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Southern Field and Fireside.
m VOL - h
[For the Southern Field and Fireside.]
MEMORIES.
By the mem'rles of youth's early home,
The heart will be haunted forever;
Nor the Joys, nor griefs of life to come
From this lore can the fond heart sever.
Oh, for the sight of the river
That winds through thoao distant hills!
For the sunshine and shadows that quiver
In the mirror of lakeleta and rills!
For the path that led over the moonlain,
For the brambles that tangled its side;
For the mosses that grew by the fountain,
And the lilies that dipped in the tide! Ik
•F* ’
Twas there that in Youth’s dream Elysian,
All radiant with ljppe's glorious beam,
The Future I saw in a vision—
Ah 1 that Life has refused to redeem 1
Alabama. ' L. A. O.
: ——
[For the Southern Field and Fireside.]
ARROWS
FROM A TOURIST’S QUIVER;
OR,
Scenes and Incidents of a Tour-
From New Orleans to New York.
BY OKI OF THK PARTY,
ARROW XV*
Louisville, Ky., Dec. 16, 1859.
We have safely reached this handsome com
mercial emporium after the most “ galloping
pace ” over a railroad I ever achieved. It was a
new road, new cars, new engineer, and new
conductor, and everything tvas ambitious and
did its best; and our party will here bear tes
timony that the highest pinnacle of mundane
ambition was attained by road, cars, engineer,
firemen, conductor, and brakemen. We came
at a rate to let all the country know that this
road intended to acquit itself as the ..main and
last link in the trunk and great" land
route from New Orleans to New York. At no
moment was our speed less than thirty miles an
hour, and usually thirty-six to forty. The cars
fairly leaped like race-horses! The track, being
just laid, was rough and rubblous, and the new
wheels roared, and the cars were tossed 1 so vio
lently about that no person could keep his seat.
The Major held on with both hands and with
his eyes set desperately. Locomotion from one
part of the car to another was simply impossi
ble. A Balise pilot boat in a chop-sea never
tossed about so wildly as we did; and this for
hours, save when tho engineer mercifully held
up at stations and depots. Tim was in extasies!
The topping pace vastly delighted him and he
enjoyed the Major’s consternation, who expected
to go to perdition every next moment. He had
no eyes for the widow, who, fast asleep, on two
benches and covered by her brother with his
large shawl and Tim’s scarlet Mexican blanket
for a pillow, slept like an infant rocked in rather
a rough cradle.
» “ The innocent,” I remarked to my remote rel
ative, as a stop to water gave him a moment to
remember his senses, “ the innocent, 0, Major,
ever sleep peacefully; but the guilty keep awake
and tremble! I fear you have an evil conscience,
Major 1”
“Who wouldn't have, Poyns?” gasped the
Major, “tossed in a blanket over one’s grave in
this position? I have expected to be dashed to
pieces every moment I We shall never live to
see Louisville, lam morally persuaded I If we
do, I’ll have the conductor hanged 1 Peril of
life, sir I peril of life, sir 1 Rough road, new,
stiff-springed cars, behind time,and Death on the
Pale Horse, chasing us up like—like —I—l—1—1—1—”
The cars, under motion again, shook the let
ters one by one out of the Major’s mouth, and
forbade their junction, and grasping the arms of
his seat, he sethis teeth and committed himself
to his fate for another ten mile station.
Thus flying along plains, scampering over val
lies, thundering around mountains, and roaring
through defiles, we went ‘neck or nothing,’ un
til endurance ceased to be a virtue, and opening
my mouth, at a stopping place, I* said to the
“gentlemanly” conductor, a handsome, tall,
black-whiskered, and really a gentlemanly
“ You seem to travel at a dangerous rate. I
see your engineer does not hold u’p at curves,
however short the angle. The road, too, being
but a few days opened, renders such rate of
speed unusually perilous; to say nothing of the
jumping, tossing, and bounding of the cars, that
destroy all comfort."
* En.ATA.-In Arrow XIII., Field and Fireside, 81st
March, page 858, col. 2, ono-third down, (errors of''oopy
and not or the compositor)' for “ are at the St. Cloud,
read it at the SI. Cloud.— Two-thirds down, for “it was
July ” read it mas June. —Col. 8, half-way down, for
“ good evening,” read good morning.— Lower down, for
“ funeral,” read funereal— Lower down, for their Leg
islature,” read this Legislature.
Col. 2, one-third down, (errors of compositor) for “our
momenta were,” read our movements mere.- Near the
bottom, for “ atwhed,’ 1 read attached.
I JAKES GARDNER, I
t Proprietor. f
AUGUSTA, GA., SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1860.
“Yes,” he answered, politely; for you know
it is a conductor’s privilege to show anger at
any remarks ot passengers. “Yes, but I have
to run by our time table. We wish to make the
quickest possible time on this road between
Nashville and Louisville. But, sir, there is no
danger, be assured. I have been eleven years
a conductor and never was off the track. If I
go over a road once I can tell whether we shall
be liable to accidents upon it and where the ac
cident will be likely to occur. I feel the track,
as it were with my feet, as we roll over it, and
my mind records any part of it and each pecu
liarity. There is not so safe a road in the Union
as this. No accident can happen except by a
break-down; and this is impossible, as the cars
are n6W and strong. What is more, sir," he ad
ded, smiling. “ I have a charming little family
of my own and a loving wife, and I value my
life for their sakes, if not for my own 1 The
jumping that fat gentleman with the bald head,
who holds on to his seat unnecessarily tight,
speaks of, is only imaginary. The wheels do
not leave the iron track an instant; if they
‘jumped’there would be danger, but the mo
tion like jumping which tosses tho passengers
near tho rear of the car, is the motion of the
springs and car. The wheels and axles are as
firm on the track as if it was stationary 1 I can
always tell when the engineer is doing his part
of the duty of running the engine well. You
know, sir, the feeling of security when one is
seated in a barouche behind a fast, well-broken
pair of horses that ‘ eat up ’ the road before
them. They draw steadily on the bit, and though
fleet you feel that they are safe. There is no
jerking and unsteadiness or shying to cause ap
prehension. So in the cars, sir I When the en
gineer is experienced and ‘ knows his cattle,' I
can feel that t[ie speed and safety is equal.—
There is an evenness, a steady, firm roll in the
motion that shows, however fast we are going,
we are all right! Sir, it is not speed that is per
ilous, but carelessness on the part of the conduc
tor and recklessness on that of the engineer.”
We once more were in motion, I must say
that my conversation with the intelligent con
ductor quieted my apprehensions. I enjoyed
more freely the attractive scenery. Some parts
of it were grand and wild beyond description.—
We passed through several towns,and when we
entered Kentucky we saw a manifest improve
ment in the agriculture and farms. Even the
people had a different appearance, the lean Ten
nessee farmer, with his long limbs and shack
ling gait,being replac*(l by stout, hale, large-siz
ed Kentuckians, with healthy faces and well-to
do looks.
We left the Mammoth Cave several miles
away, having no disposition at this season of
the year to visit that “ wonder of the world.”
The opening of this railroad will vastly increase
the number of visitors to this remarkable cu
riosity.
lam not, however, fond of visiting those ex
traordinary places, the seeing of which is at
tended with so much wear and tear of body and
soukand broadcloth. Travelers are like por
traits 1 The original may be dead, but the
frowned picture conveys a sufficient pattern of
the original. Who has seen ashington ?
who Lafayette ? * Yet, who is not as familiar
with their faces as if they had been presented
to them and seen them face to face ? What
child would not recognize Washington if he
should return to earth and walk the streets of
our cities ?
It is not, therefore, necessary to behold origi
nals in order to see and know them. In the ap
plication of this rule to sight scenery, I beg
leave to say that I have traveled with more in
terest, more instruction, and more satisfactorily
seated in my library with a book of an intelli
gent traveler before me, than if I had been there
in proper person and seen and heard with my
own ears and eyes.
Now to the mammoth cave 1 I have, in the
bodies of others, been in it! I have seen, with
their eyes, all its wonderful rooms; its gorge
ous scenery; its brilliant stalactite ceilings, and
its grand, stalagmite pavements; its long-drawn
aisles, gloomy with grandeur and grand with
sunless gloom; its lofty forii; its rocky pulpits;
its sublime thrones; its stellar vaults, and its
unfathomable descents into Tartarian depths;
its columnar galleries, shining with incrusta
tions of gems; its noble halls, magnificent with
the architecture of the gigantic under-earth
gods; its black lakes, forever waveless, because
never the living breeze is wafted across their
unillumined surfaces; its clouds of brown and
horrid vampires, that fan your faces with a de
mon’s wing; its mighty echoes,that reverberate
and swell and rise to the volume of thunder, and
then die away like retreating and muttering
fiends in endless and unexplored avenues far be
neath the mountains; all these I have seen, seat
ed in my room, reading all from a ‘traveler’s
boke.’ ,
Why, then, should I take my body to mam
moth cave, and drag it wearily through all the
dark depths of its subterranean territories ? The
body sees nothing. It only carries the soul to
see! Now, if Mr. Willis, or Captaiu Hall, or
Dickens, or other travelers will carfymy soul in
their bodies and let me see and hear through
their eyes, then my soul,easily wearied,climbing
rocks, and ascending and descending frightful
precipices, can stay at home, in otium cwn digni
tale.
Travelers are the eyes of the world 1 They
see for the people who stay at home. They are
a class to be honored and to show gratitude to.
They do all the fatigue and quarreling with
mule-drivers, stage-drivers, porters, hackmen,
landlords, guides, ciceroni, muleteers, cadi and
paschas, police and custom house officials; do
all the fatigue, the hot sun, the dust, the sea
sickness, the wear and tear of apparel, the
head-aches and hunger and thirst, bad dinners
and worse suppers, the early rising in fog and
foul weather, pay the fees to the boot-black,
the waiter, the coachman, the footman; disburse
to thebeggars,and pay all expenses en masse!
We stay at home, cut the leaves of their
charming books, arrange our gas and shade pre
cisely to suit our vision; the grate glows; the
pictures are warm and rich in the subdued light;
the hum of the omnibus wheels and the patter
of rain are shut out by double curtains, blinds,
and shutters, and are beard only as if afar off,
in subdued and soothing tones; an atmosphere
of comfort, luxury, and peace is about us. We
have not even a musquito to buzx about us; our
glass of iced water is within reach and so is our
bell-handle, if we need anything more vigorous
than pure eau de vie. With an air of calm satis
faction and a sense of tepose and hope of en
tertainment brightening our eyes, we open the
traveler’s book. It may be “ Kane’s Expedition,”
and we follow him in all his adventures without
leaving our chair or chawing our temperature.
When wo have oiuitxi U* noblo volumes wo
have been there with him, where he has been!
We have seen all he has seen 1 We have even
gazed on the open Polar Sea and know it is
there 1 It is enough. We don’t care to go in
person, for we should know no more, see no more,
realize no more, than we do through the bookl
Let it be Bayard Taylor's volumes! In a fort
night’s evenings we have seen half the world
through his eyes! Travelers are the benefac
tors of the world. They travel for the rest of
mankind. lam sure that if I had gone with
many travelers, whose books I have read, I
shouldn’t have seen half they saw! It is not
every man who has the feet to walk, the nerve
to climb, the activity to advance, the power to
endure, the esprit to see everything, the ambi
tion to achieve, which is necessary to make a
successful traveler.
I recall at this moment, in illustration, a little
anecdote connected with the tour which Dr. Le-
Vert, of Mobile, made through Europe with his
wife. A real traveler at heart, she went every
• where, saw everything, and ‘ did ’ Europe com
prehensively. On her return home she publish
ed, as everybody knows, a charming book of
Travels, under the title of “ Souvenirs of Eu
rope.” Dr. Le Vert is an eminent physician,
and has very little of the activity and industry
which go to make up a thorough sight-seeing
traveler; so he visited few places save the sur
gical hospitals, leavtng the .esthetics to Madame.
A few weeks after her “Travels” were publish
• ed, the Doctor heard of them, and not to seem
to compliment the fair authoress too highly, he
privately possessed himself of a copy and read
it perdu in his office “ to see what she had said.”
The book so absorbed him that he forgot his
meals and patients, and never “let it down,”
■ until he had got to the end of it; when, with a
face of wonder and gratification, he made his
way into the presence of his wife.
“Is it possible, Madame Le Vert, you saw
and heard all this in your book ? Bless my soul!
I have seen more of Furope between the leaves
of your delightful volume than I saw with my
own eyes on the spot! Your book tempts me
to take the next steamer back to Europe, to see
all this I missed when I was there 1”
Alluding to “ Mammoth’s Cave ” reminds me
of a remark made by an intelligent American
traveler, who wrote me from Europe after being
there a few months. He said:
“ I am constantly mortified at my ignorance
of the remarkable scenery of my own country.
lam resolved, after returning from Geneva, to
go back home and travel a year in the United
States. When I was in England, the Earl of
W | hearing me very eloquent on the scene
ry of Wales and Scotland, said:
“ ‘ Will you describe to me your impressions
of the Niagara Falls ?’
“ ‘ I regret, my lord,’ I said, ‘ that I have nev
er yet visited them.’
“ ‘Of course,’ said Captain William R., of the
R. N., ‘you have paid a visit to the
cave in Ohio.’
“ 1 No, captain,’ I answered, yvith a blush ;
yet glad to be able to know so much of it as to
correct him as to its location 1
“So in France I have been twice asked if I
have seen the Natural Bridge in Virginia and
the Mississippi River I—-while numerous in
quiries as to the “ Five Great Lakes,” the “Pra
ries,” the cotton and sugar and tobacco regions
make me feel supremely foolish. I intend to re
turn in six weeks and learn something of my
own country before Igo to see others! An
American who comes abroad without othrough
ly traveling at home, renders himself supreme!.!
ridiculous in the eyes of the Europeans, who
are always asking questions of us about Amer
ica."
After our galloping scamper for one hundred
and seventy miles or so, we entered Louisville
at 11 o’clock at night, about nine hours after
leaving Nashville.
Here we found carriages, (a convenience which
we did not find at the Nashville depot) and were
driven, it seemed, for two miles until we reach
ed the side door of the Galt House, which was
alight and expecting the passenger train. The
ladies were escorted to the handsome reception
room, while we gentlemen went into the large
and spacious office to register our names.
“Print ’em, Mr. Poyns,” said the Major; “for
I don’t forget Memphis, where they made me
the widow Bedad in the morning papers.”
So I printed the Major’s title and name with
my pen; while Tim scrawled his across the page
with scraggy and unsightly chirography. The
Major took his pen and recorded the widow’s
name in the most eloquent caligraphy of which
he was master.
At length we all found comfortable rooms,
blazing fires, and good attendance; and as we
were to leave the next roon in a steamer for
Cincinnati, we resolved to sleep with a good
conscience until we waked of ourselves; and
so gave orders not to be disturbed. Au revoir.
KW" We have received from the Rev. J. B.
McFerrin a letter, which we give below, cor
recting some of the details relative to the last
illness and death of Ex-President Polk, contain
ed in “ Anaow ” XIII, published in the F. it F.
of March 31. Our Rev. correspondent speaks
with authority touching the religious exercises
of Mr. P., he having been, we believe, the cler
gyman of the “ Methodist communion,” who of
ficiated on the occasion alluded to.
Mr. Editor: Your correspondent, writing from
Nashville, under the caption, “ Arrows,” etc.,
deals in a bit of romance, that is, perhaps, very
entertaining, if not edifying to your readers.
The history of Mr. Polk’s baptism, if true as de
tailed by your correspondent, presents the dis
tinguished Ex-President in rather a rediculous
tight. He is represented as being a Presbyte
rian in his attachments; as having received bap
tism at the request of his wife and mother, and
as having been baptized by a Methodist minister
because he promised a young methodist, while
he, himself, was young to receive baptism at his
hands, if ever admitted to the ordinance.
Now, all this is contrary to the truth of his
tory. Mr. Polk’s mother was a Presbyterian and
an excellent woman. His wife was a Presby
terian and is still a member of the Presbyterian
Church, and walks worthy her vocation. A
charming Christian woman is Mrs. Polk. Mr.
Polk, himself, \yas a Methodist in sentiment,and
had been for many years before his death. He
had made up his mind to unite with the Metho
dist Church before his last sickness. When he
was brought to his bed of death, he sent for a
Methodist minister, told him his whole mind and
expressed a desire to unite with the Methodist
Church, and to receive the sacraments of bap
tism and the Lord's supper. Till that hour the
minister did not know that Mr. Polk had not
been baptized in infancy. The minister was an
intimate friend of Mr. Polk; he had conversed
with him on religious subjects years before but
not a word had ever passed between the parties
on the subject of his baptism.
The whole story about his early promise is a
falsehood, and has been put into circulation for
effect. Mr. Polk was a moral mau, respected
the Institutions of Christianity, was a Methodist
in sentiment and feeling, united with the Meth
odist Episcopal Church, and died in communion
with that church; and, as the writer believes,
died in peace with God and all mankind. He
had a right to join the Methodists, and needs not
the apology of his friends-for doing what his
judgment and feeling dictated.
J. B. McFerrin.
Nashville, April 11, 1860.
■ hi ■
Declaration of Independence.—Under date
July 8, 1776, the Constitutional Gazette thus re
lates how it was publicly proclaimed in Phila
delphia :
“ At twelve o’clock to-day the Committees of
Safety and Inspection of Philadelphia went in
procession to the State House, where the Decla
ration of the Independency of the United States
of America was read to a very large number
‘ of the inhabitants of the city and county, and
was received with general applause and heart
felt satisfaction. And in the evening our late
king’s coat of arms was brought from the hall
in the State House, where the said king’s courts
were formerly held, and burned amid the ac
clamations of a crowd of spectators.”
I » I
Herr Castendtk, a German traveler and na
tive of Bremen, is setting out on an exploring
expedition to West Africa, West and North
west of Monrovia, under the auspices of Sir
Roderick Murchison of the London Geographi
cal Society.
*
j Two Bolters Per Annum, I
I Always In Advance. f
ARTESIAN WELLS.
Vertical perforations of the exterior crust of
the earth, of small diameter, and frequently of
great depth, through which subterraneous wa
ter arises to the surface, often forming abundant
and elevated jets. The name Artesian is de
rived from “Artois,” a province of France, where
especial attention has been given to this means
of obtaining water; but it appears, from suffi
cient historical evidence, that wells of this kind
were perfectly well known to the ancients.—
Niebuhr cites a passage from 01ympiadorus,who
flourished at Alexandria about the middle of the
sixth century, in which it,is stated that when
wells are dug in the Oasis to the depth of two
' hundred, three hundred, or sometimes five hun
, dred yards, rivers of water gush out from their
orifices, of which the agriculturists take advan
tage to irrigate their fields. The oldest Artesi
i an well known to exist in France is in the an
cient con vent of the Chartruex, at Lillere in Ar
tois. ‘lt is said to have been made in 1126.-*-
Others exist at Stuttgard, of great antiquity,
though their dates cannot be fixed with precis
ion. The inhabitants of the great desert of Sa
hara appear, also, to have been long acquainted
with this mode of -obtaining water, and the
Chinese are said (but tne truth of the statement
is questionable) to have practised it for thou
sands of years. .
Various conjectures have been made as to the
source of the water which comes from the Arte
sian wells. - It was long believed that the water
of the sea must necessarily penetrate byway of
■ infiltration into the interior of the continents, and
• at length form large bodies of subterraneous wa
ters, ".•Stcb, excepting lor capillary influences,
would net rise shove the g»n»rml level of the
ocean. Another opinion, maintained by Aristo
-1 tie, Seneca* Cardan, and even Descartes, was,
that the subterraneous water, from which the
sources of rivers and springs are supplied, is
the product of the condensation of aqueous va
pors ascending from the interior parts of the
earth in conseque ne of the central heat. But
these hypotheses are founded on mere conjec
ture, unsupported by the slightest evidence, and
consequently merit no attention. The simplest
and most natural explanation is, that the water
of ordinary wells, of Artesian fountains and
1 rivers, is supplied by the rain which falls on the
surface at a higher elevation, -and which pene
trates through the pores and fissures of the
1 ground till it meets with some impermeable
‘ stratum, or is collected in subterranean reser
» voirs. It has been objected that springs are some
• times situated on or near the summits of moun
tains, which could not be supplied in this way;
but on an attentive examination of all the cir
-1 cumstances, that is to say, on measuring accu
' rately the extent of surface at a greater eleva
-1 tion than the spring, and comparing it with the
■ quantity of rain tha falls annually in the same
climate, it has been found, in every instance, that
the aqueous deposition from the atmosphere
1 greatly exceeds the supply from the spring. It
is computed that not more than a third part of the
1 rain which falls in the valley of the Seine is con
-1 veyed to the sea by the river; the remaining two- •
1 thirds support vegetation; supply fountains and
> springs, or are returned to the atmosphere by
evaporation. The immense bodies of water
1 which some continental rivers roll towards the
: ocean are but a small part of the rain which
1 falls in the surrounding countries. ,
1 Assuming, then, that the subterraneous water
t is supplied from atmospherical deposition, it re
> mains to be explained how it arrives at the sit
uation it occupies in the interior of the earth,
1 and by what forces it is raised from great depths
r to the surface. _
1 All persons who have paid the slightest at
c tention to geology are aware that in stratified
countries (and it is in such only that Artesian
1 wells exist) different beds of rocks are super
i posed on one another, and ranged in a certain
> constant order. The strata sometimes follow a
c horizontal direction for a considerable extent of
• country; at other places thqy are inclined, and
even placed perpendicularly to the horizon, hav
ing the appearance of having been bent and
burst through by the action of a powerful force
from beneath. In those cases the edges of the
) strata are often exposed, especially on the sum
- mils and flanks of bills, to the action of the at
mosphere. Between the strata are frequently
found beds of permeable sand, through which
f water, coming in contact with them, must ne
i cessarily pass, first, through the inclined part by
virtue of its specific gravity, and then in the
i horizontal branches, by virtue of the pressure
• of the water remaining in the elevated portions
1 of the strata. In this manner the water insin
. uates itself between the different strata; and
I hence we may expect that in localities where
I the tertiary stratification prevails, as many dis
i tinct sources of subterraneous water will be met
with in penetrating perpendicularly through the
surface, as there are distinct layers of a sandy
or*gravelly nature reposing on impermeable stra
ta. This consequence of the theory is perfectly
; confirmed by experience. M. Arago mentions,
that in digging for coal near St. Nicholas d’Al
■ iermont, a short distance from Dieppe, seven
- distinct and copious sources of water were
found, the respective depths of which were:—
A f
NO. 48. £ I