Raftsman's journal. (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, June 18, 1856, Image 1

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BY S. B. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1856.
VOL. 2.-NO. 44.
m
- - THE WAY OF THE WORLD.
In the season of darknesj and sorrow,
When hope has fled far away,
When we know of no joy for to-morrow, .
And feel cf the despair of to-day-
When our friends of the past hare desorted,
And at you their hatred is hurled,
Jnit because you hare fallen in station
. .Never care 'Us the way of the world .
When death at the last would be welcome,
And yon think with a heart-broken sigh,
"Ah ! soon will life's battles be o'er."
How sweet it will then be to die !
VThen the flowers of love have all withered,
. And the shaft of black malice is hurled, ,
When your heart is all sad and forsaken
Never mind 'tis the way of the world.
When fortune again smiles upon yeu,
And the frowns of your friends disappear,
And the put asites flock around you
With words of false welcome and cheer
'Tis best to receive them as ever,
And not with the lip of scorn curled,
For they have merely followed their instincts,
And acted the way of the world.
ETHAN ALLEN IN CAPTIVITY. -
Among the episodes of the Revolutionary
war none Is more strange than that of the
queer genius, Ethan Allen. In England, the
event and the man being equally uncommon,
Allen seemed to have been a curious combi
nation of a Hercules, a Joe Miller, a Bayard,
and a Tom Hyer. lie had a person like the
Belgian giant, mountain music like a Swiss,
and a heart plump as Cceur dc Lion's.
Though born in New England, he exhibited
no traces of her character, except that h!s
heart beat wildly for his country's freedom.
He was frank, bluff", companionable as a har
vest. " For the most part,' Allen's manner while in
England was scornful and ferocious in the last
degree, although qualified at times by a heroic
sort of levity. Aside from the inevitable eg
otism relatively pertaining to pincjtrces, spires
and giants, there were, perhaps,- two special,
incidental reasons for the Titanic Vermontcr's
lingular demeanor abroad. Taken captive
while heading a forlorn hope before Montreal,
lie was treated with inexcusable cruelty and
indignity. Immediately upon his capture, he
would have been deliberately suffered to have
been butchered by the Indian allies in cold
blood upon the spot had he not with desperate
intrepidity availed himself of his enormous
physical strength by twitching a British officer
and using him for a target, whirling him
round and round against the murderous toma
hawks of the savages. Shortly afterwards,
led into the town fenced about with bayonets
of the guard, the commander of the enemy,
one Col. McClond, flourished his cane over
his captive's head with brutal insults, promis
ing him a rebel's halter at Tyburn. During
bis passage to England in the same ship wher
in went passenger Col. Guy Johnson, the im
placable Tory, he was kept heavily ironed in
bc bold, and in all respects was treated like
a mutineer ; or it may be, rather as a lion of
Asia, which, though caged, was too dreadful to
behold without fear and trembling, and conse
quent cruelty. And, no wonder, at least, for
on one occasion, when chained hand and foot,
lie was insulted by an officer, with bis teeth
be twisted off the nail that went through the
mortise of bis band-cufTs, and so having his
arms at liberty, challenged the insulter to mor
tal combat. Often when at Pendennis Castle,
when no other revengement was at hand, he
would burl on his foes such a howling tempest
of anathemas as fairly shook them into retreat.
Prompted by somewhat similar motives both
on shipboard and in England, he would often
make the most vociferous allusions to Ticon
derago, and the part he played in Its capture,
well knowing that of all the American names
Ticonderoga was, at that period, by far the
most famous and galling to Englishmen.
Israel Potter, an exile American, while
strolling around Pendennis Castle, where Allen
was eonfincd, chanced to hear him in one of
his out bursts of indignation and madness, of
which tho following is a specimen :
"Brag no more, old England ; consider that
you aro only an island ! Order back your
broken battalions, and repent in ashes ! Long
enough have you hired tories across the sea,
forgotten the Lord their God, and bowed
down to Howe and Kniphausen the Ilessian!
Hands off, redskinned jackall t - Wearing the
King's plate, .as 1 do, (meaning, probably,
certain manacles,) I have treasures of wrath
against yon British."
Then came a clanking, as of chains ; many
vengeful sounds, all confusedly together.
Then again the voice.
"Ye brought me out here, from my dun
geon, to this 'green, aflrenting yon Sabbath
aun, to see how a rebel looks. Bnt I'll show
you how a true gentleman and christian can
conduct in adversity. Back, dogs! respect a
gentleman and a christian, though he be in
rags and smell of bilgewater, Yes, shine on,
glorious sun ! "Tis the same that warms the
hearts of my Green Mountain boys, and lights
up with its rays the golden hills of Vermont !"
Filled with astonishment at these words
which came from over a massive wall, inclu
ding what seemed an open parade space, Isra
el pressed forward, and soon came to a black
archway leading far within, underneath, to a
grassy tract, - through a tower. Like two
boar's tusks two sentries stood on guard at
either side of the open jaws of the arch.
Scrutinizing our adventurer a moment, they
sugnea mm to enter. I
Arriving st the end of the arched war,
where the sun shone, Israel stood transfixed
at the scene.
Like some baited bull in the ring, crouched
the gigantic captive, handcuffed as before;
the grass of the green trampled and gored np
all about him, both by' his ' own movements
and those of the people around. Except some
soldiers and sailors, these seemed mostly
town's people, collected here out of curiosity.
The stranger was outlandishly . arrayed in the
sorry remains of a half-Indian, half-Canadian
sort of dress, consisting of a fawn skin jacket
the fur out side and hanging in rugged tufts
a half rotten bark like a belt of wampum ;
aged breeches of sagathy ; the darned worsted
stockings reaching to the knee; old mocca
sins, riddled with holes, their metal tags yel
low with salt water rust ; faded red woollen
bonnet, not unlike a Russian night cap, or a
portentous ensanguined full moon, all soiled
and stuck about with half rotten straw ; un
shaven beard, matted and profuse as a corn
field beaten down by hail-stones. His whole
marred aspect was that of a wild beast, but a
royal sort, and unsubdued by the cage.
"Aye, stare? stare! thou but last night
dragged me out of a ship's hold like a smut
ty tierce, and this morning out of your litter
ed barracks there like a murderer for all that
you may well stare at Ethan Ticonderoga Al
len, the conquered soldier by ! You Turks
never saw a christian before. Stare on ! I
am he who, wher. your Lord Howe wanted to
bribe a patriot to fall down and worship him
by an oiler of a major generalship, and five
thousand acres of choice land in old Vermont
ha ! three times three for glorious Vermont
and the Green Mountain boys ! hurrah ! hurrah!
hurrah ! I am he, I say, who answered your
Lord Howe : You, you offer onr land 1 You
are like the devil in Scripture, offering all
the kingdoms in the world, when the cursed
soul hud not a corner lot on earth !' Stare on,
I say!"
"Look, you rebel you, you had best heed
how you talk against General Lord Ilowe,
here !" BaNi a thin, wasp waisted, epauletted
officer of the castle, coming near and flourish
ing his sword about him fike a schoolmaster's
ferrule.
General Lord Howe 1 lieeU how I talk of
that toad-hearted king's lick-spittle of a pol
troon ! the vilest wriggler in God's worm home
below. I tell you the hordes of red-haired
devils are impatiently shouting to ladle Lord
Howe with bis gang you included into the
sccthiugest syrups of Tophet's hottest flames."
At this blast the wasp-waisted officer was
blown backwards as from the suddenly burst
head of a steam boiler. Staggering away w ith
a snapped spine, he muttered something about
its being beneath his dignity to bandy forth
words with a low lived rebel.
"Come, come, Colonel Allen," here said a j
mild looking man, in a sort of clerical undress,
"respect the day better than to talk thus of ,
what lies beyond. Were you to die this hour,
or what is most probable, be hung next week
at Tower wharf, you know not what might be
come of j'ourself."
"Reverend sir," said Allen, with a mocking
bow, "when no better employed than braiding
my beard, I have dabbled a little in your the- j
ologies. And let me tell you, reverend sir," j
lowering and intensifying his voice, "that as !
to the world of spirits of which you hint, tho'
I know nothing of the mode or manner of that
world, no more than you do, yet I expect,
wtien I arrive there, to be treated as any other
gentleman of my merit. This is to say, far !
better than you British know how to treat an
honest man and a meek hearted christian, cap
tured in honorable war, by ! Every one
tells me, as yourself just told me, as crossing
the sea, every billow dinned in my ear that I
Ethan Allen, am to be hung like a thief. If I
am, the Great Jehovah and the Continental
Congress shall avenge me, while I, for my part,
will show you, even on tho tree, how a chris
tian gentleman can die. Meantime, sir, if you
are the clergyman you look, act your consoli
itary function by getting an unfortunate Chris
tian gentleman, about to die,a glass of punch."
The good natured stranger, not to have his
religious courtesy appealed to in vain, imme
diately dispatched his servant, who stood by,
to procure the beverage.
At this juncture a feint rustling sound, as if
the advancing of an army with banners, was
heard. Silks, scarfs, and ribbons fluttered in
the back-ground. Presently a bright squad
ron of bright ladies drew nigh, escorted by
certain ont-riding gallants of Falmouth.
"Ah," said a strange voice, "what a strange
sash, and furred vest, and what leopard-like
teetb, and what Aliened hair, bnt all mildew
ed ; is that he 7"
" Yes, it is, lovely charmer," said AUen,like
an Ottoman, bowing over his broad bovine and
breathing the words out like a lute ; "it is he
Ethan Allen, tho soldier ; now, since ladies'
eyes visit him, made trebly a captive."
. "Why, he talks like a beau in the parlor
this wild-mossed American from the wood,"
sighed another fair lady to her mate ; "bnt
can this be be we came to see 7 I must have
a lock of his hair."
"It is he, adorable Delilah ; and fear not,
though excited by the foe, by clipping my lock
to dwindle my strength. Gire me your sword,
man," turning to an officer "ah, I'm fettered.
Clip it yourself lady.' ;
"No, no I am"
"Afraid, would you . say ? Afraid of the
sword friend and champion of all the ladies,
all around the world 7 Nay, nay, come hither."
The lady advanced ; and soon overcoming
her timidity, her white hand shone like whip
ped foam among the waves of flaxen hair.
"Ah, this is. like clipping tangled tags of
gold lace," she cried ; "but see, it is half
straw." ; .
"But the wearer is no man of straw, lady ;
were I free, and you had ten thousand foes,
horse, foot and dragoons how like a friend I
could fight for you ! . Come you have rob
bed me of my hair ; let me rob the dainty hand
of its price. What 1 afraid again 7"
"No, not that, but" ,
"I see, lady ; I may do it by your leave, but
not by your word the wonted way of all the
ladies. There, it is done. Sweeter that kiss
than the bitter heart of the cherry."
When at length this lady left, bo small talk
was had by her with her companions about some
way of relieving tho lot of so knighly and un
fortunate aman,whereupon a worthy, judicious
gentleman of middle age, in attendance, sug
gested a bottle of wine every day, and clean
linen every week. And these, the English
women loo polite, and too good to be fasti
dious did actually send to Ethan Allen, so
long as he tarried a captive in their land.
The withdrawal of this company was follow
ed by a different scene. A perspiring man in
top boots, a riding whip in hand, and having
the air of a prosperous farmer, brushed in like
a stray bullock, among the rest, for a peep at
the giant having just entered through the
arch as the ladies passed out.
"Hearing that the man who took Ticonde
roga was here in Pendennis Castle, I've rid
den twenty-five miles to see him, and to-morrow
my brother will ride forty for the same
purpose. So let me have the same look. Sir,"
he continued, addressing the captive, "will
you let me ask you a few questions, and be
free with you 7"
"Be free with me 7 With all my heart. I
love freedom above all things, I'm ready to
die for freedom ; I expect to. So be as free
as you please. What is it 7"
"Then, sir, permit me to ask what is your
occupation In life t in time of peace,! mean."
"You talk like a tax gatherer,"repliedAllen,
squinting diabolically at him. "What is my
occupation in life 7 Why, in my younger days,
I studied divinity, but at present I am a con
jurer by profession."
Hereupon "every body laughed, as well at
tho manner as the words, and the nettled far
mer retorted.
"Conjurer,-ch 7 Well, you conjured wrong,
that time you were taken."
"Not so wrong, though, as you British did,
that time I took Ticonderoga, my friend."
At this juueture the servant came in with a
bowl of punch, which his master bade him
give to the captive.
"No ! give it to me, sir, with your own
hands, and pledge rac as a gentleman to a gen
tleman."
"I cannot pledge a state prisoner, Colonel
Allen, but I will hand you the punch with my
own hand, since you insist upon it."
"Spoke and done like a true gentleman ; I
am to you."
Then receiving the punch into bis manacled
hands, the iron ringing against the chain, he
put the bowl to his lips, saying, "I hereby
give the British nation credit for half a min
ute's good usage," at one draught emptied it
to the bottom.
"The rebel gulps it down like a swilling hog
at the trough," here scoffed a lusty private of
the guard off duty.
"Shame on you," cried the giver of the
bowl.
"Nay, sir, his red coat is a blush to him, as
it is to the whole British army." Then look
ing derisively upon the private, "you object to
my . way of taking things do you 7 I fear I
shall never be able to please you. You objec
ted to the way, too, in which I toot Ticonde
roga, and the way I meant to take Montreal.
Sclah ! but pray, now I look at you, aro you
not the hero I caught dodging around in his
shirt, in the cattle pen inside the fort 7 It
was the break of day, remember."
"Come, Yankee," here swore the incensed
private, "cease this, or I'll tan your old fawn
skin for ye with the flat of this sword for a
specimen;" laying itlasbwise but not heavily
across the captive's back.
Turning like a tiger, the giant, catching the
steel between bis teeth, wrenched it from the
private's grasp, and striking it with his mana
cles, sent it spinning like a jugglers dagger,
into the air, saying, "lay your dirty coward's
iron on a tied gentleman again, and these,"
lifting his hand-cuffed fists, "shall be the bee
tle of mortality to you."
The now furious soldier would have struck
him with all his force, bnt several men of the
town interposing, reminded him that it was
outrageous to attack a chained captive.
"Ah," said Allen, "I am accustomed to that
and therefore I am beforehand with you ; and
the extremity of what I say against Britain is
not meant for yon, kind friends, but for my
insnlters present and to come."
Then recognizing among the interposers the
giver of the bow, he turned with s courteous
bow saying ; "Thank you again and again, my
good sir ; you may not be worse f or it ; ours
is an unstable world, to that one gentleman
xiever knows when it may bo his turn to be
helped of another."
But tho soldier still making a riot and the
commotion growing general, a superior officer
stepped up, who terminated the scene by re
moving the prisoner to the cell, dismissing the
townspeople, with all strangers, Israel among
the rest, and closing the castle after them.
GENERAL WILLIAM WALKER.
From the Loiuia?ia Courier.
We perceive In many of our exchanges,
within the last few days, an extract from a late
number of 'Blackwood's Edinburg Magazine,'
on Nicaragua, in which it is stated that Gen.
Walker, whose position in its affairs has drawn
all eyes upon him, is about forty years of age,
and is a native of Alabama, and giving some
details as to his early life and education,
which are some times correct and sometimes
other-wise.
The writer of this articlo has known Wil
liam Walker from his childhood, and has it,
therefore within his power to correct several
errors which prevailed with regard to him.
In the first place, then he is a native of the
city of Nashville, Tennessee, his father be
ing of Scotch birth, coming we believe, from
Glasgow or its vicinity, his mother, who was a
sister of John Norvell, at one period a Sena
tor in Congress from Michigau, being a native
of Kentucky. William the eldest of their
children, is about thirty-three or four years of
age, is of rather diminutive stature, with
whitish hair, fair complexion, much stained
on his cheeks and about the eyes with freckles,
grey eyes, and a countenance, on the whole,
rather tame and unpossessing. His voice is
low and decidedly nasel, being what the child
ren call singsong; bis manners are uncommonly
quiet and reserved, if not awkward ; but w hen
in company with intimate friends, or when in
terested in any subject, he wakes up, and his
whole appearance greatly changes.
At school and college, Walker was most
taciturn and studious. He was particularly
proficient in mathematics and tho exact scien
ces, and on his graduation at the University
of Nashville, he went to Edinburg, where he
went through the School of Medicine, and af
terwards attended lectures on that science in
Paris, and then traveled over a considerable
portion of middle and southern Europe. On
his return to Nashville he found that neither
his health nor his temperament fitted him for
the life of a physician, and he came to this
city with the intention of studying law and
obtained admittance to the Bar. He pursued
his studies for somo time, and was admitted
to practice, but never, we thiuk, made any
very strenuous attempt to advance in the pro
fession. Shortly afterwards, he became con
nected with the "Crescent," and devoted him
self with great earnestness and zeal to editori
al labors. The experiment did not, however,
prove so fortunate as he had expected, and he
therefore gave it up, and followed the exam
ple of many other adventurous and ambitious
spirits, by going to California. In that State
he was also for a while connected with the
Press, and at the period of the descent upon
Sonora, which he made with a handful of fol-.
lowers, ho was, if we have not been misinfor
med, again trying his luck at the Bar. How
ever ill-advised and unfortunate that adven
ture may be regarded by many, all will agree
that so far as its history has transpired, Walk
er displayed indomitable nerve and heroism
in the midst of the sternest difficulties.
Under bis calm and unreserved exterior,
Walker conceals the rarest determination and
most unflinching personal courage. - He is,
wo are inclined to think, slightly fanatical in
his views, when interested or resolved upon a
matter, and probably never thinks of conces
sions to any person, or under any circumstan
ces. He is also strictly just and impartial in
his course, and little given to making distinc
tions in his treatment of those who offend
against discipline. In proof of this, we heard
the other day from a most reliable source, that
his own brother, who held a commission, hav
ing been guilty of an impudence which dis
qualified him for duty at the moment, he or
dered that he should be reduced to tho ranks
and his commission forfeited, nor would he
recede from this position, altho' strongly ur
ged to clemency by many of his leading and
most trusted officers.
Too Goon to be Lost. The pupils in the
schools are aroused on the subject of tho Sum
ner outrage, and recently one of the boys
scanning tho JEneid continued bis quantity in
perfect feet thus :
"Anna virumquo ca.no Brooks Sumner ab oris."
The principal called on him for a translation
of the line to which he had insensibly impart
ed the tone of his thoughts. He was not dis
concerted, however, on being apprisod of his
interpolation, and promptly rendered it,
"Brooks, an armed man, caned Sumner ovr
the countenance," (ab oris.) Tribune.
"And so I left." A Western editor says
a young fellow, upon being asked, "Why did
you leave old man S.'s so early last night 7"
answered Why, you see, I called to see
Miss Nancy, and she wouldn't have anything
to say to me. So I sot a while longer and
then one of the boys came and took me to the
door and gave me a push, and then I thought
may be my company wasn't wanted there, and
to -I left l" ' '
. THE WILD WOMAN.
The Cincinnati Commercial, of a recent date,
says Yesterday we called at the U. S. hotel
to see the "Wild Woman of Wachita Moun
tains. Mr. J W. C. Northcott, her captor, in
troduced us into the room whero she is a pris
oner. We saw a tall, gracefully formed, young
white girl, scantily but neatly clothed, stand
ing with a stout rope about bcr waist and at
tached to a bed post. ,Tho first impression
was similar to that of being in the presence of
a fierce maniac. She stood at the foot of the
bed, partially hiding behind it, and rocking
slowly, but with nervous uneasiness, from one
foot to the other, and staring fixedly upon us
with great, bright, unwinking eyes, so widely
opened that a ring of white surrounded the
pupils, which, with the wild and intense glare
of the orb, gave it a strange and frightful ex
pression. Beneath the eyes were deep circles,
showing long continued and excessive excite
ment or exertion, mental or physical. Ucr
hair was long and thick, hanging in heavy
matted masses and wiry tangles about the face,
neck and shoulders, and in color dark brown,
ner complexion was fair, even delicate, and
her features decidedly handsome. Her mouth
is small and finely formed, the lips thin and
red, but tightly compressed, and her teeth
even and white. But there was not, that we
could discover, any trace of humor in her
face, and we were informed by her captor that
he had never seen her smile. There is not a
line in her face to indicate any human pas
sion, the only organ of expression being her
eye, and that does not seem to seek, or even
to have known human sympathy. The woman
employed by Mr. Northcott to be the attend
ant of his "pet," as he calls her, ays that she
has seen the girl look pleased, even seem to be
amused, but her lips never curled in a smile,
and nothing like a laugh ever found utterance.
We need hardly say that she does not talk.
The only sonnd she makes with her mouth is
a kind of mumbling, moaning, grumbling, with
which, when hungry or thirsty, she expresses
a desire to cat or drink. But sometimes, her
attendant says, she looks with the most ani
mated curiosity at her, (the attendant,) and
Mr. Northcott, when they are talking in her
presence, and seems to wonder bow they make
such noises with their mouths ; bat they have
not succeeded in inducing herto imitate them.
Her nose is handsome, and her profile well cut
and striking', but the only indication of char
acter in it is a kind of untamed audacity.
There is nothing like timidity in her looks,
only the discomposure mingled with defiance
which gleams in the ej e of a panther. The
appearance of a maniac, which, to our glance,
she wore when we entered her apartment, grad
ually passed away, and thero was a softer ex
pression, and something like a gentle glow of
intelligence in her still vivid eye. Becoming
more composed, she sat down, and her nurse,
at our request, brushed back the tangles of her
hair, showing her cheeks and forehead. These
were fair. The cheek was thin but its outlines
quite womanly, and her brow and temples
show intellectuality of no mean or common
order. Whatever she is or may have been,
she is by nature gifted with capacities of high
intelligence.
Tho story of her capture, related hy Mr.
Northcott, is quite tcmarkable. In the spring
of 1855, Mr. N., with a party of eight gold
hunters, was sojourning in the Wachita moun
tains, on a branch of the false Wachita river,
camped near an extensive and almost impene
trable thicket. They were gold seekers, hav
ing been attracted thither by a false alarm that
there was gold in that region, which our read
ers will remember, had much newspaper cir
culation, and as nearly as could be calculated,
their camp was threo hundred miles distant
from the frontier settlements of Texas, and in
what is familiarly called the Camanche coun
try. One night in March, it was his turn to
watch, and there was bright unclouded moon
light. In the middle of the night he saw a
figure approaching that seemed to him to be a
Camanche, and be lay close and at foil length
on the ground. The figure approached, walk
ing briskly, and passing within twenty yards
of him, entered the thicket, and bo saw by the
moonlight that it was no Indian, but a young
woman, dressed in a robe of skins. He was
amazed beyond conception, and told his com
panions of his discovery, but they hooted at
the idea, and contended that be had seen a Ca
manche, and that they wonld no longer be i-afe
in that locality ; and so next day they packed
their mules and hurried off for Texas, in spite
of entreaties. They were all green in the lore
of backwoodsmen, but he had spent twenty
years on the frontiers, and knew what be was
about. So strong an impression did this inci
dent make on his mind, that late this winter
he enlisted half a dozen hardy follows to ac
company him, and set forth on a trip to the
Wachita Mountains, on a hunt after tho wild
woman. So many difficulties were encounter
ed, and the weather was so severe, that all of
his companions but one backed out. He pres
sed forward, however, and early in March
reached the encampment where he bad seen
the woman enter the thicket. The first thing
in order was to search the thicket, and they
were not long in finding a kind of den, a little
cave, or rather a long and narrow aperture a-
mong the rocks, which he was convinced must
be her biding place. With this conviction, be
waited, and watched for her twodayt and
nights, when she came forth. He says that bo
had been afraid to enter the den, and that now
bis first care was to slop Up the mouth of it,
and wait for hor to come back. After a few
hours, sho returned, and took alarm on obser
ving that - her door in the rocks was closed
against her. . i?e had two dogs, which be set
upon her, and after running about one hundred
and fifty yards, she turned about, as if con
fused in her fright, and fled towards the cave.
He ran to meet her with a lasso in her band,
and as she approached, worried by the dogs,
he threw it over her neck and' called off tbo
dogs, and she, (riving a spring, jerked him "to
the ground, and at the second leap threw her
self, the nooso having by that time fastened
about her throat and choked-her. - He then
tied her, during which operation she uttered
such horrid screams that the bair stood np on
bis head, and he had the most singular and
awful feelings he ever experienced. After se
curing the girl, he entered her den, and fonnd
there large quantities of nuts and berries, and
roots, such as could be gathered and digged in
the vicinity. Tho principal fruit was a kind
of large red haws, which were thereabout very
abundant, and she bad a kind of nest to sleep
in, while everything indicated ber utter soli
tude. The garment Bhe wore was of skins,
qnee rly tied together, with bits of leather,
and also with a kind of grass. The skins were
those of a large animal, neither bear or buffalo,
Mr. Northcott says, and the hunters could not
tell exactly from what manner of beast they
were taken. It was his opinion that she had
found an animal dead, or that she might have
been attacked by and mastered some beast.
But there is an air of improbability about this
that the strange and almost terrible reality of
the woman herself docs not quite dispel ; and
we have not room here and now to 'argue the.
loint. The garments were so strong, says Mr.
N., that they protected the' female from the
teeth of bis dogs. For five days after her
capture, his pet refused to taste food, but then
partook of red haws. She was'then taken 200
miles intervening between her den and tho
nearest civilised settlements fn Grayson coun
ty, Texas, with a rope arontid her waist, the
ends of which were in the hands of himself
and his comrade, while the dogs followed af
ter. As soon as ho could procure it, he bad a
hack so fixed as to make of the body a kind of
cage, in which he confined her, and conveyed
her safely until he finally got her on a steam
boat. She arrived here on the steamer Hick
man. For a time sho rejected all prepared'
food, but now she will eat almost anything
that is offered, that is not very salt or very
sweet. Mr. Northcott says' bis great object
now is to civilize her, to learn her to talk, and
to hear her story, for he thinks he is sure that
she has talked at some day, and that she has a
dim notion of having long ago been with folka
similar to those she now finds hersclf.with.
He is impressed from observing her that this
is the fact, and thinks that the presence of ci
vilized faces., being in bouses, &c, &c., has
caused dormant memories to faintly revive.
He disavows any intention to make a specula
tion out of her, and says that he will only take
money front visitors that he may use it for her
benefit. He shrinks from no examination on
the subject, and has called several physicians
to look at his strange pt. If this is a hoax,
and it is so wonderful that we are not able to'
give it full credit, the girl, (whose age is, per
haps, twenty-two or twenty-three years,) looks
the character she is made to personate so. con -sumately
that the like was never before beard
of, or dreamed. We would have it thorough
ly understood that this is no exaggerated' puff
of a showman, but a plain and sober narrative
of that which we saw, and which was in tho
utmost apparent good faith related to us, and
which seems to be a veritable realization of
romance.
Coot. A fellow was once brought before a
magistrate on a charge of stealing. The mo
ment the tnngi6tr.it.; saw him be exclaimed'
with vehemence :
"I see the villain in yonr face."
I never thought," said the prisoner, quite
cool, "that my face was a looking glass."
A raw nights since, in Janesville, Wiscon
sin, an ox, having- got a beer barrel on his
head, blindly pitched down a flight of steps
into a saloon among a number of young Luks.
They thought their time, or the "Ancient
Henry," bad come, which caused some of them
to decamp rather precipitately.
In 1551 our trade with Canada amounted, iu
the aggregate, to less than $13,000,000, about
$9,000,000 which were exports and $4,000,000
were imports. In 1855, under the influence
of reciprocity measures,this trade has increas
ed to about $81,000,000, the balance still be
ing largely in our favor.
The young married couple who thought they
could livetra love and moonlight, find thero is
some virtue in baked beans. For taking tho
romance ont of young folks, marriage is near
ly" as bad as a lawsuit . : ,
A young chemist of Cuba, named Peyroa
net, has discovered a process of making wico
with the juice of the orange aad pine apple,
as delightful in flavor and equal in quality to
good champagne. ' ' i L "
Thb tsw from Chicago to New York is now
made, according to the new trae-ables, in SS
hours.
ir