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Vol. II No. 43.]
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Site SfiShiagtoaiaa
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Mr. Water’s Letter.
Mr. William Gillam of our town, has
kindly furnished us with a copy of a let-j
ter received by Maj. Philemon Sclioppcrt.
of Newberry C. H., from Robert G.
Waters, formerly of this State, who was
taken prisoner at the battle of Meir, in
TEfexas, and for a long time confined as a
in the Castle of Santiago, near
city of Mexico. The letter, which
* we publish this week, will be found inter
esting, containing a graphic description
of the sufferings and hardships of that
brave but unfortunate band, who so long,
and for a time so successtully, did batth
against such fearful odds ot Mexican sol
di: rs, at the celebrated Town of Meir.
Vfe be -'ve Mr. Waters is a native of
Newberry District in this State, where
he still has many relatives and acquain
tances, who will no doubt he gratified to
Mara from the postcript of his letter, that
has been released from captivity, and
Ars probably by this lime reached his
Sfcme in Texas. Mr. Waters, we under
stand, nephew of Mr. Gillam of our
JydWik.-4*s>. C. Temp. Ade,
feS v\Ti ago. Near Mexico, Jan. 8, 1844.
I Dear Brother, —Thinking you, with
rest of my relatives and old acquain
tances, would be glad to hear from me, i
Hkko this opportunity of addressing you
f with a lew lines, which, although it will
Abut give you a tull detail of all the ups
■and downs I have experienced since I
nsuw you last; will nevertheless inform,
■you, that I am still in the land of the liv-
Bing. I have been a prisoner in thi.-;
■abominable country, for more than a year j
l|as I was taken (he 26th December, iß4*2.
wit Mier, a small town on the Rio Grande
Btdicre, with a party of two hundred and
Bixty-two Texians, we entered the town.'
Believing we would have to contend with I
800 or 1000 Mexicans. We fought 18 j
Bours, driving and beating them back in
fflevery attempt they made to advance on
Jus, until they discovered a man we had
left the evening before, who had broken;
his thigh from a tall, with whom we had
left a guard of ten men. When the Mex
icans discovered them, they surrounded
the little party immediately; but the ten
men kept them otf, seven or eight hund
red in number, until they brought their
cannon to bear on the hut they were in,
which mode of attack soon reduced them |
to the necessity of surrendering or charg
ing near one hundred times their own!
dumber. Preferring death to surrender-!
fag, nine of them leaving the Sergeant
frith the crippled man, rushed from the'
feouse, and five of them succeeded in get-i
, ■pg into the town of Mier, the remaining
jfefcir were killed. The Mexicans entered;
jle house, in which the wounded man
lying, and put him to death instantly,;
the Sergeant prisoner, whom they
tons with a flag of truce, in
■feruling us that we were fighting three
jßpusand, instead of one thousand, and
Pwit if we did not surrender, we would
be put to the sword. After a parley,
■our little party being divided in their
opinions, some thinking it best tosurren-
MHr, and but a small majority in favor of
Sighting out, our Commander Col. Fisher, '
jEiught proper to surrender, which was
HBe under what we thought, very favor- 1
stipulations; but after our arms were 1
L wen away, there was no regard what- I
[ *fer paid to these stipulations. i
®t would be useless were I to attempt I
iffo give you any thing like a full ac-J
I of our suffering, as you might think <
|it fiaggerated; but from the first hour i
f oTour captivity to the present, our trials I
f Bpe been bitter in the extreme. We i
Jfe re marched offfior the city of Mexico, I
*Bder a guard of three times our number,
we determined to charge, and s
t Bke one more effort for liberty, but it <
j AM deferred too long, and we had got too 1
AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1844.
far into the Mexican country for us to
make our escape. But Texian like—
looking to nothing but the present, on
the 11th February, 1843, at a place call
ed Solado, we rushed on our guard, with
a fair fisticuffs, against muskets and bayo
nets, and soon succeeded in whipping and
taking their arms from a part, and driving
the rest of the guard from the field, which
left us freemen once more, with arms in
our hands. We had five men killed, and
three wounded, who could not travel with
us. These we left behind, with some
twelve or fifteen, who preferred remain
ing prisoners, to taking the chance of
making their escape through the moun
tains of Mexico to Texas; we having up
watds of four hundred miles of a wild
mountainous country to traverse, ere we
' could reach our homes. Our main body
was now reduced to 207 men, and we
took up the line of march, determined to
make a desperate struggle for qjhr liberty
—but having no knowledge of the rout
over which we had to travel, we lost our
wav in the mountains, amongst which we
wandefed seven days without water, du
ring which time, cur sufferings Surpassed
all which horror could imagine.' On the
ninth day after our break from the guard,
most o( our companions surrendered
1 themselves again to the Mexicans, who
iiaving gathered in large numbers, and
| Having possession of the only pool of
water in the vicinity around about them
1 we were too weak to take the water by
force of arms; a number of our men hav
ing already thrown away their guns, were
.so weak, they could scarcely walk. In
fact, we had left several, who had sunk
down to die the horrid death of starvation
and thirst by the way-side in the wilder
-1 ness. Being in this deplorable situation,
Capt. Camron, who wa3 now our Com
-1 mander, thought it best to surrender, the
1 most of the men themselves
willing to be shot for one good drink of
water!! The surrender being made at
night, whilst our party was advancing on
the Mexicans, I determined to make one
i more struggle, and with one companion
l put back again into the mountains, de
termined that nothing but a sure prospect
of death, should ever put me in their
I power again. I remained in the moun
! tains eleven days, which made in all twen
ty days; during which time I had suffer
i;eJ all my nature and constitution could
;l>ear. So it was either to lie down and
[die, or to throw myself into the power of
jthe Mexicans, which I did bv going to a
house, and giving the people to under
stand by signs, that I was nearly starved,
when they gave me and my companion
,J is much food as we could eat, and as
.soon ns we were able to travel, we were
| timed over to the military, and were
I marched back to Sahilia, where we found
most of our companions in handcuffs—
and in a few days we were marched from
ihat place to Salado, the place where we
i resisted the guard, in chains, two and two
together, where we arrived on the 25th
March, and where we were informed,
that in accordance with an order from
the magnanimous nation, every tenth
man among us was to be shot. The order
was immediately executed, deciding who
should be the fortunate and unfortunate,
by placing beans in a stone jar,—a black
bean, betokening death—and a white
ibean slavery ! 1 was either so fortunate
mr unfortunate as to draw a white bean,
and the seventeen of our companions wh*o
| drew black ones, were led out and iuhu
i manly murdered, not in our sight (as has
jbeen stated) but behind a wall, from
■ whence we could hear every groan they
| uttered. The next morning we were
marched off for Mexico, suffering on the
route all that prisoners ever did suffer, not
being half fed, and kept closely hand
cuffed. Several died on the road, and
when we arrived within thirty six miles
of this place, on the 26th of April last,
Capt. Camron was taken out and mur
dered. The next day we were marched
to this place, where we have endured
chains and sufferings up to this time, be
ing compelled to labor with heavy log
chains to our legs, two men being chain
ed together with a chain about nine feet
long. Our numbers are much reduced,
and from a calculation we made a day or
two since, out of 262 who crossed the
Rio Grande, there now remains one hun
dred aud fifty-nine, and we are dying off
rapidly. The majority of my companions
have been removed from this place to Pe
rote, where they are from ail accounts
treated worse than we are here.
The above statement will give you
some idea of my present situation, and
doleful as it may appear, I have some
hopes of surviving, as my health is bet- 1
j ter than it has been at any time since!
- August last, though I may tie doomed to;
1 drag out a number of years in these|
- walls. lam caged up here with crimi
-1 nals, all Mexicans, kept in this prison.
■ and it is with these detestable wretches,-
I that we are compelled to eat, sleep, and!
t associate. The most of us are in very I
s low spirits, for we believe that the civii
i ized world has given us up to this hypo-
I critical, heathenish, uncivilized, barbar
i ous people, and if the world has deter
t mined to leave us to our fate, our case is
• a bad one indeed! We hav . found a
I’ very particular friend in General Waddy
-Thompson, from South Carolina, whoJj
■ believe has done all he could do for our
1 comfort, and has manifested untiring es
-2 forts in endeavoring to obtain our release.
To me he has been “a friend indeed.”!
i for he has advanced me what money I
i wanted, without which aid, I have no
f doubt but that I should have died long!
t since. Any marks of gratitude that my
r relatives and friends in Soyth,Carolina.
? may have in their power to bestow on
- General Thompson, will be the greatest;
J favour they can bestow on ino, and will
e thus add to the thankful feelings I have
. experienced from his kindness. I hope 1
1 that neither my friends nor relations, will !
o suffer my situation to trouble them, as it
J is out of their power to do me any good.
1 If I am lucky enough ever to reach home,
i (which is Texas my adopted country,)
y you shall hear from me again. It will
-iscarcely he worth your while to attempt
e to get a letter to mo whilst I am here,
i though I should like much to hear from
<■ you. In my account above of the battle!
i of Mier, I omitted to state the loss on!
- both sides, which was of Texians, II
, killed, 20 wounded, (most of the latter:
• recovered.) Mexicans, over 500 killed,!
e and over 200 wounded, (most of the lat-l
s ter died,) and though we vanquished 10
1 to one, yet by bad management, we are
t prisoners in this detestable prison. Give
1 my love to all relatives, and my best re
-2 spects to enquiring friends,
u Yours,
R. G. Watebs.
t Maj. Philemon Schoppert,
r Newberry C. 11., S. C.
Nf.w-Oki.eans, Feb. 28,1844.
I arrived in this city last evening, where
1 l overtook my letter to you, which I had
I written in Mexico, a month or six weeks
f since. I have been released, through the
i influence of Gen. Thompson. I will
• write again on my arrival at home, in
, Texas, where I shall go by the first op
-1 portunity. Yours,
s Robert G. Waters.
j
s The Rose.
1 BV MRS. 81GOUK.VEV.
I saw a rose in its perfect beauty; it
1 rested gracefully upon its stalk, and its
2 perfume filled the air. Many stopped to
) gaze upon it; and its owner hung over it
i with delight. I passed again, and be
, hold it was gone—its stem was leafless,
i its root had withered; the enclosure
i which surrounded it was broken down
r The spoiler had been there; he saw that
>!many admired it; he knew it was dear
,|to him who planted it; and beside it he
c had no other plant to love. Yet he
3 snatched it secretly from the hand that
; cherished it; he wove it on his bosom
, till it hung its head and faded, and when
> he saw that its glory was departed, he
- flung it rudely away. But it left a thorn
5 in his bosom, and vainly did he seek to
i extract it; for now it pierces the spoiler,
1 even in his hour of mirth. And when I
i saw that no man who had loved the
' beauty of the rose, gathered again its
t scattered leaves, or bound up its stalk
• which the hands of violence had broken,
I I looked earnestly at the spot where it
s grew, and my soul received instruction,
i And I said let her who is full of admira
tion, sitting like the queen of flowers in
1 majesty among the daughters of women
I let her watch lest her vanity enter her
• heart; beguiling her to rest proudly upon
[ her own sirength ; let her remember that
■ she standeth upon slippery places,, “and
be not high-minded, but fear.”
Look Within.
Yes friend, that’s the place for won
ders. You’ll find enough for contempla- I
' tion there. So do not gaze forever upon |
outward show and things of sense. Shut '
up the ear upon the noisy world ofsteam
and politics, and cease to strain so anx
iously, the vision after comets and event- i
ful signs. Repress that strong Athenian t
desire for ‘some new thing’ that urges on «
the gaping multitude. Close your sen-i
ses to the world without,and contemplate|t
the world within. Look into the depths
of your own soul, and you’ll find myste
rious things and wonders enough to think;
about continually. Reflect upon its fear-:
iful energies, its mighty capabilities of!
pleasure and of pain; consider itseter-j
nal destiny—its abasing servitude in sin!
and its redemption thence; remember
that your bliss or misery—your all is
staked in it forever ! With all your gaz
ing after strange phenomena, do not for
get to turn the eye within!— Watchlower.
Home. —What a feeling does that sim--
ple word convey to his cars who knows
the real blessings of a home, that shelter
from the world, its jealousies and its en
vies, its turmoils and its disappointments;
where like some land-locked bay, the still
Icalm waters sleep in silence, while the
jstorm and hurricane are raging without;
'where glad faces and bright looks abound;
where each happiness is reflected back:
-from every heart and ten tirpes multiplied
and every sorrow comes softened by con
solation and words of comfort; and how
j little like this is the abode of the great
I j leader of fashion ; how many of the fair
tjest gifts of humanity are turned back by
'[the glare of an hundred wax lights and
i j the glitter of gilded lacqueys; and how
| few of the charities of life find entrance
where the splendor and luxury of volup
. tuous habits have stifled natural feeling.
| The Quizzler, Quizzlcd.
On a recent occasion of a medical pro
, lessor delivering practical lectures to the
i public, a gawky lumbering clodhopper
:[thought he had devised a mode of turning
ij a laugh against the doctor. He mounted
the stage, and on being questioned as to
• | his disorder, said gravely:
j “ Why, I’m a liar.”
| “ Sad disorder, sir, but perfectly cura-
I ble,” said the doctor,
s “ Well,” said the man, “ but I’ve a
> worser nor that; I've lost my memory.”
. “Quite curable, also,” added the doc
tor; “but I must make my preparations.
Come again alter dinner, and 1 will be
ready for you; but pay down five shil
lings.”
The man, who had intended to have
his fun gratis, resisted, but the doctor de
clared that he never let any one down
> from the stage till he had paid something.
I “Besides,” said the doctor, “how can
i I trust you ? You say you are a liar, and
: have no memory; so you will either
I break your promise or forget all about it.”
i A laugh from the crowd expressed their
acquiescence in the justice of the claim
and the poor fool, nolens volens, was
compelled to lay down the cash. No
one supposed he would come again but
he still hoped that he might turn the ta
bles, and presented himself at the ap
pointed hour. The doctor received him
- with great gravity and, addressing the
- audience, said:
‘ Gentlemen may think it a joke, but I
assure them on the honor of a gentleman,
that it is a very serious affair; and I here
by engage to return the money if the by
standers do not acknowledege the cure,
and that I am fairly entitled to the re
ward.’
The man sat down; was furnished
with a glass of water; the doctor pro
duced a box of flattened black pills; and
to show that they were perfectly inno
cent, affected to swallow three or four
himself. He then gave one to the man
who, after many wry faces, bit into it;
started up, spitting and sputteling, and
exclaimed:
4 Why, hang me if it isn’t cobbler’s
wax!’
‘There,’ said the doctor, lifting up
both hands, “ did any body ever witness
so sudden, so miraculous a recovery ?
He is evidently cured of lying, for he has
told the truth instantly; and as to memo
ry, my good fellow,” continued he, pat
ting him on the back, ‘if you ever forget
this, call on me, and I’ll return you the
money!’
A Simile. —An Indian once brought
up a young lion, and finding him weak
and harmless, never attempted to control
him. Every day the lion gained in j
strength, and became more untractable; j
until, at last, when excited by rage, he (
fell upon the Indian, and tore him to (
pieces. Our evil habits and bad passions (
very much resemble this lion.
The first duel fought in the United s
States was in New England, between r
two servants, in the year 1621. Both 1
escaped unhurt, but the Puritans tied them \
hand and foot for 24 hours, and gave them s
neither food or drink during that time, s
' 1 ’ jC M'■ ' & ... ■ .. >; 5
[Oae Dollar a Year.
llow to Cleau a Fowling-Piece.
Sir Astley Cooper seemed to be in
nately philosophically disposed, and al
ways had some object of practical utility
in view. In his scientific inquiries, he
had remarkable facility of applying his
knowledge to the daily concerns of life,
;and delighted in suggesting improvements
tor matters which might also appear too
trifling to attract his notice. A friend
of his says: I remember upon one occa
sion saying in his hearing, “I must send
m y g’ in to have it cleaned; for it has
; become so much, leaded, that it is unfit
| for use.” “Pooh,” said he, “send it to
I London! There is not the least occa
sion for it. Keep a few ounces of quick
silver in the gun case, and then you can
easily unlead your gun yourself. ’ Stop up
the touch holes by means of a little wax ;
and then pouring the quicksilver into the
barrels, roll it along them fora few min
utes. ihe mercury and th§ lead will
1 form an atnalgurn, and leave the gun as
• clean as the first day it came out of the
shop. \ou have then only to strain the
quicksilver through a piece of thin wash
■ leather, and it is again fit for use, for the
lead will be left in the strainer. The
I plan has been used with perfect success.”
■ Active Firemen. —The Cincinnati Ga
zette notices an incident tending strongly
to show the confidenceHhey had in the
zeal and energy of their firemen. A fire
broke out, and when its dangerous situa
, tion was seen, several risks were hastily
, taken. “When it was fairly under way,
■ a citizen suddenly entered an Insurance
; Office near, and said— 1 My house is next
|to one now on fire; that will burn down,
, and the roof of mine is now in a blaze.
I want to know at what rate you will in
sure me in SIO,OOO for one hour.’ ‘ Your
. roof is in a blaze you say?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Are
the alarm bells ringing?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Five
. per cent.’ ‘ Agreed 1’ The policy was
1 made out, and the building and'its con
, tents saved.”
\ good lady, who had two children
sick with the measles, wrote to a friend
tor the best remedy. The friend had jpst
received a note from another lady, in
' q ,J ‘ r * n g the way to make pickles. In the
| confusion, the lady who inquired about
the pickles received the remedy for the
| measles, and the anxious mother of the
J s >ck children read with horror the follow
. in g:—“Scald them three or fbur times in
, very hot vinegar, and sprinkle them well
with salt, and in a few days they will be
cured.”
Another Death from Prize Fighting.
—Bill Ford, who fought in a prize match
with Tom O’Donnell, at New Orleans,
on the 22d ult., lias died of the injuries
then received. O’Donnell has been ar
rested. It will be remembered that Ford
was one of the seconds at the killing of
M’Coy, Westchester county, N. Y., and
fled in consequence—to meet a similar
death himself.
Somebody down East has invented a
new plan of cheap boarding, says an ex
change. One of the boarders Mesmeri.
zes the restand then eats a hearty meal
—the Mesmerized ones being satisfied
from sympathy.
A gentleman was one day composing
music for a lady to whom he paid his ad
dresses. ‘ Pray, .Miss D.’ said he ‘what
time do you prefer ?’ “Oh,” she replied,
carelessly, “any time frill do; but the
quicker the better.” The company
smiled at the rejoinder, and the gentle
man took her at her word.
AgeofMr. Clay. —Mr. Clay was born
on the 12th of April, 1777, and will con
sequently be 67 years old on the 12th day
of April next.
Whooping-Cough. —Opossum’s oil is
said to be a sovereing cure for pain
ful disease. The patient takes it inward
ly by doses after the manner of sweet or
castor oil. Try it.
To Destroy Catterpillars. —An En
glish paper states, that a Gardener in
Glasgow, places a piece of wollen cloth
in each Currant Bush which proves an
effectual remedy, as they universally take
to the cloth as a shelter, and he destroys
thousands each day.
To Destroy Bed Bugs. —Make a
strong decotation of red pepper, when
ripe, and apply it with a common paint
brush to the joints of the bedsteads,
wainscoating &c., where these odious in
sects usually ‘resort, and it is said will
soon destroy them.