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About The Crawford County herald. (Knoxville, Crawford Co., Ga.) 1890-189? | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1892)
, Wins in , ‘ G a rage Conl pany Records of War. the -- nS ations of a Soldier at the Cannon’s Mouth. pur brigade i9 being held in reserve id is protected by the lay of the I fI the enemy’s fire. Shell ^ r ound from [and I round shot have heads, screamed and and the fizzed over our oping!'’ of bullets has been as con¬ stant as if bees were swarming about s. Here and there a man has gone u down or been touched in a way to make him scream out, but the loss has been trifling. The real fighting is all on our right Those men down there in the flame and 6moke are nearer death than we are, but they have the excitement of action to make them reckle s of the fact. Here we stand in lines waiting — faces growing a little paler all the time — men trying to jest and joke to conceal their real feelings. “Scream! Shriek! Crash!” It’s a rifle shell bursting just beyond us, and it comes from a new direction. The enemy has quietly planted a gun on the bush-covered ridge in a way to enfilade the right of our brigade. “Boom I Shriek! Death!” That shot was better—better for the enemy, because fragments of the shell wounded three men. The brigadier-general and his staff are alive to ^ 1C situation. An order comes to our colonel. A minute later we got the order our captain: “Attention, Company G! Right Shoulder—arms! Left face! [Forward—march!” detached from What have we been the regiment for? We move out by the flank along the line of an old fence for a few rods and come to a “halt!” “right face!” We can now see the gun on the ridge. It lias fired again and again, and every 6hell is striking men down. “Company G, we are going to charge that gun and take it!” shouts little captain from the head of the line. step three paces'to the rear. He IIow far is it to the gun? Not over I It | a second slope, in which rocks out- cro P And bushes grow here and there. I “Scream! Scream! Scream! They are working the gun as if its 1 fire was to decide the fate of the bat- Those we have left behind are us, and will be our critics, wc succeed, those who return alive will be heroes until some other oiwaid guide rig it. We are making an easy start. We ° Btcp out at “common tune,” . .. every el- , ° and , there , is . a tremendous . cheer , from , the brigade as we go down the slope. , T straight . ahoad. , I r doubt , .. lam looking , ,. . 7 that line even glimpsed .. . any man in t0 tllQ ri gld or left. 1 am wondering .. that . gun will be turned upon us; ..... r\„ Dur alignment is . perfect until we 1 rru ., - , , w meet the Ml dry , grass and , weeds , dre^ V. in our little captain re-forming , . fine as for a inrade Three men are watching us— and applauding. f,, We shall ■loop xj He will , be made , a major . J f or . ° lwar . cen er - me was never more steady on the ■parade ground. The man on my 01 Hsing in big throat. Exultation ias re p!aced ail other feeling. “O-o-o-o! Scream! Shriek! Swish! T he artiliery men have caught sight 1,9 at last and that shell just cleared ° llr I lea ds and exploded on the other **ope. Double-quick — guide center — charge]” shouts nr Jittle captain, and n ow we clicer and cheer and charge. Another shell—but it missed ns. Bullets from revolvers sing about li¬ —a mighty Cheer comes to on r ears from the brigade left behind—an 1 now wc drive ia, ° die smoke around tiie giin * it bad infantry support_ perhaps a company—and the gunners fought us hand to hand. There was hurrahing—cursing—yells of pain and screams of agony—blows with the saber and thrusts with ihe bayonet, and when we awoke from tlie night¬ mare the gun was ours and a regiment was moving up to hold the position we had won. 1 did not look back as wc moved down past the support to rejoin our own regiment in reserve. There was no need to. I knew the sight which would have greeted my eyes. I waited for the roll-call after we had returned. Nineteen dead and wounded out of fifty-six! Over a third of our command left on that spot! But we were cheered—hundreds shook our bauds—Company “G” hud won for itself a page in the records of war. — [Detroit Free Press. A Wall of Crushed Human Flesh. One of the most appalling mine dis¬ asters which have occurred in the United States of late years happened just about a year ago in H. C. Frick & Co.’s mammoth mine, near Mount Pleasant, Penn. An explosion of gas and lire damp killed 107 men in less than that number of seconds. The victims were literally blown to pieces. Heads were found a hundred feet from the bodies that had borne them in life. A mass of wreckage, in which were indiscriminately mingled the corpses of men and mules, was piackcd against the side of the fatal heading so com¬ pletely that it was with the greatest difficulty that the human bodies were extricated and removed. This awful wall of crushed flesh had been com¬ pressed by the force of the explosion until it was almost as solid as the coal itself. There was hardly a cottage in the hamlet that did not shelter munrn- I crs. f At least six women went vio- icntly insane over the loss of their loved ones. Two women, widowed by the accident, attacked Superinten- In March, 1890, a naked lamp on the cap of a mule driver fired a “blower” caught fire from the gas. Eight men perished. They were slowly strangled to death by smoke or roasted by the Every man left a widow and a family. The disaster in the Lane silver mine at Angelo, near Sail Andreas, Cal., in 1889 gained sadness from the fact that it came just before Christmas. Sixteen men were crushed to death by falling rock. Three of them left wives and children. — [New York Press. which may with profit be commended , . . and . of .... this to tho physicians nurses a physician of Pans, noting the strenu- ' objections . . entertained . A . , , by many ous patients . . of _ the . hospitals , ....... to taking 1 * medicine . because of its noxious taste, , . .. . ... . administered _ . . . . . ., the food - , of . the pa- oe in lie began of . tients. a senes expen- incuts to ascertain whether the taste of „ drugs , might . . . not . , be so disguised . , with food as to render them, if not ^ ^ , e(g objectionabl( , T " C 0l ' S> 6 " Ch “ S COd - |iVer CaSt ° r oil and tlie like, ’ he concealed ill 60ups, and , invcntcti . a a P eculiar bread known **..*.. a • 1 which many 1 persons 1 object strongly taking , . on account of its taste. Every ounce of this bread contains one grain of the lactate of iron, and the wou ij take in the course of one day’s n)Cal9 would be qu j te sufficient for all pa tj en t with a weak or squeamish stomach is often put to no little incon¬ venience or suffering by the abornni- able taste of some necessary medi¬ cines.— [Globe-Democrat. Better late than never—Going to bed* U. The Swish of the Horrible Whip Again Heard in Russia. Starving and Desperate Peas¬ ants Cowed By Threats. Although the statement that Alexan¬ der III. has determined to repeal his father's celebrated decree abolishing serfdom in Russia may be regarded as somewhat premature, yet there is every indication that he has this object in view; for* the new Tolstoi laws now in force restore to the “barincs” —that is, to the former serf-owner class—the administrative control of the peasantry; and the same year that has witnessed the definite disappear ance of the courbash, or hippopotamus hide whip in semi-barbarous Egypt has likewise been signalized by the revival of the infinitely more cruel knout in what we are pleased to call the civilized empire of Russia. And when I allude to the reappearance of the knout, it is not the criminal or political offenders that 1 have in view, but the unfortunate muzhik, or peasant. For close upon thirty years—indeed, ever since his emancipation in I8G1 — he has been allowed to manage his own affairs, elect his own judges, his own local elders and village councils, and lias been independent of bis for¬ mer master. That the “barincs” are determined to revenge themselves by means of the knout upon these peasants for the slights and affronts which the latter in the first exuberance of joy caused by their emancipation rendered them¬ selves guilty of towards ther former masters is evident from the tone of exultation with which the newly appointed administrators notified their muzhiks of the so-called govern¬ ment reforms—reforms of a retrogade instead of a forward character. Both the Grashdanin and the llusskaya Sliion, two influential daily newspap¬ ers published at St. Petersburg, con¬ tain among their provincial corre¬ spondence verbatim reports of several of the speeches made by the newly created “barine” officials for the pur¬ pose of announcing to the peasantry the inauguration of the altered condi¬ tion of affairs. Thus the noble land owner who lias just been intrusted with the control of his district liaine- ly, that of Graivoron, in the province of Kursk—called together the peasants now brought under his administrative control, most of whom are either his ex-serfs or their children, and ad¬ dressed them as follows: “Bee here, my friends, I am now your chief. It is me that you have to obey. Our lord, the Emperor, has in¬ vested me with power to punish or pardon you, as I see fit. Other laws will henceforth prevail in lieu of those which have hitherto been in foree. You have been accorded far too much freedom. That is whv you have become boorish, stupid and im¬ poverished. Drunkenness, contempt for your superiors, and atheism are now rife among you and you lend a willing ear to demagogues and politi¬ cal agitators. I am determined to make an end of all that and to punish the guilty ones. Remember, I am your first and last supreme master and you have no right to do anything without my consent. To those of you that are submissive, I will be a father; but to the disobedient, I will bo more terrible than any wild beast.” Another apostrophized the unfor¬ tunate muzhiks with these words: “The old times are coming back; the era of disbelief is disappearing, there¬ fore any one who gets into my way and attempts to show himself a clcv- , , . ,, ... of . , Ins . , head , and . nonsense out yours, if .. it . a costs . „ me every stick , in . ay, even my forests.” A third “barine” brought his speech that I won’t tolerate any appeals against the decisions which I am for your presumption. Should you trouble me with any such matters, I shall make short work, and either or. der you 60 many lashes or lock you np in the black hole.” Corporal punishment, wh^i In¬ flicted upon the peasantry, is limited ~FfT*Tnr; roticcs hundred lashes. As, however, there is no -cal supervision,and the “barine” district aduiinstralors are independent of all control, these is practically no lim¬ it to the degree of corporal punishment inflicted upon the unfortunate muz¬ hik at the caprice Of his local tyrant. The latter, I may add, has likewise the power of sentencing any of the peasants under his control to exile in Siberia without any other form of judicial procedure. — [Harper's Week- iy. Do Animals Play Games? Do the lower animals know how to play games? Such is the question to which a lady writer in a magazine has essayed to give an answer, and cer¬ tainly one remarkable instance which she quotes would seem to show that birds in their wild state “go in for” organized romps just like children at a Christmas party. Andrew Crosse, the distinguished naturalist, was one day looking out of his study window, in a house on the Quantock Hills. From this window he could see into a court¬ yard a little distance away, which was sheltered by walls and was remote from any noises or disturbances of any kind. By and by the naturalist saw a robin engage in dragging the apparently dead body of another robin round and round in a circle on the pavement. It looked just as if the live robin had fought with and killed the other, ami was indulging in the cruel triumph of pulling the lifeless body of its rival over the stones, as Achilles dragged Hector round the walls of Troy. Just as Mr. Crosse had come to the conclusion .that lire strange proceeding of which lie was privileged to be the witness was the termination of a battle to the death between two bird enemies, the live robin suddenly stopped and threw itself on its buck as though stark derd. Its wings were half distended and rigid, and its legs upturned to the 6ky. Never, apparently, had there been a robin more dead than it was. Meanwhile, the oilier robin went through an exactly converse transfor¬ mation scene. It had only been sham¬ ming dead, and now woke up into full and vigorous life. Seizing on its feathered companion, it dragged the latter in its turn all round the same circle, and repeated the process several times over. The conclusion of the scene was that both birds flew off to¬ gether to some neighboring trees. What the birds called this game, in chirps to each other, must forever re¬ main unknown. It has a distant re¬ semblance to tho favorite nursery pastime of human wheelbarrows, only that in the latter game the little boy who allows his legs to be taken up and who is trundled about the floor supported only on his arms, is all tho time very much alive. Of course, animals can be trained to sham dead when man takes the trouble to teach them the trick, and birds are almost as capable of learning games as dogs, as witness the performing bullfinch. The interesting point, however, dis¬ closed in this story is that a couple ot entirely untamed denizens of the woodlands invented a game out ol their own heads, and a game, too, which required some powers of imagi¬ nation, and that they carried out tlieii design in a brilliant style of execu¬ tion, without the slightest assistance from man, beyond the negative help of not interrupting—[Now York Ad¬ vertiser. Embroidery An Art. Embroidery in Japan is not an ac¬ complishment, exclaims Sir Edwin Arnold. It rises to the rank of serious art, which, like all the rest, is in the hands of men. Sometimes a dozen work for years upon a single screen. I saw one in Yokohama in which there was used above $6000 worth of silk, gold; silver and pearls. With us, very costly things are ,sometimes the mer¬ est rubbish, artistically considered. It is not the case with this needle paint¬ ing, which had rise perhaps in religion and has come to be somewhat of a religion in itself. — [New York Herald. A Misunderstanding. Cum so (after hia return from the parlor)—Lou, what made you say there was a gentleman and his little son in the parlor? Miss Cumso—The maid said there was a man there with a little bill, and l thought she meant a boy named William Tfuihrs SIgria 7 Two low whistles, quaint and clear, That was the signal the engineer— That was the siSnal that Guild, ’tis said, Gave so his wife at Providence, As through ti e sleeping town, and thenca Out in the night, On to the light. Down past the farms, lying white, he sped. As a husband's greeting, scant, no doubt, Yet to the woman looking out, Watching and waiting, no serenade, Love-song or midnight rouudelay Said what that whistle seemed to say: ‘•To my trust true. So love to you! Working or waiting, good night * 1 M it said. Brisk young bagmen, tourists tine, Old commuters along the line, Brakenien and porters glanced ahead. Smiled as the signal, sharp, intense, Pierced through the shadows of l’ro\ idence— “>' thing amiss— Nothing!—it is Only Guild calling his wife,*’ they said. Summer and winter the old refrain Kang o’er the billows of ripening grain, Pierced through the budding boughs o’er bead, Flew down the track when the red sheaves burned Like living coals from the engine spurned; Sang as it flew: “To our trust true, First of all, duty! Good night!" it said. And then, one night, it was beard no more From Stonington over Rhode I-laud shore. And the folk in Providence smiled and said, As they turned in their beds: “The engineer lias once forgotten his midnight cheer.” One only knew To his trust true, Guild lay under his engine, dead. —[Rret Ilarte. HUMOROUS. A man’s deeds live after him. So do his mortgages. Coasting is delightful sport for boys but it has its drawbacks. Jealousy will create heart burn and so will too many buckwheat cakes. <. Real clevaw fellaw, Baggs is, real clevaw fellaw.” “But wlrat is he clever at?” “Why, at being so dooced clevaw, don’t chew knaw.” Greenland has no cats. IIow thank-, ful the Greenlanders should be. Im¬ agine cats in u country where the nights are six months long! Every man in the world is telling what he would do if lie were a woman and every woman tells of tilings she ■would not do if she were a man. Doctor—Did you have much of a chill? Fair Patient—It seemed so. Doctor—Did your tooth chatter. Fair Patient—No; they were in my dress¬ ing-case. Schoolmaster—Scientists tell us the moon is inhabited. George (from tho bottom of tin class)— Then where do the people go when there’s only half a moon? A placard posled through a country town once announced the opening of the Theatre Royal “under the manage¬ ment of Miss--, newly-decorated and painted.” Foreigner—I was in your Congress once when the scene was noisier than that in a stable. American—That must have been when the “neighs” were being counted! A man never realizes how much waiting can be done in an hour until he waits on the sidewalk for some one who lias stepped into a house “just for a minute.” First Boy (threateningly) — Just wait till I ketch yer arter school. Sec¬ ond Boy (advancing defiantly)—Why don’t ye take inc now? First Boy (backing ofF)—Me mind is on me les¬ sons now. A professor in the medical depart¬ ment of Columbia College asked one of the more advanced students: “What is the name of the teeth that a human being gets last?” “False teeth, of course.” She—But why do yon say I don’t care for you any more? lie—Oh! I know I’m nothing more to you. Only the other day that puppy died and yon had it stuffed. Would you do as much for me? Miss Molly McGinnis—Y'es, tobog¬ ganing is all very well, but you don’t know whether you will come back alive or dead. Gas dc Sni'th—Er— you've always come back alive, I suppose, Miss Mollie? Brown—Bay, Jones, when you emne in late at night don’t you always wake your wife? Jones (pronptiy) -r-Never. Brown (surprised)—Ji*c- hosaphat! How no you manage it? Jones (with a sigh)—I don’t have to.
