Newspaper Page Text
Savannah fjUUy Jerald
BY S. W. MASON AND CO.
SIfIKNAH, TTTS3OAY, JAN. 31, i*Br,.
THE PSESEST HOUR. '
The only way in which peace and
can ba permanently secured
So o.hfs city is, first, by unconditional al
q<giancc to the United States Govern
rant, which will secure the co-operation
•4‘ tiie military power while it is here,
sad which will the more quickly dispense
with that- aid; second, by efficient ener
getic action on the part of all, to recon
struct social relations and municipal af
feirs on anew basis.
There are times in the life of iudivid
•tit when decisions must be made, which
wsV. affect them forever, for; good or
and it is with body polities as
*ith individuals. Not to decide, some
:s-is a decision; for the stream of
%uae runs ever, bearing os on and fixing
our destiny. Such a time has come to
the people of Savannah. They have
parsed through a period of insecurity ;
the mad fit is over. They have aid and
sympathy tendered them by those who
were recently their enemies. The poor
<*f the city are now eating the bread
given freely hi the spirit of that song
nice sung by the angels, “Peace on
earth and good will to men.” Now is
he time for this city to rise from its
fethasgy, and to show the world that
capital shall be made secure by the firm <
maintenance of law. Savannah has
suffered, she is weaker than she was four
years, ago, but she is not dead. She has
;»* rise from her ashes—from her
k-th irgy and prostration, Let each citi
zen, therefore, feel that he is part of the
♦diy, that he has a responsibility upon
him to do all that can be done to re
establish order, to punish offenders, to
make the place again one of the most
I*suifctful in the land.
Jtl ARRIVAL FROM FORT FISHER
We. received yesterday afternoon a
thorn Rev. W. H. Tiffany, of the U.
H. Christian Commission, who came up
sfr*nm Hilton Head in the steamer Nau
d\on, Captain Charles Foster. The
Naushon left. Fort Fisher on Saturday
morning last .
No reliable information had been re
ceived of the capture of Wilmington,
hut, the progress of our navy and army
had been such that its capture was con
sidered certain. Fort Anderson is the
.♦iffy imcaptured fort beiow Wilming
«Ron, and our navy have full possession of
me: Cape Fear river to within about a
4ozen miles of the city.
Now that bloekade-running is entirely
stopped it has seemed unnecessary to
waste life in an attack where less expen
sive means would soon be effectual
The army and navy were both in
splendid spirits, and confident of suc
<B«SSS.
NUW ILLO3TE ATE D EmflOX OF Wsß
***u.'r Dictionary. —We have received
somG. and C. Mcrriam, Springfield,
JBbisa., specimen pages of anew Illus
trated Edition of Webster's Dictionary,
jublfehed by them. It is La 1810 pages,
aoyal quarto, ha3 3,000 illustrations,
w&r 114,000 words in the vocabulary, a
abac steel portrait of Naah Webster for a
an elegantly illustrated title
fttgp, and many valuable features pecu
liar to it.
Tub Latest Northern Pa.m.rs are
an file at our counting room, il i Bay
street, where they can be examined by
May who desire.
FIGHTING THE TIGER.
“ Now You See at, and Now
You Don’t.”
Col. York ~ Don’t It.”
Devotees of the Sport Come to Grief.
We have not time now to consult Cye
lopedias as to the origin of the noble
games of faro, three card monte, and the
California .sweat-board. We are not
sure whether they are ancient or modem.
They may have originated with Cain,
the first murderer, Satan the first de
ceiver, or Judas Iscariot, the great trai
tor, for aught we know. We can only
speak of their existence in modern times,
of the green ones that have been pluck
ed at county fairs and benevolent pic
nics, in the recesses of gambling hells,
in the withdrawing rooms of drinking
shops, in gilded palaces at the national
capital, in hovels at the Five Points ; of
the swindlers who have enriched them
selves by the turning of a card, or the
dropping of the dice.; of the murders
that have resulted, the suicides that have
been committed, the disgrace that has
come to those who preferred death.
Gambling in the abstract is bad enough.
It seems to substitute Fate for Providence,
and ehance for. skill. It may make a
man rich without merit, aud the more
deserving man poorest- But as carried
on by the harpies who hover around ar
mies and horse-shows, it is an abomina
tion beyond most crimes.
Put horns and hoofs on a first class*
black-leg, and he could sit successful
ly for a portrait of the devil.
Professional gamblers arc usually ar
rant cowards. They sometimes slay un
armed men with self-cocking revolvers,
but they seldom dare even run the risk
of ball and chain for the gains of their
infamous calling.
A day or two since Lt.-Coi. York, the
efficient provost marshal of this city,got
a clue to the exist ence of a gam sling
hell iu our midst, where soldiers who had
risked their lives for sl3 a month were
decoyed into believing that taking one
chance in sixty was a good investment;
where civilians with starving families
were told fabulous stories of fortunes re
cuperated by a single throw ; where all
who entered took a step lower towards
perdition.
The den was on a prominent street,
but its doors were kept closed except to
the initiated, and its exterior could
scarcely be detected from that of a law-
office, a bachelor’s lodgings, or an
up-stairs counting room.
CoL York first made bis reconnois
sance, spotted his game, and took the
necessary observations. The sport was
in progress. A few green ones were
looking very green, a few anxious ones
were growing more anxious, and a
couple of knowing ones were exhibiting
their knowledge. Greenbacks were ac
cumulating on one side, by “a great
stroke of luck, you know, gentlemen,”
and the purses on the other side were
being depleted at a rate which excited
the manifest sorrow of the sympathetic
proprietors. “I am sure, sir, I never saw
a man have so bad a run of luck in all
my life ; but it reminds me of last night,
when I had just such a run,” said the
faro dealer, with the professional addi
tion that “I got it all back, though, a
little later, at a single deal.” So the
dealing went on,and wished for red cards
never came, and unwished-for red ones
always came, and the expected
deuce was always a queen, and an-
tioipated ten spots proved only aces.
Soon the tide of wealth ceased Sowing
in, for the players had all ebbed out. The
proprietors, throwing off their reserve,
with satisfaction gleaming from their
countenances, began counting their ill
gotten spoils.
• Then was Col. York’s opportunity.
With a single man in side arms he
pounced upon she gay gamboliers, before
they had time to hide a card, a chip, a
green cloth or a sweat-board. He gath
ered up their implements and their green
backs, and the gamblers he placed in
durance vile. TJiey will ne’er gamble in
Savannah any more, while martial law
lasts, unless they get, up a mutual game
within stone walls. The game of fiiro is
under military ban ; po more shall the
dice rattle upon the sweat-board; no
more shall rouge, et noir, of roulette, so
nice theoretically, so disastrous for those
who do buck, beguile the leisure hours
of the : unwary.
It has not. been decided what shall be
the fate of the captive show-men.
Their case is being considered. Wheth
er they are hung or imprisoned, they
will no more fleece unsuspecting victims.
A Word to the Clerk of the
Wkatheu. —What in the name of St.
Nicholas possesses the Clerk of the
Weather to prolong this “cold snap”
we have shivered through the past fort
night ? Has the fellow been North and
tasted the pleasures of a sleigh-ride, or
the sport of skating in the Central Park,
and does he now desire to enjoy the same
sports in this milder clime, or what ?
Certainly the weather is not only un
seasonable but disagreeable. It tries our
patience, disturbes our nerves, and
shakes the little philosophy we had left
us a few years since. The heavens are
clear and brilliant, and the sun shines,
but its rays have little of that genial
fervor that stirs the blood and makes life
enjoyable. It has not? that rich, gener
ous warmth that, suggests bursting buds,
green leaves, tender sprouting grass, the
songs of birds, and all the delightful
evidences of the approach of Spring.—
People go about the streets cold, shiver
ing and disgusted, feeling quite as blue
as the cerulean tinge the sharp air has
given their nozes They gaze at the
weather-cocks aud sigh for southerly
and baimy winds. All thi3 cold, north
ern rigor of climate chills ua to the very
marrow, and we pray for a change of
policy on the part of the Clerk of
the Weather. Wc want no ice,
unless it musingly jingles in our goblets,
when the mercury is asceuding the tube,
and we wish for no cold blasts, until
Sirius reigns, and panting nature craves
relief! We ask for a change.
Death of a Printer.— Mr. Valentine
Stanton, formerly 6f New York city,
and who has been for about fivo years
foreman of Mr. E. J. Purse’s printing
office, in this city, died at his residence
on Charlton street, on Sunday evening,
of consumption. He was au oxccllent
printer, much respected by the craft.—
He leaves a wife and two children. An
infant son died yesterday morning. The
funeral will occur this afterijeon at 3
o'clock, add will be under the auspices
of Solomon’s Lodge, A. F. M. s os which
deceased was a member.
Maj. Gen. John G. Foster, com
manding this Department, arrived here
Sunday night, and took the house of Mr.
Green, lately occupied by Maj. Gen.
Sherman, as his quarters.
The Headquarters of the Department
will remain at Hilton Head. Gen. Fos
ter returns to-day, in the W. W. Colt,
The Conflagration. —Many of those
burned out by the recent fire are suffer
ing for food and clothing. The Mayoi
has exhausted his means for relie ring
tnem, and suggests the appointment oi
a committee by the citizens to receive
contributions. Those who have food
clothing or money to spare for such an
object cannot bestow then* more op
portunely than now.
City Subscribers are requested to re
port any failure to receive their papers.
Our carrier is a faithful one, but his route
is new to him, and our considerate sub
scribers will, we think, have no reason
to complain, if they will tolerate slight
irregularities at first.
Advertisers should hand in their
favors before neon of each day; and even
earlier, if possible.
Tiiaxks — We are indebted to Adams
Fxpress, Capt. Spicer, Harbor Master,
and many other friends, for favors.
The Premise and the Station Mas
tbr.— At one of the chief stations on the
Great Western railway (says the Wes
tern Morning News) is a station master
noted for self-conceit and ffunkeyism.
His reverence for a person with a handle
to his name, is equalled only by the es
teem in which he holds himself. One
day. he descried a gentleman pacing the
platform with a cigar in his month. Mr
at once accosted the audacious of
fender and requested him forthwith to
stop smoking. The gentleman to«k no
notice of this command, but continued
his walk, emitting a silvery cloud.
Irritated by this disobedience, Mr.
repeated his behests more peremp
torily than before ; but stil 1 the owner of
the Havana maintained a provoking dis
regard. A third time the order was re
peated, accompanied with the threat that
if the obstinate sinner did not obey he
would bo handed over to the tender
mercies of the porters. The stranger
took no more heed than before, and so
at last, enraged, Mr.— pulled the
cigar out of the smoker’s mouth and filing
it away. This violent act produced no
more effect than commands and threats,
and the peripatetic philosopher continu
ed his walk quite serenely. Presently a
carriage and four drove up—an equipage
well known to Mr. as that of the
Doke of Beaufort.
To his inconceivable horror the re
fractory smoker entered the said chariot
and drove off in style to Badminton.
Mr., asked in tremulous tones
who the stranger was, and he felt ready
to sink into the earth when he heard
that it was Viscount Palmerston, K. G.,
First Lord of the Treasury. He did not
hesitate long, however; he at once or
dered a chaise and pair ana drove to
Badminton. Arrived there, he sent in
his card, and urgently requested a pri
vate interview with Lord Palmerston.
His lordship soon appeared, when
Mr. began a most abject apology
for having “so grossly insulted his lore
ship. Had he known who his lordship
was he would not have so treated his
lordship for the world.” The Premier
heard the station master out, then look
ing down upon him sternly, and with
his hands in his pockets, said: “Sir, I
respected you because I thought you
were doing" your duty like a Briton ; bat
now I see you are nothing but a snob.”
And thus ended the station master’s in
terview with the Premier.
Thb “spirit-striking drum” is Os quite
ancient origin ; representations of it oc
cur iu Egyptian sculptures of the six
teenth century, B. G. It was introduc
ed into Europe by the- Saracens, and
played probably for the first time in
Trance in 1317, on the cntiy of Edward
Third in into Calais.
“Mother, where’s Bill?” “My son,
do not let me hear you say Bill again;
you should say William. In the yard
feeding the ducks.” “O-yes, I see him
now; but, mother, what makes the ducks
have such broad Williams?” “Go to
vour brother directly, you little scamp, or
I'll box your oars.'’
