The Kennesaw gazette. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1886-189?, August 01, 1886, Page 5, Image 5

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

he run off a b-a-a-ing, and Aunt Agnes she said, “There now, that will teach you better than to chaw up folks’ straw bonnets next time.” There is a great many other things about a sidetrack that I could write, but I will close for this time. Pa says if I will study hard I may ride on the sidetrack when vacation comes. lam a studying hard and I wish vacation had come now. The Jigger. From Minty and the Cavalry, a pub lication which has just been issued, we make the following extract, which will be appreciated by every one who has roamed through the woods during the summer, and been attacked by the fe rocious jigger, or chigger, as he is known in this southern country. We will only add that the jigger, during the war between the States, as may be seen by this extract, showed a very nice discrimination in letting the southern soldier boys alone and attack ing only the Yankees. It would have been very hard on the Confederates, if, in addition to hav ing Sherman’s one hundred and ten thousand soldiers popping away at them with rifles, or banging away with big Parrott guns, they should also have had the jigger assaulting them on their flanks or in their rear. It took Sherman’s one hundred and ten thousand men about one hundred days to push Johnston’s less than six ty thousand men from the neighbor hood of Dalton to Atlanta. During this time, both armies used every ex ertion to improve each opportunity which lay in their way as brave and skillful men. We had always been ata loss to un derstand why it was that Sherman’s progress was so slow; but now it is explained. The northern soldiers were so busy scratching jiggers that they could neither march nor fight all the time. For instance, after the Confederates evacuated Cassville and fell back south of the Etowah river, there was no of fensive movement of special note for several days. The public at that time supposed that Sherman was bringing forward his supply trains and taking time to organize his forces for the hot work which awaited him south of the river, but we have now found out that the apparent halt was caused by the Confederates turning loose the jiggers upon them. Just imagine General Sherman sit ting down in his tent scratching jig gers with both hands, cursing the mis hap which had overtaken his army. Imagine the wise and sedate Thomas, frantically cailingjo the scholarly and genial McPherson —“Here Mac., for gracious sake,’ come and help me, by scratching these jiggers that have nip ped me right in the small of the back!”—and then, the latter’s reply, as he sat with his pantaloons rolled up above his knees, with his fingers racing up and down each limb, “I would be mighty glad to help you, Tommy, but the truth of the matter is, I am in need of eleven more fingers myself, just at this minute. Confound them jiggers!” ■imeehh THE GREAT KENNESAW ROUTE GAZETTE. Then imagine the division command ers, the brigade commanders and every private soldier clawung away for dear life at the invisible jigger. It was a scene worthy of the brush of Michael Angelo, or some other big fellow with a brush and pot of paint; and then, how the Confederates must have laughed with fiendish glee over the fact that they had temporarily checked the advance of Sherman’s en tire army by throwing forward the in visible columns of jiggers. “Oh, you jigger! you jigger!” How mighty were your works, and how po tent were your efforts in behalf of the Southern Confederacy. But for your aid, we can imagine that the war would have been over in less than a year, and the soldier boys would have come marching home three years sooner than they did. “Oh, you jigger! You jigger’” But here is the thrilling recital of your mighty deeds as told by one of the sufferers : “A still more dreaded ambush was laid in the briers and thick under growth of the more open country into which the unsuspecting ‘Yank.,’ if avoiding, in wise though saddened ex perience, the deserted camp, the de ceitful shelter and the umbrageous for est, sought safety in the tangled brush or grassy hillside; for there in serried millions lurked the invisible jigger; the less, but not the least of all the aids to the rebellion. The jigger was an original secessionist, bitter, determined, and unrelenting in his attacks upon the Union army. He must certainly have belonged to the secret service branch of the Confederacy; lying in wait in unsuspected places, and with fiendish malignity sought rather to torture than to kill his enemy. His ' favorite mode of warfare was to get upon his enemy when unable to resist, and burrowing under the epidermis, raising the skin in great flakes from the flesh, thus flaying his victim alive. He delighted more in skinning a Yan kee than ever did the lordly slavehold er in ‘walloping a nigger.’ Oh, you jigger! You jigger! You were the least, but still the worst of all the pro ducts of rebeldom. Your hated mem ory is enough and so your portrait is omitted.” Apropos of the jigger, an amusing incident occurred recently at a picnic party at Iceville, a charming and well known picnic resort on the line of the Western & Atlantic railroad, near the Chattahoochee river bridge. As the party was going down on the train the conversation turned on “jiggers,” and some time thereafter, when the pic nickers had been enjoying themselves, roving through the beautiful grove, a lovely and innocent young Miss from the Northwest, who was visiting one of At lanta’s fair belles, a former school mate, came running up to one of the chaperones of the party, her face all flushed with the gentle exercise, her ■ beautiful eyes bright with youth’s ex citement, and exclaimed, “Oh! Mrs. , I’ve been looking everywhere for some jiggers! Where can I find them ?” The lady, much amused, look ing toward her husband, replied: “You ask Rob., he knows all about them.” Rob. was appealed to. He answered, “You haven’t searched in i the right place.” “But where must I look?” quickly persisted the fair girl. Rob., much amused, and with good natured mischief dancing in his eyes, replied : “The jigger has always been considered as a wise and sagacious in" sect, possessing fine discrimination in his se’ection of the good things of life, and when you go home to-night, be fore retiring, if you don’t find any, then the jigger is a bigger fool than I take him to be, or have been led to be lieve he was.” The wiser and more experienced ones of the party laughed heartily at this sally, though the fair visitor was still mystified, but it was said, later devel opments proved the jigger was no fool. The First Steamboat on the Coosa wattee. About 1870 the Oostanaula river, from Rome up to east of the Western A Atlantic railroad bridge at Resaca, was opened for navigation by the United States government, as also was its principal southern tributary, the Coosawattee —the latter from its junc tion with the Connasauga, near Re saca, to Carter’s Landing, about 40 miles eastward, immedately at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The first steamboat that came up, passed safely under the railroad bridge and soon afterwards reached the Coos awattee river, and proceeded towards Carter’s Landing. Within an hour or so, during the forenoon, she arrived at Governor (now Senator) Brown’s farm. A drove of young mules seeing the new-comer puffing and making other unusual noises, as she came up the stream, trotted down to the bluff to investi gate. The engineer noticed them as they stood shyly near the edge of the bluff, pricking their ears, stretching their necks forward, curiously, yet somewhat timidly, looking at the boat as it advanced towards them, and re solved to have some fun. He gave a long shrill blast with the whistle, and, as quickly as a flash, the entire drove, of nearly twenty, turned and darted away. There was a rail fence about twenty yards behind the bluff; but they went right through this, scatter in’! the rails in all directions, and stain peded through the forest. Not so, however, with a big bull which was “lord of the brute creation” on the farm. He had arrived at the scene of action just as the mules left it suddenly and precipitately. Hear ing the sound of the whistle he set up a counter bellow which amounted al most to a roar. Coming to the brink of the precipitous bluff, which is about twenty-five feethigh, he glared fierce ly at the boat, pawing the ground, lashing his tail, tossing his head and seeming determined to try conclus ions with it. The engineer gave another long blast, but this only evoked a fresh burst of defiance from the bull. See ing that the monster was proceeding up stream, he followed, roaring, paw ing the ground and making every demonstration of hostility and rage. Within a short distance, however, he arrived ata deep ditch, which had a fence on the other side, which it was impossible for him to cross. The boat proceeded rapidly up stream, the engineer tooting the whistle and the bull standing on the edge of the preci pice bellowing his wrathful challenge at it. He remained until, as he con sidered, it had fled from him, and then came back into the field, shaking his head, and showing other signs of un appeased wrath. An Amusing' Incident. One of the train-hands on the West ern A Atlantic railroad, whose mother was, by the late advance of Sherman’s forces on die line of the road, thrown into the enemy’s lines, attempted, and succeeded in paying a visit to the old lady ; but on bis return, in passing warily through the woods, he, at some short distance before him, discovered a stalwart Yankee with musket in hand, who at once hailed him. Not understanding what the Yankee said, and not being armed to defend him self from so formidable a foe, he “made tracks,” that is, ran from the Yankee as fast as his legs could carry him. But Yankee was not to be outdone; he, too, ran, pursuing our train-hand, shouting at the top of his voice for him to stop —but, “nary stop” did our fly ing friend make, until “Yank” had fairly run him down. (These Yanks can run much faster than our boys.) Terrified, he begged for his life. But what was his surprise, when the Yan kee told him to take his musket, and lead him, as a deserter, into the Con federate lines —that he was tired of the war, and wished to surrender to. the rebels. He was, therefore, march ed into our lines at Big Shanty, where, while “train-hand” was proudly nar rating in the parlor of the hotel there, the gallant feat he had performed in bringing in the deserting prisoner, “Yank” was amusing a number of per sons in front of the house, with his ac count of the capture and surrender, which caused no little merriment at the expense of our adventurous train hand, who is still, we are told, not a lit tle sore at his singular adventure, though, perhaps, pleased at not being a prisoner himself. — Atlanta Intelligencer > June 14,1864. From the Atlanta Intelligencer, April 27, 1864. Female Yankee Surgeon. Dr. Mary E. Walker, assistant surgeon in the Yankee army of Ten nessee, captured, a few days ago, near Tunnel Hill, was received in this city last evening, and was committed to the female department of Castle Thun der. She was dressed in male attire, except a Gypsy bat, and wore a hand some talma. As she passed down the streets to the Castle, in charge of a de tective, the odd figure she cut attracted a great crowd of negroes and boys, who beset her path to such a degree as to much obstruct her progress. She was very indignant at being taken prisoner, protesting that at the time of her capture she was on neutral ground. Richmond, Dispatch. The Kenesaw Route is the only first class and reliable route to Chattanooga from this place. Only line running through cars to Memphis, Little Rock ; connecting closely with trains for Ar kansas and Texas points. Only Line running sleeping cars from Atlanta to Nashville, St. Louis and Chicago. The Kennesaw route is the shortest. 5