American citizen. (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, August 31, 1864, Image 1

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    VOLUME 1.
The New Militia Bill.
.The following bill iu reference to the
organization of the Militia, has passed
both houses and is now in the hands of
the Governor, viz:
A SL'PLKMKNT to the act for the or
ganization, discipline and regulation of
the Militia of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, approved May 4th 1804.
SECTION 1. Ji < it enacted by the. Sen
ate and limine of Representative! of the
Vommonirealth of Pennsylvania in (ien
m-a! Aitemhlg met, and it ihere by enac
ted by the authority of the name, That
tho Governor and Slate Treasurer be and
they arc hereby authorized and empow
ered to borrow, on the. faith of the Com
monwealth. at such time, iu such amounts
and with such notice as they may deem
most expedient for the interest of the
State, any sum not exceeding three mil
lions of dollars, and issue certificates of
loan or coupon bonds of the Common
wealth for the same, bearing six per cen
tum interest per annum, payable semi
annually in the city of Philadelphia,
which certificates of loan or bonds shall
not be subject to State or local taxation
for any purpose whatever, aid shall be
reimbursable at any time after the expira
tion of ten years from their date; and
the sum borrowed, or so much thereof as
may be necessary, shall be and tho same
is hereby appropriated to defray the ex
penses which may be incurred under the
provisions of this act: Provided , That,
no certificates of loan or bond shall be is
sued for a less sum than one hundred
dollars : Provided further, ' hat no cer
tificate shall be negotiated for less than
its par value; and there shall be inscribed
on the face of said certificates of loan or
bonds that the debt thereby secured was
contracted to repel invasion and defend
the State iu war, and to be transferable on
the books of the Commonwealth at the
Fanners' and Mechanics' Bank in the
city of Philadelphia; l*rovided further,
That the Governor and State Treasurer are
hereby authorized to use for the purpose
of this act, temporarily, any funds in the
State Treasury not immediately required,
or, if necessary, to make a tcinpory loan,
to be paid from the proceeds of the per
manent loan hereby authorized.
SEC. -. That the bonds or certificates
of loan issued under the provisions of this
act, shall be signed by the Governor and
countersigned by the State Treasurer aud
Auditor General, aud a correct and accu
rate registry of the same shall bo kept in
a book to be provided for that purpose in
the office of the Aftditor General, who
shall in ike annual report thereof to the
Legislature; and tht Governor is hereby
author.zed to draw warrants on the State
Treasurer for such sums as may be neces
sary to p;wy the proper expenses incident
to the negotation of such loan ; the prep
aration of the bonds or certificates of loan
authorized to be issued by this act, and
said warrants shall b« paid out of any
moneys in the treasury.
SEC. !5. That the Governor be and he is
hereby authorized, by and with tho eon
sent of the Senate, to appoint a compe
tent person of military education experi
ence and skill, to have command of all
the militia forces of Pennsylvania to be
raised under the provisions of this act,
with the rank of major general who while
in actual service, shall be entitled to the
pay and emoluments of a major general in
the United States; and he shall also have
authority, in manner aforesaid, to appoint
two persons of like military education,
experience and-skill to be brigadier gen
erals, who, while in actual service, shall
be entitled to the pay and emoluments of
officers of the §auic rank in the army of
the United States. Provided, howevei,
that Much general officers shall not be ap
pointed to duty by the Commander-in-
Chief, except when the force herein pro
vided for shall have been called into actu
al service in sufficient strength to require
Burti officers.
SEC. 4. That whenever the military
force provided for iu this act shall be call
ed into service by the Governor of the
Commonwealth, it shall be the duty of
the Adjutant General to notify, in writ
ing, the Quartermaster General and Com
missary Geueral of the point or points
where the men are to rendezvous, with
the number, as near as may be, and said
officer shall forthwith advertise for pro
posal* for supplying to the Commonwealth
such supplies, ordnance, and ordnauce
stores an may be necessary for furnishing
{lie troops aforesaid, as are provided by
the laws of the regulations of the United
States, said proposals to be directed to the
Commissary General aud Quarter
master Geueral respectively, and to be
opened after live days' notice, aud the
contracts to be awarded to the lowest bid
der by the proper officer inviting said
proposals, aud adequate security to be ta
ken fur the faithful performance of the
contract before the same is awarded, uud
AMERICAN CITIZEN.
said officers shall publish and keep one
file in their several departments for pub
lic inspection, a list of all the proposals
offered, including those rejected as well
as those awarded, and before the accept
ance of any supplies, ordnance, ordnance
stores, or other military stores of any kind
whatsoever, purchased upon contract, as
herein before provided. It shall be the
duty of the Quartermaster General or
Commissary General as the case may be.
in connection with the Auditor General
and State Treasurer, to appoint from time
to time as required, one or more disenter
csted and competent inspectors, familiar
with the value and quality of thesupplies,
ordnance, ordnance stores, or other mili
tary stores, so contracted for, whose duty
it shall be to examine and accept or re
ject the same, aud if accepted to give
a certificate thereof to the contractor or
vendor, and no bill rendered for any such
supplies, ordnance, ordnance stores, or
other military stores shall be paid untilso
certificated and approved; the inspectors
so appointed shall each receive five dol
lars per day,for every day necessarily em
ployed in the discharge of their duties,
and shall severally be sworn or affirmed
to discharge their duties with fiidolity:
Provided, That the Quartermaster Gener
al and Commissary General shall respec
tively hive authority, if practical, to ob
tain the supplies, ordnance, and ordnance
stores, or other military stores, or any part
thereof mentioned in this section, from
the United .States Government paying
them, if required, the cost"prices thereof.
Provided, further, That the Commissary-
General slial have power to purchase di
rect, when actually necessary, and when
there is not time to advertise for contracts,
all "commissary stores actually needed
for the 4roops: Provided, also, That
no more than the actual cash price shall
be paid for ( any article purchased.
SKC. 5. That the Governor of the Com
monwealth is hereby authorized and em
powered to organize a military corps, to
be called the Pennsylvania State Guard,
to be composed of fifteen regimeuts, in
ilue proportion of cavalry, infantry and
artillery, or such portion thereof as may
be deemed necessary. The said regiments
shall severally be composed of companies
of like number, and to be armed and
equipped, clothed, disciplined, govoYned
and paid while in actual service, of simi
lar troops iu the service of the United
States, and shall be enlisted in the ser
vice of the State for a period not exceed
ing three years, unless sooner discharged,
and shall be liable to be called into the
service of this State at such times as the
Governor of the Commonwealth may deem
their services necessary, for the purpose
of suppressing insurrections, or repelling
invasions ; and the Governor shall appoint
all the regimental officers, and the compa
nies shall have the right to elect the com
pany officers, and said Major General and
Brigadier Generals, and all regimental
and company officers shall be citizens of
this Commonwealth: Provided , That
such portions of the said corps as shall
be called into actual service, shall be sup
plied and provided with ordnance stores,
as provided for in this act, but when not
called into actual service, such supplies,
ordnance stores shall bo withheld until
required.
SEC. 6. The Governorof the Common
wealth is hereby authorized to provide
the necessary hospital arrangements,
cauips of instruction, arms aud accoutre
ments, garrison and camp cquippage,
transportation, and all things necessary
for the arming and equipping and putting
into service, subsistence when in service,
quartermaster's commissary and ordnance
stores of the said Pennsylvania State
Guard, and to make and adopt all need
ful rules and regulations, to take and use
horses for cavalry aud artillery service,
for which full compensation shall be made
within six months after the takiug of the
same, and the person by whom the same
shall be taken shall exhibit to the owner
thereof his authority for such seizure,
and shall at the time give to the owner
a certificate statingthc number of hor
ses taken, and the time when and by
whom, and the service for which the same
are required, and such supplies as in his
judgmeut may be necessary, and to seize
such railroads aud other means of trans
portation as the exigencies of the case may
demaud.
SEC. 7. The Governor of the Com
monwealth is also hereby authorized aud
empowered to cause to be made au imme
diate enrollment aud classification of the
militia of the Commonwealth; and it
shall be his duty to call and keep in ser
vice, as loug as he may deem necessary,
from the body of the said militia, or from
such portions of the Commonwealth as he
may deem necessary, the said Pennsylva
nia State Guard, by volunteering or draft;
Provided, That auy persons who may be
deeiued by the board of examination able
" Let us have Faith that Right makes Might," and in that Faith let us, to the end,dare to do our duty as we understand it"— A - LINCOLN.
BUTLER, BUTLER COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1804.
to do military duty, may be received as
volunteers in the regiments provided to
be raised by this act, without reference to
age.
SEC. 8. That if practicable, until the
time fixed by law for making the enroll
mentof themilitiaof the Commonwealth,
the Governor is authorized and empowered
to organize the military force authorized
by this act, on the basisof the enrollment
made in tho several districts of the State
by the enrolling officers of tho General
Government, but if practicable, the Gov
ernor is hereby directed to cause au im
mediate enrollment of themilitiaof the
Commonwealth, to be made as provided
for in the act to which thi3 is a supple
ment.
That when the assessors refuse or neg
lect to enter upon the performance of the
duties of enrolling the citizens of their
respective districts, for a period of five
days after being notified of their duty,
the Governor shall appoint a competent
person or persons to make the enroll
ment.
It shall bo the duty of the Governor
to appoint one competent citizen in each
county, whoshall be a physician, who, in
connection with the county commission
ers or city commissioners, shall constitute
a board, three of whom, the physician be
ing one, shall make a quorum, with pow
er to determine who are exempt from en
rollment under this act, and the act to
which it is a supplement; audit shall be
the duty of the enrolling officer to give
notice, by publication in a newspaper of
the county, of tho times at which such
application shall be heard, and to notify
said board when they will be required to
hoar such applications.
That all other duties in reference to the
enrollment shall be performed as directed
in the act to which this is a supplement,
and that the physician so appointed to
hear and decide on application for exemp
tion shall receive for each and every day
so employed tho sum of five dollars, and
tho county commissioners or city commis
sioner the sum of three hundred dollars
per diem, to be paid out of the State Treas
ury.
That the Governor shall have authori
ty to make and enforce all orders which
may in his judgment be necessary to carry
out the provisions of this act, and to effect
a speedy enrollment and organization of
the militia of this Commonwealth.
SEC. 9. That the Quartermaster Gen
eral be and he is hereby authorized to sell
any unsuitable or unserviceable ordnance
belonging to the State, the proceeds of
which shall be paid into the State treas
ury, and applied, if deemed necessary by
the Commandei-in-Chief, in addition to
the appropriation aboved named, towards
the purchase of ordnance and ordnance
stores.
SEC. 10. That where the brigade fund
of the county is not sufficient to pay tho
assessors, as provided by the third sec
tion of the act to which this is a suppli
uient, the said assessors shall lie paid
by tho several cities and counties in which
such assessment is made.
MATRIMONY IN THE CAMP. —The
other day it was stated that a private
soldier, named Kick,had married a re
lative of the late President Tyler, a
few days after he returned to camp
near City Point. He says that his
bride is a niece not a daughter of ex-
President Tyler. During the transit
of the army from the Chickahominy
to the many of our officers vis
ited the mansion and saw the
young lady there, whom they suppos
ed from her name (Miss Tyler) to be
the late Chief Magistrate's daughter.
Indeed, if lam not mistaken, says a
correspondent, the aged relative in
troduced several of our generals to
her as such. Be the facts as they
may, it was the the report here whet-
I wrote that the soldier was married
to a daughter of President Tyler.
Chapter II of the romanco is one the
conclusion of which leaves the happy
pair in anything but a happy condi
tion.
After marriage they made their way
up the James river to Bermuda Hun
dred or City Point, where the bride
remained while the bridegroom start
ed for his regiment to engineer a fur
lough. llis application was I believe,
backed by General Butler and came
thro' tho headquarters of General Pot
ter, who returned it to the regiment for
a statement of the man's character as a
soldier. Alas ! for his bright dreams
of bliss, the contemplated bridal tour
of thirty days to Niagara Falls here
received a sudden quietus. Private
John Kick, for some reason, was con
signed to the tender mercies of the
Provost Guard, and is now under ar
rest. - Report says some naughty
things of him ; but, lest I should give
publicity to the unfair charges, I will
refrain from stating them, lleport
also has it that Mrs. Kick was at Ci
ty Point at last accounts, awaiting the
return of her liege lord.
From Waverley Magaziue.
41 SLANDER.''
VIK-II the storm of life is raging,
And the tempest scattera wide;
When our enemies are waging
War on iw from every *ide;
When the evil tongue of Blunder
rob us of our all,
We muffionly he the firmer,
Or amidst the struggle fall.
If our conscience do not chide ns
We can safely stem the gale;
And, though evil tongue* deride us,
They can never make us quail.
We will then lint rise tlie higher,
And on enemies look down;
For, when tried, as If by fire,
We can belter stand the storm.
Injured innocent, no longer
l,et rile slander grieve thy heart;
Walk straight forward, you II be stronger
To sustain the martyr's part,
goon the evil tongue will lire.
And the breath of slander reaae,
While you steadily rise higher
Till you gain a lasting pence.
ANFIIK M. Plllltf.
' WIT AND WISDOM.
MODESTY is a quality that adorns a lady,
but frequently ruins a gentleman.
NAPOLEON says that "bayonets think."
Yes, and few thinkers have so much
kccncss, point and penetration as they.
"MINE got? vat vil de Frenchman
make next 112" as the Dutchman said the
first time ho saw a monkey.
Dlt. MADDEN thinks the momentum of
the blood is owing to the pressure of the
atmosphere on the skin.
" FATHER, is a parrot that talks adumb
animal ?"'
"My dear, children should not talk
while tlicy are eating."
MH. SNOOKS was advised to get his life
insured.
" Won't do," said ho " it would be my
luck to live forever if I should."
"WHERE are you going?" asked a lit
tle boy to another, who had slipped down
on the pavement.
"Going togetupl"was the blunt re
ply.
THE meanest man in the world lives in
New Jersey. In ho ping him out of a
river once, a man tore tho collar of his
coat. The next day he sued him for as
sault and battery.
THE man who put up a stove-pipe with
6ut profanity has been found, and a com
pany have secured him for exhibition in
the principal cities. He will draw better
than any pipe.
A YOUNO lady, whose name was Patty,
being addressed by a Mr. Cake, accepted
him on condition ho would change his
name, declaring she would never consent
to bo called a " Patty Cake"
AN American tourist was visiting Na
ples, and saw Vesuvius during an erup
tion.
" Have you anything like that in tho
New World ?" was tho question of an
Italian spectator.
"No," replied the other, "but wo have
a Niagara that would put it out in five
minutes."
"THE tuau who raised a cabbage-head
has done more good than tho metaphys
ics in the world," said a stump-orator at
a meeting.
" Then, replied a wag, your mother
ought to have a premium."
THE following stanza, on the marriage
of lleubeti Wise with Matilda Chcevis, is
exceedingly well told and witty :
At length she seized the profler'd prize,
(A happy one, believe us,l
For matrimony made her Wise—
Before she was Miss Cheevis.
A MAN advertises in the New Ro
chellc Pioneer that whereas a certain girl
had agreed to marry him, but now keeps
out of his sight aud avoids him, there
fore, if she does nqt come to his cabin
within four days, he shall consider the
bargaiu " broke," and hold her for all
damages.
"CAN you tell me where Mr. Smith
lives, mister?"
"Smith—Smi'li—what Smith? there
are a good many of that name about in
these parts; my name is Smith."
" Why, I don't know his t'other name
—but he's a sour, cross and crabbed sort
of a fellow, and they call him Crab Smith."
" Oh, I 'spose I'm the man !"
AN old Yankee, when told by an Eng
lish tourist iu this country, that the cele
bration of the Fourth of July would be
extinct, replied,—
" Sec here, stranger, don't talk that
way. I tell you, when the resurrection
day comes round, the first thing done in
the morning will bo to read the Declara
tion of Independence."
" First class Oriental philosophy will
stand up. Tibbetts, what is lite? "
" Life consists of mouey, a horse, and
a fashionable wife."
"Good. Next. What is death?"
" A paymaster who settles everybody's
debts and gives them tomb-stones as re
ceipts in full of all demands."
What is poverty ?"
"The reward of merit genius generally
receives from a discriminating public."
" What is fame ?"
" A six line puff iu a newspaper while
living, and your fortune to enemies when
dead."
THE CONDITION OF TJIE SOUTH.
Fast Failing from Exliaustation,
'HIE DI'TIOF THfc \ORTII
REINFORCE THE UNION ARMY.
RE-ELECT PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
Brigadier General T. Seymour, lately
released fVoru " under lire" at Charleston,
has addressed a patriotic letter to Wnt. E.
Dodge, Jr., of New York, in which he
gives his impressions of the present con
ditionof the Southern Confederacy. tleu.
Seymour is a graduate of West Point,
was with (Jen. Anderson at Sumter, and
was stationed at the South for many years,
so that he knows the Southern people well.
The General says the rebel cause in fast
failing from cxhaustation. Their two
grand armies have heen reinforced this
summer from the last resources of the
South. From every corner of the land,
every old man anil every boy capable of
bearing a rifle has been impressed, will
ingly or unwillingly, and hurried to the
front. I.cc s army wasthefirstsostrength
encd. It was at the expense of Hood's.
The writerquotes from Gov. Brown's proc
lamation of .July 9th to the Georgia mil
itia, already published in our columns, to
show that Leo's army was reinforced at
the expense of the South Western I'ebel
army, and says, "there must, indeed, have
been desperate weakness when Georgia,
and the Southern cause with it, were so
neglected that Lee's army might bo made
equal to the task of holding Grant to the
l'otomae or the James, and the people of
the South are intelligent enough to un
derstand, and to appreciate the fact, and
they have lost heart accordingly."
The following is from a letter written
by one rebel to another, that accidently
fell into thehandsof one of the General's
fellow-prisoners:
" Very few pers ms are preparing to
obey the late call of the Governor. His
summons will meet with no response here.
The people are soul-sick, and heartily tir
ed of this hateful, hopeless strife. T1 ey
would end it if they could; butour would
be rulers will take good care that no op
portunity be given the people to vote
against it. By lies, bylraud, and by chi
canery, this revolution was inaugurated ;
by force, by tyranny, and the suppression
of truth it is sustained. It is nearly time
that it should end, and of sheer depletion
it must end before long. We have had
enough of want and of woe, onough of
cruelty aud carnage, enough of cripples
and corpses. There is an abundance of
bereaved parents, weeping widows, and
orphaned children in the land. If we
can, let us not increase the number. The
men who, to aggrandize themselves, or to
gratify their own political ambition, bro't
this cruel war upou a peaceful and pros
perous country, will have to rendera fear
ful account of their misdeeds to a wrong
ed, robbed and outraged people. Earth
has no punishment sufficiently meet for
their villainly here, andjicll will hardly
be hot enough to scathe them hereafter."
This is certainly a no small proportion
of the Southern people (despite the lying
declarations of their journals, as wo have
good occasion to learn,) that not only fa
vor the progress of our arms, but that dai
ly pray that this exterminating war may
soon be brought to a finality by our com
plete and perfect success. They have had
too much of despotism—not enough of
the triumph promised them. Many in
telligent Southern gentlemen, do, indeed,
express strong hopes of their ultimate in
dependence, but such hope is not shared
by the masses. Disappointed from the
first in not having been acknowledged by
foreign Powers—more bitterly disappoint
ed in theirgeneralexpectation that Nort
hern cowardice or dissension would secure
their cuds—but a single chance remains,
and that is the result of our next election
fur J'retulcnt. If a Democrat succeeds to
Mr. Liucoln, they profess to feel sure of
negotiations, and sure of their Confeder
acy. They believe a Democrat will be
elected. In Mr. Lincoln's re-election they
see only subjugation,annihilation, for the
war must then continue, and continuance
is their failure and ruin.
In military affairs itisan excellent rule
never to do what the enemy desires—is it
not equally true iu politics'( Certain it
is that the only remaining hope of the
South lies in Mr. Lincoln's dejeat. Now,
I am of a politician to know
whether the election ef a Democrat cau
result as favorably to the South as it an
ticipates. The wish alone may be the pa
rent cf their belief. But, I assured all
who expressed that belief, that the North,
asa mass, is as united*as the South—that
no Democrat could be elected on a peace
platform—and that any President who
would inaugurate any measure leading to
peace on the JJasis of the Southern inde
pendence. would be promptly hung, by
loyal acclamation, to the lamp posts in
'rout of bis own presidential mansion.
However that may bo, if wo are but
true ourselves, there can bo but one re
sult. What we now need is men —only
men—not substitutes or hireliugs who go
forth for any motive but the country's
good, and produce but little beyond depre
ciating our armies,—but MEN —such as
really constitute the State, and boast of
being freemen and the sons of freemen.
If these fail to support their country's
cause in her hour of peril, tliey are un
worthy of continuing freemen, and should
blush ever to exercise a freeman's privi
lege. But if bounties must be paid, lot
it be iu Southern land, not in Northern
gold; and armies of emigrants, whoso
sons may aspire to even the rule of tho
pation, will cross the seas to win the broad
acres that disloyalty has forfeited to the
State.
To every intelligent soldier who has
fought through all these indecisive cam
paigns on almost numberless indecisive
fields, the question constantly arises, with
touching force, why not overwhelm our
enemies. Tens of thousands of lives are
lost because our array of strength is so
disproportionately lees than that against
which we battle. Everywhere we meet
on nearly equal terms, whore we well
might have four to one. The cost to us
in blood and treasure, of a prolonged war,
can hardly bo foreseen—the economy is
infinite of such an effort as will fight as
long as the strugglo is equal; it icill sub
mit to such preponderance as we should
show in every field.
Glance at the summer's campaigns. If
Sherman had but 50,000 or 75,000 more
men near, the South would be lost, bo
cause Ilood- would bo annihilated. If
Meade had moved iu tho spring with re
serves of 75,000 to 100,000 men, Lee
would have been hopelessly crushed. Ev
en at this moment a third column of 40,-
000 to 50,000 rightly moved, would give
unopposed blows to the Confederacy from
which she could never rise. What folly
to struggle on in this way, when wo
can send to the field five times tho force
already there. What weakness to think
we cannot conquer tho South. Behind
the 'amos only boys and old men are to
be seen, while here men buy and sell as
in tho olden days of quiet, and regiments
of able-bodied citizens crowd the streets
of our cities.
There is but one course consistent with
safety or honor. Let the people awake to
a sense of their dignity and strength, ami
in a few months of comparatively trifling
exertion, of such effort as alone is worthy
of the great work, —and the rebellion will
crumble before us. Fill this draft prompt
ly and willingly, with goodaudtrue men;
send a lew spare thousands over, rather
than under the call, and the Summer sun
of 1805 will shine upon a regenerated
land.
There arc some who speak of peace!—■
Of all Yankees the Southron most scorns
is those who do not fight, but are glad
enough to employ them, as they do their
slaves, to perform their dirty work. Peace
for the South will be sweet indeed ; for
us, except through Southern subjugation,
but anarchy and war forever. The Paci
fic, tho Western, the Eastern States would
at once fall asunder. The South would
be dominant, and the people of the North
would deserve to be driven a-field under
negro overseers, to hoo corn and cotton for
Southern masters.
But no faint-hearted or short-sighted
policy can set aside the eternal decree of
the Almighty, who has planted no lines of
disunion between the Atlantic and the
Western deserts—between the great lakes
and tho (Julf of Mexico—that signify
llis will that we should be separated;
and unless so separated peace is a delu
sion, aud its advocacy a treason against
the wisest aud holiest interests of our
country.
llealtufl'l Effects of the tomato.
—The tomato is one of the most health
ful, as well as one of the most universally
liked, of all the vegetables. Its health
ful qualities do not depend on the mode
of preparation for tho table; it may bo
eaten thrice a day, cold or hot, cooked or
raw, alone or without salt or pepper or vin
egar, or altogether, to a like advantage,
aud in the utmost that can be taken with
an appetite. Its healthful quality arises
l'rom its slight acidity, in this making it
as valuable, perhaps, as berries, cherries,
currauts, aud similar articles. It is also
highly nutritious. The tomato season
ends with the frost. If the vines are
pulled up before the frost comes, and
hung up iu a wcll-ventillated cellar, with
the tomatoes hanging to them, the love
apple" will continue ripening until Christ
mas. The cellar should not be too dry nor
to warm. The knowledge of this may be
improved to great practical advantage for
the benefit of many who are invalids aud
who are fond of the tomato.
NUMBER 37.
Singular Cave Researches.
Some years ago interesting discoveries
of human remains wero made in caves in
the South-western partof France, and tho
British Parliament has appropriated £l,-
000 to purchase one ot these oaves, to be
placed under charge of I'rofessor Owen on
behalf of the British Museum. The Man
chester Guardian gives the following par
ticulars about these caves and their con
tents :
" The locality of the caves is the de
partment of Dordogne, in tho province of
I'erigord. It is chiefly on the banks of
tributaries of tho river Dordogne (which
reaches the sea a little North of Bordeaux)!
that the caverns pre found. In tho val
ley ol the \ azere, one of -the principal of
these tributaries, are several caverns, one
01 which, that of Kyaics, was bo't last
year by Messrs. E. Lartet and 11. Chris
ty, two eminent geologists. These gen
tlemen divided the floor of the cave into
Compartments, and, with a gcuerosity wor
th V .of all praise, they have sent speci
mens of the blocks thus obtained to tho
principal museums in Europe and else
where. In this way Mr. Plant received,
about a fortnight ago, for tho Salford Koy
al Museum, a slab weighing about five
hundred weight. It was broken in the
journey info two parts, each of which has
been mounted under a glass shade. Tho
shaking it had received on the way rub
bed oft a quantity of debris weighing 20
pounds, and this Mr. Plant has carefully
washed and sifted, and separated atom
from atom. IFis patience has been fully
rewarded, as lie has found articles of tho
deepest interest. Before enteringintode
tails it may be well to say that by far the
largest number of bones found in the eav
urns of Pcrigord are those of tho reindeer,
an animal which has not been knowu with
in the historic period south of tho north
ern shorosof the Baltio. It is impossible
even to approximate to the antiquity of an
ago so remote: but Sir Charles Lyoll, iu
bis " Antiquity of Man," estimates that
tho cave-dwellers, tokens of whose man
ners of life we are about to describe, flour
ished not less than from ten to fifteen
thousand years ago. These tokens consist
of u compost mass of earth, charcoal, flint
weapons and tools, bones, needles &c.,
which have been hardened into a solid ag
glomerate chiefly by the action of tho cal
earous droppings from theroof of the cave.
This agglomerate, or breccia, as it is tech
nically styled, has formed an artificial floor
to the cave of various thicknesses, from
three to ten inches. The practice of the.
ancient inhabitants of throwing down the
bones and other remnants of their feasts
upon the floor of the cave in which thc-y
continued to dwell, receives illustration
from the description given by the Danish
missionary of tho last century, Ilans
Egodc, of tho habits of the Exquimaux.
fie says their huts were veritable char
nel-houses, heaped up with fat and the raw
flesh of mammals and fish, which, to
gether with the remnants of former feasts-,
created a smell which a European could
not endure, but which did not incommode
a native iu the least.
" At some period subsequent to the hu
man occupation of the cavern a flood has
rushed through it, blinging in its coarso,
and leaving iu the cave, a number of
boulder stones. These have been fixed to
the artificial floor of breccia by the slow
but unfailing mason—the droppings from
the chalk strata overhead."
The articles in the Salford Museum in
clude flint knives, bone needles, broken
teeth, and similar objects. The conclu
sion deducted from theexploration of these
caves is that a human race inhabited the
caves in tho region since called Pcrigord
at the same time as the reindeer, the au
roch, and other animals which are now
only found iu extreme latitudes ; that this
people had no knowledge of the use of
metals, their only arms and tools being
either of broken and unpolished flints, or
of bones or horns of animals ; that they
lived upon the produce of the chase and
by fishing; that they had no domesticated
animal, neither dog nor eat, else some por
tions of the bones and sinews that have
been found wou'd have been eaten, and
some remains of the dog would have been
discovered; and that they were clothed
in skins, which were sewn with bone nee
dles and string inado out of the sinews
and tendons of the legs of their prey.
" What business does your '
husband follow ?" asked a person
who wus engaged in noting the oc
cupations of our citizens lately, of a
female. " Why sir," she replied,
"he follows drinking rum." Tho
canvasser at on«e entered opposite
his name, gentleman.
\\ hy ought a carpenter nev
er to allow himself to be ehuselled out
of his dinner ? Because he can al
ways chop a stake out of a piece of
wood, or lay his hand on a saw's edge /
(»au»agp) at a moment's notice.