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VOL. XXVII.—NO. 2.
OLIVE BRANCHES OF WAR.
A Mystery of Libby Prison. :
During- the autumn of 1861 I was quarter- |
ed in a brick outbuilding of a massive tobac- ;
co factory in Richmond, Va. This factory '
was the famous "Libby prison.” There i
were, at the time of which I write, about I
90(i prisoners occupying its main floors. I '
was not much concerned about them, ex- ■
cept that I felt a deep sympathy for the •
brave soldiers whose pale ami anxious faces '
I saw daily pressed against the iron bars i
of their prison windows, seeking to draw I
nearer to the free sunshine from which |
they had been cut oft' by the fortune of ;
war. I had visited the prison but once,
and then only to glance at a body of some i
seventy-five officers for whose accommoda- I
tlon a large room had been partitioned off. ;
They were kept under close guard, apart
from the other prisoners, and included all
grades, from brigadier general down to lieu
tenant. When I saw them they presented
the appearance of pupils in a writing school.
They had been supplied witli unlimited
quantities of ink, pens and paper, and they
were ali engaged most busily in writing
letters, whi -h aggregated many hundreds
daily, and were promptly dispatched to the
union lines under flag of truce, to be for
warded north, after due inspection.
Although true soldiers, the vigor with !
which they wrote seemed to indicate that !
they all agreed with the subtle Richelieu, j
that
"The pen is mightier them the sword.”
Their letters were all on the same sub- ,
ject, for they were seventy-live “souls with- I
out a single thought.” The event that sup
plied their interesting theme was the cap
ture of the confederate crusier Jeff Davis.
The rutme of that war vessel did not com
mend her to her captors, although it had
appeared thirteen years before m a resolu
tion of thanks passed by congress, to honor
an unsullied soldier, who by his skill and
bravery had secured victory for the flag.
of the union when, at the battle of Buena
Vista, it was abuut to go down in disastrous
defeat. The officers and crew of the vessel
were coniined in Tombs prison. New York,
under indictment as pirates, although she
was not sailing as a privateer, as even now ■
currently believed in the northern states,
but as a regularly commissioned war ship !
of the confederate navy. The authorities j
at Richmond being advised of the situation
of those men who were threatened with
short shrift, had set apart the officers to
whom 1 have ref rred as hostages, and had
notined the government at Washington
that such hostages would .be
hanged if the oflic rs and crew of the Jeff
Davis, or any one of them should be exe
cuted. To avert th- dread necessity for
such an appalling act of retaliation, its se
lected victims were abundantly supplied I
v, fth writing materials, that, they might ap
peal to th.- gov r.im.-nt to save them from
sure death on tii ■ scaffold, b_- dealing with
"so urn literally writ
in’ “f ' ; a ,übl
feeling that it was far better to pen a mil
lion of lines ti an to be dropped at die e
U 'l should state that among them was one
civilian Wt:t-' .He ‘ Vp was
of uiy’s flour mills al I.roy. N ; g
then :• ni .über vl <
from Washington in a.carriage with . -
eral friends to Virginia. Bull
witness'ng the Impending battle at ~
Run he left ''arrmge and went for
ward where he had a line view of the bat
tle, but his two prudent frion^ b> “
inv the union troops in rapid i. -•
to the conclusion that th< y
s’Luld not stand upon the order ot
to, ..- <-oim “but go at once, and so hau
incontinently fl"d with the a
their luckless companion afoot, lb was a
rt stout man, rather rotund in figure,
and i’ll‘ adapted f-r a foot race, and hence j
It was that he who hud so often ns.-n i.
.. ... point of order soon found
w ngr L about to b' raised on the point of a
navomt and was taken prisoner. While
the detention of Mr jould not affect
the military power of the I nited
bein ' a non-combatant, yet he was o. great
-S -I hostage, being a member oi
empress. He proved kmiself fully equal to
the situation, for he v-..s the ehampmn let- ;
1 r writer of the condemned group, having
amort decide; aversion to being hanged on |
the gallows. Elected, as !>.• ut.s, on ...n en
tirely different ; latlorm to thm. . ■•><»•'(■ J I
then looming up beiore hint, the hl • .
were addressed mainly to I resident Ln .
ct In and 1 is cabin t and me. fliers of con- ;
and although the winter could not .
claim to be quite disinterested, they effected |
the desired r< suit. They all passed out ct
prism, unharmed except the doughty eon- I
I ressman, who, 1 un lerstai d, sulf, red or
. that he a mm
Lt, red to himself during his prison life.
But I return to the real object of this ,
narrative, which relates to an event that, ;
at the time, concerned me more than tire
awful fate that hung over the hostages.
Directly beneath the room that they weie
coniined in was one about eighteen feet
square that I used for storing instruments
ami other material. My mess consisted of
live officers, and our far foraging cook had
succeeded in finding a farmer who had a
load of sweet potatoes for sale, which I
gladly purchase I, as they were something
rwh and rare thereabouts in those day:;.
They were real “ya Iler yams.” as he called
them, and 1 stored them in the room with
my instruments and a chest, which occu
pied but a small space in one c orner of it.
'J’hc potatoes amounted to eight bushels,
good measure. They had arrived in time
lor dinner, and we enjoyed them
greatly, for sweet potatoes were
sweet potatoes in those days of rough and
short rations, even General Robert E. Lee.
deigning to carry one well roasted, when
he could obtain it, in his pocket on the
march as a sort of reserve for dinner.
Fearing that there might be another key
In the building tiiat would l.t the mortise
lock of the storeroom, 1 placed a good pad
lock with heavy staples and hasp on the
dour. Early the next morning 1 entered
the room to issue more potatoes to the cook
for breakfast and dinner, and at once saw
that the pile had very materially dimin
ished since the night before, me uoor imd
been double le -k- d, and a careful examina
tion showed that neither lock had been
t-mper--d with. The staples had not been
disturbed, and I had kept the key of t.ie
padlock in my pocketbook, which had not
been out of my possession. there were
two windows t » the room looking out upon
the yard, about seven feet above the g. bund,
ami tl.’y had heavy iron-lined shutters,
whi<*h were well bolted tho inside. A
sentinel walked his post under the win
dows and th- onlv door by winch the room
could’ be entered was within plain view ot
Lim. It hid been a moonlight nighL and
i person entering the room could hardly
have escaped the sentinel's notice. I had
the potatoes measured in a flour bairel, .he
came that had been used to measure them
when they were bought, and, after a little
ciphering, found that there were just Jive
peek?) missing. Like the dusky Othello
when wrought, I was perplexed In
the extreme.” I had the pota
toes repiled with care, and the
sentinels instructed to keep a sharp lookout
on the storeroom during the night. The
followii®r morning I found the locks intact,
the windows bolted, and no evidence that
any part of the heavy plank flooring had
been raised, and no sign of a rat hole, and
yet it was evident, at a glance, that the
potato pyramid had been truncated, as the
mathematicians say, not that the potatoes
had been carried off in a. trunk, but. on the
contrary, for they had manifestly been
"bagged.” On measuring them again it
W’as seen that nearly a bushel had been
taken since the previous dav. They were
certainly taken after 10 o’clock on the pre
ceding night, for I had inspected the pile
at that hour, and it was all right. The
principle involved in a cause is often
greater than the cause itself. The value
of the potatoes, precious as they were in
that period of meager rations, was nothing
as compared with the imnortanee of trac
ing the agency by which they had been
abstracted despite locks and bolts and vigi
lant and sharp-eyed sentries. It was plain
ly an invisible and potent force that had
moved, like an arrow', through the air,
leaving no trace behind it.
lily black cook. Primus—peace to his ashes
—was of the old plantation fetish faith,
always carrying the left hind_ foot of a
graveyard rabbit in the right hand pocket
of his pants, and he suggested that "de debil
fly away wid dem taters.” While the cir
cumstantial evidence pointed strongly in
that direction. I was unwilling to believe
that the ex-archangel would stoop to such a
small operation. To solve the mystery, I
quietly entered the room that night with a
brother officer, and after opening a window
we saw that the potato pile had not been
disturbed. He then passed out. closing the
door, and turning the kev in the padlock
as if locking it, but leaving the door un
locked.
It was near 10 o’clock when I took my
station in the room, armed with a carefully
loaded Colt’s navy revolver. I sat on the
floor with my back against the wall at
the distance of about fifteen feet, from the
potato heap, and facing it. I was able
to distinguish objects in the room by the
faint rays of the moon that broke
D-inugh the drifting clouds and fell upon the
floor, although they were somewhat dim
med in passing through the dusty and cob
web curtained window panes. By 12 o’clock
the sounds that belong to the busy day,
what I lyron terms "the stir, the din, the
hum of men," had all died away and there
came the voices of the night. The cock’s
shrill clarion, mellowed by distance and the
barking of dogs in the far away farm
yards were borne to my ears on the still
night nir as I sat “chewing the cud of sweet
! n bitter fancy.” As the night deep< ned
■■ m< on w< nt down my st nse of lone
liness became intense and was made plain
ly so by ir.y acute hearing, that caught the
sound ot sighs c -l moans that came from
the sleeping prt,-mers lying on tiw
earnestly from my boyhood up to the prayer
in the beautiful liturgy of the Episcopal
church, invoking divine mercy "upon all.
prisoners and captives,” and that sound
touched me very sensibly. Indeed, it recall
ed me to the consciousness tiiat a groat
war was in progress, and awoke my keen
est sympathy for the closely guard-J pris
oners who were suffering for the sake of
that flag, which in my early youth 1 had
aided to uphold in many battles on fields
afar. I then ran into a train of speculation
on the probable issue of th? war, whether
the south would continue the career of
unbroken success thus far achieved to a
triumphant end for its arms, or whether
the brightest blades of its chivalry would
be shattered on the impregnable shield of
the union, and the cause for which they
wore fighting, "like the dew drop on the
.ion’s mane be shook to air” by the embat
tled legions of the brave and populous
north?
Just then I was startled from my musings
by a slight noise in the room, and I caught
sight in the gloom of a dark object tiiat i
looked like a bird hovering over the pota- !
to pile. As my eye fell on it it came down I
with a thud like a hawk on its quarry, and i
then rose a few inches and dropped again. I
I hurried to the spot and saw that the ;
strange object had a stout lino attached to ,
it that deeended from the ceiling. In my ,
sp( ial wonder it nearly escaped me. for it ;
rose up rapidly, and I saw that it was cov- !
ere with potatoes. I had been willing to
sell some of them to another moss, but I I
| had not speculated for a rise in that way.
i I seized the lino wh n n-arly out of my
I reach, and at that Instant heard a voice
! above me say, “Take hold, it’s hitched
’ down there!” ’rhe strong pull ,
I they then gave nearly lifted m-’
i off my feet. and I called out
i “Let go up there or I’ll shoot!" There
■ was at once a dead silence above, and the
j line fell. A city clock just th n si ruck 1,
showing that I had been dealing with very
! early birds. I lit a piece of candle and saw
1 that a hole about eight Inches square had
I been deftly cut through a phnel of the
i wooden ceiling, which, being in the shadow,
! had escaped my notice, the piece cut out,
no doubt having been carefully replaced so
as to prevent detection during Die day. In
fact I had never examined the ceiling, not
’ suspecting any danger from that quarter.
’ The device they operated with consisted of
i a large old time English brick, covered with
■ canvas, with about twenty sharp-pointed
I wrought iron nails projecting from the
i lower side, and bent down at the ends of
| the brick. Their broad heads were pressed
I close to the brick by the canvas, and were
I also held firmly down by strips of leather.
i It could pick up seven or eight potatoes at
I each descent, which were removed when
‘ hauled up near the hole, so as to allow
| Die brick to be taken in. The prisoners
I had, no doubt, seen from their windows lb ■
I potatoes placed in that room, and had de
• termined their location either by the sound
■ made in idling them, or thev had recon
; noifered through a gimlet hole. I had a
I patch of heavy nlate iron screwed over the
I bole, and, as additional security, I removed
i the r. niaini’-r of the potatoes from that
i building. I did not report the breach of
| prison discipline or seek to recover my prop
i erty which had been lost, strangely enough,
, by going up, as I feared that the prisoners
i might be punished or their small privileges
curtailed. But. while I sail nothing, I
kept up a devil of a lot of thinking on. the
irrenressible nature of yankee enterprise,
T. J. MAI'KKY,
Late Captain Engineers. C. S. A.
Should Stand Together.
i From The Nashville American.
Democratic senators must stand together;
i they must remember that the victory •v'nich
I scaled Grover Cleveland in the presidential
I chair was won on the tariff issue. It is
| apparent Io every one that the republican
| senators are uniting in order to defeat the
I V.’ilson bill, honing to receive the aid of
1 certain sore and disgruntled democrats. It
’ is therefore incumbent upon democrats to
i band together and stand firm in the fight
. for tariff reform. Tariff reform defeated,
j the party is defeated.
v<»«!«nv; K nassiM.’’
From The Daily American.
Governor Lewelliug and Mary Lease have
formally declared war against each other
and all Jayhawkerdom is excited. No man
feels more like seeing this fight go on than
the elongated sage of Atchison, the Hon.
John Jeems Ingalls. It may give him a new
Lease of political life. ,
ATLANTA, GA, TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1894.
A MHOML
MRTMI.
BY MARY E. BRYAN.
Written for The Constitution.
A forlorn figure she was. She was sit
ting on her trunk at a landing on the banks
of Red river, waiting for the down beat.
About her was a group of amused but sym
pathetic by-standers, and she was telling
them her story.
"I answered it in good faith,” she said.
"Here is his advertisement. I cut It from
a matrimonial agency paper.”
She took the clipping from her pocket
and read it aloud, her black eyes snapping
dangerously.
“I am a widower, thirty-four years old.
I live with my two little girls upon my
cotton plantation. 1 have 1,600 acres—more
or less—my own unemeumbered property,
situated on the beautiful bayou St. Lucas.
I have a nice cottage home embowered in
vines, with gardens, chickens, cows, har
ness and saddle horses, flowers, fruit—
every comfort except a wife. With a view
to supplying the deficiency, I ask a cor
respondence with some respectable young
lady, hoping to persuade her to
" ‘Share my cottage—gentle maid,
It oply waits for thee,
To add a sweetness to its shade
And happiness to me.”
"References exchanged.
"ALEXANDER GRAVILLE.”
"I answered that advertisement,” said
the black-eyed girl, sitting on the zinc
covered trunk.
"I was a teacher in a small private school
in New York. The work was hard; the
pay was poor. I had a stepmother at home
and a houseful ot' small half-brothers and
sisters. I wanted to get away. I—l—had
had a—disappointment”—the black eyes
filled—"and 1 was unhappy. I had read
‘Jane Eyre,’ and I—really thought that
man might be another Rochester. We cor
responded. He gave the postmaster as
reference. I wrote to the postmaster, and
he answered that Mr. Graville’s character
and standing were all right. He had a good
farm, he was honest and paid his debts.
“Air. Graville wanted me to come on and
be married at his home. I drew what
money I had saved out of the savings
bank, sold my watch and came on. Aly
stepmother was glad to get rid of me. I
got here yesterday. He had said he would
meet me at this landing; it would be a |
pleasant ride out to his cottage. I had !
written a letter jurt coi‘er exp'lt. ■ -ng,
when I W-, Jd ar;- ’ .-ue expected..'"-,/ t -
Gravill -’S. Nobedy cc-Yfcl an . ...
darky sung out:
‘ ‘Dat white 'oman mus’ mean ole Sandy
Gravel. He live back, here in the swamp,
but lie ain't got in ea’age to send lor no
body. Got nuthin’ but er cyaru Hit’s here
now. His son, Den, driv’ in to git some
pervisioii -.”
"Has lie a son?” 1 asked.
“Got a swarm of ’em,” was the answer. ;
“All done married but Ben.”
■'My mind misgave me, but I had no ■
place to go to —no money, so I hunted up
Ben and told him 1 was going to his lather s !
house. _le was a freckled, patched, stupid- J
looking young man. He looked at me with j
eyes and mouth open in amazement and
was so bashful that J retrained from ask
ing question:;. 1 never hinted to Ben lii.'-t
I had come on to be his stepmother.
“On we drove, over stumps and roots and I
gullies—through mu I and swamps; it seem- ■
ed to be twenty miles. At last we drew '
up before a dingy, two-roomed house with ■
a shed at the back. A few scruggy peach j
trees and a neglected grape vine were tne i
only green tilings in the yard beside the ,
weeds. A woman was milking a scrawny '
cow in front of Die gate. She had her ■
back to us and a sunbonnet on. Two (
shock-headed, bare-legged children sat on ;
the fence. They gave Die alarm when they ;
saw a stranger in Die curt; and a man, j
who hud been squatted in a fence ;
corner holding off the calf, |
got up and came towards us.
“That’s pap.” said Bon.
He looked nearer sixty than thirty-five. ,
He was grizzl. d and snaggle tootho I; his
neck was red and wiinkled. lie cam ■ up to ,
the eart. He was agitate i and ciiev. -‘d his I
tobacco wonderfully fast. 1 got up from ,
the flour .•■ack.
“I am Amelia Jones.”
He turned very red and told his s m to I
carry tiie sack of flour into the house. , '
“I wasn’t expectin’ you,” he said. "H’s
so long since you wrote.”
“You have deceived me,” I burst out. .
“You said you had a nice home, embowered
in vines and fruit trees. You said you were
thirty-five. You said you had only two lit
tle girls. You said you were rich—”
“No, 'l didn’t," he interrupted. "I said
i I had a thousand acres of land —so I have—
though a. big part of it is swamp. Acres
don’t make folks rich in these parts. 'I lis
ain’t New York. I said I was thirty-five
I didn't say I was a few years over, for I'm
spry' and yo'.mg enough for any woman.
I said I had two little girls livin’ with me—
said nuthin' about tiie boys. They’re ail
big fellows, and married and gone, ’cept
Ben. As for tiie house, ain't that a goo I
house?—double pen and a shed to boot!
! Don't leak unless it rains and got a first
rate chimney. And ain’t there a vine’ a.nd
■ what’s the mattsr with them peach trees?
—ain’t there fruitf’
“And do you imagine any y oung woman
in her senses would marry you and i ve
i here?” 1 cried.
- “Do I? V. ell, ther ,- s no imagination
; about it. There’s three women
married me and lived iv-re. Two of 'era s
dead and buried, and yonder stands totner.
I couldn’t hear from you. I concluded you
was playin’ me a yankee trick; couldn t
wail, nohow. So I married Miss Susan
Barnes, and if you .say she aUft a young
woman in her senses, why she—
i “Why, I'll show her—that’s what I’ll do,
said Mrs. Gravel number three, dropping
i her milk pail and rolling up her sleeves as
i she came to the side of the cart.
i "I begged Ben to drive me back to tiie
■ river, and here I am—waiting to take the
■ first boat. I’ve played the fool and I'm
i punished. It’s crushed all the silly r< m >nce
' out of me. liow I'm to pay my passage,
I don’t know. I'll offer to do chamber
1 maid’s work.”
But this Miss Amelia Jones was not
forced to do. “Ole Sandy Gravel came to
the front. He proved to" be not such a bad
lot after all. He rode up presently on a
bony mustang and promptly rave the little
“yankee chool marm” enough money to
pay her passage back, with an additional
sum to cover the expense of her com.ng.
' He had drawn on his cotton crop, lie look
; ed east down and sheepish. He explained
: to his friends in this wise:
i “I was a fool—a dog-gone fool; but 1
• meant it all honest. I put a kind of rose
. color over things in that advertisement. It s
the way vou do in the papers, so that young
postmaster' said. He put me up to it. lie
wrote the ad and the letters. I really
’spected to marry her, but I’d give my
| promise to Susan in a kinder joky way,
and she held me to it. I didn’t hear from
’tother one. Bayou was up, and critters all
in the plow, and I ain’t been to the post
office in full six weeks. I’m awful sorry to
disappint the girl; but lor sakes! she never
would a suited. Nice lookin’ —a fair daisy—
but Susan could jes’ go all around her do
in' house work, let ’lone talcin’ a hand in
the crop in the press of choppin’ out or
cotton-pickin’.”
Miss Jones did not return to New' York at
once. She remained in the neighborhood
several weeks hospitably entertained by
old Captain Stewart, a war veteran, and
his wife. She very nearly decided to become
the governess of the captain’s little grand
daughter and cast her lot with the "big
hearted southerners.” as she called us,
in spite of her experiences with the eccen
tric widower of Bayou St. Lucas.
But one day there came to her a letter
with a Now York postmark. On seeing the
handwriting, Amelia turned first pale th'On
rosy red. It was from the recreant lover,
and he begged to be forgiven and taken
back.
Woman like, she was ready to forget
her wrongs. She took leave of the friends
she had made under such queer circumstan
ces and returned to her northern home. A
month later, she wrote to Mrs. Stewart:
“Congratulate me, good friends; I am mar
ried to Jack anil as happy as a queen. Tell
this, please, to Mr. ‘Alexander Gravllle.'
He may’ suffer some lingering remorse lor
‘disappointing’ me, and 1 bear him not a bit
of ill will.”
A WOMAN TIGER-KILLER.
I nnstial Hunting Experiences of nn
Ollieit'l’M Wife in India.
Mrs. A. W. Salmon, wife of an officer in
the East Indian police, thus told a San
Francisco Examiner reporter how she. snot •
a ten-foot tiger in the Nilgherry Hills, of
the Madras district:
"Several hunting parties went out, but
in spite of the most thorough search, not a
single tiger could be found, and then the
excitement began to die down. The birth
day of one of the gentlemen was celebrated
by a picnic to a spot on the banks of the I
Bycarra river, about twelve miles from the
sanitarium, where we intended staying a
week.
"The camp, which consisted of seven
tents, was set up in the wildest spot imag
inable, and we had a very pleasant time
until the fourth day, when Captain Rays, j
who went out gunning with another gentle
man, had the misfortune to fall into a hul
lah and injure himself so badly that he
could not get out.
"His companion hurried back to camp for
assistance and, as the scene of the accident
was not more than a half mile from the
camp, ail the gentlemen went along, leav
i ig the ladies in care of a couple of then
servants.
'Thinking that hot water might be re
quired when Captain Ray was brought to
camp, one of the ladies sent Anthony, one >
o’ the servants, to the river not more than I
100 yards away, to till a water jar. A few 1
moments after the servant had started, we i
were startled by- a wild cry for help and !
ei ■’ 1 y quiet assctn.
■ tard the riv :r. TW , raw ■
■ 1 ul ; ?, ■*, ? ing from my sight until
I had reached a point al,out twenty yards i
from the river, and there I saw something i
that made me tremble with fear.
"There on the bank of the river lay poor I
Anthony and by’ his side, licking the blood :
ftom her paws, was a big tigress. For a
few moments the sight fairly froze my’
blood and then a sense of personal danger
and the thought that I should be the next
victim filled my brain.
"I’p to this time I forgot that 1 had a
rifle in my hand and then came a wild de
sire to try my skill with the tigress as a
target.
“All thought of what the result would bo
should I rim >t and miss or only wound the '
big man-eater fled from my mind as I sew j
the terrible brute pick up the body of the
servant and after inking a few steps put
it down again and eagerly lick the blood that
flowed from the wounds made by’ its sharp,
cruel teeth.
“As gently as possible I drew back the
hammer and raised the rifle to my shoul
der, and taking aim directly at the tigress’
ear, I pulled the trigger.
“As the report, rang out it seemed to me
as if a score of hungry tigers sprang at me
from every bush and rock, but this passed
away in an instant, and after reloading the
rifle, I took a look at the tigress.
“She was still stretched beside the body
of the man, tut the powerful limbs were
motionless and the head was resting on
the man’s thigh.
“That I had killed the animal at the
first shot, never entered my head and 1
sent a couple more shots into its body as
fast as I could, but the first shot had set
tled the business.
"I’pott making sure that the animal was
dead. 1 turned to walk back to tiie tents
when I heard the scream of a tiger cat,
which seemed to come from some bush a
short distance up the river.
"I rm perhaps very’ foolish to say’ it, but
I don’t think a dozen tigers could have
frightened mo just then, and 1 at once
started toward the spot from where the
cries came.
“At first I could see nothing, but after a
close search, during which I took care not
to venture too close to th.'' bushes, I caught
' sight of a half-grown tiger cub crouching
in the grass and ey’eing me as if waiting
for me to get a little closer. I was then
rather too close for comfort, and I quickly
i raised the rifle and fired.
’’The cub was facing me and the bullet
glanced from its forehead and only’ partial
-1 ly stunned it.
“The tiger dropped to the ground flat and
then rose’to its feet, but instead of rushing
! for mo as I. expected it to do, it began to
I walk away.
“This gave me a good show at its side,
; and I fired again. The tiger fell, rose, and
I then tried t • rush at me. but. its strength
I was gone, and before it had taken half a
: dozen steps it sank to the ground and
i roll-d over on its side.
“The noise of the shooting was heard by
. my busband, who hurried back to camp,
| wandering what was the matter. Learn
: ing from the other ladies that I had gone
out alone and that the shooting had taken
! place down near the river, he hurried down
i and met me on the way.
i “He was fairly horrified when I pointed
■ to the dead cub and could hardly believe
I his ey os, but when I told him the mother
i had killed Anthony’ and that her body and
I that of our poor servant ■were lying on the
i bank of the river, he was speechless with
j surprise.
Love’s .Mee Ung.
i Love, who met me on the way,
i Kissed life’s winter into May,
j And through hills of icy snow
Bright I saw the violets blow.
While, through clouds of stormy’ frown.
Streamed the splendid sunlight down,
And I heard not Lovifs sweet words
For the singing of the birds!
Love, who met me on the way,
i At my feet in violets lay:
Never snow upon a hill
Dreamed as cold, as white, as still!
And from heavens of bending grace,
Streamed the sunlight on his face:
And I heard not Love’s sweet words
For the singing of the birds!
-FRANK L. STANTON.
,A FOREIGN OUTRAGE.
: GISOnGIAIf BB-
L EASED EKOM A DUNG EOS’.
j _
Th-» Cnso of Mr. Oglciby—lie Wa« Held In
Close Confinement In Havana anti Denied
a Hearing—Our Consul’s Neglect.
Thomasville, Ga., January 4.—(Special.)—
r. C. Oglesby, whose imprisonment in a
Havana prison has created quite a sensa
tion all over the country, has been re
leased, as the following postal card, which
was received from him yesterday by his
mother and sister, both of whom live in
this city, will show:
“Havana, Cuba, January I.—Dear Mother
and Sister: I was released from prison
iate Saturday afternoon without a trial.
1 know nothing about how it was all done.
1 would have telegraphed, but of course
had not the means. I will leave Cuba as
soon as 1 can make arrangements to do so.
Therefore, it will be needless to reply to
this until you hear from me again. Lov
ingly, F. C. OGLESBY.”
Tn© Story of thu Case.
On the 27th of last October, Mr. P. C.
Oglesby, the brother of Mr. T. K. Oglesby,
formerly the private secretary’ of Hon.
Alexander 11. Stephens, was assaulted on
the streets of Havana by several of the i
armed police of that city. They robbed i
him and then bound him and conveyed him •
to the city prison. Information of the out- ;
rage was at once sent to the American i
consul, but that official did not call the i
attention of the captain general to it until
the 10th of November—two weeks later—
and no report was made to the state de
partment at Washington until the 22d of
November ■—about a month after the occur
rence of the outrage. Oglesby was prac
tically helpless, but lie sent in his protests,
and finally The New York World called at
tention to his case simultaneously with
The Constitution. The state department
sent inquiries to the consul and ten days i
later received an answer. As The Times-
Democrat, of New Orleans, says of the
"’iiiis is a most shameful showing for
the official who has oeen placed, with a
high salary, by the United states govern
ment .n Havana, chargeu wilh the (City I
of protecting with promptness aid vigor j
the person and property of every one of ils :
citizens there—no matter what their sta- i
tion —from unjust aggression. Wnat was I
he doing during the two weeks that claps- d
between tile u.it-,- of the outrage and tee ;
date when he at last found time to give i
a thought to the suffering captive who
had appealed to him and to address a per
functory note to the captain general? Is
it true, as suggested by a Florida paper,
that his time is so much engaged in at
tending balls and parties that lie hasn't
enough left for maintaining the honor and
dignity of the Amern an flag and protcctn:g
tiie persons of American citizens? V-e
read that the social festivites of the pres
ent season in Havana ar -of an unusually >
gay and seductive character, a id our Flor- !
idit-i WWW-. I
tention to his ulm-inl duty, the ?oone - lie .
is roiircd fr->i.i office the better it will be
for this country? ; *
••\s it is, we are compelled to contem- ;
rlnio the humiliating, dis' vnceful fact that I
a citizen of the FnitM Ststes was, in he :
month, of October last. ;:<-:-’atfl!>■<!, '
robbed and imprisoned by the militaiy .
force of a foreign government and lav |
in t>ris<>n t w<> weeks before tb< I nited
States e,,ns:il. tliom-.ii promptly Informed of ;
it took enough not! if the outrage to .
call the attention of that eevernm-'ti- to ;
:m<l <a f;ur on<i si efdy trial ja • ,
prisoner; and that lie lies there without a ,
trial to this dav and date. I
“And tins, we m-e told, is what is canstd- !
creci ‘prompt attenth n’ bv toe consul. \- > .
protest against the acceptance by tne ,
state department of tls< Fiavana consul s ,
action in this matter as ‘nronmt attention ,
V.e protest against .it ,m '
national it mtd dignity. ' b -'' ' “|
- FLo/FLLf.'Vgj \
from oppression, to save m u G '-’ . '• *■ ■
liboftv. or his life, and we would bring the ,
matter home to the’ m-ty’g seereiaty >. .
state bv asking if he would thtmc s”< h ac
ts,-n 'prompt attention’ if be v.ere the one .
who, smarting under such in'i'--' I '.!' ' 7 .
sword-taris on tlm mouth and i at |
arms lav waiting for-- •:■ '■ ■’ n■ " " !1
du-ige.-.n” Let the Dae:.na con-’i ; . a n
n life for a while and we a’-e con.. ■ ■ p -
he would St>ee. lily and radically nv ■<- his
fflerm of promptness iu-d as --•oon. .it 1 .
: t . h beLtn to f-I in his own nenm,
difference between that km-t ot h'< p 1 1
its . in the richly furnish' I consular on
th-G he 1- ts t. Id for neurL- ten years <-m-
: • ■ - in
stance as a nrecedent in t">; n ',-'‘
promptness, f r the go' j-'-a •* >'
and future consuls in smulai <-j .• J •.
a precedent which we hope
followed bv any A tnertea a. 'i>nsul. aml it n
one which we do not ' other
1„ -n s. t 'v the r.-nresenmtive M any o.mr
respectable ?<ov»w’nment oi* eat -a.
Our Havana. Consul.
In former years these outrages have re
ceived prompt attention. Tn the present in-
Lance our consul. Mr. Williams, a.t Ha
vana, is pm-dicnlly a Spaniard. H.s given
name, Ramon, is Spanish. He marri; d a
Cuban, ami during the ten years v.hile
! he has hold the otr.ee he has been consmcu-
I ons for his republican and Spanish sympa
! residing in Havana are indig
nant Thev desire the removal of tne con
sul, and say that the United States govern
ment should secure the release of Mr.
Ogle:-bv, with prompt reparation lor the
in jury and damage sustained by’ him.
V.-’li:it Anirrii’im Uoiimhlh Have Done.
Ir the better days of the republic when
we had Americans representing our govern
; ment in Havana these ont’-ams never oc
curred without prompt reparation.
It was not so when N. P. Trist, a. ir
i ginian, who had been secretary to Andrew
1 Jackson, was consul ft Havana, ami wrote
! to John Forsyth, of Georgia, secretary
■ of state in behalf of an American who had
I .-v i'identally’ killed a citizen of Havana.
; “The victim in this case,” wrote Mr. 1 list,
I "was thrown into a horrid dungeon, in
i company of wretches of nil shades of skm
I and crime, where, I am satisfied, a contine-
I Lent of a’ few hours would have certainly
I caused my death, and whence it proved im
practicable to obtain his release, even pro-
I visionally and under bond, until he had
I lain there a fortnight ” Here was a con
i sul who went to work for his unfortunate
! countryman as soon as he learned of his
i trouble, and who seems not to have tnought
I that there was much promptness in re
-1 leasing a prisoner two weeks after Ins m
! carceration in “a horrid dungeon. .v.ia
who was the man for whom this consul
worked so promptly and so effectively.
Simply a poor mariner, without money,
•md with no friend to appeal to in that for
eign land, nobody to turn to lor help ex
his country’s representative, who, in
coming at once to the rescue, on.y dis
charged his duty.
It was not so when Acting Consul M fl
li ini H. Robertson, writing to the captain
I general in behalf of another victim of
j Spanish tyranny and barbarity, said: -
I leave to call your excellency s atten-
i tion to this case. If the prisoner has been
guilty of an intentional infringement or
disregard of the law of this country he
has made himself liable to the consequences
ot his acts: but, at the same time, I must
observe, without any intention of going be
i yond what is conceded to the office that
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
I fill, that the government of the United
States expects of me to see that the accus
ed is fairly tried by a proper tribunal,
and allowed all the facilities he may re
quire for his defense;,but if, on the con
trary, the accused.Js Innocent, that he be
not subjected to ’uiinddessary delays and
inconveniences, but set at liberty.” These
words are commended to the earnest atten
tion of Consul K-amon O. Williams. They
are full of the genuine American spirit.
Mr. Robertson did not wait two weeks af
ter this victim’s imprisonment to make h-s
strong appeal for justice to tiie captain
general, lie made it within two or three
days afterward, and a day or two later hq
wrote to Secretary of State Marcy: "I feel
great 'interest in the fate of the unfortunate
man. and in his family, which will b<- left
entirely destitute, and wili . xert .< y-; r,’,
as long as I have charge of tills office, as
much as possible to obtain his release.”
Tiicre spoke the true ma-.i, th- manly man,
the roan with th-- milk -,f human kindness
in him. The prisoner in this case was a
poor printer on a Havana paper, who had
written a letter in whi- li Im expr< used his
satisfaction that) an American was at tha
head of Die paper, and who was conse
quently suspected of doing sonietmng, Itu
knew 1.-. i wh it, inst ti ■ cin-
ment. He was taken from Ins bed at mid
night and thrown into . kept
there a month bi.-fmv 'i • was alb wed to
communicate wii.li his IT: nd:- or ' T wile.
It was not so wh< n Consul ert IS.
Campbell J- trued one day of Dio arrest
of an American citizen, mid e.ib- i to sea
him thm very day. and on tl,-- following
day wrote to the i-a.pt-in general requt t
ing to be inlt-rine-d ot tiie cause ot the ar
rest.
It was not so v.h r -n ( Spain was la
one of her fits of frigid
mi American citizen n,is token ft■ m his
bed at midnight mid put in prison, beeait
of the bursti: of a ca] ■ > was pre-
paring iiis gun for she >tinp. excursi
to tiie country on tiie n< xt d and C’orrul
Campbell, the day after hc-ar> ■' ' u,
wrote the particulars to the secretary
state al V/asliington, r’nd asked: "(s it
n it the dutv of our g-.-ver-c.-'-nt to di-r.im'J
and exact full ind< rnnity to A,mwican cit
izens when arrested and imprison i by a
foreign government without cau e or on
frivolous pretex is ?”
It was not so when Spain, still crazy
with tiie invasion idghfm ’:••*. .•«
more suspicion a number of Ameiic? citi
zens/ on the Island of Contoy, and Consul
Campbell, as soon as heard ■ it
before the prisoners bad r--ached Havana—
begun vigorous measures for t’ • ir protec
tion by addressing the captain g-rm-ral
on th-- matter and informing the sei retary
of statu about it. Jone . Ciai'ton, of
Delaware, was th'-n secretary, and In* an
swer d the, consul thus: “If the facts re
la iing t • 'tieir cap! they are ri -
resented to us, the t--'e: iI- > -.itar t
Fillmore W’as nresid -nt Uu-iij “has <■•-,• Ived
that the eagle must and shall protect
them. Warn the cmitain g--n-rm tiia tis li
unjustly sheds one drop of .tine'lean blc- I
it may os the two countrie:
'■ The prisom . a lily liber
ated.
it was not so when John fl-linco was put
in prison and not allowed :
with his fri ;nds, wl
Die cause oi' his m i e-.t. "Tid \< ting <’■ nsnl
Moreland, two days afterward, wrote to
the captain general statin the cts,
d: “I, therefote, reqi st of our ex
cellency to have the goods " ; to :r -:e to
me the cause of the err st of Mr. r- 1 ’ ir-" .
so as to have the opuortuiiity, of mi'i-i
some explanations, or of nr king his d- -
sense, if he is accused of having eommittel
unlettered sailors, '■ -.lO'C • ' ; J
Marc.v to Mr. liobo-tson. " ■
wretched in<! -ed but for t
wl ich. as this ilenartmeiit hi s .- arnea,
m ve ex nile.i to 1
1,!,,. bl , j.-;.', I; -/O -Ct C• 1 <l< D
un’ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ;*
has excited sympathv t'm.j
this country, where th- r- J,
Honed of req mg
th<' executive of- insv-i'j.i tc c
apr.ear to bi in infri
■ - ri n: nt >i’ the rights ot Ai ;
izens. As you w-11 remarkjr '”■■/. “J
to Ihe « cptain genera t he
pledged before thi; country and the r .
to extend liis pro; tion ;-- ci i ;
United States abi'b-ni wr -a • ■•' ( *•; ..
find themseUes in di:’.prlF“S n ’ • •' 'J
on by mi int ntion D disregard ot
for the laws of cti-.T 'mimti'K - ,
make inctii b I - .dam.--, all
are equally entitl-'d to the care
and protection of the gc-vorniu--
\m., ! v.m, --• from t.- -’ >f ’ '
itics, unless the trial oe '■ -
i. rmin it autliet
charge:-'- against th s- .-merie.tn ■>i z .1,
■mH t'm proofs b” vlm-h :• is rm-posed tneg
ean be st stain d. '■ r tri ■ ison t> t -i
<l-'i>m tment, to be hud betoic t ie pre. t
I! was not so when D. M. B;- ••’inger. J,
North Carolina, renrosoi'.u-d t ms vox .i
--men’ it Mm’r’d. m oddr . --1 Jc- ! a... n
in ,! • • L. 'j ■. ...
tn th- c ne-:fl dutv - ' ; ' .■. ■/ '
pie nr.-lention to the ci.y-. - i.- o. - -
pubfi - wb'Tcver fomid. I an • ■
the r- nr.-s -Titativ.- I th- I'”” ■ ’ -
to fulfill' their it.
.-an . wi-tl in the s’-'ti"
Dio just fi 1 'its of ’i '■ T'”' ■" ” .
poor, nr" f'fllv and I n in ,-• <■ J
d. :'--rd- d. * ' * : mo ' ■ • 1
your excellency that, aitho . '' '
of the i nit ' ’, . '
ever to ma ■■ ■
of great inn wta ■ , ’
pct de jri V! il.'-T <in Alli 11 ,- • r
personal lib -rty a ; a
- until :■ i-” ,
deprivation be es'.m.- m-l
ficient evidence. While the gov rnnunt o.
her majesty is given ,o u.id-- ■ -I
ly that no ■ ■ hsu • y J
of his liberty in the I nm I -y m op ,
O I -m i ■ 5 i ■ ■ ' ''
or unfomnh • imnntalio: -. so in th sJe
u,.re» V eonfid-mp- ■nt I'lnato yncu.'K i.
and reeipre. .-.! "ent ir.icnt m; I e-mmv fj r
the government <-f bpam.
i nited f-'mtos would '’L
th- Fght ‘d- Spain, or that of, th. capta n
general of (tuba, undet an ’-'dy r< 01
*
mnFv'oFumt'island.' T’mt then tl. 1 right
L? ”''hts £
others."a-id 'consist-mtly • ith the usages
••nd laws of < ivilized n:G '
~. ir- ■ are equall? comi
whoDmr Giese laws h: ■ / y'y-
«i ~«■• usages improp 'riy in I' mey•-« o. - -’t.
’ It is tiie highest ' ' t' " “
~ i-..;t0,i gs >e.'-; to protect
ernmimt oi ’ ■■■ > . ~ ,
defend their citizens a-y-. '■ ■■ -a
and wrong, and it will cont> u ■a " d
wrong when it has reason to believe R hag
been committed.”
SENATOII JONES AND OLD .IfAN BROIF.V.
John Jones lives next to Thomas Brown,
And both are farmers too;
But Jones has credit in the town.
While Brown has run his through.
Both had an equal start In life,
And both worked hard and well;
23;rt in Die world’s great din and strife
One rose—the ot 'er fell.
The one is known as “Old .Man
His folks are stupid and good;
But Brown ami family are “down”
So say the neighborhood.
The other, known as "Senator Jones,”
Has a wife and children ten,
And his wise head and silver tones
Suit well this leader of men.
Broad acres, fenced arovnd anil tlllcd-
Fair daug'hters, manly sons—
A happy home, a purse well-filled—
All these belong to Jones.
If you would like to know the cause
Os ’his wide difference,
Now, mark you well, and pauset—
-I’ll test your common sense.
The Browns no papers'took—they thought
It a waste, as some still do;
But Jones—he bocks and papers bought—
And his family read them through! ,
—WALLACE F. REED.
