®lie Cmfrr
Torms 51.50 por Anunm, in Advance,
S. T. SHUQERT and R. H. FORSTER, Editor..
Thnrsday Moraing, December 2, 1880.
X A POLE< )N , S S()LI) 11, H.
A Veteran ttf Hit' ltii|it>rial French
Army or istHl.
NINKTY-TUKEK YMA Its OLD.
A SPECTATOR OK TIIE ERL'I'TION OP VEST
VIUS IS TIIE I.A.ST CESTI'RY.
From th" I'hilntlotplil* Tiiid*.
For nmny years past the regular
theatre-goers of this city have noticed
in the orchestra an old man, with
white hair and whiskers, who plays
the violin. He has been connected
with every theatre in the city, and his
face is a familiar object to those who
study the musicians as well as the
music during the often tedious waits
between the acts. The small gold ear
rings he wears have often been re
marked, and the manner in which lie
handles his instrument shows that it is
an old friend. For some time he has
been a member of the Chestnut Street
Theatre Orchestra, under the direction
of Simon 11 ussier, where lie has made
many friends, who have been astonish
ed to hear from the quiet little old
man occasional reminiscences of an
unusually adventurous life. Yet some
of his most intimate friends, who have
only heard him conversing on the
great musicians and singers he has
heard and known, do not know that
the humble musician is a veteran of
the army of the great Napoleon and
participated in the buttles under his i
command when this century was
young. The old gentleman is not i
given to boasting and speaks modest- |
ly of his experiences, but there are '
occasions when, surrounded by his
family or a little circle of chosen
friends, he fights the battles of the
"grand army" over again and tells of
deeds he has witnessed that are now
matters of history. (>ne of these rare j
occasions was on Friday last, when !
Pierre Solidore Molin,Chevalier of the
Legion of Honor, the veteran soldier
and musician, celebrated his ninety
third birthday at his bumble resi
dence, on .Julianna street, below Cal-j
lowhiil.
AN OLI) SOLDIKRS mUTHDAY.
The day was spent in visiting and
receiving the congratulations of his
many relatives and friends, and in the
afternoon, while seated around the!
cheerful fireside, he was prevailed upon '
to give some reminiscences of such a |
career as few living men have expe
rienced. The room was characteristic
of the man. On the walls hung pic
tures of Napoleou and Washington '
aud a portrait of Cherubini, the com
poser. On the little old-fashioned
piano rested a huge pile of music and
a picture of a veteran of Napoleon's
< iuards, whose motto was : " The Old
Ouard Dies, But Never Surrenders."
Everything was scrupulously neat and
dean and showed the care and atten
tion of a tidy housewife. The old ;
gentleman, who scarcely appeared to
be more than sixty-five years old in- j
stead of being within a few years of
his centenary, was bright and cheerful
and evidently in a good humor for ;
talking, so that when a visitor sag- 1
gested that a brief sketch of his life 1
would be interesting he signified his i
assent. Although a resident of this i
country for sixty-two years, he still
retains his native Piedmontese accent
in a marked degree, and the fact that
lie has lost all his teeth rendered it
difficult at times to catch his meaning.
He is in full possession of all his fac
ulties and in perfect physical health,
while his mind is remarkable for its
keenness and accuracy. It scarcely
required a moment for him to remem
ber an occurrence of seventy or eighty
years, ami in every case when refer
ence was made to some particular date
be was invariably correct.
REMINISCENCES OF THE LAST CEN
TURY.
" I was born," said lie, in answer to
a question, " on this day ninety-three
years ago; that is, on November lb,
17X7. My birthplace was Nice, which
now belongs to France, although when
I first saw the light it was in Italy.
They used to say,' Nice is the garden
of Italy and Italy is the garden of
Europe.' My father was a doctor,
who attended the Marquis of Itocbam
beau and accompanied him to America
during the Revolutionary War. My
grandfather was chamberlain to the
Duke of .Savoy. I was educated in
Naples first and then in Paris, ami
was living in the former place when
flie eruption of Mount Vesuvius took
place in 179(5."
" I)o you remember anything about
the eruption ?" was asked.
The old gentleman laughed heartily
and shrugged his shoulders expressive
ly as he said: " Why, I was only nine
years old at the time, and it has been
so long ago. But I remember that it
looked like a big fire and everybody
thought that they were going to he
burned up. recollect that a
few days afterwards I went with my
parents to visit Torre del Greco, a town
at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, which
had been destroyed by the burning
lava. Right in the town there was a
nunnery and the volcano in its erup
tion east out a huge rock which block
ed up the door so that no one could go
in or out. That is all that I can re-
member about the eruption. There
have been several since, hut 1 believe
this was the worst.
NAPOLEON'S CORi >NATION.
"1 went to Paris about IXOO and
studied vocal and instrumental music
at the Conservatoire, where Cherubini
was a director at that time. Yes, that
is his portrait on the wall, and it is a
very good likeness, too. He composed
many operas about that time and they
were very successful, as you know. I
was taught in the French school of
music, which is to first learn losing
and then to plav every instrument.
I can nlay everything except the horn,
and I haveu't wind enough to perform
on that. I was engaged at the Grand
Opera House as repetiteur of the or
chestra in 1804. I remember the first
production of 'La Dame Blanche'at
the Grand Opera House at that time.
The composer himself (Boildicu) led
the orchestra and 1 was repetiteur or
assistant conductor there."
"Do you remember who were the
singers upon that occasion ?"
"Oh, no, no. 1 cannot remember
that. 1 only recollect that Boildicu
conducted the orchestra aud that the
opera was a great success. I was en
gaged at the Grand < >pera House
when Napoleou was crowned Emperor
at the Church of Notre Dame in IXO4.
Ah ! that was a grand sight. I shall
never forget it. Soon after that 1 en
tered the army."
"llow came you to join the army?
Were you conscripted?" was asked.
"Oh, no," replied the old professor,
with a laugh; "I volunteered. But
let me show you this," and the old
man took down from the wall a frame
containing a paper bearing the dingy
hue of age and written in French. It
was a certificate similar to the hon
orable discharge of an American sol
dierand showed that Pierre Solidore
Milou had entered the Second Regi
ment of the French Infantry of the j
line .lulv 4, 1X0(5. Then followed a
full account of his various promotions,!
from a private to a captain and pay
master, together with the campaigns !
through which he had served and the
battles in which he had been engaged.
Above the paper in the frame was the
faded red ribbon and cross of the
Legion of Honor, aud on one side of!
the certificate was a detailed account
of the gallant service rendered by
Sous-Lieutenant Milou in capturing a
cannon from the Russians at Polotsk,
for which he received the decoration.
The certificate was signed by the
Baron de Wimpfl'eii, colonel com
manding the Second Regiment of the
liue.
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN.
"Le Baron de Wimpffen," said the
old Professor, "succeeded Colonel de
Lavalatte as commander of the regi
ment. The latter was an old soldier
and was with Napoleon in Egypt. He
received a wound in the leg at the hat- !
tie of Wagrani and died from the
effects two days afterwards and the
Baron took his place. My first duties
upon joining the regiment were in the '
paymaster's department and eonse- 1
quently I did not see any fighting J
until we entered Swedish Pomerania.
Then came the campaign against the ;
Prussians. Ah! I remember that well j
and the passage of the Jena, in which !
I gave a pea.-ant forty gold pieces to
pull me out of the water on the other
side. Then came the Austrian earn-1
paign of 1809, during which you see;
I was made sergeant major, having I
successfully been appointed corporal,
sergeant and Courier or paymaster's
secretary."
"Do you remember Napoleon's ap
pearance?" asked a visitor.
"Perfectly,"said theohl man,spring
ing from his chair and his face light- j
ing up with enthusiasm. "I saw him
many times, and have been as near to
him as lam now to you. I remember
his stern, resolute face and the way he
used to fold his arms and stand this
way," and the veteran assumed the
familiar attitude which is said by his
torians to have been the "Little Cor
poral's" favorite pose.
"Yes, my friends, I have seen Na-'
noleon, the great Napoleon, standing j
before the camp fire with a piece of j
black bread in one hand and a morsel
of cheese in the other, eating it with
all the relish of a common soldier.
Ah! he was always one of us. He
loved his soldiers and his men loved
him," and the old man's voice trem
bled as he spoke.
"Then came Russia, the march to
Moscow ami the retreat. Oh, that
terrible, winter, with its snow and ice!
I have read many histories and de
scriptions of the cold and misery we
experienced, and I have them in
French, German and English. Not
one of them can begin to describe the
horrors of that cold. If a man were
to live for a thousand years he would
□ever forget it. This is what the cold
did for me," and the veteran held up
his hand, from which the ends of four
fingers were missing. "Besides my
fingers I lost nearly all my toes by the
il read fill fspst."
"When we entered Russia we had
the grandest army Euro|>e had ever
seen. Five hundred thousand men,
all of them good soldiers. The Rus
sians lied before us, hut we had nmny
engagements with them. I was made
a sous-lieutenant and received the
decoration of the legion of Honor.
There is what the colonel said of me;
yon can read for yourself."
"But tell us how you enptured the
cannon that is mentioned here?"
"Oh, it was nothing." replied the
veteran, modestly: "it was at Pelotsk.
The Russians were retreating and 1
encountered two of thein dragging oil'a
cunnon. I charged them and they ran
away, so I brought the cannon to the
regiment. Marshal St. Cyr decorated
mo with his own hand and promoted
mo to u lieutcnantcy. Then we turned
buck, and on the retreat 1 was cap
tured. I was weak and suffering from
my frost-bitten hands and feet, and
twelve leagues from Wilna I was taken
prisoner. Tliey brought me to Wilna,
and I laid down hy the fountain ex
pecting to die. A woman came up
and said to send me to the hospital,
hut it had been abandoned ; so tliey
kept meat Wilna and then sent me to
l'omboir, where 1 remained until the
war was over; then they set me free.
I returned to France, and arrived two
days alter the battle of Waterloo.
I hey put me on half pay and sent me
to Ninnies, where I was made adju
tant."
A SOl.lilKit's VKNC.EA.NCJ-:.
"Why did you leave the army?"
asked a listener.
"All! it is better to say nothing
about that," was the reply, as u shad
ow passed over his face. "I was on
patrol one night when a man insulted
me and slapped my face. I-drew my
sword and ran him through and he
died. I went to my commander and
reported the occurrence. 'You must
not stay in France,' said he; 'you
must leave the country.' I had heard
of America from my father, so I went
to Marseilles and took passage on the
hark Cleopatra, of Salem, Massachu
setts. I arrived in Boston in I*l*
and stayed there two or three days
and then went to New York. First I
became a traveling merchant. I got
what you call a wheelbarrow and
bought goods, which I sold to the
small shops. While I was doing this
I made the acquaintance of Major
Noah and painted his portrait, and
also a picture of Napoleon crossing
the Alps. He was much pleased and
introduced me to the father of General
Met lellan, who interested himself for
me to get scholars and teach tlieni |
music. 1 had fortv-two scholars at
one time."
SIN"<;IX<; WITH HAHCIA.
"1 sang also in concerts and after
wards in opera. I had a tenor voice
and when Garcia came to this country
I sang with hint in 1822. I sang the
Princr in Rossini's "Cinderella," audi
Jlo'leriyu in "Otello," and in other
operas. Afterwards 1 wished to trav
el and see the country and I went as .
tar north as Halifax. I visited Red
Jacket and lived with the Indians for
nearly a year. Then I traveled to.
South America and visited every large
city down almost as far as Terra del j
Fuego. 1 taught music and played
and thus supported myself and saw
the country at the same time. I have
done that ever since and have traveled
all over North and South America.
In New Orleans I had a tine orchestra
and was married there. Then my
wife died and I came North and have
now been living in Philadelphia for
twenty-three years. I have been at
all the theatres and led the orchestra
at the old (,'hestnut Street Theatre
years ago. I was married a second
time years ago and have four children,
two hoys and two girls, all of whom
are married except one."
"ion have heard many famous
singers in your time, Professor, who)
do von consider the best ?"
"To the musician there is no best, j
Laeh one excels in some particular
manner. Those who have risen from |
the ranks have generally been superior
to the others in some respects. Garcia
played the bass viol in an orchestra in j
Milan before he sang in opera. Ah,
1 could till a hook with reminiscences ;
but it is getting late and 1 must go j
to the theatre."
-
Jolm tiny ami tieneral {'as.
In years gone hy there dwelt in
Washington John Guy, a character in
his way, in connection with whom Col. j
Forney tells the following anecdote : I
Guy kept the National Hotel in
W nshington, and among the guests I
was tieneral ('ass, then Senator from
Michigan. Guy dressed like Cass,
though not as portly, his face, includ
ing the wart, was strangely similar.
One day a Western friend of the
House came in after a long ride,dusty i
and tired, and walking up to the office,
encountered Gen. Cass who was quiet
ly standing there. Mistaking liiin for
Guv, he slapped him on the shoulder
nnd exclaimed," Well,old follow,here
I nni! The last time I hiing up in
your shanty, one of your clerks sent
me to the fourth story, hut now I have
got hold of you, I insist upon a lobby
room."
1 lie tieneral, a most dignified |>er
soniige, taken nback bv this startling
salute, coolly replied : "You have com
mitted a mistake, sir. lam not Mr.
(iuy; I am Gen. Cam, of Michi
gan," and angrily turned away. The
western man was shocked at the un
conscious outrage he committed; but
before lie had recovered from his mor
tification,tieneral Cass who had passed
around the office,confronted him again
when,n second time mistaking him for
Guy, he faced him and said: "Here
you are at last! I have just made a
devil of a mistake; 1 met old t'nss,
nnd took him for von, nnd I'm afraid
the Miehigander has gone otT mad."
What Gen. t 'ass would have said may
well lie imagined, if the real (iuy hail
not approached and rescued the inno
cent offender from the twice assailed
and twice angered statesman,
A COQUETTE.
Hlii* riinililcn through the irifinh>WN uhle,
So richly gdiim***! wltli flew ;
11*t hull WIIN Blight Hf gohlcfi light,
||er I'jrn* were u/uru him*.
Ami whyly, there, the farmer l l
Hetrnyed hi* love und woe;
She pMioii'fl hi in hy
\\ ith hem I held high.
Ami coldly mmwered, "No!"
She wandered to the woodlrtnd lend,
Ity wild flow'm all hegirt;
She HO w here !•<•; uty In He depth,
And rriiiliwl—the pretty tlirl !
And there tile mrnte toid hie hi?*,
Th'' hope wim (tinned deod ;
If lit though ahe igh<l,
She nought replied.
She only iihfMjk her head?
She lingered hy the htnad park rate,
The old lord lingered too;
lie nought the maiden for ION hrhle,
And knew, too, how to woo.
And th ugh lie feigned I ive'n *,id depnir,
Her nnower he could gue ;
Put could ind n| y
Her triumph high ?
She nmiled, and whlnfiered "Ye* !"
—Teinple liar.
liKODERICK AMI TEltltV.
From the New Yuri; World.
The defeat of one out of several
Presidential electors in a State is an
extraordinary occurrence which has
jnst liecn officially declared to have
happened in California. David S.
Terry is the Democratic elector thus
"left out in the cold." Had the pend
ing electiou been as close as.that of
187 C Judge Terry's defeat might have
changed the complexion of our history
for four years at least. There can he
hut little doubt that the causes of this
defeat lie far hack of the pending
election, ami must he traced to the
killing of Senator David S. Broderiek
in a duel years ago by Judge Terry.
Many old residents of the Eighth ward
remember David S. Broderiek as a
young Democratic "boss" in that part
of New Y<irk thirty-five years ago.
"Dave," the "fire laddie" and stone
mason's apprentice, just before he left
New York lor San Francisco owned a
popular 1 irjuor saloon which was the
headquarters of the Tammany hoys of
Houston, Spring and Yurick street
neighborhoods. The immediate cau-e
of "Dave's" leaving on the fir.-t attack
of the gold fever of 1*1!) was his un
expected defeat for Congress in a
Democratic district, for which un
doubtedly he was himself responsible.
He hud become a thorough political
organizer, and in his new home us a
fireman and ward politician he almost
immediately acquired nn ascendance
in I lemocratic politics. No sooner had
he secured a residence than he was
chosen State Senator, and hy an acci
dent during his term lie was made act
ing Lieutenant Governor. "Dave" im
mediately aspired to be I'nited Slates
Senator, and actually spent seven
years in a persistent and undaunted
struggle for the prize. Three times—
in 1851, 1 855 and 1 856—lie prevented
a choice hy the legislature rather
than see a rival chosen. In 1852 Juo.
11. Weller beat Broderiek hy only two
majority. In 1855 no electiou for
Senator occurred. In 1854 Broderiek
hit upon the ingenious plan of choos
ing himself in advance of the vucanev
aud nearly succeeded in the scheme.
Believed to lie in 1856 as dead politi
cally as Dennis Kearney now is, and
actually so unpopular as to be kept
under watch hy the aristocratic vigi
lance committee of that period, Ilrod
erick, in 1857, hy bold political moves
was chosen I nitcd States Senator, and
hail so much power as to he able to
dictate who his colleague should lie,
after obliging that colleague, Senator
Gwin, in a memorable letter, which
afterwards became public, to agree
that Ilroderick should enjoy all the
patronuge. This was an agreement
which President Buchanan refused to
acknowledge, and this led to a rup
ture between the President and Ilrod
erick who, on one occasion, on the floor
of the Senate, averred that "the Presi
dent's policy towards Kansas should
he ascribed to the fading intellect, the
petulant passion and the trembling
dotage of an old man on tlie verge of
the grave." The rupture led to the
defeat in California of the Ilroderick
Democrats at the Congressional elec
tions. During that canvass David 8.
Terry, the recently rejected Hancock
elector, made campaign speeches, al
though, like Judge Noah Davis, lie
was a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Ilroderick hnving declared in a stump
speech that he was following in the
lead of Douglas, Judge Terry retorted
hv saying that "it was the lead, not
of Stephen but of Fred Douglass."
Ilroderick was breakfasting in the In
ternational Hotel of San Francisco,
with Mr. I'erley, n friend both of the
Senator and of the Judge, when the
speech was read out from a morning
paper. Ilroderick was much nettled,
and impulsively said: "1 have said
that Terry is the only honest men on
the beach, but I tnke that hack." Per
lev spoke up sharply at this, and left
the table to go id pen a challenge,
which Broderiek declined on the ground
that he had no ouarrel with I'eriey,
and that if he had Perley was not his
equal. Then Terry stopped into the
gap, and, resigning his judgeship for
the purjiosp, sent Ilroderick n chal
lenge, which was accepted. The duel
was fought ten miles out nf San Fran
cisco, on the morning of September 13,
1859, with dueling pistols, at a dis
tance of ten yards. Hrodcrick's hall
struck the ground a few paces imme
diately in front of Terry—Hrodcrick's
hair trigger failing him —while Terry's
hall lodged in Ilroderick'a left lung
and killed him within a few days.
His death was regarded hy the anti
slavery Democrats as an assassination
—a sentiment which the late General
and Oregon Senator, F. D. linker,
made the topic of a celebrated funeral
oration over "Dave"—a* his admirers
continued to call him to the day of
entombing his remains beneath a con
spicuous monument in Ine Mountain
cemetery. Terry was indicted for mur
der aihf imprisoned, but never tried.
During the civil war lie was in the
Confederate army. After the war he
returned to San Francisco and prac
ticed law and re-entered politics. In
August, 1879, he unsuccessfully ran
on the Kearney ticket for Attorney
tieneral. This year he was nominated
as a Presidential elector.
TIIE Tit A Ml' SI I 1.1. LIMBERS.
The worst result of the crash which
prostrated all our leading industries
in 1873, and inaugurated an era of
unexampled depression which contin
ued for five yeurs, was the wide-spread
ruin of character which resulted from
inforced idleness and want.
It was had enough to see credit
swept away, to see fortunes disappear
as snowflakes in the sea, to see thou
sands reduced from affluence to pov
erty, and our poorhouscs and lunatic
asylums filled with victims of hard
times. But worse than this was the
filling of the land with tramps, roving
vagabonds, sinking lower and lower in
the moral scale until they became
hardened criminals, until they were
capable of deliberately choosing a life
of crime rather than one of honest in
dustry.
It was supposed that the tramp
would disnppcur when the wheels of
business begun to revolve again with
their wonted force ; that when work
became plenty, the vagrants would go
into the shops and factories and all
their old pursuits, und that society
would he fully restored to its normal
condition. But this was an illogical
conclusion. A life that has been
wrenched and trampled out of shape
eaunot he restored like a piece of met
al. Thousands of men who were lion-
I est, industrious and prosperous seven
years ago, are now deplorable moral
wrecks and will never voluntarily do
a day's work during the balance of
their lives.
It is true the tramp is not so num
erous a person as he was two years ago,
hut there are still too many of his
trilie, and many of the most revolting
crimes are his work. We can deplore
the terrible misfortunes which made
these men what they are, the pinch of
poverty that compelled them to lake
to the road, but society will not IK- too
sentimental to protect itself. Many
of the States have at read v enacted
tramp laws. Sinie have set up the
whipping|Mi-t. All will he com|s ]led
to employ strong instrumentalities to
suppress this very dangerous nuisance.
TREASURE TROVE.
A SO I.l*l f. R WHO loi M( ONE Hl'MißFlt AM* '
TIIIHTV TLLOL SANI* HOLLARS.
Frotn tk* London Nfi.
Kzelot, the French soldier who
found the £2(1,000 which M. l'ages
lost in the Northern Railway station i
in Paris, has communicated to the
Courrirr <lr /' Aitnc the particulars
attendant on his good fortune. They
are very interesting, and show how
some men are horn to fortune, some
achieve fortune, and some have for
tune thrust upon them. Kzelot was
walking through the railway station |
with two comrades, when they noticed
on the floor a packet wrapped in a
new-paper. They kicked il along he
fore them for some distance, and when
Kzelot was getting into the train,
going home <>n short leave, one of his
comrades, picking up the packet,
thrust it into the canvass forage hag
slung at his side, Kzelot going on his
way without having perceived the lit
tle pleasantry.
Arrived at Neuiily, where his pa
rents live, his mother, emptying the
forage hag, discovered the bundle, and
thinking it was a packet of old news
papers put it on a tabic in the kitchen.
There it remained for four or five
days, till a married sister, calling iu j
and seeing the packet, was moved by
unwonted curiosity. (ipetyng it she
discovered documents representing the
£28,000 the loss of which M. Pages
had advertised throughout Europe.
The European pa tiers arc not, how
ever, read at Neuillv, where the Cour
rier dc V Ai*ne doubtless hns it all its
own way. The soldier aud his parents,
not knowing what else to do, followed
the provincial Frenchman's instinct
and had recourse to the Mai re. That
functionary,communicating with Paris
speedily brought down M. Pages, w ho,
gratefully paying the promised reward
of £I,OOO, went off with his oddly-re
covered treasure. It would be an in
teresting supplement to the narrative
if we could have a record of the feel
ings of the soldier who thrust the
packet upon Ezelot wheu lie heard the
sequel to the little joke.
OLD TIMBER.
Probably the oldest timber in the
world which hns been subjected to the
use of man is that found in the nn
cient temples of Egypt in connection
with the stonework which is known to
he at least four thousand years old.
This, the oulv wood used in the con
struction of the temple, is in the form
of ties, holding the end of one stone
to another at its upper surface. When
two blocks were laid in place, AH ex
cavation about an inch deep was made
in each block, into which a tic shaped
like an hour-glass was driven. It is
therefore very difficult to force any
stone from its position. The ties ap
pear to have been of the tamarisk or
sliittomwood, of which the ark va
i constructed, a sacred tree in ancient
I Hgypl and now very rarely found in
the valley of the \Nilc. Dovetailed
ties are juat as wound now aw on tie
day of their insertion. Although fuel
in extremely scarce in the country,
these hits of wood are not large enough
to make it an object with the A rah- to
: heave off layer after layer to obtain
them. Had they Iwen of bronze half
i the old temple* would have been do
: slroyed vear- ago, wo precious would
they have been for various purpo*<-.
| lIIK 101,0 ft LINK AT WKST I'OIM.
(ieneral Sehotield, commanding tin
Department of West l'oint, way- upoji
| the subject of enforcing a*so-iation
j between white and black cadet* : -"In
i their zeal and sincere desire to carrv
! out the policy of the (ioveriiment tie
| authorities of the Military Academv,
have heretofore gone too far in en
| forcing personal association* betw< < n
; white and Iduck cadet* without regat I
to prejudice, esjtecially at the w<
tuhle. In respect to quarters the in re
reasonable rule had always been ob
served of not requiring any cad-t
j against his will to occupy tin* same
sleeping apartment with another. 1 h
same rule should have lieen adopted
|in respect to the mess-table. The eol
-1 ored cadets would thus have been
, saved some part of the mortification
j due to an ill-advised ulternpt to regu
j late th-ir social standing by military
, force. Whatever just cause of self-
I reproach anv portion of the g<sd p< -
' pie of the I niled States may have 1 r
j neglected duty towards those who had
I been so suddenly raised from slave rv
1 to the full responsibilities of citizen
| ship, the officers of the Military Ac ad
emy have only to reproach thcm*<-)\< -
for a too zealous attempt to acrom
i plish what was manifestly impossible,
in their desire to do all in their power
tor the unfortunate- colored boy-, who
had been placed in a false position,
i unci in their faithful efforts to carrv
i out n policy, however ill-advised, that
had for it- aim to secure the- .newlv
enfranchised the fullest jw>—ible enjov
ment eif all the- rights arid privilcge-s
I ef citizenship.
Hut the Military Academy cannot,
without utterly destroying its useful
iie-ss, be made a nursery for delicate*
hot-house plant*. It- u-c is to devel
op the fibre* of theise- of a more stureiv
growth and re ject ail that elo not pos
se.-. the requisite stamina. I nles- the
African rae-e i- naturally superior to
the Caucasian, and slavery a better
school for race development than free
dom, it cannot be hoped tliat many
colored I toys will succeed where two
thirds of all the white hoys now se
lccU-d habitually fail. It i- presumed
that the people e.f the United State*
do not wish to lower their national
institutions to the present level of the
rceent slaves, but to elevate the freed
men as rapidly a* possibly toward* the
ever-rising standard of the great bodv
of the people. Public duty required
that thi* subject be treated without re
serve- and a* an important question of
puldic policy."
A New System of Apprenticeship.
The difficulty of getting thoroughly
qualified machinists, and the practical
failure of the edd *\>t"m of apprentice
ship, have led a manufacturing firm in
Sprinfield, Mass., to devise a new plan,
involving both se-hool and shop work.
For beginners under twenty years of
age the term of apprenticeship i* fixed
at six years. Jn this time it is believ
ed that an apprentice will be able to
acquire the theoretical and practical
knowledge needed to make him a fir.-t
--class journeyman. Those who arc over
twenty years of age are allowed to fin
ish their apprenticeship in five years,
and those who have worked in li shop
are advanced according to proficiency.
1 lie beginner is first put to drawing
from sketches, then takes up projection
and diagram, and advances regularly
according to his ability. It is believed
that in this way one year will qualify
him as well to work from drawings us
four or five years ordinarily. All ap
plicants are taken from four to twelve
weeks on trial, and if not satisfactory*
are then dismissed. For the first year's
labor five cents per hour is paid to
those under eighteen, six cents to those
who are eighteen, and seven cents to
those who are twenty and upwards;
for the next years the rate is ndvauced
to six, eight, ten, eleven, and twelve
cents. The firm also pay two cents
per hour additional into a reserve fund,
which is paid to those apprentices who
finish their full term of service; for
the six years this amounts to $4<K).
The organizers of this scheme, —
Messrs. Richard* A Dole, —propose to
require of each apprentice fifty-eight
hours a week of shop work and nine
hours of study. This, we are ineliued
to think, is too much work Rd too
little study to secure the best results,
especially with the younger appren
tices. Still the plan is well worth a
fair trial. It is said that the appli
cants for apprenticeship already ex
ceed the number that can bo taken,
which tqteaks well for the plan and
for the young mechanics of Spring
field.
A MOMENT'S work on clay tells more
than an hour's labor on brick. So
work on hearts should be done before
they harden. During the first six or
eight years of childlife mothers have
chief sway, and this is the time to make
the deepest and most enduring im
pressions on the youthful miud.