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hlß' 10 ill wk if 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.