The mountain sentinel. (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, November 29, 1849, Image 1

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'WE GO Wlim DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES POINT THE WAY J-
TUEY CEASE TO LEAD, WE CEASE TO FOLLOW.
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VtJOHN G. GIVEN
'dJkt , rraaMarTn TWfigrr
M1SOBLL AZTEOUS
Chased by a Catamount.
A IS THE LIF"E OF A PIONEER.
I was once told a thrilling adventure of
the tirst settler in Paris, Maine, with a
catamount.- Although I cannot relate it
with that lively effect with which it was
told iae, still I have embodied the facta in
this sketch: " "- .
I had been on a hunting excursion, and
as I was returning 1 fell in with that oft
described personage, "the oldest inhabi
Hi tindly accosted me, and I
gladly entered into conversation with him.
"Young man," said he, "when I first
visited thi9 town, there were only three
families living in it, You who now live
in ease, can never know the hardships and
perilous scenes through which the earlier
settlers passed. Come with me," he con
tinued, "and I will show you the exact
spot on which the first hut ever erected in
this town was located."
I followed silently, until the old man
reached the bottom of the west side of
Paris Hill.
"There,"
said
he, "on this spot was
erected the hut.
I shall never forget the
first time I visited it, and the storv I was
told."
"What was it?" I asked.
I will tell it to you. When the first
settler moved here his nearest neighbor
lived twenty miles distant in the present
town of Rumford, and the only road be
tween the two neighbors was a path that
he had cut through the woods himself, so
that in case ot want or sickness, he might
get assistance. One spring, I think it was
the third season after he had settled there,
he was obliged to go to Rumford after
provisions. He arose early one morning,
and started for his nearest neighbor.
People of the present day would think it
hard to make a journey of twenty miles
for a bag of potatoes, and on foot, too; but
such was the errand of the first settler.
He arrived before noon, was successful in
, getting his potatoes, got some refreshments,
iisui started for honie."Uut it was not very
" La'sy to travel with a load of potatoes; and
finally, at sundown he threw off his load,
and .resolved to make a shelter and spend
the night. I have been with him to the
exact locality of it; it was situated just the
other side of the stream on which are
mills, in the village now known as Pin
hook in Woodstock. He built a shelter,
struck a fire, and took out of his pack a
piece of meat to roast. Ah! young man,"
continued the narrator, "you little know
with what relish a man eats his food in
the woods; but as I was saying, he had
commenced roasting his meat, when he
was startled by a cry so shrill, that he
knew at once it could come from nothing
but a catamount. I will now relate it to
you as near as I can in the language of
the old settler himself:
" 'I listened a moment,' said he, 'and it
was repeated even louder, and it seemed
nearer than before. My first thought
was for my own safety. Put what was I
to do? It was at least ten miles to my
home, and there was not a single human
being nearer than that to me. I first
thought of self-defence; but I had nothing
to defend myself with. In a moment I
concluded to start for home, for I knew the
nature of the catamonnt too well to think
I should stand the least chance of escape,
if I remained in the camp. I knew, too,
that he would ransack my camp, and I
hoped that the meat which I left behind
might satisfy his appetite, so that he would
not follow me after eating it.
"'I had not proceeded more than half a
mile before I knew by the shrieks of the
animal that he was within sight of the
camp.- I doubled my speed, content that
the beast should have my supper; although
I declare that I w;ould not have run if I
had had my trusty rifle with me. But
there could be no cowardice in running
from an infuriated catamount, doubly fu
rious probably, by being hungry, and I
with nothing that could be called a wea
pon, save a pocket knife. '
" 4I had proceeded, probably, about two
thirds of the distance home, and hearing
nothing more of my feared enemy, I be
gan to slacken my pace, and thought I
had nothing to fear. I had left behind
nie, about two pounds of meat, beef and
pork, which I hoped had satisfied the
monster. Just as I had come to the con
clusion that I would run no further, and
was looking back astonished almost, at
the distance I had travelled in so short a
space of time, I was electrified with hor
ror to hear the animal shriek again.
" 4I then knew my worst fears were re
alized.. The beast had undoubtedly enter
ed the camp and ate what he could find,
and then had scented my track and follow
ed after me. " It was about three miles to
niy log cabin, and it had already become
dark. I redoubled my speed; mit I frit
'hat I must die. And such a death! The
recollection of that feeling comes to my
mind as vividly as though 1 knew the ani
mal was now pursuing me. But I am no
coward, though to be torn in pieces, and
almost eaten alive by a wild beast was
horrible!
" 'I calmly unbuttoned my frock, with
the determination to throw it off before
the beast should approach "me, hoping
thereby to gain advantage of him by the
time he wouM lose in tearing it to pieces.
" Another shriek, and I tossed the gar
ment behind me in the path. Not . more
than five minutes elapsed before I heard a
shrill cry as he came to it. How. that
shriek electrified me! I bounded like a
deer. But in a moment the animal made
another cry, which told me plainly that
the garment had only exasperated him to
a fiercer chase.
"'O, God!' said I, 'and must I die thus?
I can, I must live for my wife and chil
dren,' and I ran even faster than I had
done before, and unbuttoning my waist
coat, I dropped it in the path as I pro
ceeded. The thought of my wife and
children urged me to desperate speed for
I thought more of their unprotected state
than the death I was threatened with, for,
should I die, what would become of them?
" 'In a moment the whole events of my
life crowded through my brain. The hot
blood coursed through my veins with tor
rent's force! The catamount shrieked
louder and louder, and fast as I was run
ning, he was rapidly approaching me.
Nearer and nearer he came, until I fancied
I could hear his bounds. At last I came
to the brook which you see yonder, and it
was double the size which it is now, for
it was swollen by recent freshets, and I
longed to cool my fevered brain in it; but
I knew that would be as certain death to
me as to die by the claws of the beast.
With three bounds I gained the opposite
bank, and then I could clearly see a light
in my log cabin not a hundred rods dis
tant. .
" 'I had not proceeded but a short dis
tance, before I heard the plunge of the cat
amount behind me. T leaped with more
than human energy, for it was now life
anddeath. In a moment, the catamount
gave another wild shriek, as though he
Was afraid he should lose his prey. At
the same instant, I yelled at the top of my
lungs to my wife. In a moment 1 saw
her approach the door with a light.
"'With what vividness that moment
comes back to my mind! The catamount
was not so far from me as I was from the
house. I dropped my hat, the only thing
I could leave to stay the progress of the
beast. The next moment I fell prostrate
in my own cabin.'
"Here the old settler paused, and wiped
the big drops from his brow ere he con
tinued: "'How long I lay when I fell, I know
not, but when I was restored to conscious
ness, I was lying on a rude couch, and
my wife was bathing my head with cold
water, and my children were gazing anx
iously at me. My wife told me that as
soon as I fell she immediately shut the
door and barred it, for she knew that I
was pursued; but by whom or what she
knew not, and that as soon as I had fallen
and the door closed, a fearful spring was
made upon it; but the door was strong
and well barred, and withstood the spring
of the beast.
"'As soon as I fully recovered, I knelt
and offered the most fervent prayer to the
Almighty that ever passed my lips, or
ever will again. My family and myself
shortly retired; but no sleep visited me
that night. In the morning, when my
little son six years old, told me that he
saw the eyes of the colt looking in at the
window in the night. I knew the cata
mount had been watching to gain admit
tance; but our windows, you will perceive,
are not large enough to permit a catamount
to enter.
" 'When I looked into the glass next
morning, I was horror struck at my alter
ed appearance. My hair which was the
da' before black as midnight, was changed
to the snowy whiteness you now see it;
and although I have enjoyed very good
health since, I shall never recover from
the effects of the fright I experienced on
being chased by a catamount.' " Bos
ton 1 Feebly Museum.
Mr. Imlacb, late Minister of the Muir
house near Dundee, was remarkable for
his absence of mind. In his prayer one
day, he said, 'O, Lord: bless all ranks
and degrees of persons, from the king on
the dunghill to the beggar on his throne.'
Then recollecting himself, he added, 'I
mean from the beggar on the throne to the
king on the dunghill.'
Mother,' said Jemima .Spray to her
maternal relative, 'Sam - Flint wants to
come a courting me to-night.'
Well, what did you tell him?'
'Oh, I told him he might come. I want
ed to see how the fool would act.''
EBENSBURG, THURSDAY;
Tlifi World owes . mc a Living.
BY HORACE GREELEY.
'The world owes me a living, and I'll
have it,' says some blackleg as he finishes
a luxurious repast; 'here, landlord another
bottle of of your prime Madeira!' Half a
dozen empty-headed fops, who sit gazing
on him "by stealth in silent admiration, hail
the sentimeiu witli rapturous applause.
'That'"; it! the world owes us a good living
and we will have it! landlord, more wine
here, we won't go home till morning.
Let's go it while we are young. . Who
cares for expense?' The consequence of
this is, the pilfering of. money drawers,
the ignominious loss of employment, gen
teel loaferisin" &c, &zc, until one of these
enterprising gentlemen in eager pursuit of
the 'good living' the world owes him, puts
the wrong man's name to a check, or in
some kind of a way gets a ticket to the
marble palace at Sing Sing, where the
State provides a 'living' for those it con
siders deserving, but not such a one as con
sists with their own estimate of their exal
ted merits.
The great error in this case is in the
original maxim. It is false and detestable!
The world owes you a living? How
owes? Have you earned it by good ser
vices? If you have, whether on the anvil,
or in the pulpit, or as a teacher, you have
acquired a just right to a livelihood. But
if you have eaten as much as you earned,
or worse still, done little or no good, the
world owes you nothing. You may be
worth millions and able to enjoy every
imaginable luxury without care or effort;
but if you have done nothing to increase
the sum of human comforts, instead of the
world owing you anything, as fools have
babbled, you are morally a bankrupt and
a beggar.
Mankind are just awaking to a con
ciousness of the duty resting on every man.
to be active and useful in his day and in
his sphere. All are not called to dig or
hew or plow cr plane but every man
has a sphere of usefulness allotted to him
by Provdence, and is unfaithful to his high
trust if he deserts it for idle pomp and
hcedlees luxury. One man may be fitted
by nature and inclination for an artizan,
another for a sailor, and a third for a mer
chant; but no man was ever born fitted
for an idler and a drone. Those who
become such are the victims of perverse
circumstances, and a deplorable false edu
cation. But, has not the rich man the right to
enjoy his wealth? Most certainly." We
would be the last to deprive him of it.
He has a natural and a legal right to pos
sess and enjoy it in any manner not inju
rious to others; but he has no moral right
to be useless because he has superior
means of being useful. Let him surround
himself with all the true comforts and true
luxuries of life; let the master piece of art
smile upon him in his galleries, and the
mighty minds of all ages speak to him from
his library. Let plenty deck his board,
and the faces of those he loves gather joy
ously around it. Let him possess in abun
dance the means of satisfying every pure
and just desire of his nature; and become
wiser, nobler, larger in soul, than his less
fortunate neighbor. But let him never
forget, as if he is properly trained, he nev
er can, that it is his solemn duty to be
useful to his fellow creatures, especially to
the depressed and suffering to labor for
their benefit, and suffer if needs be for their
elevation.
The servile idolatry with which igno
rance and vulgarity have looked up to
power and wealth the hosannahs which
the trampled millions have sung before
the cars of conquerers and other scourges
of the earth are fading and flitting forev
er. In the twilight which succeeds the
gross darkness, there comes a season of
moral anarchy, when men, having lost
faith in the juggles which once blinded
and bound them, resolved to believe noth
ing to decry and prostrate all that rises
above the lowest level. Now, the laborer
with his sinew, returns hatred for contempt
once cast upon him, and says, 'What
good is there in anything but manual la
bor? away with all else! those whose labor
is chiefly mental are decievers and moths!'
But this is a transitory ebulition. The
world soon learns to respect its benefactors
in whatever sphere, and to realize that he
who truly and honestly exerts himself in
some department of useful effort, may just
ly claim a brotherhood with all who toil,
and make and earn. Let the rich cease to
look down on the poor the merchant on
the porter; let each respect the dignity of
man, and whether in his own person or
that of his less fortunate brother let
haughtiness and pride cease on one side,
and envy, jealousy and hatred, with their
trains of direful consequences, will vanish
from the other, and all animated in common
concord to the attainment of the highest
good.
It is better to be good than to be great.
NOVEMBER, 29, 1819.
The Kcntncky Forger.
It is related of that unfortunate man,
Tartin Brown
who was once a prom
inent member of the Kentucky Legisla
ture, but was confined in the Penitentiary
'for forgery that when he first settled in
Texas, the inhabitants were determined
j.o drive him out of Austin's Settlement of
5an Felipe, because he had been a con-
t'v'ct. Austin had forbidden such persotis
to settle on his ground, and the colonial
lajv passed by him was strict in prohibi
ting an asylum for refugees and all per
sons rendered infamous by felonies, of
whatever description they may be a law
which the father of Texas always enforc
ed with the utmost of rigor. Hence as
soon as the settlers informed the General
of this new case, he immediately sent an
order warning Brown to decamp within
three days, on pain of summary punish
ment. The tnessengerfwas William S.
Austin's private Secretary, a young man
of cultivated intellect, a noble heart, and"
generous to a fault. He arrived at the
Green Heart Grove, the residence of
Brown and his family, one summer's noon
and found the family circle formed around
their frugal table. It was the dinner
hour.
S forthwith delivered Austin's
written order, which Brown glanced over
and then said mournfully.
Tell General Austin that I shall never
move from this spot until I move into my
grave. It is true that I committed a great
crime in my native state; but I also suffer
ed the severe penalty of the law: and then
with my dear wife and children, who still
fove me, I stole away from the cj-es of
society, which I no longer wish to serve
or injure, to live in quiet and die in peace.
I am ready and wtllfng to die but on my
family's account I cannot and will not
leave this spot.
His wife and daughter implored him to
change his resolution. They avowed
their willingness again to undergo the
toils and privations of emigration, and if
necessary prepare for a new home in the
wuderntTsi. But prayers, tears and en
treaties were alike in vain. To every
argument Martin Brown gave the same
answer in a calm and sad voice.
I chose my place of burial the first day
I set .ny eyes on my little grove, and I
shall not change my mind now."
S returned deeply smitten with the
scene he had witnessed, related to Gen.
Austin the singular state of facts and in
terceded urgently for a relaxation of the
law, which rested in the discretion of the
colonial chief.
Yrou have suffered yourself to be smit
ten by the charms of the beautiful Emma'
said Austin with a smile.
S tried to look indignant, which
affort merely resulted with a burning !
Diush.
I will go and see Martin myself,' ad
ded the General, 'but he will have to make
out a strong case to alter my determina
tion.' When Austin arrived in the evening at
his destination, the family of the grove
were almost distracted with grief.
Brown's countenace alone wore its usu
al mask of tranquility. His story told !
to General Austin was simple as it was
brief.
It is true,' he said, I was in the Pen
itentiary of Kentucky; but I was in the
Legislature before I was in the State Pris
on; and while a member of the Sanate, I
opposed with all my might the manufac
ture of so many Banks. Those Banks
soon afterwards beggared thousands, a
mong them me and my children. I was
then tempted, in order to save my family
to perpetrate a forgery, or to do that on a
small scale, which the State and Banks
had so long been doing on a large one.
I paid the forfeit of my crime. While
the grand swindlers rolled in affluence, I
pined alone in a felon's dungeon. Hav
ing served out my time, I resolved never
again to commit another wrong. 1 have
kept my word, and have but one desire,
to be let alone to die.'
General Austin did let the old man
alone, and cancelled the order for his ban
ishment, and was ever after his steadfast
friend.
S the private secretary, made an
other visit to the Green Ileart'Grove, and
the beautiful Emma is now the wife of an
eminent lawyer and a 'bright particular
star' of fashion's sphere at Galveston.
Martin died at last in peace, and was
buried in his beloved grove, (at his special
request,) in a most fantastic manner
standing erect, in a full hunter's costume,
with his hand raised towards heaven and
his loaded rifle on his left shoulder. 3T.
O. Picayune.
Accommodating. A physician adver
tised that, at the requet of his friends, he
had removed near the church-yard, and
trusted that his removal would accommo
date many of his patients.
A Gallant Soldier.
At the funeral honors paid to Worth,
Duncan and Gales, John Van Buren de
livered an oration, in which he related the
following anecdote of the former.
While Gen. Scott was under charges
by order of Gen. Jackson, and a court of
inquiry was investigating his conduct in
Florida, a party ot gentlemen met in this
city, and after dinner the conversation
turned upon the subjet of Scott's services.
Worth, indignant at the proceeding was des
cribing the part which Scott took in the
battle Niagara. He said that Scott's bri
gade were advancing towards evening, un
der the cover of a wood, from which they
wcre to deploy into the open field; Scott
had alreadv had one horse shot under him
and as the column were deploying, his
second horse fell, and he became entangled
under it. The column wavered, and
Worth, then his youngest aid, rushing to
his assistance, dismounted and tendered
him his horse saying, "General, can you
mount the column falters for a leader?"
Scott immediately mounted, and riding to
the head of the column, cried out, "Ad
vance men! the night's our own," and
Worth followed Scott, as his aid, on foot.
At this moment a discharge of grape from
a singlc.x:annon prostrated Scott, the horse
which he rode, and his aid, Worth. Scott
and Worth were immediately carried to?
the rear Scott seriously, and Worth, as
it was'supposed, mortally wounded. At
tention was of course, first paid to the
commanding officer. After some time a
deep groan was heard, apparently from the
adjoining tent, and Scott, with that forget
fulness of himself which distinguises him
on such occasions, begged the surgeons to
repair to the quarter whence the sound
proceeded and attend as he said "to poor
Worth, who must be dying." Instead of
this as Worth concluded, "the cry of ago
ny proceeded from my faithful dying char
ger, who had managed to drag himself up
on three legs to the edge of my tent, where
he had laid down to die." Pausing for a
moment, while there was hardly a dry
eyejn the company, he added "I beg
your pardon gentlemen; I find that in de
fending Gen. Scott, I have been incident
al! v led to describe mv own service."
A Good One-
We clip the following laugabJe article
from the editorial columns of the Chi
cago Dollar Newspaper. A few such
would cure the dyspepsia in its worst
form:
A certain limb of the law arguing a case
in one of our sucker conrts, was informed
by his honor that the case had already
been decided by the court.
"I know it," responded the attorney,
with a peculiar nasal twang for which he
was then somewhat remarkable; '-but I'm
going o prove to the court that .the court
is icrongJ" And at it he went right and !
left, when the judge agai.i interrupted him.
with,
"I have decided that before."
"Have ha!" with the nasal accompani
ment, responded the attorney, continuing
his argument. (
By this time the patience of the Judge
was iettin2: exhausted, and he was rather
inclined to the "rile;" and in a somewhat
severe tone he said:
"If you wish to persist in arguing this
case, you must carry it up to the eourt of
Errors."
"Must ha! If this aint a court of Er
rors, I don't know what in h 11 is!"
Owing to a great "falling off," among
the button family just then, the court
riz.
'Whatever God has made is perfect,'
said a Western preacher to his hearers.
'What do you think of me?' said a huch
back rising and exhibiting his own defor
mity. 'Think of you!' replied the preacher
'why that you are as perfect a hunchback
as I ever saw in mv life."
A raftsman who had drank a little too
free fell from the raft and was drown
ing, when his brother plunged in to his
relief, seized him by the hair, but the
current jvas strong, and the brother's
strength being nearlv exhausted, he was
about relinguishing his hold, when des
pairing, the drowning one raising his head
above the water, 'Hang on, S im! hang
on, I'll treat, I swear I will.' His words
were stimulating, and the brother at
length saved him.
3hon,' said a Dutchman, 'you may bav
what you please 'bout bad neighbors; I
had to vorst neighbors as never was. -Mine
pigs and mine hens come mit dere
ears split, and todder day two of them
come home missing.
The Capitolof California has been fixed
at the Pueblo of San Joa, by the Condi
tional Convention,
V OL. G. AO. 8.
Iloosicr Girls on a Steamboat.
We were not lonjr since much amused
by a couple of Hoosier girls, who camu
aboard the steamer , at the little town
of Mt. Vernon, Ind. . They had evidently
never been a thousand miles from home,
and were making their first trip on a
steamboat. The elder one was exceed
ingly talkative, and perfectly free, and
unconcerned, with regard to the many
eyes that were scanning het movements.
The other was of the opposite turn of
mind, inclining to bashfulness. At din
ner, our ladies were honored with a seat
at the head of the table, and the eldest
one, with her usual impudence, cut her
bread into small pieces and with her fork
reached over and enrolled each mouthful
in the nice dressing on a plate of beef
steak before her. The passengers pre
served their gravity during this operation
by dint of great effort. Perceiving that
hej sister "was not very forward in helping
herself, she turned round to her and ex
claimed loud enough to be heard by halt
the persons at the table Sal, dip into
the gravy Dad pays as much as any
on "e?nl This was followed by a general
roar, in which the captain led off, The
girls arrived at their place of destination
before supper, and when they, left tho
boat, all hands gave three cheers for th;
girls of the Hoosier State. Cin. Xunja
reil.
ry From ah interesting statistical article
in the Boston Transcript, we learn that
the amount of sales of poultry in one mar
ket in that city, for the year 1818, was
six hundred seventy lour thousand and
twenty-three dollars; the average sales of
one dealer alone amounted to twelve hun
dred dollars per week for the whole year.
The amount of poultry sales for the whole
city of Boston, for the same year, was
over one million of dollars! The amount
of sale of eggs, for the whole city of Bos
ton, for the same year, was a fraction short
of a million of dollars. The Transcript
says that the breeding and rearing of poul
try i second in importance to scarcely any
other article of stock in New England. 1
The agricultural statistics of the United
States, published in 1810, show that the.
value of poultry in the State of New York
was two million three hundred and seventy
three thousand and twenty-nine dollars.
The Siamese Twins must be very faith
ful to each other, as, when one of them
gets into trouble, the other always stands
by him.
'.-? irhopper.1 They tell us of big rats
on the line of the Ohio canal, and one of
them is said to have towed a boat, using
his tail for a tow line. That's a whopper-c f
a rat we mean. If we should attempt to
beat this rat story, we would tell of a mos
quito in the Montezuma swamp on the
Erie canal, who stole a boat pole for a
tooth pick.
An Obedient Servant. When Alder
man Gill died, his wife ordered the un
dertaker to inform the Court of Aldermen
of the event, which he did by writing as
follows 'I am directed to inform the
Court of Alderman that Mr, Gill died last
niht bv order of Mrs. Gil!.'
Mr" We observe in the list of candidates
for election to the Legislature- of Massa
chusetts, the names of five editors.
The telegraph charges in Austria are
most exorbitant. The prices for forward
ing twenty-five words is fixed at. 02 i
france (3 12,50.)
The Government has ordered the rc
connoisance of a line for a military road
from Jefferson barracks to Fort Smith.
A liue of eight sailing vessels, of GOO
tons each has been established between
Rio and Havre, to sail on the 25:hof each
month.
Hugh Smith, delegate to Congress from
New Mexico, chosen October 20th, is oa
his way to Washington.
The Legislature of California will con
vene in December, and elect two Senators
to Congress, and proceed to organize a
State government forthwith.
There arc two eventful peiiods in the
life of a woman; one when she wonders
who .-he will have, the other when she
wonders who will have her.
Z1TA scounJrel at the Boston museum
when the .crowd were passing out, on
Thursday evening deliberately cut off
three or four ringlets fiom a young lady's
neck. Hearing the click of the tcitsors,
the young lady quickly turned around
and uttering a scream, but the perpetra
tor cf the outrage had fled.