£Jic Crntvf JPrmortirf.
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BELLEFONTE, PA.
Tho Largest, Cheapest and Best Paper
I'UIII.ISHBO IN I INTIIK COUNTY.
Krom Ills NKW Vork OtMmro-r.
INTERNATIONAL LESSONS.
Third Quarter,
it uv. HIRST a. usm T, D. a.
JULY 3.
l,csson 1.
ISRAEL IN EGYPT.
Kx. 1: 4—14.
• ioinr* TIXT •.—*'AK! !h-y MALE LH*?Jr II*IH Mttci
with h*r*l bondage K*. 1 14.
Central Truth: —Nothing can thwart
the good purpose of(iod concerning
his people.
After six delightful months with the
life of Christ, as recorded by Luke, we
turn once more to the Old Testament.
The change may seem to be great.
And it is. Nevertheless, we shall find
ourselves in but another and a most in
structive part ol the same Bible. The
New Testament is rooted in the Old;
and tho be.-t understanding of the form
er is possible only to those who are at
home in the latter. All Scripture is
profitable.
The lost half of last year was devoted
to the Book of Genesis. We then
traced the story of the Creation, Fall
ami Promise; of the covenant with
Noah, ami the call and lite of Abraham ;
aud ot God's dealings with Isaac, Jacob
ami Joseph. We saw the family ol
Jacob settled in Goshen, the most fer
tile part of the land of Egypt. Joseph
had already risen to the highest ollice
in the gift of the king, and his brethren
were soon made keepers of the royal
herds. The lessons ol last year closed
with the death of Jacob and ot Joseph.
It is at that point that we take up again
the thread ot old Testament history.
The Book of Exodus (signifying "go
ing out"), which is now tor some time
to occupy our attention, is so called
from the leading event recorded in it— |
namely, the departure of Israel from
the land of their oppressions to be re
planted in the good land promised to
their fathers.
The present lesson deals with two
principal facts, —(a) the wonderful in
crease of Israel in Egypt, and (b) the
means used by the new king to check
their growth. To bring the first of
these into bolder relief, the writer goes
back to the descent of Israel in Egypt.
Israel was then a little flock. The male
descendantsof -I acob numbered seventy,
though, counting women and servants
who were admitted to the covenant and
reckoned Israelites, the whole number
was probably several hundreds. But
now they had wonderfully increased.
(bserve the climax : they were fruitful,
they increased abundantly, they nailtiplietl.
they waxed exceedingly mighty, the whole
land was tilled with them. In part this
was due to natural causes. But it WAS
also in fulfillment of prophecy and
promise. To Jacob it had been said :
"Bear not to go down into Egypt, for I
will there make of thee a great nation"
(Gen. 46: 3). God was now making
good his promise.
The second principal point of the
lesson relates to the attempt of the
new king to thwart the divine purpose.
It would be a mistake to suppose that
the whole, or greater part, of the so
journ in Egypt was spent in bondage.
By some, the time of that sojourn is
supposed to have been two hundred
and fifteen years; by others four hup-c
dred and thirty years. Whichever vi*"*
is correct, Israel there enjoyed many
free and prosperous years. It was after
this that the new king arose. Doubtless
he was of a new dynasty ; perhaps a
foreign power coming in to supplant
the one which had gone before it. This
'would explain his ignorance of Joseph,
or his inditFerence to the services he
had rendered. It would also help to
explain his dread of an alien people,
like the children of Israel, within its
borders.
It does not appear that this new
king desired to destroy tho objects of
his dread. As slaves they would he of
great value to him. Accordingly he
net himself to cripple them. He laid
upon them great burdens. He did not
take away their fields and flocks, but
made their lives bitter with hard bond
age. He set them to making brick,
digging canals, and building treasure 1
cities. Greek historians tell us that
the Egyptians boasted that their great
works were the products oT the labor of
captives and slaves, and not of their
own people.
But here it is to be noticed that the
more they were afflicted, the more this
people grew. The leird does not forget
his promises.
Nothing is here said of the reasons
for the divine permission of these Cruel
ties of the king and sufferings of bis
own |>eoplo. In part, be may have de
aigned to teach the nation* some great
The end certainly did show
that, however, long wickedness may be
tolerated, he ia still and ever on the
aide of the oppresses!, and sure to pun
ish the oppressor. In part. In* purpose
may have been to correct his people for
their ain, particularly that of idolatry ;
to bind tbem the morn closely together,
ami especially to make them willing to
leave a land unsuited to the moral de
velopment of the great nation he
meant them to be. Their afflictions
were needful for their purifying, and to
make them willing to go in the lord's
way.
RA*CTU SL SROOESTTON*.
1. God never ceases from his watch
ful care of his own people. To what
ever land they go he follows tbem, to
bless them when faithful, to correct
them when they fall into evil ways, and
to prepare them for the better things
he may have In store.
2. It ia always safe to take God at his
word of promise, not despising the day
of small things. His resources are not
few, nor are they weak. He can cause
that "a little one shall become a thou
•and and a small one a strong nation."
3. One of the lessons most frequently
and startlingiy impressed upon us in
the older books of the Bible is the
shortneasof life and certainty of death.
"Joseph died and all his brethren and
/ all that generation." Ho it will soon be
'' said of us.
I. Wo uro also reminded of llio brov
ily of earthly fame. If ct forgotten,
Joseph won noon disregarded. No!
even the groat sorvioen ho hud rendered
could perpetuate his momory among
those who hud most reason to remem
ber him. It ix cerlainly better to seek
tho lionor which eometh from < iod, than
tho shallow and short lived praises of
men. Tho world will soon forget us.
ft. The devices of worldly men, how
ever powerful and crafty, cun never de
stroy the Church, nor hinder its
growth. Their very opposition may he
a means of promoting its increase.
ft. That which wicked men cull wis
dom is often proved to bo but poor
and fruitless cunning, serving to defeat
the very purposes they have at heart.
7. (iod makes use of the afflictions of
his people to work out their highest
and most enduring good, By tho hos
tility and opposition of wicked men he
corrects their follies and drives them to
himself. Ity experiences of sorrow and
sutlering he purifies them from sin, and
makes them meet for a hotter inheri
tance. It is by the same means that he
makes them willing at length to go
forth to its possession.
S. Ihe life of Israel in Egypt was n
striking pretiguration of many a believ
er's experience in the world. He goes
down into its arena much in the same
spirit as that which took.lacoh to Egypt,
lie goes to better bis fortune. And he
may do it. The world proves a Goshen
of comforts and good things. He grows
to love it. By it he is weakened ami
corrupted. Then it begins to pove a
place of felt bondage. And (bid lets
iiiiu feel the bitterness of that bondage,
until, bumbled and brought back, he is
made once more to desire a better por
lion, and is prepared for departure to
it. The world was not meant to be our
home. If we are indeed of God's true
people, he will somehow bring us out
from it.
WASHINGTON TKRRITORY.
UNITED STATES I.AM) Orm *. )
AKIMA, WASHI sc. TON TERRITORV, ■
May 7, ISBI. j
KDITOES CENTRE DEMOCRAT :
Nearly every mail brings me letter*
from all parts of Pennsylvania contain
ing inquiries concerning this country—
the climate, soil, Ac. I fin< 1 it iiii|M>*m
ble to answer each letter separately, and
yet wishing that nil may know what
kind of a country we have in this north
west corner of the United States, I ad
dress myself to you in the hope that
my letter may possess sufficient interest
to warrant Us publication in the i>r.iio
i RAT. I may tell some things that may
seem fabulous,but I am willing to vouch
for their correctness.
A glance at a map of the United States
will show you that N akima I pronounced
Yack i maw) IH situated at the mouth of
the Ahtanmn.on the Yakima river, and
with the exception of Kllensburg, a very
small village, is the farthest town on
the north western frontier, east of the
Cascade mountains. It has n popula
tion of five hundred, and is located
precisely as Milesburg is in the Bald
Kagle \ alley. Rattlesnake mountain
lies immediately south ol the town, and
where the Ahtanum empties into the
Yakima there is a gap in the mountain
through which the Yakima runs, pre
cisely as does Spring creek between
Bellefonte and Milesburg, while north
ot us is the Yakima mountain ami Cas
cade range, which in the picture tills
the place of the "Ridges" and Alleghe
ny mountain. This valley, known as
the Ahtanum wet and Moxsee on the
east side ol the Yakiuia river, is about
forty miles in length by twelve in width.
Ten years ago it was nothing but a bar
ren sage brush plain, *upy><fd to be
worthless because it produced nothing
but sago brush, bunch grass, jack rab
bits anil prairie chickens—of the latter
two there are hundreds—and was only
occupied by horses and cattle and their
herders. But a settler came in whoe
necessities required him to cultivate the
soil in order to maintain his family, and
the result was that he discovered the
land heretofore considered worthless
for agricultural pur|Kises, WAS more pro
ductive than any he had ever seen or
heard of before. To-day the valley is
covered with fine farms, that will pro
duce four times as much to the acre as
the best farms in Niltany or I'enns val*
lies. There are many other vallies in
this district, which extends from the
Columbia on the south to the British
line on the north, and from a point
forty miles east of Columbia river to the
summit of the Cascade mountains, but
this one is a fair sample of all of them.
The average crop ol wheat is 40 bush
els to the acre, while seventy bushels
to the acre have been raised ; of barley
the crop is from sixty to ninety bushels,
and all other cereal* in like pro|>ortion.
Corn does well, better in fact than any
where else on this coast, but as our
nights are always cool the yield is not
so large as east of the Rocky Moun
tains, where the nights are warm and
the country is refritshcd by frequent
showers of rain. The soil is especially
adapted to the raising of root crops,
and will readily yield trom six to eight
hundred tmshels of potatoes, beets, tur
nips, carrots or mangel-wurzel to the
acre, arid old settlers, whose word is en
tirely reliable, have told me that it
would produce still larger crops. I.ast
summer, which was an unusually dry
one, Timothy Lynch, who lives eight
miles up the valley,
of potatoes on one acre, and Mr. Briggs,
who live** in Kittila* valley, forty miles
north of us, raised H4U bushels of man
gel wtirzel on one acre. When I came
here in October last to open this office,
I found on exhibition at the place of
business of Mr. Adkins two squashes,
sotne times called sweet pumpkins,
weighing 60 and 80 pounds respectively,
beets froin 2i) to 26 pounds, potatoes —
peerless—ft to 7 pounds, turnips 16 to
26 |ounda, tomatoes 1 to I J. about same
as at home, cucumbers 1 to IJ feet in
length and thick in proportion, red
pepper pods 8 to 10 inches m length,
onions grown from the seed in one
season (never tie "sets" here) as isrge
round as an ordinary saucer, very sweet
and free from the strong, biting taste of
those raised in the eastern Htates and
in my opinion finer flavored than those
raised in the Bermuda Islands, and they
are celebrated, sorghum stalks 14 feet
high, and a sun flower stalk 20 feet high
with a flower on it 18 inches in diame
ter, an apple limb with apples hanging
on it like a cluster of grapes, and other
fruit h Hiirli ii* plumbs, prune'", peaches
and cherries—in liko proportion. Kruit
trees begin to boar in three and lour
years after they urn not out. The great
trouble in that our fruit liven bear too
much and the branches urn constantly
breaking with the weight of fruit.
Our noil is a rich sandy loam, slightly
impregnated with alkali. It in deep,
but light, and grown heavier with culti
vation. The country in of banal tie tor
million und nil the valleyn huve the ap
pearance ol having been at one time
immense Jaken, and I doubt not they
were. The land in broken and nowed
the same neanon. t'ropn are always put
in in the spring of the year, Our farm -
ers are at tho prenent writing .still put
ting in npring wheat. In tny opinion
winter grain would do bent. The plow
used here in very light and thrown a
furrow of only 12 Inchon, und our farm
em only plow .'{ and 4 inches deep. Thin
in a mistaken idea, however, an tho land
dries oht too quick.
This country in a lazy man's paradise,
and will bring to any one willing to
work half as hard on a farm as he does
in Pennsylvania a fortune.
This land district is traversed by nu
merous mountain streams, somewhat
like Spring creek, but much larger ; be
ing led by snow mountains the water is
much colder. All of them have a great
deal of fall and hence run with great
lorco and rapidity, thus affording ex
cedent water power. The Yakima be
tween this place and the mouth of the
Katchee river, seven miles distant, IIHS
a fall of ninety feet. Our streams are
all filled with trout from the tiniest to
those weighing five und six pounds.
Of these there are five kinds: silwr
scale, blue scale, salmon trout, pink
spotted with a red streak along the
sole, known here as mountain trout,
and the "Holly Varden' 1 or the pink
and yellow spotted trout, such as you
have in the east. The spots on these
latter are not so bright as on the eastern
brook trout, but otherwise 1 can dis
cover no difference in them. To catch
them one doea not have to whip out a tly
to do it. < >ue can have sufficient trout
for a meal by an hour or two fishing
any time.
In the northern part of this county
several gold mines, both placer and
quart/, are in course ot development,
and the most sanguine expectations
prevail among the miners interested in
them, nnd it is confidently expected
that the Swauk and i'eshastan districts
will ere long spring into sudden promi
nence, and equal if not exceed the most
Valuable mines that have ever been de
veloped ou this coast. Should the -x
pectationsof those working these mines
only be partially realized it is safe to
predict a bright future for the business
interests of this county. The mining
interests of these districts have already
become an item of interest and consid
erable importance to the merchants
and farmers of the county and of this
place, where the miners purchase their
supplies. The largest nuggets, or "chis
pas" as the miners term theiu, which
have yet been found, were valued re
spectively at t'J.iO, ♦hxt and S7IW, the
latter having fieen found by a t'bina
man, and all were found in the "clean
up" last Fall la-fore the snows set in.
This Spring in one "clean up" a nugget
worth s'--17 was found by parlies who
were ready to give up their mine in
despair. As yet there is no improved
machinery in these mines, the crushing
being accomplished by the old fashion
ed "anstrus" of Spanish origin. The
gold found in these mines i remarks
hly pure and is worth from sl7 tojls
per ounce.
Aside from all other advantage* Ya
kima's greatest blessing i found in its
healthful and delightful climate. Ow
ing to its )>eculiar situation and topogra
phy it is in this respect wholly different
from any other section of the country.
Ity its close proximity to the Cascade
mountains it is protected alike from
the cold winds and early frost* to which
those counties lying eat of the Colum
bia river nre subject, while the melting
snows of Mounts Kanier and Adams, in
plain view, though eighty miles distant,
which rise in awful grandeur and ma
jesty like high white pillar* in the west,
impart, to the summer atmosphere a
cool and invigorating quality that is
both wholesome and agreeable. The
winter ju*t past, here, as elsewhere, was
one of unusual severity. The worst
known in twenty years, but yet in all
my life I never passed one where the
temperature was so equable and pleas
ant. There were no cold, damp south
easter*. no penetrating, marrow fre.-t
--ing north-wester* snd no "bliuards."
The atmosphere was dry and agree
able. and no wind. It was cold without
feeling so, and when you *tep|>cd out of
door* the inclination was to inhale as
much of the pure air a* your lungs were
capable of holding and when tliey were
fully inflated one lelt buoyant, good na
tured and a* though it was pleasant to
live. Hut three night* did mercury fall
below zero and those three were the
most glorious and exhilarating moon
light nights I ever saw.
On the 15th of February s strong
warm wind from the southwest began
blowing—called in this country a "chi
nook wind"—and the snow di*ap|>enred
before it like magic, and since then we
have had most delightful weather, such
as you usually have in the latter part of
April and during the month of May.
Our fruit trees have budded and blos
somed and been in lull leaf for a month.
Strawberries are in bloom and we ex
pect to have numerous festivals eating
them witlfin the month. lam told, by
the way, that they grow so large here
that it is an absolute fact that in pre
paring them for the table they slice
them as one would a raw tomato. I
have teen them in < >regon as large as a
hen's egg.
All crop* in this country are sowed or
planted in the spring. Wheat sowed
this spring is already up and looking as
well as any winter wheat I ever saw.
Some of our farmers are still sowing
wheat, oat* and barley.
This country, like all others, ha* it*
drawbacks. For instance, timber there
is none except small groves on the im
mediate banks of the streams and in
the mountains, the latter being twenty
five miles distant, vix : the Simeoe and
Cascade. The Yakima and Hattleanake
are entirely void of timber. (>ur houses
are all of the "box" order and there
are but two or three plastered house* in
the country and only one built of brick.
Our lime i* obtained from Puget Hound,
via. (Columbia river, and it has to be
hauled from Tljjp Hiilles, Oregon, on
wagons, and when it reaches this place
is worth lour cents a pound. Our houses
are, as a rule, built of inch hoards, strip
ped, and instead of plastering, the in
side* are covered with a thin muslin
tacked on ami then papered. There is
not much privacy in them as a word
spoken in one room is heard in all oth
ers in the house and in consequence the
hoys and girls do most of their "spark
ing on the "front gate." They serve
as a protection but are not excessively
warm on a cold winter's duy. in this
connection 1 will say that notwithstand
ing our extreme northern latitude our
winters are milder than in Virginia and
about the same as in Northern Ala
bama. Snow rarely ever lies on the
ground more than three weeks and
usualiy in tho month of January. Stock
runs on the range the year round and
as a rule is never fed. They are left to
shift lor themselves and generally come
out all right. This winter, however,
was an exception to the rule. It snow
ed heavily about the Ist of December
and crusted and remained until Febru
ary l-Olb.and in consequence thousands
of cattle and hundreds of horses were
starved to death in tho range because
they were unable to move through the
crusted snow to places where grass was
to be found. ISut those who wintered
through, and came out poorer than Job's
turkey this spring, are now as fat as any
grain fed animals in the east. The na
tive hunch Hiid rye grHs-.es of this coun
try, with which the hill* and valleys
are now green, are more nutritious than
corn and will fatten an animal quicker
than corn. Farmers who fed out their
grain during the winter to keep their
stock from starving, are now plowing
with horses whose only feed Is the
bunch grass they get at night in the
pasture after a hard day's work, and
yet they keep in good condition.
Another drawback to the country is
1 ck of rain during the summer months.
For weeks and weeks not a cloud will
be seen in the sky, and the atmosphere
is so clear that we can see a mountain a
hundred miles away as distinctly as
you can see Muncy mountain from
Bellefonte. In fact a person from the
east can form no idea of distance by
sight, as objects seemingly only a mile
or two away are more apt to be ten or
fifteen miles distant. This has been
my experience.
Ihe timber on the streams in the
valleys is tsramahac, or Balm of Giiead,
alder and black willow, with some birch
and choke cherry, either of which
m ike-, tolerable fence rails arid stove
wood but i fit for but little else ; in
the mountains, however, there is some
oak and an excellent quality of sugar
pine, lir, tamarack and c*dr, the latter
being white, light and buoyant and
straight grained.
Any one having a little money after
he has reached this place can do well in
any kind of business, but a man with
out means here, as elsewhere, has a
hard time of it, although assistance
will lie extended to him more wdlinglv.
it lie is worthy, than in the east, as all
of the early settlers have gone through
the trials of frontier life and are gen
erous and hospitable to a,fault. What
i" their'* is their friends. No one will
take a mean advantage of n newcomer's
necessities as it is not considered hon
orable, and be who does it runs the risk
of being "fired out" as tbe native*
term it.
Good American horse* are worth #KtO
each. 'I h<* native < ijfuir ponies, a cross
between the French fi<na<iin ati'l
MiiUnft, can he bought for from five to
fifty dollars each They are mostly
owned by the Indiana and they mutl
need money very had l<efore they will
sell a good horse. The pouici are
anywhere from 10 to 15 banda high,
compact. with fine limb*. They are
very hardy and tough and will carry a
man weighing l*(l pound* sixty and
aerenty milea in a day and hunt their
own feed at night and keep fat. I have
aeen them in pack train* catry 250
)>ound* each. I.ike an Indian, how
ever, they are not entirely truatworthy,
and will "buck'' on the alighteat provo
cation. I have driven a apan of them
from thi* place to The I>a!lea, a distance
of 110 tnile* inaide of twenty hour*,
including stoppage-, and, with one
night's rest, driven them hack in the
aame time. The home* of tbi* country
are much hardier than in the east;
they have strong film hoc,fa and auch a
thing aa corn* and Hat feet are un
known. As a rule they are not aimed,
except Ibev are rode or driven long
distances. They have larger and better
lungs than do the eastern horse* and
have greater endurance. The lope and
walk i* the only gait for a riding horse
here, and our "vacquero*" or "cow
bovs" alway* ride like John Gilpin.
We have some Indians, hut they are
good ones and are mostly employed in
the hop yards, of which we have the
finest in the world, or bv stockmen a*
herders. Soma of the Indians have
herd* ol horses and cattle of their own
that run up into the hundreds. The
Indians are now largely in the minority
and fully realire that the "lloston men,"
as they call the Americans, are the
rulers. They are great gamblers, and
the very worst one* seem content if
they hare a pony and sufficient "ohiek
amin" (money), to indulge in their fa
vorite pastime, a game of "roonte."
They will spread a blanket on the
ground and gather around it and play
until they have lost evervthing. blank
ets, ponies, and all hut suflh-ient clothes
to hide their nakedness. The Indian
women (clonobmen they are railed here)
are industrious and are the washer
women of the country. They are all
dirtv, hut ouni are not so had as those
of the plains east, and a visit of a few
minutes inside one of their wick-e up* —
(the romantic wigwam of the story
hooka), is sufficient to try the strength
of the strongest stomach. As a rule
they wear no covering on their head,
always have a blanket of the gayest
color around them and are fond of
heeds and shell jewelry. They are par
ticularly fond of ahelone shells, found
on the northern coast of California.
We have aeveral settler* from Penn
aylvania. among the numlter Hugh and
Joeiah Wilejr, of Brookville, .tefferann
county, both of whom hay* fine im
proved farm* up tha Ahtanum. On* of
our beat citiien* i* John Weikle, a
"Pennsylvania dutchman," who waa
raised and haa relative* in or near liar
tleton, in Union county. He haa the
bet house, finest farm and largest and
best kept horse* in the country, arid
say* lie is going to have a "big, red
IVnni Valley barn with white blinds,"
before another winter. He also owns a
large herd of cattle on the range, lie
drops in to my office frequently to have
a chat about home, as he still calls it,
and says as soon as the Northern Pa
cific railroad is completed lie is going
buck to visit the homo he left thirty
years ago.
I also found on my arrival here Alex.
Mullin, of Osceola, who is fast becom
ing an old settler. He has been in this
particular locality about a year and lias
adopted tlie costume of tbe granger, a
duck suit and white sombrero hat with
a run tliat is very i/twsmny. He talks
the Chinook jargon like a native Ya
kima Indian, and were he to meet his
father he would probably give him a
surprise by addressing him in this style :
Kin how iam six! Cata mika? Kah
initlile mtku muck a muck ? All of
which means: (iood morning 1 How are
you '! Where is there something to eat?
Alex, and brother Harry have entered
adjoining quarter sections, containing
Hit) acres each, of as fine land aa ever
laid out ol doors -a rich sandy loam,
twenty teet deep, that will produce any
thing that can be grown in tbe middle
or western States. Alex's friends will
bo glad to learn that he is prospering
and bids fair eventually to become one
of our most prosperous and substantial
grangers.
My letter bus grown to a wonderful
length, but should it prove worthy of
publication and will answer the many
inquiries sent me, 1 shall lie most happy
and in the future may have aonic-thing
more to say. Very respectfully,
K. B, KIKNIK, IlnjuUr.
THE AUT OF WAK.
•
AS rt'LLY f. XII.AINEI) lir MASK TWAIN.
At the late reunion of the Army of
the Potomac, in Hartford, to the
regular toast, "The benefit of judicious
training," Mr. Samuel L. Clemmeni
(Mark twain) responded as follows:
"l-et but the thoughtful civilian instruct
the soldier in his duties, and the victory i'
sure. —Mnrhn J'ar:uh <i r Tuoitrr on thr
Art of Uar.
Mh. f'IiMRMAN: 1 gladly join with
my fellow townsmen in extending a
hearty welcome to these illustrious gen
erals and these war scarred soldiers of
the I'epublic. This is a proud day for
us. and, if the sincere desire of our
hearts has been fulfilled it has not been
an unpleasant day tor them. lam in
full accord, sir. with the sentiment of
the toast, for 1 have always maintained
with enthusiasm that the only wise and
true way is for the soldier to fight the
battle and the unprejudiced civilian to
tell him how to do it. Yet when I was
invited to respond to this toast arid
furnish this advice and instruction, I
was almost a* much embarrassed as I
was gratified, for 1 could bring to tins
great service but the one virtue of ah
senee of prejudice nrd set opinion.
Mill, hut one other qualification was
needed and it was of onh minor im
portance. 1 mean knowledge i f the sub
j'-ot. {'hen-fore I wis not disheartened,
for I could acquire that, there being
two weeks to spare. A general of high
rank in this army of the Potomac said
two weeks was really more than I
would need for the purpose. He had
known (teople of mv style who had
learned enough in 4* hours to enable
them to advise an army. Aside from
the compliment, this was gratifying,
because it confirmed an.impression !
had had before, Ilg told tne to go to
the I'nited States military academy at
West Point and said in his flowery pro
f<-*ional way that the cadet* would
"load me up." I went there and staid
two days, and his prediction proved
correct. I make no laiast on my own
account—none. All I know about mil
itary matter* I got from the gentlemen
at West Point and to them belongs the
credit. They treated me with courtesy
from the first, but when my mission
was revealed, this mere courtesy bios
omod into warmest zeal. Everybody,
officer* and all, put down their work
and turned their whole attention to
giving me military information. Every
questioned 1 asked was promptly and
exhaustively answered ; therefore. I
feel proud to slate that in the advice
that I am about to give you as soldiers,
I am hacked up by the highest military
authority in the land—yes, in the
world, if an American doe* say it—
West Point.
To begin, gentlemen, when an en
gagement is meditated, it is best to feel
the enemy first, that is, if it is night,
i for. as one of the cadets explained to
me. you ilo not need to feel him in the
daytime, because you can see him then.
I never should have thought of that,
but it is Irue—perfectly true. In the
day time the methods of procedure are
various, but the best, it seems to me, is
one which was introduced by Uen.
Grant. Gen. Grant always sent an ac
tive young man redoubt to reconnoitre
and get the enemy's bearings. I got
this from a high officer at the Point,
who told me he used to be a redoubt
on Gen. Grant's staff and had done it
often. When the hour for the battle
is eotne, move to the front with celerity
—fool awav no time. Under this head
I was told of a maxim nf Gen. Sheri
dan's. Gen. Sheridan always said, "If
the siege train isn't ready, don't wait
go by any trains that are handy ; to get
there is the main thing." Now, tbvt
is the correct idea. A* you approach
the field, it is better to get out and
walk. Thi# gives you a better chance
to dispose of your force# judiciously for
the assault. Get your artillery in posi
sion and throw out straggler* to the
right and left to hold your lines of com
munication against surprise. See that
every hod carrier connected with a
mortar battery it at his post. They
told me at the point that Napoleon dia
pised mortar batteries, and never
would use them. He said that for real
affieiency he wouldn't give a hatful
of brickbat* for a ton of mortar.
However, that is all he knew about it.
Everything (ping ready for the assault,
you want to enter the field with your
baggage to the front. This Idea waa
invented by our renowned guest, Gen.
Sherman. They told me that Gen.
Sherman said that the trunk* and bag
gage make a good protection for the
soldiers, but that chiefly they attract
the attention and rivet tha interest of
tho -n<-rny, and fliis gives you an op
portunity to whirl the other end of th<>
column around and attack him in the
rear. I hagiven a good deal of study
to tin* tactic itnc* 1 learned ahout it,
and it appcaas to mo it i* a rattling
good idea. N<-v*r fetch on your reserves
at a hlart. fhia was Napoleon's hint
mistake at Waterloo. Next, he assault
ed woh bia bomb-proof* aud ambu
lancos arid embrasures, when he ought
to have lined a heavier artillery. Third
ly, he retired hi* right by ricochet —which
uncovered hi* picket*—when In* only
possibility of success lay in doubling
up hi* centre, flank by flank, and
tiirowing out hi* chcvm/s fa/rue by the
left obliquerelieve the akirmiah line
and oonfuae enemy—if *ueh a ma
noevre would confuse him, and at Went
Point they *aid it would. It wax ahout
thia time that the Emperor had two
boraea abot under him. flow often you
*ee the remark that General No and No
at audi and *uch a battle had two or
three horaea ahot under him. General
l'urnside and many great European mil
itary men, 81 I waa informed by a high
artillery officer at Weat Point, have
juatly characterized tin* an a wanton
Waate of projectiles, arid he irnpreaaed
upon roe a conversation in the tent of
the Prussian chiefs at Gravelotte, in the
course of which our honored guent juat
referred to—Gen. Burnside— observed
that if "you can't aim a borne so a* to
hit the general with it, shoot it over
him, and you may bag something on
the other side, whereas a horse shot un
der a general does no sort of damage."
I agree cordially with Gen. Burnside,
and heaven know* 1 *hall rejoice to see
the artilleries of this land and of all
lands cea*e from thia wicked and idiotic
custom. At Went Point they told roe
of another mistake at Waterloo, name
ly, that the French were under fire
from the beginning of the fight till the
end of it—which w* plainly a moat
effeminate and ill timed attention to
comfort, and a foolish division of mili
tary strength; for it probably took a*
many men to keep up the fire* a* it did
to do the fighting. It would have been
much belter to have had a small fire in
the rear, and let the rnen go there by
detachments and get warm, and not
; try to warm up the whole arruv at once.
( All the cadet* said that an sM-ault along
j the whole line wa the one thing which
oould have restored N*[-oleon' advan
tage at this juncture, and he was actu
; ally rising in hi* stirrup* to order it,
: when a sutler burst at his ide and cov
ered him With dirt and debris, and be
| fore he could recover Wellington open
j ed a tremendious and devastating fire
j upon hirn from a mon*trou* battery of
i vivandieren, and the star of the great
captain's glory set to rise no more.
; l he cadet wept while he told me these
' mournful particular*.
When you leave a battlefield always
; leave it in good order Ifemove the
, wreck and rubbish, and tidy up the
place. However, in the case of a diawn
j battle it is neither parly's business to
tidv up anything. You can leave the
field looking a* if the city government
of New York had bossed the fight,
When you are traversing the enemy's
countn, in order to de*trov hi* supplies
and cripple,hi* resources, you want to
take along plenty of catnn follower*.
Ihe more the fe-tter. They are a tre
| mendouly effective arm of the service
and they in*iure in the foe the liveliest
i dread. A et point professor told me
that the wisdom of this was recognized
o- far back as scripture times. He quot
led the verse. llodkl it was from the
new revision, and was a little different
from the way it read* in the old
one. I■ do not recollect the exact
wording of it now, but remember
that it wound up with something about
such and such a devastating agent be
ing as "terrible as an army with bum
mers." I believe I have nothing fur
ther to add hut this : Ihe Vt est Pointers
said a private should preserve a re-
I spectful attitude toward his superior*,
and should seldom, or never, proceed so
far as to offer suggestions to bis general
jin the field. If the battle is not being
I conducted to suit him, it is better for
i him to resign. By the etiquette of
i war it is permitted to none below the
| rank of newspaper correspondent to
j dictate to the general in the field.
•
Toughed I pa Bullet.
General William J. ltoiton.of Xorris
town, a week or two ago, coughed up a
j bullet which be had carried in his body
; for seventeen years. It was received
on the 30th of duly, Isbl, the day of
the famous mine explosion at Peters
burg. He was then Colonel of the
Fifty first Pennsylvania Veteran Volun
teers, which had been detailed as a for
lorn hope to lead an assault upon a fort
to the left of the crater.
From that time until Friday, May
20, he carried the bullet in his neck,
where it caused him considerable pain,
especially in damp weather, and obliged
him always to sleep on the left side.
About two weeks ago the pain became
worae and he could feel some sharp ob
ject cutting its way through the tissues
toward the throat. One evening he
| was complied to close bis store before
the usual hour and go to bed, where the
foreign substance felt, to use his own
expression, "like a fifty pound weight."
.Still it did not occur to him that the
bullet waa working out. His idea was
that some fragments of his shattered
jaw bone had detached themselves, and
the thought that they were cutting into
his throat alarmed him. Mrs. Bolton
also became uneasy, and yielding to her
persuasion he determined to consult a
skillful surgeon on Friday.
About the middle of the afternoon,
while waiting on a customer, he bad oc
casion to stoop and was siesod with a fit
of coughing which nearly strangled
bim. Instinctively he placed his hand
over his mouth, and to his great aston
ishment the next cough drove out the
bullet and it fell into the palm. It was
somewhat stained with blood and waa
covered with mucous, but its ditiodge
ment was not followed by any bleeding
and caused him immediate relict.
When the bullet was washed off it waa
found to be somewhat corroded with
rust, which had covered its surface with
sharp ridges, sufficient to account for
the pain it produced as it woiked its
way through his flesh. In spite of the
losa by rust it still weight 273 grains.
The General intends writing to hia
fnond, Dr. Sherlock, thai the prediction
of seventeen years ago has hern ful
filled.