Office 1 1/2 miles North of Lebanon.
Special attention given to the collection and securing of claims, etc..
- - - -
J. B. COOPER,
FASHIONABLE BARBER
Water St. Between Main & Washington,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Haircutting, shaving, and shampooing done expeditiously and in the latest styles.
- - - -
MRS. J. B. COOPER
LADIES' HAIR DRESSER
And Manufacturer of
Switches, Curls, Puffs, Braids, etc.
- - - -
THE BONAPARTE
DEBATING SOCIETY.
Meets every Saturday night in the basement of the Baptist Church.
Come, everybody!
- - - -
FOSNOT & CO.,
Watchmakers & Jewelers
-and-
PHOTOGRAPHERS,
KEOSAUQUA, IOWA.
Special attention given to repairing watches and clocks.
- - - -
CHARLES L. GEORGE,
Water Street,
Bonaparte, Iowa,
Dealer in
DRUGS! MEDICINES!
Chemicals, Pure Wines, Bitters,
Paints, Oils, Varnish,
DYE STUFFS, GLASS, PUTTY,
Pens, Ink,
Tobacco and Cigars,
Envelopes of every style, Note, and the Letter
Paper, Fine Toilet Soaps, Fine Hair and Tooth
Brushes, Fancy and Toilet Articles.
Physicians' Prescriptions
Carefully compounded at all hours.
He may be found after night in the room above the store.
- - - -
S. FRIEDMAN,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Dry Goods, Groceries,
CLOTHING,
Boots and Shoes,
Hats and Caps, Furs, Hardware, Queensware,
Glass-Ware, Wall and Window Paper,
Window Blinds, Window Glass,
Oils and Paints, Trunks
and [sic?] Cerped Bags,
NOTIONS,
And everything, in fact, that comes within
the wants and requirements of the
people of this section of country.
I buy chiefly in New York, with a
large percent off for cash, thereby
making by purchasing and not
on selling, altogether,
as others do.
I Defy Competition.
Prices Reduced on All Winter Goods
Cash paid for hides and pelts.
Call and examine my stock before purchasing elsewhere.
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TO THE FARMERS!
Come right along with your
PRODUCE!
I want it all; for which I will pay the
Highest Cash Prices!
This is your last chance! Come one, come all.
For further information, inquire at D. V. station.
C. S. DETWILER.
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QUICK SALES AND SMALL
PROFITS!
W. H. Entler,
dealer in
STOVES!
Tin, Sheet Iron, and Copper Ware,
Water Street,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Job work and repairing of all kinds neatly
executed at the lowest figure.
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ANNOUNCEMENT.
THE
Van Buren Democrat.
A JOURNAL FOR THE PEOPLE!
In presenting THE VAN BUREN DEMOCRAT as a candidate for public favor, the publishers desire to ask the attention of a generous public to the merits which they most respectfully claim the paper possesses.
THE DEMOCRAT is published weekly, in the town of Bonaparte, Van Buren County, Iowa, decidedly the most advantageous location for a newspaper in the County, having all the facilities of railroad and telegraph communication, so essential to a well-conducted journal, and thus being enabled to obtain all general news without being subject to the vexations incident to irregularities of mails and want of speedy communication
The size of the paper is in the highest degree respectable, and its form for convenience of arrangement cannot be excelled. In point of mechanical execution and general appearance, it is believed that THE DEMOCRAT will contrast favorably with any other paper published in the state.
It's columns will at all times be filled with entertaining reading matter, and we wish to call especial attention to THE DEMOCRAT in this respect.
Home News.
THE DEMOCRAT has a special correspondent at every post office in the County, who will furnish it, each week, all items from their respective sections which are of interest to the people of the county. This will enable us to give a complete record of the general news of the County. It is believed this feature alone will be well worth the price of subscription.
General News.
This department will be as full and reliable as it can possibly be made. The items will be collected up to the time of going to press, all matters of a doubtful character being carefully excluded.
Iowa Legislature.
THE DEMOCRAT has secured, at great expense, the services of a talented and distinguished newspaper correspondent at the state capital, who, during the present session of the legislature, will furnish for it's columns a complete weekly review of the doings of that body. This correspondence cannot fail to prove highly interesting and instructive to our readers.
History of Van Buren County.
The material for a complete history of Van Buren county, from its earliest organization down to the present time, is being rapidly collected; and it is proposed to publish such a history in the columns of THE DEMOCRAT as soon as practicable.
Editorials.
THE DEMOCRAT will always express its views on every question of state or national importance, as seen from a true democratic standpoint. Recognizing the right of all men to the promulgation of an honest opinion, we claim the privilege of being decidedly Democratic in our sentiments, and of expressing them on all proper occasions.
Farmers' Department.
Our columns will, at all times, be open for correspondence relating to agriculture and kindred subjects. Our farming friends are requested to contribute to this department, and thus unable us to make it of some practical advantage to farmers. It is contemplated to make this an entirely original one; hence, no senseless extracts from other papers which never contains subject matter applicable to our county, will ever be given.
Masonic.
This department will be under the especial supervision of a member of the firm, and will be found of general interest to the craft.
Markets.
THE DEMOCRAT'S markets will be found full, complete, and reliable. Persons wishing a statement of the correct condition of our home markets will do well to consult our columns.
Miscellaneous.
The miscellaneous department of the paper will be made up of interesting tales and sketches, selected poetry from standard authors, items of general information, etc.
The Whole County.
We expect to labor at all times for the good of the whole County, irrespective of section and, to this end, will visit every portion, for the purpose of obtaining a perfect knowledge of her resources, natural advantages, the character of her citizens, etc., in order that the world may form a correct impression of what we really are.
In view of all these things, it is not too much to expect that THE DEMOCRAT will find its way into at least every household of the County.
Terms.
Single copy, one year, $2.00; six months, $1.00 In advance.
Address. THE DEMOCRAT, Bonaparte, Iowa
page 4
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION:
One year.... $2.00 Six months.....it is $1.00
By SMITH & HOLCOMBE
SALUTATORY.
With the first number of THE DEMOCRAT, it is not only customary, but perhaps appropriate that a brief introductory or prefatory statement should be made.
The want of a good, readable, enterprising home newspaper has long been felt and acknowledged by the citizens of this County. It was in response to that want that THE DEMOCRAT came into being; and such a newspaper it proposes to be.
In size and mechanical appearance, it speaks for itself. In these respects it is designed to be in keeping with the enterprise of our people, and is probably excelled by no county paper in the state. In point of ability, it shall always be all that considerable newspaper experience, a proper degree of enterprise and enthusiasm, our humble abilities, and money can make it.
THE DEMOCRAT is founded on a sound and independent financial basis, and is designed to be peculiarly and emphatically a journal for the people. No man or party having given a dollar towards its establishment, THE DEMOCRAT is the organ of no local clique, ring, or faction, but a paper for all sections, conditions, and classes.
THE DEMOCRAT might have been content to have settled down in this, that or the other village, and issued a seven-by-nine sheet as the mouthpiece of the few surrounding burghers. But it has preferred a different course. It will be published in the interest of the whole county --a representative of her enterprise and public spirit--an exponent of her agricultural, mineral and manufacturing resources--a reflex of the tastes, culture and intelligence of her people. And it is believed that the undertaking will meet with an abundant and a willing support.
Politically, THE DEMOCRAT will be an earnest, straight-forward, reliable democratic journal. This it wishes to be distinctly understood. But while it will be decidedly democratic in its views and fearless in their expression, THE DEMOCRAT will endeavor at all times to keep within the bounds of reason and propriety, avoiding and discountenancing all absurd extremes and facetious extremists, fanatics, mountebanks, and notoriety-seekers, wherever found. Unlike those who, through a false estimate of the sagacity the of the masses, expect their wild, frantic, and senseless chattering to be construed into party zeal, THE DEMOCRAT has an exalted opinion of the intelligence and good judgment of the people, basing our belief and the ultimate triumph of our principles upon the intelligent appreciation of their reasonableness and justice of our cause.
With this brief resume, extending a greeting to its numerous patrons and friends, THE DEMOCRAT is submitted to the criticism of a generous and enlightened public. Should it be found to reflect unfavorably upon Van Buren county, it should be promptly discountenanced; but if it merit public approbation, it hopes to meet with that liberal encouragement do a first-class home newspaper.
- - - -
We desired to return our sincere thanks to those of our friends who have given us so much material assistance and substantial encouragement in our enterprise. Where all have done so well, to particularize would be almost invidious; yet we cannot refrain from saying that to those noble, whole-soled men, Thomas Rankin, J. C. Knapp, and J. S. Shepherd, of Keosauqua; T. P. Doud, of Doud's Station; I. T. Wilson, of Independent; Dr. M. J. Land, of Iowaville; L. W. Pettit, of Lebanon; Onias Hale and J. W. Carr, of Milton; L. J. Evans, of Vernon; A. F. Holder, of Upton; Esquire Henry Benson, of Farmington; John D. Mitchler, of Pierceville; W. A. Lippincott, J. D. Pergrin, and Thomas McVity, of Bentonsport; and Thomas Christy and Thomas H. Hopkins of this place our special thanks are due. We refer, with a proper degree of pride, to these gentlemen, for they are well known to be among the best citizens of the county, and that whatever they endorse must possess some merit. These are men who have always been true to their principles, and loyal to their friends; who have never abandoned the faith that their reason told them was right; who have stood up when others sat down, and who have always been devoted to the best interests of our county and of the country at large. Gentlemen, each and every one of you have a claim upon our gratitude and a right to our services, which we shall ever be ready to accord.
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THE IOWA LEGISLATURE.
On the 10th of the present of month, the legislature of Iowa assembled at the capitol. In all previous sessions their time has been mainly consumed in enacting laws which were not needed, and repealing others which were; in passing resolutions uncalled for; in making needless appropriations; in delivering buncombe speeches; in voting themselves plenty of pocket knives and pay, postage stamps and "perquisites," mucilage and mileage, newspapers and Noah Webster's dictionaries; in creating new offices but never abolishing old ones, and seldom enacting measures for the benefit of the people of the state at large.
Many persons with whom we have conversed express the opinion that but little will be done this winter beyond the election of a United States senator, and the usual appropriations. It may be that some of the members are of the opinion that there is not much to do; that they have only to go through a formal routine--be duly button-holed by the candidates for the various state and United States offices, adjourn, pack up, and come home.
There is, however, a great deal for them to do, if they will only do it. We know that the people of this county--and we feel justified in saying of the whole state--feel that they could do something word they invested with that power, and that it is not asking too much to demand of the legislature the consideration of the following subjects:
A rigid economy and strict integrity in the management of the state expenditures. No more appropriations for railroads, unless with the "Doud amendment" thereto.
The abolition of the offices of county superintendent of common schools and circuit Judge--both of which are worse than useless.
One of the strongest articles presented by the people of the colonies against the British government in the declaration of Independence, was the charge of "creating a multitude of new offices amongst us." The legislature of Iowa, at their last session, created the office of circuit judge--which is about as essential to the conducting of legal affairs as the proverbial fifth wheel of a wagon. The office of county school superintendent is nothing more than a very expensive farce. It has for its object the elevation of the standard of our public schools, and every educator, as well as every other intelligent man, knows that upon the teacher alone this work depends. This office could and should be discharged by the county judge in each county, if it's duties were lessened as they should be. Nothing more should be required than the examination of teachers.
A repeal of the law authorizing the publication of the acts of the general assembly in the various newspapers of the state.
This is the one of the greatest impositions practiced on the people. It takes thousands of dollars out of the pockets of the people to pay the printer for the publishing matter which is never read, and which, if it be read, is not worth the time spent. Besides, it is well known that this is designed only to aid the republican press of the state, by giving a generous "lift" to the proprietors.
A repeal of the infamous registry law.
The enactment of a wholesome license law in lieu of the present proscriptive and intolerant system.
We might go on and enumerate others, but, with the list of useless offices, of bad and injurious laws; of reforms needed in every department of the state government, we should have a greater task than we feel able to perform, were we to give a careful consideration to each matter.
We will say in conclusion, however, that the members of the Legislature would do well to consider these questions and act upon them as their best judgment may dictate; but, gentlemen, be very careful how you act! The people are watching you, and it is for their benefit you profess to labor. See to it, then, that you confer real benefits, for which they stand so much in need, and remove grievances which they have so long and so needlessly endured.
- - - -
PROHIBITION.
The question of the repeal of the prohibitory liquor law of the state, and the enactment of a judicious license law in its stead, is, at this time, attracting a large share of public attention. This subject is no new one however. It has been brought before the legislature, in some shape or other, at each session for several years past, and has always been defeated. The radicals, for political reasons, have always succeeded in making it a party question; and, owing to the fact that they have had an overwhelming majority in both branches of the legislature, and that they have uniformly arrayed themselves on the side of the prohibitionists, no reform in the law which has been a disgrace to our state books, ever sinse its enactment, has ever been accomplished.
It is a peculiar trait in the character of the radical party, that whenever a measure is introduced by their political opponents, without pausing to consider the beneficial effects likely to result from its adoption, they unhesitatingly and persistently oppose it. This is not right. No man should ever be loth to acknowledge that, in order to accomplish a beneficial measure, he has lain aside his devotion to party, and acted with those who have hitherto been his adversaries.
Had the republican party pursued this course in reference to the temperance question, our state would be almost incalculably better off, both in the pecuniary condition and the social position. The statistics of other s of other states show that, were it not for the revenue derived from the manufacture and sale of spirituous liquors, a taxation which would be almost insupportable would have to be resorted to, in order to meet the expenses of the state government. Hundreds of thousands of dollars would now be in our state treasury, had we as liberal laws in this respect as other states, and the burdens of taxation which now rests so heavily on the people, materially reduced. It is claimed that our state is already out of debt--that there is a large balance in the treasury; but if this be true,--which we are inclined to doubt--how has it been accomplished? The receipts in the hands of the tax-payers of the country fully answer the question. And yet we go on in the work of taxation, which, when it becomes as greedy as as it has been for the past few years, is nothing more nor less than oppression, and give what we should have to other states, who will continue to derive the profits from the sale of ardent spirits within our state limits just so long as our present law continues in force.
It is argued in this connection that a considerable portion of our school fund is the right from fines imposed upon those who manufacture and sell liquor in violation of the statute, and prohibitionists or want to dwell on the salutary effect of the wall in this respect. That is a poor government, indeed, that holds out an inducement to its citizens to commit crime! Let us explain: the demand for ardent spirits is greater to-day than it ever was, and is constantly on the increase. The profits on their sale or immensely large, and for men who wish to realize a large margin on their investment that temptation to engage in the sale is too strong to be resisted.
The opponents of a license law, for the most part, discuss this question from a moral standpoint. They argue that, were such a law in effect, crime would increase to a fearful extent; the vice of every kind would be encouraged; that it is only in communities where total prohibition exists that there is anything like a moral state of society, etc. Now, all this is the merest stuff, gotten up for effect on shallow-minded persons who never see but one side of a subject, and who form, by far, the greater portion of the so-called temperance party. Were the effects of intemperance ten times as baneful as they are, this suppression or permission of the sale of ardent spirits would have nothing whatever to do with the matter. There is as much liquor drank, in proportion to the population, in states "blessed" with prohibitory laws as where the sale is legalized, and vice versa.
If there be a moral stand in the question, the position may, with propriety, be claimed by the anti-prohibitionists, against the prescriptive and intolerant spirit which universally pervades all prohibitory laws. This same principle, if carried to its full extent, would lead to measures, in comparison to which, the old "Blue Laws" might be considered perfect models of liberality. It was exactly this same spirit which inspired the old Puritans when they indulged in the pleasant pastime of burning holes through Quaker's tongues, and nailing Baptists by the ears to door-posts.
There are other points in this subject, but want of time and space prevent their consideration at present. At some future time, however, we hope to refer to this question again.
- - - -
FAVORITISM IN CONGRESS.
Various bills have already been introduced in congress for the removal of political disabilities from individuals. Has not this business of favoritism gone far enough? Or can disabilities be removed only from these persons who pledge fealty to the radical party? Why is not a general law passed that will serve all alike? If one who was engaged on the confederate side of the war has got to swear allegiance to radicalism, to get citizenship, why not get that clause in a general bill and then allow all who can come up to the requirements, to become citizens?
- - - -
HEAVIER TARIFF.
Those who have read the letters of the "Parsee merchant," in the New York World, on the iron monopoly which the present high tariffs gives, will be astonished to hear that the ways and means committee have agreed to still further increase it. The resolve of this project will be to prevent any competition whatever with the iron trade, and give Pennsylvania iron men the complete monopoly of the manufactured material, shutting out from importation railroad iron, and all those articles that are made here, the people paying the expenses, of course.
- - - -
NEWS ITEMS.
Judge Clagett, in his characteristic manly way, congratulates Howell on his election to the United States senate.
Major General Mower died at New Orleans, on the 5th instant, General Mower entered the Union Army at the commencement of the late war, as Colonel of the 11th Missouri infantry, and was promoted to the position of major general of volunteers for his general good conduct and efficiency as a soldier. After the close of the war congress commissioned him as major general in the regular Army. At the time of his death he was in command of the Department of Louisiana.
In Congress, on the 15th inst., the house passed the bill admitting Virginia to the right of representation in congress, by a vote of 98 to 95. The Iowa members voted for the bill.
The Missouri legislature instructed the members of congress from that state to vote against all appropriations for public buildings in Washington. St. Louis has been talked of as a very proper site for the national capital, and St. Louis is in Missouri!
A meeting of officers and soldiers of the war of 1812 was held in St. Louis on the 8th--the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans. A memorial was prepared for submission to congress, asking that body to "place the names of the soldiers of the war of 1812, now alive, upon the United States pension list, thus showing to the world that the United States government is just as well as great."
The Senate has confirmed Henry W. Blodgett judge of the United States district court, in the northern district of Illinois.
In Cincinnati on the 15th, a heavy man loosened the foundations of a stone wall, one hundred feet long and thirty feet high, causing it to fall on the kitchens of six dwelling houses. One woman had a leg broken, and a little boy was killed.
Over sixty leading members of the Chicago bar recently petitioned Governor Palmer of Illinois, for the appointment of Mrs. Myra Bradwell editor of the Legal News, as a notary public and end for the city of Chicago. The governor concluded that under the laws of Illinois she could not legally be appointed.
Learning that their beloved pastor was about to retire to private life, by reason of advanced age and other et ceteras, the members of his church have increased Henry Ward Beecher's salary to $20,000, and he thinks he can "endure" it a while longer. And all this to the honor of Him who said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head."
Fernando Wood takes charge of that portion of the president's message relating to the French cable.
The governor of Alabama complains that the Negro members of the Legislature use such shocking bad grammar in the bills presented for his signature, that it is necessary to employ a clerk to revise and correct them.
The Ohio Senate has ratified the 15th amendment, by a vote of 19 to 18.
The radical Senatorial caucus at Des Moines, on the 13th inst., nominated Judge Wright for senator for the long term, and J. B. Howell, of the Gate City, for the short term.
The House territorial committee have reported adversely on the bill providing a territorial government for Alaska.
The chairman of the house committee on territories introduced a bill recently, providing that in the future Brigham Young and the rest of the latter-day saints shall have but one wife, and Brigham Young hits them a fearful blow below the belt when he says that he is content to live with one woman, if all the congressman will.
There is great excitement in France over the murder of Victor Noir, by Prince Bonaparte. In Paris, on the 13th instant, great excitement was occasioned by the arrival of troops from Vincennes, and several disturbances occurred. The city is now held by over one hundred thousand soldiers, and a conflict between them and the citizens is daily imminent. Roehefort, editor of the Marsellaise, the organ of the people, continues to animate the spirit of the citizens by stirring appeals in his paper each day.
The Burlington and Missouri River railroad has about finished the grading from Plattsmouth to Lincoln, Nebraska--sixty miles, and has iron enough on hand to lay the track that distance.
The bill introduced by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas, repealing so much of the act of August, 1846, as declares the Des Moines River at a public highway, has passed both houses of congress.
A woman and two children, the youngest aged only two years, were frozen to death recently near Jonesboro, Ill. They had been sent from the house of a well-to-do farmer who had kindly permitted them to go forth into a severe storm without scarcely enough clothing to cover them.
Merrill, of Maine, without the fear of Grant before his eyes, has introduced a bill in congress prohibiting officials from receiving any contributions from those receiving less pay than themselves, the violation of which is to be punished by a summary dismissal of the offender, who is thereby declared ineligible to any position under the government for three years.
LOCAL MATTERS.
MR. W. S. SOMMERVILLE, of Keosauqua, has received the appointment of deputy sheriff of Van Buren County.
THANKS to our genial old friend, Dr. O. George, for valuable books and papers furnished us, which proved of good service.
The gorge in the river still continues and our mills and factory have suspended operations until the Des Moines concludes to either go up or go down.
Messrs. Isaiah Meek, Dr. Boyer and Alexander Christian left for Texas last Tuesday, to be absent some weeks. We wish them a bon voyage and a safe and speedy return.
JAMES FINN, ESQ., who lives about 6 miles south of Vernon, intends to remove to California upon the opening of spring. He offers his homestead to the highest bidder. For particulars, see advertisement.
Strangers naturally suppose that all the business of a place is represented in the advertising columns of its local paper, and conclude that what can't be found there the place must be deficit in.
A NEGRO teamster, named Barnum, broke through the ice while crossing a creek emptying into the Des Moines River, about 1 mile east of Keosauqua, and one of his horses was drowned. Too much precaution and judgment cannot be exercised in driving upon the ice with a loaded wagon.
THAT prince of good fellows, Charley George, will please accept the thanks of this office for a jug of fine black ink of his own manufacture and also for a bottle of liquid which was not ink, "made from fruit grown in this state".
DOT'S, "revery" is excepted. She will please accept our thanks for it and is requested to "come again". But might we suggest that she select a subject of a somewhat different nature. That class of contributions are better adapted to purely literary papers than to ours.
THE blind songsters gave an entertainment at Entler's Hall, on the evening of the 10th instant, consisting of vocal and instrumental music, a short lecture, etc. The performances are tolerably well executed, and some of them possessed considerable merit.
One of the first official acts of Sheriff Sommerville will be to place our county jail in a state of thorough repair. That is, to say the least, a much needed reform, for which the new incumbent is entitled to all praise. This thing of weekly jail deliveries, escapes, etc., has become a nuisance.
THANKS.-- J. M. Cox, Esq., the gentlemanly and courteous operator and railroad agent at this place, will accept the thanks of THE DEMOCRAT for many kindly favors. Under his supervision, and the assistance of Mr. C. S. Detwiler, the people of Bonaparte may well congratulate themselves upon the very excellent condition of railroad affairs at this point. They are both as attentive and accommodating as any that ever fingered an operator's key or canceled a ticket, and most deservedly popular.
The Ashland House, the card of which appears in another column, we commend to the favorable consideration of the traveling public. It has been our fortune to stop at this house several times, and we have always found everything on the square. Those who remember the Ashland House when kept by the former proprietor -- -- L. J. Mason, deceased -- -- may rest assured that the house has not deteriorated under the management of his son Frank. We are pleased to learn that he is going into the hardware business in Bentonsport, and wish him abundant success. He bids us prepare space in our columns for his advertisement when his new stock of stoves, tinware, etc., arrive from the manufactory. Look out for it.
We direct attention to the advertisement of Pergin and Co., druggists and pharmaceutists, at Bentonsport. This is an enterprising firm, and deserves a liberal share of public patronage. Their stock is full and complete, their terms as low as the lowest, and their knowledge of the business thorough and practical.
Travelers passing through the southern portion of our county are advised to stop at the Mount Sterling house, in Mount Sterling, kept by that very accommodating and liberal gentleman, J. O. Cook. They will find a very pleasant stopping place, indeed, and not be compelled to pay a double price for everything they get--and something they don't get.
EDUCATIONAL.-- We would call attention to the advertisement of Bailie's commercial college in our paper to-day. These institutions are too successful, and have been too long established, to need any encomium from us. We advise all young men who desire a thorough education to attend at Keokuk or Dubuque, Iowa, as may be most convenient.
The Republican has an article in its last issue, censuring the board of supervisors for allowing only $2 each to the parties who captured a notorious horse thief in the southern part of this county, some weeks ago. Taking into consideration the fact that the parties received a liberal reward at the hands of the owners of the horses, and that the board were probably aware of the fact, we don't know but that the gentlemen were well paid for their trouble, after all.
George W. Sommerville, Esq., the sheriff elect, has been duly installed and taken possession of the books, papers, etc., pertaining to his office. In entering upon the duties of the position, he has the confidence and support of all good citizens. Capt. Sommerville served long and creditable in the union army during the late war, is a man of capacity and strict business integrity, and will probably make as good an officer as Van Buren County ever head.
The true index of the size and commercial importance of a town is to be found in the advertising columns of its local newspaper. If not more than a half a dozen firms are represented therein, it will not take long to calculate that it is not more than a half-dozen business houses, or, at least, have a dozen businessmen, the puffery of newspapers and interested parties to the contrary notwithstanding. In this connection we referred with some degree of pride and satisfaction to the showing made by little Bonaparte. But injustice to our neighboring towns, we must say that they have, as yet, not had an opportunity of being represented. A few weeks, however, will decide what men and places in the county are doing businesses, and which are enjoying a respite from the bustle and activity of business life.
By reference to her advertisement on the seventh page it will be seen that we promised the readers of THE DEMOCRAT a full record of the county news each week. We would be glad to begin with the present number, but the fact is that our correspondents have neglected furnishing us a report from their respective localities this week; and as we have not the power of rendering ourselves ubiquitous, we are unable to furnish as much home news this week as we desired. But the fault does not rest entirely with our correspondents. We are partially to blame. We received letters from nearly all of our correspondents, but as we issued no paper at the time we expected, they perhaps concluded to await further developments.
Items two weeks old, can hardly be called news, we refrain from publishing those which our correspondents have sent us, hoping that against the time of our next issue, which will be, Deo volente, this day, one week--we shall be enabled to lay before our readers all the important news of the county.
It may be a matter of some conjecture with some of our readers why the DEMOCRAT was so long in making its appearance. As the responsibility rests somewhat upon us we will endeavor to explain the why and wherefore of the delay. We had ordered a press shipped to us forthwith and received a telegram to the effect that it had been duly sent and would reach us on a certain day. _______ ten days after we had a right to expect it, it came. A lot of new type and material had also been ordered from Chicago, which reached us in portions, and all wrong end foremost; and that was cause No. 2. And then were we to speak of the various vexations incident to the work of commencing the publication of a newspaper, we fear we should hardly be able to make you understand this, and we can hardly understand it ourselves. Suffice it to say that the work is greater than we should like to undertake again. Just try it, and see! However, we are out of at last, and our readers will please consider us not egotistical when we say that we are not ashamed of ourselves in the least--and hope we never shall be.
Life Insurance.
Had we more space, we should give an extensive notice of the National Life Insurance Company, of the United States of America. We can only speak now of the vast benefits, and, we might say, duty, of all to ensure; and no company is better known or appreciated than the National.
Bonaparte Debating Society.
This society organized about five weeks ago, with eight members, and since that time has been rapidly increasing until it now numbers about 25 active members, and still seems to be moving onward with rapid strides, both as regards interest in numbers.
At the meeting last Saturday night, quite a goodly number of spectators were present, all of whom seem to enjoy themselves hugely. A little disorderly conduct on the part of one or two members was noticed, but a majority seemed energetic and, indeed, performed their parts well. A good audience is expected at the next meeting, and the society are determined to devote every energy to make the meeting more interesting and instructive. See card in another column. X.
THE MARKETS.
Grain Market.
BONAPARTE, January 19, 1869.
The following market is reported by C. S. Detwiler, dealer in all kinds of country produce:
Wheat, fall 60@65c, spring 35@15c,
Corn, old 65c, new 55c.
Rye 45c
Oates, 33c.
Timothy seed, $2.85.
Produce.
The following retail market is reported by A. C. Huffman
Potatoes, 25@40c.
Butter, common 15c, choice 25c
Eggs, fresh 20c
Onions, 75 @ $1.00
Chickens, live $1.75@2.00, dressed, $2.00@2.25.
Turkeys, dressed 3@10c
Beeswax, 25@27c
Feathers, new 60c
Rags, 3c.
Coal Oil. 50c
Salt, $3.20
Hides, green 6c, dry flint 15c?
Tailow, 10c
Coffee, 25@28c
Tea, $1.40@2.00.
Rice, South Carolina 12 1/2c
Candles, star 25c
Sugar, P. R. 11 1/2c, extra C. 16 2/3?, crushed 18, pounded 20c
Apples, green 80c@ $1 __ bu., dried 10@ 12 2/3c _ pound.
Peaches, 12a16 1/2c.
Raisins, 25c.
Canned peaches, per dozen $3.50a4.50.
Vinegar, cider 40c.
Keokuk.
KEOKUK, Jan. 18.
Wheat-- Fall 75a80c, spring 46a52, corn 55a60,
rye 50a55c, oats 35a47, Beef cattle $3.50 gross.
Eggs 23, butter 25a28, potatoes for 45a50, White
beans $2a3. Onions $1a1.20. Hides--dry 15a
18c, green 8c. Timothy seed $2a2.40.
Chicago.
CHICAGO, Jan. 17.
Wheat 78 1/4c; Corn, old 71 12, new 50c, oats 39 1/2,
rye 70. Mess pork $27.25, shoulders 9 3/4a10c,
hams 14c, dressed hogs $10.25a11.25. Cattle
-- butchers' stock $3?a5, best grades $7a7.50.
Horrible Murder!
of high prices, by Geo. Schoenover & Brother, where may be found a fine selection of boots, shoes, hats, caps, gloves, etc., which they are selling at bottom figures. Give them a call before purchasing.
MARRIED.
PINDAR--McCAUSLIN -- January 9, 1870, the residence of the bride's mother, by J. L. Leach, Esq., Mr. Thomas Pindar to Miss Olive McCauslin, all of Bonaparte.
DIED.
COGAR -- in Bonaparte on Friday morning the 11th inst., of consumption, Mrs. James F. Cogar, at the advanced age of 70 years.
. M. V. Railway Time Table.
Trains arrive and depart from this station as follows:
GOING EAST. GOING WEST.
No. 2, mail...... 2:22 p.m. No. 1, mail.... 1:55 a.m.
No. 4, express..4:02 a.m. No. 3, express 4:35 p.m.
BONAPARTE LODGE NO. 22, I. O. O. F.
-- meets at Odd Fellows hall every Thursday evening at 6 1/2 o'clock.
JAS. T. HUMPHREYS, N. G.
JNO. STIRLING, JR,, Secretary.
- - - -
BONAPARTE LODGE, NO. 73, A. F. AND A. M.
-- meets at Masonic hall on Tuesday evening on or before
each full moon.
TTHOMAS CHRISTY, W. M.
JAS. G. SHIPLEY, Secretary.
- - - -
S. FRANKEL
DENTIST,
BONAPARTE, IOWA.
- - - -
W. B. KERR,
dealer in all kinds of
SEASONED
Lumber, Shingles, Lath
Doors, Sash, Blinds, etc., Dried Flooring,
Siding, and Clear Lumber. Farmers, builders
and others in want of anything in this line
should call and examine stock. Prices
always reasonable and satisfactory.
- - - -
LAND FOR SALE!
I offer for sale about
40 Acres of Land,
15 of which are under cultivation; 21 apple
trees, set out last year; a good log house
and a good spring of water. It is situated
5 1/2 miles west of Farmington and 6 1/2
south east of Vernon.
JAMES FINN
- - - -
H. COOLIDGE,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
a sufferer from cancer for over 30 years, and
after having endured a thousand tortures from
different medicines and operations has
discovered from his own experiments
A Sure and Permanent Cure for All Cancers
- - - -
D. W. STUTSMAN, M. D.,
PHYSICIAN and SURGEON,
Bonaparte, Iowa,
Will attend promptly to all calls.
Office on the corner of Main and Water
streets, over Friedman's store, where he
may be found at all hours.
- - - -
SAMUEL FRANKEL,
Watchmaker and Jeweler.
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Watches, Clocks, and Jewelry neatly
repaired and warranted.
A good stock of Watches, Clocks, and
Jewelry and Spectacles always on hand.
- - - -
MRS. M. F. WALKER,
Milliner and
MANTUA MAKER!
WATER STREET,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
- - - -
JOSEPH HINISH,
TAILOR AND CUTTER.
First door east of Meek's warehouse, upstairs,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Trimmings, Etc., Always on Hand.
All kinds of
Making and Repairing Done
Neatly, durably, and expeditiously. Terms
reasonable and satisfaction guaranteed.
- - - -
R. W. CRAMPTON,
District agent for Southern Iowa
NATIONAL LIFE
Insurance Company,
Of the United States.
PAID UP CAPITAL 1,000,000.00
Over 7,000 Policies Issued the First Year,
Insuring over $7,000,000.00.
Washington, DC
P. O. Address, Ottumwa, Iowa.
- - - -
HOWARD,
The Photo, and Gem Artist,
BONAPARTE
- - - -
H. & J. W. DETWILER,
CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS!
(Shop in the Old Depot Building)
Bonaparte, Iowa.
We are prepared to do all kinds of Carpenter
and joiner work, on short notice and on
REASONABLE TERMS,
hoping to acquire a liberal patronage from
the citizens of Bonaparte and surrounding country.
- - - -
BLOOMINGTON NURSERY.
FRUIT TREES
OF ALL KINDS!
Ornamental Shrubbery!
Root Grafts,
Nursery Stock of Every Description.
Hedge Seed and Plants.
For further particulars call on the agent.
Will canvass this vicinity during winter.
ALBERT TROTH, agent
Bonaparte and Vernon
- - - -
CHRISTY & JOHNSON,
dealers in
DRY GOODS!
CLOTHING,
Hats and Caps,
Notions,
Hardware, Queensware,
Glass, Nails, &c.,
Water Street,
BONAPARTE, IOWA.
Thankful for past favors, would solicit an
examination of our prices before purchasing elsewhere.
- - - -
[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Handwritten in pencil across the top margin of this page is the following:
"Dear Mary (or Marg) - As this is the first issue of a paper in our village - I thought you might amuse yourself awhile at our expense. & perhaps the "Revery?" would strike a sad but pleasant chord in your heart for I cannot forget ___________ Sister" Write to me at this place - It has been so long since I heard from any of you & you all owe me letters. __________ I will someday be gone from here. Sister is living in Washington. Your old friend Ella."]
page 6
THE GAME OF LIFE.
This life is but a game of cards,
which mortals have to learn;
each shuffles, cuts, and deals the pack,
and each a trump doth turn;
some bring a high card to the top,
and others bring a low,
some hold the hand quite flush of trumps,
while others none can show.
Some shuffle with a practiced hand,
and packed their hands with care,
so they may know, when they are dealt.
Where all the leaders are.
Thus fools are made the dupes of rogues,
while rogues each other cheat,
and he is very wise indeed.
Who never meets defeat.
When playing, some throw out the ace,
the counting cards to save;
some play the deuce and some that ten,
and many play the knave!
Some play for money, some for fun,
and some for worldly fame,
but not until the game is played out.
Can they count up their game.
When hearts are trumps we play for love,
and pleasure rules the hour,
no thoughts of sorrow check our joy.
In beauty's rosy bower;
we sing, we dance, sweet verses make,
our cards at random play,
and while our cards remain on top.
Our game's a holiday.
When diamonds chance to crown the pack,
the players stake their gold,
and heavy games are lost and won.
By gamblers young and old;
intent on winning each their game.
Doth watch with eager eye,
how he may see his neighbor's cards,
and beat unselect that go to bottom on the sly.
When clubs are trumps, look out for war,
on the ocean and on land;
for bloody horrors always come
when clubs are held in hand;
when lives are staked instead of gold,
the dogs of war are freed -- --
and down in the West Indies, now,
see clubs have got the lead!
Last game of all is when the spade.
Is turned by hand of time;
he always steals the closing game.
In every age and clime.
No matter how much each man wins,
or how much each man saves,
the spade will finish up the game,
and dig the players' graves.
THE WESTMORELY SPECTER.
BY JOHN B. WILLIAMS.
A year or two ago, for gentlemen were seated around the table in one of our fashionable cafés in the city of Paris. Three of these gentlemen were scions of the French nobility, the fourth was an English lord.
"Are you superstitious, my lord?" Asked the Marquis de M ---- of the Englishman.
"Why do you ask me that question?" Returned Lord Blackston.
"Do you believe that the dead ever return to the earth?" Said the French marquis go to bottom.
"I do," returned the Englishman.
"What! Do you believe that a man dead and buried can leave his tomb and returned to the place where he last lived?"
"That has often occurred," replied the Englishman, in accents of conviction that startled the marquis.
The three Frenchmen gazed curiously at Lord Blackston.
"Yes, that has often happened," repeated the latter. "I do not say their bodies return, but their spirits come back to settle affairs which sudden death has left in suspense."
The Frenchman smiled.
"You laugh at the statement," said Lord Blackston.
"Well, you must confess it is a very strange one for a gentleman of your standing to make."
"I will give you an example of the truth of my statement," said the Englishman; "I, myself, have witnessed such an occurrence."
"You have seen a spirit walks the earth, my lord?"
"Yes. It occurred in the little village of Westmorely, in the County of Sussex."
"And you were there?"
"It is in the westmorely that my country seat is situated, and it was there that the apparition appeared."
"And you saw it?"
"I did; but I will tell you the story, and you can judge for yourselves as to its truth."
So saying, they all drew their chairs to the table, and Lord Blackston related the following incident of his life:
"The Manor House of Westmorely is an old historic dwelling. It was often besieged in the middle ages. James II slept there, and is even said that the Pretender found a refuge within its walls.
"The last proprietor of the Manor house was an uncle of mine, Lord Galway, who, although married, had no children. He lived a very quiet, retired life, and he and Lady Galway looked more like simple country people than members of the English aristocracy.
"Lord Galloway's nearest heir at law was another nephew, a very dissipated young fellow, who lived in France, having been compelled by his creditors to leave England. His conduct in the French metropolis was scandalous, so much so that his numerous escapades were often mentioned in the public journals.
"One day Lady Galway, read aloud her husband some episode more scandalous than usual, from a French newspaper. The old gentleman, afflicted with gal at the time, jumped up from the chair in which he had been seated, and explained with great vehemence, -- --
"That scoundrel of a nephew, Ralph, shall never have a farthing of my fortune. I shall choose for my air. My other nephew, Lord Blackston.
[end of column 1]
"One morning Lord Galway was found dead in his bed. One physician mentioned that he had died of apoplexy; another ascribed his death to aneurism of the aorta, and a third to something else. Whatever the cause of his death might be, it was certain that he was dead, and Lord Galway was buried with due honors.
"After the funeral, the lawyer who witnessed Lord Galway's will searched everywhere for it, but without success. Still it was certain that a will had been made.
"All search, however, proved in vain. No will could be found, and my cousin Ralph arrived from Paris to take possession of his inheritance as heir-at-law.. I had gone to Westmorely, and was there when Ralph arrived. He greeted me very coldly, and said,--
" 'Public rumor mentions you as my uncle's error; but I imagine you will not accuse me of destroying the will. I have just arrived from France, and you were here before me.'
" 'I had to use you of nothing," I replied, in the same cold tone that he used. 'I shall leave here to-morrow.'
"I ordered my valet to pack my trunks, and after having taken supper in my chamber I went to bed, having decided that I would take the train for London the next morning. I had been in bed about an hour, and was just falling asleep, when I heard a slight noise which caused me to reopen my eyes. At the same time a bright light invaded my chamber, which proceeded from neither lamp nor candle.
"The door opened noiselessly, and a man entered. I uttered a cry of terror and amazement. It was Lord Galway, or rather his spirit! The dead man's face was lividly pale; he was wrapped in his winding sheet, and walked with slow and measured steps. He walked up to my bedside, his face beaming with affection as he gazed on me, while a smile moved his bloodless lips. In spite of his kindly demeanor I was struck with terror, and my hair absolutely stood on end.
"The specter then made a sign for me to follow him; some unknown mysterious power compelled me to obey.
"I rose up and followed him, clothed only in my night-dress. The doors opened of themselves before him, and the mysterious light accompanied us. He led me to the door of the room occupied by Sir Ralph, and this, like the others, flew open at his approach. Suddenly, Sir Ralph who was asleep, awoke with a start. He perceived the phantom, and uttering a terrible cry, fell upon his knees.
"Oh! pardon! [he] murmured;' pardon, uncle!'
"The phantom seemed to nail him, palpitating, to the floor by the simple power of his glance. The specter approached the fireplace in which was a small quantity of ashes. He took a small handful of these ashes and spread them on the table. And then occurred something more strange and supernatural than anything I have yet seen. The ashes, dark and gray at first, became whiter and whiter, and united together in a kind of paste, which by degrees assumed a solid form under my eyes, and ultimately became a sheet of paper covered with large writing. The specter made a sign; I leaned over the table and read as follows:--
" 'As I may die at any moment, I hear write my last will and testament! My wife having a sufficient fortune in her own right, I leave everything I possess in the world, landed estates and personal property, to my dear nephew, Lord Henry Blackston. " 'Lord Galway.'
"This short will was duly signed, sealed, and witnessed. I then understood that it had been burned.
"Sir Ralph remained on his knees, trembling in every nerve under the specter's mournful gaze, like a condemned prisoner awaiting the moment of his execution. The writing on the paper resuscitated for a moment, turned pale, and by degrees became extinct, and soon a little heap of ashes remained on the table.
"The specter then made a sign to Sir Ralph, and under the influence of his sovereign will he rose to his feet, and approaching a bureau, opened it. He seemed to be acted on against his will; but he took pens and paper from the bureau and place them on the table.
"The specter placed his finger on a sheet of paper, and opening his lips for a short time, said,--
" 'Write, assassin!'
"Sir Ralph took the pen, still under the influence of the specter's uncontrollable will. The spirit dictated:
" 'This day, the 17th of September, 186-, having made up my mind to kill myself, I hereby acknowledge that one evening I came to the Manor house, in Westmorely, in disguise. I was treated hospitably. I got up in the middle of the night and assassinated my uncle, Lord Galway, in such a manner as to leave no trace of my crime behind. I then burned his will in which he had made my cousin, Lord Blackston, his heir. This crime wears so heavily on my conscience that I cannot live. By my death, Lord Henry Blackston will at least receive justice, for he is the next heir-at-wall.
[end of column 2]
"After making a violent effort against it, Sir Ralph was compelled to write and sign this declaration.
"The specter then opened the drawer which contained two loaded pistols; he took them out and place them silently on the table. The specter then made another sign for me to follow him, and we quitted the room. As we reached the room of my own apartment the spirit suddenly vanished from my site. I peered about in the darkness for a moment, then mechanically opened the door and passed in.
"Bewildered and almost stunned by what had occurred, I threw on my dressing gown, and seated myself by the window like one in a dream, vainly tried to compose my distracted thoughts. It was impossible to think of sleeping anymore that night; I determined simply to watch and wait for the morning to appear, dreading yet longing to know what it would have to disclose.
"I sat thus until the dull darkness of the east was lightened by the first faint signs of dawn, when wearied out of my vigil, I sank into a deep, unbroken slumber, from which I was awakened by a loud knocking at my door. I started up, and for several moments tried in vain to account for my being seated in the arm-chair instead of being in my bed. But presently the events of the past night rushed to my mind, and yet so vaguely that it seemed as if my imagination had been playing me some trick. I could not make it appear real.
" 'No, no! It must have been a dream!' I murmured aloud.
"The knocking at the door was repeated, and as I said, 'Come in,' my valet entered. He said the train I wish to take had been gone two hours, but there would be another in an hour and a half. He had been to the door once before, but as I did not answer his knock he had looked in, and seeing me sleeping soundly had not roused me, knowing there was no urgent cause for my taking the first train.
"While the serpent was speaking I was putting on my clothes, as rapidly as possible, still thinking of my hallucination--as I could not help regarding it--of the night before. In a short time I was ready to descent.
" 'Has Sir Ralph risen yet?' I asked, as I was leaving the room, and the valet commenced replacing the things in my dressing-case.
" 'No, my lord; he sleeps late; probably he was tired out with his journey.'
"I went down to the breakfast-room feeling vaguely impressed that something was going to happen. As I seated myself at the solitary table I felt that I could not bear the strange suspense any longer, and therefore sent a servant to Sir Ralph's room, telling him to be sure and wake the gentlemen. While awaiting the result I tried to school myself into something like a reasonable frame of mind, but the torture was almost unbearable.
"The silence about me was presently broken by a loud shriek from above, followed by a general rushing of the servants to Sir Ralph's room. I followed the excited train, somehow feeling that my vision, or dream, was about to be realized. Arrived at the room, I ordered the frightened herd back while I entered. Great Heaven! There lay the body of Sir Ralph weltering in blood. Each hand grasped a pistol, and his heart and brain had both been pierced by a death-dealing bullet. The site was too horrible. I turned away and covered my face with my hands.
" 'My lord--pardon me--but will you look at this?'
"It was my valet who spoke. Turning to him I saw lying on the table by which he stood--the very document I had seen in my midnight visit to that chamber! the confession of Sir Ralph of the murder of our uncle, Lord Galway, and the burning of the will which made me his heir.
"As may well be supposed, this affair created the most unbounded excitement in the community, and still furnishes a subject for gossip with those who are fond of sensations. For my own part I never spoke of the strange and mysterious events of that night, thinking they would only pass for the result of a fevered imagination and a peculiarly excited mental state consequent upon the death of my uncle, and other circumstances attendant upon it.
"On the death of Sir Ralph my claim to the estate would have been the undisputed, even without the aid of the mysterious paper. So I took formal position immediately, but feeling a need of a change from the scene of these depressing events, I soon after left for London, whence I started in a few days for the continent.
"I now feel convinced beyond a doubt that it was the spirit of my uncle that appeared to me on that night and revealed the facts concerning his death, and the missing will. Hence my former assertion that I firmly believe the spirits of the departed sometimes return to arrange matters which sudden death cause them to leave unsettled. Gentlemen, my story is ended."
- - - -
Shawano county, Wis., has an Indian population of two thousand, and a white population of about the same.
[end of column 3]
A Love Letter.
The following sublimely splendiferous love letter was handed us for publication. We recommend it as a model to letter-writers:
My dear Miss C.--every time I think of you my heart flaps up and down like a churn dasher. Sensations of unutterable joy caper over it like a ghost on a stable roof, and thrill through it like Spanish needles through a pair of tow linen trousers. As a jostling swim it with the light in a mud-puddle, so I swim in a sea of glory. Visions of a static rapture, thicker than the hairs on a blacking brush, and brighter than the hues of the hummingbirds opinions, visit me in my slumbers; and born on their invisible wings, your image stands before me, and I reached out to grasp it, like a pointer grasping at a blue-bottle fly. When I first beheld our angelic perfections, I was bewildered, and my brain whirled round like a bumble-bee under a glass tumbler. My eyes stood open like cellar doors in a country town, and I lifted up my ears to catch the silvery accents of your voice. My tongue refused to wagon, and in silent adoration I drank in the suite infection of love. Since the light of your face fell upon my life, I sometimes feel as if I could lift myself up by my boot-straps to the top of the Presbyterian steeple, and pull the bell-rope for singing school. Day and night you are in my thoughts. When Aurora, blushing like a bride, rises from her saffron couch; when the jay-bird pipes his tuneful lay in the apple tree by the spring house; when the chanticleer's shrill clarion heralds becoming morn; when the drowsy beetle wheels his droning flight at sultry noontide, and when the lowing cows come home at milking time, I think of the; and like a piece of gum elastic my heart seems to stretch clear across my bosom. Your forehead is smoother than the elbow of an old coat. Your eyes are glorious to behold. In their liquid depths I see my raids of little Cupids bathing, like a cohort of ants in an old army cracker. When their manly fire hit me up on my manly breast it penetrated my hole and anatomy as a load of bird shot would go through a rotten apple. Your nose is a chunk of Parian marble, and your mouth puckered with sweetness. Nectar lingers over here are let's like honey on the bearish call, and myriads of un-flinched kisses are there ready to fly out and light somewhere, like bluebirds out of a parent nest. Your laugh rings in my ears like the wind-harp's strains or the bleat of a stray lamb on a bleak hillside. The dimples in your cheeks are like bowers in beds of roses, or hollows and cakes of home-made sugar.
I am dying to fly to thy presence, and pour out the burning eloquence of my life, as thirty housewives pour out coffee. Away from you I am as melancholy as a sick rat. Sometimes I can hear the June bugs of despondency buzzing in my ears, and feel the cold lizards despair crawling down my back. Uncouth fears, like a thousand minnows, nibble at my spirits and my soul is pierced through with doubts as an old cheese is bored with skippers.
My love for you is stronger than the smell of Coffy's patent butter, or the kick of a young cow, and more unselfish than a kitten's first caterwaul. As the songbird hankers for the light of day, the cautious mouse for the fresh bacon in the trap, as a lean pup hankers for new milk, so I long for thee.
You are a fairer than a speckled pullet, sweeter than Yankee doughnuts fried in sorghum molasses, brighter than the top knot plumage on the head of a Muscovy duck. You are candy kisses, raisins, pound cake, and sweetened toddy altogether.
If these few remarks will enable you to see the inside of my soul, and need to win your affections, I shall be as happy as a woodpecker on a cherry tree, or a stage horse in a green pasture. If you cannot reciprocate my thrilling passion, I will pine away like a poisoned bedbug, and fall away from the flourishing vine of life, an untimely branch, and in coming years, when the shadows grow from the hills, and the philosophical frogs sings his cheerful hymn, you, happy in another's love, can come and drop a tear and catch a cold upon the last resting place of
JULIUS EPAMINONDAS MUGGINS.
- - - -
Young man, it is easy to be nobody. Go to the drinking saloon to spend your leisure time. You need not drink much now, just a little beer, or some other drink. In the meantime, play dominoes, checkers, or something else to consume time so that you will be sure not to read any useful book, or if you do read, let it be the dime novels of the day. Thus go on, keeping your stomach full, head empty, and yourself busy playing time-killing games, and you will soon be nobody, unless you turn out a gambler or a drunkard, either of which is worse than to be nobody. There are numbers of young men just ready to graduate and be nobody.
- - - -
The coroner of Yuba, Cal., has received an invoice of coffins from Chicago. The Appeal says they are superior articles
[end of column 4]
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- - - -
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page 7
HONEST POVERTY.
"A great critic (Dr. Aiken) says, that love and wine are the exclusive themes for song writing. The following is on neither subject and, consequently, is no song; but will be allowed to be, I think, two or three pretty good prose thoughts in rhyme." In this manner Burns speaks of this witty, clever, and truthful song of which he is the author.
Is there, for honest poverty,
Who hangs his head, and all that?
The coward slave, we passed him by,
We dared be poor for all that.
For all that, and all that,
Our toils obscure, and all that,
The rank is but the guinea stamp,
The man's THE gold for all that.
What though on homely fare we dine,
Where humble gray, and all that,
Give fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for all that.
For all that, and all that,
Their tinsel show, and all that,
The honest man, though e'er so poor,
Is keen of men for all that.
You see yon fellow called a lord,
Who struts, and stares, and all that,
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He is but a fool for all that.
For all that, and all that,
His riband, star, and all that;
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at all that.
A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquee, duke, and all that;
But an honest man's above his might,
In faith, he must not try that!
For all that, and all that,
The pith of sense, and pride of worth,
Are higher ranks than all that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for all that,
That sense and worth, o'er all the earth,
May hear the palm, and all that.
It's coming yet, for all that,
When man to man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for all that.
Private Life of the Pope.
From the Galaxy.
Those who see the pope in state can form very little idea of the simplicity in which the pontiff lives. The "king of Italy" lives worse then any denizen of a third-rate boarding house in New York. The furniture of the Pitti palace would be despised by a Canal street broker, and a dry goods clerk would disdain the horrible Milanese cigars which his majesty is eternally smoking. All of which is not generally known, and is very commendable, because it is done for economy and to save the impoverished exchequer. Yet there is no reason why the pope should not live in style becoming a king, but his own dislike of pomp and naturally simple tastes. Leaving the gilded saloons of the show part of the palace, you pass through a door carefully guarded by two of the noble guard with drawn swords. A small passage conducts to the guards' waiting room, where orderlies and officers in waiting attend. Another room is allotted to the groom of the chambers, a prelate in his violet robes. The next is the ante-chamber where the monsignori, private chamberlains of his holiness, are in attendance. You tap at the next door, and it is opened by another monsignor who assured of your right of entre, lists a silk curtain and you are in the presence. The room strikes as singularly bare. There is no carpet on the stone floor, the articles of furniture are very few and by no means costly. There is a large bookcase filled with books bound in parchment. A prie Dieu with a velvet cushion, an excellent little Madonna by Canova, in alabaster, on the bracket, stands over the prie-Dieu, and a well-worn, commonly-bound book of hours lies on the ledge of the prie-Dieu, together with a crucifix and reliquary, and a common rosary. There is a little china holy water stoup at the door; an exceedingly fine portrait of the pope hangs over the mantle-shelf, on which there is a time-piece of the Louis Quinze period, in ormolu, and two statuettes of St. Joseph and the Good Shepherd. There are no curtains to the windows, which overlooked the Vatican garden. In the center of the apartment is a large writing desk such as stands in the private cabinet of Louis XIV. at Versailles. It has two large compartments, filled with pigeon-holes, in which are bundles of papers. A crucifix stands between these compartments, with the wounds and agony of the Redeemer finely painted an awfully real. The ink-stand is a very common one of china, with a pouncet box to match; a bundle of quills lies near it, and a piece of soiled rag, on which pens have been wiped this many a day. A few books of devotion are also there. They are "The Imitation," Scupoli's "Spiritual Cabinet." "Devotion's of St. Francis de Sales," a breviary area, a bible, Rodriguez's "Spiritual Perfection," Signori's "Glories of Mary," "Life of St. Teresa," etc. There is a pile of French journals, the Revue des Deux Mondes, the Civitta Cattolico, and other Italian papers. His holiness sits in an armchair, not meriting the title of easy, for it cruelly terminates in the middle of his, and is rigidly constructed without regard to comfort. He is attired in a simple cassock of white flannel, with no insignia of rank about it except his Episcopal ring. His head is covered with a white skull-cap. He has been reading, and beside his open book is a common metal snuff-box and -- let not my lady readers be horrified -- a common red cotton handkerchief. Having made the usual reverences on my knees, he motioned me to approach.
[end of column 1]
As I recall now the effect produced upon me by that interview, I do not wonder that half-fanatical young men, fresh from the college, should yearn to die in his defense, as of old the Christian panted for the crown of martyrdom. You feel, if a Catholic, that you are in the presence of a saintly person, into which the jarring discords of the world do not enter. Childlike in his innocence of his vileness, and diffusing an atmosphere of benignity wherever he comes, the venerable pope cannot fail to impress anyone who enters his presence, be he Catholic or Protestant. The large, fair face is less furrowed than that of men half his years, yet his pontificate has been most eventful. He speaks, and you at once perceive that innate refinement which makes him try to remove diffidence by condescension untinged by patronage, and paternal gentleness that removes restraint. Like many another sovereign, he takes interest in seemingly trifling objects.
A DARING ROBBERY.
How an Englishman Was Taken In.
A few days ago an Englishman named L. S. Hinx or Hincks, from London or its neighborhood, arrived in New York on a tour of profit and pleasure. On Monday he was short of funds, and having bills of exchange in his possession that would fill his purse, he strayed into the Bank of Commerce, presented his documents, and received from the paying teller $4,200 in current funds.
"Is this right?" He asked of the teller.
"I guess so; count it if you have any doubts," was the response.
"Ho, I suppose it is all right, but I likes to count it."
Johnny Bull commenced the count, after adjusting his eye glasses, and while engaged in the work, a voice explained:
"Is that your stamp?" (pointing to the floor.) The eye glasses were readjusted, and Mr. Hinx leisurely turned in the direction of the point indicated. On completing the survey and finding nothing on the floor, he turned his attention to the $4,200 pile to find it gone, as well as his friend who had addressed him.
The Englishman looked at the teller and the teller looked at the Englishman. Hinx finally uttered a sound between a whistle and an exclamation of disappointment, and concluded by remarking:
"Well, damme, that's well done. Here I come to this blasted country to go into business. I've been around London, ham hup to hall the tricks of the thieves, but ham beaten. What shall I do?"
He was advised to go to the central police office. Hinx hurried there; saw Kelso; detailed the particulars of the loss, and wanted $4,200; Kelso did not happen to have that some about him, but ordered an entry of the robbery to be made in the books, and it was done by Detective Avery.
"Don't put that in the papers," ordered the Englishman. "I would not have it known in Hingland, where I am well known to the nobility and the public, for a hundred pounds sterling."
Mr. Hinx was assured that the papers would not get out, but they have, from other sources than police headquarters, whose mystery is thrown around every case by order of our "superior officer."
The Hon. L. S. Hinx is still looking for his $4,200; but so far has been unsuccessful. He will probably draw on the nobility for sufficient funds to liquidate his hotel bill and returned to England a "wiser if not a better man."
WAIFS FOR THE LADIES.
Wabash, Ind., arrests women who bake biscuits of a Sunday.
A younger sister of Anna Dickinson is giving her attention to literary pursuits.
Girls under twenty-one are prohibited by law from appearing on the stage at Altoona, Pa.
A San Francisco lady, who had an eye knocked out by a rocket, sees ten thousand dollars' damages with the remaining orb.
A St. Louis woman asked to be divorced from her husband because he gets "tearing mad whenever his stockings are starched stiff."
Judy's dressmaker horrified her the other day, by telling her she would "cut her body out" in the course of the afternoon.
A society has been organized in Coshocton, Ohio, composed entirely of young ladies, the members of which cannot marry without unanimous consent.
We have heard of but one old woman who kissed her cow, but there are thousands of young ones who have kissed great calves.
The lady in Santa Clara, Cal., had to have a leg amputated in consequence of an injury received by kneeling on a hoop skirt.
A poor woman in Worcester, Mass., who for twenty years has waited to hear from her husband, has just received a letter from him, saying that he has amassed a fortune in California, and is waiting for her to enjoy its advantages with him.
An old lady, gazing with astonishment upon an elephant in a menagerie, asked the keeper, "What kind of a beast is that eating hay with his tail?"
"Oh, dear! Mr. F., you jest when you say my baby is the handsomest you ever saw; you must be soft-soaping." "Well, madam, I think it needs soft soap of some kind."
A gentleman, being asked whether he was seriously injured when a steam boiler exploded, is said to have replied that he was so used to being blown up by his wife that mere steam had no affect upon him.
See "Alexandria limp" is the latest eccentricity of fashion. It is produced by wearing a very high heeled boot on one foot, and a flat heeled boot on the other. The young lady wobbles about like a goose.
During a revival meeting recently in Berryessa Valley, Cal., a young lady got excited, and in her religious fervor, embraced a young unmarried man present. The hardened sinner resisted, declaring that repentance must precede heaven.
A story is told of a young lady teacher at a Sunday school, who a few Sundays ago asked a youngster what was matrimony. He mistook the question for purgatory, and promptly answered: "A place or state of punishment in this life, where souls suffer for a short time before they go to heaven."
That was a brutal husband who, as he saw his wife receding from him on the icy sidewalk, greatly to the peril of bone, said "Let her slide"; but when she landed in the courteous arms of a good-looking young man he did not think it quite so funny.
The maddest man in Indiana lives in Patoka. He told his wife he was going down cellar to commit suicide, and he did go downstairs and fired a broadside into the pork barrel. His wife kept right on knitting, and after a while the man came upstairs swearing that the woman hadn't got any feeling.
AND HUMOR.
"What is a strait?" The class looked blank, except one small boy, low down, who held up his hand in token that he could tell. The school ma'am hopefully told him to proceed. He proceeded thus: "A strait beats two pairs."
The pompous epitaph of a close-fisted citizen closed with the following passage of scripture, "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord." "Dat may be so," soliloquized Sambo, "but when dat man died, colloquy Lord didn't owe 'im a red cent."
A mechanic having taken a new apprentice, awoke him the first morning at a very early hour, by calling out that the family were sitting down to table. "Thank you," said the boy, as he turned over in bed to adjust himself for a new nap; "thank you, but I never eat anything during the night."
In one of our towns, the postmaster has, by skillful maneuvering, managed to retain his office from the time of Harrison and Tyler down to the present day. Being asked how he managed to retain his office through so many changes of administration, he replied that "it would take a mighty smart administration to turn quicker than he could."
A young man, accompanied by his lady love, stopped at one of our hotels for dinner the other day. Never having seen any fish-balls, he handed one to his lady. After breaking his own open, he carefully examined it, then smelled of it, and with a sepulchral voice said: "Sal, don't eat that doughnut; there's something dead in it!"
In a western Sabbath school, a boy was asked to give an account of Moses. "Moses," said the boy, "was born on the banks of the Nile, in a basket. As the infant lay in the basket, concealed in the bulrushes, a huge crocodile came swimming along, and approaching him said 'Moses, almost thou persuaded me to be a Christian.' Whereupon the infant stretched out its little arm toward the crocodile, and said: 'Verily, thou art the man.'"
A Methodist preacher, who was on his way to a camp meeting happened to think that he had left his horn at home, and, as that is certainly very useful in calling together the lambs of the flock, he stopped at a tin shop on his way, for the purpose of purchasing one.
"Will this make a loud noise?" He asked, selecting one that appeared to suit him.
"Oh' yes, a h--l of a noise," said the tanker, producing a piece of paper to roll it up in.
"Well, as I want to blow it at a camp meeting, I guess it is not the kind I am looking for," and the parson walked dignifiedly away.
PROVING IDIOCY.--Some time ago, there was a trial for trespass in cutting wood from a neighbor's premises without authority. One of the plaintiff's witnesses was a plain old farmer, whose testimony went clearly and directly to prove the charge. The defendant's counsel, a blustering man of brass, thought to weaken the force of his evidence by proving idiocy to be a trait of his family. He therefore interrogated him thus: "Mr. Hodge, you have a son who is an idiot, have you not?" "Yes, sir." "Does he know anything?" "Very little." "How much does he know?" "Well, almost nothing!" Not much more than you do." The witness was allowed to retire without further question, amid the most uproarious shouts of laughter.
A young gentleman, a member of a certain college, was expelled for the crime of drawing young ladies up to his room at night, and letting them down in the morning by means of a rope and basket arranged from his window. Of course, a great deal of gossiping, conversation, and scandal was a consequence. The following colloquy occurred between two young ladies: "Jane, do you really believe the students draw girls up to their rooms?" "Certainly, my dear; and, more--I know they do." "How?" "Well, I was going by the college one morning; it was just before light, and I heard a noise in the direction of the college buildings. I looked that way, and as plain as I see you now, I saw a girl in a basket about half-away from a three-story window to the ground, and just then the rope broke, and down I came!" "Oh, Jane!"
MISCELLANEOUS.
Akron, Ohio, has a baby harvest.
Liverpool is to have a penny railroad.
A young man in Black Brook, N. Y., has thrown up a lizard.
A sixteen year old Georgian shot his father for abusing his mother.
An Edinburgh factory turns out 8,000 doses of chloroform every day.
Four wine cellars in San Francisco contained 675,000 gallons of California wine.
Glasgow complains that her population is worse than that of any other city.
Erie, Penn., evidently has a sewer thing of it. There are five miles of the article there.
In Virginia, a will "written wholly by the testator" requires no subscribing witnesses.
Cigar stumps collected from hotel floors are manufactured into fancy brands of smoking tobacco.
There is not a lawyer or doctor at present dwelling in Josephine county, Oregon. Blissful exemption.
"Assassinator" is the last birth of the Richardson affair. It will probably reach "assassinatoristess."
A jealous wife in New Orleans poured boiling water over her unfaithful husband, as he lay asleep in bed.
Belle Boyd, the southern spy, has kept on fooling until she has finally got herself into a lunatic asylum in California.
One-fourth of the graduates of Oberlin college never marry. There seems to be something in the atmosphere of that loyal institution that makes a man sick of "wanities and wexations."
The directors of a company recently organized to get up a new weekly Presbyterian paper in Chicago, say it will appear on the first day of February next.
They are trying to get up a "wickedest man" sensation in Chicago, but there is too much competition as to shall be the man.
Black Crook Wheatley, with his $750,000, made out of female legs, is trying to crawl through the eye of the needle. He has lately joined the church.
A Mississippi paper says they have taied [sic] negro jurymen, and by the watch every nigger went to sleep in exactly four minutes after getting into the box.
The Florida papers are urging Florida planters to shut down on cotton and raise sugar. They say that prosperity world naturally be en suite with such prudent measures.
James Davis, of Aurora, Ill., tried some medicine which a traveling doctor recommended to cure his rheumatism. He only had to take three doses before the disease was annihilated. The last will and testament of Mr. Davis was read the next day.
THE South Carolina Legislature adjourned the other day to see John Robinson's circus. A motion to that effect was made by Mr. DeLarge, the colored leader of the house, in these words: "Mr. Speaker, de circus hab arrove, and darfore I moves dat we adjourn," which was done accordingly, likewise, nevertheless, notwithstanding.
"My boy," said a distinguished merchant to his son, who was contemplating matrimony, "be sure, in making your selection, to get hold of a piece of goods that will wash."
[end of column 4]
PERGRIN & CO.,
DRUGGISTS
AND
PHARMACEUTISTS!
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PHYSICIANS' PRESCRIPTIONS
Carefully Compounded.
Bentonsport, Jan., 1870.
- - - -
CHANCE FOR BARGAINS!
C. C. SMITH,
DEALER IN
Stoves and Tinware!
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Keeps constantly on hand a well-selected
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Heating and Cooking
STOVES,
and also a large assortment of
Stove Trimmings, Tinware, Etc.
Every description of
Jobbing and Repairing
promptly and cheaply executed. Public
patronage respectfully solicited.
- - - -
FURNITURE STORE!
MORRIS DEMPLE,
Manufactuer of and retail dealer in
ALL KINDS OF
FURNITURE,
Washington Street,
BONAPARTE, IOWA
TURNING DONE TO ORDER!
Undertaking
promptly attended to. Prices satisfactory.
Those in want of anything in his lines should
not fail to give him a call.
- - - -
T. I. BRADFORD'S
FEED SALE,
Livery and Exchange
Stable,
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BONAPARTE, IOWA.
Good horses and turnouts ready at all times
of the day. Also regular express and _________
delivered. Terms moderate.
[end of column 5]
page 8
A CUP OF WINE TO THE OLD YEAR.
We extract the following excellent lines from the scrapbook of our townsmen, Sidney Parker, Esq. Mr. Parker informs us that they were originally published about 12 years ago in a Cincinnati magazine. As they have appeared in print but once since, we take pleasure in reproducing them.-- [EDS. DEMOCRAT.]
Come hitter, love, come hither,
And sit you down by me,
And hither run, my little one.
And climb upon my knee;
But bring the flagon first, my love,
And filll to friends and foes,
And let the old year dash his beard
With wine before he goes.
Oh! then do you remember,
That night we let him in;
The creaking signs, the windy blinds,
The Universal din, --
The melancholy sounds which bade
The poor old year adieu,
The sudden clamor, and the bells
That ushered in the new?
He brought to us a world of hope
Beneath his robe with snows;
Then let the old year dash his beard
With wine before he goes.
Oh! then the year was young and fair,
And loved all joyful things,
And under his bright mantle hid
The warning of his wings;
And you remember how the Spring
Beguiled him to her bower;
Howell Summer next exalted him
Unto her throne of flowers;
And how the reaper Autumn crowned
Him 'mid the sheaves and shocks;
You still may see the tangled straws
In his disordered locks.
The yellow wheat, the crimson leaves,
With purple grapes were there,
Till, Bacchus-like, he wore the proof
Of plenty 'mid his hair;
A proof that woos in harvest homes,
Brown labor to repose--
Then let the old year dash he is beard
With wine before he goes.
But soon the Winter came and took
His glory quite a way;
A frosty rhyme o'er spread his shin,
And all his hair went gray;
His crown has fallen to his feet,
And withers is where he stands;
While some invisible horror shakes
The old man by the hands;
Oh! woo him from his cloud of grief
And from his dream of woes,
And bid the old year dash his beard
With wine before he goes.
For he hath brought us some new friends,
And made the old more deer;
And shows how love may constant proof,
And friendship be sincere;
Though it may be some venomed tooth
Hath wrought against the file;
And though perchance a Janus' face
Hath cursed us with its smile,
Come, filled the goblet till its rim
With Lethe the overflows,
The year shall drown their memory
With wine before he goes.
But hark! a music nears and nears,
As if the singing stars
Were driving closer to the earth
In their triumphant ears;
And hark! the sudden pealing crash
Of one who will not wait,
But flings into the ringing dark
Old Winters crystal gate;
A sigh is on the midnight air--
A ghost is on the lawn,
The broken goblet strews the floor--
The poor old year is gone.
A REVERY.
BY "DOT."
As I was admiring the handsomely arranged shop windows in a principal thoroughfare of one of our large cities, I came to one as grand, as pretentious as those around it, but the contemplation of which awakened far different emotions; for it was filled with coffins of every size and description. How many bitter recollections that site recalled! how they carried gloom over every threshold they cross and bear away the loved ones from our midst!
There was one which struck a particularly sad chord in my memory. It was a tiny casket, lined with white satin; the little pillow, the winding sheet,--all, all was there, waiting to cradle "Somebody's Darling." What breast now pillowed that little head--what mother embraced the precious form, or sang her lullaby to ears that soon must be deaf to song and cry alike! As she pressed it to her bosom and imprinted a mother's kiss on its ruby lips, did no thought that another bed would soon be laid for it, and she loosened her embrace or that of Death! Ah, the hearts that will beat over that little casket--the tears that will soil they purity of that tiny pillow--as they give the last long kiss!
Aye, fashion it beautifully, finish it with care; let the richest of satin and softest of down lend their aid to make it fair; but it must carry such deep, dark gloom into that home as only Death and his attendants can.
I could but compare that costly coffin with one of which enclosed are household pet. We laid her dear, sweet face beneath a lid which could boast of no pretensions, but no less dear to us after it had enclosed our little treasure.
It was during the late cruel war, that we left the city with all its din and discord to find quiet and repose in the country. Little Addie was one of those angelic little creatures sent to draw our thoughts from earth to heaven,--so fair, so fragile that for 15 months had called her hours ere we
[End of column 1]
knew that we must return her to her native sphere; but even that certainty only caused our hearts to entwine the more closely about her, and when the summons came it cast a gloom over our hearts and home which time can never remove. Then first we learned how we love her--how her little life had blessed us.
We could get no costly satin lined coffin for her cherished remains; it was of plain wood, lined with white muslin, made at home by loving hands, for even the servants idolized her; but never did the handsome casket containing a more handsome form; never were dropped more bitter tears than fell on her little pillow; never brighter curls hid away under glass cover than under that neat and unpretending lid. We scattered bright, living flowers thick beneath her and the unfeeling board. We took our sad farewell feeling that her pure, freed spirit yet lived, aye even now lives to watch over those who loved her when here and mourned her when gone.
God has given us hearts capable of the highest love and admiration, but still feeling most deeply the trials with which he strews our pathway. We can brace ourselves for almost every affliction of life until Death snatches are loved and loving, and we droop at his approach, feeling that it were easier to meet him for ourselves than to say "Thy will be done," when it comes to our living treasures. Pray God for submission in that awful hour; for
"Alas for love, if thou wert all,
And naught beyond, O Earth."
A ROYAL MURDERER.
A Prominent Liberal Assassinated by
Prince Bonaparte.
A cable dispatch of the 13th inst., announces the startling intelligence of the cold-blooded and deliberate murder of Victor Noir by a vain, conceited, brainless appendage of the royal family. The enormity of the crime as well as the manner of its perpetration, brands the relative of the French throne as a cruel, treacherous, brutal ruffian. The innocent blood of Noir cries out for justice. The following is a brief account of the assassination and burial of the French patriot, and the consequent excitement and disorder at the French capital:
Upon presenting the letter of M. Pascal Gourset, the prince asked, "Are you the representative of these wretches?" Victor Noir replied, "We are the representatives of our friends." Whereupon the prince stopped Noir with his left hand, and at the same time he drew a revolver from his pocket, already cocked, and fired, killing Noir. He then fired upon the Deforville, who then drew a small pistol, upon which the prince took refuge behind an open door, from whence he again took aim at Deforville, who rushed out, crying murder--the prince firing at him as he ran. In the street he found Noir, who had the strength enough to descended the stairs, and there he died.
The funeral of Noir took place today. The government expecting a demonstration made extensive preparations to preserve order. Early in the morning an immense crowd gathered about the house where the remains were lying. Many carriages, filled with mourners, joined the procession. A deputation of workmen visited the remains, and the streets were filled with vast throngs till fully a hundred thousand people assembled in the vicinity of the house where the remains were.
Rochefort's appearance called forth great demonstrations of enthusiasm. The remains were taken to Nevilly for interment, followed by a long procession. The people in the streets sang "Marsellaise," and shouted "Vive republic."
Finally a regiment of troops ordered the crowd to disperse. Rochefort, claiming his right as a deputy, passed on to the chamber, where he arrived pale and much excited.
The Champs Elyssus were then cleared by the troops. Two battalions were stationed near the hall of the legislative body, and five regiments were massed on the boulevards close at hand. The crowds finally dispersed without offering resistance, but some arrests were made by the police.
[End of column 2]
NEWS ITEMS.
The population of Iowa, according to the last census, is 1,042,807.
HATTON, of the Mount Pleasant Journal, has the first symptoms of becoming a democrat. He is in favor of a strict economy in the state expenditures, and instructs the members from Henry county to that effect.
A BILL is before the Massachusetts legislature for the repeal of the prohibitory liquor law. The Puritans themselves are ashamed of the proscriptive enactment.
A contested fund of one and a half millions of dollars, he arrived from the money taken from deserters, which has heretofore been set aside for the benefit of the soldiers and sailors national asylum, is now lying in the treasury department subject to the orders of the respective owners as soon as they establish their claims.
The Davis county board of supervisors have passed a resolution in favor of selling the public square in the town of Bloomfield, their proceeds to be applied towards securing the Cameron railroad to that point.
" 'The first intimation we have had that Senator Yates of Illinois is in the city,' says the Montgomery Advertiser, 'is to learn that a gentleman stranger, wrapped in a cloak, but without pants, or coat, walked up Commerce and Market streets, yesterday morning, with much dignity."--Constitution.
The state agricultural society met at Des Moines's on Wednesday and decided to hold their next exhibition at Keokuk.
The New Hampshire State temperance convention met at Concord on Thursday. Its proceedings were characterized by wrangling and discord, which finally culminated in the withdrawal of a number of delegates. L. H. Barlow and H. O. Pierce were finally put in nomination for the office of governor and railroad commissioner respectively.
The St. Louis Republican has ascertained from a source which it considers perfectly reliable, that a decision in the Missouri test oath case will be decided before the first of February.
Lands for the Negroes.
From the St. Louis Republican.
Can nothing be done to cure Charles Sumner of the bite of the African tarantula? Must he continue throughout the term of his official life to execute a perpetual Ethiopian clog dance in the senate, and force the legislation of the country to pause in the midst of legitimate and pressing business, and join him in the general "walk-round?"
Matters of the greatest importance are urging themselves upon the consideration of congress; the appeals of the impoverished and tax-ridden people burden every breeze that sweeps over Washington; our merchant fleets are rotting at their docks for lack of employment; the business man, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer are looking anxiously for the relief they so much need, and yet, in this crisis of affairs, the Senator from Massachusetts thinks he is doing God and the country service by writing the inevitable and insatiable woolly horse into the ring, and claiming for that costly and useless animal a fresh installment of public attention and public money.
Recently as the proceedings inform us, Mr. Sumner presented a memorial of the negroes of the United States in convention assembled, asking the intervention of congress in behalf of their brethren in the southern states. This memorial sets forth the necessities of the colored people in that section, and asked a division and distribution an___them of the lands of the United States, and the appointment of a commissioner with power to purchase lands for that purpose in any southern state where the government owns none.
This cool? proposition was referred to a committee, and will be brought up again, we presume, at an early day, when Sumner will relieve himself of a ponderous harangue, stuffed full of classical quotations and cheap philanthropy, and then urge the passage of a bill which shall embody the wishes of his colored fellow-citizens.
There are said to be to-day 20,000 men in the single city of Chicago who cannot find work, and are actually suffering because the stagnation of trade prevents them from earning an honest living. In other places the same destitution prevails to a less extent, and it is not too much to say that the laboring classes in the north are seeing harder times and undergoing more privations in pocket and stomach than at any previous period of the past twelve years. Suppose those men should assemble and they national convention, and memorialize congress to give them the public lands in the western states, and then in the eastern and middle states, where the soil is in the possession of private individuals, the government should go into market and purchase it for them. Suppose the memorial should be presented to the senate by a democratic member, what would Mr. Sumner say to the document? Doubtless treated with supreme contempt or move its rejection altogether. Yet the sole difference between the measure which he introduces and sanctions, and the one we have suggested by way of illustration, is that in the former case negroes are the petitioners, and in the latter white men.
Are we ever to reach that point in the radical millennium when white men will have some rights which negroes and Sumner are bound to respect.
HINT TO NEWSPAPER BORROWERS.
--The Charleston Courier relates a story, which we commend to the candid consideration of our subscribers: Our contemporary says that one of its subscribers was pestered with that most inexcusable of all great bores--a newspaper borrower. This "affliction sore," the subscriber endured for many months with superhuman fortitude. At length he resorted to the following desperate expedient. He ordered a copy of the Courier to be sent to the borrowing bore. The bore at first wondered to find the paper addressed to himself, then he went to the office and learn how the matter stood. Immediately his eyes were opened, he paid for the Courier, became in fact a regular subscriber, and has never sensed borrowed a paper.
The New York correspondent of the Buffalo Courier states that Whitelaw Reid, managing editor of the New York Tribune, is engaged to marry Miss Anna Dickinson. We suppose that story has been started simply because some fellow thinks that because Whitelaw can manage such a big thing as the Tribune, he could manage Anna. But there's a difference there.--State Register.
James Gordon Bennett is writing his autobiography, telling about the career of the Herald, Bennett's notions of the public men of the last 35 years, and explaining some of the peculiarities of his editorial conduct, showing, it is said, that he sought to do good socially and politically, by adopting a tone of skepticism and mockery.
Jeff Davis met an Irish widow of a Confederate soldier in the cars the other day, and told her story with such unction to his fellow passengers, that when he passed around his hat, he took up a collection of several hundred dollars for her.
- - - -
TWO FIRST-CLASS TABLES
at
C. H. COOLIDGE'S
New Billiard Hall!
Cor. Washington and Second Sts.,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
Fresh Oysters, Choice Cigars,
Wines, Etc.
Always on hand. Give him a call!
- - - -
THOS. H. HOPKINS,
dealer in and manufacturer of
BOOTS and SHOES,
LEATHER AND
Shoe Findings,
Walter Street, Bonaparte, Iowa.
In addition to my own manufacture, I keep
constantly on hand an
EXTENSIVE ASSORTMENT
of Boots and Shoes, embracing all descriptions of
Fine and Coarse Work
for men, women, boys, and children, will be sold
VERY LOW FOR CASH
- - - -
[End of column 4]
- - - -
George Troutman. Edgar Pickett.
TROUTMAN & PICKETT,
dealers in
STAPLE AND
FANCY DRY GOODS!
NOTIONS,
Hats, Caps, Hardware, Queensware
Staple Groceries,
Oils, White Lead, Varnish and
Dye Stuffs,
Bonaparte, Iowa.
As we buy our goods at lowest cash prices,
we can offer inducements to buyers, and invite
them to call and examine our stock before purchasing.
- - - -
GREAT MEN WILL DIFFER
but all unite in the expression that
The Place to Buy
DRY GOODS!
Groceries,
and
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
cheap for cash, as well as to sell everything in the
Country Produce Line,
at the highest market price, is at the store of
H. Coolidge & Son,
Bonaparte.
Also, dealers in Drugs.
- - - -
HARDWARE!
Wolf & Dodds,
Dealers in
Hardware and Cutlery,
BONAPARTE, IOWA.
Keep constantly on hand a large stock of
Agricultural Implements,
and a full assortment of
Blacksmiths' and Wagon-Makers'
Materials,
Table and Pocket Cutlery, Nails--in short,
everything usually kept in a first-class
hardware store or demanded by the trade.
In connection with the above they have
also a well-selected stock of
Family Groceries,
including a
NEW AND FRESH SUPPLY
of all
Leading Articles
for
HOUSEKEEPERS' USE!
Country produce taken in exchange.
[End of column 5]
Submitted by R.L., November & January, 2006