The Brussels Post, 1892-7-8, Page 2THE
BRUSSELS POST.
BAT ILE, OF QUEENSTON HEIGHTS
represented it for twenty yours. Stephen,
the present head of the house, watt an amt.
able and benevolent, but rather dull man
A THRILLING CHAPTER OF CANADIAN HISTORY. of about fifty years of age. On all strictly
militarK sabjeets, he was compelled to rely
a
81( lERNEST nd amain, Solomon Van Rensselaer, who
upon t e advice of he Adjutant -General
heel been bred a soldier, lied served
Idest Canadians are eufileiontly familiar and {Shea(& flintily connoted that bet/ in the United States array for ten years,
With the stately eoltimn which crowns the Puttee should enjoy the unrestricted nevi.
ennunit of Queenston Heights, and looks Mitten of Lake Ontario no long as the arm. and had held his present appointment for asteeny more. He lied bean wounded in
down upon an expanse of scenery that can Mace oontinued, although an express from
acarealy he paralleled for meet)" and stile Detroit had informed. him a fe3v minWayne's campaign againet the In(1ians
tes and poseessed the reputation of a bravo
Beatty, save by the view from the edge of before of the capitulation of the entire Am. and skilful officer.
the plateau, on which an obelisk marks the
spot -where " Wolfe died victorious." Most
of them know, also, in a generid way, why
it was plaited there,: and that 13rook died to
preserve what Wolfe had died to conquer.
19 18 not necessary to trace the march of
events immedietely succeeding the dealers.
tion of war by the United States, on the
on the 18th of June, 1812 ; how
Brook cheered up the despondent, deeided
the wavering and overawed the disloyal
among the inhabitants of the province by a
aettled policy, to use his own words, of
"speaking lend and looking big;" how,
prevented by the express instructions et hie
superior from attacking the enemy beyond
the Niagara, he assembled an enthusiastic
body of volunteers, and taking with him
almost every regular soldier at his disposal,
flew to repel the invader at the Detroit;
how he promptly determined to oross that
river contrary to the opinion of his most
trusted officers ; mul how his audacity was
rewarded by a complete and bloodless vie -
tory, is tolerably well known to every Can-
adian.
But, while conquering at Detroit, he
could not fail to be eppreheesive that dis-
aster might have befallen the weakened
garrisons on the Niagara, and scarcely
twentv-four hours were permitted to elapse
before -he wits on his way thitheti, carrying
with him ail the troops that had ae.
mean army there.
All the ad vestages secured no far by the
Remaining but a few hours at Mager%
the indefatigable Brock hurried on to Kings.
superiority of the British squadron on ake ton, where he inspeuted the militia, ex-
Ockario were thrown away by a stroke of atninecl the growing fortifications, and wrote
to Sir George Prevost for permission to at.
tack Satileett's Harbor, where the American
shipping on Luke Ontario had taken refu
W1III his present superiority upon the la 13,
of Brook's almost incredible success had he assured him that ita eapture would be au
preceded him, and as he rode down to easy matter. A portion of the Americium
Niagara he was met midwayiby many of the troops at Niagara would be probably recall -
magistrates and principal nhabitants on ed for its relief, and while they were march.
horseback, who present -ad him with a coning overland he would sail up the lake antl
gratulatory address, to which he teplied throw his whole force against the posts they
with his charecteeistic readiness and taut, had left. Bet to the governor this daring
moiestly disolaiming any personal credit, scheme of operation seemed far too hazer -
and ascribing his triumph to thetidelity end does, anti in reply he enjoined Brock not to
alacrity with which he had been supported I
by the people of provoke the enemy by needless annoyance,
the provinoe, and the
1 but remain strictly on the defensive, and
steadiness ot the troops under his cotnmand.
even hinted that he had risked too much
The volunteera who had accompanied him
when lie ventured to cross the river at
were filled with natural exultation, and Detroit.
their easy victory inspired them with a This project having been rejected, Brock
certain amount of contempt for their
returned to Niegare; where he learned that
enemies, which was rapidly communicated
Van Rensselaer had already given notice of
to their friends and acquaintances. The the termiaation of the armistice. Lewis.
arrival of the American general and the
regaleton Heights were wItitened with the
-re of his anny,a, few disys later,beeame tents of e large encampment. Other
the signal for a frantic outburst of enthus- camps were visible at Schlosser, Block
tam, aud aged loyalists who still nourished Rock, aud in roar of Fort Niagave, Batter.
bitter memories of the Revolution, joyfully
ies had been erected on the commending
declared that Saratoga had been ;at Met ground opposite Fort George and at Lewis-
ton, and armed with beery guns. A large
flotilla of boats, suitable for the transporta-
tion of troops' lay moored under the guns
of the fort, atthe mouth of the river, and
others had been taken up to Lewiston,
Forty butteaux, each capable of carrying
thirty men, were known to have been built
in Tonawanda creek. Every day large
bodies of men could be seen exercising anti
marching to and fro, attended by a sumer.
ous train of field artillery and detachments
of cavalry. Everything pointed to an im-
mediate attack, while Broth found himself
et once hampered by want of officers, men,
and artillery, and wrote to Prevost that he
tnust have a thousand more regular soldiers
to defend that frontier. The latter replied
that not another man could be spared for
Upper Canada under any circumstances.
Witheut delay the British commander set
to work to supply the deficiency of men and
mains with his wonted energy. Detach-
ments of troops were ordered up
'rein Kingston • and down from Am-
herstbarg. Batteries were built and
mounted with cannon taken from
the fortifications of Detroit. An extensive
system of beacons was established, stretch.
ing from the Sugar Loaf and Point Abino,
along the lake and river to Lundy's Lane
and Queenston, and thence inland to Pel-
ham Heights, by which the movements of
the enemy could be instantaneously signalled
over the entire neuinsula by night or day.
Two thousend captered muskets, and the
accoutrements of Hull's regular troops, were
distribiked among the 1111111)10 01 the province.
His tireless activity and watchfulness ex-
cited the admiration even of his enemies.
" 1 send you Brook's seal," Lovett wrote to
a friend, " with his appropriate motto ;
He who guards, never sleeps.' "
Earthworks of some description were con •
structed on every commanding point along
the river, from Queenston to its mouth, and
at any menacing movement of the American
troops, alarm -guns were fired, and horsemen
rode off in every direction
Nor were the embarrassments of the
&kith general, from Mak of clothing and
ready money, less annoying and serious, A.
number of the weelthier inhabitants, who
fornied themselves into a company knnwn
as the " Queenston and Niagara Associ-
ation," had at that oritioal moment in July,
when the fate of the province hung in the
balance, loaned him several thousand pound
f ready money, width enabled him to equip
his expedition for the relief of Malden. The
entente of General Hull's military chest,
and ten thousand dollats tient him by the
GovernothGeneral, had enabled him to sat-
isfy the most pressing demands since. But
the pay of his troops, both regulars and mili-
tia was several months in arrears, and they
the pee. The blockaded vessels et Ogdens-
burg were removed to Sackett's Harbor to
be armed, and troops and 11)0195 01 all kinds
hurried forward to Fort Niagara. Tidings
a3 e 4 .
' companted or preceded him to la QuIte as profound was the disinay thew
quarter, fully alive to the truth of sioued in the minds ot even the most San.
the Napoleonic maxim that "11, war, guine of his antagonists. "Three days
time is everything." Rrock then hoped ego," wrote Peter B. Porter, thee! Quarter
to duplicate hi$ exploit by the capture of ' master.general, to the Governor of New
Fort Niagara and the dispersal of the forces York, "the heroes of Tippecanoe anti
assembled on that frontier. That it would the garrisons of Detroit and Mackinac,
have been an easy task, there eau now be amountiug to about 500, were marched like
no reasonable doubt, for although superior caetle from Fort Erie to Fort George, guard -
in numbers, the American troops there, ed by General Brook's regular troops with
were, by the admission ot their commander, till the parade and pomp of British insolence,
in a very indifferent state of discipline, and we were incapacitated by the ermistiee
without any heavier ordnance than six awl our own weakness from giving them the
pounders, and but tew of them, and with- relief they anxiously seemed to expect.
out artillerists. A. few days later, when the With 4,000 men on this river, the whole of
true extent of Brock's success was made Upper Canada and. the Indian country
known, their demoralization became 0010- would have been in our possession. Now,
plete. 'rhe most absurd rumors were be• Detroit ends brave army taken,theIndians
Bayed and spread. Panic-strickeu fugitives let loose upon our (motleys, the inhabitants
from Detroit, anxioas to excuse their cow- flying in every direction. Brock with his
ardice ravel related that, it hundred fresh army and Indiana and thousands of inspirit-
ed Cauuliaus, and e powerful train of field
and garrison artillery taken at Detroit,
arrived on this frontier and ready to act.
the Western Indians, but those residing in Indeed it is now reduced to a certainty that
Michigan and Canada were reported to the inhabitants of this frontier are doomed
have taken the hatchet, and to be already to feel the scourge and desolation of the war.
on their way to devastate the border settle- The hour that Moses the armistice will bring
relents of Ohio. The appearance of two ruin to most of them who live on this free -
British warwessels on the south shore of tier. We have been daily amused for two
Lake Erie threw the inhabitants of Chautatt- months by news of heavy ordnance and fly.
qua 11010,13' into a paroxysm of terror. Fear-
ful memories of Cherry Valley and Wyoin.
ing were recalled, and a general flight be-
gan. The militia. beeeine amorous for pay,
anti sought furloughs under every possible Fort George, in view of our troops.
pretext, When refused, they feigued sick- They are suppesed to be unfortu.
nese or deserted. nate fellows who joined General Hull,
The intensity of Brook's disappointment in Canada, and were surrendered at Detroit,
may be imagined when he learned, on his and for whose protection provision should
arrival at Fort Erie on the 22nd of August, have been made in the capitulation, at the
that an armistice bad been proclaimed five expense of the life of every man in the gar.
days before. Persistently hoping against risen. The public mind is wrought up al -
hope that peace might be established with. moist to a pitch of madness. Jealousy and
out bloodshed, the Governor-General of distrust begin to proven towards the gener•
Commie, as soon as Ile was infoemed of the at officers." John Lovett, private Secretary
repeal of the obnoxious Orders in Council, to General Wan Rensselaer, wrote about the
aosigned the American government as same time to a friend "Hull's surrender
the chief cause of their declaration of war, has cemented Meade, beyond anything you
dispatched his Adjutant•General, Colonel can conceive. It has also a serious effeet
Baynes, to General Dearborn, oommencier en the Indians along the whole frontier. The
of the United States forces in the State of emotion produced by the sight of prisoners
New York, who had his headquarters at is inexereasible."
Greenbush, near Albany, to propose 0008- Under these circumstances it is not stir.
eation of hie -kitties till the decieion of the prising that when General Dearborn, hey.
cabinet could he ascertained. He found inglearnedthathisgovernmenthadperemtor.
Dearborn in a fat orable humor. )‚ha latter By declined to enter into fresh negotistion,
bad indeed been vannely instructed to make and believing therumor of the capture of Mal-
e diversion in favor of General Hull upon den, instructed Van Reneselaer to terminate
the Niagara, but wise in no position to as- the armistice at once, that the latter e000-
90010 the offeusive there or obewhere at tint Mind the discretionary power allowed him
'Moment Most of the Anietican inerehant of prolonging it until the last of his artillery
vessels on lake Ontario were blockaded at had arrived. But when the last division of
Ogdensburg. Sackett's Harbor, his princi- boats hove in sight, and all the benefit that
pal naval station on that lake, was nearly
defenceless, and had been threatened with
an attack; the forties assembled on the
aeara were unprovided with arttllery and
neecesary munitions of war. He readily as-
sented to Baynes' proposals as far as the
forces under his Oninediete command were
concerned, as he could still continue his
preparations for defence and invasion with
entire freedom. But Hull was believed to
be in full tide of success. It was confident-
ly reported that he had taken Malden and
wee marching up the Thames. Dearborn
therefore warily declined to extend the
armistice to his operations.
General Va,n Rensselaer, who commanded
the American forces on the Niagara, receiv-
ed the news with feelings of profound relief
and satisfaction, Although refugees from
Ceneda had assured him nearly a week be.
Sons, that all the regular troops bad been
withdrawn from the posts opposite to meet
General Hull, he still remained ineredelthe
and apprehensive of an atteck. Yet
his forces already exceeded two thousand
men, of whom one-half were regulars, He
perceived in an instatk what an immense
advantege might bo derived from the cessa-
tion of hostilities, 11 1)16 terms could be eon
-
stetted in moll a way as to enable h'm to
being up troops and stores from Oswego and
Sackett's Herber by water, instead nf the
tedious overland route. Unless thie1con.
cession were secured, the armistice would
be of little immediate benefit to him. The
agreement Wee So lothety_ worded as to leave
this matter in doubt. His Adj utant-Gener.
al was at once sent to Vint George with
directions to infest on this interpretation.
Colonel Christopher M• era had been left
in command there by General Brock. To
garrison all the posts, he had leee than abed
hundred men of the 41st regiment, The
absentees of the flank companies of the Lin.
coin militia were called in and increased the
number of militia in ttervice to about four
hundred. The remainder of the inhabitants
were 'busily engaged in the liervest fields,
but an additional draft, of five hundred men
'wee warned to hold lock in rottenness to
march to his support, The two armed
vessele, Prince Regent awl Earl Moira, were
Moored in the mouth of the river to pram%
hie lef t flank, while the new schooner, Lady
Prevost, was anchored off Tort Bele to assist
in the defame of that post. Efforts to
strengthen the fortifications along the en-
tire line ware continued as far as hie melees
wotd perMit A day or two before the
artnietith was ennonneed, Colonel Roger
Sheaf% of the 401h arrived and 1500185(1commend, Lettere meetly received from
Prevost instated on the policy of ethernet, personal service, end l,0101111!011111191' quart-
ing the enemy by every methe in his power, sake. In the Congressional astride in
seMps had been ileposited Colo, el
Elliott's feet and that he had paid for them
at the rate of six dollars each. Not only
ing artillery. They come as far as Utica
and then diseppear. This letter is written
in a state of mind little short of distraction.
Yesterday a number of men were shot at
could be reasonably expeeted front his eon -
t 1.111111mM hail been soured, notice was given were unable to obtain the most trilling
11011) 1)1 would end on the tith of September. : article without paying the highest price in
Four hundred batteaux, lotted with 1 cash for it. They were without tents or
camp utensils of any desctiption. Their
artillery and stores, had thine in from i clothing hung tbout them hi tatters ; their
Osweeo ; greet quantities of provisions had
been collected; a large utunber of scows and shoes were worn out, and they suffered
dreadfully from cold and web, yet their pa -
boats, suitable for the passage of the river, I tience and cheerfulness excited his warmest
hed been built ; several thousand additional i
roopa had arrived, and more were en the admiration and praise. With the exeep-
tion of a few men from the winkle, who gen-
thumb, yet the Anterican general hesitated i entity went to their homes end afterwerds
to mistime the oftensive. The panto create I ' rejoined their companies, there were scarce.
by the surreuder of Detrok heel by that
time reached Albany, and Dearborn wrote ly any desertions.
to warn him Oaten attaolt upon Ids position I On the other side of the river bodiee of
was imminent. British troope had been fresh troops were constantly arriving, but
seen ascending the St. Lawrence, and he their militia was repreeented as being very
mutt he prepared to fall back it hard push. mull dissabisfied end extremely inefficient.
ete, arid not be caught in a trap like Hull. Sickness preveiled in their camp end
The disembarkation of detachments of funerals were deity observed. Seven men
soldiers, both at Fort Erie and Niagara, of the Oth United States Infantry deserted
close upon the heels of this information, iii a body and attempted to swim the
alarmed and perplexed him. Colonel Fen- river, six of whom perished in sight of both
wick, commanding at Fort Niagara, repoete armies., Undeterred by the fate of his lin-
ing that an attack was expected by him, fortunate oomrades, another man of the
the stores wore removed, the siege -guns seine regiment plunged in next day end
buried, and every preparation made for the swam succeastully over mid a Omer ef
hasty evethation of the post. , bullets, Two companies that had arrived
Stephen Van Rensselaer, who held chief during the armiatioe, each consisting of
command by virtue of his rank as Major. gigtY men, this fugitive said, bed already
General of the New York state troops, was been reduced 0110- all by desertion,
an utter novice in all military Miters, and " The United States regiments of the line
eould ecarcely even be termed an etnateur desert over 1)0 ,50 frequently," Brock write
soldier. The last patron of the manor of ori the 13111 of Beytember. " Tlie men are
Renaselaer-Wyck and the leading Fettered. tired of the service. Opportunities seldom
isb in the state, his appointment was e offer, otherwise I hive reason to think the
sharp stroke of party tactics on the pert of renter part would follow their example,
the governor, who discovered in him a rhe militia being principally composed of
prospective and dangerous opponent, Mee enraged democrats are more atdent end
recent Congressional elections had seemed anxious to engege, but they have neither
to indicate 1)1101 11)9 Federalists had regained attbord Motion nor diecipline."
the confidence of this people of New York, i By the middle of September, two 00(11-
,J f th 1 1 1 re vereuncom roads. pante.] of the Royal Newfoundland atal Six
his brother a lew deem later, he avowed his
real impatienee tit hie breed 111(0010711))'.i111)>'instructions oblige 010 1)0 adopt &fen.
[live illeaauree, and have minuted greeter
forbettrathe than W05 ever prectised on any
former 000115105, It Is thought Diet without
aid of the sword, the AmM
American people ay
be brought to a due sense of their interests,
I firmly believe that at Ole moment 10001(1
sweep everythiog before me from Fort Ni-
agara to Buffalo, but my 8000955 would he
transient."
In fact the arrival of his reinforeemente
had almost produoeil a panic the Ameri-
can camp. Party strife raged among the
officers with unabated fury. Porter and hie
friends styled the commanding general a
traitor, while Solon -ton Van Rensselaer
openly announced his intention of publish.
ing Porter as "a poltroon, coward and
scoundrel." In thm
ia .dilema, General
Dearborn suggested OM the Governor of
the Slate should mecum supreme command
1)1188011 ami march thither with as largo as
forth of militia as ha would assemble, while
he would endeavor to draw off part of the
British troops by a movement tosvards
Montreal by way of Lake Champlain.
Tompkins was too aimed a politician to
imperil his reputation by so rash a step,
but he displeyed :great vigor in pushing
forward troops mkt stores, and invested
Van Rensselaer with authority to call out
an almost unlimited number of militia from
the neighboring counties. Dearborn at the
same time dlepatehed regiment after
regiment of regular troops to Van
Rensselaer's assistance, while the Secre-
tary of War sent !sailors to equip and
man the boats and vessels at Buffalo, 88(1was utging forward another army to re-
cover Detroit, Two thousand. volunteers
from Penesylvenia were at the mn
ue time
ordered to Vieth to the Niagara,
ern me CONTINEisith.)
MINING IN CHINA,
The Government opens the
A Canton correspondent writes. An im-
portant step is being taken hi the develop•
ment of the mineral resources nf the Celee.
tial Empire. It is announced that the rich
deposits of silver ore near Kirin, in Man.
ehnria, are to be worked after the western
method. The Governor of the province an-
nounces that the foreign apparatus and
ehendeale emissary for extracting the sit -
von from the galena ore are already on the
ground and will soon be in use. These Kir-
in mines ere the first in Manchurie to be
wereed according to the improved methods
01 ietirnpe and America, and the result of
the operation will be awaited with much in-
terest. According to popular belief among
the inhabitants of that region, the mountain
ranges in the northern part of alanchuria
are exceedingly rich in silver, gold, pled..
num and other precious metals. J mit seines
the border, on the Ruesien side of the line
milling has for years been carried on witli
great activity in a systematic and elaborate
manner, and with extraordinarily ptofitable
results, The Chinese government has, how-
ever, hitherto forbidden any systematic
opening up of the minerel regions of 118 21)119
of the line.
In fact there has been no very great eager-
ness on the part of minirtg prospectors to
enter that pareieular district. Some seven
years ago tc number of Chinese miners went
thither end attempted to open some work-
ings. But they were to the last man ma5.
sacred by the troops in Manchuria, who are
really half outlaws. The Government had
ant most o r ext c
ing in their hostility to the war. Yf Van of the 40th regiment arrired from Ninge-
Ronesoliter accepted the command, his im. ton, and nitiety men of the 41st came (town
mediate following would be committed to from Detroit, Thee.; elender reinforcements
its presecution ; if he refesea, hie ended, Were osteetetiously paraded it Mow of the
could be ilenouthed a$ unpatriotic, enemy as they arrived, and method from
Five generetioes of the Ven Rens. place to place With marked effeet, es WO
Selfsera lied reigned in the andent, have already observed. Three hundred In.
manor -house near Albany, and their diens had come in and two hundred mote
estates stretthed althg the Hudson were promised, lint Brock placed little do.
inland for twentehlive miles, on either aide temperament, "'They may serve to intim•
of the 01 .90, and oomprising a tholiaancl Mate," lie said, " but no effective service
square miles of teeritory, Under the can be expeoted from thie degeherate
Dutch goverreue they had mistimed almost race." To Prevost he wrote that there was
regal state, exacting oaths' of allegiance no doubt groat decimates'. existee mug the
from their tmeente, arid they etill wiaintitin• Atnerienn forams, 11 and muell might be done,
011 many of their feudal customs, giving but keeping irt mind Your Excellency's in.
perpetual lettere, receiving the rents In 01)1010110515, 0,11(1 ewer° of the policy of ,per.
deems (if fowls, 0,5(1 beehels of whetele end mitting ench a force to dwindle away by he
JULY 8, 1892.
BJlN THOMPSU.N •
--
The Noted Texas leeePeraile.
The moat notable Englishmen who ever
came to Texas Was Ben Thompeon, But he
arrived there tit so early an Oge and became
80 thorotighly Weetern his mode of life
that Texans Mahn him as thole Own. I
imagine, however, he always retained Seine
01 1)118 traditions of his biethpliwe, as there
ie a story of his standing with his hat off tie
talk to en English imbleman 3v11011 Thomp.
son at the time wee the meet feared and
besb-known man in all Texes. The stories
of his recklessness and ignorance of fear end
utter disregard of the settee ot other& lives
as 3voll as Ins own are inniunereble. A few of
them are interesting tend worth keeping, as
they show the typicel bad man of the tugb-
oat degree in hia different humors, end also
as I have not dared to say half as much
about bacl men as I ahould here liked to do.
Thompson killed eighteen men its different
parts of Texaa, and ',Sae for thia made Mar.
shad of Austin, on the principle that it he
meet kill somebody, it was better to give
him enthority to kill other desperadoes than
reputable citizens. As Marshal it was his
pleasure to pull up hie buggy across the
railroad track just as the daily express train
was about to start, anti covering the en-
gineer with his revolver, bid him hold the
train until he was ready to move on. He
would then call some trembling acquaintance
from the orowd on the platform and talk
with him leisurely, until he thought he had
seccesefully awed the engineer and estab-
lished his authority, alien he would pick
U p his reins and drive on, saying to the en•
gitmer, " You needn't think, sir, any cor-
poration cau hurry me." The position of
the un'ortunate man to whom be talked
must have been most trying—with a loco-
motive on one side and a revolver on the
other.
One tiny a cowboy, who was a weleknown
bully and a woule-he desperado, shot sevet.
al bullet-holeti tlit °ugh the high t of an
Mestere traveller, who was standing at the
bar of an Austin hotel. Thompson heard
of this, end, purchasing a high hat, entoied
the bar.room.
from Berm Island to Cohoes, exteeding PeRfiee°0 flifeff ellxifierlee Bull "effete -In
own itictikient Meath I do not contemplate
merely given the military commanders
" I hear," he said, fatting the cowboy,
'that you are shooting Tang hale here to-
day ; perhaps you would like to take a shot
at mire." He then raised his revolver and
shot away the cowboy's ear. '5 meant,"
he saki, "10 hit your ear; did I do it I"
The bully showed proof that he Mut "Well
then, "said the Marsha), "get out of heree'
and catching 11)5 01911 by lus cartridge -belt,
he thiew him out into the street, aud so put
an end to his reputation as it desperate
nbtar-
aotar forever.
Thempson was naturally unpopular with
a certain Mass in the community. Two
hatekeepera alio had a personal grudge
against him, with no doubt eireellent rea-
son, lay in atubush for him bellied the two
bars of the saloon, which stretched along
either wall. Thompson entered the mom
from the Street in ignorance of any• plot
against hen until the two men heltea him
with shot.gues. They had him so surely at
their pleasure that; he made no eithit to
reach his revolver, but stood lething from
one to the other end grietly. But
his reputation was so great, and. their fear
01 151111 so actual, that bot 11 men missed him,
although not twenty feet away, and with
shotguns in their hands. Then Thompson
took out his pistol deliberately and killed
them.
A. few years ago he became involved in
San Antonio with "Jack" Harris, the keep-
er of a ambling -house and variety theatre.
Harris ay in wan, for Thompson mehind the
directions to prevent the opening of mines.
Tbe soldiers took it upon themselves to
fulfill that command by slaughtering the
would.be miners. With the child -like and
bland shrOwdness which is tharatheristio of
the race, however, they waited until the
swinging doors of his sateen ; but, Motet>.
son, Oslo crossed the Olilitary Plage, was
warned of Ilerris's hicling•place, and shot
him through the door. Ile was tried for the
merder, and acquitted on the ground of
selfittlefence,and on Ills return to Austin was
luckless miners had been at work some
,rat et the station by a brass baud and ell
months and had obtained the enormousired by
amount 01 515.00(1.000111 gold. This plunder the flee 001118ee1se. Perbil-Ps lean
this, he returned to San Antonio, and going
to Harris s theatre, then in the hands of his
partner, Joe Foster, called from the gallery
for Foster to imam up mid el:seek to him.
was Partly divided among the troops mid
pertly put into the pocket of the Governor
of the Province
After this tragic incident the governor
Thompson hail with him a desperado named
took possession of the mines whielt had been
• King Fisher, and againab him every men of
opened, and apparently for a time intended
Ins class in Sim Antonio, for Harris had been
to work them systematically. An expetieno-
very popu'ar. Foster sent his assistant, a
ed Amet lean mining engineer was employed
very young man named Bill Sims, to ask
Thompson to leave the place, as he dol not
leant trim ble
" have come to have a rectonefliatcen,"
said Thompson. " want to shake hands
with my old friend Joe Foster. Tell him I
won't leave till I see him, end I won't make
a row."
Sims returned with Foster, and Thomp.
son held out his hand.
Joe," he said, " I have come all the way
it secure immunity by quietly and secret- "
from Auatin to shake hands with you. Let's
ly transferring a share of their . booty to
make up, and call it off."
the itchieg paint of the Governor of
" I een'ia shake hands with you Ben,"
the district. The metal that is thus illegal.
Foster " You killed my partner, and
by mined finds its way to Pekin, where
you know a ell enough I Am not the sort to
it is reputed to come from some of the few
for +et tt. Now go, won't you 2 and dou't
mines worked by the Government.
ma tie trouble."
Thompson said he would leave in a min.
ute, but they must &ink together first.
(Banos of Death in War. There was a bar in the gallery, which was
No doubt every reader has seen the state. , by this time packed with men who learned
rnent that it takes a man's weight of lead to of thompson's presence in the theatre, but
e,
kill him, The statement is usually looked : Fisher end Thompson stood quite alone be-
nison Bo a rhetorical hyperbole, suggested side the bar The Marshal of Austin look -
by the fent, that comparatively few out of the ed up an ii saw Foster's glass entombed be -
whole number of shots fired in battletake sI.
fact. Marshal Stile, / believe, first made the
statemeet that forms the bailie of the
above, only he said that "would take
125 pounds of lead and thirtrthree pounds
of powder to pub thee of the mime, in the
long trench.' " Wild and visionary 00
this 'nay seem it appears that there was
really more truth than po3try in the re.
mark.
At the battle of Solferino, according te
M. Cassendi's carefully deduced calcula-
tions, a comparison of the number of shots
fired on the Austrian side with the number
of killed and a °ended on the pert of the
to superintend them, and at a very heavy
eostsome elaborate and expensive maehinery
was abtained. Than the whole enterprise
was abandoned, just why nobody seems to
know. For arty private capitalists to take
up the task was impossible. To mine silver
and gold without the permission of the
Government is a oapital offence. True the
offense is often committed and seldom or
never penished, but those who commit
East Thou Ileard the Nightingale.
Yea I have hoard the laiglitingele,
AN in dark weeds 1 wanderee.
Amt dreammi tied pondered,
A voice pmtnit by ad fire
A nil paseion end desire ;
1 rather fon than heard
The song of that, lone birilt
Yos, 1 letee bowl the nightengale.
11
Yos. nave heard the nightingale,
I heard It, and I followed
Thu warm night swallowed
Thissouland body aniline,
Ao burning thirst tettee wine.
While 00 111111 on 1 ereeeed
Close to that einging brettet;
Yes, 1. have hoard the nightingale.
115
Yea I baVo honed the nightingale,
Well doth each throbbing ember
Tbe flame remember ;
And 1—how quick Wet Found
Turned drops from a deep wound!
How kite heart; was the thorn
Which pierced, that bream: forlorn t
Yes, 1 have heard the nigh Negrito.
—lee. J. Glider.
AFTER A BATTLE.
The Horrors of a S7r—uggle Realized After
the Armies Have Abandoned die Field.
The beginning of a battle, unless brought;
on by aceident, as it Wore, reminds one of
mounters =tending shoat an open grave 18 10
cemetery width% for the olods of earth Wall
epon the coffin. The 000l, deliberate way in
which troops are moved and batteries plea.
ed 10 position tries your nerve. Mee speak
to nth other in subdued voices, and the
commands of the officers ere low and stern,
A regiment is but a 005 18 one of the wheels;
a division in one of the dozen wheels of the
great machine. Yon rimy now and then
eadch sight eh he enemy as he also moves
to the eight or left or advancee, or you may
not see anything of him for an hour after
the battle opens.
Your brigade is in battle line, and has
been waiting fatten hour. There is it line of
skit mistime clown along the bush -fringed
creek, but yoe know it only because yoti
saw them go down across the field,
ore inn, an 5000
" Aren't you drinking wibh me, Joe 2"
Foster shook his head.
" Well, then," oried Thompson, "1119
man who won'e drink with me, nor shake
hands with me, fights me."
He reaehed back for Ms pistol, and some
one—o. jury ef twelve intelligent citizens de-
cided it was Act young Bill Sims—Shot him
thiee titnes in the forehead. They say you
could letve covered the three bullet holes
with a half-dullar. But so greet seas the
desperate courage of this ruffian zhat even
as Ile fell he fired holding his revolver at
his hip, and killin Foeter, and then, as he
enemy, shows thati 700 bullets were expen lay on his back jet' ing in agony, he emp
tied hia revolver into the- floor, ripping
ed for every mail wounded and 4200 for
eath man killed. The average weighb of greatgushes in the boards about him. And
the ball used wee thirty mains therefore it so he died, as he would have elected to die,
must have taken at least 126 'kiiogrante or , Whilst Ipi ilsitisabbehoetsiaeant;
1101;:idndlvtiethr intgheinralri°5re6arcal.
527 (numb 01of the Wy. 150111 fsorlfeervienroy mvx
apubm001eItt King Fisher was killed et the same moment,
1 and the Express !spoke of it the next morn.
bloody and important engagement.
Bogert, in light of the ebove, was about ag " A Good Night's Work,"—Harper's the cool, deep, well to the wounded—the
dead await bored alone. Here was a hand.
right when he said ; " War is ewfill, but Weekly.
to.hand fight over two field pieces. Were
bhe sound of war is omfatter." they worth 200 lives ? And as the guns
limbered up and dashed off to a now posi-
tion the iron -shod feet of the excited
A Delicate Point, • horses were planted on the Nees of dead
mee—on the breasts of mon crying out with
their wounde—end the heiwy wheels follow-
ed lifter to mend human flesh info earth.
And now the long and slndlOW trenClies
have been anon the hillside overlooked by
petteh trees, and WO ghtlier up the dead on
the seetion teesigned to us and place them
side by side. There is ottly a brief seareb
after identity—mover a eulogy or it prayer
0901 0110. Irtfencle RI these ttenohog, foes
1111110t11:1se over there, So let them be over= •
acl into sloop 'until the last trumpet ealls
Keown or ruilinoWee What inettore it to
A DISTANT 01115Xit
comes floating over the wheat fields. Some,
commander hes been addressing his troops.
Five minutes later there ia a pop! pop! pop!
alone the skirmish lino. The enemy is mov-
ing forward in beetle line, The skirmishers
are the gnats stinging the elephent. They
kill and. wound, but of what result is the
death or disabling of fifty men out of a di.
vision?
Now the field pieces open one aftee an-
other. They are to the right on the hills,
but you feel the earth trembling where you
stand, and the crackle of musketry is ab-
sorbed in the roar of the rifled guns. You
are pale -faced; your chin quive.s; your legs
are strangely weak. You shout with relief
as the enemy appears on the slope and you
get the commend to fire.
That:ming Me 15111 wily end a bettlewhich
has raged along a front ef ten milea from
early morn. The enemy may have been
beaten aud dream off. 1Ve may have been
driven. If the going down of the min and
the coming of night hes left victory uncle-
thore is a gradual dying away of the
rear of the larger guns, Xbe spiteful six
and nine pounders keep to their work for
half au hour longer. Then you hear only
the boons of a aiugle gun, and the fire of
muskets, which heti beeu a continuous roar
for long hours, slackens off and dies out
until there is only a sullen emitter, as from
the wick of a candle touched with water.
rhe night will not he entirely quiet Here
and there the pickets will tire into the
darkness at intervals, and guns and troops
will be moved to new position.
But is only after the hati,le—after both
armies have abandoned the field—that you
realize the horror 01 a struggle where 200,-
001 men have bees engaged. From right
to left think is a distance ortsay nine miles.
Both flanks were hold by °twenty. The line
ran through ineedows, over flower fields,
across woodlauda and
71111007(111 111110 Chen &US
surrounding farmhouses. Everywhere along
this front are dead and wounded men, dead
and wounded horses, dismounted guns,
sabers, ass ords, muskets, and mecoutremen ts.
Here in this hazel thieket a dozen mortally
weitnded men erwwled away to die. Uader
the wild plum tree shading tee waters of
the brook are entire of wontulet1 men, some
of whom left treks of blood as they drew
themselves along inoh by inch to reach the
water for Which they thirsted as 'levee be-
fore. There are dead men among the ripen-
ing wheat, on the sterile hillsides, in the
clover over which the honey bees are hover-
ing, among the red and ethite hollyhocks of
the farmer's gardep.
The field Le left to the hospital corps and
the brigade detailed for burial duty. Field
hospitals ace erected here and there, and
the wounded are gathered in. Blood drips
from their wounds as they are carried along
blood on the grass, on the rooks, and
leaves and bushes—blood until you turn
your eyes to the blue sky to ferget its color.
Men are carried past you who seem to be
dead ; others groan in agony ; others still
ery out and curse at the Samaritans of the
ba ttlefiehl.
And ot the dead Right here where they
lie in winrows, some across each other, a
brigade tried to drive itself into our centre
as a wedge, and was almost wiped out of ex-
istence by grapeshot cauister, and belle&
Further to the left we find them only at in-
tervals and not so near our lines. Over the
hill and on each side of
711(0 8050? 111(4ILWAN
We Come upon them by scores agent. Here
we had a battery, and half is brigade charg-
ed out of the woods to take it 1 Standing
here you ohn see dead men dotting the
ground to the very edge of the forest. The
guns were turned upon them 90 80051 as they
appeared, and the fire was murderous.
Here is where they were °Omitted and shat-
tered and driven back by the volleys of the
infantry in support of the guns. If there
were any wounded among the deed they
have crawled away.
And here, just in the edge of the orchard,
the earth is Almost lilddeg by the dead and
wounded. Men have carried watet from
Why They Paid.
At a debating seciety the other ni the
Irish qftestIon was being disc:mese!, An
English doctor waS sustaining the itegutneet
thitt the Irish were naturally P. depraved
and dithonest race. He urged hie own ex-
perience, At Liverpool he had eight hue -
deed pietients on his booke, and of these
only thirty paid hi M for his attendance.
" dere," said an Irishmen, who rose tvith
flushed cheek to repel the Itoonsatten, "Sol%
there is never an effect without a cause,
there is never a phenomenon which does not
admit of 0,11 eeplanation. How, sore, 00,11
We explain the extricordinery plienotnenon
of wineh the dostor has called our attention 1
Ile finds an explanation in the enteral de.
gravity of the Irish nature, I., seer, helm
another explanation to offer, and it ls this
*410 tlinty patients mitten( ,
Chatty t " Do you think, tny love, Hutt
your nether will consent to our merriage?"
Angel,. " Of course papa will be very
sorry to loge Me, darling."
Cholly " But I will say to him that in.
Stead of losing te distighter he will loin e,
Angel I wouldn't do that, love, 11 )1011
really waist me. Papa haci three such sone
staying hero note, and 'whits little touchy on
those points.
Sometimes the 5051)91 15 blamed for 95000
prayer•rneeting by Et num whose wife told
111111 that he was eating too teeny pickles fa
any iinmediete attack.' Bat In a letter to stipper,—tRam s Horn,
JUIOS Verne is said to write his tales in
observatory on the top of his Inns°,
t.