iff If SECOND PART. y THE GOLD OF AFRICA, Land of the Queen of Sheba, "Who Marveled at King Solomon's Glory. ST05E EUIXS OF ZIMBAII.: 2Jot True That the Great Queen's.1 Palace lias Been Found. THE X ATIYES OP MASHOSALAHD. Fantastic Hair Dressing and Their Ideas of Calico and leads. AUITLIFLT'lVnOSEBlTEBRIXGSDEATH. rcOBEEEFOXDEXCB OP THE DISPATCB.l HASXX.E7 HILLS, MASHONALAND, JulyZ F the value of Mash onaland as an agri cultural aud gold producing country a somewhat extended mention was made in my last letter. High claim was made for the riches and fertility of the soil of a large portion of Mashonaland, for the evidences were so strong that there was no danger of exag geration, and ob servations since that time have confirmed all that was said. In treating of the gold wealth I was care ful to avoii undue praise, and spoke with some reere, as I was anxious to say nothing that would be misleading. Some how it is very easy for grossly exaggerated reports to be spread far and w ide when gold or any precious metal has been discovered in howet er small quantities in a country; but it is very difficult for the numerous ill effects of such reports to be removed even alter the tacts are known. South Africa offers a splendid illustration of the truth of these statements. For the past quarter of a century it has been known that there was gold in Mashonaland, and of the various localities where natn es obtained the metal, two were prominently mentioned. These w eie the'Mazoe rh er district in north- GEOrp OF NATIVES PHOTOGRAPHED east Mashonaland and the Umvuli river district w hich is well to the southwest. MANY CLAIMS ABB "WORTHLESS. It was but natural that when men began searching for gold last September they should be attracted to these two places. Many went to Mazoe where few found gold. A large number flocked to the Umvuli, where manv gold bearing reefs were dis covered. The report of numerous finds here, for Hartley Hills is theccnter around which most discoveries have been made, drew still larger number, and up to this date as many as 1,400 claims have been pegged out and registered in the Umvuli district A claim,according to the gold laws of the British S. A. Company, is 150 feet in the direction of the reef and 400 feet n ide. The fact, however, that such a large number of claims have been taken up, is not very significant. Many of the claim holders are iucxperienced "menj and very few claims have been proved owing to the scarcity of tools in the country. Almost no tools arc to be had at present However, most of the reefs which have been developed give satisfactory results, so It is not too much to suppose there are manv other reefs yet to be opened up just as good. Perhaps the greater number of reels already discovered is in the vicinity of Hartley Hills, as named after a famous ele phant hunter, who was probably the first white man to find gold here. Manv other finds have been made 20 or 30 miles west and northwest of Hartley Hills. THREE HUNDRED GOLD SEEKERS. It is too early in the occupation of Mash onaland to know what the gold fields will be worth as compared with those of other countries. Several experienced prospectors have told me that the Umvuli lands are far the best of any in South Africa, but just as many say that they do not approach the Transvaal fields for richness It is true there have been no wonderful discoveries. If o reefs which will yield four, six or eight ounces to the ton have yet been found, but a far less quantity will pay well here where water and fuel i ill cost nothing. It should also be mentioned that nearly all the reefs now found are those which have "old work ings" upon them, and so well known to the people who worked thetivfields centuries ago. I shall speak more fully of the "old workings" later. From'all this it seems very likely that when real prospecting is done many more reefs will be found where none are now suspected. There are fully 300 men in Mashonaland looking for gold at present, and if rumor has it correctly hundreds more arc en route to eek their fortunes in this country. How many will be disappointed? A few words on the gold laws ot'Mashon aland may be of interest to some readers. All the mineral metal wealth of Mashon aland belongs to the British South African Company, but a one-half interest in all gold found is'given to the finder. Any prospec tor is allowed to hold ten claims at a time, and when he has sunk a 30-foot shaft he may peg out another ten. FLOATING THE CLAIMS. If the claims are ascertained to be pay- able the company will make the holder an oiler to float his claims and give him one half the vender's interests. If, however, the holder receives a better offer for flota tion he may accept it, and must then give the company one-half the vender's interests. Jfo licenses are to be paid until the claims are worked, and then the amounts are small. An alluvial claim is 160 feet square, and the holder has all the gold he gets, but pays a license of 1 per month. The history of Mashonaland is -wrapped in the deepest of mysteries. That the country has had a history worthy of being made known to .the world of to-day may be seen from the evidences which show that a very large area was extensively worked for gold by an unknown people who have left us traces by which they mav be identified. The old workings (perhaps the term ancient may be used) aa they are to-day consist both of shaft and cuttings of various kinds. The shafts are sometimes 40 or more feet deep, with tunnels of unknown lengths. The walls of some of these have fallen in, and others have large trees glowing in them which show that they were made a very long time ago. On the surface of the ground about the openings of many shafts lav tons of broken quartz which carries a good amount of cold; again at the openings of others no loose quartz is to be seen, yet the work done below the surface shows that immense quan tities have been excavated and conveyed to some distant spot presumably for crushing. THE WONDERFUL OLD RUINS. Another fact which -tends to still more mystify the history of Mashonaland is the character of the ruins' of buildings. There are a number of these in various parts of the country, but the most perfect and interest ing are those called the Zimbali ruins to be seen about latitude 20 10', land longitude 81 30' E. A very considerable area is covered by the entire rains, but those of two buildings are in a better state of pre servation than the others. One of these is situated on a hieh and bold granite hill and is built of granite hewn into blocks somewhat larger than bricks put together without mortar. The walls as they now stand are 30 feet high, over 10 feet in thickness at the base and several less at the top. This building as w ell as the other was similar in form and seems from its position and construction to be a fort. There are a few slabs of granite protruding from the walls in places contain ing rough zig zag ornaments. The other and larger building stands several hundred feet below on rising ground. The walls of this building are also of granite, the same height and thickness of those just de scribed. For about a thiid of its circum ference there is a row of plain ornamental figures at the top. A. TOWER OP SOLID GRANITE. This builning was 150 yards in diameter and had but one or two entrances. Walls running in different directions stand inside, but the thick bush which has grown up within makes it impossible to learn any thing definite of the sizes and shapes of the enclosures made by these inner walls. The most curious part of the whole building is that of the tower, w hich stands near the outside wall. It is constructed of the same material as the building. This tower is cyl indrical in shape up to the height of ten feet, but after that height tapers, and as it stands is a truncated cone. Its diameter at the base is 15 feet There is no entrance to- BY THE DISPATCH CORRESPONDENT. the tower, and it appears to be solid throughout Huge trees and dense bush have grown up in the interior of these ruins, so that it would require considerable time to clear it in order to get an accurate plot of the build ing. It is very likely that if excavations were made in and about these ruins -various articles w ould be found which might throw light upon the mystery surrounding them. I regret that it was not possible for me to spend more than a single day in making a return journey of 30 miles to visit these ruins, but was much pleased to be able to secure half a dozen good photographs. The old gold workings and the ruins found in Mashonaland have led many to be lieve that Ophir, the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba, whence Solomon is said to have obtained his gold, was situated in Mashona land and in the ruins described above. A number of great writers inclined to this be lief and among them Josephus, the historian, the author of the Koran and even Hilton, I believe, somewhere speaks of this region as that of the seat of ancient Ophir. Sofala, a very oia town on tne east coast ol Africa, is mentioned by all these writers as being in the land of Ophir. The Arabs have a very ancient tradition to this effect and those at Sofala to-day are said to hold to this tra dition. The Zimbali ruins are west of the District of Sofala and they are thought to -have been the palaca of the Queen of Sheba. NOT BUILT SO LONG AGO. I am at a loss to understand how any one who has ever seen these ruins can incline to such belief. Though they Eeem to be very' old indeed, they do not by any means have the appearance of having been built hun dreds of centuries ago. Very few white men have ever visited the ruins, but as Mashonaland is thrown open to the civil ized world, archaeologists will perhaps ex amine the famous Zimbali ruins and may be able to tell us to what age they belong. The history of the present natives of Mashonaland is just as dense as that of the country Itself. The population is by no means large. The natives live in "kraals," or villages, scattered about the country. Nearly every kraal is independent in gov ernment, having its own chief. There are, however, several chiefs who rule a number of villages. But by far the greatest number of villages have a small population which lives by cultivating the ground in close proximity to the village. Most of the vil lages are built upon rugged granite hills, inaccessible except by one or two narrow passages. This is especially true of those villages just across the Matabeleland bor der. I remember that three or four of the first villages we passed after leaving Mata beleland, in July last year, were built upon hills 500 or GOO feet high, so steep and pre cipitous that i was really impossible, for us, at any rate, to get to the villages with out a guide, and even then it was most difficult to reach them. At one of the villages the chief told ns that less than a year before the Matabeles had made a raid, captured his father, who was, of course, the chief, together with all natives, and carried them to Gubuluwazo, the Matabele capi tal. Here the father was skinned alive. thet "welcomed" the white man; These Matabele raids which have been so THE PITTSBOReDlSPATffl frequent and disastrous to the Mashonas hitherto have now ceased as the natives of Mashonaland are uuder the protection of the English. Imagine the terror in which these unfortunate natives used to live con tinuallv, not knowing when they would be swept down upon by a horde of Matubeles, who would kill all the men unable to es cape, carry away the women and children for concubines and slaves; sicze their cattle and goats and even destroy their fields of grain. Is it any wonder that these men hailed the advent of the white men with de light? Now they may live in peace, in crease their herds and till the ground in perfect safetv. The Mashonas live in round huts, 10 or 13' feet in diameter and i feet or more high. Thev are made of small poles placed per pendicularly on the ground close together and fastened with the bark of a tree. The entire inside of the poles is plastered with earth. The roofs arc also made of small poles all joining at a p"oint in the center higher than the walls. They are then thatched with grass. Every village has a place set apart for its granaries which are constructed much like the huts, but oitcn HHHfiHHmHmm THE ZIMBALI BUIN8 PROM THE DISPATCH COBRESPONDENIi'S PHOTOGRAPH. upon high and solitary granite bowlders, thus making access most difficult In these storehouses you will find corn, Kaffir corn, and the very finely ground meal of each, also rice, and in the proper season potatoes, tomatoes and groundnuts. Lying about the ground there will likely be pumpkins, which the Mashonas raise in large numbers. Tobacco, too, is extensively cultivated and after being treated by some process is made into conical-shaped cakes. The Mashona tobacco, f especially that known as the "Minyoka" is considered to be very good by a large number of white men "who, dur ing the present famine, use it MASHONAS ABE NOT NEGROES. The Mashonas, unlike their neighbors on the East and "West are far from war-like, and consequently do not have many of those cruel and barbarous practices invariably found among such people. Tbey are a quiet and peaceful tribe (if such they may be called) as their physiognomies indicate. For many decades they have been subdued and harassed by the Matabele and other neighboring tribes, and this accounts for that lack of manly bearing and that weak ness of character so manifest among them. As I have not been able to notice any destructive physical tribal characteristics I am led to believe that the Mashonas did not spring from one common ancestral stock, or, if so, it, was many generations ago since which time they have been com pletely broken up and changed by mixture with foreign blood. They are generally of a deep black color, with soft and smooth, skin, and .features which show them to betfafremoved from ihereal negro. Their features "are quite regular without the great nasal ridge, very thick lips and broad nose of the true negro. Many of them have a face which could easily be termed handsome. One very often sees men whose features are perfectly in compatible with the black color and plainly show the presence of the blood of a foreign' race. HOW THET DRESS THEIR HAXB. The most distinguished mark of the Mashonas is the manner in which they dress their hair. It would be impossible to describe or even enumerate the numerous fantastic fashions of hair-dressing. Some of the men cultivate a heavy growth and work it into small bunches, upon which is be stowed a plentiful supply of some greasy substance; others shave the head, save a small part of the crown, where tufts of every imaginable form are left, into which grasses ot various colors are entwined. Another fashion less frequently seen is-that of leaving small bunches of hair an inch or so apart either on the top or sides of the head. The bunches are bound tightly with some thready material, nearly to the ends, i hich are left to spread. This fashion gives the individual a very wild and fierce ap pearance. Bright red or blue beads are lrequcntly added as ornaments. The females seem to be less particular about hair diessing and generally shave either the whole head orpait of it The dress of the Mashonas consists of the "Ingulo" or small piece of leather which hangs from a cord raund the waist in front and the "Mapa" or similar piece which hangs behind. Usually, however, the "Ingulo" is worn. Since our arrival many wear calico instead of the leather and a large number of men and boys have worked for a shirt, an article all are very anxious'to possess and one which consti tutes their entire clothing. WORK A MONTH FOB A SHIRT. There is generally little difficulty in en- f-wp-'& iBe-- v HUTS AND GRANARIES FROM THE DISPATCH CORRESPONDENT'S PHOTOGRAPH. gaging men and boys for labor, but as a rule tney win wors omy long enougn to get a shirt or a blanket At present the wages for native labor are something like this: For one month's work a man will receive a blanket and a boy a shirt As many of my readers know, the medium of exchange in Africa consists chiefly of cloth and heads, but in different parts of Africa different kinds of cloth are in demand, and the African traveler should, if possible, find out just what kind, or rather colors, are "legal tender" among the natives he is to visit ,TJie Mashonas are not particular as to the i color of the cloth, but are much so as regards PTETSBUKGr, SUNDAY, the beads. Blankets and calico of any color will be taken, but white is probably the best. Dark blue is Tery good. The best beads for trading purposes in this country are the small red ones with white eyes. These will alwavs be taken for nearly any produce. Small blue or plain red will usually answer, but not always. As is the custom among all other South African natives the Mashona women do nearly all the work. They till the soil, plant the grain and vegetables and prepare the same for the husbands to eat and sell. For instance the men bring large quantities of meal for sale. This has been entirely prepared by their wives and daughters. The women till the ground with small, hard hoes, plant the corn and oultivate and gather it, and finally grind it between rocks into a very fine meal. They, of course, pre pare the food for the men, but s.o far as I can learn, do not sit down to eat with them'. The men and boys eat, and afterward the women and girls. "Very often a man willhave more than one wife. The natives ot Cape Colony hnd other South African states buy their wives with cattle; ten head is an or dinary price, and the one fixed by the law of Natal, but as many as 20 are given for a girl who belongs to a family of rank, PAID THE DEBT OF HIS ANCESTOa "While speaking upon the subject of the purchase of wives, let me relate a rather ex traordinary case which happened in the colony of Natal a few years since. First. it should be stated according to the law of tne Zulus, a man is responsible for the debts of his ancestors. A certain Zulu by some means learned that the man who married a great-great-great aunt of his, never had paid the cattle for her, so the Zulu traced the heir of the man, and sued him for 250 cattle, he having taken the original ten which should have been given for his ancient relative for a wife, and calculated about what the increase would have been. The defendant appeared in court and admitted the debt of his ancester, but said he could not pay it Of course, so large a number of cattle is never owned by a man of no rank. The magistrate decided" that the defendant should pay 15 cattle, as that number seemed to be a Just one under the circumstances. "Whether the Mashona buy their wives, I have never learned for certain, but it is very likely that those who possess cattle pay some for their wives. As th,e young men can now earn blankets, the custom will probably be come a very common, if not a universal one, for a father to say to a suitor for the hand of his daughter, "yes, you may have her for five blankets." If the young man values the girl sufficiently, he will go and labor for the requisite number of blankets. Even at this early date I have had a young man workfor me who said he wished to'panf. three blankets with which to purchase "a wife. PEST3 Off MASHONALAND. Mashonaland has its share of the nuis ances of South Africa. Foremost among them should be mentioned the "Tre-trethy," and th,e disease commonly known as horse sickness. The first of them is fatal to all domestic animals, and the second usually so to horses. The Tre-Tre-thy is a small fly Tery little larger than the common horse fly and not tiy different in apperance. It may always be recognized by one character istic which no other fly, at least in this country, posseses. The wings open and close horizontally like a pair of scissors. The effects of the bite of this fly upon any domestio animal are most peculiar and scientists have not yet been able to understand them. A fly-bitten animal does not die at once but lives for months gradually wasting away and becoming so weak that it finally falls down unable to rise. It may live in this position for days until it dies from what seems to be ex haustion. A horse or oxen which has been bitten will not show it for alonger or shorter time according to whether the animal has been bitten much and whether it is exposed to rain which certainly hastens death. It is not true as many claim that death ensues after the first rain that falls on the animal. Several horses, oxen and donkeys from this place were taken into a fly district where the horses and donkeys were left for months, uunug nuiuu iiuia jt. iuiuitu uiiuusir uuuy. DONKEYS STAND IT BEST. The oxen remained there only a few days and died about six weeks later; the horses lived two months and the donkeys nearly four months. Donkeys stand the fly better than other domestic animals. Tho fatal fly is supposed to stay in districts where large game abounds, and it is thought these dis tricts can be learned in time. It is certain that the flies move with the games upon which they live without injuring the ani mals; thus as the game disappears the fly t jtr7Zrffrti. ' will follow, and in this way only will this curse become one of the past Not much can be said about the horse i sickness in Mashonaland, as there are very few horses in the country. A large per centage of those here die '-salted," which means they have had the disease and lived through it A horse that is thoroughly salted is not subject to the disease again. and so is a valuable animal in a country where sickness is prevalent Claire A. Orr. Feet without corns are pearls of high price. Daisy Corn Cure hpositive and per manent in its effect 15 cents; alldruggists AUGUST 0, 1891. A SILENT SOLDIER. Stories of Old Ben Kelley Who Kept Jackson Out of Pittsburg. d. THE FIRST UNION MAN WOUNDED. How a Woman and Her Little Son SaTed His Array Prom Destruction. EE3ILISCENCES OP EARLY AND LEE WRITTEN FOB THE DISPATCII.1 Old Ben Kelley was one of the silent heroes "of the war. Major Davis, the army officer who has charge of the publication of the Eebellion records, told me that Kelley made less history for the amount of fighting he did than any general officer in the service. Prudent, secretive, vigilant, General Kel ley committed little to paper. No telltale order ever betrayed his plans to the enemy. His Instructions always went by word of mouth, through trusted adjutants, and no correspondents were allowed in his camps. His reports scarcely showed which side licked when he had been victorious. They were characteristic of the man, terse, la conic, modest In the forthcoming volume of "War Becords, covering some of ICclley's operations along the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, Major Davis will have to depend largely upon the reports of the Confederate commanders for his history. The reports of Stonewall Jackson, Loving andMcCausland relate interesting experiences with Kelley's ten thousand along the upper Potomac and in the Shenandoah. KEPT JACKSON OUT OF PITTSBURG. From the beginning to the close of the war Kelley operated in the mountains and kept open the Baltimore and Ohio road, the great supply arterj for the armies of the East; and he was the man wKb kept Stonewall Jackson out of Pittsburg. Early in the war Jackson conceived the idea of invading "Western Pennsylvania to ravage the rich farming country of the Mononga hela Valley, 'burn Pittsburg and destroy tho General &. F. Kelley in 1891. great arsenal there. It became his hobby and every movement of hil up to the be ginning of 1862 looked to that end. The repulse and rout of Loring, commanding his advance, at Bomney, A . Va., October ?7, 1601, by Kellev, was a bad setback for; tne invasion sencme, and Jocfcson was sum-, marily ordered to fall back to "Winchester It was this humiliation that caused the big fuss between Jackson and the Confederate Secretary of War, which came so near los ing Jackson to the Confederacy. Jcffer'on Davis, General Xee and Governor Letcher patched up a peace and mollified Jackson only after the greatest difficulty. It is generally understood from the war histories that the first set field action of the Eebellion was at Big Bethel Church, Vir ginia, June 10, 1861, between detachments from the commands of General B. F. Butler and Colonel (afterwards General) A. P. Hill; but this is an error, due mainly to the secretiveness and modesty of General Kel ley, for just one week before 'Big Bethel, on a beautiful Sunday morning, Kelley, at the head of a small brigade of Virginia, Ohio and Indiana troops, attacked and routed a Confedei ate force ot 1,600 men under Col onel Porterfield, at Phillippi, "W. Va. "WOUNDED IN THE TIRST BATTLE. It was here that Kelley was shot through the lungs by a Confederate quartermaster named Simms, the first Union soldier to fall on the field with Confederate lead in him. And thus fell, desperately wounded, the first volunteer officer to receive a commis sion from President Lincoln, and the organ, izer of the first Union regiment mustered in south of the line. About two months ago General Kelley was moved from Cumberland to his beauti ful country place, Swan Meadows, near i Oakland. A short time before his removal, I had a long talk with him. He was then on what he knew was his last march, and he spoke calmly of the final halt He was 84, and he felt that his time had been drawn out longer than he could have expected, shot and slashed to pieces as he had been. In this conversation he told me a thrilling war secret, which he said he had related to. only one other person, and that was President , Grant It was to keep faith with a Virginia lady who was the principal agent in the dramatic episode that he had always kept it to himself. But the lady is no more, and now the old General is gone. I therefore feel at liberty to repeat the story. HOW LEE GOT AWAY. Just after Lee's defeat by Meade at Get tysburg, in the second great Confederate in vasion of the North, General Kelley re ceived orders from Halleck, the Command ing General at "Washington, to concentrate his army of 12,000 men on the north sido of the Potomac, within striking distance of Lee's retreat "TTt; Lee crossed the Potomac and escaped to galvanize the Confederacy into nearly two years more of life. Kelley had orders to advance from the "West with his veterans and attack Leo's flank when he heard the first gun of Meade's action with the retreating Confederates. For three days Kelley's force lay alonjf the crest of South Mountain anxiously awaiting the signal. It was known that Meade and Lee were in close quarters, and the thunders oi name were expectca ai any moment. of Mulligan's famous Irish brigade. The morning of July 14, General Kelley, unable longer to stand" the suspense, sent out a scouting troop from the Ringgold Cavalry, to find out why General Meade had not de livered battle, and he was both amazed and disgusted when the troop came in three hours later with tho information that during the night Lee's army had crossed the Po tomac BETWEEN TWO .REBEL FORCES. Kelley immediately marched without orders to "Williamsport, thinking he might catch a belated-brigade or two, and he captured a lot of stragglers and property that had been left under guard to be carried over later. An order reached him here from General Halleck to proceed to Cherry Run. seven miles above, cross the river and harrass the enemy's right flank. This order came near losing the whole of Kelley's force to the enemy, for Ewell's corps, after crossing, had gone 10 or 12 miles up before striking back into the country, andJCelley's crossing at Cherry Jlun placed him, not on the enemy's right wing, but between. two of his corps. Kelley marched up Back Creek seven miles, in the night of July 15-16 and went into camp in a gap of North Moun tafn, with headquarters in the pretty little village of Hedges ville. Lee's troops were struck with terror when they found out that the Yankees were in force at Hedgesville. They thought it was Meade's army in hot pursuit, which had thus caught them saddle-bagged across frf General B. F. Kelley in 1SCS. North Mountain. But there was joy in the rebel camp when the report came that it was onlv Kelley's little army instead of Meade's host of 100,000, and a plan was im mediately projected to capture it. A coun cil of war was held on the night of the 16th at the residence of Charles James Faulk ner. Minister of France under Buchanan, which was temporarily General Lee's head quarters. Mr. Faulkner's home is known as Boydville, and is near Martinsburg. It was arranged that General Jubal Early should take a large force and move swiftly through Baker's Gap, about 18 miles above Hedgesville, and thence down Back creek to within striking distance of Kelley's rear, to be ready to attack at daylight on the 18th, while General Ewell was to en gage Kelley in front. The plan was well laid, and General Kelley told me it would have been pretty certain to result in his de struction had he not been saved by an al most miraculous circumstance. WORK OF A MINT JULEP ARTIST. The council of war was attended by a negro man servant belonging to Dr. E. Boyd Pendleton, who had been loaned to the Faulkner household, on account of his talent in the building of mint juleps, to wait on the distinguished officers, while serving juleps, cigars and other concomitants of Southern hospitality, the darkey kept his ears open, and he picked np enough to see what was going on. "When the council was over he went home aiui told his mistress, Mrs. Dr. Pendleton, what he had heard. This lady was strongly loyal, and at great personal sacrifice she had held out alone and fearlessly against all her people in maintain ing her Union sentiments. On hearing of the plot to destroy Kelley she resolved to apprise him of his peril, and she sent hrr faithful black man with the message; but Ewell's pickets would not let him pass, and he came back to his mistress. Then, with a woman's ready tact, Mrs. Pendleton de cided to send her son Nathaniel, 10 years old, to General Kelley's headquarters with the warning. She gave the lad a small basket and told him to say to the guards that he was going out to pick blackberries. The pickets patted him on the head and let him through, telling him to watch out for snakes and Yankees and not to forget to come home. It was but half a mile to the Federal line, and there little Nat told the officer in charge that he wanted to see General Kelley; but no amount of quizzing could draw from him what his errand was. Finally the officer took the boy on his horse and carried him to headquarters. Xie General was. alone. WTien the officer retired the bright little fellow told Kelley he was going to be killed. The General was naturally sur prised at this startling information, and he asked the lad how he knew it The boy re plied archly that he knew it because his mamma had said so. Then, with returning self-possession, he remembered more of his message, and ho told the General senfen tiously that all the Yankees with him were going to be killed, too. TOOK IT AS A JOKE AT FIRST. The General's surprise had given away to amusement He thought he had found a funny case in the youngster. He took the prattling child on his knee and coddled him after the manner of a fond parent Pre sently he asked sportively when these awful things were going to happen. The little fellow promptly answered that the Yankees were all to be killed the next morning at daybreak. The lad's story was now taking shape, and the General, being a man of quick perception, had begun to divine its possible meaning. The thought flashed across his mind, he told me: Can there be a plot to destroy me that this child and his mother know about? Can this be a warning? Thoroughly aroused and a little alarmed he now proceeded to draw more in formation from the boy about the direful event General Kelley saw the importance of the warning and without a moment's delay he dispatched a squadron of cavalry under Captain Hart, a gallant and trusted officer, to scout the Back Creek country as far up as Baker's Gap. This was at 3 in the after noon. Between 7 and 8 the cavalry came back at a storming gait with a report that Early's troops in great force had gone into camp at Tomahawk Springs, a short distance above, at 6 o'clock. The warning was thus fully confirmed, and General Kelley con cluded the best thing to do was to get out of there as soon as possible. He ordered his men to gather as many fence rails and dry limbs as they could and make a line of campfires which should satisfy the enemy that he was lying in bivouac, calmly uncon scious of his impending fate. At 9 an order was given to withdraw down Back Creek to the Potomac, and the retreat was executed in perfect military order. The artillery moved first, the infantry next, and the .r.,l.r min.fai4 4t.a VA11- At V,lHnfrFlf til A little army was all at the river, and the first streak of dawn broke upon the last man to wade to the Maryland snore. BEADY TOE EARLY CALLERS. "With as neat precision as an action in the drama, a large force of Confederate cavalry came dashing down the creek, with a mighty thundering of hoofs and the wild blare of many bugles, just in time to find its game beyond reach and drawn up in line of battle on the other shore ready to receive early callers. But the cavalry had no mind to pav such a call. "With loud yells and a few stray shots, it headed back up the creek in a slow trot General Kelley did not forget his little savior. He had carefully noted his name and his father's name, and as the years passed by, after peace was restored, he watched the youngster's growth until he be came of suitable age for a cadetship. Then General Kelley went to President Grant and told him of his providential escape through the agency of the boy and his mother. It was the first time the story had passed his lips. Then he said: Now, Mr. President, I have never asked a favor from the Government, and I shall never ask an other. I want you to help me pay this debt of gratitude and of loyalty. I want this lad appointed as a cadet at the military academy, and I want it done to-day, sir." The old General told me the President sat and smoked two minutes at least with out speaking, though it seemed ten. Finally he said; "It shall be done to-day, General Kelley. It is very appropriate, and I will take pleasure in doing it' THE BOY IS AN EDITOR NOW. The young man went to the academy, but did not get in. Like most Southern young sters of quality at his age, he was a good Greek and Latin scholar, but was deficient in the English elements. He is now the publisher of a "prosperous newspaper at Berkeley Springs,a much better situation in life than to be an army lieutenant in time of peace. Edson Brace. SECRET OF The Truth Ahout His Marriage and Abandonment of His Faithful Belgian We. HE CONTRIBUTED It TVas llis Money That Educated Her Son and She Eeceived Remittances Up to thl Time She Left for America to Look Up the Second "Wife and Family in Baltimora Her Neglected Grave---Stniggles of the Yonng- Couple in London They Eloped TogetherLetters That Tell a Sad Story Furnished hy Colonel Frank A. Burr. """" " written foe For many years I have refused to write a remarkable story which came into my pos session by an accident. Inducements with out stint have often been offered by various rich newspapers, when the big price named would have been a very material aid in my professional ambition. I would not speak now were it not for the many recent mis leading publications upon the same subject, which force me to set all things right. Some of them have been nnjust and all of them imperfect It is also due to the memory of the elder Booth that the truth be told now that the matter has been made public by those who did not know and could not ob tain the truth. Some nine years ago, while walking along Eden street, far beyond the business centers of the city of Baltimore, I came upon an old Catholic graveyard. It wai such a quaint old "God's acre" that my curiosity was ex cited and I wandered in through the open gate. There was such an air of peace and rest that I spent an hour and more in look ing over the crumbling monuments and reading the strange inscriptions thereon. In a far c orner of this curious old cemetery I came upon a half sunken grave with a tombstone, brown with age, half fallen over. Its appearance is shown in the accompany ing illustration. THE OLD SEXTON KNEW IT NOT. The words, "Wife of Junius Brutus Booth, Tragedian," were the largest on the decaying marble, entirely out of proportion to the rest of the inscription. I knew not what it meant, and went and hunted up the re-HfTh.SwAOJ VUJ o) iirAm (Swri?mu nPrffh Ircioe 41 p)oB MtpweOT Mr. Booth?) Besting Place. old sexton. He conld give no explanation of its meaning, and but little information about the lonely grave under the Normandy poplars. I could not shake thoughts about it from my mind. So after supper I sat down and wrote a soliloquy upon the strange occurrence without for an in stant imagining what was to come of it "While I was writing an old Baltimorean came in, and he gave me a sort of vague ex planation which I embodied in my letter. It was sent away that night to the paper upon which I was then employed, and ap peared on Sunday morning, the editor hav- .n. .,f tlia rionrl "A frfiwoi-ai,! CJooaf" upon it From that time the subject was. dismissed from my mind. One day months afterward I received rather a mysterious letter saying that if I would call upon a distinguished professor of languages in one of the promi nent educational institutions in this country I would receive some documents and in formation that would explain the graveyard mystery about which I had written unwit tingly and with very little knowledge of the facts. Filled with curiosity I followed the directions given and did receive a most in teresting and dramatic story, which was told in a hundred or more letters between the elder Booth and his wife from Brussels, Belgium. BOOTH'S BETROTHAL HT BELGIUM. "With them came an oil painting executed in 1826 upon Mr. Booth s first return to England, after coming to this countrr in 1821. Upon the canvas is a splendid like ness oi himself as a young man and of his wife and the boy, Richard Junius Booth, the surviving fruit of that marriage. It was painted by a Mr. "Williams, one of the early friends of the great actor. The let ters and the. picture tell a most pathetic story of the life of a noble woman wedded to a great man, in whose life she never lost interest up to the day of his death. 'With them there is no need for the imagination of a writer, for all the eloquence necessary to fascinate the mind is contained in these missives. In 1815, just before the battle of Water loo, Junius Brutus Booth went with a com pany of actors to Brussels. The hotels were crowded and the actors and actresses were billeted a'ound in private houses. It fell to Mr. Booth's lot to find lodgings in, the house of Mrs. Delannoy, a gentlewoman of good birth and education, having three daughters. Agatha, Therese, and Adelaide, who was the youngest of the group. Be tween her and the young actor there imme dlntf.lv snrun? tin a strontr attachment They were soon in love, and together they- made known to the motner tneir desire lor a union. THE YOUNG COUPLE ELOPED. She refused, and under the laws of the country they could not be wedded without her written consent They perfected their plans, and at the end of the actor's engage ment they eioped. On the way to Loudon they stopped at Ostend, where Mr. Booth opened a correspondence with the mother in Brussels, asking for a reconciliation and permission to marry. She consented, upon the condition that he would give up the stage, return to Brussels and accept a situa tion which she would secure for him. While this correspondence was going on the trage dian had placed Miss Delannoy in the fam ily of a friend of his in Ostend by the name of Arthur Jones. When he received her mother's consent and conditions he prompt ly agreed to the latter In these words: Ostesc, Jlaroh 17, 1815. Madame and Dear Frlendi I have roceived your dear letter of the 4th Inst., and I nm delighted that you have,part y succeeded in tliomatteiof the place you were tryln;r to get lor mo. I should llko to know how much the place Is worth. My salary ns an actor brings mo 13 francs a week, with a benefit In each town If Hike to take It, and I assuro it 1 none too much. But ns 1 should like to ho In Brussels I sbnnld not care much ahout tnnt, I have wiitten to my father for the letters of recom mendation. I am, meanwhile, waiting your reply, as also tho Information concerning when I should leave here. Believe In iny entire gratitude. 1 embraco you with all J.i . liW m upiiiw.-W ! I U Hit .lllMlflV.lU IA1 I ' M THE ELDER TO HER SUPPORT. THE DISPATCH. my heart. Also my uncle and my fntnrf Eisters-in-law. J. B. Boom. My dear Minnie embraces yon, also Agatha, Therese and my uncle. Mr. Jones sends hli compliments, also those of his family. Be fore my departure I shall take a benefit, and hope 1c will he a Rood one. My uncle, my dear Maria is well In health, and speaks of you always. Adieu, dear sir. Bbutus. I believe yon are angry, but there is no cause for It. THE BEIDE TOILED WITH HER NEEDLE. The military operations in that section and other complications intervened to pre . vent the fulfillment of the plans arranged, between Mr. Booth and the mother of hil sweetheart, and after taking his benefit they started for London. Things could not have been very prosperous with them financially, for when they reached the great city of the United Kingdom Miss Delannoy. who was very deft with her needle, went into a millinery establishment' to help out the family store or provide for herself until things became prosperous. As it was against the rules to employ a married woman the union was kept carefully hidden from her employer. But the following lines, written m her own and Mr. Booth's hand writing tell the interesting story of their marriage and combats with the worW at that moment: Mat 28, 1813. Vert Dzar Motheii It Is with the greatest pleasure In the world that I inform vou than 1 am married to Booth since the 8th of May, and am the happiest of w omen. The day of our mnrriage I did not wish it to be known, and I returned Immediately after the cere mony and worked the same aa usual. Here la a copy of our certificate, whloh Booth has written, and if it is not correct tell me and' I will get another one from the mlnUter who married us, in the proper form, and to whom we gave 12 francs. Tell me, mother, If you, are well, ulso all the family, and embrace them lor me, and say to my uncle that soma time we will he married by a Catholic priest, that is to say, when our finances are better. You know, mamma, it would not be to our advantage to tell the mistress of the house, I embrace you heartily; alio my dear netf brothers and sisters. Your affectlonato daughter, Maiuh Booth. I um as well as can be and um getting as fat as a great beast. , COPr OF THE CERTIFICATE. Page SB. Marriage solemnized in the Parish of St. George, Bloomsbury, in the year lilS. Junius Bnitus Booth of this parish and Marie Christine Adelaide Delannoy of this parish w ere nuirriedin this church by banns this eighth ilay of May in tho year one thousand eighthundrednndflfteen. By oue Nathaniel Forth, B. A., Curate. This marriage was solem- j J. B. Booth, nized between us. ( M. CA.Delannoyi In the presence of jKSaKL No.G03. This Is a true copy of the Register. Witness my hand this 8th day of May, 1313. N athasiei. Fortu, B. A., Curate. I hope vou are Well satisfied with our mar riage. Minnie hit the certificate and that Is why we send you written copy. It would cost VI francs for another duplicate one. Tell Mr. Williams to write to me. 1 have no more room. I embrace you and all the family. I am, j our affectionate son, J. B. Booth. It was fortunate for theyoung couple that Mr. Booth's enforced idleness did not last long, and his young wife was soon taken from the store, and he tells his mother-in-law so over his own signature and also of his contract with the Co vent Garden Theater. This letter was addressed to Mme. Delannoy, No. 1159, Sect 3, Hue des Fripiers, a Brnxelles, on 30th 3Iay,1818. During the next two years Mr. Booth was kept very busy, and a little girl child wi born of the union. It was baptized Emllie, but lived only a short time. Mr. and Mrs. Booth must have gonesomewhat into society during this time, if the letters indicate any. thing. PUTTING MONEY IN BANK. Every day things became more prosper ous with the actor, and instead of a salary of 58 or 5'J a week he indicates his advance, ment, and his wife tells the story of a pleas ant lifejin the following letters: ' Aran. 18th 1817. Mt Dear Mother I have not time to write you. I am occupied night and day with tha passion of the work. The London theaters are closed. 1 have playedinthe company at one little theater and have pnt in my pocket, for one or two representation. 50 guineas. My arrangements In London will not permit mo to see you for two ears orlshalllosa not less than .200. During these two years 1 intend to make my fortune. Already wa have placed X1CO in the bank. Minnie will write you more, hecanse, on my soul, I cava no more time than just to sign myself, truly yours, J. B. BOOTS. April 13, 1317. Yert Dear Mother Do you not find that Booth's letters have changedj lie writes very large sometime but two words in a, line, and of a size the devil would not relish. My compliments to all my acquaintances. I embrace my aunt Jnlia. I wish, mamma, yon would give one of the pictures of Booth to my aunt Julia, as it will, I know, pleasa her. 1 regret I cannot havo thft pleasure of vis iting Brussels next summer, but must re main In London. Gooduy. M. These letters are exceedingly cheerful, taking into consideration the fact that they s- Mary Christine Booth. At 63 years of age.J were, written but a short time after Mr. Booth's controversy with the Covent Garden Theater and the Drury Lane. It was quite natural that he should have been dissatisfied with the Covent Garden con tract, which gave him a mere pittanp e each week while he was filling the theater every night with people and the box office with money. DOOMED TO DISAPPOINTMENT. But his hopes of making a fortune during the two years after 1817 were never realized and his troubles seemed to, have multiplied so much so that he determined to quit the stage and enter the army. He writes this fact to his wife, who was on a visit to Brus sels, and she replied in a letter familiar to newspaper readers. She counseled! him against army life, showed great Intelligence and expressed her confidence in Booth as aa actor; While he relinquished bis ambitions -for" a military career and went on. with his work, . he was constantly dissatisfied, but on Jano- j ? fi t 4.-3 1
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